Adam McLane

My Olympic Rant

Beijing Olympics

So the Olympics are over. A little over 2 weeks ago the world watched the fabulous spectacle that was the opening ceremonies. Then for 16 days the nation was captivated while new stars were born and China sold itself to the world as the new mecca.

At the same time there was a large group of people uncomfortable with the Olympic spectacle. For me, these thoughts ran rampant through my mind as I tried to watch the closing ceremonies:

– China is not a free nation. No freedom of speech, freedom of press, or freedom of movement.ย 

– China is among the worst human rights violators. There is no doubt that thousands of people were rounded up and imprisoned for the games. I don’t think I heard NBC talking about China’s one child policy, did you? False imprisonment? The fact that the United States #1 religion is illegal in China. Did you hear that?

– China has a labor problem. I couldn’t watch the opening/closing ceremonies without thinking about child labor, slave labor, and human trafficking.ย 

– China is not a nation of middle class. There are extreme rich and extreme poor. Watching them drop $40 billion on the games… an injustice.

NBC OlympicAnd I was disappointed to see NBC be a party to all of this. The story in China is not Michael Phelps or the basketball team, volleyball team, gymnastics success or relay team failure. To see NBC Sports play along and not mention it shows that they are more interested in corporate profits than covering the story. It’s pathetic to me that now, once the games are over, they are talking about how they were censored and how they observed things.ย 

The American people needed a chance to see for themselves what is happening. And instead of C-SPAN we got The Disney Channel.ย 

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Adam McLane

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Comments

23 responses to “My Olympic Rant”

  1. Todd Porter Avatar
    Todd Porter

    Excellent points, Adam. And it was something that I often thought of when I was watching the Olympics. However, I tried to realize that these games were about the athletes and not the government of China.

    Plus, the one child policy I believe has been done away with. Also, there are Christian churches in China that are allowed to be there. The government approves them and your Presidential choice for 2008 even attended one.

    Reply
  2. adam mclane Avatar
    adam mclane

    Todd, the One Child Policy still stands. It was re-evaluated in March 08 but according to wikipedia will be around at least another decade. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One_child_policy

    Reply
  3. chris Avatar
    chris

    Todd – those churches that are “allowed” to be there are government ordained. They have no freedom in sharing the Gospel other than China’s gospel of oppressing it people. I have friends who are working in China with Campus Crusade and they still can’t freely share Christ on campuses or in public without the threat or being tortured or thrown in jail.

    The churches that are “allowed” to be there are under STRICT adherence of the government. The government tells them what to teach and NOT teach.

    Reply
  4. Andrea Avatar
    Andrea

    But also consider the delicacy of covering the Olympics: had a negative story been broadcasted, BAM, all of the blind nationalism of the Chinese would hav exploded into protests, chaos, and anti-Americanism, and it would have made it even harder for foreign workers who are trying to make a difference to get anything done.

    Reply
  5. adam mclane Avatar
    adam mclane

    Ah, so glaf to have you back Andrea. You always manage to frame the discussion so well! You make an interesting counter-point, I hope others wrestle with that.

    Reply
  6. joe troyer Avatar
    joe troyer

    It is hard to remember all those terrible truths in the midst of the games. from the opening ceremonies to the closing ceremonies, it was just beautifully done. it was almost a way of trying to blind us from the truth. and it has worked to a certain extent.

    Reply
  7. Todd Porter Avatar
    Todd Porter

    Chris, I know that they are under strict government control, but they are not “illegal” as Adam stated. That is entirely different. And I know how hard it is for missionaries there, because I have a very close friend who is a missionary there as well.

    Reply
  8. Todd Porter Avatar
    Todd Porter

    Andrea, I agree with Adam that those are very excellent points.

    Reply
  9. adam mclane Avatar
    adam mclane

    Todd, I would argue that the “legal church” in China isn’t really a church. It’s more like a fake church that uses some Christian language but really isn’t about Jesus. The real church is underground and mostly illegal.

    Reply
  10. joe troyer Avatar
    joe troyer

    I hear you Katie. Really. But for me it isnt about politics. It is about human decency. It’s about the taking of life and the oppression of people. When do we stand for justice? It’s because of politics that the Olympics were allowed to be held there. Plus the big check helped too. But China is one of the biggest human rights violators in the world. By that I mean they oppress, beat and murder many people. I could care less about their politics. Amos 5:21-24; Is.1:11-17

    Reply
  11. Andrea Avatar
    Andrea

    I maintain that it would have been a bad idea to dive into the human rights abuses of China while covering the Olympics, but I would also say that the Olympics are VERY political. Why do you think the Chinese wanted to host them in the first place? It’s not because they just really really love volleyball.

