Aum Shinrikyo
- Thread starter shao
- Start date
den4
先輩
- 15 Nov 2002
- 1,799
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Aum was the former name of a cult group led by Asahara Shoko that gassed the tokyo subway with sarin gas. They are under watch by the police and local citizens now because of their terrorist activities, and the cult now has changed its name to Aleph. Most of the funding they had gathered were from computer sales and other techie type of services. Their current leader appears benevolent in front of the media, but the police and local citizens don't trust them.
When I was still in Japan, I used to see their members on the streets in flashy white outfits calling out to people and asking them "Are you happy?" I believe that after the sarin attack, most people can say they are very Unhappy to know that some faction of the aleph group lives near them....they are very secretive and have their meetings in private buildings and are not transparent, so this is the reason for the paranoia surrounding their organization....
they apparently had sister groups in Russia and in other countries, but I do not know what happened to those groups....
about all I know....
When I was still in Japan, I used to see their members on the streets in flashy white outfits calling out to people and asking them "Are you happy?" I believe that after the sarin attack, most people can say they are very Unhappy to know that some faction of the aleph group lives near them....they are very secretive and have their meetings in private buildings and are not transparent, so this is the reason for the paranoia surrounding their organization....
they apparently had sister groups in Russia and in other countries, but I do not know what happened to those groups....
about all I know....
- 14 Mar 2002
- 14,988
- 7,928
- 749
News from today:
Japan Doomsday Guru May Get Death Penalty
=> Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines
Death call for Japan cult leader
=> http://edition.cnn.com/2003/WORLD/asiapcf/east/04/24/japan.cult/index.html
Japan Doomsday Guru May Get Death Penalty
=> Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines
Death call for Japan cult leader
=> http://edition.cnn.com/2003/WORLD/asiapcf/east/04/24/japan.cult/index.html
berean_315
先輩
- 19 Apr 2003
- 58
- 6
- 18
There was a program recently here in the US on the Public Broadcasting System (PBS) called "Armageddon" that looked at different groups and weapons of mass destruction. They had a segment on Aum Shinrikyou. They said Shoko Asahara wanted to start a major world war, and thought that Japan would think the sarin gas attack was done by some other country. The mechanism used to spread the sarin gas was not very effective but if it had been many, many more people would have died.
See the following links for further info:
modern architectural art for the wtc | book and other reviews news at abelard.org
Apologetics Index: Christian Apologetics and Cult Information
Gerald
See the following links for further info:
modern architectural art for the wtc | book and other reviews news at abelard.org
Apologetics Index: Christian Apologetics and Cult Information
Gerald
Aum Shinrikyo has been labeled a terrorist group by the US state department... thats a big feat for any terrorist organization. (its like a badge of honor) They seek enlightenment of the japanese people, so that they can take over Japan, then the world. they have 1500~2000 members. They carried out two attacks, one in Tokyo and one in Nagano. The Tokyo gas attack luckily did not go as planned, and casualties were limited to 12 deaths and thousands injured. Had the group properly prepare the chemicals, the thousands injured may have been thousands killed.
Executing their leader in my mind is a bad idea... revelationist terrorist groups dont act kindly when you kill their messiah...
Executing their leader in my mind is a bad idea... revelationist terrorist groups dont act kindly when you kill their messiah...
den4
先輩
- 15 Nov 2002
- 1,799
- 63
- 58
I heard someplace that Asahara had somehow corrupted the Foundation Trilogy of Asimov's to use as his bible to create a better world for his followers...anybody know anything about that? or is it merely rumor?
Since the leaders of Aleph seems to want to distance themselves from Asahara, I don't know if it would make much difference if he did get executed.....
of course, if the J-police are wise, they'd probably would be on alert for terrorist activities by the Aleph/Aum, but of late, my view on their competence (the police) is not very high, either..... :O
Since the leaders of Aleph seems to want to distance themselves from Asahara, I don't know if it would make much difference if he did get executed.....
of course, if the J-police are wise, they'd probably would be on alert for terrorist activities by the Aleph/Aum, but of late, my view on their competence (the police) is not very high, either..... :O
- 6 Mar 2003
- 6,427
- 4,352
- 337
I was on a Tokyo subway the exact hour that happened. Luckily it wasn't on my line.
Aum was a personality cult so it's not something that could really live without Asahara around to wield his influence. I don't think executing him is going to radicalize any of his former followers.
I just hope there's nobody as charismatic and evil in Aleph to take his place.
