That Guy From China

I’m someone who experienced quite a number of what I considered to be ’supernatural’ experiences as a youth; and know others who claimed quite sincerely to have experienced others.

I’m now an atheist…and that required a significant re-evaluation of those occurrences. Let me share with you how I came to the conclusion that they were not, in fact, supernatural. There are two main phenomenon that I’d like to mention in this regard.

First, the fact that there are many real experiences which can, most definitely, appear entirely supernatural. You have people who really do hear voices telling them what to do. Sometimes its because of a diagnosable psychological condition. Other times, it can be a hallucination, or simply wish-fulfillment (you want it so badly that your mind causes it to happen). I certainly experienced the latter…as a teenager, when I was going through some particularly difficult problems, I prayed desperately for God’s guidance. There was one situation that required me to make a decision that, no matter what decision was made, would cause great difficulty for myself and others. I didn’t know what to do…so I asked God to tell me. I prayed over and over and over again, with no answer. And then finally, one night, after another round of desperate, pleading prayer, I quite literally heard a voice in my head, telling me what to do. I can still remember this quite clearly now. It wasn’t just a voice, either…there was a clear sensation of ’someone’ being there with me, and a feeling of calm and peace.

At the time, I interpreted this as God speaking to me; and, in addition, as concrete proof of God’s existence, and his involvement in my life.

Today, I interpret it as my own pysche’s means of dealing with a very stressful situation, and providing me with an answer to a situation that absolved me of personal responsibility — it was God’s decision, not mine, so whatever difficulties resulted from that decision were on God, not on me. I had many similar experiences of the ’supernatural’; and I know many others who’ve had ’supernatural’ experiences that are every bit as real to them as my experience was to me.

So then, how did I come to change my opinion on this? How did I go from “This was a supernatural proof of God’s existence”, to “This had nothing to do with the supernatural, it has an entirely natural explanation”?

Through knowledge. I’ve always had an insatiable thirst to learn, and particularly to understand others. At the time, as a Christian, I wanted to help others see The Truth, and bring them to a Personal Relationship With Their Lord And Savior, Jesus Christ. But it wasn’t enough for me to just preach at them about my beliefs…I felt it was necessary to understand their beliefs, and their experiences, so that I could relate to them on a much deeper and more meaningful level. So I started learning about Muslims, and Buddhists, and Scientologists, and Mormons, and all those other groups out there.

As I did so, I discovered something rather disturbing (at least, it was disturbing to me at the time). There was absolutely no religious or supernatural experience that I had experienced, that peoples of other religions did not also claim to have experienced. And their belief in the reality of those experiences was every bit as sincere as my own.

At first, I tried to fob this off with “Satan is wily, and of course he will ‘counterfeit’ supernatural experiences so that he can lure people away from the One True Path”. But the more I studied, the less this excuse worked. First, if some experiences were real, and others were ‘counterfeit’, there must be some way of distinguishing between the two. But there wasn’t. Essentially, in every religion, it came down to “If my god did it, its real; if someone else’s god did it, its not”.

And then as I got into university, and started learning more about human psychology, I learned that exactly the same phenomenon could be reproduced without any religious involvement at all. The use of certain drugs. The instigation of certain psychological states. Mass hysteria. Hypnotism. The list goes on, and on, and on.

Derren Brown is probably one of the very best examples of this…he’s been able to consistently and predictably reproduce a wide variety of ’supernatural experiences’ in people…despite the fact he’s an atheist, and can give a 100% rational, non-supernatural experience for all of them. He’s convinced people to convert to Christianity after they felt the power of the Holy Spirit flowing through them. He’s convinced top psychics of his own significant psychic powers. He’s reproduced amazing martial artist performances demonstrating the power of ‘qi’.

As the evidence grew and grew, I came to realize that my own experience, regardless of how real it was to me, had an entirely rational, non-supernatural explanation. And I came to the conclusion that if a non-supernatural answer existed to explain what had happened, then there was no reason to accept a supernatural answer, unless there was significant evidence to the contrary.

