Spiritual movement

    The Chinese Communist Party has been very nervous about the rise of Falun Gong since the 1990s. A relatively new religious movement rooted in Eastern spiritual practices, practitioners of Falun Gong (sometimes called Falun Dafa) appear peaceful and meditative. However, they have held several large gatherings (numbering in the thousands) in public places that the CCP has considered very threatening and have cracked down on the unofficial religious organization. Why would what appears to be a relatively sedate and meditative spiritual movement be so concerning to political elite? What does this tell us about the political power of religious movements more generally?