Outcome of Media Accusations against Shincheonji Church: Death & Suffering of Its Members
In times of an epidemic, it is historically common to look for scapegoats. Today, Shincheonji Church has become the main target of the media and the established Church in South Korea because of the outbreak of COVID-19 that followed the confirmed diagnosis of 'patient 31' on February 18th 2020 - herself a congregation member of Shincheonji Church in Daegu. Accusations range from being inaccurate to blatantly ridiculous and are based on mere rumour and void of factual evidence. Journalists with little to no understanding of Christian theology have been publishing reports as if they had become seasoned theologians overnight.
Shincheonji Church has responded to all such allegations via their official website:-
The main reason for severe persecution of Shincheonji Church is its rapid growth as members of the established church leave their churches to join Shincheonji Church. In November 2019, an unprecedented graduation ceremony was held in South Korea for 103,764 students of 113 nationalities (photo above) after graduates completed an intensive six-month Bible study programme at Shincheonji Church's 'Zion Mission Center' (Bible-teaching institute). Moreover, because of the lack of separation between Church and State in South Korea, many church leaders carry out roles in politics and seek to secure votes from their congregation. Moreover, pastors affiliated to the largest Protestant organisation - the Christian Council of Korea (CCK) - have been convicted of 12,000 crimes including forgery, embezzlement, assault and murder from 2008-2018. This is the true reality of Protestant Christianity in South Korea today.
The dissemination of claims published by the Korean media and low-level Internet sources has resulted in false information spreading from one article to another, with international media publishing what they read without fact-checking. This has fuelled severe anti-Shincheonji sentiment within Korea and abroad. After Shincheonji Church of Jesus submitted its list of Daegu church members to public health authorities on February 19th, congregation members’ personal information was leaked. This resulted in a total of 7000 church members receiving forced leave of absence from work, domestic violence, discrimination and insult. In the worst case in Ulsan, on February 26th, one female Shincheonji Church member died after falling out of a window on the 7th floor of her apartment. She had been suffering from domestic violence because of her affiliation with Shincheonji Church, and shortly before her death, was assaulted for religious reasons which she reported to the police.Her husband had a history of domestic violence and was attacking her, trying to force her into leaving Shincheonji Church. Another female congegation member lost her life in similar circumstances shortly after. In response to this tragedy, Shincheonji Church published the following statement:-
“The witch hunt against Shincheonji Church of Jesus is carried to an extreme, and now that this has incited domestic violence and persecution, leading to the death of one of our congregants, we cannot but express our position"
An increasing number of leading human rights organisations including the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF), and influential religious leaders of the Christian and Muslim faith are now speaking out and denouncing the media's deplorable practices with changes to journalistic ethics and standards being drafted by democrats within South Korea. Outside Korea, on February 6th 2020, the U.S Commission for International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) issued a declaration stating that “USCIRF is concerned by reports that Shincheonji church members are been blamed for the spread of coronavirus. We urge the South Korean government to condemn scapegoating and to respect religious freedom as it responds to the outbreak.”
This virus must not be used as an excuse to violate the human rights and religious freedoms of hundreds of thousands of believers of Shincheonji Church, who number 245,000 worldwide. In the words of a leading religious sociologist, Professor Yang Fenggang, given during a recent interview with the South China Morning Post, he said: “I think there is no necessary link between Shincheonji and coronavirus spread in South Korea. It is accidental that this large religious group happened to have some infected people who infected others through religious gatherings or individual interactions. There are many megachurches in South Korea, some are huge, with hundreds of thousands of members. Any of these evangelical or Pentecostal megachurches could have had such an accident.”
I leave you with one plea from Shincheonji Church:-
“This is our earnest request. Please stop the curse and hatred towards Shincheonji. And we ask some media outlets that are slandering and suppressing Shincheonji using unconfirmed information and fake news to stop immediately.”