There wasn’t. And there isn’t now.

But I said above that there’s a second aspect to this. Its what I call “righteous lies”. Its a phenomenon that I experienced quite regularly as a Christian. That is, another Christian would talk about some supernatural event that they’d experienced (”I was talking to this Chinese guy about Jesus, but his English wasn’t very good, and then suddenly I started speaking in fluent Chinese, even though I’ve never studied the language!”). I’d hear that story, and think, “Wow, that’s amazing!”.

But the thing is, even Christians are competitive. We want everyone to think of us as “good Christians”, people who can demonstrate their real relationship with God. Having miracles happen means that you’re on good terms with god; no miracles means that you must be doing something wrong.

So, I’d appropriate some of those stories for my own. I’d re-tell the story, but with myself being the one who actually experienced the miracle. And I didn’t really consider it to be lying…because the other guy who told me the story was a Christian, so he obviously didn’t lie about it. I was telling a story that was 99% true…the only part that wasn’t true was that I was the one who had experienced it.

Not only was the story “true”, but by re-telling it, I was also giving Greater Glory to God. I was giving other people real evidence of God’s amazing power. If I told the story as “something that someone else told me”, then it lacked authority (those damn skeptics would ask, “If it happened to someone else, how can you know its true?”). But if I told the story as “something that happened personally to me”, then people couldn’t question it without directly accusing me of being a liar.

Thus, it was justified as a small, white lie…but one that worked towards glorifying God, and thus was justifiable.

Now, here’s the thing. On two different occasions — once at a Christian summer camp, and once at Bible College — I talked with other Christians about this…I mentioned that at times, I’d claimed other people’s “miracles” as my own. Both times, almost everyone else in the group (all of them sincere, Bible-believing Christians) admitted that they’d done the same thing.

And all of us concluded that it may not be the best thing (it was, after all, lying)…but that as sins went, it was a very minor one. After all, for the most part, we were telling the truth!

And it didn’t occur to most of them (although it occurred to me, and is one of the things that started me questioning the reality of such miracles), that the person they heard the story from might also have heard it from someone else, and then appropriated it for themselves. Nor did it really occur to them that others would hear their story, and assume that “because they’re a Christian, it must be the truth”…and likewise appropriate that story for their own use.

The important thing here is that when I, or other Christians I knew, related such stories, we did so with complete sincerity. I had no doubt that such a miracle had happened (it just didn’t happen to me). Thus, I could relate the story as a real event, something that had absolutely happened.

Between the two different explanations I’ve listed above, I’ve come to find that there is absolutely no “supernatural experience” that doesn’t, in fact, have a completely rational, natural explanation.

A rather tongue-in-cheek YouTube video.

So, today I’m checking out the Globe and Mail online, and find an article titled, “The entrepreneurs who see opportunity in crisis“.  I’ve been almost preaching to Canadian businesspeople the need to be aggressive in this recession, that there are plenty of opportunities available to those with vision and guts.  So I want to read about other Canadian entrepreneurs who share this idea.

The first paragraph quickly sets me straight:

YIWU, China — Zhou Xiaoguang knows a thing or two about surviving hard times. As a girl of 17, she left her poor Chinese village to make a living as a peddler. She sold embroidery hoops, needles and patterns, hefting a 100-kilogram sack as she moved by train from town to town.

It goes on to detail how this penniless peasant went on to build a multi-million dollar enterprise.  And it profiles other successful Chinese businesspeople as well.  The message they all have in common — yes, the economic recession is going to hurt a lot of people.  Even put a lot of people out of business.  But for those who survive, they’ll come out stronger on the other side, not only more experienced, but with a lot of their competition out of the way.

While Canadians are cutting back on spending, closing down facilities, etc., they are doing the opposite.  They’re buying up other companies (at bargain basement prices), expanding their facilities, etc.  So when this is all done, they’ll be in a far stronger position, and ready to dominate.

