Malignant unrestrained power | Lee Yee
The Hong Kong police issued a statement the night before yesterday quoting the Guangdong Provincial Public Security Department’s response to the arrest of the 12 Hongkongers. The short communication was full of loopholes. If these 12 people are still under investigation, how can the authorities be sure that they will be approved by the procuratorate for arrest later? One of the 12 people was the skipper, is he a member of the smuggling organization? If he is indeed part of a smuggling group, why was he escaping to Taiwan? Why was there no mention of the arrest of the skipper? What happened to the speedboat? Did the 12 people buy the boat hence it was confiscated?
It has been more than a month and they still could not spin a better story. The power has become so domineering to the point where they say what they want without regard for whether it is believable or not anymore.
Chinese state media reported that, at the recent Third Central Symposium on Xinjiang Work held in Beijing, Xi Jinping emphasized the need to “uphold efforts to sinicize religion, sinicize Islam and forge the collective consciousness of a common Chinese identity.” Following Xi’s “sinicization of Tibetan Buddhism,” this is another one of his latest sinicization campaigns with requirements explicitly put forward.
Both Tibetan Buddhism and Xinjiang Islam are religions based on beliefs in God or divine inspirations, while in other parts of China, most religious believers just pray to gods and buddhas for blessings. Very few people truly believe in gods, reincarnation, or life after death. If “One China” means China under the dictatorship of the atheist Communist Party, then the “sinicization of religion” denotes a false and bogus religion. A leader who can come up with the idea of sinicization of religion under atheism is enough to show that there is nothing believable about this regime, including the woven tale for the 12 arrested Hongkongers.
In the era of ancient China’s absolute monarchy, although there was no real religious belief, ancient Chinese emperors at least paid respect to ancestors and held ceremonies to worship heaven. Dictatorship began from as early as the Qin dynasty to the Han Dynasty during which Dong Zhongshu proposed the rule to respect the emperor. However, he also proposed to restrict the emperor and respect heaven; the emperor would be called the son of heaven, meaning the heavenly father was watching over. The occurrence of a catastrophic natural disaster would be the wrath of heaven; the emperor would often issue a rescript for penitence, and reflect and review to improve governance.
The atheistic CCP not only does not believe in gods but also disbelieves in heaven. Mao Zedong claimed to be a “monk holding an umbrella,” meaning that he was above the law and above heaven. He also said, “Battling with heaven is endless joy.” Therefore, under the guidance of the idea of “Humans will triumph over the sky,” the Great Leap Forward brought about a situation of “endless suffering” for the Chinese people.
However, the CCP regime before Mao the second at least would not, on the one hand, claim to believe in Marxism-Leninism, and on the other hand, bludgeon itself with such absurd theories as the “sinicization of religion.” Perhaps Mao 2.0 now possesses absolute power such that no one dares to tell the truth, resulting in comments of all illogical nonsense.
Recently, the Chinese education department was so preposterous that it blatantly falsified the Bible. The story of Jesus and the Adulteress from the New Testament was cited in textbooks but the ending of the story was distorted. In the original passage of the Bible, Jesus said to the adulteress, “I, too, do not condemn you; Go and sin no more!” The Chinese textbook, however, presents the story as: “When the crowd disappeared, Jesus stoned the sinner to death saying, ‘I too am a sinner. But if the law could only be executed by men without blemish, the law would be dead.’” Forcing words to justify the Chinese leaders into the mouth of Jesus.
Of course, anyone who enforces the law in any society will not be a flawless person, but in a normal society, at least the law enforcers know that they are either guilty, or that regardless of religion or even non-religion, they believe that “there is a deity watching over them.” In addition to believing that “a deity is watching,” law enforcers are also restrictive in their power by the separation of powers with mutual checks and balances, as well as the supervision of the Fourth Estate. Nearly 300 years ago, the French Enlightenment thinker Montesquieu said, “Every man invested with power is apt to abuse it, and to carry his authority as far as it will go. Power is naturally expansive and has a tendency to turn malignant. As long as there are insufficient restraint and supervision, any power will give rise to corruption. To prevent this abuse, it is necessary from the very nature of things that power should be a check to power.”
The power we face and its extension in Hong Kong may be the most extreme power in human history. It has no restraints nor any checks and balances, and without the constraints of “heaven” from the dark ages of ancient China and the Western Middle Ages. Its “expansion and malignancy” can exceed all human imagination. Therefore, normal people can only completely and absolutely distrust this absolute power.
atheist meaning 在 Food of Hong Kong by Epicurushongkong Facebook 的精選貼文
❤️💛 4月26號就是新一年 2019 教會 「Alpha Course 啟發課程」開始, 地址在16號堅道浸信會 16 Caine Road Central ~ they will be starting the new Introductory Get to Know God Course for a 3 month period every week... They also have English praying sessions here at this Church, so it is quite convenient for everyone of all kinds of backgrounds & ethnicity.
