Talk:Unification Church/Archive 4

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Archive 1 Archive 2 Archive 3 Archive 4

Esotericism

Someone removed the material I had added in the controversy section on esotericism, that is having teachings that are secret from the public. This has been a common criticism of the UC. There were four good sources provided, one published by the Unification Seminary. Borock (talk) 14:59, 21 March 2013 (UTC)

I don't see why it was removed. It should be there with the other criticisms. I will see if I can find more material. Kitfoxxe (talk) 16:04, 23 March 2013 (UTC)
Here are the sources for the paragraph, mostly scholarly in contrast to the popular news media sources which you see in most of the rest of the article. I think this shows the topic is taken seriously:
    • Evangelical-Unification Dialogue (Conference series - Unification Theological Seminary ; no. 3) Richard Quebedeaux, Rodney Sawatsky, Paragon House, 1979, ISBN-10: 093289402X, pages 77-99.
    • Frederick Sontag,1977, Sun Myung Moon and the Unification Church, Abingdon Press, ISBN-10: 0687406226, page 185.
    • Irving Louis Horowitz, 1978, Science, Sin, and Scholarship: The Politics of Reverend Moon and the Unification Church, MIT Press, ISBN 0262081008, page 114
    • Tingle, D. and Fordyce, R. 1979, The Phases and Faces of the Moon: A Critical Examination of the Unification Church and Its Principles, Hicksville, New York: Exposition Press ISBN 0682492647, p20-21
    • George D. Chryssides, "Unificationism: A study in religious syncretism", Chapter 14 in Religion: empirical studies, Editor: Steven Sutcliffe, Ashgate Publishing, Ltd., 2004, ISBN 0-7546-4158-9, ISBN 978-0-7546-4158-2, page 232. - Kitfoxxe (talk) 00:22, 25 March 2013 (UTC)
I think it should be mentioned, though may be not under the controversy section or may under a new "Historical controversies" section. I also read thjat the secrecy is not strictly enforced in Making of a moonie, but Eileen Barker does not use the term esotericism. It is not true that all religions have secret teachings. Andries (talk) 18:53, 30 March 2013 (UTC)
I believe it should be mentioned. Certainly, if Eileen Barker (who has defended the organization against charges of brainwashing) mentions the secrecy in her book, then we are not being overly critical if we mention it in the article. The four scholarly sources that have been cited shows that this is notable. While there have been some gnostic religions known for their esoteric doctrines, I don't think that most Christian denominations have secret teachings that have not been published.
WP:Attack only applies to entire articles dedicated to attacking a person or organization, not to one little sub-section of an article.
If someone has access to Barker's book, we can add that the secrecy was not strictly enforced, along with anything else in the book that would be worthwhile.
I see that all of the sources that are critical were published in the late 1970's, and (according to the deleted paragraph) since the 1990's many of the esoteric texts have been published online. Unless we can add critical sources that are more recent, we should begin the first sentence of the paragraph by giving the reader some sense that these criticisms were common in the late 1970's.Dulcimermusic 03:15, 27 May 2013 (UTC)JDefauw

History section

There is already an article History of the Unification Church, linked as the main article for this section. At least some of the minor events should be removed from this section and put there if they are not already. Steve Dufour (talk) 17:09, 2 April 2013 (UTC)

Related organizations

I am working on this section so that it focuses more on notable organizations.Borock (talk) 19:11, 5 August 2013 (UTC)

Symbol as Variant of Japanese Rising Sun?

Unification Church symbol seems like a variant of the World War 2 Japanese Imperial Battle Flag, with which their doctrines are congruent as it relates to social doctrine and anti-communist orientation (anti-Comintern Axis).

Probably not. However if you can find a reliable source that claims this go ahead and mention it in the section on the symbol.Borock (talk) 16:59, 17 November 2013 (UTC)

There is not such thing as a Japanese Imperial Battle Flag.

"Brainwashing"

Numerous publicans and experts have roundly criticised this group as a cult. Is anyone going to raise a large objection of I insert information from these sources in here? This article seems ridiculously biased. PanydThe muffin is not subtle 09:41, 11 July 2014 (UTC)

I remember reading this article several years ago, and it was more balanced, with controversial facts cited with footnotes throughout the article. It looks as though these have been systematically removed, and any hint of criticism sequestered to the "Controversy" section. The lead/introduction (and every other section!) now sound exactly like what we might expect from the Unification Church's own literature. Is this similar to what happened to the article on Scientology, which was manipulated by Scientologists to be more favorable and to remove all criticism (for which they were banned)? DrSocPsych (talk) 20:38, 20 November 2014 (UTC)
Looking back at the Talk pages in the Archive, this same issue that I raised has been an ongoing complaint for years of editors coming to this page, that material in this article is systematically changed to make it sound more favorable about the church. Further, these editors cite many specific instances of Unification Church members deleting material deemed negative, including well-sourced material. DrSocPsych (talk) 21:40, 25 November 2014 (UTC)
...well, they do. I'm watching it now but editing it seems pointless. PanydThe muffin is not subtle 00:07, 26 November 2014 (UTC)

There is quite a bit of criticism in the secondary articles, which are linked in the criticism section. Part of the issue is that the main things the "Moonies" have been criticized for (religious heresy, anti-communism, and just general weirdness) are not looked at so negatively here as in the main-stream. Kitfoxxe (talk) 18:33, 29 December 2014 (UTC)

I would not object if the "Controversy" section was split up and items were put into the "History" section. I'm not quite sure why the controversy section was started in the first place. Controversy has been a major part of Unification Church history all along, and it might be argued the most notable part. Kitfoxxe (talk) 17:49, 4 March 2015 (UTC)
Go ahead if you want to do that. DrSocPsych seems to agree with you from what he said above. I think the controversy section was started because someone objected that the controversy was hard to find in the article. Something should also be added about it in the lede. Borock (talk) 17:59, 4 March 2015 (UTC)
I agree too. I will start working on it. If someone objects my edits can be reverted. Skylark777 (talk) 05:47, 6 March 2015 (UTC)
I will merge the "Political activities" section, for the same reasons. Kitfoxxe (talk) 06:05, 8 March 2015 (UTC)

In my younger years (in the 70's), I was close with a young woman who was a former Moonie. She escaped from their control by requesting permission to attend her mother's funeral. She only received this permission because she had progressive responsibilities in the organization. This young woman subsequently disappeared and no one I knew (including her best friend) ever heard from hear again. The degree of control exhibited over members of this organization definitely puts the "Unification Church" in the definition of a cult. The article on this organization is extremely biased towards the positive, so much that it is largely ridiculous propaganda. There is too much secrecy and control within this organization to view the article seriously. Doctorgood (talk) 16:51, 30 April 2015 (UTC)

New stuff goes at the bottom. Do you have mainstream academic or journalistic sources to cite? Because that's how Wikipedia determines article content, not anecdotal stories. Ian.thomson (talk) 17:51, 30 April 2015 (UTC)

This is unbelievable. It is extremely obvious that there have been massive efforts to remove critical information and/or bury it within irrelevant information. For one, the book "Combatting Cult Mind Control" (1988) by Steve Hassan would really deserve at least a mention on this page, as it is mainly about the Unification Church. If there are things disagreeable about that book, that can be stated alongside with it. But the book is definitely believable enough to be quoted and obviously of public interest concerning the unification church. Please, Please realize this: The FACT that it ISN'T EVEN MENTIONED pretty much proves that this article is a manipulated. In fact most of the critical biographical literature is left out. A shame for wikipedia.

Even if we ignore the countless biographies of people leaving the unification church telling about the abuse and pressure, this group remains dangerous. The easily acquirable fact, that the group at its core advocates a dictatorial theocracy and members are advised to lie and cheat for the benefit of the group, is enough to make it a (dangerous) cult. As if moons stances on homosexuality weren't enough... He considers homosexuals to be "dirty dung-eating dogs". I'm too lazy to quote where that came from, his minions will just delete it anyways. How bout (for once) taking responsibility and researching for yourself instead of putting all your energy into blind obedience and ignorance? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 77.2.40.47 (talk) 14:34, 23 September 2018 (UTC)

Global perspective

Most of the article is about the UC in the United States and South Korea, including most of the controversy and almost all of the related organizations. Steve Dufour (talk) 19:15, 5 April 2015 (UTC)

The church in the Philippines is mentioned in the second sentence.Kitfoxxe (talk) 01:53, 9 June 2015 (UTC)

1990s section

This section is kind of slim. How about merging it with the previous "international expansion" section which covers the 70s and 80s? Kitfoxxe (talk) 05:02, 26 August 2015 (UTC)

I don't see a problem with that. I also don't see how it would make much difference to the article.Borock (talk) 05:24, 26 August 2015 (UTC)
Thanks for the suggestion. I went ahead and did the merge. Not that drastic a change, as Borock said. BayShrimp (talk) 13:55, 26 August 2015 (UTC)

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This article reads like propaganda

As many other people here have noted, huge chunks of this article read like a propaganda piece. While the Unification Church of the United States article has fairly good sections on the major controversies the church went through, here all aspects which make the church look bad are either removed or lumped in further in the article, with no mention in the header or subsection titles. Meanwhile the other ~80% of the page is worded in the same way you'd expect from their leaflets. Therefore I'm putting a neutrality tag on this article until some of the main issues are resolved. Sarcastic Bob (talk) 10:25, 12 March 2015 (UTC)

Until a few days ago there was a "Controversy" section. It was then split up and the material put mostly in the history section, which is the main part of the article. Was it better before? I don't think it makes that much difference. Borock (talk) 15:06, 12 March 2015 (UTC)
I expanded the controversy mentioned in the lede. Do you have any suggestions for section titles? I will think about that too. Borock (talk) 15:35, 12 March 2015 (UTC)
One problem is that a lot of the controversy is entirely absent from the article. The controversy which is present is watered down and sounds in some cases like apologetics. It should reflect the tone and content of reliable sources, not of Unification Church literature. What Sarcastic Bob mentions above appears to be a deliberate strategy by editors who are Unification Church members. DrSocPsych (talk) 21:05, 13 March 2015 (UTC)
Any suggestions for controversy to be added to the article and/or the lede? Kitfoxxe (talk) 13:13, 23 March 2015 (UTC)
It's clear to me now that Kitfoxxe is a partisan Unification Church supporter who is trying to suppress criticism of the Unification Church. Only two weeks after raising the bias issue that (looking back through the history) has plagued this page for at least 7 years, Kitfoxxe added a ridiculous entry implying that a representative sample of those who have a problem with the church's political activities is a fringe leftist group staging a single event, and then he removed the POV tag with the disingenuous: "specific issues seem to have been corrected and discussion on talk page seems to have ended." DrSocPsych (talk) 18:06, 1 April 2015 (UTC)
Here's an example of the propaganda. From today's version of the article:
The introduction to the Divine Principle says about Moon:
For several decades he wandered through the spirit world so vast as to be beyond imagining. He trod a bloody path of suffering in search of the truth, passing through tribulations that God alone remembers. Since he understood that no one can find the ultimate truth to save humanity without first passing through the bitterest of trials, he fought alone against millions of devils, both in the spiritual and physical worlds, and triumphed over them all. Through intimate spiritual communion with God and by meeting with Jesus and many saints in Paradise, he brought to light all the secrets of Heaven.[1]
The Divine Principle, the "reliable source" which is cited here, is the Unification Church's own Bible, written by Sun Myung Moon and his early followers! On the other hand, it's comforting to know that Sun Myung Moon "triumphed over...all" the "millions of devils," and "brought to light all the secrets of Heaven" (according to himself). DrSocPsych (talk) 17:56, 29 April 2015 (UTC)

Eurazn101 (talk) 20:09, 26 January 2016 (UTC)First of all the Divine principle is a not a reliable source and does not contain facts. Therefore, most of the topics reported on this page are biased and very subjective.

