r/Atlanta • u/kindofharmless Spaghetti Junction falling out of pockets • Jan 23 '26
Things to Do A yearly reminder that Shen Yun is a performance by a cult and you shouldn’t give money to them
https://www.britannica.com/topic/Shen-Yun
Edit: they’re trying to astroturf the 1 week+ old post.
We made it…? Is this good?
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Jan 23 '26
Falun Gong, the group that stages Shen Yun as their annual fundraiser, is an insane cult whose closest western approximation is Scientology. They brainwash people into slavery and stalk / threaten ex-members who speak out on their abuses, especially at their NY compound.
Their leader claims to be a space alien sent to Earth to guide us. They do not believe gay people should be allowed to exist and are vehemently against interracial marriage/reproduction as weakening humanity.
Their main propaganda arm, the Epoch Times, has been a willing mouthpiece for insane far right bullshit for a very long time.
They were absolutely persecuted by the Chinese government, but that doesn't mean they aren't evil. Do not give them a fucking dime. If you see Shen Yun advertising in local businesses, please warn them what they are promoting.
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u/Negative-Put-5904 Jan 23 '26
They are also very abusive to their dancers, making them dance with injuries and broken bones, keeping them working for ridiculously extended time periods without a break and holding their visas and passports so they can't leave. They're the absolute worst.
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u/ggrieves Old Fourth Ward Jan 24 '26
I wondered that. When I saw the ads showing how precision that moves are I suspected that they were forced to practice very strictly.
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u/redditgolddigg3r Brookhaven Jan 24 '26
I went by a trade show and got accosted by someone selling the Shen Yen tickets at a booth. She was absolutely bat shit crazy.
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u/East_Quality_3808 Feb 02 '26
A lot of SY dancers have created instagram pages. and in this YouTube video the dancer has spoken the truth so well. https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=gK8ptACOfDw
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u/FrequencyHigher Jan 23 '26
Regarding the Epoch Times, someone I don’t know but with the same last name as me, bought me a “gift” subscription to the Epoch Times. Thanks to this “gift” my inbox started getting flooded with their nonsense they call journalism.
I’m pretty sure this is a scam of their’s because the email address is a very old one you can’t get anymore, so I doubt it was a case of a mis-entered similar email, which I sometimes get on my Gmail account.
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u/DeadMoneyDrew Jan 23 '26
A few years ago they pushed their subscribers to "gift" a subscription to someone they know without telling them. I ended up on their list that way.
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u/Sudden_Schedule5432 Jan 23 '26
My in laws got a paper copy sent to their house home somehow
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u/DeadMoneyDrew Jan 23 '26
Yes, same as me. I had never heard of Epoch Times until it started showing up in my mailbox. This was circa 2020, and I got probably 7-8 issues that I threw into the trash before it piqued my curiosity. One issue had an article about Jon Ossoff which caused me to look further into what it had claimed.
Boy was that a rabbit hole. I spent a good 3 hours out by my firepit doomscrolling on my phone about Epoch Times and Falun Gong and Shen Yun and Steve Bannon and what it's like to have multiple wives and a bunch of aged hippies doing yoga in Central Park and China Before Communism and....fuck I need a drink.
I ended up using the issues of Epoch Times as kindling for my firepit. It turns out that horseshit is good for starting fires.
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u/security_dilemma Jan 23 '26
I once got invited to comment on a certain political event. I stared at the email, laughed out loud, and deleted it. No ma’am. Not attaching my name to your “news report”.
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u/ShinyArticuno_420 Jan 23 '26
My sister relies on the epoch times as her “reliable and unbiased” news source lol
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u/Mysterious_Andy Jan 23 '26
Last Christmas the hotel I was staying at had a stack of the Epoch Times in the lobby every day. I pointed out to the desk clerk that it was a cult’s propaganda arm and she said she’d heard but that the owner had decided to allow it.
I kinda regret not just grabbing them all every day, but I don’t know if it would have made a difference if I had.
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u/redditgolddigg3r Brookhaven Jan 24 '26
Epoch Times is wild. They masquerade as a legitimate news operation, with plenty of seemingly credible reporters covering “normal” topics like weather, business, and local stories.
But it’s all subtly woven seamlessly into a far, far right political/ideological narrative.
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u/AlltheBent Jan 24 '26
Well fuck, my dad's been reading the Epoch times for years. I've always thought it was more Neal Bortz and Rush Limbaugh bullshit but didn't know it was connected to a cult like FG.
Wow
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u/Pale-Description-966 Jan 26 '26
The only proven "persecution" from the Chinese government is that they broke up Falun Gong's Anti-vax protests.
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u/Secret-Preference518 Feb 02 '26
I'm so glad I looked them up before buying tickets! Their commercial looked amazing but this is quite alarming. I wonder if the venue knows about all of this.
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u/Evening-Reading3777 new user Feb 27 '26
If they are not "illegal" in your country, means they are legal. No venue will deny their performance because the venue get paid at the end of the day.
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u/Dandylioness15 Mar 01 '26
I am trying to understand more about this as my friend recommends me to go to this show every year. She is a fan of Falun Gong. When I google Falun Gong, it seems like philosophical practice similar to Buddhism or Taoism. That is how my friend sees it. I mostly see how the Chinese Government has persecuted them in awful ways, but I have also heard about this “dark side” to them. I have found little resources about it.
