Sun Myung Moon Totally Explained

Everything about Sun Myung Moon totally explained

Sun Myung Moon (born January 6 1920) is the founder and leader of the world-wide Unification Church and of the larger Unification Movement which owns, operates or subsidizes many organizations involved in political, cultural, mass-media, and other activities. One of the best known of these is the Washington Times newspaper.
Moon has said he's the Second Coming of Christ, the "Savior", "returning Lord", and "True Parent". He teaches that all people should become perfected like Jesus and like himself, and that as such he "appears in the world as the substantial body of God Himself." He is well-known for holding Blessing ceremonies, which are often called "mass weddings".
Moon has been among the most controversial modern religious leaders. He and his followers have been widely criticized, both for their religious beliefs and for their social and political activism.

Early biography

Life in Korea

Moon was born on January 6, 1920 in Sangsa-ri (上思里, lit. "high-thought village"), Deogun-myon, Jeongju-gun, North P'yŏng'an Province, Korea (now in North Korea) to Moon Kyung-yoo and Kim Kyung-gye. The Moon family held traditional Confucianist beliefs, but converted to Christianity and joined the Presbyterian Church when he was around 10 years old. Moon taught Sunday school for the church.
   On April 17 1935, when he was 16 (in Korean age reckoning), Moon says he'd a vision or revelation of Jesus while praying atop a small mountain. He says that Jesus asked him to complete the unfinished task of establishing God's kingdom on Earth and bring peace to the world. (See Controversy over mission of Jesus below.)
   Moon's high school years were spent at a boys' boarding school in Seoul, and later in Japan, where he studied electrical engineering. During this time he studied the Bible and developed his own interpretation of it. After the end of World War II he returned to Korea and began preaching his message.
   Technically, Moon was still married to his first wife when he began a relationship with his second (common law) wife Myung Hee Kim, who gave birth to a son named Hee Jin Moon (who was killed in a train accident). The church doesn't regard this as infidelity, but rather part of God's "providential" plan.
   Moon married his third wife, Hak Ja Han, on April 11 1960, soon after she turned 17 years old, in a ceremony called the "Holy Marriage." Han, called "Mother" or "True Mother" by followers, and her husband together are referred to as the "True Parents" by members of the Unification Church.
   Hak Ja Han gave birth to 14 children; her second daughter died in infancy. The family is known in the church as the "True Family" and the children as the "True Children." Shortly after their marriage they presided over a Blessing Ceremony for 36 couples, the first of many such ceremonies. Nansook Hong, ex-wife of Hyo Jin Moon, Sun Myung Moon's eldest son, said in her 1998 book, that both Sun Myung Moon and Hak Ja Han told her about Moon's extramarital affairs (which she said he called "providential affairs"), including one which resulted in the birth of a boy raised by a church leader, named by Sun Myung Moon's daughter Un Jin Moon on the news show 60 Minutes.
   In 1993 Chung Hwa Pak released the book Roku Maria no Higeki (Tragedy of the Six Marys). The book contained allegations that Moon conducted sex rituals among six married female disciples ("The Six Marys") who were to have prepared the way for the virgin who would marry Moon and become the True Mother. Chung Hwa Pak had left the movement when the book was published and later withdrew the book from print when he rejoined the Unification Church. Before his death Chung Hwa Pak published a second book, The Apostate, and recanted all allegations made in Roku Maria no Higeki.

Name and titles

In 1953, Moon decided that his birth name, Mun Yong Myong wasn't a suitable name for an evangelist because Yong, which means dragon, might be interpreted by Christians as referring to the serpent, devil, or the antichrist of the Book of Revelation as opposed to the benevolent creature of Korean mythology. So, he changed his name to to Son-myong (which he spelled "Sun Myung").
In the English-speaking world, Moon is often referred to as "Reverend Moon" by Unification Church members, as well as by the general public and the media. Unification Church members most often call Moon "Father" or "True Father." He is also sometimes called "Father Moon," mostly by some non-members involved with Unificationist projects. Similar titles are used for his wife: "Mother", "True Mother", or "Mother Moon". "Dr. Moon" has also occasionally been used because Moon received an honorary doctorate from the Shaw Divinity School of Shaw University.

