20AR25-35

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AR 25:35 - An "Epoch" controversy over Falun Gong

In this issue:

FALUN GONG - its American presence and the Epoch Times

JEHOVAH'S WITNESSES - using the three Watchtower weaknesses in evangelism

TRANSCENDENTAL MEDITATION - the ongoing fight over their continued public school presence

Apologia Report 25:35 (1,492)

September 2, 2020

FALUN GONG

"The Power of Falun Gong" by Eric Campbell and Hagar Cohen (Jul 20 '20) was produced by "ABC News." However, in this case the acronym represents Australian Broadcasting Corporation. The authors describe Falun Gong (FG) as a spiritual movement with an American headquarters located "two hours outside of New York City, in the shadow of the densely forested Shawangunk Mountains" (near Deerpark, New York) named Dragon Springs, "the sometime home of its reclusive founder and leader, Master Li Hongzhi. ...

"A joint investigation by the ABC's Background Briefing and Foreign Correspondent has also found families damaged by their involvement with the movement and claims [that] its teachings on modern medicine could have contributed to premature deaths, which Falun Gong denies.

"It comes at a time when media outlets linked to the movement are becoming serious players on the conservative side of America's media, throwing their weight behind Donald Trump and his tough stance on China."

The background for this feature is the ex-member story of a teenager, Anna, whose mother pulled her and her sibling "out of a Catholic school and quit her job in the family business to take up selling books for Falun Gong." Much of the feature consists of Anna's description of her experience.

"Li Hongzhi is a former Chinese government clerk who founded Falun Gong, also known as Falun Dafa, in China in 1992. He moved to the US in the mid-1990s. His spiritual movement is based on traditional meditation and breathing exercises called qigong. But Master Li added a supernatural layer: it would prepare people to return home to heavenly kingdoms where they had once dwelled, and even teach practitioners to levitate and see through walls."

The group's teachings have a distinctly Asian flavor: "Part of the practice is this notion that Master Li ... can read everyone's mind and that he has heavenly bodies out there in the world doing this for him as well. So I grew up with this notion that my thoughts were always being monitored. And my mother said that at Dragon Springs, you were in a greater presence of spirits and the gods."

The story reports that as her mother "struggled with her illness, Anna says her mother rejected doctors' attempts to put her on medication, quoting Falun Gong teachings." Examples are noted: resorting to conventional medical treatment "means you are a bad practitioner. It means you do not fully trust Master Li. If you take any kind of medication or go to a hospital, even."

Some of the movement's activities are discussed: "Dragon Springs is just a small slice of an expanding empire connected with Falun Gong. Practitioners set up The Epoch Times, once a free newspaper which is now published online and printed across the USA, Australia and other countries. Last year, in an advertising blitz, The Epoch Times spent nearly $US2 million on Facebook ads which pushed a pro-Trump message. Its YouTube news channel also appeals to a conservative audience.

"Another media outlet linked to Falun Gong is the broadcaster NTD (New Tang Dynasty Television), which has collaborated with former Trump strategist Steve Bannon to produce Claws of the Red Dragon, a drama <www.imdb.to/2QK0hIa> critical of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).

"Jonathon Lee insists Falun Gong is not politically aligned but many of the practitioners see Donald Trump as an ally in the fight against the CCP. ...

"The Epoch Times maintains it is not owned or operated by Falun Gong, but Ben Hurley, who worked on the Australian English-language edition, says it is in every sense a Falun Gong outlet. 'Everyone who works there is a Falun Gong practitioner. They have a few people, a few token non-Falun Gong practitioners that they point to every time, but those people are outside the fortress. They're not a part of the organisation.'

"The Epoch Times has also been accused of deceptive practices. Last August, Facebook banned it from advertising after it posted subscription ads with a pro-Trump message through front groups like Honest Paper and Pure American Journalism."

The feature also includes the response of Falun Gong representatives to criticisms noted in the article. In addition, "Facebook took action again in December, taking down posts from a network that it linked to the Epoch Media Group. The BL, or The Beauty of Life, was posting fake profiles of supposed Trump supporters that were actually stock photos and even artificially generated images. In one example, the actress Helen Mirren's image was used as the profile picture of a fake account. Facebook found BL spent more than $US9 million on ads that reached 55 million accounts.

