Christian faith groups

The Unification Church founded
by Rev. Sun Myung Moon

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History:

The Holy Spirit Association for the Unification of World Christianity was organized in 1954 in Seoul, South Korea by Rev. Sun Myung Moon ["One who has clarified the Truth"]. Some sources say the organization started in Pusan, not Seoul. Its followers are often called Moonies by persons outside of the Association. However, this term is considered derogatory by its members, who refer to themselves as Unificationists.

Rev. Moon was born in what is now North Korea in 1920 and was raised in the Presbyterian Church. He is a Professional Engineer by training. When he was 15 years old, at Easter, Jesus Christ appeared to him in a vision, charging him with the responsibility of completing the work in the world that Jesus had started. During his adult life he has had trouble with legal authorities, having been arrested for practicing capitalism (a crime in North Korea), charged (but not convicted) in South Korea of other activities, and convicted of tax evasion in the United States. The Presbyterian Church of Korea, in 1948, felt that his views were incompatible with traditional Christianity; they excommunicated him.

In 1957, Rev. Moon published Divine Principle which is a collection of his beliefs, as written by a member of the Church. Two years later, Young Oon Kim moved to North America as a Unification missionary to establish a church presence there. Many of the members in the US expected a type of apocalyptic event in 1967. When nothing of that nature occurred, some members became disillusioned and left the organization. In 1972, Rev. Moon moved to the United States and started a major recruitment drive. A decade later, he performed the first of many mass wedding ceremonies in which more than 2000 couples were married. In 1984, he was convicted of tax evasion in the US and sent to prison for 13 months.

On 1994-MAY-May, the Holy Spirit Association for the Unification of World Christianity celebrated their 40th anniversary in Seoul, Korea. It was a type of watershed for the movement. Reverend Moon announced the merger of all of his religious, political, cultural and business organizations, -- including the  CAUSA, Free Press International, International Cultural Foundation, International Religious Foundation, Korean Folk Ballet, Washington Times -- into a new group: the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification (FFWPU).

Reverend Moon initiated a National Messiahship program in 1995. This involves the selection of four families to lead the movement in each country. One family will be from Korea, one from Japan, one from America, France, or Great Britain, and one from Austria, Germany or Italy.

On 1999-FEB-6, the Inter-religious and International Federation for World Peace was formed. Its mission is "to implement a system through which the highest expressions of religious wisdom are brought to the table at which the world's most serious and urgent problems are being addressed ... by creating a council of religious leaders within the framework of the United Nations."

Since the fall of Communism in Europe and Russia, the Unification Church has been actively proselytizing throughout that region. They now have a presence in over 150 countries, with concentrations in Korea, Japan and the United States. Extensive missionary effort is currently underway in South America. Reverend Moon proposes the creation of the World University Foundation which will include the University of Bridgeport in the U.S. and the Sun Moon University in South Korea. A Unificationist temple is being built at Chung Pyung Workshop Centre in South Korea. It will hold 10,000 people.

Total membership is difficult to estimate, but is probably many hundreds of thousands world wide. Both the Church and its opponents have issued inflated numbers. It is probable that there are on the order of 5,000 dedicated members in the US, and a much larger number of persons affiliated in some way with the church.

Rev. Moon is the ultimate authority within the Church. The administration of Unification organizations is by a board of elders.

Beliefs:

While many of the beliefs of the Unification Church are identical to those of other conservative Christian groups, there are some major differences:

	They view God as a single being with "perfect intellect, emotion and will". They reject the traditional Christian concept of the Trinity. God contains within himself positive (male) and negative (female) aspects, which are in perfect harmony with each other.
	The Holy Spirit is the feminine counterpart to God. She is not a person, but is a form of energy that is derived from God.
	Before Adam and Eve's were married in Eden, Eve had an affair with the Archangel Lucifer. This caused the spiritual fall of mankind. She later engaged in an pre-marital sexual relationship with Adam. This caused the physical fall of mankind. Together, these illicit sexuality caused them to form an imperfect family. Their sin led to Satan taking control of the world.
	The church links Communism (the expression of Satan) with Cain and Democracy (the expression of God) with Abel.
	Jesus Christ is viewed as a unique human being who was born without original sin. After his crucifixion, he was spiritually resurrected. His body was taken by angels to an unknown location.
	God's original intent was for Jesus Christ to form a perfect marriage in order to redeem humanity, and undo the harm perpetrated by Adam and Eve. Since Jesus was executed before accomplishing his mission, it will be up to a third Adam to form this perfect marriage and complete Jesus' task.
	By his spiritual resurrection, Jesus has made possible spiritual salvation for persons who accept him as savior and believe in his message. They will, after death, live with Jesus in Paradise. However, because Jesus did not complete his original task, physical salvation is not possible on earth during one's lifetime. Complete salvation (spiritual and physical) awaits the arrival of the third Adam and his subsequent perfect marriage.
	St. Paul is viewed as the originator of Christianity. Through his expertise, he converted the teachings of Jesus concerning the kingdom of God into a formal religion about Jesus.
	Hell exists on earth. Over time, Hell will be transformed into the kingdom of heaven on earth. Hell exists in the spiritual world as well, as an extension of life for those of us who live in hell on earth.
	One of the main purposes of the Unification Church is to unite all of the fragments of Christianity into a single body.
	The third Adam was born in Korea between 1917 and 1930. (The first Adam was the individual described in Genesis; the second Adam is Jesus). He will be recognized as second coming of Christ, the perfect man. He will marry the perfect woman, and will become the "true spiritual parents of humankind". Some members of the Unification Church regard Rev. Moon and his second (and current) wife Hak Ja Han as these parents, although the Church itself has never made this claim.

