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統一敎會
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Tongil Gyohoe
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T'ongil Kyohoe
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The is a
New Religious Movement started by
Sun Myung Moon in
Korea in the 1940s.
The beliefs of the church are explained in the book ''
Divine Principle '' and draw from the
Bible as well as Asian traditions and include belief in a universal
God ; in the creation of a literal
Kingdom Of Heaven on earth; in the
Universal Salvation of all people, good and evil as well as living and dead; that
Jesus Did Not Come To Die ; and that the Lord of the Second Coming must be a man born in Korea early in the 20th century who must marry and have children.
In 1954, the group was formally and legally established in
Seoul , South Korea as ''The Holy Spirit Association for the Unification of World Christianity'' (HSA-UWC), reflecting Moon's original vision as an
Ecumenical movement. In the face of opposition by established churches, however, it developed not as a movement, but as a separate organization or religion and became known as the Unification Church.
Members are found in over 50 countries, with the majority living in , although they consider this pejorative.
In the 1990s, Moon began to establish various peace organizations, including ''the
Family Federation For World Peace And Unification '', which took over many of the spiritual and organizational functions of the church. In many parts of the world, the movement was incorporated as HSA-UWC, and that name is found on legal documents.
The Unification Church (UC) believes that
Jesus appeared to Mun Yong-myong (his birth name) on
April 17 ,
1935 , when Moon was 15 years old (in his 16th year in
Korean Age Reckoning ), and asked him to accomplish the work left unaccomplished after his crucifixion. After a period of prayer and consideration, Moon accepted the mission, later changing his name to Mun Son-myong (
Sun Myung Moon ).
The beginnings of the Church's official teachings, the ''
Divine Principle ,'' first saw written form as ''Wolli Wonbon'' in 1946. (The second, expanded version, ''Wolli Hesol'', or ''Explanation of the Divine Principle'', was not published until 1957; for a more complete account, see ''
Divine Principle ''.) Sun Myung Moon preached in northern Korea after the end of
World War II and was imprisoned by the communist regime in North Korea in 1946. He was released from prison, along with many
North Korea ns, with the advance of American and
United Nations forces during the
Korean War and built his first church from mud and cardboard boxes as a refugee in
Pusan .
Moon formally founded his organization in
Seoul ,
Korea , on
May 1 ,
1954 , calling it "The Holy Spirit(ual) Association for the Unification of World Christianity." The name alludes to Moon's stated intention for his organization to be a unifying force for all Christian denominations. The phrase "Holy Spirit Association" has the sense in the original Korean of "Heavenly Spirits" and not the "Holy Spirit" of Christianity. "Unification" has political as well as religious connotations, in keeping with the church's teaching that restoration must be complete, both spiritual and physical.
In 1958, Moon sent missionaries to Japan, and in 1959, to America.
Moon himself moved to the United States in 1971. UC missionaries found success in San Francisco first, where it expanded in both
Berkeley and San Francisco as
Creative Community Project . By 1973 missions had spread to most of the nation's most populous cities.
Moon took full-page ads in major newspapers defending President
Richard M. Nixon at the height of the
Watergate Controversy, based on the principle that God works through designated central figures throughout history, and that America played a crucial central role in the ongoing Providence of God on the world level.
In 1975, Moon sent out missionaries to 120 countries to spread the Unification Church around the world and also in part, he said, to act as "lightning rods" to receive "persecution."
In the 1970s Moon gave a series of public speeches in the United states including one in in
New York City , and on the grounds of the
Washington Monument in
Washington D.C. , where Moon spoke on "God's Hope for America."
A few books have been written about the Unification Church. In 1976 Christian writer James Bjornstad wrote ''. This book was partly sponsored by the church.
In 1978, a Congressional
Subcommittee issued a report that included the results of its investigation into the UC, and into other organizations associated with Moon. Among its other conclusions, the subcommittee's report stated that "Among the goals of the Moon Organization is the establishment of a worldwide government in which the separation of church and state would be abolished and which would be governed by Moon and his followers."
