Known for freedom, France has changed the course of human civilization many times, such as through the French Revolution, and some great writers like Hugo and Balzac, whose works are deeply rooted in the people's hearts and have a far-reaching influence. I still remember the plot of Les Misérables, which I had read when I was young, and the song "Do You Hear the People Sing?" is still ringing in my ears. France is admired as an advocate and defender of human rights.
The Olympic Games were the first competition that mankind brought together people from different regions in the form of sporting competitions. Winning the gold medal is not the only purpose of the Olympic Games; people of different cultures, races, and genders meeting each other, respecting each other, appreciating each other, and making common progress are the spirit of the Olympic Games.
The opening ceremony of the Olympic Games is a global event. In 1984, when the PRC participated in the International Olympic Games for the first time, the opening ceremony shocked the Chinese people, who had just begun to reform and open up. All Chinese people realized for the first time that the opening ceremony of sports competitions could be so attractive! Later, the song "Hand in Hand" at the Seoul Olympic Games in South Korea became a classic and was sung around the world.
Because of this, like many Chinese families, my family and I overcame the inconvenience caused by jet lag and stayed by the TV on time to watch the opening ceremony of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. At the beginning of the opening ceremony, we deeply appreciated the difference between the two. My comment is that it’s not as expensive as before, and there is a simple elegance everywhere, which is very commendable because the Olympic Games focus on participation rather than comparing financial resources. But as the opening ceremony went on, I started to feel discomfort, forcing me to ask my six-year-old son to stop watching TV and hurry to bed.
The opening ceremony of the Olympic Games should show the beauty of sports and promote the unity and progress of mankind instead of showing extreme cases and creating divisions to protect the minority in the name of infringing on the interests of the majority! We respect the understanding and practice of individual groups on some issues, but there are things that should not be publicized in front of billions of viewers. The nudity, polyamory, and multi-gender characters in the programming have nothing to do with the Olympic theme. At the end of the opening ceremony, Christianity and the Last Supper, a sacred painting, are ridiculed. Is it true that this represents the spirit of freedom and the spirit of France? When I began to learn English, I knew that the protection of children in the West was very strict, and even the methods used by Chinese people to educate children were considered illegal in the West. I very much agree with that. Moreover, in English jokes, husband and wife are often made up of stories, which shows the importance of the family relationship in Western culture. But in the opening ceremony of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, there is no such fine tradition of Western civilization, and instead, there is much bad impact on the family, gender, and children.
I never had any children even after I had been married for more than ten years, but I have never given up because I believe that children are a gift given to couples from heaven. I finally had a son when I was nearly fifty years old, so I love him and educate him with all my heart, hoping that a healthy and normal life can make him grow up happily and contribute to the world. At least I hope he can feel that his parents, teachers, and classmates love him, and he loves these people. Love is the same for all people in the world, no matter what race people are or what creed people have, because everyone needs to love and be loved.
Everyone has a role and a mission. As is often asked in philosophy, “Where did I come from, and where am I going?”
No matter how much technology advances, humans are the real masters.
Basic human values should be protected. What we give to the next generation should not only be iPhones, electric cars, and AI, but more importantly, love, respect, and responsibility for life!
I believe our children will have a better life than we do, but they need the right guidance. “A failure to teach a kid well is a fault of the father; unstrict teaching is a failure of the teacher.” This is the foundation of Chinese education.
Adults are role models for children.
How can we look into the lovely and innocent eyes of our children and tell them what a messy world this is?
Unfortunately, the opening ceremony of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games did not give the children an expected good answer, it was full of extremely selfish ugliness, and it showed a stage of self-righteous narcissism that mocked others and did not care about other people's feelings. This is not the Olympic spirit, nor is it the human rights that France has always defended.
For the sake of the children's future, we should bravely shout, “Stop your sins and return to the sun!”
(The writer of this article is a grassroots pastor of an urban church born in the 1970s and the founder of an NGO.)
