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Stepping into the Uncanny, Unsettling World of Shen Yun

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Re: Stepping into the Uncanny, Unsettling World of Shen Yun

#61

Post by chillacy »

dionian wrote: post #59
pthomas551 wrote: post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Shen Yun is run by Falun Gong, which is a Scientology-like cult. Their followers may be heavily oppressed in China, which is wrong, but it's still a cult. We're not talking about traditional performers who fled during the Cultural Revolution or something.

The CCP is 10x the cult that FLG could ever dream of being. Stop lapping up/repeating the antiFLG propaganda. Yes they have some weird philosophical beliefs, at least they are pro-love and anti-torture.

But anti homosexual love, just to be clear.

Here's the article's quote that I think sums it all up:

> The fact that both Falun Gong and the Communist Party communicate via propaganda makes it almost impossible to understand what’s really happening

Re: Stepping into the Uncanny, Unsettling World of Shen Yun

#62

Post by IOT_Apprentice »

The Chinese government does not need or want a "Taiping Rebellion" equivalent to that of the infamous Hong Xiuquan -- which was the largest war in human history in terms of casualties and destruction. So to them, Falun Gong and it's leader represent that kind of threat, once it reached tens of millions in size. That is orders of magnitude larger than the student protests in Tiananmen, and that was brutally suppressed. Totalitarian regimes are going to be just that, brutal/monsterous and unforgiving.

Re: Stepping into the Uncanny, Unsettling World of Shen Yun

#63

Post by youeseh »

Glyptodon wrote: post #54
vernie wrote: post #18

I urge anyone who likes weird stuff to not read this or anything else about the show and go see it immediately.

Yeah, I'm interested in seeing it in a "I like roadside attractions and pulpy weird stuff" kind of way, but not at the price they charge for tickets.

Hey, you might even get away with asking for a free ticket! I remember walking in by mistake and an old lady on her way out promptly asked if we wanted to see it - she was very excited. I was just there to check out the theater itself. Five minutes later we were in the theater, watching the thing, trying to find ways to leave without offending the nice lady who'd just given us free tickets to the show :)

Re: Stepping into the Uncanny, Unsettling World of Shen Yun

#64

Post by Apocryphon »

IOT_Apprentice wrote: post #62

The Chinese government does not need or want a "Taiping Rebellion" equivalent to that of the infamous Hong Xiuquan -- which was the largest war in human history in terms of casualties and destruction. So to them, Falun Gong and it's leader represent that kind of threat, once it reached tens of millions in size. That is orders of magnitude larger than the student protests in Tiananmen, and that was brutally suppressed…

The Taiping movement sprung up during the failing days of the Qing when governance was declining and life for the common people worsened, so maybe the PRC government should focus on fixing that first before torturing dissidents

Re: Stepping into the Uncanny, Unsettling World of Shen Yun

#65

Post by Pharmakon »

Apocryphon wrote: post #64
IOT_Apprentice wrote: post #62

The Chinese government does not need or want a "Taiping Rebellion" equivalent to that of the infamous Hong Xiuquan -- which was the largest war in human history in terms of casualties and destruction. So to them, Falun Gong and it's leader represent that kind of threat, once it reached tens of millions in size. That is orders of magnitude larger than the student protests in Tiananmen, and that was brutally suppressed…

The Taiping movement sprung up during the failing days of the Qing when governance was declining and life for the common people worsened, so maybe the PRC government should focus on fixing that first before torturing dissidents

Making life better for hundreds of millions of people is a very hard problem. Crushing dissent with terror and violence by contrast is relatively simple. It’s no wonder that tyrants tend to the latter and only the former as it impacts their greatest sources of support. In other words, Kim Jong-Un only worries about the population of Pyongyang elites, especially the military, and feels free to let the rest starve or rot in a camp.

Re: Stepping into the Uncanny, Unsettling World of Shen Yun

#66

Post by solidsnack9000 »

I'm surprised that an article like this does not mention the long history of religious-revolutionary movements in China. Just a few:

0184 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yellow_Turban_Rebellion

1351 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Turban_Rebellion

1794 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_Lotus_Rebellion

These rebellions usually have a frame story of an ancient way of life founded on people's harmony with nature and one another. Because the government operates at variance with this harmony, the government is not legitimate and must be replaced.

Francis Fukuyama talks at length about the "Mandate of Heaven" concept and its impact on legitimacy in China in his recent books.

Re: Stepping into the Uncanny, Unsettling World of Shen Yun

#67

Post by forkLding »

HillaryBriss wrote: post #32
forkLding wrote: post #13

For those who don't know, Falun Gong is perceived like the Chinese version of Scientology in China, although a lot of injustice was done to Falun Gong followers and most of their assets frozen, there isn't much sympathy for them and they're typically regarded as a bit weird, believing in Qi, faith healing and all that.

is believing in Qi a fringe belief in China nowadays?

In general, its not really a fringe belief and there are whole communities, typically older folks who believe in it. However those that severely believe in Qi's ability to heal and all that can be seen as slightly wacky or "traditionally religious".

Re: Stepping into the Uncanny, Unsettling World of Shen Yun

#68

Post by forkLding »

HillaryBriss wrote: post #32
forkLding wrote: post #13

For those who don't know, Falun Gong is perceived like the Chinese version of Scientology in China, although a lot of injustice was done to Falun Gong followers and most of their assets frozen, there isn't much sympathy for them and they're typically regarded as a bit weird, believing in Qi, faith healing and all that.

is believing in Qi a fringe belief in China nowadays?

In general its not really a fringe belief and there are whole communities, typically older folks who believe in it. However those that severely believe in Qi's ability to heal and all that can be seen as slightly wacky or "traditionally religious".

Re: Stepping into the Uncanny, Unsettling World of Shen Yun

#69

Post by iknowordidthat »

perennate wrote: post #34
crankylinuxuser wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You know, they can both be bad. Just because a government does bad things to a group, doesn't mean the group is now good. Doesn't mean they're bad either.

I disagree with their beliefs, but to me, committing genocide is a few steps above teaching that homosexuality is immoral. But that could just be because I grew up in a country where freedom of speech is stressed in society, maybe in China murdering thousands of people who follow a "weird" ideology is not considered "bad". Mostly I was responding to using "injustice" instead of e.g. "violent persecution" and implying…

> I disagree with their beliefs, but to me, committing genocide is a few steps above teaching that homosexuality is immoral.

Don’t mistake lack of opportunity for lack of will. Nutty ideologies are ‘harmless’ till they have an opportunity to act on their nuttiness.

Re: Stepping into the Uncanny, Unsettling World of Shen Yun

#70

Post by SampleBourgeois »

solidsnack9000 wrote: post #66

I'm surprised that an article like this does not mention the long history of religious-revolutionary movements in China. Just a few: 0184 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yellow_Turban_Rebellion 1351 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Turban_Rebellion 1794 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_Lotus_Rebellion These rebellions usually have a frame story of an ancient way of life founded on people's harmony with nature and o…

Don't forget the biggest of them all, the Taiping Rebellion

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taiping_Rebellion

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