Guo Kang believes that for the church, there is a key question: whether the various doctrines and rules in the church are the goal or the means.

In the past, the Catholic Church faced this problem with a very clear mind, knowing that these specific measures were for a higher purpose. Later, however, it was as if something had gone wrong with them collectively.

If it is just a partisan dispute, it is easy to explain, but the performance of the church in East Asia for hundreds of years has been in a state of intellectual failure.

If the clergy were arrogant about different civilizations, it is impossible to explain their performance elsewhere. In South America, the church was not like that.

The Spanish clergy have been fighting against the persecution of Native Americans, demanding a ban on massacres, abuses, and even forced conversion of indigenous people. In 1537, at the urging of the Dominican friars, the Pope issued an encyclical in which he officially recognized the Indians as "rational men", declaring that they had the right of liberty and property, as well as the right to convert to the Church, and that they should be preached to them in a peaceful manner.

On this basis, the clergy continued to operate in the secular regime, trying to prevent the exploitation and enslavement of the natives by the colonizers. At their instigation, in 1550, Charles V ordered a halt to the further military expansion of the Spaniards in the Americas, while organizing a debate among clergy and scholars on the legitimacy of the conquest. The debate was held at the University of Valladolid, hence the name.

The Valladolid debate was the first discussion in European history about the rights and treatment of indigenous peoples, and one of the few theoretical discussions at the national level.

Some clergy believed that, despite the barbaric customs of the Indians, it was because of the different stages of civilization in their societies, that they were still free men in the natural order, and that their legal status should not be inferior to that of the European colonizers, and that there was no reason to be subject to their conquest and harsh control. These theories were supported by the monarchists and gained a lot of adherents.

At the time, however, a new group of humanists opposed it. They considered the Indians to have committed a large number of crimes against nature, which were unacceptable and should be stopped by any means possible, including war. At the same time, the actions of these people also proved that they could not govern themselves, so they needed colonists to rule. This school of thought was supported by the colonizers, and opposed to the former.

In the end, neither side was able to convince anyone, but the tendency of the church was very evident and had an impact on society. Beginning in 1556, the king issued an edict strictly controlling the publication of works on the Americas and forbidding domestic discussion of the justice of conquest. Some of the clergy's notes were specifically ordered to be sealed, and they were also forbidden to compile new books, causing ideological turmoil in society.

Moreover, the king even came up with a new decree declaring that the word "conquest" would no longer be used, and that both sides would have to use "reconciliation" instead. It's just that this kind of behavior of changing sensitive words still fails to control the surging public opinion in society.

Finally, in 1573, the king simply issued an order prohibiting further conquests. Although this kind of order cannot control the other side of the Atlantic, the fact that it has reached such an extent already shows how outrageous things are. In fact, even the most notorious leaders of the conquerors in the Americas corresponded with the scholars who supported the colonization in the rear, hoping to gain their theoretical support and strengthen their confidence.

The murder and robbery of money can still trigger moral condemnation, and even make the colonists themselves confused, and begin to reflect on whether there is something wrong, and they need to be debated to sort it out. This may seem incredible to some colonial powers in the future.

The Jesuits, who rose much later, were even more radical in this regard. Having found that lobbying the upper echelons did not help solve the problem, some priests even ran into the woods and began to fight with the natives and colonists. Eventually, some colonies simply declared all Jesuits persona non grata so that they would not cause trouble all day long.

In East Asia, however, this has never been the case. For hundreds of years, the Church was in a state of trying to find a case of his participation in the anti-colonial movement, but could not find it.

Even, if you have to say that the Qing Dynasty was a pagan country and did not deserve help, it was okay, then you could participate in the anti-Qing Dynasty - as a result, you could not find anything in this regard.

Moreover, this situation is not only in the Central Plains, but also in other countries in East Asia, and even more bluntly. When France was at war with Vietnam, Vietnamese Catholics stood clearly on the side of France. The Catholics in the south responded directly to the French army, "often taking advantage of the situation to intimidate the civilians, or forming gangs to serve as foreign guards and informants"; To the north, French missionaries and military officers also supported the rebellion of local Catholics.

This toss is tantamount to telling all East Asians that those who believe in foreign religion are on the side of foreigners, and they cannot be trusted. This style of work will undoubtedly lead to rejection.

And what really pushed the forefront was a series of unbelievable behaviors. For example, at the end of the Qing Dynasty, the people of Seris never understood what the Western-style nursery was doing. Babies are adopted in large numbers in this area, but the infant mortality rate is alarmingly high. There is a lot of speculation about this, but there is no doubt that everyone thinks that it is too evil to be done by a serious religion. Therefore, it also became the fuse for the later revenge vendetta.

And what are these priests doing?

According to the doctrine, if a person is led to worship the Father, then the priest who carries out the mission will also receive the Father's approval. When a new soul joins the church through baptism, the baptizing priest will also receive a share of the merit.

But proselytizing is hard and dangerous work; Some of the Catholics will indeed baptize their newborn children directly, but these people belong to a clear and have long been divided among the dioceses.

In this case, how can you perform quickly and hassle-free? Some of the clergy came up with a way to adopt.

Adopted babies do not have a clear religious affiliation and do not express rejection. But the soul of babies is also a soul, and bringing them into the church is a merit of equal weight.

Therefore, by constantly adopting a baby and then rushing to baptism, you can quickly accumulate merit in a simple and hassle-free manner.

However, there are too many adopted babies and the living conditions are very harsh. In addition, the priests only want to brush up the merits of entering the church, and often do not take care of them seriously, resulting in a very outrageous mortality rate.

In later generations, some people said that this was a priest doing good deeds, and some people said that he was deliberately killing people, but in fact, it was not accurate - this is the priests who are bugging and taking the opportunity to brush up on the merits of the Father......

Of course, in the eyes of the people around him who do not believe in religion and do not know these principles, this kind of behavior is both evil and unclear, and it is obviously no different from cult obscenity.

But in this environment, the clergy still did not know it. They are reluctant to improve their methods, and they look down on the locals and are too lazy to appease them. Even when public opinion is already boiling, they rely on their status as foreigners and do not take the ideas of the locals seriously.

To put it mildly, arrogant, ignorant and greedy to this point, Heavenly Father and Heavenly Brother don't necessarily want to spare him.

(End of chapter)