From pollution to crackdowns on reporters, the Olympics have served to highlight many of the aspects of Chinese life that officials wanted to conceal. Now, a group of American Christians are refusing to leave an airport after the Chinese seized hundreds of bibles in their luggage. A custom official insists that they are merely “taking care” of the Bibles for them.
Pat Klein said he and three others from his Vision Beyond Borders group saw their Bibles seized at the Kunming airport — taken from their checked luggage.
China controls the printing and access to Bibles as a threat to Communist rule.
Klein said the customs officers had told him that they could each have one Bible for personal use.
For the full story, click here.
When are you leaving-again?
So ‘we’ the three musketeers, mike, mespo and me (I), can mark our calendars in gleeful anticipation… 🙂
etc etc etc – niblet aka dundar aka martha aka martha h aka bartlebee aka zakimar aka cromag’non’man aka jim winchester
http://jonathanturley.org/2008/07/28/getting-right-with-god-church-shooter-allegedly-targeted-knoxville-church-due-to-its-liberal-views/
mespo727272 1, July 29, 2008 at 3:07 pm
Patty C:
Unless we see more, you’ve won with the “under” bet since he only went for 7 hysterical replies. I am guessing more is to come, but I am willing to concede defeat. I also think we should nominate Gyges for the Euphemism Award after our hero’s diatribe against him for something he didn’t say and in response to a question to someone other than our comical friend. “Wordy”, how’s that for avoiding the real thing? Bravo Gyges! I haven’t wanted this to be competitive, but in my sport we do know victory is at hand when we get into the head of the opponent. We’re there and it’s vast, desolate, and scary. Yikes!
jonathanturley 1, July 30, 2008 at 8:01 am
BARTLEBEE:
I have removed three of your comments which included foul language directed at another person. This site is committed to civil discourse. I do not want to bar or censor anyone on a site that has free speech focus, but we need to maintain a minimal standard of civility in discourse. Also, I would appreciate it if you would try to combine some of your comments rather than have four or five one-line comments following in one after another. The problem is that there is a limit on the number of comments which appear on the opening page. We welcome continued exchanges and dialogues. However, having four comments in an uninterrupted line prevents other comments from being visible for the other readers on the home page comments column.
JT
BARTLEBEE 1, July 30, 2008 at 2:07 pm
No problem JT.
Since you permit bloggers like mespo and patty to attack new bloggers, unprovoked, and litteraly badger them until they finally retort with some uncivility of their own, and then penalize the blogger who dares respond to the non stop stalking attacks of your two favorite friends, I will do you one better.
I’ll leave your blog and never post in it again.
You guys spend your days damning the right for cronyism, yet clearly it is a dual standard when it comes to your own.
Notice not one word to mespo or patty, about their non stop attacks on me.
Not one word about how they follow me from thread to thread, insult me, harrass me, demonize me, and generally try and interfere with my comments to other bloggers.
Just let them piss me off enough to wear I might use some questionable language, and then walla. Here comes the teacher to chastize me for responding to these two GOONS you keep on hand to drive out anyone who won’t goosestep to the blog beat.
This isn’t a vehicle for free expression, nor does the free speech you so loudly proclaim on Countdown exist here.
What you have here, is an “ECHO CHAMBER”, where bully liberals like messpo and patty c, are permitted to drive out new bloggers by badgering them until they either leave, or react in a way that draws your rebuke.
Well, you can “say” you don’t like to censor all you want, but you just censored me, and without so much as an inkling of alluding to the bloggers, who harrassed me until I finaly let loose with some bad language, obviously to try and discourage them from talking to me.
I don’t talk that way, it should have been obvious to you that my intent was to make it unpleasent for them to keep harrassing me.
But apparently that was neither visible to you, or you just didn’t care. Either way, I won’t hang out in an ECHO CHAMBER, where left WINGNUTS like Patty and your pal messpo, are permitted to badger bloggers, but responses from those bloggers are censored and stifled.
I really thought you believed the stuff you say on Countdown, and who knows, maybe you do.
You just don’t practice it yourself.
So I will bid you good morning sir, and leave you to your ECHO CHAMBER, so you guys can “talk” about free speech.
😀
Oh… and in case I don’t see you, good afternoon, good evening, and goodnight.
******************
When are you leaving-again? So we can mark our calendars in gleeful anticipation…
“Rusty Freedom”: I honestly cannot tell whether you reply is a satire or just horribly reasoned.
