Sunday, April 10, 2011

freedom of...

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I think it was Winston Churchill who observed, "Democracy is the worst form of government ... except for all the rest."

In China, members of an unapproved Christian church were rounded up today:

Beijing police on Sunday detained dozens of worshippers from an unapproved Christian church who were trying to hold services in a public space after they were evicted from their usual place of worship, a parishioner said....

China's Communist government allows worship only in state-approved churches, but many Christians belong to unregistered congregations. Such "house churches" are subjected to varying degrees of harassment by authorities. -- Complete story
 As the first stanza of the German song suggests:

Die Gedanken sind frei, wer kann sie erraten,
sie fliegen vorbei wie nächtliche Schatten.
Kein Mensch kann sie wissen, kein Jäger erschießen
es bleibet dabei: Die Gedanken sind frei!

Thoughts are free. Who can guess them? They fly by like shadows in the night. No man can know them, no hunter (can) shoot them....

Trying to stop thoughts and beliefs is like trying to nail Jell-O to the wall. True, they can be tinged and turned by others, but trying to stop them or rein them in is a fool's errand, one that only calls more fervor to that which is assessed or opposed.
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