Why Sports Fans should Boycott the 2008 Beijing Olympics

Misc. Monday takes a look at the why the Olympics should be boycotted in the name of Chinese and Tibetan freedom. Listen to the message sent by those who die to speak it. Use your voice to spread the message to anyone who conscientious enough to hear it.

The weblog platform has been denounced and disrespected, ignored and persecuted sufficiently to anger those burdened by the foolishness of the ignorant. If the collective outrage amounts to action and subsequently reaction from the persecutors then we've succeed in regaining our journalistic integrity and our right to speak and be heard. The purpose of this platform that we've embraced is to share our thoughts and ideas to educate -- and thus empower -- others who mightn't be as enlightened. By sharing information and passing it along, a message from a singular source is proliferated into the hearts and minds of millions.

Imagine your voice silenced forever by fear, being without the fundamental rights or claims to your passion. In the context of blogging these ambitions are marginalized when considering the battle for basic human rights in China and Tibet. From a 2004 report issued by the US State Dept.:

“Citizens did not have the right to change their government, and many who openly expressed dissenting political views were harassed, detained, or imprisoned…Abuses included instances of extrajudicial killings; torture and mistreatment of prisoners, leading to numerous deaths in custody; coerced confessions; arbitrary arrest and detention; and incommunicado detention.”

In light of this, the detention, brutality and killing of protesters opposing the communist Chinese regime. The message from within China to those that oppose their operation to present themselves glowingly on the international stage: Shut Up, or well throw you in jail, kill you, or both.

“In what has become a familiar sight in Kathmandu in recent weeks, they waved signs and shouted slogans demanding independence for their Himalayan homeland, only to face beatings and detention.” (Reuters, 31Mar08)

Boycotting the Olympics and supporting Chinese and Tibetan freedom are juxtaposed on the path to moral utopia. The opportunity to make a statement is upon on as athletes, writers, activists, sympathizers, and plainly as human beings, and grows in anticipation of the Opening Ceremonies in Beijing.

So get informed, spread the message and make a difference. Stop idly sympathizing and have a voice for those that cannot: sign the petitions. Seize the chance to incite change in China lest we backhandedly endorse their mistreatment of its citizens to protect their identity and allow them to continually profit from genocide and oppression. I refuse to support the Olympics in Beijing in 2008 for these reasons and more.

• More: Protests in Tibet leave nearly 100 dead.
• China has declared a "people's war" of security and propaganda against support for the Dalai Lama, the spiritual leader of Tibetan Buddhists.
• Repression continues in China leading up to the Olympics.