In June 1944 the Allied forces invaded the beaches of Normandy to deliver France -- and the world -- from the forces of evil called Adolf Hitler and Nazism. The Allies cause was righteous and noble, and every person in the world today owes their freedom to the actions of the men and women who fought and died in this particular crusade. Flash to this year. At some time after this date, China is supposedly going to invade Taiwan. But in this potentially ghastly scenario what is fundamentally missing is the trigger mechanism by which to morally initiate an aggression -- a "righteous and noble" cause against tyranny.
On the contrary, an invasion of Taiwan by China would not bestow any "face" on the Chinese people. Indeed, it would take any semblance of what face it already has away forever. The bullies who flattened Tibet and are now crushing the Uighurs of northwest China serve as grisly reminders of why it is important to be "free." And a truly great society would shun violence, because, among other reasons, the world is weary from just too many wars. What the world needs now is priceless acts of magnanimity, because we all know they are few and overdue.
I believe people have more faith in their religions today than they do of themselves or their next door neighbor. It's a wonder God has not come down to earth and punished the "evil" ones, because "we" are the "evil" ones.
Maybe when we stop nuking, gassing, killing, kidnapping, stabbing, shooting, looting and cheating our neighbors we will see the second coming. In today's world I think God would be just too plain embarrassed to come down here and claim us as his own. For we have failed him.
And ironically, speaking of invasions, it is Taiwan which should be invading China with its charity, technology, industry, hospitality, tolerance for freedom of speech and religions, and most importantly, its sense of peacefulness. The ghosts of dictators like Hitler, Josef Stalin and Benito Mussolini have obviously not convinced the like-minded members of the Chinese Communist Party that suppression of freedom will ultimately backfire.
If China wants to be a true "giant" in all noble senses of the word, it would announce to the world at the 2008 Olympics that it will "allow" Taiwan and its people to "stand and place their hands over their hearts in peace, as a gesture of love and faith for their fellow man across the Taiwan Strait."
Kevin Larson
Chiayi City
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