(Minghui.org) A staff member of a certain branch of the 610 Office recently wrote to Minghui editors seeking an answer to a question about the karmic retribution he had been told might befall him and his coworkers. Below is the reader's letter to the editors and the reply of Minghui.org. (Editor's Note: the 610 Office is an extralegal police organization directed by top level Party officials tasked with managing the persecution of Falun Gong in local areas all over China)
Minghui editors:
Greetings. I was transferred to the 610 Office and have to work directly on Falun Gong issues. I came across Falun Gong many years ago by chance. I stopped practicing it myself after it was banned. People at my age are obedient in general.
I didn't have any deep impressions of Falun Gong before this job change. Although I have criticized the Chinese Communist Party for its corruption, I haven't hated the Party. I thought the Party had done some good things, for example canceling taxes for farmers, healthcare coverage for farmers, and increasing salaries for workers.
After I began working at the 610 Office, a relative often talked to me about the karmic retribution Party officials and others might receive for persecuting Falun Gong. He gave me quite a few examples, including those of top level officials such as Bo Xilai and Wang Lijun. I don't want to get into the conflict with Falun Gong, but don't want to take part in any activities against the Party...
My relative told me again and again – cause and effect, karma. I'm a bit anxious about it and not sure what to do. I told him to stop... He gave me an example of the Chinese character 爆 (that means “explode” in English). He told me that the character meant that whoever joined the Party (the middle component of the right half of the character) would be exposed to the sun, flooded by water, and burned by fire (left half of the character). However, my job cannot be changed in a day or two.
He later gave me a software program to circumvent the Party's Internet censorship and asked me to read the Minghui website often. My idea is simple – I don't want to be a part of Falun Gong, but I'm not against the Party, either. I just want to lead a simple office worker life. I won't encounter the karmic retribution, will I?
I hope to obtain a satisfactory answer from you.
Wishing you health and happiness!
November 1, 2014
Dear Sir:
We feel for you after we read your letter. True, we all face choices in our lives. There's nothing wrong to want promotions, jobs, and a just life. However, the unique society in mainland China has put you in a position of conflict with many people.
You wrote hoping for a satisfactory answer, so we will try to offer you some input. It may not resolve your question in its entirety, but we hope that our reply provides our perspective, for your reference.
If you think it makes sense, you may make use of our input. If you don't think it makes sense, please understand that we mean no harm.
Let's think about your question from three perspectives: law, morality, and humanity.
1. Law
Article 35 and 36 of the Chinese Constitution stipulate that Chinese citizens have freedom of speech and freedom of belief. However, the CCP controls the government and knowingly violates the law and illegally persecutes Falun Gong practitioners.
Falun Gong is a cultivation method with the principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance. It has spread to over 100 countries and regions such as Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan. The rest of the world supports the practice, yet it is unfortunately persecuted in its country of origin: China.
The persecution is an open disgrace to the Chinese Constitution, isn't it? Isn't assigning you to a job – one that forces people to give up their beliefs in Falun Gong – putting you in a position of conflict with a lot of people? Putting you in the position of violating the Constitution?
2. Morality
Suggesting that people renounce their membership in Chinese communist organizations is not making politics. It is calling for the morality of Chinese people. Our ancestors talk highly about keeping one's promises. How can we take seriously people who don't take their own promises seriously?
Imagine that your grandson becomes an elementary student. He returned home from school and said, “Grandpa. I have fooled others with my vow and come back with a red scarf (the uniform worn by the Party's Young Pioneers). Are you going to reply, “My child, good job! I did the same when I was your age.”
We should set good examples for our children, right? When you gave your vow to give your life to the Party, sacrifice your life for the Party and fight for it for the rest of your life, did you mean it? Could you really take responsibility for it?
Many people have published statements to renounce the vows they gave when joining the Party. Such statements can be made using an alias since it is your heart that matters the most.
You can retract your vow to be a part of the CCP and sign it with a nickname or alias. Take back your conscience and be a Chinese citizen of upstanding morality – one who says what he means and means what he says.
In this way, if a day of karmic retribution comes, you won't be a part of it because you have a clean conscience!
3. Humanity
There's nothing wrong for an individual to want promotions, bonuses, and to make a living. However, as a public official, it is fundamentally right or wrong whether you can act based on the Constitution and not bully the citizens you are supposed to serve.
We often face difficult choices. The difficulties come from the conflicts between personal gain, emotions, and morality and conscience. It's normal to want to “have my cake and eat it too,” but humanity requires that we handle the basic right and wrong and protect our conscience.
As for politics, we all know that no Chinese people, having gone through so many communist campaigns, would like to die for politics. Then, why do so many people want to question the Party regarding the issue of Falun Gong? Because they have truly benefited.
Independent thinking is very important. China's society is rather deformed: what the government allows may not be good things; many things that the government disallows are not bad things.
We think the following two phenomena prove that Falun Gong provides self-improvement in mind and body: the fact that people from many ethnicities all over the world practice Falun Gong, and that so many people persevere in their practice despite the long-term brutalities of the persecution.
Even if one doesn't understand what Falun Gong is, one should respect it. This is a basic aspect of humanity.
Here's what we suggest:
Choices are out of context if standards are not set before the choice is made. The standard we suggest is: use history as a reference.
Almost every role one could play has been played out in history. People like Qin Hui (the person who framed and killed Yue Fei, a famous general in Chinese history) and his men all received karmic retribution. Those who pretended to be sick or incompetent and guarded their conscience and didn't participate in doing bad deeds had good endings. Those who withstood the pressure and spoke up for the persecuted were rewarded in the end.
The CCP's days are numbered. This is common knowledge in China. If Jiang Zemin, the head of the CCP who began the persecution in 1999, knew that he would meet with Falun Gong wherever he went outside of China and be brought to justice for his crimes, he would not have dared to start it at all! But the clock cannot be rolled back. He knows now how it feels to be the target of public outrage.
No matter where you choose to live and work, we hope that you can respect the Constitution and be a law-biding citizen.
No matter which choice you make, we hope you can send us your nickname or alias. We will help you denounce your CCP membership and retract your vow to the Party. You didn't mean it. This is for your benefit and the benefit of your future generations. Isn't it a great thing to do?
Minghui editorsNovember 7, 2014