In China.
CBS News says Bush was "trying to send a message to China's leaders," by starting his day by attending church services. He and Laura Bush took front-row seats at Gangwashi Church, one of five officially recognized Protestant churches in Beijing.
After the hour-long service, President Bush spoke with reporters:
It wasn't all that long ago that people were not allowed to worshipIf you have to go to China, visit Gangwashi Church, even if you're not religious. Even though it's a state-sanctioned church, it wouldn't hurt to get Beijing used to the idea that faith in God or some other higher power will not destroy them.
openly in this society. My hope is that the government of China will not fear the Christians who gather to worship openly. A healthy society is a society that welcomes all faiths.
Why is it necessary to attend Sunday services in order to make a political statement? My mom always attends Mass on Sunday even when she travels.
ReplyDelete"If you have to go to China..."? China isn't just the Communist Party. It is more than one billion people. I'm glad I got to understand China better by living there for a few years.
Westerners stomping around houses of worship isn't going to persuade Beijing to ease up on religious restrictions; to the contrary, visible Western involvement in Chinese religious activities strengthens the belief in the government that Westerners use religion to manipulate Chinese people. Rather than teaching the Chinese a lesson in religious tolerance, Bush needs to go back home and re-examine the separation of church and state in the US, where creationism is considered science, and Air Force Academy cadets are subjected to proselytizing organized and encouraged by academy staff.
Why is it necessary to attend Sunday services in order to make a political statement?
ReplyDeleteSolidarity with people who are struggling to exercise their right to freedom of faith.
Would you think it wrong if people attended a mosque in, say, a part of North America where Muslims are being persecuted, to show solidarity?
My mom always attends Mass on Sunday even when she travels.
My mom used to do that. I've been to church in some strange places.
Is your mom trying to make a political statement?
"If you have to go to China..."? China isn't just the Communist Party. It is more than one billion people. I'm glad I got to understand China better by living there for a few years.
Maybe that came out wrong. By "if you have to go to China," I didn't mean that China should be avoided. I meant that if you have business or something in China.
I have been to China many times. Beijing, Guilin, Guangzhou, Jiangxi, etc. I love the place. I think the people I've met there are, for the most part, great people. I enjoyed it.
And that's one reason I feel even more animosity of the Chinese government, because of what they are doing to these wonderful people.
Westerners stomping around houses of worship isn't going to persuade Beijing to ease up on religious restrictions;
No, but it might cause their apprehension of religion to lessen the more they see people practice their faith and the sky doesn't come crashing down.
to the contrary, visible Western involvement in Chinese religious activities strengthens the belief in the government that Westerners use religion to manipulate Chinese people.
Attending is involvement? Maybe. But unless the "Westerners" are managing the religious activities themselves, I don't see anything wrong with it.
And I wonder how much manipulation there can be when the "Westerners" don't even have their collective act together. Both of the two most recent popes, for example, have been very vocal about their opposition to Bush's war.
Rather than teaching the Chinese a lesson in religious tolerance, Bush needs to go back home and re-examine the separation of church and state in the US,
I don't disagree with you. But those are separate issues. I think you're right, though, that Bush's message of religious tolerance would be stronger if he had a sense of separation of church and state more in line with the founding fathers.
"Is your mom trying to make a political statement?"
ReplyDeleteNo, and that's exactly my point. I don't know whose spin it was to turn a Sunday worship service into a "lesson" to China.
"No, but it might cause their apprehension of religion to lessen the more they see people practice their faith and the sky doesn't come crashing down"
Seeing Westerners attending services won't make the Chinese feel more comfortable. The Chinese know that the Chinese government is much more repressive with its own people than with foreigners, especially Westerners.
"Attending is involvement? Maybe. But unless the "Westerners" are managing the religious activities themselves, I don't see anything wrong with it.
And I wonder how much manipulation there can be when the "Westerners" don't even have their collective act together. Both of the two most recent popes, for example, have been very vocal about their opposition to Bush's war."
There are a fair number of Western and Korean missionaries working in China. I respect the humanitarian work that they do, especially the Korean missionaries who are risking their lives to help North Korean refugees. The Western community of Qingdao benefitted greatly from the medical services of two American missionary doctors. The missionaries I knew were smart enough to stay under the radar. If Western missionaries violate Chinese law and openly proselytize among the Chinese, the Westerners will simply be expelled, but local Chinese may be imprisoned.
I do not see Western missionary activities as manipulation, but that is how the Chinese government sees them. Only the Chinese people themselves can change their government's view of religion. Westerners trying to "teach China a lesson" will only achieve the opposite of the religious tolerance that they seek for their fellow believers in China.
For Bush, it is ok to believe in god as long as it is his. I am sure he cares little for freedom of religion in China, just wants more souls for his crackpot view on the world.
ReplyDelete