Folks, China’s rapid growth, and their increasing domination on the world market, isn’t because of the government.  Its because of the people.  The Chinese are the New Capitalists, and they’re out-competing us in every way possible.  Its not just about “cheap labor”; it is about businesspeople with both the vision and the guts to excel.

While there are some entrepreneurs here in Canada, by far the majority of businesspeople I talk to seem to be stuck in the “I’m doing well enough, I don’t need to do more” mode.  That, or “Now is not a good time to be taking risks.”  In the short term, that may work.  But over the longer term, those companies that are taking a passive stance, or that are afraid to take risks, are simply going to be out-competed and rendered obsolete by other companies that are aggressive, and that take risks.

This is related to my upcoming speech at the American Atheist National Convention in April.

There seems to be a huge debate surrounding teaching religious beliefs.  Of course, every religion feels that they should have the right to teach their beliefs to their children; and many atheists oppose such teaching, some going to the point of comparing it to child abuse.  And in general, those who have a particular religion oppose the teaching of beliefs that contradict their own.

The fact is, pretty much every person is going to face a choice as to what their beliefs are.  Will it be one of the many Christian denominations?  Islam?  Buddhism? Or will they reject supernatural beliefs?

Let’s focus on the key word here — CHOICE.  A choice means understanding the options, and choosing the one that seems best to you.  If you don’t know or understand the different options, then you cannot make a real choice.  My position is that we should not be teaching simply what we want others to believe, but rather that we should be teaching others how to make those choices for themselves.

I’m not opposed to a Christian teaching their beliefs to their children; but I am opposed to a Christian who seeks to keep their child from learning about the other options.  And my feeling is the same regarding atheists — if they would seek to prevent their children from learning about other beliefs, I’d be opposed to that, also.

My proposal is rather on the idealistic side, but is a goal that I personally think we should be working towards.  Create a curriculum that presents all of the major belief systems, be they theistic or atheistic.  Have a section on Christianity, a section on Islam, a section on Humanism, etc.  Each section is divided into three parts.

The first part gives an introduction to that belief system written by people from that belief system.  So have Christians write the intro to Christian beliefs.  Muslims write the intro to Muslim beliefs.  Etc.

The second part gives a general history of the belief system, giving an overall perspective of how that belief system has gotten to where it is today.

The third part gives those who have other beliefs the chance to discuss what they see as flaws, inconsistencies, or problems in that belief system.  So Muslims, Humanists, and Buddhists would have the chance to comment on Christian beliefs…and vice versa.

In my opinion, if someone is a Christian, or Muslim, or Humanist, simply because that’s what they were taught, and they’ve never really learned about or understood anything else…it is wrong.  But if someone, after honestly learning about and understanding the different options, then chooses a particular belief system, I have no problem with that, even if it is different than my own.

In discussing this with others, I’ve generally gotten a lot of support from the atheist/Humanist community.  The Christian community, on the other hand, seems to generally be quite opposed to it.  It seems that “faith” is actually dependent on ignorance…know what you believe, but not much about what others believe (and by this, I don’t mean just what Christians say about other beliefs, which has a very obvious bias).  It seems to me that, if you really have the Truth”, you should welcome the opportunity to put your beliefs up against others, since the superiority of your own beliefs will inevitably come out.  Its the fear of letting people hear about and understand other beliefs that is one of the most telling aspects of religion.

Now, lest I be accused of stereotyping, I’ve met atheists who’ve opposed this idea; and Christians who’ve supported it.  But for the most part, few atheists I’ve met are afraid of having their children exposed to different belief systems, so long as it is done in a balanced manner; whereas the majority of Christians I’ve talked to, even if they say they support this idea in theory, are opposed to it if it involves their own children.

I’ve been thinking about writing this post for awhile, and a discussion with a friend of mine, Dionne Chingkoe (you can check out her blog here), who is involved in an activity to raise money and awareness of homeless issues by living outside for five days, inspired me to write this post.

