Beijing Olympics 2008: From triumph Into TRAGEDY....

[delta]

I love sports and some games in the Olympics. Yet, please share in case you may probably have any 'crack down' information on Media manipulation which always proclaiming that every Olympics should resulting in profit for the hosting country and public support for the Olympics is high. Have a blessed Olympics(!)

However, media biasism has gone way too far, especially in the western countries where many people bow down and worshiping the luxurious, grandiose lifestyle including in the sports world.

Now speaking of that grandiose Opening Ceremony the latest reports stated that even though they just saw a spectacular party but some athletes frankly said that they are not really agree if the Olympics is held as simple as possible would not be a wise thing and can make the majority upset.

Even while the Opening Ceremony was still going on, some athletes/delegates who're marching in the Bird's Nest National Stadium called or wrote SMS to their relatives in their own countries,,,,not for exalting themselves and proud to participate—believe it or not, but simply to unload their expression on how much money China has been wasting, what an “overspending for overactings celebration” and to tell their boyfriends or girlfriends, “I was really exciting to be here watching live in the stadium but please don't complaint if I have another feeling especially about this Opening Ceremony”, “After my excitement of the opening ceremony was gone, now my eyes're opened.....”, “I promise to tell you that I'm so glad to be here live, but after all let's deal with the spirit of simplicity and be humble”, “Just be moderate and simple. Is it too hard for you?”, “Don't expect adulation, expect scrutiny.” Etc, etcs.

We'll see much more of the hard feelings from the athletes themselves after the Olympics, of course. But now let's focus on the tragedy after tragedy as well as the sad facts related to this costly Olympics:

Some participants in these events, especially children and the elderly, might not have voluntarily offered their participation. [Packing 2008 Participants to Welcome the Olympics Only Chases After the Superficial,Wastes Money and Bothers the Public],”www.ChinaReviewNews.com, June 1, 2007.

To organize these types of big events, every neighborhood must send a certain quota of people. And it is not just about sending people; all neighborhoods have to show support by providing funding. There are simply too many of these types of activities and meetings for higher-level officials, but neighborhood and residential committees are obliged to attend them. When the camera turns to them, their job is to smile, and if they are interviewed, they should just say some rehearsed lines. http://gb.chinareviewnews.com/doc/1003/7...docid=100379426

“The media like to emphasize how much effort athletes and coaches put into winning gold medals,

but how much taxpayers’money was spent to win them? Would winning all the Olympic gold medals

make China invincible? How about spending all that money on ordinary people? Do they know that there are still lots of people living below the poverty line? [How Much Was Spent in the Name of the Olympics? And Is It Worthwhile?],” http://218.56.128.131/bbs/dispbbs.asp?boardID=59&ID=10082&page=9

Many Chinese have expressed concern over “letting the Beijing Olympic Games become an appetizer in a public funded feast,” especially during the 2004 Athens Games, when many Chinese officials went to Athens to“monitor” the Games. Reports emerged that some officials brought along family members and spent as much as 170,000 yuan (about $22,500) per person, lavishing public funds on four-star hotels, gourmet meals and private tours around Europe. [Numerous ChineseOfficialsWent to Monitor the Athens Games, Highest Average Cost Per Person Ran to 170,000 Yuan], China Youth Daily,August 31, 2004, available at http://www.scol.com.cn/economics/cjxw/20040831/2004831155448.htm

OneNetizen wrote,“As a Chinese, I’m ashamed of this kind of phenomenon, and I’m not optimistic about [the promise of] holding a ‘frugal Olympics’ that China has stressed time and again.” [Xinhua News Agency,August 31, 2004, http://big5.xinhuanet.com/gate/big5/news.xinhuanet.com/comments/2004-08/31/content_1930008.htm]

“Those idiots running our country are spending common people’s hard-earned money to dress the capital up like a prostitute, then they’ll bring back some gold medals from the Games and split the benefits . . . . If you don’t have enough money to put food on the table for your kids or see the doctor when you’re sick, how can you afford to go see some shitty Olympics?” [What Are the Poor Doing at the Olympics?],” http://i.cn.yahoo.com/blog-2v4csUE9f7zGH759esLGjQA-?cq=1&p=414

The country is wasting so much, and has anyone ever stopped to wonder what kind of life farmers must be living?” [blogger’s comment onMay 1, 2007, in a Yahoo! China blog post,“Aoyun, ni qiongren cou shenme renao?,”op. cit.]

