The following article was originally a speech given by a Falun Dafa practitioner at a public forum discussing the relationship between religion and government.
The Chinese government, allying itself with the theories of Communism, rules the country with an absolute authority that has become familiar to us from other Marxist-Leninist controlled states. Communism demands complete faith in itself and as such, has itself become a religion of atheism. In practice and principle, nothing in society is allowed to exist independent of the Party. Communism and its atheist religion alone has come to define China.
Under this Communist regime, even things as innocent as bird watching clubs are supposed to be registered with the state. Christianity is accepted under a new name, "Patriotic Christianity," which pledges allegiance to the Party line first, then to God. As a recent article in the Asian Wall Street Journal phrased it, "China's communist leaders traditionally celebrate religious holidays with the persecution of believers." Jiang's government has criminalized conscience and belief. Catholics who acknowledge the authority of the Pope, evangelical Christians, Tibetan Buddhists, Uigher Muslims-- all continue to suffer under his terror. A Hong Kong businessman, Li Guangqiang, today sits in a Mainland jail awaiting trial, facing a possible death sentence, charged by the Party of smuggling unauthorized versions of the Bible into China.
Falun Gong, also known as Falun Dafa, a peaceful, ancient practice for improving the body, mind, and spirit based on the universal principles of Truth, Compassion, and Tolerance, has borne the brunt of Jiang's persecution over the last two plus years. In its persecution of Falun Gong and its practitioners in China, the Jiang regime has followed "a path of fascism, and totalitarianism," and has become a haven for acts of violence, hatred, and state terrorism.
Beginning in the middle of the night on July 19, 1999, the government of the People's Republic of China began an attempt to "crush" and "eradicate" the practice of Falun Gong. What made Falun Gong intolerable to Jiang was its real independence from the hierarchy of the state. The fast growing popularity of Falun Gong troubled the authorities in China. The fact that the number of Falun Gong practitioners exceeded the number of registered members of the Party generated a serious concern among a few top leaders, especially Jiang.
As head of the Party, the government, and the armed forces, Jiang holds the reins to all the institutional sources of power within the government. Jiang declared Falun Gong to be an enemy of the state based on his fear that if the Party did not crush Falun Gong, Falun Gong would be the end of the Party. Also, he initiated the persecution out of fear of political challenges within the Party to his own personal power, and as a means for extending that power.
At his direction, a state-sanctioned campaign of terror was unleashed against 100 million of China's own peaceful and innocent citizens. A three-pronged strategy was developed in the attempt to eliminate Falun Gong: detention and torture, brainwashing, and propaganda.
Making use of extra-constitutional agencies such as the "610 Office" that were created solely for the purpose of directing state terrorism against the practitioners of Falun Gong, this persecution has been brutal and unrelenting. According to [human]rights groups, over 100,000 Falun Gong practitioners have been arrested; tens of thousands have been thrown into labor camps without trial; at least 1,000 healthy practitioners have been put into mental hospitals and have suffered illegal psychiatric abuse; women are often raped, and forced to endure various forms of sexual torture and humiliation. And while 350 are known to have died in police custody as of January 17, 2002, inside government sources put the death toll at well over 1,600. Millions of practitioners have been pressured, threatened, and forced to go through brainwashing programs from which the only release is to renounce their beliefs and turn in their fellow practitioners.
On Thanksgiving Day, 2000, Dr. Teng Chunyan, a U.S. permanent resident and well-known Manhattan acupuncturist, was sentenced in a secret trial in Beijing to three years in prison. Teng was abducted by police in Beijing on May 11, 2000 and charged with "prying into state information and providing it to foreigners" for documenting the illegal detention and abuse of Falun Gong practitioners in China's mental hospitals and providing evidence to Western journalists.
After a harrowing 16 months of detention, abuse, and psychological manipulation at the hands of Chinese authorities, Teng suddenly "renounced" her practice of Falun Gong soon after her transfer to the Tuanhe Labor Camp, which is notorious for its brutality. Officials are touting the case as a victory, and parading the story widely in an attempt to win further support in their campaign against Falun Gong.
The entire state-run propaganda apparatus is mobilized to not only prevent any sympathy or support for Falun Gong from developing in the population at large, but to incite hatred, disrespect and contempt for Falun Gong. This is the natural result of the communist regime and the "religion of atheism" shaking hands in their persecution of Falun Gong. In the Chinese Government's latest attempt to manipulate popular opinion among the Chinese people against Falun Gong and counter international criticism of its persecution of Falun Gong in China, state run CCTV and Xinhua News Agency released a series of extensive reports about a recent alleged murder case. The sensational case was used as an attempt to implicate Falun Gong, whose teachings strictly prohibit killing and suicide.
While it is persecuted in its birthplace, Falun Gong has gained popularity and offered significant benefits to people and communities in the nations where freedom of belief is respected and honored. More than 100 million people, from all walks of life, in over 47 countries have discovered greater health and spiritual well being through this practice. More than 600 awards and proclamations from government officials around the world and supportive local communities have been given to Falun Gong and Mr. Li Hongzhi, founder and teacher of Falun Gong.
The support and recognition of this freedom are most exemplified in this great community. On November 30, 2001, County Executive Jack Doyle opened a month-long photo exhibit at the Greater Rochester International Airport entitled "Truth, Compassion, and Tolerance - the Journey of Falun Dafa." This was the first large-scale public photo exhibition in the United States documenting the development of Falun Gong over the past nine years. Monroe County, joined by State Senator Dollinger, the Town of Brighton, and Villages of Pittsford, Brockport, and Fairport, all proclaimed December 2001, to be "Truth, Compassion, and Tolerance Month" to encourage all citizens in the County of Monroe to recognize local practitioners of Falun Dafa and to strive for tolerance of all religious beliefs. Both the Town of Brighton and the Village of Brockport stated in their proclamation that the community recognizes that the timeless principles of Truth, Compassion, and Tolerance can provide harmony in times of peace, and courage in time of conflict.
I would like to end my speech by quoting Brockport Mayor, Josephine Matela. She said, "The principles of Falun Gong are especially important in the aftermath of September 11. Especially at this time, I feel the country is in need of healing and people have to reach down deep and rekindle the stuff that has kept us together. If there was ever a time we needed more compassion, truth and tolerance, it's now."
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