This has now been removed. Any other suggestions? Kitfoxxe (talk) 01:52, 9 June 2015 (UTC)

If the Unification Church members here can't understand how extremely biased this article is (all that would be required is the compare it to what has been reported about Moon elsewhere), then they should not be editing this article. They probably shouldn't be editing this article anyway because of WP:COI. DrSocPsych (talk) 18:47, 27 October 2015 (UTC)

References

  1. ^ Introduction Exposition of the Divine Principle, 1996 Translation

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Propaganda for a sect on wikipedia

This article should be rewritten or removed. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 2A01:E35:8A8D:FE80:2C2C:8642:E0C1:86D3 (talk) 02:43, 27 August 2016 (UTC)

The "matching" of couples, redux

Under the heading "Sex and marriage", the final sentence of the first paragraph reads "Rev. Moon matched all of the couples except 12 who were already married to each other before joining the church." To readers who are unfamiliar with what "matched" means in this context, it is important that they be informed that it means that Moon selected the individuals to comprise each couple; these were arranged marriages, over which he held absolute power of choice. Given that this is one of the most controversial aspects of the Church, it is surprising to see "matching" passed-over with barely a mention. I searched the archives of the Talk section and discovered that another editor pointed this out back in 2011, but if anything was added since then to the article to clarify what is meant by "matched", it is no longer there. This needs to be explicitly stated in the article, and deserves its own paragraph. Here are some relevant quotes from reliable sources:
"The men and women entered a large room, where Moon began matching couples by pointing at them."NY Daily News
"In the Unification tradition, romantic liaisons are forbidden until the members are deemed by Mr. Moon to be spiritually ready to be matched at a huge gathering where he points future spouses out to one another. His followers believe that his decisions are based on his ability to discern their suitability and see their future descendants. Many are matched with people of other races and nationalities, in keeping with Mr. Moon's ideal of unifying all races and nations in the Unification Church. Though some couples are matched immediately before the mass wedding ceremonies, which are held every two or three years, most have long engagements during which they are typically posted in different cities or even continents, and get to know one another through letters."NY Times
"Many were personally matched by Moon, who taught that romantic love led to sexual promiscuity, mismatched couples and dysfunctional societies. Moon’s preference for cross-cultural marriages also meant that couples often shared no common language."Manchester Guardian
"Moon’s death Sept. 2 and funeral Saturday signaled the end of the random pairings that helped make Moon’s Unification Church famous — and infamous — a generation ago."Washington Post
"Many of the couples who married at mass weddings were hand-picked by Moon from photos. It led to some strange pairs such as a 71-year-old African Catholic archbishop who wed a 43-year-old Korean acupuncturist. In 1988 Moon entered the Guinness Book of Records when he married 6,516 identically dressed couples at Seoul’s Olympic Stadium. Moonie newly-weds were forbidden to sleep together for 40 days to prove their marriage was on a higher plane. They then had to consummate their marriage in a three-day ritual with the sexual positions stipulated by their leader."Daily Mirror
From these, there is enough to synthesize an appropriate explanation of the "matching" that Moon practiced, but any other sources and input would be appreciated. Bricology (talk) 19:12, 30 August 2016 (UTC)

I agree. Borock (talk) 14:00, 31 August 2016 (UTC)

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Infobox: FFWPU, FPA, both, or "disputed"...?

Given that the lede says that The most prominent groups are the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification led by Rev. Moon’s surviving wife Mrs. Hak Ja Han Moon [...] and the Family Peace Association[14], founded by Rev. Moon’s son, Dr. Hyun Jin P. Moon and that there is ongoing division and schism, should the infobox:

  • A) Refer to just the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification as the Unification Church (as it currently does)
  • B) Refer to just the Family Peace Association as the Unification Church
  • C) List both the FFWPU and the Family Peace Association as the two largest Unification sects
  • D) State "in dispute" or "disputed"

The Succession and legacy says Moon [...] appointed his youngest son, Hyung Jin Moon, to be the leader of the church and movement but Events after Moon's death says Following Moon's death his widow Hak Ja Han has taken on the role of spiritual leader of the church and doesn't mention Hyung Jin Moon.

From a temporal and legal perspective, the FFWPU is the organization that Sun Myung Moon started. So, A is not unreasonable. I do wonder if this is the largest sect, or at least the one that most sources mean when they refer to the Unification Church. The current state of the article suggests that the FFWPU and the FPA are comparably sized and receive comparable focus, but that doesn't necessarily reflect the state of all available sources (it may, it may not, I don't currently know).

I listed option B for the sake of completeness, but unless it can be shown that independent sources largely refer to the FPA when they're talking about the Unification Church, that it's the larger organization, that it's received more legal recognition, etc... I don't see this really happening.

However, Hyung Jin Moon was still appointed as the successor and the article gives FPA weight comparable to the FFWPU. So, C is no less reasonable than A. I again have to wonder if this sect is comparably sized, or if sources are just as likely to mean this group when they refer to the Unification Church.

The article hints at additional sects, but I'm not immediately finding where they're named. "In dispute" or "disputed" covers all the grounds of option C as well as covering these additional sects, though there is the question of whether this is WP:UNDUE weight. Combining C and D would somewhat address the issue of due weight, and potentially make it clear that the FFWPU and the FPA are split.

Ian.thomson (talk) 15:54, 16 February 2018 (UTC)

The preliminary issue here is that the Unification Church is a misunderstood term that doesn't exist as a legal entity so, although there are many references for it, will always be confusing unless the actual specific entities are identified and differentiated. This is especially important as the ongoing schism within the Unification movement continues. I have just re-created a page for the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification as part of this effort. I would suggest we switch to option D "disputed" for the infobox issue here for the sake of clarity and building consensus. — Preceding unsigned comment added by PineSky (talk • contribs) 07:46, 17 February 2018 (UTC)
Seeing as there are no objections to this argument I'm going to go ahead with Option D. I have created a separate page for the Family Federation for World Peace where I have moved the related infobox information. — Preceding unsigned comment added by PineSky (talk • contribs) 01:47, 20 February 2018 (UTC)
  • I've been a member since 1974 and at least from that time there have been factions and divisions in the church, somewhat ironically considering the name "Unification." I think it's a good thing that this is now being recognized on WP. However the divisions are not the main thing that makes the UC notable and now the whole lede to this article is mainly about that. PopSci (talk) 17:18, 18 February 2018 (UTC)
Dear PopSci, as a long-time member, I am sure you are aware that the term "Unification Church" is not an actual name of an established entity within the Unification movement. The recent more pronounced and major schisms (as can expected with the passing of a nascent spiritual movement with a charismatic leader) have only accentuated the need to clarify terminology to avoid confusion. Looking through this talk page, I am surprised to find this issue hasn't been brought up previously. The new lede you see is part of the effort to clarify these points, but as you mention, would not be fitting to encapsulate the story of Rev. Moon's movement. That is why I suggest we move the related content from this page to the page Unification movement as a more fitting term, and make this page focused on disambiguation since there are so many references ingenuously mentioning the Unification Church. Maybe we should start a new section on this talk page related to this effort. PineSky (talk) 18:08, 18 February 2018 (UTC)
Thank you. Another issue is that "Unification Church" is the common name for the Unification movement, which as I see it is the body of people who believe in and are inspired by (and even sometimes follow) Rev. Moon. PopSci (talk) 18:32, 18 February 2018 (UTC)

- I would like to add some additional reasons for why it is wrong to put the names and logo of the Family Federation on the info box on the right hand corner as being representative of the "Unification Church". The first reason is that "what/who is the Unification Church" is an issue that is being disputed[1], and also the Family Federation and its leader officially announced they would stop using the name Unification Church to refer to itself. [2]181.120.67.50 (talk) 01:54, 19 February 2018 (UTC)

Disambiguation and organizing content

The Unification Church is a misunderstood term that doesn't actually exist as a legal entity. There are many references pointing to the term, yet it was actually coined by media and groups outside of Sun Myung Moon's following. Looking through this talk page, I am surprised to find this issue hasn't been brought up previously. This was permissible when the movement's founder was still alive and needed a quick method of identification by the general public, yet now that the founder has passed and multiple schismatic groups have formed, it is wholly inadequate. These major and growing schisms (as can expected with the passing of a nascent spiritual movement with a charismatic leader) have only accentuated the need to clarify terminology to avoid confusion.