Basic teachings

Moon's main teachings are contained in the book Divine Principle (retranslated in 1996 as Discourse on Divine Principle). Arranged according to Systematic theology, the book is divided into "Principle of Creation", "Fall of Man" and the "History of Restoration" (this third part makes up the bulk of the book).
   The basic elements of Divine Principle were first written down in the early 1950s. The Divine Principle consists of Rev. Moon's interpretation of the Bible and Judeo-Christian history and reflect elements of Confucianism, which formed the background for Moon's early education.
   One of the key concepts in the Divine Principle is found in Rev. Moon's interpretation of Genesis 1:28, "Be fruitful and multiply… and have dominion over the fish of the sea…" as constituting the "Three Blessings" that represent God's command to all human beings: ť *To grow to healthy maturity in body and spirit, where the body and spirit are integrated in mutual benefit and live in relation to the creator God, and for the sake of others;

   *To establish an ideal family and expand that to instantiate true family love to all levels of social expansion, again always in relation to the creator God; and ť *To maintain responsible stewardship of the earth and all of nature, and live a joyful and abundant physical life in preparation for an even more fantastic joy and abundance in eternal spiritual life.

Principle of Creation

Other fundamental ideas include the principle that everything in the universe, as a reflection of God's nature, has equal and complementary paired attributes; male and female (biology), positive and negative (particle physics), yin and yang (philosophy) and so on. Reciprocal interaction between these paired elements is essential to life, survival and growth. Also, everything in creation has an internal "character" and an external "form" or manifestation. In people the analogy is expressed as the spiritual mind and the physical body, and in simpler forms of life and non-life, simpler levels of character and form.

Fall and Restoration

Rev. Moon teaches that before the first human beings were able to grow into a natural completion of their relationship with God they sinned through a misuse of love. Thus they experienced separation from God and from their original, pure nature.
Thus the messiah comes as "true Adam" to restore what the first ancestors should have achieved, to restore all people to a sinless state and to build the kingdom of God on earth. Largely because of the failure of John the Baptist, Jesus accomplished only the first part of this spiritual salvation, so a new messiah must appear from Korea to finish the work.

Philosophy

A systematic philosophical presentation of Moon's ideas is contained in various books on "Unification Thought".

Political ideas

Moon's teachings have political ramifications, primarily based on his idea that spiritual principles should be put into practice in the real world. He opposes atheistic Communism, primarily on theological grounds. His stand on social issues is based on his interpretation of sin, and is similar to a very conservative Christian morality. He calls for the literal establishment of a kingdom of God on earth.

1970s

Move to the U.S.

In 1971 Moon moved to the United States, which he'd first visited in 1965, to live. He maintained a residence in South Korea and traveled between the two countries.

Support for Nixon

In 1974 he came to national media and public attention when he supported President Richard Nixon during the Watergate scandal, urging Americans to "forgive, love, unite."

Public speeches

In the 1970s Moon, who had seldom spoken to the general public before, gave a series of public speeches to large audiences in the United States, Japan, and South Korea. The largest were a rally in 1975 against North Korean aggression in Seoul with around a million people attending and a speech in Washington D.C. with around 300,000 attending. Congressman Robert Boettcher (in his book Gifts of Deceit: Sun Myung Moon, Tongsun Park, and the Korean Scandal published by Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1980) reported what they described as breathtaking financial misdoing. No criminal indictments came out of these congressional investigations.

1980s

U.S. tax case

In 1982 Moon was convicted by the U.S. government for filing false federal income tax returns and conspiracy. His conviction was upheld on appeal in a split decision. He was given a prison sentence and spent 18 months in the Federal Correctional Institution in Danbury, Connecticut. Many individuals, organizations and religious figures protested the charges, saying that they were unjust and threatened freedom of religion and free speech. Based on this case, reporter Carlton Sherwood wrote the book .

Support for Ronald Reagan

In 1980 Moon indirectly supported the campaign of Ronald Reagan for United States President. He asked the church owned New York newspaper News World to print a headline saying "Reagan Landslide" on the day of the election, before the outcome was known. This was said to influence the voting when it was shown on television being held up by Reagan.

Death and "return" of second son

The second son of Hak Ja Han and Moon, Heung-Jin Moon, died on January 2 1984 from injuries suffered in a car crash in December 1983. Moon ascribed great importance to his death, and Heung-Jin Moon is officially regarded to be the "king of the spirits" in heaven, and is now said to be conducting seminars in heaven for departed souls. For several years church members "channeled" his spirit, and in 1987-8 a Zimbabwean member who became known as "the Black Heung Jin Nim" was accepted by Moon and his family as Heung Jin Moon's continuous channel, and toured the world giving speeches, getting confessions, and subjecting some members to beatings. Long-time member Damian Anderson reports seeing him "knock people's heads together, hit them viciously with a baseball bat, smack them around the head, punch them, and handcuff them with golden handcuffs"

and describes the "brute force applied to stop people leaving the event, or the building, and imprisoning protesters by force and with handcuffs in isolation."
Nansook Hong recounts: "No one outside the True Family was immune from the beatings.... Soon the mistresses he acquired were so numerous and the beatings he administered so severe that members began to complain. He beat Bo Hi Pak - a man in his sixties - so badly that he was hospitalized for a week in Georgetown Hospital." Washington Post staff writer Michael Isikoff reported that "Later, Pak underwent surgery in South Korea to repair a blood vessel in his skull, according to Times executives."

