We can see Wang’s protest at the White House as little more than a carefully staged and scripted climax, capping a series she wrote that was run in the Epoch Times regarding alleged “organ harvesting in China‘s labor camps.” Chinese officials have repeatedly characterized such sensational claims as “sheer lies.”819 Harry Wu, an outspoken critic of the Chinese government who now lives in exile, expressed skepticism concerning the extreme claims made in the Epoch Times. Wu told the press that he doubted the anecdotal accounts Falun Gong recounted about organ harvesting. He characterized the alleged witness statements offered as “unreliable” and concluded that such stories “may be intentionally fabricated.”820 Sixteen Falun Gong practitioners were arrested in China during 2013 for attempting to fake torture photos. One of the suspects reportedly admitted that the group used a concoction of cola and tomato paste to simulate blood.821
The Shen Yun dance troop, which is primarily composed of Falun Gong practitioners, is seemingly also intended to be used as a promotional media tool. Once again, Falun Gong seems to be embracing a tradition set by Rev. Moon. Moon funded the so-called Kirov Academy of Ballet as one of his “cultural enterprises.”822 Falun Gong seems to be funding Shen Yun.
The dance company has appeared at the Fox Theater in New York and other large venues in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Europe. Performances of Shen Yun, however, have not always been well received. One London review said, “What I really object to is that such a politically motivated performance is being smuggled on to stages around Europe in the name of family entertainment.” The reviewer further noted, “I am reluctant to welcome the teachings of a man who believes that aliens live among us and that homosexuality and mixed-raced marriages are degenerate.”823 A New York review stated that the audience had been “duped…into paying outrageous sums of money to watch a half-baked advertisement for Falun Gong,” which was labeled as an “unconscionable piece of religious propaganda.”824
Freedom of Speech
Falun Gong supporters have characterized criticism of their conduct at Chinese New Year parades and the refusal of community leaders to allow them to participate in future events as discrimination.825 The group has repeatedly been criticized for using such high-profile public parades as a vehicle to hand out their literature, including anti-China tracts. This sort of behavior has both angered and alienated many Chinese Americans. San Francisco Chinese Chamber of Commerce president Wayne Hu said, “Falun Dafa brought more than 60 marchers and handed out leaflets along the parade route in violation of our instructions.”826 Ling-Chi Wang, a professor of ethnic studies at UC Berkeley, said Falun Gong “is a religious organization with a political agenda.”827
In response to such behavior, Falun Gong was not invited to participate in future parades. Falun Gong practitioners then filed a legal action to block the use of a $77,000 public arts grant to support the parade, which left local leaders fuming and gave the public perception that they were spoilers.828 The San Francisco parade in Chinatown is the largest such celebration in North America, and the Chinese community there is the second largest in the United States following New York. Falun Gong has stirred similar negative sentiments in the New York Chinese-American community. Falun Gong practitioners parading through Chinatown in New York were met with jeers and pelted with water bottles.829
Falun Gong‘s stance concerning freedom of expression appears to be inconsistent when it comes to critics of the movement. In a letter published by a San Francisco newspaper, Samuel Luo noted this apparent contradiction. “Last year when the International Cultic Studies Association organized a program on the Falun Gong in which I was one of the presenters, the Falun Gong threatened the organization with a lawsuit and successfully suppressed our freedom of speech,” Luo wrote.830
It seems that Li Hongzhi and Falun Gong may have decided to follow the path of the litigious Church of Scientology—that is, threatening or filing lawsuits in what can be seen as an ongoing effort to suppress criticism. The litigiousness of the organization has also included suing an Australian official for restricting the use of loudspeakers and banners outside a Chinese embassy.831 Falun Gong certainly wants its free-speech rights to be recognized but conversely wants critics like Luo silenced.
Falun Gong Victims
In 2011 I attended an international symposium in Shenzhen, China, concerning cultic studies, sponsored by the Institute of Religious Studies of the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences. Academics and experts from around the world attended the event and presented papers. The papers examined everything from the evolution of destructive cults to the characteristics of cult members, cult social interaction, and various cultic methodologies.
