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scjfree · 4 years

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Cults? In my life? It’s more likely than you think.

In my last post, I talked about how the Law of Attraction and Christian prosperity gospel both use the same thought control techniques as cults. I’ve received several public and private replies to that post: some expressing contempt for “sheeple” who can be lead astray by cults, and others who say my post made them scared that they might be part of a cult without knowing it.

I want to address both of those types of replies in this post. I want to talk about what a cult really looks like, and how you can know if you’re dealing with one.

If you type the word “cult” into Google Images, it will bring up lots of photos of people with long hair, wearing all white, with their hands raised in an expression of ecstasy.

Most modern cults do not look anything like this.

Modern cultists look a lot like everyone else. One of the primary goals of most cults is recruitment, and it’s hard to get people to join your cause if they think you and your group are all Kool-Aid-drinking weirdos. The cults that last are the ones that manage to convince people that they’re just like everyone else — a little weird maybe, but certainly not dangerous.

In the book The Road to Jonestown: Jim Jones and Peoples Temple, author Jeff Guinn says, “In years to come, Jim Jones would frequently be compared to murderous demagogues such as Adolf Hitler and Charles Manson. These comparisons completely misinterpret, and historically misrepresent, the initial appeal of Jim Jones to members of Peoples Temple. Jones attracted followers by appealing to their better instincts.”

You might not know Jim Jones and the Peoples Temple by name, but you’ve probably heard their story. They’re the Kool-Aid drinkers I mentioned earlier. Jones and over 900 of his followers, including children, committed mass suicide by drinking Flavor Aid mixed with cyanide.

In a way, the cartoonish image of cults in popular media has helped real-life cults to stay under the radar and slip through people’s defenses.

In her book Recovering Agency: Lifting the Veil of Mormon Mind Control, Luna Lindsey says: “These groups use a legion of persuasive techniques in unison, techniques that strip away the personality to build up a new group pseudopersonality. New members know very little about the group’s purpose, and most expectations remain unrevealed. People become deeply involved, sacrificing vast amounts of time and money, and investing emotionally, spiritually, psychologically, and socially.”

Let’s address some more common myths about cults:

Myth #1: All cults are Satanic or occult in nature. This mostly comes from conservative Christians, who may believe that all non-Christian religions are inherently cultish in nature and are in league with the Devil. This is not the case — most non-Christians don’t even believe in the Devil, much less want to sign away their souls to him. Many cults use Christian theology to recruit members, and some of these groups (Mormons, Jehovah’s Witnesses, etc.) have become popular enough to be recognized as legitimate religions. Most cults have nothing to do with magic or the occult.

Myth #2: All cults are religious. This is also false. While some cults do use religion to recruit members or push an agenda, many cults have no religious or spiritual element. Political cults are those founded around a specific political ideology. Author and cult researcher Janja Lalich is a former member of an American political cult founded on the principles of Marxism. There are also “cults of personality” built around political figures and celebrities, such as Adolf Hitler, Chairman Mao, and Donald Trump. In these cases, the cult is built around hero worship of the leader — it doesn’t really matter what the leader believes or does.

Myth #3: All cults are small fringe groups. Cults can be any size. Some cults have only a handful of members — it’s even possible for parents to use thought control techniques on their children, essentially creating a cult that consists of a single family. There are some cults that have millions of members (see previous note about Mormons and Jehovah’s Witnesses).

Myth #4: All cults live on isolated compounds away from mainstream society. While it is true that all cults isolate their members from the outside world, very few modern cults use physical isolation. Many cults employ social isolation, which makes members feel separate from mainstream society. Some cults do this by encouraging their followers to be “In the world but not of the world,” or encouraging them to keep themselves “pure.”

Myth #5: Only stupid, gullible, and/or mentally ill people join cults. Actually, according to Luna Lindsey, the average cult member is of above-average intelligence. As cult expert Steven Hassan points out, “Cults intentionally recruit ‘valuable’ people—they go after those who are intelligent, caring, and motivated. Most cults do not want to be burdened by unintelligent people with serious emotional or physical problems.” The idea that only stupid or gullible people fall for thought control is very dangerous, because it reinforces the idea that “it could never happen to me.” This actually prevents intelligent people from thinking critically about the information they’re consuming and the groups they’re associating with, which makes them easier targets for cult recruitment.

