Unification Church

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Section 11... Cults

Index To Section 11 Cults

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Unification Church

Unification Church... Christian or Cult?

By Bible Discernment Ministries [www.rapidnet.com/~jbeard/bdm/] Please Note: Each coloured link within the article will lead you to a related topic on a different page of this site. However, while the text is part of the original article, the links are not. The author of this article may or may not agree with the views expressed on those pages, or anything else on this site..

According to the core statement of Moons theology, referred to as the Divine Principle, Moon beheld a vision of Jesus as a teenager and was instructed to fight evil on earth and correct Jesus mistakes. Jesus greatest error, Moon has said, was his failure to marry.

See The Mooning of America (below) In March 2004, the Rev. Sun Myung Moon and his wife were crowned the "King and Queen of Peace" in the Dirksen Senate Office Building in Washington, D.C. At least a dozen members of Congress, religious leaders from all major denominations, U.S. ambassadors and other distinguished guests gathered to honor Rev. Moon for his efforts at unifying all the worlds religions and trying to establish a new United Nations dedicated to peace. Over the years, many conservative evangelicals have spoken at Moon-sponsored events, including Ralph Reed, Beverly LaHaye, Gary Bauer, Robert Schuller and Tim LaHaye. Examples of The Use of Deception (Page2) The Wedding Blessing... Moons public weddings and the theology behind them. (Page 2)

The official title of the Unification Church is The Holy Spirit Association for the Unification of World Christianity. It was officially founded in 1954 by Sun Myung Moon (which has led to the referring of his followers as "Moonies") and moved to America in 1959, where he established his international headquarters. Born in Korea in 1920, Moon claims that in 1936, when he was 16, Jesus Christ appeared to him on Easter morning on a mountainside in Northwestern Korea and told him that God had chosen him for the mission of establishing the Kingdom of Heaven on Earth, a mission that Christ had only begun. Christ supposedly told Moon that he would be "the completer of man's salvation by being the Second Coming of Christ" (Sun Myung Moon and The Unification Church, James Bjornstad, p. 9). After World War II, Moon returned to Pyongyang, the capital of communist North Korea, where he set up his first church (1945). There, according to reports, Moon involved his congregation in an unusual ritual known as "blood separation," during which female members of the church were required to have sex with him to cleanse themselves of Satan's influence. In 1948, North Korean authorities arrested and jailed Moon (he spent two years in a labor camp), accusing him of bigotry and adultery. Moon was finally liberated by United Nations' troops during the Korean War (1950). (Still, today, Moon's sermons focus on sex and the idea of female submissiveness. In 1995, on "True Parents Day," he observed, "Woman was born to connect in love with man's sexual organ. Man and woman's sexual organs are the place of the true love palace.") After the Korean War, Moon fled to South Korea and established the Unification Church,

