International Religious Freedom Report: Condemn the Persecution of Falun Gong

International Religious Freedom Report: Condemn the Persecution of Falun Gong

http://www.ntd.tv/en/programs/news-...ution-of-falun-gong.html#sthash.dMemgSY8.dpuf

The U.S. Department of State released its 2013 annual report on International Religious Freedom. The report says that last year, the number of people forced to leave their home due to their faith has reached a historical high. The report strongly condemns the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) persecution of Falun Gong. It urges China to release Falun Gong practitioners and human rights lawyer Gao Zhisheng.
2014-08-01 02:11 AM ESTLast Updated: 2014-08-01 02:16 AM EST

[video=youtube;4l5xCAci_mo]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4l5xCAci_mo&safe=active[/video]

The U.S. Department of State released its 2013 annual report on International Religious Freedom. The report says that last year, the number of people forced to leave their home due to their faith has reached a historical high. The report strongly condemns the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) persecution of Falun Gong. It urges China to release Falun Gong practitioners and human rights lawyer Gao Zhisheng.

The report says that although Masanjia Labor Camp has been closed, increased detention of Falun Gong practitioners around sensitive dates still continues.

“It was reportedly said that the CCP instructs the district residential committee to report information regarding Falun Gong practitioners to officials in return for cash rewards,” the report says.

Tom Malinowski, U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, openly condemned the persecution of Falun Gong. He highlighted the CCP’s persecution policy of Falun Gong and urged the Chinese regime to release Falun Gong defender and lawyer Gao Zhisheng as scheduled in August.

Since 1999, China has been listed as a Country of Particular Concern due to its religious freedom violations, the report says.

Theresa Chu, spokesperson of Human Rights Lawyers For Falun Gong: “The persecution of Falun Gong has lasted for 15 years. Actually, in many countries, particularly in Europe and the U.S., there are governmental reports about this. These reports reveal that the persecution of Falun Gong hasn’t been lessened after the downfall of Bo Xilai and Zhou Yongkang. The severe persecution manifests around sensitive dates with the large-scale arrest of Falun Gong practitioners. The situation is still severe now in 2014.”

The report points out that Falun Gong hasn’t been protected under the law in China. The report also shows concern for Falun Dafa Association member Li Chang. It says, “Falun Gong practitioner Li Chang has been sentenced to 18 years in jail. Li was a volunteer assistant of Falun Gong. He co-organized a peaceful protest in 1999, and is currently still being held in jail. Falun Gong practitioner Yu Changxin was sentenced to 18 years in jail in 2000, and he is still in jail.”

Theresa Chu: “Whether or not Gao Zhisheng can be released as scheduled, whether or not the Falun Gong assistant can be released, whether Falun Gong will have to continue to suffer severe persecution in China; We say it is like a kind of indicator. Thus, the U.S. can stand up and openly demand Gao Zhisheng’s release, as well as a group of Falun Gong practitioners that are currently facing persecution as mentioned in the report. We think it is significant.”

The report lists several cases of the persecution. “In November 2012, Beijing police arrested Falun Gong practitioner Zhang Fengying as she was shopping,” it said. Zhang’s daughter explained that at that time, Zhang was telling a resident about the benefits of Falun Gong. The regime transferred Zhang to Tiantanghe Women’s Labor Camp for two years.”

Zhu Keming was the first Falun Gong practitioner who sued Jiang Zemin. Zhu said that Zhang Jie, another practitioner who sued Jiang, was arrested and persecuted to death soon after. During Zhang’s five year jail sentence, he faced brutal tortures in jail and nearly died.

Zhu Keming: “From my personal experience in China, I noticed that people only knew the surface of China’s human rights status. It is far worse actually. Falun Gong practitioners in prison were treated worse than inmates. Their human rights conditions were far worse than that of criminals. People are still unclear about the persecution of Falun Gong.”

Theresa Chu points out that the live organ harvesting of Falun Gong practitioners still carries on in China, but it wasn’t mentioned in the U.S.’ report.

