Unification Church corrects remarks amid scrutiny over Abe's death

George Carlin, the famous comedian, in a show once said something like:

"If religions and churches are so interested in getting involved with government and politics, let them pay their admissions price like everybody else. TAX THEM!"

No comment from LDP with regards to which members are affiliated with the Unification Church. Which offices have Unification Church members of staff and which candidates have used Unification Church volunteers.

In fact, no comment at all from the LDP!

Just silence!

"We meant we've achieved certain results through our compliance system. It doesn't mean we have no trouble. We apologize for having caused misunderstanding due to our poor wording," said the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification, widely known as the Unification Church, in a statement.

The Unification Church pronouncement could have come out of the LDP playbook.

"The appearance of prevarication and corruption is due to your lack of understanding of our subtlety. We apologize for your confusion."

"You bet your life you don't need religion!"

shinhiyata

"You bet your life you don't need religion!"

Lemmy Kilmister

And also, "Eat the rich".

The assassin Yamagishi opened Pandora's box for the Unification Church and affiliates. Investigations will go on.

I've been looking for any mention of the Unification Church and the Abe assassination in news on Korean sites.

Zero. It looks like the taboo extends to South Korea as well.

"Yamagami has also said he harbored a grudge against the church for more than 20 years and killed Abe as he believed his grandfather, former Prime Minister Nobusuke Kishi, had invited the religious group to Japan from South Korea, according to investigators."

What's that putrid stench?

Surely Mr. Yamagami has said much more damning things to the investigators about the blind eye turned to questionable 'fundraising' activities by the Abe administration.

Do away with such wretched cults.

Soka Gakkai as well.

A bible cost $300,000.00 !! A lot of money is donated to comfort the dead soul. Dead people do not need anything. Why the Japan government allow such organisation to operate for so many years, beside is not even originated from Japan.

“And She’s Buying her way, To Heaven”

Tax all religions!

The Unification Church, corrected remarks that it has had "no trouble" with its followers since 2009.

well then, every thing checks out there. They’re off the hook…….

and by the way, what happened BEFORE 2009? Did they have trouble in 2008?

100 million yen is more like 1 million dollars, not $720,000. It's $720,000 only now in 2022. So they got about 1 million dollars, with no need to report them or pay anything out of it. .

So yes, TAX churches and religions.

How much does a funeral and all the wakes cost in Japan? The wakes are usually held in Event halls with sometimes hundreds of attendants and everyone has to pay. Do the deceased benefit from all that cash being spent on their behalf that feeds the whole death industry?

At least China and NK ban religions and the people seem pretty happy with life.

Choshu Shinbun published a list of famous Japanese powerful member a couple of days ago, (in Japanese only sorry.)

At least China and NK ban religions and the people seem pretty happy with life.

Really? I don't think NK and China rank very high on the happiness indexes mate.

In fact, I think the people in NK are too busy trying to find bugs to eat so they don't starve to death to be particularly happy.

The media in many countries do not publish the names of assassins/murderers and thus deny them the infamy and notoriety they crave. No such concept here.

Bring on the class action! Let’s remove this cancer from society.

Last week, one of popular news shows of Japan interrupted testimony that Unification Church had forced believers to vote to ruling party LDP, switched to other topic.

Many news shows and nationwide newspapers in Japan are trying to divert public eyes from connection between politics and religion.

This is present state of press freedom index 71st.

If one good thing comes out of the assassination it is there is finally some attention paid to the Moonies. I had no idea they even existing in Japan until now. Shine a light on that odious organization.

blue

What Japan needs is to be re-secularized and pronto!

Alas, it is not that simple. When you de-secularize society, inevitably new pseudo religions spring up, which are often crazy, as you can see in the West with it its climatism, genderism, and other forms of wokeism. Alas, it seems a large section of the population needs some simple belief system. Better to stick with traditional religions, but as others said tax them once they stick their nose into secular politics.

What Japan needs is to be re-secularized and pronto!

Alas, it is not that simple. When you de-secularize society, inevitably new pseudo religions spring up, which are often bat-sh1t crazy, as you can see in the West with it its climatism, genderism, and other forms of wokeism

Stolen election-ism, scamdemic-ism, flat-earth-ism…

Best get your balance right here. There are many morons reciting from hymn sheets.

“Pseudo religions” is a strange term.

They are all false.

Do away with such wretched cults. 

Soka Gakkai as well.

Only someone who has no understanding of religions can come up with such sweeping statements. 

All religions are not the same. The last time Japan tried doing away with Soka Gakkai, it did not end too well for Japan.

