Asian Christianity is the memetic descendent of late Pentecostalism (itself a late descendent of Protestant forms) and as such both debunks the Lockean view of the Bible and the notion that Christianity is a kind of Universalism. These millenarian cults (some of them can be found described in 100 Heresies) are examples of people trying to turn Christianity into a form of universalism and ending up with a terrible chimera.

One of the flaws of Pentecostalism is that it uses Pentecost as a model for everything, but forgets that the 3000 converted that day did not each convert 3000 the next day, etc. Even 400 years later there were still many large groups of pagans in existence in the Roman empire; the progress of the gospel is, relative to our simian impatience, slow.

Converting Christianity into a memetic virus evades the necessity of the organic growth of its assembly, a process that takes time and is bound mostly by geography and must negotiate the boundaries of groups and lands. But the process denatures it, whose fruit is most clear in the immediate departure from traditional teachings and categories.

A parable might go as follows, there was a man who had but a bull and a cow, but wanted to have a great herd so he could feed everyone with meat. But he was impatient, unwilling to wait for the normal reproduction cycle of his animals. So he gave the bull and cow growth hormones until they became as large a barns, after which he slaughtered both of them for meat. But the tons and tons of meat had become tough and inedible from the explosive growth, and their blood ran over the countryside killing grass and crops alike.

What’s much more interesting is the fact that “Christianity”, in a general sense, appears to be positioning itself as a key internal opposition group to the ruling Communist party. Christianity is very plainly becoming grossly politicized. And this view of “Church Against the PRC” is, of course, supported by all adversaries of the Communist party — which leads to thinly-veiled propaganda about “100 million Christians in China”, and “China still persecuting Christians”, etc.

It’s not going to end well for Christians in China. The PRC is already moving to tighten its grip on religious freedoms. This’ll hopefully mean fewer Muslim agitators in the west, and Christian cults having to go underground… which’ll probably lead to far fewer violent recruiting sessions in McDonald’s and Pizza Hut.