Theresa Chu: “Regarding the atrocities of live organ harvesting from Falun Gong practitioners, no one should avoid crimes against humanity on earth. However, the report didn’t mention it. We believe the U.S. Department of State still has some evidence and documents of the CCP’s organ harvesting in its hands. We hope the U.S. government, being a big human rights powerhouse, when faced with such inhumane atrocities, should help stop the organ harvesting from Falun Gong practitioners both in the report and in action.”

The report pays special attention to the harassment against Falun Gong by Hong Kong’s pro-Beijing group Youth Care Association Limited. Hong Kong resident Zhu Keming says that he believes the U.S. will openly condemn the CCP. However, if the U.S. doesn’t take extreme measures with the CCP and pressure the CCP to stop the persecution of Falun Gong, condemnation alone won’t work.

 

"The experience of the Chinese Communist Party was similar to Russia’s. From the “Mari
Incident” and “April 12th Massacre,”[10] to being suppressed five times in areas controlled by
the Chinese Communists, and eventually to being forced to undertake a 25,000-kilometer
(15,600 miles) “Long March” — the CCP always faced the crisis of being eliminated."

 

The CCP’s rule is the darkest and the most ridiculous page in Chinese history. Among its
unending list of crimes, the vilest must be its persecution of Falun Gong. In persecuting
“Truthfulness, Compassion, Tolerance” Jiang Zemin has driven the last nail into the CCP’s
coffin. The Epoch Times believes that by understanding the true history of the CCP, we can help
prevent such tragedies from ever recurring. At the same time, we hope each one of us would
The Epoch Times is now publishing a special editori al series,
“Nine Commentaries on the Chinese Communist Party.”reflect on our innermost thoughts and examine whether our cowardice and compromise have
made us accomplices in many tragedies that could have been avoided.

 

Taoism emphasizes truthfulness. Buddhism emphasizes compassion, and Confucianism values
loyalty, tolerance, benevolence and righteousness. “While their forms differ, their purposes are
the same…they all inspire people to return to kindness.” [19] These are the most valuable aspects
of traditional Chinese culture based upon the beliefs in Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism.

 

Killing has become one of the most essential ways for the CCP to ma intain power. With the
escalation of its bloody debts, laying down its butcher knife would encourage people to take
vengeance for the CCP’s criminal acts. Therefore, the CCP not only needed to conduct copious
and thorough killing, but the slaughter also had to be done in a most brutal fashion to effectively
intimidate the populace, especially early on when the CCP was establishing its rule.

 

Looking at the CCP’s history, individuals who retained the mindset of traditional intellectuals
like Chen Duxiu and Qu Qiubai, or who still cared about people’s interests like Hu Yaobang and
Zhao Ziyang, or who are determined to be clean officials and bring real service to the people
such as Zhu Rongji— no matter how much they contributed to the Party, and no matter how
devoid of personal ambitions they were, they were inevitably purged, cast aside, or restricted by
the Party’s interests and discipline.

 

Not many Chinese would even dare to think of calling the CCP an evil cult. However, were that
assertion made, those who have lived in China would not find it hard to discover strong evidence
supporting the argument, from both their own experience and those of their family and friends.

 

Confucianism is the part of the traditional Chinese culture that focused on “entering the mundane
world.” It emphasized family-based ethics, in which filial piety played an extremely important
role, teaching that “all kindness starts with filial piety.” Confucius advocated “benevolence,
righteousness, propriety, wisdom and faithfulness,” but also said, “Aren’t filial piety and
brotherly love the roots of benevolence?”

 

The ideal of the Communist Party is social equality leading to a communist society. Today,
however, communist-controlled China has become a nation with the most serious economic
inequalities in the world. Many CCP members have become filthy rich, while the country has
800 million living in poverty.

 

This peculiar structure of evil possession has existed in human history in the past, either partially
or temporarily. Never has it operated for so long and controlled a society so completely as under
the rule of the Communist Party.
For this reason, Chinese farmers live in such poverty and drudgery. They not only have to
support the traditional municipal officials, but also as many or even more communist cadres.

