In July 1999, when the Chinese Government launched its persecution of Falun Gong, it was looking for a quick kill - three months to be exact; Jiang Zemin, the main culprit of the persecution, claimed, "I just do not believe the Communist Party cannot conquer Falun Gong." The very fact that the persecution is still going on, however, sends an unmistakable message: Falun Gong is still standing in China; Falun Gong practitioners are still going strong!

The sacrifices made by Falun Gong practitioners are tremendous, however. From what has leaked through the tight media control of the Chinese government, we know over 1,400 Falun Gong practitioners have died at the hands of the barbaric police.

What makes the Falun Gong practitioners so unbreakable? What are they insisting on? A new book, Stories of Conscience, addresses the significance and nature of this historical event from the angle of human conscience, as stated in its preface:

"Why are Falun Gong practitioners so unyielding to coercion? Why are they so uncompromising in insisting on their conscience? If right and wrong can be compromised, why have right and wrong? If good can cave in to evil, what will values and principles be based on? Conscience, the innate knowing of goodness, is the very essence of humanity. Everything else, even our "inalienable rights," can be forcibly taken away. The alteration of our conscience, no matter how small, must be consented to from within. Conscience, thus, defines human nature, and the right to conscience is a human being’s most fundamental right.

"No crime, therefore, is worse than the crime against conscience. The Chinese government’s persecution of Falun Gong not only violates Falun Gong practitioners’ right to conscience, but is also an assault aimed at the destruction of human nature."

Through eleven heart-touching stories, Stories of Conscience describes not only how barbaric the persecution is, but, much more importantly, it eloquently portrays practitioners’ gallant defense of humanity and their conscious choice of goodness in resisting evil. The simple narration brings those who have lost their lives during the persecution to life, presents these real, kind and common people to the world, and gives a new meaning to peace, courage and conscience through their stories and experiences. The barbaric persecution will become a distant past in the near future when the evildoers are reduced to dust, but Falun Gong practitioner’s conscience, courage, and sacrifice will forever remain humanity’s most precious heritage.

The Falun Gong Human Rights Working Group