Value gaps between parents and children are not only found in religious homes, like anti-religious activists seem to claim
Tokyo, 8th October 2024 – Published as the 31st article in a series in the Japanese newspaper Sekai Nippo. Republished with permission. Translated from Japanese. Original article
Current Second-Generation Believer Says, “The Religious Organization Suffers from ‘Big Company Disease’.”
by the Religious Freedom Investigative Team of the editorial department of Sekai Nippo
Prepared by Knut Holdhus
In media reports criticizing the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification (FFWPU, formerly known as the Unification Church), many testimonies from second-generation members who have left point out issues such as “poverty due to large donations” and “inhumane restrictions imposed by the doctrines”. They claim that “the dissolution of the religious organization” is the only solution. How do second-generation believers view such steps?
Yūji Suemori (pseudonym), a company employee in his 30s living in the Chūgoku region, reflects on his experience. Both his parents are believers, but he has rarely clashed with them over their faith. He says, “When people hear about families involved in new religious movements, they might imagine something strange, but even ordinary Japanese people are often involved in religion, such as visiting shrines or temples. The Family Federation felt no different from that.”
Suemori also mentions that he rarely experienced extreme restrictions from his parents. Therefore, when he sees criticism of second-generation believers on social media or in the media, he is bewildered, saying, “It’s so different from my own family that it seems more like a problem of individual families rather than the responsibility of the organization.”
He also notes, “For parents, it’s not just about religion; ideologically, they don’t want their children to be fundamentally different from themselves.” For that reason, he finds it “nonsensical” to limit discussions about parent-child value differences to the Family Federation alone.
On the other hand, Suemori currently keeps his distance from the religious organization and does not participate in its events or activities. One reason he cites is that he feels the organization suffers from “big company disease”. This term generally refers to the drawbacks of a hierarchical organization, such as slow decision-making, prioritizing superiors over customers, low employee motivation, and an inability to adapt to changes in the economic environment.
In the past, Yūji Suemori tried to independently organize an event within the organization, but the head of his local church abruptly intervened, and it didn’t go well. He laments, “There is a tendency for those in charge to give one-sided instructions from a superior position. Even if you want to help the church through volunteer work, they tend to nitpick or escalate their demands, leading to situations where people ‘drop out’. I’ve seen a few others besides myself go through this.”
He also expressed concern, saying, “In corporate terms, it’s like the Family Federation succeeded through its early, relentless efforts but is now stuck repeating the same methods. Times have changed, and unless they flatten the hierarchy and treat each believer with care, the organization won’t survive.”
Nozomu Tsukahara (pseudonym), a man in his 20s living in Hyogo Prefecture, recalls how he drifted away from the Unification Church in middle school after attending a training camp of the religious organization. He rebelled against the intense, fervent atmosphere of the training, and his desire to go to church waned. On top of that, he felt that the leader at his local place of worship was a “reckless type”. As a teenager, Tsukahara increasingly felt, “I don’t want to go to church.”
However, he does not hide his anger at the one-sided criticism of the organization in the media and online. He asserts, “It’s true that there were some restrictions on my life, but I wasn’t in an environment so isolated from the outside world that I could only think about the Family Federation. I was never forced to practice my faith in any extreme way, nor was I ever coerced into religious practices. I have never felt that my constitutional freedoms were violated by the church. Rather, it seems that the media is leading people to despise even related organizations that have no direct connection to the doctrine. And that might actually infringe on religious freedom.”
He also expresses concern that the media’s narrative “is built on the assumption that ‘second-generation believers are victims,’ and instead of fostering sympathy, it exacerbates feelings of disgust and prejudice.”
On the other hand, Tsukahara says, “Many believers, regardless of age, have a strong sense of right and wrong. However, it’s also true that they sometimes place too much emphasis on their religious perspective, neglecting to harmonize with society and those around them. That’s something that needs to be improved.”
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