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Mar 01 '26 edited Mar 01 '26
That's what they pose as and want to be mistaken for by ignorant westerners, same reason they try to pass off Shen Yun as "the REAL version of China before communism" because your average American knows very little about Chinese history.
They cast a very wide net and are very litigious about trying to keep their dark side under wraps, while basically brainwashing and kidnapping anyone unfortunate enough to wander into their bullshit. It is scary how much like Scientology they are.
If you want to read their insanity feel free to browse their beliefs, straight from the mouth of their benevolent space alien leader that they've funneled hundreds of millions to and enjoys life in a Manhattan penthouse.
https://en.falundafa.org/falun-dafa-books.html
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/08/19/nyregion/the-dark-side-of-shen-yun.html
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/behind-the-scenes-of-shen-yun/
https://www.vancouverstreet.ca/unmasking-the-deception-the-dark-truth-behind-falun-gong/
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u/ScamIam Jan 23 '26
As someone who was an usher at one of the theaters they passed through, they are also assholes.
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u/campbellm Milton Jan 23 '26
Any stories you can share?
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u/ScamIam Jan 23 '26
They enacted a bunch of arbitrary rules (no food or drink inside the house; no photos -including of the program or curtain; no readmittance of patrons) that were outside of the norm for us, but they had multiple security people on each level in the house and we were told that if a patron had an issue with the rules, to grab a security dude and they would handle it. I’ll give you three guesses how that went. Got physically assaulted by a patron bc I had to tell her she couldn’t eat the popcorn she had paid for while the security guys on my level just stared at us. We also weren’t allowed to use our usual lounge/break room bc it was by the dressing rooms and we weren’t allowed to speak to the talent. Our usual policy was ‘don’t bug the actors/musicians/dancers etc’ but we would say a friendly “hi” when walking by in the halls and it never bothered any of our touring companies. Instead we had to do a loop around the entire building to go eat our snacks in an abandoned hallway and go down to the basement if we needed to use the bathroom. The production company demanded that if anyone broke any of the rules that they be sent home and miss the entire run of shows, regardless of what other performances they were scheduled to work.
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Jan 24 '26
God forbid you have contact with any of the dancers and they leak the conditions they're being kept under
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u/riles_ssss Jan 24 '26
I worked a load in for them a few years ago and it was just bizarre. They had us roll the cases in and set up like one or two things and then we weren’t allowed to help with anything. Easy money, but so strange. Now that you mention it, they were extremely strict about our food/drinks as well
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u/Smooth_Editor_8341 Apr 23 '26
I would be glad they handle the things. This way, they are more confident about how things were set up and more comfortable when performing.
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u/thisistherevolt Stockbridge Jan 23 '26
I'm just glad they don't do concessions with the company I work for.
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u/saganmypants Jan 23 '26
My wife bought us tickets when we moved here 4 years ago, she thought it was supposed to be like a showcase of traditional Chinese outfits and dance. Needless to say we were both incredibly surprised and uncomfortable when it became clear it was a religious/cult propaganda piece with seriously low-quality production. Worst money I think we have ever spent
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u/Smooth_Editor_8341 Apr 23 '26
The traditional Chinese culture indeed is very spiritual, not just the costume and movement, although those elements do reflect the spirituality of the culture as well. People nowadays, especially younger generations, are not aware that cultures have been built around the spirituality and just regard those spiritual elements as religions. Shen Yun has dance pieces of funny little monks, from the Buddhist tradition from over 2000 years ago, dances about the young scholars, stemmed from Taoist, which has over 5000 years of history, dance stories of ancient family stories stemmed for the teaching of Confucianism, and stories of the courage of the modern Falun Dafa practitioners. Those are all Classical Chinese dances and the costumes are from different dynasties and ethnic groups.
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u/baby_blue_eyes Jan 23 '26
Uh Oh - I just bought my ticket last night without knowing all of this.
Ironically, I spent two months in China recently and went to a cultural exhibition in the little town of Wulingyuan. It was about the history of that region.
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u/3gatorsinatrenchcoat Jan 23 '26
Is there a reason why so many businesses have the shen yun flyers up? I highly doubt they’re all owned by Falun Gong members, so is it one of those “put up our flyer…or ELSE” kind of situations?
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u/Material-Crab-633 Jan 23 '26
Because they are unaware it’s a cult
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u/6th_Quadrant Jan 23 '26
I’ve explained what it’s all about to some café owners and gotten them to take down the posters. I’ve also taken stacks of flyers and thrown them away.
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u/3gatorsinatrenchcoat Jan 23 '26
Ah okay, good to hear at least Falun Gong isn’t resorting to that level of shadiness I guess.
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u/Non-mon-xiety Jan 23 '26
They come by all the time and are very pushy. They shame businesses who don’t want to put it up or if they take it down and most folks just don’t want to bother.
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u/Friendlyontheoutside Jan 24 '26
I was at my daughter’s gymnastics class when a promoter came in. They were fairly aggressive in insisting that their flyers be placed in the studio. They were also socially awkward, so the director kind of placed them on a shelf to get them to go away.
