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Shoko Asahara and the Aum Shinri Kyo Sect
The Aum Shinri Kyo is a destructive, doomsday cult centered in Japan. Their name is a combination of Aum which is a sacred Hindu syllable, and Shinri Kyo which means 'supreme truth'.
Asahara is wrongly regarded as Christ by his followers. Using the Christian Biblical book of Revelation, and the writings of a 16th Century Christian monk, Nostradamus, he predicted major disasters to occur in the final years of this millennium. Many of his followers were drawn to the group because of a promise that they would develop supernatural powers; others were attracted by the group's rejection of the corruption and materialism which they saw throughout modern Japan.
As of June, 1996, he was on trial for the spreading of a nerve gas, Sarin, in a Tokyo subway station on March 20, 1995. The gas killed 11 passengers and injured over 5000.
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