Coalition for Religious Freedom Update for March 24, 2012

New Mexico State Senate. We are happy to announce that the New Mexico State Senate honored Freedom Riders Seijin Tranberg and Joshua Wildman with a proclamation in recognition of their efforts “to promote faith, family and freedom throughout the world.” The proclamation resulted from Seijin and Josh’s “Tour de Cause” religious freedom bike challenge earlier this winter. The text of this document, signed by New Mexico State Senate President Pro Tem Timothy Z. Jennings, refers to the “more than 4,000 Unification Church members in Japan, and many members of other minority religions, who have been abducted and confined for considerable lengths of time in an effort to break their faith.” It also declares that “the democratic nation of Japan must begin to enforce its own laws that promise religious freedom and due process for all of its citizens, regardless of their religious beliefs.”

Our special thanks go out to New Mexico State Senator Mark Boitano for facilitating this important act of justice.

Japan’s UPR. Human Rights Without Frontiers is preparing a formal complaint to the United Nations Human Rights Council with regard to Japan’s upcoming review as part of the UNHRC’s Universal Periodic Review process. This will force Japan to officially respond to concerns about its record on religious freedom. We also expect submissions from UPF and WFWP, which have consultative status with the UN.

Congressional Delegation. We are now in the final stages of preparing for a Congressional trip to Japan beginning on March 31. The House Ethics Committee has cleared the trip and the Congressman, whose name we will share with you soon, is ready to meet with government leaders and law enforcement officials to urge them to enforce Japanese laws and uphold the human rights of our members. Special thanks to Jim Gavin for his tireless work on this project, with the help of Rev. Michael Jenkins and Kathryn Porter.

ICSA Conference. I will present a paper at the International Cultic Studies Association Conference in Montreal Canada in July, entitled “Are ICSA and the UC Ready for Mutual Dialog?” Part of the presentation will deal with areas in which both organizations need to be ready to receive and accept criticism. My primary example for ICSA will be the fact that even though ICSA claims to support the civil rights of “cult members,” in 2008 it gave its highest honor (the Herbert L. Rosedale Award) to the anti-UC lawyers group that defends deprogramming in Japan.

Kook Jin Nim’ Visit to DC on Monday, March 19th. Rev. Michael Jenkins, Rev. Jim Gavin and I met Kook Jin Nim for lunch in Washington on March 19, just prior to KJN’s speaking at the U.S. Capitol as part of a conference on U.S. and Asian Security sponsored by the Washington Times Foundation. We updated him on various aspects of our religious freedom work. At lunch, KJN spoke to members about his analysis of the proper relationships between government and the people based on DP.

The Asian Security conference was covered by the Washington Times here.

New Victim. Sadly, a new victim who recently disappeared is probably undergoing a faith-breaking attempt at this moment. To protect his privacy we will call him Mr. S.K. Born on September 26, 1983, he has been a UC member for 7 years and has been serving as a staff lecturer in the West Tokyo Parish. He is not yet engaged or blessed in marriage. We know that his family was considering abducting him because his father suffered a heart attack last year while attending a study session with the infamous deprogrammer Miyamura. His father later died, and Mr. S.K. was apparently captured on March 11 this year during a visit home to mark the anniversary of his father’s death. He had two cell phones and a GPS device with him, but these were probably confiscated before he was able to contact the church. A church member visited the local police to report the crime. Accompanying him was a personal contact identified by the Japanese UC as the Chief of the Security Division. However, the local official affiliated with the Community Safety division initially refused to accept the complaint on the grounds that only family members are allowed to file missing person’s reports. Fortunately, the UC member had a copy of Mr. S.K.’s certified letter to deprogrammer Miyamura warning him to cease and desist from attempts to influence his family to confine him. The police then changed their attitude somewhat and promised to be in touch. We therefore have some hope that they will investigate the matter.

Pace University. Luke Higuchi, CARP president Victoria Roomet and I presented the facts about faith-breaking in Japan at Pace University in Pleasantville, New York on March 20. The audience of more than 40 persons included about 20 students, many of whom were non-UC members. They included Rexton Moon, In Jin Nim’s son, who has taken a personal interest in the issue. In addition to the above- mentioned speakers, US survivor Gail Veith gave her personal testimony and local CARP president Hatsue Matsunaga gave a presentation about the Blessing. Another new element in the program was Victoria’s talk, speaking as a recent college graduate herself, about the persecution that our members are facing on Japanese college campuses. This presentation captured the students’ interest, and we recommend including similar talks to campus crowds.

Journal of Unification Studies. I turned in the draft of my paper on faith-breaking in Japan last week to Dr. Andrew Wilson, editor of the Journal of Unification Studies. Dr. Wilson suggested a few ideas for improvement, and I will complete the work this week.

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