How A Weird Cult Broke China's Government

[@spectacles-dm]

What do you think of the government's treatment of Falun Gong? What do you think is in store for part two? Let us know! Discord: discord.gg/VWcpybH683 Patreon: patreon.com/spectaclesmedia - CORRECTIONS - 👻 (for now…)

[@TeddyBelcher4kultrawide]

Snitch

[@luminetto]

Quanneng Shen?

[@mx338]

Falun Going is a right wing extremist cult, that has a huge fake news operation across the west. States across the world should use the measures they have at their hand to suppress the cults operations.

[@Flow86767]

Can we have your sources? (Especially the text by He Zuoxiu that you mentioned was critical of the Falun Gong.)

[@prufenful]

Falun Gong are debatably worse than the CCP

[@zawwin1846]

The greatest thorn to Chinese government over 5000 years 1- Eunuchs 2- Cults 3- Hungry Peasants 4- Emperors getting too horny

[@noname-wo9yy]

Don't forget opium

[@TylerSolvestri]

Don’t forget fake Jesus 😂😂😂

[@greatexpectations6577]

Don’t forget the steppe nomads

[@James-jh3sz]

@@TylerSolvestri I think that falls under cults

[@E4439Qv5]

Don't forget flooding.

[@tavn1698]

Lemmino's influence is just huge.

[@spectacles-dm]

GOAT

[@isiah6170]

Lemmino and his yearly episodes

[@AlfonsoAlvarezSixto]

⁠@@spectacles-dm If you don’t mind. How you can create images like that? Is there a specific program or skill?

[@spectacles-dm]

@@AlfonsoAlvarezSixto Philip here. I use after effects for 2d animations, blender for 3d. Everything I learned for AE came from skillshare (JakeInMotion's AE basics), various youtube tutorials, and imitating things I liked by other creators, eventually adapting them to my own style. Everything I learned for Blender came from the same (except I didn't use skillshare). Harry does the video and audio editing as well as the music selection etc. He's doing some animations in premiere now. Hope that helps. The barriers to learning some really great skills are very low. Harry and I had no experience with any of this before we started about 12 months ago.

[@AlfonsoAlvarezSixto]

@@spectacles-dm Thanks a lot for getting back to me. Your videos are absolutely awesome. Wishing you loads of luck on KZbin, and I really hope your channel starts getting the views it truly deserves. There's no doubt that you're putting out fantastic content.

[@juniorjames7076]

As a teenager in New York City in the late 1980s/early 1990s I remember often finding "information tables" with Falun Gong members handing out pamphlets, books, and photos of Chinese political prisoners all over Manhattan, Queens and Brooklyn.

[@fennec812]

They are still very much around. Actually there are quite a few KZbin channels quietly affiliated/run by them that pump out “news” on China. It’s always very biased and negative towards China. Which… sure, some of the stuff they point out has grains of truth, but it’s definitely a spin. Not at all to say that China is some blameless entity-it isn’t, just that the Falun Gong are about as bad at representing reality as their CCP enemies. Neither side is particularly “good.” Unfortunately, I think it’s pretty easy for an increasingly anti-China sentiment (particularly in the U.S.) to cause folks to fall down the Falun Gong propaganda hole without realizing it.

[@leileijoker8465]

It still happens today all around the world where there's a significant Chinese population. It's crazy after being cracked down for almost 30 years, the movement is still going.

[@mikestewart4752]

They did this in Toronto too James. I remember thinking that China was a whacked-out place even back then… So much whackier now though.

[@stevengreen9536]

@@leileijoker8465 When a religion or movement is popular among a given population. Crackdowns are not enough to stop or stifle it. When push comes to shove members and practioners will either go underground and practice in secret. Or migrate abroad to other countries where their faith and beliefs are not outlawed. (or both)

[@MitchellPorter2025]

I don't think Falun Gong existed in the late 1980s

[@lexprontera8325]

Thank you! Far too often discussions of FG fail to call it a cult, skipping over the parts with batshit anti-science teachings, energy woo, racism, control of members, and leader personality cult.

[@lexprontera8325]

Yes, this is a group being violently repressed, and our minds naturally associate "victim" with "morally pure" but in reality victim status doesn't automatically make one a saint. I'm no expert, but I see this as a conflict with no good guys.

