The 'National Association of the Victims of Shincheonji'...Who is the Real Victim and Who is the Perpetrator?
Anti-Shincheonji protestors used to justify years of victimisation through coercive conversion, colluding with the established Korean Church and Christian media
Acts of child kidnap and imprisonment lead to family breakdown
Protestors event chant with their child by their side
[Cheonji Ilbo = Reporter Kang Soo-kyung] Man-hee Lee (90), Chairman of Shincheonji Church of Jesus, the Temple of the Tabernacle of the Testimony (Shincheonji Church of Jesus) has been arrested following charges made by the prosecution for violation of preventing efforts to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus infection (Covid-19) (Infectious Diseases Control and Prevention Act) and for "embezzlement of church funds" for construction of a 'Peace Palace'.
Chairman Lee's arrest was carried out during the prosecution's investigations following a complaint submitted by the National Association of the Victims of Shincheonji (Jeonpyeon; Head Representative Gang-sik Shin) on February 27th. Jeonpyeon is known for being a group which travels between Shincheonji Church and Zion Christian Mission Center and, for several years, has held single-person protests mixed with abusive language that often makes local residents look in disdain.
In some cases, protestors, comprised mostly of parents whose children practise a life of faith at Shincheonji Church, abandon their livelihoods solely to protest. Protesters attribute the cause of their child's runaway from home or cases of divorce that some families suffer due to Shincheonji Church, and label it a religious organisation that rips families apart. Moreover, all criticism is directed at Chairman Man-hee Lee of Shincheonji Church.
◆'National Association of the Victims of Shincheonji' (Jeonpyeon) and their accusations against Shincheonji Church. Who is Jeonpyeon?
However, if you look deeper into their activities and membership, there are many things that makes their claim regarding Shincheonji Church's responsibility for family breakdowns questionable.
First of all, if you look at the members of National Association of the Victims of Shincheonji, including its managing head, the majority are parents who have forcefully subjected their child to undergo the coercive conversion programme, and failed.
In January 2016, Ms. Shin was chained and confined in a pension (lodging) for 17 days by her father, who is a member of the National Association of Victims of Shincheonji, in order that she undergo coercive conversion. Ms. Shin refused to renounce her faith and initially filed charges against her father, which she quickly dropped to absolve him of legal punishment. Regardless, Ms. Shin's father changed the password on the front door of their home and took part in an outdoor protest shouting for his daughter's return.
In 2015, Ms. Lee was drugged with sleeping pills, handcuffed and kidnapped by her parents to undergo coercive conversion. Parents admitted to using violence and assault while their daughter resisted.
Another individual named Mr. Lee was kidnapped by his parents in 2015 and imprisoned for 27 days while undergoing the coercive conversion programme. Mr. Lee was prevented from returning home as the passcode had been changed.
Some parents showed disconcerting behaviour, carrying out protests demanding that their child be returned to them, even though their child was at home or even by their side as they protested.
The media has shown no concern towards the violence committed by parents against their own children which, in effect, constitutes child abuse. Even when these issues have received media coverage, they simply turn a blind eye to the endemic of coercive conversion.
'Cult-framing' is something that has been established by the Korean church. Once the Korean Protestant Church labels a group as a 'heresy', it begins placing restrictions on its activities. In particular, when groups defined as ‘heretical’ grow in number, the severity of persecution worsens. It has created a unique group - difficult to find among any other religion - named the 'Cult Countermeasure Committee' ( or 'Heresy Investigation Committee').
This involves cultivating so-called 'cult counsellors' to systematically engage in defamatory activities against groups designated by the Korean Church as heretical. This is why members of the established Church shake their heads whenever they hear the name ‘Shincheonji’.
This is the reason why parents who belong to the mainstream denomination do not even consider the Shincheonji faith of their child, but instead resort to any means possible to bring them back to the established Church. Seeds of fear and hatred are inculcated by the established Church’s cult-framing into parents' hearts and minds. In the end, parents resort to acts of coercive (forced) conversion in desperation, believing that force is the only way to redeem their child’s faith.
Once a child is ‘converted’, all illegal activities such as kidnap and confinement are brushed under the carpet. Coercive conversion has severe consequences in which victims experience post-traumatic stress disorder and other related trauma.
This is a situation that is often found in the homes of Jeonpyeon members, who attempt coercive conversion but fail. Parents are quick to adopt the one-sided perspective promoted by the media and groups which represent the position of the established church, even carrying out single-person protests.
In some cases, victims have reached a point where it has become impossible to restore a broken relationship with their parents due to the resulting trauma caused by coercive conversion.
◆ What is coercive (forced) conversion? Who operates it?
What parents want from their child is to undergo a coercive conversion programme run by so-called ‘conversion counsellors’.
According to victims’ testimonies, this programme begins by first tricking the victim into a situation where they are drugged with sleeping pills, kidnapped and confined in nearby pensions (lodgings) or studios for the purpose of undergoing the conversion programme. The conversion pastor does not appear directly from the outset. Rather, upon the instruction of a ‘conversion pastor’, a number of family members and conversion officials are mobilised against one victim, pressuring them to voluntarily sign their consent for conversion. It is said that if the victim refuses to consent, they undergo abusive language and assault. One female university student died in this process at a pension in Hwasun, Jeollanam province.
Victims often struggle to recall memories of their experience which many describe as 'hell'.
If one is unable to endure the pressure and signs their consent, then an official from the conversion programme appears. Victims testify that the dominant theme of interaction at this point is not Bible discussion or teaching, but personal attacks and slandering of Shincheonji Church.
Among the pastors who run the conversion programme, there are some who frequently appear in the media; Pastor Hyun-wook Shin and Pastor Yong-sik Jin. Pastor Yong-sik Jin of Ansan Sangnok Church was convicted for having forcibly put a victim into a psychiatric ward for the purpose of undergoing conversion. Investigations can confirm that coercive conversion has generated more than one billion KRW (c.£650,000), which is causing growing controversy. Pastor Jin is from the Seventh-day Adventist Church.
In addition, Pastor Hyun-wook Shin of Guri Chodae Church was expelled from Shincheonji Church of Jesus and united with the Protestant Church, carrying out anti-Shincheonji activities alongside his pastoral activities. According to Shincheonji Church, Pastor Shin was expelled for controversy through words and actions that denigrate the Bible, such as, “You must pray in the name of Chairman Man-hee Lee, not in the name of Jesus,'' and “One must eat the flesh and blood of Chairman Man-hee Lee.''
Furthermore, Christian broadcasting outlets which act as mouthpieces of the established Church use their position as journalists to influence the prosecution, police and political circles through nationwide anti-Shincheonji slander.
Parents who are informed by the established Church that Shincheonji Church is a ‘cult’ are instructed by pastors of the existing Church that force and abuse is the only way.
The number of parents who take part in protests is not an insignificant proportion of the existing 300,000 Shincheonji Church congregants.
The problem is that the media and the government cite allegations as true without verifying the facts. This is why controversy over religious biases has arisen over the prosecution's investigation into Shincheonji Church.
Source: https://bit.ly/2PkBmuc
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"Slander and Cruel Hypocrisy" by the National Association of the Victims of Shincheonji Towards Shincheonji Church
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