Just before the Dragon Boat Festival in 2025, in Huoshan County, Lu’an City, Anhui Province, villager Lao Ye carefully swept the floor and wiped the mirrors in his newly opened barbershop. The sweltering heat of June in Huoshan was unrelenting, and as Lao Ye worked vigorously, sweat poured down his ...
“Coming events cast their shadows before.” This remark is attributed to the Roman statesman and philosopher Marcus Tullius Cicero. Essentially it says that historical events, while occurring with no advance notice, are actually foreshadowed by auguries. With the passing of time, reflecting the wil...
In 1991, I was living in a commune with 200 other people in Japan, as a member of a cult called the Children of God, which preached that the world was going to end in 1993. Everything I did – from where I slept each night, to who I was allowed to sleep with – was decided by the head of my comm...
Prime Minister Kim Min-seok stated on the 13th, “Pseudo-cults are social evils that must be eradicated,” and instructed, “Conduct thorough joint investigations into the Unification Church, Shincheonji, and others.” He also said, “All ministries should seek measures to eradicate the harms caused by...
President Lee Jae Myung voiced his agreement with religious leaders’ calls to disband the Unification Church, the Shincheonji Church of Jesus and other “illegitimate, heretical religious organizations” during a meeting with leaders representing major religious communities here, Monday. According ...
Korean people are called to overcome conflict and division and usher in a new era of unity, they say Leaders of major religious groups in South Korea issued a joint declaration to promote national unity, peace, harmony and unification with North Korea. “Throughout the modern and contemporary his...
Prime Minister Kim Min-seok has called for the eradication of cults and described them as a “social evil.” Speaking at a Cabinet meeting Tuesday, Kim said corrupt ties between the political and religious sectors have driven abuses of power in state affairs, adding that cults have undermined the n...
President Lee Jae Myung on Monday accused the Unification Church and Shincheonji Church of inflicting serious harm on society, echoing the assessment of Korea's major religious leaders who described the groups as pseudo-religious organizations. Lee made the remarks during a luncheon with religiou...
President Lee Jae-myung hosted a luncheon meeting with leaders from seven major religious groups—Buddhism, Protestantism, Catholicism, Won Buddhism, Confucianism, Cheondoism, and ethnic religions—at the Blue House on the 12th. During the event, when religious leaders raised issues regarding the Un...
A mother in China received a suspended prison sentence after her younger daughter died during a superstitious ritual intended to expel a perceived spirit. This tragic event, where fear and belief replaced medical care, highlights the dangers of unchecked superstition. Another case involved a woman...
Hello, this is Hank Hanegraaff, president of the Christian Research Institute and host of theBible Answer Manbroadcast, as well as theHank Unpluggedpodcast. I mention that at the outset of what I want to talk to you about because both of those outreaches continue to have a very significant impact...
Welcome to another special edition of theHank Unplugged Podcast—a podcast committed to being interesting, informative, and inspirational. On today’s special edition, I want to talk about a special edition of theChristian Research Journal. This issue is devoted to the Eastern Lightning cult, a move...
Unification Church former leader and current head Han Hak-ja's late husband, Sun Myung Moon, presides over a mass wedding ceremony in this undated photo. Getty Images Long known for its stadium-scale mass weddings that drew global attention — and for its followers’ widely used nickname, “Moonies”...
From teenage bride to ‘only begotten daughter,’ self-proclaimed messiah faces bribery, corruption allegations Han Hak-ja, the 82-year-old leader of the Unification Church and widow of its founder Moon Sun-myung, is back in the headlines. She faces a major bribery and lobbying scandal in Korea, wh...
A court in western Japan has sentenced Yamagami Tetsuya to life in prison for fatally shooting former Prime Minister Abe Shinzo more than three years ago. The Nara District Court delivered its ruling on Wednesday at 1:30 p.m. Yamagami, 45, is charged with using a handmade gun to fatally shoot ...