While I am equally outraged at the injustices of the Chinese regime, some questions about the Olympic boycott remain for me. I wonder if those intending to boycott the Chinese games did the same for the Sydney games. The Australian government, and therefore the Australian people, do not have clean hands when it comes to providing justice to minority groups. Indigenous Australians know what it means to suffer at the hands of an indifferent society. The policy of the Howard government with regards to asylum seekers always struck me as persecution of the most vulnerable people in our land. Australian policy on sharing gas reserves in the Timor Sea with East Timor (the poorest nation on earth) strikes me as being greedy, capitalistic and unjust. Australian corporations continue to exploit the resources of Papua New Guinea without willingly caring for the environment or the people in the areas around industrial sites. West Papua (Irian Jaya) suffers unwilling loss of sovereignty to the Indonesian government and gains little support from the Australian people. Muslims remain marginalized after Howard government policy singled them out for suspicion and fear during the early years of the war on terror.

I say all that as one who loves Australia and would see it a more humane and just place for all who live here and all her neighbours. I fully enjoyed the Sydney games in spite of how much shame I felt at the government policies of the time. Raimond Gaita (Australian philosopher)

says that if we can express our love of our country in terms of pride, them we must also be able to express our love for our country in terms of shame.

My question develops into a wondering about how best to express our outrage about injustice in China during the Olympic Games. Is it best to turn our backs and refuse engagement in self righteous indignation? Or, can we somehow interpret Jesus' invitation to love our enemies as a way to at least engage in dialogue with China and on the basis of open dialogue and trust, suggest ways that China might improve its record on human rights. I wonder if China will ever listen to us if we turn our backs and suggest that we have a just society while they do not when that is very evidently not the case.

I am considering a picture in my mind of the Olympic Games being an opportunity for nations, that might otherwise be at odds on many points of what it means to be a just nation, to come and play together. There will always be questions about the justice or otherwise of any nation as host or participant. Wouldn't playing together be a better basis for mutual improvement than turning our backs on each other?

These questions sit next to a very deep concern for all the peoples who suffer under China's current policies. I am sharing my hesitation to turn my back, but I am not sure whether the Olympics constitutes an opportunity to play together and therefore open the way for constructive dialogue towards justice in China and among her neighbours.

Chris Turner August 2008