(Minghui.org) The current nationwide “zero-out” campaign has created huge pressure for many Falun Gong practitioners in China. In my view, it is no different from what has happened in the persecution in the last 21 years. All these events test whether a practitioner is steadfast in his or her belief. If they are, nothing will happen, but if not, the evil will pester them endlessly for the purpose of doing harm.
Take Yichang City, Hubei Province as an example. Almost every practitioner was recently harassed. The cases were especially serious in Wujia District. The key perpetrators include a Party Secretary surnamed Zhang and Ye Bing, a section chief at the district police station.
I heard each officer who participated in the harassment would be given a bonus if they managed to force a practitioner to sign a statement renouncing his or her belief. Thus, many officers worked together and repeatedly harassed practitioners to maximize their reward. If they couldn't force the practitioners to give up their belief, they would threaten practitioners’ families and try to force them to sign the statements on the practitioners’ behalf. This reminds me of what happened in the first two years of persecution–everything was exactly the same.
Here is what one practitioner has experienced.
Staff from the local residential committee and police officers repeatedly came to the practitioner’s home to harass her. At the beginning, the practitioner was very firm and made it clear that she refused to sign the document.
The agents went to threaten her son: “If your mother refuses to sign, you will be fired and your kid will be expelled from school.” Her son was scared and came back home to make a scene with his mother and said many hurtful things. The practitioner was still unmoved. Then, her son threatened that if she didn't sign the document, his whole family would commit suicide. The practitioner’s husband also joined their son and started to beat her. Finally, the practitioner signed the statement to renounce Falun Gong.
However, this was just the beginning. Soon, those people told her to sign a “repentance statement” for practicing Falun Gong. Her husband realized that something was wrong and asked them to leave. Then he went to question the director of the residential committee, “Why are you harassing my wife endlessly?” the director couldn’t answer but only tried to calm him down.
After the practitioner’s husband came back home, he told her, “You should not sign that document. Now they’re taking it as if you did something wrong and are harassing us endlessly.” The practitioner replied, “If you hadn't sided with them and forced me to sign the initial document, would I have signed it?”
The residential committee director continued to harass the practitioner’s son and daughter-in-law and tried to persuade them to shoot a video to slander Falun Gong and persuade other practitioners to renounce their faith.
Another practitioner went through a similar ordeal, with his wife and son pressured by local officials to persuade him to renounce his faith. When he refused to sign the statements, his son blamed him for causing trouble for the family. He clarified the facts about Falun Dafa to local officials and police, but they kept coming at him.
It’s very clear that the evil wouldn’t stop going after the practitioners even if they sign the statements to renounce Falun Gong. Seeing that the practitioners have compromised as a result of intimidation, the evil would continue to pressure them into writing more statements and repentance letters. If the practitioners fall into the traps and make more mistakes one after another, it would be harder and harder for them to make up for it.
The Fa-rectification has reached its final stage. There will be fewer and fewer opportunities for us to transcend our humanness. For those who haven’t done well in their cultivation, let’s take the harassment as opportunities to cultivate ourselves. Only when we see through the persecution and have rock-solid faith can we withstand and break free from the harassment.