Unification Church ex-members in Japan say they were treated like an 'economic army'

I can’t believe people are stupid enough to send money to organizations like this.

We don’t need churches/ religions & other wacky cults to believe in people. It’s all a bunch a nonsense. People are such suckers!!!

About time the Japanese cleansed this cancer from the body politic and from their country, it obviously acts like a leach sucking financial blood from the people of Japan

About time the Japanese cleansed this cancer from the body politic and from their country, it obviously acts like a leach sucking financial blood from the people of Japan

You know that will never happen. Japanese need something to believe in. It is written in their DNA.

 the Unification Church had treated its followers in Japan like "an economic army" to raise donations 

In other words, they were suckers who easily parted with their cash. However, you have to remember that donations to a church are tax deductions. That why so many rich people were involved in it. It is a tax dodge.

Japan is the money tunnel to South Korea sending billions.

Yeah I can see where people might be duped by that story.

Either ban gatherings of this organization or start taxing them for at least 30% of their donations.

""Moon, a self-proclaimed messiah, died in 2012. His church's doctrine still urges its tens of thousands of Japanese members to make donations to atone for atrocities perpetrated during their country's 1910-1945 occupation of Korea.""

Now this is new!? and if that is the case then that will make the LDP a co conspirator and a partner in this SCAM, I feel sorry for all the members who lost their life savings and families for this scam.

Call it what it is, CULT and not a Church. People are giving this Cult legitimacy by calling it a church.

Since 1994, its called The Family Federation for World Peace and Unification.

In high school, I dated a girl whose father was a member of the Cavalry Church, so I attended there for a bit to see what was up. It was one of the best educations I ever had.

Unfortunately, these kinds of cult/scam religions are all over Japan. I got sucked into one myself by a temple cult.

They started by hooking me in to a "community" event that I was invited to trend by two young women who knocked on my door one day. Gave me various temple related paraphernalia and introduced me to other local members. I could see where it was going when they started to want to charge me for stuff and to have me come and meet the high priest!

Ended up ignoring them, but really persistent and banged on the door all hours and almost felt stalked. This went on for months even though I gave them lots of excuses about being, "busy." Etc. Only got rid of them completely by moving! I kid you not. (But had planned on moving so was good excuse to hurry it along).

I learned how to say straight out "No" after that experience. The power of that word changed my life for the better. The important of saying "No" should be taught in all primary schools.

The UC should be regarded as an anti-social organisation like yakuza crime syndicates, and should be regulated accordingly.

Moon, a self-proclaimed messiah, died in 2012. His church's doctrine still urges its tens of thousands of Japanese members to make donations to atone for atrocities perpetrated during their country's 1910-1945 occupation of Korea.

Deja vu? Such a war-guilty narrative is also often employed by radical activists who never stop demanding an apology and compensation from Japan, over and over again. Shame on them, extortionists.

As I have said before, my Okinawan mother in law gave these people money, and they are the most discriminated people in Japan.

The Moonies should have been paying THEM with the proceeds.

The church, which says Japan is home to one of its largest memberships, declined to say how much money it collects there.

This seems like something they should legally be required to disclose. If businesses have to, so should they.

His church's doctrine still urges its tens of thousands of Japanese members to make donations to atone for atrocities perpetrated during their country's 1910-1945 occupation of Korea.

According to church dogma, Japan is an Eve nation that, by consorting with the devil, betrayed Korea, portrayed as Adam.

Its really hard to get one’s head around how the LDP square this with pretty much everything the LDP has to say about the War, Yasukuni Shrine, etc.

They are kind of like the US military. We pay them for their bases, families and buy their weapons for divine protection from supposed evil.

Corruption is rife in the land of the rising sun.

Seems like the attention is focused to the Unification Church. How about some other religious cult with a tight hold on Jpolitics!

rainyday

Today 09:43 am JST

Its really hard to get one’s head around how the LDP square this with pretty much everything the LDP has to say about the War, Yasukuni Shrine, etc

I think it just goes to show they'll say anything to con gullible right-wing swivel-eyed types into voting for them.

Laguna, you mention the Cavalry Church school, would that be the Calvary church school by any chance? I'd put a Smiley in here if I knew how to do it!. But seriously, if it was a Christian school, you would have got a good education. I write as an ex-Catholic who did my senior schooling at a school run by the Jesuits, and I still have great respect for them. But cults like the Moonies twist the minds of their followers because of the narcissistic self-aggrandisement of their leaders.

Japan seems to revel in this kind of self abasement; be it at the hands of the US dominator or, as here, the Korean dominatrix. These cult revelations herald a start to the cleansing of Japan’s putrid Augean stables.

another cult like Sokkagakkai only Sokkagakkai is allowed to have their own political party

Those cults are everywhere and they recruit in front of train stations. A week ago, i got a prospectus for one at the entrance of the station and before the young lady start to talk, I ripped the prospectus in front of her and said "いらない". I hate those people. In Belgium and most of Europe, there is law that forbid abuse of weakness. And because of those law, if a cult ask you for money, you can sue them for abuse of weaknesses. It is time for Japan to regulate those cults.

Sorry, but to some extent the donors are not so much victims as willing collaborators. You can't force people into your group or force money out of them. Time for people to grow a backbone and wise up.

Show me a cult and I'll show you a scam. Human gullibility is a constant, ineradicable characteristic of our species founded upon fear of the unknown and ignorance. Wolfish politicians all have a keen scent for this human weakness and go gaslighting straight for the jugular, er, the wallet.

I see a lot of scapegoating here. A terrorist scapegoats his reason for making homemade guns and assassinating a Prime Minister. Now politicians are scapegoating why they do not have a great approval rating. And we got some scapegoating to hide their insecurities.

Notionally "christian" denominations are no different. Many demand tithes as high as 10% of your take home income. There is constant pressure to tithe. And when the collection plate is passed around on Sunday you don't want to be seen as cheap and only stick a dollar in the collection basket. Peer pressure you know.

I used to enrage my evangelical friends reminding them that their favorite TV preacher was wearing thousand dollar suits and spent time among his several multi-million dollar mansions while these same friends lived in an apartment or their parent's inexpensive tract home in rural Florida, drove beat up used cars and shopped at Dollar General and Ben Franklin stores. Years later that same TV preacher was later caught whoring around in New Orleans and I had the pleasure of the last laugh. Then you had the Crouches who together had over 30 multi million dollar mansions and a huge TV ministry in Costa Mesa and drove the residential neighborhood they had their "church" in absolutely crazy with loud music and tour buses into the wee hours. But the city could not stop them due to the right to worship.

There was a "christian" motorcycle club called Born to Die always trying to recruit me. Come pray with us the pastor would say. I can't say the words here that I would tell him :) They claimed to host a "prison ministry" but it was a front to recruit members if you ask me. Nonetheless the county sheriff let these bozos operate their "ministry" inside their jails. The members all had more offenses on their rap sheets than the value of their IQ but they all had more expensive bikes than I could afford and the "pastor" drove a Bentley. How does that work? The whole thing came crashing down after a couple of these good christians picked fight with some Hells Angels in a Newport Beach bar that led to the "pastor" and some "associate pastors" being arrested.

People are gullible when it comes to religion. Too many crooked preachers prey on the insecurities of others to make money. And too many people let their insecurities about the afterlife cloud their judgement.

People should be warned to also avoid cults like Fuji dai sekiji Senshoukai(富士大石寺顕正会), which is based in Saitama and also persuade its members to make big donations.