Punishments

 I tried posting this to r/ShincheonjiTV but I guess they won't approve my post so I'll ask here. When I was in Shincheonji we were punished for having "thorny" hearts. These punishments included sleep deprivation, getting yelled at, being left outside, forced to run etc. In the most extreme case I witnessed someone being physically restrained because they wanted to leave Shincheonji. The culture after passing over is full of guilt tripping and hostility in a hyper competitive environment. How do you justify these types of behaviors?

#Scj in my region held the Army of Light Training annually, particularly for new comers until the the story of the death of one female member in Korea came out (due to the physical training). It was a mandatory meeting, even when females were on their menstrual cycle or someone was sick. If one tried to make excuses, the group leader pierced that member that they’re refusing discipline from God.

It was held usually at night and once you enter the building doors or small designated hill, the leaders are not the nice leaders you met during bible study. They strictly tell you to take off your shoes and line up orderly. One experience that was so cruel was when they made us crawl on the ground while the sprinklers were turned on. They yelled at our faces when we were not moving in unison. Made us redo it as punishment. We had to respond in loud voices when the leaders barked words. I saw the leaders were like possessed and emotionless. the purpose of the training is basically to “get your mindset straight to follow orders from above” as they say. What leaders want is full obedience. No breaks, no water until the whole thing is finished. Like a real army. I don’t recall the disciples training their disciples like this in the Bible.

Many members cried because they felt so insufficient. Not only were adults told to do this, they also made the kids in their youth ministry do this physical training. Many of the leaders or older member’s kids have received trauma so the kids no longer come to scj or had left the faith. The kids also reported that the leaders locked them up in a small room while the adults were in service. It was never a resolved or addressed issue. So even member’s kids were hurt. After 2016, scj stopped this harsh physical training.

What they do now is make members do big hikes and go to the ocean beachside and hold each other to fight against the ocean tides. Many members still cry during this experience because it’s a very difficult for older members. Also few young adults were grouped and had to carry one older member up a mountain. Someone can seriously get hurt! But...scj members like this training because they really think this is Gods will. The mindset training they received is very severe that they see all orders that result in pain and suffering from scj is a blessing. What I see is that the leaders lash out on newer members because they felt pain and suffering themself from scj and think everyone deserves to share in it. I wish less pain and suffering for the members.

Edit: older members from my region will also know this experience.

 >Wow, that's something. If i was playing apologist, I would say that people are voluntarily going to this training, as "they could quit at anytime"(is what I have heard before), so the justification is really participants are voluntarily undergoing "punishment" to become "better servants of God".

Also, not sure why other comments are being downvoted :/.

>I see what you mean. For me, I see it as manipulation more than voluntarily. For instance, members are taught to think it’s a good kind of training. I’ve never seen anyone walk out during it because no one initiated the first step. There’s conformity here. (Which is the reason why it always reminded me of North Korea). Individuality/ones own personality is discouraged in SCJ—well in my region. (Only encouraged to add a bit of our “own seasoning” (charm) to testify/teach). It seems they’re all afraid,respectful towards the leaders words because they truly believe God is in scj so they must obey every single word that comes down. (Scj isnt the only korean cultish group to do these activities though). I used to think it was okay and voluntarily participated but now that I heard both sides regarding scj, I’ve come to my senses and see that i was actually manipulated. If i received this kind of physical training during pre-scj—I would’ve never participated. I would’ve just gone to a gym club or the actual army.

Regarding being able to quit anytime—I’ve never heard that come out of an scj leader but maybe other regions have expressed it? Not sure. But let’s think about it in scj members perspective: leaving scj = hell. Therefore they’d think “why would I quit at anytime? I have to endure suffering and pain because here is heaven. I promise to remain in scj forever” So it’s really not an option for someone who’s manipulated. MHL and other leaders are playing with people’s minds. That’s what I have to say after seeing everything for myself and experiencing it.

Yeah I’m not fully sure why comments get downvoted but it doesn’t affect me largely because at least members can read what I posted and decide for themselves to believe it or not. As long as there’s no disrespect in the comments, I’m good! I believe in civil discussions.

#Sorry you had to go through those things. Former member of 4 years here. The region I belonged to would also go through sudden times where the leaders (GSN or Team Leaders) felt our hearts were “hardened” or we weren’t “receiving the word properly” or “carrying out the work properly.” These moments would be met by physical training that would range from anywhere from going to a track and running until they feel the “satan” is out of is. To something out of a military training movie full of squats, pushups, etc. until you physically give out. I’ve known a few people who have literally had to go to the hospital after these physical training days out the excessive strain it puts on an “average” persons body. It really was quite strenuous. I truly believe in Korea they called it the “Army of light training” because they really train you as if you are a physical, spiritual army.

#They also bind up people's hands and make them recite Lee Man Hee quotes for hours to punish them as "experience" if they get thorny at a secluded room of their center locations

See all the comments: https://www.reddit.com/r/Shincheonji/comments/ij3yx1/how_does_shincheonji_justify_punishment_question/