''Investigation of Korean-American Relations; Report of the Subcommittee on International Organizations of the Committee on International Relations, U.S. House of Representatives''
See Also: Unification theology
God is viewed as the creator in Unification Theology. God has polar characteristics corresponding to (but more subtle or "internal" than) the attributes we see expressed in his creation: masculinity and femininity, internal character and external form, subject and object. God is referred to as "he" for simplicity and because "masculinity" is associated with "subject." God is omniscient and omnipotent, though bound by his own principles and the logical consequences of human freedom; in order to experience a relationship of love, he created human beings as his children and gave them freedom to love him or not as they chose.
Unificationists believe that the
Fall Of Man was an actual historical event (rather than an
Allegory ) involving an original human couple, who are called
Adam And Eve in the book of
Genesis in the
Bible . The elements in the story, however, such as the
Tree Of Life , the
Tree Of The Knowledge Of Good And Evil , the forbidden fruit, the serpent, etc., are interpreted to be symbolic
Metaphor s for ideal man, ideal woman, sexual love, and
Satan , respectively. The essence of the fall is that Eve was seduced by an angelic being (
Lucifer ). Eve then seduced Adam. So love was consummated through sexual intercourse between Adam and Eve apart from the plan of God, and before Adam and Eve were spiritually mature. Unificationists believe there was a "spiritual (sexual) fall," between Eve and the angel, and a "physical (sexual) fall" between Eve and Adam. They also regard Adam and Eve's son
Cain killing his brother
Abel as a literal event which contributed to humankind's fallen state. Unificationists teach that since the "fall of humanity," all of human history has been a constant struggle between the forces of God and Satan to correct this
Original Sin (''cf.''
Augustine And Lust ,
Concupiscence ). This belief contributes to their strict moral code of "absolute love" and sexual purity, and the need for "indemnity" or reparations.
A fundamental teaching of the church is that God possesses both male and female attributes and that the most perfect substantial expression of God is to be found in a "true love" relationship between a fully perfected man and a fully perfected woman, living in accordance with the will of God. This love can then grow between parents and children. "True love" is understood to mean a sacrificial love that it is unconditional, unchanging, and eternal. The love that was lost at the Fall of Man must be restored. The history of religion, especially that of the central Providence of Judeo-Christianity, is the story of Divine and human effort to rebuild God's original ideal world. A messiah comes in the position of Adam as a starting point for a new sinless Eden, the Kingdom of God on Earth. Jesus provided spiritual salvation but could not achieve the complete elimination of evil and the establishment of a perfect society on earth. The Lord of the Second Advent comes as True Parents (Sun Myung Moon and Hakja Han Moon) to complete this restoration work by adopting all people into the True Family, cleansing them of Original Sin, and laying the foundation for the Kingdom of God on earth and in the spirit world.
The Unification Church uses the term "absolute love" to refer to its teaching about sexual morality, which is essentially abstinence before marriage and fidelity thereafter.
During the church's period of early growth (
1970 –
85 in America), most church members lived in
Intentional Communities . The majority of members' marriages were arranged by Moon personally. In recent years this rule was relaxed, with parents often helping to arrange their children's choice of spouse and church leaders suggesting matches for members.
Many members considered it the ultimate test of their faith to accept a match arranged by Moon, and the church's increasingly large
Marriage Blessings have attracted much notice. These ceremonies, dubbed "mass marriage" by the press, constitute the feature of the Church that is perhaps the most unusual to Westerners. Moon has presided over marriages of groups of hundreds, thousands, or even of tens of thousands of couples at once. Many of the arranged marriages paired people from different countries, races, and cultures. Moon teaches that such "exchange marriages" will help build connections among the divided human family, as people stretch their hearts to love spouse, in-laws, and children.
Several church-related groups are working to promote
Sexual Abstinence until marriage and fidelity in marriage, both among church members and the general public.
The
Unification Theological Seminary in Barrytown,
New York was founded in 1975.
News World Communications is their international media arm. It includes the
Washington Times newspaper in
Washington D. C. ,
United Press International (UPI),
Insight Magazine ,
The World & I , the
Middle East Times , Tiempos del Mundo, Segye Ilbo, Segye Times USA, Chongyohak Shinmun, Sekai Nippo, GolfStyles, and the World Peace Herald.
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The
Professors World Peace Academy was founded on
May 6 ,
1973 , in Korea, by Moon declaring its intent to "''contribute to the solutions of urgent problems facing our modern civilization and to help resolve the cultural divide between East and West''". PWPA now has chapters in over one hundred countries.
