Aum members are wanderers and outcasts in Japan. Average citizens have reacted more angrily to Aum than to radiation leaks from nuclear power facilities. And many Japanese think a bill recently introduced in the Diet is a cure for the Aum problem. Called “The Law for Regulating Organizations That Committed Indiscriminate Mass Murder,” it gives the authorities broad new powers of control. It stipulates that the government can require such organizations to file quarterly reports on each member, giving names, addresses and duties in the group. It allows the government to enter and search facilities and block them from obtaining new buildings or land. It prohibits their recruiting activities and allows for speedy punishment. The draft law names no particular group, but its basic intention is clear: to kill Aum in the shortest possible time.
It’s time to calm down and think this through. Will this bill really satisfy people who cannot stand Aum as a neighbor? Even if it did, will the solution prove worse than the problem? First, the law won’t have an immediate effect on Aum facilities because it does not allow forcible evictions. Nor does it permit local governments to refuse Aum children the right to attend schools. What it would do is force Aum members to stay where they are by limiting their freedom to change residencies. Like a ban on new toxic-waste dumps, the law would do nothing for people who already have the offensive presence in their backyard.
Japan could lose a lot if this bill is passed into law. I am concerned that the vaguely worded statute could be used against groups other than Aum Shinrikyo. Our civil rights will be limited, and there is a strong possibility that it would allow discrimination against people for their religious beliefs. It limits freedom of speech and association, both guaranteed by our Constitution, and threatens to undermine the strength of due process in Japan. New restrictions on Aum would constitute a form of double jeopardy for convicted cult members. Worse, the new rules would punish many lost souls who committed no crime other than joining the group. Will our civil rights now depend on what we believe? There are people in judicial circles who say the bill is unconstitutional. But their voices are weak and the media are indecisive. Why? Because Aum is now a common enemy, a “witch” spooking Japanese society, and editors are afraid to print anything that might be read as defending the cult.
Why do we need this anti-Aum law now, four years after the cult’s worst crime? There is virtually no possibility that Shoko Asahara, Aum’ s jailed guru, will ever return to his cult or society. Shouldn’t we question the motives of those who claim that this law is urgently needed to quiet the fears of local communities? Among the bill’s backers are supporters of the beleaguered Public Security Investigation Agency, which has faced calls for its dissolution. For decades the agency’s main job was to investigate left-wing activists, and it was slow to recognize or restrain the dangerous elements in Aum. Now the agency desperately needs a new mandate and a new target to justify its existence.
There are others in Japan who have reason to make a sensation out of the Aum threat. One member of our coalition government is New Komeito, a political party supported by the powerful religious group Soka Gakkai. Aum sees Soka Gakkai as a rival, and is said to have planned to assassinate the group’s spiritual leader and honorary president, Daisaku Ikeda. Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi cannot ignore New Komeito’s apparent desire to get back at Aum.
The crackdown is good politics. Japan is saddled with grave challenges, from reform of education and the economy to unemployment and the graying of society. For a government that has not come up with effective solutions, the suppression of Aum distracts people from far more serious problems.
The media and lawmakers are equally responsible for stirring up public hysteria over Aum. I’ve spoken to people in the anti-Aum community movements. In one-on-one conversations, many of them say, “The children of Aum members are innocent. They have nothing to do with the past crimes. Their right to attend schools should be protected.” But when so many people attack Aum in unison, it’s difficult for one of them to come out publicly and say, “Wait a minute. Let’s cool off.”
We must admit that Japanese tend to stamp out anything a little weird or different, without reflecting on the society that produced a cult like Aum Shinrikyo. With its blind obedience, lack of doubt about its goals and tendency to divide the world into good and evil, Aum is a mirror on ourselves. Could it be true that we hate Aum so much because we share something in common with it? Until our society changes, we won’ t be able to rid ourselves of Aum. The new law is not a magic wand that will make the witch go away.
