"It is a blessing that you follow me, that I am walking in the ways of God, and that together we will rule the world with Christ as King for judgment and eternal." An old man in his eighties raised his fist and shouted, and the crowd cheered.
This is not a drama, but a slogan shouted by the leader of a cult called "Blood, Water and Spirit". He proclaimed himself an apostle of God and promised believers to enter the kingdom of heaven and reign forever.
The China Anti-Cult Association clearly pointed out in a condemnation statement that there are currently 11 active cults in China, and the "blood, water and spirit" is one of them. Recently, the organization is still active.
▲ At the "Blood, Water and Spirit" summer special meeting, Zuo Kun was surrounded by believers left and right. Screenshot of the "Blood, Water and Spirit" activity video
The Beijing News reporter's investigation found that the blood, water and spirit who claimed to have 300,000 believers in the territory used the name of Christianity to lure the public into membership, secretly developed young people to join, and "used business to cultivate education" to squeeze believers without paying for poverty and dedication. Zuo Kun, the sect leader living abroad, accepted the offerings like an emperor, gave orders, and brainwashed the believers remotely.
In order to avoid the blow, the "blood, water and spirit" will also use the ID card of ordinary believers to apply for a bank card. The accumulated funds are deposited into a designated account, and then the domestic bank card is taken abroad through the believers, and the headquarters directly withdraws them in Taiwan.
After police investigation, these cards became a channel for believers to "transfuse blood" to the leader Zuo Kun.
Church hidden community gatherings are sentry by special personnel
Family gatherings preach, someone at the door puts up a sentry, and the organizers let everyone worship him as a "god"
Zhang Hui felt that he had been deceived into the blood, water and spirit.
Before joining this creepy-sounding "church," he was a devout Christian who read the Bible and went to church every Sunday to worship as part of his life.
Five or six years ago, he came from his hometown to work in a city in the north. At that time, it took two buses from the residence to reach the nearest church.
Soon after, a neighbor told him that there was a house church nearby, housed in the "elder's" house. Every Sunday, the living room, which is about twenty square meters large and with various posters, is filled with small mazas, and more than a dozen believers gather here to pray.
The first two times, Zhang Hui felt that it was no different from ordinary churches, where everyone read the Bible and ate bread and drank cups.
The change occurred in the third week. The "elder" pointed to a portrait of an old man on the wall and told him that God had an apostle named Zuo Kun, and everyone called him "Father", he was God's spokesman, and God's words were conveyed to believers through him.
Zhang Hui knew the apostles in the biblical stories, but he had never heard that the apostle was a real person. The other side's statement made him suspicious, and the elder explained that the Three-Self Church you had been exposed to earlier was a heretic, a government-controlled Antichrist.
After the elders finished speaking, several other believers also took turns to teach him, and their organization was called the "Jesus Christ Blood, Water, and Spirit Complete Gospel Mission", also known as "The Holy Spirit Rebuilding the Church".
After an intensive preaching, Zhang Hui's doubts were temporarily dispelled.
However, after the event, a few more things aroused his suspicions. At each meeting, the elders would send people to the intersection of the community to put up a sentry, and when believers from other areas came to join hands, more people would be sent to let the wind blow.
Zhang Hui recalled to reporters that in the blood, water and spirit, God and Jesus are mentioned less and less, and on the wall of the meeting house, in addition to Zuo Kun's portrait and wall calendar, it is the "banner of truth" printed with the patterns of the earth, galloping horses and eagles. In the consciousness of believers, Zuo Kun's "father" is the "god" that everyone really worships and depends on.
According to public information, Zuo Kun was born in Jiangxi in October 1930 and specialized in preaching in the "New Testament Church" in Taiwan for more than 20 years. In 1988, Zuo Kun led the Stone Tablet Church under the New Testament Church to split up and founded the Blood, Water and Spirit. At the beginning of the founding of the Blood, Water, and Spirit, Taiwan decided that it had cult tendencies and cracked down on them. In order to escape the crackdown, Zuo Kun immigrated to the United States from Taiwan.
From the very beginning, Zuo Kun has been willing to show his superpowers to believers, such as the story of the five-thousand-year-old dragon and ancient snake that bound believers with his bare hands. In fact, it is his self-proclaimed snake-possessed believers, and no one has really seen it.
At the same time, Zuo Kun often mentioned the end of the world to his followers, vigorously exaggerated the horror of natural disasters, and advocated that the end of the world disaster was approaching.
Zhang Hui said that the tragedies such as the Ma Hang plane crash, the Kaohsiung explosion, and the war in eastern Ukraine have also become a precursor to the catastrophe in Zuo Kun's mouth, and the end of the world is approaching, and only his followers can survive it safely. Those who do not believe in him will enter the lake of sulfur and fire after death and suffer forever. This is a spiritual threat to some christians whose lives are not going well.
