What Chen Guangcheng's Escape Means for Us

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This is a Guest Post by Grace, one of our readers. She maintains her own blog at WatchmenCinema. 

Memorial Day, celebrated two weeks ago, reminds us of the great sacrifice many have made in defense of our country so that we Americans may live in peace and freedom.  But Americans are not the only ones celebrating the fruit of no greater love (John 15:13). I’m pretty sure, for one, that Chen Guangcheng is grateful to be enjoying the Land of the Free and Home of the Brave right now.

You might have missed his story, which briefly captivated national headlines a few weeks ago as he arrived in New York City after a harrowing escape from the guarded compound of his own home, where he has lived for 18 months under house arrest. It was the culmination of seven years of persecution at the hands of Chinese government officials, which included false accusations, imprisonment, beatings, threats, and attacks on family members. All this in retribution for challenging the horrific practice of forced abortions, an enforcement of China’s infamous One Child Policy. A full account and timeline of his compelling story can be found at the New York Times.

As the dramatic final weeks in China unfolded – escape under the cover of darkness, travelling hours away to Beijing, taking refuge in the American Embassy, creating a diplomatic crisis for Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, negotiating terms to return to China, being whisked away to isolated confinement in a hospital, managing once more to make connection with the Americans, then finally entering America on a “Student Visa” – media coverage increased and more Americans learned of his plight. When Guangcheng, his wife, and children finally arrived in New York, they were welcomed with open arms.

It was a timely reminder that America serves not only to bless its citizens, but also the entire world. The United States is a beacon of hope for those suffering injustice around the globe. It is a place of escape and safety – a place to be free. Knowing both traditional immigrants and those here seeking asylum has only increased my love for America and appreciation for the role it plays internationally. It’s not that America is perfect, or that Americans are inherently better than any other people. Yet most of our founders believed in a God that gives grace not only to individuals, but to cultures and countries. Thus one nation under God became a city on a hill, and a vessel of God’s grace to millions – including me and Chen Guangcheng.

Grace is a gift that’s passed along – because you have received it, you can give it. When America is strong, it offers hope and courage. When the U.S. economy is stable and flourishing, Americans can support ministries and missionaries worldwide.  When America is influential, it can speak up on behalf of those who cannot speak for themselves, and effectively intervene on behalf of the persecuted, like Chen Guangcheng. With America, a ministry like Voice of the Martyrs can exist.

This is why I am involved in American politics. America is a gift. The very least I can do is work to preserve this great gift that others have died to defend. The very thing that I’m called by Christ to do is love my neighbors as myself, both in America and abroad. When I consider my role as an American citizen in these terms, the only real option is to step up to the plate and do my part.

It’s a big election year here in America, and politics is the air. It’s easy to dismiss it as the Olympic Games equivalent for political junkies – fun and captivating for those genuinely interested in the subject and a passive amusement for everyone else.  Sure, we have a vague idea of how politics impacts our lives (if we pay taxes), but honestly, most of us are willing to pay for apathy. If personal gain was the only thing at stake, a cost/benefit analysis would make sense: is it really worth the time, effort, and potential anxiety, for me to inform myself politically? Unless you possess an innate relish for data, drama, and debate, the answer is probably no. It’s a stretch to argue that your immediate, daily life is going to be substantially improved by political involvement.

But what if politics isn’t about just you? Chen Guangcheng’s story forces us to realize, and accept, the greater potential impact.


-By Grace Tate

Homeschool Fantasy: A Review of the Inheritance Cycle

Christopher Paolini’s Inheritance Cycle is a homeschooled kid’s fantasy. Yes, it has a youthful protagonist who stumbles upon an impossible yet predestined quest (stop the near invincible antagonist). Yes, it has swords and dragons and dragon lore. It has magic-wielding elves, fortune-telling herbalists, clans of dwarves, and even werecats. And in this four part epic story, there is also the fantastic fulfillment of an adolescent dream.

Paolini is hardly the first teenager, homeschooled or not, to write stories. Inspired by favorite stories or films, they concoct wild tales with less direction than finesse. If persistent, they construct outlines and draft a few tortured chapters. If bold, they share with family and friends. Their output, mercifully, is usually euthanized when the family computer expires and is replaced.

