As I sit at my study desk I count a dozen bibles in a number of different translations and paraphrases. There are several more at home, including a pocket bible and New Testament I use when visiting. Through the years I have given away a number of bibles when people have expressed interest in God, Jesus, faith in general. It isn't surprising that ministers share the Good News through scripture.
I noticed yesterday that a Chinese pastor was jailed for three years for the heinous crime of handing out bibles. According to the report in the Toronto Star, Shi Weihan (photo above) is a model Chinese citizen and a kind-hearted man with a sense of social responsibility. He donated funds to send poor kids to school, raised money for those suffering from congenital heart disease, and when the Sichuan earthquake hit, worked tirelessly for the emergency relief effort.
Unfortunately he is the pastor of a house church, a smaller and independent congregation which isn't sanctioned by the government. So he has been sentenced to prison and fined $25,000, leaving a distraught wife and two young daughters.
Not long ago I commented on the 20th anniversary of Tiannamen Square and the reality that while some things have changed, there are still many violations of human rights in China. Christians only have the freedom of religion doled out by a watchful government. This unfair imprisonment brings home the injustices that still exist for people of faith.
5 comments:
He was told last year to stop printing the bibles. He chose not to and he knew that he was breaking the law. He was jailed for printing the bibles not handing them out. He knew he was in danger of going to jail and putting his family at risk. According to some news sources he was very pushy about his Christianity
Are you suggesting that a county is justified in imprisoning someone for three years for printing a book? If that happened in Canada I would imagine that you and the majority of citizens would be up in arms. Here it is difficult to stop freedom of expression, even for those who publish hate literature because we believe in freedom of expression.
Just because he was aware of the risk doesn't make what happened right. The same could be said for those who worked for civil rights in the United States. You can't distribute literature unless it is printed in your own language by someone.
I am not suggesting anything along those lines. My problem is with people forcing their beliefs on other people. I don't feel like I can defend my opinion with out putting down or offending anyone. I just think that people have to be careful about pushing Christianity on to other cultures. It doesn't always help.
Not along ago you defended the right of Tamils in Toronto to assemble and protest, even though it was disruptive. Isn't freedom of religious expression also a human right? I know there are Muslims in China who are being persecuted as well, along with other groups. I think of the words of Pastor Martin Nielmoller who wrote about what happened in Nazi Germany:
In Germany they first came for the Communists,
and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Communist.
Then they came for the Jews,
and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Jew.
Then they came for the trade unionists,
and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a trade unionist.
Then they came for the Catholics,
and I didn't speak up because I was a Protestant.
Then they came for me —
and by that time no one was left to speak up.
It not just Christianity being pushed on others I don't like it is all religions. I do work for human rights in letter writing , protest walks, etc. My problem is with born again people of any faith who push their beliefs on others.
Freedom of religious expression is a human right but forcing beliefs on another human is not.
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