Falun Gong: Illegal Organization with Cult Features

Falun Gong is an illegal organization with every feature of a cult, according to a signed article.

The world has witnessed many cults since the 1970s, some of which have engendered a series of mass suicides and attacks on society, such as the suicides of more than 900 people of the California-based People's Temple in Guyana in South America some 20 years ago, the more than 80 people of a sect led by David Koresh who burned to death in Texas in the United States during a government raid in 1993, and dozens of people of the Sun Temple who killed themselves in Canada, Switzerland, and France, among other places, An Wenru's article said.

A cult is not religion, but a kind of evil force in the disguise of religion, the article said. Usually, it distorts religious doctrine, makes up so-called principles, and deifies its leaders.

The crimes committed by cults include extortion, exploitation, injuries, and even deaths and break-up of families. They also spread rumors of things like "Doomsday" to create chaos and disorder.

"Cult leaders' inflated desires for power are destined to result in political forces that are anti-government and anti-State, " the article said.

In essence, cults are evil forces that are against the tenets of conventional religions, and against society, the government, and the people, making them very dangerous to society.

"In recent weeks, China's religious circles have talked a lot about this. After comparing cults with Falun Gong, they have concluded that Falun Gong is an illegal organization with every feature of cults," the article noted.

Cults are against science and promote superstition and pseudo- science, the article said. Li Hongzhi, founder of Falun Gong, proclaimed that he doesn't accept modern science and all scientific achievements, though he included some scientific jargons in his preachings.

Li, by taking advantage of the unexplained phenomenon of the world, has promoted mythism, and boasted that his Falun Dafa represents the most profound and superb science in the world, and that only through Falun Dafa can people know and change the world.

Li also claimed that illness is actually the result of offenses left over from previous lives, and can only be cured through practicing Falun Dafa. This has actually deprived practitioners of their rights to life and health, the article said.

Cults are against traditional religions. They are dangerous for their tendency toward extremism, for fabricating malicious heresies by mixing together several concepts and teachings borrowed from religion with superstition, pseudo-science, and occultism, the article said.

Falun Gong did exactly this by claiming to be able to release souls from purgatory, it added.

Li Hongzhi, who claimed he was the only savior, dominating the universe and superior to Buddha and Jesus, is the grand ruler of the Falun Dafa organization, the article pointed out.

The Falun Dafa Society formed by Li Hongzhi is like a mysterious underground realm. The organizations under the society are very systematic in spreading orders from Li Hongzhi and information via modern communications, it said.

Li, like Jim Jones of the People's Temple, and David Koresh, brainwashed practitioners by ordering them to read his books and teachings every day. Gradually, these people became entirely controlled by the Falun Gong organization, it pointed out.

Cults are anti-society, they hate human beings and try to escape from this life and destroy society and reality. One common method is to spread the eschatology of human catastrophe, it said.

Li Hongzhi claimed that the Earth will explode, and that only he could postpone the date of doom, and that only Falun Dafa could save the human race, it added.

The so-called "truth, benevolence, and forbearance" espoused by Falun Dafa was part of the claim that only Li Hongzhi was true, all the others were fake; only Li Hongzhi was kind, and all the others were sinful; and that practitioners could only forebear under Li's control, the article said.

Li, wiser than other cultists who were eager for quick success and instant benefits, said that he has postponed the date of doom for 30 years with his magic power. As a matter of fact, this claim has helped him practice his evil activities, giving him plenty of time and space, it said.

Cults are anti-government, and most of their leaders have political ambitions. They are not contented with being the rulers of their mysterious realms. They also attempt to take the place of the government, it added.

Li Hongzhi, like other cult leaders, accumulated wealth by fraud, but he focused more on political activities and created a political scheme for Falun Gong, it pointed out.

Li Hongzhi described the earth as a "dustbin" of the universe, and society an awful mess. He said that no government can solve the problem, and that current social norms can only make things worse. The only way to escape is to do as Li Hongzhi said, and establish an Elysium dominated by him, the article said.

Li Hongzhi got some intellectuals from the Chinese Communist Party and civil servants to function as his political consultants, it pointed out.

Li stole information from government organizations through his followers, and thought of ways to oppose the Party and the government, it noted.

Li stirred up his followers to attack press organizations and governments, to pressure the Party and government, and threaten legal authority, the article said.

Li knew clearly that he is doomed to fail, and he searched for backing overseas, aiming to leave an escape hatch for himself, as well as preparing to oppose the government for the long term.

The article pointed out, the direct result of cults is to severely damage the body and mind of those who believe in them. The latest information shows that Falun Gong has caused the deaths of over 2,000 practitioners. Falun Gong also organized over 300 besieges around press organizations and governments since April 25.

"From this point, Falun Gong has a more obvious political purpose than common cults, and that is the basis for calling Falun Gong an illegal organization with every cult feature," the article stressed.

The article also noted that ordinary Falun Gong practitioners must separate themselves from its key members, who harbor evil political purposes. The majority of Falun Gong practitioners wished for good health, and didn't have a clear understanding of the evil political ambitions of Falun Gong, let alone its cult feature, it added.

Once they realized the true features of the organization, they separated from it, the article said, calling on the entire society to give them a hand.

The article stressed that though China has eradicated cults since the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949, people should still remain vigilant toward the emergence of cults in "modern" forms.

China daily
1999/08/09