The Week’s Insight …

In looking back at the news and opinions of the past several days, I have the unique opportunity this week to also start looking ahead. I’m talking about the Summer Olympic Games, which begin tonight — on U.S. time, that is — with coverage of the Opening Ceremonies.

In the run-up to the games, there has been a lot of coverage already, and it’s growing by the day. This week, I have been watching news articles, blogs, opinions and photos about the 2008 Beijing Games fill up my newsfeeder, and a few have made their way to Xenia’s In The Press section. This year, the games are receiving attention not only because of the human drama that tends to be inherent in major sporting events, but also because of the political, diplomatic and economic elements tied with the games being held in China. In an article I linked to Monday, Salon’s Gary Kamiya explains:

Politics hangs over every Olympics, but perhaps more over these Games than any since the 1936 “Nazi Olympics” in Berlin. For these Olympics are being hosted by China, a nation whose political ambiguities are of an almost metaphysical order. You have only to shift your perspective slightly to regard the whole “Olympic spirit” thing as a pernicious and sentimental myth, a fig leaf covering up the truly important issues, whether those be the Chinese regime’s human rights violations, its oppression of Tibet, its heavy-handed censorship, or any of its other myriad faults.

Likewise, Salon’s sports columnist King Kaufman pointed out the limitations on freedoms imposed by China’s government and cautions Olympic viewers that enjoying all the sports may come at the price of ignoring what’s going on outside of the Olympic venues.

I have to admit, I am a fan of Olympic sports. Where else can I watch sports that I would never, ever see televised, like curling or the pentathalon? When else do I get to hear conversations about the last time the U.S. won a medal in fencing? (Actually, this conversation happens a lot in my household, since my husband is a competitive epee fencer, and we’re both enthusiastic fencing fans). But I hope that I am also a thoughtful human, one who cares about the lives of others, even and especially those halfway around the world. So what’s a conscientious fan to do? Where do we stand, with politics or athletics?

Salon’s Kamiya, facing the turmoil over whether to honor the spirit or protest the politics of the Games, found a third option when the Olympic torch run came through San Francisco. Rather than making a choice, he saw each side as equally valid, with no contradiction between them.

I had already decided to protest and cheer. “Free Tibet!” I yelled feebly. “Go Olympics!” I was probably the only torch-procession viewer in the entire world to settle on this ridiculous compromise.

Another viewpoint comes from GetReligion’s deconstruction of news articles about President Bush’s pending visit to China. Bush had requested a visit to a Christian house church and was denied by the Chinese government, as house churches are illegal in China. The author notes:

While this is symbolically ironic and important, it should not come as a surprise to anyone. The fact is that these house churches are operating outside the country’s laws whether we like it or not. Now please don’t jump to the comment button and call me some sort of freedom hater. I am not. My point is that Americans, Christians, people of any faith, freedom lovers, and the entire Western world may not like the China’s laws, but it is in fact the law of China and Americans don’t get to decide Chinese laws. … The real story here is that the Bush White House seemed to make a big deal out of Bush’s request to visit a house church. Does anyone really expect the Chinese authorities to allow that to happen in their country or to even attempt to reform their laws overnight? Some of the NYT’s coverage reflects the viewpoint that Americans can go over to other countries and convince them to make exceptions to their laws to make everyone happy.

Ultimately, I like to think that when people get together, when they meet one another and learn about how they and their societies tick, we all come away changed. Kamiya expressed his hope that perhaps “hosting the Olympics (will) change China for the better.” And I hope that perhaps, since no encounter is a one-way street, we’ll see some transformations in ourselves.

This once-every-four-years event — well, every two years, since the Winter and Summer  Games alternate — provides not only an opportunity for nations to rally behind our athletes in their quests for glory and medals (and for a really wonderful look at the medal counts for every country since the Olympics began, check out Foreign Policy Passport. Also included is discussion about China’s drive to win.). It also gives us a chance for us to rally behind the teams of other nations and feel some sympathy and solidarity with them. For example, in the 2004 Athens Games, I became an obsessed Olympic fan of the Iraqi national soccer team, an underdog squad that ultimately took fourth place, and for a little while, I felt connected to another nation’s team and its people as we all cheered for the same result. So this year, as I get behind the U.S. athletes, I’m looking forward to making that athletic connection again, even while I keep in mind the political reality.

Go Olympics. Free Tibet.