Summary…….
“Journey of Harmony” is the theme of the 2008 Olympic torch relay; however, the Olympic Games have already been far from harmonious even before their August 8 launching. With the world watching, the true face of China is being unveiled. Tibet has struggled for decades to gain its independence from its domineering neighbor. It has suffered oppression, watched as its ancient monasteries were burned to the ground, endured forced political re-education of their spiritual leaders and youth and witnessed the unraveling of a centuries-old culture of peace, justice and love.
China ’s aggression towards Tibet proves yet again that the communist government continues to deny human and religious rights to its people. Buddhists in Tibet are experiencing what many Christians throughout China have felt for the past 60 years. Leadership in China needs to grant its citizens basic freedoms and human rights to attain the positive world recognition that it craves. As Christians, our response to this crisis is vital. We are in sympathy with the Tibetan people; we will continue to support their efforts to attain basic human rights which we in the West are so accustomed to. Together we believe that we can make a difference in the fight against the injustices of our world.
Full story…
As the Beijing Olympics gain momentum we find China on the center stage. China ’s traditional practices which control the people’s freedom of speech and worship are getting difficult to conceal and is getting increasingly embarrassing to enforce. China has been working hard to present a positive image to the international community; however their façade has begun to crumble in the last few weeks.
In a recent article by Time magazine, the Dalai Lama said, “Genuine harmony must come from the heart. It cannot come from the barrel of a gun.” The 2008 Olympic torch relay theme is “Journey of Harmony.” Unfortunately, the usual excitement that surrounds the Olympics is already tainted with a less than harmonious start. The true face of China is being unveiled for the world to see.
Tibet has struggled for decades to gain its independence from its domineering neighbor, and has just recently garnered worldwide attention with their protests. For decades Tibetans have suffered oppression, watched in horror as their ancient monasteries were burned to the ground, endured forced political re-education of their spiritual leaders and youth, and witnessed the unraveling of a centuries-old culture of peace, justice and love. China ’s aggression towards Tibet proves yet again, that the communist country continues to deny human and religious rights to its people.
This serious situation not only affects Tibet , but it affects our idea of international justice and the underlying truth that originates from the simple words of Jesus that we must love our neighbor. We are in sympathy with the Tibetan people because of the crackdown they are enduring by the Chinese government.
What the world needs to recognize is that China ’s human rights record is not limited to poor treatment of the Tibetan minority; on the contrary there are multiple minority groups within China whom are being treated poorly. The Chinese government continues to restrict religious freedom of not only Tibetans but millions of Chinese Christians as well. Buddhists in Tibet are experiencing what many Christians throughout China have felt for the past 60 years. Many of these believers have been tortured, imprisoned and killed because of their religious beliefs.
Christians in China who do not conform to government prescribed formats for religious worship are continually experiencing harassment and difficulty. While there are not as many restrictions on Christians today as there have been in the past; we need to keep the pressure on the Chinese government to walk the talk by allowing complete freedom for the expression of all religions.
Despite the U.S. State Department removing China from its list of worst human rights abusers, many rights organizations and ministries continue to receive reports of all types of human rights restrictions within the country. China is No. 10 on the Open Doors World Watch List of the worst persecuted countries in the world for Christians. In addition, China continues to exercise their dominant presence in neighboring countries as well as it continues to repatriate North Korean refugees to imprisonment and death camps in their homeland. And China continues to supply income for the Darfur region of Sudan .
Leadership in China needs to grant its citizens basic freedoms and human rights to attain the positive world recognition that it craves. If the Chinese government continues to ignore the needs of millions of people, the protests will continue and unfortunately the Olympic athletes might be penalized for their participation.
It’s not going to get easier. Tensions will not lighten up. How will the world, and most importantly believers, respond to this grave situation? We are in sympathy with the Tibetan people; and will continue to support their efforts to attain basic human rights which we in the West are so accustomed to. And we must continue to press for basic freedoms for millions of Christians in China who are suffering for their faith in Jesus Christ.
As Christians, what do you think our response should be to this situation?
I’d love to hear your thoughts….
I think what we need to do is call as many Christ Followers as possible into intercessory prayer and fasting for the government of China. We have seen in the past the effects of intercessory prayer and fasting gives us far better results then anything we can do with our own understand. We need to set up a support system for the persecuted Christians in China, and maybe get a forum or something of some sort where Christians can communicate about persecution going on in different countries and really support and reach out to those in these countries. This will definitely be in my prayers!
I agree I think we need to get on our knees and pray and call as many believers to pray as we possibly can. I am confused, do you think enough people could protest the olympics so that China would actually stop persecuting Christians and North Koreans? Also what aide is China giving to Darfur?…that’s crazy…I had no idea.
Pray for China, and the persecuted Christians in China.
Only the blood of Jesus can heal the nations of China and Tibet. God has not abondoned his pescecuted church in China. I pray the God give them the His Strength to complete their holy calling. They are not alone. Our prayers go with them.
Prayer is the key, only Christ can break these strongholds. How can people without the support of the Holy Spirit and Christian brothers find any hope or support during persecution? We know the power of prayer and protection of Christ and the hope He gives.
I think it is not a question of any particular religion as a good move everyone should come forward to support tibet not because of religious region but to support humanity and justice for everyone.
I strongly against China’s move.
Please pray, too, for the Chinese brothers and sisters who have taken the gospel to Tibet. They are in a difficult situation as they will be distrusted by the Tibetan people because they are ethnic Chinese and by the Chinese government because they are Christian. Please pray that the persecution experienced by the Tibetans will open their hearts to the love of Christ and to those who carry the Gospel.
I think that the only thing we as Christians can do in this situation is to pray for those involved in the situation—both the Chinese and the people of Tibet. I am saddened by the protests that the news media seem to focus on when they occur. I would also hope that because of this situation that the United States would not withhold our athletes from taking part in the Olympics in China this year.
hi friends:
I’d like to see some my point of view. I agree with Derbra Schwake, we should to pray both of Tibet and China.
Actually, I am studying Chinese right now. So, I saw some opinions of prospects from different sides.
Sometime, I felt I was laid by our News Media again, which is like starting the Iraq war, because I see the Chinese CCTV-4 shows the opposites. So, I don’t believe this article is talking about something really true.
I did some interviews to some Chinese international students. I feel they do have very critical thinking to see what’s going on in Tibet. They showed me some pictures which really made me shocked and I think we need to think about the controversial issue.
According to my research, Chinese human right problems are getting much eased a lot comparing with that in 10 years ago. I mean we have to understand Chinese governments, because our nation also had the period of imperialism. There are only 59 years from establishment of people republic China to right now, however, we already had 200 years. I think it will getting better, but it should take some time. So, what we should do is to pray to both of them.
Peace.
Hi, Tom Peace
Thanks for the providing another side of views.
As a Chinese Christian, I agree with you that this article has some prejudice over Chinese government. The issue of Tibet, of Olympics are all meshed with good things and also bad things such as an agenda of the Chinese government’s self-boasting and propaganda. They are beyond our comprehension and understanding. So I would like to agree with the first commenter that we shall do intercessory prayer.
I am sad about the pro-Dalai Lama views expressed in this article and there is no word mentioned about the violence made by the monks to the civilians. The popularity of Dalai Lama as well as Tibetan buddism has definitely affected most Westerner Christians’ thinking. In this regard, all the commentors have a clearer view over the author of this article with a focus on Christians.
Hello everybody son of the living god.
please please
pray for the tibet and tibetan people.
we have one tibetan budhist ministry..
prais the loard