This article was never about a church or other organization. It was always about the Unification movement. I agree that FFWPU should not be used as the name of the Unification movement. An alternative might be Unificationism.PopSci (talk) 02:05, 19 February 2018 (UTC)
This is an important point. This article is not about a church or other organization, it is about the Unification movement. However, this article is currently confusing to the common reader because it states in the beginning it is not a monolithic entity and then immediately following the first sentence it begins referring to the disingenuous term "members," and then repeatedly continues to refer to a "church" as if it was a monolithic entity. Thus to the average reader this article seems contradictory.
Again, I propose we focus this article on disambiguation of the term "Unification Church" and all other content should be moved to the articles of the related specific entities. Other content not related to specific entities can be moved into topic-specific pages. It is permissible to use this page to redirect people to appropriate articles, since the term Unification Church is still sometimes used by the general public.
The point is that Wikipedia is not a place to exacerbate the existing confusion surrounding the term "Unification Church" by continuing to use that term, especially in this article. In general, Wikipedians should move to using the term Unification movement, as in accordance with Wikipedia's capitalization rules for article titles, the lowercase second word denotes a non-proper name, which is more accurate for a non-hierarchical movement of legally independent entities. There is also the argument that Sun Myung Moon did not create a church in the first place and called for the end of religion with the opening of the "era of the family", and so the term "movement" is more likely to build consensus amongst the divergent perspectives.
Since my last revision the lede has again been altered and needs to be edited for the sake of clarity on these points.PineSky (talk) 06:23, 27 February 2018 (UTC)
I see your point. However "Unification Church" is the most commonly used name for the Unification movement. Please see Wikipedia:Article_titles#Use_commonly_recognizable_namesPopSci (talk) 10:57, 27 February 2018 (UTC)
I see your point as well, but the section you reference also states, "Ambiguous or inaccurate names for the article subject, as determined in reliable sources, are often avoided even though they may be more frequently used by reliable sources." I suggest a compromise - for now we can keep this article up but we should continue the effort for disambiguation and organizing content into appropriate, separate pages. I will offer to start on this effort by moving detailed content on specific entities to their appropriate pages and creating summarized versions on this article. — Preceding unsigned comment added by PineSky (talk • contribs) 23:45, 27 February 2018 (UTC)
I think WP needs a page on the Unification movement as a whole. Pages in individual entities are fine too.PopSci (talk) 16:27, 28 February 2018 (UTC)
I agree. Yet as I mentioned this page does need work to organize and summarize content. Creating individual entities and summarizing content here will help the average user get a more accurate grasp of the movement. Some sections also might need a "news release" tag until we can consolidate the different anecdotes into a concise narrative. PineSky (talk) 18:51, 28 February 2018 (UTC)
I'm going to change things around in the lede. The lede should be focused foremost on disambiguation. To go straight into the membership and beliefs would only further aggravate the misunderstanding that this page is about a singular church. PineSky (talk) 21:35, 3 March 2018 (UTC)

Global Peace Foundation

This article now recognizes Hyun Jin Moon's group, which has its own article Global Peace Foundation (although that might not be the most up to date name, I'm not sure), as part of the UC/UM. On the other hand members of that group here on WP have taken off material from both sides that connects the two. What should be done? PopSci (talk) 16:31, 21 February 2018 (UTC)

The Global Peace Foundation is not related to the Unification Church so it should not be included. PineSky (talk) 01:35, 27 February 2018 (UTC)
The article mentions the Family Peace Association. Is that the same thing as the Global Peace Foundation?PopSci (talk) 15:20, 25 February 2018 (UTC)
The Family Peace Association[3] and Global Peace Foundation[4] are separate organizations. PineSky (talk) 01:35, 27 February 2018 (UTC)
But they both seem to be a part of the Unification Movement.PopSci (talk) 04:32, 27 February 2018 (UTC)
That may be your perception, but I doubt you will find reliable sources for that in regards to the Global Peace Foundation. — Preceding unsigned comment added by PineSky (talk • contribs) 23:53, 27 February 2018 (UTC)

Controversy over the "heir" of Sun Myung Moon

I am taking out the reference to Sun Myung Moon's youngest son Hyung Jin Sean Moon as the "successor" of the Unification movement and Sun Myung Moon because this is a highly controversial and disputed statement. The single reference used for this statement was a news article probably produced from a press release written by the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification when Hyung Jin Sean Moon himself was chairman, and currently the Family Federation disputes that claim, claiming Hak Ja Han to always have been the designated spiritual leader of the movement after Moon. There are other sources that claim Hyun Jin Preston Moon as the most likely successor. Here is the sentence I will remove:

  • In April 2008, Moon, then 88 years old, appointed his youngest son, Hyung Jin Moon, to be the leader of the church and movement, saying, "I hope everyone helps him so that he may fulfil his duty as the successor of the True Parents."[5]

Dispute over doctrine within the Unification movement

From the outset, this article title presupposes the use of the term "Church" in relation to the Unification movement, which would denote a Christian and monolithic entity. However, this is not accurate and is only permissible in light of necessary compromises made to accomodate widespread misperceptions (See section "Dismabiguation and organizing content" above). However, the teachings of Sun Myung Moon are interpreted in very different manners by the different factions that the movement has currently split into.[6] I am removing any absolutist statements referring to the Unification Church being Christian or other doctrinal assumptions, leaving those implications to be made in a more appropriate manner (naming which faction is interpreting Moon's teachings in that way). PineSky (talk) 00:42, 28 February 2018 (UTC)

References

  1. ^ http://www.cesnur.org/2016/daejin_fefferman.pdf
  2. ^ From the official Family Federation website: "True Mother also announced a name change for the church. “And from now on we are not Unification Church; it’s Family Federation for World Peace and Unification. I was planning to announce this after Foundation day, but I will start it now,” True Mother said."
  3. ^ "Family Peace Association". Family Peace Association. Retrieved 27 February 2018.
  4. ^ [www.globalpeace.org "Global Peace Foundation | One Family Under God"]. www.globalpeace.org. Retrieved 27 February 2018. {{cite web}}: Check |url= value (help)
  5. ^ Son of Moonies founder takes over as church leader The Guardian, 2008-04-28
  6. ^ "Life and Legacy of Sun Myung Moon and the Unification Movements in Scholarly Perspective". www.cesnur.org (in Italian). CESNUR Center for Studies on New Religions. Retrieved 10 February 2018.

Unificationism or Unification Movement?

I am considering renaming some of the related articles which now use the expression Unification Church in their titles, including the template. I personally think Unificationism would be the best choice but Unification Movement is good too. What do people think? PopSci (talk) 04:43, 2 March 2018 (UTC)

The template is officially called Unification Church but displays the title FFWPU.PopSci (talk) 04:44, 2 March 2018 (UTC)
Thanks for bringing this up for discussion. Since a sizeable faction of the movement assert a far more inclusive vision for Sun Myung Moon's legacy than "ism" usually implies, I would suggest "Unification movement." I'm wondering if a lowercase "m" would be best as in accordance with Wikipedia capitalization rules for titles this would denote a non-proper noun and may better signify a non-aligned conglomeration of independent entities. PineSky (talk) 05:53, 2 March 2018 (UTC)
I just changed the template to Unificationism, but I will go with your suggestion and change it to Um. PopSci (talk) 14:51, 2 March 2018 (UTC)

Split?

I question the assertion that the UC (and the UM) is "split" into various factions. True, there are different groups and different leaders, but many members (I include myself) do not identify with a faction and are not enthusiastic followers of any leader. I'd prefer if the article said there are sub-groups, or factions, but not imply that the sum of the factions equals the movement as a whole.PopSci (talk) 15:18, 21 March 2018 (UTC)

I understand what you're saying. Many members of the Unification movement are like you, however, the fact remains that there is a major split that is not only about a particular leader or faction but about significant theological deviations, strategic differences, etc. Scholars have supposed that these "factions" could be considered entirely new religions in themselves because of the major differences. The movement clearly faces major divisions that will only become more pronounced. There is even a Korean book (now translated into English) titled "Split in the Unification Movement". There are scholarly conferences focusing specifically on the issue of the division as it relates to Sun Myung Moons' legacy.
Many Unification movement members like yourself may not be enthusiastic about a particular faction or leader, but from an objective perspective, unless you have disconnected yourself entirely from any organization within the movement, by association you have indeed "sided" with one of the factions. The reason most members don't recognize this is because they aren't aware of the reality of the stark divides that have formulated, probably because the organizational leaders, especially in the FFWPU, see it as beneficial that their members remain ignorant. For example, Hyung Jin Sean Moon wasn't officially removed from his position for over 2 years after he was in effect removed from his position, and this was only after Sean Moon utilized this fact to make an announcement broadcast on his youtube channel that a majority of the FFWPU leaders were fired and that members should remove them from their positions. The FFWPU knew that most members would be disheartened to know that the one True Child that a few years prior had been praised as the heir and successor was now forming a splinter group, so they tried to ignore it and keep it quiet until they could no longer. The FFWPU also refrained from publicly distancing itself from Sanctuary Church until the church made very evident with its Blessing ceremony involving AR-15 rifles that there was a split in direction and practice and FFWPU felt threatened that the public would mistake Sanctuary Church as representing the wider Unification movement as a whole. Another example is how FFWPU has not actively promoted the "Only Begotten Daughter" theory promoted by True Mother to common members, because they know that to the majority it will repel them because of its inherent deviations from True Father's teachings. The only one actively promoting the theory is True Mother herself. Just look at the recent FFWPU Famicon conference in Las Vegas this month. In the reports that came out, hardly a fraction of the content presented was on Mother's life. Yet when Mother, the leader of FFWPU, came to speak, the main emphasis was on her theory of the Only Begotten Daughter. So my conclusion is that many members may not be enthusiastic about a particular schism but are in practice and perhaps unintentionally supporting one. The fact of that matter is that all entities within the Unification movement I am aware of have inherent and undeniable loyalties to a particular faction so by associating with the Unification movement you are in truth associating with one of the factions. The only way you could associate with the Unification movement as a whole, currently, would be to associate with 3 separate entities that were each within one of the 3 major factions (probably without one of the other factions knowing about it, or they would kick you out!) PineSky (talk) 22:14, 21 March 2018 (UTC)

Thanks. On the other hand, where I attend Sunday service there are supporters of all three factions and nobody gets kicked out. PopSci (talk) 23:22, 21 March 2018 (UTC)

Interesting. Out of curiousity, is the service held under a particular faction or is it a disaffiliated entity (if you are willing to share)? — Preceding unsigned comment added by PineSky (talk • contribs) 00:14, 22 March 2018 (UTC)
"Split" is more accurate term - need to make it clear no one group represents the entirety of "Unification Church" as FFWPU currently tries to do (see press release "Unification Church does not encourage firearm use"[ http://familyfed.org/news-story/pressroom/unification-church-does-not-encourage-firearm-use-44834/. Retrieved 22 March 2018. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)]) PineSky (talk) 00:24, 22 March 2018 (UTC)
If there was a sizeable population of UC members that have formed a non-affiliated entity that specifically states it is a "non-denominational" or "non-associated" group I would understand, but currently "split" is the only accurate descriptor. You could add a section referencing non-affiliated members if there are references. PineSky (talk) 00:30, 22 March 2018 (UTC)

Bay Area Family Church which is under FFWPU. May I add that split and divided imply an verb. In my experience there was never an unsplit UC. In the days of Oakland vs the MFT vs CARP it was more split than it is now. However I will not edit on that point now. I am aware that on WP if sources are ignorant the article should be too. PopSci (talk) 01:07, 22 March 2018 (UTC)

Good point. However, I would counter by saying that there was never before a major "split" involving members of the True Family claiming the founder's authority after his passing, and seeing as the importance of lineage to Unification movement theology, these divisions pose greater long-term consequences since they are related to core theological issues. If there were serious theological divisions previously it would be interesting to look into. PineSky (talk) 19:17, 26 March 2018 (UTC)
I'd like to add that I expect the "splits" to come together in the future.PopSci (talk) 15:36, 21 April 2018 (UTC)

Moving "Beliefs" section to Holy Spirit Association for the Unification of World Christianity