 

Killing has become one of the most essential ways for the CCP to ma intain power. With the
escalation of its bloody debts, laying down its butcher knife would encourage people to take
vengeance for the CCP’s criminal acts. Therefore, the CCP not only needed to conduct copious
and thorough killing, but the slaughter also had to be done in a most brutal fashion to effectively
intimidate the populace, especially early on when the CCP was establishing its rule.

 

Why does the CCP have to fight incessantly to keep its power? Why does the CCP believe that
as long as life exists, strife is endless? To achieve its goal, the CCP does not hesitate to murder
people or to destroy the ecological environment, nor does the CCP care that the majority of
farmers and many urban citizens are living in poverty.

 

Even India, a country that, to most Chinese, is poverty-stricken and full of ethnic conflicts, has
enjoyed a significantly expedited development and has achieved an economic growth rate of
seven to eight percent per year since its economic reforms in 1991. India has a relatively
complete legal system in a market economy, a healthy financial system, a well-developed
democratic system, and a stable public mentality. The international community has recognized
India as a country of great development potential.

 

What about the persecution of Christians in Red China.

 

Good luck with that. The Chinese have a long history of oppression and persecuting people for various reasons their record of genocide is a long one. Problem is there is lots of money involved and those that run the world do not care about anything else so will not rock the boat. Oh they may say the right words in public but in the end nothing of any real substance will be done, that is just the way it is.

 

With the “Chinese characteristics,” China’s crippled capitalism was transformed into
“socialism;” “unemployment” became “waiting for employment;” “being laid off” from work
became “off duty;” “poverty” became the “initial stage of socialism;” and human rights and
freedom of speech and belief were reduced to the mere right to survive.

 

http://www.theepochtimes.com/n3/1090031-the-book-that-is-changing-china-is-ten-years-old/

 

I wonder if a more theistic version of evolutionary theory could play a role in helping the CCP to transition over to a kinder and more gentle way of dealing with its own people?

It is amazing how well what this near death experiencer reports being show corresponds with chapter 13, The Anthropic Principle, of Stephen Hawking's Universe.

http://www.near-death.com/experiences/reincarnation04.html#a05

 

Assisting the Falun Gong may actually be the wisest opening gambit to improve the situation for Christians living there.

http://www.christianforums.com/t7781576/

We Christians should defend the Falun Gong of China!
This article about enforced organ donation is one of the most horrifying I have ever read.


http://www.dafoh.org/unethical-organ-harvesting/

Unethical Organ Harvesting - DAFOH

 

I think you should urge the Cult Education Institute (CEI) to include the CCP in its Internet archive of information about cults, destructive cults, controversial groups and movements.

Following are excerpts from the article headlined "Is Falun Gong a Cult?" at http://www.cultnews.com/2009/01/is-falun-gong-a-cult/

(Begin excerpts)
...Noted psychiatrist and author Robert Jay Lifton developed the following definition of a cult. This definition is focused primarily upon three principal criteria and was first published in a paper titled “Cult Formation” in 1981 :

1. a charismatic leader who increasingly becomes an object of worship as the general principles that may have originally sustained the group lose their power;
2. a process of coercive persuasion or thought reform;
3. economic, sexual, and other exploitation of group members by the leader and the ruling coterie.

Falun Dafa and Lifton’s three criteria

• A charismatic leader who increasingly becomes an object of worship.

Exclusive claims made by Li Hongzhi, which are implicitly accepted by Falun Dafa practitioners without exemption, are the defining principles of the group.

For example, “Master Li” purportedly possesses supernatural powers.

Mr. Li claims to know “the top secret of the universe” and says “no religion can save people” but the “almighty Fa,” which he exclusively represents. He is therefore essentially the chosen savior of man. The biography in his book “Zhuan Falun” claims that he first recognized his special powers at the age of 8.

