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Ideology, Demonization, and Scholarship: The
Need for Objectivity—A Response to Robbins' Comments on Rosedale, the Chinese
Government, and Falun Gong
Herbert L. Rosedale
Abstract
Robbins' comments on Rosedale's paper
presented to the Chinese Anti-Cult Association
conference in December, 2001 (and published in
Cultic Studies Review, Vol. 2, No. 1, 2003)
highlights many of the difficulties in dialogue
and the distortions created by the effects of
ideology in discussions relating to destructive
cults. Robbins purports to reflect his
"distress" over possible support by elements of
the "anticult movement" (ACM) in America for
repressive activities by the Communist Chinese
Government against Falun Gong, evidenced by
Rosedale's failure to "denounce" brutal
persecution and downplaying of the totalitarian
nature of the Chinese authoritarian regime. The
flaw in Robbins' analysis is that it was
prepared without knowledge of the context in
which the paper was submitted and without direct
inquiry as to ongoing communications between the
American Family Foundation and the Chinese
Anti-Cult Association. ([i])
It omits any analysis of the role of the state
in regulating religion in various cultural
backgrounds where religious practices come into
conflict with secular restrictions on such
practices. It likewise ignores the necessary
consideration of the impact of diverse cultures
and history on aspects of belief and practice
carried on in the name of religion, some in the
context of a society based on separation of
church and state and some where the two are
blended with dynamic changes in the social
fabric occurring at a rapid rate. ([ii])
Additionally, primary attribution of destructive
tendencies in cultic groups to their responses
to persecution is an oversimplified response to
a complex problem which ignores divergence in
responses of different groups to the degree of
tolerance afforded in different cultural
contexts. My comment and response, however,
does offer an opportunity for continuing
dialogue and certainly raises the question as to
where Robbins has addressed the kinds of
concerns he faults Rosedale for "downplaying"
when abridgements of human rights and the harm
resulting there from are caused by destructive
cultic groups.
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