Courage

On the front page of the New York Times this morning there is an article about a human rights lawyer in China. His name is Gao Zhisheng, and he has founded a law firm in Beijing that represents citizens in disputes against the Chinese government (land and asset seizures), political dissidents, Christians (who are forbidden from practicing openly), other religious sects, and now citizens in Taishi, Guangdong (last week saw the largest use of military force against civilians in China since the Tiananmin Square massacres in 1989 as police and security forces killed at least 20 villagers and wounded hundreds others in their efforts to dispel protests over government seizures of privately-held land).

Gao's family has been threatened, he is trailed by security forces wherever he goes, and his firm has been shut down by the government for failing to submit a change of address form with the authorities when it moved offices. Despite these intimidation tactics, Gao continues his work. According to the article by Joseph Khan, Gao is currently trying to encourage an underground church in Xingjiang (far western China) to sue China's secret police for harassment and intimidation. He told church members,

I can't guarantee that you will win the lawsuit -- in fact you will most certainly lose. But I warn you that if you are too timid to confront their barbaric behavior, you will be completely defeated.-- Gao Zhisheng, quoted in the NYT 12-13-05

Gao knows the Court will not protect the underground church from the secret police. He knows the danger of their seeking legal protection. He also knows that certain defeat is not sufficient reason for inaction -- the cost of inaction (oppression, suppression of human dignity, injustice) is higher than the cost of defeat (imprisonment, physical abuse, further harassment).

This is the calculus that has sustained human rights advocates over centuries -- from early abolitionists to the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Mahatma Gandhi, Nelson Mandela, Bishop Desmond Tutu, Aung San Suu Kyi, and countless others. Defeat in individual cases may be certain, but the struggle is the only thing that prevents one's complete loss of self. The struggle is the seed of hope.

I'm going to be praying for Gao and I hope you will as well. He and his team of lawyers bring hope (if not immediate victory) to an oppressed people. Gandhi said that his life was his message. Gao could certainly say the same thing. As we go through our days and lift Gao and his colleagues up in prayer, let's also pray for God to show us how our lives might change so they may also be our message -- Our message that God's love, hope, and peace will never yield to brittle threats of physical violence and dysfunctional systems of injustice. Despair will never triumph so long as people like Gao work to build God's kingdom. Let's work alongside him.

Love,

Becky