So, now that we have a better idea of what a cult actually looks like, how do you know if you or someone you know is in one?

A good rule of thumb is to compare the group’s actions and teachings to Steven Hassan’s BITE Model. Steven Hassan is an expert on cult psychology, and most cult researchers stand by this model. From Hassan’s website, freedomofmind.com: “Based on research and theory by Robert Jay Lifton, Margaret Singer, Edgar Schein, Louis Jolyon West, and others who studied brainwashing in Maoist China as well as cognitive dissonance theory by Leon Festinger, Steven Hassan developed the BITE Model to describe the specific methods that cults use to recruit and maintain control over people. ‘BITE’ stands for Behavior, Information, Thought, and Emotional control.”

Behavior Control may include…

Telling you how to behave, and enforcing behavior with rewards and punishments. (Rewards may be nonphysical concepts like “salvation” or “enlightenment,” or social rewards like group acceptance or an elevated status within the group. Punishments may also be nonphysical, like “damnation,” or may be social punishments like judgement from peers or removal from the group.)

Dictating where and with whom you live. (This includes pressure to move closer to other group members, even if you will be living separately.)

Controlling or restricting your sexuality. (Includes enforcing chastity or abstinence and/or coercion into non-consensual sex acts.)

Controlling your clothing or hairstyle. (Even if no one explicitly tells you, you may feel subtle pressure to look like the rest of the group.)

Restricting leisure time and activities. (This includes both demanding participation in frequent group activities and telling you how you should spend your free time.)

Requiring you to seek permission for major decisions. (Again, even if you don’t “need” permission, you may feel pressure to make decisions that will be accepted by the group.)

And more.

Information Control may include…

Withholding or distorting information. (This may manifest as levels of initiation, with only the “inner circle” or upper initiates being taught certain information.)

Forbidding members from speaking with ex-members or other critics.

Discouraging members from trusting any source of information that isn’t approved by the group’s leadership.

Forbidding members from sharing certain details of the group’s beliefs or practice with outsiders.

Using propaganda. (This includes “feel good” media that exists only to enforce the group’s message.)

Using information gained in confession or private conversation against you.

Gaslighting to make members doubt their own memory. (“I never said that,” “You’re remembering that wrong,” “You’re confused,” etc.)

Requiring you to report your thoughts, feelings, and activities to group leaders or superiors.

Encouraging you to spy on other group members and report their “misconduct.”

And more.

Thought Control may include…

Black and White, Us vs. Them, or Good vs. Evil thinking.

Requiring you to change part of your identity or take on a new name. (This includes only using last names, as well as titles like “Brother,” “Sister,” and “Elder.”)

Using loaded languages and cliches to stop complex thought. (This is the difference between calling someone a “former member” and calling the same person an “apostate” or “covenant breaker.”)

Inducing hypnotic or trance states including prayer, meditation, singing hymns, etc.

Using thought-stopping techniques to prevent critical thinking. (“If you ever find yourself doubting, say a prayer to distract yourself!”)

Allowing only positive thoughts or speech.

Rejecting rational analysis and criticism both from members and from those outside the group.

And more.

Emotional Control may include…

Inducing irrational fears and phobias, especially in connection with leaving the group. (This includes fear of damnation, fear of losing personal value, fear of persecution, etc.)

Labeling some emotions as evil, worldly, sinful, low-vibrational, or wrong.

Teaching techniques to keep yourself from feeling certain emotions like anger or sadness.

Promoting feelings of guilt, shame, and unworthiness. (This is often done by holding group members to impossible standards, such as being spiritually “pure” or being 100% happy all the time.)

Showering members and new recruits with positive attention — this is called “love bombing.” (This can be anything from expensive gifts to sexual favors to simply being really nice to newcomers.)

Shunning members who disobey orders or disbelieve the group’s teachings.

Teaching members that there is no happiness, peace, comfort, etc. outside of the group.

And more.

If a group ticks most or all of the boxes in any one of these categories, you need to do some serious thinking about whether or not that group is good for your mental health. If a group is doing all four of these, you’re definitely dealing with a cult and need to get out as soon as possible.

