Most people attribute the church's troubles to its founder Kong's leftist leanings and the "people's commune" look of the group's homestead. They believe these unsettled the government, which feared Mt. Zion might be providing cover for a subversive Communist group. The authorities therefore moved to disband the homestead.
新約教徒之所以觸犯政府大忌，一般歸因於創辦人江端儀的「左派」色彩，加上類似中共「人民公社」的集體生活，引起當局不安，唯恐這是共產黨掩護下的顛覆團體，而下令驅離，因此引發了新約教徒長達 7 年激烈的街頭抗爭和海外聲援事件。