But Paolini was inspired, persistent, and bold. At an age when most kids are progressing from simple algebra to simple trigonometry he sketched a complete fantasy world, and with it the trajectory of the entire Inheritance Cycle. He then showed the draft of the first book, Eragon (with his parents, impressing them enough that they published it through their home business and launched a family book tour. The tour failed, but it did put Eragon in the hands of a published author, who passed it on to a big publishing house. After a full round of editing, Alfred A. Knopf re-published Eragon and turned it into a best seller.

Despite the success of Eragon (including a feature film) and the ensuing books, I found considerable criticism as I researched for this review. Some of it is justified; the writing is sophomoric at best and the storytelling suffers from this and other maladies of inexperience. My notes are laced with invective on these points. Since the author was indeed a sophomore when he did most of the writing, I decided not to share them.

Other reviewers complained that Paolini created his fantasy world by ripping off a dozen other authors, adding little to nothing of his own. This is a common complaint against even the greatest fantasy writers; only Tolkien seems to be sacrosanct when it comes to borrowing versus stealing. In this case, the charge sticks because the world he created is firmly standard fare. His elves are haughty, sylvan creatures who outdo humans in both physical and magical pursuits. His dwarves are suspicious metalworkers who build vast underground cities networked by tunnels. The boy Eragon develops predictably in line with the quest motif. But stock characters are what define genres. You can only do so much with an elf before he is no longer an elf. Few authors can transcend genre, especially in fantasy. Tolkien was ahead of his time and produced a revered classic. J.K. Rowling wrote something truly original that outgrew all the rest. And more recently, George R. R. Martin has used the genre to play a Hobbesian tune, reminding us that life is indeed nasty, brutish, and short.

For most authors, including Paolini, art begins with imitation. And most artists spend a lifetime with little progress. The best learn to combine the basic elements with some originality, or at least to put new twists on the techniques of their forerunners. Only the transcendent actually create something new - this is why Picassos only come along once or twice per generation. So to conclude Paolini’s defense, it is in fact remarkable that a boy of 15 could create such a robust story by applying imagination to imitation.

Despite the above complaints, the story itself is truly compelling. The quest motif may be formulaic, but that diminishes none of its appeal as a great element in human narrative. It is David against Goliath (except Eragon gets to ride a fire-breathing dragon and share her thoughts and powers). The reader rides along, with romantic and irrational love for the underdog suspending despair. Paolini treats one theme with a great deal of maturity, and that is the intersection of hope, fatalism, and prescience. Eragon knows that he must face the evil and powerful Galbatorix. He knows the odds. But he will not relent. He continues to search for ways to improve his skills and find some new advantage for himself and his dragon. As long as people maintain their belief that they can manipulate outcomes, hope springs eternal.

Eragon also discovers a tension he must navigate as his power increases. He finds he is not so different from young Galbatorix, whose power eventually consumed and corrupted him. Galbatorix is the product of unchecked nature; Eragon responds to nurture as the hour of need insists he become both a great man and a good man. This tension builds as the stakes increase. Early in the story, Eragon chastises his friend Murtagh for killing a brutish Urgal when it might have been avoided. By the end of the story, he routinely and dispassionately performs the cruel calculus of war to find the lesser evil. The power and responsibility harden him, making him more like the fiend he must defeat.

These are the strongest themes; otherwise, the series is quite ordinary. The action scenes and battles should be the strongest, but they are hamstrung by weak writing. The panoramic descriptions are likewise rich in precision but devoid of grandeur. Paolini fails to satisfyingly develop most of the major supporting characters, and he too often resolves conflicts between individuals and priorities with perfunctory arguments and tautological reasoning. When he tries to make profound observations on basic human problems, he sometimes succeeds, but other times falls flat. For example, when the rebel forces capture a key imperial city, Eragon glibly instructs them to give all the slaves a gold piece and set them free. There is no assimilation plan to back this noble sentiment, and it is never mentioned again. When the rebels move on two pages later, the slaves are left without vocations or any guarantee of safety, presumably at the mercy of their former masters. Any 8th grade student of American history knows that you cannot amend slavery in two sentences.

The Inheritance Cycle is best regarded as a few hours of light summer reading, exciting but not especially enriching. It is strictly a tale of adventure, imagination, and dragons. There is enough violence to deter the very squeamish (battles, physical suffering, even torture), but not enough romance to deter the young lads who will appreciate the story most (Eragon’s romantic pursuits are far less successful than his primary quest). As a young adult offering, it makes a great gateway from Tolkien, Lewis, and Pullman to the wider fantasy landscape. But although a gateway, it will not ultimately stand out much from the crowd. I could perhaps rank it in the top 12-15 fantasy series that I’ve read; it might drop to the 20s with enough introspection. (That is less an indictment of Eragon than a nod to how wide and densely populated that greater fantasy landscape is.) But as an introduction, it serves its purpose well. And with the Inheritance Cycle, Paolini begins what may be a very promising career as a writer.