Founding The Washington Times

In Washington, Moon found common ground with strongly anti-Communist leaders of the 1980s, including President Ronald Reagan. Using Unification Church funds in 1982, Moon, Bo Hi Pak, and other church leaders founded The Washington Times. During the next 20 years Moon spent a billion dollars on the paper, most of it in the Washington D.C. area, to establish and support what he called "the instrument in spreading the truth about God to the world". More recent estimates of Moon's ongoing subsidies of Unification Church owned media, which now include United Press International and Insight Magazine, have exceeded three billion dollars in the US alone.
Critics assert that Moon has used Unification Church media assets as political propaganda tools, to act in support of Moon's political agenda, including Rev. Moon's stated goal of establishing the United Nations as a theocratic one-world government, with "True Parents" in the role of Secretary-General "in eternity".

Opposition to the Soviet Union

In 1976, Moon told church members that one day he'd organize "a great rally for God in the Soviet Capital." In 1980 Moon founded the anti-communist organization CAUSA. In August 1985 the Professors World Peace Academy, an organization founded by Moon, sponsored a conference in Geneva to debate the theme "The situation in the world after the fall of the communist empire." This topic was suggested by Moon. In August 1987 the Unification Church student association CARP led 3,000 young demonstrators in Berlin, who asked communist leaders to bring down the Berlin Wall. Massimo Introvigne, who has studied the Unfication Church and other new religious movements, has said that after the disestablishment of the Soviet Union in 1991, Moon has made anti-communism much less of a priority.

2000s

In 2000 Moon joined Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan in sponsoring the Million Family March in Washington D.C., a follow-up event to the Million Man March held in 1995.
   In January 2001 Moon sponsored newly elected president George W. Bush's Inaugural Prayer Luncheon for Unity and Renewal.
   In 2001 the now excommunicated Roman Catholic Archbishop Emmanuel Milingo was married to Maria Sung, a Korean acupuncturist, by Moon. This attracted worldwide media attention.
   In February 2003, Moon and Han reaffirmed their wedding vows after 43 years of marriage in a ceremony named the 'Holy Marriage Blessing Ceremony of the Parents of Heaven and Earth.'

Campaign to replace the Cross with a Crown

In 2003 Moon began his "tear down", or "take down the cross" campaign. The campaign was begun in the belief that the cross is a reminder of Jesus' pain and has been a source of division between people of different faiths. The campaign included a burial ceremony for the cross and a crown to be put in its place. The American Clergy Leadership Conference (ACLC), an interfaith group founded by Moon, spearheaded the effort, calling the cross a symbol of oppression and perceived superiority.
Unification Church member and theologian Andrew Wilson said, "The crucifixion wasn't something that God loves, but something that God hates. It hurts every time he sees people glorifying the cross, which was the instrument of execution used to kill his beloved son."
Michael Schwartz, a spokesperson for the Christian advocacy organization Concerned Women for America, responded: "Just imagine if some misguided Christian were to suggest that the Jews have to take away their symbol and the Muslims would have to take away their symbol, not display it in public any longer. That would be identified instantly as a statement of intolerance. Reconciliation and peace don't grow out of intolerance."

Coronation by Members of United States Congress

In 2004, at a March 23 ceremony in the Dirksen Senate Office Building, U.S. Rep. Danny K. Davis (D-Ill.) wore white gloves and carried a pillow holding an ornate crown that was placed on Moon's head.
Moon delivered a long speech in which he stated that he was "sent to Earth . . . to save the world's six billion people. . . . Emperors, kings and presidents . . . have declared to all Heaven and Earth that Reverend Sun Myung Moon is none other than humanity's Savior, Messiah, Returning Lord and True Parent."

120-city world speaking tour

On September 12 2005, at the age of 85, Moon inaugurated the Universal Peace Federation with a 120-city world speaking tour. At each city, Moon delivered his speech titled "God's Ideal Family - the Model for World Peace".

