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The church linked to Abe’s killing, Japan’s political troubles (Strange article)
Al Jazeera ^ | 27 Sept 2022 | Zaheena Rasheed

Posted on 09/28/2022 6:04:08 AM PDT by bert

Controversy erupts after Shinzo Abe’s assassin says he killed the former leader over his support for a ‘predatory South Korean religious cult’.

Controversy erupts after Shinzo Abe’s assassin says he killed the former leader over his support for a ‘predatory South Korean religious cult’.

Snip...

In a letter Yamagami sent to a blogger a day before shooting Abe with a handmade gun, he wrote that it was “impossible” to kill Hak Ja Han Moon. And although Abe was “not my original enemy”, the 67-year-old politician was “one of the most influential sympathisers” of the Unification Church, he wrote. “I can no longer afford to think about the political implications and consequences that Abe’s death will bring,” he added.

snip....

Church or cult? Officially known as Family Federation for World Peace and Reunification and disparagingly called “the Moonies”, Sun Myung Moon founded the Unification Church in South Korea in 1954. The self-proclaimed messiah was a staunch anti-Communist who advocated conservative family-oriented beliefs. Famously, he oversaw mass weddings at which he had matched thousands of couples, sometimes by pairing photographs of people who had never met before.

snip....

Moon became good friends with Nobusuke Kishi, who served as Japan’s prime minister from 1957 to 1960 and was Abe’s grandfather. It was Kishi who helped found the church’s political arm, the International Federation for Victory Over Communism in Japan in 1968, according to Japanese media. After gaining a foothold in Japan, the church treated its followers there like an “economic army”, a former senior member told the Reuters news agency, raising money by collecting donations and selling “spiritual goods” such as expensive ginseng tea or miniature stone pagodas.

snip....

In the case of Yamagami, Abe’s killer, relatives say his mother, a devout follower, donated some 100 million yen ($692,000) to the church, a large part of which came from a life insurance payment from his father’s death by suicide.

snip....

“The nexus of right-wing politicians and a right-wing Church that both oppose gender rights, LGBTQ rights and want to turn back the hands of history on social developments involving the family have sparked anger,” said Jeffrey Kingston, professor of history and Asian studies at Temple University in Japan. “Their conservative dogma does not enjoy public support.”


TOPICS: Religion
KEYWORDS: abe; aljazeera; fakenews; moonies; terroristrag
And now for something completely different

I was saddened by the assignation of Shinzo Abe. He was a great world leader. I almost can't believe he could be killed off because of alleged association with the Moonies

1 posted on 09/28/2022 6:04:08 AM PDT by bert
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To: bert

>I almost can’t believe he could be killed off because of alleged association with the Moonies

His grandfather Kishi basically financed their entry into Tokyo politics by giving them the land that eventually became their base of operations. The shooters mother gave hundreds of thousands to the Moonies, devastating his family and leaving him penniless. Also, while there is obvious evidence of brainwashing and exploitation, the Tokyo district courts never award more than a few thousand dollars in punative damages to those hurt by the organization.

That said, Abe shouldn’t have been killed.


2 posted on 09/28/2022 6:28:47 AM PDT by struggle
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To: bert

“raising money by collecting donations and selling “spiritual goods” such as expensive ginseng tea or miniature stone pagodas.”

And Kahr pistols.


3 posted on 09/28/2022 6:47:26 AM PDT by Celerity
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To: bert
Call me skeptical.

Trusting Al Jazeera for religious news is like trusting Stacey Abrams for a diet plan, or trusting Bill Clinton for an abstinence plan, or trusting Brandon for a cognitive plan.

4 posted on 09/28/2022 6:48:10 AM PDT by Tell It Right (1st Thessalonians 5:21 -- Put everything to the test, hold fast to that which is true.)
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To: Tell It Right

In my example above your post Al Jazeera even points it out....

The tongil group (I think that’s the name of Justin Moons group) had a few businesses among them a tea company and a stone and concrete supply company.
Oh, I used to live in Hawley PA down the road from Greeley which is where Justin moved Kahr. I know him personally, although we’re not friends. Met a few times. And I have to be honest, he’s on par with putting freedom in people’s hands in the spirit of John Moses Browning.

But only in the hands of people who can rack the slide on the Kahr.


5 posted on 09/28/2022 7:03:50 AM PDT by Celerity
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To: struggle

Over 100 Japan lawmakers had links with Unification Church: survey
KYODO NEWS KYODO NEWS - Aug 13, 2022 - 22:55 | All, Japan

More than 100 of all the 712 lawmakers in Japan have had some connections with the controversial Unification Church, with nearly 80 percent of them belonging to the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, a Kyodo News survey showed Saturday.

In the survey with a response rate of over 80 percent, 106 had links with the church such as attending events hosted by entities associated with the religious group, which has come under renewed attention following former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s assassination last month, or receiving electoral cooperation from its members.

Lawmakers from the LDP, now headed by Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, accounted for 82 of the total, highlighting close ties between the main ruling party and the church, founded in South Korea in the 1950s and identified as a cult by critics.

https://english.kyodonews.net/news/2022/08/7926f4479cff-over-100-japan-lawmakers-had-links-with-unification-church-survey.html


6 posted on 09/28/2022 9:28:27 AM PDT by seowulf (Civilization begins with order, grows with liberty, and dies with chaos...Will Durant)
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To: bert

Yes, the Moonies are a cult, and their founder declared himself the messiah, so he’s a false prophet.

But they hate the commies, so at least there’s that.


7 posted on 09/28/2022 9:41:11 AM PDT by Boogieman
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