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I myself also joined this Alpha Course 1st a few years ago to believe, despite being an atheist for many years as I am more of the precise Mathematical/Scientific/Biological type of student all these years ☹️, however ever since then I have to thank God for humbling me in recent years, and would also encourage anyone interested to learn more about Life to join. Personally I think Life itself is already a Gift. If you have any Life troubles or wanted to know more on how to improve our Lives & Spirits, pls don’t be shy and feel free to be open minded and give it a shot first!
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I also think it is not limited to this Church only, as any Churches around Hong Kong are great as long as they carry the same mindset, in fact I noticed many HK Churches surprisingly carry a weekly Bible Studying course that is synchronised by agreement and all study the same Chapters each week, meaning it’s easier for everyone to follow the Hong Kong churches programmes. And at the end of the Day, God does not discriminate between races or churches. Thanks to my Lord for giving me hope of having more confidence and to correct my life approach 🙏🏻
atheist meaning 在 無影無蹤 Facebook 的最佳解答
代表台灣挑戰明年奧斯卡獎最佳動畫短片的《基石》線上看。
基督徒慎入。
A satire animation about Fundamentalism. (English statement below)
去年三月完成的作品《基石》終於決定在今天發布
謝謝指導教授鐘世凱老師的建議與包容,和一起創作配樂的夥伴 林孝親 Szu-yu Lin,讓聲音和影像配合的天衣無縫, WinSound Studio 紋聲音樂 絕對是品質一流的代名詞,還有一路上幫助本片產出的所有朋友們,謝謝你們!
《基石》的用意並不是要批判特定的宗教,而是特別針對冥頑不靈的基本教義派的信徒,幾乎在每個宗教都有這一群人的存在,他們用盡用手段強迫別人接受其價值觀,特別是在孩童和青少年的心靈身上有著非常大的負面影響,尤其是越聽話的小孩傷害越大,因為父母們教什麼他們就會做什麼。小的時候,我還真因為長輩的話,就相信神奇寶貝是邪靈、哈利波特是魔鬼的化身、流行音樂聽久了會墮落、看了部A片就害怕自己會下地獄,長輩們的善意,扭曲成強迫接受他們的信仰,常常遇到無法解釋的教義或價值觀,就會用情緒勒索的方式,讓你就算接受了也充滿著罪惡感,多少也影響童年的社交生活,越投入在宗教社群之中,越覺得外面的人事物充滿邪惡。在本片的製作過程中,我常常是帶著憤怒的情緒工作著,氣以前愚蠢的自己,也氣現在還是有許多人自認為是正義的化身,手握「真理」的權杖,到處迫害別人。
自己也曾陰錯陽差造訪一些其他的宗教團體,撇開教義和儀式不談,其實會發現有許多的相似之處,他們大多用「親身體驗」的見證去說服別人入教,卻永遠無法有個完美的說詞去解釋一些違背基本邏輯和科學的事情(如果感覺有效,誰管你的故事有什麼漏洞),再藉由社群的力量,慢慢地滲透你的生活和社交圈,直到無法脫身,待在這個群體久了,漸漸接受了該團體的價值觀,本來覺得疑惑的地方也無所謂了,習慣了他們特殊的儀式,甚至連講話的辭彙都開始變異了,生活上偶爾發生一些好事,就會覺得是信仰的緣故而更加投入,最後就會自傲的覺得自己的信仰比起其他的宗教有多偉大,常常看到不同宗教甚至是教派互相敵視對方為邪靈或異端就覺得好笑,其實你們真的,都差不多。
跑過各大的影展後,許多正面和負面的回饋都有,但我不怕批評,因為本片所有橋段和元素全部都是真實改寫自本人和朋友親身經歷過的事情,也有不少基督徒朋友看過後跟我說他們非常能感同身受,一個宗教團體之中雖有固執不通的人卻也有許多開明包容的人士,我無意辯駁其教義,也尊重每個人對信仰的理解,只想問大家
你是真的完全相信你的信仰嗎?有多少教義的漏洞你是故意漠視不去思考的?還是因為家人、朋友的人情壓力才選擇繼續待在其中?又或者是害怕離教之後,會在現世、來世或死後會有所懲罰?
