The acts of the government in covering up the truth with lies, and our complacency and acquiescence to such acts have had serious consequences. The most painful consequence is that we have cultivated a generation of young people born after the June 4 Incident, the majority of whom, like most of us, ignores moral values such as integrity, courage, charity and justice.
On the 20th Anniversary of the June 4 Incident (Tiananmen Square Incident)
We are a group of Chinese Christians. We have received the great love of
God’s salvation, and are called out to follow the sacred commandment: “You
shall love your neighbor as yourself.”
It is precisely this love that makes it impossible for us to forget the tragedy
occurred on June 4, 1989. A handful of people in power in China mobilized the
army and conducted a massacre of the people who were demonstrating
peacefully. This was an open display to both God and man the viciousness and
hypocrisy of a tyrannical political system, and the deepest sin and darkness of
man. Until now, the truth of this tragedy is still covered up by design of the
government. Many victims continue to suffer from repression. For the past 20
years, Chinese people continue to live in lies constructed by an authoritarian
structure, and the result is that this part of Chinese history is distorted or even
completely forgotten by young Chinese people.
No matter how much wealth has been accumulated and how vibrant the
economy has been in the past 20 years, the memory of the June 4 tragedy, the
related suppression, and the oblivion towards the atrocities all continue to
repress and distort the soul of Chinese people. An illustration of the life of
depraved souls is the apathy, indifference and numbness to morality, the
rampant corruption of government officials, the rapid escalation of social
disparity, all of which are closely related to the bloodshed 20 years ago. The acts
of the government in covering up the truth with lies, and our complacency and
acquiescence to such acts have had serious consequences. The most painful
consequence is that we have cultivated a generation of young people born after
the June 4 Incident, the majority of whom, like most of us, ignores moral values
such as integrity, courage, charity and justice. How direful!
We cannot go on like this! We cannot remain silent any longer! We must
speak out as God commands Christians to do—as the voice crying out for justice.
We give our most respectful salute to those who, for the past 20 years,
continued to seek the truth and justice and made various efforts and contribution
towards these goals. We also express our deepest sympathy for the “Parents of
Tiananmen Square”—family members of victims who were killed in the June 4
incident, and for those who continue to suffer political and legal repression.
We believe the significance of the June 4 Incident as an ugly symbol of
political sin is not merely an indication to Chinese people that a better sociopolitical
structure is necessary. It is also an indication to us that all social
ideologies developed on the basis of sinful human nature and temporal worldly
values are imperfect, that none of these are able to carry the significance and
value of life. No matter how good some ideologies may seem, if they are built
merely on the basis of human nature with total disregard to God, they are
glittering like gold but are, in fact, rotten to the core—the immeasurable and
painful price paid by Chinese people, in our search for racial strength over the
past 100 years or more is glaring evidence.
Among us, who have become Christians, are intellectuals originally from
China. Our paths in search of the Faith, in most cases, are closely related, in one
way or the other, to the June 4 bloodshed. On the one hand, the suffering
inflicted on our race and nation by the Incident awakened our sense of social
justice as intellectuals; it showed us the sins of tyranny and shattered our dream
of a utopia on earth. On the other hand, this tragedy rocked our souls and led us
to see that we are not entirely innocent bystanders of the sins and tragedy. All
too often, all sufferings at social level are attributed to a rotten political system;
however, to trace these problems to their roots, they can all be traced to the sinful
nature of human beings. In terms of this sinful nature, we are not fundamentally
different from the decision-makers, commanders, or transactors of the massacre.
We give thanks to God, for although all human beings are sinners, we
specifically received the amazing grace of God and through confession of our
sins, repentance, and receiving Jesus as Lord, we have become sons and
daughters of the Living God.
We believe Christianity not only signifies receiving personal salvation, it
also signifies the belief that God’s love and righteousness preside over the
history of humanity. By God’s grace and Truth, Christians not only take on the
mission to preach the gospel, we also take on the socio-cultural mission to love
our neighbors as ourselves, to live as the salt and light of the world, and to
administer this land. We believe every aspect of our life belongs to and is
presided over by God and should thus be filled with the sanctity, righteousness,
love and mercy of God. We believe it is the unshirkabe social responsibility of
Christians of every era and every race to adhere to the truth of the Bible, to
espouse and promote righteousness, care for the weak, reprimand sin, and to
forgive enemies.
Particularly, we come forward to God to repent our sins with a broken and
contrite heart. We as Christians, and some of us even offered ourselves to God as
pastors, strictly segregated the sacred and the secular as a result of biased
theological standpoint, and consequently, we imprisoned ourselves in a selfrighteous
state that segregates worldly sufferings and sin. Because of weakness,
numb conscience, and fear some of us stay away from the political suffering of
our fellow countrymen. We dare not live out righteousness and mercy. We dare
not reach out to those innocent people who are imprisoned. We dare not
condemn sins in a world of darkness. In the end, we become Christian hypocrites
as we silently endorse the acts of injustice which, in turn, encouraged the
perpetrators of such acts.
