Wednesday, September 4, 2019

Pro-Trump, Homophobic Falun Gong Cult Faces Boycotts Of Their "Epoch Times" & "Shen Yun" Performance Troupe

The Falun Gong is a religious cult (based on qigong and Daoist traditions), whose members have suffered discrimination in China, and who often appear in public in the U.S. and Europe to protest Chinese government policies against them.


Many people who advocate for democracy in China (and places currently dominated by China), such as supporters of the Tibetans and the (Muslim) Uighurs are quite familiar with the Falun Gong. While we may have thought they were unusual, we still supported their right to practice their belief in China without harassment.


Falun Gong founder Li Hongzhi, who now lives in New York, has decided to throw the considerable weight of his movement to support U.S. President Trump (who he apparently sees as essentially a divine agent of change, who will thwart the will of Chinese Communist government, leading to increased power for the Falun Gong movement).

Supporting Trump was a huge tactical and moral mistake.

That's why activists are calling for a boycott against The Epoch Times and Shen Yun (the Chinese performance troupe), both owned and controlled by the Falun Gong.

You may have noticed dozens of YouTube ads recently for The Epoch Times, formerly known as a free newspaper of little consequence, now a full-on MAGA Pro-Trump internet-based "news" outlet, promoting even the bizarre QAnon conspiracy. I have taken to blocking the many annoying Epoch Times ads on YouTube. The Epoch Times spent over $1.5 million on these ads. Facebook banned The Epoch Times from advertising on their platform after numerous examples of deceptive practices.

"Li has been open about his beliefs that evolution is fraudulent, that people of different races will be separated in Heaven, and that homosexuality and promiscuity are unnatural. He told Time that aliens were attempting to control humans by making us dependent on modern science..." (New Yorker)




One of Falun Gong's biggest Western outreach is the Shen Yun performance troupe, which tries to mask its links to the cult.

Activists have called for a boycott against the Falun Gong's Epoch Times and Shen Yun to protest their support for Mr. Trump. I support that call 100%.

Related articles:

Trump, QAnon and an impending judgment day: Behind the Facebook-fueled rise of The Epoch Times

Facebook bans ads from The Epoch Times after huge pro-Trump buy

New Yorker: Stepping Into the Uncanny, Unsettling World of Shen Yun

UPDATE: October 2019, Steve Bannon Teams Up For Film With Falun Gong, a Chinese Group That Thinks Trump Will Bring on End-Times



What will be less clear to OANN’s viewers is that the movie’s funder, digital video company New Tang Dynasty, is closely tied to a spiritual movement that reportedly believes Donald Trump, Bannon’s former boss, will help usher in the end times.
New Tang Dynasty is part of the Epoch Media Group, a collection of far-right media outlets linked to Falun Gong, a Chinese spiritual movement that has been repressed by the Chinese government. The group’s members apparently now see Trump’s presidency and Chinese trade war as a fateful moment. 

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