Thanks, Rev. Moon, for making us fight back
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September 19, 2012
I know that it is unseemly to speak ill of the dead, but at first glance there is little good that we can say about the Rev. Sun Myung Moon, the leader of the Unification Church, who died earlier this month. For most people, the very mention of “Reverend Moon” and “the Unification Church” hearkens back to the era when disco was still the rage.
Still, Moon’s passing reminds us of a dark era in world religion and of the dangers of a particular manifestation of piety. Moon was the self-proclaimed messiah from Korea, a charismatic businessman who believed, and who convinced his followers, that he was the modern inheritor of Jesus’ mantle. His theology was bizarre: Jesus of Nazareth’s mission had, in fact, failed, because he had not married and had children. Moon would bring humanity back to a more pristine state in which sinless children would be born.
To help ensure that possibility, Moon was known to have played “heavenly matchmaker” to thousands of couples. In 1982 in Madison Square Garden, for example, he performed a ceremony for some 2,075 couples — none of whom had met before the ceremony and many of whom spent extended periods apart after the ceremony (and before consummation) doing church work. As recently as 2009, 10,000 couples were married or renewed their vows before Moon at Sun Moon University near Seoul.
And then there were Moon’s shady financial dealings, which landed him in prison. There were his tight, problematic relationships with elected officials, including several United States presidents. In 2004, according to The New York Times obituary, he had himself crowned “humanity’s savior” in front of astonished members of Congress at a Capitol Hill luncheon. There was his purchase of the Washington Times newspaper and the nearly bankrupt University of Bridgeport in Connecticut, where he recruited the radical theologian Richard L. Rubenstein to be its president. Rubenstein eulogized Moon by saying, “When I think of the Reverend Sun Myung Moon, I realize that no other individual outside of my immediate family has had a greater impact on my adult life.”
Moon’s manic self-regard was matched by his virulent hatred of others. He referred to homosexuals as “dirty, dung-eating dogs” and said Jews were to blame for the Holocaust because they betrayed Jesus by handing him over to the Romans. He claimed to have personally helped the spirits of Hitler and Stalin become “reborn as new persons.”
The history of religion is filled with tales of hucksters and false or failed messiahs. For Judaism, the most relevant historical parallel would be the careers of Shabbatai Zvi and Jacob Frank, the false messiahs of the 17th and 18th centuries who taught a dramatic doctrine of “redemption through sinning” and who created havoc throughout the Jewish world.
For us as Jews, the worst part of Moon’s legacy was his unethical “recruitment” practices. These included the brainwashing of young people and virtually holding them captive. Thus was born the American-Jewish horror of cults and their effect on our children — which itself launched a cottage industry of deprogrammers and inspired heroes like the late Rabbi Maurice Davis of White Plains, NY, who devoted the latter years of his rabbinate to fighting Moon and reuniting ex-Moonies with their families.
And in those efforts lies a paradox: The deceptive and dangerous techniques of the Unification Church succeeded in pushing our communal buttons. Concerns about the spiritual safety of our young led to a communal cri de coeur about one of the great crises facing American Judaism.
It was simply this: Our religious institutions had become spiritually anorexic. They had become overly concerned with mere survival, budgets, and buildings and insufficiently concerned with sacred text, ritual, poetry, community, and the inner life. Our young people were looking outside the boundaries of the Jewish community for spiritual nourishment. It wasn’t just the Unification Church — it was Hare Krishna, and Transcendental Meditation, and flirtations with Buddhism, and, eventually, emerging forms of New Age religion. At roughly the same time, psychological cults like EST and Mind Spring came upon the scene.
The Jewish community fought back. The 1970s saw the beginning of the havura movement, the explosion of Chabad’s global outreach efforts, and the first stirrings of Jewish mystical renewal. Eventually, the insights of these movements would become mainstream — so much so that they are now practically indistinguishable from what happens in “regular” synagogues at “regular” services.
Just as Jewish anguish over their false messiahs, Shabbatai Zvi and Jacob Frank, ultimately paved the way for Jewish emancipation and enlightenment, so, too, did the threat from Moon and his fellow cult leaders inadvertently lead American Judaism into a period of spiritual introspection. For all the deeply problematic aspects of Moon’s legacy, if American Judaism is now more spiritually alive, it might have been Moon’s “fault.”
Religion is often paradoxical, and this is one of those paradoxes. While we do not mourn Moon’s legacy, his malignant actions ultimately had a great deal to teach us.
