May 13 marks World Falun Dafa Day. Thirty-two years have passed since the spiritual discipline’s founder, Mr. Li Hongzhi, introduced the practice in northeastern China on this day in 1992.
On July 20, 1999, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) launched its persecution campaign against Falun Dafa, also known as Falun Gong, with then-leader Jiang Zemin arguing for the use of atheism to defeat theism. From then on, Falun Gong adherents around the world have embarked on an arduous journey against this persecution that continues to this day.
‘A Lighthouse for Human Moral Development’
“The first time I got to know Falun Gong was when I saw a television program about it in London, and I felt the word: ‘Grande!’” Zhang Pu, a Chinese writer who lives in the UK, told Pinnacle View.The TV program that Mr. Zhang occasionally watched documented a piece of history on April 25, 1999, when some 10,000 Falun Gong practitioners spontaneously gathered at the Appeal Office near Zhongnanhai in Beijing, calling on authorities to release several practitioners who had been illegally arrested in Beijing’s neighboring city of Tianjin.
“I saw tens of thousands of people standing there in perfect order. Later, when they dispersed peacefully, they even picked up all the trash on the ground and left it clean. I was so touched at that time,” Mr. Zhang said, adding that he was touched by the faith community’s impressive sincerity and kindness, which is rarely seen in modern society.
“Afterward, several years passed, and we saw Falun Gong’s amazing popularity and magnificent development worldwide. When I meet Falun Gong practitioners, be it in the United Kingdom, Australia, Taiwan, and so on, and when I come into contact with them, I have a natural sentiment of trust in them.”
Since July 1999, millions of Falun Gong adherents in China have faced imprisonment, torture, dismissal from their jobs, and, in some cases, forced organ harvesting. Meanwhile, over the next 25 years, Falun Gong, with its principles of truthfulness, compassion, and forbearance, spread rapidly outside China, with numerous adherents scattered in more than 130 countries.
The influence is so far-reaching that Falun Gong is “no longer just a single ethnic group but a global phenomenon,” according to Mr. Zhang.
“This phenomenon often makes me reflect that Falun Gong has the help of God, and without God’s help, it could not have grown to the present scale,” he said. “I have to say that this is by no means a simple phenomenon; it is a special phase in the history of human development.”
Exploring how the tenets of Falun Gong impact China and the world, Mr. Zhang noted that in their peaceful efforts to halt the persecution by the CCP, Falun Gong practitioners have demonstrated their adherence to a high level of morality.
“Under the dictatorial rule of the CCP, it is a common occurrence that the Chinese people are silenced and dare not resist, dare not speak the truth, and dare not face the truth,” he said. “However, we can see that Falun Gong practitioners confront evil and violent machines with a powerful mind, embracing the world with a warm and compassionate heart.”
According to Mr. Zhang, Falun Gong’s moral principles have infinite meanings for the Chinese people and all human beings seeking a bright future.
CCP’s Atheism and Tyranny of Fear
On Pinnacle View, Guo Jun, editor-in-chief of the Hong Kong edition of The Epoch Times, noted that the CCP’s reign over people with the tyranny of fear is connected with its atheistic ideology and extreme religious policies.“A friend of mine is a Chinese psychologist and a university professor,” she said. “He told me that the worst thing the Communist Party has done is to eradicate religions and that a considerable portion of the inmates held in prisons in the 1960s and 1970s were followers of folk beliefs, including priests, ministers, and adherents of the Catholic and Christian faiths. For example, the Catholic priest Gong Pinmei in Shanghai was imprisoned until the 1980s, and the 10th Panchen Lama of Tibet was in jail for 10 years, and even more in the case of Taoism.”
The CCP’s fundamental policy of eliminating religion has led to an overall moral decline in Chinese society.
“The CCP is a cult that intends to control not only people’s behavior but, more importantly, their minds. The Communist Party rules the regime with the tyranny of fear, and after decades of training, this fear has been rooted in the bone marrow that once the CCP pushes this button, people fall to their knees,” Ms. Guo said.
On the other hand, belief in the divine positively affects people’s hearts and helps maintain moral standards.
“Believing in God, refraining from evil, and performing good deeds can lead to a positive afterlife, which aids people in overcoming their fear of death,” she said.
Therefore, according to Ms. Guo, the atheism and materialism of today’s Communist Party do not solve man’s fear of death and promote crimes without moral boundaries. For example, out of fear of death, some are willing to harvest organs from living victims to prolong their own lives.
“Since its dissemination on May 13, 1992, Falun Gong has benefited countless Chinese people both physically and mentally and has enabled so many Chinese people to hold themselves to a constant moral code, which is very favorable for Chinese society,” she said.
“But this is intolerable to the CCP because if the Chinese people can get rid of the terror, the whole rule of the CCP will cease to exist.”
Ms. Guo believes that the CCP sees the spiritual power of faith as undermining its control over the people, so it spares no effort in suppressing Falun Gong.
