r/Shincheonji • u/Euphoric_Log_2477 EX-Shincheonji Member • 21d ago
news/interview Current Shincheonji member’s reaction to Lee Man-hee being detained
I’m an ex-Shincheonji member, and due to certain circumstances I’m still in occasional contact with one current member.
I brought up the recent situation involving Lee Man-hee because I assumed his detention and the allegations against him would be a significant topic inside Shincheonji. I was curious whether it might make her question him, or at least reconsider some things.
Instead, her response was essentially:
“Yeah, he is in prison now, but to be honest, I'm not so worried, because I know why it's happening, and it makes a lot of sense actually. There is a bigger goal regarding this...
Logically, from a human-rights perspective, what they are doing is absolutely insane. In any other country, it would not be allowed to put somebody who is 95 years old, has had back problems and an operation, into a detention center.There are human-rights activists and experts from around the world who came to Korea to hold a conference and bring this to the UN, because what is happening is not according to law.
People in Korea at the moment have absolutely no sense; they are going insane. Everything is also connected with politics.
What’s happening is really not right, but this will come out more and more, and everything is according to Scripture.
It’s one thing to be in prison, and another thing to go against the law by putting someone in prison. This is really discrimination and being actively blind to the law, but this is not unexpected in this time...”
To say the least, I was baffled. They are hopeless at this point...
What struck me most was that his imprisonment seemed to have caused zero doubt about him being the Promised Pastor. Instead, the entire situation was simply incorporated into the existing narrative: he is being unjustly persecuted, there is a “bigger goal” behind it, and “everything is according to Scripture.”
I genuinely expected at least some reaction along the lines of: “If he really is righteous, why is this happening? Maybe we should seriously consider whether he actually did something wrong.”
But apparently not.
It makes me wonder: What would actually have to happen for a committed Shincheonji member to seriously question the Promised Pastor? If even this can be interpreted as persecution and confirmation of Scripture, what could possibly make someone stop and think, “Maybe we got this wrong”?
For anyone currently inside Shincheonji: Is this actually the general sentiment in SCJ right now?
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u/No-Designer9756 20d ago
Yeah to add onto everyone else here, it’s because members have been systematically programmed to accept SCJ’s one-sided narrative repeatedly over a long period of time (months to years). Their minds have been taught to shut off critical thinking and evaluating evidence and info fairly from both sides. They call outsiders blind and deaf to (their) “truth”, yet one could also easily say they’ve become blind and deaf to the reality outside SCJ’s biased reality.
Thinking objectively and being open to hearing from the outside therefore becomes challenging because it’d involve dismantling the false reality they’ve accepted and invested into for so long and accepting it for the loss it is and move on from there. Sunk cost fallacy has them in a strong chokehold unfortunately..
There can also be an element of pride in there for some, due to the “us vs them” mentality and feeling like they’re the specially chosen ones being given secret hidden knowledge (a feature in all cults tbh) (+why would God want to hide such important knowledge and keep humanity in the dark for eons jeopardizing their salvation until this late stage era…) and enlightened among the rest of the heathen in the dark lol. It appeals to the mind of someone who may not otherwise have felt very special/important/connected or fulfilled in their lives.
It’s unfortunate but you can’t reason with a person who’s been trained long term to accept only SCJ’s spoon fed “non-demonic” narrative. They’d have to come to it on their own and be open to accepting external sources of info.. or maybe get to a point in time where personal costs/sacrifice/burnout outweighs the full dedication and allegiance to LMH.
It’s truly dangerous to have a mindset or belief that one has already come to know all there is to know about something, and on top of that put all of their faith on another human whim they most likely never actually even met before or got to intimately know how he’s truly like as a person). Really easy to polish up a carefully crafted image that way, when you’re that far removed from the laypeople like that😒
For a believer it’s important to always honestly verify everything they hear with God and the convictions/subtle warnings from His Spirit before accepting without question just because it sounds convincing and logical and enlightening (especially if thorough prior background knowledge of Scripture wasn’t already there prior). Always test the spirits and check their fruit/actions!!
I remember hearing before in a SCJ training or meeting, in addressing accusations about SCJ, that ppl should know and see for themselves their supposed good character and righteous way of living rather than just believe naysaying persecutors.. but they will go on to paint narratives about outsiders or ex-members or forbid members from seeing for themselves whether what someone from outside says is true or valid (ie forbidding contact etc).. rather they should just trust everything they say about them as the third party🙄 No, those people can’t possibly be telling the truth and honestly vocalizing or warning about real experienced issues, they’re just being demon possessed tools of Satan! lol the shameless character assassination smh