- Translated by Nicolas Cao
法国以自由著称，曾经多次改变了人类文明的进程，如法国大革命，如大作家雨果、巴尔扎克的作品深入人心、影响深远。我至今仍记得年轻时读过“悲惨世界”中的很多情节，由此改编成电影的插曲“你是否听到人民的歌声?”还时时在耳边回响……法国更是人权的倡导者及捍卫者，由此得到世人敬仰。
奥林匹克运动会是人类第一次将来自不同地区的人们以体育竞赛的形式聚集在一起。夺取金牌不是奥运会唯一的目的，不同文化、种族、性别的人们相逢相识，互相尊重、欣赏、共同进步才是奥运的精神。
奥运会开幕式是全球的一次盛会。记得1984年新中国第一次参加国际奥运会，当时的开幕式震惊了刚刚开始改革开放的中国人民，原来体育比赛的开幕式可以如此吸引人！后来韩国首尔奥运会上那首"手拉手"更是成为经典之作，传唱世界。
正因为如此，我和家人如很多中国家庭一样，虽远隔万里仍然克服时差带来的不便，按时守在电视旁收看2024届巴黎奥运会开幕式。随着开幕式的开始，我们深切体会到此次开幕式的不同，最大的感觉是没有了以前的奢华，处处透着简单的高雅，这一点是非常值得称赞的，因为奥运重在参与，而不是拼财力。但是随着时间的推移，我感觉到更多视觉上的不适，迫使我不得不让六岁的儿子离开电视，赶紧去睡觉。
奥运会开幕式应该展现运动的美感，促进人类的团结进步，而不是展现极端个例，也不是制造分裂，从而达到保护少数群体的名义而侵犯大多数人的利益！我们尊重个别群体对有些问题的理解和做法，但不应该在几十亿观众的注视下去宣扬。节目安排中出现的裸体、多角恋、多性别角色，这些与奥运主题并无关联。甚至在最后出现丑化JDJ的画面，嘲讽被公认为神圣之画作的“最后的晚餐”，难道就是这些代表了法国的自由与奥远的精神吗？我开始学英语时，就知道西方对儿童的保护非常严格，甚至中国人习以为常教育孩子的方法都被西方认为是非法的。我非常赞同这一点。而且英语的笑话中经常用husband和wife编故事，这说明了家庭夫妻关系在西方文化中的重要性。可是从这次巴黎奥运会开幕式中却看不到这些优秀传统的西方文明，取而代之的是更多的对家庭两性和孩子的冲击。
我本人结婚十几年没有孩子，但一直没有放弃，因为我认为孩子是上天赐给夫妻的礼物。我在近五十岁时终于有了一个儿子，所以我用心去爱他、教育他，希望健康、正常的生活可以让他快乐成长，从而为这个世界做贡献，至少我希望他能感受到父母、老师、同学是多么爱他，而他也多么爱这些人。世界上无论什么民族、什么信仰的人，爱都是相同的，因为每个人都需要得到爱和被爱。
每个人都有自己的角色和使命，正如哲学里常问的问题：我从哪里来，要到哪里去？
无论科技如何进步，人类才是真正的主宰。
人类基本价值观应该得到保护。我们给下一代的不应该仅仅是IPhone、电动汽车、AI，还有更重要的爱，以及对生命的尊重和责任！
我相信我们的孩子一定会过得比我们更好，但是他们需要得到正确的指引。“养不教，父之过；教不严，师之惰。”这是中国教育的根本。
大人是孩子们模仿的榜样。
我们要如何面对着孩子们可爱天真的眼睛，告诉他们这是一个什么样的世界呢?
遗憾的讲，巴黎奥运会开幕式并没有给孩子一个盼望许久的美好答案，它充斥着极端自私的丑恶，它展现的是一个嘲讽他人、不在乎别人感受、自以为是的自恋者的舞台。这不是奥林匹克精神，也不是法国一直所捍卫的人权。
为了孩子的明天，我们勇敢地大声呼喊：停下你们的罪恶，回到阳光下生活吧！本文作者是一位70后城市教会基层牧者，NGO创办人。
一位普通父亲奥运开幕式观后感：保护孩子以期美好的明天
Known for freedom, France has changed the course of human civilization many times, such as through the French Revolution, and some great writers like Hugo and Balzac, whose works are deeply rooted in the people's hearts and have a far-reaching influence. I still remember the plot of Les Misérables, which I had read when I was young, and the song "Do You Hear the People Sing?" is still ringing in my ears. France is admired as an advocate and defender of human rights.
