Spiritual Society or Evil Cult?

Not much is known about Li Hongzhi, 48, the man who created Falun Gong in 1992. He worked as a grain clerk in northeast China's Liaoning province. He played trumpet in a troupe run by the forestry police in neighboring Jilin. And then he wrote a very odd book that affected millions.

Li's rambling dissertation, Zhuan Falun, has only added to accusations that Falun Gong is a cult. Li writes he can personally heal disease and that his followers can stop speeding cars using the powers of his teachings. He writes that the Falun Gong emblem exists in the bellies of practitioners, who can see through the celestial eyes in their foreheads. Li believes "humankind is degenerating and demons are everywhere"—extraterrestrials are everywhere, too—and that Africa boasts a 2-billion-year-old nuclear reactor. He also says he can fly.

Wacky, perhaps. But is Falun Gong a cult? Not necessarily, if classic characteristics of cults are taken into account. A reckoning:

Typical Cult Techniques	Falun Gong's Record
• Exerts tremendous pressure on people to join	NO
• Fosters an us-versus-them approach to life	YES
• Believers remove themselves from society	NO
• Uses jargon that outsiders don't understand	YES
• Believers required to donate large sums of money	NO
• Led by a charismatic master	YES

		HAVE YOUR SAY
	COVER STORY About Falun Gong | Crackdown Li Hongzhi | Modern religion in China | Your Views POLL Is Falun Gong A spiritual group? An "evil cult"? FEEDBACK We invited TIMEasia.com readers to respond to our Falun Gong coverage from the July 2 edition of TIME. Here are their edited responses. If you want to have your say, write to TIME Asia at mail@web.timeasia.com