Chinese to allow Olympic athletes to have Bibles

November 8, 2007

Anonymous The Goshen News Thu Nov 08, 2007, 07:13 AM EST

DENVER (AP) — The U.S. Olympic Committee received confirmation from Olympic officials Wednesday that there will be no restrictions on Bibles being brought into the Olympic village in Beijing next year.

The USOC contacted the International Olympic Committee about the issue in response to a story posted on the Catholic News Agency Web site citing a list of prohibited items that was reported to include Bibles.

That story said the Italian daily, La Gazzetta dello Sport, reported that organizers cited “security reasons” for prohibiting athletes from carrying any kind of religious symbol at Olympic facilities. Those reports and others were producing active blog discussions on several Web sites.

USOC spokesman Darryl Seibel said the federation contacted the IOC about the news reports.

“We have heard from the IOC and there will be no restriction on athletes bringing the Bible or any other religious book into the village for their personal use,” Seibel said in a telephone interview from USOC offices in Colorado Springs.

Seibel said the Beijing Organizing Committee never considered any ban on Bibles.

Li Zhanjun, the director of the Beijing Olympics media center, also discounted the report.

“There is no such thing,” Li said. “This kind of report is an intentional distortion of truth.”

Religious services will be available in the Olympic Village next summer for Catholics, Protestants, Muslims, Jews, Hindus and Buddhists, he said. Religious texts like the Bible and Koran should be available.

“Even if there aren’t, the athletes can bring the texts themselves, there’s no restriction,” Li said.

With the Olympics heading to the largest Communist country in the world, many observers are interested to see how China handles issues like freedom of the press and freedom of religion over the 16 days next August.

IOC rule 51 states “no kind of demonstration or political, religious or racial propaganda is permitted in any Olympic sites, venues or other areas.”

But that rule is in place to prevent participants from using the games as a political platform and doesn’t include any ban on Bibles.

A notice on the official Beijing Olympics Web site explaining entry procedures into the country said “each traveler is recommended to take no more than one Bible into China.”

“We fully expect that the standards established by the IOC for previous Games will be in effect for these Games,” Seibel said.

Text Only

Movie Reviews

‘Goats’ has fuzzy vision A fun tone is undermined by disjointed storytelling in George Clooney’s “The Men Who Stare at Goats,” and it all starts with the disclaimer that opens the movie: “More of this is true than what you might imagine.”

November 11, 2009
Supernatural success LOS ANGELES — The critics have spoken. Here’s what more than a few have to say:

“Scariest movie of the decade.”
October 16, 2009 1 Photo 1 Link
‘Getaway’ imperfect but fun “A Perfect Getaway” is essentially one big red herring, flopping around on an idyllic Hawaiian beach, desperately trying to call attention to itself.
August 7, 2009
‘G.I. Joe’ show no go LOS ANGELES — It’s the biggest movie of the summer that practically no one has seen.
August 5, 2009 1 Photo
‘Transformers’ noisy, nonsensical A joyless cacophony, an insistent and seemingly endless onslaught, “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen,” director Michael Bay’s follow-up to the 2007 smash “Transformers” plays more like a parody of a Bay movie.
June 26, 2009
‘Proposal’ says yes to cliches All the romantic comedy conventions are shamelessly on parade in “The Proposal,” trampling on our brains and turning them into mush.
June 20, 2009 1 Photo
‘Imagine That’ a solid comedy The words “Eddie Murphy family comedy” are enough to send shivers down the spine of any self-respecting film lover.

June 12, 2009
‘Pelham’ an overcaffeinated thriller The way the original 1974 film’s title has been condensed tells you everything you need to know about the direction “The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3” is headed. In these fast-paced, mixed-up times, it simply takes too long to spell out the numbers.
June 11, 2009 1 Photo
This movie in ‘Ruins’ LOS ANGELES — As we learn from “My Life in Ruins,” the Greek word for mojo — or zest for life — is “kefi.” Nia Vardalos’ character has lost hers and needs to get it back.

June 10, 2009
This movie is not a ‘Drag’ The name alone, “Drag Me to Hell,” tells you exactly what this is: an unabashed celebration of B-movie schlockery. But the dichotomies director Sam Raimi presents within that familiar genre are what make this such a kick.

May 29, 2009
More Movie Reviews Headlines

Indiana is now the only state in the union that prohibits carry-out alcohol sales on Sunday. What do you think about Indiana’s current law?

Breaking News