Falun Gong

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{{cult}}
 
{{cult}}
'''Falun Gong''' or '''Falun Dafa''' is considered a Chinese [[cult]] by previous editors of this page, based on their understanding of traditional [[Qi|qi gong]] practices, which might not be in-depth. Falun Gong was founded in 1992 by Master Li Hongzhi. The Chinese government has unsuccessfully suppressed "the movement". In fact, Falun Gong is not a movement, but is often perceived as such by outsiders who are not familiar with the practice.  Editors of this page have perceived sympathy for its cause as a ''cause célèbre'' among [[human rights]] groups and the anti-China crowd. In fact, no one finds explicit support for modern political concepts, such as "[[family values|social conservatism]]" and neither does Falun Gong practice political campaigns, such as anti-communism stance. Rather than moral assertions independent of politics, editors viewed this as a political stance, grouped the ideas with "right-wing conservatism", which they believe serves some kind of personal interest to help popularize the movement in the West.
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'''Falun Gong''' or '''Falun Dafa''' is considered a Chinese [[cult]] by previous editors of this page, based on their understanding of traditional [[Qi|qi gong]] practices, which might not be in-depth. Falun Gong was founded in 1992 by Master Li Hongzhi. The Chinese government has unsuccessfully suppressed "the movement". In fact, Falun Gong is not a movement, but is often perceived as such by outsiders who are not familiar with the practice.  Editors of this page have perceived sympathy for its cause as a ''cause célèbre'' among [[human rights]] groups and the anti-China crowd. In fact, no one finds explicit support for modern political concepts, such as "[[family values|social conservatism]]" and neither does Falun Gong practice political campaigns, such as anti-communism stance. Rather than moral assertions independent of politics, editors viewed this as a political stance, grouped the ideas with "right-wing conservatism", which they believed serves some kind of personal interest to help popularize the movement in the West.
 +
 
 +
In short, editors did no research whatsoever, gathered no real evidence apart from personal impressions of other things, and did not read Zhuan Falun front to back, which would be required before writing an article about the subject.
  
 
==Political movement or harmless religious group?==
 
==Political movement or harmless religious group?==
Attitudes towards Falun Gong are sharply divided.<ref>[http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2005/12/18/MNGGAG8MO31.DTL]</ref> In past political campaigns, Chinese government utilized news media campaigns to overthrow political oppressors in a matter of days.  Chinese government sources charge that the group is a threat to social stability and is seeking to overthrow the government,<ref>[http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/english/199908/02/enc_19990802001003_TopNews.html One example]</ref> while supporters argue that they are being oppressed because the groups had grown too large and it beliefs conflicted with the government's atheist philosophy.<ref>Vivienne Shue, "Legitimacy Crisis in China?".</ref> Public perceptions in the English-speaking world are skewed by the highly successful public relations campaigns operated by Falun Gong practitioners, and, in the United States, knee-jerk [[red scare|paranoia]] about the Chinese government.<ref>The group's Wikipedia article, which completely whitewashes the organization, is currently under discretionary sanctions imposed after a 2007 arbitration</ref> While initially supportive of the movement, the Chinese communist party began a crackdown on the movement after a 1999 incident in which ten thousand practitioners quietly surrounded the CCP compound in Beijing to request legal recognition.<ref name=BP>Benjamin Penny (2012) "The Religion of Falun Gong"</ref><ref name="nyt">New York Times: [http://www.nytimes.com/2000/04/30/weekinreview/the-world-rooting-out-falun-gong-china-makes-war-on-mysticism.html?pagewanted=all&src=pm Rooting Out Falun Gong; China Makes War on Mysticism]</ref>
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Attitudes towards Falun Gong are sharply divided.<ref>[http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2005/12/18/MNGGAG8MO31.DTL]</ref> In past political campaigns, the Chinese government utilized news media campaigns to overthrow political oppressors in a matter of days.  To further that end, Chinese government sources charge that the group is a threat to social stability and claim it is seeking to overthrow the government,<ref>[http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/english/199908/02/enc_19990802001003_TopNews.html One example]</ref> while those experienced in the history of the Chinese government rightfully inform the public that they are oppressed because the government feared the number of practitioners had grown too large and feared its beliefs would undermine the government's state-imposed atheism.<ref>Vivienne Shue, "Legitimacy Crisis in China?".</ref> Public perceptions in the English-speaking world are skewed by the highly successful public relations campaigns operated by Falun Gong practitioners, and, in the United States, knee-jerk [[red scare|paranoia]] about the Chinese government.<ref>The group's Wikipedia article, which completely whitewashes the organization, is currently under discretionary sanctions imposed after a 2007 arbitration</ref> While initially supportive of the movement, the Chinese communist party began a crackdown on the movement after a 1999 incident in which ten thousand practitioners quietly surrounded the CCP compound in Beijing to request legal recognition.<ref name=BP>Benjamin Penny (2012) "The Religion of Falun Gong"</ref><ref name="nyt">New York Times: [http://www.nytimes.com/2000/04/30/weekinreview/the-world-rooting-out-falun-gong-china-makes-war-on-mysticism.html?pagewanted=all&src=pm Rooting Out Falun Gong; China Makes War on Mysticism]</ref>
  