Aum was a personality cult so it's not something that could really live without Asahara around to wield his influence. I don't think executing him is going to radicalize any of his former followers.
I just hope there's nobody as charismatic and evil in Aleph to take his place.
davide-italy
後輩
- 22 Jul 2004
- 1
- 0
- 11
This issue is very interesting. I'm an Italian unversity student who lives in Perugia. I'm looking for some japanese people to talk about it and death penalty in general to prepare my thesis. Please, contact me. My user name is davide-italy. Thank you! Bye!
Mike Cash
骨も命も皆此の土地に埋めよう
- 15 Mar 2002
- 16,455
- 2,282
- 373
I don't like retyping stuff, so I'll just give some links to things I have posted on this before.
Google Groups
semi-related:
Google Groups
Google Groups
semi-related:
Google Groups
byp
先輩
- 24 Jul 2004
- 107
- 4
- 28
just dont get all things mixed up.hua he said:
Falun Gong is NOT a sect nor an extremist group, even less a stupid set up !!! By that definition (extremist group) it is meant (shortly) : dangerous for society no matter which one. This is not the case for falun gong since they are mentionned as terrorist only on one and unique list : china's !!! Falun gong is not listed or identifyied as such by any other country (in Europe, France is the most severe with sect's listing) and Falun gong is NOT on the list. Nor is it on the FBI / CIA or NSA list or in any other country of the world, for that matter.
It is only in China that falun gong is greatly disturbing the goverment by NON VIOLENT ACTIONS AND PROTESTATIONS about the government policies, such as Tibet killings, invasion and slaughter, displacement of population (3 rivers dam for example), poverty in under-favorised country-side area, AIDS spreading through carelessness of the government in blood transfusion policy and so on. Falun gong is based on a buddhist way of seeing life and I would remind you that buddhist religion is the less violent, the most peace-loving mass religion that exist in the world.
Now if you mention that kind of action as being terrorist action, then either you are a well paid member of the chinese govt. or some kind of a dictator who has absolutely no idea of what democracy is all about... You have never heard of any falun gong member killing, molesting or even threatening another human being, nor even a dog or a cat.
So, please do not associate them with "many Muslims"* and / or the Asum Shinriko. You are talking about something you obviously don't know and in this case I would prefer that you abstain yourself. You are not informed about the real things.
Please be more careful about what you say concerning over 150 milions people (that is approximatively the amount of "possible known" fallung gong "members" but it's probably double or more that amount since a large part dare not come into the open). Anybody can make mistake but in such cases as false accusations, one should be more careful.
Another thing : China is today widely opening its doors to the world and will host the 2008 olympic games and to this last object, many countries such as the European community has asked the chinese govt to get things right with the falun gong organisation. And that is not only a request, but almost an order.
I am not a member of falun gong, I am not chinese, but my profession, my many long experiences in the Asian continent and my every day studies and work authorizes me, with very strong feelings, to say what I have mentionned here and above.
Thank you for taking the time to read me.
P:S. 1
* "many Muslims", please be careful not to get mixed up here again. I would have prefered if you said "a few muslims" since muslims extremists will only represent the most tiniest fraction of the numerous practising Muslims.
P.S. 2
I'm NOt Muslim either !!!
Hi!
I have new info about Shoko Asahara, but can not add link here
I try copy it to here.
Shoko Asahara’s trial
Osamu WATANABE
Will You Lead a Better Life If You Put Asahara to Death?
Yoshihiro YASUDA
The Right to Live
First-hand information in the books by notable Japanese lawyers Osamu Watanabe and Yoshihiro Yasuda
Surely, you have heard about Shoko Asahara and AUM Shinrikyo. These names are directly associated with the sarin gassing incident in the Tokyo subway. Quite a number of people have a definite opinion on the subject, ﾂ‘of course, Shoko Asahara and his religious community deserve a severe punishment. AUM’s founder must be put to death for the crimes he has committed’. The mass media had been trying very hard to suggest that Shoko Asahara was guilty even before the beginning of the trial. They created the image of Shoko Asahara known to the public and they helped to mould public opinion. Did you ever wonder that this made-up image might be wrong and the results of the trial predetermined?
We would like to offer to your attention the books by two notable Japanese lawyers Yoshihiro Yasuda, chief attorney of Mr. Asahara, who is believed to be the country’s leading crusader against the death penalty, and Osamu Watanabe. Both lawyers were not chosen by Mr. Asahara but appointed by the state. They have never been interested in religion. They are just good professionals who always try to fulfil their professional duty in the best possible way and honest men who were unable to keep silent about outrageous violations of law and justice during Mr. Asahara’s trial. This is why each of them independently regarded it as his duty to write a book to make the truth known to everybody. Their aim was not only to save Shoko Asahara’s life but to serve the people of their country fighting for lawful and fair trials.
