Cults are a cancer in society, seriously infringing on people's physical and mental health and legitimate rights and interests, and are known as the three major public hazards in the world today, along with narcotics and terrorism.
The "Almighty God," also known as the "Eastern Lightning" and the "Actual God," was founded in the early 90s of the 20 th century by Zhao Weishan, a key member of the cult organization "Shouting Faction," and is one of the most harmful cults in China. Under the severe crackdown of the party and the state, the rampant momentum of the "Almighty God" cult has been effectively curbed, but its remnants are still surging undercurrents and have divided into other mutant organizations, and its real threat has not yet been completely eliminated.
In recent years, cases involving the "Almighty God" cult have occurred from time to time. How does the "Almighty God" cult bewitch the people, recruit followers, harm followers, and amass money? From the four cases mentioned in this article, we may be able to draw a lesson, learn to identify the usual tricks and "routines" used by cults, and further guard against the corrosive influence of cults.
Take advantage of people's danger and force brainwashing
Regarding this year's hit theatrical movie "Removing the Three Evils Around the Week", the audience is most concerned about the plot of the protagonist Chen Guilin and the cult organization "New Soul House" fighting wits and courage and rescuing some believers.
In the plot of the movie, Chen Guilin, who suffered a heavy blow in life and was deeply confused about life, naturally became the prey of the "New Soul House", and became a believer under the fraud and brainwashing "care" of the "Venerable". The use of various means to take advantage of the situation when the disadvantaged groups encounter difficulties and seek solace is precisely the "good trick" of the cult organization. Li, a student at Wannan Medical College, was a victim of the "Almighty God" cult.
In March 2019, due to his spiritual emptiness during his time at school, Li was introduced by his classmates to accept "Almighty God", and was "ideologically watered" twice a week, and began to officially participate in cult church meetings around June, and was organized to train to make cult videos during the summer vacation.
After that, the "Almighty God" cult organization made an inch, requiring Li to give up his studies and fulfill his duties full-time, so Li forged a medical record certificate to lie to the school that he was suffering from depression, and in 2020, he officially went through the withdrawal procedures from Wannan Medical College and returned to his hometown in Bengbu to engage in cult activities.
After returning to Bengbu in 2021, Li was appointed as the community leader by the "Almighty God" cult and was arrested by the public security organs in June 2022. In order to educate and save Li, the relevant departments in Bengbu set up a centralized education and transformation class, so that he could clearly understand the essence of the "Almighty God" cult and explain his experience of believing in religion and his participation in the activities of the "Almighty God" cult in Bengbu. Because of his good attitude of remorse and his young age, the procuratorate made a decision to exempt Li from prosecution. At present, Li has returned to his normal life and is engaged in clerical work.
In addition to attacking young people who are not deeply involved in the world, middle-aged women whose families have suffered major changes and whose income levels are on the low side are also the key targets of the cult's demagogic erosion.
Pan Mouzhi of Fuquan City, Guizhou Province, is 58 years old and has two sons and one daughter. In 2009, Pan Mouzhi's 14-year-old son died of leukemia, and he went to Zhejiang to work to repay his family debts, during which he was invited to participate in the "Almighty God" meeting. In 2014, Pan Mouzhi returned to Guizhou, officially joined the "Almighty God" cult in 2015, and frequently participated in party activities despite his family's opposition.
Because they have been brainwashed for a long time, followers of the "Almighty God" cult are often indifferent to their family members. In January 2022, Pan Mouzhi ignored her family's advice and left her sick husband Wu Mouxiang at home alone to participate in the "Almighty God" cult activities. That night, Wu Mouxiang fell down the stairs of his home, and was not found until the next morning, and died because he was not sent to the hospital in time for treatment. In order to let Pan Mouzhi continue to do his duty, the "Almighty God" cult organization continued to brainwash her, calling her husband's death a "God's test" and weakening her sense of guilt.
In May 2023, Pan Mouzhi was arrested by the public security organs, and through education and transformation work, he gradually recognized the harm of the "Almighty God" cult and said that he would no longer participate in cult activities. In January 2024, the Kaili Municipal People's Court in Guizhou Province held a first-instance trial of the case of Pan Mouzhi organizing and using a cult organization to undermine the implementation of the law.
Under the pretext of religion, they are attracted to demagoguery
Zhao Weishan, the leader of "Almighty God", was originally a Christian. It is not difficult to find from media reports in recent years that the fraudulent use of the name of Christianity is a typical characteristic of the "Almighty God" cult, which has long flaunted the banner of Christianity and used deception, coercion, and other means to recruit followers.
