Among the Believers

On weekday mornings Kery Wilkie Nunez does her Falun Gong exercises with two or three commuters next to a subway station outside Washington. The buzz from the nearby highway and the bustle of the rushing crowds don't phase her. "You become peaceful and tranquil inside," says NuNez. Steven Reani does his exercises early morning near a deserted shopping mall in the capital, except on weekends when he, along with dozens of other practitioners, heads to the vast green lawn of the city's Mall.

With its slow-motion calisthenics and Buddhist philosophical bedrock, Falun Gong seems incontrovertibly Chinese. But the world is a hungry place for new beliefs. And while Falun Gong has been labeled a dissident movement within China—which is how many non-Chinese first heard about Falun Gong and became interested—there are practitioners around the globe with little or no political agenda. Adherents say Falun Gong practice groups can now be found in more than 40 countries and that Master Li Hongzhi's writings have been translated into 10 languages.

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	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

What about politics? This is Washington after all. Each day, Falun Gong followers—mostly ethnic Chinese—can be found protesting across from the Beijing government's embassy. "Before the crackdown (in China)," says Feuerberg, "no one spoke about politics. There was no agenda. Yet those suffering in China are like 1st century Christian martyrs. We must stand by them." It's a lot easier to do so in America.