I suppose your point, in a nutshell, is that the repression of honest choice in faith, the denial of one’s free selection in matters of what is right and/or true, should be upheld and continue – and is justified – because it is the law of the land.
I respectfully disagree. So did a band of separatists who left England to come to America and eventually found this country.
I also take issue with “Zakimar”‘s flame about “dictating” religion: preaching [proper preaching, anyway] *presents* a choice – it does not impose one.
I agree Mr. Klein is hardly being sincere (or totally clueless), yet considering the system he’s facing, he may in fact be severely constrained as to what he can say or what is the latitude of his defense.
Jesus made no statement literally containing the phrase “law of the land”; however, in broad strokes, the message of the New Testament, especially in the Book of Acts, is that, while they are commanded to be blameless and law-abiding, in the face of being commanded strictly to not preach, that “we ought to obey God rather than men – for we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard”.
One cannot properly interpret events involving (or revolving around) Christianity until one consistently makes the distinction between the conduct of Christians (and in a larger sense, the views of Christendom) versus the actual teachings and practices of Christ. Case in point here is the Taipeng rebellion. A quick check on a well-known factual website made it clear enough that – very similar to Rome’s emperor Constantine – this rebellion has its roots not in Christian **preaching** per se – but in the delusional vision of one Hong Xiuquan claiming to have a vision from God that he was Jesus’ brother. Moreover, this occured shortly after he’d failed certain tests for conventional Chinese ruling legitimacy (& thus he sought out alternate certifications). That’s kind of a clue that all events downstream from that aren’t going to be truly Christian and thus have no business being charged against Christianity. Very regrettable, but obviously counterfeit.
Same kinda’ thing regarding the Opium wars: colossally shameful, and another huge blot on Christendom, but I think you know Jesus didn’t tell them to deal dope.
I oppose both any imposition OR prohibition of faith, by groups or governments. This is the essence of freedom of speech and religion. If you believe obeying the “law of the land” is the key issue – then you really should emmigrate to China; but as for me, I know that verse you were vaguely fishing for actually reads “..render unto Caesar that which is Caesar’s, and unto God that which is God’s.”
It’s a shame there are people like this, who refuse to respect the law by smuggling – against Jesus’ admonition to obey the law of the land.
The article states…
“Klein (the director of Vision Beyond Borders) said he’s been bringing Bibles into China for 21 years and had no idea he was breaking Chinese law.”
This is either an outright LIE, or the director is mentally disturbed. He is a smuggler for 21 years and didn’t think to ask anyone about the law? I believe that he knows the law, and chooses to be a criminal.
The CNN article also states…
“We’re being inconvenienced a little, but it’s nothing compared to what our brothers and sisters in China experience for their faith in Jesus Christ,” Klein said.”
Klein needs to read a bit of recent history before he makes outrageous statements like this.
The fact is, NO country has suffered more at the hands of the Christian religion than China.
Christianity was forcibly introduced in China by the Opium Smugglers. This eventually resulted in a civil war when the Christians tried to wipe out Buddhism, Confucianism, and all other differing systems of thought. This is known as the Taipeng Rebellion and between 20 and 30 MILLION innocent people were killed simply because they did not believe in Jesus.
Please respect China’s laws and the individuals right to protection from overt proselytizing – and feel free to pray in your closet.
China knows clearly the danger in allowing total ‘freedom of religion’.
A Son of the American Revolution
China has all the propaganda and fiction it needs without zealots trying to smuggle in more!!
Hope they have a nice sleep over in the Chinese airport. Maybe a sing along…what idiocy…
My fantasy art project for the Chinese govt.–take the bibles, grab copies of the little red book, tear out all the pages from both books, throw them in the air and paste back into each book randomly.
This is outrageous. To those christians who would like to see a “christian theocracy” in this nation: state sponsored worship is for fascists countries, not for democracies. As Qin Gang says,
“Chinese citizens enjoy freedom of religion in accordance with the law.”
I don’t understand how ‘missionaries’ feel they have a right to dictate their religion onto ‘foreigners’, isn’t that so 18th century? If they want to set up shop in their own country, no problem, but I know how much people around here hate being bothered by Jehovah’s Witnesses coming to their door. I wonder how much more annoying it would be if those JW where ‘foreigners’ pushing atheism?
Avoid anything that says “made in china”.