You may change your opinion moulded by the media about the role Mr. Asahara played in the 1995 Sarin gas attack on the Tokyo subway, etc. after reading the books. You may also be greatly surprised to learn from them the following facts:
The result of the trial was predetermined even before any investigation was started
The investigation authorities decided to execute Mr. Asahara even before they arrested him
Not a single convincing evidence was presented in Court as proof of Mr. Asahara’s guilt. All accusations were based on the deliberate distortion of AUM’s doctrine and the evidence of some disciples [which cannot be considered reliable].
Investigation officials forged exhibits and made witnesses tell lies. The objective expertise of the ﾂ‘poisonous substance’ found at the incident locations was not carried out.
The authorities were doing their best to put lawyers out of the way to be able to execute the defendant. To achieve their goals in the middle of the investigation process they arrested Yoshihiro Yasuda, chief attorney of Shoko Asahara, who was acquitted on December 24, 2003.
We begin with the two chapters from the book by Osamu Watanabe ﾂ‘Will You Lead a Better Life If You Put Asahara to Death?’
One Response to ﾂ“Shoko Asahara’s trialﾂ”
Mary Kennedy Says:
March 23rd, 2007 at 11:56 pm
Insight into the problems of terrorism today.
September 1999. Explosions of apartment houses in Moscow killed almost 300 hundred people. This case will never be solved so the real people, who stay behind the September 11th 2002 terrorist attack in the US will never be revealed. Both of those terrorist acts have the same nature not only because in both cases were exploded buildings with civilians, but most of all because in both cases wars with the Chechnya or Iraq, places of proposed terrorists, became unavoidable. Undoubtedly there are many people who understand that such devastating cases created the perfect platform for some political actions which usually based on the economical interests. The official investigations in both cases loose their credibility with time, when contradictory facts, speculation and evidences of alternative versions are refused to be examined by authorities. But what is obvious, that in both of those cases of terrorism there is a lack of ideological content.
The Gas attack in Tokyo underground in 1995 had no ideological content either, which leaves it open for any interpretation. As one analytic said: ﾂ“In Japan there never were any precedents of anonymous unmotivated massacre. The Gas attack in Tokyo was an attempt of anonymous mass senseless murder of civilian people (passengers of the underground) with the using genocidal weapon (fighting gas Sarin). For the Japanese this way of action is unthinkable! Definitely the gas attacks in Tokyo were planned by people whose brains are in an absolutely different political ﾂ“cultureﾂ”. In which is the question?ﾂ”
My attitude to this story from the beginning was that it must be clear for any bit of a logical person that such an attempt of Aum Shinruko to demonstrate power is useless and pointless. I would sooner think of expansion of the areas of political influences. I think we had enough lessons by now to be able to learn a few rules:
Terrorist attacks, which do not have a clear ideological content, a responsible organizer and are surrounded by mystery and gossips, are appearing when politicians become limited in their influence in some area or on some people.
To understand a purpose of terrorist attack, find the real political target. Who will be affected most of all by that attack?
Keep up with the Mass Media. Often repeated information in news is what was meant to be achieved.
Creation of public opinion by Mass Media and politician’s speeches is the necessary step in realisation of initial ideas.
However a few voices behind the chorus of shocking headlines can’t change the fully formed public attitude to this crime. Osamu Watanabe is the man of noble personality, who organized the defence of Shoko Asahara and was also the leader of the movement against the death penalty. In his book ﾂ“Will You Lead a Better Life If You Put Asahara to Death?ﾂ” he promulgated the sad facts for a civilized society:
ﾂ“The outcome of the court has been predetermined prior to the beginning of court.ﾂ”
Spanish philosopher-moralist Balthazar Garcia in the 17th century said: ﾂ“Do not yield to the first impression. Do not fill your sense with the first impression, or your mind – with the first communication; this is the sign of the shallow depth. There are people with the quality of that kind of crockery which absorbs the smell of the first time filled in liquid - whichever it was fragrant or stinking. The bad thing is if others will learn about it, - that is what the treachery needs: ill-intentioned people will hurry to colour your trusting nature in their own colours. Let there always be a space for review of the opinion. Being at the mercy of the first impression is one step to a blind passion.ﾂ”
Another problem about us, ordinary people, is that we have a short memory. Not that many people today remember about the announced goal of the Americans invasion in Iraq. No nuclear weapon was found, but thousands (not 12) of civilians were killed. We have short memories, we are able to forgive and forget the mistakes and sins of the past. But forgiveness and forgetting is probably the biggest mistake of our society today. This encourages the repetition of similar scenarios. The way of ruling the world using terrorism has become popular!