[@zg_rq]

not exactly, people in the west have a very shallow understanding of it. it's a system of religious beliefs created by li hongzhi, but these uninformed people either think it's a buddhist meditation or a racist cult. only academic or chinese-language sources will have a clearer picture of it

[@lexprontera8325]

@@zg_rq Yeah, you're right. It's easy to make sweeping judgements from far away. The more alarming claims of sinister elements MAY be debatable, I'll grant that, but the presence of superstitious woo is NOT. Even if not a cult, it's definitely bullshit. To confront a dictatorship only to fall a martyr in defense of bullshit is just... SAD on so many levels. From a Humanist standpoint I can only see it as a LOSS-LOSS situation.

[@lordoftheflies7024]

​​@@zg_rqShut up. I don't need to learn Russian to know the USSR was evil, nor Spanish to know Latin American fascists are evil either. I certainly don't need to know Chinese to recognize a crazy cult for what it is. Just because they're the victims of gov repression in china doesn't mean they're the good guys.

[@zg_rq]

@@lexprontera8325 I think there's enough evidence that it's a cult. I don't like when people call groups cults based on sensational media. However, I have read their Falun Gong books/speeches, and read about some stuff about the practitioners. The main problem is that its followers have a 99% chance of not taking medicine when ill because they view illnesses as an opportunity to get rid of karma and think taking medicine is a sign of disbelief. Obituaries of western Falun Gong practitioners show that they die around 68 years old, which is quite early, and I think the reason may be that they don't take medicine when needed. The other problem is dedication to Falun Gong, becoming a Falun Gong "robot" waiting for the end of the world, and not giving enough care to one's surrounding people. (By the way, the end of the world is called Fa-rectification and believers have to "save" people as quick as possible) Recently, the main Falun Gong website published a notice against Yu Chao (a rare Falun Gong practitioner that criticizes the Falun Gong community). The reason is probably because he made some claims on his KZbin channel that would be scandalous if true. He claimed that he interviewed many former Shen Yun members, and they said that Dragon Springs (the headquarters) is like a prison, has physical and mental abuse, and someone comitted suicide after leaving it. (And a bunch of bad/illegal things) This is what resembles to the highly-mediatized image of a cult, but there is currently no evidence. We ousiders don't know about the internal stuff in the Falun Gong community. On the other hand, some criticism and praises of the western world is based on misinterpretations. Specifically, the criticism of its teachings about mixed races are one of the few things that resonated in the western world, although they probably represent less than 0.1% of Falun Gong's problems. Furthermore, the exact meaning of these teachings were misinterpreted. He does not incite hatred against mixed-race people, but makes a disrespectful statement about mixed-race people.

[@Lovely2291]

I know about this cult because of Shen Yun! The dance group that does crazy performances of their cult lore around Christmas time.

[@WalkerKinsler]

I went to visit Independence Hall and the Liberty Bell in Philadelphia just a couple of weeks ago. There was a group of Falun Gong followers practicing in a keenly-placed area next to the busy line to see the Liberty Bell, so this is a very timely video. They had signs and pamphlets detailing oppression and violence against their fellow practitioners by the CCP, but I didn't feel like I knew enough to sign their petition. China should obviously not violently attack any group, but this video has shown me that Falun Gong's origins are very strange. It might be wise that one can protest the acts of the CCP, while not supporting Falun Gong itself.

[@BasileosHerodou]

Anyone who's against the CCP is good

[@ziffy88]

It's like subtlety is an important skill to learn

[@ripwednesdayadams]

I’m just so confused as to why so many people believe an obvious fraud. He makes claims that are so obviously disproven- clearly no one has ever seen the man levitate or make himself invisible. So why tf don’t people call him out on this shit?

[@nicholasmclaughlin8638]

@@ripwednesdayadamssupernormal abilities are widely studied. They did it with children in China, they found some can read with their hands or from the back of their heads. Humans have innate abilities, but with this materialistic society they believe less and less and lose those abilities.