Humanism is about human rights, equality, personal liberty, and social responsibility.  In the U.S., the American Humanist Association is active in a lot of different areas, such as getting involved on university campuses, and in social issues.  The International Humanist and Ethical Union is politically active in highlighting human rights abuses around the world; and also actively involved in the United Nations.

But even though Canada has a Humanist association of its own, Humanism in Canada is virtually irrelevant.  Most people don’t even know what it is.  Humanist organizations on university campuses are invisible or non-existent.  They seem to have no voice in important political and social issues.

I was talking with some people a few weeks ago who were criticizing Christian efforts to deliberately target international students coming to Canada.  They know these students are isolated, and invite them to church by offering a variety of social activities.  The comments from others was that this was obviously exploitative behavior, taking advantage of people when they’re weak in order to indoctrinate them into their religion.

I disagreed.

I don’t see how one can be criticized for seeking to reach out to others.  It isn’t the fault of Christian organizations for doing this.  It is the fault of Humanists for not getting similarly involved, and offering those students an alternative.

Right now, Humanism in Canada seems to be commited primarly to navel-gazing…to discussing what Humanism is, and refining the core philosophy.  But all of that is pointless and useless if it isn’t translated into action.

I am in the process now of contacting various Humanist organizations and individuals in Canada, as well as the AHA and IHEU, to try to start an initiative to challenge Humanists to start getting more involved, and making themselves more relevant to society as a whole.

Hope to keep people updated on my progress.

This last week, I was talking with a fellow (quite a nice guy), and the topic of religion came up.  He’s a born-again Christian.  I’m an ex-Christian, atheist, and Humanist.  We talked and debated our beliefs, and for the most part it was quite amicable, but there was one part that really kinda’ pissed me off.  It’s a pet peeve of mine.  That is, whenever Christians realize that I’m an ex-Christian who’s rejected Christianity and become an atheist, the immediate response is A) “Why are you angry with God?” or B) “Why are you rebelling against God?”.

Now, I understand…I grew up indoctrinated to think that those who abandoned Christianity were doing so out of rebellion and/or anger (and if confronted with an atheist, I would have responded in the same manner).  And certainly, there are plenty of ex-Christians who are quite angry at their previous religion (often for very justifiable reasons).  But this automatic assumption that it must be an emotional or personal reaction against something in Christianity really irks me.

I have tried in the past to explain this, but have generally not done a very good job.  However, after my discussion with him, while thinking about this, I came up with what I thought was a very good illustration of my ‘conversion’ to atheism (or my rejection of Christianity, however you want to look at it).

Think of a mother and her son.  She loves her son dearly, and always believes the best of him.  Then, one day, her son is arrested and charged with murder.  He tells her that he’s innocent, and she believes him whole-heartedly.  But, as more and more evidence is presented, and the situation becomes clearer and clearer, she comes to the realization that her son is guilty.  She doesn’t want to believe that; it causes her great distress, and she tries her best to find evidence of his innocence.  However, in the end, regardless of her personal feelings, regardless of her personal wishes, regardless of her personal comfort…she must acknowledge that her son is guilty.

Nobody would accuse her of thinking her son guilty because she was angry with him, or she was rebelling against him.  It would plainly be a ludicrous accusation.

Well, the road to atheism was the same for me.  I was a devout, born-again Christian.  I went to Bible college to learn more about my faith, and why Christians believe what they believe.  However, as I studied the Bible, and church history, and theology, I started having more and more questions.  Inconsistencies, self-contradictions, logical fallacies, and a whole plethora of other evidence that indicated that there were problems with my beliefs.  I delved deeper, not because I wanted to prove my beliefs wrong, but because I wanted to find a way to explain or counterbalance what I had found.  But the deeper I looked, the worse the problem became.  I could easily be a Christian so long as I didn’t understand it much, or if I was willing to turn a blind eye to numerous problems and questions (under the rubric of “you’ve got to have faith”).

