Editorial: Suffering for the sake of righteousness and love

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

3130 Edition

February 20-26, 2012

Editorial

Editorial: Suffering for the sake of righteousness and love

Translated by Lydia Ma

228 Memorial Day has become a national holiday in recent years but most people 
think of it as merely a day off from work and rarely spend time paying tribute 
to those who perished. People nowadays spend more time planning the vacation 
they will take on this day than reflecting on lessons learned from this tragic 
incident. Most people nowadays don’t really care much about finding out what 
really happened in 1947 and think of this day as merely a holiday to celebrate 
peace. They have no idea how much blood and how many tears were shed during the 
228 Massacre. They don’t realize that peace without justice is not genuine 
peace.

Commemorating 228 Memorial Day should go beyond mere hollow talk from top 
officials and mechanical responses from the masses. When officials issue public 
apologies for what happened, they should first present the facts clearly, Thus, 
the public will know who needs to apologize and repent and who needs to extend 
forgiveness so that remembrances don’t become another show of false humility 
from politicians. There should be a fair evaluation of what really happened if 
we want to avoid the same mistake in the future. The search for truth is not an 
exclusive right of governments but governments are given public authority to 
lead commemorations, issue apologies, give out indemnities, and uncover the 
truth leading to a fair assessment of what happened.

The massacre that took place on February 28, 1947 happened because an unjust 
government treated its citizens as enemies and killed innocent people. Though a 
small portion of the population sought to start a violent revolution, the 
majority of the people used non-violent means to protest and hoped the 
government would solve problems peacefully. Sadly, what they got in return was 
a violent crackdown.

We must not forget those people who resisted the government with courage and 
with the purpose of creating a better and fairer society. They suffered and 
sacrificed their lives for the whole nation and their bravery is our greatest 
legacy. A similar story is unfolding right now not far from Taiwan as Tibetans 
try to fight oppression and a violent crackdown from Beijing. Many Tibetan 
monks have already perished and many artists, authors, entrepreneurs have been 
detained. In February of this year, Martial Law was declared in Tibet as 
Beijing sought to “stabilize” the region. 

Tibetans are going through their own version of the 228 Massacre today. As 
Beijing intensifies its crackdown on Tibet, Tibetans have no other option but 
to resist, even though they realize that they are a disadvantaged minority 
group whose culture and traditions are slowly disappearing. As their resistance 
is met with further repression, many have resorted to self-immolation as a last 
resort or sign of protest.

The loss of innocent lives in Tibet and the struggle of Tibetans has captured 
international attention and earned international respect for this ethnic group 
that refuses to bow its head to an authoritarian regime. As Taiwanese, our 
attitude should be the same as those who perished during the 228 Massacre 
fighting for love and justice and suffering willingly for these values. 

Let us support Tibetans and stand side by side with them in their fight for 
human rights. As promised in the books of Isaiah and James, peacemakers who sow 
in peace shall reap a harvest of righteousness and the fruit of righteousness 
will be peace; its effect will be quietness and confidence forever (James 3:18, 
Isaiah 32:17). 

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