What is happening in Tibet is different. Chinese slaughter of Christians happens to all Chinese and China’s ethic minorities, regardless whether they are from an occupied area or not. And unlike the Tibetans, the millions of persecuted Christians who outnumber communist party members by 10-to-1 aren’t burning down businesses and staging retaliatory murders like the persecuted Tibetans. They aren’t interested in political separatism. They just want religious freedom no matter where they are.

Chinese persecution of Christians who refuse to subscribe to the official state control of Christianity is certainly representative of Beijing’s desire to keep power. But it is also religious, and I would argue, primarily religious since the persecuted Christians of China don’t have a “homeland” they want back, or a political theocracy they want restored. They are nothing more than citizens of China who are devoted to China, but also devoted to Christ. And where’s the crime in that?

Without wanting to demean the situation in Tibet, there is another sobering reality to consider. Christians worldwide have suffered greater depths of persecution than Tibetan Buddhists, or any other group for that matter.

“‘More Christians have died for their faith in the 20th century than in all other centuries of church history combined,’ and, ‘It is estimated that two-thirds of all the martyrs in Christian history died in the 20th century…’
More Christians are killed than are saved from execution at the last minute. More Christians stay locked in prison, beaten and tortured, than are able to walk free, guided by miraculous escape plans. More Christians suffer lifelong deprivation of their most basic civic and economic rights.” - Christianity Today, “Bearing the Silence of God,” March 2008.

The situation in Tibet is different in that it is first political rather than purely religious. Sure, it looks bad when Buddhist monks are beaten bloody. In fact it’s awful. But it’s not any more awful than beating an atheist bloody, or a Muslim bloody, or a Jew bloody, or anyone else bloody. Buddhist monks don’t have a lock on the moral authority of persecution—especially when what they want is the political preference of Buddhism in their region.

But the violence in Tibet right now isn’t just about Buddhist monks. Its about a range of issues far more complex, even though political Buddhism is central to the situation. I read a great article on the Tibet situation by John Tkacik, Jr. today. If political freedom and religious freedom is your thing, then you should read it. Tkacik points out that the violence is certainly not limited to Chinese authorities smashing a few heads. The Tibetans aren’t holding their version of a Boston Tea Party. There is a great deal of independent confirmation of wanton killing and destruction by Tibetans of average Han Chinese. Wikipedia provides a running take on the violence being perpetrated by both sides—and it does it quite well. There aren’t really any good guys on either side of the violence, but certainly the Chinese authorities have more to answer for. They are the ones in control.

The condition of religious freedom in China has improved in recent years, but not nearly enough. The “improvements” come with a lot of government control. That’s not really freedom, is it? Since this is a “First Freedoms” issue as I mentioned in my blog last week, the “who” of the violence and persecution isn’t so much the issue as the principle. It doesn’t matter if its Tibetans, or Buddhists, or Christians, or Atheists. Freedom is freedom. Freedom is the birthright of humanity regardless of religious profession.

I cannot help but wonder what would happen if Tibet gained its freedom to become the Buddhist state that the Tibetan Government in Exile would likely establish. Would all religious faiths receive the same level of protection and expression as Buddhism? Doubtful. They might not persecute people of other religious professions to the same extent as the communist authorities in China, but one has to wonder if it could really be called true freedom.

• Christian Freedom International
• Christian Solidarity Worldwide
• Christians in Crisis
• International Christian Concern
• Jubilee Campaign
• Open Doors International
• Gospel for Asia
• Voice of the Martyrs