Discussing the Negative Impact of Attacks on Minority Beliefs on Society
International Conference Organized by CESNUR, Day 2
On June 13, the second day of the international conference on the theme of “religious freedom” being held at the University of Bordeaux-Montaigne in France organized by Centro Studi sulle Nuove Religioni, CESNUR, began.
The day had a session entitled, “The Unification Church and Japan: What’s Happening?”, moderated by Dr. Eileen Barker, sociologist of religion, in the afternoon. Mr. Tatsuki Nakayama, an international lawyer from Japan, Mr. Tokushige Kondo, Deputy Director of the General Affairs Bureau of Family Federation for World Peace and Unification (formerly the Unification Church), and Ms. Suzuko Hirschmann, a Japanese believer in the Family Federation and living in Austria, reported on the situation in Japan.
Prior to the reports, Mr. Tomihiro Tanaka, President of the Japanese branch of Family Federation for World Peace and Unification, who has faced this issue as the head of the organization, gave an address (video). At the beginning of his message, President Tanaka expressed his gratitude to the participants, saying, “I have deep respect for the history of the European people’s efforts to obtain religious freedom guaranteed by the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. He then spoke about the “criticism of the Unification Church” engulfing the Japanese society led by anti-Unification Church forces, since the assassination of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in July 2022 and explained how there is currently a growing movement toward its dissolution order.
President Tanaka then told the participants, “The loss of religious freedom will surely bring us an intolerant and hostile society. I am very concerned that this could come about not only in Japan but also throughout the world. Just as particular flowers express their own unique beauty, I hope that Japan and the world will embrace diversity and create a society where people live together with mutual understanding and respect. How wonderful it will be if kindness, beyond differences of faith, prevails in the world!”
Mr. Nakayama emphasized that the Japanese government’s request for the dissolution order of the Family Federation is clearly unjustified, as there is no violation of the law or illegal act (organizational nature, continuity, and maliciousness), which are considered requirements for such an order. He pointed out the political bias of the lawyers who support such a move.
Mr. Kondo, Deputy Director of the Family Federation, explained the ideological background of the anti-Unification Church forces in Japan. He explained that the Family Federation and its affiliated organizations have been conducting a patriotic movement to protect Japan from communist forces, and reported that the Japanese Communist Party, supportive media, and lawyers’ groups in crisis over the patriotic movement, have joined forces to promote “Unification Church bashing.
Suzuko Hirschman spoke about a tragic and cruel event experienced by her own sister. She explained that it is a criminal act called “deprogramming,” or de-brainwashing ,“ and that her sister experienced a forcible abduction and confinement, and physical and psychological violence until her renunciation of faith and leaving the church. She reported that to date there have been a total of 4,300 such cases in Japan. He pointed to the existence of deprogrammers (professional defectors) and the media that continues to ignore the facts.
