Why would I include Mao Zedong in my 'spiritual family? Most Catholics would consider it blasphemous! ... he was an atheist ... a pagan! Yet Mao Zedong stated publicly shortly before his death ... "God is calling me" ... hardly the words of an atheist.
While there is no short answer to the above question ... my confidence rests on the fact that I believe the Virgin Mary brought me to China 6 years ago and had me marry a diehard Mao Zedong disciple. My wife's parents ... both her mother and father ... were born on September 8th ... the same day we celebrate the Virgin Mary's birth. Also, we were married on October 10, 2005 ... our wedding was an unplanned and unexpected event ... we learned a few months later that October 10, 2005 according to the Chinese Calander is September 8th! Hmmm ... coincidence?
In any event, it seems logical that I should learn something from Mao Zedong. I continue to place my hope and confidence in the Virgin Mary. Seems to me that bringing me to China only reinforces Her role as a "Universal Mother" ... not simply a 'Mother' to Catholics. Perhaps there is a connection to the fact that Chinese people refer to China as their "Motherland".
In doing some research today ... November 27, 2011 I found thess sites: http://www.wbschool.org/Chinese.swf and http://www.jdaniellowe.com/china.html
Both sites deal with the theory that the story of Genesis is embedded in the ancient Chinese language. While this theory may simply be amusing fantasy ... any basis in fact ... however minor ... would obviously turn the world's religious communities upside down!!
Let's look at Isaiah Chapter 25 Verse 7:
And he will destroy on this mountain
the shroud that is cast over all peoples,
the sheet that is spread over all nations:
he will swallow up death forever.
Isaiah makes a clear reference to all humanity ... all mankind ... with his words "all people" and "all nations". Christians have always pursued the strategy of converting all of mankind to Christianity ... perhaps this is a case of "God's ways are not our ways"
Isaiah 55:89
It's also worth noting that Isaiah is not talking about killing millions of people ... millions of non believers ... he uses the metaphor of a 'shroud' and a 'sheet' ... suggesting that human beings have never been able to see Truth clearly ... we have always filled in the gaps with assumptions ... each religion with it's own set of assumptions.
Back to Mao Zedong ... what can we learn from his life and his accomplishments/failures.
"Few would deny Mao Zedong the major share of credit for devising the pattern of struggle based on guerrilla warfare in the countryside that ultimately led to victory in the civil war and thereby to the overthrow of the Nationalists, the distribution of land to the peasants, and the restoration of China's independence and sovereignty. These achievements must be given a weight commensurate with the degree of injustice prevailing in Chinese society before the revolution and with the humiliation felt by the Chinese people as a result of the dismemberment of their country by the foreign powers. “We have stood up,” Mao said in September 1949. These words will not be forgotten"
Stuart Reynolds Schram
The above synopsis places Mao Zedong in the same class of leaders as Moses ... What? ... How can you suggest such an atrocity?
The paralells are self explanatory:
1) There are two classes of leaders ... conquerers ... even most spiritual leaders fall into this class ... those who conquer other lands and peoples and attempt to integrate them with their native people ... Caesar, Alexander the Great, Napoleon, Ghengis Khan etc. The second class of leaders are those who are 'defenders' ... those who spend their lives trying to preserve the integrity ... sovereignty ... of their nation ... peoples. Both Moses and Mao Zedong belong to the latter class.
2) Moses led the Hebrews to freedom from Egyptian enslavement. Mao said in 1949 ... "We have stood up." ie Chinese people are now free.
3) The Hebrew Exodus through the wilderness of Sinai ... fleeing froim the Pharoah and his army has similar overtones with the Long March ... where the Communists were fleeing from Chiang Kai-shek and his warlords.Participants in both events suffered horrific hardships ... hunger, thirst, sickness and death ... with few survivors in both cases. Despite the hardships both 'peoples' would survive and prosper.
