China said Thursday that Bibles are not banned from the Olympic Games amid recent furor over reports that Beijing would not allow foreign athletes from carrying Bibles during the upcoming Games.
The officially atheist government also reiterated past promises, saying it will guarantee religious freedom during the Summer Olympics in Beijing next year.
“The Chinese government has made no such stipulations,” reported foreign ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao, in response to the alleged Bible ban.
"China's law will guarantee religious freedom during the Olympics. What will not be allowed is bringing in Bibles for distribution or propaganda," he said, according to Agence France-Presse.
Athletes, journalists, and tourists will be allowed to bring worship items, including the Bible, for personal use, said the official.
The report that China was banning Bibles at the Games was published by the Catholic News Agency, which cited the Italian sports daily La Gazzetta dello Sport and Spanish daily La Razon.
News quickly spread including in the U.S. Capitol, prompting Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) to reprimand the Chinese ambassador to the United States on Wednesday, according to The Herald.
“This would be contrary to the Olympic spirit,” Graham said to reporters after the meeting. “It would be a totalitarian move that would create problems between China and the United States far beyond what we have today.”
Rep. Thaddeus McCotter of Michigan also made a speech about the Bible ban on the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives on Wednesday. He introduced a resolution condemning the attack on Christianity and called on Beijing to allow the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom or another international human rights group to have unrestricted access to events to ensure the protection of religious people.
However, China dismissed the Bible ban as “sheer rumor” and said its religious affairs authorities and the Beijing Olympic organizing committee “have not” and “could not” issue a ban on Bibles in the Olympic village, Liu said according to Xinhua news agency.
Currently, Bibles in China are printed solely under government supervision and can only be sold only at approved churches. Many Chinese Christians, however, choose to worship in unregistered house churches because they argue Jesus Christ is the head of the church and not the Chinese government. Registered churches are for the most part controlled by the government.
Notably, the official 2008 Games website advises visitors to not bring more than one Bible.
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Hey Muggleborn,...lol its been ESPECIALLY entertaining blogging with you my friend,...I hope you don`t consider it a waste posting your comments I would have paid good money either way Happy T-day.....
Everyone gets to take their Bibles to the Bejing Olympics,....and I think the story continues now, "And everyone lived happily ever after"......Nice Nice stuff.......
da6383ma - I was actually coming back to apologize, even before I read your last post. I really deserved to be chewed out for flying off the handle like that. I appreciate your understanding, and realize that you DO care ... sometimes I forget that being lead by the Holy Spirit means that we could choose to tread carefully from time to time, rather than charging forward with guns blazing.
And in short ... I could've just said it all "nicer" :^) God bless.
Not trying to "beat it up too much", Muggleborn but I WAY care about being a "humble person" also......I read alot of this stuff to get educated,....not like I`m the smartest person in the world.....THANKS...........
Too-Shay,...Muggleborn,......I get where your coming from,.......Not that this is`nt an AMAZINGLY amount of research and redtape but I truly appreciate you coming back at it like that........
Where no credible source was attributed to what authority in China announced the Olympic bible ban, I suspect the story was the fabrication of an overzealous "Christian" Not that I'm saying that the Chinese are always truthful
Here's another idea ... Let's bill China for the classified nuclear info they "obtained" from us a while back. With compounded interest rates dating back from the early 80's .... hmmm *calculating*, I'd say it's worth about ... oh ... $12 Trillion. There! We're even. Satisfied???
da6383ma - Well ... with the dollar spinning around the global economic toilet bowl as fast as it is ...*WHOOOSH!*, why don't you just invest in gold (or lead maybe), Ford Motor Company, and the Euro ASAP? They're gonna sell all there holdings anyway.
BTW ... I didn't know common courtesy meant depriving any of God's children of a chance at eternal salvation. We're talking about courtesy to a government that ACTUALLY REQUIRES TIBETAN MONKS TO GET FORMAL PERMISSION BEFORE THEY CAN RE-INCARNATE ... never mind that it's misguided, but it's pretty sad when your governing body has the spiritual equivalent of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder.
