Had it not been for the coronavirus outbreak, the South Korean Shincheonji cult might not have attracted public attention and Christianity would not have entered the public eye. It is the deeds of this cult group that show us how enormously destructive the power of a hidden religious group can be if it controls its followers and obstructs social orders.
Shincheonji's membership is primarily comprised of believers from Christian churches because the cult is based on the theological ideas and classical writings of Christianity. The self-proclaimed head of the cult, Lee Man-hee, borrowed Christian concepts and altered them. As religious believers make up the majority of the South Korean population and with the support of the United States, Christianity in South Korea has gained power over legal restrictions on religion. Therefore, the country's religious environment is relaxed and religion can even influence its politics. The former president Park Geun-hye's downfall is an example of this. Park's confidante was Choi Soon-sil's father, Choi Tae-min, who was the head of the Korean Salvation Mission. Choi Tae-min once claimed that he and Park Geun-hye were a "couple" in the spiritual world. In South Korea religions are well developed. They are prevalent in various communities and each attempts to pull people to its own camp.
If the above situation is viewed from a marketing perspective, South Korea's religious market can be described as flourishing, its religious economy is developed, and religious products are abundant. Meanwhile, if a product is to enter the market and compete with other well established similar ones, then it must have competitive advantages over the others.
In sorting out the development model of Shincheonji and its success in developing hundreds of thousands of believers, there are two key characteristics: one is their pact with political power and the other is the control of the mind.
The religious sector in South Korea is diverse. Each religion, whether traditional or emerging, is an attractive target to political groups who wish to increase their power and win elections by wooing voters. In return, when political parties come to power they will favor religious groups who have supported them and even deliberately minimise legal restrictions to help religions develop. In Korea the religious sector is not taxed, and the government also subsidizes the development of religion through taxes. In terms of law, the religious sector is also higher in constitutional status than religious belief.
In studying Shincheonji, we find occasionally find news in the South Korean media that there are cases of sudden suicides or the unexplained deaths of civil servants who had investigated cults. Compared with religious powers as such, South Korean mafia groups are much kinder because the mafia is under close surveillance by the police, but the religious sector is comparatively "free."
The example of the Shincheonji cult shows us that there must be a clear boundary between religion and the current social order and no religious groups should have the power to interfere with the normal legal order of society, let alone going above the social legal order. Otherwise there will be a chaotic phenomenon of "a country within a country." In the face of this outbreak, it was the cult group's secrecy and lack of cooperation with the authorities that led to the infection of many innocent citizens and believers, which was why a mayor believed that Lee Man-hee should be charged with murder.
In addition to its compromise with political powers, Shincheonji's ability to control the minds of believers is also a reason for its success.
Because Shincheonji's origins are based on Christian ideas, it was inevitable that it would pull people from mainstream Christian churches. Because of its similarity to Christianity, many Christians who do not know the truth get fooled and caught up in their system and are become victims of brainwashing.
According to a former member of Shincheonji, the cult's promoters use the same tactics and assume the same level of understanding, even if people come to them from a mainstream church. Because of the passion of the cult members, those coming from mainstream churches slowly let their guard down and become relaxed. After a period of contact, the cult begins to offer gospel training courses. The curriculum is tightly controlled, and the difficulty and pressure are very high. The classes are scheduled three times a week and usually less than 20 percent of pass the final exam. One can only move on to a higher training level if previous courses are passed.
Perhaps you will wonder why the final exam is so difficult and why so few pass the exam? It would seem that this would slow down the cult's membership growth.
I think Lee Man-hee understands human psychology very well and is knowledgeable in the social principles of religious development. If people can join Shincheonji very easily, then the sense of privilege within the cult will be reduced. The result of this reduced sense of superiority will be a smaller social strain so the sense of belonging and identity of the cult will become weaker. The cult could find easier ways to add to its members, but then they might have a group of less committed members. Lee Man-hee is not as concerned about reaching a target number and size as he is about developing a well-trained staff and members who can obey the command of the organisation.
After membership is established, Lee Man-hee then brainwashes the followers by portraying himself as the head, and convinces them that only by following him can they be saved. As to society and the world, he portrays them as completely depraved. It is not unusual to pit the world against the church's doctrines, but it also isolates believers into their own private small groups and widens the gap and strain with the world. This group obeys only the orders of Lee Man-hee and any obstruction of his order is a sign of the worldliness and evil.