The first Divine Principle was published in Korea in 1966 and the Exposition of the Divine Principle was published and 1973, both under the "Holy Spirit Association for the Unification of World Christianity". Currently, the Unification movement is split into several schisms with clear theological differences. Thus, the beliefs section on this page should only refer to these current heavily-debated belief controversies rather than portraying a united belief system and related controversies that are of the past. The Holy Spirit Association was ordered to be disbanded in 1994 by Sun Myung Moon and the controversies of that time have mostly subsided and been greatly replaced by more prevalent controversies within the movement that are now taking the majority of interest by the wider public (see recent press coverage of Hyung Jin Sean Moon's AR-15 gun laden Blessing ceremony). It is safe to say that no schism other than the Sanctuary Church schism would want to be associated with their gun-infused belief system. Similarly, Hak Ja Han recently announced in her speech to Famicon conference in Las Vegas on March 16th that "the Divine Principle will need many updates". Thus the only fitting place for this current "beliefs" section is the HSA-UWC page. PineSky (talk) 19:17, 26 March 2018 (UTC)

Moving "Related Organizations" section to Unification movement page

Since the Unification movement is a more accurate and consensus-building term for the Unification Church (that more entities within the currently fragmented movement would accept affiliation with), I suggest moving the "Related Organizations" section to that page. — Preceding unsigned comment added by PineSky (talk • contribs) 19:26, 26 March 2018 (UTC)

An alternative would be to rename this article "Unification movement." As you have said the Unification movement was not intended to be a church and was never officially called the UC, just informally.PopSci (talk) 16:23, 27 March 2018 (UTC)
It's a good suggestion but unfortunately the general public does still commonly refer to the movement as "Unification Church", so I think we need something here. However, regarding "related organizations", I don't feel they need to be listed on this page since this page is focused on defining the term Unification Church and laying out the major schisms. I feel it is safe to move these organizations elsewhere, probably both under "Unification movement" and also on their own page if they are large enough to deserve one. PineSky (talk) 20:36, 27 March 2018 (UTC)
Or make this a disambiguation page, directing readers to the other articles. You probably should also merge Um and the related organizations article since they have much the same content.PopSci (talk) 03:30, 28 March 2018 (UTC)

I agree with your suggestion. I think most if not all of the information is already in the Um article as well as in the UC related organizations article. PopSci (talk) 21:17, 28 March 2018 (UTC)

"Conflict of Interest" tag

The tag has been up for a while and I don't see any influx of disinterested editors flocking to edit the article. I've invited the tagger herself to come and help if she likes. Besides that the same tag could probably be put on almost all WP articles which are about groups of people.PopSci (talk) 14:54, 13 April 2018 (UTC)

Scholarly studies

Either way is okay, but I think it might be better to put these each in the history section rather than together. After all every WP article should be based on scholarly studies, ideally.PopSci (talk) 12:32, 15 May 2018 (UTC)

Splitting Divine Principle

A discussion has been started at Talk:Holy_Spirit_Association_for_the_Unification_of_World_Christianity about splitting Divine Principle from this article. Interested editors might wish to participate. Best, Barkeep49 (talk) 22:03, 28 May 2018 (UTC)

Actually Divine Principle has already been removed from this article. The question is if it should have its own article or be a section of HSA_UWC.PopSci (talk) 11:28, 18 June 2018 (UTC)

Relations with other religions section

This section has also been moved to HSA-UWC. It's not bad being there but the material is relevant to the entire UC, not just the HSA-UWC.PopSci (talk) 11:28, 18 June 2018 (UTC)

An alternative is to have the material in both articles, this one gets a lot more traffic it seems.PopSci (talk) 11:16, 19 June 2018 (UTC)
I will give that a try.PopSci (talk) 12:25, 19 June 2018 (UTC)
Note. I have been checking the page views in "View History" and this is the page that gets by far the most views, 10 times the other pages. That is part of my reason to restore some of the previously removed sections back here.PopSci (talk) 11:23, 20 June 2018 (UTC)

Untitled

Thank you to user:Elmidae for noting that my first attempt to revive this page was "absent concrete examples of other articles to which Unification movement could be applied." In my second attempt I will add many concrete examples of other articles and entities within the scope of the Unification movement, and articulate the importance of differentiating the movement from the often misunderstood term "Unification Church")

You might want to create some better interconnections with the article Unification Church, which currently does not link to this article at all (as far as I can see). Also we have a redirect Unification Movement (church) which points at Unification Church and possibly should rather point here? --Elmidae (talk · contribs) 07:03, 15 February 2018 (UTC)
Good points, I'll work on creating those linkages on the Unification Church page and yes the redirect would probably best lead here since we positing that the movement is the preferred descriptor. --PineSky —Preceding undated comment added 21:03, 15 February 2018 (UTC)

Timeline

The timeline section mostly duplicates other material. How about restoring it as a separate article, or else removing it altogether? PopSci (talk) 14:30, 20 July 2018 (UTC)

An alternative would be to keep the timeline section and remove the rest of the history section, except for material not covered in the timeline.PopSci (talk) 17:34, 26 July 2018 (UTC)

Merge Moonie

The article Moonie (nickname) is simply a discussion of this (somewhat offensive) nickname for the Unification members. As a general rule articles about words violate WP:NAD unless there is something especially significant about that word, apart from the topic the word describes. Though I understand the sensitivity among the Unification Movement, I do not think it can be said that this word by itself has a significant enough history that it merits a special article (as compared to hundreds of other nicknames and slurs that do not and should not have their own articles).

I say just merge the name article here.

-- MC 141.131.2.3 (talk) 17:06, 25 July 2018 (UTC)

  • Support There is already a trimmed down version as a section in this article. Also the word is used more for Sailor Moon fans than for Unificationists now days. I will go ahead and make the change after 7 days have passed, unless there are some dissenting opinions. This seems to be the WP standard.PopSci (talk) 14:06, 27 July 2018 (UTC)
  • It's been a week and it doesn't really look like there is a consensus to merge.PopSci (talk) 10:10, 2 August 2018 (UTC)

Commentary section

The entire commentary section was reading as an advertisement and also failed to meet standards for neutrality. Just deleted the entire section. — Preceding unsigned comment added by GIOScali (talk • contribs) 06:02, 14 September 2018 (UTC)

Thanks. I agree, although my reasoning would be more along the lines of copyright and original research. It looked like two of the quotes were supportive and two were critical, but it shouldn't be the job of readers to sort them out.PopSci (talk) 11:37, 14 September 2018 (UTC)

Merger proposal

Formal request has been received to merge the articles Holy Spirit Association for the Unification of World Christianity and Family Federation for World Peace and Unification into Unification movement; dated: September 2018. Proposer's Rationale: It is the same organisation/movement someone has been adding lots and lots of forks based on sources from the organizations itself. Pinging proposer @Abcmaxx: Discuss here. Richard3120 (talk) 23:01, 30 September 2018 (UTC)

  • Support These organizations are only notable as aspects of the Unification movement. They are already covered in this article.PopSci (talk) 01:07, 1 October 2018 (UTC)
  • Support For the same reasons, also the same information is duplicated so wasting the readers' time. If they go to the other articles they will not find out anything that is not also here.Northwestgnome (talk) 19:04, 1 October 2018 (UTC)

Timeline

The timeline has a lot of duplicated material with other sections. Is that okay, or should there be some merging? PopSci (talk) 14:37, 8 October 2018 (UTC)

I've started to work on consolidating the timeline and other sections. I will not remove any information unless it is duplicated. In many cases the exact wording is found in two sections now.PopSci (talk) 21:31, 8 October 2018 (UTC)
I finished this so that now there is only one history section. I did remove a few minor incidents from the timeline. Info on the founding of organizations, etc. is now found in their related sections.PopSci (talk) 23:11, 8 October 2018 (UTC)

Leadership section

The leadership section has been tagged as need updating. It seems to be hard to find any definite sources that talk about this topic at all. Most people would probably say that Mrs. Moon (Hak Ja Han) is the leader of the movement, but her sub-section does not even claim that. The others were leaders for only short terms, mostly several years ago.PopSci (talk) 23:49, 14 November 2018 (UTC)

I went ahead and removed the whole section, transferring one sentence to the history section and leaving the material on Mrs. Moon where it was already duplicated (almost word for word) in the organizations section. Besides what I said in my edit summary I'd like to add that one person that was mentioned there In Jin Moon is now living as a private person. (We are friends on Facebook, not that that is so remarkable.) I don't think it's fair that she should be pointed out as a UM leader when that is no longer the case, and I don't think that's WP policy by WP:BLP. PopSci (talk) 14:04, 19 November 2018 (UTC)

Tags

The tags have been up for 8 or 9 months now. Is anyone doing anything concerning them? Northwestgnome (talk) 17:47, 16 March 2019 (UTC)

There have actually been a lot of revisions to the article since they were first put up.PopSci (talk) 15:30, 18 March 2019 (UTC)
I can go ahead and take off the tags then.Northwestgnome (talk) 20:25, 6 April 2019 (UTC)

indemnity and sola fide

in the section on indemnity is the line "the Christian doctrine of sola fide." This should be changed to "the Protestant notion of sola fide" since the large majority of Christians - Orthodox and Catholics - do not accept it as a doctrine.The current line would be like "the Christian doctrine of transubstantiation" or "the Christian doctrine of predestination" - misleading --2607:FEA8:D5DF:FEF6:0:0:0:5 (talk) 17:54, 5 September 2019 (UTC)

"Unification Church/Elijah" listed at Redirects for discussion

An editor has asked for a discussion to address the redirect Unification Church/Elijah. Please participate in the redirect discussion if you wish to do so. BDD (talk) 18:43, 4 October 2019 (UTC)

merge in another article?

Several smaller articles have already been merged into this one. Should Blessing ceremony of the Unification Church also be merged here? SpecInterest (talk) 18:50, 4 June 2020 (UTC)

I think the other article is too large for that. Actually the section on funerals, which is a fairly minor item compared to the marriage ceremonies, could go back to being its own article. Right now it takes up a lot of space in this one, when it is so little noted in sources.PopSci (talk) 13:40, 6 June 2020 (UTC)

Requested move 22 May 2021

The following is a closed discussion of a requested move. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on the talk page. Editors desiring to contest the closing decision should consider a move review after discussing it on the closer's talk page. No further edits should be made to this discussion.

The result of the move request was: Moved (non-admin closure) (t · c) buidhe 15:50, 29 May 2021 (UTC)


Unification Movement International → Unification Church – The most common name for the many-named religious movement appears to be "Unification Church", therefore the page should be moved back to that name. Not even sure where the current name "Unification Movement International" (all caps) is coming from. Wolfdog (talk) 12:58, 22 May 2021 (UTC)

  • I'm not sure whether Unification Church or Unification Movement is better, but either is better than "Unification Movement International"; I agree with the nom that I have no idea where that name came from. It's not a Wikipedia creation (note [1]) but doesn't seem to be common. User:力 (power~enwiki, π, ν) 18:37, 22 May 2021 (UTC)
  • Support move to Unification Church. This is the most common name used so should be the title by WP policy, as I understand it. PopSci (talk) 17:23, 24 May 2021 (UTC)
The discussion above is closed. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page. No further edits should be made to this discussion.

