Christmas is Approaching - Oct 9, 2022

Do you realize it is only 11 more Sundays till Christmas!?! Before you know it the stores will be full of Santas and Elves and other secular Christmas decorations. And of course that means SHOPPING!

Much of the stuff we buy is made in China. Recently, the United Nations human rights office, after a long delay, finally released their report that confirmed the allegations of severe human rights abuses by the Chinese government against ethnic Uyghurs and other Turkic minorities in China’s Western province of Xinjiang. You can read about it at this website.

I know the little I spend on Christmas presents will not make any impact on conditions in Xinjiang, but nonetheless I feel I have some responsibility to spend my money in an ethical way. It is hard to find something that is NOT made in China. But for this Christmas, while I doubt it will do any practical good, I will make an effort to not buy products made in China. It will be my silent form of protest, and very small connection to the people who are suffering from persecution in Xinjiang.

I will still be able to buy pecans from Texas (always popular gifts) and many other items. But the situation in the Moslem provinces of China is so terrible, and the actions of the Chinese government so grievous, that I do not want in any way to be associated with it much less supporting it.

We all have responsibility for each other. I wish we could do something stronger and more effective. But at least we can pray for those persecuted for their faith and their ethnicity, and we can be prudent and careful in how we spend our dollars. And in this very small way maybe we can enter a bit more fully into the true meaning of Christmas.

God bless!