Sun Myung Moon

Sun Myung Moon
File:Sun Myung Moon 2005.jpg Sun Myung Moon in 2005.
Korean name
Hangul	문선명
Hanja	文鮮明
Revised Romanization	Mun Seon-myeong
McCune–Reischauer	Mun Sŏnmyŏng

Sun Myung Moon (born February 25, 1920; lunar: January 6, 1920) founded the Unification Church (later renamed Family Federation for World Peace and Unification) on May 1, 1954, in Seoul, South Korea. Moon's teaching is the Divine Principle, and he is the leader of the Unification Movement, which includes the Interreligious and International Federation for World Peace (IIFWP), Universal Peace Federation, and many other organizations.

Undoubtedly the most controversial aspect of Moon is the extent to which he is fulfilling a messianic role. His followers regard him as the Second Coming of Christ, a claim that non-believers generally reject - often with vehemence.

Moon is famous for holding interracial, interreligious and international mass marriage ceremonies (see Blessing Ceremony) since 1960. In the political and media world, he is well-known for founding The Washington Times newspaper in 1982. As the head of the Unification Church and a noted anti-communist, Moon has been among the most controversial modern religious leaders, and has been widely criticized.

Early biography

Life in Korea

File:Sun-Myung-Moon-Prayer.jpg

Sun Myung Moon in prayer, date unknown

Moon was born 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 had 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.

Moon was arrested in 1946 by North Korean officials. The church states that the charges stemmed from the jealousy and resentment of other church pastors after parishioners stopped tithing to their old churches upon joining Sun Myung Moon's congregation. Police beat him and left him almost dead, but a teenage disciple, Won Pil Kim, nursed him back to health.

Moon was arrested again and was given a five-year sentence in 1948 to the Hŭngnam labor camp, where prisoners were routinely worked to death on short rations. Moon credits his own survival to God's protection over his life, and his habit of saving half his meager water ration for washing the toxic chemicals off his skin after long days work bagging and loading chemical fertilizer with his bare hands. After serving 34 months of his sentence, he was released in 1950 when UN troops advanced on the camp and the guards fled.

Moon was jailed briefly on counterfeiting charges during the Korean War when, shortly after escaping from North Korea, he tried to spend some North Korean currency in South Korea. He was released after his former kindergarten teacher vouched for him. He was also charged with draft evasion; these charges were eventually dropped, after it was determined that Moon was in a North Korean prison camp during the war. Later he would explain to his followers that since he considered himself to be the True Parent of all people, he never wanted to be in a position where he would be required to kill his fellow men.

In 1954, he registered the 'Holy Spirit Association for the Unification of World Christianity' in Seoul (also known as the Unification Church).

Some sociologists and scholars of new religious movements have written that Moon's leadership of the Unification Church is based on charismatic authority.

Marriage

Moon married Hak Ja Han, his second wife, on April 11, 1960, soon after she turned 17 years old, in a ceremony called the "Holy Marriage." His first wife, with whom he has one son, had left him because of conflicts over what he saw as his messianic role. 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.

Name and forms of address

Korean name
Hangul	문용명
Hanja	文龍明
Revised Romanization	Mun Yong-myeong
McCune–Reischauer	Mun Yongmyŏng

In 1953, Moon decided that his birth name, Moon Yong Myung was not a suitable name for a Christian 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 decided to change his name to to Sun-myung. The Hanja for moon (문, 文), his surname, means "word" or "literature" in Korean. The character sun (선, 鮮), composed of "fish" and "lamb" (symbols of Christianity), means "fresh." The character myung (명, 明), composed of "sun" and "moon", (which was part of his given name), means "bright." Together, sun-myung means "make clear." So the full name can be taken to mean "the word made clear." In a speech where he explained this, he concluded, "My name is prophetic."

In the English-speaking world, Moon is often referred to as "Reverend Moon," by Unification Church members and by the general public and the media. Unification Church members most often call Moon "Father" or "True Father." Some ministers who have come to associate themselves with the Unification Movement have taken to calling him "Father Moon." Similar titles are used for his wife: "Mother", "True Mother" or "Mother Moon". "Dr. Moon" has also sometimes been used because Moon received an honorary doctorate from Shaw Divinity School.