Split?

I question the assertion that the UM (and the UC) is "split" into various factions. True there are different groups and different leaders, but many members (I include myself) do not identify with a faction and are not enthusiastic followers of any leader. I'd prefer if the article said there are sub-groups, or factions, but not imply that the sum of the factions equals the movement as a whole.PopSci (talk) 15:16, 21 March 2018 (UTC)

I understand what you're saying. Many members of the Unification movement are like you, however, the fact remains that there is a major split that is not only about a particular leader or faction but about significant theological deviations, strategic differences, etc. Scholars have supposed that these "factions" could be considered entirely new religions in themselves because of the major differences. The movement clearly faces major divisions that will only become more pronounced. There is even a Korean book (now translated into English) titled "Split in the Unification Movement". There are scholarly conferences focusing specifically on the issue of the division as it relates to Sun Myung Moons' legacy.
Many Unification movement members like yourself may not be enthusiastic about a particular faction or leader, but from an objective perspective, unless you have disconnected yourself entirely from any organization within the movement, by association you have indeed "sided" with one of the factions. The reason most members don't recognize this is because they aren't aware of the reality of the stark divides that have formulated, probably because the organizational leaders, especially in the FFWPU, see it as beneficial that their members remain ignorant. For example, Hyung Jin Sean Moon wasn't officially removed from his position for over 2 years after he was in effect removed from his position, and this was only after Sean Moon utilized this fact to make an announcement broadcast on his youtube channel that a majority of the FFWPU leaders were fired and that members should remove them from their positions. The FFWPU knew that most members would be disheartened to know that the one True Child that a few years prior had been praised as the heir and successor was now forming a splinter group, so they tried to ignore it and keep it quiet until they could no longer. The FFWPU also refrained from publicly distancing itself from Sanctuary Church until the church made very evident with its Blessing ceremony involving AR-15 rifles that there was a split in direction and practice and FFWPU felt threatened that the public would mistake Sanctuary Church as representing the wider Unification movement as a whole. Another example is how FFWPU has not actively promoted the "Only Begotten Daughter" theory promoted by True Mother to common members, because they know that to the majority it will repel them because of its inherent deviations from True Father's teachings. The only one actively promoting the theory is True Mother herself. Just look at the recent FFWPU Famicon conference in Las Vegas this month. In the reports that came out, hardly a fraction of the content presented was on Mother's life. Yet when Mother, the leader of FFWPU, came to speak, the main emphasis was on her theory of the Only Begotten Daughter. So my conclusion is that many members may not be enthusiastic about a particular schism but are in practice and perhaps unintentionally supporting one. The fact of that matter is that all entities within the Unification movement I am aware of have inherent and undeniable loyalties to a particular faction so by associating with the Unification movement you are in truth associating with one of the factions. The only way you could associate with the Unification movement as a whole, currently, would be to associate with 3 separate entities that were each within one of the 3 major factions (probably without one of the other factions knowing about it, or they would kick you out!) PineSky (talk) 22:07, 21 March 2018 (UTC)
  • Right now this article is mainly a list of groups and projects by Unificationists. I have the impression that there are some projects, for instance the Washington Times, where members of different factions work together... as well as non-members or semi-members.PopSci (talk) 20:34, 8 May 2018 (UTC)
Since the fundamental nature of the Unification movement is spiritual and rooted in Sun Myung Moon's teachings, I don't think the doctrinal and theological differences can be ignored. That being said, if there is an independent initiative that is widely considered part of the Unification movement that states it works beyond the schisms, I would be open to the suggestion. However the Washington Times is not one of them, because it was part of a widely publicized power struggle and ended up being sold for $1 if I remember correctly. PineSky (talk) 23:21, 11 May 2018 (UTC)
I think you are exaggerating the importance of both doctrine and leadership to the average UC member.  ;-) PopSci (talk) 05:39, 15 May 2018 (UTC)
As a complete outsider, I think there should be some amount of acknowledgement of the various factions. I was compelled to search for this article after reading a post on the website of the Southern Poverty Law Center, an organization that tracks hate groups. It makes no distinction between the faction led by Sean Moon, which seems to have taken the semiautomatic assault rifle as its holy symbol, and the other factions. That posting only uses the name "Unification Church" for all of it. It linked to this Vice News article, from October 31, 2019: https://www.vice.com/en/article/xwep53/we-spent-a-wild-weekend-with-the-gun-worshipping-moonie-church-thats-trying-to-go-maga
If no one makes the distinction, people will think that is the most dominant form of the Unification Church, which I doubt most members would want. --JDspeeder1 (talk) 22:27, 3 September 2021 (UTC)

funeral ceremony section

Does this section belong in the main article on the UC. I can't imagine the article on the Roman Catholic Church or the United Methodist Church or any other having sections on their funerals. I don't think it is very interesting to the readers of this article, who are probably looking for general information on the church. Also the sources, most of which are from church members, describe the ceremonies but don't explain why they are "notable" in the WP sense. I'm suggesting deleting the section or moving it to some article which talks about various funeral practices. I don't think it's notable for its own article for the same reasons.PopSci (talk) 17:55, 13 June 2022 (UTC)

Funeral has sections for different traditions, but the UC is so small, perhaps only a few hundred or thousand UC funerals have taken place. PopSci (talk) 18:00, 13 June 2022 (UTC)
The one good, secondary source was 2 pages in a book on the church by a respected author. There was also a newspaper story about a UC cemetary that didn't mention the funerals. The rest were by church members, seeming intended to inform other members about the ceremony. PopSci (talk) 18:07, 13 June 2022 (UTC)
@PopSci I'll take a look through the scholarly sources available to me and see if they're discussed anywhere. If not, then I agree that it should probably be moved to a different section. Jacquesparker0 (talk) 18:59, 13 June 2022 (UTC)
There is already a page Unification Church funeral which now redirects here.SpecInterest (talk) 16:23, 14 June 2022 (UTC)
I would support a move back to that page.PopSci (talk) 02:41, 16 June 2022 (UTC)
I will go ahead and do that then.SpecInterest (talk) 15:33, 16 June 2022 (UTC)

Broken anchor

The invisible "Controversy" anchor on the "Holy Spirit Association for the Unification of World Christianity (1954–1994)" section breaks the TOC link to the new root-level "Controversy" section. This should probably be fixed somehow. 67.246.10.1 (talk) 00:24, 13 July 2022 (UTC)

This article needs work!

  1. Vandalism protection? As with articles on other new religious movements, this Wikipedia article appears to be heavily tampered by current followers, as this Talk page will attest. Can an admin turn on vandalism protection for this page?
  2. New section on post-Moon UC? I'm not a Unification Church expert but it's clear that major changes have overtaken the organisation since the death of Moon. As other cult watchers have noted, Hak Ja Han has embarked on an ambitious programme to re-write UC theology, downplaying the role of Moon and elevating herself to the position of "God's only begotten daughter". The infighting among the Moon kids has also broken the church up into different factions, as much as followers may like to disagree. We need a section that more clearly outlines the latest theological shifts in the UC, as well as the different directions that Tatiana Moon, Preston Moon and Sean Moon have taken the church in.
  3. The controversy section is a mess. It should be broken up into multiple sub-sections. I can think of two major controversies off the top of my head - the crowning of Moon and Han as "king and queen" at the US senate in 2004, and the assasination of Abe Shinzo. I'm sure there are many more.

Singaporeano (talk) 10:39, 15 July 2022 (UTC)

I agree with all points. Frustratingly this is one of those topics that I don't feel confident in editing, let alone researching well enough that I get the right information. I'm American and I don't think I could even get the right information on the Church of LDS or the IBLP. The best sources are sometimes people who used to be in the movement, got out, and then did their own online research to compare/contrast. Warm Yellow Sunflower (talk) 15:31, 15 July 2022 (UTC)
@Warm Yellow Sunflower: Hhhm... someone like Steven Hassan, who wrote: "My first two books were translated and published in Japanese. The term “min control” entered the lexicon after my book Combatting Cult Mind Control came out in Japanese"? Someone like that? Why did you write "movement"? In a withering report by the Congressional Subcommittee on International Organizations, the UC was called “a multinational corporation … a paramilitary organization … and a tightly disciplined international political party.” They are simply criminal with impunity. Or read someone like Richard J. Samuels: Machiavelli's Children: Leaders and Their Legacies in Italy and Japan. Cornell University Press, 2019, or https://www.gwern.net/docs/japanese/2001-12-samuels-kishiandcorruptionananatomyofthe1955system.html "In this way, Sasakawa [fascist, war criminal] and Kishi [fascist, war criminal] shielded what would become one of the most widely distrusted groups in contemporary Japan." - Yes, the article is so badly written and almost laughable. --87.170.193.174 (talk) 06:28, 16 July 2022 (UTC)
@87.170.193.174 "Movement" has neutral meaning, not inherently positive, if that's what you're wondering. Cults make "moves" to control and influence, such as recruiting politicians and celebrities. That's basically what I was trying to express: the actions made by a collective group. 184.100.226.247 (talk) 00:03, 17 July 2022 (UTC)

I noticed that there is a criticism section in Moon's article. Maybe that information could be added here. Midsummersday (talk) 17:09, 19 July 2022 (UTC)

I started the section but had trouble transferring text from the other article. I will try again tomorrow. Midsummersday (talk) 05:53, 22 July 2022 (UTC)

Serious social problems in Japan

I am surprised that there are so few serious social issues about the Unification Church on this page. The Unification Church gained a large number of followers in Japan and bankrupted many families by making them donate large amounts of money. In 1987, about 300 Japanese lawyers set up an association called the National Network of Lawyers Against Spiritual Sales (Japan) to help those followers.[2] According to the association's lawyers, there were 34537 cases in Japan between 1987 and 2021 in which the Unification Church brainwashed its followers into defrauding them of money, totaling about 123.7 billion yen.[3] Shinzo Abe, Japan's former prime minister, was assassinated for his alleged ties to the Unification Church. In 2021, the association's lawyers sent a letter of protest to Abe asking him to stop sending messages to Unification Church events. They feared that Abe's message would be used to empower the Unification Church and recruit its followers, forcing more victims to make expensive donations to the church.[4]--SLIMHANNYA (talk) 15:06, 11 July 2022 (UTC)