But if I were to face the evidence directly, and honestly, the only conclusion I could draw was that Christian beliefs made no sense, and were not justifiable.  Further examination of other religions led me to a similar conclusion.  And thus, reluctantly, I became an atheist.

And before someone chimes in and says, “But you’re still rebelling against God”  — a timeworn Christian cliché based on the belief that rejection of God automatically translates to rebellion — while I understand your perspective, mine is quite different.  I once believed in Santa Claus, but I no longer do.  I once believed in the tooth fairy, but I no longer do.  I once believed in the Easter Bunny, but I no longer do.  The fact that I no longer believe in Santa/tooth fairy/Easter Bunny doesn’t mean that I’ve rebelled against Santa/tooth fairy/Easter Bunny.  In fact, I’d argue that it is logically impossible to rebel against something that you don’t believe exists in the first place.

Oh, and one more thing.  My initial reluctance to abandon my Christian faith should not be mistaken for a desire or wish to return to that faith.  Having rejected it, not only do I find that the world (and my life) makes much more sense, but I am happier and more fulfilled.  Today, I look back at my past beliefs in amazement at some of the stuff that I actually swallowed, and the intellectual gymnastics I had to engage in on a regular basis in order to try to reconcile my beliefs with the real world.

It has just been confirmed that I will be one of the main speakers at the National Convention of American Atheists!  Right up there with noted luminaries such as Richard Dawkins…I’m quite excited about this!  I’ll be going there with Nate Phelps (son of the notorious Fred Phelps of “God Hates Fags” fame), who is also an atheist, and will be talking about his experiences growing up in the Phelps home.  Nate and I have been corresponding quite a bit recently, and are collaborating on our presentations.

The abstract of my presentation is as follows:

While there is some debate over whether the Chinese government should be classified as an atheist government, there is no doubt whatsoever that their education is an atheist system.  Not only is religion not taught, it is actively discouraged.  Thus, a great many Chinese grow up as atheists.  However, the educational system fails to teach critical thinking skills; instead, information is presented in a format where all students must simply accept and repeat what they are taught, and disagreement or alternative ideas are discouraged and penalized.  The result is that, when presented with new information and beliefs, many Chinese are unable to rationally evaluate that information.  Much of what we see in China today — rapid spread of religion and cults, a dogmatic defense of Traditional Chinese Medicine, and proliferation of numerous worthless or dangerous products — is a result of this.  This presentation will give an overview of the current situation and trends within China, and then discuss some of the ramifications, and lessons that can be learned by us.

This is the second time that I’ve had the opportunity to be a speaker at a major conference (I was also a speaker at the World Humanist Congress in Washington, D.C. last year), and I hope that this exposure and experience will give me even more opportunities in future!

Note: If you don’t know who the Mosuo are, read “Who are the Mosuo?” in the links at the top of this page, and/or go to the website for my non-profit organization that works with them.

Almost as soon as I returned to Canada in September, I went about joining the Rotary Club of Vancouver; and, once accepted, I then contacted all the Rotary clubs in the Greater Vancouver area about the possibility of doing presentations at their meetings, to give information about the Mosuo, and who they are.

On Tuesday, Jan. 6 I gave my very first presentation, at the Rotary Club of Vancouver.  Their reaction was quite warm, and a number of people afterwards expressed interest in leaning more about them.  I also received offers from several people who said they’d be interested to help me out with my efforts.

On Wednesday, Jan. 7 I spoke at two clubs: the Rotary Club of Vancouver Sunrise in the morning, and the Rotary Club of Vancouver Chinatown at noon.  Both clubs are much smaller than the RCOV, but this allowed for much more interaction with the people who were there.  Not only was I warmly received, but both clubs have offered to bring me back for another presentation, and to share the information about my non-profit organization with all their members.

I’d like to thank all these clubs for their generosity in giving me the opportunity to do these presentations; and over the next two months, I’ll be doing presentations at more than a dozen other Rotary clubs.

This title (and content) is likely to draw some ire.