To obtain this religious product, eternal life, believers need to pay a price, and that price is isolation from society. The greater the cost, the more psychologically precious the product is to the believers who have acquired it. This in turn strengthens the cult member's sense of belonging to a group, making it easier for Lee Man-hee to control the believers. We can see this, how in the face of rising infections, even though the government has repeatedly banned the public gatherings of believers, the cult believers are still hiding their travel records and physical conditions even in the face of death threats.
This incident tells us that Christianity should be in tension with the world, but this tension should not undermine the existing social order. If it destroys the social and legal order, it slides into the cult camp. On the other hand, religious belief is part of the spiritual world, belonging to God, and the world order belongs to Caesar. There is a boundary between Caesar and God, it is not a world without boundaries. Although God dominates the world, this does not mean that Caesar's existence destroys God's power.
Meanwhile, the 'digging' model of the development of Shincheonji tells us that usually while we are developing a church, we may be caught up in the search for grand churches as we fancy their size and venue, ignoring concern for the members. Shincheonji seeks to take advantage of this gap a pull believers away. Therefore, do not focus on issues of size and number, but the important thing is nurturing well the life of each believer.
邪教新天地教的成功教会我们：教会当与世界保持适当张力 处于风口浪尖的新天地教如果不是因为这次肺炎疫情，可能不会引起大众的关注，那么韩国的基督教也不会进入大众的视野。正是新天地教的所作所为，让我们看到在现代文明中，宗教的力量，它在控制人心和阻挠社会秩序方面所潜藏的巨大破坏力。 新天地教发展信徒的主要对象是正统基督教信徒，因为这个宗教是脱胎于基督教的一些神学理念和经典而成的，是教主李万熙借用基督教的理念，偷换了概念，将自己打造成教主创造的一个新宗教。因为在韩国的人口中，信奉宗教的人口占有大多数，并且在美国的扶持下，基督教左右了韩国法律对宗教的限制，因此宗教环境宽松，甚至可以左右政治，朴槿惠的倒台就是因为她闺蜜的父亲就是韩国宗教永生教的教主，并且崔教主还声称他和朴槿惠是精神世界的“夫妻”。由此可见，在韩国宗教十分发达，各种宗教充斥社会，将民众向自己的阵营拉拢。 如果用市场论的观点来看，我们也可以说韩国的宗教市场发展繁荣，宗教经济发达，宗教产品丰富。因此一个新的产品如果想进入市场，与其它发达的同类产品竞争，那么这个产品就必须有优于其它同类产品的地方。 梳理新天地教的发展模式，他之所以能成功发展几十万人，有两个特点是他成功的关键，一个是与政治势力的交易，另一个是人心的控制。 韩国的宗教盛行，每个宗教不论是传统的还是新兴的宗教，都会成为政治力量的争取对象，在拉拢选票方面，为自己赢得政治选举而增加筹码。同样作为回报，政治势力在上台之后，会经济倾斜，甚至故意放大宗教发展的法律空间。正如今天的韩国，作为对宗教的回报，宗教是不纳税的，并且政府还要从纳税人的税收中补贴宗教的发展。在法律方面，宗教在宪法地位上也高于宗教信仰。 在对新天地教的调查中，我们也从韩国媒体上看到，偶尔会有调查的公务员突然自杀或者不明原因的死亡。因此可以说，与宗教势力相比，韩国的黑社会都要和善的多。因为黑社会受到警方的管控，而宗教却可以逍遥法外。 所以从新天地教的经历我们看到，宗教与现行社会秩序之间必须有一个明确的界限，任何宗教都无权力干扰社会正常法律秩序，更不能超越于社会法律秩序之上，否则就会出现国中之国的现象。在这次疫情面前，正是新天地教的自我封闭和对政府的不配合，导致很多无辜的市民和信徒感染，这就是市长认为李万熙应承担“谋杀罪”的原因。 除了政治之间的交易之外，新天地教控制信徒也同样是其成功的原因。 因为新天地教发端于基督教，因此面对成熟的韩国宗教市场，从其他正统基督教教会中挖人，就成为其发展的必然模式。而正是其源于基督教这一特点，让许多不明真相的基督徒上当，在不断跟进的洗脑中，逐渐陷入他们的体系。 据一位参加新天地教会后来又退出的成员介绍，新天地教传教人员在开始进入正统教会之后，不论是讲圣经和神学，都看不出异样。反而由于他们的热心，让正统信徒的戒备心就慢慢放松，于是他们在接触一段时间之后，就会提出让信徒参加福音培训的课程。