Agree. There is something seriously wrong with this article, and it points to a deeper problem with Wikipedia itself. It is highly suspicious. --Westwind273 (talk) 19:08, 11 July 2022 (UTC)
Disagree. Are you seriously suggesting the assassin's POV should be elaborated in more detail here? Millencolin (talk) 08:11, 12 July 2022 (UTC)
It's not the assassin's POV. In Japan, the Unification Church has been a serious social problem since the 1970s, and from the 1980s until now, lawyers have been campaigning to help brainwashed followers. Many followers were defrauded of all their property by the Unification Church, and their families were separated. The Japanese version of Wikipedia details these social problems.[5] The Unification Church's practice of taking advantage of brainwashed Japanese people to swindle them out of large sums of money is called "Reikan Shoho" (fraudulent sale of exorcism services to people led to believe that they are possessed by evil spirits) and is very famous in Japan. The Japanese version of Wikipedia also has a page called "Reikan Shoho (霊感商法)". Do you think the problems in Japan caused by the Unification Church should be ignored?--SLIMHANNYA (talk) 09:08, 12 July 2022 (UTC)
I agree that we aren't necessarily elaborating on the assassin's POV by simply noting that he may have assassinated Shinzo Abe because of his ties to Unification Church (it is not confirmed yet if it was the Unification Church he is talking about: source).
I think it would be good for the article if there was an expanded "controversies" section; however, I want to point out that the concept of brainwashing is not universally accepted among social scientists and is itself still highly controversial. Framing the controversies in terms of "X claims that the Unification Church took advantage of brainwashed Japanese people" would not only be more accurate but would also avoid flaring up this debate over whether or not brainwashing is real, since Wikipedia is not in a position to make such a claim (social scientists are). Jacquesparker0 (talk) 12:36, 12 July 2022 (UTC)

I wrote about social problems in Japan in the Controversy section. I wrote an objective account of who was criticizing the Unification Church.--SLIMHANNYA (talk) 17:52, 12 July 2022 (UTC)

Jacquesparker, you need to read these two articles, one from the NY Times and one from the Washington Post (both reliable sources). https://www.nytimes.com/2022/07/11/business/japan-suspect-unification-church.html https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/07/12/unification-church-japan-shinzo-abe/ . I also recommend following the links to reliable sources that are contained in the NY Times article. --Westwind273 (talk) 20:02, 12 July 2022 (UTC)
@Westwind273 Thank you for the references. --Jacquesparker0 (talk) 22:50, 12 July 2022 (UTC)
Thanks also. I was not able to read the NYT article because of a paywall. The WP article is pretty much the same as they have been writing since Watergate. Just quotes from anti-cultists, no interest in actual journalism.PopSci (talk) 12:40, 13 July 2022 (UTC)
So who has an interest in actual journalism? The Washington Times? (Ha, Ha) Wikipedia generally recognizes the Washington Post as a reliable source, especially when backed up by other reliable sources (NY Times, AP, etc). Westwind273 (talk) 05:12, 19 July 2022 (UTC)

"forced" vs "pressured" The Missionary work in Japan section is well-done, but I find the use of the word "forced" rather strong. When legal cases are filed against the church under Japanese law, what is the language used? What is legal definition of difference between "pressuring" someone to make a donation, against "forcing" someone to donate? How is this different from "harassing" someone to donate? Vagabond nanoda (talk) 19:53, 14 July 2022 (UTC)

I agree that the section is well done. Note [301] of the current version has the English translation (using Google Translate, which I don't particularly trust to be accurate) as "forced," but that doesn't necessarily mean that the Japanese courts determined that that is what happened (as opposed to "pressuring"). I think that the National Network of Lawyers Against Spiritual Sales would definitely use the Japanese-equivalent of "forced" if there is one, but again that doesn't reflect the court's ruling. Normally, I would suggest adding the word "allegedly" or "supposedly" to "forced" or "pressured," but if a Japanese court ruled that that actually happened, then you don't necessarily need the adverbs. Then again, saying something like: "A Japanese court ruled that Unificationists forced people to make large donations" would be better overall, but that style of wording isn't the most convenient at points. If anyone who reads Japanese can shed some light on this issue, that would be really helpful. In the meantime, I think rephrasing to say that X said/ruled that Y forced or pressured Z into doing something would be better than saying Y forced or pressured Z into doing something. --Jacquesparker0 (talk) 01:03, 15 July 2022 (UTC)
Precisely it was a response by the UC Tokyo chair "献金の強要ない" (there is no coercion of donation) regarding the donation controversy on July 11. That aside, please be a bit more careful of citing Mainichi regarding the matters with UC, not only in note 302 they just repeat UC's claim that Nobusuke Kishi had no further tie with the church beyond "showing strong understanding of our movement for peace" (創始者の平和運動に強く理解していただいた), they even invite former LDP member Mayuko Toyota on their show to deny the connections. -- Sameboat - 同舟 (talk · contri.) 04:43, 15 July 2022 (UTC)

The entire story is finally coming out. This should be worked into the article eventually. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2022/07/25/national/japan-politics-unification-church-links/ --Westwind273 (talk) 14:05, 25 July 2022 (UTC)

Wikipedia infiltrated

This article is a prime example of perhaps the greatest threat to Wikipedia, in that it shows what happens when a powerful organization is able to infiltrate the administration of Wikipedia itself. The Controversy section of this article has disappeared. And as others have noted, this article is highly biased in favor of the Unification Church, given the highly controversial nature of the organization. To pick one example, there are multiple reliable sources that report on Unification Church members being conned into giving massive donations to the Unification Church, at the expense of their own financial well-being. However, this is not mentioned in the article at all. This article may be a harbinger of the demise of Wikipedia. --Westwind273 (talk) 19:03, 9 July 2022 (UTC)

Seems a bit strong to me to say that the Unification Church is "infiltrating" Wikipedia's administration because this article is lacking a section on UC controversies. However, there are sections of this article that do discuss UC controversies. The "History" section discusses the Daily Mail libel case and Sun Myung Moon's tax fraud case. Additionally, Unification Church in the United States has a section called "Criticism, opposition, and controversy." And there's a category for Unification Church controversies overall. I think it's fair to argue that this article should have that section, but I do not agree that it's evidence for "infiltration" by UC unless you can provide evidence for it. It seems unproductive to say outright that this article and Wikipedia as a whole are being infiltrated because of this issue (again, unless you have evidence to the contrary). --Jacquesparker0 (talk) 23:29, 9 July 2022 (UTC)
Check out this sentence in the article: "In the 1970s, the Unification Church, along with some other new religious movements, became a target of the anti-cult movement. On the basis of theories that have not gained acceptance in mainline social science,[57] "anti-cult" activists accused the movement of having "brainwashed" its members.[58] At the same time, members reported that they were kidnapped and forcibly "deprogrammed" by those who wanted to pull them out of the movement.[59]" How on earth does this sentence make it into a supposedly unbiased article? And note how 57, 58, and 59 do not in any way support the content of this sentence. There is administrator involvement in this fiasco. --Westwind273 (talk) 06:27, 10 July 2022 (UTC)
To address your concerns for the sources in those sentences: note 57 does note how there is not a consensus on the brainwashing thesis among the social sciences, primarily sociology. On page 335 of Eileen Barker's article (the source cited), she writes that "Sociologists, on the other hand [from psychologists and psychiatrists], have tended to dismiss the brainwashing thesis," and she provides a detailed example of why. Note 58's source isn't outright "anti-cult" in that it's not coming from a anti-cult activist, but generally journalists do belong to the anti-cult movement. That claim could definitely use a stronger source, but it does at the very least report the journalist's belief that Sun Myung Moon brainwashed people in the 1970s and 1980s. Note 59 is a US State Department report on religious freedom in Japan, where it clearly states that "the Unification Church reported five members were abducted during the reporting period," presumably for the sake of being deprogrammed (as implied from sentences above it). Note 58 is definitely weak in supporting its claim, but the other two sources are strong enough to support what they say.
Again, I don't think this proves that the "infiltration" of Wikipedia or this article by UC. If anything, I don't see any particular language in those sentences that creates a positive view of the Unification Church, if anything it's simply giving a balanced perspective. If you have issues with the article, then you should change the article in a productive way rather than making accusations without providing substantial evidence. I invite you to provide the evidence of infiltration if you have it. --Jacquesparker0 (talk) 17:23, 10 July 2022 (UTC)
If the following excerpt from the Guardian today has any validity then the "Moonies" are an example for founding a religious organisation as a cover for political reasons. ""The church, founded in South Korea in 1954 by the self-proclaimed messiah Sun Myung Moon, was encouraged to establish a presence in Japan by Abe’s grandfather and postwar prime minister, Nobusuke Kishi, as a counter to communism and trade unionism. The organisation, known for its mass weddings, has been accused of pressuring believers into making donations they can’t afford – claims it has denied. Sun Myung Moon, was encouraged to establish a presence in Japan
Please note "" as a counter to communism and trade unionism "" The church or "church" was founded in the year after the end of the Korean War. Churches should not be a cover for political purposes, but when they are, that needs to be mentioned. I had suspected that of another group who claims freedom of religion rights. The Guardian has not sourced why they believe the political purposes are part of that organisation, but over time I believe somebody will reveal that. 2001:8003:A070:7F00:7077:F0C0:E20D:4D12 (talk) 05:32, 21 September 2022 (UTC)
This page has indeed overwhelmingly been edited by single-purpose accounts (you can literally just skim the edit history in 500-edits-per-page mode and count how many times PopSci, PineSky, and Temscl show up); regardless of the nature of how the page got this way, given current events, it ought to be investigated thoroughly. 67.246.10.1 (talk) 17:38, 10 July 2022 (UTC)
Sure, I don't mind WP doing an investigation of PopSci and Temscl (personally, the former seems to be doing fine in terms of editing this page, but I digress). I looked through the 500-edits-per-page mode and couldn't find a user named PineSky on this article's edit history.
Most of the edits that Temscl makes are usually small edits to the Tang-gam section (though not always), and I wish they would provide edit summaries of what they changed since it would take anyone a long time to comb through all of those edits. Only 3 of their 185 live edits are above 1,000 bytes in size, and nearly 60% are below 20 bytes (see here for my source). On English Wikipedia, all the edits they've made are solely on this article (they've made over 600 edits on Japanese Wikipedia, most of which are on the Unification Church or related topics. They've only edited nine articles total on Japanese Wikipedia). Beyond this, I can't find much more information about them. Part of the reason why they may only edit this one page could just be that they don't have a strong grasp on English so they primarily edit the sections that have Japanese or Korean in them, and even then they are usually pretty small edits. I can't confirm that of course, but it's possible with the information we have at the moment.
For the sake of transparency, if any investigation should happen it should be on at least Temscl, but I understand also conducting some investigation on PopSci as well. PopSci on their user page does confirm they are a member of the Unification Church, but that in particular isn't necessarily evidence that there's a greater infiltration happening until more evidence for that comes to light. --Jacquesparker0 (talk) 18:38, 10 July 2022 (UTC)
Sorry for the vagueness; PineSky shows up on pages earlier than the first page (specifically the third and fourth pages). They were warned on their talk page about the single-purpose account policy in 2018, and they stopped editing roughly a month later.
The specific content that was chosen by each editor for addition/deletion seems mostly kosher with each individual edit taken out of context, that's true. But even when the individual edits are kosher, pages that are heavily edited by single-purpose accounts are at a very high risk of becoming non-NPOV (and this is indeed the typical way in which long-lived non-NPOV pages come to be). I don't think that this is a deliberate infiltration, but I still think something dangerous is going on, considering these editing patterns and the fact that the organization at hand seems to have real, consequential political power (based on my skimming sources about it other than English Wikipedia).
Thinking about it, it might be a good idea to add Template:Unbalanced, at least until someone with real authority can look into what's going on here. Or whatever the appropriate template is for pages that are likely to have an undercut presentation of controversial information. 67.246.10.1 (talk) 19:30, 10 July 2022 (UTC)
Thanks for the clarification. The issue of single-use accounts seems reasonable to have a concern over, and I hope someone with some authority can take a good look at it. The unbalanced template seems fit for what is needed right now. I can add one to this article. --Jacquesparker0 (talk) 20:00, 10 July 2022 (UTC)
  • I was kind of surprised that I am one of the top 3 editors of the article! I have mostly been correcting grammer and things like that. A while ago one editor folded in several independent articles into this one and I removed some of the duplicated material. Temscl's section seems to be his own project. I don't quite understand what it's all about. PopSci (talk) 12:36, 13 July 2022 (UTC)
  • A passage that strikes me as biased is in the opening: The Unification Church has been controversial, with some early critics calling it a dangerous cult. "Some early critics"? My impression is that the view of the movement as a cult is still quite widespread, and this phrasing seems intended to trivialize that view. TKSnaevarr (talk) 23:50, 4 August 2022 (UTC)
"The Unification Church has been controversial, with some early critics calling it a dangerous cult." Yes indeed, there is clear bias in this statement. Let's try this for example: "Jesus has been controversial, with some early critics calling him dangerous."
or this: "Judaism has been controversial, with some critics calling those who practice this faith "dangerous".
Or how about this: Masters and Johnson are widely accepted as objective scientists in spite of the fact that they molested children in order to present "scientific data" to the general public.
I want to ask the editors, if I made any of these statements and included them in articles on the topics to which they refer, would you say that I was being fair, even handed or balanced? 96.244.189.26 (talk) 17:19, 19 September 2022 (UTC)