Daughter on Survival of the Richest

In 2006 the Moons' daughter, Yeon Jin (nicknamed Kat), was a contestant on the WB network show, Survival of the Richest.

Successor

In April 2008, Moon (then 88 years old) appointed his youngest son Hyung Jin Moon to be the new leader of the Unification Church and the world-wide Unification Movement, saying, "I hope everyone helps him so that he may fulfil his duty as the successor of the True Parents."

Criticism and controversies

Cult of personality

Sun Myung Moon's movement is widely seen as a cult, with Moon as "messiah" and the proclaimed "divinity" of his family as the focus. Moon is known as the "True Father," his wife as the "True Mother," (together as the "True Parents"), and their children as the "True Children" (collectively as the "True Family"). In her 1998 book In the Shadow of the Moons, Nansook Hong, ex-wife of Sun Myung Moon's eldest son Hyo Jin Moon, (who lived with the Moon family for 15 years) say the leader and his family live a "lavish" lifestyle and that Sun Myung Moon is treated like a god. When greeting Moon indoors members bow "dropping to their knees and touching their foreheads to the floor," normally followed by a sermon of several hours while most members sit on the floor.
However, Peter Maass, in an article in The New Yorker, wrote: ť There are, certainly, differing degrees of devotion among Moon's followers; the fact that they bow at the right moment or shout "Mansei!" in unison doesn't mean they believe everything Moon says, or do precisely what he commands. Even on important issues, like Moon's claiming to be the messiah, there are church members whom I met, including a close aide to Moon, who demur. A religious leader whom they respect and whose theology they believe, yes; the messiah, perhaps not.

Abuse of money

Critics contrast Moon's "opulent" personal lifestyle with that of church members who are asked to sacrifice both in their careers and in donating most of what little they have. The Moon family situation is described as one of "luxury and privilege" and as "lavish".

Home for the True Family was a guarded 18-acre mini-castle in Irvington, New York, a tony suburb located along a sweep of the Hudson River. Named East Garden, after Eden, the estate included two smaller houses and a three-story brick mansion with 12 bedrooms, seven baths, a bowling alley, and a dining room equipped with a waterfall and pond. There were other castles and mansions too — in South Korea, Germany, Scotland, England — and few expenses were spared. The children had tutors from Japan, purebred horses, motorbikes, sports cars, and first-class vacations with blank-check spending. "The kids got whatever they wanted," says Donna Collins, who grew up in the church. "At one point, the Moon kids were each getting $40,000 or $50,000 a month for allowance. They had wads of cash. I remember once in London where [oneof Justin’s sisters] spent like $2,000 a day; I saw a drawer filled with Rolexes and diamonds."

Moon controls major business enterprises, including The Washington Times, the United Press International, and Pyeonghwa Motors. A small sampling of other operations include computers and religious icons in Japan, seafood in Alaska, weapons and ginseng in Korea, huge tracts of land in South America, a recording studio and travel agency in Manhattan, a horse farm in Texas and a golf course in California.

Theocracy

To many people Rev. Moon's statements about the Kingdom of Heaven sound like a demand for theocracy. Church critics point to Moon's own statements: Steven Hassan says "Moon's stated ambitions include the establishment of a one-world government run as an automatic theocracy by Moon and his leaders." Rick Ross asserts "When Moon talks about a 'Kingdom of Heaven on Earth' imagine a one-world government run under his 'direction,' set up as a dictatorship much like the 'cult' he rules."
Rev. Moon said,

"I established the Women's Federation, Religious Federation, Youth Federation, and all these federations to work with the United Nations for world peace. The day that the United Nations declares True Parents' Day to the world, the entire world will celebrate. Also United Nations should invite True Parents to take the position of Secretary-General in eternity."

His position on the First Amendment prohibition against any law respecting an establishment of religion is unclear. Rev. Moon has frequently relied on First Amendment protections in various legal matters relating to himself or the Unification Church, but he also teaches that religion and politics are inseparable entities. Some consider his call for unity between religion and politics contrary to the principle of separation of church and state.

Political donations, influence, and credibility

Some commentators, including American independent journalist Robert Parry, have said that Moon, although he's never run for political office, has an extensive history of making political donations through the various organizations such as the Women’s Federation for World Peace and the Washington Times Foundation, with his money flowing through the Christian right in particular.
In the mid-1990s former United States President George H. W. Bush accepted millions of dollars from Moon's Women’s Federation for World Peace to speak on Moon's behalf around the world, a fact that Moon and the Unification Church have widely publicised, particularly in efforts to improve the image of the Unification Church outside the US. While discussing one of Bush's trips (a 1995 tour of Japan), Bo Hi Pak said: ť "Then George and Barbara Bush went to Fukuoka, the capital of Kyushu. The people of Kyushu were flabbergasted at Father and Mother's power to tell a U.S. president what to do and plan his schedule. Incredible. This completely changed the attitude of the Japanese government and media toward the Unification community."