Asahara and his followers, along with the innocent civilians, who were killed or injured by Sarin gas, are victims in this story. The reputations of some Russian politicians were also affected.
In Ireland, as in most of European counties, Capital Punishment is revoked. Our Minister for Foreign Affairs, Dermot Ahern, giving his opinion on the Iraqi Court desidion, described Saddam Hussein as a tyrant and murderer but said only God can take life. The spiritual leader of East the Dalai Lama said about that: ﾂ‘I am against hanging. You cannot achieve anything by violent means. Everyone needs peace.’ In 2004 the Top Court in Japan sentenced to death Aum Shinrikyo’s founder, Shoko Asahara. March of this year is the time when Asahara must be executed.
2000 years ago Pilate asked the crowds, ﾂ“What do you want me to do with Him?ﾂ” and they replied, ﾂ“Crucify Him!ﾂ” I believe in the 21st century humanity must be able to overcame the ignorance of crowds, which combined with the lack of morals today can bring us to very frustrating results. My letter is the appeal to Japanese people: ﾂ“Virtue is wisdomﾂ” - Socrates said. I appeal to everybody in your country and in the whole world – be virtues, be wise.
M.Kennedy
I have new info about Shoko Asahara, but can not add link here
I try copy it to here.
Shoko Asahara’s trial
Osamu WATANABE
Will You Lead a Better Life If You Put Asahara to Death?
Yoshihiro YASUDA
The Right to Live
First-hand information in the books by notable Japanese lawyers Osamu Watanabe and Yoshihiro Yasuda
Surely, you have heard about Shoko Asahara and AUM Shinrikyo. These names are directly associated with the sarin gassing incident in the Tokyo subway. Quite a number of people have a definite opinion on the subject, ﾂ‘of course, Shoko Asahara and his religious community deserve a severe punishment. AUM’s founder must be put to death for the crimes he has committed’. The mass media had been trying very hard to suggest that Shoko Asahara was guilty even before the beginning of the trial. They created the image of Shoko Asahara known to the public and they helped to mould public opinion. Did you ever wonder that this made-up image might be wrong and the results of the trial predetermined?
We would like to offer to your attention the books by two notable Japanese lawyers Yoshihiro Yasuda, chief attorney of Mr. Asahara, who is believed to be the country’s leading crusader against the death penalty, and Osamu Watanabe. Both lawyers were not chosen by Mr. Asahara but appointed by the state. They have never been interested in religion. They are just good professionals who always try to fulfil their professional duty in the best possible way and honest men who were unable to keep silent about outrageous violations of law and justice during Mr. Asahara’s trial. This is why each of them independently regarded it as his duty to write a book to make the truth known to everybody. Their aim was not only to save Shoko Asahara’s life but to serve the people of their country fighting for lawful and fair trials.
You may change your opinion moulded by the media about the role Mr. Asahara played in the 1995 Sarin gas attack on the Tokyo subway, etc. after reading the books. You may also be greatly surprised to learn from them the following facts:
The result of the trial was predetermined even before any investigation was started
The investigation authorities decided to execute Mr. Asahara even before they arrested him
Not a single convincing evidence was presented in Court as proof of Mr. Asahara’s guilt. All accusations were based on the deliberate distortion of AUM’s doctrine and the evidence of some disciples [which cannot be considered reliable].
Investigation officials forged exhibits and made witnesses tell lies. The objective expertise of the ﾂ‘poisonous substance’ found at the incident locations was not carried out.
The authorities were doing their best to put lawyers out of the way to be able to execute the defendant. To achieve their goals in the middle of the investigation process they arrested Yoshihiro Yasuda, chief attorney of Shoko Asahara, who was acquitted on December 24, 2003.
We begin with the two chapters from the book by Osamu Watanabe ﾂ‘Will You Lead a Better Life If You Put Asahara to Death?’
One Response to ﾂ“Shoko Asahara’s trialﾂ”
Mary Kennedy Says:
March 23rd, 2007 at 11:56 pm
Insight into the problems of terrorism today.
