"ONE WORLD, ONE DREAM" -- BUT WHAT HAPPENS TO TRUTH AND FREEDOM
"ONE WORLD, ONE DREAM" -- BUT WHAT HAPPENS TO TRUTH AND FREEDOM
PART 2
By Berit Kjos
August 20, 2008
NewsWithViews.com
"'One World One Dream' fully reflects the essence and the universal values of the Olympic spirit -- Unity, Friendship, Progress, Harmony, Participation and Dream.'"[1] Beijing 2008
"The Beijing 2008 Olympic Games emblem.... is filled with Beijing's hospitality and hopes.... The color 'red' is intensively used in the emblem, pushing the passion up to a new level.... Red is the color of the Sun and the Holy Fire, representing life and a new beginning."[2] The Olympic Emblem
[Meanwhile] "...a number of Chinese House Church Pastors were forced to sign a written agreement that they would not participate in religious services while the Olympic Games are taking place...."[3] China Aid
Like its familiar Yin Yang symbol, China's Olympics is full of contrasts. The opening ceremony seemed flawless but raised questions about integrity. It showed a "dazzling chain of massive fireworks," which turned out to be "mostly computer-generated."[4] We heard a nine-year old girl singing an amazing solo, but a more beautiful girl (with a less perfect voice) stood in her place, mimed the words and received the applause of 91,000 spectators.[5]
The next days prompted more questions. Were the vast Olympic construction projects worth evicting more than a million people? Was winning a gold medal worth lying about the age of a gifted gymnast? Did banishing Christian leaders and their families from Beijing before the Olympics fit the vision of a "One World" union?
Communism has always clashed with truth, freedom and integrity, and China's choices illustrate the point. Only by unthinkable compromise can the "free world" find "common ground" with Communist totalitarianism. Yet, countless clues suggest that its masses are now marching blindly toward an illusion of unity, following leaders who readily trade conviction for compromise.
For example, President Bush knew well that a visit to a government controlled church would look like an endorsement of the Three Self Patriotic Movement (TSPM). Yet, instead of meeting with faithful pastors who viewed him as a Christian brother, Bush supported a Communist propaganda scheme. Their disappointment is reflected in this letter:
"When the news came that President Bush will visit Kuanjie Protestant Church of the TSPM... it caused widespread concern among the house churches. They believe that the Chinese rulers have been consistently cheating and ridiculing their guests from overseas by winning popularity through misleading the public and by mixing the false with the genuine. Through these means, they intensify their persecution..... President Bush’s visit to the TSPM...will certainly be utilized by the Chinese Communists."[6]
China has called for a "New Beginning," but what does that mean? What changes can we expect? Consider these clues:.
1. TECHNOLOGY: WHERE WILL IT TAKE US?
Though human greatness is no proof of goodness, the Olympics did demonstrate China's technological advance. It warned us that we can no longer trust our eyes to separate reality from fantasy. Technology has become an indoctrination tool that blurs the line between fact and fascinating images.
More sobering are the evolving surveillance networks made possible by today's sophisticated technology. While Communism has always relied on spies and treachery, America is making it more effective. As Ellen Bork wrote in "Don't forget about China's dissidents,"
"The world isn't just sending athletes to the Olympics, but surveillance technology that will help the government keep tabs on its people for years to come. American companies alone have sold China technology that invisibly copies computer hard drives, reads encrypted text and performs facial recognition analysis on surveillance video."[7]
China is now testing its latest tools. No doubt Washington, too, is watching the people's response.
"At least 20,000 police surveillance cameras are being installed along streets here in southern China and will soon be guided by sophisticated computer software from an American-financed company to recognize automatically the faces of police suspects and detect unusual activity.
"...spreading across Shenzhen, a city of 12.4 million people, residency cards fitted with powerful computer chips programmed by the same company will be issued to most citizens. Data on the chip will include... work history, educational background, religion, ethnicity, police record, medical insurance status.... Even personal reproductive history will be included, for enforcement of China’s controversial 'one child' policy. Plans are being studied to add credit histories, subway travel payments and small purchases charged to the card.... 'If they do not get the permanent card, they cannot live here, they cannot get government benefits, and that is a way for the government to control the population in the future.'"[8]
Since the start of Mao's revolutionary reign, China has tried to track the attitudes and loyalties of its people. A personal record, called a Dang'an would follow each person through life. Those found to resist Communist indoctrination faced re-education, which included torture, deprivation and often death.[9]
Apparently the Dang'an still includes "appraisals by supervisors and peers, academic reports from primary school to university, professional credentials, any criminal convictions or administrative penalties, club/society memberships, employment records and political history (such as Youth League and CPC membership and assessments)."[9] And that's not all.
