Fake News

Abstract

The chapter discusses the notion of fake news and how it is used in propaganda against controversial religious movements. It then examines several accusations against the CAG originating with Chinese anti-cult organizations and media. Based on the transcript of the 2015 trial and other sources, it discusses the murder in a McDonald’s restaurant in Zhaoyuan, Shandong, in 2014, when a woman was killed by supposed missionaries mentioning the name Almighty God. Chinese authorities immediately attributed the crime to The Church of Almighty God. However, documents clearly prove that the assassins belonged to a different religious movement, which recognized an Almighty God other than the one The Church of Almighty God believes in, a unique divine soul living in the two bodies of the small movement’s female leaders. The accused also denied ever having been members of The Church of Almighty God.