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What do these objects
have in common?
Mouse over images to find out
  
 
  
Killer Pet food
Antifreeze Toothpaste
Date Rape Toys
and ... Crucifixes?
What do they have in common?
They're all Made in China.
These days Just about everything, it seems, is Made in China.
Why? Chinese imports are cheap. And that translates into greater profits for American businesses. Even Catholic businesses.
Aside from the hidden dangers - lead-based paint, poisonous substances, etc, there might be another danger.
A danger to our souls.
 A Prayer for China.
Oh Lord, comfort China and those persecuted for Christ in that great country. Grant them joy in their communion with the universal Church. Bless them so that the seed they plant during their years of sufferings, patience and love will be richly harvested. O Lord, to those brothers and sisters who chose to be separated from You, may they return to one fold and one Shepherd. (Prayer of Cardinal Kung for the Church in China)
Click on the image above to enlarge and print.
Click here for Our Lady of China holy card and prayer or to learn about China's only basilica.
Something to Think About:
After the horrifying story about Aqua Dots and the glue-like substance that converts into the date rape drug ... we recalled a problem we had a few years ago with rosaries Made in China. There were colored images inset into the Paters and these kept popping off. We couldn't help but wonder what might be in the glue.
Do you kiss your Rosary? We do.
While you're praying, please pray for the aborted babies here, but also in China. Here are prayers to the Guardian Angels of aborted babies in China. And prayers for the persecuted Priests in China.
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 A Hoax? Sadly, No!
Aborted Babies Are
Sold as Health Food!
Read The Seven Sorrows of China to learn the truth about Catholic persecution and Fetal Soup at $40 a bowl and then let us know if you think Catholic gift shops should carry products Made in China.
Sweatshop Crucifixes and the Cathedral
Is Everyone Missing the Point?
On November 20, 2007, Catholics were stunned to learn that Saint Patrick's Cathedral was selling Crucifixes manufactured under horrific conditions in Chinese sweatshops. The press release quoted a worker who endured a typical 19 hour shift:
“Jesus, take pity on me!
I’m going to die of exhaustion.”
 The press coverage was extensive, with citations from the 73 page report. The gift shop at Saint Patrick's Cathedral, a popular tourist spot, pulled the items from their shelves, pending investigation.
There's a sure-fire way alienate the Church hierarchy: hold a press conference about a problem with the Church and don't tell them about it. That's just what the National Labor Committee did. And the results were as expected. The spokesperson for the Archdiocese accused the NLC of exploiting the Cathedral and then formally gave them the old heave-ho. Ouch! As a former public relations professional, we think there might have been a better way around this. So did the NLC although they decidedly neglected to recognize what a powerful ally the Church might have been.
Was that the end of it? No, no and no. Not with the Christmas gift season underway and close to $5 billion at stake. Even the little guys were afraid to go up against a China-friendly giant like CBA and joined in distributing the spin. So, were they made in sweatshops. Weren't they made in sweatshops. It appears as though they were according to the documentation provided.
But we think they're all missing the bigger (bloodier) picture. China has an institutionalized program of forced abortions and sterilization. In fact, they use U.N. funds to do it. Not enough? (Ironically China has banned RU-486 as unsafe!)
Aborted babies are sold as a "health food" in China. Warning: these links are very disturbing. Note: some photos circulated on the internet depict an "artist" eating a baby and various sources have debunked it. The link we have provided is from a Chinese news source. See also scholarly research on this precedent as regards famine and cannibalism: Chen, T.S, Chen P.S., Medical cannibalism in China: the case of Ko-Ku. Pharos Alpha Omega Honor Med. Soc. 1998 Spring, and China Through the Sliding Door.
China has also institutionalized the persecution of Christians. Especially Catholic Priests. And they like to blow up Marian Shrines. Not enough? How about China's "nuclear option" for destroying the U.S. economy? Or their new friendship with the Communist oil-rich Venezuela? Or organ harvesting from prisoners - sometimes living prisoners killed in the labor camps for their parts.
Cartoonist Bruce Tinsley gets it. His Mallard Filmore 12 Days of Christmas pricked our consciences with mention of our celebration of Christmas with gifts Made in China - a country that tortures Christians. Even the Jewish World Review gets it.
We think you get the picture. So why is it such a problem for the bigger institutions to get a grip on it? Especially Catholics? Why would any respectable manufacturer of Catholic devotional items go to China? Why would any respectable Catholic organization defend that practice? And why would any individual Catholic refuse to stand up and say something about it?
What are you going to do? Let us know.
What have we done? We gathered up all of the inventory we had from Autom - the DiGiovanni line that is Made in China, not Italy and the San Francis inventory - and donated it to our parish with the hope that they would use it to raise money for the Right to Life movement in our area. Did they? No. As we understand it, they used them as gifts to special parishioners. We found a few more pieces, but won't be giving them to the Church. They'll be sold here and the proceeds given directly to a pro-life group. We are a small company and it was a major financial blow, but it had to be done.
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| Not Just Cheap Goods But a Moral Issue Catholic Home and Garden earns its keep by selling Catholic books, rosaries, statues and other devotional items in our web shop. If you've read "How We Started," you know that our initial inventory consisted of exclusively vintage devotionals. Before long, we realized that if we were going to survive, we'd have to expand our product line. We began the process of sourcing items for sale.
