{"id":57,"date":"2008-04-21T05:53:57","date_gmt":"2008-04-21T05:53:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.craigbosley.com\/wordpress\/?p=57"},"modified":"2010-02-15T17:26:05","modified_gmt":"2010-02-16T00:26:05","slug":"should-america-boycott-beijing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.craigbosley.com\/wordpress\/2008\/04\/should-america-boycott-beijing\/","title":{"rendered":"Should America boycott Beijing?"},"content":{"rendered":"

August 8th<\/sup> is the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, China.\u00a0 This Olympics will open with controversy, just as have some earlier Olympics.\u00a0 The controversy surrounding this Olympics is the ongoing human rights violations attributed to China.\u00a0 Political dissidents in China often face imprisonment, torture, or even death.\u00a0 There is escalating violence in Tibet along with alleged genocide in the Darfur region of Sudan, believed to be supported by the Chinese.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Some world leaders are demanding China recognize the dignity, the human rights, and the religious freedom of the Tibetan people if they are to host this summer’s Olympics.\u00a0 British Prime Minister Gordon Brown ordered his country’s Olympians to boycott the opening ceremonies.\u00a0 Members of the European Union are considering boycotting the opening ceremonies, as well.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Surprisingly, boycotts, even violence, during the Olympics is nothing new. Twenty-five African nations, in protest of New Zealand’s links with South Africa, boycotted the 1976 Montreal Olympics.\u00a0 Our own President Carter boycotted the 1980 Moscow Olympics, even threatening to revoke the passports of any U.S. athletes who tried to attend the games.\u00a0 He was protesting the Soviets militarily entering Afghanistan.\u00a0 Not to be outdone, Moscow retaliated in 1984 boycotting the Los Angeles Olympics, the same year China returned to the Olympics following a 32-year absence.\u00a0 And the worst violence in Olympic history occurred during the 1972 Munich Olympics when Israeli athletes were murdered by a group of Palestinians.\u00a0<\/p>\n

What should our nation do?\u00a0 What is the right response to concerns with China’s human rights violations?\u00a0 China has pursued hosting the Olympics for some time. The Olympic Committee finally selected Beijing as the site of this year’s summer Olympics when China added Article 35 to their country’s constitution, trying to prove they were serious about changing their views on human rights.\u00a0 Article 35 guarantees “citizens of the People’s Republic of China enjoy freedom of speech, of the press, of assembly, of association, of procession, and of demonstration.”\u00a0 Most informed observers however, believe China has done little to fulfill these new commitments.<\/p>\n

How should we respond to these failed promises?\u00a0 Should the United States boycott the opening ceremonies, as England is doing?\u00a0 Perhaps we should boycott the entire Olympics, as President Carter did in 1980.\u00a0 There are human rights issues that must be addressed.\u00a0 People are dying in China, in Tibet, in Darfur.\u00a0 Moreover, an obvious end is not in sight.\u00a0 Is it proper to use the Olympics to advance worthy agendas, to make important international statements?\u00a0 And is there anything more worthy than basic human rights and human dignity?\u00a0<\/p>\n

Let’s look to the origins of the Olympics for guidance.\u00a0 Why were they conceived? What did they want to accomplish?\u00a0 Are those original intentions, those original dreams still applicable today?\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Olympics started in the Greek world, an expanse from the Black Sea to Spain, celebrating the first games in 776 B.C.\u00a0 Ordinary tradesmen of the ancient Greek world trekked to Olympia every four years to compete and to “build diplomacy” throughout the vast Greek world while honoring one of their gods, Zeus. Surely, the Olympics of the ancients were pure and unstained, unlike the scandals and political turmoil of modern Olympics.\u00a0 But, just as in modern day Olympics, there were scandals, sabotages, bribes, and cheating.\u00a0 Even so, the Olympics continued, every four years coming together focusing once again on their dream, their hope; bringing a “fragmented world” some unity through healthy competition.\u00a0 The Olympics brought Greeks together in a friendly, diplomatic setting, creating conciliatory connections between neighbors, creating new alliances, and easing the “unsettled and volatile warrior’s world.”\u00a0<\/p>\n

But how should we view the Olympics today?\u00a0 Should there be protests at the Olympics?\u00a0 Should demonstrators hinder the torch relay?\u00a0 Should countries boycott opening ceremonies or entire Olympics?\u00a0 Did the Olympics ever demand those participating meet a certain political standard?\u00a0 What did the dreamers of the Olympics foresee?\u00a0 Did they recognize what we cannot, that the Olympics are a time for a short truce, a time to compete, a time to get to know each other, a time to reflect, a time to think, a time to learn about one another?\u00a0 The dreamers of the Olympics had no delusions the games would solve all conflicts and disagreements, that the games could end the evils in the world.\u00a0 But they did have the understanding, the wisdom, and the vision to see the Olympics as a beginning.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The games are not for political statements, they are for quiet communication.\u00a0 The games are not for boycotts, they are for teaching and healing by example.\u00a0 They are not for political gain; they are for creating political partners.\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Let us look to the ancients and their wisdom.\u00a0 Let us learn from history.\u00a0 Let us celebrate the Olympics for all they were intended, even in this world with so much evil.\u00a0 After all, it is a beginning.<\/p>\n

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August 8th is the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, China.\u00a0 This Olympics will open with controversy, just as have some earlier Olympics.\u00a0 The controversy surrounding this Olympics is the ongoing human rights violations attributed to China.\u00a0 Political dissidents in China often face imprisonment, torture, or even death.\u00a0 There is escalating violence […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[77],"tags":[618,317,620,318,319,219,320,300,619,321,13,24],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.craigbosley.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.craigbosley.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.craigbosley.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.craigbosley.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.craigbosley.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=57"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/www.craigbosley.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":805,"href":"http:\/\/www.craigbosley.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57\/revisions\/805"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.craigbosley.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=57"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.craigbosley.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=57"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.craigbosley.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=57"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}