“While people are elated about the Olympics, sports are playing an increasingly smaller role in the daily lives of ordinary people. This is particularly true in rural villages—I don’t know if there is a single Ping-Pong table or basketball hoop in poor rural villages.” September 2, 2004, www.eepw.com.cn blog

“Just the word ‘Olympics’ makes me angry! On what basis should China’s 1.3 billion people hand over their money to build up Beijing? On what grounds can we pay for the Olympics with our tax money and then be ignored? What about the farmers? The People’s Republic was built with the blood and sweat of farmers, and now they want to throw us aside!” - May 26, 2007, a Yahoo! China blog

According to Chinese government reports, Beijing will spend some $42 billion to build new stadiums and other Games-related infrastructure, including new subway lines and an airport terminal, an amount four times the cost of the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens.

Preparations for the Olympics have also cost Chinese citizens directly.

Tens of thousands of Chinese have been forced to relocate to clear space for Olympic venues and new infrastructure and many have received less compensation than guaranteed under Chinese laws.

A magazine affiliated with the Beijing Tourism Administration reported this month that 300,000 homes in Beijing had been demolished to make room for "some monumental stadiums" ahead of the Olympics. [Cox News Service--Sunday, January 27, 2008] http://www.coxwashington.com/hp/content/reporters/stories/2008/01/27/CHINA_OLY27_COX.html

Even some Australians, from the rich country, say:

“We spend $120 million plus every year on the AIS, and for what? What exactly does the notion of winning a Gold medal at all costs add to the country, other than a warm fuzzy feeling.

And how often do these pampered (and obsessed) athletes fail to reach the "big event"?

This money should be redirected to something more meaningful like, say, providing shelter for our homeless. And these athletes should go and get a real job like the rest of us!”

“I hate the Olympics, it allows a bunch of Jocks to go an play sport and waste a whole bunch of money in the name of "sport". Dont care about this stuff. think of how much better the money can be spent on hospitals and schools. anybody who thinks this is a great idea to waste money on sport is a fool. maybe at a local fitness level its fine, most people have jobs, but to be a olympian and get paid for it is silly.” http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/07/10/2299394.htm?site=olympics/2008

BEIJING OLYMPICS 2008 IS NOT A TRIUMPH. IT'S NOTHING BUT A SERIOUS TRAGEDY

[delta]

AFTER THE OLYMPICS......Big Profits for China? A simple comp. study

Like Beijing, the 2004 Athens Summer Games were filled with emotional symbolism, heralded as the Games’ triumphant return to its original birthplace after over a century of absence.

National pride and popular support for the Games seemed to be nearly unequivocal among Greek citizens as they eagerly awaited the opening of the Olympics. However, that is precisely why it now serves as such an important lesson to Beijing organizers of the dangers of short-sighted Olympic planning.

Today, many of Athens’s most vaunted Olympic venues lie empty with weeds virtually shrouding what was once the toast of the Hellenic world. While the Greek government spent more than ten billion dollars (that’s five percent of its annual GDP!) constructing the venues, many of those buildings are now locked behind chain-link fences or, at best, have been converted to shopping malls. A recent BBC article cited the cost of maintaining Olympic venues to be somewhere near two million dollars per month.

This realization that even strong Olympic spirit is sometimes not enough to sustain a city and its economy in the long-term has been the driving force behind BOCOG’s plan to stage a “frugal Olympics” that will recycle or re-use all of its Olympic venues after the Games finish. [http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/olympics/2008/06/athens_sounds_a_warning_over_l.html]

[delta]

Several Congregations already declared: SPORTS:YES, OLYMPICS: NO!

