on shen yun, falun gong, and the church of scientology
i saw my first shen yun advert of the season today
someone hung a huge 11x17 poster on my workplace's corkboard using the pin that was previously holding up my free narcan resource pamphlet
sigh.
this propoganda machine disguised as an extravagant dance performance is put on by falun gong, a cult founded by Master Li Hongzhi in the early 1990's. Followers of Li consider him to be 'godlike,' which is understandable considering he claims to have supernatural powers that YOU can achieve too with a bit of light stretching and meditation (!!!) For reference; Master Li also owns the epoch times which is quickly becoming one of the most influential far-right news sources on the web today.
fun fact: i live a stone's throw from the international spiritual headquarters of the church of scientology!
yknow, i think Li Hongzhi and L. Ron Hubbard would've been great friends. they both rejected evolution, medicine, homosexuality, and belived in curing ailments with ritual, tax evasion, and trapping their followers via spiritual and financial abuse! besties ♥ !!
i work a retail job in a health food store that is a hotspot for sinos (read: scientologists) and new age spiritualists. most people wander in for a quick snack, but as soon as someone asks me for fresh pressed celery juice and homeopathicDr. BergGUT CLEANSE pellets i hear warning bells in my head. i'd wager that 90% of the people i interact with on a daily basis belong to scientology, falun gong, or just follow too many radicalized 'crunchy' housewife influencers online.
did you know: scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard was a follower of Aleister Crowley and performed thelemic sex magick rituals with american rocketry pioneer, Jack Parsons in order to summon him a girlfriend! (so cute!)
as someone that struggles with derealization, my proximity to batshit crazy(extreme tw) tests me daily.
stay safe and stay sane friends.