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which now claims three million members in more than 120 countries (about 40-45 thousand U.S.), but both these figures are believed by many to be grossly exaggerated. (The largest concentrations of Moonies reside in Korea and Japan.) In 1956, Moon published the English version of the Divine Principle as the authoritative work of the Unification Church. (The Korean Version: "Wolli Haesol" or "Explanation of the Principle" was published on August 15th, 1957.) This "church" has been the subject of much negative U.S. publicity, primarily due to alleged unethical recruitment and fund-raising tactics and Moon's authoritative leadership style. In 1982, Moon was convicted of federal income tax fraud, for which he served 11 months (of an 18-month sentence) in federal prison (beginning in the summer of 1984). The Unification Church of America was founded in 1972 and is headquartered in New York City. To train those interested in joining the movement, a "seminary" was established in 1975 at Barrytown, New York (the Unification Theological Seminary), with the goal of unifying all theological beliefs. Its faculty is drawn from Protestant, Roman Catholic, and Eastern Orthodox backgrounds, as well as from the Unification Church. Its mission statement reads, "to inspire Christian denomination and all the world's religions to supersede their separateness and cooperate for the attainment of God's will." [Also See Section on Ecumenism] Moon has also launched numerous business ventures, and with the free labor of his followers, has built a multi-million dollar empire that includes pharmaceutical companies, manufacturing, banking, publishing, and other industries. (The Unification News is a monthly newspaper owned by the Church. They also publish a monthly magazine called Insight. While not an official publication of the Unification Church, the Church does own and operate the Washington Times, located in Washington, D.C. Today's World is a monthly magazine.) Moon is a permanent resident of the U.S. (since 1973), and believes that the U.S. will be the future base of operations for the "Lord of the Second Advent" (a title to which Moon himself has laid claim!). Moon is particularly fond of drawing former U.S. intelligence and military officers into his organizations. Moon has masterfully used his hard line anti-communist campaigns, multi-million dollar business deals, and substantial political donations to blur his ultimate objective of a one-world government originating from a centralized religious power -- ruled by Moon -- under which his followers will purchase goods and services only from church sponsored manufacturers. The Unification Church has also been linked to a variety of associated organizations. Some of these include The American Freedom Coalition, Collegiate Association for the Research of Principles (CARP), CAUSA USA, American Leadership Conferences, American Constitution Committee, National Committee Against Religions Bigotry and Racism, Conservative Action Foundation, National Council for Church and Social Action, The Washington Times Corporation, World Media Association, U.S. Property Development Corporation, Atlanta Video, Happy World Inc., as well as numerous others [1]. In 1976, The New York Times made the following astute observation about Moon and the Unification Church: "While church members accept Moon's theology as revealed truth, non-members generally find it a mind-boggling mixture of Pentecostal Christianity, Eastern mysticism, anti-Communism, pop psychology, and metaphysics." Below are the highlights of what the Moonies believe concerning their source of authority, Biblical interpretation, the fall of man, the occult, sin, Christ, salvation, the Holy Spirit, the Trinity, marriage, eschatology, and heaven and hell: 1. Source of Authority. The Moonies teach that the Bible is "not the truth itself, but a textbook teaching the truth." Moon's 536-page spiritual manifesto, Divine Principle (1957), is considered to be their scriptures (supposedly revealed directly to Moon by Jesus Christ), along with the Bible. (Divine Principle is considered to be the "third testament" of the Bible, and superior to the Bible.) They also believe in continuing revelation. (Moon claims to have received new revelations from God; i.e., "I spoke with Jesus Christ in the spirit world. And I also spoke with John the Baptist. This is my authority.") Even Divine Principle is not the complete truth. "The Divine Principle revealed in this book is only part of the new truth. ... as time goes on, deeper parts of the truth will be continually revealed" [2]. Ultimately, Moon's interpretations and teachings are considered to be the final and absolute source of authority. Moon's teachings warn church members that life on earth is a continuous battle between good and evil -- where they are the Chosen People -- and everyone outside of the "True Family," including their biological parents, may be agents of Satan. Any person harboring doubts about Moon is deemed to be allowing himself to be part of the work of Satan. 2. Method of Interpretation. The Moonies interpret much of the Bible allegorically; they teach that the thieves on the cross represent democracy (the "right") and Communism (the "left"). They claim that "resurrection" does not refer to raising the dead, but to accepting the "word of God" (cf. 1 Cor. 15:12-20). They say that the expression "end of the world" only means that "evil is going to end." [HJB] Moon also believes the Bible teaches that Christianity is not the one and only divinely revealed and saving faith. He says that "God has established many religions. ... God cannot be found where there is conflict. Catholicism and Protestantism must become one." [Also See True and False Unity] 3. Dualism and the Fall. Moonies believe that everything in existence has a dual aspect, including God. They claim that God originally intended for Adam and Eve to have a brother/sister relationship until they reached perfection, and that Adam and Eve were supposed to establish God's kingdom on earth through marriage and childbearing. Therefore, the Fall was the result of sexual sin; i.e., that Eve had sexual relations with Satan (the spiritual fall) and then with Adam (the physical fall). [HJB] 4. The Occult. Moon admits communicating with familiar spirits by means of sances. [It is a well-known fact that Moon has participated in sances conducted by a spirit transmedium named Arthur Ford (a famous Philadelphian necromancer). Ford's "spirit guide" first spoke of Moon on 11/1/64, again on 3/18/65, and on 4/21/65 (Unknown But Known, p. 121). Moon was present at this last sance and his comments were tape recorded and later transcribed.] Though the Christian ordinances of baptism and communion are avoided by the Unification Church, it readily accepts clairvoyance, automatic handwriting, and mediumistic trances. [See Endnote] 5. Sin. Unification theology teaches that Adam and Eve's fall came not from disobedience in eating fruit from the tree of knowledge, but was sexual in nature. Eve's sin, the church holds, was engaging in an act of sex with Satan, and Adam's was in turn "a premature act of love" with Eve, thus leading to mankind's physical corruption. Adam and Eve thus failed to fulfill God's plan for them to be the "true parents" of mankind. According to Moon, then, sin is a matter of genetics (physical children of Lucifer), not moral choice. Salvation, therefore, requires a physical redemption; i.e. it is a matter of being born of Moon's physical bond or entering a marriage union chosen and blessed by Moon himself. [Originally, "Blood cleansing" as defined by Moon was accomplished for any male by having sexual relations with a woman that had been "cleansed" by Moon (i.e., had sexual relations with Moon). Now, those who totally submit to Moon's authority (e.g., defined as turning over all financial assets to the Unification Church, allowing Moon to choose one's mate, etc.) may consider their

