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Post by Admin on Sept 26, 2023 3:37:27 GMT
■Liberal Democratic Party, Member of the House of Representatives Seiichiro Murakami (Remarks)  It seems that the government will request (to the Tokyo District Court) for an order to dissolve the Unification Church (formerly the Unification Church = Family Federation for World Peace and Unification), but nothing will solve the problem. Even if it is recognized, it will simply lose the preferential tax treatment given to it as a religious corporation.  For what purpose did they squeeze money from Japanese people and approach politicians? Help with elections and provide secretaries. What I don't particularly understand is why three generations of father and son (Nobusuke Kishi, Shintaro Abe, and Shinzo Abe) supported the Unification Church. This is all in the dark. (At a national policy briefing session in Tokyo) |
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Post by Admin on Sept 26, 2023 3:43:15 GMT
The Family Federation for World Peace and Unification (formerly the Unification Church) filed a protest with NHK, demanding that NHK cancel the broadcast of the program ``Dangerous Whispers,'' which deals with the cult's methods of recruiting members, and request an apology. NHK changed some of the titles of the programs that the cult had found problematic, and aired them as scheduled. It is unusual for a religious group to request the cancellation of a program before it airs, and experts point out that it may have been an attempt to discourage the media.  This program was broadcast late at night on the 23rd. Based on the court documents of a woman who was a former believer and won a lawsuit against the cult, the drama recreates the cult's past attempts to recruit members while keeping the name of the cult hidden, as well as door-to-door sales disguised as charity activities. Initially, the program was introduced on NHK's homepage (HP) under the title ``Devil's Whisper.'' The cult published a protest letter to NHK on its website on the 21st. At this point, the title of the program had been changed to ``Dangerous Whispers,'' but the cult stated in its protest statement, ``Several celebrities have already introduced and spread the program under the title ``Devil's Whispers.'' "This has already resulted in significant damage to the reputation of our corporation." Furthermore, the protest letter addressed the expressions originally written on the website, such as "victims whose lives were ruined" (now deleted), and said, "Is it true that our corporation is causing believers to join us through fraud and ruining their lives? They called for the broadcast to be canceled and an apology, saying, "This is a clear insult." In response to an interview with the Mainichi Shimbun, the NHK Public Relations Department said about the program, ``Why do people become fascinated by illegal solicitation or lose their cool due to dangerous whispers? We are trying to solve the problem through re-enactments and psychological analysis." Regarding the process behind changing the program title, he commented, ``Based on a comprehensive judgment, the title may be changed prior to broadcast.' |
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Post by Admin on Sept 27, 2023 0:01:01 GMT
The Family Federation for World Peace and Unification (formerly the Unification Church) was bullish immediately after the shooting of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. The company took the opportunity of the Shinsei Incident to issue a ``compliance declaration,'' claiming that ``the number of civil lawsuits against our corporation has steadily decreased.'' Church officials also said at the time,
"We would not be given a dispersal order. There was a strong sense internally that it would be okay."
Talk to me. Only two religious corporations were initially known to have been ordered disbanded in the past (Aum Shinrikyo, Myokakuji Temple; in fact, there were three including Dainichisan Lotus Sutra Temple), and in both cases, executives were exposed in criminal cases. It is said that he relied on being there.
However, on October 17, 2022, three months after the shooting incident, at the House of Representatives Budget Committee, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida stated that ``there are examples of civil trials in which religious groups have been held responsible for systematic illegal acts.'' Expressed the intention to proceed with the exercise of the right to question. In other words, it has been announced that civil matters will also be used as grounds for requesting a dissolution order. Katsuomi Abe, a lawyer from the secretariat of the National Liaison Committee for Lawyers Against Inspirational Business Laws (National Federation of Bar Associations), also said:
"The high court's ruling against Aum Shinrikyo does not limit the grounds for issuing a dissolution order to violations of criminal law. The religious group's interpretation of the law and claims are unreasonable."
Therefore, the possibility of a dissolution order being issued is extremely high. One current member of parliament explains the movements within the government as follows.
``From the beginning, we had in mind the idea of requesting a dissolution order, and we knew that the first step would be to exercise the right to interrogate the company.There was no precedent for exercising the right to interrogate the company, so we had to proceed with caution, so we thought it would take a year. We have increased the number of personnel in the relevant departments many times over and have steadily moved forward."
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Post by Admin on Sept 27, 2023 7:57:24 GMT
On September 27th, journalist Eight Suzuki appeared on the Otake Main Dish section of ``Otake Makoto Golden Radio'' (Nippon Cultural Broadcasting). He asked me about his new book, ``Who Was Tetsuya Yamagami?'' which was released in July, and related to the issue of the (former) Unification Church, which he has been reporting on for over 20 years.  Ms. Suzuki also spoke about Yamagami's life and her own future. Suzuki: ``There is no doubt that he has lived a very harsh life.I think there are parts of him that resent his circumstances.However, after publishing this book, I spoke with a former church president who had known him since high school.'' Rather than being grudged by his own circumstances, he also makes comments about not wanting to be the savior of the former Unification Church, so there is a hint of heroism.In this book, the current situation is as of July. I wrote down my thoughts on this, and I think I'll expand on it from here." |
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Post by Admin on Sept 30, 2023 2:45:31 GMT
The government has decided to request an order to dissolve the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification (formerly the Unification Church) based on the Religious Corporations Act. After examining the materials collected through the exercise of the right to question seven times and the testimonies of victims of large donations, it was determined that the requirements for a dissolution order were met. The Agency for Cultural Affairs is planning to hold a Religious Corporations Council on October 12th to report, and then file a request for a dissolution order with the Tokyo District Court. This was revealed on the 30th through interviews with government officials.
The Religious Corporation Law stipulates that a court can order the dissolution of a religious corporation at the request of the competent authority, etc., if there is ``acts that are clearly recognized as violating laws and regulations and seriously harming public welfare.'' If a dissolution order is issued, it will lose its status as a religious corporation and will no longer receive preferential tax treatment.
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