Sun Myung Moon of the Unification Church Part 1

Sun Myung Moon of the Unification Church – Part 1

In public, Sun Myung Moon denies that he is the new Messiah. “I am not saying ‘I am the
Messiah.’… I am not putting myself in the position of God.”^[1] “I have never once thought of
myself as the authoritative and most powerful one.”^[2] But when his disciples learn the secret
teachings in The Master Speaks, The 120 Day Training Manual and elsewhere, they learn the
truth. These unveil a virtual god who is prayed to, worshipped and adored. In fact, all the
devotion a Christian feels to Jesus Christ is what disciples lavish upon Sun Myung Moon,
who, they are told, is far above Jesus Christ in stature. Jesus failed; Moon will succeed. Moon
is now the mediator between God and man, not Jesus.^[3] From the start Moon claimed that he
would succeed where Jesus failed. “But nobody in Korea knew of my vast historical
significance. Since I knew the cause of Jesus’ failure, I developed my tactic to perfection. I
have such a wise tactic that I will not repeat the failure of Jesus.”^[4]

Even Moon’s official title, Lord of the Second Advent, gives credence to the fact that in the
UC he is believed to be the Messiah. This is made clear to all disciples even if they deny it
publicly. Moon fits every description he has given of the coming Messiah and has fulfilled
almost everything the Messiah is to do, including: “birth in the flesh; born in Korea; born
around 1920; brings total world salvation; completes the work of Jesus; subjugates Satan;
brings the Completed Testament which ‘clarifies’ the Bible; is the Third Adam; is
‘persecuted’ by Christians; has the testimony of the spirit world and mediums; is called
‘Lord’ and ‘Father’; will restore the Universe; etc.”^[5]

In The 120 Day Training Manual Moon is viewed as an atoning Savior. During his reputed
torture by the communists, “Father [Moon] took responsibility for our sins…. Therefore,
instead of me being tortured, the sinless Messiah was tortured by Satan…. The bloody body
of the only son on whom Heavenly Father was able to rely was now thrown out into cold,
into darkness…. Father [Moon] shed blood instead of me, instead of you, instead of us….
While I was committing sin, Father was shedding blood to cleanse my sin. Because he shed
blood, he was qualified to give life to me.”^[6] Note that Moon is termed a “sinless Messiah.”

Because of Moon’s atonement for us, we should “truly feel it is a joy to die for Father.”^[7]
“[Sinless] Father shed blood instead of me…. Without Father, there is no life. Father is more
precious than myself, than even all mankind. Therefore, even at the price of my life, I can be
a joyful offering for Father.”^[8] Reading through The 120 Day Training Manual it is evident
not only that Moon has fully replaced Jesus Christ but also that he exists in the place of God
on earth. This is why he is called Father.^[9] “If you want to understand what God is you have
only to investigate Father to find what God is,” because “Father is visible God.”^[10] Thus,
Moon is the only one to save the world,^[11] and he is to be obeyed as God.^[12] Six thousand
years of human history have been only for him, for God has found him and him alone to be
faithful.^[13]

The following examples give an idea of the attitude of adoration and worship that a UC
member will feel for Moon. “His value is incredible and inestimable and immeasurable. He
is greater than the universe. He is more precious than the universe…. Therefore through…
the offering of your mind, your body, your life, and the things you have, you can establish
the foundation of faith…. Therefore, this attitude toward the Messiah [Moon] is the essential
attitude of the Unification Church toward Father [Moon].”^[14] The extent of devotion is
further indicated by a former UC member, who notes the power and spiritual “presence” of
Moon. Reminiscent of many spiritists, gurus and occultists, “Moon had a certain
magnificence about him. When he walked into the room, you felt blown against the wall. He
had an invisible force around him…. He had dominion over creation, and I felt that every
leaf, every grain of sand, was truly waiting for his presence.”^[15] This former member also
notes the “service” rendered to Moon by members, reminiscent of the spiritistic groups
discussed earlier on the East and West coasts of Korea. Note the spiritual bondage merely
in kitchen preparation—incredibly, even banana peels had to be washed with Q-tips:

I was trained for three months to know how to serve him. We spent many hours a

day praying in preparation for his visit. It’s impossible to pray that long: you have to
go into sort of a trance…. Preparations for his coming were elaborate. The entire
kitchen had to be cleaned out—everything had to be taken out. Everything had to be
replaced. If you wanted to use a particular canned good, you had to buy the biggest
and most expensive. Even if you had a can which was not opened, you still had to
buy a new one. Everything had to be completely new. After all, you were preparing it
for “God.” If you wanted to use an onion, you would buy a crate of onions and pick
out the best one…. Everything was washed. If you washed a banana, you had to use
Q-Tips. It had to be washed not only physically, but also spiritually.^[16]

He also describes the wealth lavished upon Moon and the personal guilt it produced in him:

We bought everything that he could possibly think of needing. I had to call longdistance

to New York to find out what kind of underwear he used. I would even have
dreams about the doormat not being new. I felt guilty about spending money,
because I knew how hard the kids worked to raise it. Yet we were told that it was
okay to buy anything. You had to buy things even though you knew he wouldn’t
need them. Like he doesn’t drink coffee, but you had to buy a coffee pot anyway….
Every single thing you did had to be done with the correct attitude. While chopping
the garlic, if you weren’t praying, he [Moon] would know. We were always told that
if you weren’t prayerful enough, he wouldn’t eat the food.^[17]

