And plus all this "Communist" finger-pointing is really old-school, it's totally not cool, it's like we are living in the 1950s. The fact is most ordinary Chinese people I've talked to would rather have the stability and control of the CCP because under it their standard of living and personal freedom has improved exponentially these last 30 years. Of course nobody wants some religious group to upset that stability and overthrow the leadership, no matter the problems CCP has brought to the country. China has come so far and it still has far to go--but the government is doing its best to provide a viable path for the ordinary citizens who desire to build their own futures and participate in society.

Most people in the US have a narrow view of China. Yes, I could use your language and call them "brainwashed" but I just don't buy into that. I believe that people everywhere have the freedom and capacity to think what they want, no matter the political ideology of the country you live in. The fact is they have not been exposed to the Chinese perspective and FLG is simply exploiting our naivete to their advantage.

I want to take this opportunity to thank you all for commenting and helping to create a dialogue about this issue. We can learn a lot from one another if we listen tolerantly and understand that every coin has two sides--and both are valid ways of looking at things.

I guess the unspoken words would be: "had we China experts known it, you might not be here."

In any case, I think that the best way to easy the anger of the "Anonymous", is for the Falun Gong practitioners to appologize to the Freeman center for not consulting them first.

Every place has a rule, and the rule in Wesleyan is, or at least in "Anonymous"'s mind, asking the Freeman center's permission 1st for anything related to China.

For the record, the Freeman center has been hosting Chinese arts exhibit, i.e. the Tibetian art exhit, that manifactured or promoted by the Chinese government.

Way to go, "Anonymous"

Excuse me, is there something wrong here? What about the basic principle the Americans are holding? When you see possible crime against humanity are happening, you are not willing to investigate and offer help if need, instead, you want blame the whistleblower for disturbing your peace?

Regardless what Falun Gong is, the practitioners are the victim of the on-going persecution in China according to reports and witness testimonies all over the world. Of cause you may choose to close your eyes and still say that you have not seen these for "personal reasons".

It is a shame that there are still crime against humanity happening in this world. It is a shame that people do not care.

Solute to Wesleyan who lets the exhibit to be held! However, Wesleyan is not the only one who "brave" enough to allow the exhibit. MIT, Washington University, University of Cambridge, just to name a few in northeast, all have done it. Should we be surprised? After all, this is America.

You completely misunderstand what I said, I am not asking everyone to defer to the CCP. I merely made some comments suggesting that the individuals organizing FLG exhibition act more responsibly and think more consciously of the space that they are exhibiting artwork in. I even made a practical suggestion for locations of future showings of the exhibition which may even grant better exposure to the movement and doesn't censor the movement at all. I am not suggesting that the movement has no freedom to express where and what it wants to say, but I do ask that its practitioners respect the other people that also use and are associated with Wesleyan's space. There are a fair number of students from China here at Wesleyan, and other students who are interested in studying in China, and the exhibition's presence here jeopardizes these people's who must interact with the CCP's system of government. Activism on an international level has far reaching effects that extends far beyond those that affect members of the movement. See Grace Wang (link in my previous post), the polarization of the CCP vs the Free-Tibet movement resulted in violence against her and her family. Activism is not simple a method of expression which allows for a minority to speak up, it has the ability to kill and ruin lives if it is not channeled responsibly. It is irresponsible to draw these students into the FLG and CCP's battle without also considering the consequences for them. I would hope the FLG's aim is not to make more people suffer over the stupidity of the CCP's decision to persecute FLG, accomplishing this goal requires historical and cultural sensitivity for the environment the FLG movement operates in. The FLG movement is politically sensitive, I would hope its Western practitioners would also understand this context of the movement and not simplistically reduce the exhibition into a crude channel for a minority group to voice it's suffering.

As a student who has a deep interest in East Asian history and culture, I would like to reiterate that I hope the FLG's quest to raise awareness continues in a peaceful manner. However, peaceful methods also require taking responsibility as much as possible even for the unintended consequences of these methods. The FLG has an interesting history which also deserves to be heard beyond the polarizing forces of activism. I would hope that the FLG uses its voice in a more conscientious manner in the future. If the organizers of the exhibition want to bring back the exhibition in the future, it could at the very least consult the EAST faculty at the Freeman center.

If we moved all these comments including this article into China, this web page would be immediately shut down. No true voice in China today = biased.

I like facts. The art exhibit: Truth-Compassion-Tolerance, is telling the truth that is missing in China. USA is a great nation who can correct the biased.

Last night, I watched President Obama's news conference. He strongly stands for ANTI-TORTURE. This exhibit is ANTI-TORTURE, not anti-China, nor anti-Chinese (I am a Chinese). Wesleyan U. is a great school. I think Wesleyan should stand on the same side as this great nation. Great nation with great values (honesty, kind, considerate and tolerable). US-China relation should be based on these great values.

Many Chinese have lost their conscience. I hope this event in Wesleyan can wake up more Chinese who have been brain-washed in China and those who are still trying to brain-wash the western world with the biased news from China.

In China, many people not just Falun Gong but free Christians, Muslims, human rights lawyers and activists, Chinese people who petition for their rights to their own government are arrested and literally disappear daily in droves. This is factual information. It is supported by any number of
reports from many goverments documentaries and editorials.

Organ harvesting by the communist government has been research throughly too, by David Kilgour a former Canadian MP and David Matas. a well known human rights lawyer. Look that up on the internet and read it if you are looking for facts.

Let us realize that the Chinese people are not the problem, communism is. Historically, it is the most brutal form of governing...even Nazi Germany as horrible as it was only lasted a few years. Communism has been killing, torturing, and violating human rights for around 100 years give or take a few from the time of the Paris Commune. The locations change, the brutality doesn't, read the history books, the first hand stories of people who have escaped communism anywhere in the world, you'll find common threads of horror and fear.

As far as a cult, definitions can be made to fit any model, Falun Gong has no enrollment, no dues, you either come or don't. I would not be part of this cultivation practice that calms the heart and mind if it was a cult.

You can research what the respose was too, globally, when Hitler came out in Germany. There was disbelief, apathy, and voices that were self serving denying it was happening for quite awhile before any action was taken.

The question really is how little is understood about comminism here, it's history of lies. To be perfectly honest in reading the "model" for cult behavior communism by it's very structure fits that better then Falun Dafa. Those who do the meditation don't kill those who have different opinions or religious beliefs. Please be careful not to confuse speaking out a horrible truth with propaganda. The communists are masters of propaganda, history supports this too. I have met many people who have been inprisoned, tortured and fortunately gotten away from China.. at great personal cost.

Why would a display of an art exhibit be "entangling" your university? Art has spoken out for centuries in a clear and often lone voice for injustices? If you worry about the deferring statements between Falun Gong and the CCP you better do what the CCP did...clear your school library of any books other than the ones supporting what you want to read and no dissenting or other opinions allowed.

Thank you Wesleyan for this forum, even this is another "luxury" you wouldn't find in China.
They try to censor with their Golden Shield to better control what their citizens listen too.