Wednesday, March 10, 2021

This week’s New Yorker carries a story about orders on Amazon for running shoes, clothing, even flags.  In his article entitled “Manufacturing Diplomacy,” Peter Hessler discusses how Chinese goods enter the American market.  All kinds of items.  And the one thing you never see listed is China as the country of origin.

Ordering items from Amazon increased substantially over the past year primarily because so many stores were closed.  Marketplace Pulse, an e-commerce intelligence firm, estimates that at least half of Amazon’s top sellers came from China, although Amazon itself claims that the majority of third party companies are based in America.

The problem is, of course, that many of these so-called American based companies never mention where the items are manufactured.  When catalogues say “imported,” one must call to find out from where the item is imported. It’s usually China, a nation that imprisons Uighurs, suppresses churches, and manufactures many items with slave labor, including the spring and Easter décor in all the stores. Buyer beware.

Prayer for the Day

You have created us, O gracious God, in your image,                       

   The image of love and concern for the world around us;                

You have endowed us, O Source of being, with soul and mind,    

   The soul and mind to consider all that is around us in our world;

Energize us, as we continue on our journey to answer your call 

   By serving the many who need our help and assistance,

In the name of the One who reached out to those in need,       

   Even Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen.

Thoughts for the Day

What we’re observing is a government labelling an entire community of religious practitioners as terrorists and treat them that way.

            Sophie Richardson, China Director of Human Rights Watch

They tore down the Ten Commandments from our church wall and replaced them with Xi Jinpings’s quotes.

            Chinese Christian reporting anonymously for fear of arrest (2019)

Protect me, O God, for in you I take refuge; I say to the Lord, “You are my Lord..

   I have no good part from you.”

            Psalm 16: 1-2