By a Chinese Dafa practitioner

(Clearwisdom.net) Several years ago, while CCTV, the mouthpiece of Jiang Zemin and his group was continuously smearing and slandering Falun Gong, they often used the phrase "spiritual control." How many people have thought about the connotation of the phrase and the factors behind it? Even CCTV, the manufacturer of lies, didn't give a clear definition.

In fact, it is not a psychological term, nor is it scientific; however, when it was associated with a series of incidents that were deliberately arranged to frame Falun Gong, it sounded frightening, as it was being used as a weapon to attack the truth. It brought to mind the criticism of Confucianism and other ideas of traditional Chinese culture that took place during the Cultural Revolution. The ideology, language, and terms used in the criticism all bore the distinct characteristics of that time. They might be successful for some time in deceiving people, but fallacies can never defeat the truth. When the Cultural Revolution came to an end, those false ideas faded away.

Looking back, we can see clearly several things.

1. If CCTV wishes to take the position that Falun Gong practitioners are being spiritually controlled, how about people's faith in modern science and the firm belief of Communist Party members in Marxism and Leninism? Aren't they under spiritual control? Through practicing Falun Gong and studying its theories, practitioners have achieved health and raised their moral standards. They have a calm mind. Can that be considered the result of spiritual control?
2. If the so-called "spiritual control" used by CCTV to smear Falun Gong means the requirement of practitioners to practice self-discipline and place restrictions on their behavior based on higher moral principles, the requirement is well grounded. Imagine if people had no self-control in their hearts. The moral standards of the society would experience a rapid decline. The crime rate would increase, and all sorts of social problems would emerge. Even a perfect legal system couldn't effectively tackle the root of the problem. What a horrible result it would be! Thus, one should not take the requirements on practitioners to maintain a high moral standard as spiritual control.
3. There are no external restrictions in any form placed on Falun Gong practitioners. They do not have an organization, nor do they have administrative offices or regulations. Falun Gong is open to the public. There are no secrets. Where is the spiritual control?

On the other hand, Jiang and his group have being fiercely persecuting Falun Gong since 1999, destroying its reputation, arresting practitioners without just cause, and severely torturing them. So far, over a thousand practitioners have been tortured to death. The perpetrators search their houses, confiscate Falun Gong books, videos and audiocassettes, and block access to the Internet. In addition, they concoct and spread lies such as the Self-Immolation incident to frame Falun Gong. Their intention is to keep the public from knowing the truth about Falun Gong and to use their lies to provoke hatred against Falun Gong. This is the best example of "spiritual control"--the one that Jiang and his followers have imposed on the people.

What's more evil is that Jiang and his followers set up many brainwashing classes in different areas of China. They abduct practitioners to them, and they use violence and lies to force practitioners to renounce their beliefs. This is real spiritual control.

One is bright; the other is dark. One is kind; the other is vicious. Who is righteous and who is evil? Although Jiang's persecution of Falun Gong is rampant, paper can never hold fire. The lies can only deceive people temporarily, and the truth will prevail one day.
Chinese version available at http://www.minghui.org/mh/articles/2004/5/16/74807.html