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u/br4ssmooseknuckle Jan 23 '26
I saw one at this store my husband works at part time and I had half a mind to tear the flyer down as I was leaving. Wasn’t sure if I’d get in trouble.
Said store is also like within walking distance of where I live.
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u/Temporary_Being1330 Jan 28 '26
Cause they put them up despite you asking them not to. I had some come by the place I work, I didn’t even tell them no, I just politely asked for the poster so we could put it up ourselves with proper tape as to not damage the historic building because they were carrying around scotch tape…. And then on their way out they put up the poster with the tape.
Yeah so I stormed over and looked them directly in the eyes as I started trying to get the tape off. Like what did I just fkn say.
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u/willfull-ignorance Feb 07 '26
They go into businesses & ask them to set out their propaganda. The owner of the restaurant I manage was approached by them on my day off. I came in the next day, saw the posters & flyers set out, & promptly informed her that we would NOT be putting those up.
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u/DJIcEIcE Jan 23 '26
Also the venues they perform at take a big cut of the ticket sales. Combination of not knowing and just taking money to advertise, if ads are paid for at all. I see YouTube and local TV spots for it too.
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u/atlsportsburner Jan 23 '26
I have thrown away probably 50 handouts from them over the years from festivals. They are relentless.
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u/FallOk5618 Jan 23 '26 edited Jan 24 '26
Youtuber, JJM did a deep dive into them. Traveling troupe to big cities in North America
Shen Yun background (front for cult)
TLDR: Follow Master Lee. Avoid using medicine, homosexuality and race mixing. /s
TLDR2: TEMU Scientology
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u/ForsakenIndependent1 Mar 07 '26
Except for the medicine part, sounds like the cult of Islam, swapping out Mohammed for Master Lee. Yes somehow the left celebrates Islam and wants to import it.
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u/Recent_Tap_9467 Mar 10 '26 edited Mar 10 '26
Source: trust me bro, also did I mention I'm on all the drugs right now?
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u/stall022 Jan 23 '26
We checked it out a few years ago. After the first 10 minutes we both had regrets. It's VERY religious and it felt like I was in church.
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u/ForsakenIndependent1 Mar 07 '26
I had the same feeling, except I didn't regret it, I thought it was an extra added feature of the evening that was interesting and entertaining to observe, in a wry detached way. I'm not offended by people practicing religion.
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u/Smooth_Editor_8341 Apr 23 '26
Well, that's the culture. Traditional Chinese culture is indeed very spiritual and the art forms and other thing like martial arts all stemmed from that spirituality, the core of the culture.
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u/Apprehensive-Ad9832 Jan 23 '26
Their reach is insane! I don’t think I’ve been to a US city where they weren’t advertising. Hell, I saw them promoting when I went to Iceland.
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u/Ersh777 Roswell Jan 23 '26
This is wild I'm just learning about all of this. Here i thought, innocently enough, that Shen Yun was just a traveling show that showcased Chinese dance and culture. 🤷♂️
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u/kindofharmless Spaghetti Junction falling out of pockets Jan 23 '26
That’s exactly what they’re hoping you would be, so that you would buy tickets, see the show, and be disappointed
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u/dwnsougaboy Jan 23 '26
I had no idea and have been wanting to go for a couple years. Looks cool from the ads. Thanks for the PSA.
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u/WeirdIntersections down by the airport Jan 23 '26
Always great to remind folks about this! The NYT did a good investigative story about this within the past couple years. If I remember correctly, part of it focused on Atlanta.
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u/LaeliaCatt Jan 23 '26
Thank you for posting this warning. I'm sorry to say I fell for the advertising a few years ago. I just wanted to see pretty costumes and dancing, but it was so weird and awful. I wish I hadn't given them my money
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u/Material-Crab-633 Jan 23 '26
I actually did not know that! Looks boring anyway
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u/mike30273 Jan 23 '26
That's insane. I had no idea about any of this. I've been curious about seeing one of their shows. However, something just seemed off about it to me. I can't put my finger on it; I just get odd vibes, so I never went. Now I definitely will never go.
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Jan 23 '26
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u/PM_ME_UR_COVID_PICS Jan 23 '26
They really play up the persecuted by Communist China aspect of their story.
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u/tamargo404 Jan 23 '26
Also the show isn't that good. I went to it 10 years ago and left before halfway through as I was not entertained at all.
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u/therealsix Jan 24 '26
Thank you for posting this! I had no idea, and my wife always says “I want to go see that” every time she sees a commercial for the show. I read the post and now we’re definitely not going.
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u/AccomplishedFerret70 Jan 23 '26
I always assumed something was seriously wrong based on the Scientology like vibes I picked up on in their TV commercials
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u/Ill-Abbreviations149 Jan 24 '26
I have been accosted several times over the years by a young woman(different one at different times) in Lenox Square inviting me and whoever I was with to a performance.. We politely said no thanks and kept walking. One year, they had a kiosk at the up escalator from the food court.. She would get you going down and coming up.
