Don’t think you’re the type to join a cult? Gloria didn’t think she was either
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Gloria had been shopping at Melbourne Central on an ordinary morning in 2019 when a man approached her, asking her to do a survey.
It seemed like an innocent interaction, but one she would later learn was part of a wider plan that involved manipulative and controlling tactics.
“This guy approaches me on the street and he said he was doing a survey for university. He said he was from RMIT and could I help him,” the 25-year-old tells SBS News.
The man showed Gloria images of three different emojis — a dancing woman, prayer hands and an aeroplane — and asked her to choose one. She chose the prayer hands.
It opened a conversation about Gloria’s faith and how she had been raised in a Christian family.
When she told him she was not overly religious, he asked about her hobbies, and they started talking about her passion for photography.
“He was like: ‘Oh, I have a friend, she is a movie director, and she knows everything about photography and videography’, and then she also happens to teach the Bible, so that’s how he hooked me in,” she says.
Plans were made for Gloria to attend a Bible study where she could meet this friend.
She says she was given a warm welcome and that the group’s friendly approach made her more open to learning about its interpretation of the Bible, so she started attending regularly.
Before long, Gloria found herself enmeshed in Shincheonji Church of Jesus (SCJ), a South Korean religious group many consider to be a cult.
The church was founded in 1984 by Lee Man-hee and is believed to have more than 200,000 members in South Korea, and more than 30,000 members overseas.
Australian universities have issued warnings to their students about Shincheonji including Adelaide University and RMIT in Melbourne.
RMIT posted on its website about the “Korean religious sect posing as Bible study”, describing it as a scam and cautioning students about its recruitment tactics.
“Over time there will be an increased amount of time expected for Church activities, including recruiting more people to the Church,” the warning reads.
“There will be pressure to not maintain contact with family and friends outside of the Church and keep Church membership a secret. There will be less and less time not scheduled with the Church to fit in study and see family and friends.”
Such methods are expected to be under the microscope as part of an upcoming inquiry into cults and organised fringe groups in Victoria.
Content retrieved from: https://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/behind-the-shincheonji-cult/nu0thspec.
