Falun Gong

Falun Gong is a spiritual sect begun in mainland China. Gnostics. And they are being tortured, murdered, and even harvested for organs.

Wiki says:

"Falun Gong (alternatively Falun Dafa) is a system of beliefs and practices founded in China by Li Hongzhi in 1992. The practice emerged at the end of China's "qigong boom" as a form of qigong practice. Falun Gong differs from competing qigong schools through its absence of daily rituals of worship, its self-consciousness about outside critics,^[1] its greater emphasis on morality and the purported theological nature of its teachings.^[2][3] There is on-going debate about Falun Gong's classification as a religion, a new religious movement (NRM), or a "cult", term used by the Chinese government to describe the movement.^[4] Its teachings are derived^[5] from qigong, Buddhist and Daoist concepts.^[6][7][8]

In April 1999, over ten thousand Falun Gong practitioners gathered at Communist Party of ChinaZhongnanhai, in a silent protest following an incident in Tianjin.^[9][10][11] Two months later the Chinese government banned the practice through a crackdown and began a large propaganda campaign.^[12][5][13] Since 1999, Falun Gong practitioners in China have been reportedly subject to torture,^[14] illegal imprisonment,^[15] beatings, forced labor, organ harvesting, and psychiatric abuses.^[16][17] Falun Gong has responded with their own media campaign, and have emerged as a notable voice of dissent against the Communist Party of China, by founding organizations such as the Epoch Times, NTDTV and the Shen Yun Performing Arts to publicize their cause.^[18] headquarters,

The number of Falun Gong practitioners is unknown, and the group has no organized membership system. In 1998, the Chinese government published a figure of 70 million practitioners in China.^[19] Falun Gong asserts over 100 million practitioners of Falun Dafa in "114 countries and regions around the world".^[20]

Falun Gong was introduced to the public by Li Hongzhi(李洪志) in Changchun, China, in 1992. Its teachings cover spiritual, religious, mystical and metaphysical topics. Falun Gong is an introductory book that discusses qigong, which introduces the principles and provides illustrations and explanations of the exercises involved in Falun Gong practice.

The main body of teachings is articulated in the core book Zhuan Falun (轉法輪),^[21] published in late 1994. According to the texts, Falun Gong (or Falun Dafa) is a "complete system of mind-body cultivation practice" (修煉).^[22] 'Truthfulness' (眞), 'Compassion' (善), and 'Forbearance' (忍) are regarded as the fundamental characteristics of the cosmos—an omnipresent nature that permeates and encompasses everything. In the process of cultivation, the practitioner is supposed to assimilate himself or herself to these qualities by letting go of "attachments and notions," thus returning to the "original, true self." In Zhuan Falun, Li Hongzhi said that "As a practitioner, if you assimilate yourself to this characteristic, you are one that has attained the Tao."

Falun Gong draws on Oriental mysticism and traditional Chinese medicine, criticizes self-imposed limits of modern science, and views traditional Chinese science as an entirely different, yet equally valid knowledge system, according to Yuezhi Zhao, professor in the University of California. Concomitantly, it borrows the language of modern science in representing its cosmic laws. Zhao says: "Falun gong is not conceptualized as a religious faith; on the contrary, its practitioners, which include doctorate holders from prestigious American universities, see it as 'a new form of science.'"^[23]

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The Ban

On 20 July 1999, the Chinese government declared the Research Society of Falun Dafa and the Falun Gong organization under its control to be illegal for having been "engaged in illegal activities, advocating superstition and spreading fallacies, hoodwinking people, inciting and creating disturbances, and jeopardizing social stability."^[47] Xinhua further declared that Falun Gong was a highly organised political group "opposed to the Communist Party of China and the central government, [that] preaches idealism, theism and feudal superstition."^[48] Xinhua also affirmed that "the so-called 'truth, kindness and forbearance' principle preached by Li has nothing in common with the socialist ethical and cultural progress we are striving to achieve."^[49] In response, Li Hongzhi declared that Falun Gong did not have any particular organization, nor any political objectives.^[50]