    I would also add that the controversy is not an issue of agreeing with their politics, it’s an issue of the oppression of human beings. Last time I checked, Salt Lake City didn’t deny their citizens freedom of the press or freedom of religion, or throw them in jail for pledging allegiance to someone (God) besides the government, or oppress minority people groups (Tibet)(and I hesitate to say it, but…Taiwan).

    Ditto what Adam said about the church.

    This post is just stirring up all sorts of excitement! Thanks, Adam.

    Reply
  12. Andrea Avatar
    Andrea

    Ha ha, I spent all that time writing that comment only to be beat to it by Joe. Ha. Good thoughts, my friend.

    Reply
  13. adam mclane Avatar
    adam mclane

    The difference, of course, is that in our country and in most host nations there is freedom of the press, foreign or national, to cover the real stories.

    Interesting bringing up the SLC games. Many said that the reason the gov’t of SLC spent so much money getting the games there was to show off the normality of Mormonism.

    Just like the SLC games didn’t make being mormon a normal thing, the games in China didn’t cover the eyes of most people.

    And I’ve been annoyed that China got the games for a long time. The IOC talked a tough game that they were going to pull the games from China if X, Y, and Z were not met. Of course, once the cash starts flowing there is no way for the IOC to pull out. If you’ll recall, several months ago I wondered if the US should even send a team.

    Clearly, part of the motivation for hosting the games was civic pride. And it should be. But it was clear that the gov’t of China spent all that money in an attempt to prove to the world that they are a civilized, non-developing nation.

    In my opinion, when we look back at these games and more and more truth comes out about it… we will discover how contrived everything outside of the athletic competition is.

    And I don’t think the Olympics are about sports any more than the BCS is about football. It’s all about money.

    Reply
  14. adam mclane Avatar
    adam mclane

    How, what examples of China being a civilized nation do you have?

    What examples of them being a developed nation do you have?

    What I see is a Bejing-sized facade. I’m not attacking China or its people. I just see the games as one giant piece of propaganda masked behind some sport. What the bloggers on the ground said was that this was same old oppression. Seen this? http://www.boingboing.net/2008/08/25/bbtv-beijing-intervi.html

    Reply
  15. joe troyer Avatar
    joe troyer

    derek,
    in 80 and 84 i was 5 and 9. i cared about voltron and zorro. 98 i was a dumb kid who knew nothing about how the world works. until 06 i didnt understand justice either. so admitably i have lived an ignorant life. some would say i still do. this i know, that oppression and murder are wrong. i am not saying to exchange it for americana. i am saying exchange it for what is right. you can never convince me that china,as a government, is not oppressive and unjust, that they are just “different”. sure we could talk about many nations here, but we’re not. this isn’t about politics or culture. it is about what is just.

    if there is no standard for what is just or unjust,who decides?

    Reply
  16. joe troyer Avatar
    joe troyer

    hey adam, sorry to post this here. i am getting emails indicating comments are made but they dont show up here on your blog. have they been deleted? sorry gang, unless you read derek’s post, mine may not make sense.lol.

    just for clarity as well, i personally feel the standard for what is right and wrong is not in any one country’s constitution, but in the Word of God.

    Reply
  17. adam mclane Avatar
    adam mclane

    joe, I’ve made an editorial choice here on my blog to not publish comments by Derek/Katie Tang any longer. There’s a lot of history and it is better for me to just stop now. It’s my issue completely, I take ownership of my imperfection.

    Sorry for the confusion.

    Reply
  18. joe troyer Avatar
    joe troyer

    thanks for clarifying. good to know.

    Reply
  19. chris Avatar
    chris

    Adam I understand. As the author of a site YOU have that right. It is funny to me though that the blocked/ deleted comments still come through as comments via email.

    Thanks for sticking to your guns and your values. I have a lot of respect for not swaying from what you feel is right.

    Reply
  20. adam mclane Avatar
    adam mclane

    Chris, hopefully it won’t happen again. Made some setting adjustments. I did unpublish some comments. Which is why they went out.

    Reply
  21. adam mclane Avatar
    adam mclane

    Again, not sure how these comments are getting through the filter. It’s not WHAT they are saying, it’s that I’ve made the decision to have no interaction with them.

    Reply
  22. Andrea Avatar
    Andrea

    Here’s an idea: “Rules for Commenting”

    Reply
  23. Uncle Dave Avatar
    Uncle Dave

    So yeah china….. I was enjoying this discussion. Please continue.

    (side note: you should introduce a small adam mclane forum)

    Reply

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