By Daniel Archer. Daniel is a friend and former classmate of ours at Patrick Henry College.


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Project Umubano's impact on UK foreign policy

Guest Post written by a friend of mine (and traveling buddy) on a new trend in international policy. Josiah Cantrall It was originally posted in The Washington Times Communities.

Wisconsin, April 3, 2011 — Recent foreign policy reforms by the United Kingdom have left the American right brimming with jealousy. First, the U.K. issued a harsh review of the United Nation's inefficiencies, then they de-funded four UN programs;now Prime Minister David Cameron has expressed a new attitude towards multiculturalism.

Since when have UK Conservatives become, well, so conservative?

Enter Project Umubano. Outside of the U.K., very few are even aware of it's existence. Yet since its implementation in 2007, the project has steadily transformed the Conservative Party's entire approach to foreign relations.

Prime Minister David Cameron touched on this last December during his speech to the Young International Democrat Union. Seated inside the Houses of Parliament, alongside the Thames River, my colleagues and I listened as Cameron described the historical perception of Conservatives as heartless capitalists with no regard for impoverished nations and individuals. Though dutifully offended, Cameron also noted his party was ill-prepared to change these viewpoints. It all began there.

The following day at 10 Downing Street, the Prime Minister's home and Headquarters of Her Majesty's Government, Andrew Mitchell, UK Secretary of International Development continued the story over tea.

In 2007, as then leaders of a minority party, Mitchell and Cameron began Project Umubano.



During annual two week trips to Rwanda and Sierra Leone, Conservative Party officials and members of parliament participate in civil society projects working directly with underprivileged groups and obtaining an in-depth knowledge of their cultures.

Working with local partners and NGOs, participants use their professional skills to provide medical, business, and educational training and resources. It's not a publicity stunt. Attendees contribute their own money and work alongside common laborers and local ethnic groups.

Lawyers work with justice officials and teach corporate law. Doctors and nurses train local people while providing free clinical work. Businesspeople hold clinics and consult local firms. Athletic individuals and professional coaches teach sports and train coaches. Members of the education field train local teachers, distribute books, and offer English classes for nine hours a day.

Conservative leaders credit the project for their new understanding of human suffering and the opportunities modern countries have to assist the poor and underprivileged.

However, compassion and knowledge haven't changed their stance on fiscal responsibility. If anything it strengthened it. Conservatives are now unashamedly questioning the decorum of wasting British pounds on failing UN programs.

After reviewing their UN contributions, the British government has pulled funding for four programs and issued harsh criticism.

They condemned the UN Industrial Development Organization for not having a significant impact on global poverty and also noted, “UN-HABITAT”-a Nairobi-based agency mandated “to promote socially and environmentally sustainable towns and cities. . . is (not) leading the United Nations system to work more coherently to tackle urban challenges faced in developing countries.”

Cameron and Mitchell, unlike their Labor predecessors, are demanding accountability for monetary aid given and placing immense emphasis on results rather than the size of aid packages. Success has become measured not in pounds spent, but in lives impacted.

Undeniably their coalition-rule with Liberal Democrats has forced many policies to represent conflicting ideologies. Yet by focusing the debate on accountability and results Conservatives have turned foreign relations into the UK's second most popular policy.

And although multiculturalism is generally considered a domestic issue, Project Umubano has influenced Conservative thought here as well. While remaining sensitive to cultural differences, Conservatives now see the consequences of allowing failure to go un-corrected. Empowering radical individuals hasn't worked in Africa or the Middle East and finally the United Kingdom realizes it won't work for them either.

Compassionate conservatism is for spineless moderates? Think again. Project Umubano has taught participants liberty is ubiquitous, and a free world upholding the equality of all mankind is a world where free market and pro-democratic principles prosper.

The heartless capitalist image may be gone forever.

Josiah Cantrall, is a nationally recognized political pundit, columnist, Young Republican Midwest Director, and Delegate to the International Young Democratic Union.

He is a Wisconsin farm boy, descendant of a Titanic survivor, second oldest of 13 children, Christian, and homeschool graduate.