President Obama touched on religious freedom and human rights at the U.S.-China Strategic and Economic Dialogue in front of about 200 Chinese officials on Monday.
[T]he United States respects the progress that China has made by lifting hundreds of millions of people out of poverty. Just as we respect China’s ancient and remarkable culture, its remarkable achievements, we also strongly believe that the religion and culture of all peoples must be respected and protected, and that all people should be free to speak their minds. And that includes ethnic and religious minorities in China, as surely as it includes minorities within the United States.
Support for human rights and human dignity is ingrained in America. Our nation is made up of immigrants from every part of the world. We have protected our unity and struggled to perfect our union by extending basic rights to all our people. And those rights include the freedom to speak your mind, to worship your God, and to choose your leaders. These are not things that we seek to impose – this is who we are. It guides our openness to one another and to the world.
In this episode of Music and Meaning with Charlie Peacock, we dive into the story of his signing the Grammy Award–winning band Switchfoot, a pivotal moment in Christian and mainstream rock music.
Charlie recounts his inspiration from 1996, challenging the conventional “crossover” approach in Christian music. He shares his vision of creating music for all, leading to the discovery of Switchfoot’s demo tape. The episode navigates the challenges of introducing Switchfoot to Christian audiences, focusing on the song “Chem 6A” and its broader implications on faith and art. Celebrating the 20th anniversary of Switchfoot’s pop chart–topping influential album The Beautiful Letdown, Charlie reflects on community, trust, risk, and the transformative power of music.
Charlie Peacock is a Grammy Award–winning, Billboard chart–topping music producer, composer, and recording artist. He is a co-founder of the Art House, Wedgwood Circle, and founder/director emeritus of the commercial music program at Lipscomb University. Charlie has produced music for film and television, including A Walk to Remember, Chris Cornell’s “Misery Chain” from the soundtrack of 12 Years a Slave, and “Hush,” the title theme to the AMC drama Turn: Washington’s Spies. Named by Billboard’s The Encyclopedia of Record Producers as one of the 500 most important producers in music history, Charlie is also a three-time recipient of the Gospel Music Award for Producer of the Year. His books include Why Everything That Doesn’t Matter, Matters So Much; New Way to Be Human; At the Crossroads; and a contribution to It Was Good: Making Music to the Glory of God. Charlie is the senior music editor for Christianity Today and host of the CT podcast Music and Meaning. He has been married to writer Andi Ashworth for nearly 50 years and they have two grown, married children and four grandchildren.
“Music and Meaning” is a production of Christianity Today:
Executive Produced by Erik Petrik and Matt Stevens
Produced and Written by Charlie Peacock and Mike Cosper
Original Music and Editing by David LaChance and Charlie Peacock
Mix Engineer: Mark Owens
Show theme, “Sound of the Room,” composed by Charlie Peacock, featuring bassist John Patitucci
Earlier this month, The AFP reported that U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom said it was “gravely concerned” about China’s “repression” of the cultural and religious traditions of the ethnic group Uighurs.
China says 192 people died on July 5 in Xinjiang’s capital Urumqi in the country’s worst ethnic violence in decades pitting Uighurs against the growing number of settlers from China’s Han majority.
The religious freedom commission called for President Barack Obama to consider sanctions on exports coming from Xinjiang or travel restrictions on Chinese government officials in charge of the northwestern province.
