Repartay

So I meant to comment on this confiscated bible story yesterday, but I was tired, and Amy offered me perfect entree today. Here’s the basic story:

An American Christian group that was stopped at the airport when it tried to bring in more than 300 Bibles won’t leave the customs zone until it gets the books back, its leader said today.

And it gets interesting here:

The officially atheist Communist Party only allows Bibles to be printed under its own supervision for use in state-sanctioned churches and some hotels. [Pat] Klein [leader of the missionary group Vision Beyond Borders] said he asked authorities to show him the law in English against bringing in Bibles, only to be brought a vaguely worded postal regulation prohibiting material harmful to China.

I get the sense that Amy and I are in basic agreement on the issue, but seriously Pat, what the hell were you thinking? You were told specifically by the Chinese government, the world leader in capital punishment and notable proponent of forcible cultural coercion, not to bring something in, and you did it anyway? First of all, are you out of your mind? Secondly, what did you expect was going to happen?

This isn’t some moral stand here, it’s just stupid. Though we all may have our disagreements with China’s repressive policies towards religion, it’s perfectly within their right to reject foreign proselytizing. It’s pretty tough to raise a fury of worldwide indignation when you knew exactly what what was going to happen. Besides, there’s no such thing as civil disobedience when you have no rights to forfeit in the first place. Forgive my lack of sympathy, but this is really dumb.