In China, a park warns citizens away from cults

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A sign near the exercise equipment at the Anti-Cult Theme Park in Wenzhou, China, says, “Prevent cults; resist cults.” (Julie Makinen / Los Angeles Times)

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A sign welcomes visitors to the Anti-Cult Theme Park in Wenzhou, China. (Julie Makinen / Los Angeles Times)

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At the entrance to the park, red characters on stones urge visitors to “worship science.” (Julie Makinen / Los Angeles Times)

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A preface to a riverside mural says in part, “Cults, drugs and terrorism are the three largest threats in the world today.” (Julie Makinen / Los Angeles Times)

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The caption with this illustration warns, “Cult organizations have always borrowed the name of religion or martial arts, and always try to promote the theory of apocalypse, using the excuse that the world will end soon to create fear in society.” (Julie Makinen / Los Angeles Times)

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“Cults portray their leader as god and establish a large organization; they get their wealth illegally,” the caption with this illustration warns. (Julie Makinen / Los Angeles Times)

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“Cult organizations,” the caption to this illustration says, “always try to get you to join by using slogans promising they can help you avoid disasters and strengthen you.” (Julie Makinen / Los Angeles Times)

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“The leader of Falun Gong, Li Hongzhi, has claimed he’s the largest Buddha in the universe,” reads the text accompanying this illustration. “He’s borrowed many words from Buddhism, Taoism and Chinese traditional culture to deceive others and fool ordinary people.” (Julie Makinen / Los Angeles Times)

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This illustration denounces a sect known as Almighty God, which says a mainland woman is the second coming of Jesus Christ. The caption to this illustration says in part, “Almightly God - they evolved in the 1990s under the name of Christianity. They are actually an illegal organization, an evil cult.” (Julie Makinen / Los Angeles Times)

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“Almighty God has announced they are starting a final battle against the big red dragon,” the text with this picture says. (Julie Makinen / Los Angeles Times)

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Puti Gong is another group singled out as a cult with foreign ties. “It was established in 1991 by a person from Hebei province named Di Yuming,” says the text with this drawing. (Julie Makinen / Los Angeles Times)

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A small poster informs visitors to Jonestown, Guyana, “On Nov. 18, 1978, the head of the American evil cult People’s Temple, Jim Jones, led more than 900 of his followers, including men, women, the elderly and the young, to ingest poisoned materials and they committed suicide together. The bodies were everywhere; this shocked the world.” (Julie Makinen / Los Angeles Times)

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A pavilion with placards highlights quotes on religion and cults from famous people. One attributed to Chinese President Xi Jinping says: “Cults are spiritual poison; they are the pollution of human society.” (Julie Makinen / Los Angeles Times)

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A quote attributed to Vincent van Gogh reads, “Whoever is truly in love with nature will be able to find beauty everywhere.” (Julie Makinen / Los Angeles Times)

By Julie Makinen

May 8, 2014 4:05 AM PT

Reporting from Wenzhou, China —

Along the banks of the Ou River in this coastal Chinese city is a pleasant if ordinary green space that would hardly merit much attention except for the striking sign out front: Anti-Cult Theme Park.
“Worship Science,” suggests a message painted on rocks at the entrance to the park, which was dedicated in 2012 and is the work of the Yongjia County Office on Prevention and Handling of Cult Issues and the Yongjia Anti-Cult Assn.

Admission is free, and despite the name, don’t expect any roller coasters or merry-go-rounds. This is a space for exercise and indoctrination.

Within the grounds, you’ll find some jungle-gym equipment and an arc-shaped pavilion with quotes on religion and nature from famous personages – Mao Tse-tung, Albert Einstein, Vincent Van Gogh.

A long, three-part, amateurishly executed mural along the riverfront wall explains what cults are, and how and why to resist them.

China’s constitution provides for freedom of religious belief, and the state recognizes five religions -- Buddhism, Taoism, Islam, Catholicism and Protestantism -- although it restricts how groups can organize and practice.

Authorities, though, take a dim view of charismatic sects, especially those with any overseas connections. Falun Gong, for instance, a spiritual movement with roots in Buddhism and Taoism and whose leader lives in the United States, was banned as an evil cult in 1999.

In Wenzhou last week, authorities demolished a church, saying it had been built much larger than permits allowed for. But some in the city say officials fear the rise of another spiritual organization beyond its control.

“The government fears another group like Falun Gong,” said a taxi driver, who goes by the nickname A-Hai. “They had a thousand or more people at that church, and the believers there, they handled things really poorly.”

Check out the slideshow for a tour of the Anti-Cult Theme Park.

In China, a park warns citizens away from cults

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