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devotion to be a spiritual kind of purification not requiring sexual cohabitation.] 6. God the Father. "Unification theology asserts that God has both masculine and feminine qualities based on the universal fact of polarity ..." There are similarities between the Unification Church theology of God the Father and the deity concept of I Ching, Confucianism, Taoism, and even the Hindu worship of a Mother Goddess: "... God must exist in polarity. That is, He must possess within Himself the dual characteristics of masculinity and femininity which are perfectly expressed and fully harmonized in His nature. The doctrine of divine polarity taught by Unification theology should be seen not as an eccentric novelty but rather as a reaffirmation of a valid theological insight" [3]. 7. Jesus Christ. Moonies deny the deity of Jesus Christ; instead they claim He was just a man, not God. ("God is just like you and me. All human traits originate in God." -- Moon, Christianity in Crisis, p. 4; and "He can by no means be God Himself." -- Divine Principle, pp. 210-211). They teach that Jesus was not virgin born, but was the bastard offspring of Zechariah and Mary! They also claim that Jesus failed in His earthly mission (Divine Principle, pp. 143-145), and that Christ's purpose in coming was to marry and to produce perfect children. However, He was killed before He could fulfill His mission (i.e., "The Cross is the symbol of defeat of Christianity," Moon, 1973). Moonies believe that John the Baptist was responsible for the death of Jesus (by failing to convert his audience into a power bloc for Jesus) (Divine Principle, pp. 156-162), and that Christ's death on the cross was not an original or essential part of God's plan of redemption ("... however devout a man of faith may be, he cannot fulfill physical salvation by redemption through Jesus crucifixion alone." -- Divine Principle, p. 148), but that God merely used it to provide an incomplete, spiritual salvation. They do not believe that Jesus was physically resurrected (cf. 1 Cor. 15:12-20), but that He returned as a spirit, and that a "third Adam" must come to fulfill God's plan for physical salvation by marrying and producing the sinless race. The Unification Church has given titles to Moon that indicate it considers him to be this "third Adam." [HJB] [Also See The Meaning of The Cross] 8. Salvation. Moonies teach the "Law of Indemnity" -- that God's children must pay for at least a part of their debt of sin before God will forgive them. They believe a person earns his salvation through fasting, fund-raising, recruitment, and other such works. They claim that both a spiritual and a physical salvation are needed -- and that the "third Adam" will provide physical salvation by marrying and producing sinless children (Divine Principle, p. 148). They teach that once the "third Adam" comes, those who have paid indemnity will also be able to marry and bear sinless children. [HJB] Moonies view Moon as that "third Adam" who provides physical salvation through a perfect family (indeed, his twelve children are considered sinless!), and extends this perfection to his followers through their obedience to him. 9. Holy Spirit. "In Unification theology the main point is that the Holy Spirit is not a separate entity, a being different from God the Father. The Holy Spirit simply refers to God's redemptive activity." Further, the Holy Spirit, "... appears feminine, masculine and impersonal. ... Like God Himself, the Spirit is invisible and incorporeal -- a bright light or a field of magnetic energy" (Unification Theology, pp. 201-202). Moonies also teach that the Holy Spirit is a "female spirit" -- the "True Mother" and spiritual wife of Jesus (Divine Principle, p. 215). "She" also cleanses the sins of the people in order to restore them, thus indemnifying the sin committed by Eve. 10. Trinity. Moonies deny the Biblical concept of the Trinity. They teach that the "third Adam," his bride, and God constituted the first "trinity," and that mankind will be restored by forming trinities with God through marriage. [HJB] Young Oon Kim, professor of systematic theology at the Unification Theological Seminary, stated, "Unification theology starts with the fact of polarity as the main clue for understanding the essential nature of God. Hence it is not primarily interested in defending the Trinitarian doctrine of the fourth century creeds" [4]. 11. Marriage. Moonies claim that marriage is the most important means of establishing God's kingdom on earth. Moon teaches that "Godcentered families are the building blocks of a world of peace, stability, and love," and that only those who are married will be saved, or qualified, for the kingdom. Hence, Moon's fondness for mass marriage ceremonies, wherein 35,000 to 50,000 couples are married at a time, most whom have never met before! [Moon and his wife, Hak-ja Han Moon (wife #4 -- he divorced the first three), charge each couple an arrangement fee for these mass marriages, which has brought the church more than two billion dollars throughout the years.] A ceremony marrying 3.6 million couples (most by satellite) occurred in 1997, and another 120 million couples in 2000. (These numbers are, of course, highly suspect.) [See Endnote] Moonism transcends biology. Church members are considered the "True Family" and Moon and his wife are the world's "True Parents" -"my wife and I are cleansing everything that was polluted by false love, false life, and false lineage. Our marriage has achieved the True Parents position; the large international marriage ceremonies which we conduct are to sow the seed of true love, true life, and true lineage, which results from the unity of God's love and man's love" (1995). Members celebrate as birthdays the day they joined the Unification Church. 12. Second Coming . Moonies use Biblical terms to refer to the Second Coming, but have changed their meanings. They deny that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, will return, but say that God will send another man as the "third Adam." They deny that the "Christ" will come in the clouds, but instead that he will be born just as Jesus was in the First Advent. They teach that the Kingdom of God on earth and in heaven will be established by the "third Adam" through marriage. The bottom line is that they believe that Moon is this "third Adam" and that he has begun to establish God's kingdom -- "He [God] is living in me. I am the incarnation of Himself." [HJB] [Moon says that Jesus failed at the First Coming, but he (Moon) will not! (speech on 8/24/92).] 13. Heaven and Hell. Moonies teach that heaven is a realm of the spirit world and that hell is inconsequential because it will "pass away as heaven expands," and all mankind is redeemed. Also, one's destination after death depends on his spirit's "quality of life on earth; by the degree of goodness we build into them through actions." Rather than immortal perfection, Moon teaches that in the afterlife his followers will experience the same "desires, dislikes, and aspirations as before death." Summary: According to Moon, it was God's plan for Jesus to find a perfect mate and produce sinless children, bringing about the world's physical and spiritual salvation. But Jesus failed because He couldn't get the Jews to accept Him as Messiah. The Crucifixion was a "mistake" which thwarted God's plans and made it necessary for a new Messiah to come during this present age. This new "messiah," called the "Lord of the Second Advent" by Moon, was born in Korea in 1920 (which, coincidentally, is the place and time of his own birth). By the year 2000, Moon claimed, the Messiah would be revealed (cf. Duet. 18:22). Therefore, Moon does not want us to think of the Second Coming in terms of a literal interpretation of Scripture, which states that Jesus will come in the clouds with great glory. Moon insists that the second messiah will be a Korean man born of the flesh -- and those who do not accept him will face God's wrath. Accordingly, everyone must be born again by new parents in order to fulfill God's original plan of redemption. Translated into Moon's

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theology, this means: acceptance of Moon and his wife as spiritual parents is necessary for salvation.