[@NoMoreCrumbs]

For anyone wondering why the CPC would go through the trouble of quashing FG, check out the Taiping Rebellion. Basically a dude claimed to be the brother of Jesus Christ and started a civil war to install himself as an absolute theocratic monarch with the result being 20 to 30 million deaths. I'm not saying FG is exactly the same thing as the Heavenly Kingdom, but there's a lot of their beliefs that rhyme

[@user-ce5vd2qv7y]

and remember, religion (especially cult) love to keep the people dumb and ignorant, meanwhile hiding their true intention, which is ultimately all the wealth, power, influence. It's basically a power grab, and CPC won't let FG high-jack the country they fought and bleed for that easily

[@oscarpistorius3710]

Falun gong is a fascinating case study to me of what happens when legitimate opposition is crushed. With the failure of explicitly political movements like the pro-democracy front during the late 80s, dissent and opposition towards the state had to instead be redirected through the forces spirituality and religion. Much the same thing happened in Iran during the 70s, where the socialists and democrats were repressed by the shah, leading to a rallying effect around the only remaining force that could actually challenge the government, that being Shia Islam.

[@cooper1819]

Yes, the Chinese always had cult revolts and one of many in China, Taiping Rebellion a century ago 30 million deaths, more than many wars. Political uprising would be different. So learning Chinese history, would not be surprise to understand why any Chinese governments must address cult revolts.

[@fauxman1]

" we do not negotiate with our citizens"

[@KnarfStein]

I'm pretty sure the leftists didn't become religious fascists.

[@ecoideazventures6417]

What do you feel about the current political scenario in China after its zero covid policy?

[@ruedelta]

@@fauxman1 A ridiculous sentiment, considering protests are super common in China, the government acts largely in accordance with those protests, and that a specific big instance of this was over the COVID policies which caused China to open up on a dime.

[@fba90130]

Falungong isn't JUST some simple qigong movement turned political force. Their reach into the CCP ranks managed to make the CCP nervous and that takes some doing. To me Li Hong Zhi is probably comparable to Hong Xiuquan. But unfortunately for him the CCP isn't the late Qing Dynasty. The Falungong has many "news" sources on KZbin and several other media entities cross referencing each other. That suggests a level of funding, organization and sophistication, comparable to the CCP. Just because they're doing everything they can to attack the CCP doesn't make them legitimate or even democratically aligned. The enemy of your enemy is your enemy's enemy. Nothing more, nothing less. The West should do well to remember this. If the CCP ever falls the Falungong is going to be a very big threat to China's path to democracy among the chaos.

[@durianjaykin3576]

Founder probably going to form a cult of personality, so i think its better off if falun gong stay away from any governance of china

[@Mr_DPZ]

Honestly, rule by Falun Gong would probably be even _worse_ than rule by the CCP.

[@phiscz]

falun gong receives significant funding from the "friends of falun gong", an organization started in 2000 by mike palmer (vice chairman of 'freedom house' and one of the founders of the national endowment for democracy). i should add that the NED is entirely funded by congress, so basically they're getting CIA money lol

[@E4439Qv5]

I don't think China can _be_ democratic. Propping up Falun Dafa at least gives some semblance of opposition. Competition is good for the marketplace. Then again, to quote They Might Be Giants: "Chinese people were fighting in the park. We tried to help them fight; no one appreciated that..."

[@Mr_DPZ]

@@E4439Qv5 This isn't about the marketplace. It's not that part of it. It's that _other_ thang.

[@mx338]

The Tianemen Square protests did not call for a vague notion of democracy, they were very mixed, with Procapitalist forces that looked towards the USA, more European style social democrats, as well a lot of people who wanted China to strive more towards Marxism-Lenism again.

[@ennou1236]

Honestly, a lot of my family members and friends of family members actually don't like those protestors, some of them were students at that time and they say that the students started to get really shady, so much so that even when they weren't involved in the protests, they decided quickly leave school and go back home so they don't get in the crossfire in case they do something "stupid", evidently something stupid did happen, who knows who did the stupid, with liars on both sides, no one can say for sure

[@mdd4296]

The intermixing and disorganisation was what make it vague you know.

[@zg_rq]

My father protested there but my mother didn't because she had an exam. Now most Chinese peopledislike the Tiananmen protest

[@KyrieFortune]

​@@ennou1236one side had students, the other had tanks. It seems pretty clear to me which side is truly at fault (hint: it's not the students)

[@NoMoreCrumbs]

​@@KyrieFortunePablum. Power or the absence of power is not indicative of rightness of cause

[@cubethelad8394]

The quality of these videos is insane, can't believe you've 14k subs and not 14m

[@TylerSolvestri]

Nobody has 14m in the science/geopolitics community…

[@Black-Sun_Kaiser]

​@@TylerSolvestrinothing educational is as appealing as sports and rap videos and that's why we're all so stupid:)

[@BladedGuineaPig]

love the style of your more recent videos, you produce very high quality stuff and I feel lucky to have found it

[@eruno_]

very important observation that the repression only radicalised Falun Gong even further, this is great example how direct repression never leads to expected/desired outcomes.

