All cults, without exception, take advantage of people's longing for health and desire for cures for their diseases. Some cults claim to be able to "cure all diseases", and some use witchcraft and incantations to drive out diseases or even "cure diseases and exorcise demons". Whatever they do, it is certain that they pretend to "cure and drive away illnesses". Li Hongzhi went even further; he claimed that those who followed "Falun Dafa" would never fall ill or would be able to cure their own diseases without medical treatment of any description. In his articles and speeches he said that birth, old age, illness and death are "karma retribution", and that only "Falun Gong" could cultivate people into "supermen". Let us examine his words:
"Birth, old age, illness and death are preordained. They are karma retributions. Once you owe debts, you have to repay them"; "The basic cause of all illness and misfortune is karma. They come from a kind of field of karma formed by black materials?­.Karma is the fundamental cause and the most important source of illness". (from Zhuan falun)
"The essence of illness is the problems in another space reflected in this space. For instance, if pathogenic bacteria live in another space, how can man deal with them? So we practitioners do not talk about illnesses, because they are all the results of karma"; "Those who sincerely practice 'Falun Gong' will not fall sick or encounter danger?­.Only sincere practitioners can cure the diseases of patients?­The power achieved by practicing 'Falun Gong' can automatically eliminate viruses and karma. Taking medicines will merely press back karma, making it impossible to cleanse one's body; so medicines are not able to cure diseases. One who passes this barrier will become a superman". (from a lecture on "Falun Fofa" given in the United States)
"There is only one way to get happiness through practice, that is to teach someone the fa (law). When he gets the fa he can be saved. If you achieve all-round fulfillment in self-cultivation you will become a great Buddha. Do you have the ability? Yes, you have. At that time you will be able to hold the world in your hand without much effort, let alone being able to save your relatives." (from a lecture on "Falun Fofa" given in Europe)
While advocating "karma retribution", Li Hongzhi organized his followers to write a number of "investigation reports", to be used to advocate that "practicing Falun Gong can cure diseases". For instance, in Examples of Changes in Body and Mind of Some "Falun Gong" Practitioners in Higher Education Circles in Guangdong Province, it is reported that a lung cancer patient named Liu, surgery having failed, began to practice "Falun Gong" in January 1997 in the hope of overcoming the disease. Her condition improved, and she had no need to go to hospital. In fact, in December 1998, when these investigation reports were being compiled and printed, Liu's cancer recurred, but she insisted on not going to hospital. She was finally sent to hospital by her family in March 1999, when her cancer had spread, and she died on July 13, probably because she had delayed the treatment.
Here, it should be pointed out that while Li Hongzhi told his followers not to consult doctors or take medicine, he himself did not practice what he preached. The Jilin Provincial People's Hospital performed an operation on him in 1984. In his case record it is written: "Li came to the hospital at 7:30, on July 8, 1984 and left on July 18. Diagnosis: acute festering appendicitis. Operation: appendectomy. Undersigned: Li Rui (Li Hongzhi's wife-Tr)". The senior surgeon in charge, who performed the operation, said that after the operation penicillin, streptomycin, glucose and other medicines were administered to Li. Moreover, during the period from 1982 to 1992 when Li worked with the Changchun Cereals and Oils Company, Li Hongzhi attended seven hospitals for medical treatment or to purchase medicines, and had medical expenses reimbursed 73 times.
Li's theory of "karma retribution" has cheated many practitioners and caused many tragedies. According to statistics, up to the end of July 1999, more than 1,400 practitioners had died as a result of practicing "Falun Gong", and many others had been injured or had become disabled. In addition, many others had become mentally unstable. Seven hospitals in Beijing, Tianjin, Hebei and Shandong alone received 115 such patients. These victims had taken up the practice of "Falun Gong" in order to improve their health, but they had in fact delivered their health to Li Hongzhi, who destroyed it. The greater tragedy is that, while being tortured by illness and death, they believed that these tragedies had come upon them because their "faith" in "Falun Gong" was not perfect.
As every one knows, metabolism and birth, age, illness and death are parts of the law of nature for the multiplication and development of human beings. In fact, everyone in modern society enjoys the various advantages which spring from medical and scientific and technological progress. As a result, the human life span has been prolonged continuously. Medical development not only guarantees health both physical and mental, it also reveals the truth behind many mysterious phenomena. Modern medical science has brought hope to mankind: It has found ways to cure many chronic and stubborn diseases, and achieved brilliant results in the research into diseases, which used to be considered incurable. This illustrates the mighty force of science.
Historical experience both at home and abroad proves that every step in scientific progress is accompanied by a struggle between science and various types of erroneous reasoning and fallacies, and that medical science has developed by dispelling superstition and witchcraft. In the intense struggle against superstition and witchcraft, medical science has also corrected its own errors and adjusted its direction. Thus it has marched successively from the realm of necessity to that of freedom. Today, when science and technology are advancing rapidly, the superstition and witchcraft advocated by Li Hongzhi and his "Falun Gong", like disturbed sediment and dregs in the River of History, are a mere farce, which serves as a warning that witchcraft and superstition are harmful to the health and lives of people, and that medical science is people's only "guardian angel".
No responsible government in the world would tolerate a heretical cult running rampant and depriving people of their lives and health. In this regard, there are clear-cut stipulations in China's laws. The evidence that the erroneous reasoning and fallacies cooked up by Li Hongzhi have made people ill, mad, disabled or die is irrefutable. Li Hongzhi can never get away with the crimes he has committed. Among all the cults in the world, "Falun Gong" is the worst, and of all the harm brought about by superstition, that brought about by "Falun Gong" is the severest!
(Compiled by New Star Publishers, Mar., 2000)
