柴玲 “我原谅他们” 原文：

 

稍微编辑：

 

Two decades ago, the Chinese government's crackdown in Tiananmen Square left hundreds of my fellow students dead.

 

 

Since then a new generation has grown up in China, and many of them are kept in the dark about what happened on this day in China's history.

 

 

To me it seems like just yesterday.  Now, 23 years have passed. 

 

The world still watches China with great interest, as the recent cases of Chen Guangcheng and Bo Xilai proved.  

 

 

In the Hebrew scriptures, King David's son Absalom rebelled and took the throne from his own father by force. Even in the face of this betrayal, David forgave his son. He told his generals that they should show mercy if they overcame the rebel army and captured the wayward son: "For my sake, deal gently with young Absalom." (2 Samuel 18) But when Absalom was found alone and vulnerable, the generals chose to ignore David and kill Absalom -- thus continuing the pattern of violence.

 

 

I know that those responsible for oppression in China will also find themselves vulnerable one day, just like Absalom did. And so the question stands: When that day comes, will China continue with a pattern of harsh retribution, or a will it begin a path of grace, mercy and compassion?

 

 

You may wonder how China's seemingly immovable leadership will ever be vulnerable. The answer is: it is human, it has always been vulnerable, and it is more vulnerable now than ever before.

 

 

There is little true security in China, even for leaders. Power, money and military or police forces can give a few people temporary wealth and stability, but these things cannot provide lasting security.

 

For example:

In 1989, the number two leader Zhao Ziyang lost all his power and freedom for disagreeing with Deng Xiaoping's decision to use force against students at Tiananmen.

Later, so did a strong hardliner who initially supported the move: former Beijing mayor Chen Xitong was sentenced to 16 years in jail.

And now Bo Xilai has fallen from grace. These leaders may have looked invincible from the outside, but they lost everything.

As Chen Xitong confessed recently in a Chinese interview, "In all those high level political battles, each side is trying to outdo the other side by being more cunning, more malicious, and more brutal."

 

 

But then I was confronted with the example of Jesus. He loved women, children, the poor and the oppressed in a way that was radically countercultural -- and he called me to do the same.

He also forgave the very people who ridiculed him and nailed him to a cross: "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do." (Luke 24:34)

 

And again, he called me to do the same.

 

Because of Jesus, I forgive them. I forgive Deng Xiaoping and Li Peng. I forgive the soldiers who stormed Tiananmen Square in 1989. I forgive the current leadership of China, who continue to suppress freedom and enforce the brutal One Child Policy.

 

I pray that a culture of grace will arise in China, giving all people dignity and humanity. I pray that the China's current leaders will follow Jesus and act with mercy and compassion. I pray that those who have suffered under oppression will not seek vengeance -- like King David's soldiers did when they killed Absalom -- but have the courage to forgive. Forgiveness does not justify wrong, but rather yields the power of judgment to God.