The movement’s founder was sentenced to a 10-year prison term. His followers maintained he was innocent, and kept the group alive and growing.
Massimo Introvigne
The Saga of Providence. 4. The Holy Son, Jesus, and President Jung
During their founder’s detention, members were sustained by their firm belief in his messianic role.
Greater China Buddhism: Lessons from a Defunct Religious Movement
The story of an extinct group, also called the “Three Periods of Pudu,” is taught to those in charge of fighting “cults” in China. But why is it still relevant?
The Saga of Providence. 3. The Thirty Lessons
The movement managed to continue and grow notwithstanding the detention of its founder. One of the reasons was his unconventional theology.
The Saga of Providence. 2. A Controversial Movement Grows
While vilified by the media, President Jung’s group expanded in Korea and internationally.
The Saga of Providence. 1. Who Is President Jung?
The origins of a Korean new religious movement that, while his founder was in prison for ten years, did not disappear but grew.
Chinese Communist Party: “Communism Is Winning, Liberalism Is Losing”
“A profound transformation in favor of Marxism and socialism has taken place,” the CCP says.
The Bangladesh Genocide. 8. The World Protests, India Intervenes
International awareness of the mass killings created the conditions for Indian intervention and the end of the war.
The Bangladesh Genocide. 7. Eradicating Hinduism
One of the goals of the West Pakistanis and their collaborators in 1971 was to exterminate the Hindu community by killing all males.
Xi Jinping’s “Democracy”: No Multi-Party Elections, No Independent Judiciary
Third highest ranking Communist Party leader Li Zhanshu offers new insights on “democracy with Chinese characteristics”
Massimo Introvigne
Massimo Introvigne (born June 14, 1955 in Rome) is an Italian sociologist of religions. He is the founder and managing director of the Center for Studies on New Religions (CESNUR), an international network of scholars who study new religious movements. Introvigne is the author of some 70 books and more than 100 articles in the field of sociology of religion. He was the main author of the Enciclopedia delle religioni in Italia (Encyclopedia of Religions in Italy). He is a member of the editorial board for the Interdisciplinary Journal of Research on Religion and of the executive board of University of California Press' Nova Religio. From January 5 to December 31, 2011, he has served as the "Representative on combating racism, xenophobia and discrimination, with a special focus on discrimination against Christians and members of other religions" of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE). From 2012 to 2015 he served as chairperson of the Observatory of Religious Liberty, instituted by the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs in order to monitor problems of religious liberty on a worldwide scale.