It would be almost impossible to change the constitution which allows freedom of religion. There have been no amendments to the constitution since it became law 75 years ago. ex-PM Abe failed to change Article 9.

If Japan banned religion there would be strong opposition from Europe and America.

This country isn't China.

believed his grandfather, former Prime Minister Nobusuke Kishi, had invited the religious group to Japan from South Korea,

Every article I have read ( including this one) and all the news broadcasts I have watched on Youtube have used the words 'he believed' Like as if the connection to the LDP, Kishi and Abe was a just a conspiracy theory that was all in his head. Has anyone else noticed that?

If one good thing comes out of the assassination it is there is finally some attention paid to the Moonies. I had no idea they even existing in Japan until now. Shine a light on that odious organization.

Strange...since they support conservative organizations and Trump gave sponsored messages to them and they own the stalwart Washington Times.

They support regressive conservatism that impoverishes populations East and West.

STOP CALLING IT DONATION and call it what it is, rip off.

When people especially seniors are lied to, blackmailed and brain washed to give up their life savings to any group or organization it is a Rip Off, a Scam, and should ne prosecuted.

One more thing I wish to add, STOP calling it a Church bcz. it is NOT.

A church means "dedicated to the Lord." but this group is dedicated to it's master in Korea and NOT the lord.

Still too intelligent for this type of killing. WHY NOW ? If he had waited 20 years, a few more didn't mattered. He went kamikaze, that is not logical. Tunnel vision don't go out that much in the past.

The world has lost dear Abe who has inspired so many by his wisdom. I am saddened that my ten years of waiting to meet him has ended this way. Rest in peace Abe.

Every article I have read ( including this one) and all the news broadcasts I have watched on Youtube have used the words 'he believed' Like as if the connection to the LDP, Kishi and Abe was a just a conspiracy theory that was all in his head.

Wasn't it?

STOP calling it a Church

Why?

A church means ‘dedicated to the Lord’

Oh.

Well, that’s got rip-off written all over it as well.

I'm shocked that such a greedy religious cult group has already steeped deeply into Japanese society.

> ＾＾＾＾＾＾＾＾＾＾＾＾＾＾＾＾＾＾＾＾＾＾

The National Network of Lawyers Against Spiritual Sales, which represents people forced to make donations or to purchase “spiritual goods” such as personal seals and vases from religious groups, protested against Abe’s appearance last year. The network alleged that the church “caused serious damage to many citizens in Japan, family breakdown and destruction of lives”. According to the lawyers, damages sought by people they represent from the church total more than ¥123bn ($894mn) over the past 30 years. In one case, a single family donated ¥2bn to the group.

> Kimiaki Nishida, an expert on cult psychology at Rissho University, said the Japanese establishment and media had long turned a blind eye to political links to Moonies. “This is not a religious group but a cult that is hungry for money. But no one touched on the issue,” he said.

(source) LinkedIn

(Reference) https://www.ft.com/content/a31f0f6d-39c9-4990-9081-057f773d56d4

At least China and NK ban religions and the people seem pretty happy with life.

You only say that because you know so little about actual life in China. There are countless underground and very illegal churches all across China. There is a constant drumbeat of police raids and arrests at these churches. There are state sponsored churches but the preachers who draw their salaries directly from public tax revenues have to preach the CCP party line. Anything that smacks of an independent church is highly illegal. Do not assume all Chinese are happy with the situation. They are not, but because you do not live there or have family there you believe the state propaganda uncritically. It is a mistake to do so.

Any group/organization that wants you to give away to them your own hard-earned items, is questionable, more-so if your membership depends upon you doing so. Moonies/Mormons, other cults - all the same.

For those calling for the Unification Church to be banned, doing so would violate pretty much any nation's constitutional guarantees of freedom of religion. The state has no business telling people what to believe. None whatsoever. That means your political leaders are likewise free to worship wherever and in whatever manner they choose. Everyone has that right. In a free society neither you nor the government gets to say one religion is somehow good while another is bad and has to be banned.

Free speech implies we also have a right to criticize a religion, its teachings and its practices including its finanacial practices. That is fair game. Forcing religions to justify their claims with a good argument helps keep religions honest.

As for the Unification Church being worse than others, consider the blood soaked history of organized Christianity with its Crusades, Inquisition, anti-Jewish Pogroms, and organized violence against aboriginal populations in North America, Africa and Australia along with their vocal support of racist and segregationist policies in all three places. The Unification Church might have shady finances but they are nothing compared to what the Catholic Church does, or some evangelical churches in the US.

That said, I believe there are some quasi-religious groups that exist for a natural good.

