[Selected Opinion Articles] Why Do Falun Gong Practitioners in China Risk Their Lives Raising Awareness of the Persecution?

(Minghui.org) During the 23-year-long persecution of Falun Gong in China, some people have had a hard time understanding why Falun Gong practitioners would risk their lives to clarify the defamatory propaganda perpetrated by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). “If you think Falun Gong is good, then just stay home and practice it. Why do you bother going out asking for trouble?” some may say.

Such thinking is understandable given the CCP’s brutal retaliation against anyone who does not align with its ideology. Many of those people who advised practitioners to just practice their faith secretly at home actually know that practitioners are kind and law-abiding. It’s just that they don’t believe that it’s worth fighting for one’s right to freedom of belief under the rule of the CCP, as raising awareness of the persecution would almost certainly result in harassment, arrest, imprisonment, or torture. They wondered why practitioners didn’t know to protect themselves?

Self-Protection vs. Integrity

Since seizing power in 1949, the CCP has launched one political campaign after another to maintain its rule. Through land reform and public-private partnership in the 1950s, it seized land and capital from the people. After intellectuals were intimidated and silenced in the Anti-Rightist Movement (1957 – 1959), few people dared to challenge the CCP during the havoc of the Cultural Revolution (1966 – 1976). The CCP’s brutality continued during the 1989 Tiananmen Square Massacre and now the persecution of Falun Gong.

When the general public remains silent when innocent people are being targeted by the CCP, the regime achieves its goal of instilling fear in the hearts of the people. To further its agenda, the CCP also mobilizes the general public by spreading hate propaganda to target those it intends to eliminate. Such a playbook has been repeated numerous times during the various political campaigns.

To protect themselves, many Chinese have learned to stay silent in the face of the CCP’s authoritarian rule and turned to just enjoying their own lives without a care for the injustices going on in society.

Such a mindset of self-protection contradicts traditional values. Mencius, a student of Confucius, once said, “Life is what I want. Righteousness is what I want. If one cannot gain both of them at the same time, I will give up life and choose righteousness.”

Sima Qian, the author of Shi Ji (Records of the Grand Historian), also wrote, “A human being will die anyway. The value of his life could be heavier than Mount Tai or lighter than a feather, depending on how he is making use of it.” That is, following one’s principles is a virtue well respected since ancient times.

While most Chinese do not dare to speak up and protest the CCP’s brutality, Falun Gong practitioners are a beacon of light in today’s China as they are courageous enough to stand up for what they believe.

A Path Forward

Consistent with traditional Chinese culture, Falun Gong practitioners are faithful to their belief in Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance, which is why they choose to speak up against the CCP’s persecution of Falun Gong even though doing so could endanger their own lives.

Ms. Wang Meiling, a practitioner from Yunnan Province, was sentenced to three and half years in prison in late 2020 for her belief in Falun Gong. She said, “Many people have been blessed after they came to see the illegality of the persecution and the greatness of Falun Gong. Some saw their health restored and relationships improved, while others resolved their challenges at work. Amidst the pandemic, it has become even more important for us practitioners to help the public see through the CCP’s deceit and lies so they can be blessed and live safe, healthy, and happy lives.”

Since ancient times, there has been a belief in the harmony between heaven, earth, and mankind. This belief is even more important today. When a person sides with the atheistic CCP, they will face consequences when the time comes to bring the CCP to justice for the crimes it has committed against innocent people. However, when a person chooses what is righteous and supports Falun Gong and quits the CCP, they will be blessed by the divine instead of sinking with the CCP. Falun Gong practitioners firmly believe that raising awareness of the persecution will help people break free from the grip of the CCP and have a bright future. That is why they risk their lives to clarify the facts to the general public.