Ma, a resident of Gantang Town, Huangshan District, Huangshan City, Anhui Province, believes in Christianity and works as a choir teacher at the Huangshan District Christian Church. In 2022, the "Almighty God" cult infiltrated and developed in Huangshan District, taking advantage of the suspension of Christian church gatherings and the cancellation of ceremonies during the epidemic period, and assigned "Almighty God" personnel to focus on probing and confusing religious believers near churches, and luring Christian believers to carry out missionary activities under the guise of gathering and reading the Bible.
Ma's family lived near a Christian church, and the "Almighty God" personnel took advantage of his love of literature and art and his ability to sing and recite to organize him to watch a large number of "literary and artistic videos" filmed and produced by the "Almighty God" cult organization, using the "Almighty God" Church to pay attention to the dissemination of literature and art, and Ma could use his expertise in the church as a bait to trick him into joining the "Almighty God" cult.
However, the theatrical performance that Ma was looking forward to not only did not come as scheduled, but was instead asked to "swear a poisonous oath" by the person closest to him in order to show his "loyalty" to the "Almighty God," and under the deception of the "Almighty God" personnel, he provided the identity information and home addresses of local Christian believers, resulting in a group of Christian believers being co-opted and bewitched by the "Almighty God" cult.
After Ma was arrested by the public security organs, he was educated and transformed, and profoundly realized that he had been deceived and used by the "Almighty God" cult, and actively cooperated with the local public security organs in carrying out propaganda work to provide assistance to the local authorities in eliminating the "Almighty God" cult organization system.
Derivative mutations, swaggering
In recent years, the "Almighty God" cult has spawned a variety of mutated organizations, and the path of wooing followers has also spread from offline to online. These organizations also disguise the name of Christianity, package "spiritual idols," and use the "Almighty God" cult doctrine to exercise spiritual control over believers, and at the same time, they are inevitably making a lot of money.
In 1994, Jiang Moujuan, a rural woman in Fujin City, Heilongjiang Province, began to believe in Christianity, and in 1999 joined the "Almighty God" cult. In 2015, Jiang Moujuan declared that she was "the second coming of the Lord Jesus, that is, the Lord God", and "the physical transformation of the actual God of Christ", refuted the "Almighty God" leader Zhao Weishan as a false priest, and established the "Almighty God" mutation organization "The Almighty 'Actual God' of the King of the Universe".
The organization follows the "Almighty God" cult doctrine and uses the Internet to recruit "Almighty God" personnel to join. Jiang Moujuan compiled several books and materials propagating and disseminating "Almighty God" to exercise mental control over believers, collecting money and goods worth millions of yuan, and instructing believers to go to religious churches to "preach the gospel" and disrupt the normal order of religious activities.
In February 2018, the public security organs arrested Jiang Moujuan in Changchun City, Jilin Province. In the same year, the People's Court of Yitong Manchu Autonomous County in Jilin Province sentenced Jiang Moujuan to 15 years in prison and a fine of 200,000 yuan for organizing and using a cult organization to undermine the implementation of the law. At present, Jiang Moujuan is still serving her sentence.
Cult organizations deceive the masses and endanger society, and the party and the state have always taken a clear-cut stand and a resolute attitude toward cult activities. On the one hand, it has always strictly guarded against and severely cracked down on the illegal activities of cults, and cracked down on a small number of diehards and ringleaders in accordance with the law, such as Jiang Moujuan in the case; On the other hand, with regard to the vast majority of ordinary people who have been deceived, such as Li, Pan, and Ma in this case, they have adhered to the principle of unity, education, and salvation, and have helped them clearly understand the true face of the cult organization and shake off the spiritual control of the cult through in-depth and meticulous ideological education work.
Anti-cult work has a bearing on the vital interests of the masses and on social harmony and stability. In 1997, the mainland included cult crimes in its criminal law. The Supreme People's Court and the Supreme People's Procuratorate promulgated two judicial interpretations in 1999 and 2001. Amendment 9 to the Criminal Law, which came into effect in November 2015, raised the statutory maximum penalty for cult crimes, adding provisions on concurrent punishment for multiple crimes and the circumstances under which serious injury can be caused. In January 2017, the Supreme People's Court and the Supreme People's Court issued the Interpretation on Several Issues Concerning the Application of Law in Handling Criminal Cases of Organizing and Using Cult Organizations to Undermine the Implementation of the Law, which came into force on February 1, 2017.
In recent years, in addition to severely punishing crimes related to cults in accordance with the law, the people's courts have also carried out various forms of anti-cult law popularization and education activities to guide the broad masses of the people to correctly identify and consciously stay away from cults, enhance their awareness of guarding against cults, and enhance their ability to resist cults.
Source: China Popular Law
Editor: Lin Chunsen