Apr 17, 2020

CultNEWS101 Articles: 4/17/2020

 
ICSA Webinar, Online Workshop, Jehovah's Witnesses, Legal, Russia, Info-Cult, Shincheonji

ICSA: "Cult Recovery and Family Support NOT Cancelled!" Webinar Series Expanded

Friday 04/17/2020, 12 PM EST (LIVE Presentation with Q & A)                         
"Spiritual practices during uncertain times; spiritual abuse and transgender individuals"
Mark Wingfield and Cyndi Matthews
Link to join: https://zoom.us/j/493693433

And

Friday 04/17/2020, 8 PM EST (LIVE Presentation with Q & A)
"Parenting"
Eva Mackey
Link to join: https://zoom.us/j/493693433

Saturday 04/18/2020, 12 PM EST (LIVE Presentation with Q & A)
"Don't Waste your Quarantine. Recovery Strategies for Former Members During the Coronavirus Crisis."?
Doug and Wendy Duncan
Link to join: https://zoom.us/j/493693433

Monday 04/20/2020
12 PM EST (LIVE Presentation with Q & A)
"Coping With Domestic Abuse in COVID -19"
Elizabeth Burchard
Link to join: https://zoom.us/j/493693433Tuesday 04/21/2020
12 PM EST (LIVE Presentation with Q & A) 
"Wrap up"
Gillie Jenkinson
Link to join: https://zoom.us/j/493693433  


And

 8 PM EST (LIVE Presentation with Q & A) 
"Wrap up" - Last Session
 Rachel Bernstein, MS, LMFT  
Link to join: https://zoom.us/j/493693433    


Facilitators:  Colleen Russell, LMFT, CGP, and Janja Lalich, PhD, Professor Emerita of Sociology, Co-Author of Take Back Your Life, Recovering From Cults and Abusive Relationships (2006) and Escaping Utopia, Growing Up in a Cult, Getting Out, and Starting Over (2018)

"A court in the city of Ulyanovsk will consider a criminal case against six members of Jehovah's Witnesses, a religious organization banned in Russia, the press service of the Prosecutor General's Office reports Wednesday.

Depending on their alleged role, the defendants are charged with orgzanizing and participating in a religious community prohibited in Russia by court as extremist.

Investigators believe that a resident of Ulyanovsk has organized holding of meetings. During these meetings he has cited religious texts included in the federal list of extremist materials. Moreover, the man has collected money under the guise of donation. Other defendants took part in the meetings and propagated the Jehovah's Witnesses doctrine, the statement reads.

In April 2017, the Supreme Court of Russia ordered liquidation of the Jehovah's Witnesses managing organization and all its 395 local branches. In August, the Administrative Centre of Jehovah's Witnesses was added to the list of banned extremist organizations."
"Info-Cult hopes that everyone is staying healthy and safe during this pandemic. Please note that as a safety precaution, our staff is working from home. Therefore, we will be able to continue to respond to inquiries for information, support or help. We can be reached by email at infosecte@qc.aibn.com or by phone at 514-274-2333."
"How do leaders of deeply religious societies, who have for centuries encouraged mass gatherings, abruptly tell believers that it is precisely these congregations they should avoid?

With more than 950 confirmed coronavirus cases across the country, as of April 3, linked to the gathering of the Islamic sect Tablighi Jamaat in Delhi at Markaz, Nizamuddin, the 'cluster' has been imprinted in our minds as an unrivalled hub of infection in the epidemic in India so far.

During these times, it is perhaps easy to forget that just over a month ago another country was similarly captivated by its own religious hotbed of contagion. South Korea, on February 17, appeared to have its number of coronavirus infections under control at 30. But the very next day, in came Patient Number 31, a 61-year-old woman who was a member of the Shincheonji Church of Jesus, which mainstream churches considered a cult.

Within days the number of infections soared into the hundreds at both the church and neighbouring areas of Daegu, a city of 2.5 million. It is believed Patient 31 was able to transmit her infection so efficiently thanks to some of the church's practices which included praying in close proximity in an enclosed space and prohibiting the wearing of glasses and face masks. As per the Korea Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, as of March 7, 63.5% of all confirmed cases in the country were 'related to Shincheonji.'

The Shincheonji case, it's worth noting, is analogous to the Nizamuddin one in another respect too. Given that they were religious minorities, both groups bore the brunt of majoritarian prejudices. Just as the Presbyterian Church of Korea claimed that the founder of the Shincheonji church held "heretical" and "anti-Christian" views, WhatsApp forwards in India accused the Tablighi Jamaat – the orthodox Muslim group who organised the 'super-spreading' meeting at Nizamuddin – of waging a "Corona Jihad".

But did members of the above religious groups behave in a fundamentally riskier manner than people of other faiths? Were theirs the only instances of callousness? Mass congregations, as we know, are hardly a unique feature to any one religion – all faiths subscribe to them in different ways. What's more, an unfolding of the pandemic also reveals that distinct coronavirus clusters had originated at other religious gatherings both before and after the above mentioned events."


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Selection of articles for CultNEWS101 does not mean that Patrick Ryan or Joseph Kelly agree with the content. We provide information from many points of view in order to promote dialogue.

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