▲ Zuo Kun, the founder of "Blood, Water and Spirit". Screenshot of the "Blood, Water and Spirit" activity video
Attracting teenagers to join the association More than 300,000 believers in China
The members of the organization are younger, the children of believers are directly pulled into the church, and the development targets are already for young children
In recent years, the cult organization of blood, water, and spirit has resurrected underground on the mainland. According to police statistics, at the end of 2014, Zuo Kun publicly claimed that there were 7,000 churches and more than 300,000 believers in the territory.
According to the data released by the police, only the three small areas of The "Shandong Special Zone" in China-Germany, Deji and Changfeng have developed 65 churches between July and December 2014, with more than 2,000 believers.
Zhang Hui said that Zuo Kun strongly hopes to attract young people to join the church, especially college students with higher cultural levels.
During the "evangelism", the superiors would instruct the believers to steal the gospel of the Three-Self Patriotic Church, change the last contact number, and go to the vicinity of the university campus to preach to young people.
When a young person mistakenly enters the blood, water and spirit, he will also encourage the other party to pull his boyfriend and girlfriend into the church in order to achieve the rejuvenation of the members of the organization.
The children of believers, on the other hand, are drawn directly into the church to learn. In the family gathering where Zhang Hui is located, the sons of the third and fourth grades of the elder family will also follow the adults to move together, and recite the prayers of following Zuo Kun to the kingdom of heaven to become king.
In the video programs of churches around the world celebrating Zuo Kun's birthday, the performances of singing and dancing and promoting the deification of Zuo Kun are also completely performed by teenagers.
Zuo Kun once pointed out to the development of young believers that it is necessary to think from a distance and cultivate from a close distance, take colleges and middle school groups as a key development force, and use kindergarten teachers to continuously instill theories in young children and cultivate reserve forces.
In September this year, the leaders of the "Beijing Special Economic Zone" said in the "Summer Special Meeting Witness Meeting", "Dad wants to train the children of the church to be general secretaries, to put a long line to catch big fish, and to cultivate our religion into a state religion." ”
According to reports, among the 2014 members of the "Shandong Special Zone" New Development Church, the proportion of teenagers was as high as 30%, and the youngest believer was 9 years old. The first deputy leader is 28 years old, and the general leader of Henan District is only 19 years old.
In 2014, the Inner Mongolia police found at a gathering of blood, water and spirits that the gatherers were all children who were still childish, most of them primary and secondary school students.
In addition to developing young believers in China, the Blood, Water and Spirit also intend to attract Chinese students abroad.
Xu Xin, a Xinjiang girl who had studied in London, was recruited by the Blood and Water Spirit in a restaurant in London, and began to invite her to church activities. She said that after being rejected, the other party tried every means to entrust Xu Xin to bring materials back to China, and then the believers in China were co-opted and persuaded.
▲ A large number of minors appeared at the "Blood, Water and Spirit" summer special meeting. Screenshot of the "Blood, Water and Spirit" activity video
The "Logistics Business Group" controls the believers' part-time support organizations
Restaurants and cafes have been set up at home and abroad to amass wealth and develop organizations for the support of unpaid migrant workers
The Blood Hydra organization established a "logistics business group", opened restaurants and cafes at home and abroad, opened noodle restaurants, fast food restaurants and other business entities in China, and selected key elements as managers and service personnel. According to the relevant departments, the seemingly legal operation is actually amassing money and developing believers, and these incomes will also be transferred abroad in batches to make "dedication" to Zuo Kun.
Police insiders revealed to reporters that the organization has set up more than ten logistics bases in Beijing, Tianjin, Inner Mongolia, Hebei and other places, such as "Yanfang-themed Western-style fast food", "Taiwan fried chicken steak", and "Fuhou Inner Mongolia Dongkun stewed noodles", amassing millions of yuan.
In addition to a few limited large restaurants, there are more small businesses such as barbecue stalls, chicken cutlets, and hand cakes all over the place.
"Do whatever you want to make money." Zhang Hui introduced that most of the people running these small businesses are "full-time co-workers", and these people are the most faithful to Zuo Kun's thought in the church.
"The co-workers are appointed by Zuo Kun, all the time, work for him, no remuneration, every month, maybe give them one or two hundred yuan." Believer Zhang Hui revealed that Zuo Kun instilled in his full-time co-workers the idea that "the more you give, the more you will get in the future", teaching them to be pure in heart and not to pursue material enjoyment. Because living in the house rented by the church, except for the basic expenses of two or three hundred yuan per month, there is no personal income for the whole time of co-working, and the income is handed over in full.
