On Oct. 20, the Japanese government asked a court to order the dissolution of the Unification Church branch in Japan. I believe the Japanese government is making the right call to bring an end to destructive cults and the United States should take note.
The Unification Church is a cult founded in 1954 by Sun Myung Moon in South Korea. When Moon was 15 years old, he apparently had visions of Jesus Christ instructing him to finish his mission and create a state of sinless purity for humanity.
The government of Japan made the decision following the assassination of former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, according to CNN. The suspected shooter, Tetsuya Yamagami, claimed he shot Abe because he believed the former prime minister was tied to the cult which allegedly bankrupted his family. Yamagami’s mother allegedly bankrupted his family by making excessive donations to the Unification Church.
While we have freedom of religion in the United States, I often wonder if it goes too far. The way I see it, religions and cults are the reason the United States is not as prosperous as it could be. While I do believe personal spirituality is a right everyone should have, I am against the indoctrination tactics religious leaders often use. I believe your religion and practice of it should be your own and no one else’s.
The Unification Church violated Japan’s 1951 Religious Corporations Act, according to CNN. This law lets Japanese courts order dissolution of religious groups that committed an act “clearly found to harm public welfare substantially.” Fundraising activities that pressure followers to make exorbitant donations fall under this harm, which is why the law allowed courts to dissolve the Unification Church.
This is an amazing law and there needs to be one similar in the United States. I wish the New Independent Fundamentalist Baptist (NIFB) Church was dissolved. The NIFB Church routinely spreads homophobia and antisemitism, which are incredibly harmful to public welfare. NIFB founder Steven Anderson advocates for Holocaust denial and the death penalty for homosexuals. Both of these ideals are morally repugnant. The death penalty for homosexuality comes straight from Leviticus, so those claiming it has nothing to do with religion are wrong.
The United States does not care about harm being spread when it is done by a religion other than Islam. The Japanese government has the right idea about how religion should be treated. It is a tragedy the NIFB Church is allowed to indoctrinate children into their backwards beliefs and that all religious institutions get a tax-exempt status.
If Americans ever want to advance as a society we should be looking to countries like Japan or even countries in Europe. While religion is popular in Europe, it is still more secular than the United States. This is because European countries promote modern humanist values instead of obsolete doctrine as morality. While I believe everyone has the right to believe in their religion of choice, even if it is harmful like the NIFB Church or the Unification Church, as a society we should still promote humanist ideals like bodily autonomy and consent instead of blind faith in what only might be real, but most likely is not.
While my ideas might seem extreme, I have nothing against believers who do no harm to society. I am slightly spiritual myself, but I do not let it corrupt my morality. I believe people should be more openminded and seek the truth when it comes to their beliefs and not accept everything told to them as children.
Nico Brazill can be contacted at
nbrazill@kscequinox.com
