On the Importance and Necessity of Banning "Falun Gong"
by the Chinese Government After Uganda Massacre

By Xin Wen

On March 17, 2000, some 530 members of a cultist organization named the "Movement for the Restoration of the Ten Commandments of God" in Uganda burned themselves to death in a collective suicide. Soon after, the Ugandan police discovered several more graves of murdered cult followers. This brought the death toll to a total of 924. These atrocities committed by the cult shocked the whole world.

The massacre in Uganda is another serious crime committed by cults against mankind. It again serves as a warning to us: Cults pose a most dangerous threat to society. Any lenience towards cults is on a par with committing crimes against the people. It further proves that the Chinese government's decision to ban "Falun Gong," a cultist organization in China, was a timely, decisive and wise act. The ban has prevented "Falun Gong" from causing more damage and maintained normal social order. Cracking down on "Falun Gong" is most important and necessary.

Banning "Falun Gong" to Promptly and Effectively Protect Lives and Property of the People

Part of the direct harm caused by cults is the serious threat to the lives and property of their hoodwinked followers. This is the same the world over. The Uganda massacre is only a most recent example. According to available statistics, the practice of "Falun Gong" has caused over 1,500 deaths in China. Besides, more than 600 people have become mentally disordered for the same reason. These two figures alone indicate that "Falun Gong" can be regarded as the most menacing cultist organization in the world. However, this is not the worst part of "Falun Gong." Li Hongzhi once claimed, "I will stage a marvelous spectacle by asking all my disciples to physically fly into the sky. Those who do not want their bodies may melt them away in the air, creating a splendor unprecedented in history to display to the human world a true God." Do not all cult organizers say similar things before ordering collective self-immolation? For instance, the head of a cultic organization in the United States once said to his followers that the earth and mankind would both perish and he would call a spaceship from Heaven and lead all his followers' souls to ascend to Heaven. As a result, his followers committed suicide together and "ascended to Heaven." If it had not been for the Chinese government's prompt action in exposing Li Hongzhi's ulterior motives, how many people would have followed him blindly and committed suicide when one day Li Hongzhi called them to "melt away" their bodies and "fly to the sky" and to "display to the human world a true God." Even though, they would probably have been grateful to Li Hongzhi for letting them acquire "karma." On April 5, only half a month ago, a "Falun Gong" practitioner in Jilin Province burnt himself to death. He had left a letter to his wife, saying that he was going to seek "Falun Dafa" (the Great Doctrine of the Wheel of Law). These are not isolated examples. The Uganda massacre and the tragic deaths of "Falun Gong" practitioners are all typical examples.

This evil has to be nipped in the bud. Fortunately, due to the Chinese government's alertness and decisive action in cracking down on "Falun Gong," an unparalleled tragedy has been avoided.

Banning "Falun Gong" Maintains Normal Social Order

In order to control their followers, cult plotters usually resort to deceptive means, instigation of chaos and disruption of normal social order. On the one hand, they spread rumors directly or indirectly among their followers with the aim of replacing respect for the law with adherence to the cults' doctrines and engage in activities aimed at disrupting normal social order, so as to prove the "mighty power" of the cults' masters. On the other, they disrupt the normal lives of their disciples, fool them into renouncing their normal ways of life and make them more and more reliant on the special environment created by the cults.

Li Hongzhi claims that "Falun Dafa" is the "Great Law of the Universe." Thus, "Falun Gong" practitioners, who believe in this "Great Law of the Universe," may ignore the laws of mankind. In order to "advocate Dafa" and "protect Dafa," practitioners may oppose the state laws if necessary. The more severe the punishment by the laws, the greater one's "cultivation" and the higher one's "level of attainment." By this means, one can achieve "karma" and "become a Buddha." In the past few years, Li Hongzhi and his clique have organized a few hundred sieges and attacks on media institutions and other departments, which exposed their true nature. In 78 of these sieges, more than 300 people took part each time. After the siege and harassment of the Beijing TV Station by "Falun Gong" followers, Li Hongzhi said, "Disciples of 'Dafa' in Beijing took a special measure against those who harm 'Dafa'. It was quite a correct step." He personally organized the siege of Zhongnanhai, which is known as the "April 25 Incident." After that, he said, "To test persons one by one is not as good as to stage such an action. In fact I think there were too few people participating in the action, only a little over ten thousand. We ought to have had hundreds of thousands of people taking part." Until today, there are still a small number of obstinate "Falun Gong" practitioners who gather illegally to make trouble, instigated by Li Hongzhi's call to "protect Dafa," "go up to a higher level" and "attain karma."