Li Hongzhi’s teachings also include the spinning “falun,” which is a mystical “wheel of law” that he claims to be able to insert into his disciples’ abdomens telekinetically.

Such fantastic and exclusive claims about a leader fit the classic profile of a personality-driven cult.

Falun Dafa followers, believe that Li Hongzhi is always right and they are not allowed to question the basic assumptions concerning his purported supernatural powers, teachings and/or opinions. His authority and infallibility appear to be absolute for the true believer, and therefore beyond what Falun Dafa followers consider reasonable doubt.

Examples of the intense devotion Li Hongzhi has effectively engendered among his followers include a television network and a newspaper called “The Epoch Times” both run by Falun Dafa adherents. Devotees also maintain numerous Web sites and there are schools to perpetuate Mr. Li’s teachings. Frequent public demonstrations and events staged around the world also reflect the intense devotion of his followers.

While Li Hongzhi talks about “Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance,” neither he nor his followers actually demonstrate any tolerance concerning critical questions or inquiry. Within Falun Dafa Li’s followers are not allowed to question the basic assumptions of the group and criticism from outsiders is often characterized as “persecution.”

Persistent critics of Li Hongzhi and Falun Dafa have been repeatedly subjected to personal attacks, threats of litigation and frivolous lawsuits.

Li Hongzhi remains an absolute, authoritarian leader with little if any accountability, and there appears to be no limit to the scope of his personal power and influence within Falun Dafa.

• a process of coercive persuasion or thought reform

Sociologist Richard J. Ofshe explains, “Coercive persuasion and thought reform are alternate names for programs of social influence capable of producing substantial behavior and attitude change through the use of coercive tactics, persuasion, and/or interpersonal and group-based influence manipulations.”

This is accomplished according to Ofshe by “intense interpersonal and psychological attack to destabilize an individual’s sense of self” and “to promote conformity” within the framework of “an organized peer group.”

Li Hongzhi through Falun Gong has promoted unreasonable fears about the outside world, such as impending catastrophe, evil conspiracies and persecutions. He teaches his followers that the earth would have been destroyed, but he saved it. He also claims that “gods” will destroy those he disapproves of and that his followers must practice his prescribed program of “spiritual cultivation” or risk obliteration.

For Falun Gong followers, there is no legitimate reason to disagree with and/or leave the organization. Former followers are always wrong in leaving, negative, or even seen as “evil.” While they may appear to be free to leave they often fear the consequences.

Mr. Li asks his followers to continuously keep “cultivating” and go on and on “cultivating” until they reach “perfection,” something that no one can ever realistically hope to achieve as an ordinary man and woman within their lifetime. Such perfectionism is then supposedly deferred and only reachable in “other dimensions.”

Li Hongzhi’s program of coercive persuasion largely relies upon the cultivation not only of unreasonable fears but also prejudice, which ultimately serves to isolate and control his followers. “Master Li” manipulates the thinking and feelings of his followers to develop a certain seemingly predetermined and desired mindset.

In Mr. Li’s worldview mixed-race people are part of a plot, contrived by the evil extraterrestrials. “By mixing the races of humans, the aliens make humans cast off gods,” he told a gathering in Switzerland in 1998.

“Mixed races” are supposedly excluded from the “truth” and “have lost their roots, as if nobody in the paradise will take care of them. They belong to nowhere, and no places would accept them¦the higher levels do not recognize such a human race.”

According to Mr. Li, the offspring of mixed race unions are therefore “intellectually incomplete” or “with an incomplete body.” In such cases, only he, Master Li, can help and “take care of it” (i.e., resolve the “incomplete” state). However, that can be done only if “such a person wants to practice cultivation.”

Li Hongzhi also encourages hatred of homosexuals. He has said, “The disgusting homosexuality shows the dirty abnormal psychology of the gay who has lost his ability of reasoning at the present time,” Li Hongzhi wrote in Volume II of “Zhuan Falun,” or “Turning the Law Wheel,” which was translated into English in 1996.

