Chinese Journal of Sociology

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Sufferings and Religious Growth: Probing into the Unintended Consequences of Religious Suppression

*Author:Lu Yunfeng,Department of Sociology,Peking University;Center for the Study of Chinese Religion and Society,Peking University   

  1. *Author:Lu Yunfeng,Department of Sociology,Peking University;Center for the Study of Chinese Religion and Society,Peking University
  • Online:2010-07-20 Published:2010-07-20
  • Contact: *Author:Lu Yunfeng,Department of Sociology,Peking University;Center for the Study of Chinese Religion and Society,Peking University E-mail:luyf@pku.edu.cn
  • About author:*Author:Lu Yunfeng,Department of Sociology,Peking University;Center for the Study of Chinese Religion and Society,Peking University.
  • Supported by:

    **This research was supported by beijing social science foundation grant award 09BaSH045[Yunfeng Lu, P.I.]

Abstract:

Through comparative history studies, this paper seeks to reveal the logics beneath the

growth of suppressed religions, holding that suppression can lead to some unintended consequences.

Repression are helpful because it not only can induce suppressed religions to create adaptive

doctrines, but also can reduce the risk of the uncertainty in religious goods and mitigate free

riding through creating a social barrier that filters out halfhearted members. In addition,

suppression drives religious groups to adopt institutional innovations to sustain the networks, to

keep the followers’ morale and to avoid detection. The sustained networks make massive recruitment

possible. All of these unwanted consequences of religious suppression, which fall out of the

prediction of religious regulators, contribute to the vitality of suppressed religion.

Key words: sufferings  , religious growth ,  unintended consequences