Contrary to the thoughts of the shooter, Tetsuya Yamagami, the Unification Church continues

The Unification Church has endured persecution

Claims of damage by Unification Church canceled by shooting former Prime Minister Abe

After former Prime Minister Abe was shot and killed, the motives of Yamagami, the culprit, have gradually become clear.

According to the criminal's statement, his mother was a devoted follower of the Unification Church (currently the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification) and donated a large amount of money. It seems to have had a bad effect.

And the criminal's own resentment was directed first to the Unification Church, and then to Mr. Shinzo Abe, whom the criminal believed to have supported the Unification Church.

At this stage, it is not possible to judge whether it is okay to take the criminal's words as they are, but looking at his background and past Twitter posts, I do not think that he is targeting the Unification Church for camouflage with another motive.

However, no matter how I think about it, my impression is that the reason why the resentment is directed at Mr. Abe is incoherent.

First of all, he should have searched for the commonsense knowledge of the relationship between politicians and religion.

It is quite conceivable that the criminal was so depressed that he could not think like that, and his vision was narrowed.

However, I have also come into contact with people who have problems with second-generation religions, and I know of people who gave up many times the amount donated by the perpetrator's mother.

Most of the second-generation religious problems I know are directed at the parents.

This is because parents impose religious precepts on their children, restrict friendships and club activities, and exercise authoritarian attitudes and abusive language in the name of religion.

The difference with this culprit is that the culprit himself did not join.

On this point alone, the perpetrator's mother seems to be more tolerant than the parents of second-generation religious problems I know.

I don't know how hard the perpetrators lived, but many people who were oppressed by religion and couldn't live their lives the way they wanted never made weapons or killed people.

The culprit seems to have stated that the Unification Church was to blame for the shooting of former Prime Minister Abe, but that is the culprit's own opinion, and it is objectively far too far-fetched to tie them together.

Considering from the information at the current stage, the criminal's target is the head of the Unification Church or the person who became the head of a country, so the criminal has high pride and tends to have a delusion of grandeur that he is a bigger person.

If he kills the top, the organization will be weakened, and the motives can be twisted as much as you want, but if you think about it in general, you can see that such things are only in the world of movies and games.

If you defeat the boss, world peace will come... But the world is not that simple.

For example, is there a country whose king was killed and perished?

Is there a company that has collapsed because the president resigned?

If the king is killed, his son or the next general will lead the country, and if the president resigns, the next president will be elected.

The downfall of a country or the bankruptcy of a company are far more likely to be caused by a combination of various factors than the existence of top management.

To put it simply, it means "the flow of the times".

If you think about it, the Unification Church, which the criminal tried to destroy, will continue to exist regardless of the shooting incident.

Even if it is the top of the organization or the criminal, the power of one person is so small against the organization.

I think it will continue to weaken.

But it's not because of this shooting.

This is because the content of religion itself is in a slump.

The Unification Church will not be able to go against this trend.

I mentioned religious content, but due to the influence of the Internet, all content has become individualistic.

Rather than chasing one thing as a group, each one pursues what they like.

Therefore, it is difficult to become a large organization compared to the Showa and early Heisei period.

In addition, the number of senders has increased explosively due to the development of the Internet.

As can be seen from the rise of YouTubers, we live in an era in which any individual can become a creator of ideas.

If each person gathers in a large number of callers, the number of people in one group will inevitably decrease.

Also, religion, which used to be a source of anxiety and dissatisfaction, is now being replaced by entertainment such as music.

Something that is as strong as religion, or even more, has been developed and liberated.

Celebrities, athletes, politicians, philosophers, and SNS distributors have replaced the religious charisma of "gods".

I think it's a good thing that there are more options for people's purpose in life, which used to be limited to religion.

Rather than abandoning religion completely and switching to other content, it's easier to maintain a balance by being able to focus on a little bit of religion, a little TV, and a little bit of SNS.

Now, the Unification Church will continue to weaken as the course of society continues. 

Even Aum Shinrikyo, where Shoko Asahara aka Chizuo Matsumoto was put to death, continues to change names.

Al-Qaeda, whose leader was assassinated, and a terrorist group called Islamic State have weakened but still exist.

Although the Unification Church cannot be equated with the terrorist groups mentioned above, even though it has thrown the world into chaos with mass weddings and psychic marketing, it has been cited as an example of an organization that survives even if its leader is neutralized.

The culprit has disrupted society with a shooting incident. 

Religious organizations then strengthen their cohesion.

Because they are all people who have gathered to seek salvation.

Leaders will be on their side in fear.

It may inspire believers to see the perpetrator as a common enemy.

It may attract ordinary people who sympathize with former Prime Minister Abe and good citizens who hate crime.

It may have turned out to be an event that prolongs the life of a failing religion.

How should we prevent damage caused by religion? 

It's not about trying to destroy religion; it's about fostering good religion so that people don't fall for radical religion.

Nurture rather than destroy, which is something that the majority of people who need patience are not good at.

It is also important to pay attention in advance to extreme behavior and money collection systems from next-generation content that distributes ideas that are becoming the receptacle of declining religions.