[@zac5572]

Yeah but repression has worked falon gong is useless. Israel only has hamas blocking them which is useful for them to paint Palestinians as terrorists

[@samgrillo1]

I mean, it worked on tiananmen square

[@E4439Qv5]

​@@samgrillo1 _I have no idea what you're talking about._

[@mx338]

Yea that's really not true, McCarthyism for example still greatly affects the USA to this day and efforts to suppress right wing extremism can also work well.

[@The_Midnight_Bear]

@@mx338 As an Eastern European, if America hates communism, that's a good thing.

[@brucculi349]

I love the segments where one of you comes onto the camera to explain things directly to the camera.

[@D3xt3rity]

This is an incredible video, I’ve just found your channel and have no doubt it’s going to grow massively! Great stuff!!

[@stephenkelly207]

So happy to see another Spectacles video

[@spectacles-dm]

we do it all for the Kelly brothers

[@lasershow2626]

I'm glad i found this channel just over a month. Great work and hopefully soon your subscriber count will explode. The quality of your videos is too high to not. Thanks and keep it up!

[@peterkelly4873]

I'm so glad that we got another video so soon after the last!

[@willhebert576]

Great video!! Your best yet! And the new logo animation at 4:57 is very nice.

[@spectacles-dm]

thank you very much! So glad you loved it

[@yejoyt]

Falun gong has brainwashed my grandparents to the point that they can head li hongzhi's book in the dark, since the words glow gold

[@zg_rq]

They probably just memorized after reading hundreds of times.

[@yejoyt]

@@zg_rq tens of thousands.

[@Mimas2115]

how has no one heard of this channel? this is amazing!

[@noahdonoghue628]

Fascinating video. Great job!

[@jamarswope2341]

Just binged a bunch of your videos today and I think you've got a good thing going here. Great voice and excellent visuals. You also make it a point to trace things back to their origin, present the information in a measured and even way, and you don't shy away from your own opinions when they're relevant. Keep it up, looking forward to part 2!

[@GregBartlesbyProductions]

this

[@zg_rq]

A lot of people dont understand that the problem with Falun Gong isn't its political views, but its mental influence on its practitioners, which is hard to explain to outsiders.

[@tom.mp4]

Brooo best video you've done so far ❤

[@brooksmiller5597]

Insanely good video editing 👏👏

[@benmorgan1718]

Great video as always.

[@jakehaw6208]

When I first watched this video, i had no idea what cult you were talking about until you mentioned Falun gong. Now I understand. I've seen falungong members at my local shopping center handing out flyers against the CCP in a highly chinese populated area. (lots of food there). I haven't finished the video, i'm excited for what's in store

[@josephmatthews7698]

This is incredible work. Fantastic documentary, and I would have never guessed you were only 13!

[@francofiori926]

It’s quite vague

[@Anime96Vault]

This is the content I yearn for. This channel will explode in the future, no doubt about it.

[@armartin0003]

Dude, your reporting is excellent. Quality is right up there with VICE.

[@tombuster]

I saw a group protesting for Falun Gong at the nobel prize museum in Stockholm around two weeks ago, and didn't really know what it was about. This cleared it up a bit, but I'm interested in the follow-uo even more!

[@belo2733]

Great work!

[@scottynguyen2183]

You're gonna be so so big my guy, liked and subed!

[@alexc6926]

Can definitely see the quality increase in this video. Not like others were bad, but extra effort in this with visuals and sound was a positive

[@mathewomolo]

the way you told that story in the intro. you're going to blow up big soon.

[@christiaantjahhh]

Love the breath-taking production quality. May I ask which software programs you use to produce a video like this?

[@Brellic]

I remember learning about Falun Gong as a religious/cultural movement that had conflicts with the government of China, but never had the context before. Thanks for the clarification!

[@cultofmrozinski368]

I love how Barney Gumble’s drunk rant about the after life is so similar to theirs.

[@rhatid]

Nice one!

[@MrKruger88]

Gosh dang this channel is good.

