Governmental reformation was evident in Aum’s agenda. The cult itself had organized itself into a structure with ministries that resembled the set up of Japan’s emperor system. (Robbins, 1997) It could be argued that in a way, this was a rebellion against the West as it was the United States that had helped chart out Japan’s new constitution and governing structure following World War II. If this were indeed true, it would follow the example of transnational terrorist organizations such as Al Qaida and Hamas that disapprove of the activities of the West. Since, the society that was set up by the West was materialistic, changes needed to be made and Asahara promised his members a new world.

It took a Sarin gas attack and a bomb sent to Tokyo City Hall for the Japanese government to take Aum Shinrikyo seriously and overlook religious freedom. While Aum’s operations have ceased on the surface, many believe that it still operates underground. Asahara and numerous other members are on trial. The question now is not what needs to be done with Asahara, but rather deals with the prevention of a second Aum Shinrikyo. Most countries employ passive or preemptive deterrence to combat or at least prevent further acts of terrorism. However, Aum Shinkrikyo exposed a kind of terrorism that was a monster created by Japanese social structure and its government itself. While it would be quite utopian to expect a change in the social structure, one could argue that the government could employ passive deterrence at the very least by keeping track of the funds for such organizations. Furthermore, the law should be allowed to ensure the transparency of religious organizations and should not be curtailed by a need to protect religious freedom. When faced with a freedom versus order dilemma as the government faced with the case of Aum, order must always supercede freedom.

Before the subway attack, there were a couple of sporadic, unsuccessful instances of certain members of the government like Yukio Aoshima trying to revoke Aum’s status as an official religious group. (Bromley, 2002) This, coming from a government representative would have only antagonized the government further. With furor against the government, Asahara used other loopholes in the Japanese democratic structure to foster his message. First, there was Satyam 7, the structure that was disguised as a place of worship, but really housed laboratories for chemical weapons. Anytime the police entered on reports or suspicion, they were curtailed due to the protection of religious freedom. (Lifton, 1999) To add to all these advantages that Aum enjoyed, Asahara had in his hands, a target-rich environment: thousands of people packed together in trains in one of the richest countries in the world. The time was perfect to test the loyalty of his disciples. And indeed, they did not let him down. However, following the attack, the police placed numerous Aum members under arrest including Asahara himself. While deferring in its motives from most terrorist organizations, Aum conformed to the psychology of a political terrorist organization following the arrests. Immediately after Asahara’s arrest, the Tokyo governor, Yukio Ao

Some topics in this essay:
Aum Murakami, Sri Lanka, Yukio Aoshima, Soon Aum, Aum Shinrikyo, Violence Aum, Sarin March, Hinduism Buddhism, Russia Lifton, Aum Shinkrikyo, japanese government, social structure, aum shinrikyo, march 20th, terrorist organizations, lifton 1999, democratic structure, religious freedom, march 20th 1995, freedom versus, sarin gas, transnational terrorist organizations, freedom versus dilemma, chemical biological weapons, japanese social structure,