Screenshot from the game 'Call of Duty 4' The point of view is from the President of a fictitious Middle Eastern Country about to get executed by a Coup leader. I was going to use the famous Vietnam War picture but decided that was a bit graphic. Here is the modern digital version.
A faith must be true if a man/woman can die for it. Because why would someone die for something which isn't true?
I used to have problems refuting that argument (having forgotten Jonestown etc...) then I came across the story of Falun Gong.
To summarize it pithily, its like dying for Super Jogging. Which is much better for your health than regular jogging! But wait! That's not all! Since it is so much better than jogging for you it should be made a religion! A Religion that should spread and help everyone! But the government keeps denying that we should be a religion. Lets mass protest outside their residences! Yeah, that'll show them! Oh hey, why are they coming and beating the living crap out of us, in this country with its long history of violent overthrow by disgruntled peasantry? Could it be they don't like people who can organize mobs?
There used to be some sympathy for the Falun Gong members but those who die because they refuse to recant their beliefs are absolutely puzzling. Its not even good stuff. The leader of the group has stated on the official website in a lovely lecture to the US group (and other lectures in other countries) that science is not scientific. I quote: "The reason is, as I have discussed on many occasions, this science is itself actually not scientific. It is merely something imposed on man by aliens, something that has penetrated the entire society and pervaded it in every respect. Since you are in the midst of it, you certainly can’t tell what it is all about." [Link Below]
People have died for this guy? It really is mind boggling to think that. The next mind boggling thing would be the immolation incident. Where 7 people lit themselves on fire to protest the unfair treatment of Falun Dafa. The group has since claimed that the immolation was a hoax by the Chinese Government. That is some counter claim. I mean, any government that has people working for it that are that loyal is seriously a government to be feared. If you take the Falun claims to be true; 7 people working for the government immolated themselves so that the government could sully the good name of Falun Dafa. Wow... yeah. That makes sense. Also, pigs have wings and are actually considered fowl. If the sarcasm here isn't apparent, let me state that the Falun counterclaim does not make any sense at all. When discrediting an organization, a good idea is that you don't kill your own agents in the process. For some reason, employees do not enjoy it when part of the job description includes setting yourself on fire just for a PR war. Weird eh? Someone call CERN to investigate that.
[Sources below]
"Would/could someone die for something that wasn't true?" Would have been the title if I didn't think it would be so long winded. The answer is "yes". Not only can someone die for something that isn't true. They will refuse to recant until death even if the belief involves Aliens from outer space; that modern medicine doesn't work; and that people have levitated using Qi. You might as well be tortured to death for believing that helium cures cancer. Because hey, why not eh? Dying for one retarded reason is as good as the other. If anyone can come up with even more retarded causes to die do leave a comment, or send a email.
Is the torture and human rights abuse justifiable? No. Not at all. But does the group leader bear responsibility in inciting this entire human rights mess? Absolutely. For his delusional view of the world, people die. He may not be the one who eventually tortured them to death, but his guilt is just the same as the torturer inflicting the mortal wounds.
Man, I used to think you guys were a bunch of people with a rough deal. But no, its worse than that. A bunch of f***ers causing people to die just so the movement is recognized as a Religion. Looking for the tax break eh fellas?
[Legal advice on defamation lazily taken from the Season One, Episode One of Bullshit! By Penn and Teller. I know, should have researched that myself. I'm on holiday dammit]
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Lecture to US Group on Falun Dafa (I assume this really is the group's genuine website):
http://www.falundafa.org/book/eng/lectures/19990221L.html [Keyword Aliens =D]
Sources on Immolation Incident:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tiananmen_Square_self-immolation_incident
http://www.facts.org.cn/Feature/tsi/2/200708/t61128.htm
http://www.cultnews.com/index.php/2006/04/24/shrieking-woman-at-white-house-works-for-falun-gong-run-newspaper/
http://clearwisdom.net/emh/special_column/self-immolation.html
Source for all the other ridiculous nonsense espoused:
http://www.time.com/time/asia/asia/magazine/1999/990510/interview1.html
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