A Christian ‘doomsday cult’ is targeting Australian university campuses. Now former members want them stopped

Published October 15, 2024 By admin with Comments 0

Bree* doesn’t know how much longer she can continue living with her sister, Anna*, who she says has been involved for several years with Australian branches of the Shincheonji church – described by former members as a cult.

Bree says her sister wakes up at 6am and goes straight to church activities, often not returning home until after midnight, exhausted. She describes Anna as constantly on her phone, texting other church members, including members she says she has freshly recruited.

“Often she comes home so burnt-out,” Bree says. “She’s so tired that she’s doing stuff like burning food … She’s been in a collision with other vehicles in two incidents. She is so wiped out and exhausted.”

Shincheonji originated in South Korea, but the church has locations throughout the world including in major Australian cities and some regional locations. The church is registered as a not-for-profit charity, making it eligible for tax exemptions.

Members believe they are destined for heaven, with everyone else doomed to eternal hell. Membership allows access to secret knowledge of the kingdom of heaven and the one true interpretation of the Bible, members believe.

The Australian branch of Shincheonji did not respond to questions from Guardian Australia, but international chapters have previously denied that the church is a cult. On its global website, the church describes itself as “a temple of god… The Lord of Shincheonji is Jesus Christ who was slain”.

Like many Shincheonji recruits, Anna was targeted while at university, Bree says. Several Australian universities have recently expressed concern about church members pretending to be students in order to recruit. In some cases, church members are using rooms on campus to run recruitment sessions described as youth events, without revealing links to the group.

Content retrieved from: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/oct/15/shincheonji-church-doomsday-cult-universities-australia-ntwnfb.