Symposium with 2 Authors of Books on Movement

Symposium organized in Tokyo by second-generation members takes in-depth view of vicious persecution of religious minority

Tokyo, 19th August 2024 – Published as an article in the Japanese newspaper Sekai Nippo. Republished with permission. Translated from Japanese. Original article

“The fear of having one’s heart crushed” – Experiencing abduction and confinement

Symposium of second-generation Family Federation believers

by the editorial department of Sekai Nippo

Non-fiction writer Kubota: “Turning people around you and outsiders into understanding persons”

On 18^th August 2024, the “Association to Protect the Human Rights of Second-Generation Believers”, established by second-generation believers of the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification (formerly the Unification Church), held a symposium titled “Why Do We Still Believe in the Unification Church?” in Tokyo.

Guest speakers were Yutaka Toriumi (鳥海豊), a believer and professor at Daegu Catholic University in South Korea, and non-fiction writer Masaki Kubota (窪田順生). They delivered keynote speeches and participated in the panel discussions. This was the sixth symposium hosted by the association.

Toriumi explained that the Family Federation “started as a religious organization with the resolve and pledge to embrace all religions and save all humanity.” However, he also expressed regret, saying, “I am truly sorry and regretful for various harms because we rushed too much due to time constraints on goals.”

Additionally, Toriumi, who has experienced abduction and confinement aimed at forced de-conversion, shared his personal experience, saying,

“The people who confined me said they were ‘gathered here for my sake’, but when I spoke honestly, they completely denied my words. This made me feel the terror of having something important inside me being gradually destroyed.”

Masaki Kubota, concerned that the situation surrounding the Family Federation might be a precursor to societal unrest, pointed out that “the media prefers safe reporting that doesn’t attract complaints.” He noted the difficulty in changing media that is vulnerable to complaints and emphasized the need to “increase the number of people who understand you, both among outsiders and those around you.”

Additionally, many Japanese tend to view religion negatively. From their perspective, when they observe the words and actions of the followers of the religious organization, Kubota suggested,

“Seeing their enthusiasm leads to fear, which in turn leads to attempts to crush them. The more positive things the followers say, the more vicious a cycle it becomes. If it is so, then it is necessary to work on turning this cycle in a positive direction.”

Featured image above: Yutaka Toriumi, third from the right, speaking at the panel discussion in the afternoon of 18^th August in Tokyo. Photo: Takahide Ishii (石井孝秀) / Sekai Nippo

[Editor’s note: Masaki Kubota (窪田順生) is a non-fiction writer who has contributed to weekly and monthly magazines. His new book, “Infiltrating the Former Unification Church – the Complete Story of the Request for a Dissolution Order and the Deepest Secrets of the ‘No Good Coverage’”, is currently on sale.]

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