In June 2006 the Houston Chronicle reported that in 2004 Moon’s Washington Times Foundation gave $1 million to the Greater Houston Community Foundation, which made donations to the George Bush Presidential Library.
According to insiders, much of the effort is to buy respectability:

"The idea was that we'd be like Disney, controlling all kinds of media, working on behalf of God," said Ron Paquette, who was president of Manhattan Center Studios, the church's New York recording facility, until he left the faith in 1994. Paquette, whose job gave him access to financial information about several church-related businesses, said he believes virtually none of Unification's U.S. operations is profitable. "A lot of the stuff they do is for prestige, so they can show President Bush our dance academy and our newspaper," Paquette said. "The idea is to bring Bush in, use his name and picture, buy Moon credibility."

The Watchman Fellowship criticized Moon for hiring well-known celebrities to speak at events that he sponsors in order to gain credibility for himself and his organization. Among them have been Maureen Reagan (daughter of former President Ronald Reagan); former President Gerald Ford; George and Barbara Bush; comedian Bill Cosby; Marilyn Quayle (wife of former vice-president Dan Quayle); Republican vice-presidential candidate, Jack Kemp; Olympic gold medalist and speed skater, Dan Jansen; the widow of the late Martin Luther King, Jr., Coretta Scott King; civil rights activists, Ralph Abernathy and Joseph Lowery; ABC News anchorwoman, Barbara Walters; astronaut, Sally Ride; former British Prime Minister, Edward Heath; Robert Schuller, Senior Pastor of the Crystal Cathedral; Ralph Reed, executive director of the Christian Coalition; Beverly LaHaye, president of Concerned Women of America; and singer Pat Boone.

Church role in munitions manufacturing

Church-related businesses engaged in munitions manufacturing in South Korea during the 1960s, as charged in a U.S. Congressional Report on the Unification Church from 1978.
According to the same report, "a Moon Organization business" was involved in weapons manufacture and "is an important defense contractor in Korea. It is involved in the production of M-16 rifles, antiaircraft guns, and other weapons." The report also said that

"[o]f particular concern is the Moon Organization’s involvement in the production and sale of M-16 rifles and other weapons provided to Korea under U.S. aid programs and subject to the Arms Export Control Act. In late 1977, Moon Organization representatives tried to renegotiate a coproduction agreement between Colt Industries and the ROK Government. The circumstances suggested they were secret envoys of the Korean Government which, under the coproduction agreement, has exclusive control over M-16 production. Although the ROK Government said it wanted to produce 300,000 extra M-16s because of the need to equip its own forces, Moon Organization tried to get Colt’s agreement to export guns to third countries."

Moon's fourth son, Kook Jin "Justin" Moon founded Kahr Arms, a small-arms company based in Blauvelt, New York with a factory in Worcester, Massachusetts.
According to the Washington Post, "Some former members and gun industry critics perceive a contradiction between the church's teachings and its corporate involvement in marketing weapons promoted for their concealability and lethality."

Prison terms

Opponents often cite the fact that Moon has served time in prison on tax charges and was banned from traveling to some countries as proof that he isn't a legitimate religious leader. Moon's supporters dismiss the prison terms and travel bans as examples of persecution, arguing in particular that Jesus himself was persecuted and ultimately executed by the Roman government.
In 2006 the German High Court reversed an earlier Schengen Agreement listing. Moon is now allowed entry into its implementing nations.

Homosexuality

In 1997 Moon received criticism from gay rights advocates based on comments he made in a speech to church members, in which he said: "What is the meaning of lesbians and homosexuals? That is the place where all different kinds of dung collect. We have to end that behavior. When this kind of dirty relationship is taking place between human beings, God can't be happy," and referred to homosexuals as "dung-eating dogs." He also said in 2007 that "free sex and homosexuality both are the madness of the lowest of the human race," and that God detests such behavior the most, while Satan lauds such decadent behavior the most.

Jews and the Holocaust

Other controversies arose over Moon's statements about the Holocaust being (in part) "indemnity" (restitution) owed by the Jews, a consequence of Jewish leaders not supporting Jesus, which contributed to his murder by the Roman government.

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