"Alterations may only be carried out by special cadres, and when combined with the custom of guanxi the result is that 'Personal revenge, false entries and special favors are thus part of the game.'... 'A black mark against you – a bad school report, a disagreement with your boss, a visit to a psychiatrist – all can travel with you for the rest of your life…'"[9]
China isn't the only country to monitor its citizens. Like Mao, Nazi Germany used terrifying spy networks to force all to submit. So did Stalin. I first realized that the United Nations called for universal monitoring when reading new documents on my flight home from its 1996 UN Conference on Human Settlements in Istanbul. By then, America was already building its cradle to grave system of digital tracking that includes "mental health" -- i.e. thinking and acting in accordance with global standards for the "One World" community.[10]
2. SPIRITUALITY: BUT WHAT KIND?
A week before the Beijing Olympics, Chinese President Hu Jintao told foreign correspondents in Beijing that "the spiritual legacy [of the Olympics] will last much longer and be even more valuable" than its "material legacy."[11]
What did he mean by "spiritual"? I did a quick search on the Beijing Olympics website and found numerous references both to "spiritual" (as in "spiritual ideas of understanding, friendship, and equality") and to "spirit." The latter included cultural spirit, fighting spirit, sporting spirit, Olympic spirit, Chinese spirit and vibrant spirit. Nothing "religious" there! Focused on feelings and aspirations rather than facts and truth, these secular spirits fit right into Communist ideology.
So does China's religious heritage. Its subjective blend of Confucianism, Taoism, Buddhism and superstition is largely a matter of social values, personal comfort, and ancestral devotion. It's based more on feelings (of loyalty and honor) than on facts. And the Yin Yang, China's Taoist symbol of unity in diversity, serves as a reminder that life is full of pain as well as pleasure -- and that both can be used to manipulate our minds.
Aldous Huxley shared some interesting observations about oneness in a book he wrote after Hitler temporarily shattered the socialist vision of an evolving human community. In Brave New World Revisited, he wrote,
"The future dictator’s subjects will be painlessly regimented by a corps of highly trained social engineers.... Their behavior is determined, not by knowledge and reason, but by feelings and unconscious drives.... To be successful a propagandist must learn how to manipulate these instincts and emotions.... Whoever wishes to win over the masses must know the key that will open the door of their hearts.'... [Remember Rick Warren's community surveys]
"It is by manipulating 'hidden forces' that the advertising experts induce us to buy their wares—a toothpaste, a brand of cigarettes, a political candidate. ... 'All effective propaganda,' Hitler wrote, 'must be confined to a few bare necessities and then must be expressed in a few stereotyped formulas.' These stereotyped formulas must be constantly repeated, for 'only constant repetition will finally succeed in imprinting an idea upon the memory of a crowd.'"[12]
Now, almost fifty years later, many of Huxley's warnings have become reality. Individual thinking gives way to collective thinking under the skilled guidance of trained facilitators (in churches as well as governments) whose sophisticated strategies have been tested and proven in psycho-social laboratories -- first by Communist dictators and later in the "free" world. Their guinea pigs were first our military troops, then the poor. Now their tentacles are reaching out to everyone... especially through schools and large churches. The transformation is universal, and woe to those who resist!
3. THE CLEANSING: WHO MUST BE PURGED FOR THE SAKE OF HARMONY?
The answer is simple: any group classified as "an evil cult." That includes thousands of unregistered Chinese House Churches.
Communism has never tolerated Biblical Christianity. Nor did Hitler. To manage the German masses in the late 1930s, Hitler ordered all churches to hang his picture above their altars. Pastors who refused were replaced by Nazi puppets.
Like Nazi Germany, the Maoist regime in China determined to bring all "Christians" into the same government-controlled fold. It established the Three-Self Patriotic Movement (TSPM), and banned independent churches. Christians had to choose whether to conform to TSPM rules or risk imprisonment, torture and death.
The Three Self (TSPM) ideals were designed to sound good: Self-governance, Self-support, and Self-propagation. But faithful Christians look to their Lord, not to Self, for guidance, support and propagation. They would refuse to trade faithfulness to God for any loyalty to State.
The TSPM pastors would be trained at government sanctioned seminaries, and its registered members would be taught according to government guidelines. One of those rules has outlawed our Biblical hope in eternal life with Christ. Others are listed here:
* The Communist Party decides what can be preached.
* Preaching should focus on the social rules and the social benefits of Christianity.
* Preaching outside government monitored TSPM church buildings is forbidden.
* Evangelizing is forbidden.
* Printing bibles [without government permission] is forbidden.