In the United States the church and church members own fishing interests, which are for-profit businesses and pay taxes. The biggest are in newspaper into fish species substitution, using
DNA Testing , included the company.
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The church itself or members also play roles in a variety of other business including Atlantic Video, a Massachusetts Avenue video post-production facility; the
University Of Bridgeport in
Bridgeport, Connecticut ; a
Cable Television channel called the
AmericanLife TV Network , the
Firearm s manufacturer
Kahr Arms , and the New Yorker Hotel in Manhattan. Church members in other nations have also founded and been employed in many businesses.
In the United States the church was instrumental in the formation of the American Clergy Leadership Council (ACLC), an association of mainly African American Baptist and Pentecostal clergy.
The Unification Church was a major financial backer of the
World Anti-Communist League .
In the 1980s church members in South America, following Moon's direction, founded the anti-communist organization
CAUSA .
The
Sun Moon University in South Korea is the movement's principal institution of higher learning in Asia.
In 2004 the church founded the
Cheongshim Graduate School Of Theology in South Korea.
Also, in 2006, Cheongshim International Academy was founded right next to the Graduate School. It admits both church members and non-members as students. Cheongshim International Middle School, which is a part of the school, is recongnized in South Korea as the most prestigious middle school. In 2007 admissions, the competition rate for this school recorded 54 : 1.
The Unification Church is among the most controversial religious organizations in the world today. Governments of most countries have recognized it as a
Bona Fide Religion entitled to tax exempt status. A number of opponents denounce it as a
Cult .
A frequently heard criticism of the Unification Church (UC) is that it's not really a church at all but a
Cult . By the sociological definition of "cult", the UC may no longer qualify (has grown too big, is less in tension with the larger society than in the 70s, or may in fact have always had too many beliefs in common with mainstream Christianity), in spite of its reputation for having some bizarre features, as emphasized by numerous media reports
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Some detractors have claimed the church's main purpose is to enrich Moon personally or to advance his political aspirations, such as the formation of a one world government.
The Japanese Supreme Court upheld a 1997
Fraud charge against the Unification Church of
Japan with regard to certain fundraising practices, but it has also upheld the church's status as a religion whose members have a right to practice their beliefs.
In the United States in the 1970s, the media reported on the high-pressure recruitment methods of Unificationists and said that the church separated vulnerable college students from their families through the use of
Brainwashing or
Mind Control .See
''Reader's Guide to Periodical Literature'' , 1900- . New York: Wilson, 1905- . v.1- .
Moon dismissed these criticisms, stating in 1976 that he had received many thank-you letters from parents whose children became closer to them after joining the movement. (In 1977, Moon had a notice posted in all Unification Churches in America, mandating that all members write to their families no less than once every 10 days.)
Moon and his wife were banned from entry into Germany and the other 14 ,
U.S. State Dept.
See:
Politics And The Unification Church ,
Unification Church Political Views
Critics of the Unification Church have accused the organization of being closely involved with covert
CIA -authored operations against communism in Korea during the 1960s, largely due to similarity in names of the actual Korean CIA director and Won Pil Kim, the teenage follower who accompanied Sun Myung Moon on his journey from North Korea to the safety of Pusan during the Korean War, and who became the first long-time member. The Church is known to have been involved with weapon and munitions manufacturing in Korea since the 1960s, as documented in a 1978
United States Congressional Report On The Unification Church . The explanation given by Korean Unification Church members is that all manufacturers seeking to do business in South Korea were required to supply the military, and the actual products made were shell casings.
From 1977 to 1978, Moon's group was the subject of an
Investigation by the Subcommittee on International Organizations of the
United States House Of Representatives ' Committee on International Relations, chaired by Rep.
Donald Fraser of
Minnesota . The
Report issued by the subcommittee alleged widespread fraud as well as ties to the
Koreagate influence-peddling scandal. The report asserted that the Unification Church and other related groups constituted a single, monolithic "Moon Organization". Like-minded critics accuse the church of working to further a political agenda in both the Far East and in the United States.
Sun Myung Moon 's controversial religious and political
Unification Movement , which includes not only the Unification Church but an enormous constellation of civic organizations, including the
Washington Times Foundation, is allied politically with evangelical Christians such as
Jerry Falwell and
Tim LaHaye . Advocates adhering to this point of view have challenged the church's tax-exempt status in the US, arguing that the political activities of church-related groups comprise an impermissible intrusion of the church into political areas.
