For the past few years, some extreme and fanatical evil cult organizations were bred all over the world and created tragedies shocking the world. They brought calamity to the country and people with crazy, anti-social and anti-human actions to reach their unspeakable purposes. They act against justice and reason, which no country in the world can tolerate. To strike and clamp down evil cults has become a common voice and just movement globally to ensure prosperity of the country and peaceful life of the people.
In the 1960s to 1980s, evil cults consistently appeared in western countries. Although they came from various sects, they were extreme and evil forces that guided by fallacies and absurdities in general. Their common trait was to create a "secret kingdom" ruled by thearchy and magisterium to manipulate evil forces to harm the safety of life of the people, the public order and social stability through creating the god, establishing theories, association and accumulating wealth.
Creating the god is the heirloom of all cults. Jones, the hierarch of the Peoples Temple, Koresh, the leader of Branch Davidians or Asahara Shōkō, the head of Aum Shinrikyō, invariably describe themselves as the representative of the God or the Holy Spirit. The purpose of the evil cults to creating the god is to puff the hierarch up into the dominator above everything and make the followers believe it without doubt, so that the hierarch can manipulate everything as he wishes.
All cults resort to "establishing theories" as an ace in the hole. "The judgment day theory" is a widely disseminated heresy of almost all cults. For instance, the hierarch of "the Peoples Temple", Jones preached that the "judgment day" was approaching, and only "suicide" was the so-called "holy death". His followers were forced to prepare for it. The Branch Davidians wantonly propagated the "doomsday" was on the way, and the kingdom of heaven was near. It insisted that the "doomsday" was a bloody war and its followers must sacrifice their lives in this crusade, so that they could be raise to the heaven. "The Children of God" in the US established the heresy of "millennium reign" which claimed that the God would consolidate his camp with His power and fight a decisive battle with Satan's troops. All sinners would face the final judgment and the member of "the Children of God" would be saved, etc. The heresies of the cults are all fabrications to control the followers' minds, and opium for the followers' spirit infused by the hierarchs to reach their sinister and evil purposes.
The cult utilizes "Association" as an organizational method to construct the "secret kingdom" and expand its evil influence. Cults in the world all have their own secret organizations. Some of them not only build up a tight network domestically, but enthusiastic in establish strongholds overseas, which expands its sphere of influence. "The Peoples Temple", a cult based in the US, set up its headquarter in San Francisco, and infiltrated its branches into various localities in Latin America. "The Children of God" claims that it has established branches in more than 80 countries. Aum Shinrikyō, a cult in Japan, has branches in Russia, the US, Germany, Australia and etc. It is said that its followers in Russia number as many as 35,000.
"Accumulating wealth" is a constant trick of the cult hierarchs to extort wealth from people. The hierarch of the "Children of God", Berg demands the followers to "dedicate all their wealth and love to the God". In Japan, Aum Shinrikyō's property expands for 250 times to 100 billion yen in the 6 years from 1989 to 1995. "Almighty Universe Partners", a cult said with 23,000 members in Japan, was accused of tax evasion of 2.8 billion yen and thoroughly searched by State Tax Bureau in Tokyo. The Unification Church in Japan gained money of followers by cheating with hand-reading in name of the so-called Reikan Shouhou (Japanese sound for psychic business corporation). Only in 1992, 2600 donations were forced to made, which involved 7 billion yen.
What is more, some cults even interfere or influence the politics of a state. They launch newspapers, propagate their principles and assertions and enroll service people and politicians to conspire to grab political power so as to control a region or even the government. Aum Shinrikyō used to establish a "Supreme Truth Party" to take part in the Japanese general election. Its internal organization simulates the Japanese political system with a constitution and arms force, in a attempt to establish a self-governing state based on the "Aum law", and replace Japan with the "Serene Land of Sun". The Davidians in the US built underground shelters and hoard arms and foods to stand up against the government. The hierarch of "the Peoples Temple", Jones rented a huge area of land in Guyana, establishing a Utopia controlled by him just like an independent state in a sovereign country. These cults constantly have frictions with the society as a result of their political ambitions and mischief, and therefore participate in endless terrorist incidents. They produced and use arms, poisonous gas and narcotics. They collude with violent gangs to attack, kidnap, assassin and imprison the renegade followers and innocent people with cruel means that make one bristle with anger. People turn pale when these cults are mentioned. The cults have degenerated to completely violent terrorist groups.