4) The Old Testament ... post Moses ... is full of struggles ... wars, defeats and victories ... human suffering and death. China ... post 1949 is similar ... wars, famine, cultural revolution etc. It seems the 'road to freedom' ... the land of milk and honey ... is not smooth and straight.
5) The redistribution of the land in Israel and Judea to the 12 tribes of Hebrews. Mao's redistribution of land in China to the peasants.
6) Three thousand three hundred years after Moses ... some Jewish individuals are the wealthiest people on earth ... collectively certainly the wealthiest group. Where is Egypt and the Egyptians? While China enjoyed long periods of prosperity during the same period ... it's financial status changed dramatically since Mao's time. From one of the poorest nations to one of the wealthiest ... in 60 years. Seemingly at the cost of the G7 ... who went in the opposite direction. From the wealthiest nations to the largest debtor nations in the world today. Both outcomes suggest some kind of Divine blessing.
7) For most Catholics the Law of Moses is the Ten Commandments ... when in fact the Law of Moses has 613 laws ... detailed instructions on how to live. While Mao Zedong certainly did not subscribe to any existing organized religion ... he did write the 'Law of Mao Zedong' ... his Little Red Book. Apparently this book is one of the most read books in the world ... second only to the Bible. The precepts in this book embody the same principles as the Law of Moses. How can we refer to Communists as 'evil'??
8) In October 1936 there were 40,000 Communists in China ... most of whom had just survived the ordeals of the Long March. At this time there were around 500 million people in China. Fourteen years later the leaders of these 40,000 people would win control of all of mainland China. Most would consider this a miracle ... a result of Divine Intervention ... gives credence to the Western question ... "Who lost China?"
Now how about Mao Zedong and Jesus Christ? You're probably thinking ... Oh my gosh! ... is there no end to this writer's blasphemy!
In the Western time zone Mao Zedong was born on December 25th ... the same day we celebrate Christ's birthday. He died ... again in the Western time zone ... on September 8th ... the same day we celebrate the Blessed Virgin Mary's birthday. Simply coincidence??
As Christians we are called on to immitate Christ. In what ways has Mao Zedong immitated Christ?
1) We venerate countless Saints for their efforts to help the poor. Mao Zedong helped lift hundreds of millions of people out of poverty. With this metric alone Mao Zedong certainly qualifies for sainthood.
2) Like Jesus ... Mao Zedong's teaching is imbued with egalitarianism.
3) Mao Zedong has been severley criticized for his part in the failure of the 'commune' movement. Yet in Acts 4:32 we read ... "All the believers were one in heart and mind. No one claimed that any of his possessions was his own, but they shared everything they had." What's the difference? Mao Zedong's victory has often been attributed to the fact that he was able to bring together the masses ... "in one heart and one mind". Perhaps the single largest hurdle to significant social change is the notion of 'private property". As John Lenon writes in his song "Imagine" ... "Imagine no possessions ... I wonder if you can". Lenon doesn't believe people can even imagine life without possessions ... and we all know imagination always precedes reality.
4) In biblical times people confessed thier transgressions publicly ... this practice was abandoned a long long time ago ... replaced with a private confession to a priest. The Scriptures customarily used to establish a public confession of public sin by the Christian are: Matthew 3:5,6, James 5:14-16; Acts 8:22-24; and 1 John 1:9. Mao Zedong's rectification movement involved public confession ... self criticism. While the emphasis was on adherence to Party Principles ... this is no different than 'adherence to accepted morality'. In both instances people are required to
5) Jesus favoured marginalized, disenfranchised and oppressed people ... one only need look at the strata of society his followers were chosen from. Mao Zedong was the same ... he favoured the 'masses' ... the peasants ... he is remembered for his instructions to the army ... do not harm or disrespect the peasants. He was often quoted as saying ... listen to the masses ... they have the answers. What an anomoly ... in all cultures the 'intellectuals' ... 'academics' ... are looked to for answers and solutions ... peasant is a word used to describe someone who is considered dumb or stupid. Yet Mao Zedong repeatedly said look to the peasants for answers.