[@scoopityboop]

omg I actually remember going to this Buddhist temple in socal where spectacles filmed

[@JackHarlowComboMeal]

Genuinely loved and appreciated this video. Will probably rewatch it time and again, since Falun Gong practitioners have been and continue to be a presence in my local area of Toronto. Glad my first impressions were always correct in that it was some type of cult thing, but it's great to actually have some info on it. MUCH more unhinged than I expected. Maybe I should ask the elderly woman handing out pamphlets if invisibility is still up for grabs next time.

[@spectacles-dm]

made me lol

[@jakehandschin3984]

This got me hooked so quickly, we’ll done!!

[@neoxyte]

Great video. Hope you get more subscriptions!

[@stan_albatross4885]

This is a really great video, incredibly high quality production and research - I even showed it to my Chinese friend who was living in Beijing around the time and she found it to be a good description of the events and very well-presented. Hopefully the algorithm picks this up and gives you the subscribers you deserve

[@zg_rq]

But this is a bit biased towards the western perspective which is focusing on some aspects more than the other.

[@Claire25252]

i fought i was watching a million view video how are you so underrated??

[@bladepeterson778]

Very fascinating to see how a small opening up of society, small exercise and spiritual group in this case, could lead to a small, but noticeable threat to the CCP. In the long term I am guessing this played a role in why we see the CCP now a days restricting everything from how feminine a man can act in movies and TV to how many hours people can play video games. The CCP has been backtracking the small opening up it did in the 80's. It continues to amaze me how much the world changed in the 80's and 90's, and how little we seemingly talk about how those two decades completely changed the world. Most issues we see lead back to those decades. I'm guessing the CCP's crackdown on this small group leads to the further repressions we see today from the CCP

[@ex0duzz]

Lol How do you think every religion started? It's not a China or see see pee issue as you put it. It all starts from one nut. Whether Jesus, Mohammed or scientology or falun gong. You don't know about roman persecution, even scientology infiltrated every aspect of us gov with an organized plan and us gov had to arrest and charge them too. As for China specifically, it has always been wary of religion and never allowed religion to even enter or spread, let alone exist and not be subordinate to the gov. See China's long history with Catholic church. Or islam, especially extremism. China's not the only one with these problems. Even west doesn't tolerate religious extremism once it makes waves and can be a threat to greater society.

[@cooper1819]

You are smart. Of course there is more to this "small exercise and spiritual group" since there are still so many practicing in China... Taiqi, Kungfu etc. Must be more than meets the eye.

[@joemammon6149]

limiting how many hours kids can play video games is actually a good idea. kids need to learn to live in the real world and learn to overcome obstacles instead of escaping into a fake world. a cult is like a fake world too, rooted in superstition and leader worship.

[@yunleung2631]

Tbh the whole video game restriction for kids is probably a good thing.

[@vincentseng]

Tbh CCP act more like young parents who still have not enough wisdom but try to do their best for their kids.

[@Chris-ty8iu]

How do you only have 80k subs you are gonna boom one day

[@geographicallymapping3948]

This man really does get around.

[@THEBIGMEOW]

This gets to show nothing can replace and oppress religion or spirituality

[@marvinwicks6548]

I see Falun Gong protesters across the street from the Chinese embassy in NYC when I go to work at the Intrepid Museum. These protesters stand across the street from the Chinese embassy with their protest banners and pamphlets trying to proselytize people into joining their cause. People mainly walk past them and ignore them. These protesters would stand around, no matter what the weather is like, practicing their slow motion exercises and trying to proselytize people. To me, it seems pointless because the people in America haven’t even heard of the Falun Gong-much less care about them.

[@jeremyruiz4741]

Doesn’t Falun Gong also run the Epoch Times and Shen Yun?

[@user-kt8yp5ho2y]

Yes they are

[@Ju2000lo]

youtube channels like "China Uncensored", "China Fact Chasers" etc as well they also have some far right youtube channels and facebook pages focusd on American domestic issues

[@GTFO_0]

​@@Ju2000lo😂They are Totally there to bash anything china does weather good or bad...That china Unsensored guy has been their go to mouthpiece

[@Typhonnyx]

Very interesting video kudos to the author

[@nickynicky513]

Commenting for the KZbin Algorithm! This Channel deserves way more subs

[@Dragonite_Tom]

Lemmino created a whole new video animation concept on YT bro

[@ws8061]

I think most Westerners know about Tianamen square but I didn't really understand the back story so I appreciate the content. Communism really is a spirit crushing ideology when put in practice, the State in general is.