Li Hongzhi's followers renounced the pursuit of a normal, wholesome life. Li Hongzhi praised this as "perseverance in giving up what must be given up." Instead, he encouraged the practitioners to devote all their time and energy to studying and digesting his fallacies. They had to read "Falun Gong" printed material over and over again, listen to tape recordings and watch videotapes about "Falun Gong." They often gathered to compare notes, telling one another about their feelings and spreading so-called "touching stories" about the accomplishments of practitioners and "surprising miracles" worked by "Falun Gong." Due to these brainwashing measures, practitioners gradually separated themselves from those near them and from society as a whole, abdicating their responsibilities toward society and their families. Their only goal in life was to acquire blessings bestowed by Li Hongzhi. A former "Falun Gong" practitioner said that if everybody did what Li Hongzhi requested, "workers would do no work, farmers would not farm, teachers would not teach, students would not study, scientists would do no research…."

A society needs order and stability. After all, the overwhelming majority of the people want to have normal lives. They do not want to be able to "have a Heavenly eye" or "a face full of eyes." They dread the idea of "all things, including stones and walls, speaking to or hailing you," let alone ignoring state laws for the purpose of "protecting Dafa" by stirring up trouble. The ban on "Falun Gong" not only enables those who had been hoodwinked to return to their normal lives but also effectively maintains a normal order in society.

Banning "Falun Gong" Serves as a Warning to the Whole Society that We Must Improve Our Scientific and Cultural qualities

Ignorance may make people superstitious, induce them to follow others blindly and lead to pseudo-sciences running rampant. Ignorance was the seedbed of the rise of the "Movement for the Restoration of the ten Commandments of God" in Uganda. In the remote, backward rural areas of Uganda, both spiritual life and material life are extremely poor. Many people do not have much schooling. They have no awareness of guarding against cults, and so are easily ensnared by cults. But poor education is not the only manifestation of ignorance. Li Hongzhi advocated such fallacies as the following: The universe is made of "immovable water"; there is life in sand; one who has practiced "Falun Gong" will not die even if run over by a car; he himself had fought and vanquished a snake monster, etc. One does not need an advanced education to see through those heretical fallacies, but, incredibly, among the people believing in Li Hongzhi's fallacies, there were a few well-educated individuals. This is something to be considered seriously. Such a phenomenon tells us that ignorance does not exist merely among poorly educated people; it also exists among intellectuals. The fact that a person has extensive scientific knowledge does not mean he has mastered a correct scientific approach, not to mention a scientific world outlook and methodology.

Cults have become one of worldwide public threats to life. Cracking down on cults is not only the responsibility of the countries already threatened, but also the responsibility of the whole international community. Since the Uganda massacre, a number of countries have taken measures to crack down on cults. To make sure such massacres do not occur again, they have banned cultist organizations which illegally "seek personal gain, advocate heretical beliefs, hoodwink people and amass fortunes." In dealing with the cultist organization "Falun Gong," the Chinese government has consistently adhered to the principle of unity, education and transformation to free those practitioners who have been deceived or are unaware of the truth, and those who are seriously "poisoned," by its fallacies, and resolutely cracked down on the handful of plotters with ulterior motives and criminals who disrupt social order in violation of the law. More than 98 percent of "Falun Gong" practitioners have seen the true colors of the "Falun Gong" cult, and severed their ties with it. The government's crackdown has unfettered their minds from control by Li Hongzhi's fallacies and enabled them to return to society and their normal lives. This policy has not only freed the majority of "Falun Gong" practitioners, but also provided very useful experiences for the international community in the struggle against cults. The minister of the president's office of Uganda said after the massacre committed by the cult that the "Movement for the Restoration of the Ten Commandments of God" was very similar to the Chinese cultist organization "Falun Gong," and that the Ugandan government would send a delegation to China to learn from the Chinese experience in cracking down on the cult. Therefore, banning the cultist organization "Falun Gong" has not only shown the responsible attitude of the Chinese government toward the security of the lives and property of the people and social stability, it is also an important contribution in the worldwide struggle against cults.

(Excerpts from a Xinhua News Agency dispatch, April 29, 2000)