The Olympics

On CNN just a few seconds ago, I watched video of two Christians being dragged out of Tiananmen Square in Beijing, which will host the summer Olympics beginning Friday. The Christians were doing some sort of protest, and plain-clothes officers grabbed them and removed them from the Square. They tried to use umbrellas to keep the media from taking photos and video of the event - they didn't work.

China has become fairly capitalistic in their major economic centers, allowing free trade and working to create a very large middle class. Make no mistake, though, their political system is still communism. The government has censored the Internet during the Olympics, taken water from the farmers to water their elaborate floral designs in Beijing, and continues to practice religious persecution like that caught by the media today.

China is so stringent that Christians are now commonly smuggling Bibles into the country, sometimes pages at a time.

This is a country that doesn't believe that free thought, expression, press, and assembly are principles on which to build a society. So here's a great idea - let's let that country host the most international event in the world, an event that is supposed to inspire, encourage and show what is best about humanity through sport. Let's let China host the Olympics. The International Olympic Committee should be ashamed of its choice. Beijing and China do not represent the qualities of the Olympics.

My heart and prayers go out to the people of China - they are the ones that truly suffer from a communistic system.

Let us hope that these Olympics are focused on the athletes who deserve this opportunity and not the dreadful choice of host city by the IOC. Let us choose to be inspired during the next weeks by the stories of courage, perseverance and triumph that come from our athletes. Let us celebrate them with all our energy and national pride.

And most importantly, let us remember that the Olympics should represent what unites us and the glories of the human experience. We'll all hope that the IOC remembers these values when they choose future host cities.