* Giving bibles to children or teenagers is forbidden.
* Teachers [children, soldiers and government officials] cannot be Christian....[13]
When Christians face persecution, God gives them strength to endure the pain and to demonstrate His love to others. That's why Communism couldn't wipe out God's underground Church. It simply grew stronger. Some estimate that the number of Christians in house churches now surpasses 100 million. Yet, repression continues.
Dictators know that early prevention serves their goals better than persecution. So Nazi Germany established the Hitler Youth -- copying Stalin's effective mind-changing strategies. China did the same. Today, its Olympics includes a youth camp. Ponder its invitation to future leaders:
"'Youth Create the Future.'...In the spirit of harmony, compassion, creativity and learning through experience, the Camp has already invited participants nominated by more than 200 National Olympic Committees.... The goal is to promote.... the ideals of world peace, cooperation and development...."[14]
Illusions may sound enticing, but they can't change reality. God's Word stands forever, and man can do nothing to cancel His eternal plans.
"Why do the nations rage, and the people plot a vain thing?
The... rulers take counsel together against the Lord and against His Anointed, saying, 'Let us break Their bonds in pieces and cast away Their cords from us.'" Psalm 2:1-3
But in the midst of it all, God reigns! "Blessed are all those who put their trust in Him!" Psalm 2:12 For part one click below.
Click here for part -----> 1.
Endnotes:
1, "One World - One Dream?
2, The Olympic Emblem
3, Beijing House Churches Forced to Sign Document Pledging Not to Meet During the Olympic Games.
4, China’s Leaders Try to Impress and Reassure World
5, Starlet Lin Miaoke mimed at Beijing Olympics Opening Ceremony
6, House Churches Ready to Welcome Brother Bush; Deeply Disappointed in his Visit to the TSPM
7, Ellen Bork, "Don't forget about China's dissidents," The Wall Street Journal, August, 7, 2008.
8, China Enacting a High-Tech Plan to Track People and How US Money and Technology Created China's BIG Brother
9, Public records in China
10, The UN plan for your mental health and Marching toward global solidarity
11, Olympics: Hu says spiritual legacy of Games most important
12, Aldous Huxley, Brave New World Revisited (New York: Harper & Row, 1958), 25-26, 41, 43-44.
13, Three Self Patriotic Movement (TSPM)
14, Beijing 2008 Olympic Youth Camp Handbook
© 2008 Berit Kjos - All Rights Reserved
PART 2
By Berit Kjos
August 20, 2008
NewsWithViews.com
"'One World One Dream' fully reflects the essence and the universal values of the Olympic spirit -- Unity, Friendship, Progress, Harmony, Participation and Dream.'"[1] Beijing 2008
"The Beijing 2008 Olympic Games emblem.... is filled with Beijing's hospitality and hopes.... The color 'red' is intensively used in the emblem, pushing the passion up to a new level.... Red is the color of the Sun and the Holy Fire, representing life and a new beginning."[2] The Olympic Emblem
[Meanwhile] "...a number of Chinese House Church Pastors were forced to sign a written agreement that they would not participate in religious services while the Olympic Games are taking place...."[3] China Aid
Like its familiar Yin Yang symbol, China's Olympics is full of contrasts. The opening ceremony seemed flawless but raised questions about integrity. It showed a "dazzling chain of massive fireworks," which turned out to be "mostly computer-generated."[4] We heard a nine-year old girl singing an amazing solo, but a more beautiful girl (with a less perfect voice) stood in her place, mimed the words and received the applause of 91,000 spectators.[5]
The next days prompted more questions. Were the vast Olympic construction projects worth evicting more than a million people? Was winning a gold medal worth lying about the age of a gifted gymnast? Did banishing Christian leaders and their families from Beijing before the Olympics fit the vision of a "One World" union?
Communism has always clashed with truth, freedom and integrity, and China's choices illustrate the point. Only by unthinkable compromise can the "free world" find "common ground" with Communist totalitarianism. Yet, countless clues suggest that its masses are now marching blindly toward an illusion of unity, following leaders who readily trade conviction for compromise.
For example, President Bush knew well that a visit to a government controlled church would look like an endorsement of the Three Self Patriotic Movement (TSPM). Yet, instead of meeting with faithful pastors who viewed him as a Christian brother, Bush supported a Communist propaganda scheme. Their disappointment is reflected in this letter:
"When the news came that President Bush will visit Kuanjie Protestant Church of the TSPM... it caused widespread concern among the house churches. They believe that the Chinese rulers have been consistently cheating and ridiculing their guests from overseas by winning popularity through misleading the public and by mixing the false with the genuine. Through these means, they intensify their persecution..... President Bush’s visit to the TSPM...will certainly be utilized by the Chinese Communists."[6]
China has called for a "New Beginning," but what does that mean? What changes can we expect? Consider these clues:.
