A type of rare psychological disorder seems to be rapidly spreading around Taiwan. Its target population appears to be associates and followers of PFP chairman James Soong
Possibly the most absurd and pathetic demonstration of this disorder took place before the presidential election. A well-known female entertainer alleged that she might have become a victim of political oppression, after a government agency ordered that her nude posters be taken down from large billboards along the freeway. The reason for her allegation? She was dating a relative of Soong.
More recent cases in point include the execution of former Pingtung County Council speaker Cheng Tai-ji
Cheng was executed after the court found him guilty of murdering a man in cold blood, in front of the victim's mother. The case had dragged through the courts for years because of numerous appeals -- incurring criticism as well as suspicion of possible political manipulation due to Cheng's powerful political influence and connections. In fact, most would agree that by the time of the execution, Cheng had exhausted all possible legal recourses.
Despite this and the weight of evidence against him, Cheng's family loudly cried "political oppression," claiming that the execution was the result of political oppression, because of Cheng's ties to Soong.
Maybe we can attribute the reactions of the Cheng family to their sorrow over the death of a loved one, but then there is the Chenlan Temple investigation to consider. Reaction over the recent fraud, embezzlement and money laundering investigation into the temple's accounts confirms the prevalence of this "conspiracy against Soong" theory.
Immediately after the government raided the temple, explicit accusations and implicit innuendo began to circulate and proli-ferate. Subscribers to the conspiracy theory seem convinced that the temple, and, in particular, its chairman, Yen Ching-piao
Right after the raid, Soong himself publicly appealed to the government to "let politics stay politics, the judiciary stay the judiciary, and religion stay religion" (政治歸政治,司法歸司法, 宗教歸宗教). Wise man that he is, his advice was sage indeed. Whether Soong and his gang know exactly how to turn these words into action, however, is an entirely different story. How do we let "politics stay politics?" When we have a genuine separation of church -- or "temple" -- and state.
An important element of this separation requires the government to exercise its powers without religious consideration or interference from religious groups and figures. As we all know, the temple was the one that violated this principle when it demanded a "religious direct link" to China, despite a current ban against all direct links.
With this line of logic, if we want to "let the judiciary stay the judiciary," we should leave it up to the judiciary to punish crime without religious considerations. This means that religious organizations and figures should be no different from any other organization or citizen in the eyes of the judiciary. So, if the judiciary has legal grounds to investigate and raid the temple or any other religious organizations, then it should be free to do so without any constraint about it.
"Religion stays religion," of course, when religious organizations and figures refrain from meddling in politics and the judiciary. On the basis of what we have seen so far, we can hardly say that the Chenlan Temple has done so.
The next question to ask, however, is whether the government did have legal grounds to investigate and raid the temple. The question is relevant, because if it didn't, then the likelihood of the temple investigation being politically motivated appears greater. Neither the media nor the government has provided sufficient facts for an answer just yet. Too many people therefore seem way too eager to jump the gun in crying "political oppression."
Perhaps the root of the problem is that it is simply too unbelievable to many faithful followers of Matsu that the Chenlan Temple and Yen would be involved in any wrongdoing. The only possible explanation, they therefore conclude, is "political oppression."
If the temple and Yen are truly guilty of wrongdoing, however, they would neither be the first nor the last religious organization and leader to have travelled down this path. Does anyone remember the saga of the PTL ministry in the US? At the peak of its glory, it reached more than 20 million people via a 24-hour satellite network. The ministry crumbled into dust, however, when its leader, Jim Bakker, was sentenced to 5 years imprisonment after being convicted of defrauding 116,000 followers out of US$158 million.
Then there was the Universal Church, a church with, at one time, temples in 46 countries and 3 million followers at one time. The founder of the church was investigated for tax evasion, taking money from Colombian drug traffickers and defrauding his followers. Were all these incidents the result of political oppression? I think not.
Let us hope that those afflicted with the disorder will soon wake up from their illusion and come to their senses. If the disorder becomes a trend, Soong and his affiliates may just become new martyrs who are "untouchable" by the government.
Amy Wu is licensed to practice law in California and New York and is a member of the teaching faculty at the Chung Yuan Christian University.
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