Next month in Beijing, hundreds of people on drugs will run around in circles and throw things. I’ve heard various people here, enthused with the passion of the sacred flame, saying that this is the most important thing that has ever happened in China - displaying either a disturbing lack of knowledge of Chinese history or a very strange interpretation of it.
On Tuesday, to mark the one-month countdown to the great event, the China Daily gave us “30 reasons to watch the Beijing Games.” These include having the highest number of foreign coaches, the most mascots, the creation of a “170-page Chinese Menu in English Version” and the fact that 4,104 unfortunate babies have been named Aoyun (Olympics).
The four billion people who are expected to watch the games obviously don’t need persuading. But as one of the two and a half billion people who are not expected to watch the games, I find the China Daily’s list somewhat unconvincing.
However, remembering that Bibles are not banned in Beijing, here’s a 31st reason:
Athletes, officials, spectators and tourists can pick up the Bible or just the New Testament for free during the Olympic Games next month.
Tens of thousands of copies of the Bible, the New Testament and booklets with just the four Gospels (according to Matthew, Mark, Luke and John) have been printed for the purpose, say officials of China’s Christian society.
According to Reverend Xu Xiaohong, “this is the first time an Olympics logo will be used on a religious booklet.” As with the China Daily’s list, I’m not entirely convinced by Reverend Xu’s assessment that this is “especially significant.” However, it does cast a new light on the Beijing Running Man symbol. In this context, he could perhaps be Jesus nailed to a red door instead of a cross. Or, maybe, Jesus deciding he’s changed his mind and making a run for it.
Reverend Xu (and a few hundred million other people) probably wouldn’t agree with me on that. I should be less blasphemous, more respectful and remember that “the Olympic spirit and the spirit of living a ‘purpose-driven life’ that Christians believe in come together in the combination.”
My problem is that despite eight years of publicity, I still don’t know what the Olympic spirit really is. I became even more confused about this after the Olympic torch relay in Tibet when I read the following:
The Olympic motto of Citius, Altius, Fortius - faster, higher, stronger - may have been intended as an inspiration for athletes but for this year’s games hosts, China, it has also become a rallying call to suppress dissent in Tibet.
At an Olympic torch relay ceremony in Lhasa last week, the Tibetan capital’s most senior Communist party official cited the 84-year-old motto to exhort listeners to crack down on “splittist” supporters of the Dalai Lama, Tibet’s exiled spiritual leader.
“Encouraged by the Olympic spirit of ‘Faster, Higher, Stronger’, Lhasa people of all nationalities will . . . resolutely smash the Dalai clique’s scheme to destabilise Tibet, sabotage the Olympics and split the motherland,” said the Lhasa party secretary Qin Yizhi.
As with many statements from party and government officials in Tibet, my first thought was: surely he didn’t really say that! It must be a mistranslation. But, as always, it wasn’t. He really did say that. The Olympic spirit according to Cartman.
Then again, this isn’t as bad as many parts of the Bible that aren’t in the Olympic Gospels booklet - the bits that exhort us to slaughter every man, woman, child and beast in conquered territories, or require us to execute anyone who works on Saturdays.
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I have been following this blog for a few months now, and I’m happy you started posting again!
Is Christianity that popular in China??
The Cartman-like statement has been heard, implicitly and explicitly, under so many forms, and so many flags…
I think that in the end, China is going to have its way.
Even if it makes blunders that are broadcast worldwide, it is now immune to open criticism. Acting out of self-righteous anger in the face of opposition is so much more efficient than open debate. Abroad, people have to watch their mouths when talking about China in front of a camera. Fiat, Dior and Coca-Cola have discovered that even making adverts with Buddhist monks in them can be dangerous for their reputation.
@Jeremy
Christians are, and I think always will be, a minority in China. But they still add up to a lot of people. Hard to tell how many because there are so many wildly different estimates. This post at Shanghaiist is worth reading.
“Jesus nailed to a red door instead of a cross.” It’s rare that I find myself choking/laughing on my morning coffee while reading the China blogs.
My name is Hyeji Jin and I am a summer intern working at OhmyNews International (http://english.ohmynews.com/).
OhmyNews(http://www.ohmynews.com) is the premier online citizen journalism site in Korea and we are sending our citizen reporters to cover the Olympic Games in Beijing.
It would be great if you and your community can participate in our efforts to learn more about the Beijing Games. We would appreciate any information and advice you have.
We welcome you to participate the OhmyNews community and share your ideas and issues about the Games. You can write about sporting or non-sporting topics. You can post articles, blogposts, microblog, put up photos and even send videos..
Email :ohmynewsolympics@gmail.com
Hope to hear from you soon.
THank you!
Interesting observations and very funny. But I’d be surprised if those Bibles aren’t controlled in distribution to just foreign visitors - in part to try to convince them that religion is wide open in China - which it isn’t. My pastor in Shanghai has to have his sermons okayed by local gov’t before he can give them. There are many ways that the Chinese gov’t limits religious freedom while making a show of tolerating it.
By the way, why do you post from Tibet, China. Which of the two nations are you in?
Does China have religious freedom? Please ask the house church Christians. The Olympic Bible is printed by the government-sanctioned Three-Self church. Their religious obligation is: Love country, Love Religion. Read: Follow CCP.
“Then again, this isn’t as bad as many parts of the Bible that aren’t in the Olympic Gospels booklet - the bits that exhort us to slaughter every man, woman, child and beast in conquered territories, or require us to execute anyone who works on Saturdays.”
Where exactly are those parts? I’ve read the Bible many times and don’t recall them.
For example:
Slaughtering enemies: 1 Samuel 15
Execution for working on the Sabbath: Exodus 31.15
Thanks! I’m still not sure it’s fair to say that there are “many” parts of the Bible that are like that (many relative to the total length or to the general, overall message), but I have to admit that you found at least two specific passages that fit your examples.
I am not too sure how exactly you got this light of the message of Jesus. Both the parts you have chosen is from the Old Testament. The message of the cross is so much beyond the Old Testament. There is one more Testament which we call the New Testament, which is the message of love and Jesus died on the cross for all humanity.
For your sins, my sins …. and the sins of all mankind he hung on the cross and died the worst kind of death, so that we might have eternal life with Jesus in heaven. God loves just as you are, no matter what you have been through.
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