Defenders of the church dismiss this argument, on the grounds that the
Unification Movement is properly divided into distinct organizations, each of which should be judged by the laws relating to its type. Thus, church-owned businesses pay taxes, while the church itself largely need not. Church missionaries who decided to campaign for
Ronald Reagan , had to resign from church leadership positions (at least on paper) while conducting their non-church political activities (private communication from Dan Peterson and Tom Carter). Moon has said that his order to Unification Church members to support
Ronald Reagan 's 1980 campaign in
New York City helped Reagan win the
Presidential Election that year.
The church-related
Collegiate Association For The Research Of Principles (CARP), which has a different type of tax-exempt charter, has more freedom than the church itself to engage in political speech and hold demonstrations on political topics.
Authorities in
Brazil and
Paraguay have expressed concerns over the Church's purchases in recent years of large tracts of land in South America, ranging in the hundreds of thousands of acres.
In May 2002, federal police in
Brazil conducted a number of raids on organizations linked to Sun Myung Moon. In a statement, the police stated that the raids were part of a broad investigation into allegations of tax evasion and immigration violations by Moon's organization. The Association of Families for Unification and World Peace was the target of the raids, which took place in
Rio De Janeiro ,
São Paulo , and the personal residence of Moon's primary representative in Brazil, Reverend Kim Yoon-sang.
As Of 2007 no legal action has been taken by the Brazilian government resulting from their investigations.
See
Unification Church And Anti-Semitism .
Moon has spoken vehemently against homosexual activity. He stated that "homosexuals... are like dirty dung eating dogs"
The Family Federation for Cosmic Peace and Unification and the Cosmic Era of Blessed Family . Retrieved on 04-11-2007. and prophesied that "gays will be eliminated" in a "purge on God's orders".http://www.religioustolerance.org/hom_uni.htm This was met with vocal dissent from
Gay Rights groups.
In 1993, Chung Hwa Pak released the book ''Roku Maria no Higeki'' (''Tragedy of the Six Marys'') through the Koyu Publishing Co. of Japan. The book contained allegations that Moon conducted sex rituals amongst six married female disciples ("The Six Marys") who were to have prepared the way for the virgin who would marry Moon and become the True Mother. Chung Hwa Pak had left the movement when the book was published and later withdrew the book from print when he rejoined the Unification Church. Before his death Chung Hwa Pak published a second book, ''The Apostate'', and recanted all allegations made in ''Roku Maria no Higeki''.A speech made by Pak titled "Retraction of ''The Tragedy of the Six Marys''" can be found at
www.tparents.org .
- '' (1984) Blackwell Publishers , Oxford, UK ISBN 0-631-13246-5.
- Chryssides, George D. , ''The Advent of Sun Myung Moon: The Origins, Beliefs and Practices of the Unification Church'' (1991) London, Macmillan Professional and Academic Ltd. The author is professor of religious studies at the University of Wolverhampton, United Kingdom.
- Fichter, Joseph H., ''The Holy Family of Father Moon'' (1985).
- ''. Little Brown & Company; ISBN 0-316-34816-3; (August 1998). The book is written by the ex-wife of Hyo Jin Moon , Reverend Moon's son (to whom she was married, handpicked by Moon, at 15 years of age) and details various abuses she says she suffered from members of the Moon family.
- Lofland, John, ''Doomsday Cult: A Study of Conversion, Proselytization, and Maintenance of Faith'' first published Prentice Hall , c/o Pearson Ed, 1966. Reprinted Ardent Media, U.S. ISBN 0-8290-0095-X
- Matczak, Sebastian, ''Unificationism: A New Philosophy and World View'' (Philosophical Questions Series, No 11) (1982) New York: Louvain. The author is a professor of philosophy and a Catholic priest. He taught at the Unification Theological Seminary.
- Wright, Stuart A., ''Leaving Cults: The Dynamics of Defection'', published by the Society for the Scientific Study of Religion: Monograph Series nr. 7 1987 ISBN 0-932566-06-5 (Contains interviews with ex-members of three groups, among others the Unification Church)
