Nearly 500 members of Eastern Lightening, otherwise known as the Almighty God group, were arrested by the Chinese government for spreading apocalyptic rumors among the nation's provinces. The recent government crackdown followed shortly after word spread that a member of the cult preached of doomsday to the suspect of a serial stabbing at an elementary school.
The Xinhua News Agency reports that Oriental Lightening preacher Jin Guozhu influenced a man named Min Yongjun to carry out the attack and that "police have seized more than 70 brochures on 'doomsday' doctrines at her house."
The group has been professing apocalyptic claims through various media all across China and "has been accused of targeting Christians, kidnapping and beating them to force conversions," according to the Huffington Post.
Professor Wu Boxin of the Chinese People's Public Security University notes that Eastern Lightening has a strong foothold in the country's central Henan regions.
In fact, a recent rumor that 3 days of darkness will shroud the China prompted locals of the Sichuan provide to raid supplies stores and purchase items such as candles and matches in bulk (via China Daily).
TV producer Liu Xiancong adds, "In countries where the media is regularly subject o restraints imposed from above...people lose faith in it and seize onto stories that haven't been put through the official filters."
Despite rumors of an impending apocalypse on December 21 being thoroughly debunked by scientists, particularly NASA, anxieties persist. Some may look to "doomsday" for entertainment, but in China the event has taken on a noticeably more somber tone.
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