Fire has been an important part of many cultures and religions, from pre-history to modern day. Fire is one of the four classical elements in ancient Greek philosophy and science.i

Fire is also commonly associated with magic.

And reviewing previous Olympic events it may indeed have magical properties that I want to tell you about today.

The Olympic Flame or Olympic Torch is a symbol of the Olympic Games.[1]

Democracy

Besides the Olympics, the ancient Greeks also invented democracy.

In modern times the Olympics were first held in Athens in 1896.

Every country hosting the games were democratic countries, until Nazi Germany hosted the games in 1936 and used them for their propaganda purposes.

The Olympic torch relay was “the brainchild of Carl Diem, who spearheaded the Nazi’s 1936 Berlin Olympics.” The torch was “designed by Krupp--the German munitions company whose owners were [later] indicted for crimes against humanity at Nuremberg.”ii

The Nazi era ended nine years later in 1945 and democracy was restored in Germany.

The Olympic Torch may have worked its magic.

The torch continued to be carried to democratic countries every four years until it was carried to Moscow, the capital of the Soviet Union in 1980.

The Olympic Torch may have worked its magic again as the Soviet Union collapsed eleven years later in 1991.

In 1988 Korea was awarded the Olympic Games.

“Those Games assisted in transforming South Korea from a military dictatorship to a democracy.”iii

The Olympic Torch may have worked its magic again.

“Today, South Korea is an established pioneer of democracy in Asia, with one of the highest levels of civil liberties and political rights in the world.”iv

Does the Olympic Torch bring with it Democracy?

So far the Olympic Torch seems to have brought with it democracy to three totalitarian states that once brutally oppressed and murdered its people.

The forthcoming Olympic Games have intensified the world’s scrutiny of China.

“It looks increasingly likely that the Olympics will serve to remind the world not of China's emerging greatness, but of:

its continuing denial of freedom to its citizens,

its repression of minorities

and

its amoral alliances with rogue states.”v

Hopefully one day the 2008 Olympic Torch will work its magic again to become the impetus for China’s transition to democracy as it has in other former totalitarian countries.

End Notes