Cultic Studies Review, Vol. 2, No. 2, 2003, Page 173
43 Palmer. ―Listening to Master Li.‖ p. B5. See also Susan Palmer ―From Healing to Protest:
Conversion Patterns Among the Practitioners of Falun Gong,‖ Nova Religio, Vol. 6, No. 2, April 2003,
pp. 348-365.
44 Palmer. ―Listening to Master Li.‖ p. B5. See also the recent piece by Patsy Rahn, ―The Chemistry of
a Conflict: The Chinese Government and the Falun Gong‖, Terrorism and Political Violence, Vol. 14,
No. 2, pp. 41-65, 2002. Like Palmer, Rahn believes that the millennial message of Falun Gong is
presently being intensified partly as a response to state persecution. Although Falunist teachings
continue to condemn violence, Rahn believes that there is at least a potential justification for violence
in Master Li‘s evolving and increasingly dualist message. ―As groups feel an increased frustration of
their ultimate goal and an increased persecution, their apocalyptic idea‘s may increase and the battle
between good and evil intensify‖, p. 56.
45 Carolyn Evans. ―Chinese Law and the International Protection of Religious Freedom.‖ Journal of
Church and State. Vol. 49. No. 4 (Autumn, 2002). pp. 749-774.
46 Evans. ―Chinese Law and the International Protection of Religious Freedom.‖ p. 764.
47 Evans. ―Chinese Law and the International Protection of Religious Freedom.‖ p. 765.
48 Evans. ―Chinese Law and the International Protection of Religious Freedom.‖ p. 770.
49 Mr. Rosedale‘s statement that, ―all members of Falun Gong have individual rights that should not
be abridged‖ is welcome but given the spectacular Chinese repression, it is hardly an adequate
response to egregious persecution. Rosedale‘s statements concerning the limits of religious freedom
may have some abstract validity but cannot justify such heavy handed and brutal policies as the
Chinese State has ruthlessly pursued.
50 The Journal, Nova Religio just published a large symposium on Falun Gong. (Vol. 6, No. 2) entailing
nine papers which appeared in the Spring of 2003. Particularly salient in terms of this essay are four
contributions: Susan Palmer, ―From Healing to Protest‖ (see note 43 above) Gareth Fisher,
―Resistance and Salvation in Falun Gong: The Promise of Forbearance‖ Bryan Edelman and James
Richardson, ―Falun Gong and the Law: Development of Legal Social Control in China‖ and Craig
Burgdoff, ―How Falun Gong‘s Practice Undermines Li Hongzhi‘s Totalistic Rhetoric.‖
Note: This paper was largely written before the Falun Gong symposium appeared in Nova
Religio in Spring, 2003. The paper does discuss the views of S. Palmer and R. Loewe
published elsewhere.
43 Palmer. ―Listening to Master Li.‖ p. B5. See also Susan Palmer ―From Healing to Protest:
Conversion Patterns Among the Practitioners of Falun Gong,‖ Nova Religio, Vol. 6, No. 2, April 2003,
pp. 348-365.
44 Palmer. ―Listening to Master Li.‖ p. B5. See also the recent piece by Patsy Rahn, ―The Chemistry of
a Conflict: The Chinese Government and the Falun Gong‖, Terrorism and Political Violence, Vol. 14,
No. 2, pp. 41-65, 2002. Like Palmer, Rahn believes that the millennial message of Falun Gong is
presently being intensified partly as a response to state persecution. Although Falunist teachings
continue to condemn violence, Rahn believes that there is at least a potential justification for violence
in Master Li‘s evolving and increasingly dualist message. ―As groups feel an increased frustration of
their ultimate goal and an increased persecution, their apocalyptic idea‘s may increase and the battle
between good and evil intensify‖, p. 56.
45 Carolyn Evans. ―Chinese Law and the International Protection of Religious Freedom.‖ Journal of
Church and State. Vol. 49. No. 4 (Autumn, 2002). pp. 749-774.
46 Evans. ―Chinese Law and the International Protection of Religious Freedom.‖ p. 764.
47 Evans. ―Chinese Law and the International Protection of Religious Freedom.‖ p. 765.
48 Evans. ―Chinese Law and the International Protection of Religious Freedom.‖ p. 770.
49 Mr. Rosedale‘s statement that, ―all members of Falun Gong have individual rights that should not
be abridged‖ is welcome but given the spectacular Chinese repression, it is hardly an adequate
response to egregious persecution. Rosedale‘s statements concerning the limits of religious freedom
may have some abstract validity but cannot justify such heavy handed and brutal policies as the
Chinese State has ruthlessly pursued.
50 The Journal, Nova Religio just published a large symposium on Falun Gong. (Vol. 6, No. 2) entailing
nine papers which appeared in the Spring of 2003. Particularly salient in terms of this essay are four
contributions: Susan Palmer, ―From Healing to Protest‖ (see note 43 above) Gareth Fisher,
―Resistance and Salvation in Falun Gong: The Promise of Forbearance‖ Bryan Edelman and James
Richardson, ―Falun Gong and the Law: Development of Legal Social Control in China‖ and Craig
Burgdoff, ―How Falun Gong‘s Practice Undermines Li Hongzhi‘s Totalistic Rhetoric.‖
Note: This paper was largely written before the Falun Gong symposium appeared in Nova
Religio in Spring, 2003. The paper does discuss the views of S. Palmer and R. Loewe
published elsewhere.
