Unexplainable and horrible Stories behind ride2freedom sponsored by controversial religious movement Falun Gong


Falun Gong (aka Falun Dafa) is a religious movement defined as a destructive cult by Chinese authority. Ride2freedom is sponsored by Falun Gong, and participated by 30 high school practitioners. On the website ride2freedom.us, these young students have clarified their reasons for practicing Falun Gong and joining in this activity.

Kristine Feng,15:

Why I practice Falun Gong: I feel that from practicing Falun Gong, I live a very happy, healthy, and fulfilling life. I ride because I want to stop this crime against humanity and save innocent children from this horrible persecution.

Tanner Gao, 13:

Why I practice Falun Gong:I practice Falun Gong because that is the purpose I live by and I think that's the reason to live for to become a better person. It also has health benefits like not to smoke or drink. Identify what you do, good or bad by following Truthfulness, Compassion and Forbearance. I also get to know new people who also practice Falun Gong. I ride because I want to help 5 children at the end of this trip. I know how they feel because my parents got taken away when I was young because they practiced Falun Gong in China.

Aila Verheyke, 11:

Why I practice Falun Gong: Because I was born with it, and it makes me feel happy and it brought my family happiness and good luck. I'm riding because I feel like I really need to help those orphans, because I have a good childhood and I want them to experience the same.

Olivia Zhang, 16:

Why I practice Falun Gong: Falun Gong teaches me how to become a better person through the principles of Truthfulness, Compassion and Forbearance. It has given me good health ever since I was born. I found inner peace through years of cultivation practice. Falun Gong teaches me moral lessons and helps me gain a better understanding of life. I ride because I want to save 5 orphans in China and stop the persecution of Falun Gong. Everyone deserves their human rights and is able to freely believe in their faith.

So, the mission of these kids was boiled down by Ms Sara Effner, the Event Coordinator as following:

Event Coordinator Sara Effner said, "Their final mission is to rescue 5 orphans from China who lost their parents in the persecution of Falun Gong which is a meditation practice that has been brutally persecuted in China since 1999."(http://www.connectmidmissouri.com/news/story.aspx?id=1223876)

What these kids believe is, that practicing Falun Gong can bring "a happy, healthy, and fulfilling life". There are many many magic benefits of practicing Falun Gong can be seen in Falun Gong website of Minhui.org:

When Various Treatments Had No Effect on My Illness, I Discovered the Power of Falun Dafa: After practicing Falun Gong, withdrewing from the CCP (Chinese Communist Party), and reciting "Falun Dafa is good," the author "saw a figure come out of my body and then disappear", and "Three days later, the itching stopped, the redness was gone, and my skin was no longer swollen. All signs of the illness were gone". (http://en.minghui.org/html/articles/2014/3/17/145925.html)

Falun Dafa Saved My Older Brother’s Life and Returned Him to Good Health: a dying heart-attack patient was saved by reciting the words of "Falun Dafa is good".( [en.minghui.org])

Faced with a Miracle, Doctors Said, "Falun Dafa is Good!" : a patient diagnosed with leukemia recovered by reciting the words of "Falun Dafa is good". "I didn't take even one pill and had no injection or a blood transfusion. I just earnestly recited every day the nine lucky words 'Falun Dafa is Good and Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance is good'. The protagonist of this story said.( [en.minghui.org])

In fact, the stories above and the other similar stories on Falun Gong’s websites are almost the same: a desperate patient starts to practice Falun Gong after unsuccessful medical treatment, then miracle happens: he/she begins to get better and finally gets recovered even if no medicine is needed.

So almost all Falun Gong practitioners have such concept of belief healing due to the Karmar theory created by Falun Gong founder Li Hongzhi:

-- On people who are sick: The root cause of their problem and all their misfortune is karma, that black-matter karmic field. ...Those bad beings are also yin in nature, they're all black, and that's why they can come onto the body -- the environment suits them. That's the root cause of people's health problems, it's the chief source of them. Of course, there are two other forms. One of them is really, really small, high-density tiny beings. They're something like a cluster of karma. The other is as if it's transported through a conduit, but it's pretty rare, and all of it is accumulated through the generations.
-- On hospitals: If hospitals couldn't heal, why would people believe in them and go there for treatments? ... It's just that their treatment methods are at ordinary people's level while illness is beyond the ordinary, and some diseases are pretty serious.
-- On ancient Chinese medicine: It was ahead of today's medical sciences. Some people think, "Modern medicine is so advanced -- CT scans can examine the inside of the body, and we can do ultrasound, imaging and X-rays." Sure, modern equipment is pretty advanced, but I'd say it's still not as good as ancient Chinese medical science. ... It'll be years before today's Western medicine catches up. (http://www.culteducation.com/group/1254-falun-gong/6874-critics-and-followers-of-falun-gong.html)