Tang-gam (탕감 蕩減) needs a major rework by a third party

@Temscl: I am sorry to inform you that this section is being poorly edited by you lately, despite your good faith. I am not complaining about the English grammar (I am not native English speaker either), the major issue is the citations you used in this section. I believe Wikipedia does not endorse using "Google search result" as citation, divineprinciple.web.fc2.com also looks very questionable as a reliable source. Another issue with your edits is WP:SYNTH, i.e. making original conclusion from published materials, in an attempt to explain the "original meaning of Tang-gam". If you want to state that Moon gave new definition to the term, please use reliable source which actually says so, not making up your own conclusion. -- Sameboat - 同舟 (talk · contri.) 03:36, 26 August 2022 (UTC)

I agree. I also I find it strange that this section is under the "Controversies" section, but I don't really see much controversy detailed specifically around Tang-gam other than that there are people who don't like UC theology in the first place. Is the controversy around this idea the translations specifically (i.e. are people conflicting over the English translation of 탕감 to "forgiveness" versus "indemnity"?). Or is there something specific about the concept itself that people conflict over? It seems like there's a bit of both in this section, but it seems mostly dedicated to detailing what tang-gam is rather than the controversy surrounding it. Summarizing it for the section is okay, but detail the controversies specific to it in the "Controversies" section. --Jacquesparker0 (talk) 06:51, 7 September 2022 (UTC)
@Temscl: I am sorry but you clearly misunderstood the issue we are having here, so I will be brief: your edits are not backed by reliable sources. Just because an information is a common knowledge to a specific group, doesn't mean that it is given a free pass in Wikipedia. As a fellow Wikipedia editor, we have the obligation to REMOVE any poorly sourced information. And I hope you would stay calm when we finally decided to remove the entire or partial portion of the Tang-gam section, which you spent so much energy on. We just need better source. Google search result doesn't qualify as acceptable source at all. -- Sameboat - 同舟 (talk · contri.) 00:00, 23 September 2022 (UTC)

Political activism section?

Right now the political activism section is longer than the history section. It seems to me that most of the history of the UC is actually political activism. Most of the controversy is too. I'd like to suggest merging the activism section into the history section. All it would take is putting the events in the right place in the timeline. JayDeeFree (talk) 17:37, 15 October 2022 (UTC)

Potential protection or semi-protection request for article?

I have been in an editing war with at least one person over whether or not the Unification Church should be considered Christian or not. Many reliable, secondary sources agree that they are Christian, but it seems that some non-registered editors do not seem to care. One left a nasty comment on my talk page (see here). I'm not sure how to request protection or semi-protection for this page -- or if it's even necessary to other editors on this page -- but the denial of verified information is becoming a problem. If someone more knowledgeable about this could weigh in, it would be well appreciated --Jacquesparker0 (talk) 17:25, 18 October 2022 (UTC)

Massimo Introvigne, Bitter Winter, and CESNUR

Based on WP:RSP#CESNUR, I have removed citations to Cesnur.org and Bitterwinter.org, as consensus seems to agree those are not reliable on Wikipedia. I have taken the further, WP:BOLD step to also remove citations to Massimo Introvigne which were published elsewhere, as Introvigne's work is inextricably linked to both organizations. Per prior discussions, concern has been raised that his work is neither reliable in general, nor neutral. Introvigne's organizations have a reputation for uncritical and substandard scholarship and pro-NRM apologia, often with funding from and the active encouragement of the NRM's organizations in question. While such sources might be of limited use for factual claims, (or not) any analysis or interpretation should come from reliable, independent sources. Grayfell (talk) 02:48, 20 October 2022 (UTC)

Removal of Divine Principle content - sourced scholar material content

Hello, JayDeeFree and Diannaa during some copyvio removal, possible here, there was deleted complete section of the Divine Principle content, sourced by scholars and added by multiple edits here. This part was translated from the Czech version of the article, which contains this part already for some time (years, since 2010) it is not "copied verbatim" and it is in my own words as I personally added it to the Czech version. This text is a compilation of:

  • Frederick Sontag: Sontag is mentioned in the scholar studies section, so the source is reliable. If I remember that correctly, it is about 12 chapters of his book, where each chapter is represented with one added paragraph, so the information here is already supercompressed and on my opinion cannot be shortened without loosing important statements.
  • Lužný+Václavík: those religionists studied the Divine Principle and describe 3 different parts, the same as is already in the article in Beliefs paragraph sourced by Leo Sandon Jr., just they describe it in much more detail. Again, the content is supercompressed as their article is from the book+CD on various new religious movements and the Divine Principle description takes several pages.

So I do expect, we will bring the content back. If it would be too much for this article, I think a good option could be to make a child article on the Divine Principle (again) but now there will be enough information to be self-standing, and here will stay just a summary. Tell me, what you think about it because I think it is not OK to remove sourced content without any reason. Hope it was done just by mistake. --Dee (talk) 23:40, 24 October 2022 (UTC)

The reason for removal was given in the edit summary: "remove excessive non-free content. Texts should be briefly summarized in your own words, not copied verbatim". If it's original content and not a quotation, I apologize. However adding 2000 words of religious dogma written in Wikipedia's voice is not appropriate and my opinion is that it should not be re-added. — Diannaa (talk) 23:53, 24 October 2022 (UTC)
I suggest new article about it. DanielCro (talk) 12:39, 25 October 2022 (UTC)
Diannaa, I think is still a bit misunderstanding... What is your reason of your opinion not re-adding it? Why you consider it inapropriate? Actualy, it is not a dogma, as you name it, it is as scientists of the subject matter (religionists) describe religions and their beliefs (and if any, their dogmas). Please rething with WP:NOTPAPER and compare with Christianity#Beliefs. Just please explain to me, why Wikipedia should not cover Beliefs of particular church and should cover beliefs of the other one. Thank you.--Dee (talk) 17:40, 25 October 2022 (UTC)
The problem as I see it is that the material is presented as fact, in Wikipedia's voice. Which in my opinion does not follow our WP:NPOV policy. — Diannaa (talk) 19:52, 25 October 2022 (UTC)
If the religionist presents it as a fact (the teachings of the church are really like this), then what is the problem... but I do understand, what you mean, so what do you recommend? I do think, that each part starts with text, which clearly states that it is what religionists say about the teachings and the following lists are encapsulated by this.
  • "David Václavík and Dušan Lužný described details of those 3 points as follows: " (To the "Following the format of systematic theology, it includes (1) God's purpose in creating human beings, (2) the fall of man, and (3) restoration") and
  • "Frederick Sontag summarized the teaching of the Divine Principle in 12 concise points: "
before each of those lists. So, I really do not understand, why you use the argument with "material is presented as fact" and why it should be a problem as
  • Fact is, that Frederic Sontag summarizes the teaching in those 12 parts and
  • Fact is, that Lužný and Václavík describe those 3 parts.
Read the sources to confirm. Or should I write at the start of each paragraph the word "supposedly", or something else to make the request to WP:NPOV happy? I think this would hurt WP:NPOV policy much more. --Dee (talk) 21:52, 25 October 2022 (UTC)
I'm not here to recommend anything. I've merely stated an opinion. — Diannaa (talk) 21:58, 25 October 2022 (UTC)
And my point is to prevent removals, so if you do not say any argument, I have to conclude, you do not have any. Additionally I have to say, your opinion is at least partially incorrect, as for example:
  • Václavík-Lužný point 1 starts with the text: "This first principle holds that ..."
  • Václavík-Lužný point 1 starts with text "according to the teaching of the Church ..."
  • Václavík-Lužný point 1 starts with text "According to the teaching of the Church ..."
fully respects WP:NPOV, means you removed at least those parts incorrectly. I will simply put them back, eventually request for comment could be filled in the future.
The part of Frederic Sontag I can try to rewrite more in the style "according to the teaching of the Church..." on each line, but I think it is a bit odd as this is already encapsulated above the list.
Even if you do not want to recommend anything, we did a great shift trough:
  • excessive non-free content
  • briefly summarized in your own words, not copied verbatim
  • 2000 words of religious dogma
  • presented as fact, in Wikipedia's voice
  • opinion
all incorrect, so I'm curious would be next. Timesaving would be to cooperate on a better WP content. EN is not my mother language, so consider I could have issues with expressions which looks perfect for me, but you consider it differently. Little help is welcome here. --Dee (talk) 22:31, 25 October 2022 (UTC)
Done. --Dee (talk) 23:43, 3 November 2022 (UTC)

