Jerykk
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Member Since: June 23, 2011
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Member Since: June 23, 2011
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15 Comments
siftbotHappy anniversary! Today marks year number 12 since you first became a Sifter and the community is better for having you. Thanks for your contributions!
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oritteropoExcept the guys were wearing wires... As I heard it, the story is true, but this is a reenactment for tv.
They were dressed very differently also.
This is why eye witness testimony is notoriously bad -- you see what you expect to see and it is too hard to process all visual data.
I believe it. And I have a pretty good nose for BS (now -- I used to fall for stuff all the time....)
bareboards2They were dressed very differently also.
This is why eye witness testimony is notoriously bad -- you see what you expect to see and it is too hard to process all visual data.
I believe it. And I have a pretty good nose for BS (now -- I used to fall for stuff all the time....)
This seems... fake. The likelihood of you not recognizing your own mother (even if she's wearing a wig and sunglasses) is pretty low.
siftbotHappy anniversary! Today marks year number 3 since you first became a Sifter and the community is better for having you. Thanks for your contributions!
siftbotHappy anniversary! Today marks year number 2 since you first became a Sifter and the community is better for having you. Thanks for your contributions!
oritteropoGiven that I was in the middle of comparing a Chinese reeducation though labour camp to U.S. prisons, I can understand why I appeared more critical than I really am
I'm pretty sure I haven't made any claims that can't be substantiated though, or that I haven't heard from the U.S.!
Religious tolerance is one of the really great things about the U.S., and it's really not something that China is known for at all.
I am always interested in hearing, and trying to understand, different points of view.
That's all besides the point, however. There is still no case where the U.S. government will imprison people (without even a trial) simply for practicing a spiritual belief. That's exactly what China is doing to Falun Gong practitioners. Despite what you said earlier, it really does seem like you're trying to condemn the U.S. above all else. I'm not patriotic by any means but we're talking about blatant religious persecution here and it simply isn't comparable to bans on drugs, gambling or public nudity.
oritteropoWhat you seem to be saying is that you generally agree with the choices the U.S. has made, and that you disagree with the choice China has made in this case.
I personally find many forms of gambling offensive, so struggle to argue for it... I only brought it up because it is a case where U.S. law is out of step with other countries. That said though, what is the real difference between a room full of poker machines (legal) and an on-line version which could conceivably even be running the same software (illegal in the U.S., but subject to a WTO complaint)? The difference, in my opinion, is one of control. In the case of gambling, the U.S. government has made a choice to outlaw what they can't control, just like the Chinese government has done for religion and/or spiritual movements.
The acceptability of public nudity varies from place to place, but I find it hard to think of a way it harms anybody. In fact the naturist movement is quite pro public nudity. You are used to it being unlawful, but this is far from universal. Should it be outlawed in places it's currently legal just because you are offended? Even if they are far from your home and you are unlikely to actually go there to be offended?
Speaking of drugs, why have we chosen to allow alcohol and tobacco, both of which cause huge amounts of harm, and yet outlaw marijuana and LSD? Who made that choice?
Falun Gong is a meditative practice. It involves no nudity, no harassment, no physical contact and literally nothing that could offend anyone in public. It doesn't cause harm to the people who practice it and poses no threat to anyone who observes it. There is absolutely no logical reason to ban it.
Gambling, drugs, public nudity, etc, are not valid comparisons because they are either potentially harmful (financially or physically) or generally offensive (most people are against public nudity because the average body is not appealing to look at). A meditative practice that you perform in the privacy of your own home or with others who share your beliefs isn't analogous to any of those things.
Again, if you want a valid comparison, you should compare Falun Gong to a religion. In the U.S., there is no ban against any religion. Actually, gay marriage is an example that could work in your favor. There are no victims as a result of gay marriage (though the long-term effects of having gay parents hasn't been well-researched) so the ban isn't really justified. And while it is indeed banned in many states, the government isn't sending gay couples to prison camps and you won't be arrested for trying to get married if you're gay. The state just won't allow it.
So when you consider the crime and the punishment, there is no U.S. equivalent of how China is dealing with Falun Gong.
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