These techniques can also be used by individual people in one-on-one relationships. A relationship or friendship where someone tries to control your behavior, thoughts, or emotions is not healthy and, again, you need to get out as soon as possible.

Obviously, not all of these things are inherently bad. Meditation and prayer can be helpful on their own, and being nice to new people is common courtesy. The problem is when these acts become part of a bigger pattern, which enforces someone else’s control over your life.

A group that tries to tell you how to think or who to be is bad for your mental health, your personal relationships, and your sense of self. When in doubt, do what you think is best for you — and always be suspicious of people or groups who refuse to be criticized.

#scjfree #cult #scj #Shincheonji #bitemodel #mindcontrol #cult psychology

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scjfree · 4 years

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asiapundits.com

Lately, there’s been a lot of attention directed at a shady volunteer group called International Peace Youth Group (IPYG). They seem to take peace very seriously, and they’ve been organising peace walk campaigns around the world. But who are they, and where did they come from? Here’s the long answer.

If you are visibly non-Korean and were present in Korea in spring/summer 2012, chances are you were approached by a shady volunteer group called Mannam. They offered free Korean language classes, volunteer opportunities, free balloons, fun fun parties, running clubs, photography clubs, cooking classes and more. And yes, they were a front for a cult.

Their reach was far. They were in all the major cities, and in smaller cities they visited schools with foreign teachers and orphanages. They even waited for new arrivals at the airport. They were hungry for foreign participants but kept Koreans at arm’s length.

My first encounter with Mannam was outside the World Cup Stadium. I met a Mannam volunteer who was offering a trip to Ganghwa-do as well as several other services, including free Korean lessons. That piqued my interest because I was planning to write an article about free Korean lessons. I traded contact information and did a short interview with the Mannam contact. She ended up texting me repeatedly about that trip to Ganghwa-do, which I never had any interest in joining.

I published the article, complete with images of some of the classrooms. They showed adults studying Korean and generally having a pretty good time. But the one image I got from Mannam was…sketchy.

My apologies to everyone in this picture; I’m sure you’re not cultists.

Something on their faces, I could tell they felt awkward being there, something was wrong. I had nothing more than an unspoken gut feeling, but it was enough to pique my interest (later, when I discovered Mannam’s true nature, the article was edited to remove any mention of them).

“I was approached by one of Daegu’s most active members, a young girl who had given up her studies, temporarily I hope, to ‘volunteer’ full time for Mannam,” says Peter Daley, an expert cult-watcher we previously interviewed on the topic of Korean cults who runs his own cult-watching website. “She showed me a Mannam brochure and told me about the group. By then, I had been interested in Korean cults for about seven years, so I was quite familiar with the front groups of other Korean cults like the Moonies, JMS, and Dahn Yoga. The material she presented me with and her description of Mannam reminded me very much of the various front groups used by those other cults. I asked her if Mannam was related to a religious organization. Her negative answer was a lie. A lie, which I later discovered, was not uttered in ignorance.”

The closer we looked at Mannam, the more distinctive some of their features emerged, leading to the secret of their true nature. They had that hand gesture, with the thumb and forefinger extended like you’re pretending to hold a gun. They had that slogan, “When Lights Unite.” What was that about?

In your very first Mannam class, they teach you the phrase “When light and light meet, there is victory,” or in Korean, “빛과 빛의 만남은 이김.” Turns out, this is kind of an anagram of two Korean names, 김남희 and 이만희, with particles added and converting 희 into 빛, another derivation from the same Chinese character as I understand it. Kim Nam-hee was the official chairwoman of Mannam, and Lee Man-hee was the “honorary” chairman. He was also the head of Shinchonji Church of Jesus the Temple of the Tabernacle of the Testimony (SCJ), a notorious destructive religious cult.

What do I mean by destructive? Surely some cults are just misunderstood. Yes, definitely, but SCJ is well known for its subversive techniques. It breaks up families and infiltrates mainstream churches, sowing conflict and recruiting whoever is shaken free. It sends members to university campuses to work on attracting young girls, a popular commodity for cults that use honeytrap tactics. Most Korean churches quickly learned what they were doing and began posting anti-SCJ posters on their doors forbidding the subverters from entering.