课程安排很紧，而且难度和压力很大，一周要安排三次上课。并且结业考试通过率十分低，只有20%不到，通过结业考试之后可以参加更高一级的课程。 也许我们会觉得奇怪，结业考试不是越容易通过的人及越多吗，加大难度，岂不是让自己的信徒人数增长缓慢？ 我想教主李万熙是深谙人心的，并且熟悉宗教发展的社会规律。如果人们能十分容易的加入新天地教，那么在优越感上就会降低，这种优越感的降低带来的结果就是与社会的张力变小，对教会组织的归属感和认同感就会变弱，因此信徒人数上来了，结果只是一盘散沙。而李万熙不是要人数和规模，而是要精兵强将，能听指挥的教会成员。 信徒入教之后，李万熙对信徒的洗脑就是把自己塑造成教主，并且只有跟随他才能得救，而社会和世界则是完全的堕落。在教义上将世界和教会对立起来，这没有什么稀奇，但是这种对立在拉大与世界的张力同时，也把信徒带进了自己亲手打造的私密小团体。这个团体只服从李万熙一个人的命令，任何对这一命令的阻碍，都是世界堕落的标志。 信徒为了永生的宗教产品，是要付出代价，这个代价就是与社会的隔离。这种代价越大，其在心理上就认为自己获得的产品越珍贵，这样就反过来加强了他对团体的归属感，换句话，李万熙就越能控制信徒。这就是我们看到的，在疫情感染不断攀升的情况下，虽然政府已经三番五次强制信徒隔离，但是信徒依然隐瞒自己的行程和身体状况，哪怕面临死亡的威胁。 这次新天地教事件告诉我们，一方面基督教要与世界保持张力，但是这个张力是在不破坏现行社会秩序的前提下产生的，如果破坏了社会法律秩序，那么就滑向了邪教的阵营。另一方面，宗教信仰的秩序是精神秩序，属于上帝，而世界秩序属于凯撒，在凯撒和上帝之间不是没有界限，而是有着界限。虽然上帝统摄世界，但是这并不意味着凯撒的存在就是破坏了上帝的万能。 另一方面，新天地教发展信徒的挖墙脚模式还告诉我们，我们平时在发展教会中，可能陷入了探求大教会的规模主义，我们看中人数和教会的地盘，而忽略了对信徒成员的关心，而新天地教恰是利用了这个空子，将信徒拉走。因此，不要贪图规模，而要牧养好每个生命才是最重要的。 https://www.christiantimes.cn/news/31412 https://www.christiantimes.cn/assets/cache/620x418/assets/media/post/202003/31412/www.christiantimes.cn-%E5%BE%AE%E4%BF%A1%E5%9B%BE%E7%89%87_20200309144925.png
Had it not been for the coronavirus outbreak, the South Korean Shincheonji cult might not have attracted public attention and Christianity would not have entered the public eye. It is the deeds of this cult group that show us how enormously destructive the power of a hidden religious group can be if it controls its followers and obstructs social orders.
Shincheonji's membership is primarily comprised of believers from Christian churches because the cult is based on the theological ideas and classical writings of Christianity. The self-proclaimed head of the cult, Lee Man-hee, borrowed Christian concepts and altered them. As religious believers make up the majority of the South Korean population and with the support of the United States, Christianity in South Korea has gained power over legal restrictions on religion. Therefore, the country's religious environment is relaxed and religion can even influence its politics. The former president Park Geun-hye's downfall is an example of this. Park's confidante was Choi Soon-sil's father, Choi Tae-min, who was the head of the Korean Salvation Mission. Choi Tae-min once claimed that he and Park Geun-hye were a "couple" in the spiritual world. In South Korea religions are well developed. They are prevalent in various communities and each attempts to pull people to its own camp.
If the above situation is viewed from a marketing perspective, South Korea's religious market can be described as flourishing, its religious economy is developed, and religious products are abundant. Meanwhile, if a product is to enter the market and compete with other well established similar ones, then it must have competitive advantages over the others.