In his talk in Switzerland, Li Hongzhi also stated that gay people would be “eliminated” by “the gods.” Asked in Frankfurt, Germany, in 1998 whether gays could practice Falun Gong, Mr. Li answered, “You can cultivate, but you must give up the bad conduct.”

Li Hongzhi’s disciples are taught to subordinate their own thoughts and feelings to the teachings of Falun Dafa. They essentially come to believe that “Master Li” has arranged everything and is their protection.

In describing her experience with Falun Dafa, cult expert and clinical psychologist Margaret Singer said that a practitioner will “actually say Don’t Think. Just recite the Master’s teaching.’ ”

Among Falun Dafa’s many questionable mind-altering practices, this command to “stop thinking” and continuously “recite the Master’s teaching,” when heeded, meets the main criterion of cult control American communication researchers and cult experts Flo Conway and Jim Siegelman describe in their book Snapping: America’s Epidemic of Sudden Personality Change:

Almost every major cult and cult-like group we came upon teaches some form of not thinking or “mind control” as part of its regular program of activity. The process may take the form of repetitive prayer, chanting, speaking in tongues, self-hypnosis or diverse methods of meditation¦.Such techniques, when practiced in moderation, may yield real physical and mental health benefits¦.Prolonged stilling of the mind, however, may wear on the brain physically until it readjusts, suddenly and sharply, to its new condition of not thinking. When that happens, we have found, the brain’s information-processing capacities may be disrupted or enter a state of complete suspension¦disorientation, detachment¦hallucinations, delusions and, in extreme instances, total withdrawal.

• exploitation of group members by the leader

Former Falun Dafa followers, the families of devotees and others concerned often relate the same allegations of abuse, which reflect a similar pattern of grievances.

Mr. Li teaches his followers that illness is caused by the evil deeds of a sick person, in this life or a previous one. According to his teachings, modern medicine treats only the symptoms of a disease, and not its underlying spiritual cause, which can be cured only by practicing Falun Gong.

“The only way to find yourself comfortably free of illnesses,” Li Hongzhi writes in “Zhuan Falun,” “is through cultivation practice!”

The complaints I have received about Falun Dafa are most often directly related to teachings about “spiritual cultivation,” which may preclude seeing a doctor and/or taking prescribed medication.

As a result of such teachings some of Mr. Li’s followers have reportedly died due to medical neglect, while many others have needlessly exacerbated their medical conditions.

I have also received serious complaints within the United States regarding the damage done by Falun Dafa through family estrangement. This has particularly occurred when families question and/or are critical of Mr. Li and his teachings.....

The consistent pattern of my email exchanges is that Falun Dafa is always “good” and “Master Li” is never wrong, no matter how extreme or harmful the group behavior or hateful his teachings may be.

Margaret Singer succinctly summarized: “If you want a good description of a cult, all you have to do is read what [Falun Dafa followers] say they are.” (End excerpts)

 

Interesting!!!!!

 

You will find the article headlined "How can we believe Falun Gong?" interesting too.

Please refer to http://www.democraticunderground.com/1249548

 

Why is Falun Dafa persecuted in China?

The complex rationale behind the persecution can be broken into four elements: a paranoid dictator's fear of Falun Gong's meteoric growth and soaring popularity; that same dictator's intense jealousy of Falun Dafa's popularity; the inherent conflict between the communist regime's savage political ideology and its polar opposite--Falun Dafa's principles of Truthfulness, Benevolence, Forbearance; and the very nature of communism, which to sustain itself requires periodically labeling a small segment of the population as the "class enemy" to "struggle" against.

 

falun is a cult period. the founder think him self as budda, doesn't even graduate from high school, its for naive etc. it encourage pple not to take med when sick just practice falun etc etc.

 

“Zhang was responsible for genocide, torture, and crimes against humanity in carrying out the persecution of Falun Gong,” said Tompkins. Saturday’s rally, Tompkins said, was to call for an end to the persecution being carried out in China by officials like Zhang.