Churches reflect on 228 Massacre from a Christian perspective

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

3078 Edition

February 21-27, 2011

Headline News



Churches reflect on 228 Massacre from a Christian perspective



Reported by Chiou Kuo-rong, Chen Yi-hsuan

Written by Lydia Ma



As the nation remembers 228 Peace Memorial Day, many PCT local churches are 
doing the same. Hsinchu Canaan Presbyterian Church pastor Rev. Chen Po-chih 
said that his church’s Mandarin service for youths not only holds a prayer 
service asking God to comfort victims’ families, but also conducts a thematic 
Bible study on justice. They want to learn about God’s views on this issue and 
evaluate whether the country’s views aligns with God’s.

PCT has always maintained that “where there is no culprit, there is no justice” 
and that is primarily why it has never stopped keeping track of how government 
investigations are progressing with regards to uncovering what really happened 
and who should be held accountable.

PCT General Assembly and local presbyteries hold a prayer meeting on every 
February 28 and often invite victims’ families to attend. Their hope is that 
God would comfort these victims in their losses.

However, local churches that go out of their way to remember this tragedy or 
hold a service in remembrance the way Canaan Church has been doing is rare 
these days. Hence, it’s no wonder the next generation of Taiwanese are losing 
their national identity and less rooted to their country.

Similar to Canaan Church, Jenhe Presbyterian Church’s pastor Sung Hsin-hsi 
spoke from personal experience when he remarked that talking about the 228 
Massacre required skill. He addresses this massacre whenever he teaches adult 
and children Sunday school on topics related to ancient Israel and uses it as 
an illustration of the price people have paid for democracy and freedom.

Sung admitted that retelling the tragedy of the 228 Massacre is indeed painful, 
but “healthy people should come to terms with their history.” Taiwan is indeed 
a very pitiful country because both Japan and China have sought to occupy it 
but couldn’t care less about its welfare. 

But the purpose of educating the younger generation of Taiwanese about this 
massacre isn’t to elicit self-pity, Sung emphasized. Rather, it’s to remind 
young people that Taiwan must fend for itself and Taiwanese mustn’t look down 
on themselves, their country, or their culture.

Sung remarked that, in recent years, many Taiwanese dislike discussing the 228 
Massacre. Some people feel that Taiwan is now a free country, so, there is no 
need to mention it, but Sung doubts that’s what true freedom looks like.

The second reason for avoiding the 228 Massacre is because many folks had high 
expectations of the DPP administration under former President Chen Shui-bian 
and they were subsequently deeply disappointed. In their disillusionment, they 
don’t want to mention the 228 Massacre as it can easily become politicized. 

“But I believe the church ought to always be concerned about society and 
continue reaching out to those who are marginalized so that our faith in God 
can become their source of help,” he concluded. 



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