An Open Letter from "Friends of Falun Gong" in Toronto

Dear Ladies and Gentlemen,

We are members of "Friends of Falun Gong," an association in Toronto that consists of over 80 ethnic civic organizations in the local area. We all admire Falun Gong practitioners' tenacity in safeguarding their freedom of beliefs, their bravery in challenging authoritarianism, their rationality in the face of brutal persecutions, and their compassion in their persistent truth-telling drive to help the public dispel their misunderstandings about Falun Gong.

As Canadian citizens, we take pride on the democracy, freedom, peace, and tolerance that our country consistently represents. We believe they are the reason for the greatness of our country in this world, the source of our being respected everywhere, the ultimate bonanza we can draw upon to earn a decent living, and the most invaluable asset we can offer to humanity.

Fortunate as we are to be able to value those attributes, we cannot afford to be myopic in keeping those values only to ourselves. In other words, if we cover our ears to the call of other nationalities for justice, peace, democracy and human rights, we are doing something tantamount to unwittingly giving up our most precious assets--and we should really feel ashamed for our selfishness.

In today's Global Village of which we are all denizens, the essence in human compassion, the cravings for truth and justice, and the responsibilities for world peace and development know no national boundaries. This is because they are crucial to the existence and future of the whole human race, including the Canadian people.

Now, on the other side of the earth, simply because they would not give up their earnest pursuit for the meaning of life and the right to practice in the parks and read books to their liking at homes, tens of millions of good people practicing the principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Tolerance are being brutalized and most viciously slandered by a ruthless state machinery. In the face of this nationwide reign of terror has already resulted in a death toll of over 130, before those pictures speaking to the barbarity continually committed against innocent Falun Gong practitioners in Tiananmen Square over the past 18 months, and in response to their almost daily calls for justice conveyed through every conduit to world people, can we still go on to have an undisturbed sleep after convincing us "I know too little about this"? Can we betray our conscience under the pretext of "this has nothing to do with me," or even blemish our purest conscience by trading it for materials, interests or gains?

This is as if we had a neighbor who fails his basic education on morality and humanity. To see his own dignity in others' subordination, he continually abuses his wife. To enjoy authority at the expense of others' terror, he beats up his children regularly. He shrugs off the reminding from his neighbors under the cover of family harmony and health of children. He counters the warnings of social workers by charging they are violating his privacy. Can we turn our back on his weeping wife because of his imposing stature? Can we neglect the calls for help from his kids because of his ridiculous reasoning? Or, can we join him in asking the social workers "to stop and mind their own business" only because he gives us a free ride every day in our commute?

No, we cannot! Nor have we. This is why our community is peaceful and safe; this is why our ladies are happy and confident; this is why our children are comfortable and healthy; and this is why our country is harmonious and prosperous.

Hence, we Canadians might want to ask ourselves: shouldn't we, together with other "neighbors," in seeing a "neighbor" China who believes in the rule of personality over the rule of law, in authoritarianism over democracy, and in brutality over peace, help this "temperamental" giant grow and gradually mature with conscience and kindness? The answer is we should and must do this, because this means real friendship, real concern, real duty, real broad-mindedness, and real altruism. Only by doing so is it possible to fulfill our dream of generations where every one enjoys dignity, freedom, comforts, and fortune.

We are here calling for your conscience, because it is the only reason for which this world still exists. We are here calling for your conscience, because it will serve as the only vehicle to carry us into the future.

"Friends of Falun Gong" in Toronto

Chinese version available at http://minghui.cc/mh/articles/2001/1/27/7375.html

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