James Miller, Professor of Chinese Religions at Queen’s University, is available to talk about the moral outrage over the fate of 2-year-old Yueyue who was struck down in a hit and run incident in China yesterday.

“We may never know what went through the mind of the van driver who ran over baby Yueyue or of the people who walked by without offering any aid. What we can start to understand is how this tragic death has become a flashpoint for moral outrage in China that focuses not on the incident itself but a wide range of contemporary social problems,” says Dr. Miller. “Over the past century China has torn up its traditional moral roots based on kinship networks and generations of patriarchal authority and transformed into a modern capitalist society, one which does not have the benefit of a strong moral framework or rule of law. In 1949, Confucius was replaced by communism, but in 2011 no one knows whom or what to believe.”

Dr. Miller has written extensively about Chinese religions and culture and blogs about the intersection of religion and ecology at sustainablechina.info.

To arrange an interview, please contact Christina Archibald at christina.archibald@queensu.ca, 613.533.2877 or Michael Onesi at michael.onesi@queensu.ca, 613.533.6000 ext. 77513, Queen’s News and Media Services.

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