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The Persecuted Church

 

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Reverend Moon 

"The Dark side of the Moon"

The wedding blessing pt.1

Reverend Moon has drawn over 2 million people to his weddings since 1995.  On August 25, 1992 in Seoul's Olympic Stadium, The Reverend Sun Myung Moon "blessed" 30,000 couples at one time.  20,000 were present in the stadium and 10,000 via satellite. Rev. Moon's latest episode of his gospel was marrying 30,000 at one time in couples in Washington RFK stadium.  

These public wedding ceremonies began on July 1, 1982 when Sun Myung Moon and his wife Hak Ja Han married, 2,075 couples at one time at  Madison Square Garden, New York City. At the time the reaction was not favorable from those who respect the marriage ceremony. Having a  non personal marriage just didn't sit right with most people. However, that was then. Since gaining media coverage it has become widely accepted and even sought after. As a superstitious blessing accompanies  this rite from the Rev. So many who cannot be present are blessed to participate in a mass wedding ceremony through satellite linkup. Moon has said of his marriage ceremonies, "No religious leader nor the president of any nation can accomplish such a feat."( Proclamation of the Messiah by Reverend Sun Myung Moon).

These are arranged marriages where most of the couples do not even know their spouse until that very day. This is said to be done so that they will base their relationships on internal aspects since they don’t even know what they will look like. Many have complained that they had been given wives who do not speak the same language as they do. Moon calls it a match made in heaven, I see it as quite a bit lower than that. Moon was first charging $170 admission but when the crowds did not come he dropped the price to a $20 wedding special. Blessed weddings by the new messiah were on sale.

In 1995, more than 720,000 people were married via satellite at 545 sites in over 100 countries, 10,000 were American.  two-thirds of the participants  were renewing their vows.  Moon and his wife spent over a  year matching people for their perfect marriage. This was done using photographs categorized by sex, age and nationality." This blessing does not come free or even what one would pay a minister in a normal ceremony.  This is the Rev. Moon who specializes in marriages. It cost Japanese couples $29,000 each Americans paid $2,000. I guess he charges by the nations economy. “Church officials say the money goes for satellite charges and the costs for 200,000 African couples, but a number of Protestant churches in Korea said that the ceremonies, which have brought the church $1.3 billion throughout the years, are just a way for the church to make money. (reported in 9/25/95, Christian News, p. 14.)

Worldwide, there has been more than 360 million couples who have accepted Reverend and Dr. Moon's (his wife) blessing on their marriage.

In one of his recent ceremonies Whitney Housten was to sing for a fee of almost a million dollars but canceled at the last minute being sick. Louis Farrakhan appeared on stage giving support by his presence there seemingly finding solace in this Messiah wanna be.  

So what is the mystique of the marriage performed by Rev, Moon? "What is the meaning of the Blessing? Blessing means coming from God through the True Parents." (Rev. Joong Hyun Pak, "The Year of Great Blessing", Unification News, January, 1997, p. 6.) Since 1960 the Blessing has been offered because this is when the "marriage of the Lamb" prophesied in the book of Revelation happened. Moon married his second wife Hak Ja Han who was a 17 year-old devoted follower of his religion.  Rev. Moon claims that his wedding to Hak Ja Han appointed them as the true parents of mankind.( Some say this is wife # 2 others report her to be wife #4 as he divorced the first three) Moon is now 80, and his wife Hak Ja Han is 47, they live in Irvington, New York 

"Known as True Parents to Unification members, administer the Blessing as a conduit for communicating divine grace and support to families. The term True Parents designates a couple which manifests God's ideal of true love in the family. The Blessing initiates each couple on the path to become True Parents and establish true families in their own right." (Marriage family and world peace  International Religious Foundation)

From this "so called" God given mission he brings the people of the world together therefore this is called the tribal Messiahship. Moon considers himself a restorer appointed by God. "I am now making a prototype of the perfect family, accomplishing what Jesus could not do." (Sun Myung Moon, from the Unification Church Magazine, Today's World, May, 1995, p.12.) Moon claims to be the Messiah of the new advent, "The Blessing means everything to us... The Messiah comes to give the Blessing to everyone who will receive it." (Rev. Joong Hyun Pak, "The Open Blessing", Unification News, Aug. 1997, p. 4. )

"True Parents have received the absolute Blessing from God and come as God's physical representatives on the Earth to give that Blessing to others, changing the blood lineage from Satan to God." (Rev. Joong Hyun Pak, "Volunteering to Save the American Family", Unification News, June, 1997, p. 4.) The 2 hour plus mass blessing given by Moon to participating couples is called  a moment of rebirth.  The Bible describes the "moment of rebirth"   when a person receives the real Jesus Christ as his Savior for his sins and has spiritual rebirth, not a marriage ceremony. (John 3).