Quotes from Moon Illustrating Essential Theological Points "He [God] is living in me and I am the incarnation of Himself. ... The whole world is in my hand, and I will conquer and subjugate the world." "God is now throwing Christianity away and is now establishing a new religion, and this new religion is the Unification Church." "All the Christians in the world are destined to be absorbed by our movement." "There have been saints, prophets, many religious leaders in past human history. Master here [Moon] is more than any of those people and greater than Jesus himself." "I [Moon] am the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end." "God and man are one. Man is incarnate God." Endnotes Note on Sances: In 1965, one of the most interesting events in Moon's life took place. He had a sitting with famed Spirit Medium Arthur Ford. At this sance, Moon was given information by Fletcher, Ford's spirit guide, concerning his destiny as a spiritual leader. Present at this occultic ceremony were Ford, Moon, Bo Hi Pak (a leader in the Unification Church), as well as Miss Kim, Moon's interpreter. After Ford had gone into a trance, Pak asked, "Could you ask him in connection with the New Age, more specifically, the mission of Our Leader here today?" Fletcher answered, "He is one of those who will be the human instrument through whom the World Teacher will be able to speak. ... The Jesus of Galilee will not return, it is not necessary. The Christ who manifested through him is the Eternal, he will manifest again. ...But the important thing to remember is that when God wants to make a revelation he has to choose a human instrument.... Sun Myung Moon is the one I have been talking about. I have been speaking for a group of people here. This group seems to surround him. And the power that flows through him, the intelligence, is not just one it is a great group of people. And they seem all to draw their inspiration and their knowledge from One Source and then they seem to pour it symbolically into a pool and in some strange symbolical way that pool becomes Sun Myung Moon." Fletcher, having mentioned revelation, was then asked by Pak, "You are speaking of New Revelation; that means you are speaking of the Divine Principle brought by Sun Myung Moon?" Fletcher answered, "That's part of it, yes, but even Sun Myung Moon has not exhausted the possibilities of the Divine Mind. He is, and as long as he lives will continue to be, a channel for revelation" (Unknown But Known, pp. 131-139). [Return to Text] Note on Mass Marriages: The term "Mass Marriage" is actually a misnomer, but that is what they are popularly known as. In reality, no one is being married in these mass wedding spectacles. Instead, the "Blessing," as Moonies refer to this event, is a religious ceremony and not actual weddings. Though they are dressed as brides and grooms and repeat marriage vows at these events, the ones that intend to be husband and wife will have to obtain marriage licenses from whatever jurisdiction they reside in. In former years, only those couples that Sun Myung Moon had matched (Moon chose usually complete strangers who would then become husband and wife based on Moon's selection) or those who had passed very stringent qualifications (including from 3 to 7 years of celibacy before marriage) would be allowed to be 'blessed' by Moon. In recent years, these events are often billed as a 'recommitment of marriage' to unsuspecting participants. [Also See The Wedding Blessing... Moons public weddings and the theology behind them [Return to Text]

("Copyright BDM. All Rights Reserved") *Unless otherwise cited, five primary sources were used for this report: (1) Grolier's 1995 Multimedia Encyclopedia; (2) Funk & Wagnall's Encyclopedia; (3) What They Believe, Harold J. Berry [HJB], BTTB:1990, pp. 243-267; (4) "Holy Spirit Association for the Unification of World Christianity," Rick Branch (Watchman Fellowship Profile, 1993); and (5) Examining & Exposing Cultic & Occultic Movements, Jack Sin, "Unification Church," April 2000, pp. 32-33. End Notes 1] Washington Post, 15 October 1989 [2] (Unification Theology, p. 16 [3]Unification Theology, p. 56 [4]Unification Theology, p. 53

The Reverend Sun Myung Moon: The "King of Peace" or the "King of Hustlers"?
By David McNair 09/03/04 In March 2004, the Rev. Sun Myung Moon and his wife were crowned the "King and Queen of Peace" in the Dirksen Senate Office Building in Washington, D.C. At least a dozen members of Congress [1], religious leaders from all major denominations, U.S. ambassadors and other distinguished guests gathered to

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honor Rev. Moon for his efforts at unifying all the worlds religions and trying to establish a new United Nations dedicated to peace. In addition, several members of Congress received "Ambassadors for Peace" awards, including Democratic Sen. Mark Dayton of Minnesota, Democratic Reps. Danny K. Davis of Illinois, Harold E. Ford, Jr. of Tennessee and Sanford D. Bishop, Jr. of Georgia, as well as Republican Reps. Roscoe G. Bartlett of Maryland, Christopher B. Cannon of Utah and Curt Weldon of Pennsylvania. Rev. Moon, the ex-felon billionaire leader of the Unification Church, is also the owner of the Washington Times, United Press International (UPI), Insight Magazine and hundreds of other business and front organizations around the world. Ever since he was a VIP guest at Ronald Reagans inauguration in 1981, Moon and his Unification Church have been permanent fixtures in Washington. Over the years, he has sought to buy influence and prestige for his church by supporting conservative causes, handing out large sums of money to both Democrats and Republicans through his various front organizations and subtly promoting his views in publications such as the Washington Times and UPI. In an early prelude to Moons "coronation" in March and further evidence of his influence in Washington, the religious leaders Washington Times Foundation sponsored an Inaugural Interfaith Prayer Luncheon for President Bush in January 2001. The three-hour prayer event, called "America Come Together," was a Whos Who of religious leaders and lawmakers. Sen. John Ashcroft, going through his confirmation hearings for Attorney General at the time, apparently brought down the house with a story about passing a street musician playing "Amazing Grace" on his trumpet. "He stopped in mid-note," Ashcroft told the audience of 1,700, "and put out his hand with a cry, Senator Ashcroft, Im for you, man." One of the organizers of the event, Doug Wead, who had been Religion Liaison in the Bush Administration from 1989 to 1993, introduced what he called "seven of the top 10 television evangelists in America today." They included Paul Crouch, founder of the Trinity Broadcasting Network, Rev. Jerry Falwell, Rev. Kenneth Copeland of Kenneth Copeland Ministries and "Hour of Power" host Rev. Robert Schuller. (Emphasis Added) "I believe God Almighty will lead George W. Bush and Dick Cheney and all of their team into the nations finest hour," declared Copeland. Meanwhile, Falwell called for prayers for the Rev. Jesse Jackson, who had just acknowledged fathering a son out of wedlock, and accused Democratic Senators of religious profiling for refusing to confirm John Ashcroft as Attorney General. "Many of you had reason not to accept this invitation because of, Who else will be there?" Schuller remarked when he took the podium. "And yet there is an overriding unity. And the only way I can explain it in my theology is the Holy Spirit [and that] Jesus Christ has really diversified His investment portfolio." Many other religious denominations were represented as well. Imam Hassan Qazwini, director of the Islamic Center of America, urged the audience to pray for the children in Iraq who were suffering due to the economic sanctions. Rabbi David Ben-Ami, chairman of the American Forum for Jewish-Christian Cooperation, spoke about the common themes in Jewish and Christian heritage. And Rev. Jack Hayford, who gave the benediction at Bushs Inaugural Prayer Service at the National Cathedral, said the event marked a new era of interreligious and interracial cooperation. In between prayers and praise for the Bush Administration, special tributes were paid to the late Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., evangelist Billy Graham, who did not attend because of health reasons, and, of course, Rev. Moon, who received an award for his work in support of traditional family values. While introducing Rev. Moon, Wesley Pruden, editor-in-chief of the Washington Times, praised Moon for his fight against Communism. ( In 1948, Moon was arrested by North Korean Communist authorities and sentenced to five years hard labor. In 1950, he was freed when UN and American forces liberated Seoul in a counter-offensive following the North Korean invasion of the South.) Pruden also praised Moon for his "vision" in founding the Washington Times as a secular newspaper. "Armed with editorial independence and that vision," Pruden said, as quoted in his own paper, "we will always be faithful to the values that bind Gods children together." In a promotional video of the March 2004 "Ambassadors for Peace" ceremony produced by Moon, Rev. Chung Hwan Kwak, a close advisor to Moon and chairman of the Interreligious and International Federation for World Peace (the Moon organization that sponsored the event and seeks to promote the same kind of interfaith dialogue espoused at the 2001 Inaugural Prayer Luncheon), stands at the podium and announces that Mr. and Mrs. Moon, whom he refers to as True Father and True Mother, "are sure the champions of peace ... the King and the Queen of Peace!" During the twenty-minute ceremony, several religious leaders openly embrace religious unificaion. [See Section on Ecumenism]. "Jews, Christians and Muslims come together for peace!" cries out one Rabbi before blowing into a traditional rams horn. After Kwaks declaration, people move into position to "coronate" Moon and his wife, presenting them with bejeweled crowns on velvet cushions. Then Moon, in subtitled Korean, addresses the distinguished crowd. "I am Gods ambassador," Moon declares, "sent to earth with His full authority. I am sent to accomplish His command to save the worlds six billion people, restoring them to Heaven with the original goodness in which they were created." Moon goes on to say that many leaders in the spirit world, including Marx, Lenin, Hitler and Stalin, had found strength in his teachings and mended their ways.