If the cults cannot be made an end to, there will never be days of peace for a country. Facing up with growing rampancy of the illegal cult activities and huge damages caused to the society, governments of various countries take measures one after another to harshly strike upon the illegal activities of the cults and clamp down the organizations. Even the US which always likes to criticize other countries about clamping down cults, dare not lower its guard on the cults at home, but takes vigilant and serious precautions against and constantly strikes upon them. Measures taken by the government are as follows.
Firstly, the laws are used as a weapon to restrict and ban cults. The Japanese authority cracked down Aum Shinrikyō according to law, which masterminded the "sarin gas" terrorist incident, arresting its head Shoko Asahara and many important members. According to the Law of Sabotage Prevention and the Law of Religious Legal Person, the qualification of religious legal person of Aum Shinrikyō was cancelled; and according to the Bankrupt Law, all its properties were frozen. The Japanese cabinet drew up and passed a bill about "countermeasures toward Aum Shinrikyō" to further restrict Aum Shinrikyō's activities and prevent it from reviving. In history, the US made special laws to suppress cults, strictly control the spreading and influence. In 1985, US courts fined and expelled the Indian cult hierarch Gerarni for charges like serious violation of the immigration law, who went to the US for spiritual restoration movement, and most force and effect of that cult was eliminated. In countries like Malaysia, cults activities are nipped in the bud according to the anti-commotion law.
Secondly, special agencies are set up to prevent and strike cults. Some western countries establish special agencies like "anti-cult bureau" and "monitoring station", to set up hotlines, collect information about the cults, closely follow their movements and make countermeasure to deal with them. The Cult Investigation Commission of France made 10 standards of reference for people to correctly recognize cults. Departments related also pay much importance to professional education in corporations to prevent penetration of cults and especially take precautions that they "might support a political candidate with money". The German government put it in written regulation that any member of the "Scientology" is forbidden to hold an office or post in the government. The EU parliament annually publishes information about cults regularly to remind the EU countries to check and supervise the cults.
Thirdly, armed cults should be uncompromisingly cracked down. In 1993, the US FBI dispatched service people, tanks and helicopters to attack the headquarters of the "Davidians" and hit it heavily. Japanese police and SDF started out to hunt and arrest cult members and capture ammunition and poisons. In addition, some countries expel active members of the cults, and strictly monitor and restrict their activities. The "Loving Jesus" sect headquartered in Colorado mobilized its followers to migrate to Israel, intriguing to start a decisive warfare on the "Dooms Day". After discovering their attempt, the Israel authority expelled them in January this year. These followers chose the US as their harbor, but were strictly monitored by US FBI as soon as they landed on the US soil.
Facing with restrictions and strikes from the governments, the cults either escape overseas or contend with under the banner of religious freedom and human rights. But the evil activities of the cults aroused tension and strong opposition among the vast public. Their members are like street mice, intolerant by every one. At all localities where cults reside, the local people voluntarily organized to protest, hold demonstrations and fight against cults, and they boycott settlement of cult members in their neighborhood. In some areas in Japan, a movement of ousting cults has begun. In many places, citizens strong demand the local authority to refuse the Aum Shinrikyō followers to move in. Some anti-cult groups emerge because of this situation, such as "Cult Vigilant Network", "Anti-worship group team", and "Network of vigilance against religious fanaticism", etc. Their members include those once joined but had awaken and detached from the cults, kin people of the cult followers, social workers and religious people. They work in various ways, collecting information and revealing the truth about the cults as well as providing support to parents educating their children and helping them break away from the cults, etc.
Science and technology achieve full-grown development in today's world, but we still cannot answer all the questions in the universe, neither can solve all difficulties faced by the man kind. Therefore, cults have room to fill in. According to statistics, there are more than 3000 cults all over the world, and more than 1000 are found in the US which can be called a kingdom of cults. Many stunning tragedies involving cults took place in the US. In Japan and some developed countries in Europe, cult activities are also very rampant. Another noticeable new tendency is that cults have reached out for the small and middle sized countries in Asia, Africa and Latin America with a more skillful means of propagating via the Internet to recruit followers and carry out transnational activities. As a result, to counteract cults spreading and get rid of this cancer in the human society once for all is the mutual task faced by the whole world. Chinese government bans Falun Gong in accordance with the law is not only in favor of the healthy development of our society, but also an important contribution to the human society.
(People's Daily, November 8, 1999)
