China Puts Bibles in Hotel Rooms for the Olympics
Laura Robertson
CBN News
April 4, 2007
The Gideon Bible remains a staple in most hotel rooms, as ubiquitous as soap or shampoo. But in officially-atheist China, this hasn't historically been the case for obvious reasons. With the upcoming Olympics ushering in about 500,000-550,000 foreign tourists, however, this dynamic might soon be changing.
Liu Bainian, a representative of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference and Vice-President of the China Patriotic Catholic Association, told
China Daily, that China should cater to the spiritual needs of its foreign visitors who are religious.
Members of the Chinese Patriotic Catholic Association (which is endorsed by the Beijing government) will be asked to collect Bibles for use during the Games, which will then be returned to the donors.
While this gesture demonstrates positive attitudes towards religion in China, it also reinforces some religious limitations.
For example, few foreigners know that
The Amity Press has been legally printing Bibles in China for years. Since Amity broke ground on a new plant in 2005, they've averaged about 6 million new Bibles a year, demonstrating an openness to religion and religious growth.
On the flip side, even though Amity has printed over 50 million Bibles since 1988, this is the only press authorized to print Bibles, indicating the lingering presence of the government within religion. Furthermore, even though these Bibles will be in hotels for the Olympics, they're only on loan.
What happens to the Bibles afterwards, and on a more cynical level, what's the assurance the donors of these Bibles have that they're going to ever get them back?
While the Chinese government has made positive steps in encouraging religion en route to the Olympics, in the grand scheme of things, the Games only last for two weeks. The Bible distribution is a positive step in creating an environment that is supportive of religion, but the greater question remains: what will China do after the Olympics are over?
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