And anyway ... What 'r they gonna do 'bout it? There are IPs in Europe and Australia too. Websites do exist outside of this country. Let's get our friends across the pond on board.
Well guess what ZENODADDY AND MUGGLEBORN? Do you also realize that this Country is more that 12 TRILLION dollars in debtedness to Chinaright now as we speak and maybe 2 TRILLION dollars in debt to Japan too? So,.....somewhere along the line where do you wanna EXCLUDE a common courtesy however so slight?
China is just experiencing a "Growing Pain" with just recently becoming a major "World Export"
I disagree. I don't think we are seeing more laziness on China's part. I don't think there is more lead paint in toys today then there have been in the past 10 years... I think the reason why this is coming out, well, it is called 'politics'.
We are making a point to China that we control their economy. They have been pushing us for the past 5+ years with their various 'incidents' and this is basically payback.
>> Let some Communist Chinese come to the USA and start passing out the 'Little Red Book' of Mao's teaching
We have tons of that stuff being pushed on us all time, here in the U.S. by U.S. citizens ... Ever see that freaky PBS special with Wayne Dyer, "Power of Intentions"? ... Typical New Age claptrap.
On the subject of worldwide evangelization, we should take as much advantage as possible of the Internet, and make every legitimate translation of the Bible available in Mandarin (and English for that matter) to the whole world. The first thing to do to get through any government filters could simply be to load it into web pages with ASP (a lot harder to identify keywords with a search). Other tricks are available. We could even be making use of IRC channels and P2P networks, offering Word files, or good ol' ASCII text. Then use buzz words, code phrases or whatever ... forgive me for sounding so clandestine :^) that people could spread by "word of mouth". When the sites are discovered and filtered, we simply change the addresses, and/or domains and repeat.
If we're really in a spiritual war, we may want to start thinking like spiritual warriors.
Thanks DOC888,.....that is really to the point,.....China means no harm,...just they have a different way of doing things there,...(I`ve been to Korea twice,....kinda same concept) And alot of people think China is malicely trying to harm the US by sending toys with all the lead paint,....I don`t think thats a true story either,.....China is just experiencing a "Growing Pain" with just recently becoming a major "World Export"....
Having been to China 67 times since President Nixon's trip and as Chairman of the U. S.-China Education Foundation, Inc., sending 3500 students, teachers, professors, it could be I know something about the situation. Many who write do not. Let some Communist Chinese come to the USA and start passing out the 'Little Red Book' of Mao's teaching (which few people in China believe) most of you who are critical of the Chinese Government's attitude and laws would be first in line to throw rocks, raise all kind of noise asking they be put in jail. China does not belong to anyone but the Chinese. We have every right to let them know where we stand as Americans, as Christians, as free people. But if we believe in our own definition of freedom they have exactly the same right. Most of what I read is not serious thinking but just re-arranging and expressing prejudices. If anyone seriously wants to know what to do, do what I have done every trip. Take your Bible and leave it there. Also, think outside the box, outside your meager experience and look at the New Testament method of changing the world. Break the laws of Rome and you were whipped, crucified, or sent to jail. But the Christians of that day change the world not by talking or trying to Change the laws of Rome. They just outlived, out loved and out did the Romans, but in Jesus way. Try it. You will like it. And it works better than any other way...for He is The Way, The Truth and The Life. God bless America. God bless China for Christianity is growing faster there than anywhere in the world. Those Christians need your prayers. They are doing better there than we are here. What does that say?
Let's get to the bottom line. Yes, Bibles for distribution are banned in China! This fact is not a rumor. It is the truth. So much for religious freedom in China.
Let's ban the Olympics in 2008! It should be for personal domestic purposes within China and not for distribution outside of China.
The way i view it, is that Bibles are allowed to bring in Bibles but only for personal use....not to be given out in an attempt to witness to people.
Yup,..Crossfire I understand it that way too,....I heard China is "outlawing" Bibles is general,.. but they are permitting individuals having Bibles during the Olympics..Pretty Interesting...
China's really smart ... seems to me that there is no "official Bible ban" but that there is "unofficial BibleS ban" (plural). I have a feeling any person who brings more than one Bible will encounter some problems.