At the conclusion of the symposium, I had the opportunity to visit with former cult members in China. The two women I spoke with were survivors of the self-immolation tragedy that took place in Tiananmen Square. After requesting to meet with them, I was told a meeting would be possible after the conference.
The two former Falun Gong practitioners, Hao Huijun and her daughter, Chen Guo, live in Kaifeng. Kaifeng, which is near the Henan provincial capital of Zhengzhou. Historically Kaifeng was the capital of China during the Song Dynasty and once the largest city in the world. Today its population is about eight hundred thousand.
Hao Huijun and her daughter, Chen Guo, live modestly in a government welfare housing project. Their simple one-bedroom apartment includes a private bathroom and large common area with a kitchen. There is a bed placed near the kitchen for an attendant. The fire left both women without hands and disabled. Extensive skin grafts, the result of multiple surgeries, obscured their faces. They have no ears, noses, or lips. Chen Guo has the use of only one eye. But both women have the ability to speak and walk, and they seem to be in stable physical condition. There are no mirrors in their apartment.
After our introductions I asked Hao Huijun about her perspective today and what she feels now, looking back on the time she spent in Falun Gong. Was there something she could share about her experience with others who were concerned about the movement? “I’ll take this chance to tell the Falun Gong practitioners in Canada and the US to stop practicing,” she stated bluntly. “I suggest they stop practicing Falun Gong and get rid of it,” instructed the former schoolteacher of twenty-eight years, who remained quite well spoken and articulate.
Influenced by her mother’s commitment, Chen Guo followed the path of Falun Gong, which ultimately led her to that terrible day at Tiananmen Square. She was a twenty-year-old woman who had been recognized as an outstanding student at the time of the tragedy. Early in our discussion Chen Guo left the room, explaining that she didn’t feel well. Recalling the time she’d spent in Falun Gong was too distressing. She cried outside the window of the apartment as a friend comforted her. But in her 2002 hospital interview, Chen Guo made the same observation as her mother. She told the press, “I hope those who still believe in this cult can be awakened and throw it away. I don’t want to see another victim like me.”832
Chen Guo’s mother explained the context of the horrible event that irrevocably changed their lives forever. “In July 1999 the Chinese Government and the Chinese laws banned Falun Gong. As a citizen, we should have abided by the laws and given up practicing Falun Gong from then on. But we were obsessed at that time. And the suicidal burning occurred later on. We really feel regretful. We all suffered a great deal, brought about by the obsession. So tell [the North American Falun Gong practitioners] to never be obsessed…Please pass my words to Falun Gong practitioners: They should use reason in action…If you look at things in a rational way, you will know what you should do,” she said. “Reason is important. In one’s life, one should never go to extremes whatever you do. One should use reason to learn how to do things, and have a good understanding.”
Over the years Hao Huijun has managed to sort through her experience in Falun Gong. She hopes others might do the same. “Falun Gong caused so many problems,” she said. “Why did these problems ha
ppen? [Falun Gong practitioners] should think about it with reason, with their own senses, and in a dialectical way. When we look at things from a normal sense, without bias, and with reason, we will know what we should do,” Hao Huijun explained.
When told about the conspiracy theories propagated by Falun Gong in regard to the self-immolation tragedy at Tiananmen Square, Hao Huijun responded thoughtfully, placing it again in the context of her own experience in the group. “I thought in a similar way,” she said. “But it’s time for those who are practicing Falun Gong to calm down and think reasonably…Why were we burning ourselves? It was not that the government forced us into suicide, although the rumors went so. This is not the truth.” She concluded, “Before we fully understood, we used the same arguments and same logic in regard to incidents caused by Falun Gong.”
I told Hao Huijun that I have received complaints from families in the United States that Falun Gong practitioners often refuse medical care or discontinue medications based on their beliefs. “They should consult a doctor and take medication,” she responded. “Tell them to see a doctor when their children fall ill. Don’t impose what you regard right on your children,” she said. “You can see the disastrous effect this caused my daughter. I really regret that now.”
