11 Then the priests and the prophets said to the officials and all the people, “This man should be sentenced to death because he has prophesied against this city. You have heard it with your own ears!” Jeremiah 26 NIV
8/17/08 China – It is not an accident that the 2008 Summer Olympic Games have the feel of a religious revival – emotion-packed, unifying and ceremonial.
After all, the Olympics began centuries ago as a religious festival devoted to the Greek gods. The original physical contests were sandwiched between processions, sacrifices, altar rituals and banquets. The modern Games, re-established in 1894, used religious elements including the lighting of the Olympic flame, which parallels the ritual performed by vestal virgins at the ancient altar to Hera in Olympia, the Olympic oath that all athletes and officials repeat in unison, and the opening and closing procession of athletes to create an almost supernatural experience.
Beijing’s outsized Opening Ceremony last week fit well within the tradition. It celebrated ancient Chinese traditions, even alluding to sacred texts, Confucian sayings and practices like tai chi.
However, there was one symbolic moment in the extravaganza that revealed China’s unique perspective. Rather than choosing representatives such as astronaut John Glenn, Nobel Prize winner Desmond Tutu of South Africa, Australian champion Cathy Freeman and other notables to carry the Olympic flag as Salt Lake City organizers did in 2002, goose-stepping Chinese military carried Beijing’s flag.
China has long been deeply suspicious of religion, beginning with the Maoist era. At that time, Communist Party officials forbade religious activity by its members or the population. They destroyed thousands of Buddhist monasteries, imprisoned Catholic priests, shut down Christian churches and expelled all foreign missionaries. Eventually, the government permitted five major religions- Buddhism, Taoism, Catholicism, Christianity and Islam – to continue as long as they allowed the state to approve and control their practices. The state even appointed its own Catholic bishops, rather than giving that authority to the pope. It selected an alternative Panchen Lama, a high Tibetan Buddhist official, rather than endorsing the one recognized by Tibetans, and forbids even a single photo of the exiled spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama. The government outlawed Falun Gong – a 20th-century spiritual movement that promotes breathing and movements to purify the soul – and severely punishes its practitioners.
It’s a control issue, says Janet Theiss, director of the Asian Center at the University of Utah.
“These officials care very little about belief, but they do care about people’s behavior and organizational activities,” says Theiss, a professor of Chinese history. “They don’t want religion to become a force for an anti-government movement.”
The Chinese leaders cannot allow Chinese Catholics to revere the pope, or anyone who would challenge believers’ loyalty to the state. Tibetan Buddhism is closely tied to the independence movement, and Falun Gong resembles the traditional, millennarian Chinese practices of Taoism and Buddhism that threatened previous dynastic regimes.
“Memory of that is powerful in China,” Theiss says.
In response to state control, some Christians began to worship together secretly in small groups, known as “house churches.” Since the 1970s, the house church movement has grown exponentially. Even with all the state restrictions, religious activity in contemporary China seems to be surging.
A recent survey on religion concluded that the number of people who describe themselves as religious is a startling three times more than the official estimate, China Daily reported. The poll of about 4,500 people, conducted by professors at Shanghai-based East China Normal University starting in 2005, found that 31.4 percent of Chinese aged 16 and above, or about 300 million, are religious. About 200 million are Buddhists, Taoists or worshippers of legendary figures such as the Dragon King and God of Fortune, and 40 million are Christian, according to 2006 Pew Global Attitudes Project.
Times have changed, and the Communist Party has changed with them, says Paul Hyer, a retired Brigham YoungUniversity expert on China.
Hyer, who taught for three years at a Chinese university and still reads Chinese newspapers every day, says there are several thousand Chinese members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Most joined abroad and now meet in homes.
“A party leader in one province told me young people would rather join a church than the party,” he says.
Now a new kind of Chinese church is emerging: the urban house church, not part of either the state church or the traditional “underground” church. But it is not clear how long such churches can operate without governmental interference.
“They still operate in a gray area, legally speaking,” writes Rob Moll, who spent several weeks last year in Hong Kong and Beijing talking with urban house church leaders for Christianity Today. “Much of their activity has been considered illegal in the past, and though the government seems to be loosening restrictions, churches have no guarantee this will last.”
How can I begin to put into words what the 20th Anniversary Celebration meant to Nancy and me. Our family is blessed.
W. E. B. Du Bois reminded me: “The most important thing to remember is this: To be ready at any moment to give up what you are for what you might become”.
A lot of things have changed. Change is inevitable, except from vending machines. Being ready at any moment to give up what we are for what we will become is of the highest importance. We are different than the couple that climbed out of our cars August 1988. We are very different. Sometimes change is very difficult. Change has also been good for us. However, there is one thing that has never changed: God is the one constant in all of our lives. He has been so good to our family. Southside Baptist Church has been good to our family. We are thankful for 20 years and look forward to what God has in store for all of us.
My bride, Nancy, is celebrating her birthday today. She is “none-of-your-business” years old today. Last night we did as we always do, gathered at George’s Drive In to celebrate her birthday. George and Angie have been celebrating birthdays with us for years. It is good to have them as part of our extended family. Debbie Cribb, Nancy’s best friend and cohort in crime, and her husband Randy are all part of this process. It was good to enjoy being together.