SCJ knows its name is dirt, which is why it’s so careful not to reveal its true identity. Most SCJ followers are lured in for Bible studies classes, and by the time they learn they’re in SCJ, they’ve already been indoctrinated. This is nothing new, and many Korean cults have been doing this for years.

What about the religious beliefs of SCJ? I don’t like to get into this too much, but suffice it to say, they took the Christian Bible and inserted their leader Lee Man-hee as a continuation. I’ve heard them describe Jesus as being promised in the Old Testament, fulfilled in the New Testament, and in a similar way they see Lee Man-hee as promised in the New Testament. Lee claims to have been visited by Jesus. He started SCJ in 1984, when the Universe completed its first orbit. He also is the only one with a total understanding of Revelation with his own symbolic interpretation that requires a great amount of studying from his followers. He has a Messiah complex, often comparing his own church’s poor reputation with the persecution of Jesus. Putting aside his apparent preaching for peace, he also claims “Anyone who hears the testimony about the fulfillment of the New Testament prophecies and refuses to believe it will be destroyed, just like the people in the time of Adam and Lot.” If you want to hear more stuff like this, here are some excerpts from his book The Creation of Heaven and Earth. But suffice it to say, whether Lee is the Advocate, or the Promised Pastor, or SSN or whatever, his cult uses deception tactics to lure in new recruits.

So, this revelation that Mannam was somehow intimately linked to SCJ helped kick things into gear, beginning a long, drawn-out struggle across the media and Internet to reveal Mannam’s cult ties. The news spread fast, devastating foreign attendance in Mannam’s numerous, numerous branches and clubs. Still, we couldn’t convince everyone:

1. While many of us were crying “Mannam is a cult!” it didn’t match up with many of the active volunteers. “Well,” these people would respond, “they’ve never mentioned religion at any of the classes I’ve attended.” Mannam didn’t feel like a cult because they weren’t actively recruiting for a religion, and they allowed members of all religions (or no religions) to join. “The second they start preaching, I’m out the door.”

2. Many more just flat out didn’t care. “I’m getting free classes/food/etc and I’m not giving anything back in return. If Mannam is a cult, I don’t care. They’re not going to recruit me into their fruity little religion.”

3. It was unclear how much control this hated cult had in Mannam. Was it possible SCJ was just one of many backers of Mannam? (Spoiler: SCJ 100% funded and controlled Mannam’s activities from behind closed doors.)

4. “Mannam is a humanitarian group, and they would not turn away this cult just because you hate them.”

5. “What do you have against world peace? If you are against Mannam, are you pro-war?”

“People who think SCJ is harmless simply have no idea what they are talking about,” says Peter Daley. “Such an opinion is usually based on attendance at peripheral events organized by SCJ front groups like Mannam and perhaps friendships formed with Korean members at those events. Such an opinion is usually accompanied by a complete ignorance of SCJ’s teachings and history coupled with a reluctance to correct that ignorance. If you are going to form an opinion about SCJ by its front groups and the nice young people in them, you might as well form an opinion about North Korea by believing its propaganda. Don’t judge SCJ by the quality of the kimchi you made at a Mannam cooking class or the goal you scored at a Mannam soccer match; judge SCJ by Lee’s hate-filled book The Creation of Heaven and Earth, judge SCJ by the testimonies of former members and their families, judge SCJ by its lies. Better yet, sit down with the mother of a young girl who has been indoctrinated to believe her mother is possessed by Satan and then tell me SCJ does no harm.”

It became clear over the course of studying Mannam that foreigners were on a separate track from Koreans. Foreigners were shepherded around, taught the slogans and hand signals, set up in photo ops, but they weren’t being invited to take Bible classes nor asked for money. We later heard from insider sources that SCJ instructed its Mannam workers not to try to convert foreigners, to just let them be content. Because they knew if they started talking Revelation, they’d lose all those foreigners.

On the other side of the aisle, the Korean members were hearing very different things. They were told that Lee Man-hee’s message of world peace was resonating around the world, that he was universally admired by everyone. And look, here are pictures of foreigners doing the SCJ hand signal and shouting what happens when Light and Light Meet. There had even been numerous public events where foreigners and Koreans were told different things at the same time: “이만희선생님 만세! Do you guys want world peace? When Light Meets Light…” So that way if you only know English, you can cheer for world peace and repeat a bland slogan. Meanwhile, if you only know Korean, all you heard was “Long live Lee Man-hee!”

