global access and international membership possibilities with which the Internet can provide the Falun Gong. For a country which had traditionally been so cut-off from the rest of the world, this was a frightening prospect. Also unnerving, the membership numbers of Falun Gong (according to the movement itself yet denied by the government) had exceeded that of the Communist Party, and it was also rumoured that members of the Communist Party had joined the Falun Gong themselves. Perhaps the most contentious feature of the Falun Gong movement was its focus on spirituality. This directly contravened the Chinese government’s atheist principles.
THE FUTURE FOR THE FALUN GONG?
Some believe that although the Falun Gong has won a lot of favour globally, the government will eventually win over and the movement will disintegrate. Currently, it is believed that China has arrested tens of thousands of Falun Gong members, and sent over 5,000 to labour camps without trial. The precedent set by the Falun Gong cannot be destroyed though, and if the movement itself does crumble under the enormous governmental pressure, it is thought that in its place more religious and spiritual movements will rise up as Chinese citizens strive to challenge communist dictates and look for meaning and guidance through the meditation and exercise which the Falun Gong promoted.
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© 2010 Omnipress Limited
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This 2010 edition published by Canary Press
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All rights reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-907795-29-9
Canary Press
An Imprint of Omnipress Ltd
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Typeset in Great Britain by Omnipress Limited
Cover and internal design: Anthony Prudente
Table of Contents
Title Page
Contents
Introduction
SECTION ONE: CULT SUICIDES
The Heaven’s Gate UFO Cult
David Koresh
The Order of the Solar Temple
Movement for the Restoration of the Ten Commandments
Reverend Jim Jones
Siberian Satanist Cult
SECTION TWO: CULT KILLINGS
Adolfo de Jesus Constanzo
The Kirtland Killings
Aum Shinrikyo
Luke Woodham
Charles Manson
The LeBarons
The Jombola Cult
The Lafferty Brothers’ Message from God
The Ku Klux Klan
The Thugs of India
Roch Theriault
Francisco Bezerra de Morais
Yahweh Ben Yahweh
SECTION THREE: CAUSE FOR CONCERN?
Twelve Tribes
Falun Gong
Copyright