On one side, this Karma theory indicates that medical treatment does little good to health, which is just what Falun Gong researchers criticize about and also one of the main reasons why Chinese authorities claims to ban Falun Gong:

The group was outlawed in China on July 22, 1999. The Chinese government accused it of "spreading fallacies, hoodwinking people, inciting and creating disturbances and jeopardizing social stability."

On July 29, Chinese authorities issued an arrest warrant for Falun Gong founder Li Hung-zhi. The Ministry of Public Security said he "spread superstition and malicious fallacies to deceive people, resulting in the deaths of many practitioners."

The state-owned Xinhua News Agency reported what it said were many cases of people committing suicide, having psychiatric illness, or refusing to see doctors because they believed that Falun Gong can heal serious illness.

The government accuses the sect of leading more than 1,600 followers to their deaths by encouraging them to eschew modern medical care and deluding them into suicidal acts.(http://edition.cnn.com/2002/WORLD/asiapcf/east/07/24/china.fg.overview/)

Ironically, Sara Effner, the the Event Coordinator of Ride2freedom, and a Falun Gong practitioner has just encountered a tragedy of her father Ranadall Effner, who is also a Falun Gong practitioner, died recently, which has aroused suspicion upon the belief healing of Falun Gong:

Mr Randall Effner:

…My daughter Sara and I have benefited greatly from practicing Falun Gong over the years, and this website represents our attempt to give back, as best we can, a small portion of what has been freely given to us. On the one hand, our songs expose the wickedness and cruelty of the CCP, while on the other, they describe the peaceful resistance of the practitioners, and their dedication to their principles through long years of persecution.( [www.justicewillprevail.com])


An Obituary:

Randall W. Effner, 67, Jamestown, MO passed away on Monday, October 6, 2014 at his home. ...Randall was united in marriage to Dianna Iid on September 24, 1971 in Peoria, IL. He was co-owner of Expressions Inc., studied Chinese traditional medicine, was an activist for human rights in China and has a website www.justicewillprevail.com, was an author and writer, musician and songwriter.... He is survived by his wife; 2 daughters, ..and Sara Effner and husband Dr. Chen Hou of Rolla, MO, .... Memorial services will be scheduled at a later date. Donations may be made in his memory to Friends of Falun Gong USA (www.fofg.org)... (http://www.meaningfulfunerals.net/fh/obituaries/obituary.cfm?o_id=2738192&fh_id=11350)

Mrs Effner:

My dear husband had suffered his whole adult life with chronic health problems, but by clean, righteous living, Randy was able to accomplish a lot in spite of his ill health.

Randy always did what he had to do, no matter how he was feeling. One sunny autumn weekend, he spent two days cutting and hauling firewood. He wasn't feeling well after that and though he seemed to be recovering, he was taken away from us by a sudden heart attack on the morning of October 6. (http://www.californiademocrat.com/news/2014/dec/03/randall-effner/)

Mr Randall W. Effner’s medication refusal?

After he followed her suggestion of the macrobiotic diet, Randy not only changed his diet, and avoided pharmaceuticals and alcohol, he also changed his way of thinking...
(https://roundtown.com/event/3171240/Come-Join-Us-in-Celebrating-the-Life-of-Randall-Effner-Jamestown-MO)

In spite of that, after the death of Mr Randall, Li Hongzhi explained the reason why people died as follows in a preach:

Disciple: There have been three cases of practitioners around me who have exhibited reduced intellectual faculties and slowed reactions, to varying degrees, and doctors have attributed these to atrophy of the cerebellum. One of the three has passed away.