They operated under the assumption that foreigners and Koreans couldn’t communicate or understand each other. Essentially, they were spending a lot of money to lure thousands of foreigners to their events, events which were really nothing more than film sets for SCJ propaganda videos. And in return, their Korean followers would see SCJ progressing into the world and, more importantly, keep tithing. It worked as long as everyone remained compartmentalised. So while foreigners were being deceived through Mannam, we were being deceived in order to commit a greater deceit on Koreans through SCJ. By willingly taking advantage of what Mannam offered, you were complicit in victimising Korean cultists, most of them in their early 20s or younger. I heard one story about a foreign guy who had been dating one of the girls in Mannam. When he heard all this he exclaimed “Am I being pimped out by a cult?”

This actually inspired me to try my hand at drawing comics again.

If you were approached by Mannam volunteers around then, you may have been told about a World Peace Festival held on September 16, in conjunction with the UN’s International Day of Peace. Or, earlier, they might have said it was the International Day of Mannam. Here are a couple posters.

So, which is it, International Day of Mannam or World Peace Festival? Actually, no, it was Lee Man-hee’s birthday party (he was born September 15, 1931). You see, every four years, SCJ holds the Shinchonji National Olympiad. 2012′s was to be the sixth Olympiad, and it was happening on September 16. At the same time and place as the above events. With no mutual acknowledgement. Was the Olympic Stadium double-booked? Or did they just want to cram as many people into the stadium as possible? Here’s a look at the 5th SCJ National Olympiad:

You are likely thinking “Wow, that is exactly like that Mass Games/Arirang Festival performance in North Korea.” And you are right. Same type of performance, similar message, different leader.

News of Mannam’s shady cult ties was devastating to SCJ, whose big end game was fast approaching. One of the top blogs that did the research and exposed a lot of their lies was Scroozle’s Sanctuary.

Mannam ploughed ahead, refocusing away from the English-speaking expat community and going after the US military, migrant workers, and new arrivals at the airport. Every chance, they denied that the event was at all related to SCJ, and when confronted with the fact that, yes, there is only one event planned in Olympic Stadium that day for 100,000 people, they claimed that SCJ had offered Mannam the role of co-host of the event and are still arm’s length from each other. They also began leaning on the World Peace Festival and and the World Peace Initiative, de-emphasising Mannam further.

Two nights before the Olympiad, on the eve of Lee’s birthday, SCJ and “Mannam” held a press conference in the Westin Chosun Hotel with speeches by Lee and Kim themselves; Asia Pundits was there.

If you’ve ever been to a Mannam event, this was far worse. Cameras everywhere capturing us at all time from many angles. Most present were devotees visiting from overseas. During the question period they took turns grilling Lee on…what he thought about world peace. The cantankerous octogenarian rambled on and on about world peace with gems like “If only everybody shared the same beliefs and goals, there could be world peace.” He has stated numerous times his belief that the true obstacle to world peace is diversity; we won’t have peace until everyone has the same beliefs, the same interests, the same religion…united in peace under the leadership of…well, you can probably see where this is going. The same direction it’s gone with every deluded megalomaniac hellbent on world domination.

If you study the banner behind Lee, you’ll see a few unexpected names:

You may notice that the Ministry of Unification is listed as a sponsor. They had been tricked into sponsoring the World Peace Festival, but they figured out the ruse just a couple days prior to the Olympiad and withdrew their support. By then, it was too late to pull their names from the various banners and flags printed for the Olympiad. Consequently, and conveniently for SCJ, their name remained proudly on display all through the festivities.

As well, I bet this was the first time outside of internal documents that the names Shinchonji and Mannam appeared next to each other in English. Actually, they had originally planned not to have the name Shinchonji present at all. Here, take a look at the cover of the press kit. See anything fishy?

Well, okay, there’s a lot that’s fishy, starting with “Culture and Sports Celebration and Restoring Light.” Down in the lower left, there’s Mannam’s name and logo, under which is SCJ’s logo and…a sticker of their name? Peeling it off, I discovered it was blank underneath. They’d originally intended to just include the SCJ logo without saying what it was. But then they obviously knew the jig was up so they added it in at the last minute.