News Publications
Broadcasting Centres Raise Audience Ratings through 'Shincheonji Hatred'…“Enormous and Malicious Influence on National Progress” (Cheonji Daily 18/03/2020)
Controversy over Gyeonggi Provincial Government’s Response to COVID-19 as number of infected members from the established church is 2.4 times higher (Cheonji Daily 18/03/2020)
"Coronavirus and Shincheonji: Stopping the Witch Hunt" (02/03/2020) ▶https://www.cesnur.org/2020/shincheonji_appeal.htm
Coronavirus: USCIRF decries South Korea for blaming Shincheonji Church (Muslim Community Report 10/03/2020)▶http://bit.ly/2Qhpmdz
Four criticisms of 'Shincheonji Doctrine' brought to light… If you only believe in external sources, that’s a 'disgrace' (Cheonji Daily 04/03/2020) ▶https://bit.ly/2wGAslq
IndependentFromBeliefs (March 2020)
International NGOs Warned the South Korean Human Rights Crisis in the Coronavirus Outbreaks (NAWE 16/03/2020)▶https://www.nawe.bi/International-NGOs-Warned-the-South-Korean-Human-Rights-Crisis-in-the.html
Lies regarding the Coronavirus about Shincheonji 신천지 (03/03/2020)
Prohibition of 'Hateful, Speculative and Distorted' Reporting Proposed under Natural Disasters Act (EDaily 17/03/2020)
Prosecution investigates membership list provided by Shincheonji Church Headquarters: “No hidden members; they reported a true list” (Newsis News Agency 17/03/2020)
Quarantine Official: "Confirmed case of COVID-19 in Daegu had existed before ‘patient 31’" (Daum News 22/03/2020)
Quarantine Official: "Confirmed case of COVID-19 in Daegu had existed before ‘patient 31’" (Naver 22/03/2020)
"Shincheonji didn't lie about membership figures." (The Korea Herald 17/03/2020)
White Paper on Shincheonji and Coronavirus
Massimo Introvigne, Founder of Center for Studies on New Religions (CESNUR) (17/03/2020)
Rosita Šorytė International Observatory of Human Rights of Refugees (IOHR) ▶https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y8IqLUegjT4
Alessandro Amicarelli, Attorney, European Federation for Freedom of Belief (FOB) ▶https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=py9NlpXQC9E
Willy Fautré, Human Rights Without Frontiers (HRWF)
Official COVID-19 Response by Shincheonji Church of Jesus
•0307 Chairman Man Hee Lee asks "all congregants to fully cooperate for disease control" in a special announcement
•0302 Statement at Press Conference of Shincheonji Church of Jesus Regarding COVID-19
•0302 Regarding COVID-19 Testing of Chairman Lee, Man-hee of Shincheonji Church of Jesus
•0301 Letter of Appeal to Political Leaders
•0228 Letter of Appeal from Shincheonji Church of Jesus in Regards to COVID-19
•0226 Shincheonji Church of Jesus Provided a List of All Members to Public Health Authorities
•0223 Statement of Shincheonji Church of Jesus Regarding COVID-19
•0222 Over 1000 Shincheonji Church of Jesus Locations Disinfected and Closed Down in Korea
•0221 Shincheonji Church of Jesus Closed Down Its Churches and Affiliated Buildings from 18 Feb
•0220 Statement of Shincheonji Church of Jesus Regarding COVID-19 Countermeasures and Fake News
•0219 Statement of Shincheonji Church of Jesus Regarding the Novel Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19)
•0218 Notice on the Worship Service of Shincheonji Church of Jesus in Regards to COVID-19
COVID-19/Fact Checker: Q&A on Shincheonji Church of Jesus Regarding the Novel Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19)
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8 comments
いろいろと大変な時を過ごしている最近、もっと頑張って欲しい。
ReplyDelete大変ですがみんな頑張ってウィルスを勝ちましょう。
ReplyDeleteIt is time for all of us to have the eye to see the truth. You have to look at the facts correctly and discard any prejudices about Shincheonji.
ReplyDeleteAgree! Thank you for posting this.
ReplyDeleteThat is an amazing graduation. Many people are very easily convinced by media without having doing their own research. I hope Shincheonji recovers and can share additional information on the clear doctrine without being persecuted for it.
ReplyDeleteScj no matter how much they tried to stop you, God is with you and whole world is with you!!!!!
ReplyDeleteWhole world loves you!!
The more I read these articles, the more I feel that people seem to be not interested in the truth. Only find provocative things. Truth is not interested in them. Thank you for writing a good article, noah.
ReplyDeleteAlways Chairman Man Her Lee organises peace conferences,then how can he be accused of COVID-19 pandemic in South Korea yet he always advises the whole world to love peace even at old age he always cry for peaceful world.
ReplyDelete