By Zhang Tianliang

(Note: most of the quotes in this article are translated and therefore paraphrased)

(Clearwisdom.net)

It has been sixty years since World War II, and everything seems like a distant memory. As people are enjoying their peaceful lives, an assault targeting kind-hearted people all over the world has quietly begun. What is most dangerous about this assault is its insidious nature. Unknowingly, people have been led into immense danger and a test for their morality and soul.

Is this an overstatement to frighten people?

Two thousand four hundred years ago, Plato wrote that nine thousand years before his time, there was a continent with a very sophisticated civilization in the Atlantic Ocean. Their civilization is now referred to as the City of Atlantis. Plato also wrote about an amazing land that was far away from the west of the Mediterranean Sea, in the Atlantic Ocean. It was adorned with endless gold and platinum, and produced another kind of metal with sparkling sheen. It had harbors filled with vessels and merchants coming from every part of the world. There were also vehicles that could take people into the sky. Its influence even reached the continent of Africa. Even with such great technical advances, the people of Atlantis gradually fell. They indulged themselves in the pursuit of self-interest and personal desires. They were only interested in fighting for power and personal gain. According to Plato, the god Zeus decided to punish them. He "collected all the gods into their most holy habitation, which, being placed in the center of the world, beholds all created things. And when he had called them together, he spoke as follows-". The Dialogue of Plato's Critias ends here, and nobody knows what Zeus had said after this. Nevertheless, everybody knows about the ending of the Atlantis: "Accompanied by violent earthquake and big flood, the Atlantis thus sunk into the sea over one day and one night."

In the Old Testament of the Bible, the following is written in Genesis 6: 5-17: "When the LORD saw how great was man's wickedness on earth, and how no desire that his heart conceived was ever anything but evil, he regretted that he had made man on the earth, and his heart was grieved. So the LORD said: 'I will wipe out from the earth the men whom I have created, and not only the men, but also the beasts and the creeping things and the birds of the air, for I am sorry that I made them.'... I have decided to put an end to all mortals on earth; the earth is full of lawlessness because of them. So I will destroy them and all life on earth ...I, on my part, am about to bring the flood on the earth, to destroy everywhere all creatures in which there is the breath of life; everything on earth shall perish. "But Noah found favor with the LORD", because "Noah, [is] a good man and blameless in that age".

Many classical religious works and "legends" share a common theme: mankind's peace and stability is maintained by one thing: morality. If we say that wars have destroyed lives and civilizations, then forbidding people to cultivate themselves to become good people is condemning their souls. It is the biggest threat to human civilization, and the damage it can cause is even worse than a World War.

It's easy for everyone to agree that "honesty, kindness and broadmindedness" form the moral foundation for a country's economic development, stable political situation and a prosperous society. Nevertheless, since three years ago, China's ruler Jiang banned the people's right to believe in "Truthfulness, Compassion, Forbearance." Aided by an unparalleled propaganda campaign, a bloody suppression of the most benevolent people unfolded in front of the world.

Falun Gong practitioners, who believe in "Truthfulness, Compassion, Forbearance," would rather endure cruel tortures, be sent to forced labor camps and mental hospitals--even lose their lives, than give up following the truth. The cruel devastation they that quietly endured physically and mentally is rivaled by few in human history. Although so many practitioners have died as a result of cruel torture, several hundred thousand people have been imprisoned, and countless families have been broken apart--nevertheless, Falun Gong practitioners still maintain their peacefulness and rationality. They have never retaliated or reacted in violence. The stark contrast between the cruel police who torture young and old alike and those innocent Falun Gong practitioners who react only with peace and dignity has never been clearer.

In the face of this cruel persecution, the peacefulness that Falun Gong practitioners have demonstrated has moved the world's people. By August of 2002, Falun Gong has received close to one thousand proclamations and awards from the USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, France, Japan, independent members of the former Soviet Union, Taiwan, and so on. Through resolutions and letters, government leaders and non-government organizations of many countries and regions across the five continents have expressed their support for Falun Dafa and Mr. Li Hongzhi. Meanwhile, they have also strongly condemned Jiang's blatant human rights violations. In August of 2002, by a vote of 420-0, the U.S. House of Representatives unanimously passed House Concurrent Resolution 188, which urges Chinese government to cease its persecution of Falun Gong practitioners.

However, the international community has not been able to stop Mainland China's torture and murder of Falun Dafa practitioners. In order to escape condemnation, Jiang has resorted to spending exorbitant amounts of money, using slanderous propaganda, dangling the prospect of economic gain and diplomatic threats to force overseas governments to go along with him.

What is alarming is the fact that Jiang's sinister plots have partially worked. In March of 2002, utilizing political pressure and leverage from a $13.5 billion contract to export liquefied natural gas to China, Jiang's government forced the Australian Foreign Affairs Minister, Alexander Downer, to sign an agreement to restrict Falun Gong practitioners from appealing in front of Chinese Consulate. In June of 2002, under Jiang's threats and diplomatic pressure, and ignoring strong objections from the vast majority of the Icelandic people, the Icelandic government barred Falun Gong practitioners from entering the country during Jiang's visit. On August 2, 2002, instructed by the Chinese Consulate in Phnom Penh, the Cambodian government violated United Nations refugee laws and deported two Falun Gong practitioners with UN refugee status back to China. In August of 2002, pressured by Jiang, Hong Kong authorities turned its back on "One Countries Two Systems." They found sixteen Falun Gong practitioners appealing peacefully in front of the Chinese Liaison Office guilty of "obstruction" and "assaulting police." Governments that have received similar coercion also include New Zealand and Germany. In the US, several cases of Falun Gong practitioners being harassed by Jiang's gang have surfaced, including death threats, tapped phone lines, vandalized homes, and fire-bombed cars.

In Mainland China, the state-sponsored terrorism machine is still running in full gear. Many people who resolutely uphold "Truthfulness, Compassion, Forbearance" face torture and death on a daily basis. Outside of China, through their embassies and consulates, every day Jiang is spreading hateful lies to the international community, undermining the founding spirit of one democratic country after another with the promise of economic gain.

Why is Jiang so hateful towards such a peaceful, beneficial cultivation practice? There is simply not any justifiable reason. The only reasonable explanation is a combination of paranoia and jealousy. This cruel persecution against one hundred million followers of "Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance" is a true manifestation of evil. This persecution shouldn't have happened, nor should it be allowed to continue to exist or expand.

The history of World War II tells us that one must not hold out illusions about the true nature of evil and not give in to economic enticements. We must come together to stop this catastrophic decline of human morality. Otherwise, we will not be able to guarantee that our descendants will live in a planet free from deceit and violence, and we will not be able to face our sense of justice and conscience. Every citizen and country's righteous words and actions will be forever remembered by history.

The advancements in technology has not stopped humankind's steep decline, and material desires have interfered with mankind's standard of good and evil. Through promoting "Truthfulness, Compassion, Forbearance" -- Falun Gong is reviving people's standard of right and wrong. Its far-reaching impact on mankind is self-evident. Let us not lose sight of the importance of morality and be blinded by material gain in this critical period in human history.

Posting date: 10/4/2002
Original article date: 10/3/2002
Category: Open Forum
Translated on 9/14/2002
Chinese version available at http://www.minghui.cc/mh/articles/2002/9/7/36048.html

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