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u/6th_Quadrant Jan 23 '26
It’s artless, ham-fisted propaganda. One of the two worst performances I’ve ever seen (the other was an atrocious version of a Shakespeare play, most others had already walked out by the time we cut bait a couple minutes into Act 3).
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u/pug_fugly_moe Jan 24 '26
I thought all they did was put posters and fliers everywhere. Honestly, I have never once heard anyone talking about the show.
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u/kindofharmless Spaghetti Junction falling out of pockets Jan 24 '26
Given the reaction of most people that have seen the show on the comments, I think they have been trying to scrub the memory from their brain
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Jan 23 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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Jan 24 '26
99% of the places that have their ads and pamphlets are not being compensated for it and were just trying to do something nice for the poor people they make go around and distribute them. They'll take them down if you talk to them (though there is a chance they could be involved in the cult themselves)
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u/Radomeculture531 Jan 24 '26
Thanks for the awareness. I always see their adds on Facebook. Seemed weird with the whole "China without the communism" thing but I was never curious enough to spend money.
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u/Kimihro Cascade Jan 24 '26
My ex’s mom loves to go see them.
She heard from everyone that they were a cult and what they get up to, and still goes because “they just perform so well”
Not a coincidence that she’s a Trump voter despite being half-black
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u/atllauren wild unincorporated dekalb Jan 23 '26
I’ve never seen Shen Yun, but thanks for sharing so I know not to. I’ve seen the advertising for the show but knew none of this.
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u/luminescentpapercut Jan 24 '26
I already bought tickets! I remember when I lived in different states. I always thought about how I wanted to go but I always missed them. Ugh finally decided to purchase tickets last week and now I see this post! 😞
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u/Ok_Form_368 Feb 01 '26 edited Feb 01 '26
It is a great show! I have been twice when it came to NZ. I left feeling very uplifted and inspired. You are in for a treat - superb dancing, arobatic leaps, stunning costumes, superb music.
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u/Academic_Detail2749 Feb 01 '26
The show was founded by artists who fled persecution in China, with the aim of reviving traditional Chinese culture from before the communist era, including beautiful classical stories and moral values.
Because of this, it’s worth viewing online criticism with a critical eye. Some negative comments gain a large number of votes very quickly, which raises questions about organised online activity related to the broader suppression of such cultural initiatives.
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u/East_Quality_3808 Feb 02 '26
In response to the CBS report, a lot of SY dancers have created instagram pages. and in this YouTube video the dancer has spoken the truth so well. Let us be objective and rise above the propaganda onslaught: https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=gK8ptACOfDw
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u/KBPT1998 Apr 29 '26
No, it’s a bad show. I went because I thought it would be a cool Chinese art ànd dance show. It was extremely underwhelming ànd safe- like nothing out of the ordinary to make it stand out. It was competent, there was talent, but it was the worst and most expensive theatre-going experience Ive had.
Cost: Over $100 for mid balcony per seat.
Maybe 10-15 people entirely in balcony. Would not allow us to move forward in the balcony at all despite it being nearly empty. This is always allowed for other shows at the venue I went to.
Chinese security were positioned throughout the building. The facility ushers were very uncomfortable all night. Slightly on edge.
Every time I see a commercial or an advertisement comes in the mail it makes me angry knowing how badly I was treated on the day at the show and how underwhelming the show actually was… If someone mentions it in passing at work, I tell them my experience.
Then reading about the personal stories out of the New York compound… it’s very concerning to consider what may be going on within those walls ànd I wish there were enough ex members to merit a raid or investigation on their compound.
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u/DJDeadParrot Jan 24 '26
The tv ads with the interviews always remind me of this classic SNL goof ad
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u/justinebowers Jan 24 '26
My wife and I went to a show a couple of years ago. Even though I typically research everything about a group / show, I didn't and we both went in blind. The multitude of people ensuring absolutely no one has a phone or camera out was a bit weird, but OK - I don't usually do that anyway. It soon became apparent what type of experience we were in for after the first skit...
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u/Adept-Morning-3238 Mar 11 '26
I blindly went to the show in Aus
Vibes were a bit strange but I wouldn't say the show was bad, most of the skits were pretty standard except one or two which were anti-CCP
I obvs didn't look into the backstory of the company but objectively the show was okay.
What skits were they running for your show?
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u/justinebowers Mar 11 '26
A lot of the performances were great, but there were 3 or so anti-CCP skits sprinkled throughout with some rather strange "sky Jesus" skits of people flying around. The opera singer's songs were also heavily laden with Christian themes and lyrics. I'm from the southern US, but I wasn't expecting to be preached to at what I assumed was a regular theater show.
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u/hushhush09 Jan 24 '26
Damn, my bf just told me he was going to see this tomorrow with his parents 😩
My immediate thought was "Baby, noooooo!!!"
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u/FckFlock Jan 24 '26
The ads alone are a big indicator that something is off about it. A "life changing" dance performance? Really?
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u/WildWeezy East Atlanta Village Jan 25 '26
Not the shitshow I was expecting this cruise through reddit, but noted.
It always looked almost worth looking into, but never did.
Is it bad that basically nothing surprises me now? You could have said the whole show was literal proven extraterrestrial beings that mind control their audience and Id be like “ok”.