The profound regret Hao Huijun feels is evident. China has mandated a one-child-per-family policy, which means Chen Guo is her only child. Hao Huijun lives every day with her daughter as a constant reminder of what she did while under the influence of Falun Gong. Despite reclaiming her reason, there is nothing she can do to change the physical consequences of her past devotion. This is the burden Hao Huijun must somehow manage to carry for the rest of her life. But she continues to be a teacher and hopes to help others gain the understanding she so painfully acquired.
In China, Falun Gong is labeled an “evil cult,” the most literal translation of the Chinese terminology used to describe what English-speaking people might call a “destructive cult.” Falun Gong, like other groups called “cults,” has denounced that description as “persecution.” And Li Hongzhi‘s followers allege that horrific human rights violations have been committed against them.
This is not unlike the historic response of Scientology to its many critics, who have been labeled “religious bigots.” Rather than address the criticism, the strategy seems to be attack or dismiss the critics. Falun Gong has repeatedly tried to shift the focus from its behavior to the behavior of the Chinese government. Li and his followers seem to hope that historic distrust or perhaps anxiety about China’s growing power can be used to neutralize any criticism leveled against them. But looking at the facts rather than the fiction confirms what psychologist Margaret Singer observed. “If you want a good description of a cult, all you have to do is read what they say they are.”833 And if you want to see the true face of Falun Gong, all you have to do is look into the eyes of Hao Huijun and her daughter, Chen Guo.
CHAPTER 13
FALUN GONG INTERVENTION
In the United States a married mother with young children, all under the age of ten, became involved with Falun Gong through a friend. Initially, she saw the group as an opportunity to simply exercise and become more physically fit. Step-by-step, however, her newfound friends in Falun Gong manipulated the young mother to become more deeply involved. They then progressively broke her down, creating doubts about her personal religious choices and commitments to her chosen Orthodox Jewish life.
The young mother had a Jewish background but had specifically chosen as an adult to become a member of an ultra-Orthodox Jewish sect called the Chabad Lubavitch. She later influenced her parents and other members of her family to follow her into what is often called “ultra-Orthodox” Jewish life. They likewise joined the Lubavitcher sect. The young woman later married another Lubavitcher with a similar history.
The Lubavitchers are a sect within Hasidic Judaism. A charismatic preacher born in the Ukraine named Yisroel (Israel) ben Eliezer (1700–1760) founded the Hasidic religious movement.834 Ben Eliezer‘s brand of Judaism is known for its emotionalism, mysticism, and opposition to the rationalism of more mainstream rabbinic Judaism.835 836 After ben Eliezer’s death, his disciples eventually splintered as leaders of various groups and spread across Eastern Europe and Russia. Each sect has its own rabbinic leader who wields great authority. Typically when a Hasidic leader dies, there is a succession, and the new leader assumes power. Many Hasidic sects have family dynasties, which sanction power being passed from father to son one generation after another.
The Chabad Lubavitch sect moved from Russia to New York in 1940, led by Rabbi Yosef Yitzhok Schneersohn,837 who was succeeded by his son-in-law, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, Many Lubavitchers came to believe Schneerson was the messiah Jewish prophecies foretold. True believers called him King Moshiach. 838 He died in 1994 at the age of ninety-two.839 The young woman’s entire family was devoutly committed to the Chabad Lubavitch as well as the memory of Schneerson. However, Schneerson died childless, and no one has been chosen to replace him, despite historical precedent.
Hasidic Jews like the Lubavitchers observe very strict dietary rules and stringent guidelines concerning modest dress and contact between men and women. Ultra-Orthodox Jews specifically refrain from any use of modern conveniences, such as cars and electronic devices during the Sabbath, which begins Friday at sunset and ends at the next sunset on Saturday. This period is set aside for the strict observance of the Sabbath.
