Via WhatsApp, an Afghan Christian shares his experience of living under Taliban rule. We have verified his story, although we protect him with a pseudonym.
The Aum case proved that the “anti-cult measures” based on deprogramming methods did not work, and ended up adding fuel to the fire.
When governments start jailing pastors for preaching values, the line between democracy and despotism begins to blur.
Deprogramming continued in Japan after it was banned in the West. Lawyers and left-wing activists supported it.
Influenced by MK Ultra, Aum Shinrikyo believed that “mind control” existed and tried to use it on its followers—without success.
The CIA both accused the Communists of using brainwashing and tried to make it work for its own purposes. These events had a significant influence on Japan.
A Japanese scholar reflects on the strange success in Japan of discredited theories about “brainwashing” allegedly practiced by “cults.”
The legal grounds for the arrest were absent. The charges are implausible and politically motivated. This is not a corruption case—it’s a purge.
Following an economic dispute with the School, the woman who debunked the accusations in the 2000 case now claims they were true. Can we believe her?
I came to Korea not to observe only but to stand. The assault on the Family Federation should be called for what it is: religious persecution.