“Nobody cares about the Uyghurs.” _{– NBA WARRORS Part Owner}

The Olympics are about to start. Triple axel spins, snow slalom rush, even curling sweeps — the one sport I feel we could get a group together and compete… yet in the all the pomp, the FBI reminded our athletes to buy burner phones. Frightening, but China’s big brother activities are minor compared to the treatment of Uyghurs.

In concentration camps, lovingly called “vocational education and training centers”, the Chinese have gathered as many as 2 million of the Muslim minority. Amnesty International states children are forcibly taken from parents. Sterilization and abortion are forced on women. “Experts have described as the largest mass incarceration of an ethnic group since the Holocaust.” (Read More, PBS.)

The United States has decided to diplomatically boycott the Olympics. While US athletes compete, our diplomats will not be present. And this has made me wonder, how should I react?

At first I hoped the IOC would be as amazing as Women’s Tennis. A pipe dream — hoping the IOC would value people over money. So… I have wrestled over the best course. As a Jesus Follower, I don’t want to miss the people crying for help (see Mark 10 below). I want to do something, or in this case not do something, so I decided to take two steps:

1. I am not going to watch the Olympics. — I debated the value in boycotting – would it simply hurt the athletes? But for the IOC to become like the WTA, we will have to change the money flow.
2. I am going to try to stop buying from China. — This is easy to say, but when you begin to pay attention, harder to do. I will continue to purchase from other countries, so this is not a move to USA made only.

Taking these steps, it is easy to wonder if my little choices matter? On the world’s scale I am one in 7 billion — less than a drop in the bucket! But that is the individual’s dilemma. I have found kind people far out number mean. But kind people rarely feel powerful. We are caught by the belief that you and I can’t change anything. But if we would use the mass that is our power, we could rebalance the world’s scales. The weight of our love would change everything!

---

^{Mark 10:46} Then they came to Jericho. As Jesus and his disciples, together with a large crowd, were leaving the city, a blind man, Bartimaeus (which means “son of Timaeus”), was sitting by the roadside begging. ⁴⁷ When he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to shout, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!”

⁴⁸ Many rebuked him and told him to be quiet, but he shouted all the more, “Son of David, have mercy on me!” ⁴⁹ Jesus stopped and said, “Call him.” …

⁵² “Go,” said Jesus, “your faith has healed you.” Immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus along the road.