User:Asdfg12345/simple statement

China demonizes Falun Gong The Ottawa Citizen Published: Friday, May 23, 2008

Re: Cult followings, May 17.

China has been very effective in falsely condemning millions of Falun Gong practitioners as belonging to "an evil cult." The totalitarian government's propaganda has confused some westerners and turned them against Falun Gong.

In 1999, the Chinese Communist party banned the Falun Gong exercises and philosophy claiming it to be a threat to the state. Practitioners of Falun Gong, who had been quietly practising their discipline in China, were suddenly forced into the limelight. In 2000, the government arrested four Falun Gong members who were distributing printed pamphlets in Beijing. Sentenced to long prison terms, their appeals were also denied.

The western press, remembering the Chinese democracy movement that had sparked the Tiananmen Square protests and massacre in 1989, jumped on the story. But because they had no idea what Falun Gong was, they accepted as truth the Chinese Communist party's slander of Falun Gong, using the "cult" description that fit the communist condemnation.

As the arrests multiplied and the disappearances became more prevalent, Falun Gong practitioners were in shock and confusion and as the persecution evolved, they felt a sense of desperation. How could a loosely organized group of individuals who are committed to truth and non-violence deal with the government crackdown? The simple act of communicating to the public by unfurling banners that said "Falun Gong is Good" led to the arrest of practitioners on Tiananmen Square on Dec. 26, 2000.

This spiritual practice has also been adopted by westerners. I was practising Falun Gong in a small city park in 1998.

Everything about us is openly displayed on our website: our exercises, our principles, our cultural components, performance, music, visual art etc. all are described on www.faluninfo.net. We have no intention to hide or deceive but people should see for themselves rather than relying on propaganda. Some of the things we do may seem unconventional -- but no one is harmed in any way and nothing justifies this persecution by the Chinese authorities.

Falun Gong practitioners, particularly those from China who know firsthand what their fellow practitioners face every day, understand the terrible urgency to explain what we do. The immense resources of the Chinese Communist party have been used to demonize and discredit Falun Gong for nine years. Once such poison has been inserted into people's minds it is extremely difficult to overcome, and yet, through their dignity and compassion Falun Gong practitioners have shown nothing but kindness and truthfulness. That is not the response of a "cult."

As Canadians get to know us, they will gradually come to realize that we do no harm to anyone and that our practice is good and of benefit to all people.

Kathy Gillis,

Nepean