It's hard to believe this happens, I just read that a Christian was imprisoned in China simply for daring to preach Christianity.
I dunno, it was illegal and he knew it was illegal. If he did it just to be a martyr then he got what he wanted. I do agree the law is harsh though, but they don't like religion there and it's not a secret or anything.
I don't believe Alimujiang Yimiti is playing a game, or trying to be a martyr. This is very real for him, and Yimiti is being persecuted soley based on the fact that he's a Christian. I think many people can empathize whether they are religious or not, what if the government decided atheists we're enemies of the state, and just started rounding them up? Here's another story... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nd7OY1-qEhA
That's like saying dope smokers are persecuted for their choice of indulgence. The fact is it's illegal in that country and he broke the law. Agree 100%, I empathise with his plight even though he broke the law. It's not as if that's been done in this case. Openly preaching Christianity in China has been illegal for many years. If the government suddenly made atheism illegal you will know about it first and not preach atheism from then on, or flout the law and be punished for it.
Agree with Bushranger 100%. It's a stupid law, but the guy also wasn't thinking about his family and how they're feeling now. It's not like the government suddenly came up with the law and caught him off guard. I can sort of understand it as a mental illness where the guy couldn't help it because he felt he might go to hell or something if he didn't spread his religion, but I have no idea where you'd even start to get religion declared as a mental illness lol. And also, mental illness doesn't get people out of doing time, it just gets them put in a different type of jail.