Basic Teachings

Main article: Unification theology

Divine Principle

Main article: Divine Principle

The basic elements of Sun Myung Moon's 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.

The Three Blessings

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:

• 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
• 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.

Political ideas

Tyler Hendricks wrote:

Unificationism affirms the essence of democracy, for the Messiah will not ascend without the people's support rendered within a democratic environment. [6]

Moon opposes Communism for three main reasons: first, because of its atheistic ideology which denies the existence of God and has been used to justify the shuttering of churches and the imprisonment of religious leaders. Second, because of what Moon claims is a historically unprecedented wave of genocide perpetrated by Communist leaders, claiming 120 to 200 million lives. Third, because Communist parties which have established socialist economies thereby destroy the natural human incentive to work harder for the betterment of one's family.

Early Unification Church member Chung Hwan Kwak wrote:

In the 1960s he spoke about communism as having only 70 years to prosper, from 1917 to 1987, after which time it would decline rapidly. In 1984 he asked me to convene an international conference in Geneva on the theme, "The Fall of the Soviet Empire." Many leaders advised him not to use this title. But he insisted, and the conference, on that theme, was held. A few short years later, communism was turned upside down.

1970s

Sun Myung Moon meeting with United States President Richard Nixon at the White House.

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

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, and unite."

Congressional investigators such as 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, including a scheme to raise money for a church public-relations fund that disguised itself as a fund raiser for sick children. Congressman (later the mayor of Minneapolis) Donald M. Fraser also investigated the church's political ties. No criminal allegations came out of these congressional investigations.

The controversy over these charges had peaked in the United States by 1976 and gradually diminished as his youthful American followers settled down, got jobs or began businesses, and built links to local churches in their communities.

1980s

Sun Myung Moon and Hak Ja Han

U.S. Tax Case

Main article: Sun Myung Moon 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 13 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 Inquisition: The Persecution and Prosecution of the Reverend Sun Myung Moon'.

Other 1980s events

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.

In 1981, Moon proposed an international highway project that would reach around most of the world.

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.

In Washington, Moon found common ground with strongly anti-Communist leaders of the 1980s who supported Moon's opposition to the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics and other communist nations and his support of President Richard Nixon. He found a fellow opponent of Communism in President Ronald Reagan, and Moon spent a billion dollars during the next 20 years, most of it in the Washington D.C. area, to establish and support the influential conservative newspaper The Washington Times, which he called in 2002, 'the instrument in spreading the truth about God to the world'.

1990s

Fundraising scandal and lawsuit in Japan

In the 1990s, thousands of Japanese elderly people claimed to have been defrauded of their life savings by Moon followers' spiritual sales. Moon's church was the subject of the largest consumer fraud investigation in Japan's history in 1997 and number of subsequent court decisions awarded hundreds of millions of yen in judgments, including 37.6 million yen ($300,000) to pay two women coerced into donating their assets to the Unification Church.

Daughter-in-law's book questions role as "True Parent"

The Moons' eldest son Hyo Jin Moon had repeated problems with substance abuse, pornography, infidelity, violence, and run-ins with the law. When he was 19, Sun Myung Moon had picked a 15-year-old wife for him, Nansook Hong, who bore him 5 children. After years of abuse, she left the Moon estate with her children and in 1998 published a tell-all book, In the Shadow of the Moons: My Life in the Reverend Sun Myung Moon's Family (ISBN 0-316-34816-3). For some Unification Church members, this book was a revealing portrait of the way Sun Myung Moon and his wife had raised their children, and caused a great deal of soul-searching. (See, for example, this review of the book, written by a church member.)

Son's death

On October 27, 1999, the Moons' sixth son, Young Jin, fell to his death from the 17th floor of a Reno, Nevada, hotel. Police reports and the coroner officially recorded the death as a suicide. Moon has said that he does not believe it was a suicide [7] [8].

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

That same year Moon began his "tear down" [9], or "take down the cross" [10] 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.[11].

Rick Ross wrote, "... dozens of ministers across the country associated with the group have heeded Moon's call to take down the cross from their churches and replace it with the crown." [12]

Andrew Wilson said, "The crucifixion was not 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." [13]

Crowned by Members of United States Congress

Main article: Sun Myung Moon coronation controversy

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.

