[BRIEF NOTE] Convictions
Jun. 22nd, 2007 11:57 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
rfmcdonaldEarlier today, someone reading my post on the Falun Gong in Toronto from Australia left a comment in defense of the Falun Gong which read, in part, as follows: "I will say this Falun Gong is not homophobic . We have gay people coming to learn the practice and soon they realize they are no longer gay. It happens not thru any pursuit but if someone comes to genuinely learn the cultivation way of Falun Gong they will have their body and mind cleaned up."
Besides noting that the concept of ex-gay is annoying regardless of the specific religious tradition and commending the blog Ex-Gay Watch, it's worthwhile to note that agents of the CCP presumably hadn't managed to infiltrate Toronto Falun Gong so as to produce Falun Gong flyers critizing Descartes. It seems that this group's problems with Descartes stems from his embrace of substance dualism that separated mind from matter, thus creating an environment that allowed for religion's marginalization. This, the paper found via the frst link in the previous sentence, incidentally, seems to be a bad thing since Falun Gong practitioners apparently can manipulate their DNA through meditation.
It's worth repeating that the Chinese state's persecution of the Falun Gong is abhorrent. It's also worth repeating that the Falun Gong are homophobic and follow religious dogmas which aren't particualrly worthy of respect. Protesting the ill-treatment of Falun Gong followers in China is all well and good--human rights apply to everyone, not only the people you or I might like, after all. Following the Falun Gong leadership in protesting the actions of the Chinese government is, in my humble opinion, a dumb idea. OK?
Besides noting that the concept of ex-gay is annoying regardless of the specific religious tradition and commending the blog Ex-Gay Watch, it's worthwhile to note that agents of the CCP presumably hadn't managed to infiltrate Toronto Falun Gong so as to produce Falun Gong flyers critizing Descartes. It seems that this group's problems with Descartes stems from his embrace of substance dualism that separated mind from matter, thus creating an environment that allowed for religion's marginalization. This, the paper found via the frst link in the previous sentence, incidentally, seems to be a bad thing since Falun Gong practitioners apparently can manipulate their DNA through meditation.
It's worth repeating that the Chinese state's persecution of the Falun Gong is abhorrent. It's also worth repeating that the Falun Gong are homophobic and follow religious dogmas which aren't particualrly worthy of respect. Protesting the ill-treatment of Falun Gong followers in China is all well and good--human rights apply to everyone, not only the people you or I might like, after all. Following the Falun Gong leadership in protesting the actions of the Chinese government is, in my humble opinion, a dumb idea. OK?