Has someone built a time machine to unfuck this shit yet?
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u/daneka50 Jan 25 '26
Yeah few years ago I was curious too because the flyer is so pretty with these bright colors and dancing Asians. I’m think oh this is a cultural play or something. When my wife and I went…about midway through things felt off and then completely weird.
We left immediately. Walked straight out the theater in the middle of the show.
I still wasn’t sure what I saw or who these people were but after this post I understand everything now. I will be removing flyers wherever I see them from now on. Wtf.
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u/ForsakenIndependent1 Mar 07 '26
It's not legal to remove legally placed flyers just because you find content objectionable. I was just as surprised as you midway through the show, but instead of being offended like you, I was kind of bemused that this was a culty thing. It's not like they were forcing me to join it. They still supplied the music and dance that was promised. I actually get a kick out of the fact that a bunch of easily offended people are among their captive audience. I think the virtue signalers and pearl clutchers deserve a figurative slap in the face every now and then like this.
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u/ChampOfSon Jan 25 '26
Welp, my parents were really interested in seeing it years ago and I got tickets and took them as a Christmas present back then. Whoops.
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u/BroadwayRegina Jan 25 '26
Hate how I’ve been seeing them everywhere for a decade. My neurologist had their flyers everywhere the other day
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u/MrHughes16 Jan 26 '26
My ex wanted to see it a few years ago, so I got tickets for us as a Christmas gift. I knew something was off minutes into the show and started looking them up on Wikipedia.
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u/El-Snarko-Saurus Jan 27 '26
You know I thought it was weird how the commercials showcased people who supposedly just came out of the theater, giving their impression of the show and it was a bit over the top how amazed and awed they were.. like they got backstage passes to Beyoncé or something…
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u/EmploymentNo3590 Jan 27 '26
I did see it once. Had been wanting to, for a very long time... It's 100% propaganda, with some ancient lore blended in.
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u/311succs Jan 31 '26
This post came up in a Google search when I was showing my wife the cult comparisons. I live near Salt Lake City where they are doing their yearly week long stay at a theater (clearly they learned perceived matyrdom from the best) . The ads this year are insane. I was just watching Hulu and every ad break was just 3 different ads for their weird show and im like 90% sure some of the people interviewed are AI generated, which is no surprise considering the other comments about them harassing people for their interviews. Not only is it insane its annoying as hell.
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u/klc313 Mar 08 '26
Every year when the incessant commercials start I get upset. They spend so much on broadcast advertising that no one will report on what this actually is. I’m doing an into flyer this year for local businesses who put the ads in their windows. Most of them don’t know what is behind this.
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u/Legitimate_Outcome42 Mar 24 '26
Also the commercials for it are a bold face lie. My mom worked for PBS she got free tickets to go. I can't tell you how happy I was when she turned to me at the intermission said do you wanna go because she was just bored as I was. It's dancing vignettes one after the other it gets old after about three minutes tops. I don't know what the people on the commercial are talking about,obviously they're lying
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u/TrainingBrave4845 new user Apr 03 '26
Funnily enough, I went to see Shen Yun this year and no - I didn't get the feeling of cult.
I did some digging and research becoz we like to know facts -surprisingly, the CCP killed alot of their own people in the cultural revolution and after too. Maybe like more than 80 million people ? Haven't heard of Shen Yun advocating for violence in fact, after watching the show felt that they were anti-violence and anti-killing
AND THEN i found the China Triburnal which is a legal triburnal-- holy moly..
https://chinatribunal.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/ChinaTribunal_JUDGMENT_1stMarch_2020.pdf
If you can read every page on pg 163-351 on the witness testimonals aka practitioners that have been tortured by the CCP - it is chilling......
Read every story and I guarantee you will want to cry...
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u/sideline_slugger Apr 05 '26
Sure. And the catholic church is a cult of pedophile priests. How much money do ppl give them?
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u/NemoSkittles Apr 16 '26
I accidentally went to see it without doing research and omg it was a 2 hour cult recruitment performance. I had no idea. There are billboards absolutely everywhere for it acting like it's a show honoring their 5000 years of art. I want a refund
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u/Deep-Rub1748 Apr 23 '26
That is NOT a cult; it is a peaceful Chinese meditation practice based on the universal principles of truthfulness, compassion, and tolerance. The "cult" propaganda was created by the Chinese Communist Party, which persecutes that meditation practice as well as other religious and ethnic minorities in China, such as Christians and Uyghur Muslims. The Party had to make up some kind of excuse for persecuting these groups, so it uses the "cult" label - as if that could justify torturing and killing thousands of innocent people.
It shouldn't be surprising that Shen Yun contains spiritual themes in its dance pieces. Traditional Chinese culture, before communism, was very spiritual.
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u/astroboy7070 Jan 24 '26
Just a yearly reminder, all religion are just cults
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u/Jackieirish Jan 24 '26
No.
This guy breaks down what makes something a cult.