請誠實面對自己的信仰,如果是真的相信,那麼請尊重其他和你不同信仰的人的權利!不是所有人都應該照著你的教條走,這是一個自由平等的社會,任何的種族、性別、宗教、性傾向的基本人權都必須公平對待。
但如果你發現你已經做個假信徒很久了,那麼勇敢地離開吧!真實的東西是經得起考驗,離開了象牙塔後,試著用不同角度和更寬廣的眼光去觀察這個世界,相信你會找到尋屬於你自己的人生定義。
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[English] Translated by Shannon Yeung
“On first glance, “Fundamental” might look like a blanket criticism of Christianity, making it incredibly easy to dismiss as offensive or even as atheistic propaganda. Yet if you look beyond the provocation, I
hope you will realize that it only intends to criticize a very specific component of religion: dogmatic scripture.
Religious upbringing plays a significant role in shaping the values of a child, values that can easily be upheld for life. This is especially detrimental for obedient children who have yet developed the rational capacity and courage to question their parents.
When I was young, I genuinely believed that Pokemon were evil spirits, that Harry Potter was a devil in disguise, that listening to pop music would lead to degradation, that watching pornography would lead to eternal pain in Hell. Whenever I struggled to endorse contradictory teachings, I would be coerced into fearful acceptance rather than reasoned into genuine belief. Not only is such threat-based enforcement of religion unreasonable, but the resultant guilt also became an enormous burden that inevitably affected how I perceived others and how I handled my social interactions. The more I engaged with my religious community, the more I doubted the kindness I received. Teachings of faith, love, and compassion simply could not counteract the bleak, evil picture painted by original sin.
During the production stages of the animation, I could not help but feel furious. I was furious at my young, foolish self and I am still angry at self-claimed justice warriors spreading falsehood in the name of religion.
Over the years, I have engaged with followers of other religions as an effort to understand. Aside from obvious differences in teachings and rituals, I have found that most religious followers use personal experiences to justify their beliefs, but can never offer a compelling argument to explain contradictions in basic logic and science. Surely, if hearsay was all it took to convert someone, no one would care about the contradictions. Perhaps this applies to some, but the way I see it is that peer pressure and investment into faith tends to mellow out any initial suspicions. Once one conforms to the rituals and adopts the religious semantics by habit, even mere luck points to God. When everything becomes a positive reinforcement of God, one might fall into the trap of believing that their religion is exclusively better than the rest, sneer at other religions, and fail to see just how similarly foolish all Fundamentalism is.
This film has screened at many major film festivals and the reception has been both positive and negative as you might imagine. I am not afraid of criticism because the plot was inspired by my own experiences and a sentiment shared among my friends. Since the film aired, a significant number of people from the Christian community have told me that my film resonated very closely with their experience too. Indeed, some religious people are stubborn, obnoxious and unreasonable, but there are also many who are incredibly tolerant, understanding and empathetic. I do respect everyone’s interpretation of religion, but for those who feel offended by this film, ask yourself: Do you wholeheartedly believe in your religion? How many contradictions have you deliberately shied away from? If you do identify as religious, are you choosing by your own will or are you pressured by friends and family? Or are you subscribing to religion solely for salvation?
Please scrutinize your belief with utter honesty. If you are convinced by your religion, please respect other people’s right to believe in other religions too. There is a fine line between respectful proselytization and an aggressive imposition of religion. This should be a free and equal society where all races, sexes, genders, religions, sexual orientations are treated with basic respect.
Or, if you realize that you have been an atheist at heart the entire time, feel free to cut off your ties with religion! Once you leave the ivory tower, try to examine the world from different perspectives, and I can assure you will find your own meaning of life. The truth will stand the test of time.”
想觀看高畫質影片請按這裡~
https://vimeo.com/300120279
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f68vO5jX5_E&t=3s
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Credit
導演 Director:
邱士杰 (ShihChieh Chiu)
動畫 Animator:
邱士杰 Shih-Chieh Chiu、張明潔 Ming-Chieh Chang
配音 Voice Actor:
林冠宇 Guan-Yu Lin、邱士杰 Shih-Chieh Chiu、廖容萱 Jung-Shan Liao、莊采融 Cai-Rong Zhuang、林鼎傑 Dan Lin、陳變法 Bian-Fa Chen
指導教授 Supervisor:
鐘世凱 Shih-Kai Chung
音樂與音效製作Music & Sound Design Production:
@紋聲音樂 WinSound Studio
音樂與音效Music & Sound Design:
林孝親 Hsiao-Chin Lin、林思妤 Szu-Yu Lin
混音Scoring Mixer & Re-recording Mixer:
林孝親 Hsiao-Chin Lin
#Fundamental基石
#11/24日 公投14、15請投同意,落實真平
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