Practices:

	The Unification Church is a profoundly family-centered Church. Members are expected to remain celibate during their youth. They are to subsequently marry, have children, and create an ideal family which contributes to world peace.
	The Blessing or mass wedding ceremony is the most important Unification ritual. Rev. Moon matches up each couple a month (or less) in advance, selecting from among the membership. The bride and groom are expected to marry, but can decide to opt out without disgrace. A Holy Wine Ceremony is conducted before the marriage; this purifies the couple so that they are able to have children free of Fallen Nature (resulting from original sin inherited from Adam and Eve). A special Three Day Ceremony is performed by the married couple some weeks after their wedding, before they engage in sexual activity.
	A Pledge Service is celebrated at 5 AM each Sunday, and on the first day of each month and on January 1.
	They celebrate four major seasonal days of celebration:  True God's Day,  True Parents' Day,  True Day of All Things. Chil II Jeol: Declaration Day of God's Eternal Blessing True Children's Day Foundation Day for the nation of the Unified World Dates are variable, and are set according to a lunar calendar. 7

The Church and the Counter-cult/anti-cult movements:

The Church was widely criticized (largely by conservative Christians) for its unorthodox beliefs. During the early 1970's, at a time when the membership of the Unification Church was growing rapidly, it was attacked by the Counter-cult Movement. The latter criticized its alleged unethical recruitment and brainwashing methods. This was an era when many people were inspired by the movie The Manchurian Candidate (1962) and believed that many small religious movements were turning recruits into robots, using physical and psychological manipulative techniques to destroy their free will.

An study examined 190 US newspaper articles about former members of the church during the early years of the Unification Church, 1974 to 1977. ₅ They counted 709 "atrocity tales". The most common was psychological violation of personal freedom and autonomy. Such articles were used by some to justify kidnapping Unification Church members and forcibly deprogramming them.

One focus of the counter-cult groups were the Unification residential seminars, where people were first invited to learn about the Church. These were viewed as entrapment meetings, which lured the unsuspecting visitor into a commitment to the organization. There were suggestions that once in the Church, it was difficult to get out. These criticisms do not hold up to scrutiny. Only about 10% of the visitors decided to investigate the church further. And many of these dropped out after a few weeks or months. Their methods differ little from many Evangelical / Fundamentalist groups which are also dedicated to recruitment. ₁ The rapid turnover in church membership is a good indication that the vast majority of members are not trapped in the organization. Former members now vastly outnumber the current dedicated Unificationists.

However, there is a potential negative side to membership in the Unification Church. Their core, dedicated members accept strong discipline and can develop a deep commitment to the church. They must remain celibate before marriage, abstain from tobacco and alcohol and work long hours. The group can become their whole life, the source of their religious, cultural, social, and other support systems. If they become disillusioned by some aspect of the church, this minority of unusually dedicated members can find it very difficult to leave the organization and abandon these support networks. When they do leave, they are often angry with themselves and the church, believing that they have wasted perhaps years of their life within the group. This problem is common to all high intensity denominations which require major commitment to the group. e.g. Jehovah's Witnesses, Mormons, and (for priests and nuns) the Roman Catholic Church.

There are no indications that the Unification Church is a destructive cult, similar to the religious groups that have resulted in mass murder-suicides (e.g. the People's Temple in Jonestown, Guyana, or the Solar Temple in Quebec and Switzerland). Such dangerous groups have existed and continue to exist. However, they remain a small minority of new religious groups.

Many Unificationists have been kidnapped by counter-cult "deprogrammers", forcibly confined and manipulated to destroy their allegiance to the Unification Church. These illegal deprogramming attempts continue to the present day, but at a reduced level.

Attacks on the church are ongoing. One web site refers to what it describes as "the Unification Church's years of  deceptive recruitment, destructive mind control practices, unethical fundraising practices, and manipulative religious abuse that has disrupted and destroyed many lives around the world." ₆

Unification Church Books and Publications:

The Unification Church's main religious text is the Bible. It is seen as teaching truth, but is not viewed as truth in itself. It is only a partial revelation. Rev. Moon's interpretations of Christian beliefs and additional revelations from God are contained in the book Divine Principle, which was written in Korean in 1959 and translated by Young Oon Kim in 1959. The Church publishes the Unification News, and Today's World.

