All
cults, without exception, take advantage of people's longing
for health and desire for cures for their diseases. Some
cults claim to be able to "cure all diseases",
and some use witchcraft and incantations to drive out diseases
or even "cure diseases and exorcise demons". Whatever
they do, it is certain that they pretend to "cure and
drive away illnesses". Li Hongzhi went even further;
he claimed that those who followed "Falun Dafa"
would never fall ill or would be able to cure their own
diseases without medical treatment of any description. In
his articles and speeches he said that birth, old age, illness
and death are "karma retribution", and that only
"Falun Gong" could cultivate people into "supermen".
Let us examine his words:
"Birth,
old age, illness and death are preordained. They are karma
retributions. Once you owe debts, you have to repay them";
"The basic cause of all illness and misfortune is karma.
They come from a kind of field of karma formed by black
materials¡.Karma is the fundamental cause and
the most important source of illness". (from Zhuan
falun)
"The
essence of illness is the problems in another space reflected
in this space. For instance, if pathogenic bacteria live
in another space, how can man deal with them? So we practitioners
do not talk about illnesses, because they are all the results
of karma"; "Those who sincerely practice 'Falun
Gong' will not fall sick or encounter danger¡.Only
sincere practitioners can cure the diseases of patients¡The
power achieved by practicing 'Falun Gong' can automatically
eliminate viruses and karma. Taking medicines will merely
press back karma, making it impossible to cleanse one's
body; so medicines are not able to cure diseases. One who
passes this barrier will become a superman". (from
a lecture on "Falun Fofa" given in the United
States)
"There
is only one way to get happiness through practice, that
is to teach someone the fa (law). When he gets the fa he
can be saved¡.If you achieve all-round fulfillment
in self-cultivation you will become a great Buddha. Do you
have the ability? Yes, you have. At that time you will be
able to hold the world in your hand without much effort,
let alone being able to save your relatives." (from
a lecture on "Falun Fofa" given in Europe)
While
advocating "karma retribution", Li Hongzhi organized
his followers to write a number of "investigation reports",
to be used to advocate that "practicing Falun Gong
can cure diseases". For instance, in Examples of Changes
in Body and Mind of Some "Falun Gong" Practitioners
in Higher Education Circles in Guangdong Province, it is
reported that a lung cancer patient named Liu, surgery having
failed, began to practice "Falun Gong" in January
1997 in the hope of overcoming the disease. Her condition
improved, and she had no need to go to hospital. In fact,
in December 1998, when these investigation reports were
being compiled and printed, Liu's cancer recurred, but she
insisted on not going to hospital. She was finally sent
to hospital by her family in March 1999, when her cancer
had spread, and she died on July 13, probably because she
had delayed the treatment.
Here,
it should be pointed out that while Li Hongzhi told his
followers not to consult doctors or take medicine, he himself
did not practice what he preached. The Jilin Provincial
People's Hospital performed an operation on him in 1984.
In his case record it is written: "Li came to the hospital
at 7:30, on July 8, 1984 and left on July 18. Diagnosis:
acute festering appendicitis. Operation: appendectomy. Undersigned:
Li Rui (Li Hongzhi's wife-Tr)". The senior surgeon
in charge, who performed the operation, said that after
the operation penicillin, streptomycin, glucose and other
medicines were administered to Li. Moreover, during the
period from 1982 to 1992 when Li worked with the Changchun
Cereals and Oils Company, Li Hongzhi attended seven hospitals
for medical treatment or to purchase medicines, and had
medical expenses reimbursed 73 times.
Li's
theory of "karma retribution" has cheated many
practitioners and caused many tragedies. According to statistics,
up to the end of July 1999, more than 1,400 practitioners
had died as a result of practicing "Falun Gong",
and many others had been injured or had become disabled.
In addition, many others had become mentally unstable. Seven
hospitals in Beijing, Tianjin, Hebei and Shandong alone
received 115 such patients. These victims had taken up the
practice of "Falun Gong" in order to improve their
health, but they had in fact delivered their health to Li
Hongzhi, who destroyed it. The greater tragedy is that,
while being tortured by illness and death, they believed
that these tragedies had come upon them because their "faith"
in "Falun Gong" was not perfect.
As
every one knows, metabolism and birth, age, illness and
death are parts of the law of nature for the multiplication
and development of human beings. In fact, everyone in modern
society enjoys the various advantages which spring from
medical and scientific and technological progress. As a
result, the human life span has been prolonged continuously.
Medical development not only guarantees health both physical
and mental, it also reveals the truth behind many mysterious
phenomena. Modern medical science has brought hope to mankind:
It has found ways to cure many chronic and stubborn diseases,
and achieved brilliant results in the research into diseases,
which used to be considered incurable. This illustrates
the mighty force of science.
Historical
experience both at home and abroad proves that every step
in scientific progress is accompanied by a struggle between
science and various types of erroneous reasoning and fallacies,
and that medical science has developed by dispelling superstition
and witchcraft. In the intense struggle against superstition
and witchcraft, medical science has also corrected its own
errors and adjusted its direction. Thus it has marched successively
from the realm of necessity to that of freedom. Today, when
science and technology are advancing rapidly, the superstition
and witchcraft advocated by Li Hongzhi and his "Falun
Gong", like disturbed sediment and dregs in the River
of History, are a mere farce, which serves as a warning
that witchcraft and superstition are harmful to the health
and lives of people, and that medical science is people's
only "guardian angel".
No
responsible government in the world would tolerate a heretical
cult running rampant and depriving people of their lives
and health. In this regard, there are clear-cut stipulations
in China's laws. The evidence that the erroneous reasoning
and fallacies cooked up by Li Hongzhi have made people ill,
mad, disabled or die is irrefutable. Li Hongzhi can never
get away with the crimes he has committed. Among all the
cults in the world, "Falun Gong" is the worst,
and of all the harm brought about by superstition, that
brought about by "Falun Gong" is the severest!
