Cultic Studies Journal, Volume 17, 2000, Page 115
is ‗not usually investigated‘.‖ It also stated that ―the issuance of this honorary citizenship ..
.conveys no legal or official status in any way‖.27 It is likely that Mr. Kutolowski was not
aware of this.
I suggest that these awards are misleading as they are currently represented on the Falun
Gong Web site. I suggest that they have given Falun Gong practitioners, particularly Falun
Gong practitioners in China, a misconception about Li's status in the United States and the
false impression that Li's teaching is being supported by U.S. elected officials. As a
commonly engaged in public relations act, these awards are not ―profound‖ and they do not
represent the ―understanding and recognition of Falun Dafa by human beings and society.‖
Here is an example of a proclamation from the Township of Edison, Office of the Mayor:
Whereas, Falun Dafa's positive impact on individuals and society, as well as
the remarkable contribution to humanity by Mr. Li Hong Zhi have been widely
recognized and honored in the United States, and
Whereas, Falun Dafa has helped over 100 million people worldwide to
improve their health, elevate their mind, uplift their spirit, and deepen their
understanding of life, humanity and the universe, and
Whereas, Falun Dafa has also helped numerous young people and adults turn
away from alcohol, drugs, violence, and other bad habits to pursue a more
meaningful life and
Whereas Falun Dafa (also known as Falun Gong) is a pure cultivation and
practice system of mind and body at high level with ancient historical roots
and
Whereas, Mr. Li's teachings emphasize high moral values and contribute
significantly to the improvement of our society.
Now, therefore, I George A. Spadoro, Mayor of Edison, Middlesex County,
New Jersey, do hereby proclaim and declare Saturday, October 9, 1999 as
Master Li Hong Zhi Day
And encourage all Edison Residents to recognize and honor Mr. Li for
improving the quality of life of people around the world.
In Witness whereof have hereunto set my hand and caused the Great Seal of
Edison to be affixed, on this the Ninth Day of October, in the Year One
Thousand Nine-hundred and Ninety-nine.
The Chinese Government’s Concerns
The Chinese government criticizes the teachings of Li Hongzhi as being harmful to
practitioners, anti-scientific, full of feudal superstition, and a cult that is duping China‘s
people.28 In the West, many people have concluded that the Chinese government banned
the Falun Gong because they fear its political ramifications and not because they believe Li's
teachings are harmful. I suggest that the ban is due to a combination of these reasons.
Everyone in China knows the stories about various popular uprisings in China led by
charismatic rebel leaders who proclaimed various religiously backed supernatural powers. It
is part of the lore, part of the cultural fabric of Chinese life. Everyone in China also knows
about the Mandate of Heaven and how, when the current ruler of China no longer deserves
to rule, the mandate is broken, and such things occur as popular uprisings and natural
disasters, along with decadence and corruption in a weakened government. A loss of the
Mandate of Heaven means that the current ruler is no longer fit to rule.

Cultic Studies Journal, Volume 17, 2000, Page 116
Today, China is experiencing a huge change in its society. There is a great deal of insecurity
both ideologically and on a practical level for individuals. The ideology of Communism has
been replaced by the goal of economic growth and material well-being with the market as
the means. Yet economic growth and material well-being have not developed as quickly or
as successfully as hoped for, leaving many in need and enduring hardships, while the
previous safety nets of a life-time job, free health-care and free education are now gone.
Some have managed to ―get rich quick,‖ but the majority have not seen an improvement.
Everyone in China is also aware that there is a serious problem of corruption in the
government, even as the government is aggressively taking actions to stop it. This fits right
in with the broken mandate scenario. Mother Nature has also contributed to this scenario in
that China recently experienced a catastrophic earthquake and flooding. Moreover, there
have been numerous sightings of UFO's perhaps validation of Li Hongzhi's theories about
aliens taking over human society, or perhaps signs of anxiety and a looking to the heavens
for portents of change. The unexpected appearance in front of the Beijing government
buildings of 10,000 members of a spiritual group, whose leader is now living abroad,
startled the leaders, not only for political reasons but because they know how well all this
fits into the Chinese lore of the Mandate of Heaven in this time of insecurity and change.29
They also know that the above conditions make China ripe for a charismatic leader to offer a
simple solution.30 The people and leaders of China have lived through the Cultural
Revolution and the ―personality-cult‖ of Mao. They have seen what faith in an unquestioned
leader can do. They have experienced the trauma caused by a people giving themselves up
to the power drive of one man. The Chinese government feels that where Mao's communist
ideology has failed and where its replacement of economic well-being has not yet become a
reality, the dependency on a charismatic leader who offers protection, enlightenment, and
supernatural powers through simple-exercises, the reading of his books, and the non-
questioning acceptance of all his teachings, could fill the void with yet another personality
cult.31 Although Li disclaims any interest in politics, Li also says that the Chinese
government is unfit to handle China's problems and that only by the Chinese people
becoming Falun Gong practitioners can China resolve its problems.
On a political level, the government feels that if it allowed the Falun Gong to hold massive
public demonstrations and to make demands of the government regarding their own
interests, then it would be inviting every other group with a special interest to do the same.
The government is already worried about separatist movements in Tibet and Xinjiang and
Taiwan. They fear that if they don't hold China together it will, like the USSR, disintegrate,
and the concept of a united China won by the first Emperor in 255 B.C. would end and
chaos would take the place of order for 1.2 billion of the earth's inhabitants.
The collapse of the Soviet Union and the Eastern European communist states deeply worried
Beijing. They set up a panel to research the reasons for this collapse, and one of their main
findings was the strong role that the Church played. Could a qigong group like the Falun
Gong play a similar role? Since the Falun Gong has members in the government, the
military, members who are teachers, housewives, students, laborers, could such a populist
group32 along with its new strategic tool of the Internet, offer the beginnings of a
demanding civic-society that could ultimately bring down the one-party rule of Communism
in China? How many massive qigong groups are there in China that might be the
beginnings of such a civic-society, a society that they are not prepared to handle, and
therefore a society that ―jeopardizes social stability‖ not to mention the rule of the
Communist Party.33 This is the government's fearful scenario.
In the United States, there are many disparate groups and, regardless of whether we agree
with their ideas or not, we believe that an open society of ideas is healthier than a society of
repressed or banned ideas. In China on the other hand, the leaders deemed it important to