September 1999. Explosions of apartment houses in Moscow killed almost 300 hundred people. This case will never be solved so the real people, who stay behind the September 11th 2002 terrorist attack in the US will never be revealed. Both of those terrorist acts have the same nature not only because in both cases were exploded buildings with civilians, but most of all because in both cases wars with the Chechnya or Iraq, places of proposed terrorists, became unavoidable. Undoubtedly there are many people who understand that such devastating cases created the perfect platform for some political actions which usually based on the economical interests. The official investigations in both cases loose their credibility with time, when contradictory facts, speculation and evidences of alternative versions are refused to be examined by authorities. But what is obvious, that in both of those cases of terrorism there is a lack of ideological content.
The Gas attack in Tokyo underground in 1995 had no ideological content either, which leaves it open for any interpretation. As one analytic said: ﾂ“In Japan there never were any precedents of anonymous unmotivated massacre. The Gas attack in Tokyo was an attempt of anonymous mass senseless murder of civilian people (passengers of the underground) with the using genocidal weapon (fighting gas Sarin). For the Japanese this way of action is unthinkable! Definitely the gas attacks in Tokyo were planned by people whose brains are in an absolutely different political ﾂ“cultureﾂ”. In which is the question?ﾂ”
My attitude to this story from the beginning was that it must be clear for any bit of a logical person that such an attempt of Aum Shinruko to demonstrate power is useless and pointless. I would sooner think of expansion of the areas of political influences. I think we had enough lessons by now to be able to learn a few rules:
Terrorist attacks, which do not have a clear ideological content, a responsible organizer and are surrounded by mystery and gossips, are appearing when politicians become limited in their influence in some area or on some people.
To understand a purpose of terrorist attack, find the real political target. Who will be affected most of all by that attack?
Keep up with the Mass Media. Often repeated information in news is what was meant to be achieved.
Creation of public opinion by Mass Media and politician’s speeches is the necessary step in realisation of initial ideas.
However a few voices behind the chorus of shocking headlines can’t change the fully formed public attitude to this crime. Osamu Watanabe is the man of noble personality, who organized the defence of Shoko Asahara and was also the leader of the movement against the death penalty. In his book ﾂ“Will You Lead a Better Life If You Put Asahara to Death?ﾂ” he promulgated the sad facts for a civilized society:
ﾂ“The outcome of the court has been predetermined prior to the beginning of court.ﾂ”
Spanish philosopher-moralist Balthazar Garcia in the 17th century said: ﾂ“Do not yield to the first impression. Do not fill your sense with the first impression, or your mind – with the first communication; this is the sign of the shallow depth. There are people with the quality of that kind of crockery which absorbs the smell of the first time filled in liquid - whichever it was fragrant or stinking. The bad thing is if others will learn about it, - that is what the treachery needs: ill-intentioned people will hurry to colour your trusting nature in their own colours. Let there always be a space for review of the opinion. Being at the mercy of the first impression is one step to a blind passion.ﾂ”
Another problem about us, ordinary people, is that we have a short memory. Not that many people today remember about the announced goal of the Americans invasion in Iraq. No nuclear weapon was found, but thousands (not 12) of civilians were killed. We have short memories, we are able to forgive and forget the mistakes and sins of the past. But forgiveness and forgetting is probably the biggest mistake of our society today. This encourages the repetition of similar scenarios. The way of ruling the world using terrorism has become popular!
Asahara and his followers, along with the innocent civilians, who were killed or injured by Sarin gas, are victims in this story. The reputations of some Russian politicians were also affected.
In Ireland, as in most of European counties, Capital Punishment is revoked. Our Minister for Foreign Affairs, Dermot Ahern, giving his opinion on the Iraqi Court desidion, described Saddam Hussein as a tyrant and murderer but said only God can take life. The spiritual leader of East the Dalai Lama said about that: ﾂ‘I am against hanging. You cannot achieve anything by violent means. Everyone needs peace.’ In 2004 the Top Court in Japan sentenced to death Aum Shinrikyo’s founder, Shoko Asahara. March of this year is the time when Asahara must be executed.
2000 years ago Pilate asked the crowds, ﾂ“What do you want me to do with Him?ﾂ” and they replied, ﾂ“Crucify Him!ﾂ” I believe in the 21st century humanity must be able to overcame the ignorance of crowds, which combined with the lack of morals today can bring us to very frustrating results. My letter is the appeal to Japanese people: ﾂ“Virtue is wisdomﾂ” - Socrates said. I appeal to everybody in your country and in the whole world – be virtues, be wise.
M.Kennedy
