Taking the Initiative to Help Stop the Persecution

I recently read an article from the Falun Gong related website, Clearwisdom.net, that described an incident in which people from Longshan Reformatory in Shenyang City, Liaoning Province, were forced to step on a photo of the founder of Falun Gong, Master Li Hongzhi that had been placed on the floor.

This article was very disturbing to me, so I took the opportunity while visiting fellow Falun Gong practitioners in the area, to visit the Longshan Reformatory as well. At the beginning of my visit, a police officer asked me to walk where Master Li Hongzhi's picture had been placed. I replied, "He is my master. What you are doing is wrong." I stopped at the door and resisted walking in, saying, "Master Li Hongzhi teaches people to be kind and to become good people. He cures our illnesses and makes us healthy. What has he done wrong? Why do you force people to disrespect him by stepping on his photo?" Speaking quite loudly to the police officers, I continued, "Take a good look at me. I am the same person that you once released because I had gotten cancer. But I didn't die like you were so sure I would. My master took care of me again. Do I look like a person who is dying?" I spoke at length in this vein. They all lowered their heads and had nothing to say. That day, all the family members who had come to visit imprisoned Falun Gong practitioners received permission to do so.

The family members of the fellow practitioners brought the news of my visit to the practitioners inside the reformatory, who then passed it on to one another. One day soon afterward, the reformatory officials held a meeting in which the imprisoned practitioners solemnly raised the issue of being forced to step on Master Li Hongzhi's image. Since that month, people were no longer required to step on Master's image, and this reformatory was later closed down.