The young woman’s husband and family were shocked when they discovered her growing commitment to Falun Gong, which they viewed as a confusing contradiction of the family’s chosen faith and lifestyle. It was an extreme contradiction of that life to engage in a contradictory and alien belief system, which now seemed to dominate her thinking and potentially might influence her children. How could the ultra-Orthodox family remain united in such a conflicted situation and continue their circumscribed life filled with traditional observances and religious restrictions? Why had she become involved with Falun Gong? Didn’t she recognize the inherent conflicts posed by her involvement?
Ultra-Orthodox Hasidic Judaism has survived for hundreds of years, largely unchanged within an encapsulated subculture, first largely in Europe and now primarily in the United States and Israel. Most Hasidic Jews largely refrain from interaction with mainstream society outside of business and perhaps political concerns and prefer to live in insular, tightly knit communities. We can see this in the neighborhoods and/or villages they inhabit in New York and Israel. The Chabad Lubavitch is more open and accessible than other Hasidic sects, but Schneerson only recently implemented this change as an outreach effort. Modern Chabad outreach includes fund-raising and proselytizing. These activities, along with messianic claims made about Schneerson, have drawn criticism and generated some controversy.
The family members who retained me for this intervention are the only ultra-Orthodox clients I have had to date. Despite being Jewish myself, my background is with Reform Judaism, which is often considered the most liberal branch of Jewish faith, and Orthodox Jews do not see it as being sufficiently observant. Though I have received many complaints and inquiries from ultra-Orthodox Jews, whom destructive cults have adversely affected, they have been reluctant to retain someone they see as an outsider to help them with such concerns. But after many discussions and considerable deliberation, it seems this family concluded that the risk of not retaining a cult-intervention specialist was unacceptable to them. They felt that Falun Gong was tearing apart the very fabric of their family.
I arrived at the preparation meeting on a Thursday morning. Our meeting took place at the country home where the extended family planned to gather for the beginning of the Sabbath on Friday. The young woman’s parents and her husband attended the preparation meeting. The intervention was planned to take place in this somewhat isolated country house. Everyone present was deeply concerned that if the woman’s involvement with Falun Gong continued, a divorce and child custody battle would be
inevitable.
First, I told those gathered that likely the young woman had initially no idea that Falun Gong contradicted Judaism or that it is was actually a belief system based on faith claims. I explained that a destructive cult is deceptive and that genuine full disclosure isn’t part of the recruitment process. That is why they must not blame or shame the young mother. Her Falun Gong friends had tricked her and not allowed her to make truly independent decisions regarding her evolving participation based on fully informed consent.
We agreed that the best time for staging the intervention would be at the country house during the Sabbath, because of the stringent rules observed. This included the Sabbath prohibition concerning work and the use of any electronic device or transportation such as a car. These Sabbath rules would effectively prevent communication with members of Falun Gong. The same rules would create a barrier between the young woman and Falun Gong, which its leaders couldn’t easily penetrate to contact or coach her. This would keep them from potentially sabotaging our intervention effort.
An intervention discussion isn’t considered work in violation of the Sabbath; rather it is an effort to help someone. The Sabbath or Jewish law can generally be violated to save a life. For example, saving your own life, serving the sick, and rescuing a person in danger are all situations that would supersede the rules of the Sabbath.840
Despite the young woman’s involvement with Falun Gong, she continued to observe the Sabbath along with the rules and rituals of Orthodox Jewish life. This was yet another indication that Falun Gong had deliberately misled her. Under the group’s undue influence, she had come to accept that holding two conflicting belief systems simultaneously was possible or that somehow there was no such conflict between Falun Gong and her Jewish beliefs.
During the preparation meeting we carefully defined the boundaries and purpose of the intervention. I explained that my purpose wasn’t to promote any particular religious beliefs or agenda. That is, such decisions must be made individually, and this was not part of my professional work as an intervention specialist. We discussed the need to avoid personal and needless religious arguments and to stay focused on concerns about Falun Gong and how it had affected the young woman’s life.
Cults Inside Out: How People Get in and Can Get Out Page 31