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International Cultic Studies Association |
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Madrid, Spain July 14-16, 2005
À Madrid en Espagne du 14 au 16 juillet 2005
Madrid, España 14-16 de Julio, 2005 The International Cultic Studies Association (ICSA) is an interdisciplinary network of academicians, professionals, former group members, and families who study and educate the public about social-psychological influence and control, authoritarianism, and zealotry in cultic groups, alternative movements, and other environments. Founded in 1979 as AFF (American Family Foundation), ICSA took on its current name in late 2004 to better reflect the organization's focus and increasingly international and scholarly dimensions. |
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| English Ω 1-Home Conference Ω 2-Program Ω 3-presenters/speakers Ω 4-Fees Ω 5-Ways to Register Ω 6-Facility and Lodging Ω 7-Travel Information Ω 8-Registration Fax/Mail Form Español Français Demystifying Li Hongzhi and His Falun Gong Organization
Subtitles: 1. Beyond the Human Rights Issue of the Falun Gong. Presenter: David Clark 2. An Inquiry into Li Hongzhi’s Life and His Falun Gong Organization. Presenter: Samuel Luo 3. Two Faces of Falun Gong: an inside view. Stan M. Goldin, PhD
Abstracts: 1. Beyond the Human Rights Issue of the Falun Gong In 1992 an organization known as the Falun Gong became a serious influence in China and continues to grow and cause controversy. In 1999 the Falun Gong was legally banned by the Chinese government and called an "evil cult". Chinese mainstream institutions had warned society of the damaging effects of those who are harmed by involvement in this controversial movement. Chinese medical and mental health professionals warned China and the world of the casualties this organization had left in its wake, which Falun Gong strongly denies. The Chinese government-run media and families complain of cult-like family crises and separation. They say that the Falun Dafa members refuse to take medical and mental health treatment despite family pleas and cries to do so. The American government response to the Falun Gong in China has primarily been a religious and human rights issue. The Falun Gong's activity in the United States and western countries is focused on the Chinese government's persecution of Falun Gong and alleged torture and violations of civil and religious rights. By attending Falun Gong rallies at the U.S. Capital, U.S. senators, congressional representatives, and human rights organizations have responded to the Falun Gong's call for help in defending their religious and civil liberties in China. The United States Department of State's reports on China focus on the same persecution, torture, religious and civil liberty issues, including Christian persecution in China. Falun Gong has joined forces with Christian human rights organizations seeking protection from religious and civil discrimination in China. These different government approaches leave unwanted difficulties and inadvertently side step the needed solutions to the full causal nature of the harm that has caused so much distress in those impacted by this phenomenon. 2. An Inquiry into Li Hongzhi’s Life and His Falun Gong Organization Who is Li Hongzhi? Twelve years after Li Hongzhi started teaching his Falun Gong in China and eight years after the Falun Gong spread to the United States, people, both westerners and Falun Gong practitioners, still don’t know who Li Hongzhi is. Conversations with Falun Gong practitioners and published interviews with Li only leave one with a “mysterious” impression of Li Hongzhi. My inquiry on the origin of this “mystery” concludes that it is entirely and intentionally created by the master to seal off his true identity so he could claim to have supernatural powers and even be the savior of humankind. The process of creating this “mystery” involved two parts: first Li has concealed his ordinary human past and second he reinvented himself as a god like figure. A look into this process is both interesting and essential for understanding the degree of deception that Falun Gong practitioners are subject to. In addition to the origin of Li’s “mystery”, I will also examine the method that Li has used to rapidly grow his Falun Gong. Li Hongzhi has claimed 100 million followers worldwide, with about seventy million of them in China in 1999. The Chinese government’s estimate at that time was much lower but still puts the number at millions. How did Li grow his group into millions in just seven years? By closely examining Li’s method of spreading his teachings and controlling his group, I will show that Li’s success heavily relies on the common techniques