Popular depictions of high-control religious movements typically conjure up images of remote rural compounds, matching uniforms, or devotees chanting around a fire. In reality, contemporary sectarian organisations frequently operate as sophisticated, highly monetised corporate networks.
At three in the morning inside a makeshift media production room, the monitors hummed with that specific high-pitched whine that eventually replaces your inner monologue. I had been awake for the better part of forty-eight hours, sustained entirely by adrenaline, cheap instant coffee, and the terrifying certainty that if the print deadlines slipped, cosmic history … Read more
The spare bedroom in dad’s council flat in Islington was a vertical slice of domestic archaeology that smelled permanently of ancient newsprint and loose-leaf Earl Grey. Outside the sash window, the London drizzle fell in grey sheets, blurring the red-brick terraces across the street into a smudged charcoal drawing. Inside, the cast-iron radiator clanked an … Read more
The residual machinery of a decade spent in a high-demand group does not simply vanish the moment you stop turning up to the park or hand in your resignation to an apocalyptic broadsheet. It lingers in the neurological wiring, hiding inside the tiny, mundane corners of a suburban existence in Christchurch. You might imagine that … Read more
Whether you are a journalist investigating high-control groups, a student writing a thesis, a family member trying to understand a loved one’s sudden transformation, or someone quietly questioning your own involvement/navigating information about Falun Gong can feel bewildering. On one side, public relations campaigns present Falun Gong (also known as Falun Dafa) as a harmless, … Read more
The Inheritance of the Unusual It was the final straw the day my father, Robert George Gibson, passed away in the red brick compound of St Mary’s Hospice right on the border between Bethnal Green and Hackney. I no longer believed in Falun Gong and wanted to leave. In cult parlance, I was PIMO: physically … Read more
Undercover Journalism, Secret Police, and Global Deportation Ping-Pong How an ill-fitting borrowed suit, a manic human rights lawyer, and an apocalyptic spiritual movement delivered me into a subterranean airport cell and a four-country deportation relay. The Survey, the Suit, and the Cover Story It was late August 2006, and my latest New Zealand tourist visa … Read more
When a family member joins Falun Gong, the initial focus is often on the group’s political stances or meditation practices. However, the most acute danger often remains hidden until a medical crisis hits. To an outsider, refusing medical treatment looks like irrational self-destruction. To a devout practitioner, it is a perfectly logical, spiritual calculation. If … Read more