The Olympics, China & Nothing on TV
One would have to be hiding in a cave to not hear about all of the uproar regarding the Beijing Olympics, especially with the Olympic Torch weaving itself throughout the world on its way to the opening ceremony in China.
What was usually an inspiring notion of having the Olympic Torch pass through countries throughout the world on its way to the opening ceremonies, this year has been rife with controversy.
People are using this forum as a way of expressing their outrage at the world allowing China, who has a history of human rights abuse in the most extreme ways, to host the Olympics.
We hear that the human rights abuse in China is such that we should not allow our Canadian players to participate in the Olympics as a protest and then we hear that we cannot mix politics with the purity of the sport and its competition.
One side says that the world cannot allow such recognition to a country that abuses its citizens, demonizes leaders of religions and excludes itself from much of what the whole world agrees to do from copyright infringement to the production of safe products.
The other says that sports and politics must be kept separate. If we allow the mixing of the two then no one would be able to hold the Olympics and the Olympics as a world wide competition would become history.
As Jews, what could be our feelings and out actions on this issue?
I believe that we cannot separate our actions from our ethical beliefs. If China abuses its citizens, persecutes members of different religions and cultures and will not take part in standards of safety and world law then we cannot imagine allowing the Olympics or any other world recognized gathering to be held there.
How can we allow our athletes to travel to a host country that acts in such an openly unjust, immoral and corrupt way? The abuse, murder and persecution of so many people by the Chinese government gives us no choice but to stand up and say no!
They are only athletes you say, leave the politics to the diplomats. Then we join the likes of Hitler’s Germany and Communist Russia who held Olympics and snubbed their nose at people of ethics, people of morality, people of peace. Politics is not just in the realm of the diplomat. It is in the realm of each one of us.
We all must take a stand against the corrupt actions of China and tell it that we will not, we cannot allow it to take a major role in the world stage if it is to continue to do what it does. I once heard from Abbie Hoffman (yes I know he is not often quoted in these pages) that one cannot be a democrat; one must do democracy! If one does not act on his or her ethics, then one loses the ability to do so.
Certainly, we cannot get involved in simple internal political issues, but the abuse that China does, the pain it causes it simply not just a small political issue, it is a statement of their overall outlook on human life and humanity.
It is a major issue and one that we tell the world that we are prepared to overlook, to ignore for the sake of winning a few gold medals in race or another. Our doing so is our running the 50-meter dash on the blood of the abused and high jumping over the bodies of the Tibetans and others abused & murdered by the Chinese regime.
People seem to think that sports, entertainment and the arts should not be politicized. That sports and the like, have to remain pure and be kept aside from the harshness of political reality. Frankly, such a statement is heartless. It puts some type of athletic tradition (one that truly did not exist in any way like today) in front of human life and health.
Yes, the fact is that the Olympic Commission should never have chosen China for the upcoming Olympics. But they did and we have to deal with that reality. Do I have sympathy for the young man or woman who spent hour after hour practising to get this one shot at fame? Yes, I do. No one likes disappointment.
However, when we weigh it against the murderous, corrupt government of the Chinese, I am sorry to say there is no contest.
No truly humanitarian nation should allow its athletes to attend the Olympics in China. By doing so we send to the entire world that Hitler & other horribly rancid dictators and regimes can do what they wish, as long as we get our sports!
One cannot pick and choose when and where to apply ethics. Ethics, morality and simply doing what is right cannot be applied at random. As Jews, as humans, we cannot allow nations like China to act as they do and still expect the world to associate with them.
If we did not learn this from the world’s silence about and during the Holocaust, if we did not learn this from the world’s continued silence of Sederot- then I wonder if we will ever learn it?
If we, the Jews, who have been the victims of such inhumanity time and again, do not take a stand at this juncture, how can we expect the world to take a stand at injustice and tyranny?
Let’s think about this when these issues are raised and stand tall for what is right, even if it hurts and even if it means there will be nothing to watch on TV for a few weeks. I think it very well will be worth it.
Don’t you?
Love to hear your comments.