At the 20th anniversary of the June 4 Incident, we wish to reflect with a
repentant heart, and we yearn to make this appeal to all Chinese Christian
churches around the globe: We sincerely urge all Chinese Christian churches,
within China and overseas, to pray for the salvation of lost souls in our home
country, for social justice and for the future of our race during the period May 12,
2009—the commemoration of the Sichuan Earthquake and June 4—the
commemoration of the June 4 bloodshed. We urge that churches make May 12
and June 4 “Pray for China” days and hold special prayer meetings throughout
the period.
We believe that only on the basis that truth is revealed and justice is done,
does reconciliation become meaningful. Accordingly, we appeal to all Chinese
Christians around the globe to:
I. Confess our sins and ask for God’s forgiveness for our weakness,
indifference, hypocrisy, deceitfulness, oblivion and silence in the face of
the June 4 atrocities.
II. Seek to reveal the truth of the June 4 Incident by:
1. Telling our families, colleagues, friends, clients what we know, and
as far as we can, candidly stating our Christian standpoint in this
matter.
2. Showing concern and offering help to those individuals or groups
around us who are repressed and distressed as a result of the June 4
Incident.
III. Pray for the repentance of those in authority currently as well as those at
the time of the Incident. On the one hand, we respect the power of the
governing authority, because the power that be is ordained of God. On
the other hand, since the power comes from God, those with governing
authority are accountable to God. Therefore, we urge the government to
take the following steps for justice to prevail and for social reconciliation
be made possible:
1. Face history truthfully and make public the truth.
2. Confess the sins and correct the wrongs; investigate and find the
ultimate perpetrators.
3. Commemorate victims of the June 4 bloodshed; compensate and
provide care for families of the victims.
4. Give the exiles of the June 4 Incident, the rights to go back to China
freely.
May the glory of showing righteousness go to the omnipotent God and may the
earthly peace and harmony go to the people who delight in Him.
(All Christians are invited to join in as signatory to this declaration by
inserting hereunder your name in alphabetical order, your salutation and
your place of residence)
签署人-First Group of Signatories（将定期按姓氏笔画排序）：
王怡传道人（中国）
王保罗牧师（美国）
王志勇牧师（美国）
王传祥神学生（台湾）
王得奎传道人（中国）
牛书庆传道人（中国）
卢维溢牧师（加拿大）
卢迦勒神学生（台湾）
甘桂翘传道人（美国）
宁蒙生传道人（中国）
朱晓明传道人/编缉（美国）
吕 易 牧师（澳大利亚）
吕汉良弟兄（加拿大）
吕景相传道人（中国）
吕存良传道人（中国）
孙文先传道人（中国）
闫保忠传道人（中国）
刘同苏牧师（美国）
刘传章牧师（美国）
刘孋莹神学生（台湾）
刘永川弟兄（美国）
刘哲萍姐妹（台湾）
冯小榕弟兄（美国）
余 杰 弟兄/作家（中国）
李锦纶牧师（香港）
李大卫牧师（美国）
李 明 传道人（中国）
李菽霓传道（台湾）
李身微神学生（台湾）
沙晓洲传道人（美国）
吴江河传道人（中国）
吴雅楠姐妹（加拿大）
吴 倩 姊妹/作家（美国）
吴茂华姊妹/作家（中国）
吴美华神学生（台湾）
苏玲嫱神学生（台湾）
p. 7 of 8
沈智勇弟兄（美国）
林楚基传道（加拿大）
范学德传道人（美国）
范永青姐妹（台湾）
金新宇牧师（加拿大）
周锋锁弟兄（美国）
杨文博弟兄（美国）
杨建利博士（美国）
罗惠丽神学生（台湾）
洪予健牧师（加拿大）
赵享恩牧师（美国）
张伯笠牧师（美国）
张前进传道（美国）
张 敏 传道人/记者（美国）
张 健 传道（法国）
张明选传道人（中国）
张旭初传道人（中国）
张慧敏神学生（新加坡）
陈国瑄博士（加拿大）
陈锦华牧师（加拿大）
陈摩西牧师（加拿大）
陈信铭牧师（美国）
陈佐人牧师（美国）
陈 凯 弟兄（美国）
陈效军传道（美国）
施恩浩传道人（中国）
战 刚 传道人（中国）
胡绍明牧师（台湾）
徐嘉徽姐妹/文字工作者（台湾）
萧智雄牧师（加拿大）
萧吕允美传道（加拿大）
章开第牧师（加拿大）
曼 德 传道人（美国）
窦洪旺传道人（中国）
郭明璋牧师（台湾）
郭 平 弟兄（美国）
郭千哲神学生（台湾）
郭惠文姐妹（台湾）
黄维才姊妹（中国）
傅希秋牧师（美国）
焦 丽 传道（加拿大）
曾劭愷传道（加拿大）
谢月秋神学生（台湾）
熊 焱 牧师（美国）
赖建超传道（台湾）
樊成安传道人（中国）
黎必珠神学生（台湾）
翰 光 弟兄/电影制作人（日本）
To read the original article, please click here.
http://www.chinaaid.org/downloads/sb_chinaaid/English--FinalVersionofJuneManifestowithfirst.pdf