[@benchristensen4174]

Aren’t spiritual groups like Falun Dafa important in states where freedom of belief is suppressed to such an extent? Freedom of thought should be supported, and if we slander it, aren’t we the same as the wicked CCP?

[@Simply_Jerry]

The thumbnail is blurred and no auto vid when the mouse is hovering over the video thumbnail?

[@GabeDoppel]

Your channel is my new favorite. youll blow up any moment.

[@ESC_jackqulen]

Great video! And yeah you can't understand CCP's take on religion without knowing this piece of history. P.S. Nice glasses 😎

[@spectacles-dm]

Thanks for your help on this one! How'd I do with the names?

[@ESC_jackqulen]

The ones you did asked me were good 😝 The ones you didn't ask me were.... 😅😅😅

[@Kabutoes]

6:20 is that the Buddhist temple in LA? Holy crap I been there

[@zg_rq]

I think the video maker just used it as a stock footage. Buddhists are against Falun Gong

[@DragonwolfoftheSands]

Your comments around 15:00 don't square with what you said earlier in the video? Which do you mean? Was it criticism or repression that activated them?

[@zg_rq]

Yes, that's what he means and I think it's true Falun Gong was always harmful but after the ban it became political

[@laarrsiavelli]

Full suit, sneakers that very clearly DO NOT match with the specs... talking about historical topics?!!? The Bill Nye we didn't know we needed.

[@spectacles-dm]

Nooooooo! You weren’t supposed to notice the sneaks :(((

[@beardyben7848]

Don't be offended, I love this video but here's an explanation of the effect your shoes had from a style and photography perspective. Because the shot frames your whole body, your head and glasses and the suit are the most obvious bits. The shot gives us time to get used to the suit and the way you look. The suit is uniform in color and texture which brings attention to the places it ends. Namely the opening around chest and neck which displays the shirt and tie, the cuffs where we notice the hands, and the ankles where one naturally notices the shoes. When your feet entered the frame with a shoe style that contrasts too much with the line and texture of the suit, it disrupts both expectation, and does nothing to reinforce the image of competence you were projecting while confidently walking toward the viewer. If you want to do a bit, or make a conscious rejection of fashion, then make the shoes more obvious with white or blue or red. For the comedy you would stop immediately when your feet come into the frame ignoring ridiculously bold shoes.

[@tenn5720]

For a second i thought 3 yellow cerberus arguing with 2 red cerberus of how to kill V1

[@milind006]

You have made a very informative video, but at times the background score drowns out your voice.

[@independentvoter8710]

Could you reupload this without the background noise?

[@frenzalrhomb6919]

Those guys hold a semi-permanent protest outside the Chinese Consulate here in Sydney, Australia.

[@francofiori926]

You forgot to mention that Master Li Hongzhi has been nominated two times for the Peace Nobel Prize.

[@Winteramen]

I am so thrown @6:30 by the narrator's sudden appearance for the first time.

[@kuroazrem5376]

What is that temple and where is it?

[@TheRealDoctorBonkus]

I immediately thought: did this guy steal a Lemmino or Imperial video? And I initially wanted to close the video. But I stayed. I did have a strange feeling watching it tho. 5/7

[@arthas640]

14:30 thats easy: the CCP views any threat as an existential threat.

[@Ok-nn1ne]

Was the video shot in Beijing? 🤧

[@spectacles-dm]

We would have been arrested lmao

[@mokhtarrekada6578]

I like the fact this video is more neutral than the other one, talks about both sides.

[@gabrielgolzar]

why are the vocals so quiet and effects so loud? I can hardly hear anything :/

[@tnvl5751]

good video, but pls turn up your voice or turn down the music, really struggle to hear you

[@meja2546]

It's two weeks already 😢

[@nicholasmclaughlin8638]

Against Mixing of Races? Another issue that some journalists have picked up on, prompted by Chinese state media intimations, is interracial marriage and interracial children. In one Falun Gong lecture, there is a brief passage that expressed a belief that different ethnicities-while all spiritually equal-have different, divine origins, each claiming their own heavens with which they have a corresponding relationship. One should note that this is in fact an extremely tangential aspect of Falun Gong’s cosmology (and some journalists have misunderstood and extrapolated far beyond what could reasonably be supported). It is not part of Falun Gong’s core teachings at all, which are focused on the ethical standards of “Truth, Compassion, and Tolerance,” rather than on creation stories. Even so, it is not as unusual as some journalists make it appear: traditional cosmologies of both Asia and the Western world frequently associated particular gods with particular communities, as in the Roman myth of their people’s descent from Aeneas, the son of the goddess Venus, as well as Romulus and Remus, the sons of the god Mars, or the ancient Chinese belief in a series of divine ancestors.