In 1992 the Rev. Moon’s Blessing was offered to couples that practice other faiths and hold to similar views of marriage and family. Those who participate are not expected to become part of the Unification Church. Although to participate in the ceremony does lend credence to his mission and image.

They invite the “many people from every religion, nation and race in this glorious testimony to the Divine purpose of establishing world peace. We invite you to join in building one great loving family of humankind, under the Blessed grace of Heaven -- the One True and Loving God.” (Marriage family and world peace. International Religious Foundation)

So we can see that the ceremony has a religious importance, more than any religion gives to the sanctity of marriage,  " However the theology of this ceremony goes much deeper and has a greater significance than even Jesus' death on the cross. "The external form is similar to a marriage ceremony, but the Unification Church Blessing Ceremony is far beyond a simple marriage and has deep significant meaning." (Rev. Chung Hwan Kwak, "The Internal Meaning of the Holy Wine Ceremony, Part II", Today's World, June, 1997, p. 2.) 

Because of Adam's fall  Moon teaches "We have inherited Satan's blood lineage." (Sun Myung Moon, Today's World, June 1996, p. 4) . "God expelled fallen Adam and Eve from the Garden of Eden. ...all the ancestors of humankind came to inherit the lineage of Satan. Their blood lineage was corrupted." (Sun Myung Moon, Today's World, May/June 1994,  p. 22) Thus " the ceremony to change the blood lineage is done with the name of True Parents" (Sun Myung Moon, Today's World, June, 1997, p. 9).

"To realize the Blessing of Marriage we need: 1. to accept True Parents as the center of God's Providence. 2) attend the Holy Wine Ceremony and experience rebirth so as to switch our lineage from the false to the true. 3) pass through the gate of the Blessing Ceremony officiated by True Parents to become an eternal Blessed Couple. ..." (Rev. Joong Hyun Pak, "The Year of Great Blessing", Unification News, January, 1997, p. 6.)

"Through the blessing of new marriages that pass on God's original blood lineage, the True Parents will be able to give salvation to all humanity." (Sun Myung Moon, "View of the Principle of the Providential History of Salvation", Today's World, May, 1996, p. 10.) So through the marriage ceremony one receives salvation and is translated into the exclusive (and sinful) kingdom of Moon. Who according to his own opinion is the Messiah. "Thus, it is the International Holy Blessing that establishes this new blood lineage when the Lord of the Second Advent comes in the flesh." (Ibid. pp. 17-18)

We need to be reborn. “ Today's Holy Wine Ceremony is very important. This is the process of rebirth. Under Heavenly Father's and True Parents' grace, we can change our fallen blood lineage; we can change our life from the satanic dominion to Heavenly Father's dominion." ...The original human ancestors, Adam and Eve, received the fallen blood lineage from the archangel--Eve first and then Adam. In the Holy Wine Ceremony, the process of restoration is that the wife first receives the Holy Wine and the husband receives it from her." (Rev. Chung Hwan Kwak, "The Internal Meaning of the Holy Wine Ceremony, Part II", Today's World, June, 1997, p.2.)

  Before receiving the Blessing, we went through the Holy Wine Ceremony. Through this ceremony, we were born again into God's pure lineage and then we received the blessing...Blessing then means that we change the satanic false lineage and receive the blessing of the true lineage through True Parents....Therefore, we need True Parents in order to receive God's heavenly pure lineage." (Rev. Joong Hyun Pak, "The Year of Great Blessing", Unification News, January, 1997, p.60).

"After the Blessing the couples spend a period of time, usually forty days, abstaining from sexual contact, and during this time each spouse prepares in a prayerful way for a pure, new start to married life. After this period of time, a three-day ceremony is performed privately by the husband and wife, thus completing the process of the Blessing" (Marriage family and world peace. International Religious Foundation). Imagine just getting married and not consummating the marriage, Bible verse for this will be found right next to all the other teachings he received in Revelation chapter 23.

Former members of the church have come out to say the marriage ceremony at one time included a secret ritual where the husband had to first hit his wife with a baseball bat three times as hard as he could on the buttocks. If she passed out in between, he would wait and then continue. Then it was the wife's turn, and if she was too weak from the beating, a 'brother' (other member) had to take her place to perform the rite. what is the rationale for this? It is reported that they are chasing the Devil away.