of cults. These techniques include deception in recruitment, requiring followers to point out their short comings in group meetings and various means of information control. These findings show a shocking parallel between the controlling mechanism of Li’s Falun Gong and those of recognized cults 3. Two Faces of Falun Gong: an inside view Falun Gong is a spiritual group originating in China about 11 years ago, founded by Li Hongzhi who remains the movement’s spiritual leader. By best estimates, its membership numbered 10 to 70 million in China by 1999[1], at which point it was banned by the Chinese government. Since then, Falun Gong practitioners worldwide have appealed to governments and human rights agencies to oppose the anti-Falun Gong activities of the Chinese Government. They have also sought support from faculty members of major universities, and it is in this capacity that I became aware of this spiritual group and their repression in mainland China. Sympathies for those Falun Gong practitioners who have been imprisoned in mainland China -- and my authorship of a book in preparation on the neurobiological basis of spiritual experience (The Brain/Spirit Interface) -- led to intensive professional observation, discussion, and friendships with former and current practitioners of Falun Gong in the US, Iceland, Sweden, and those who come from China. As a result, I developed deep concerns regarding the beliefs, practices, and agenda of Falun Gong. A salient conclusion is that Falun Gong has two faces: that of an ancient spiritual tradition whose teachings are of genuine value to those who practice it; and that of a bizarre belief system focused on Li Hongzhi as far more than a prophet: he is portrayed as the possessor of unique supernormal abilities and the savior of the world, and claims, among other things, that his teachings are at “…a higher level than those of Buddha and Christ…”. The case can be made that, unfortunately, Li Hongzhi: (a) has appropriated valuable ancient Chinese spiritual teachings; (b) amalgamated them with his own views of himself as prophet, miracle worker, and savior, (c) has used his influence on practitioners in a manner that may jeopardize their health and safety, and (d) encourages behavior that may complicate worldwide efforts to contain infectious diseases, including SARS. Public health concerns are unavoidable. In Li Hongzhi’s own words (his speeches and writings publicly available on the internet) he encourages his followers to refuse medical care and practice Falun Gong teachings and exercises to heal their illness. He explicitly includes disciples displaying SARS-like symptoms (difficulty in breathing accompanied by pain), saying that meditating together with their like-minded colleagues – not medical care – will help cure them. Of outsiders who succumb to SARS, Li Hongzhi says “…it's Heaven punishing people. … it's targeting those who don't deserve to be saved, people who are impossible to save while [my] disciples clarify the truth.” Disturbingly, the “undeserving” includes courageous medical personnel who have treated SARS victims at risk to themselves. Since October 2002, I have been providing the US State Dept with observations and analysis of Falun Gong. Diplomats at the US Embassy in Beijing encouraged the sharing of this information with other governmental and non-governmental agencies. During the height of the SARS epidemic in 2003, a detailed analysis on the potential impact of Li Hongzhi’s teachings was prepared for the US Center for Disease Control, which they in turn shared with colleagues involved in SARS containment in other countries. It is a difficult challenge to balance professional concern for public health against concerns that actions taken by other governments may infringe the human rights of Falun Gong practitioners. This presentation will focus on this issue, drawing on Li Hongzhi’s own speeches and publications as well as extensive contact with Falun Gong practitioners, healthcare agencies, and the government officials in the US and China. A primary goal of contact with officials of the Chinese Embassy in Washington DC, as requested by an official of the US Embassy in Beijing, has been to help develop ways of dealing with legitimate public health and safety concerns about the behavior of Falun Gong practitioners in a manner that motivates innocent practitioners to separate the benefits – both mental and physical – of Eastern spiritual and wisdom traditions from the highly questionable distortions of those traditions by Li Hongzhi.
[1] 70 million is cited as a Chinese government estimate in Falun Gong’s challenge to China, D Schecter, 2001, Akashic Books, NY. |
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Last revised: July 11, 2005