Wait a minute this was the man honored during the 2001 inauguration of George W. Bush? Understandably, many people were disturbed by news of the "crowning" ceremony in the Dirksen Office Building. In fact, many of those in attendance immediately tried to disassociate themselves from Moon. For example, Rep. Curt Weldons office at first claimed that he hadnt spoken at the event. However, when photographs and video of Weldon giving a speech at the ceremony proved otherwise, his office modified the claim by saying that Weldon had merely "dropped by" as a courtesy. Likewise, Rep. Roscoe Bartletts (R-Md.) office initially told reporters that the Congressman played no part in the Moon crowning ceremony, which was later discredited by video footage of Bartlett at the event. Even Sen. John Warner (R-Va.) found himself running for cover. Almost four months after the fact, Warners office had to admit that it booked the Dirksen Building for Moons coronation [2]. Although Warner didnt attend the event, a spokesperson for his office quickly tried to distance the Senator from Moon, saying they had been "misled" about the event. Apparently, an organization called Christian Voice of Alexandria called Warners office and requested the use of the Senate room. However, when invitations were sent out for the event, they said the main sponsor would be the "Interreligious and International Federation for World Peace (IIFWP), founded by Rev. Dr. and Mrs. Sun Myung Moon." As it turns out, Christian Voice, which was not mentioned in the invitations, has had a long association with the Unification Church.

What is the Unification Church?

