Cultic Studies Review, Vol. 2, No. 2, 2003, Page 161
Cults, State Control, and Falun Gong: A Comment on
Herbert Rosedale's ―Perspectives on Cults as Affected by
the September 11th Tragedy.‖
Thomas Robbins, Ph.D.
Abstract
There is a distressing possibility that elements of the American ―Anticult
Movement‖ may support the Chinese government‘s severe measures against
Falun Gong. The latter is regarded as an apocalyptic cult which disorients
members and is analogous to American ―destructive cults.‖ This position
downplays the following: 1) the mass mobilization of FG at a huge peaceful
demonstration was perceived as a political threat to the regime and elicited
brutal repression 2) a less autocratic and more secure regime would
probably not have reacted so brutally 3) accounts of psychopathology are
used as justification for an extreme crackdown initiated for other reasons 4)
persecution has often had the effect of eliciting or heightening apocalypticism
and wild behavior in a sect, and finally, 5) one cannot ignore the decisive
context of persecution which entails a very authoritarian regime which insists
that the Communist party must dominate the Chinese society and control or
destroy all possible rivals capable of mobilizing grassroots support.
Over a year ago I became slightly alarmed when I heard that Chinese officials had attended
a meeting of the ―anticult‖ American Family Foundation (AFF). I feared that the American
Anticult Movement (ACM) would end up actually supporting the brutal persecution of Falun
Gong in China. I asked my friend Ben Zablocki, a member of AFF, what were members‘
attitudes toward the Chinese measures against Falun Gong. I seem to recall being
reassured by my friend that most members tended to see the conflict of Falun Gong with
the Chinese state as an instance of a ―a big cult picking on a small cult,‖ i.e., a ―plague on
both your houses‖ attitude which, while perhaps disdaining Falun Gong, was not
enthusiastic over current modes of persecution. On the other hand I also vaguely recall my
friend acknowledging that he had not personally attended the actual session of the annual
AFF conference in which a Chinese delegation made a presentation, and thus he might not
be as well informed about the members‘ response as he might be.
I am quite certain that my good friend responded honestly to my query but possibly he was
not that well informed about what his AFF colleagues were thinking, or perhaps the latter
have changed their attitudes in the last year or so. In any case my original anxiety has now
been re-awakened by a paper by Herbert Rosedale (President of AFF) which was originally
presented by the author at the meeting of the China Anti-Cult Association in Beijing,
December 2001, and which was published in the AFF Web journal, Cultic Studies Review,
Vol. 2, No. 1, 2003.
Mr. Rosedale‘s paper affirms the likelihood of ―striking analogies‖ between the threat posed
by (Western) ―destructive cults,‖ which AFF scholars have been discussing for years and
―the current situation which exists in China, both with regard to the country‘s perception of
the need for regulation of leaders, practitioners and supporters of Falun Gong, and to past
experience with, and the appearance on the horizon of, other groups that threaten the
rights of citizens and the stability of the society as a whole in China.‖1 Rosedale‘s paper
discusses the dangers of sinister ―destructive cults.‖ The urgency of understanding and
combating ―cults‖ is said to be heightened by the horror of 9/11/01 because destructive
cults and terrorist groups are basically similar. Some of Rosedale‘s points and warnings
Cults, State Control, and Falun Gong: A Comment on
Herbert Rosedale's ―Perspectives on Cults as Affected by
the September 11th Tragedy.‖
Thomas Robbins, Ph.D.
Abstract
There is a distressing possibility that elements of the American ―Anticult
Movement‖ may support the Chinese government‘s severe measures against
Falun Gong. The latter is regarded as an apocalyptic cult which disorients
members and is analogous to American ―destructive cults.‖ This position
downplays the following: 1) the mass mobilization of FG at a huge peaceful
demonstration was perceived as a political threat to the regime and elicited
brutal repression 2) a less autocratic and more secure regime would
probably not have reacted so brutally 3) accounts of psychopathology are
used as justification for an extreme crackdown initiated for other reasons 4)
persecution has often had the effect of eliciting or heightening apocalypticism
and wild behavior in a sect, and finally, 5) one cannot ignore the decisive
context of persecution which entails a very authoritarian regime which insists
that the Communist party must dominate the Chinese society and control or
destroy all possible rivals capable of mobilizing grassroots support.
Over a year ago I became slightly alarmed when I heard that Chinese officials had attended
a meeting of the ―anticult‖ American Family Foundation (AFF). I feared that the American
Anticult Movement (ACM) would end up actually supporting the brutal persecution of Falun
Gong in China. I asked my friend Ben Zablocki, a member of AFF, what were members‘
attitudes toward the Chinese measures against Falun Gong. I seem to recall being
reassured by my friend that most members tended to see the conflict of Falun Gong with
the Chinese state as an instance of a ―a big cult picking on a small cult,‖ i.e., a ―plague on
both your houses‖ attitude which, while perhaps disdaining Falun Gong, was not
enthusiastic over current modes of persecution. On the other hand I also vaguely recall my
friend acknowledging that he had not personally attended the actual session of the annual
AFF conference in which a Chinese delegation made a presentation, and thus he might not
be as well informed about the members‘ response as he might be.
I am quite certain that my good friend responded honestly to my query but possibly he was
not that well informed about what his AFF colleagues were thinking, or perhaps the latter
have changed their attitudes in the last year or so. In any case my original anxiety has now
been re-awakened by a paper by Herbert Rosedale (President of AFF) which was originally
presented by the author at the meeting of the China Anti-Cult Association in Beijing,
December 2001, and which was published in the AFF Web journal, Cultic Studies Review,
Vol. 2, No. 1, 2003.
Mr. Rosedale‘s paper affirms the likelihood of ―striking analogies‖ between the threat posed
by (Western) ―destructive cults,‖ which AFF scholars have been discussing for years and
―the current situation which exists in China, both with regard to the country‘s perception of
the need for regulation of leaders, practitioners and supporters of Falun Gong, and to past
experience with, and the appearance on the horizon of, other groups that threaten the
rights of citizens and the stability of the society as a whole in China.‖1 Rosedale‘s paper
discusses the dangers of sinister ―destructive cults.‖ The urgency of understanding and
combating ―cults‖ is said to be heightened by the horror of 9/11/01 because destructive
cults and terrorist groups are basically similar. Some of Rosedale‘s points and warnings