So, other than this press conference, Mannam kept lying to foreigners to lure them to the Olympiad. And foreign supporters of Mannam continued to deny SCJ’s involvement…right up until they were shown to their seats in a huge stadium with tens of thousands of colour-coded cultists cheering on a very thoroughly religious performance.

“When Light and Light Meet, There is Victory.”

This is of course the same group whose leader claimed “We volunteer silently and without fanfare.” Let me repeat that, in image macro form, the only medium that adequately communicates the hypocrisy present here.

Quote courtesy of Kim Nam-hee

Let me work you through what you’re seeing up there. Basically, the entire section across from us was a human LCD, with each pixel controlled by a cultist holding up a colour-coded sign. You can just barely make out the minders standing in front of each section controlling the turning of cards (the North Koreans do this better through the use of percussion). To either side of the human billboard you have the colour-coded sections for each of the twelve tribes of SCJ, named after disciples of Jesus such as Simon in orange on the upper left and Bartholomew in green on the right.

Each tribe sent a platoon of its colour-coded members to stand on the stadium grounds in formation for most of the morning. And in the middle, the white-clad disorganised mass, that’s the 13th tribe–Mannam. Some of the people there had literally just been recruited off the street and had no clue what they were in for. I found the firsthand account of one person down there who claimed he was terrified the whole time.

While some (obvious SCJers) still adhered to the story that this was a secular event, that would require a superhuman level of compartmentalising, as the “secular” bits of Mannam are surrounded by a sea of SCJ, and those same SCJ members held up Mannam signs as well as religious stuff in their card performance. The two organisations were intertwined to the point that it became clear we’re talking about one big group. The people themselves were kept separate so they couldn’t compare notes, simultaneously supporting two contradictory narratives depending on which side of the stadium you entered and on which language you read. There were many heavy-handed security workers to keep that curtain up.

As well, the name of the Olympiad was in dispute depending on what you looked at. Check out the official name courtesy of the human LCD:

Let’s compare the two.

Language English Korean Upper World Peace Festival 6th World Peace Restoring Light and Heavenly Culture Celebration Lower The 6th Culture and Sports Celebration of Restoring Light Shinchonji and Mannam Volunteer Organization (international ministry) Coalition Festival

I can’t be too sure about representing 부 as ministry, as I’m using it more in the government ministry sense, but it does seem to identify Mannam as an internal part of SCJ. Also, I later heard there was a bit of disagreement from Mannam leaders regarding that “6th,” as this was the 6th SCJ Olympiad but the first Mannam event of this kind, and that number was a dead giveaway at who was behind the wheel.

So yeah, the secret was out. They’d previously been so careful about not exposing foreigners to the religious content through Mannam, that I think their strategy was to fill seats using any means possible, and then it didn’t really matter what happened next. After all, this is still a religious cult, operating on the belief that if they assembled 144,000 people, it would trigger the Second Coming. Well there was no Rapture or Armageddon or whatever, though this whole event created a tidal wave of rage and regret in the foreign blogger community from those who’d been duped and were angry about it.

“I spoke to a former SCJ member who told me SCJ expected to recruit foreigners from Mannam after the Olympiad,” says Peter Daley. “They assumed they would have built up enough good faith by then to make targeted foreigners more susceptible to the less secular and more cultic aspects of the parent organization. The greater awareness of Mannam forced SCJ to essentially scrap it as its most visible front group.”

And Mannam, having outlived its usefulness, faded from public view. So, end of story, right?

Rather than disappear altogether, Mannam simply shifted its activities. Following the Olympiad they made a big push in Africa. Previously (April 7), Mannam had organised a charity concert for Al Noor, a South African orphanage that cares for orphans infected with HIV. However, when contacted, nobody at Al Noor had heard about Mannam or received a cent from them. Mannam representatives were questioned by a Yonhap reporter about the missing charity money, at which point they made a lot of excuses and sent one of their people to donate the suddenly remembered money, which amounted to 1.27 million KRW. The money was handed over on September 29, over five months after it had been collected, and probably only because they were called out on it.

Poster for the charity concert

So, like a door-to-door vacuum salesman, Mannam had its foot firmly wedged in the door in Africa–and what they were selling sucked just as much.

