In this weeks OSV, there was an article regarding the Beijing Olympics. Because of China’s poor record of religious freedom and other civil rights abuses such as forced sterilizations and abortions, many Catholics are calling for a boycott of the Olympics. However, many are also seeing the Olympics as an opportunity for the promotion of peace. The article listed several priests and bishops that have been detained in China. They are:
Bishop Su Zhimin of Baoding, Hebei province: He has been arrested numerous times as his status is currently unknown as the government denies having him detained.
Fathers Guo Ergrang and Zhang Zhenquian: apparently both have been kept in cages for 10 hours each day over the course of several months
Father Lu Genjun: He has been arrested numerous times. He was once sentenced to 3 months in Labor Camp merely for being a priest in the underground Church. He was last arrested in 2006 and it is unknown where he is.
I would like to use this as an opportunity to get peoples opinions on what Catholics and others feel that we should do regarding the Olympics in China. Would a boycott send the message to Beijing? Would it help? Should we just let the games go on as they would and see this as an opportunity for peace. Personally I believe that Beijing needs to take some serious steps to show that they are improving in the area of human and religious rights. Peace means nothing if it does not produce a change. We as Catholics could use this as an opportunity to promote religious freedom and freedom in general by telling Beijing that what they are doing is unacceptable.
As the opening ceremony approaches I have been wondering about this with greater frequency. As a Protestant I would cite the same reasons for a boycott as you did, and I am surprised that there hasn’t been a greater outcry against the games.
I think the issue comes down to the individuals basic view of man and how we are to treat bad people. It seems that the more progressive approach stems from the idea that man is basically good and circumstances/society somehow makes him bad. Therefore we don’t need prisons but psychiatrists. The traditional view stems from the book of Genesis which says that man, although created in the image of God, is born into corruption. Therefore our greater idea of justice is based off of “an eye for an eye”.
So what is one to do with China? Although I don’t think it’s all bad, I think it shows tolerance for the intolerable evils of Communist China. That is, it gives them (the government) honor and legitimacy that they don’t deserve.
On the other hand I think that it will give the Chinese people a glimpse at freedom and liberal values which can only cause them to further pursue these ideas that we take for granted in the West .
Thanks for the though provoking post.
Best