mixed feelings about the Olympics...

Sarah and I got to watch some of the opening ceremonies of the Olympics last night. What an amazing show! I could hardly believe the scope of the performances and the coordination of the thousands of dancers. I'm always blown away when I watch the parade of nations as well. It's crazy to see representatives from countries across the world, some at war with one another, and some countries whose names I've never heard! There was one country represented (whose name I can't recall) whose population is only about 71,000 people. There were over 91,000 people attending the ceremonies!

However, as I watched, I kept getting mixed feelings and I found myself having a difficult time enjoying the show. The Olympics is supposed to be an inspiring time. It's supposed to be a time of unification of the world. Yet, China has done a lot of things in the recent past and it continues to do things that the NBC commentators are not going to cover during the Olympic broadcasts.

I'm sure many of you know more about this than I do, but I have heard so many unjust things that China has done to make themselves look better for the games. For instance, they went around to several poor areas in Beijing, kicked people out of their homes and tore down unsightly houses. In a news story I saw a few weeks ago, some of these homes housed several generations of families that did not have enough money to find new housing. They did not know where to turn. The government has banned many groups of people including the mentally ill to avoid any disruptions.

Of course, there also are the human rights violations in Tibet. I also just read that China recently revoked a US athlete's visa because he is outspoken on China's involvement in the genocide in Sudan. Evidently, a recent study showed China has been supplying 90 percent of the weapons to the Khartoum in Sudan. I had no idea!

I know the Chinese people have little to do with this and we can enjoy the games and the celebration of the Chinese culture. I mean, the Chinese make up about 1/5 of the world's population! But I feel like I'm finally getting an understanding of the Chinese government and why so many people are upset about the Games being hosted there this year. I also find myself torn on President Bush attending the opening ceremonies. Sure, I think it is noble of him to go in support of our athletes. I think that is extremely important. But I also think his absence would have made a notable impact on foreign relations that might have transcended sports. It's tough to say what the right decision was, but he went and we can't change that.

So I don't really have any conclusions about this whole topic, other than the fact that I have mixed feelings. Hopefully, the Games will provide lots of good drama and inspiration. But, hopefully, they'll also shed some light on some unfortunate circumstances in our world that need to be changed.