While there is no short answer to the above question ... my confidence rests on the fact that I believe the Virgin Mary brought me to China 6 years ago and had me marry a diehard Mao Zedong disciple. My wife's parents ... both her mother and father ... were born on September 8th ... the same day we celebrate the Virgin Mary's birth. Also, we were married on October 10, 2005 ... our wedding was an unplanned and unexpected event ... we learned a few months later that October 10, 2005 according to the Chinese Calander is September 8th! Hmmm ... coincidence?
In any event, it seems logical that I should learn something from Mao Zedong. I continue to place my hope and confidence in the Virgin Mary. Seems to me that bringing me to China only reinforces Her role as a "Universal Mother" ... not simply a 'Mother' to Catholics. Perhaps there is a connection to the fact that Chinese people refer to China as their "Motherland".
In doing some research today ... November 27, 2011 I found thess sites: http://www.wbschool.org/Chinese.swf and http://www.jdaniellowe.com/china.html
Both sites deal with the theory that the story of Genesis is embedded in the ancient Chinese language. While this theory may simply be amusing fantasy ... any basis in fact ... however minor ... would obviously turn the world's religious communities upside down!!
Let's look at Isaiah Chapter 25 Verse 7:
And he will destroy on this mountain
the shroud that is cast over all peoples,
the sheet that is spread over all nations:
he will swallow up death forever.
Isaiah makes a clear reference to all humanity ... all mankind ... with his words "all people" and "all nations". Christians have always pursued the strategy of converting all of mankind to Christianity ... perhaps this is a case of "God's ways are not our ways"
Isaiah 55:89
- 1. He is infinite--we are finite.
2. He knows the end from the beginning while we see just a short part of the now.
3. He knows the whys, while we grasp for wisdom.
4. Examples through scripture and experience clearly illustrate that His ways are not our ways and His thoughts are not our thoughts.
It's also worth noting that Isaiah is not talking about killing millions of people ... millions of non believers ... he uses the metaphor of a 'shroud' and a 'sheet' ... suggesting that human beings have never been able to see Truth clearly ... we have always filled in the gaps with assumptions ... each religion with it's own set of assumptions.
Back to Mao Zedong ... what can we learn from his life and his accomplishments/failures.
"Few would deny Mao Zedong the major share of credit for devising the pattern of struggle based on guerrilla warfare in the countryside that ultimately led to victory in the civil war and thereby to the overthrow of the Nationalists, the distribution of land to the peasants, and the restoration of China's independence and sovereignty. These achievements must be given a weight commensurate with the degree of injustice prevailing in Chinese society before the revolution and with the humiliation felt by the Chinese people as a result of the dismemberment of their country by the foreign powers. “We have stood up,” Mao said in September 1949. These words will not be forgotten"
Stuart Reynolds Schram
The above synopsis places Mao Zedong in the same class of leaders as Moses ... What? ... How can you suggest such an atrocity?
The paralells are self explanatory:
1) There are two classes of leaders ... conquerers ... even most spiritual leaders fall into this class ... those who conquer other lands and peoples and attempt to integrate them with their native people ... Caesar, Alexander the Great, Napoleon, Ghengis Khan etc. The second class of leaders are those who are 'defenders' ... those who spend their lives trying to preserve the integrity ... sovereignty ... of their nation ... peoples. Both Moses and Mao Zedong belong to the latter class.
2) Moses led the Hebrews to freedom from Egyptian enslavement. Mao said in 1949 ... "We have stood up." ie Chinese people are now free.
3) The Hebrew Exodus through the wilderness of Sinai ... fleeing froim the Pharoah and his army has similar overtones with the Long March ... where the Communists were fleeing from Chiang Kai-shek and his warlords.Participants in both events suffered horrific hardships ... hunger, thirst, sickness and death ... with few survivors in both cases. Despite the hardships both 'peoples' would survive and prosper.
