The Communist Party of China, the nation’s governing party, says its members must give up religious beliefs and “be firm Marxist atheists.”

Wang Zuoan, the director of the State Administration for Religious Affairs, wrote on Saturday that religious members should give up their faith in order to preserve party unity.

“Party members should not have religious beliefs, which is a red line for all members— Party members should be firm Marxist atheists, obey Party rules and stick to the Party’s faith— they are not allowed to seek value and belief in religion.”

Wang added that foreign forces use religion to “infiltrate China” and that extremism has “threatened national security and social stability.”

“Religions should be sinicized— We should guide religious groups and individuals with socialist core values and excellent traditional Chinese culture and support religious groups to dig into their doctrines to find parts that are beneficial to social harmony and development.”

This isn’t just one crazy government official banning religion and requiring “Marxist atheism.” Zhu Weiqun, chairman of the Ethnic and Religious Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, said it is “important” to remind party members not to have religious beliefs.

“Some people who claim to be scholars support religious beliefs in the Party, which has undermined the Party’s values based on dialectical materialism.”