The above devotion is justified because of Moon’s divine status. In fact, there are numerous
occasions in Master Speaks, and other publications, where Moon is equated with God.
Although Moon is not all that God is, he is sufficiently close to God to justify the
comparisons. “That is why the Leader has appeared to you…. If you ask him, ‘Who is God?’
he will say, ‘I am.’”^[18] Thus Jesus is really “the Son of Moon.” “Jesus will be the first and
eldest son, because he was the only one who came to this world as the Son of God. ‘Do you
mean God’s eldest son, or the Master’s?’ The meaning is the same.”^[19]

Moon not infrequently compares himself with Jesus, stressing his own superiority. “I am
fulfilling what Jesus left undone.”^[20] “He (our leader) is love and truth itself. Jesus had truth
and love, and it was not enough.”^[21] Even what Jesus endured on the Cross was insufficient
to be compared to Moon’s sacrifice. “As for Master, during my first 3 years of public
ministry, just as Jesus did, I had to go through severe hardships culminating in the torture
of prison life, which was more for me than Jesus’ cross.”^[22]

Moon believes that Jesus “could not change the hearts of the people,” that Jesus was inferior
to him in several respects, that Jesus did not understand truth, was not very wise and had
“abstract” love. Moon by contrast, changes the hearts of the people, “is more powerful and
wise,” and calls himself “the King of Wisdom and the Prince of Love.”^[23] The following are
descriptions of Moon taken from Master Speaks: Moon is “the Ultimate Savior”; “the
Ultimate One”; “the world Messiah”; “Lord of the entire universe”; “like the ocean”; and as a
“man of perfection doesn’t need prayer”; thus, “You are connected with God through
Master.”^[24] Further: “Now I have reached the point where I can rule the spirit world using
only my physical senses.”^[25] “I… became the Lord in the spirit world first. Then I began
struggling on earth, and am now subjugating people and nations with this truth.”^[26] In light
of this, it is not surprising to find that Moon is the one to rule the world, and from there he
will proceed to become King and Ruler of the universe. “The Lord of the Second Advent will
rule the heaven and the earth with Divine wisdom and power and Fatherly love, and his
kingdom will last forever.”^[27]

We now have some idea of the true position Moon commands among his followers and why
they are so devoted to him. Yet guilt, fear and condemnation are also strong motivating
factors. God cannot accomplish His purpose without the members’ absolute devotion.
While Moon lives in palatial estates everything depends on how much they can sacrifice for
him. The fate of the world, the spirit world, everyone’s salvation, the fate of the universe,
even God’s happiness—it all depends on the members. If they fail at one level, everything
that has been accomplished up to that point will be for nothing. Unless they are supremely
committed, they are thieves and parasites unworthy of the Father.

In addition to an inhumane work load (physically and emotionally), UC members carry the
burden of believing that they must perfect themselves entirely on their own power. God
will not help. “Man’s perfection must be accomplished finally by his own effort without
God’s help.”^[28] And if they are not very careful, they will lose their salvation.

NOTES

1. ↑ Newsweek (International edition), June 14, 1976, pp. 48-49.
2. ↑ Master Speaks, November 9, 1973
3. ↑ Ibid., 381, p. 3.
4. ↑ Ibid., 376, p. 3.
5. ↑ These are documented throughout this article and elsewhere on this site.
6. ↑ Ken Sudo, The 120 Day Training Manual (Barrytown, NY: International Unification Church Training Center,
   n.d.), pp. 40-41.
7. ↑ Ibid., p. 43.
8. ↑ Ibid., p. 61.
9. ↑ Ibid., pp. 110, 114.
10. ↑ Ibid., pp. 120, 362.
11. ↑ Ibid., p. 101.
12. ↑ Ibid., pp. 110, 114.
13. ↑ Ibid., p. 155; see The Way of the World, December, 1973, p. 19.
14. ↑ Ibid., p. 155.
15. ↑ Ronald Enroth, Youth Brainwashing and the Extremist Cults (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1977), p. 108.
16. ↑ Ibid., pp. 106-108.
17. ↑ Ibid.
18. ↑ Master Speaks, 3, p. 10.
19. ↑ Master Speaks, 4, p. 9.
20. ↑ Master Speaks, 3, p. 14.
21. ↑ Master Speaks, 2, p. 12.
22. ↑ Master Speaks, 372, p. 13.
23. ↑ Master Speaks, 3, p. 4.
24. ↑ Master Speaks, 1 (2), pp. 2, 5; Master Speaks, 4 (2) pp. 3, 20; Master Speaks, 423, p. 4; Master Speaks, 3, pp. 5,
    10
25. ↑ Master Speaks, 3, p. 7.
26. ↑ “Master Speaks, 4, p. 5.
27. ↑ Young Oon Kim, The Divine Principles (San Francisco: HSA-UWC, 1960), p. 216.
28. ↑ “New Hope News, October 7, 1974, p. 7, from J. Isamu Yamamoto, The Puppet Master (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1977), p. 90