Not surprisingly, we found that many of the items we purchased in wholesale lots were Made in China. At first it didn't seem to be much of an issue. We learned which items and vendors to avoid. There were resin based statues with hand painted details that gave male saints the appearance of wearing lurid make up and female saints the look of trollops. Rosaries with cheap colored insets that fell off were immediately sent back. The product lines continued to disappoint, and eventually we stopped buying them.
About three years ago one of our favorite vendors announced a new line of exquisite holy cards and greeting cards. Those of us who run Catholic businesses were very excited and pre-ordered before they were available for shipment.
The cards featured traditional designs, rich colors and were embossed. And they were reasonably priced. How did they do it? They were a small family run business with their own printing press here in the United States - but the embossing? They must have gotten very sophisticated.
We turned the cards over and saw "Printed in China." That told the entire story.
I will never forget a conversation I had with another Catholic business owner about this line. It had to do with the "Made in China" designation. She was outraged. "China has a policy of forced abortion. As a Catholic, I cannot in good conscience sell these products. I'm going to return them and tell them why."
A hour later she called me back, quite annoyed. The holy card vendor was defending herself by claiming that they outsourced the printing to China as a form of evangelization! Talk about spin. She didn't buy the story and neither did I.
That's where we parted ways. She returned her inventory. I didn't. Today I'm sorry I didn't.
Until recent months, the popularity of cheap Chinese goods continued to soar. The American consumer was addicted. Those with the financial ability to resist low prices were often hard-pressed to find alternatives - if they bothered to give it a second thought at all.
Today, we can no longer afford to look the other way for reasons of health and safety. More importantly we, as Catholics, need to take a close look at the morality of supporting the Chinese economy.
Many Catholics have engaged in boycotts of companies that support abortion and activities contrary to Catholic doctrine but don't think twice about supporting a nation that arrests Priests, imposes forced sterilization on women who have become pregnant with more than one child, and that practices infanticide. Each dollar we "save" by buying cheap Chinese goods is a dollar that fuels an inhumane and immoral government.
While our government cannot afford to impose sanctions without running the risk of complete economic collapse, we as Catholics can act.
Look at the labels. If it says Made in China, don't buy it. If you can't find an alternative, let the shop manager know that you won't buy Chinese products and why.
When you visit your local religious goods store, look for the labels and ask the store owner to stop carrying these products.
Contact the larger religious goods suppliers and let them know that you object to their support of the murderous Chinese economy.
As for Catholic Home and Garden, we will no longer carry any goods manufactured in China regardless of the economic impact on our future.
1 To receive alerts on these issues visit the American Family Association site.
What are your thoughts on this issue? Email us.
One of our friends suggests that we should all write to our representatives in government to ask that all items containing materials from China should be labeled. Let the buyer beware. |
NEW DANGER! Date Rape Drug in Toys
Read the horrifying story here
But Chinese Press says that the world "still has confidence in Chinese products."
News Catholics Should Know
The following is a a tiny representation of the distressing news about China that we hear every day. We hope you'll look at a few of these links and then decide if you want to continue buying anything marked Made in China.
China Threatens Nuclear Option Against US Economy
Arrest of Chinese Priests Part of Government Crackdown
Persecution of Catholics in China
China Detains Four Priests
China to Dynamite Marian Shrine
Chinese Birth Control Foes Arrested
Forced Abortion in China
China's Gender Problem - Where Are the Girls?
Chinese Concentration Camps
Infanticide Rampant in China
United Nations Pay for Forced Chinese Abortions
A Growing List of Made in China Dangers
This is a partial list of dangers. To search for more visit the Consumer Products Safety Commission and the Food and Drug Administration. Type the word "China" in the search box
Abortion Pills RU-486
Aspartame Metal Shavings
Beauty Rest Warming Throws
Bicycle Recall
Bicycle Helmets
Candle Recall
Ceramic Tableware
Collapsing Hammocks
Collapsing Lounge Chairs
Collapsing Picnic Tables
Computer Batteries
Cooky Children's Stationery Set
Dangerous Cribs
DVD Players for Children
Electric Palm Trees
Exercise Benches
Extension Cords and Portable Lights
Fake Drugs
Farmed Seafood
Honey
Infant Long johns
Lighting Fixtures
Malaria Drugs
Mislabeled Monkfish
Pet Food
Poisonous Toothpaste
Poison Pajamas
Propane Heaters
Radial Saw Recall
Tires
Toxic Mattresses
Toy Recall
Vitamins
Window Blinds
Catholic Companies Who Manufacture in China
Each individual must make his or her own personal decision about goods Made in China - whether it's frozen shrimp or flip flops for summertime. However, there is one area that we believe needs to be addressed: religious goods from China.
How can we validly pray the rosary on beads that fund a cruel government that kills the most innocent among us? Or send a greeting card with a note of encouragement for those trying to conceive printed in a country that practices infanticide? Every dollar we spend on religious goods Made in China funds the persecution of Catholic priests and the propagation of heinous practices that are an abomination in the eyes of Our Lord.
Make your own decision. Here are a few of the big companies. If you have any to add, let us know.
Autom - With the exception of a limited line of rosaries made in Italy, virtually all of their products are Made in China.
San Francis Imports - The word import says it all
Rosary Mart - One of the biggest rosary businesses. Not everything is Made in China. As you look through their inventory you'll see many marked Made in Italy. If they're not - they're from China
Trademark Catholic Stationery - This is the first that claimed they were "evangelizing" in China. |
Free Church for China