 
==Teachings==
 
==Teachings==

Revision as of 17:05, 7 August 2013

Drink the Kool-aid

 Cults 

RW Cult Template.png
Iä Yog-Sothoth!

Falun Gong or Falun Dafa is considered a Chinese cult by previous editors of this page, based on their understanding of traditional qi gong practices, which might not be in-depth. Falun Gong was founded in 1992 by Master Li Hongzhi. The Chinese government has unsuccessfully suppressed "the movement". In fact, Falun Gong is not a movement, but is often perceived as such by outsiders who are not familiar with the practice. Editors of this page have perceived sympathy for its cause as a cause célèbre among human rights groups and the anti-China crowd. In fact, no one finds explicit support for modern political concepts, such as "social conservatism" and neither does Falun Gong practice political campaigns, such as anti-communism stance. Rather than moral assertions independent of politics, editors viewed this as a political stance, grouped the ideas with "right-wing conservatism", which they believed serves some kind of personal interest to help popularize the movement in the West.

In short, editors did no research whatsoever, gathered no real evidence apart from personal impressions of other things, and did not read Zhuan Falun front to back, which would be required before writing an article about the subject.

Contents

Political movement or harmless religious group?

Attitudes towards Falun Gong are sharply divided.[1] In past political campaigns, the Chinese government utilized news media campaigns to overthrow political oppressors in a matter of days. To further that end, Chinese government sources charge that the group is a threat to social stability and claim it is seeking to overthrow the government,[2] while those experienced in the history of the Chinese government rightfully inform the public that they are oppressed because the government feared the number of practitioners had grown too large and feared its beliefs would undermine the government's state-imposed atheism.[3] Public perceptions in the English-speaking world are skewed by the highly successful public relations campaigns operated by Falun Gong practitioners, and, in the United States, knee-jerk paranoia about the Chinese government.[4] While initially supportive of the movement, the Chinese communist party began a crackdown on the movement after a 1999 incident in which ten thousand practitioners quietly surrounded the CCP compound in Beijing to request legal recognition.[5][6]

Teachings

Essentially a less violent Chinese version of Aum Shinrikyo, Falun Gong combines Chinese folk religion with modern-day eschatology. The organization is vehemently opposed to homosexuality and premarital sex, and generally holds the same social views as the Catholic Church. As part of the larger qi gong movement, Falun Gong also endorses traditional Chinese medicine, its adherents claiming that the techniques they teach are a replacement for evidence-based medicine.[7] Falun Gong takes a Christian science approach to illness, claiming that sickness is the result of past-life transgressions.

