Former Falun Gong practitioner Xie Yufeng told the People's Daily why he turned against the group. "Like many other people, I first turned to Falun Gong to cure my illness. Later, when I read from Falun Gong books such words as 'bringing up upper levels of enlightenment' and 'becoming an immortal,' I thought I had found the true meaning of life in Falun Gong. I was deeply convinced by such Falun Gong ideas as the decadence of human morality and the doomsday disasters, and I believed that only through practicing Falun Gong can people survive the disasters and reach a perfect 'heaven paradise.'
 
"Little by little, I began to treat my family members and other people indifferently and took the practice and guard of Falun Gong as the most important part of my life. . .  Falun Gong stresses worship for the 'hierach' Li Hongzhi and the absolute submission to his words. It controls the followers' minds and makes everyone think and act just the same — zombie-like and cold-blooded. The Falun Gong concocted all kinds of mixed 'theories' to create a scary atmosphere to attract followers [who were] seeking protection and salvation. It has driven thousands of followers mad and even to death.

"What first attracted me to Falun Gong was curing my illness, but later, when I had deepened my practice I found that any lack of devotion to Falun Gong and Li Hongzhi would harm my Falun Gong achievement . . . At first I was very unhappy [about the government's decision to declare Falun Gung an 'evil cult']. I was even thinking of striving for the truth at the price of my blood. Now I have come to realize that the government did the right thing.

"I was sentenced to one year's reeducation through labor in January of 2000 for disturbing social order. That gave me a chance for second thought of what I had done with a sober and cool head. I finally realized that I had been cheated by Li Hongzhi [the Falun Gong leader] and his mysterious doctrine. . . It is Li Hongzhi [rather than the government] and his Falun Gong that is actually violating human rights. It finally deprives the practitioners of basic rights and freedom through mind control and cheating."

 (People's Daily, February 16, 2001)