(Minghui.org) My husband has a large family in the city where we live. A few days ago, one of his relatives traveled to the city and stopped by to visit us. We hosted a dinner at a five-star hotel and invited all our nearby relatives for a reunion.
We all sat at two big tables. At dinner, one of my husband's cousins came over to talk to me. He had been imprisoned more than ten years ago and was recently released. He shouted excitedly, “Falun Dafa is good! Falun Dafa is good!" Everyone at the dinner heard him. My husband, who was sitting next to me, smiled and told him, “Keep it down.” His cousin said, "Please move aside. I want to speak to my cousin's wife.” My husband let him sit next to me.
He sat down, still excited: “If everyone in China were like Falun Dafa practitioners, this society and this country will be very good.” He also said what he most admired about Falun Gong practitioners was how they firmly held on to their faith and how kindly they treated others.
When he was in prison, he met a Falun Dafa practitioner who had a Master's degree and worked at a very good company. They were both imprisoned for practicing Falun Gong. The prison guards tried to “transform" the practitioner and coerce him into renouncing his beliefs, but he never compromised.
The prison guards were very evil. They did not beat the practitioner themselves, but ordered inmates to torture this practitioner. They did not allow him to sleep, forced him to sit on a bench for long periods of time, and monitored him for 24 hours a day. But the practitioner always firmly believed in Falun Dafa.
When his family came to visit him and brought him money, clothing, and food, he would often give what he received to other prisoners who needed it more. His family once brought him 1000 yuan in cash. He divided it into several portions and gave it all to the prisoners who needed it most. He did not keep a penny for himself.
The practitioner often told the prisoners about the persecution of Falun Dafa. My husband's cousin was deeply touched by the practitioner's faith and kindness. He often told other inmates, “You shouldn't give Falun Gong practitioners a hard time. They are different from us. We committed crimes, but they are innocent and are very good people.” When our cousin was assigned to monitor the practitioner, he did not make him sit on the bench. Instead, he allowed the practitioner to do whatever he wanted.
I could feel that our cousin had held onto those words for a very long time, and he finally had the chance to tell someone. He did not care about the others nearby and just kept chatting with me.
The cousin told me about another practitioner in the same prison. The police brutally tortured him to try to “transform” him. They put his feet in cold water and continued to pour frigid water over him, which gave him diarrhea. The practitioner did not compromise; instead, he held a hunger strike in protest.
After a few days, the practitioner became very weak. The guards force-fed him. The practitioner did not cooperate and was badly tortured. Afraid that he would die, the guards had to stop. But after a few months, when he had recovered a little, the police started a new round of torture and eventually tortured him to death.
The prison initially allocated 600,000 yuan for compensation to his family. When his family came, all the prisoners from the same building were transferred elsewhere so that his family would not be able to talk to them and learn what really happened.
Guards told them that the practitioner had committed suicide. They pretended to show the family members around. No one in the family asked questions or demanded anything. In the end, the prison paid them only 150,000 yuan. The prisoners felt this was very unfair.
I said to the cousin, “I am glad you can understand the truth. Did you ever quit the Communist Party and its organizations?” He asked what that was about, and I asked whether he had ever joined the Young Pioneers or the Communist Youth League. He said, “That was so long ago, I haven't thought about that in years.”
I said, “Yes. But you still made a vow. You swore to give your life to the CCP! Since 1949, the Party has murdered millions of Chinese. It gunned down students during the Tiananmen massacre. Then it started persecuting Falun Gong in 1999 and harvesting organs from living Falun Gong practitioners. Heaven will eliminate it. You shouldn't go down with it. If you withdraw from the Party, your vow will be erased. When heaven eliminates the Party, you won't be affected.”
He understood and quit immediately.
He recalled how during his interaction with Falun Gong practitioners, he understood how to be a good person. He told me that he currently stayed at home full time to take care of his mother, who is in her 80s and has Alzheimer's. Sometimes she would walk away and get lost. She often got angry. The cousin's wife was afraid to be near her. So our cousin stayed at home to take care of his mother. Sometimes his mother scratched his arms until they bled, but he endured it.
I told him, “Chinese tradition takes filial piety very seriously. Your mother is not easy. After you went to jail, your mother took care of your children. Now it's time to repay her. It's a good thing.” He agreed.
I witnessed a cynical youth became a sensible, filial, and rational person who abandoned the evil Party by withdrawing from it. I am truly happy for him.