Falun Gong combines Chinese folk religion with meditate qigong techniques designed to harness energy in the body. The practice identifies as belonging to the "Buddhist school," though it also incorporates language and symbology from Daoism. Its central tenets are "truth, compassion, and tolerance" (zhen, shan, ren in Chinese), which it regards as the highest manifestation of the Dao or Buddhist Dharma.[5][8] It espouses socially conservative views comparable to those found in Buddhist and Christian beliefs.[9] That includes prescriptions against pre-marital and extra-marital sex, as well as homosexuality, which are described as producing negative "karma."[10] However, these teachings are only regarded as guidelines for personal conduct, and they do not translate into a social or political position.[11]

Falun Gong holds ancient Chinese knowledge to be a superior ontological system than Western science.[12]Because Falun Gong teaches that sickness is the result of karma accrued in past lives, followers sometimes eschew conventional medical treatment in non-life threatening situations.[13]

Despite being general troublemakers, Falun Gong is aggressively nonviolent.[14] The groups teachings go so far as to eschew most forms of political involvement.[15] Of course, given the beliefs of the group, "political involvement" is rather creatively defined - protests and advocating against same-sex marriage or the Chinese government is acceptable, while actually becoming a politician[16] is looked down on.[17]

The founder of Falun Gong, Li Hongzhi, is regarded in Falun Gong beliefs as a type of savior who has come to the earth to "rectify" the way (the Dharma) and prevent "true" spiritual teachings from being lost.

Cult of personality

The founder of Falun Gong, Li Hongzhi, claims to have miraculous powers. He claims that he is the savior of humanity, who has come to the earth to "rectify" the way and prevent "true" spiritual teachings from being lost. He claims that ancient Chinese knowledge is far superior to current teachings.[18]

Teachings on race and homosexuality

The movements teaching on race-related issues are somewhat questionable. Li Hongzhi maintains that interracial relationships are a sign of the Dharma ending period and that race divisions continue to exist in the afterlife, that people of different skin colors go to different heavens, and that as a result interracial children cannot go to heaven without the personal intervention of Li Hongzhi.[6]

According to a letter to the editor of the San Francisco News Sentinel in 2006 written by a man who claimed to be the son of Falun Gong practitioners, the movement also teaches that "homosexuality is not the standard of being human, the priority of Gods will be to eliminate homosexuals and that gays are demonic in nature."[19] Other postings on the internet echo this.[20] [21]

Generic craziness

Falun Dafa teaches that there is a 2-billion year old nuclear reactor in Africa, which is an artifact of an advanced ancient civilization.[22][8][5] While the reactor in question definitely exists,[23] all available evidence suggests that it has formed naturally, without any intervention from ancient intelligence.

Organ harvesting

As much as Falun Gong may be an unpleasant movement, the reaction by the Chinese government has been highly questionable. In 2006, the Kilgour-Matas report was released by a Canadian MP which suggested that Falun Gong members have been subject to involuntary organ harvesting.[24]The U.S. Department of Safety later released an analysis of the report arguing that there was insufficient evidence that this was actually the case.[25] As with other information on the group, there is a great deal of obfuscation as to what is actually going on, as most media outlets that feature reports on the group are either drawn directly from Falun Gong supporters[26] or sources within the Chinese government.

Since 1999, human rights groups have reported that Falun Gong practitioners are subject to widespread arbitrary imprisonment, as well as torture and abuse in custody. An extra-constitutional body, the 6-10 Office was created to lead the suppression of Falun Gong.[27] The authorities mobilized state media apparatus, judiciary, police force, army, education system, families, and workplaces against the group.[28] The campaign, driven by a large-scale propaganda through television, newspaper, radio and internet, urged families and workplaces to actively assist in the campaign. There are reports of systematic torture,[29][30] illegal imprisonment, forced labour, and psychiatric abuses, with the apparent aim of forcing practitioners to recant their belief in Falun Gong.[31][32]

Foreign observers estimate that since 1999, hundreds of thousands, and perhaps millions of Falun Gong practitioners have been detained in "re-education through labor" camps, prisons, and detention facilities for refusing to renounce the spiritual practice.[33][34] At least 2,000 Falun Gong adherents have been tortured to death amidst the persecution campaign,[35] with some observers putting the number much higher.

