Living in Beijing for the past year (2015) has made me appreciate the freedoms I once took for granted. I firmly believe our country is headed in the wrong direction, but we as Americans still have it better than most and can turn it around with GOD’s help.
I’m not happy with some of our elected officials, but at least I can have a say in who gets elected. The Chinese suppressed that idea in Hong Kong. They were a little restrained because of the media attention and a crackdown might hurt the business that brings so much money into their country. Voting is an idea the rest of China doesn’t even dream of.
We can complain about the job our officials are doing back home and are free to organize protests to convince them to change their decisions. The only complaints allowed in China are those that follow the party line. Protests are organized by the Chinese government to pressure foreign governments. The Tiananmen Square massacre was China’s answer to public discontent.
There is no shortage of critics of US news, with a strong political bias coloring most reports. China doesn’t have that problem, because they only tolerate the official opinion. Both BBC and CNN news can be seen on cable TV, but the television goes dark and quiet when the government doesn’t agree with a news story. News organizations won’t be allowed to enter the country if they publish negative stories about China. That ever-present threat taints any news you hear about them, even overseas.
China is very “connected” and the internet is wildly popular and heavily used. It is also completely controlled. The “Great Firewall of China” limits what the Chinese people see and hear. The government protects their people from Facebook, Twitter, Google and many other staples of the US and world internet. Chinese versions of these services are extremely successful, because their 1.3 billion people don’t really have another option.
In the US we have seen Christianity expelled from public schools, evicted from public property, and added to lists of dangerous groups. Christians are labeled intolerant and are compelled to support acts and lifestyles they disagree with. In spite of all that, we can still gather and worship as we chose, as long as we keep our beliefs to ourselves and inside the Church. That is better than China, where the government controls religion, removes crosses from places of worship and completely destroyed a Church that became too popular. They can worship, but only within “guidelines.”
The only place we and the Chinese people can find true freedom is in JESUS. No matter how many freedoms we have, until we accept Jesus we will never be truly free. No matter the restrictions they have, if they accept Jesus they are free indeed. Someday we will be free from the constraints of this life and will live forever with JESUS.
Wayne Lance (2015)