Iwanami Shinsho Seiji to Syukyo (Politics and Religion - Unification Church and the Crisis in the Public Sphere)

This book was released as an “emergency publication” in January 2023 following the assassination of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in July 2022. Shortly after the incident, the Unification Church became the center of public attention since the suspect explained his motive for committing such a shocking crime.
 
To meet the urgent demand for information about the Unification Church and its political activities, five researchers collaborated to write this book. However, only the first two of the five main chapters of this book deal with the Unification Church. Chapter 3 discusses Soka Gakkai and the LDP-Komeito coalition government. Chapters 4 and 5 cover the politics and religion of the two states with the official separation of church and state, France and the United States. This book aims to situate the current problems within a broader, long-term, historical, and international context, not as an isolated matter of one religious organization but as a matter of the place of religion within the public sphere.
 
For example, when considering the political activities of the Unification Church, it is necessary to consider the overall history of political involvement of religious organizations in modern Japan. Furthermore, the introductory and concluding chapters focus on other important topics in religion and Japanese politics, such as the relationship between the state and Shinto since the Meiji period, as well as the current consolidation and political activities of religious groups based on right-wing ideals.
 
In addition, as calls for monitoring and regulating cults grow stronger, the examples of other countries will be helpful. France enacted a law in 2001 to regulate dangerous religious groups, but this law is applied cautiously to avoid infringing on freedom. On the other hand, the U.S. legal cult measures are weak; the majority of U.S. citizens are religious, religious freedom is highly valued, and religion is widely recognized as affecting politics. Although the current situation in the U.S. is full of divisions and problems, the lively and open debate on religion and politics seems to be something we can learn from.
 
The media coverage of the Unification Church became sparse one year after the tragic incident. One might even get the impression that the issue has disappeared. However, it is not the case; the Unification Church problem is far from settled. The interaction between religion and politics will not end soon because religious people’s religious values enter the political realm through the democratic process. Other problems also remain, such as the issue of “religion second generation,” who suffer from the involvement with religious organizations their parents forced them to join.
 
As one of the authors, I hope this book contributes to the public debate about religion and politics, keeping it alive and active for a long time.
 

(Written by SATO Seiko, Research Associate, Graduate School of Humanities and Sociology / 2023)