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God, let this man lead us.
OK, get ready. I will try to do this in as constructive a way as possible. Be forewarned though, my emotions will most likely get in the way.
Here is the news article. It’s a familiar story, American group has a suitcase full of bibles and wants to “smuggle” them into China, they get stopped at the airport because you are not allowed to bring in suitcases full of Bibles. The police take all the Bibles except one for each person (which is the law) and let’s them into the country and tells them they can pick up the Bibles on the way out. The American group decides to protest and not leave the airport until they are allowed to break the law and take the Bibles to give away.
Before I start you should know this: I am a Christian, I live in Kunming, China (the city where the above took place). I go to an International Church here that has the full blessing of the Chinese government and I am American. I practice common sense while living here just like I would anywhere and I respect the laws of China. My wife is from here, they allow me to practice business here and I am grateful to China for that.
I feel like it is my responsibility to give you the other side of the above “smuggling” story because the underlying tone of what you are reading is not the truth, but it is what permeates the Western Church and Media. What most people read into the news article is this, “China does not allow Bibles, you can’t buy Bibles, you can’t have a Bible in your house, — Bibles are illegal.” This is NOT true!
So, let me put a dent in this observation right now, I’m going to go down the street to the bookstore and buy a Bible… be right back.
(15 minutes later)
OK, so here it is:
So, this myth is completely debunked. I live in the same city that these people were trying to “smuggle” Bibles into and I just went 5 minutes from my house and bought a Bible on the street in a bookstore that can be seen by everyone. They didn’t check my ID, make me sign a paper and it cost me the equivalent of $1.25 (US Dollars). So, why would you smuggle bibles into a place where you can buy Bibles? In my opinion it’s because you are trying to make a statement. Why would try to smuggle Bibles in during the Olympics? Absolutely so you could make a name for yourself, your organization and get some free advertising along the way. Now, I honestly don’t have a big problem with all of this, I will get to what makes me furious later.
Yes, China does not allow you to bring in suitcases full of Bibles much like America does not allow you to bring in suitcases full of oranges. Any country has a right to control what is imported into their land. The leader of the group that would not leave knew this even though in the article he said he didn’t:
“The authorities at the airport kept asking us to leave and producing pieces of paper which they said proved that bringing more than one Bible per person into the country was illegal,” Pat Klein, the leader of the group from Sheridan, Wyo., told the Times. “But it all looked bogus to us.”
The law was translated into English when the U.S. Embassy became involved, the British newspaper said.
“We didn’t know about the law,” Klein said.
You didn’t know about the law? From your website it seems you are just not respecting the law. Here is a video of Mr. Klein, who just said he didn’t know about the law, speaking about another recent trip to China in which he had Bibles confiscated. Short memory I guess…
I could go on and on about this guy, his group, but it’s pointless, there are a hundred groups like this, I would say most of them are well-meaning but I think extremely misguided and not likely to change.
Here is the problem: There are amazing Christians here in China who have been here a long time who are respecting the laws of China. They are helping the sick, the poor, and most importantly they are showing LOVE to people who have not seen huge amounts before. Groups like the one who had their 15 minutes of fame at the airport are sowing fear about China. They keep people from coming long-term and they are putting people who are doing great works here at risk.
In the same book they were trying to “sneak” into China it says something very interesting:
“Don’t pick on people, jump on their failures, criticize their faults— unless, of course, you want the same treatment. That critical spirit has a way of boomeranging. It’s easy to see a smudge on your neighbor’s face and be oblivious to the ugly sneer on your own. Do you have the nerve to say, ‘Let me wash your face for you,’ when your own face is distorted by contempt? It’s this whole traveling road-show mentality all over again, playing a holier-than-thou part instead of just living your part. Wipe that ugly sneer off your own face, and you might be fit to offer a washcloth to your neighbor.”
Here is a good article about the current state of Bible printing here in China.
Comments are welcome, would love to know what you think…
Everything that’s wrong with American Christianity’s link to right-wing politics in one easy to view video:
Last night Abby had her 4th Chinese dance class. Here is a short video of her, she loves it!
please God, let this man be the next president
A pretty scary thing happened in our city this morning. At least 3 buses were bombed very close to where we live and close to our salon business. I love taking the bus but common sense says not to do it anymore until after the Olympics are over. Melody and I were just on the bus last night. Here is a BBC report about the bombings:
I am a fan of common sense (although common sense is relative). A few months ago I got on this website’s bandwagon and signed their petition to tap into some of America’s resources. Yeah, I know it’s Newt Gingrich, but when someone is speaking with common sense it doesn’t matter who it is. I will vote for Obama because he has the most common sense approach to taking on our country’s issues. Anyway, I hate party labels because they override common sense. (i.e “I am a Democrat so I must support abortion rights” or “I am a Republican so I must support the war.”) When you adopt a party label you abandon certain abilities to think for yourself.
Anyway, sorry for the rambling, what I was trying to show you was this clip from Fox News about off-shore drilling possibly being good for the environment. I’ll admit it seems a stretch but being more oil independent makes so much sense I am willing to listen.
Greetings friends from back in the land of the red. I’m really glad to be back home here even if it is the rainy season and the streets are flooded once a week. After spending 3 months in the US Abby was not speaking Chinese anymore and even when Melody would speak to her in Chinese she would respond in English. Not to worry though, after around 4 days back here in Kunming she had resumed her command of her 3 languages (English, Mandarin Chinese, and Kunming-hua). Amazing. Wish I could tap into some of that brainpower. Her grandparents here put her into a Chinese dance class which she started last week. Here is a video of her dancing away, fun stuff! BTW, Abby is just to the right of the teacher, 2nd row back. The tall one.
thanks to Allen for telling me about this one…