Chinese-American evangelicals are taking a more activist stance on such issues as abortion, challenging traditional ethnic attitudes that put a stigma on having handicapped children, reports Christianity Today magazine (May 21).
Writer Tony Carnes reports that until very recently, “Many Chinese-American churches have often avoided prolife activities as too political, worldly, or culturally embarrassing.” While ethnic Chinese embrace conservative values (only six percent of 1998 births among this group were to unmarried mothers), abortions have been more accepted while having children with birth defects are generally not.
Chinese Americans are beginning to speak out about their experiences of covering up abortions and abnormal births– sometimes resulting in sheltering handicapped children from society–and the resulting pain they have caused .These changing cultural attitudes are influencing the burgeoning Chinese American evangelical movement to take up the pro-life cause.
The conservative Focus on the Family has launched a Chinese family ministry. In Northern California, Sunset Chinese Baptist Church is the leading fund-raiser for an annual Walk For Life, while Chinese American evangelicals are active in the annual gathering of the Massachusetts Citizens for Life.
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