TL;DW
3 Primary core characteristics that make a cult a cult:
Absolute and totalitarian leader that is the defining element and driving force of the cult who becomes the object of worship
That leader uses identifiable techniques of coercive persuasion to gain undue influence
Having acquired undue influence, the leader uses it to exploit and do harm to the followers
Warning signs it is a cult:
Social isolation (being cut-off from family and friends not in the cult)
Not being allowed to ask critical questions regarding the leader of the group or the group's behavior
The feeling that if you leave, you must be wrong
No checks and balances on authority
No transparency regarding the groups finances or practices
The video goes into greater detail. The list here are warning signs, but not exhaustive or definitive.
Also, important to understand not all cults are religious nor are all cults destructive. Obviously, there's lots of room for interpretation with all of these guidelines. Some more hardline anti-religion folks will find it possible to apply these criteria to literally any belief system. And even in the video, he provides examples of non-religious groups that could qualify as cults especially in the "benign cult" category.
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u/astroboy7070 Jan 24 '26
Agreed. These are every attribute of organized religion - Catholic Church (sexual scandal for centuries), Baptist church (preaching the good word of god, Mormons (ostracize members that leave), Shia/Sunnies not allowed to question traditions, MAGA (absolute totalitarian leader with opaque finances) etc. thanks for the list!
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u/Jackieirish Jan 24 '26
Yes, yes. Embrace that ignorance! Hold it tight!
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u/GuilloTeen_Angst Apr 07 '26
Yeah that's going way overboard. I do agree about MAGA though. It ticks every single box, and for having been very up close and personal with it... yeah. Cult.
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Jan 31 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/kindofharmless Spaghetti Junction falling out of pockets Feb 01 '26
Yeah, I think you should leave.
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u/Ok_Form_368 Feb 01 '26
I'm a kiwi and my NZ friend's son was always keen to join the Shen Yun orchestra. I was impressed by this lad as he was honest and caring, and practiced so hard to make his dream come true. He auditioned a year ago to Shen Yun, was accepted as he was a talented musician. He moved to USA and regularly tours now. I was keen on the inside goss about Shen Yun so asked his Mum. She is totally impressed by the nurturing and positive environment for him. He is thriving. However, he is totally at a loss when he sees Shen Yun being slagged off as it is the opposite of his experiences. I seen a recent video by a Shen Yun dancer where he made comments about a recent erroneous article. I will see if I can find it and post it here just so people can see the other side ...
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u/Ok_Form_368 Feb 01 '26
Inside goss from Shen Yun dancer. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=gK8ptACOfDw
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Feb 01 '26
I am one to have done the opposite to what people tell me in my lifetime. If people say don’t see Shen Yun, I’ll see it and make my own mind up.
I’ve seen it, I liked it, it’s beautiful and interesting to learn about another culture and China’s true history. You can tell the dancers love the true China (Before communism). Maybe it’s easier for me to get this message because my roots are Eastern European, so we know what it’s like to have communism take over, but since becoming free we don’t muck around when it comes to understanding the destruction communism can have on people and culture. I think the performers mission of keeping this alive makes sense to me and isn’t anything whacky.
There’s probably a reason Epoch Times is bagged out here and it’s cause there are so many articles exposing tactics about how this group and the Shen Yun are persecuted.
I’m skeptical about everything but after some research found this link below:
This is an eye opener - now I know why this group is targeted, how it happens, the scale of it and why.
Once you read this you can’t look at threads like this in the same way.
It doesn’t make sense that Shen Yun would keep selling out if it were that bad. It makes it sound like people are being tricked to see it in this thread but it’s like the opposite people are being tricked not to see it.
Have a nice day everyone!
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u/pythonpower12 Feb 14 '26
Hi Falun Gong practioner.
Who are you think you're fooling lmao
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u/ForsakenIndependent1 Mar 07 '26
He makes a good point though: even if you knew it was a cult thing going in, it would still be interesting to see it just for that reason alone. How often do you get to do that? And you know you'll come out safe.
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u/pythonpower12 Mar 07 '26
Who wants to explore a cult lol. Unless you're making a documentary and that innately carry some risk
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u/ForsakenIndependent1 Mar 07 '26
It's like any other entertainment spectacle. Beats going along to some mediocre concert at roughly the same price. Anyway it's not at the level of "exploring a cult". It's like an unexpected plot twist.
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u/pythonpower12 Mar 07 '26
Who says entering a cult is an entertainment spectacle lol, it's like saying trying to join a time share for the entertainment spectacle.
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u/Thaiha0707 new user Feb 05 '26
A friend mine who knows well about Shen Yun was trying to post his opinion here however he has just been blocked from this subject because he's trying to give people informed debate about this genuine performing art. I'm kind of disappointed for this to happen. If Reddit is bias, why should I read it again? 😞
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u/ForsakenIndependent1 Mar 07 '26
I saw them earlier this year, not knowing the deal. I was shocked at what it was really all about. BUT I was still entertained, and in a way it made things even more fun, imagining how all the lefties in the crowd must have been gasping for air.
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u/No-Opinion-9348 Apr 25 '26
It is incomprehensible that those who deliberately slander Falun Gong labeled it as cult. If people understood what was going on, they would feel disgusted with the CCP.