"Alex Kasprak discovered BL was operated from Vietnam by former employees of The Vietnam Epoch Times. Epoch Media Group denied any involvement, saying it split with Vietnam Epoch Times a year before." <www.ab.co/3ayZvqL>

On August 9 ABC News ran what amounts to a rebuttal made by Falun Gong: <www.ab.co/3165sIq>

For more on Falun Gong from our past issues, visit <www.bit.ly/3g7hhm2>

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JEHOVAH'S WITNESSES

"The Three-Legged Stool ... Particularism's Faulty Foundation" by Sean Killackey -- a former fourth-generation JW, who left after first having doubts about the cult's Governing Body, offers three main issues that reveal the emptiness of its claim to be God's "sole visible channel": prophetic fulfillment, doctrine, and brotherhood.

Disputing their prophetic fulfillment argument typically fails because Witnesses become offended. Killackey finds the right way to introduce it is to avoid common errors as we "make the case that their leaders' failed predictions are actually false prophecies."

Next, the JWs' doctrinal defense is actually "quite weak ... being implicit in the demise of the first." No specific doctrine to address is given preference. Killackey finds that Witnesses will more likely be "receptive to the working of the Holy Spirit" at this point.

Last, a good response to Witnesses' reliance on brotherhood is lived out in being a friend to them. Killackey suggests the tested path of inviting them to join you in church activities. He also recommends preparing yourself by having a presentation plan such as using the MCOI War Games approach: <www.bit.ly/2Yey9RF>

The end notes of this item contain more useful content. Pray for this young apologist as he pursues his education for an even more effective future in ministry. MCOI Journal, 24:1 -2019, pp16-19 <www.bit.ly/2Yd5jkr>

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TRANSCENDENTAL MEDITATION

"Exclusive: Why Did Chicago Public Schools Just Quietly Drop Transcendental Meditation?" by Aryeh Siegel (Religion Dispatch, Jun 24 '20) -- for the answer to this question, "a July 26, 2019 article in the Chicago Tribune provides a clue. Hannah Leone's article <www.bit.ly/2QQ9E9n> includes some disturbing information about the program based on the harrowing recollections, before the Chicago Board of Education, of Dasia Skinner, a substitute teacher, and Jade Thomas, a fourteen-year-old high school student.

"After hearing their testimony, the [Chicago Public Schools] chief education officer noted that while she personally visited the [Quiet Time] program at Bogan High School, none of the information reported in the presentations was shared with her. So what didn't they tell her about this 'simple… non-religious technique,' as the David Lynch Foundation's <www.bit.ly/2EHFSkQ> brochure describes TM?

"According to Skinner, the 60 students she spoke with shared a similar experience, Jade Thomas among them. Thomas told the Chicago Board of Education that her experience began with a mandatory 'initiation into the meditation program' (elsewhere in TM materials referred to as a puja, a ceremony performed by Hindus, as well as many Buddhists and Jains). Students are taken by a QT 'facilitator,' two at a time, to a dark, incense-filled room with all the windows covered.

"According to Thomas, they were made to hold flowers in their hands while the instructors 'chanted in a foreign language, threw rice, seasonings, [and] oranges on a pan in front of a picture of a man,' after which they were to place the flowers on the pan. Following the ritual, they were given their mantras and were told 'don't tell anyone else your word.' (Keeping one's mantra a secret, it should be noted, is common in some sects of Hinduism.) Thomas also notes that students were told they would be sent to the dean's office if they declined to participate...."

Yeah. That's a clue, all right. For sure. Siegel goes on to discuss "TM's spotty record in public schools."

In addition, "not all is bliss in the TM world. For example, TM teachers created 'checking notes,' as a guide to handle pain and discomfort that might arise even within the first days of TM instruction. The existence and use of the checking notes document that the TM organization is well aware of these potential problems. ...

"More generally, a non-profit called Cheetah House, which <www.cheetahhouse.org> is affiliated with Brown University, Harvard, and a number of other prestigious institutions, exists to provide 'information and resources about meditation-related difficulties to meditators-in-distress.'" Siegel adds that "the UK's National Health Service notes that meditation can be very helpful in many cases, 'The serious, long-lasting nature of some of the negative experiences reported [in a recent study], however, are cause for concern.'" <www.bit.ly/3gPls6d> Imagine that.

Siegel, who has substantial background with TM, concludes: "It took three years for CPS to conclude that TM is more than a secular relaxation method to reduce stress. And while it's still unclear whether they dropped the program due to issues with the [U.S. Constitution's] establishment clause, potential risks to students' health, or both, one thing that is clear is that TM proponents will not be deterred from approaching other school systems and institutions. You might say that their belief in the benefits of TM is… religious." <www.bit.ly/3hiXKAA>

For much more on TM from our past issues, visit <www.bit.ly/3geEUZT>

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