In sorting out the development model of Shincheonji and its success in developing hundreds of thousands of believers, there are two key characteristics: one is their pact with political power and the other is the control of the mind.
The religious sector in South Korea is diverse. Each religion, whether traditional or emerging, is an attractive target to political groups who wish to increase their power and win elections by wooing voters. In return, when political parties come to power they will favor religious groups who have supported them and even deliberately minimise legal restrictions to help religions develop. In Korea the religious sector is not taxed, and the government also subsidizes the development of religion through taxes. In terms of law, the religious sector is also higher in constitutional status than religious belief.
In studying Shincheonji, we find occasionally find news in the South Korean media that there are cases of sudden suicides or the unexplained deaths of civil servants who had investigated cults. Compared with religious powers as such, South Korean mafia groups are much kinder because the mafia is under close surveillance by the police, but the religious sector is comparatively "free."
The example of the Shincheonji cult shows us that there must be a clear boundary between religion and the current social order and no religious groups should have the power to interfere with the normal legal order of society, let alone going above the social legal order. Otherwise there will be a chaotic phenomenon of "a country within a country." In the face of this outbreak, it was the cult group's secrecy and lack of cooperation with the authorities that led to the infection of many innocent citizens and believers, which was why a mayor believed that Lee Man-hee should be charged with murder.
In addition to its compromise with political powers, Shincheonji's ability to control the minds of believers is also a reason for its success.
Because Shincheonji's origins are based on Christian ideas, it was inevitable that it would pull people from mainstream Christian churches. Because of its similarity to Christianity, many Christians who do not know the truth get fooled and caught up in their system and are become victims of brainwashing.
According to a former member of Shincheonji, the cult's promoters use the same tactics and assume the same level of understanding, even if people come to them from a mainstream church. Because of the passion of the cult members, those coming from mainstream churches slowly let their guard down and become relaxed. After a period of contact, the cult begins to offer gospel training courses. The curriculum is tightly controlled, and the difficulty and pressure are very high. The classes are scheduled three times a week and usually less than 20 percent of pass the final exam. One can only move on to a higher training level if previous courses are passed.
Perhaps you will wonder why the final exam is so difficult and why so few pass the exam? It would seem that this would slow down the cult's membership growth.
I think Lee Man-hee understands human psychology very well and is knowledgeable in the social principles of religious development. If people can join Shincheonji very easily, then the sense of privilege within the cult will be reduced. The result of this reduced sense of superiority will be a smaller social strain so the sense of belonging and identity of the cult will become weaker. The cult could find easier ways to add to its members, but then they might have a group of less committed members. Lee Man-hee is not as concerned about reaching a target number and size as he is about developing a well-trained staff and members who can obey the command of the organisation.
After membership is established, Lee Man-hee then brainwashes the followers by portraying himself as the head, and convinces them that only by following him can they be saved. As to society and the world, he portrays them as completely depraved. It is not unusual to pit the world against the church's doctrines, but it also isolates believers into their own private small groups and widens the gap and strain with the world. This group obeys only the orders of Lee Man-hee and any obstruction of his order is a sign of the worldliness and evil.
To obtain this religious product, eternal life, believers need to pay a price, and that price is isolation from society. The greater the cost, the more psychologically precious the product is to the believers who have acquired it. This in turn strengthens the cult member's sense of belonging to a group, making it easier for Lee Man-hee to control the believers. We can see this, how in the face of rising infections, even though the government has repeatedly banned the public gatherings of believers, the cult believers are still hiding their travel records and physical conditions even in the face of death threats.
This incident tells us that Christianity should be in tension with the world, but this tension should not undermine the existing social order. If it destroys the social and legal order, it slides into the cult camp. On the other hand, religious belief is part of the spiritual world, belonging to God, and the world order belongs to Caesar. There is a boundary between Caesar and God, it is not a world without boundaries. Although God dominates the world, this does not mean that Caesar's existence destroys God's power.
Meanwhile, the 'digging' model of the development of Shincheonji tells us that usually while we are developing a church, we may be caught up in the search for grand churches as we fancy their size and venue, ignoring concern for the members. Shincheonji seeks to take advantage of this gap a pull believers away. Therefore, do not focus on issues of size and number, but the important thing is nurturing well the life of each believer.
Lessons from 'Success' of Shincheonji Cult: Church Needs Tension with the World