1. TECHNOLOGY: WHERE WILL IT TAKE US?
Though human greatness is no proof of goodness, the Olympics did demonstrate China's technological advance. It warned us that we can no longer trust our eyes to separate reality from fantasy. Technology has become an indoctrination tool that blurs the line between fact and fascinating images.
More sobering are the evolving surveillance networks made possible by today's sophisticated technology. While Communism has always relied on spies and treachery, America is making it more effective. As Ellen Bork wrote in "Don't forget about China's dissidents,"
"The world isn't just sending athletes to the Olympics, but surveillance technology that will help the government keep tabs on its people for years to come. American companies alone have sold China technology that invisibly copies computer hard drives, reads encrypted text and performs facial recognition analysis on surveillance video."[7]
China is now testing its latest tools. No doubt Washington, too, is watching the people's response.
"At least 20,000 police surveillance cameras are being installed along streets here in southern China and will soon be guided by sophisticated computer software from an American-financed company to recognize automatically the faces of police suspects and detect unusual activity.
"...spreading across Shenzhen, a city of 12.4 million people, residency cards fitted with powerful computer chips programmed by the same company will be issued to most citizens. Data on the chip will include... work history, educational background, religion, ethnicity, police record, medical insurance status.... Even personal reproductive history will be included, for enforcement of China’s controversial 'one child' policy. Plans are being studied to add credit histories, subway travel payments and small purchases charged to the card.... 'If they do not get the permanent card, they cannot live here, they cannot get government benefits, and that is a way for the government to control the population in the future.'"[8]
Since the start of Mao's revolutionary reign, China has tried to track the attitudes and loyalties of its people. A personal record, called a Dang'an would follow each person through life. Those found to resist Communist indoctrination faced re-education, which included torture, deprivation and often death.[9]
Apparently the Dang'an still includes "appraisals by supervisors and peers, academic reports from primary school to university, professional credentials, any criminal convictions or administrative penalties, club/society memberships, employment records and political history (such as Youth League and CPC membership and assessments)."[9] And that's not all.
"Alterations may only be carried out by special cadres, and when combined with the custom of guanxi the result is that 'Personal revenge, false entries and special favors are thus part of the game.'... 'A black mark against you – a bad school report, a disagreement with your boss, a visit to a psychiatrist – all can travel with you for the rest of your life…'"[9]
China isn't the only country to monitor its citizens. Like Mao, Nazi Germany used terrifying spy networks to force all to submit. So did Stalin. I first realized that the United Nations called for universal monitoring when reading new documents on my flight home from its 1996 UN Conference on Human Settlements in Istanbul. By then, America was already building its cradle to grave system of digital tracking that includes "mental health" -- i.e. thinking and acting in accordance with global standards for the "One World" community.[10]
2. SPIRITUALITY: BUT WHAT KIND?
A week before the Beijing Olympics, Chinese President Hu Jintao told foreign correspondents in Beijing that "the spiritual legacy [of the Olympics] will last much longer and be even more valuable" than its "material legacy."[11]
What did he mean by "spiritual"? I did a quick search on the Beijing Olympics website and found numerous references both to "spiritual" (as in "spiritual ideas of understanding, friendship, and equality") and to "spirit." The latter included cultural spirit, fighting spirit, sporting spirit, Olympic spirit, Chinese spirit and vibrant spirit. Nothing "religious" there! Focused on feelings and aspirations rather than facts and truth, these secular spirits fit right into Communist ideology.
So does China's religious heritage. Its subjective blend of Confucianism, Taoism, Buddhism and superstition is largely a matter of social values, personal comfort, and ancestral devotion. It's based more on feelings (of loyalty and honor) than on facts. And the Yin Yang, China's Taoist symbol of unity in diversity, serves as a reminder that life is full of pain as well as pleasure -- and that both can be used to manipulate our minds.