Some few churches, including in USA, canceled the "Olympic Fun" that invite members to have fun by watching together any games outside their churches.

But in the last minutes before opening ceremony many church members of different denomination reportedly changed their decision and went to the opposite direction because of their anger and dissapointment about this costly and stupid olympics that has been swallowing so much not only money but their citizens as well.

You see, That's why during the July-August Vacation Bible School many churches NOT dealing with any Olympics-related attributes for the children as one of the fun & games activities.

Not only that, even some churches and pastors [not to mention here] will preach and talk about 'open corruptions', 'torturing for the sake of temporary luxurious', 'Gold Medal is more important that life, right?', 'Excercise and practice for months and get paid only for chasing a Gold Medal? This is extremely stupid. How about the poors?'[Keep arguing that the money always comes from sponsors? Absolutely not! Millions of Dollars of the taxpayers money need to be wasted only for gold medals] or 'Nothing wrong with the Olympics, but is it wrong to teach that Eternal Life is more important than Olympics?".

Here's just a little clue...

Huge investment in Olympic projects and a total lack of transparency have facilitated serious corruption and widespread bribery. Taxpayers are not allowed to supervise the use of investment amounting to more than $40 billion. Liu Zhihua, formerly in charge of Olympic construction and former deputy mayor of Beijing, was arrested for massive embezzlement.

To clear space for Olympic-related construction, thousands of civilian houses have been destroyed without their former owners being properly compensated. Brothers Ye Guozhu and Ye Guoqiang were imprisoned for a legal appeal after their house was forcibly demolished. Ye Guozhu has been repeatedly handcuffed and shackled, tied to a bed and beaten with electric batons. During the countdown to the Olympic Games he will continue to suffer from torture in Chaobei Prison in Tianjin.

It has been reported that over 1.25 million people have been forced to move because of Olympic construction; it was estimated that the figure would reach 1.5 million by the end of 2007. No formal resettlement scheme is in place for the over 400,000 migrants who have had their dwelling places demolished. Twenty percent of the demolished households are expected to experience poverty or extreme poverty. In Qingdao, the Olympic sailing city, hundreds of households have been demolished and many human rights activists as well as “civilians” have been imprisoned. Similar stories come from other Olympic cities such as Shenyang, Shanghai and Qinhuangdao.

http://johnibii.wordpress.com/2008/04/05/the-real-china-and-the-olympics/

[doctorj]

You have really got a "thing" about the Olympics. Personally, I think the result of the Olympics is going to be good for the world, just showing what we already thought but could not prove before about the Chinese Government.

We have seen a Government that will do just about anything to present a good Olympics. But what we see are fakeing of some fireworks, lip-synching child singer, and ever so much more can we see the Chinese Government for what it actually is.

However, we must also see the Olympics for what they are. There is worship of human achievement, a humanistic reverence for medal winners. It is not something as Christians we should be participating in.

[janamarie]

To Delta:

It's sad that anyone has to take the Olympics and use them to pursue political agenda's. That was tacky and inapropriate. There is a time and a place for every thing and the time for being negative is not while athletes who work hard toward their goals and dreams, to show young children that you can have dreams and make it to those dreams is a reality.

Leave it alone for another day. Before the games, we all knew what was happening to the people of China.

Right now is the time of the Athletes like Michael Phelps and the children who will grow up to want to succeed because he had the guts to work hard to fulfill his dream.

Get the chip of your shoulder and get a positive outlook on life for 10 days every fours years, will you please?

Thank you

[janamarie]

To Doctorj:

I so totally disagree with you. I think you mean, you as an Adventist don't believe in competition, but as a Christian, you are quite wrong. Athletes in the Olympics work hard, are honest, decent kids who give up everyday play and comforts to achieve a goal.

