"Not for Popularity but for Humanity" Shincheonji's quest for a COVID-19 Vaccine in South Korea

July 13, 2020 at 06:42 AM EDT

Melbourne, Jul 13, 2020 (Issuewire.com) - Sorting facts from fiction, the epidemic was allegedly blamed on Shincheonji Church of Jesus due to them being an unpopular religious minority, and through reports from the United States of America Commission of International Religious Freedom, says "Shincheonji was suffering harassment from the South Korean government and society", serving as the perfect scapegoat during the election phase. The report continues, "others appeared to exaggerate the church's role in the outbreak"

Mr Sheikh Drammeh, Chairman of Islamic Cultural Centre of North America says, "The news of Chairman Lee and Shincheonji being singled out and blamed for COVID-19 spread and sued is deeply concerning to all faith leaders who valued freedom of religion and the protection of human rights.

As of Monday, 13th July 2020, around 500 Shincheonji members who have been reported to be fully recovered have willingly donated blood plasma in order to be used for research purposes and clinical trials in hopes to speed the development of a vaccine.

The Korean Centers for Disease Control (KCDC) has then installed three donation blood cars to be used as of today until the 18th to extract blood plasma from the 500 participants.

In the last early July, Chairman Lee Man-hee of Shincheonji Church of Jesus, the Temple of the Tabernacle of the Testimony (Shincheonji), delivered "I am very thankful to the South Korea government, which took charge of preventing the spread of COVID-19 and providing treatment for it. This is not something our church could resolve". He also added a message to thank the Shincheonji members in Daegu, who decided to donate their plasma needed in developing COVID-19 vaccine.

Some argued that Shincheonji's contribution is to distract from tax evasion charges and the allegation that the church provided false information on its members to the authorities. A representative from Shincheonji Daegu church has said, "I hope you will only look at it with the heart of the innocent believers. There is no other meaning, such as changing the image. Even a small amount of transportation that is passed on to plasma donors is not accepted by believers," he said.

"We will sincerely face examinations by the prosecution and the tax agency," the church official said. "We just want to support the development of a vaccine."

Reports now claim the Seoul Government have still forced locked down of Shincheonji churches due to the deliberate accusation of spreading the disease.