China today and human rights

William J. Murray speaks in Washington, DC today on the lawn of the Capitol Building, concerning treatment in China of religious minorities; the transcript is as follows:

July 18^th Statement of William J. Murray regarding China and human rights

William J. Murray

Recently I traveled on a fact finding mission to China that lasted three weeks. During that time I traveled to seven cities, plus Lhasa, Tibet. What I found is consistent with a materialistic society that surveys show is 47% atheistic. Material possessions rather than human rights or compassion are paramount concerns among the general population. In the larger cities, Bentleys and Buicks are everywhere on the overcrowded roads, and the trains and planes are full of the Middle Class and wealthy Chinese enjoying the newly obtained trophies of their labors. Among the people there is no concern for those who fall through the cracks in the society, either economically or socially. China is a model of America without a soul.

Since my last visit to China decades ago, Christians in general have a far greater public role in the society and almost all Christians seem to face far less official persecution. Christians are not bothered at all by the non-believing public which is largely unconcerned with the religious beliefs of others. Most ‘house’ or ‘family’ churches which are not registered, are not bothered by the government unless there is some degree of activism that is viewed as political.

This new tolerance by the Chinese government and the general population of China is not, however, shown toward Falun Gong practitioners who are seen as a threat to the careful commercial web that has been built in China through what can best be described as “national socialism” or “managed capitalism.”

China, for all its modernization and newly adopted western culture, is a nation without a soul. That fact is easily reflected in the willingness of businessmen, for the sake of profit, to put cheap and dangerous fillers that can be lethal, into infant formula — and in a nation which allows just one child. The sale of human organs from those in prison, including Falun Gong practitioners, should come then as no surprise. Many profit from the practice of human organ sales in China, including the wealthy Americans who do not wish to wait in line for transplants in this nation, Americans who are as soulless as those who profit from the organ sale.

Democracy is a process that can only function in a Judeo-Christian environment; it is a product of that environment and would probably become mob rule in China, with minorities worse off than they are today as has been the case in Middle Eastern nations which have tried to implement democratic systems. Freedom and human rights are separate concepts from democracy and are being very cautiously explored by the Chinese government under domestic pressures. Rather than demand an unworkable democratic system in China, the West should and must be working to bring that nation’s leaders into line with the United Nations Declaration of Human Rights of which it is a party to.

In a nation such as ours where people are happy to buy Christmas lights made in prison labor camps rather than pay more for those made by free men, the process of causing change is made very difficult in China and other nations which abuse human rights such as Vietnam or Pakistan. We are here today willing to speak out, but the reality is that most of the congressmen and Senators in this majestic building behind us are unwilling to cast any vote that dampens relations with our nation’s biggest trading partner, China.

Yet it is our duty to speak out, to continue the drum beat for all those repressed in the world because of the manner in which they practice their faith. Although the big corporations and profiteers would prefer us to be silent, we cannot be. The Falun Gong deserves the right to practice their faith in China as freely as is seen here on the lawn of the Capitol Building today in Washington, DC.

July 18, 2013statement at Capitol Hill event of
William J. Murray, Chairman
Religious Freedom Coalition
Washington, DC 20013
www.ReligiousFreedomCoalition.org
202-543-0300