In 64 AD, there was a horrendous fire in the ancient city of Rome. Americans and other Westerners will recall this as "Nero fiddled while Rome burned," which comes from the accounts that Nero, an accomplished musician, was rumored to have used this tragic occasion to sing of the destruction of Troy in comparison to this fire, thereby making rather gruesome use of the dramatic scene around him. Another rumor said that Nero had the fire set in order to clear Rome for space to build monuments to the glory of his reign. In order to squelch these rumors, he searched for a scapegoat and started a vicious persecution of the early Christians, who had just arrived in Rome. Several were rounded up, tortured and they then in turn gave up their fellow believers, leading to the first mass persecution of that incipient religion. They were charged not so much with having set the fires, but with the absurdity of "hating the human race" and subjected to inhuman atrocities in the Arena. Although historians have not been able to confirm the rumors about Nero, an intelligent person must wonder why he would search for a scapegoat unless to assuage feelings of guilt and to distract attention from the true cause.
In 2001, a fire took place in Bejing's Tiananmen Square, which was due to a similar search for a scapegoat, to cover up the fact that the political party in charge no longer held the hearts of its people. But this time it can be substantiated that the despot in charge, not Nero but the equally depraved Jiang Zemin, did resort to the fabrication so as to win political points and justify his accusation of Falun Gong, the alleged "scapegoat" for all his problems (see Clearwisdom website for discussions of the "self-immolation incident"). As happened in ancient times, innocent and good people are being victimized by the ruthlessness of a man mad with power and willing to commit evil deeds to hold onto it.
Nero's reign of terror ended in a way that may just very well be repeated in our day. Although the Roman populace initially fell for the propaganda that the Christians were deservedly being persecuted, after a while it became apparent that it was only Nero's personal vendetta that was behind the cruelty, not any real threat to the public. This came about mainly because Nero went beyond the bounds of merely meting out justice and took a personal role in the "sport" of killing those he had unjustly accused, which finally led most Romans to be repulsed and to view the Christians as unfairly maligned. In the words of the famous historian Tacitus, "For this cause a feeling of compassion arose towards the sufferers, though guilty and deserving of exemplary capital punishment (sic!), because they seemed not to be cut off for the public good, but were victims of the ferocity of one man." Essentially, it became clear to the ancient Romans that Nero's torturing and killing of Christians had gone too far and no longer warranted their support.
But in our day the burning only took place in Tiananmen Square, for the rest of Beijing is in the process of being rebuilt as a modern city in order to host the 2008 Olympic games. So the power-crazed ruler in this instance is attempting to benefit by presenting a false face to the rest of the world. The question is, will he succeed? Or will his citizens' sensibility return and lead to the cessation of such heinous barbarities? Blaming the innocent for one's own shortcomings is one of the worst acts a rational human can do. It didn't do Nero any good and will not benefit Jiang Zemin either.
What ultimately became of Nero? Like Jiang, he put too much emphasis on show at the cost of corruption and let the management of the empire decay. This led to financial and political upheaval and Nero lost the support of the Roman army. He eventually committed suicide by the sword as his pursuers closed in, ostensibly merely to arrest him. He knew very well his own guilt.
So, Jiang, now you know the verdict of history. I am simply a Dafa cultivator and not as you have accused "a tool of the overseas forces" and I only can speak the truth. How can you suppose that you will be able to escape what's coming to you? Nero was the all-powerful Emperor and, having descended from the noble Caesars, even regarded as a Deity. What are you but the heir to an outdated Marxism system that has already been swept from the stage of history and in no way are you worthy of any of your predecessors. From this brief analysis of Nero's Rome, we Dafa cultivators feel that history is on our side and that good will triumph over evil. But we will always view events with "Zhen-Shan-Ren" or Truthfulness, Benevolence, Forbearance, and if you cease your persecution and restore the honor of Dafa and Li Hongzhi, we will forgive you as you will then know, as we do now, that the power of Dafa is boundless. The choice is yours: Disgrace throughout History or the Benevolence of Dafa!
By A Western Practitioner
References:
"Nero Persecutes The Christians, 64 A.D.," EyeWitness - history through the eyes of those who lived it, www.ibiscom.com (2000).
"The Burning of Rome, 64 AD," EyeWitness - history through the eyes of those who lived it, www.ibiscom.com (1999)
http://cyberfair.gsn.org/citrag/roma/doc/history/est_415.htm