Isn’t it funny how these things work?

It’s the same situation with that cheap plastic statue you just bought at your local “Christian” store.  You may be against the whole situation in China, but you can’t really can’t change it on your own.  That dinky cheap crucifix you just bought (you know, the one with the “Made in China” sticker on the back) they can’t even buy in China.  How about rosaries, bibles, or scapulars? They can get you in trouble, even jail time and beatings.  So why is a country that tries really hard to stamp out Christianity and Catholicism the largest producer of cheap religious articles?  Maybe we should try to figure that out.

Doesn’t it make you wonder why any Catholic or Christian store would think buying stuff from China isn’t a problem?

The Chinese owner of a bookstore near the 2008 Olympics complex in Beijing has been re-arrested and detained, only about a dozen weeks after he was cleared of allegations of illegally publishing Bibles and Christian literature due to “insufficient evidence,” according to a new report from Compass Direct.

As WND reported earlier, Shi Weihan was released in January after being taken into custody shortly after Thanksgiving 2007 during police raids on his home and office.

China Aid Association then reported the fact he was released, along with several others, although the government offered no explanation for his case.

An American friend, businessman Ray Sharpe, had told WND at the time of the earlier arrest that Shi is a businessman who also works as a travel agent, and had gotten governmental permission to publish some Christian book titles.

Compass Direct now is reporting that the 37-year-old father of two was re-arrested on March 19 and is being held without any communication with his family, according to reports from his wife, Zhang Jing.

Compass said she had gotten no word on her husband’s condition and is prohibited from bringing him food or clothing. Since he has diabetes, she is “very concerned” about his health, Compass reported.

Compass cited an Asia Times Online report that said Shi and his Holy Spirit Trading Co. were accused, again, of printing Bibles and Christian literature without government permission.

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What a place to get your religious goods from.

Hi Everyone,

We have been purchasing books from Catholic Book Publishing for years now. We have been in an ongoing discussion with them about their move to print more and more of their products in China. The official answer from the company is that low cost trumps any human rights violations that China engages in. Today we had to discontinue eleven more books that have switched printing from Korea to China.

Could you politely write to Catholic Book Publishing and let them know that you would be happy to pay a couple of dollars more per book if they would stop printing in China?

Posting this on our blog could result in them canceling our account as they have threatened to do in the past over this issue. However, we believe that the Chinese problem is far more important than our ability to order their products direct.

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Thank goodness for the FDA.

How about the forced displacement of 2 million Chinese to make way for Olympic venues?

Fortunately, there are other options.

If you want to keep enforcing the one-child policy.

It’s because in China it takes a factory worker two weeks to earn enough to buy a Big Mac.

Now, as a Catholic shopper it seems that supporting this type of exploitation by buying such products would violate several Catholic principles of  just labor.

Next time you are in a Catholic store, ask if the stuff you are buying is made somewhere where the people are actually paid a living wage.

Hope you’re enjoying your Chinese Nativity. What a bargain!

Catholic priest imprisoned for being Catholic.

How do you feel about that crucifix you bought being made in a Chinese sweat shop?

There’s a reason