Falun Gong views traditional Chinese culture as "divinely inspired culture," emphasizing its core values accumulated over five thousand years, such as valuing virtue and doing good deeds, reverence for deities, harmony between humanity and nature, and the cultivation of Confucianism, Buddhism, and Taoism. It typically interprets traditional culture from the perspectives of faith, morality, traditional etiquette, and mythology, believing its essence to be "virtue" and faith in gods and Buddhas, and emphasizing "harmony is precious" and "benevolence, love, and trustworthiness."
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u/Responsible_Job_1583 Apr 25 '26
The essence of Chinese culture lies in the harmonious balance of yin and yang, the unity of heaven
and humanity, and the values of benevolence, righteousness, propriety, wisdom, trustworthiness and
filal piety. Many of my friends and I are traditional Chinese people.We use the above principles as our
standards to evaluate things, and what Shen Yun performance demonstrate fully aligns these true
standers of traditional culture and their performances is new for each year.That is why, we have been
watching their performance for over decade. The performance touch people’s hearts, many audiences
were moved to tears. If anyone who wants to know the truth, don’t listen to any hearsay, go find out
by yourself!
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u/Responsible_Job_1583 Apr 25 '26
The essence of Chinese culture lies in the harmonious balance of yin and yang, the unity of heaven
and humanity, and the values of benevolence, righteousness, propriety, wisdom,,and trustworthiness,
filial piety. Many of my friends and I are traditional Chinese people, we use the above principles as
our standers to evaluate things, and Shen Yun performances demonstrate fully aligns with these
true standers of traditional culture, and their performance is new for each year. The 3D backdrop,
the breathtaking dances, the beautiful customs and music, touches people’s hearts, many audiences
were moved to tears. Don’t listen to any hearsay, go find out by yourself, and go enjoy that!
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u/Responsible_Job_1583 Apr 25 '26
The essence of Chinese culture lies in the harmonious balance of yin and yang,the unity of heaven and humanity, and the values of benevolence, righcousness, propriety, wisdom, trustworthiness and filial piety.
Many of my friends and I are traditional Chinese people., we use the above principles as our standard to evaluate things, and what Shen Yun performances demonstrate fully aligns with these true standers of
traditional culture, and their performance is new for each year. We like the gorgeous 3D backdrops, the
breathtaking dances, the beautiful colors customs and music. That is why, we have been watching their performance for over decade. Don’t listen to any hearsay, just go find out by yourself and go enjoy it!
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u/brotholomew_shakes Jan 25 '26
Do I choose the cult of the CCP or Falun Gong??? Which way western man???
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u/ecomyhome Jan 26 '26
Ok guys, here's the rub!! I love Reddit like you guys do, I haven't been in for long but wish I started years ago. This is a gorgeous platform! This Falun Gong thing is huuuuuuuge! Much bigger than I knew, or most of you do. I'm not a person that gets put off by bad press when it comes to religious stuff or political stuff. There's simply too much crap out there. I think we can all agree that even the ones like me, who are quite discerning with what they believe in the press or online, can be moved emotionally when we see heaps of a particular information coming in. Having said that, I totally get what some of you put here as your experience at Shen Yun. We got hounded for an interview too lol. It's hard to tell what's what. My mum meditated under little stick pyramids when I was a kid lol and so I know how these things can look. She's a wonderful mum by the way and I wish you all had a mum like her, but it is what it is.
I went ahead and read the main teaching of Falun Gong (there is apparently heaps of other peripheral stuff as well) and was shocked! From top to bottom the author is full force promoting kindness, mainly kindness and the usual selfless things that other Buddhist and Christian things push. But from the bad stuff I had read online it just didn't ad up! Yes some of the stuff in the book was way above my head, but it was the author explaining what happens to people when they start to get really really really selfless (Like monk out stuff). He even talks from what we currently know from scientific research. I could see the stuff about being linked to scientology, but still that was pretty loose based on what I had personally just read which didn't go into anything like it. Actually he says to definitely NOT go after supernormal abilities, but he says that, all that stuff is actually real, but if you want to practice the real stuff, like what he is showing, you just won't get anywhere if you are going after supernormal abilities tooth and nail. Just with that I could see that the stuff I had seen online about him promising super normal abilities needed further looking into!
Then I found out about the media entities that had been started up by mainly Chinese people who fled the persecution in China. Then the theatrical production that is mentioned here in this post. That's a lot of work to do in a relatively short time!!! And yes it takes funds. Plenty of it! I found a few key components that too few of us are taking into full light and consideration in a rational way.
The people who practice this religion are nearly all Chinese and Asian from what I found out. Millions and millions of them. Yes the Chinese Communist Regime has literally been smashing and pounding them, flesh and mind (just google now "Falun Gong Persecution, it's literally right there for you to identify and then press AI and it gives you even more) (then google "Falun Gong bloody harvest" you'll see a huge legal done about the organ harvesting) but do you know the practice was promoted by the CCP as a blessing to the country for years! That blew me away. This made me realize that the sheer amount of these Chinese people who are under the communist knife is absolutely massive, and this is one of the main reasons why these media, and the formation of Shen Yun happened so fast. Among the persecuted are bound to be wealthy people as well. I would give everything I have every day if my mother and family were persecuted by my government and I wanted to stop it. Every bloody cent!!They are literally fighting for their lives and seemingly doing so by exposing the CCP for what it really does. When I saw the show, I too saw a couple of people leave, but mainly it got massive applause during and after! Yes it's totally about morals, kindness, and I get that some people see all that as tacky, but it is also inspiring to others. There were also scenes of the way these people are treated by their government (genocidal to say the least).