In 2006, the Kilgour-Matas report was released by a former Canadian parliamentarian and a Canadian human rights lawyer which suggested that Falun Gong members have been subject to involuntary organ harvesting.[36] Similar findings have been produced by investigative journalist Ethan Gutmann, who also alleges organ harvesting targeted members of the Uighur ethnic minority group in the 1990s.[37] The United Nations Committee on Torture called for China to schedule an independent investigation into the allegations.[38]

Footnotes

  1. [1]
  2. One example
  3. Vivienne Shue, "Legitimacy Crisis in China?".
  4. The group's Wikipedia article, which completely whitewashes the organization, is currently under discretionary sanctions imposed after a 2007 arbitration
  5. 5.0 5.1 5.2 Benjamin Penny (2012) "The Religion of Falun Gong"
  6. 6.0 6.1 New York Times: Rooting Out Falun Gong; China Makes War on Mysticism
  7. [2]
  8. 8.0 8.1 Li Hongzhi, Zhuan Falun
  9. http://www.cecc.gov/pages/roundtables/2010/20100618/gutmannTestimony.pdf?PHPSESSID=aa5231395d2a01528efab4f9dda13220 "China's Policies Toward Spiritual Movements"].
  10. Misconceptions: "Intolerant"?
  11. Hu Ping (2007) "The Falun Gong Phenomenon".
  12. "Modern equipment is pretty advanced, but I'd say it's still not as good as ancient Chinese medical science." - Zhuan Falun.
  13. Noah Porter, Falun Gong in the United States.
  14. Just go with it.
  15. Aside from self-immolation, apparently.
  16. You know, somebody who might actually be able to change the law
  17. David Ownby (2008) Falun Gong and the Future of China
  18. "Modern equipment is pretty advanced, but I'd say it's still not as good as ancient Chinese medical science."
  19. http://www.dailykos.com/story/2011/05/13/975892/-Falun-Gong-The-face-of-Chinese-opposition-or-a-Chinese-scientology
  20. http://ethxblog.blogspot.com/2010/08/falun-gong-harmless-exercise-fanatics.html
  21. http://www.rickross.com/reference/fa_lun_gong/falun306.html
  22. Falun Dafa: Prehistoric nuclear reactor in Gabon Republic
  23. About.com Geology: The Oklo Natural Nuclear Reactor
  24. [3]
  25. [4]
  26. For example, [5]
  27. Congressional-Executive commission on China, Annual Report 2008.
  28. Johnson, Ian, Wild Grass: three portraits of change in modern china, Vintage (8 March 2005)
  29. (23 March 2000) The crackdown on Falun Gong and other so-called heretical organizations, Amnesty International
  30. John Pomfret and Philip Pan. "Torture is Breaking Falun Gong." The Washington Post, 5 Aug 2001.
  31. United Nations (4 February 2004) Press Release HR/CN/1073, retrieved 12 September 2006
  32. Mickey Spiegel, "Dangerous Meditation: China's Campaign Against Falungong", Human Rights Watch, 2002, accessed Sept 28, 2007
  33. Congressional Executive Commission on China, Annual Report 2008
  34. U.S. Department of State, 2009 Country Report on Human Rights: China (includes Hong Kong and Macao)
  35. Andrew Jacobs. 'China Still Presses Crusade Against Falun Gong', New York Times, 27 April 2009.
  36. [6]
  37. Ethan Gutmann, "China’s Gruesome Organ Harvest," The Weekly Standard, Nov 24 2008
  38. MARKET WIRE via COMTEX, China's Organ Harvesting Questioned Again by UN Special Rapporteurs: FalunHR Reports, 8 May 2008, accessed 16/6/08
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