By Ouyang Ming, a practitioner in China

(Clearwisdom.net) When someone mentions the persecution of Falun Gong, certain people show no interest, nor do they want or dare to talk about the evil nature of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Instead, they enthusiastically criticize Falun Gong, parroting the false propaganda about Falun Gong so prevalent in China's repressive society. Consequently they themselves propagate the regime's propaganda. This is a typical phenomenon of role dislocation.

It is practitioners' own business whether or not they have gotten involved in politics, or whether or not they want to continue their cultivation. A practitioner needs to judge for his/herself if discussing CCP atrocities and telling people the facts in order to stop the persecution is some kind of evil political agenda as the propaganda alleges. If someone does not understand this issue from the Fa and thus gives up their cultivation, their actions are of their own personal choice. In a righteous cultivation way such as Falun Gong, one has the freedom to decide whether or not one wants to cultivate in the first place.

What ought to concern each bystander is the actual meaning of "Truth-Compassion-Forbearance," and whether the persecuted Falun Gong practitioners have in fact harmed others as the propaganda alleges. By ignoring "Truth-Compassion-Forbearance," one overlooks the most essential part of this issue. Even if those who are being persecuted really had caused problems, it is important to discern whether these problems constitute crimes; whether the crimes are attributable to Falun Gong, or whether all Falun Gong practitioners should be held responsible for the same crimes. These are life-and-death concerns and should not be ignored.

The subtly deceptive accusations against Falun Gong cannot stand up to rational scrutiny. People know that establishing media organizations is not against the law, nor is the act of getting involved in politics (Falun Gong practitioners don't seek any political power, while at the same time, they do take what many consider to be a political stand: "Stop persecuting us!"). Falun Gong practitioners have the freedom to do what they want, as long as they are not breaking the law. One does not need to understand or even agree with what they do; however, this cannot be the reason for the CCP to persecute Falun Gong. If people tolerate the persecution simply because they don't understand, or are led by deceptive propaganda to dislike Falun Gong, how can there be any justice in the world? Do people still have a conscience?

Whether or not the Chinese nation has a good future does not depend on the Communist overlords, but on the choices the Chinese people make.

The bottom line is that believing in "Truth-Compassion-Forbearance" is not a crime. With one person believing in "Truth-Compassion-Forbearance" in the world, less deceit, wickedness and violence will exist. What should concern people is whether or not the Communist regime has persecuted Falun Gong. People should consider how they can help stop this persecution.

The Chinese constitution decrees freedom of belief. You don't need to agree with the principles of Falun Gong before you can stand up to resist the persecution. Regardless of pretexts, not differentiating between right and wrong is harmful to anyone. Having a conscience is invaluable; safeguarding one's own conscience is a most important role that we all should play in society, no matter whether the ruling regime agrees with us or not.

July 2, 2008

Posting date: 7/13/2008
Original article date: 7/13/2008
Category: Open Forum
Chinese version available at http://minghui.org/mh/articles/2008/7/2/181335.html

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