The Olympic Games were the first competition that mankind brought together people from different regions in the form of sporting competitions. Winning the gold medal is not the only purpose of the Olympic Games; people of different cultures, races, and genders meeting each other, respecting each other, appreciating each other, and making common progress are the spirit of the Olympic Games.
The opening ceremony of the Olympic Games is a global event. In 1984, when the PRC participated in the International Olympic Games for the first time, the opening ceremony shocked the Chinese people, who had just begun to reform and open up. All Chinese people realized for the first time that the opening ceremony of sports competitions could be so attractive! Later, the song "Hand in Hand" at the Seoul Olympic Games in South Korea became a classic and was sung around the world.
Because of this, like many Chinese families, my family and I overcame the inconvenience caused by jet lag and stayed by the TV on time to watch the opening ceremony of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. At the beginning of the opening ceremony, we deeply appreciated the difference between the two. My comment is that it’s not as expensive as before, and there is a simple elegance everywhere, which is very commendable because the Olympic Games focus on participation rather than comparing financial resources. But as the opening ceremony went on, I started to feel discomfort, forcing me to ask my six-year-old son to stop watching TV and hurry to bed.
The opening ceremony of the Olympic Games should show the beauty of sports and promote the unity and progress of mankind instead of showing extreme cases and creating divisions to protect the minority in the name of infringing on the interests of the majority! We respect the understanding and practice of individual groups on some issues, but there are things that should not be publicized in front of billions of viewers. The nudity, polyamory, and multi-gender characters in the programming have nothing to do with the Olympic theme. At the end of the opening ceremony, Christianity and the Last Supper, a sacred painting, are ridiculed. Is it true that this represents the spirit of freedom and the spirit of France? When I began to learn English, I knew that the protection of children in the West was very strict, and even the methods used by Chinese people to educate children were considered illegal in the West. I very much agree with that. Moreover, in English jokes, husband and wife are often made up of stories, which shows the importance of the family relationship in Western culture. But in the opening ceremony of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, there is no such fine tradition of Western civilization, and instead, there is much bad impact on the family, gender, and children.
I never had any children even after I had been married for more than ten years, but I have never given up because I believe that children are a gift given to couples from heaven. I finally had a son when I was nearly fifty years old, so I love him and educate him with all my heart, hoping that a healthy and normal life can make him grow up happily and contribute to the world. At least I hope he can feel that his parents, teachers, and classmates love him, and he loves these people. Love is the same for all people in the world, no matter what race people are or what creed people have, because everyone needs to love and be loved.
Everyone has a role and a mission. As is often asked in philosophy, “Where did I come from, and where am I going?”
No matter how much technology advances, humans are the real masters.
Basic human values should be protected. What we give to the next generation should not only be iPhones, electric cars, and AI, but more importantly, love, respect, and responsibility for life!
I believe our children will have a better life than we do, but they need the right guidance. “A failure to teach a kid well is a fault of the father; unstrict teaching is a failure of the teacher.” This is the foundation of Chinese education.
Adults are role models for children.
How can we look into the lovely and innocent eyes of our children and tell them what a messy world this is?
Unfortunately, the opening ceremony of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games did not give the children an expected good answer, it was full of extremely selfish ugliness, and it showed a stage of self-righteous narcissism that mocked others and did not care about other people's feelings. This is not the Olympic spirit, nor is it the human rights that France has always defended.
For the sake of the children's future, we should bravely shout, “Stop your sins and return to the sun!”
(The writer of this article is a grassroots pastor of an urban church born in the 1970s and the founder of an NGO.)
- Translated by Nicolas Cao
A Father's Reflection on Opening Ceremony of Paris 2024 Olympic Games: Protect Children for a Better Future
