I discovered a piece published in the Buffalo News saying, "the promoters and creators of "Shen Yun," who have picked up a reputation for misrepresentation and deception over the years, have adopted the questionable propagandist tactics of the very government they criticize in their productions."
Vanessa is a native New Yorker. This blog is about her adventures in the city and around the world. This article is about Shen Yun. All he was expecting to see were pretty dances, but that was a bizarre show.
I've been researching the FLG since June, mainly because it seemed the media knew so little about them and what they did know seemed to come from press releases from the Falun Gong. My concern was that the public be given fuller information about the group, rather than "the simple image of Falun Gon...
Mike Doyle received "Conscience and Courage award" from "Global Mission to Rescue Persecuted Falun Gong Practitioners". Hongzhi and his followers have become quite adept at manipulating the media and public officials in well-orchestrated events and photo ops to promote the group and its agenda.
The Falun Gong considers their practice to be "the fastest growing spiritual practice in the world". In China you have the largest number of practitioners and they are in conflict with the government, creating a tense situation filled with intense emotion, creating a "cause" charged with affect.
You state: "Falun Gong practitioners and Christians are jailed and have their organs harvested for profit . . ." This is an easily refuted Internet myth. I encourage the Herald to get its facts straight before making such prejudicial and inaccurate statements.
The problem lies in the marketing of the show, which mentions absolutely nothing about the unique religious and political movement that drives the show, and without which the show would never have been conceived.
It seems the group called an "evil cult" in China, is led by a man much like Rael, who cynically manipulates both the followers and media for his purposes. It seems Hongzhi's media hype deserves the same critical analysis offered up concerning coverage of the Raelians and their claims.
I don't suggest that all information associated with organizations operated by the Falun Gong should be automatically dismissed as polemical, but I do think that all scholars should at least be aware of such connections and should approach such information critically.
Opening the pages, I was somewhat puzzled. I could not believe this was my article because it was changed and exaggerated beyond recognition. Although this distorted story was fabricated all by themselves, I felt ashamed, and realized that they were actually telling lies.
Unfortunately, it gets worse. While the substance of the performance was undeniably mediocre, the raison d'être of the show was to promote the ideology of the Falun Gong, a group officially identified as a cult in China. It is nothing more than a propaganda machine.
Many of the Epoch Times' critics, including Liu, say the Epoch Times does not adhere to basic journalistic standards of professionalism and objectivity. The Epoch Times' credibility is damaged as media professionals.
In China, being perceived as "everybody is doing it" is a great way to attract more customers. And in the U.S., getting persecuted by the Chinese government is a great way to gain mystique and credibility among the seeker-activists and patterns the "Free Tibet" movement.
And being a proponent of human rights myself, I don't think that a group whose spiritual leader promotes racism and homophobia has very much moral force in a debate on human rights.
That "political aspect" is not lost on the Chinese who have always suspected "cult" leader Li Hongzhi of seeking power beyond simply his cult following within China. Hongzhi has been repeatedly exposed as a racist, bigot and apparent delusion-ridden megalomaniac.