Open but not Tolerant: An Empirical Study of Chinese Social Attitudes Toward Religions

Using the data from the International Social Survey Program 2008 and the China General Social Survey 2010, concentrating on the six dimensions such as evaluation, trust, openness, tolerance, view on religious freedom and equality, this article analyzes Chinese social attitudes towards religions (CSATR) from a comparative perspective. The key findings are as follows: 1) Although the religiosity of Chinese is much lower than the rest of the world, most dimensions of their CSATR reach a middle level. 2) Although large social stratification has taken place in China, Chinese share a common and stable CSATR. 3) The key feature of CSATR is open but not tolerant, it is shaped by China's religious history and religious policy. CSATR will continue to provide social support for the restrictive religious policy. However, religious resurgence and the rise of religious extremism will challenge this regulatory system.