April 23, 2003
(Clearwisdom.net)
Several years ago when former U.S. president Bill Clinton's sex scandal was disclosed, all the media in the US widely reported on this incident, despite the fact that former President Clinton was still in office. However, no one has ever blamed the media for attacking the US president or the Democratic Party; nor is there anyone who blames the U.S. media for going against the US or having a political agenda.
On the inauguration day of the current US President George Bush, tens of thousands of people went out onto the streets to protest. At that time, President Bush hadn't even had a chance to make any mistakes; the demonstration may sound a bit unfair. However, no one criticized the protesters for besieging the president and the Whitehouse, or threatened to have them arrested.
The reason for these phenomena is that the US government is supported by taxpayers' money. Government officials are the employees of the people. The people are the master, and the officials are the servants. Of course, the master has the right to order his servants at will. If government officials dare to blame the people and media for besieging the president and having a political agenda, then such officials must be bad servants. If onlookers blame the people for the same reasons, then such people can only be called minions. A person who does not know how to respect himself won't know how to respect others; a person who does not know how to respect his rights does not know how to respect others' rights. A minion is at most an eloquent flunky no matter how humble and tolerant he may appear to be.
For nearly two thousand years, Chinese people have been under the rule of despotism. Especially during the past 50 years, under the deceit and brainwashing of the Chinese Communist Party, Chinese people have accumulated too much servilism. Under such circumstance, it is no wonder that we feel we have found something new, fresh and extraordinary when we examine the "April 25th Appeal" by over ten thousand Falun Gong practitioners four years ago. From this peaceful appeal, we witnessed a display of respect for our own rights and our own values, and a farewell to servilism.
What's more important is that during the process of persistently safeguarding their human rights, these Falun Gong practitioners have been adopting a non-violent and most tolerant method. After "April 25th " some people have associated the appeal with violent events such as the boxer rebellion. However, the facts have clearly negated this slander.
The "April 25th Appeal" has enabled us to realize the awareness of human rights, rationality, and tolerance in some excellent Chinese people, and their righteousness in having the courage to stand up and defend the truth. The "April 25th Appeal" is a milestone that will help recover the morality and conscience in a Chinese society that has become accustomed to brainwashing.