The murderous Chinese cult that thinks Jesus has returned — as a Chinese woman

[cbayer]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2014/10/13/the-murderous-chinese-cult-that-thinks-jesus-has-returned-and-shes-chinese/?tid=hp_mm

By Terrence McCoy October 13 at 5:08 AM

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-apps/imrs.php?src=
Defendants stand with police escorts during their trial for the murder of a woman at a McDonald’s restaurant, in Yantai City, Shandong province October 11, 2014 in this still image taken from video. (Reuters)

It was at the back of the restaurant – beyond the fry stand, the grease-slicked counter, the droves of gawking patrons — where the murder happened. The restaurant was a McDonald’s. It was a Wednesday evening. The murderers, who bludgeoned the woman to death with chairs and a mop, belonged to a cult described as China’s “most radical.” Called the Church of the Almighty God, it claims to have a million followers, aggressively promotes Doomsday scenarios, wants to destroy the Chinese Communist Party and believes that Jesus Christ has returned — as a Chinese woman.

But it was the McDonald’s murder that has consumed a Chinese court’s attention over the last two months. Days ago, two church members were convicted and sentenced to death for a killing that, even by the standards of the Church of the Almighty God, was peculiar and brutal.

According to prosecutors, five members tried to recruit a woman patronizing the McDonald’s in question, asked for her phone number and beat her to death when she refused. Defendant Zhang Lidong, who arrived that night in luxury Porsche Cayenne car, never offered much explanation.

“You could just tell she was not a good person,” he said in a state television interview, describing the 35-year-old mother. “She was a demon, the evil spirit. We had to beat her to death.”

more at link

[trotsky]

1. “You could just tell she was not a good person”

I guess they had Other Ways of Knowing.

[Warren Stupidity]

3. why are you mocking this person's sincerely held beliefs?

[edgineered]

2. The expediency of the trial is impressive.

To think we worry about allah and isis, and not this group of one million radicals.

I like the fact that they think jesus is a woman; once when the existence of a god crossed my mind i dismissed her.

[cbayer]

8. They claim a million members but I can't find anything that backs that up at all.

I suspect they are much smaller. In fact, maybe this groups it the entire thing!

[edgineered]

9. All groups have those

who speak like fools. That group (of the OP) seems to believe that a guy driving an expensive car must know how many supporters there are. Around here one cannot show off a car, but can speak like a fool whose thinking is a high post count is somehow authoritative.

All in all the entertainment value is good; far be it from me to remove clowns from the circus!

[ZombieHorde]

4. If they really do have a million members,

they are probably no longer a cult. I don't know the membership cut off.

[Warren Stupidity]

5. The membership cutoff depends on how socially unacceptable they are,

factored by how long they have been around, plus just how large a temple they have managed to construct, and the magnificence of their funny hats. It is a very complicated formula that basically boils down to: if they really fuck up badly they are a cult, except when a cathedral in rome is present.

[ZombieHorde]

7. Ha! That is probably true for public perception,

but I was thinking about sociology. I like sociological views of cults more than public views.

[muriel_volestrangler]

6. "she reportedly suffered some sort of mental breakdown after failing a national exam" - uh-oh

That sounds very familiar:

1827 Hong attempts Canton civil service exam for the first time at age 14
1833 Hong recieves Christian tract from Liang Afa while at Canton taking a civil service exam
1836 Hong fails exams third time, has nervous breakdown in a delerium for 40 days, then seems to return to normal
1843 Hong rereads the Christian tracts Liang Afa gave him in 1833, becomes convinced they explain his visions of 1836 and he has a divine mission, fails exam again and becomes angry at the whole system, determines not to study for exams any more

http://taipingrebellion.com/timeline.htm

...
Taiping Rebellion (1850-64) 20,000,000 killed

(he decided he was Jesus' younger brother)