The Chinese authorities branded Falun Gong, along with some other practices, movements or organizations xiejiao (Chinese: 邪教),^[51] it used the English word "cult" or "evil cult", and introduced a barrage of media material criticizing Falun Gong.^[48][52] A nationwide crackdown ensued with the exception of the special administrative regions of Hong Kong and Macau. In October 1999, four months after the ban, legislation was created to outlaw "heterodox religions" and applied to Falun Gong retroactively.^[15] Leung remarked that the effort was driven by large-scale propaganda through television, newspapers, radio and internet.^[15] According to Johnson, the campaign against Falun Gong extended to many aspects of society, including the media apparatus, police force, military, education system, and workplaces.^[13] An extra-constitutional body, the "6-10 Office" was created, charged with monitoring and taking action against various religious groups.^[53] Human Rights Watch (2002) noted that families and workplaces were urged to cooperate with the government's position on Falun Gong, while practitioners themselves were subject to severe coercive measures to have them recant.^[54]

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"Severe coercive measures to have them recant"... hmm... Doesn't that sound like TORTURE to you?

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Due to its ban in mainland China, Falun Gong practitioners have taken to their cause internationally, especially in Australia, Canada, the United States, New Zealand, and Britain. Since the ban in China, Falun Gong has alleged that its practitioners in China were subject to torture.^{[citation needed]} Falun Gong related cases comprise 66% of all reported torture cases in China, according to the Special Rapporteur on torture,^[63] and at least half of the labour camp population.^[64] Amnesty International urged the government to "take seriously its commitment to prevent torture and take action immediately."^[65][66] The United Nations asked the Chinese government to respond to the various allegations by Falun Gong and human rights groups.^[14] Falun Gong practitioners in the United States routinely file cases in U.S. federal courts against Chinese leaders once they step upon foreign soil. According to International Advocates for Justice, Falun Gong has filed the largest number of human rights lawsuits in the 21st century and the charges are among the most severe international crimes defined by international criminal laws.^[67][68]

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So Amnesty International is involved. GREAT! Not that they've been able to do much of anything about the torture going on except spread the word about it and be appalled by it. Be outraged all you want. But what are you doing about it?

The Epoch Times is an international and multi-lingual publication by the Falun Gong. This is what they are doing about the abuse:

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The paper has been in publication since May 2000.

The newspaper was founded by practitioners of the Falun Gong spiritual discipline, after the government of the People's Republic of China banned the movement in 1999.^[1][2] Its stated focus is coverage of China and human rights issues, but much of its content is general-interest.^[3][4][5] Its editorial stance is heavily critical of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and sympathetic to dissidents. The Chinese government blocks those in mainland China from accessing the Epoch Times website.^[6]

Headquartered in New York City, the newspaper has local bureau and a network of local reporters throughout the world. It is sold and also distributed free-of-charge in roughly 30 countries worldwide, and maintains editions in English, Chinese, nine other languages in print, and 17 on the web.

On the paper's integrity:

"- the journal's credibility as media professionals has been damaged by Wang Wenyi,^[18] who used her Epoch Times journalist pass to gain access to a White House lawn press briefing where she hurled insults at Chinese President Hu Jintao.^[44] President George W. Bush apologized to the Chinese for the incident.^[45] In turn, The Epoch Times apologized to the U.S. President,^[46] whilst denying any direct ties to, or funding from, Falun Gong.<sup>[18]

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So let me get this straight. You've got a pissed off Chinese woman who voices her opinion and all of a sudden the credibility of her newspaper is on the line??! Yes, the publication is anti-communist. Yes, they are fighting for the right to survive. And if the Epoch Times hadn't denied ties to, or funding from, Falun Gong there would have been an international incident. They've had to ... shall we say... retract/redact/backslide on their original theme of being a publication completely about the Falun Gong spiritual sect. They've had to slip in some other types of stories with their original rants. It's too dangerous to do otherwise. Even though they're still being hunted down and killed. Because of course Falun Gong is outlawed in China. The US would be seen as harboring criminals from China. Do you see the delicate dance in motion here?</sup>

• ^{Falun Gong: We know we're being hunted.}
• ^{Amnesty International: We know you're being hunted, tortured, killed, and your basic human rights are being ignored and even outlawed. Even if you had pictures it wouldn't do any good.}
  
• ^{China: DIE all you religious people! Communism will prevail!}
• ^{The US: We know what's going on but we can't do shit about it because we need the products China makes for us. We'd go bankrupt otherwise.}

Last I checked yoga and qigong never taught violence; it teaches passive resistance. So the only thing China's pissed about is that Falun Gong's followers don't want to be under the communist regime any longer.

Here is a link to the Epoch Time's official website: http://www.theepochtimes.com/ You can select your language at the very top of the page.