The Olympic Bible

The organizers of the 2008 Olympic Games in China have put the Bible on the list of items that athletes are banned from bringing with them to Beijing, we learn from a report in the Catholic News Service, picking up an item in the Italian daily La Gazzetta dello Sport. This would seem to undermine claims by a Chinese government official, Ye Xiaowen, who told Reuters last month that China would accommodate the religious needs of visiting athletes. The Chinese official claimed to Reuters that restrictions on Bibles were intended "to prevent illegal vendors from driving up prices, which are kept extremely low by government subsidies." Only a Communist would buy that economic explanation, which makes no sense.

As it so happens one of the great challengers of the Beijing regime, the James Madison of Hong Kong, Martin Lee, was in our office recently. The topic of the Olympics came up, and Mr. Lee said he and his pro-democracy allies had weighed the pros and cons and come down strongly against boycotting the games. "If you boycott the games, the games will take place anyway, and you miss a golden opportunity," Mr. Lee told us. An opportunity, that is, to press Communist China for expansion of freedom on topics such as, well, being able to bring a Bible into the country.

During the visit here of Mr. Lee, a democratically elected member of the parliament of Hong Kong, talk turned to the way some of America's founders had been emboldened by their religious beliefs. An editor of the Sun asked whether the same applied to those fighting for freedom in Hong Kong and China. Mr. Lee replied, "As a Catholic, I don't mind dying. I go up to heaven. I know somebody is up there, guiding me." It is the fear of sentiments like that that no doubt explains why Chinese Communist authorities would try to keep the Bible out of their country. Once it gets in, there is no telling where the ideas will spread or what will be the consequences.