Cultic Studies Review, Vol. 2, No. 2, 2003, Page 169
recent/current early period of the movement may have a permanent influence on Falun
Gong, which may have recently gone (or may now be going) through its ―formative‖ stage.
There does indeed appear to be indications of some volatile apocalyptic ferment among the
Falunists, which has been noted by Dr. Susan Palmer, who has also denounced the
―extraordinary cruelty and violence‖ perpetrated against devotees, ―their families and
friends.‖39 Dr. Palmer has studied Canadian Falun Gong members and in May of 2001
attended a conference in Ottawa of a thousand mostly Chinese practitioners at which Master
Li spoke. Li‘s message, which later appeared on the internet, was apocalyptic, and
compared to earlier missives somewhat politicized.
Master Li makes three statement that suggest Falun Gong‘s protest
movement is revisiting its strategy. First, he says the aim of ―cultivation‖ is
no longer individual improvement or even enlightenment (consummation).
Second, he announces that we are living in the ―Fa-rectification‖ period (when
Fa, or divine law, triumphs over evil). Therefore, the role of all disciples is to
engage in the collective work of activist protest against the ―evil‖ of Jiang
Zemin‘s persecution of the Falun Gong.40
Thus, ―beneath the rational pursuit of human rights and the familiar rhetoric of religious
liberty is a rapidly evolving apocalyptic theology fueling Falun Gong‘s civil disobedience in
China.‖41 At the conference, ―Master Li was urging his disciples to stop being victimized, and
to participate in a cosmic war that is being waged on many plans.‖ Initially Li had insisted
that Falun Gong was not political and that practitioners should not oppose the authorities.
―They should respond to even the most brutal persecution with forbearance.‖ But in a
recent letter, ―he identified party chairman Jiang and his minions as ‗demons‘ and urged his
students to stop cooperating with ‗evil‘ ...he was showing them how to fight back—using
psychic powers.‖42 Prior speeches by Li Hongzi heard by Palmer just a year earlier had
tended to focus on miraculous healings, solving problems at home and work, moral
upgrading, etc. ―Now, the overriding concern was to ‗suffocate the evil‘.‖43
Palmer feels that this shift ―is understandable, considering the extraordinary cruelty and
violence perpetrated against these sincere and upright people, their families and friends.‖
Nevertheless, she finds ―something appalling in the fact that more than two thousand have
chosen to place themselves [through civil disobedience] in a situation where they have died
horrible, painful deaths ....were they moving into a holocaust? The Chinese government
was obviously not going to change its barbaric methods of social control.‖44
Like that of the Montanists, the apocalyptic wildness of the Falunists is either partly or
largely a consequence of sustained severe persecution. Unlike Mr. Rosedale, Dr. Palmer can
warn against a growing apocalyptic and political theology and its consequences while
contextualizing these developments in terms of continuing and intensifying persecution,
and, moreover, strongly denouncing brutal oppression, which Rosedale, at least in the
conference paper I downloaded, does not.
Postscript: Belief and Heresy
One of the most curious aspects of Mr. Rosedale‘s essay is his radical devaluation of the
importance of belief. For Rosedale, ―in dealing with religious groups that become
destructive cults, the content of the religious beliefs is secondary and to focus on them is
distraction.‖ This view reflects a model of the cult which is common among ―anticultists‖:
the cult as a ―con game‖ or criminal/mafia type organization. The leaders are thought to
want only power and profit and merely manipulate beliefs, which they do not themselves
take seriously and which do not significantly influence their behavior.
This model has elements of truth, and with regard to particular groups it may be nearly
totally true. I once discussed with Michael Langone of the AFF an ―eternal life cult‖ which
recent/current early period of the movement may have a permanent influence on Falun
Gong, which may have recently gone (or may now be going) through its ―formative‖ stage.
There does indeed appear to be indications of some volatile apocalyptic ferment among the
Falunists, which has been noted by Dr. Susan Palmer, who has also denounced the
―extraordinary cruelty and violence‖ perpetrated against devotees, ―their families and
friends.‖39 Dr. Palmer has studied Canadian Falun Gong members and in May of 2001
attended a conference in Ottawa of a thousand mostly Chinese practitioners at which Master
Li spoke. Li‘s message, which later appeared on the internet, was apocalyptic, and
compared to earlier missives somewhat politicized.
Master Li makes three statement that suggest Falun Gong‘s protest
movement is revisiting its strategy. First, he says the aim of ―cultivation‖ is
no longer individual improvement or even enlightenment (consummation).
Second, he announces that we are living in the ―Fa-rectification‖ period (when
Fa, or divine law, triumphs over evil). Therefore, the role of all disciples is to
engage in the collective work of activist protest against the ―evil‖ of Jiang
Zemin‘s persecution of the Falun Gong.40
Thus, ―beneath the rational pursuit of human rights and the familiar rhetoric of religious
liberty is a rapidly evolving apocalyptic theology fueling Falun Gong‘s civil disobedience in
China.‖41 At the conference, ―Master Li was urging his disciples to stop being victimized, and
to participate in a cosmic war that is being waged on many plans.‖ Initially Li had insisted
that Falun Gong was not political and that practitioners should not oppose the authorities.
―They should respond to even the most brutal persecution with forbearance.‖ But in a
recent letter, ―he identified party chairman Jiang and his minions as ‗demons‘ and urged his
students to stop cooperating with ‗evil‘ ...he was showing them how to fight back—using
psychic powers.‖42 Prior speeches by Li Hongzi heard by Palmer just a year earlier had
tended to focus on miraculous healings, solving problems at home and work, moral
upgrading, etc. ―Now, the overriding concern was to ‗suffocate the evil‘.‖43
Palmer feels that this shift ―is understandable, considering the extraordinary cruelty and
violence perpetrated against these sincere and upright people, their families and friends.‖
Nevertheless, she finds ―something appalling in the fact that more than two thousand have
chosen to place themselves [through civil disobedience] in a situation where they have died
horrible, painful deaths ....were they moving into a holocaust? The Chinese government
was obviously not going to change its barbaric methods of social control.‖44
Like that of the Montanists, the apocalyptic wildness of the Falunists is either partly or
largely a consequence of sustained severe persecution. Unlike Mr. Rosedale, Dr. Palmer can
warn against a growing apocalyptic and political theology and its consequences while
contextualizing these developments in terms of continuing and intensifying persecution,
and, moreover, strongly denouncing brutal oppression, which Rosedale, at least in the
conference paper I downloaded, does not.
Postscript: Belief and Heresy
One of the most curious aspects of Mr. Rosedale‘s essay is his radical devaluation of the
importance of belief. For Rosedale, ―in dealing with religious groups that become
destructive cults, the content of the religious beliefs is secondary and to focus on them is
distraction.‖ This view reflects a model of the cult which is common among ―anticultists‖:
the cult as a ―con game‖ or criminal/mafia type organization. The leaders are thought to
want only power and profit and merely manipulate beliefs, which they do not themselves
take seriously and which do not significantly influence their behavior.
This model has elements of truth, and with regard to particular groups it may be nearly
totally true. I once discussed with Michael Langone of the AFF an ―eternal life cult‖ which