Master(Li Hongzhi): If this took place in China, then it was caused by the persecution. If this happened elsewhere, then experienced Dafa disciples know that nothing happens to Dafa disciples by chance. [To those practitioners,] I would say that it is high time you seriously examined yourselves in terms of cultivation. Don’t take so lightly those things that you brush aside and consider not that big of an issue. In terms of standards for cultivation, the things you may consider minor, [if you go] by the old forces’ way of looking at Dafa disciples, are not minor whatsoever. When you think certain things are nothing significant, oftentimes that’s based on evaluating yourselves with ordinary standards, rather than with the Fa! The truth is, all Dafa disciples are remarkable, including those in these scenarios—they were persecuted in the course of validating the Fa, as they gave of themselves to uphold Dafa and save people. That is how I look at it. But at the same time, I find it regrettable. There are only so many Dafa disciples, up against 7 billion people in this world. How many can we save? They have departed at a time when we truly need people, unfortunately. (Fa Teaching Given at the 2015 New York Fa Conference by Li Hongzhi on May 14, 2015. [en.minghui.org])

Mr Li Hongzhi attributes the death of practitioners to the persecution of Chinese authority just as Mr Ranadall would support everything that Chinese Communist Party goes against:

Daughter Sara related how her father’s way of life influenced and encouraged her to live her life "doing what’s right without expecting others to notice." Intrigued by Falun Gong, a peaceful meditation group that caused alarm for the Chinese government, he thought that if the Communist regime was against it, it must be good. He supported the group, edited a website reporting the persecutions of the people and wrote and performed songs at rallies around the U.S. At one point, Sara traveled to China to protest the persecutions.(https://roundtown.com/event/3171240/Come-Join-Us-in-Celebrating-the-Life-of-Randall-Effner-Jamestown-MO)

However, Mr Li Hongzhi still cannot explain why his western practitioners’ death of illness:

There have been many Dafa disciples who have always had problems in their cultivation over the years. Conflicts haven’t been the most serious of issues. There have been quite a few instances of sickness karma tests, with many people even passing away. But truth be told, if I’m to put it seriously, you cannot tell from the surface how a cultivator is really doing. Of course, such a person will be doing Dafa things like others, but what people see are the outward things, while in reality there are many attachments deep inside, which others cannot see. Many things that he can’t let go of are deeply hidden. The person knows himself that those things aren’t good, and so he’s afraid of others finding out about them, for fear of embarrassment. Yet he doesn’t take those things seriously as a cultivator, and hasn’t managed to work wholeheartedly on eliminating them or managed to handle them well after recognizing them. There have also been cases where someone didn’t take some minor things seriously in his cultivation, and they turned into major problems.
(Fa Teaching Given at the 2015 New York Fa Conference by Li Hongzhi on May 14, 2015. [en.minghui.org])

So we have to conclude from those teachings: it (the death) serves them right because they are not Devout Followers.

But will Ms. Sarah agree with such conclusion?

Some Falun Gong researchers, such as Helen Farley of Australia, holds the opinion that Falun Gong leader Li Hongzhi is encouraging a kind of practical suicide while encourages his adherents to refuse medicine or medical treatment on the basis of Karma theory:

Yet despite Falun Gong’s stated opposition to suicide, the movement does encourage its adherents to refuse medicine or medical treatment, and some regard this refusal of treatment to be suicidal. Chinese state media seized upon Li’s writing in which he expressed that illnesses are caused by karma, and claimed that in excess of one thousand deaths were the direct result of adherents following Li’s teachings. Authorities also claimed several hundred practitioners had cut their stomachs open seeking the Dharma Wheel that turns in response to the practice of the five meditative exercises characteristic of the movement. Indeed, many of their fellow followers had been arrested in Tianjin, following condemnation of their movement by physicist He Zouxiu of the Chinese Academy of the Sciences. He had claimed that Falun Gong had been responsible for several deaths (Bejsky 2004: i9o).This chapter examines the complex relationship between Falun Gong and the Chinese government, exploring the reality behind the claims and counterclaims regarding the former’s stated opposition to suicide. This is contrasted with Falun Gong writings that encourage adherents to refuse medical treatments in order to rid themselves of karma. (Death by Whose Hand? Falun Gong and Suicide, Sacred Suicide published by Ashgate Publishing Ltd)

So, can we conclude that the death of Mr. Randall is just a passive suicide committed by a loyal Falun Gong practitioner? If yes, isn’t it appalling?

I wonder if other students know the story behind their Event Coordinator Ms Sarah Effner. Maybe even if they know, some of them still believe in the magic of Falun Gong, just as Aila Verheyke said:

Why I practice Falun Gong:Because I was born with it, and it makes me feel happy and it brought my family happiness and good luck.