Victims voice fears 30 years after Tokyo sarin subway attack

She's absolutely right. How Aum is allowed to continue to exist is a farce and an insult to those who died, remain injured, their family members, and Japanese society as a whole. Yet the Moonies may be banned? I say get rid of them all.

Religion vs a cult: what's the difference? Might it be that decent religious believers should be able retain a personal sense of morality and responsibility, and be able to resist when, for example, their leader prompts them to do something morally wrong? Whereas with a cult... If you find yourself devoted to a leader to the point that your own moral principles begin to deteriorate, and you begin to echo immoral positions of the leader, you might be on a slippery slope.

My girlfriend narrowly escaped being murdered by the Aum nutjobs on her way to work. Many of the cult members were graduates of Japan's best universities -- why were they so easily brainwashed? It depresses me that we are approaching the 30th anniversary of that terrible day and we still don't have any real answers.

More interesting is the media keeps the memories alive by giving them a space to report their past. I understand that the news event was historical but as Shizue Takahashi's reported she believes history will repeat itself.

MilesTegMar. 18  05:07 pm JST

She's absolutely right. How Aum is allowed to continue to exist is a farce and an insult to those who died, remain injured, their family members, and Japanese society as a whole. Yet the Moonies may be banned? I say get rid of them all.

The same way that other cults continue existing. Not to mention, they also murder those who leave them, just like gangs often do. After all, the NOI murdered Malcolm X Shabazz when he left, and it still exists with that Screwy Louis Farrakhan as its head. And allowing these gang/cults to carry on IS an insult to the innocents they kill. And didn't a Moonie murder the Japanese PM a few years ago? Well, these subway survivors count too!

KuribozuMar. 18  08:20 pm JST

Religion vs a cult: what's the difference? Might it be that decent religious believers should be able retain a personal sense of morality and responsibility, and be able to resist when, for example, their leader prompts them to do something morally wrong? Whereas with a cult... If you find yourself devoted to a leader to the point that your own moral principles begin to deteriorate, and you begin to echo immoral positions of the leader, you might be on a slippery slope.

Religions are meant to better a person in this life and prepare him/her for a better eternity in the afterlife after surviving the trials and temptations of material life. Religions advocate morality, concern for others, good deeds, good acts, peace and LOVE. Any religion that doesn't promote these things is a false one. And for that same matter, every religion (Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Sikhism, Zoroastrianism, Baha'ism, the various forms of Hinduism + Buddhism, folk religions, any old thing) has its true moral practitioners and their fanatics who distort religion for their selfish hateful violent agenda.

1995 saw this sick terrorist attack and the OKC Federal Bldg. bombing. Some of the ones who endorsed that evil deed were 'Christian' fundamentalist fanatics who would later on join the MAGA cult.

And in early 1993 there was the Christian fanatic Branch Davidian cult standoff, a failed attack on the World Trade Centers by a small Islamic fanatic gang and a trashing of a historical mosque in India by Hindu fanatics.

In the previous three cases the terrorist cults were led by 'gurus'/false messiahs/phony gods. That's what makes them different from true religions.

At the height of its influence, the cult counted more than 10,000 followers, mostly in Japan but also in Russia, the United States and elsewhere.

Aum has since disbanded, but its hanged guru is still worshipped in Japan by an estimated 1,600 members of successor groups.

Experts warn that the groups are reaching young recruits in secret both in person and through social media and messaging apps, where they are also spreading posts saying that Aum's crimes were misportrayed.

Then the cult really isn't 'disbanded', is it? As long as they have these social media posts, contacts in prisons and denials of Aum's crimes (or any other crimes, such as the Holocaust) then the problem isn't 'solved', is it?

The Moonies worship the dead Sun Myung Moon even now, just like Aum does Asahara. The danger remains.

More than 5,800 others were injured in the attack, for which the wild-haired, nearly blind cult leader Shoko Asahara was executed in 2018 along with 12 disciples.

And in the last minute, they begged mercy for their lives..

Justice were done !!!..

Tim Sullivan - how on earth can your comment have been downvoted? I’m glad your girlfriend was ok