The Dark Side of the Olympic Winter Games

I'll be the first to admit that I enjoy the athletic side of the Olympics. These people have spent so much time mastering their sport and put on a show for the world as they represent their countries. That being said my favorite part is the parade of nations. I watch the opening ceremony (London 2012 is still my favorite) mostly to see the parade of nations. The main reason for that is this side of Heaven this is the closest to seeing what Heaven will look like I will get. A large sum of the Earth is represented during the games but in Heaven every nation, tribe, and tongue will be represented and that is a beautiful thing.

This year as I watched the parade of nations I saw it through a slightly different lens. Friday night I watched people represent nations where followers of Christ are persecuted because of their beliefs. There has been a lot of talk about North Korea during this years games but it has been sickeningly sweet talk that doesn't match what the world actually knows about North Korea. I'm all for peace talks but North Korea has been on the top of the watchlist as the worst place to be a Christian for a long time. It isn't a nice place. You don't go and vacation there. It isn't like hopping on a plane and visiting Europe or Australia. Following Christ in North Korea isn't a game. A Bible Belt doesn't exist so you aren't merely associated with Christianity because of where you live. If you align yourself with Jesus and identify as someone who follows Him you will pay for it, likely with your life. But the church is still flourishing there.

Eritrea, a country in the Horn of Africa, it also happens to be an incredibly dangerous place to live. Just three years ago the country was sanctioned by the UN for crimes against humanity and in 2009 they had sanctions placed on them for their involvement with Islamist extremist in Ethiopia (a country they border and gained their independence from in 1993 after a thirty year war). BBC actually lists Christianity as a major religion for them. Guess what the other is, Islam. I'll assume you are smart enough to figure out which is preferred and which is persecuted against. There has been a large chunk of the population flee the area and take their chances of finding a new life across the Sahara. Yet if you look at the happy, smiling faces of the athletes on Friday night you'd never know just how dangerous a life lived their can be.

India sent a delegation of two athletes. Only hours ago it was reported that a pastor had been hung inside his own church by Hindu extremist. A country that is largely Hindu doesn't look kindly on those who refuse to bring temple sacrifices to Krishna. It happens to be number 11 on the World Watch list of the most dangerous places to be follow Christ.

I could tell you about Iran whose place atop the World Watch list sits at number ten. Most would think it would be higher because they live in the Middle East, but it is a rather high number for a place in the Middle East, Afghanistan sits a two. They aren't a country you'd identity with Christianity and of fifty spots they hit at ten, but you'd be surprised to see that there are other places that land much lower on the watch list despite not being what many consider a hotbed of Islam. (Interestingly enough the delegation sent to the Winter Games is under Islamic State of Iran according to the NOC).

There are 92 nations represented among the athletes at this years winter games. Among those 92 countries 13 of them are on the World Watch List. That means 11% of the nations represented at the games are places in which followers of Christ are known to be persecuted on a large scale.  That makes my stomach turn. We've got brothers and sisters there that escape our minds because we don't see them but we see people from the places they are dying in because they can compete well in a sport. I'm not discrediting the talent these athletes possess at all. They deserve to be able to showcase what they can do and represent their homes. What is horrible is that so much is done to represent these places as safe and happy when that is not the case. All is not what it seems, North Korea should show us that.

So I ask of you reading this, this year when you watch the games pray for our brothers and sisters whose lives are at stake because they live where Christ isn't named as God and to do so means harm and possibly death. We are commanded to pray for our brothers and sisters, they need it. We cannot sit in the safest country in the world to be a Christian and remain silent as fellow Christians suffer because they don't live here.

The full World Watch List can be found here:World Watch List

#MeToo,Nassar, Truth, Consequence.

I do not write or speak without a long chunk of time between the time my thoughts occur and the time it hits a screen or becomes sound waves. Speaking without thinking isn't a skill of mine, if anything I'm often told I'm too quiet, or not vocal enough. But that is just who I am. Thinking on my feet is fine for simple decisions, but a weighty matter of any sort be it Bible Study or the latest event that alters the lives of those around the world at a large level takes time. This is no different. In fact what you are about to read is probably one of the longest thought out blog post I've ever written. Part of that is because it is a topic that needs to be addressed with the utmost sensitivity and partly because I don't want to throw out words that could harm those whom have been touched by it in any shape, form, or fashion.

Most of my newsfeed for the past two or three weeks has been centered on Larry Nassar. Should you have no idea who that is he was a team doctor for the USA Olympic Gymnastics team as well as at Michigan State. I use the past tense because he was accused of sexual abuse by more than 150 women and girls. He's been sentenced to between 40-175 years in prison for his crimes. Information is still coming to light on his web of abuse over the past two decades. But this post isn't about him. He doesn't deserve anymore attention. I'll let the media handle that one.

Here's the thing, he isn't the first high profile person to commit these atrocities. 2017 saw several high profile men accused of actions of sexual harassment and abuse. The #MeToo movement was created to allow victims of sexual harassment and abuse to tell the world that they were victims. Women all over the world spoke up, some of them for the first time about painful histories. I've got a problem with that. I've got a problem with the fact that a hundred and fifty women had to sit on a stand and tell the world what was done to them. That problem is the fact that it shouldn't have happened. They should be able to speak up and have those around them believe them. It should never have escalated to the point that it carried on for twenty years so more and more women and young girls could be harmed.

I understand that such an accusation is serious and one made out of spite that is untrue can do irreparable harm to the reputation of the one being accused. What I don't understand is how do we become so jaded that we don't believe our children,wives, and friends when they say someone has hurt them? We tell our children that if anyone hurts them they need to tell an adult! How do we get to the point that they are either too scared to tell us or when they tell us we blow it off? How does someone who this is repeatedly called against continue to work with young ladies and women and nothing be done?  It completely baffles me. It also makes me sick to my stomach.

Status and station cannot trump truth. Sure jumping to conclusions is a horrible thing to do but it is far better to err on the side of caution. I think if such things had been done and not swept under the rug there would be far fewer victims of Mr.Nassar and other predators like him. We as people should be open arms to those who are hurting, not judgmental doubters who won't entertain the notion that such things happen, because they do. There is plenty of evil in the world and the only way to fight it is with the hope and love of Christ. But we can't do that if we aren't willing to believe the hurting.

So to all those who sat on a stand and modeled a bravery that few will ever touch I apologize. You live in a place that never should have doubted you. To all those who were brave enough to tell the world #MeToo I hope we move forward to a time where you don't have to tell the world to get closure.