[@spectacles-dm]

'Certain communities having patron gods' is not at all comparable to the belief that 'mixed-race children have no place in heaven and instead are vessels for possession by aliens.'

[@nicholasmclaughlin8638]

@@spectacles-dmVessels for Aliens, please quote the source of that, because I have never read that in any Falun Gong teachings, and I’ve read the majority of them. I practice Falun Gong and have a mixed race son, and I’ll tell you he ain’t no alien.

[@Leoist1]

69 views,no way W vid btw

[@taciprince7400]

Would’ve liked more context on what societal and cultural factors contributed to the rise of the cult

[@zg_rq]

superstitious beliefs and popularity of qigong to improve health

[@zg_rq]

for falun gong, it used a method of attracting people by starting as a qigong, then claiming to be the best qigong, then claiming to be superior to qigong, then claiming to be buddha's law, then claiming to be universe's fundamental law.

[@a1exism]

Great video

[@The_Real_Grand_Nagus]

I see, so this is China's Scientology

[@slothbelly5332]

…sir, please have some rest.

[@robiejumawan8835]

So, it's like Taiping that didn't.

[@JinKee]

Is this the one with age and suitability restrictions?

[@spectacles-dm]

Yep

[@christopher6337]

Interesting video until the end… where are they today in regards to China?

[@zg_rq]

They operate secretly (because it's illegal) but there are way less believers of Falun Gong in China. A lot abandoned it after it was banned or after being convinced to not practice it.

[@benchristensen4174]

Practitioners are still being unjustly persecuted for their belief. A 66 year old woman recently died after being released from a 5.5 year term for practicing Falun Gong. The judge didn’t even tell her family what happened to her, and it was only until the family went to the courthouse that the judge told them. This is just one drop in the ocean. Thousands of Falun Gong practitioners of all ages are being harassed, sent to jail, labour camps, or killed every year.

[@benchristensen4174]

A written account from the then 66 year-old Lyu Houfen. “After I was taken to the detention center, I was beaten and verbally abused whenever they saw me doing the Falun Gong exercises. The guards searched me all the time. They also kept strong lights on and the TV turned to the maximum volume all day long. I was forced to sleep on the concrete floor and wash myself with cold water. The guards also had me do hard labor, recite the detention center rules, wear the prison uniform and have my picture taken against my will. I was made to eat, sleep, and relieve myself in the cell. When the Dasi Police Station and the Xiqing District 610 Office came to the detention center to interrogate me, they ordered me to be handcuffed during the entire interrogation.”

[@benchristensen4174]

the 610 office is an extra-judicial police force made specifically to target Falun Gong practitioners. Police force isn’t really fitting; they’re more like a gang, or a mafia.

[@Ratkill]

Chinese social and political dynamics aren't really something that can purely be researched online in good faith. Especially if you need Google translate.

[@thomastakesatollforthedark2231]

Huh, Hoog vibes

[@flyingchicken85]

Just curious why you labeled chigong and falung gong as cults?

[@johnwick9273]

Falun Gong was not banned by the CCP at the beginning. It developed a lot of members, but then it gradually went astray. For example, if you are sick, you don’t need to see a doctor or take medicine. As long as you practice Falun Gong and believe sincerely, your illness will be cured. This is unacceptable in China. Later, Li Hongzhi called on Falun Gong practitioners to besiege Zhongnanhai (the office of the Chinese President, similar to the White House in the United States) and the State Council of China.

[@James-jh3sz]

He didn't label qigong as a cult, it's a form of exercise. He labeled falun gong a cult because it's a cult, nothing secret about that.

[@RS-xb9lo]

Falun Gong is by definition a cult. Li Hongzhi essentially believes he is a god and has effectively dug roots into American politics through his plot of land in New York. JJ McCullough did a great two-part series on this cult, and their branches, such as China Uncensored, the Epoch Times, and Shen Yun. I highly suggest you check it out, it is eye-opening to say the least, and these in part helped my mother from falling further into the cult's misinformation maw.

[@zg_rq]

Falun Gong is not qigong. If we judge it by standard qigong, then Falun Gong is fake and evil qigong.

