In the May/June issue of We Confess, the newsletter of the Confessing Movement within the United Methodist Church, the following article about Google appeared:

Google, Inc. has closed its Google.cn site in China amid a dispute with the Chinese government over censorship. The government had required that Google filter out certain political and religious material that the government did not want its citizens to see. Google decided that it would stand up for the principle of providing freedom of information. The company’s willingness to challenge Chinese censorship has met with strong approval from human rights activists around the world. Some Chinese citizens have placed flowers at the front of Google’s headquarters in quiet but courageous affirmation. Google accounts for about 36% of search revenue in China, with the Chinese company Baidu Inc. holding 58%.

Google’s decision was made more difficult because her competitor Microsoft had committed through its chairman Bill Gates to obey the government’s rules concerning censorship. Further pressure was exerted on Google by its advertising partners in China who stand to lose if Google withdraws from the country.

Because of China’s huge population, enormous financial profits are at stake. One wonders if a similar dispute occurred within international corporations prior to World War II, when those corporations could have made enormous profits by doing business with Nazi Germany, even though the persecution of Jews within Germany was widely known.

Sergey Brin, the 36-year-old co-founder of Google said, “I think at some point it is appropriate to stand up for your principles, and if more companies, governments, organizations, and individuals did that, I do think the world would be a better place.”

When profit clashes with principle, unholy compromises are often made. But in this case, because of courage and character on the part of Google’s management, principle won!

Principle won! Praise God! As Christians we live by a higher standard. While the world continues to erode biblical values, we’re called to stand up for them. At times, to stand alone. Though we’re never really alone, we always stand with our Lord at our side. Maybe now more than ever in our relatively young history as a nation, the Christian voice is needed again to sound loud and clear. Our standard is God’s Word. Like Jesus, it never changes. One part of standing up for what is right is to be informed about the issues confronting our society, so we can act in a timely and effective way.

I’m a member of a small group of pastors led by Rev. Paul Blair and an organization called Reclaiming Oklahoma for Christ, that helps keep us informed about some of those critical issues. This weekend, we’re hosting a Reclaiming America for Christ Worldview Conference at Trinity Baptist Church in Yukon beginning at 6:30pm on Friday and 8:30am on Saturday. Robin and our family plan to be there with other members of First Church. Admission is free; a love offering will be received. National speakers include David Barton, Ken Ham, Rick Scarborough and Bailey Smith. I hope you’ll come and be informed so you can pray with greater passion and insight for America! By the way, thanks for joining over 500,000 other Christians last Sunday as we got on our knees at the altar and prayed for this great nation in Call2Fall. It was an awe-inspiring and holy moment. I love you and thank God for each of you!

Yours in Christ,
Mark