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Wednesday, February 8, 2012

Chinese Government Asks City Council Members to Avoid "Heretical" Theater Performance

Posted by on Wed, Feb 8, 2012 at 6:26 PM

From today's mailbag:

falunoopsie068.jpg

Everyone's a critic!

 

Comments (18) RSS

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kcrobinson 1
Had to look up Falun Gong to understand what the big deal is. From their Wikipedia page:

Although the practice initially enjoyed considerable support from Chinese officialdom, by the mid- to late-1990s, the Communist Party and public security organs increasingly viewed Falun Gong as a potential threat due to its size, independence from the state, and spiritual teachings ... In October 1999 it declared Falun Gong a "heretical organization" and began banning Internet access to websites that mention Falun Gong. Human rights groups report that Falun Gong practitioners in China are subject to a wide range of human rights abuses; hundreds of thousands are believed to have been imprisoned extrajudicially, and practitioners in detention are subject to forced labor, psychiatric abuse, severe torture, and other coercive methods of thought reform at the hands of Chinese authorities. In the years since the suppression campaign began, Falun Gong adherents have emerged as a prominent voice in the Chinese dissident community, advocating for greater human rights and an end to Communist Party rule.
Posted by kcrobinson http://www.facebook.com/kcrobinson on February 8, 2012 at 7:07 PM
2
I'd love to read the letter they've written to the donors at Intiman.

Dear Foolish Americans,

Since several of you are willing to waste 100,000 at a pop to give to a theater that owes hundreds of thousands of dollars to existing business owners and taxpayers, we were wondering if you had any interest in presenting a new show by the Chinese government....
Posted by One Millionth Comment on February 8, 2012 at 7:24 PM
3
Will Charles Mudede be reviewing? He seems like he could understand what Falun Gong is all about.

Posted by Will not in Seattle on February 8, 2012 at 7:51 PM
sirkowski 4
Everyone's an auto-critique.
Posted by sirkowski http://www.missdynamite.com on February 8, 2012 at 8:35 PM
5
What the F? Is this real?

Does the Chinese government not understand the total and complete lack of sympathy the Seattle city council would have for their mission of censorship?
Posted by Reverius on February 8, 2012 at 9:09 PM
Post_Mortem 6
@5 that is why the letter politely starts out with a reminder of what the Chinese government might take away from Seattle if relations were not so very sunny.
Posted by Post_Mortem http://pointlessman.blogspot.com/ on February 8, 2012 at 10:22 PM
Supreme Ruler Of The Universe 7

Do you think my plan to form a chapter of the Kuomintang here in Kent would cause them distress?
Posted by Supreme Ruler Of The Universe http://yrihf.com on February 8, 2012 at 10:34 PM
8
@5 & @6

Also, the letter doesn't ask for censorship--in some ways surprising, but I guess it means the diplomat knows his shit--it's basically asking either individual members or the local government as a whole to shun FLG and the performance (which until this post I did not realize was affiliated with FLG).
Posted by seatackled on February 8, 2012 at 11:29 PM
9
Well, he's right about most of the practices of Falun Gong, it doesn't excuse the horrible persecution committed by the Chinese government.
Posted by Ziggy66 on February 9, 2012 at 3:58 AM
dirac 10
I'd say there's nothing particularly anti-science about qigong and FLG seems rather benign. The government simply doesn't like the fact that this is not under control of the Party.
Posted by dirac on February 9, 2012 at 5:49 AM
TLjr 11
Evil cult vs. cult of personality.
Posted by TLjr on February 9, 2012 at 6:47 AM
Banna 12
Hmmm...an evil cult that preaches heretical fallacies and exercises exteme mental manipulation on followers, anti-science...I wonder if we could start sending out these notes about international Scientology or Mormon missionaries?
Posted by Banna http://www.ucp.org on February 9, 2012 at 6:52 AM
Max Solomon 13
wasn't the yoga place (now closed) on the harbor steps associated with falun gong?
Posted by Max Solomon on February 9, 2012 at 7:17 AM
Vince 14
We have the same problem here. It's called the Catholic Church. It is better to trust the judgement of your people. We simply cannot block people's artistic expression according to law.
Posted by Vince on February 9, 2012 at 7:40 AM
dirac 15
@14 They're really not analogous at all. AFAIK there is no required submission to an authority in Falun Gong. Also, I'd argue (as a broad generalization!) sectarian identification is not the same between the US and Asia. The amount of syncretism in the West vs. Asia is day and night.
Posted by dirac on February 9, 2012 at 8:58 AM
Chris in Vancouver WA 16
How do you have heresy in a country where there's no religion?
Posted by Chris in Vancouver WA on February 9, 2012 at 9:06 AM
17
@16 Maoism is the religion.
Posted by dirge on February 9, 2012 at 9:17 AM
18
It's interesting that nobody has anything to say about the relationship between FLG and Shen Yun. Since Shen Yun really, really sucks (a Vegas-like knock-off of actual traditional Chinese dance), one wonders if FLG is the reason.
Posted by seerealdanceinstead on February 9, 2012 at 9:27 AM

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