Not only that, Zhang Hui introduced that if both husband and wife are co-workers, their children cannot live with their parents after weaning. There are children's groups for unified care. In this way, their parents can more securely earn money for him.
Children who are cared for in a unified way will continue to be trained to be the next generation of co-workers. Full-time co-workers can not contact family and friends, and if necessary, they must report to their superiors and be approved.
In addition, the "blood, water and spirit" also requires each member of the church to donate to Zuo Kun every month, ranging from a minimum of 20 yuan to a maximum of 1,000 yuan, and to double the dedication when there is a major festival.
In addition to "educating in commerce", encouraging believers to "give" every month is a more direct way to accumulate wealth. According to the Southern Metropolis Daily, in March 2014, only 6 people contributed 31,800 yuan to the List of Donations to the Shaanxi Area under the jurisdiction of the "Shandong Special Zone".
In order to ensure that the income is handed in and to avoid the blow, the church uses the id card of ordinary believers to apply for a bank card. Han Wen, a Jiangsu girl studying at a university in Beijing, was threatened by "not contributing to the church and will be punished by God" because she could not donate due to her financial constraints, and eventually she was coerced by two believers, opened two bank cards with her own ID cards, and set up a password according to the requirements of the other party.
After police investigation, these cards became a channel for "blood transfusion" to Zuo Kun, and the subordinates deposited the accumulated funds into the designated account, and through the believers, the domestic bank cards were taken abroad, and the headquarters directly withdrawn in Taiwan.
▲ At the 2015 summer special meeting, Zuo Kun accepted gifts such as gold. Screenshot of the "Blood, Water and Spirit" activity video
Taiwan activity brainwashing The youngest believer is four or five years old
In overseas activities, believers received golden sheep and other property, and believers were brainwashed to hurt their relatives
"When the disaster passed, the blessing came, and I followed Grandpa into the kingdom of God." In the video of the 2015 International Summer Festival of blood, water and spirits, believers from the mainland, Los Angeles and other places gathered in Taiwan to sing and dance for him, and the smallest performers were children as young as four or five years old, and these young believers sang after a song and dance.
Zuo Kun, 86, dressed in a white suit and on crutches, was surrounded by worshippers in the first row of the audience. After a performance, Zuo Kun stepped forward, surrounded by believers, and sat down at a table to speak.
In front of everyone, Zuo Kun, the sect leader, played the role of emperor, with a young woman on his right hand to help and take care of him, and a tall man on his left hand side fanning a fan for him.
He shouted at the disciples in the audience, "In the future, you will all be kings, and your sons and daughters will be the cause of many countries", and the children sitting in the front row replied, "Let the desolate city be inhabited", Zuo Kun then said, "What do you do when you are king?" I'll be your father!" The believers cheered again in an instant.
Zuo Kun liked gold, and the believers also liked it. According to the believers who participated in the activity at that time, between the above activities, church representatives from all over the world would present gifts to Zuo Kun, and when some believers presented golden sheep and gold medals made of thousands of feet of gold, Zuo Kun looked very excited, holding up the gifts in both hands and showing them to the believers around him.
Every year, the Blood, Water and Spirit will hold large-scale celebrations such as "Summer Special Meeting", "Winter Special Meeting" and "8.14 Holy Spirit Reconstruction Day" in Taiwan, and participating in such activities is also regarded as the greatest reward of "Dad" to believers, like a pilgrimage.
In the mainland, only the most faithful believers will be selected to go, and after the event, witness meetings will be held in various districts to arrange for the participants to share what they have seen and heard when they meet Zuo Kun. Zhang Hui said that some seriously brainwashed believers can often be moved to tears by listening to it.
Those who have been severely brainwashed have even brewed bloodshed. In June 2014, the Northern New Daily reported that in Hulunbuir City, Inner Mongolia, Yu Mou, a female believer in the blood and water spirit, quarreled with her relatives who advised her, and then found an axe to cut her husband and two other relatives into serious injuries, and finally was punished by law for using a cult organization to break the law and intentionally injure her.
A female believer in Chongqing who believes in Zuo Kun's doomsday theory even said, "I will imitate my father and offer myself as a living sacrifice to the Lord." "He began to tremble on all fours at the age of 50, but refused to take medicine and only prayed in front of Zuo Kun's portrait, and eventually his illness worsened and his body could not move.
This article is reproduced from the WeChat public account "Heavy Cases Group No. 37" WeChat ID: zhonganzu37
▲ At the 2015 summer special meeting, young believers from the mainland presented gifts such as gold to Zuo Kun. Screenshot of the "Blood, Water and Spirit" activity video
(Zhang Hui, Li Bei, and Han are pseudonyms)