[@hua_tetsu_cat]

The enemy of my enemy is also my enemy

[@wesselm9184]

Ladies and gentlemen, a new lemino is on his grind here, take note

[@spectacles-dm]

Flattered

[@rowanwilliams1548]

You know these guys were at J6 right?

[@franjopego1]

Give Jiang his galsses back!

[@bolsa3136]

Interesting documentary! Those glasses at @7:00 dont suit you. Sorry

[@spectacles-dm]

They're Jiang Zemin's glasses!

[@mabo9636]

As a teenager who grow up in china back in 1999. I clearly remember everything went thru that year. When CCp suddenly announce crack down flg. All the normal broadcasting has been postponed for almost one months. All TV channel has repeatly is about anti-flg propaganda films day and night. I actually upset about this because nothing else to watch. Later situation is a lot of FLG followers who refuse to cut tie had been sorta of mass arrested and sented to re-education camp. All The students had been ask to write letter to denounce FLG whether they want or not. However after decades of research and though. I changed my mind. Perhaps ccp is not good in many way. But I do not want they are replaced by bigger evil flg

[@Bread-nx9fo]

They are both equally bad lol

[@antlerman7644]

Yes you understood this perfectly, "the enemy of my enemy, is not necessarily my friend."

[@Ryanowning]

As a Westerner I'm under no illusion that Falun Gong are the good guys. Their founder made crazy claims, but what religious founder doesn't? In any other country this religious sect would've been laughed off and out competed by another religion far less dedicated to crazy. Falun Gong craziness is the product of the CCP and nothing less, nothing more.

[@lukemacdonald7917]

Honorary citizen of Houston💀💀💀

[@arsenbezludny2071]

Nice video. But the sound of your voice is too low in comparison to background music. Also, when you speak on camera it sounds too unnatural. You distinctly slow down which makes dichotomy between on camera voice and behind camera voice too jarring.

[@spectacles-dm]

Thanks for your feedback!

[@notDinsss]

you remind me of winston sterzel (serpentza) -- in the same good way. Keep up the great work, and dress sharply! 🤵

[@extrastout1111]

I can see the parallels between Falun gong and the Korean Unification Church which has a cultist following and deep infiltration into the Korean and Japanese government. If left unchecked falun gong would no doubt reach those levels of power, and I see no benefits to ordinary citizens if that was to happen. Seems better to have a moderate authoritarian government focused on economic growth than to have a straight up cult in charge. That would be disastrous for Chinese people. I also think the reason Falun Gong has such a continued following in the US is through foreign government funding.. they were going out of style last decade but seems to have had resurgence amid geopolitical tensions; it's as if foreign governments rediscovered their use.

[@pigletshut]

Did you get your fifty cents yet?

[@S3lkie-Gutz]

Wasn't Shinzo Abe involved with the unification church somehow? Or I may be misremembering things idk

[@crishhari5903]

This is completely misleading. Cults don't care if the government is authoritarian or democratic. Cults appear in any system of government. Most renoun cults are from US (influnced by US media dominance) but using the logic in this video, this should be impossible. Cults take advantage of society/people when they are in their most vulnerable and make them believe in most nonsensical things, which sometimes leads to tragic accidents ( Japanese cult Aum Shinrikyo). During times of great economical and technological boom, people who are unable to keep up with the social changes are easy target. During times of economical crash, people who are unable to manage their finances are also great target.

[@zandaroos553]

In fairness democracies can be repressive, and many of the more infamous cults in the US for instance was actively animated by crackdowns or political interference. Not to say cults shouldn’t be managed but all examples show that blanket crackdowns are the worst possible way to deescalate the influence of religious movements

[@hazzardalsohazzard2624]

And the line between religious and political beliefs can be blurry. Is my belief that God has placed a King on their throne and therefore the rightful ruler of a country a religious or political belief?

[@ruedelta]

@@zandaroos553 This is ridiculous. What are you going to say to those who are fighting ISIS? That they should just capitulate and subject themselves to hardcore sharia laws interpreted by people who do not care about Islam today so much as absolute repression and nostalgia for a before times in which Islam was dominant?

[@zandaroos553]

@@ruedelta I mean ISIS was literally a product of state religious repression in post-Ba’ath Iraq and foreign intervention from other Sunni majority countries to arm insurrections against the new Shia government. It was itself the product of state meddling in religious affairs