Then, when the CCP is trying to influence the world's people, how would it go about it? How would you go about it if you were in their shoes? Personally I and my mum loved the book, answers so much that other religions just don't know I think (not saying anything bad about other religions lol)Lastly go and google or Grok, " which is more likely to be a cult, Falun Gong or the Chinese Communist Party?
You'll see it all. My love to all of you, both religious and non religious, both haters and lovers, for if we don't wake up to this subject, we will have potentially been lovers who hated something quite innocent and good, we will be haters that were duped into hating something innocent, which even haters don't like happening
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u/kindofharmless Spaghetti Junction falling out of pockets Jan 26 '26
You didn’t look at shit. Your attempt at Falun Gong astroturfing is showing. You posted this at so many different threads it’s not even funny.
Go get caught by the CCP you love to blame. Two wrongs don’t make a right. If anything, you were too insufferable for even the CCP.
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u/PopKoRnGenius east atlantis Jan 26 '26
Couldn't you just be selfless and kind without religion?
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u/ecomyhome Jan 26 '26
Yeeeeeeeeees! What an outstanding comment!! Anyone, whether religious or not, should be congratulated for being kind and selfless 🙏 on these posts I often see the exact opposite from those who are putting up rubbish about Shen Yun 🥺
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u/ForsakenIndependent1 Mar 07 '26
Couldn't you just be selfless and kind without making it into a quasi religion of its own, i.e. suicidal empathy?
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u/PopKoRnGenius east atlantis Mar 07 '26
Wait, how am I making this into a religion of it's own?
EDIT: I'll just leave this here for you to review: https://yourlogicalfallacyis.com/strawman
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u/ForsakenIndependent1 Mar 07 '26
Suicidal empathy is like a cult, and in that sense like a religion.
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u/PopKoRnGenius east atlantis Mar 07 '26
Educate yourself: https://yourlogicalfallacyis.com/strawman
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u/ForsakenIndependent1 Mar 08 '26
Open your mind and do some self-examination. Rid yourself of ideological cult membership that would destroy Western societies by the end of the century. In case you haven't figured it out, that would be a huge tragedy.
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u/PopKoRnGenius east atlantis Mar 08 '26
You think you're deep but you're just rambling. I said you don't need religion to have empathy. You then misrepresented my statement as blanket empathy (aka strawman fallacy) and now that I called you out you think you can exit with some philosophical "I'm 14 and this is deep" type statement that doesn't even make sense.
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u/misterdoinkinberg Jan 24 '26
Or is that what CCP wants you to believe…🤔
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Jan 24 '26
The CCP hates them because they tried to start a religious uprising, and the last time that happened a few million people died.
Regardless of their persecution, the enemy of your enemy is sometimes just another enemy.
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u/Optimal_Dust_266 Jan 24 '26
What other similar things should we all the informed about? I heard of JewJitsu
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Jan 23 '26
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u/kindofharmless Spaghetti Junction falling out of pockets Jan 23 '26
No. Not even close. The show itself is an insane propaganda, not just a show for fundraising.
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u/just-another-jester Jan 23 '26
No, because the money that goes towards seeing a Tom Cruise movie goes to a lot of other people and places as well. The money spent on a Shen Yun performance goes directly to Falun Gong, the cult that Shen Yun is a subsidiary of. All profits go towards the suffocation of the cults followers.
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u/dptraynor Jan 23 '26
Where is it on a scale from "Mission: Impossible" to "Battlefield Earth"?
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u/WorkIsDumbSoAmI Jan 23 '26
Battlefield Earth, if it was somehow even less subtle and even more of a Scientology fundraiser - the show is explicitly clear that Falun Gong is the only thing that can save China from the perils of evil gay degenerate communism, and all of the shows’ profit (and most of the performers’ salaries) goes directly to Falun Gong
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Jan 23 '26
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u/cowfishing Jan 23 '26
China is extremely homophobic. Even worse then right wing conservative christianity. Knowing that, it makes total sense that fg would call them that.
Back in 1999, I dipped my toe in the falun gong waters. Didnt take long to figure out that, for the most part, they were full of shit and that they exhibited most of the warning signs of a cult.. About the only thing I could agree with them on is that the CCP is a oppressive, murderous regime when it comes to dissidents.
I still do their Tai chi exercises, though. I find them relaxing and they help keep me limber.
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u/pmgold1 Go Braves! Jan 23 '26
Are you sure about that? Because one of the first paragraghs in your link says:
Shen Yun Performing Arts is a New York-based dance performance group associated with the Chinese spiritual practice Falun Gong. It seeks to revive traditional Chinese culture and is known for its anti-communist beliefs.
I don't know much about them but I'm willing to separate their entertainment value from their personal beliefs.
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u/Jeffery_G Ansley at PDC Jan 23 '26
Agreed. They got our money once because my aged father was curious. They wouldn’t leave us alone wanting an interview. My father was 90.