Aldous Huxley shared some interesting observations about oneness in a book he wrote after Hitler temporarily shattered the socialist vision of an evolving human community. In Brave New World Revisited, he wrote,
"The future dictator’s subjects will be painlessly regimented by a corps of highly trained social engineers.... Their behavior is determined, not by knowledge and reason, but by feelings and unconscious drives.... To be successful a propagandist must learn how to manipulate these instincts and emotions.... Whoever wishes to win over the masses must know the key that will open the door of their hearts.'... [Remember Rick Warren's community surveys]
"It is by manipulating 'hidden forces' that the advertising experts induce us to buy their wares—a toothpaste, a brand of cigarettes, a political candidate. ... 'All effective propaganda,' Hitler wrote, 'must be confined to a few bare necessities and then must be expressed in a few stereotyped formulas.' These stereotyped formulas must be constantly repeated, for 'only constant repetition will finally succeed in imprinting an idea upon the memory of a crowd.'"[12]
Now, almost fifty years later, many of Huxley's warnings have become reality. Individual thinking gives way to collective thinking under the skilled guidance of trained facilitators (in churches as well as governments) whose sophisticated strategies have been tested and proven in psycho-social laboratories -- first by Communist dictators and later in the "free" world. Their guinea pigs were first our military troops, then the poor. Now their tentacles are reaching out to everyone... especially through schools and large churches. The transformation is universal, and woe to those who resist!
3. THE CLEANSING: WHO MUST BE PURGED FOR THE SAKE OF HARMONY?
The answer is simple: any group classified as "an evil cult." That includes thousands of unregistered Chinese House Churches.
Communism has never tolerated Biblical Christianity. Nor did Hitler. To manage the German masses in the late 1930s, Hitler ordered all churches to hang his picture above their altars. Pastors who refused were replaced by Nazi puppets.
Like Nazi Germany, the Maoist regime in China determined to bring all "Christians" into the same government-controlled fold. It established the Three-Self Patriotic Movement (TSPM), and banned independent churches. Christians had to choose whether to conform to TSPM rules or risk imprisonment, torture and death.
The Three Self (TSPM) ideals were designed to sound good: Self-governance, Self-support, and Self-propagation. But faithful Christians look to their Lord, not to Self, for guidance, support and propagation. They would refuse to trade faithfulness to God for any loyalty to State.
The TSPM pastors would be trained at government sanctioned seminaries, and its registered members would be taught according to government guidelines. One of those rules has outlawed our Biblical hope in eternal life with Christ. Others are listed here:
* The Communist Party decides what can be preached.
* Preaching should focus on the social rules and the social benefits of Christianity.
* Preaching outside government monitored TSPM church buildings is forbidden.
* Evangelizing is forbidden.
* Printing bibles [without government permission] is forbidden.
* Giving bibles to children or teenagers is forbidden.
* Teachers [children, soldiers and government officials] cannot be Christian....[13]
When Christians face persecution, God gives them strength to endure the pain and to demonstrate His love to others. That's why Communism couldn't wipe out God's underground Church. It simply grew stronger. Some estimate that the number of Christians in house churches now surpasses 100 million. Yet, repression continues.
Dictators know that early prevention serves their goals better than persecution. So Nazi Germany established the Hitler Youth -- copying Stalin's effective mind-changing strategies. China did the same. Today, its Olympics includes a youth camp. Ponder its invitation to future leaders:
"'Youth Create the Future.'...In the spirit of harmony, compassion, creativity and learning through experience, the Camp has already invited participants nominated by more than 200 National Olympic Committees.... The goal is to promote.... the ideals of world peace, cooperation and development...."[14]
Illusions may sound enticing, but they can't change reality. God's Word stands forever, and man can do nothing to cancel His eternal plans.
"Why do the nations rage, and the people plot a vain thing?
The... rulers take counsel together against the Lord and against His Anointed, saying, 'Let us break Their bonds in pieces and cast away Their cords from us.'" Psalm 2:1-3
But in the midst of it all, God reigns! "Blessed are all those who put their trust in Him!" Psalm 2:12 For part one click below.
Click here for part -----> 1.
Endnotes:
1, "One World - One Dream?
2, The Olympic Emblem
3, Beijing House Churches Forced to Sign Document Pledging Not to Meet During the Olympic Games.
4, China’s Leaders Try to Impress and Reassure World
5, Starlet Lin Miaoke mimed at Beijing Olympics Opening Ceremony
6, House Churches Ready to Welcome Brother Bush; Deeply Disappointed in his Visit to the TSPM
7, Ellen Bork, "Don't forget about China's dissidents," The Wall Street Journal, August, 7, 2008.
8, China Enacting a High-Tech Plan to Track People and How US Money and Technology Created China's BIG Brother
9, Public records in China
10, The UN plan for your mental health and Marching toward global solidarity
11, Olympics: Hu says spiritual legacy of Games most important
12, Aldous Huxley, Brave New World Revisited (New York: Harper & Row, 1958), 25-26, 41, 43-44.
13, Three Self Patriotic Movement (TSPM)
14, Beijing 2008 Olympic Youth Camp Handbook
© 2008 Berit Kjos - All Rights Reserved
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