Feb 3, 2023

CultNEWS101 Articles: 2/3/2023

Johane MarangeMozambiqueWaco, David Koresh, The Branch DavidiansUnification Church, Japan
"The Mozambican Ministry of Justice has banned, in the Central Province of Manica, a religious sect called "Johane Marange" for allegedly promoting child marriage and disrespecting health issues.

The church in question first emerged in neighboring Zimbabwe, where it has been operating since 2003.

According to the National Director of Justice, Constitutional and Religious Affairs Albachir Macassar, who was interviewed by Radio Mozambique, the Ministry has also banned some religious institutions with "obscure purposes" in the southern Province of Inhambane.

"To discipline some behavior and excesses of certain religious denominations, a draft Law on Religious Freedom and Worship is under discussion to regulate the exercise of this activity in Mozambique," the director said.

Macassar argues that the State should act, not to interfere in the exercise of the activities of religious groupings, but to direct and discipline them. 

"The new law will provide for the registration of a religious denomination with a minimum of 2,000 faithful, in contrast to the current law which recognizes any religious body with a minimum of 500 faithful," Macassar said."
"In the winter and spring of 1993, more than 80 people, including four federal agents and at least 20 children, died in two violent confrontations between federal law enforcement and the Branch Davidian Christian sect near Waco, Texas. Extremist groups have since cited the assaults as evidence for anti-government conspiracy theories.

In his new book, Waco: David Koresh, The Branch Davidians and a Legacy of Rage, author Jeff Guinn describes the group's leader, David Koresh, as a religious demagogue who took multiple teenage brides and preached that he and his followers would bring about a conflict that would make the end of days happen in their lifetimes.

"David Koresh wanted to make sure that when the final battle occurred, his followers would be able to fight the way the Book of Revelation said they must," Guinn says. "It had to be an all-out battle. His people were going to die, but, obviously, they had to be ready to kill the the agents of Babylon."

Government agents began investigating the Branch Davidians over charges that children at the compound were being abused and that the group was stockpiling weapons. On the morning of Feb. 28, 1993, 76 agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) arrived at the compound, called Mount Carmel, expecting to surprise the group."
"Following his indictment, pretrial proceedings against the shooter of Shinzo Abe are expected to throw up difficult issues, with his defense likely to attempt to offset shock over the first murder of a postwar Japanese leader by presenting him as a "victim" of a religious group that ruined his family financially.

Tetsuya Yamagami was charged on Jan. 13 with murder and violating the firearms control law for killing Abe, Japan's longest-serving prime minister, with a homemade gun during an election campaign rally in July last year.

He has told investigators he held a grudge against the Unification Church, a group originally founded in South Korea, and targeted Abe because he was a grandson of former Prime Minister Nobusuke Kishi, who helped the group set up in Japan, according to investigative sources.

The church has since come under intense scrutiny for its links with a number of politicians in Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party, with allegations that it supported their election campaigns.

Yamagami's defense team is expected to focus on extenuating circumstances, while prosecutors will likely seek capital punishment, arguing the attack threatened the democratic process, legal experts say. They also note that given the presence of members of the public at the rally, others could have been hurt."

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