Last year Moon's second youngest son (of thirteen children) Young Jin Moon of 21 had committed suicide by jumping from the 17th floor of Harrah's Casino/Hotel in Reno, Nevada. Instead of finding fault in his son, the Moonies representative Tyler Hendricks said, It is because the members didn't fulfill their responsibilities, that is why Moon's son is dead. This is a tragedy

 One can only wonder if it was the pressure of being Moon's son or depression of being Moons son?   Moon had selected Young Jin Nim's wife and married him giving the “Blessing” to both of his sons Hyung Jin Nim, Young Jin Nim together in a joint ceremony.

One of Moon's daughters, Ye Jin, is said to have denounced her father while another, Sun-Jin, left her husband only weeks after having received her "blessing" (The Sunday Telegraph, November 5, 1995, cited in Fair News, Summer 1996).

Rev. Moon, teaches that he and his family are without sin. Obviously with all the failures in morality and marriage they are not. Biblically if you are without sin you will not die.

ANOTHER WORLD

The Unification Church is one of the most bizarre mind control cults in all history. The Unification Church has  successfully done a PR job to have the public be unaware of their teachings and support their cause. With family values in the forefront this is all the public knows about them.  Most people are totally unaware of the true teachings of the Rev. If people were able to read his speeches and his theology which he claims is true Christianity), they would be aghast.

It has been estimated, conservatively, "that those Moonies [Unification Church members] on the street corners, in shopping malls, and in supermarkets, selling candles and flowers, yield for the Church over a million dollars every five days" (Heavenly Deception, p. 60). Moonies take in over ¾ of a billion dollars a year from their workers selling trinkets and flowers. I’m sure you have drove pass their flower stands many times. But this is not where they get their money to support their 350 companies worldwide.

Through deceptive recruiting techniques and calculated false teachings one can become indoctrinated quickly into the unification church.  Members are stripped of their critical thinking ability and made into Moons religious activists within a very short time. They can worked up to 18 to 20 hours on average, all 7 days a week. They are so busy that they either have no time or are not allowed to see their family and friends. They have become part of the New Messiah's family. 

This is the family of Mr. And Mrs. Moon becomes a dedicated army, a growing number of young people soliciting donations for the Unification Church. Typically, a donation was requested in exchange for an item such as candy or flowers, to aid some endeavor or organization. These are often fictitious needs, which they allegedly represent. These fund raising tactics, are still used today on an unsuspecting public, and continue to help fund the efforts of the Unification Church. They will usually say they are here attending the college as a foreign exchange student as they ask for help. I have found them to be less then genuine in their presentation.

If you find Unification church workers that you see looking tired, thin, spaced out like no one is home. This is because they work long days with often little sleep. They are known to take 7 and 21 day fasts of water and are  malnourished.  But this is all done by choice in their service to the new Messiah.  

Recently I was approached outside a restaurant by a Moonie who came across with a line of helping families. It took only a minute for me to realized he was a Moonie from the look in his eyes and his appeal to family matters. I asked him if he ever heard of Rev. Moon and of course he first lied, until I consistently hammered away at him to tell the truth. Once he admitted this, I followed him around the parking lot as he went to sell his wares under the guise of family promotions. All the time I vocally told him Moon is not the messiah,  Jesus is.

Other times they have come knocking on my door of my home as they travel through the neighborhood with strange trinkets or pictures for sale. their usual spiel is that they are a college student trying to get an education. I usually ask how Rev, Moon is and they are completely taken off guard. They don’t stay long once you know of Moon and communicate to them that Jesus is the real Messiah.

You see Moon publicly declared himself to be the Messiah at the opening session of the Assembly of World Religions held in San Francisco CA. A number of years back in 1992. According to Moon and his new revelation, a new Messiah a Lord of the 2nd advent is necessary. Won’t he be surprised when the real Lord in his 2nd advent comes.

Ultimately, Moon's goal is to be able to completely disregard the Bible. His followers are taught, "Until our mission with the Christian church is over, we must quote the Bible and use it to explain the Divine Principle. After we receive the inheritance of the Christian, we will be free to teach without the Bible" (Master Speaks, March/April, 1965, p.1). "The bible is not the truth itself, but a textbook teaching the truth. It must not be regarded as absolute in every detail" (Divine Principle p.9). "God is now throwing Christianity away and is now establishing a new religion, and this new religion is the Unification Church." (Time, Sept. 30, 1974, p. 68).

