Editing The Shouters (section)

==Continued repression==
"The Shouters sect" has been a target of repression in China since that time. In March 1995, the CCP reaffirmed its determination to exterminate "[[Cult#China|evil cult]]s" ({{Zh|c=邪教|s=|t=|p=xiéjiào}}). A circular titled "Notice by the Ministry of Public Security Concerning the Banning of the ‘Shouter Sect’ and Other Cult Organizations and Opinions on their Situation and Operations" was endorsed by the State Council and CCP Central Committee in November 1995.<ref>Goossaert, Vincent; Palmer, David (2011), ''The Religious Question in Modern China'', Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 339.</ref> This led to a new wave of persecution against "the Shouters sect."  In 1998 house church leaders in Henan province issued a statement calling on the government "to release unconditionally all House Church Christians presently serving in Labor Reform Camps." This appeal also noted that the "Local Church" had been incorrectly labeled the "Shouters’ Sect." Author [[David Aikman]] reported that no "Local Church" representatives were involved in drafting or issuing this statement.<ref>"A United Appeal of the Various Branches of the Chinese House Church," August 22, 1998, published in David Aikman, ''Jesus in Beijing: How Christianity Is Transforming China and Changing the Global Balance of Power'' (Washington, DC: Regnery Publishing, 2003), 293.</ref>

In the [[Christian Research Institute]]'s reversal of earlier criticisms of the local churches, Christian Research Journal Editor-in-Chief Elliot Miller summarized the confusion as to the identity of "the Shouters" and their relationship to the [[The Local Churches|local churches]] as follows:

<blockquote>
The epithet Shouters was introduced in the early 1980s by the Three Self Patriotic Movement in Jeijing Province to suppress LC activity (as they sought to do with all Christian groups who refused to join their movement). Over time the name Shouters has morphed in its usage by many Chinese to refer to all members of unregistered house churches, while still others use it to identify a small renegade group of people who claim to be followers of Witness Lee but have broken fellowship with the LC and distort the Bible and Lee's teachings in numerous cultic ways. The misidentification of the LC with this latter group of "Shouters" has plagued the LC in its dealings with the authorities.<ref>Elliot Miller, ''"Cultic, Aberrant, or (Unconventionally) Orthodox? A Reassessment of the ‘Local Church’ Movement,"'' Christian Research Journal 32:6, December 2009: 7, fn. 1</ref>
</blockquote>

Nevertheless, on September 9, 1999, the [[U. S. Department of State]] issued a report in which it was stated that the PRC was continuing efforts to "close down an underground evangelical group called ‘the Shouters’" and commenting that "since the early 1980s, authorities repeatedly have detained, fined, or imprisoned its members."<ref>{{Citation | place = US | author = Department of State | title = Annual Report on International Religious Freedom for 1999 | publisher = Bureau for Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor, Washington, DC | date = September 9, 1999 | url = http://www.cesnur.org/testi/irf/irf_china99.html}}.</ref> On October 30, 1999, the [[Standing Committee of the National People's Congress]] adopted a legislative resolution banning cult organizations and establishing policies for punishing cult activities.<ref>{{Citation | publisher = Purdue | title = Legislative Resolution on Banning Cults | newspaper = China Daily | date = October 30, 1999 | url = http://www.purdue.edu/crcs/itemResources/PRCDoc/pdf/Legislative_Resolution_on_Banning_Heretic_Cults.pdf}}.</ref> A 2006 Department of State report said, "The Government continued its repression of groups that it categorized as ‘cults’ in general and of small Christian-based groups... in particular."<ref>{{Citation | place = US | publisher = Department of State | contribution = Freedom of Religion | at = Attachment 4 | title = Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2006 – China | date = March 8, 2006 | url = https://2009-2017.state.gov/j/drl/rls/irf/2006/71338.htm}}.</ref> A 2011 Department of State report notes that the PRC still lists "the Shouters" as an "[[Cult#China|evil cult]]" ({{Zh|c=邪教|s=|t=|p=xiéjiào}}) and notes that "there are no public criteria for determining, or procedures for challenging, such a designation."<ref>{{Citation | place = US | publisher = Department of State | title = International Religious Freedom Report | year = 2011 | contribution = China (Includes Tibet, Hong Kong, and Macau) | url = https://2009-2017.state.gov/j/drl/rls/irf/religiousfreedom/index.htm?dlid=192619}}.</ref>