(Clearwisdom.net) On July 21, 2005, in front of the Capital Hill, Washington DC, more than a thousand Falun Gong practitioners from all over the world held a grand rally to protest against the Chinese communist regime's persecution of Falun Gong over the past six years. Representative from Jubilee Campaign, Mr. Robert S. Turner, pointed out, "Chinese government hates and fears those who practice truthfulness, compassion and tolerance because they possess none of these characteristics themselves."
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Robert S. Turner, Coordinator of Government Relations, Jubilee Campaign USA
The following is the text of his speech.
Falun Gong Rally Statement
Robert S. Turner
Coordinator of Government Relations
Jubilee Campaign USA
July 21, 2005
Truthfulness. Compassion. Tolerance. Why are the Chinese Communist Officials in Beijing so terrified of these attributes that they would go to such brutal lengths to repress those who practice Falun gong? Why would they beat, torture and kill thousands of adherents of a peaceful, nonviolent movement within China, and why would their agents find and harass Falun Gong practitioners in other countries, such as Australia and the U.S.? What is about truthfulness, compassion and tolerance that frightens the thugs in Beijing so much? It doesn't seem to make any sense.
After considerable thought about these questions, the best answer I can come up with is that the Chinese government hates and fears those who practice truthfulness, compassion and tolerance because they possess none of these characteristics themselves.
Truthfulness? Their whole system is based on lies, and their stubborn lies about their human rights record serve as a continuing reminder of this. One needs only remember the propaganda of the Cultural Revolution, the official account of what happened on June 4, 1999, or their labeling of Falun Gong as dangerous and subversive cult. From Mao to Deng to Jiang to Hu, deceit has been made a hallmark of the Communist leadership in China.
Compassion? I have seen the photographs of Falun Gong practitioners bloodied and mangled by Chinese police baton. I have hears the stories of North Korean asylum-seekers being forced to return to prison, torture and execution because the Chinese government insists on calling them "economic migrants" rather than refugees. If that's compassion, I'm not having any.
And Tolerance? Don't take me laugh. A tolerant society allows freedom of expression and freedom of worship. It allows differences of opinions and allows them to be voiced publicly. At the very least, in a tolerant society, the leaders do not arrest, torture and kill peaceful citizens who have committed no crimes. One need only ask the members of the Protestant house churches, or the Buddhists of Tibet, or the Uighur Muslims, or the dissident community advocating for democracy and human rights, or those who practice Falun Gong, if they consider the present regime in Beijing to be a tolerant one. The answer would come back a resounding "No!"
I am honored to be here today to represent Jubilee Campaign. We are an international nongovernmental organization whose primary purpose is o promote religious freedom around the world. We do so by advocating on behalf of religious minorities in various countries with the U.S. government, the UN and diplomats from offending governments. We are primarily Christian - I am an ordained American Baptist minister myself - but we do not restrict our efforts only to Christians. We understand that there is no such thing as religious freedom for only a few. That is the lie that has led to tyranny so many times throughout world history, and is so easy to see across the globe today. Freedom must be for all, or it is not freedom.
I stand here today in the shadow of the Capitol Dome, one of the enduring symbols of what a truly free government and society should and can be, and join those gathered here today in declaring that China must stop persecuting those who seek to explore the realms of the spirit as their consciences dictate. Religious freedom is one of the most fundamental of human freedoms, and China must guarantee their citizens that right. Depending on your perspective, I am either audacious or naïve enough to believe that the day is coming when truthfulness, compassion and tolerance will win out over tyranny. As Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. once said, "The arc of history is long, but it bends toward justice." Let us board that train together.
Thank you.
Original file: http://minghui.tv/pics/0006/Jul/27/JubileeCampaign_RobertTurner.pdf
