Hello My Dear Great Ones,
The protests grind on in Hong Kong. I pray and hope for a peaceful resolution and reconciliation with those on the front lines of the conflict, but the longer it goes the more difficult it will be. The problem in my opinion is that the Chinese government are not accountable to anyone. They are not accountable to the people they govern, and they are certainly not accountable to God. The fact that the Chinese government is persecuting Christians and tearing down churches is clear evidence that if you don't buy into their views you are considered an enemy. Trying to destroy a religion like Christianity that advocates things like love, peace, cooperation, integrity, and a good work ethic will actually make a society worse not better.
The Chinese government also doesn't seem to understand that any government that denies its citizens religious and other democratic rights and freedoms is doomed to failure. The demise of the USSR and GDR plus other communist countries over the last thirty years is clear evidence of this.
Interesting that a country like South Korea, which has allowed its citizens to have a strong and vibrant Christian faith has also a strong and vibrant economy. Not a guarantee that will happen of course, but it certainly helps. South Korea is also next door to one of the most oppressive communist regimes in history. The contrast between a free democratic society that allows their people to worship God and one that does not is jarring. The heavily fortified border between the Koreas is there to keep the North Koreans in and not South Koreans out.
Anyway, I digress a bit. Pray for Hong Kong. Life is still going on here, but it can be discouraging at times with the constant protests and conflicts.
Finally here is a link to an article that I think gives a well balanced idea of what is really going on between Hong Kong and China.
Note the swastika. The Chinese flag has stars on it. The poster is a modified version of the flag. Not good.
At first there was one demand. Now there are five. The government missed their opportunity to address the one demand (extradition bill) when there were 2 million peaceful protestors.
Posters, symbols for freedom are everywhere in HK.
Look in the backround of the above picture. Do you see a storm trooper waving an American flag, a symbol of democratic freedom?
Many protestors held up five fingers to represent 5 demands not 1 less. That was one of the chants of the protest.
Some radicals.
The police watched warily from several vantage points. Note the police on the overpass. When the protestors passed underneath these police they snarled verbal abuse at them. Not good.
