Bitter Winter
A magazine on religious liberty and human rights

NEWS FROM CHINA

Persecuting Folk Religion: Two Cases of Repression in Rural China
In Guangdong, the police tried to prevent the Ying Laoye procession from taking place. In Jiangxi, they violently blocked the construction of an ancestral hall.
NEWS FROM THE WORLD

The Unification Church Verdict: The New Martyrs of Japan
A profoundly wrong court decision tries to assassinate a religious organization.
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TESTIMONIES FROM CHINA
“The Broken China Dream”: Xi Jinping, the West, and the Prosperity Trap
If you thought that capitalism and the rise of Chinese billionaires would soften the Communist Party’s totalitarian rule, now you need to think again.
TESTIMONIES FROM THE WORLD
The Hamitic-Arabs of America: Unearthing America’s Forgotten Muslims
A book by Fathie bin Ali Abdat tells the fascinating story of Professor Muhammed Ezaldeen and his unique American Islamic religious movement.
FEATURED CHINA
Kang Youwei: A Confucian Monarchist in the New World
A monumental book focuses on the American years and mystical utopianism of a reformer who has been curiously rediscovered in Xi Jinping’s China
FEATURED INTERNATIONAL
The Truth, Please, About Steven Hassan. 2. “Cults,” “Cults” Everywhere!
From members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to supporters of Donald Trump, all groups Hassan dislikes are identified as “cults.”
OP-EDS CHINA
The Distorted Faith of China’s Three‑Self Church: But Why Do Some Join?
Some are misinformed. Others are scared. But some look for material benefits. A Chinese Christian’s analysis.
OP-EDS INTERNATIONAL
Japan: Hundreds of Thousands of Unification Church Believers Deprived of Places of Worship
While some had claimed the dissolution would only strip the church of its tax-exempt status, liquidators have already closed down 260 places of worship.
INTERVIEWS

The Vissarion Template: An Interview with Katya Palkina
After the harsh Russian sentence against the Church of the Last Testament’s leader, a member speaks out.
DOCUMENT AND TRANSLATIONS

旧統一教会と日本の“パール・パラドックス”
法律とその解釈を遡及適用してはならないという原則を守ったパール判事に、日本人は敬意を送る。しかし、その原則は家庭連合には適用されなかった。