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The official doctrine of the Unification Church, founded by Moon in his native Korea in 1954 and established in the United States in 1959, is unconventional, to say the least. According to the core statement of Moons theology, referred to as the Divine Principle, Moon beheld a vision of Jesus as a teenager and was instructed to fight evil on earth and correct Jesus mistakes. Jesus greatest error, Moon has said, was his failure to marry. In the early years of the church, Moon personally selected mates for his followers and performed mass wedding ceremonies, a practice that continues today. In 1997, Moon and his wife, dressed again in crowns and royal-looking robes, performed a mass wedding and marriage rededication ceremony for 40,000 people at RFK Stadium, including 2,500 Unification Church members whose marriages had been arranged by Moon. Moon also claims that the "fall" of humanity in the Garden of Eden was not the result of simple disobedience to Gods commands, but the result of an illicit sexual union between Eve and Lucifer. Consequently, Moon has stated, all of Eves children were born with defective natures, something which God has attempted to rectify by sending religious leaders (manifested most recently by Moon himself) to humanity. Despite his recent messages of peace and love, Moon and his Unification Church have had a long history of shady business dealings (in the mid-80s, Moon served 18 months in a federal prison for income tax fraud), violent behavior (some church followers who later disavowed Moon and criticized the Unification Church were attacked and beaten) and often bizarre public statements. In addition to calling for the removal of crosses from churches, he has lobbied to scrap the U.S. Constitution in favor of "Godism," calling the church-state separation the work of Satan. In 2003, Moon claimed that the six million Jews killed in the Holocaust was retribution for the Jews crucifixion of Jesus. Moon has also developed a very specific and bizarre ritual [3] that he claims is necessary in order for husbands and wives to have a sexual relationship. It includes placing a picture of the "True Parents" (Moon and his wife) nearby so they can oversee the event and using a UC-sanctioned "Holy Handkerchief" to wipe clean ones genitalia afterwards. From the beginning, a core tenet of the church was that believers avoid thinking about sex at all. In fact, a Moon-sponsored organization called Free Teens [4] received a $475,000 grant in 2003 as part of the Bush Administrations Faith-based Initiative. Free Teens, which preaches abstinence-only sex education, was founded by a former director of a Moon lobbying group. Does Moon want to "Moonize" America and the world? While running one of Washingtons most influential newspapers and playing host to Americas most powerful lawmakers, Moon has confounded many supporters by openly calling America and Christianity his enemies. Consider this 1993 speech to his faithful: My enemies are America and Christianity. How am I going to win over those enemies? Gods way is to get hit and win. Everybody opposed Father but I do not hate those who opposed me. It is natural for the world to go against me. Just think of it, I came to take over and discard the old evil ways. People do not like that. But no matter how many people oppose Rev. Moon, God is on His side. Father is in the USA not for revenge but to serve. Father loved the USA, Russia and even North Korea. Father has truly loved His enemies to the ultimate degree. Satan has to bow down to Father because he can no longer complain about not being loved. Father truly is the model of how to love the enemy. Father established a lot of projects like the ACC and USA (United to Save America) to save this nation. You Americans must love and sacrifice more for this nation than Father did. But many came only to the movement to exploit it. Now Father is stepping back to let Americans take over. Bush received much from Father, but Bush did not respond. Look at where he is now, he is done. Republicans only hope is to unite with Father. Father spent much of His resources here in America, for whom? There are only a few white people in the world but 3.2 billion of the yellow races. And about Christianity: Father invested much money here in the USA and the seminary. This is a true example of loving the enemy. Now that Christianity has failed, we have established a "New Christianity" under the Unification Church. We must pull the Christians out of their churches and bring them to the New Christianity. Europe, Russia, China and Korea are all under Father. If the USA does not respond, Father will go to those countries. All this talk about a global Moon-centered theocracy might be laughable if it werent for the fact that Moon seems to own half the globe. It is estimated that the leader of the Unification Church, which according to The Encyclopedia of American Religions had a membership of 50,000 in the United States and 3 million worldwide in 1995, has assets of nearly $10 billion. There are literally hundreds of Moon organizations, businesses, recruiting fronts, religious fronts, media fronts and social and cultural fronts across the globe. (Click here for a complete listing). In the United States alone, the Moon organization owns well over 600 businesses. In Japan, where the Moon organization got its financial start, a list of Moon-owned businesses is so numerous that they must be listed in alphabetical order. Although the workings of Moons financial empire are shrouded in secrecy, it is known that early followers were required to proselytize and peddle merchandise on the street. A study on followers of Moon [6], conducted in 1979 with the blessing of the UC, revealed that street peddling for the church was the principal job of more than half the followers studied and that they spent an average of 67 hours a week raising money for the church. According to Yoshikazu Soejima, one of the first high-level church officials to break with Moon in the mid80s, the Unification Church was taking in about $100 million a year and transferring the bulk of that cash to its headquarters in New York. According to a Washington Post story published in 1997, a Moon company headquartered in Falls Church, Virginia called One Up, which serves as a "primary conduit for overseas cash coming into Unificationisms U.S. operations," had estimated "sales of $232.3 million and 2,000 employees in its subsidiaries, according to Dun & Bradstreet." Soejima also said that Moon considered the Washington Times a crucial element of the four ingredients necessary for world consolidation: ideology, economy, science/ technology and journalism. "With journalism, we have now reached success by establishing The Washington Times," Moon told Soejima in the early 80s. "We now have a direct influence on Reagan through The Washington Times."

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So what is the Unification Church really up to? In a July 13, 2004 column on WorldNet Daily, Editor Joseph Farah boasted that his syndicated radio talk show broke the news of Moons crowning in the Dirksen Building (Farah also rightly credits journalist John Gorenfeld for informing him about the event. In fact, this OldSpeak article is highly indebted to Gorenfelds reporting and research on Moon [7]. Farah also tells the story of how he, too, was "duped" into attending a Moon function in South Korea a decade ago when he was a young editor. "Imagine my shock," said Farah, "as I read along in the translation (of the speech Moon was about to give) to learn that Moon was saying that night that indeed he was the messiah. I was embarrassed to find myself sitting behind this man, perhaps, even in some small way, lending credibility to his preposterous claims. It was a lesson to me at the time on just how easy it is to be compromised." Obviously, Farah isnt the only one to have found himself compromised by Moon; to have found himself at once the beneficiary and victim of Moons ambitions. One of the UCs most effective strategies in gaining credibility as a religion has been to "compromise" as many people, organizations and institutions as possible by handing out enormous amounts of cash and straddling ideological fences. Over the years, hundreds of distinguished scholars, politicians, journalists and world leaders have found themselves supporting some idealistic cause sponsored by one of the many political, religious, cultural and social front organizations funded by Moons UC, only to find out later that their attendance at these events was being used in UC promotional materials to show that they endorsed the philosophy of the church. One of the more striking examples of the way Moon compromises people is expressed by writer Andrew Sullivan, an openly gay activist who has a regular column that runs in the Washington Times (whose owner has referred to homosexuals as "dung-eating dogs" and seeks to "purge the world" of their existence). Responding to this, Sullivan said, "Moons views are horrifying, but ... I champion gay rights and equality in a paper where they are usually unmentionable. When youre a tiny minority, purism isnt an option."

