In November last year, China made the official decision to rewrite both the Bible and the Quran in order to “reflect socialist values.” Naturally, this is a political tool that is needed as part of the crackdown on the Muslim Uyghur minority that has been such a thorn in the side of the Chinese socialist regime. The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) declared that the revision will make sure that the content of the Bible and Quran do not contradict socialism. One of the founding fathers of modern-day socialism, Karl Marx, wrote that “Religion is the opium of the people.” While this is often discussed, it’s not the full quote from the original German text. The full quote is commonly translated as: “Religion is the sign of the oppressed creature, the heart of a heartless world, and the soul of soulless conditions. It is the opium of the people.” This anti-religious philosophy on the part of the left is pervasive worldwide, and the distrust and hatred for religion is shared by all socialist regimes to one degree or another. This hatred from the left is acted out on many levels even in the United States and is ultimately based on eradicating any competition for absolute power. As is made abundantly clear in China, strong religious beliefs are competition for the hearts and minds of the population, and ultimately for power, and therefore intolerable. However, rather than eradicate religions, socialists have concluded it’s easier and more effective to create parallel religions that submit to socialism and only pretend to submit to God in order to entice the naive. In this context, the CCP calls the Bible and the Quran religious classics, and they argue that the revision is justified to ensure the contents conform to the progress of the times. This is a standard propaganda technique, which, in simple terms, is to devise a useful but meaningless statement. Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.