Soka Gakkai/SGI has always recruited the people on the fringe of society - a predator that pounces upon people's suffering

Edit: I remade this thread, since I wasn't happy with the former title and, once you've submitted it, you can't change the title >:(

I once stated that Soka Gakkai membership consisted of the "gleanings" that were gathered up among the people who had not adapted to the postwar democratized society. These they very carefully picked up and organized into an enormous entity. In this sense, it is correct to say that they are a group of discontents in a postwar democratic society who are generally quite dissatisfied with the conservative party in power. It is not incorrect to say that they are always ready to align themselves with the appeals and slogans of reformers.

So the Tea Party, in other words, with eggroll O_O

We can say that the Soka Gakkai is an organization which gradually rose to power by exploiting social dissatisfactions, political corruption and inefficiency, which was a weakness in postwar Japan, and by appealing to the emotions of those who are disappointed.

One of the major characteristics of postwar Japanese society was the complete break down of the State Shinto - Emperor worship system on which an enormous nationalistic faith had been supported. By filling the spiritual vacuum with their peculiar religious ideas, they exploited the spiritual longings in postwar Japanese society to their own advantage and were able through mass psychology to manipulate people by their doctrines in to the Soka Gakkai organization. This has been the main characteristic of Soka Gakkai. By exploiting the spiritual vacuum in postwar society, they have grown into a gigantic onigo (an unworthy son, not a democratic son in postwar society) devotees group, the only group in Japan to do this.

"Personal misfortune, break-up of the family, tragedies of society, all of these have their origin in evil religion. Conversely speaking they stem from either slandering the shoho (the Nichiren Shoshu sect's law) or from the sin of not knowing this right law.

"All who do not worship the 'Dai Gohonzon' (sacred object of worship) in Fuji Taiseki-ji (temple) are boho (people who run counter to the right law)." (Shakubuku Canon)

I gotta get that book O_O

With such a doctrine as their basis, they say that all misfortunes are caused by bad religions, and the eradication of them is their duty. Thus they zealously practice shakubuku - this is the characteristic of the Soka Gakkai religion. It is easy to understand why people who had lost their faith in the old established state ethics and religious system, who were suddenly living in a spiritual vacuum and were searching for something to hold on to, were fascinated by the "attacking-in-waves" methods of Soka Gakkai's brainwashing. There were actually two vacuums - one political, brought about by defeat and military occupation, and the other spiritual; and in shakubuku, and** in propogating their religious political philosophy of obutsu myogo (the fusion of government and Buddhism)**, they were able to utilize both vacuums. In this manner, Soka Gakkai moved in bulldozer fashion to fill the vacuum and they succeeded remarkably. By Nichiren Shoshu - religion; by Soka Gakkai - shakubuku; and by Komeito - politics; these three links, they rapidly expanded in the confused postwar society. A religious organization that makes such rapid progress cannot help having a strong tendency to become opportunistic. Their numbers grew by leaps and bounds, due to the ceaseless and forcible practice of shakubuku. - from Dr. Hirotatsu Fujiwara's book, "I Denounce Soka Gakkai", p. 22-24.

Many of those attracted to religious cults are described by Japanese as otaku (anti-social nerds) and majime (people searching for meaning but incapable of seeing it).

How insightful!!

A former member of Soka Gakkai, one of Japan's largest sects, told Time, "As Japan entered an era of high economic growth, people moved from rural areas to industrial centers. They were lonely, poor and cut off. Soka Gakkai offered companionship, easy loans and an ideology to fill the gap." Source

Notice that the Soka Gakkai acknowledges that it has always been composed of the poor and sick:

The poor and the sick were the original members of the Gakkai. They had been abandoned by society, doctors and fortune, but they were saved by the Gakkai. They worked hard and chanted hard. They have achieved great results, moving from the poorest to the richest within Japanese society. - from SGI-USA leaders' guidance distributed before Ikeda's 1990 visit ("clear mirror guidance" event)

And a recent study shows that more of SGI-USA's members are divorced, alone, under-employed or unemployed, and living far from family and the area they grew up in than for the population at large.