A War of Ideas and Money In a 1984 article on Moon by then-Washington Post reporter Michael Isikoff, Neal B. Blair, president of Free the Eagle, a Washington-based conservative lobbying group, said that the "Unification Church is trying to buy its way into the conservative movement. Moon says hes the son of God and the savior of the world. Its frightening. Seldom have we had a group come into this country before and have this much money to spend." Indeed, as Isikoff reports, the church has spent more than $800 million in the United States, investing more than $150 million alone in his conservative-leaning Washington Times, a publication that only grossed about $3 million a year at the time. (Today, the Times posts a loss of about $20 million annually. [8]) In addition, Isikoff reports that nearly 5,000 scholars and two dozen Nobel laureates had accepted allexpense-paid trips to conferences around the world held by such Moon-funded organizations as the International Conference of the Unity of Sciences (ICUS), the Professors World Peace Academy and the International Cultural Foundation (ICF). One Harvard sociology professor called these conferences "one of the great brilliant marketing strategies in the history of religion." And one of Moons chief political strategists confessed that the Unification Church wanted to "awaken the world to turn the tide so that this totalitarian, godless system must go. It is a total war. Basically a war of ideas. War of minds. The battlefield of the human mind. This is where the battle is fought. So in this war, the entire thing will be mobilized: political means, social means, economical means and propagandistic means. The media organization that we are setting up wants to be utilized as an instrument, an instrument of our cause, instrument of our purpose the instrument to be used by God." Two decades later, the "war" is still on, although the UCs promoters seem to have abandoned the battlefield analogy of the 80s, when they were heavily courting conservatives, and have now adopted the message of "world peace" and "unity," usually promoted by those on the far left. In the video of Moons March 23 crowning ceremony in the Dirksen Building, the announcer declares: He (Moon) has invested 33 years of his life in America and has risen from the position of servant of servants to become the King of Peace. Like the Roman Empire, 2,000 years ago, America, a Christian nation, stood with the mission of realizing Gods ideal. And spreading this ideal to the world. Now is the time for global governance centered on God. Rev. and Mrs. Moon, together with world leaders, WILL take the lead in creating a world without boundaries. Filled with true and lasting love. In his June 18 column Tension of the Times [9], Washington Post columnist David Ignatius says the Unification Churchs new emphasis on world peace and interfaith understanding, an emphasis distinctly at odds with neo-conservative philosophy and the Bush Administrations foreign policy of preemptive war, is causing tension at the Washington Times and creating a "new front" in the "battle for the soul of conservatism." Ignatius sources at the Times say that Rev. Chung Hwan Kwak, the close advisor to Moon previously mentioned in this article who organized the coronation ceremony of Moon in the Dirksen Building, is now overseeing all Unification Church publications. Although Ignatius cant point to anything definitive that the UC has done to influence Times coverage, he does uncover a growing tension, enough that Times editor Wesley Pruden felt compelled to respond. "What you're saying confirms that we operate independently," he said. "Theyve never told me to put anything in the paper or keep anything out." He then added: "I would resist any effort to change the fundamental vision under which the paper was founded." And its not the first time a Times editor has had to deal with this particular tension. In 1984, former Times editor James Whelan resigned, saying he had "blood on his hands" for helping to give credibility to the church. If that "fundamental vision" begins to change, as the statements made at Moons March crowning ceremony suggest, Ignatius suggests that Pruden and other powerful conservatives may find themselves battling their own benefactors for the soul of a newspaper that has for years been a voice for conservatives in Washington, D.C.

Trading a Cross for a Crown In addition to creating tension in the political realm, this fundamental shift in Unification Church philosophy may also be creating tension in the religious community. For example, in his July 18 column, Joseph Farah also reported on Moons strange "cross for a crown" campaign that preceded the March 23 coronation ceremony. Apparently, Moons pastors across the country have been trying to convince preachers to tear down the crosses on their church walls and replace them with the symbol of a crown. After one preacher in Massachusetts placed his churchs cross in the dumpster, he voiced Moons strange logic on the subject: The fact that the Cross is a symbol of division, shame, suffering and bloodshed proves that it is not of God but Satan. On this 18th day of April 2003, we are beginning a new history. Pastors, please, help me to bring the cross down, because it is not of God but the devil.

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Amazing as it seems, Moons "from the cross to the crown" campaign appears to be an effort to discredit the Christian symbol of the cross and replace it with the Moon symbol of the crown. As Kwak wrote in a memo posted on Moons Unification Church website, " in effect, the (Dirksen Building) crowning means America is saying to Father please become my King. the outside view of the Capitol Hill event was that Father received a crown, an award for his years of dedication to reconciliation and peacemaking. The inside view of the event was that America surrendered to True Parents" In a 1997 speech, Moon coined the phrase (or at least his translator did) "Moonize" when he said: It is said that whoever comes to America becomes assimilated within five years. The famous term "melting pot" is always used to describe America. However, Reverend Moon came to America over twenty five years ago but he has not become Americanized at all. Rather he has caused America to become Moonized. Understandably, many Christians are angered by Moons effort to discredit the cross, his claim to be the Messiah and his continuing influence in Washington. In a recent e-mail to The Rutherford Institute, Janet Upshaw of Taylors, South Carolina wondered where the outrage is at Moons coronation: So far, the Conservative Media has reported this as a hatchet job to discredit the Washington Times by Liberal Media and the Liberal Media reports it as Moons ownership of the Washington Times and UPI. No one has reported it as the outrage it was. First Moon is not the Messiah and second it is against Section 9 paragraph 8 of the Constitution.... Moon has vowed to destroy this country that he deems as sinful. He is a convicted felon. He vows to take over the UN and create a world government. This has been passed over completely by the media. Somehow a sick old woman in SC could see what the rest of the nation failed to see. Even the ACLU who is erasing Christianity from this nation failed to see the problem with a coronation in a Senate Office Building.