"Divine Principle asserts that God is perpetual, self-generating energy, the first cause and the primal source of all that exists...Causing the visible creation and operating through it, God is responsible for the innumerable types of patterns which energy forms to make the world we touch, see and know" (Young Oon Kim, Unification Theology and Christian Thought, pp. 11). The Holy Spirit,…"appears feminine, masculine and impersonal… like God himself is invisible and incorporeal- a bright light or a field of magnetic energy (Unification Theology p.201-202).

Politics as usual

Unfortunately there are Christians and others who ignore his new age science fiction and look at the causes promoted by his organization, just as Louis Farrakhan and Jerry Falwell did.

Moon invites high-profile celebrities to attend or speak at their gatherings and it has been quite effective to mainstream his Cultic beliefs.

Christian leaders have been criticized for what some perceived as drawing too close to the Unification Church over the years. Tim LaHaye, Christian author and head of the American Coalition for Traditional Values, came under fire for accepting a gift from Col. Bo Hi Pak. The Col. a former Korean C.I A. officer, who is president of the Washington Times newspaper, and who just so happens to be Moon's right-hand man. Since then, a number of pastors from a broad spectrum of denominations have received free trips from CAUSA, a Unification Church-funded a organization which has pumped millions of dollars into anti -communism efforts in Central and S. America. Some well known names have also been speaking at CAUSA rallies (Jerry Falwell is a favorite who spoke at a conference in Miami which was co-sponsored by CAUSA).

In 1994 Falwell accepted $3.5 million donation from one of Moon's front organizations (the Women's Federation for World Peace). This was to bail out Falwell's Liberty University. "Robert Parry writing for I.F magazine and the Los Angeles Times, revealed that moon had funneled the donation through the Christian heritage Foundation (CHF) a non profit that had purchased the school's then 473 million dollar debt" ( reported in Cornerstone magazine Vol.27 issue 14).

Because Falwell has become friends with moon attended and spoken at his gatherings the Unification Church has this to say, "Southern Baptist church leader Rev. Jerry Falwell sincerely praised Father as the world leader establishing true love" (Rev. Chung Hwan Kwak, "The Significance of True Parents' American Speech Tour", Today's World, September , 1993, p. 22). "Jerry Falwell and people of conscience in America are beginning to recognize the contributions and sacrifices Father has made for America. For the first time in 40 years, Abel-minded people like Jerry Falwell are testifying to Father" (Jin Hun Moon [one of Moon's daughters], "Challenge Yourselves", Today's World, May, 1995, p. 22). Now this is a terrible witness and Mr. Falwell should know better. He still has associations with the false Messiah. 

Moon provides large amounts of money to various religious and political causes that it makes it almost impossible for individuals and groups to speak out in a way that would not be offensive to their sponsor's without jeopardizing their support. Take for example their grant to Terry Dolans conservative alliance of the amount of a half million dollars. And another   $200,000 to a group known as the Conservative Action Foundation headed up by David Finzer.

Another group admitting Unification Church funding is the American Freedom Coalition (AFC), publisher of the monthly Religious Freedom Alert, headed by Donald Sills as president and Robert Grant as chairman. They received approximately 6 million dollars within a 2 1/2 year period from Unification sources (reported by Cornerstone Magazine vol..23 issue 105) LaHaye, pastor D. James Kennedy, and others have left the AFC because of the Moon connection, others, such as Trinity Broadcasting Network's Paul Crouch, Ben Armstrong of the National Religious Broadcasters, evangelists James Robison and Rex Humbard, and other prominent evangelicals have remained on AFC's executive committee. The church's best attempt at influencing the political right is  through "Many of the activities, projects and organizations described in the Unification News as affiliated with or part of the 'Unification Church' are in fact entities which are organizationally and/or financially independent of HSA-UWC [the Unification Church], but are commonly considered to be 'Unification Church' activities because they are fully or partially funded, inspired, or staffed by HSA-UWC, its members and other adherents of the Unification faith" (June 1996, p. 23). {Go here to  read of the Organizations he operates.}

The Current degree to which Moon involves himself with such personalities can be seen by the roll of speakers at recent events sponsored by Moon's organizations. Some of the more highly visible celebrity’s are: Maureen Reagan (daughter of former President Reagan); former President Gerald Ford; George and Barbara Bush; comedian Bill Cosby; Marilyn Quayle (wife of former vice-president Dan Quayle); Republican vice-presidential candidate, Jack Kemp. Even knowing the Moon connection, Kemp continues to speak at Unification sponsored functions. (Washington Post, October 14, 1996 p. C3).