In December 2012, they launched an Africa tour for Lee Man-hee, using the same double-sided propaganda approach they’d previously tried on us in Korea. A “renowned South Korean peace activist” was said to be touring Africa, meeting with leaders such as the presidents of Ethiopia and South Africa. Oh, and you might note that they were now no longer referring to Lee as the honorary chairman of Mannam.

Somehow an internal e-mail explaining Lee’s Africa tour was leaked, and we learned how Mannam/SCJ sounds behind closed doors. SSN stands for 선생님, or teacher, which is how they refer to Lee inside the cult, along with the Advocate.

The purpose of SSN vist

1. To let all mankind know that Shinchunji is the only the place that can receive salvation and The avocate, who is Chairman of Shinchunji, is the only one that can lead us to heaven.

2. To make everybody recognize Only Shinchunji can show heavenly culture. Mt11:27 Let us do not lose our focus on the purpose of SSN visit here. In terms of the event, First priority of event should be Open bible seminar we should put our energy and all the efforts on OBS first and the others are rest. if we can make it perfect and beatiful then there is no argue. if we can bring many pastors,members and medias, then SSN should be pleased.

Mannam and WPI is just instrument to take an eyes from Media and Keyperson.

Even though the size of event that we will do in Capetown would be small, important thing is let Press and Media should know about the SSN. Person who going to meet is more important.

They claimed in a statement (also visible on the same page linked above) that “two million people of Nigeria invited us, and several hundred thousand people of Congo invited us,” although those events seem to have been cancelled; we heard from an insider that Lee was disappointed with the trip and wanted to cut it short, taking his anger out on his followers for being too lazy.

But anyway, it was content. There were articles appearing in the media referring to the visit as a Mannam event, but also many more inward-pointing coverage of Lee as the leader of SCJ. So, it’s the same old “Important people come to meet peace activist/chairman of Mannam” -> “Important people met with leader of Shinchonji” bait-and-switch. This has happened many times over a long period of time.

Likewise, they doled out all this content a little at a time, spreading it out and maximising it. They attempted to bury the negative press by overwhelming the Internet with their own content through a pro-Mannam thicket of blog after blog after blog after blog after blog after blog after blog after blog after blog after blog. This tactic was mildly successful in diluting all the accurate information and negative press present in the blogosphere. It didn’t change anyone’s mind (it was actually quite worrying to see), but anyone new looking for information on Mannam would have two well-presented opposing sides…at least when the peace group wasn’t telling tasteless racist jokes.

Actually, there have been glimpses of Mannam pouring religion into its programming. There was a rumour sometime in 2013 that one foreign Mannam volunteer in Korea somewhere was told if she wanted to keep attending, she would have to attend Bible Studies classes. I don’t know what happened with that. As well, they sent out invitations to an actual religious event run under the name Mannam, in contradiction to Mannam’s own guidelines as stated by Chairwoman Kim Nam-hee on Mannam’s official website: “within Mannam Volunteer Association there must not be any political and religious activities.”

Mission creep?

Mannam continued to exist and still has events to this day, but it operates in secrecy, with even the locations of its Korean classes publicly undisclosed. Facebook groups operated by Mannam are typically closed and any dissenting opinions are censored. But Mannam itself has withered away and fallen out of the spotlight. Part of the reason for this might be Kim Nam-hee‘s fading influence; although she was for a while speculated to be positioning herself to run the whole show once Lee dies, it does seem like Mannam hasn’t been the huge success they were all counting on. But anyone who’s seen the recent Captain America movies knows what happens when you cut the head off a hydra.

First, Mannam rebranded itself under the new name MIYC (Mannam International Youth Coalition) which first started appearing online in early 2013. They targeted youth-based organisations overseas, mainly in Africa as well as in West Asia, reaching out through a number of feel-good activities such as peace walks meant to promote world peace without really speaking meaningfully on it.

They held a march on June 25, 2013, to mark the almost-60-year-anniversary of the cessation of hostilities of the Korean War. They carried signs of the world’s great peacemakers like Gandhi, Mandela, Willy Brandt (incorrectly labeled as Billy Brandt), and…Lee Man-hee. They had anonymous members stationed throughout Itaewon holding placards thanking veterans for their service.

