Yesterday in worship each person was given the opportunity to write prayers of thanks and concern for others. They were gathered as the "prayers of the people" and offered later in the service.
Freedom was included as both something to be thankful for, and as a desire for others. Someone sought prayers for the most recently named Nobel Peace Prize winner Lui Xiaobo. He languishes in a Chinese prison because he has criticized the miserable record of the Chinese government on human rights. The Chinese government has denounced the award and now Lui's wife is under house arrest.
A number of governments including our own have called for his release but China is steadfastly resistent to international pressure for basic human rights. Granting the Olympics to Beijing was supposed to be the gentle persuasion to join the rest of the world. Perhaps the Chinese have taken that gesture as tacit international approval for anything they choose to do.
On this Thanksgiving Day are you grateful for your freedoms of assembly and speech and worship? What are your thoughts about freedom in the world we live in? Should democratic governments be more emphatic in criticisizing countries such as China which deny fundamental freedoms?
No comments:
Post a Comment