Criticism and Controversies

Interpretation of political statements

To many people, Rev. Moon's statements about the Kingdom of Heaven sound like a demand for theocracy.

Church critics such as Steven Hassan and Rick Ross say that Rev. Moon has called for a "one-world government" with Moon and Unification Church leaders at the top.

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.

Ownership of vast enterprises

Critics often describe major enterprises founded or directed by Rev. Moon as if they were his personal property. It is not Rev. Moon or his family who owns the Washington Times, for example.

Constant references to Rev. Moon as a "businessman" are misleading, according to the church, and clearly designed to discredit his stature as a religious leader. It is the church's position that a religious leader should help his followers establish profitable businesses to support the church's ecumenical work, such as interreligious peace conferences aimed at reducing political tensions in hotspots such as the Middle East; see Jerusalem Declaration, Middle East Peace Initiative.

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.

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 is not 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.

Other controversial views: church and state, Jews and the Holocaust, homosexuality, role of women

Some consider his call for unity between religion and politics is contrary to the principle of separation of church and state.

Other controversies arose over Rev. Moon's statements about the Holocaust being (in part) a "retribution" by God against Jews, a consequence of some important Jewish leaders not supporting Jesus which contributed to his murder by the Roman government (see Unification Church and anti-Semitism).

In 1997, Moon received criticism from Gay Rights activists based on comments he made in a speech to church members; "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 cannot be happy," and referred to homosexuals as "dung-eating dogs."

Broader controversy over these comments emerged in mainstream publications based on Moon's inclusion of non-homosexual Americans; "Especially American people," Moon said, "if they truly love such dogs, they also become like dung-eating dogs and produce that quality of life."

Rev. Moon's views on women as "objects" in a subject-object relationship with their husbands generated further criticism. In 1996, Moon summarized these views;[14]

"Each time you build the unity between mind and body or husband and wife, it expands to even greater levels. The first condition for fallen mankind is that of the unity between their mind and body. Upon that foundation you can build the unity between husband and wife. Who stands in the position of subject between husband and wife? (Husband.) American women have the tendency to consider that women are in the subject position. However, woman's shape is like that of a recepticle. The concave shape is a receiving shape. Whereas the convex shape symbolizes giving. When water is poured into a container does it fill from the edge of the container, or from the deepest bottom? (Deepest bottom.) Since man contains the seed of life, he should plant it in the deepest place. Does woman contain the seed of life? (No.) Absolutely not. Then if you desire to receive the seed of life you have to become an absolute object. In order to qualify as an absolute object you need to demonstrate absolute faith, love and obedience to your subject.

External links

Supportive views

• Official website about the Life and Works of Moon of the Universal Peace Federation
• Biography at Official website
• Moon's Teachings: introduction and Divine Principle (regarded as main scripture).
• Father Joseph Fichter, Jesuit sociologist The Holy Family of Father Moon
• mini-bio at US church home page
• Universal Peace Federation, aka Interreligious and International Federation for World Peace.
• Unofficial website of the Unification Church, which contains information and past speeches by Moon.
• Information about revelations/testimonies in connection with Sun Myung Moon.
• True Love King: website about Moon and his wife, the "True Parents, Messiah & Lord of the Second Advent"
• landSlide - The Unification Movement and/or Sun Myung Moon
• Moon banned from Germany - church activist argues that ban was unfair (it has since been rescinded)
• The Role of Rev. Sun Myung Moon in the Downfall of Communism
• Unification Politics in Theory and Practice by Tyler Hendricks, former US church president (now seminary president
• Article in UC sponsored wiki encyclopedia

Critical views

• Dark Side of Rev. Moon
• Bush and the Moon Men
• Dear Leader’s Paper Moon
• Moon/Bush 'Ongoing Crime Enterprise'

Neutral views

• An introduction to Unificationism (Sun Myung Moon's Unification Church) including both support and criticism from current and former Unificationists.
• Sun Myung Moon, The Early Years, 1920-53, unofficial biography by Michael Breen, a Seoul-based author and journalist.
• Holy Mackeral! Guess who controls Portland's sushi supply?