Re new legislation passed in Japan to restrict donations given to religious groups

Hi, just raising some awareness that this new section, while informative, does not appear to conform to the following rules:

WP:NPOV

MOS:LABEL

There are also issues with WP:EXCEPTIONAL for https://web.archive.org/web/20221210091835/https://www.nikkei.com/article/DGXZQOUA101KP0Q2A211C2000000/, the source used to cite. User: SLIMHANNYA appears to be mimicking the type of language used in the outlet, which appears to be sympathetic to the Chinese govt, and as the UC has been strongly anti-communist as is reported, then this source may appear to be in conflict of interest. There is nothing wrong with reporting on events, but these must adhere to neutrality and words listed out in WP:WORDS/MOS:LABEL need to be contextualised. The paragraph could be paraphrased much better. I managed to find 3 other sources that tell the same story but don't refer to the UC as a cult, but as a religious group. It is also noted that DW has stated that the new legislation does not make any reference to the Unification Church particularly. Please could this section by User: SLIMHANNYA be reviewed and the source deleted or the paragraph amended. Thanks Saussure4661 (talk) 01:23, 11 December 2022 (UTC)

I am Japanese and I do not know why you referred to the Chinese government. And those sources clearly explain the passage of the law to the effect that it is a law to help victims of the Unification Church. And please do not overlook the fact that many media outlets use the term "cult" to describe the law every time it is mentioned.[6][7] Although the law does not mention the Unification Church in its text, it is clear from the sources that it was enacted in response to the Unification Church's problems, in order to apply to all juridical persons, including religious organizations.--SLIMHANNYA (talk) 04:35, 11 December 2022 (UTC)
Saussure4661 has been alleged several times to have a conflict of interest with the Unification Church on his Talk page. Are you totally unaffiliated with the Unification Church?--SLIMHANNYA (talk) 04:48, 11 December 2022 (UTC)
These bills were created due to social problems caused by the Unification Church, and from the time of discussion before the bills were passed, they have been discussed from the perspective of preventing damage caused by cults.[8][9] Minister Kono, who has jurisdiction over the law,[10] clearly stated that the Unification Church is an antisocial cult during the deliberations surrounding the bill.[11] It is impossible to try to separate the Unification Church from the law passed on December 10 that aims to restrict cults.--SLIMHANNYA (talk) 08:04, 11 December 2022 (UTC)
The word "cult" has no academic backing any longer and it it officially called "new religious movement". Historically "cult" came from Latin "cultus" which basically means worship. Saussure4661 (talk) 09:21, 11 December 2022 (UTC)
Preferably list the facts so that these can provide context, instead of opinions, please. Otherwise this is tabloid and not encyclopaedic Saussure4661 (talk) 09:32, 11 December 2022 (UTC)
Let me make it very clear: I do NOT have a conflict of interest with the Unification Church. In fact, I'm an agnostic and don't follow any religion. You might as well point out to every other page I've created or contributed as having a conflict of interest: Serena Terry, Peter Zeihan, Céline Dion, The Last Blockbuster Store, Olivier Richters, etc. Just because someone edits on a page doesn't make them affiliated to the subject matter. You were given a warning in the past for disruptive editing as well. Wikipedia has a clear Manual on the kinds of works used. If I had a conflict of interest I would have had something against your contribution in the first place. I didn't even touch upon the other section you added, as I don't know anything. I only called out the one on the legislation because of the lack of neutrality used to paraphrase. There are plenty of other terms to use for something that has a particular connotation in certain circles.
Value-laden labels – such as calling an organization a cult, an individual a racist, sexist, terrorist, or freedom fighter, or a sexual practice a perversion – may express contentious opinion and are best avoided unless widely used by reliable sources to describe the subject, in which case use in-text attribution. Avoid myth in its informal sense, and establish the scholarly context for any formal use of the term.
This is from Wikipedia directly. The majority of sources, including ones from Japan to not use "cult" in reference to the legislation. Saussure4661 (talk) 09:03, 11 December 2022 (UTC)
The reason I mention the Chinese government, is because the source's Xi Jinping Watch section dedicates a portion to the president giving the impression that he has some clear anti-corruption scheme. Based on my own research, the Unification Church is anti-communist, and has been the target of Communist governments. This is to be expected. Communist regimes don't allow dissent, and are known to conduct terrorist attacks around the world against dissenters and others. The Chinese government is also cracking down on religions, very much in line with ideological doctrine, and all religions in China are called "cults" regardless of how mainstream they are. I'm only implying that the source gives the impression that is sympathetic towards the Chinese government, not that it is. Saussure4661 (talk) 09:57, 11 December 2022 (UTC)
At least the multiple sources I have indicated above clearly indicate that these two bills are designed to deal with "cults". The word "cult" is clearly stated there. I could further present multiple sources that state that those bills were created by Unification Church social issues and that the bills are anti-cult measures, but I am not going to append a large number of sources that say the same thing as the multiple sources I have already presented.--SLIMHANNYA (talk) 10:30, 11 December 2022 (UTC)
@SLIMHANNYA please adhere to WP:NPOV. The problem here is not the sources. I too, added three sources that back up the story. The issue I am raising is breach of neutrality Saussure4661 (talk) 10:37, 11 December 2022 (UTC)
I reviewed my past edits and corrected "cult" to "religious organization" in some sentences.--SLIMHANNYA (talk) 11:40, 19 December 2022 (UTC)

Problem with the term "Unification Church"

There has never been an organisation called "Unification Church". The main organisation to which Unificationists (believers in Unificationist theology) adhere is referred to in the English-speaking world as the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification. A Google search on the term "Unification Church" will only uncover articles written by the detractors of Unificationism, since this not a label Unificationists use to describe their affiliation. Quant analyst (talk) 08:46, 17 November 2022 (UTC)

Wikipedia uses the most common term for a group, the one they're known by, not necessarily the one they'd prefer people use. — The Hand That Feeds You:Bite 21:46, 22 November 2022 (UTC)
UC as the name of the article is completely OK for Unificationists (so it does not insult anyone) and now is used even by some anticultists, which used to put pejoratives to the name (cult, sect, whatever...), but most important, the term Unification Church is used frequently by religionists and sociologists of religion (practically scientists in the field of the religion) and therefore their use of this term is the most valid when deciding the name of the article. Possibly, as church renames several times in the short history, in the future will win another name, but it is not yet the time. But look there is an official name in the infobox (Family federation...), but as far as I know, it would be necessary to change it again as the organizational structure of the Unification church or movement is still changing. --Dee (talk) 00:15, 27 January 2023 (UTC)

Verification needed

Verification is needed for one of my edits. In the anti-communism section at the end of the fourth paragraph I made an edit adding the following: "At this time CAUSA international also directly assisted the United States Central Intelligence Agency in supplying the Contras, in addition to paying for flights by rebel leaders. This funneling of supplies to the Contras escalated after Congress cut off CIA funding for the rebel groups." The [verification needed] was put on it, the reason being "extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence." Fair enough. In addition to the 2 sources I initially included, I have added two more sources. These sources are both internal CIA documents released to the public via the Freedom Of Information Act, on the CIA's own website, containing information confirming my claims. If that does not meet the bar for "extraordinary evidence," I don't know what does. Could someone please review my new evidence to verify my claims? Forest4theTrees11 (talk) 04:42, 4 February 2023 (UTC)

Hi, yeah I don't see why the verification is needed, if anything, it would be WP:DUE, as one of the sources is stating the organization is merely carrying out religious activities in the area, the way they describe it. The sources say both that CAUSA became the new source of funding for the Contras, and doing humanitarian work for the families of the the Contras. However, all four sources are making the same argument, which fulfills the "extraordinary claim" criteria. I would also add, that the contribution looks identical to what it says in the source and might need a bit rewording. Just a suggestion of course. Saussure4661 (talk) 23:44, 13 February 2023 (UTC)
The Washington Post journals archived by CIA are good sources and I agree the verification needed label is no longer valid. -- Sameboat - 同舟 (talk · contri.) 11:25, 14 February 2023 (UTC)

New article needed

New article needed: International Oceanic Enterprises / True World Group. Source 173.88.246.138 (talk) 21:50, 26 November 2021 (UTC)

I agree. Someone needs to find the sources. PopSci (talk) 06:04, 24 February 2022 (UTC)


I see many articles(cited sources) that are in Japanese or Korean language. It is difficult to confirm the validity of these sources. I recommend to find sources in English or remove them. Listing Two Examples:

  • [30] "김백문의 기독교근본원리 연재 1 – 국역 서론". 기독교포털뉴스 (in Korean). 10 September 2021. Retrieved 9 August 2022.
  • [302] 旧統一教会巡るカルト規制　“先進国”フランスの教訓は？ (in Japanese). 9 December 2022. Archived from the original on 10 December 2022. Retrieved 11 December 2022.

Trukoh (talk) 05:03, 13 February 2023 (UTC)

Reminder: Please respond if there is any input regarding this matter. As per https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Verifiability#Access_to_sources, I would like to request quotation of relevant portions of the original source to be provided. Trukoh (talk) 01:24, 6 March 2023 (UTC)

tags again

Can we categorize and put in the lede that it is seen as a cult or no?[1] 104.255.169.110 (talk) 02:11, 31 August 2023 (UTC)

References

  1. ^ https://www.theguardian.com/world/2012/sep/03/moonie-cult-leader

Extended-confirmed-protected edit request on 3 September 2023

Under "popular terminologies," the following sentence should be grammatically corrected: 'Although many Unification Church members consider the "M" word derogatory but will use it amongst themselves in the same way that Black people have come to "own" the "N" word, or Irish people call each other "Paddies", but might resent others using such slurs.'

Specifically, it is not a full sentence, being comprised of clauses and conjunctions. I would recommend replacing the first "but" with ", some". Al Begamut (talk) 03:24, 3 September 2023 (UTC)

 Done – Jonesey95 (talk) 10:34, 3 September 2023 (UTC)

Membership numbers

While Eileen Barker is probably a reliable source, I have to question the 3 million figure. New religious movements of all stripes are notorious for heavily exaggerating their membership numbers, and so all numbers have to be treated with a heavy dose of skepticism. The number is only mentioned in the abstract [12], and Barker does not give any kind of source for the figure (I assume it is from the church itself). NPR stated in 2010 that [13] No one knows how many Unificationists there are worldwide. In the U.S., estimates range from 15,000 to 25,000. But the numbers have dropped since the 1970s, in part because many "blessed" children have left the fold. I think that removing the number is the best solution. Hemiauchenia (talk) 17:22, 11 September 2023 (UTC)

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