The trial of Tetsuya Yamagami, the Japanese man who assassinated former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in 2022, is exposing a dark and entrenched Christian cult that has infiltrated Japan's politics. The Unification Church, founded by Sun Myung Moon in Korea in 1954, has been secretly manipulating Japanese politics for decades.
Moon's movement fused Christian teachings with Korean shamanism, fervent anti-communism, and sexual purity, and it exploited a potent mix of traditional beliefs about inherited misfortune, guilt over Japan's colonial past in Korea, and the alienation of women struggling to navigate a rapidly changing world. The Church scoured newspaper obituaries for recently bereaved widows, then appeared at their doors claiming to bear messages from the spirit world that their loved ones were trapped in a kind of purgatory.
By donating her husband's life insurance and assets to the church, Moon’s wife became entangled with the organization and began volunteering most of her time. This led to neglecting her three children, who often went hungry and dirty before being passed around to family members, while Yamagami grew up hearing tales about his mother's "sacrifices" for him.
Tetsuya Yamagami eventually became disillusioned with the Church after seeing a video of Shinzo Abe praising a Universal Peace Federation event where Moon's widow was present. This led Yamagami to take revenge on Abe, and in July 2022, he shot and killed him at an election rally.
The Unification Church is now on trial for its decades-long manipulative fundraising practices, which have been linked to the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP). The trial has exposed Japan's deep connections between the church and the LDP, with nearly half of the party's lawmakers having ties to the organization.
Moon's movement fused Christian teachings with Korean shamanism, fervent anti-communism, and sexual purity, and it exploited a potent mix of traditional beliefs about inherited misfortune, guilt over Japan's colonial past in Korea, and the alienation of women struggling to navigate a rapidly changing world. The Church scoured newspaper obituaries for recently bereaved widows, then appeared at their doors claiming to bear messages from the spirit world that their loved ones were trapped in a kind of purgatory.
By donating her husband's life insurance and assets to the church, Moon’s wife became entangled with the organization and began volunteering most of her time. This led to neglecting her three children, who often went hungry and dirty before being passed around to family members, while Yamagami grew up hearing tales about his mother's "sacrifices" for him.
Tetsuya Yamagami eventually became disillusioned with the Church after seeing a video of Shinzo Abe praising a Universal Peace Federation event where Moon's widow was present. This led Yamagami to take revenge on Abe, and in July 2022, he shot and killed him at an election rally.
The Unification Church is now on trial for its decades-long manipulative fundraising practices, which have been linked to the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP). The trial has exposed Japan's deep connections between the church and the LDP, with nearly half of the party's lawmakers having ties to the organization.
! It's like, I get that cults can be super manipulative, but the fact that they've infiltrated Japan's politics on such a massive scale is wild 
. I mean, think about it - nearly half of the ruling party has ties to this church? That's like, systemic corruption on steroids 
. And it's not just the LDP, either - all these years and nobody knew? It's like they've been operating under the radar, pulling strings behind the scenes 
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. The whole "sacrifices" thing, the widows in newspaper obituaries... it's all just so creepy 
. I'm glad that Tetsuya Yamagami spoke out against them, but at the same time, can you imagine how messed up his life must have been growing up with those kind of stories? 
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. And that Shinzo Abe connection is wild 
. I'm not surprised they've got ties to the LDP, though... politics and power can corrupt even the best of intentions 
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. It's not cool that nearly half of the LDP lawmakers have ties to the church and have been getting away with it.
. Anyways, I'm following this trial closely and will keep you all posted on what's happening 
. I'm not surprised nearly half the party has ties to it, but still. It's like they're hiding behind a veil of "religion" or something to legitimize their power moves.
. Not some cult that preys on vulnerable people for personal gain. Japan can do better than this 
.
and now they're getting exposed for all their shady dealings 
. Like, where were all these journalists when Shinzo Abe was getting taken out? It's crazy to think that a church that preys on vulnerable people can have such a strong grip on the country's politics 