wfn.org | TCN Editorial: From one arbitrary rule to another…

["Taiwan Church News" <enews@pctpress.org>]

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>Taiwan Church News

>2994 Edition

>July 13~19, 2009

Editorial: From one arbitrary rule to another…

>Translated by Lydia Ma

Taiwan former President Chiang Ching-kuo declared 22 years ago  that martial

law would be lifted on July 15th, 1987, thus ending 38 years, 1  month, and 25

days of martial law in Taiwan. On January 1, 1988, Chiang also  relaxed

restrictions on forming political parties and free press and  Taiwanese people

saw the end of one of the longest periods of martial law in the  world – at least

>superficially – and welcomed democracy.

Not long before Chiang’s declaration, one edition of Taiwan  Church News had

been seized for reporting events related to the 228 Incident and  popular

Taiwanese singer Au Yeung Fei Fei had one of her popular songs  banned by the

government. There was also a famous incident of an ignorant  intelligence officer

(no pun intended) whose mission was to go to bookstores near  National Taiwan

University and seize books authored by Karl Marx. His actions left  many students

unable to access works by Max Weber because “Max” and  “Marx” looked so

similar. In another example, Dr. Chen Wen-chen, a Taiwanese  scholar studying in

the U.S., was interrogated in 1981 when he came back to visit  relatives because

he had made a financial donation to Formosa Magazine. The magazine  was

known for speaking out against KMT monopoly in Taiwan and  Chen’s body was

found near Taiwan National University’s library in July 1981  showing signs that he

>had been tortured just before his death.

Though history has proven that democracy will ultimately prevail  against

authoritarianism, this victory has often been achieved through  bloodshed and

tears from countless people. We honor their legacies by turning  the blood and

tears into ink as we record their sacrifices in the annals of  history.

Written words conveying truth were extremely valuable under  martial law and

gave us a sense of freedom, especially when these words refused to  bow to the

whims of rulers or become their mouthpiece. These written and  honest words

laden with courage that went against the prevailing corrupt system  and laid out

ones’ convictions reminds us of Jesus’ words: “The  Spirit of the Lord is on me,

because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has  sent me

to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for  the blind, to

release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord's  favor.”

Yes, martial law ended 22 years ago this week. Today, when you  turn on the

television or read any newspaper you will find that anything that  can be

scrutinized will be debated and analyzed by the media. What is  ironic is that the

same written words that used to be banned and yet brought us truth  and freedom

have now, thanks to capitalism, become public, authoritarian, and  arbitrary

monsters. Words such as “suspected” and  “alleged” have been so overused that

we now live in another authoritarian culture of trial by the media  where people are

criticized, shamed, and considered guilty until proven innocent.  The end of

martial law has given the media a lot of freedom to engage in  subjective

interpretation and words can be invisible tools that kill and maim  and drive

people apart when there is no self-regulation,

As we remember communications ministry this month, Taiwan Church  News

hopes to emulate Jesus by bringing healing and setting Taiwanese  society and

churches free from deceptions so that we will really be able to  see clearly and

then follow Christ. Let us beware of killing others with our  words.

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Taiwan Church News is published weekly in Taiwan's local  languages.

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