Comments
Edward
September 19, 2012
Enlist me for publication ans newsletters. I was blessed in 1992
Thanks
Edward
September 19, 2012
Enlist me for publication and newsletters. I was blessed in 1992
Thanks
Brian Birmingham
September 19, 2012
“During the time of the “Koreagate” scandal in 1976-1977, the Fraser Committee found that the National Intelligence Service of South Korea (KCIA), had, among other things, been using the Unification Church as a political tool in its various
anti-communist activities. The KCIA’s general goal was to influence the domestic and foreign politics and policies of the United States. Eighty-one pages of the 447-page Fraser Report (pages 311-392) deals specifically with the Moon organization. The term “KCIA” occurs sixty-eight times within those eighty-one pages.” Source:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/steven-hassan/why-the-reported-sale-of-_b_707744.html
Please also see:
http://freedomofmind.com/Info/infoDet.php?id=137&title=Moon_Organization__-_Resources
http://freedomofmind.com/Info/docs/fraserport.pdf
Steve Dufour
September 19, 2012
I’ve been a Unification Church member since 1974 and I have never seen any hostility towards Jewish people among our church members. In fact we admire, and identify with, the Jews for their faith and traditions, and yes, for the persecution they have faced over the years. It is also worth mentioning that Jesus, as a religious Jew, was certainly in favor of marriage and children. Also arranged marriages (although not “mass weddings”) were normal in his society.
Sarah Brown
September 19, 2012
You first mention “I know that it is unseemly to speak ill of the dead:” then rule number one: DONT DO IT. You don’t know anything about him, and have obviously done little research on his life or his teachings. You accuse him of “shady financial dealings, which landed him in prison” yet you conveniently leave out that he was put in prison for being short $7500.00 of the church’s taxes (which usually are exempt in the first place) and it was called a “wide spread conspiracy”. So amongst the thousands of members, there was short an equivalent of $2-3 per person.Some “wide spread conspiracy” isnt it. He didn’t even have the OPTION of paying a fine. I am not asking you to like him or accept him, but please don’t go out of your way to try and humiliate a person who can’t even stick up for himself because theyre not even here anymore.
I think its pretty pathetic that you have to resort to belittling someone else for 80% of your essay in order to highlight the organization that you started. Please leave Rev. Moon alone, he never did anything to you. I am getting tired of articles about my religion with the lease credibility and lack of research done. And now apparently its done even after he is gone. Thanks alot Mr. Salkin, its untolerant people like you who are the reason I dont feel free to answer when people ask me what religion I am in.
Tony
September 20, 2012
@ Steve & Sarah!
Come on! Saying that Jesus Christ failed and that he didn’t get married and reproduce a family? It’s quite obvious that the Holy Ghost hasn’t really quickened anything to your remembrance! Firstly, I did study the Divine Principle and did a scholarly study of the entire work and treatise. I’ve also read his autobiography, “As A Peace-Loving Global Citizen” from cover to cover! Without criticism I studied not holding Rev Moon in a positive or negative light! The problem I have is that I have been visited by Jesus Christ in this generation and walk under an open heaven. I sat in spiritual conversation and exchange of views all day for 3 weeks with a modern day follower of Rev Moon in 2011. We diplomatically sat unchallenging each other in a very constructive summit of peaceful and reflective study and thought. I greatly respect this Bishop and heard his passion about Rev Moon. I do not deny that Rev Moon might have been visited by Jesus early in his life in Korea. We must look at who visited who with and without knowledge. When Jesus visited Rev Moon he was not the giver but the receiver. You must admit that! However, he have failed to realize he wasn’t the only one to receive this visitation. There are others and I mean several others that have received modern day revelations concerning the Kingdom of God and its coming to planet Earth! I can truly say that I am one that have been blessed by such a visitation. However, this hasn’t led to my branding Jesus as a failure but a massive success and me a worthy student of life! This wasn’t the only visitation! So please understand that I am not bashing the man of God and he had truth about him. However, Elijah had the same problem he did, thinking that he was the only one! (1 Kings 19 verses 9 thru 18) The number 7,000 in verse 18 I believe signifies a remnant and God always have a remnant in the Earth!
I’m pretty sure that Rev Moon had hopes that he would continue on and live maybe forever. However, the mortal task of death has met him, post Jesus and may he RIP. We should stop trying to protect religion but allow truth to establish itself. His daughter taught recently that Jesus was crucified as if to say this was a failure! No, state the truth, Jesus accomplished death at Jerusalem! This was stated by two of the greatest figures in prophetic history on mount transfiguration, Moses and Elias (Elijah). He accomplished death for you, I and Rev Moon. Now Rev Moon believes that he accomplished raising up true marriages to reproduce a pure breed of humanity. Well, if that is what he believes then so be it! However, the real proof is whether he overcomes death which is the attribute of a real messiah! If post mortal resurrection doesn’t occur then we know at least Jesus is still the only messiah to do this! For now why don’t you and the rest of humanity allow history to promulgate the truth. Jesus Christ The Lord is the only real and true resurrected messiah this world has ever known. He is the only begotten Son of God and His cruxifixction was the giving of His body and blood for you and I. In this is the real pure breed through His Spirit! His Spirit was the life force to our future perfection! I pray that your inoculation with part truth turns into being finally led into all truth. His (Rev Moon’s) death was not an accomplishment but possibly a great loss to his many followers!