Other participants have include Olympic gold medalist and speed skater, Dan Jansen; wife of the late Martin Luther King, Correta Scott King; ABC News anchorwoman, Barbara Walters; film actor, Christopher Reed; astronaut, Sally Ride; and former British Prime Minister, Sir Edward Heath. Also speaking were highly visible religious and Christian leaders such as Robert Schuller, Senior Pastor of the Crystal Cathedral (not surprising); Ralph Reed, executive director of the Christian Coalition; Beverly LaHaye, president of Concerned Women of America. Ralph Reed and singers Pat Boone and Family, Jack Kemp and others shared the platform with both Mr. and Mrs. Moon. (The Washington Post, July 30, 1996, p. E1 and August 1, 1996, p. C2).

Particularly disturbing during her speech, Mrs. Moon taught that Jesus was, not the virgin-born son of Mary, but rather the illegitimate son of Mary and her cousin's husband, Zecharias. But this is not new teaching but standard Unification Church theology. In his February 7, 1995 address in Washington D.C., Moon stated, "Who was the father of Jesus? Zachariah." He continued, "The result of the relationship between Zachariah and Mary was the birth of Jesus Christ." (Today's World, April 1995.)

In lists of names, Barbara Walters and Bill Cosby publicly expressed their concern when they learned the event was hosted by Moon. Walters has stated she will never again speak at an event sponsored by Moon. Cosby tried to back out of his commitment when he learned of Moon's involvement. He ended up performing after being threatened with litigation for failing to honor his contract, but gave only a short performance and refused to be photographed with Moon (Ibid., p. E10). Many others have distanced themselves from him once they became aware of hidden teachings and agendas. But his popularity continues today among the unsuspecting and unknowledgeable.

Cal Thomas was present at a CAUSA (a Unification front group) seminar in San Francisco,  asked to comment from the floor,  "Reacting to the unchristian theories put forth, he shocked participants by standing and saying, 'I am a follower of Jesus, who said he is the Way, the Truth, and the Life, and no man comes to the Father except by him'" (Christianity Today, June 14, 1985, p. 58). Good for Him!

Then there is Former President and Mrs. Bush. The Canadian magazine, Maclean's, maintains Bush is the most outspoken defender of involvement with these front organizations. While he been requested by many concerned Christians, former Moon members, and even anti-cult organizations, that he stop lending himself to Moon's causes, the former President has continued to speak at Moon/Unification sponsored events. For example: Buenos Aires (Reuters), 11/24/96: Sun Myung Moon launched a new Spanish language newspaper for the whole of Latin America this weekend, with the backing of guest George Bush who [as guest speaker at the Buenos Aires banquet] praised Moon's respect for editorial independence....Bush then traveled with Moon to neighboring Uruguay ... to help him inaugurate a seminary in the capital, Montevideo, to train 4,200 young Japanese women to spread the word of his Church of Unification across Latin America .... Bush was reported by the Washington Post to have been paid $100,000 for his Buenos Aires appearance....

 “In 1995 more than 50,000 people paid from $105 to $196 each to attend a Bush speech at the Tokyo Dome in Japan, in an event sponsored by Moon's organization (The Washington Post, August 4, 1996, p. A30).

However, it appears the public outcry against this may finally be having an effect. McGrath promised that Bush's fee for a recent Moon sponsored event in Washington would be donated to charity. He has spoken often at his meetings and his usual fees run approximately  $80,000 per speech. 

Cynthia Lilley ( who is the founder of MOMS, Mothers Opposed to Moon) speaks out on the children have been recruited into the Unification Church/cult. "All these people should know better. My daughter would tell me over and over how in their recruiting films, they would show Moon with Bush to impress young people. They use the films of Moon and Bush and other celebrities to reassure parents that it is okay that their children are on the streets selling flowers 18 hours a day" (The Washington Post, July 30, 1996, p. E10).

 

 (Pt.2Who is Moon?)

References from Cornerstone magazine

Watchman fellowship

The Divine Principle and other of their published materials

The moon is not the Son

and other newspaper articles

 

International Churches of Christ  Universal World Church
Jehovah's Witnesses Iglesia Ni Christo   Oneness Pentecostals
     L.D.S Mormonism Unification Church (Moonies)

 

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