We Should Understand Pandemic Monitoring without Scapegoating, Regarding Shincheonji Church
In the situation to face the novel coronavirus infectious disease (COVID-19), it is necessary to monitor the confirmed patients to contain the virus. To quarantine, Most of nations get epidemical investigation by monitoring the patients and reveal the result. But some politicians and media outlets abuse this result and private information of the patients. They manipulate media for their interests so some patients get scapegoated. It is included for Shincheonji memebers. Massimo Introvigne is an Italian sociologist of religions and the managing director of CESNUR (Center for Studies on New Religions) criticizes the situation during the coronavirus outbreak in South Korea.
He explains he met many people while studying Shincheonji and became concerned about their health. He was horrified to come across so much inaccurate nonsense about Shincheonji Church of Jesus in international media outlets. He recently discussed these issues in a brief essay titled, “Pandemic Monitoring Without Scapegoating: Lessons from the Shincheonji Community of South Korea.”
He criticized reporters who “presented themselves as amateur theologians overnight, or they simply relied on low-level Internet sources.” Introvigne says he felt a responsibility to address the quickly spreading misinformation. Massimo Introvigne asks the question, “Why were so many fantasies about Shincheonji believed by some Korean and international media outlets?”
That’s why the history of Protestant Christianity in South Korea is connected with the political power. As Shincheonji Church of Jesus get fast-growing, leaders of pre-existing churches defined Shincheonji as “cult” and made all slanders to Shincheonji. Their action is from not losing their power because their congregation go to Shincheonji. The reason people go to the church is Shincheonji has the correct understanding of the Bible including Revelation but other pre-existing churches don’t have.
Meanwhile, what’s worse is that some pastors of the Christian Council of Korea attempt to “deprogram” and “de-convert” Shincheonji members from what they view as a ‘cult.’ The practice of deprogramming in South Korea was internationally condemned when a female Shincheonji member was killed in 2018 when she tried to flee from deprogrammers. The program is so-called “Coercive conversion program” and the deprogrammer is “Conversion pastor.”
As seeing the fact between Shincheonji and COVID-19, Patient 31, a female Shincheonji member from Daegu, was hospitalized after a minor car accident on February 7th, diagnosed with a common cold, and subsequently released to resume her normal life. Upon her release, she attended several Shincheonji services and set in motion a chain of events leading to thousands of her church’s members being infected. As her symptoms worsened, she returned to the hospital on February 18th where she tested positive for the coronavirus. Patient 31 claims that nobody told her about a possible viral infection before February 18th. She also maintains that the claim by the hospital’s doctors that she was offered the test twice before and refused ― which one can also assume to be their attempt to cover themselves and shift the blame ― is false. The doctors could have forcibly quarantined her before February 18th, but they did not do so. Within hours of learning about Patient 31’s condition, Shincheonji closed all its churches in the country.
Introvigne comments on members who hide their affiliation with Shincheonji in schools and workplaces due to possible job termination or even physical violence. CESNUR has examined upwards of 7,000 incidents of discrimination against Shincheonji members during the COVID-19 pandemic. Two female Shincheonji members fell from the windows of their apartments and died. Allegations point to husbands who were hostile to their beliefs and previous domestic violence reports. These incidents are still being investigated and are cause for serious concern. The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom has expressed concerns about the scapegoating of Shincheonji.
We should cooperate with out nations to quarantine COVID-19. But we must distinguish quarantine from human rights violation to keep the confirmed patients’ private information.
Understanding Pandemic Monitoring Without Scapegoating: The Truth about Shincheonji
FactCheck on Shincheonji Church of Jesus regarding COVID-19
Agree! We're all in this together, let's work together without putting blame on someone or some group.
ReplyDeleteCoercive conversion is an amoral and criminal practice implemented by Presbyterian pastors who belong to the Christian Council of Korea (CCK). Thank you for raising awareness by posting this article. I'll do all I can to help raise awareness to call for an end to this practice.
ReplyDelete