Ⅰ. A Visit from the Falun Gong (1)
In December 2007, two members of the Falun Gong visited our home. It's one thing to hear about the Falun Gong in the Western media that China is discriminating and/or abusing them. It is another thing to meet members of the cult and drink tea with them at your kitchen table.
In December 2007, two members of the Falun Gong visited our home. It's one thing to hear about the Falun Gong in the Western media that China is discriminating and/or abusing them. It is another thing to meet members of the cult and drink tea with them at your kitchen table.
I've heard about the Falun Gong through the Western media for years but knew little about the cult except that they were a thorn in the throat of the Chinese government. In 2008, members or supporters of the Falun Gong may have fire bombed the entrance to the Chinese consulate in San Francisco. The media mentioned it might have been Tibetan separatists. Who knows which group was responsible, since both are enemies of China's government?
My wife knew someone who joined the Falun Gong years after they were friends. This friend also spent time in Chinese jails for her Falun Gong beliefs and activites. I'm going to call this friend Gao Fangpi (not her real name). In 2007, Gao Fangpi was on tour with a Chinese group performing a musical to celebrate the Chinese New Year.
See The Millennium Cult
A Falun Gong member commented on this article "A Visit from the Falun Gong", then Lloyd Lofthouse responsed to him thrice.
1. Lloyd Lofthouse said on April 26, 2010 at 14:19:
True, it appears strange that today's government should react the way they do to this cult. Maybe, it has something to do with the Chinese mindset since Chinese governments have reacted to cults like the FLG like this for more than a thousand years. After all, China is not a culture where any religion has dominated the society and this one doesn't even believe in one god but many dieties like the FLG and their followers react and act more like people who have been brainwashed ??????????
2. Lloyd Lofthouse said on April 26, 2010 at 14:26:
True, there's no proof that Tibetan Separatists, Islamic Fundamentalists or members of Falun Gong fire bombed the Chinese Embasy in San Francisco, but no one can control all the followers in a poltical movement, cult or religion and there is no way to prove that a member of the Falun Gong, who didn't follow the teachings of the group, didn't do it since every religiion and cult tends to eventually have a radical element that would stoop to violence.
It is also easy to the peacefull members of any group to denounce members who may have joined and then turned violent. However, the message received may have been enough to trigger an emballanced person to act out in this way–like the fire bomb.
We also saw violent tendencies in the US from members of the Tea Bag People protesting the new health care bill that was voted into law. Spitting on people, calling others names and threatening violence.
Due to the violent nature of humans, this has happened in history before. No group is immune from insanity.
3. Lloyd Lofthouse said on April 26, 2010 at 14:30:
As for the Falun Gong being called a cult, I'm sure that no members of the FLG would call themselves a cult but many outsiders who do not belong may see the FLG that way. I have listened to members speaking about the FLG. They came to my house. And it is my "opinion"that the Falun Gong is a cult. Of course, any "opinion"may be wrong to someone else. I provded links to other Blogs where other individuals I do not know also believe the FLG is a cult so I am not alone in my opinion.
Don't forget, I also attended that New Year celeberation in the Orphium theater. Again, from past experience with other "cults", what I saw in the Orphium theater matched the same behavior. I was not alone in my observations that led to the opionions that I have.
Ⅱ. The Alleged CIA – Falun Gong Connection (2)
I cannot say that what Gao Fangpi said about the CIA supporting the Falun Gong was true.
However, take into account that in the 70s, the Dalai Lama admitted that the CIA funded his movement against China. So, why not fund the Falun Gong? After all, the CIA has supported Islamic militants in China's northwest province and has supported the other Tibetan separatist groups (there are four). The CIA has a long and shady history of doing things like this in countries all over the world.
My wife and I saw the Falun Gong Chinese New Year show at the Orpheum and were disgusted (that's being polite). What Gao Fangpi didn't tell us was that the show heavily promoted Falun Gong. Nothing I read or heard over the years prepared me for the truth.
Instead, the Western mainstream media has often criticized China for not allowing the Falun Gong the religious freedoms enjoyed in the United States where freedom of religion is a fundamental right.
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Ⅲ. The Falun Gong and Costco (3)
Before going into the Orpheum Theater that night, I thought Falun Gong was a Christian sect. After all, there are more than forty Christian sects. But during the performance, I discovered that Falun Gong was not Christian, Islamic, Buddhist, Hindu or Jewish. Falun Gong promoted individual peace and harmony through belief in several gods.
If you are curious, you may find a few members of Falun Gong outside the Chinese embassy in San Francisco. They are almost always there when we go to pick up visas before traveling to China. You may even see the pictures they have set up showing victims of torture.
Falun Gong protesting outside Chinese embassy in San Francisco
A year later, while shopping at Costco, I discovered a table and display for a Chinese musical. The people at that table were dressed in Ming or Tang Dynasty costumes, and I was intrigued to say the least.
Then my wife whispered in my ear, "That's Falun Gong." I had no idea these costumed people were selling tickets to the same production we'd already seen at the Orpheum. I quickly left.
Share this: This entry was posted on Sunday, April 25th, 2010 at 12:00 and is filed under China, Chinese Culture, Chinese history, cults, politics. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
About Lloyd Lofthouse
He lives in the belly of a Chinese family, and he earned a BA in journalism after fighting in Vietnam as a U.S. Marine. While working days as an English teacher at a high school in California, he enjoyed a second job as a maitre d' in a multimillion-dollar nightclub.
He now lives near San Francisco with his wife, with a second home in Shanghai, China. Lloyd has traveled to China often since his first trip in 1999. He has also spent a decade researching China, and his first two novels are about China.
Original texts from:
1. http://ilookchina.net/2010/04/24/a-visit-from-the-falun-gong/
2. http://ilookchina.net/2010/04/25/the-alleged-cia-connection/
3. http://ilookchina.net/2010/04/25/the-falun-gong-and-costco/
(Ilookchina.net, April 2010)
