A radical proposal: to follow Jesus rather than the institutional churches, the group experimented with living in poverty and limiting the use of money to a minimum.
Testimonies Global
The Jesus Christians. 1. African, Quaker, and Other Connections
New series: an in-depth analysis of a little-known and often unjustly maligned movement.
Japan: Dissolution of the Unification Church. The Duval Report. 5. Freedom of Religion or Belief
The Tokyo District Court claimed its decision did not violate international and constitutional principles of religious liberty. It was wrong.
Japan: Dissolution of the Unification Church. The Duval Report. 4. The 2009 Declaration of Compliance
Paradoxically, the dissolution was pronounced after the methods for soliciting donations that the court had objected to had almost disappeared.
Japan: Dissolution of the Unification Church. The Duval Report. 3. Reading the Decision
The District Court relied not only on civil cases but also on settlements and statements, and ignored the issue of deprogramming.
Japan: Dissolution of the Unification Church. The Duval Report. 2. The Japanese Context
The court decision is the culmination of almost forty years of harassment of the religious movement by politically motivated and greedy lawyers.
Japan: Dissolution of the Unification Church. The Duval Report. 1. The Religious Aim of Donations
The dissolution decision is based on the accusation of soliciting excessive donations. But their religious nature is ignored.
Japan: Legal Issues in the Unification Church’s Dissolution Verdict. 4. How Problems Almost Ceased After 2009
In 2009, the church issued a “Compliance Declaration” that reduced the claims against it almost to zero at the time of the Abe assassination.
Japan: Legal Issues in the Unification Church’s Dissolution Verdict. 3. Relying on Civil Cases
Civil cases do not require the same strict standards of fact-finding of criminal cases. They should not be used as grounds for dissolution.
Japan: Legal Issues in the Unification Church’s Dissolution Verdict. 2. Religious Liberty
Unconvincingly, the court stated that the verdict did not violate freedom of religion or belief. It also applied the new law on donations retroactively.