The 1936 Olympics took place in Berlin while the Nazis prepared for genocide. The 2008 Olympics will take place in China, the largest supporter of the Sudanese government, Burmese junta, and North Korea's Kim Jong-il. Not to mention their own aggression in Tibet and across their country.
China is preventing the United Nations from taking action to stop the genocide in Darfur so its oil supply from Sudan is not slowed down. Sudan might not care what we think of them, but China DOES care what the world thinks. Thousand, maybe millions, have been killed and many more displaced. To those with a soul, they know that this a horrible event that should not have been allowed to go on at all rather than for more than 5 years. Yet the Chinese government has continually protected the Sudanese government in the U.N. and supplied them with arms to continue the genocide. Then there is Tibet
Until 1949, Tibet was an independent Buddhist nation in the Himalayas which had little contact with the rest of the world. It existed as a rich cultural storehouse of the Mahayana and Vajrayana teachings of Buddhism. Religion was a unifying theme among the Tibetans -- as was their own language, literature, art, and world view developed by living at high altitudes, under harsh conditions, in a balance with their environment.
The Dalai Lama, an individual said to be an incarnation of the Buddha of Compassion, had been both the political and spiritual leader of the country. The current Dalai Lama (the 14th) was only 24 years old when this all came to an end in 1959. The Communist Chinese invasion in 1950 led to years of turmoil, that culminated in the complete overthrow of the Tibetan Government and the self-imposed exile of the Dalai Lama and 100,000 Tibetans in 1959.
Since that time over a million Tibetans have been killed. With the Chinese policy of resettlement of Chinese to Tibet, Tibetans have become a minority in their own country. Chinese is the official language. Compared to pre-1959 levels, only 1/20 monks are still allowed to practice, under the government's watch. Up to 6,000 monasteries and shrines have been destroyed. Famines have appeared for the first time in recorded history, natural resources are devastated, and wildlife depleted to extinction. Tibetan culture comes close to being eradicated there.
Peaceful demonstrations/protests/speech/writings by nuns, monks, and Tibetan laypeople have resulted in deaths and thousands of arrests. These political prisoners are tortured and held in sub-standard conditions, with little hope of justice. Unless we can all take part and recognize Tibet's loss as our own, the future looks grim.
Since China has taken over, 1.2 million out of 6 million Tibetans have been killed, over 6000 monasteries have been destroyed, and thousands of Tibetans have been imprisoned. Forced abortion, sterilization of Tibetan women and the transfer of low income Chinese citizens threaten the survival of Tibet's unique culture. In some Tibetan provinces, Chinese settlers outnumber Tibetans 7 to 1.
We should also not forget Burma where Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, the rightful and democratically elected leader of Burma, has been in prison for a total of 12 years and is sentenced for another 12. China has refused to step in and stop protecting the military junta that the people have shown they do not support. China remained silent while the junta killed at least 138 people and arrested over 1000 people who where only showing their opposition to the government, something we sometimes take for granted.
These Olympics will go down as a disgrace much like the 1936 Olympics in Nazi Germany. Future generations will wonder how we could such an evil country be allowed to host the Olympics. We may not ever have an answer for them but I know that I will be able to tell them that I took no part and protested it. Will you?