Sydney, Australia - Ex SCJ Member
https://www.reddit.com/r/Shincheonji/comments/fc76vs/ex_scj_member_from_sydney_australia/
Region: Sydney, Australia
This is a pretty long story so grab a nice hot cuppa and enjoy reading.I was recuited by one of the SCJ Bible Teachers (I'll call her Karen) outside UTS in 2018. Karen and another young member stopped me in my tracks and introduced themselves as a ''Philosophical Discussion Group''. Being a political science student I was very keen to keep listening. Karen asked me random questions about myself (studies, hobbies etc.) then finally asked me what my religion was. I'm not a devout person so I said I was raised Christian but no longer attend Church, she asked why and that part really made me sceptical of what I was getting myself into. I should've trusted my gut and walked away but I ended up giving her my number.
A few weeks had passed and Karen contacted me asking about my work schedule and if I'm available for a coffee the next week. I told her my work situation, said yes to the meetup and a few days later we met up for coffee. To my surprise she brought along another Teacher and that's when they introduced themselves as the Bible Study Group. It wasn't a philosophical discussion group!!! They started reciting different Bible verses to me and talking about keeping covenant in our Hearts etc. They told me about Bible Study discussion groups that ran for 2 nights a week but as I work at night I couldn't attend these classes. I asked if this Group had a social media platform so I could connect with them and they said no they didn't run any social media groups. That should've set off alarm bells but I didn't think much of it at the time.
Because I work at night I couldn't go to the classes so Karen volunteered to teach me the Bible 1-on-1 once or twice a week whenever I was available. I was slightly enjoying these small study sessions. As my knowledge of the Bible is pretty weak I found it rather interesting. These sessions continued for about 2-3 months. I found another part time job in addition to my current job so eventually I started working 2x jobs which clashed with some of the Bible sessions. Eventually I told Karen that I couldn't continue the 1-on-1 classes that I can't commit given my scheduling. Karen was understanding but she still wanted to continue with the Bible classes with me. We continued to meet up whenever I was available and she started asking me to text her reflections of the lessons we had.
Eventually Karen paired me up with another young student - Andrew (not his real name) as a means of fellowship. We were both her Bible students and she thought it'd be nice if we met and I really liked him. She told us about a new Bible Class every Tuesday and Thursday with separate classes at 10:30am and 6:30pm. I was available both days so Andrew and I started attending these classes. The Head teacher (HT) seemed really knowledgeable about the Bible and had a Pastor like figure. These classes ran 2x a week for 10 weeks. Attendance was unofficially mandatory, you'd be chased down and questioned if you happened to miss a class and if you couldn't make a class you'd have to tell a Teacher the reason why you couldn't attend. I felt these Bible classes started to interfere with my personal life after a while.
As the end of the 10 week course drew nearer the HT introduced a new ''Advanced Course'' that would run for 8 months with classes 3x a week instead of 2x. If you had questions about the Bible or what you learnt the Teachers would tell you that you have to keep attending the classes to find out eventually. They gave us application forms to fill out with our personal details like address, nationality etc. Once again I'm kicking myself as to why I didn't question their methods here. Asking for our address? Really? I went along with it as everyone else was and reluctantly handed my application form back in. Karen started getting on my nerves too.
I had a big overseas trip to visit extended Family in North America that was coming up that I'd been planning for months. I'd be gone for about 7 weeks. I told Karen about this holiday long before the Preliminary classes had even started while we were still doing 1-on-1 classes. She tried desperately to try and convince me to abandon my holiday plans and stay for the Advanced Course. She questioned me heavily about the trip. From asking which Airline I was flying, to the cost of the ticket, to whether the ticket was refundable to the exact dates I was travelling. She'd ask ''What if Jesus comes while you are on the trip?''. She asked if I can shorten the trip to 2 weeks or less. SHE EVEN ASKED IF I COULD ASK MY RELATIVES (WHO ARE SCATTERED THROUGHOUT NORTH AMERICA BTW) IF THEY COULD ALL FLY TO ONE CITY TO MEETUP!!!! I mean wtf is wrong with this Woman!!?? They're from different branches of my Family so some don't even know each other ffs but that's not the point here. The fact that Karen tried so desperately to try and keep me from going and keeping my holiday short really tested my patience for her. My Friend Andrew also had an emergency overseas trip as his Grandfather was gravely ill in the Philippines. He was a lot more interested in the Bible Study than I was and he was confused whether he should stay or go. Of course Karen desperately tried to convince him to stay and he eventually gave in to the pressure. When he announced he'd be staying she actually cheered and jumped up and down!!! What kind of Human cheers over someone choosing to stay for a Bible study over their sick Grandfather?? I spoke with the HT about the trip and he was a lot more understanding than Karen. He said a solution would be to have them send me video of the Bible classes while I was away and I was pretty happy with that.