They also publish a newspaper, the extreme-right wing Washington Times. According to the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC): "The Washington Times is relatively small (circulation 102,000) and money-losing (it's been estimated that its backer, the Unification Church, has spent more than $1 billion to keep it going over the past 22 years). But its influence cannot be measured in those statistics. President Reagan once described it as his favorite paper. The first President Bush said it 'in my view brings sanity to Washington, D.C'." President George W. Bush gave a personal tour for top staff of the Washington Times during 2005-JAN.

Marian Kester Coombs, wife of managing editor Francis Booth Coombs, has had at least 35 news and opinion pieces published in the Times. SPLC quotes excerpts from some of her articles:

	America  has become a "den of iniquity" because of "its efforts to accommodate minorities."
	White men should "run, not walk" to wed "racially conscious" white women and avoid being out-bred by non-whites.
	Latinos are "rising to take this country away from those who made it...[the] Euroamericans."
	Muslims are "human hyenas" who "smell blood" and are "closing in" on their "weakened prey," meaning "the white race."
	Blacks, are "saintly victims who can do no wrong."
	Black solidarity and non-white immigration are imposing "racial revolution and decomposition" in America.
	The whole of human history as "the struggle of ... races."
	Non-white immigration is "importing poverty and revolution" that will end in "the eventual loss of sovereign American territory."
	Muslims In England "are turning life in this once pleasant land into a misery for its native inhabitants."

According to the SPLC, the Washington TImes has published articles taken from white supremacist hate groups, anti-Semitic ads for a book called "For Fear of the Jews," and an ad from a key Holocaust denial group. ₈

Conflict of interest declaration:

The author of this essay was able to attend a convention on religious tolerance and freedom in Washington during the 1990s. The meeting was sponsored by the Washington Times, which is owned by the Unification Church. Airline fares, meals and accommodation were heavily subsidized by the Times.

References used:

1. E. Barker, "Free to Choose? Some Thoughts on the Unification Church and other Religious Movements, Part 1", Clergy Review, 1980-OCT, P. 365-368
2. T. Miller, "America's Alternative Religions", SUNY Press, Albany NY, (1995), P. 223-229
3. G.A. Mather & L.A. Nichols, "Dictionary of Cults, Sects, Religions and the Occult", Zondervan Publishing, Grand Rapids MI, (1993), P. 281-286
4. J.G.Melton, Ed., "The Encyclopedia of American Religions, V. II", Triumph Books, Tarrytown NY, (1991), P. 320-322. "Divine Principle", Holy Spirit Association for the Unification of World Christianity, New York NY, (1973)
5. D.G. Bromley, A.D. Shupe, Jr., & J.C. Ventimiglia, J.C., "Atrocity tales: the Unification Church and the Social Construction of Evil, Journal of Communication, Vol. 29(3) 1979-Summer Pages 42-53.
6. "The Unification Church," at: http://www.spiritwatch.org/unchurch.htm 
7. Kathryn Coman, "Unificationist Calendar," at: http://kathryncoman.home.att.net/calendarintro.htm
8. Heidi Beirich & Mark Potok, "The News That Fits. Long criticized for its brand of journalism, The Washington Times makes a habit of publishing the work of extremists..." Intelligence Report, Southern Poverty Law Center, 2005-FEB-09, at: http://www.splcenter.org/

Internet References:

	The Unification Church's official home page is at:  http://unification.org/
	A slide presentation titled "Divine Principle - An Introduction: Revelations for the New Millennium and Beyond," is at: http://members.tripod.com/~jho2/
	Some unofficial Unification Church home pages are: Damian Anderson: "Unification Home Page," at: http://www.unification.net/ HSA-UWC, "Welcome to the Unification Church," at: http://www.tongil.org/ "Welcome to the Unification Theological Seminary," at: http://www.uts.edu/ Gary Fleisher, "True Parents Organization," at: http://www.tparents.org/
	An analysis by CESNUR -- an agency which studies new religious movements: "Reverend Moon's Unification Church," http://www.cesnur.org/testi/se_moon.htm
	Some counter-cult, anti-cult and anti-Unification sites of varying degrees of objectivity are: Craig Maxim, "My Life with Sun Myung Moon," at: http://www.xmooinies.com New Covenant Publications at: http://www.newcovpub.com/ Cultwatch, "Select a Cult," at: http://www.cultwatch.com/pickcult.htm (Temporarily off line as of 2001-AUG-14)
	Although the constitution of Singapore guarantees religious freedom to its citizens, it has banned the Unification Church. See: "Infringement of Religious Freedom" at: http://members.tripod.com/~teopl/ and "MERCILESS REPATRIATION " at:  http://members.tripod.com/~limcm

Copyright © 1996 to 2009, by Ontario Consultants on Religious Tolerance
Latest update: 2009-APR-20
Author: B.A. Robinson

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