Today the First Lady of the United States wrote an Op. Ed. piece in the Wall Street Journal calling for the Burmese oppression of Buddhists to be brought to an end. That’s all fine and well. I certainly don’t want anyone to think that I support the rampant persecution of peaceful protesters.I am, however, very disappointed that the President and First Lady, who claim the name of Christ, feel more concerned with the persecution of Buddhist monks than that of Christian brothers and sisters in China, and around the world.
Why are we calling for international pressure against the oppressors of Buddhists, while turning a blind eye to the rampant and escalating persecution of Christians in China and throughout Asia? Why are we calling for a free Burma, but not a free China and Indonesia? Why have these images been shown over and over, but the protests in July of 2006 over a church demolition in China disappeared from the news in a day?
I’m asking again that we Christians call for a boycott of the 2008 Olympic Games. In light of the calls against the Burmese government, it seems the least we can do.
Rustybadger said,
October 11, 2007 at 4:16 pm
I agree with your point about boycotting the Olympics next year, and think it’s a good idea (mind you, I think we should boycott the Vancouver ones too, but for different reasons, not least of which is their ridiculous choice of a logo!). That being said, I do have something to add to the subject.
In the US, and to a large degree in Canada, we are addicted to our cheap Chinese products. My house is full of them, from computers to furniture. Unfortunately, we are also addicted to the Gospel of Wealth, which says that God will bless us, indeed that He has promised to Make Us Rich, if we [insert relevant mumbo-jumbo here]. Unfortunately, the easiest way for us to get rich is by exploiting people who have no defenders- ie, the poor (and that means the poor in our own countries as well, not just the Chinese). But this is viewed as alright, because the televangelists and conservative politicians have told us so. “Yes”, they tell us, “it’s true that China persecutes Christians and others, but if we trade with them then we can influence real change!” This is, of course, utter bull. But we buy it because it makes us feel better about shopping at Wal*Mart and Canadian Tire and Winners and Pier 1.
I doubt anything I wrote in the last paragraph is controversial, at least, not very. Here’s where I jump the tracks though: I am suggesting that as Christians, our motivation for boycotting China is wrong. Sure, it’s abhorrent that Christians are being treated badly in China. But Christ said we should expect that. It certainly hasn’t put much of a damper on the Chinese Church, if the numbers coming out are even close to accurate.
We should be boycotting China, though- for its treatment of dissident journalists, its oppression of Tibet, its disregard for the health and safety of its workers, for its persecution of homosexuals, for its One Child Policy that results in the death of millions of baby girls each year, for its political and economic corruption that rivals only the United States (said only slightly tongue-in-cheek). It’s tragic how the American government has stifled the economy of Cuba on the basis of human rights, yet it’s happy to look the other way for China. Simple economics of scale, of course- China actually has something we want, so we can make excuses for tolerating their *cough* idiosyncrasies.
I think that as Christians, if we want to be really effective, we should not only actively call for a boycott of the 2008 Olympics, but we need to speak with the only voice our leaders understand: our money. Stop shopping at the Wal*Marts and Costcos and Canadian Tires and start paying $75 for a pair of Fair Trade, organic cotton trousers, or $10 for a pound of Fair Trade coffee from Level Ground, or $6 for a can of hot chocolate from Ten Thousand Villages. Start making informed decisions about what we buy and where it comes from and how its makers are treated.
One could possibly argue that Christ’s mandate on social justice only included windows and orphans, but I think they’re a metaphor for all of the downtrodden and oppressed people in the world. This means it’s our duty to speak up in their defense, when our leaders ignore their cries.
Think about this: every single second, round the clock, a container-load of stuff leaves a port in China, bound for the United States. That’s an awful lot of stuff, being consumed by a lot of Christians. If everyone in America (and Canada) who claims “Christian” on their census form would boycott Wal*Mart for a month (easy to do), if we all stopped buying things Made in China (most of which, let’s face it, we can do without), perhaps then we’d actually effect a change, or at least make someone notice.
Well, this turned into a rant. All I really wanted to say was that as Christians, we should be championing the cause of all mankind, not just other Christians.