So the new Advanced course started with classes every Tues, Thurs and Saturday. Once again attendance was seen as mandatory. There was a much bigger attendance than the Preliminary classes (About 100+ students) and the HT started teaching us the real meanings of the Parables, about the Covenant and discerning. We'd then split into smaller groups after the main class to discuss with our Homeroom Teachers. From the start of these classes I felt uncomfortable with the thought of attending 3x a week and having Teachers hound me for missing a class. We were told not to talk about these classes to our Family or Friends as they can compromise our teachings and try and stop us from attending. I was starting to get sceptical about Andrew and his loyalty to our Friendship. Both he and Karen would text me around the same time. When I'd text him about something minutes later Karen would text me as if they were both talking about me without my knowledge. Maybe that was just me being paranoid but I find that really strange.
This here was the final straw that made me adamant that I wanted to leave the group. The HT and the other Bible Teachers had sent out 3 pairs of students (One pair being myself and Andrew) to go out to Churches and listen into the sermons whether they matched with what we learnt. Andrew and I attended a local Church and recorded on our phones the sermon, then asked questions about some of the parables and their meaning to the Pastor. We were then required to compose a slideshow and presentation to the entire class of our findings and why the Pastor was wrong in his sermon. To decipher and discern whether the Pastor was preaching the true meaning of the Bible. This made me extremely uncomfortable being someone who's faith was never really that strong and now I'm going out to judge Pastors. The Classes taught us to ''discern'' but it was all really just judging. We were taught that our teachings were the real teachings and many of the mainstream churches out there were wrong.
I ultimately decided I was going to leave the Bible Classes. I trusted Andrew enough to tell him I was leaving. I texted him saying I needed to tell him something. Minutes later I got bombarded with texts from Karen asking me if everything was ok and if I was alright. I thought I could trust Andrew but he was just one of them. He was an informant. As I said before it was sus that he and Karen would text me around the same time and this was no different. Karen wanted to meet with me and talk the next day so we met up and she mentioned it was rude of me to suddenly wanting to up and leave. I wanted to rebut that it was rude of her to try and convince me to abandon my plans to go overseas but I couldn't say it. She has a way of guilt tripping you. So stupid me decided to stay but in my mind I was trying to figure out a way out. My Holiday was that ticket. A week before I left I blocked all of the numbers associated with the Bible Study. I know it seems rude of me to not sit down and explain why I blocked their numbers but I don't want anyone else trying to convince me to stay or guilt tripping me. However I forgot the work factor. Karen knew where I worked and showed up with another teacher a few days before my departure date. She acted all shocked and surprised to see me but I knew she was bluffing. I knew why she was at my store and thought it was quite pathetic that she needed to pretend that she was in my store for something else and with another teacher too. I told them I don't plan on returning to the Bible Classes and Karen wanted to meet up again. I agreed to meet her but I never showed to the meeting place with her number still blocked. I stood her up. I was just so angry that I felt she didn't deserve my time. Is it weird that I don't feel bad for that? It was rude to not show up but I was just angry.
I've come back from my Holiday and I've been back in Sydney for 2 weeks now and no once has hassled me and I'm a lot happier now that I can get back to my normal life without the constant restrictions that cult wrapped me in. I recently read about the Coronavirus case in South Korea with the cult church and did my own research and found out that my Bible Classes are an overseas branch of the SCJ Church cult. If anyone else is reading this BE VERY CAREFUL of the people you surround yourself with and always stick to your instincts. If you don't feel comfortable doing something do not do it to please others out of fear. Don't make the same mistake I made.
Comments
Post a Comment