4) The Old Testament ... post Moses ... is full of struggles ... wars, defeats and victories ... human suffering and death. China ... post 1949 is similar ... wars, famine, cultural revolution etc. It seems the 'road to freedom' ... the land of milk and honey ... is not smooth and straight.
5) The redistribution of the land in Israel and Judea to the 12 tribes of Hebrews. Mao's redistribution of land in China to the peasants.
6) Three thousand three hundred years after Moses ... some Jewish individuals are the wealthiest people on earth ... collectively certainly the wealthiest group. Where is Egypt and the Egyptians? While China enjoyed long periods of prosperity during the same period ... it's financial status changed dramatically since Mao's time. From one of the poorest nations to one of the wealthiest ... in 60 years. Seemingly at the cost of the G7 ... who went in the opposite direction. From the wealthiest nations to the largest debtor nations in the world today. Both outcomes suggest some kind of Divine blessing.
7) For most Catholics the Law of Moses is the Ten Commandments ... when in fact the Law of Moses has 613 laws ... detailed instructions on how to live. While Mao Zedong certainly did not subscribe to any existing organized religion ... he did write the 'Law of Mao Zedong' ... his Little Red Book. Apparently this book is one of the most read books in the world ... second only to the Bible. The precepts in this book embody the same principles as the Law of Moses. How can we refer to Communists as 'evil'??
8) In October 1936 there were 40,000 Communists in China ... most of whom had just survived the ordeals of the Long March. At this time there were around 500 million people in China. Fourteen years later the leaders of these 40,000 people would win control of all of mainland China. Most would consider this a miracle ... a result of Divine Intervention ... gives credence to the Western question ... "Who lost China?"
Now how about Mao Zedong and Jesus Christ? You're probably thinking ... Oh my gosh! ... is there no end to this writer's blasphemy!
In the Western time zone Mao Zedong was born on December 25th ... the same day we celebrate Christ's birthday. He died ... again in the Western time zone ... on September 8th ... the same day we celebrate the Blessed Virgin Mary's birthday. Simply coincidence??
As Christians we are called on to immitate Christ. In what ways has Mao Zedong immitated Christ?
1) We venerate countless Saints for their efforts to help the poor. Mao Zedong helped lift hundreds of millions of people out of poverty. With this metric alone Mao Zedong certainly qualifies for sainthood.
2) Like Jesus ... Mao Zedong's teaching is imbued with egalitarianism.
3) Mao Zedong has been severley criticized for his part in the failure of the 'commune' movement. Yet in Acts 4:32 we read ... "All the believers were one in heart and mind. No one claimed that any of his possessions was his own, but they shared everything they had." What's the difference? Mao Zedong's victory has often been attributed to the fact that he was able to bring together the masses ... "in one heart and one mind". Perhaps the single largest hurdle to significant social change is the notion of 'private property". As John Lenon writes in his song "Imagine" ... "Imagine no possessions ... I wonder if you can". Lenon doesn't believe people can even imagine life without possessions ... and we all know imagination always precedes reality.
4) In biblical times people confessed thier transgressions publicly ... this practice was abandoned a long long time ago ... replaced with a private confession to a priest. The Scriptures customarily used to establish a public confession of public sin by the Christian are: Matthew 3:5,6, James 5:14-16; Acts 8:22-24; and 1 John 1:9. Mao Zedong's rectification movement involved public confession ... self criticism. While the emphasis was on adherence to Party Principles ... this is no different than 'adherence to accepted morality'. In both instances people are required to
5) Jesus favoured marginalized, disenfranchised and oppressed people ... one only need look at the strata of society his followers were chosen from. Mao Zedong was the same ... he favoured the 'masses' ... the peasants ... he is remembered for his instructions to the army ... do not harm or disrespect the peasants. He was often quoted as saying ... listen to the masses ... they have the answers. What an anomoly ... in all cultures the 'intellectuals' ... 'academics' ... are looked to for answers and solutions ... peasant is a word used to describe someone who is considered dumb or stupid. Yet Mao Zedong repeatedly said look to the peasants for answers.