They flashed the SCJ handsign as they marched up and down Itaewon, driving the police crazy and generally confusing everyone else. They even managed to convince a few foreigners to participate, who didn’t ask what the M in MIYC stood for. When I talked with those guys after, they were quick to realise they’d been tricked; they knew about Mannam’s cult background but hadn’t connected it with MIYC.

Like this, on both sides of the street, lasting for over ten minutes.

Also at this event, as if realising what was holding them back, they removed the “Mannam” from their name, becoming “International Peace Youth Group” instead. In their literature they claim this as a merger, but…yeah, that’s likely. And you won’t be surprised who is named as the founder of IPYG.

Lately, things got quiet, and the cult-watchers were kept busy watching Salvation Sect go down the drain and the usual chatter from the World Mission Society Church of God (WMSCOG, though you might know them as the Church of the Heavenly Ajumma) and JMS, the cult of imprisoned serial rapist Jeong Myeong-seok. Then, they came back seemingly out of nowhere, advertising another peace walk on the anniversary of that last one. Unfortunately, I was unable to attend, but I can pretty much picture exactly what happened. I also heard they were luring more unsuspecting foreigners there, including one unfortunate who was only responding to a comely lass on Skout, a popular dating app.

What’s more, Lee Man-hee has continued doing his world tours under the new name Heavenly Culture, World Peace, Restoration of Light (HWPL) because they seemingly can’t give up on the whole “Heavenly Culture” thing. Under this name, Lee has visited the Philippines where he signed a redundant peace agreement in the Philippines on Mindanao Island where strife is ongoing between Muslims and Catholics. He became the “world’s first Romani (Gypsies) people’s ambassador at the Romani Assembly.” And according to this article, he has met with Peru’s vice president, former presidents of Guatemala, a former president of Chile, and the president of Uruguay. He presented a peace award to the president and king of Uganda, two people who the commenters in that article agree haven’t done anything to contribute to world peace. What’s more, one commenter recalls when an earlier Ugandan president was tricked by the Moonies, almost giving up land to the cult. Lee has also suckered Yann Arthus-Bertrand, the photographer behind the book Korea from Above, into including footage from SCJ’s 9th World Peace Tour in his upcoming film Human, which will screen at the UN General Assembly next year. A suitable honour for someone who signed a world peace treaty, wouldn’t you say? Why didn’t anyone else think of signing a world peace treaty centuries ago?

Also, Kim Nam-hee has her own International Women’s Peace Group (IWPG) because why not at this point? And while we’re on that topic, here’s another women’s group called She Can that has the familiar face of Kim Nam-hee.

“That’s another sign that SCJ and whatever this week’s front group is has something to hide,” says Peter Daley. “Legitimate organizations don’t rebrand themselves every other week and then try to hide ties to last week’s incarnation. It’s also a sign that there are large and important events planned, events worthy of new names, new websites, and new T-shirts. I’ve witnessed a more recent front group taking credit for a previous event at which there was no mention of the newer front group because it hadn’t been created yet. Such changes also serve to keep members busy with a constant series of changing ‘We can save the world’ projects and events. I think the ‘keeping members busy’ aspect is one of the major reasons for all these groups and events/rallies.”

As of Monday, June 16, it appears the websites for IPYG, HWPL, and IWPG are down. That probably means they’re going into hiding, Mannam-style, but I’m certain they’ll be back even if it’s under completely new names.

What can you do to not get fooled by another SCJ front? If you’re approached by someone offering a lot of free stuff, look the gift horse in the mouth. Ask if the group is connected to a church. Drop the name Lee Man-hee and see how they respond. If they are a SCJ front, their responses are coached and will be instant denial, rather than confusion or ignorance. Study their literature carefully for anything mentioning “light” especially lights meeting or being restored. Check their photos for people doing the SCJ salute (as demonstrated here by either the tribe of Philip or Thomas, can’t tell).

We have two more years until the next SCJ Olympiad, so who knows how many front organisations they will take on before then. In the interest of honesty and truth, you can expect there to be people out there keeping an eye on them.

This picture will be hanging in SCJ’s headquarters within a week.

#Shincheonji #cult #scj #testimony #scjfree

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