Pastor Sentenced To Chinese Labor Camp
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Pastor Sentenced To Chinese Labor Camp
According to the China Aid Association, Pastor Zhang Zhongxin has been sentenced to two years in a Chinese labor camp by Shandong Province authorities for participation in cultic activities. To American ears, such allegations bring to mind images of passing around poisoned Kool-Aid or of adolescent brides forced to wed lecherous old men; however, in this case this pastor engaged in religious exercises most of us take for granted as harmless as organizing a Sunday school.
Since freedom of religion is listed in the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, it is a duty of the United States to stand for this liberty in any way proper or possible around the world.
Radical multiculturalists will respond that it is not the place of the United States to be spreading American notions around the world as this could be construed as imposing Western values on other societies. However, another axiom of the economic age in which we live posits that the customer is always right.
If the government of the People’s Republic of China wishes to continue to benefit from the financial patronage and cooperation of the United States, it is only reasonable for authorities over there to respect certain inalienable rights held by all individuals irrespective of what regime they happen to live under.
After all, firms here seeking to do business with the government in terms of being granted contracts are expected to honor any number of obligations that go beyond basic human rights such as minority quotas and prevailing union wages.
It is the prayer and hope of believers in Christ around the world that Pastor Zhongxin’s sentence would be commuted or suspended because in the contemporary world citizens embracing Christianity bring stability to a nation rather than disruption. Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ assists both individuals and communities in balancing the seemingly conflicting tendencies towards order and liberty, and in so doing actually makes a nation stronger.
In the Western press, considerable debate has taken place as to the prudence of allowing China to host the 2008 Olympic games. With the eyes of the world turning to that particular nation at this time, there would be no better gesture that China could make to prove it takes its responsibility as a leading power of the 21st century seriously than by guaranteeing that citizens within that country’s borders are free to practice their religion without fear of incarceration or reprisals
by Frederick Meekins
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http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2008/07/28/080728fa_fact_osnos
You may want to read this recent piece from the New Yorker to understand today's China better. Also National Geographic did a great job reporting on China with a recent issue of the magazine.
My wife was born in China and lived through the Cultural Revolution where she almost died. She's now an American citizen. After Mao died, to survive, my wife came to the United States where she gained a second chance. However, China today is not the China of Mao. We travel back and forth often. Things have changed in China, but the government sees any other power like religion as a threat although religions like Christianity is making a comeback there. Are you aware of the Opium Wars and the Taiping Rebellion that took place in the 19th century where Western powers forced China to allow imported Opium to be sold in China and the same treaties forced China to accept Christian missionaries? The Chinese have a long memory and it is the West should consider treading softly where China is concerned. China is a nuclear power currently modernizing their military to match ours, and China is of one the fastest growing economies in the world with a middle class that will soon outnumber the entire population of the United States. It won’t be long before China has more wealth and power than the United States--all the projections say so. As far as China needing to be careful with the United States due to trade, the harsh reality is that it is the United States that must be careful with China. China now owns more than a trillion dollars of our governments debt loaned to the Bush demonstration to keep America afloat. China also is investing several hundred billion dollars a year into American companies. More than three hundred billion in products manufactured in China buy American and international conglomerates pour into the United States each year because our own government encouraged American companies to move manufacturing to other countries like China to cut back on labor costs. China is now the world’s and America’s factory since many of those factories like Ford and GM are joint projects between China and corporations like Ford and GM. China is not dependent on the Untied States. It is the other way around. Cut off China and many products would vanish from shelves causing an economic crash unheard of in the world as stores close and retail jobs vanish. I might also suggest you go to my Website and listen to some of the Podcasts where I have been a guest on talk radio discussing this very topic. The links are on the opening page. My Website is www.mysplendidconcubine.com |
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