Thought For The Day BBC Radio 4 2nd Aug

TFTD Saturday 2nd August
Rob Marshall

Good morning.
Sport is more than a physical activity. It involves body AND mind AND spirit. So there is something wonderfully uplifting as well as exciting about the fact that in less than a week the Olympic Games in Beijing get underway.

But this particular Olympics has raised more questions about freedom and human rights than most.
Among all the recent stories out of China about the earthquake and its aftermath, the economic and technological advances of Chinese society, the concern about pollution levels at the Olympics sites, there has been another story niggling away, demanding our attention. This is about censorship.

Put simply, 20,000 accredited journalists have been battling to have access to websites in the media centre which the Chinese authorities blocked: ruling out, for instance, Amnesty International’s website, which is critical of China’s human rights record. In the past 48 hours the number of available websites has increased after media pressure, but the censorship has been embarrassing for the International Olympic Committee who, seven years ago when the Games were awarded to Beijing, were assured – and seemed to believe - that such things would not be part of the China of the future.

I don’t want to be simplistic here. Most messages reaching us have been adopted - or adapted - to suit the needs, beliefs and lifestyles of the messenger. So nothing is black and white – never more so when other cultures, who do things and see things differently from those of us doing the judging, are suddenly at the centre of attention.

But I have been re-reading Herman and Chomsky’s “Manufacturing Consent” – in which they emphasise that freedom of expression should not be defended, quote, “by virtue of its contribution to some higher good; rather (because freedom of expression) is a value in itself.”

The Christian faith regards freedom as a gift from God. Freedom, said Jesus, is found in ‘the Truth that sets you free’.
And always it is linked to how freedom is to be USED, both by the giver and the receiver. The giver may have goals and desires for the receiver, but ultimately allows the receiver to make his or her own choices. The receiver, given the gift of freedom, is called to exercise it responsibly and beneficially, not selfishly or excessively.

This is relevant to countries also – at the moment to China in particular because its spectacular staging of the Olympics will make it the focus of worldwide headlines. And when we are told that sport and politics should be kept separate, our retort has to be that freedom is NEVER just a matter of politics, it is also a matter of the SPIRIT.

The Olympic motto this year is ‘One World, One Dream’. But this is an instance of where ANY dream will NOT do.