Where is the outrage? What is one to make of the bizarre, outrageous and often contradictory things that Rev. Moon has said over the years? Its almost too easy to find a collection of Moon statements and UC activities and paint a picture of a billionaire religious cult leader bent on corrupting lawmakers, journalists and religious leaders and taking over the world. But are these merely the benign rants of an eccentric old man with a large pocketbook? Do the heavy hitters in Washington merely suffer Moons claims to be the Messiah because hes willing to run the Washington Times at a $20 million loss every year and contribute heavily to political campaigns? Or does he have any real power to influence government and change society? In 1998, Moon formed the American Freedom Coalition to bring conservatives together to work on common goals, such as the sanctity of life, anti-communism and traditional family valuesfor which he was honored at the 2001 Inaugural Prayer Luncheon. Over the years, many conservative evangelicals have spoken at Moon-sponsored events, including Ralph Reed, Beverly LaHaye, Gary Bauer, Robert H. Schuller and Tim LaHaye. [See critique of Tim LaHayes Popular Left Behind series] According to a 1998 Christianity Today article: "Conservatives find Moon attractive because they share many of his moral and political values," said James Beverley, theology and ethics professor at Ontario Theological Seminary. "Those similarities are significant enough that questions of theological differences are put on hold." Beverley, who has studied Moon for two decades, also notes that speakers at such events often have their trips to exotic locales fully financed, in addition to receiving generous honorariums. Not all conservative evangelicals, however, are blind to the oddities of Moons tactics or unwilling to express their outrage at his ideas. In the mid-80s, conservative commentator Cal Thomas, who was then Communications Vice President for Moral Majority, attended one of Moons CAUSA seminars and was shocked by what he heard. At the end of the seminar, which had put forth the idea that Moon was the Messiah, Thomas stood up and shocked the audience by saying, "I am a follower of Jesus, who said He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life, and no man comes to the Father except by Him." And after the Inaugural Prayer Luncheon in 2001, Southern Baptist Executive Committee President Morris H. Chapman said in an interview. "I was shocked to see that Sun Myung Moon was on the program and, in essence, the host. I was even more surprised on the way out of the banquet hall to be given a propaganda book on the Unification Church. [The experience] will serve to remind evangelical Christians that the world increasingly is filled with wolves in sheeps clothing."

Rich, eccentric old man or a wolf in sheeps clothing? It all depends on who you talk to. According to Steven Alan Hassan, a licensed mental health counselor who specializes in de-programming people who have been involved in destructive cults and who operates a website with resources about such cults, Moon is anything but benign. "Moon says he wants to take over the world, where all religions will be abolished except Unificationism, all languages will be abolished except Korean, all governments will be abolished except his one-world theocracy," Hassan says. "Yet, hes wined and dined very powerful people and convinced them that hes benign." However, there are others who say the UC is in "steep decline" as a religion and that what remains is simply a large business interest. Religion experts also point out the fact that the Unification Church is not nearly as large or influential as the Mormon or Catholic Churches. "Their time ran out in the United States," said Frederick Sontag, a professor of religion at Pomona College in California who has studied Unificationism since the 1970s. "Moon's is a religion based on power, and the fact is they're not going to dominate the world. In the '60s and '70s, kids in this country were looking for something different. Now they're not." Sontag concluded that many Unificationists have stopped believing in the Divine Principle, which, as was previously mentioned, states that Moon is the Messiah sent to correct Jesus mistakes. But many Church members maintain that Moon's every word cannot be taken literally and that, like many visionaries, he often speaks in a symbolic language. In addition, Moon at times has said that all human beings can attain the spiritual status of a messiah.

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What about the good things the Unification Church has done? Indeed, its worth mentioning that not everything Moon does deserves the conspiratorial approach that so many journalists adopt when filing reports about Moon and the Unification Church. While its worth recognizing the man and the influence behind The Washington Times and UPI, is it really any different than recognizing the influence of media giants like Rupert Murdoch, Ted Turner, and Roger Ailes on their publications and television networks? Hasnt the Washington Times proved itself to be a completely respectable conservative newspaper? In addition, the Unification Church continues to provide large amounts of humanitarian aid to the needy. The church-financed International Relief Friendship Foundation, founded in 1975, has provided literally tons of food, clothing, and medical supplies to crisis stricken and developing countries around the world, and conducted thousands of humanitarian relief projectsthrough its global network of chapters and representatives. In many ways, the growth of Moons global spiritual conglomerate over the past twenty-five years seems to embody the idea of bringing humanity together into some kind of harmonious whole. The Unification Church has launched countless civic organizations around the world to promote womens rights, world peace, and traditional family values. The World's Federation for World Peace, the Family Federation for World Peace, the International Cultural Foundation, the Professors World Peace Academy, the Washington Institute for Values in Public Policy, the Summit Council for World Peace, the American Constitution Committee, and dozens of other organizations present themselves as nonpartisan, nondenominational groups. Clearly, Moons special emphasis on God and His place in our lives, on the concept of the Family and the oneness of the world's peoples, on the unity of all religions, and on the role of the prophet in bringing about change are ideas that have greatly impacted our society and the world over the last twenty-five years. In addition, his ideas about the literal unification of the worlds religions might well be seen as a major contribution to humankinds long-standing goal of moving from a world in tribal conflict to a world of universal understanding. Some Unificationists wonder what will happen to the church when Moon dies as none of Moon's children seem likely to take over the reins. But as the recent crowning ceremony shows, Moon has elevated the status of his wife, 53-year-old Hak Ja Han Moon, in church theology by referring to her as "True Mother." But will she be able to manage this largely secretive global spiritual conglomerate? Couldnt Moons empire finally fade away like so many religious movements? Not according to Moon. When asked by Prof. Sontag about the fate of his church when he dies, Moon responded by saying, "I will continue to lead the church from the spirit world."

End Notes [1] www.politics1.com/blog-0604a.htm [2]www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A19-2004Jul20?language=printer [3] www.tparents.org/library/unification/topics/traditn/3-dayceremony.htm [4] www.freeteens.org/stories/freesexnot.htm [5]www.freedomofmind.com/resourcecenter/groups/m/moonies/front_groups.htm [6]www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/national/longterm/cult/unification/religion.htm [7]http://www.gorenfeld.net/blog/ [8] www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A50909-2004Jun17.html [9]www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A50909-2004Jun17?language=printer

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