So, you're a doctor, what did you give up to go to medical school? That was a goal and a dream. Was it christian for you to compete with other students in testing to get into the best medical schools for that internship or residency? Get over your pious self alreay. And do you just sit back and let every competitive doctor in the hospital take your patients? I doubt it. Your remark was more illiterate than the orginal post. I hope you're not a Loma Linda grad.

[delta]

Dear all,

The major issue here is not about Adventists nor politics but about the excessive adoration for Olympics and Gold medal almost everywhere in the world.

Wherever you are....no matter how wise and wonderful your country is, but when it comes to "Olympics" or "Gold Medal", all of a sudden the wise government becomes literally so stupid and would do anything at any cost just to win the medal.

Don't even expect your wise government having such a critical thinking of ratio of benefit VS loss....Certainly they don't care how much taxpayers money has been spoiled for nothing in the name of "Winning the Game".

They just don't know, however, that after just a week of any winning momentum, everybody will go home and forget it.

But now please try once again to see the true hearts of some Australians about the 'Gold medal' or the 'Olympics':

“We spend $120 million plus every year on the AIS, and for what? What exactly does the notion of winning a Gold medal at all costs add to the country, other than a warm fuzzy feeling.

And how often do these pampered (and obsessed) athletes fail to reach the "big event"?

This money should be redirected to something more meaningful like, say, providing shelter for our homeless. And these athletes should go and get a real job like the rest of us!”

“I hate the Olympics, it allows a bunch of Jocks to go an play sport and waste a whole bunch of money in the name of "sport". Dont care about this stuff. think of how much better the money can be spent on hospitals and schools. anybody who thinks this is a great idea to waste money on sport is a fool. maybe at a local fitness level its fine, most people have jobs, but to be a olympian and get paid for it is silly.”

[http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/07/10/2299394.htm?site=olympics/2008]

[Robert]

Athletes in the Olympics work hard, are honest, decent kids who give up everyday play and comforts to achieve a goal.

[Gerr]

To no one in particular.

I wonder if Paul may have loved the Olympic games? He often referred to them.

"Do you not know that in a race all the runners compete, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it. Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perihable wreath, but we an imperishable. So I do not run aimlessly; I do not box as one beating the air. But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified." 1 Cor 9:24-27 ESV

"Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God." Heb 12:1,2 ESV

"...one thing I do; forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus." Phil 3:13,14 ESV.

Gerry

[Robert]

I wonder if Paul may have loved the Olympic games? He often referred to them.

[Robert]

According to 1 John 2:16, “all that is in the world” (i.e., without exception) is based or founded upon lust (i.e., love of self).

For everything in the world—

1] the cravings of sinful man,

2] the lust of his eyes and

3] the boasting of what he has and does—

comes not from the Father but from the world.

* What is at the center of sinful man's cravings? Right, himself. Maybe he's not a jock...maybe he's just highly educated...whatever it might be his desire is to be the center of attention.

** The lust of his eyes simply means what sinful man sees he wants. Some would call it coveting, but coveting is much more than merely lusting after someone's goods. The point is we are consumed with our needs our desires be it cars, homes, money, the opposite sex, etc....Our capitalistic market is entirely based on lust....

*** Boasting...hmmm? This encompasses so many things. Sports really fits here....Even education...one's looks...etc The point, again, is sinful mankind is in love with himself. It all goes back to that iniquity thing that infected the human race at the fall.

Notice Paul last point: Such self-love does not come from the Father, but the world. By the world Paul means under it's lord or god, Satan. His principle is in everything...even in the church....Where you have "I" you have "the world". So don't just limit it to some wearing jewelry.

Rob

[ChildofChrist]

Christ, as a young man, was sent off to school by his parents.

Do you have a text Biblical or otherwise for that? Or is this your opinion? Just curious.

Luke 2:47 shares that the teachers were amazed at His understanding of the scriptures. They would not have been if He had been educated in a regular school of the day. IMO

[Robert]

An opinion....Either He was taught in the home or outside it....

Rob