China Takes the Lead in Persecuting Christians

Re “China Vows to Prosecute Bible Detainee,” Jan. 9: What an outrage that the country awarded the 2008 Olympics could quite possibly execute a Christian for passing out Bibles to other Christians in mainland China. As a young Christian in 1974, at the age of 22, I found the Local Church in Miami. It was the greatest moment of my life at the time. I moved to California in 1976 and have been associated with the Local Church in Long Beach and in Anaheim--on and off for a total of 28 years.

I declare boldly that the Local Church is not a cult; the New Testament Recovery Version, published by the Living Stream, is the best version of the Bible I’ve ever read; and that Watchman Nee was the greatest interpreter of the Bible of the 20th century. China needs to be warned by all foreign governments, with the U.S. taking the lead, that we will not tolerate this outrage and injustice.

Your article stated it correctly, that the law drafted by China in 1999 is a “convenient tool for punishing other organizations.” As a fundamentalist Christian, I say now is the time to put a halt to a worldwide persecution and slaughter of Christians, in which China takes the lead.

James Harkcom

Long Beach