I’ve just recently returned to live in Canada, after 15 years in China.  And the return has been something of a shock.  At first, I was shocked at how much Canada had changed; then I realized that it wasn’t Canada that had changed, it was me.

One of the things that has really struck me is just how fragile Canadians seem to be.  We live in one of the most developed nations on the planet, with one of the highest standards of living, yet all I hear about is how difficult it is for Canadians to cope with their lives.  People are constantly talking about being stressed out, and the Great Canadian Dream today seems to be to find every way possible to decrease any kind of inconvenience, no matter how trivial.

I saw an ad for a washing machine, in which it showed first a washing machine with eight different buttons to push, and a woman pulling out her hair in frustration as she tried to figure out how to make it work.  Then they showed the new machine, which had only two buttons.  The woman’s problems were solved, and she was happy.

Seriously, people…if having to figure out eight buttons on a washing machine causes you that much stress (or even a little stress, for that matter)…you’ve got bigger issues than the washing machine.

Oh, I know.  Today’s high-paced technological world places stresses on us that our predecessors never had to face.  Or whatever other excuse you want to offer as to why this is entirely reasonable.

Nonsense.

I have run two companies.  I run a non-profit organization.  I’ve just recently had to upset and re-arrange my entire life as I left China after 15 years, to return to Canada (leaving behind friends, having to establish myself here, etc.).  I’ll guarantee that I’ve faced greater challenges and difficulties, and had greater potential sources of stress, than the majority of Canadians that I know.  Yet I’m nowhere near as stressed out or emotionally conflicted as many of the people I talk to.

Here’s my theory.  Just as you need to subject your muscles to stress (exercise) to make them stronger, so you need to subject your mind to stress (difficulties) to make it stronger.  And Canadians now live in an environment that is so convenient and comfortable that they are not developing that ability to deal with stress.  The result?  Problems that for other people would be small and easy to deal with become huge sources of stress and discomfort.

I consider myself fortunate in this regard.  In China, I got to live life on both extremes.  In Beijing, I was CEO of my own company, hanging out with other corporate executives and government officials, and all the ease and comfort that lifestyle entails.  I also established a non-profit organization working with a Chinese minority group, the Mosuo, who live in one of the most remote areas of China, high in the Himalayan mountains.  Many of these people are living the same way they did 100 years ago…with no electricity, no running water, etc.  I spend several weeks every year living with them in their local communities.

And that gives me an incredibly valuable perspective.  The “problems” that I had to face as a corporate executive would have seemed like incredible blessings to the vast majority of Mosuo.  They have to watch their children suffer from entirely treatable medical conditions, because they don’t have access to adequate medical care; while I have to deal with a downturn in profits that means I won’t be able to go to as many expensive restaurants next month.

Now, I’m not one to complain, without offering suggestions or alternatives.  I think that we should be encouraging Canadians — particularly our youth — to actively seek out sources of stress and difficulty.  We’re not doing them any favors by trying to make their lives as easy as possible.  In particular, encourage them to travel internationally, particularly to less developed nations, so that they can get a better perspective on their own lives.  Or, even more simply, encourage them to build friendships with recent immigrants, and understand the environments and difficulties those people come from…and that they have to face now that they’re in Canada.

Canadians are becoming wimps.  A nation that was once noted for its strength on the international scene is now almost irrelevant.  And we need to change that.

I’m gonna’ kick this blog off with what I know will be a fairly controversial stance.  I will preface this by explaining that I have lived and worked in China for 15 years, from 1993-2008.  I have established two successful companies there, as well as a non-profit organization working with one of China’s ethnic minority groups.  I’ve had my life seriously impacted by Chinese gov’t policies; and have many Chinese friends who’ve suffered (some greatly) at the hands of the Chinese government.

I do not in any way deny that there are abuses there.  Nor do I feel that we should turn a blind eye to those abuses.

But I think that we need some perspective.