One such group that I have been curious about for a long time, is the Masonic society - which my Family of past, had been involved with, and from what I was told, "Positively" too..

https://www.quora.com/What-are-the-pros-and-cons-of-being-a-member-of-a-Masonic-lodge

No coercion seemingly involved.

Though there's a lot of "negative talk" about them:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NNQMWqlol54

Still, I'd like to know more about them - since they helped my indirect Family in a time of their need, and at some point, giving back seems the right thing to do.

That said, I believe there are some quasi-religious groups that exist for a natural good.

I think some religious groups result in good. They give people a moral framework by which to live their lives, and often this moral framework contains tenets like "be good to others" and "don't be evil".

But that doesn't change the fact that they're all using characters in books, to imbue power upon those who supposedly know how the book characters would feel about the real lives of real people, if said characters were real.

They are all a means of social control of the masses, through framing the peace of their eternal soul as requiring the church to save it.

Sure, they have minor differences between them, but lets be honest, they're all selling a lie of a god, to people who lack the critical thinking to realize it's all a scam.

I think with your Christian background or peer group you are looking at things from a point of view which is very different from mine.

In my religion there is no god and there is no soul. There is only karma (which we all have regardless of whether we are religious or atheists or whatever) and a means to overcome it. Nothing more and nothing less. If you are happy with your life then fine, no need to turn to religion. If science could explain everything there would be no need of religion.

I think with your Christian background or peer group you are looking at things from a point of view which is very different from mine.

In my religion there is no god and there is no soul. There is only karma (which we all have regardless of whether we are religious or atheists or whatever) and a means to overcome it.

It still comes down to the same fundamental concept - people controlling others through guarantees of the afterlife, something which no human can no. So they're controlling people through a story made by man, with the religion as the required conduit to best understand how these fictional stories should apply to our real lives.

All religion is a logical fallacy. Sometimes with good ends, but a logical fallacy nevertheless. Something made up by men cannot by definition be an accurate prediction of what will actually happen to us after death. The best they can hope for is that by pure and utter coincidence, some of the parts they made up may actually somewhat match what actually happens after death. If anything.

If science could explain everything there would be no need of religion.

That statement is a logical fallacy, put forward by religious people, to try to convince the masses that religion is necessary. Religion was made by man before science existed, to fill in the unknown mysteries of life. Science has slowly displaced religion, as it comes up with real answers to some of those questions, and exposed the fallacy of the made up suggestions religion provided. This is why the more science we get, and the more people learn it, they see how their religion cannot logically make sense, as it is not congruent with the scientific reality of the world.

Science explains lots, and continually explains more. People have less and less need of religion, because the made up answers of their religion don't serve any purpose once we understand how it actually works. This is why first-world educated nations see their rates of religiousness drop as their prosperity and education increases.

Strangerland

All religions are not the same

They are all a means of social control of the masses, through framing the peace of their eternal soul as requiring the church to save it.

Nope, not true. It is a meaningless simplification to call them all the same, seeing that there are fundamental differences in the content. A bit like saying "all books are the same". Because they are called books. Or "all ideologies are the same"..... sure, like Bolshewism and Democracy?

Fact is there are belief systems that are harmless to society and others that are harmful. Should be obvious, really.

Desert Tortoise

For those calling for the Unification Church to be banned, doing so would violate pretty much any nation's constitutional guarantees of freedom of religion. The state has no business telling people what to believe. None whatsoever. 

Just to make sure: So what do you do when a political ideology labels itself a religion? Freedom of religion, or not?

It is a meaningless simplification to call them all the same, seeing that there are fundamental differences in the content.

Sure, but I pointed out how they are the same: a means of social control of the masses, through framing the peace of their eternal soul as requiring the church to save it. The content is just the framework they use to enact these means.

A bit like saying "all books are the same". Because they are called books. Or "all ideologies are the same"..... sure, like Bolshewism and Democracy?

Nah, that's too generalized. It would be more like saying 'all religious novels are the same'. Which, they are, because they are a means of social control of the masses, through framing the peace of their eternal soul as requiring the church to save it.

Fact is there are belief systems that are harmless to society and others that are harmful. Should be obvious, really.

Very binary thinking of you to think that something can be only one or the other. Truth is, religion is harmless to some, and harmful to others. The end result of religion is very good for many people, and gives them the framework by which to live a more virtuous life. But it is also poor for many people - look at the Christian relgious hatred of same-sex marriage, abortion, birth control, or Muslim acts against homosexuals for examples. How many people have disowned their own children for daring to love someone based on the writing of a man-written book, supposedly declaring the intentions of a god? Sorry, but going to have a hard time getting me to think that's not significantly harmful to society and families.