Some are from dimensions that human beings have not yet discovered. He also says he can fly and control people from a distance and that scientists would agree with him if scientists weren't too politicized to see the real truth. Having lived in Japan during the time of Aum Shinrikyo, just hearing talk of levitation and special powers by a guru with messianic aspirations makes me cringe. Seeing ordinary people put themselves at risk and get hurt in the name of some fat cat guru in luxurious exile is painful. The Chinese argue that Falun Gong must be smashed to protect human rights and free speech.
Cults lack transparency and hide the truth.
Cults are notoriously thin-skinned when it comes to media criticism, and Falun Gong is no exception. The first few big rallies in Tianjin and Beijing were directed at unfriendly media coverage, long before the group was deemed an evil cult and banned. One wishes that Schechter had followed up on this and other interesting hunches, such as his initial sense that Falun Gong was a CIA plot to destabilize China. The deeply illiberal, antihomosexual rhetoric of the movement is duly noted but not grappled with. This text was later co-opted by the Beijing propaganda apparatus in word and tone.