I’m Canadian…and proud of being Canadian.  I was born two days before Canada’s centennial birthday, so Canada is almost exactly 100 years older than me.  Which makes Canada 141 years old at the time I’m writing this.   141 years ago, Canada was founded as a nation, based on principles of democracy and equality.  Yet women were not allowed to vote until 1918.  And non-white immigrant groups, especially Chinese, were not only not allowed to vote, but actively discriminated against (in 1885 implemented the head tax, and in 1923 outlawed most Chinese immigration).  And if you want to argue that those are ancient history…what about WW II, when more than 22,000 Japanese Canadians were rounded up and put in internment camps, and all their property seized (stolen) by the government?

And this doesn’t even get into the shameful manner in which we treated Canada’s indigenous peoples throughout most of our history.

My point…a country that was founded on the principles of democracy and equality has taken 141 years to reach the point we are at today.  During that time, we’ve committed terrible abuses of our own.  But we did — slowly — change, evolve, and improve.  So that today, we live in a country that, while it still has problems, nevertheless is an excellent example to the world of both democracy and equality.

Now, let us consider China.

China is 5000 years old.  In all that time, it has never had the principles of democracy or equality.  Yes, there have been terrible abuses, both past and present.

But the fact is, the Chinese people today enjoy greater freedom than at any other time in China’s history.  And those freedoms are continuing to increase.  When I went to China in 1993, I had to get permission from the police to visit a Chinese person’s home; today, Chinese and foreigners mix freely, and frequently.  In 1993, almost no Chinese were allowed to leave China, and those who did were accompanied by political monitors; today, Chinese the majority of Chinese citizens are free to travel internationally as they please, so long as they have enough money (in fact, the main barrier to Chinese travel today is not the Chinese gov’t, but rather foreign gov’ts who refuse to grant visas to many of those potential travellers).  In 1993, discussion of any political issues would get you in serious trouble; today, politics are discussed everywhere (albeit there’s still a line you can’t cross).  In 1993, the Chinese gov’t had an iron grip on information, and the people had little or no opportunity to get any other perspectives or news; today, with the internet and the frequent interaction with foreigners, Chinese have access to tons of information that can no longer be controlled by the government (their efforts to block certain portions of the internet has really only resulted in teaching Chinese how to hack around those blocks).

No, China is not perfect; and yes, there are still plenty of abuses.

But look how far China has come in only fifteen years!!! It has taken us 141 years, in a nation founded on principles of democracy and equality, to reach the point we are at today!  It is ludicrous to expect that another nation — particularly one that has never had those principles as the basis of its government — to accomplish the same changes in only ten or fifteen years!

So yes…we should push China to continue changing; and no, we should never turn a blind eye to the abuses, or a deaf ear to cries for help.  But we should also recognize that China is moving in the right direction.  And instead of simply reviling them with blanket condemnation, we should also be recognizing the positive changes that have taken place, and seeking to build cooperative ties with them in order to encourage continued positive development in the future.

Canada has, in fact, been instrumental in some of China’s changes.  We have had exchanges of lawyers, for example; where Chinese lawyers came to Canada to learn about the Canadian legal system, and Canadian lawyers went to China to learn about their legal system.  Some of the changes taking place in Chinese law today are a result of those exchanges.

It is very easy to simply sit back in the comfort of our Canadian homes, and condemn the Chinese government.  Not only is it easy…it makes us feel good, too.  It shows how much better we are.  It is not so easy to take the time to really understand the full situation in China, and just how complex it is.  Nor is it easy to examine our own history, and our own abuses.

And it takes time, and effort, and risk to build ties between Canada and China.

Yet, if you are truly concerned about freedom and equality for the Chinese people — and not just using it as an excuse to play the holier-than-thou game — then I’d suggest that this is exactly what we need to do.  To let the Chinese government know that we absolutely condemn the abuses within their system; but that we also are willing to work with them, as equal partners, to continue the process of positive change within that country.  And to offer them the experience that we ourselves have had, in evolving from a nation that killed its native peoples and had blatantly racist policies, to a nation where we enjoy one of the highest standards of freedom and equality in the world.