Critique of Sun Myung Moon’s Unification Church
▲ Sun Myung Moon and Hak Ja Han
“The essence of the liberal outlook lies not in what opinions are held but in how they are held: instead of being held dogmatically, they are held tentatively, and with a consciousness that new evidence may at any moment lead to their abandonment. This is the way opinions are held in science, as opposed to the way in which they are held in theology.” – Bertrand Russell, “Philosophy and Politics”
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Sam Park
“‘So many people sacrificed for the movement, but they didn’t really know what they were sacrificing for,’ [Annie] Choi [a sexual partner of Moon’s both before and after the 160 Holy Wedding, and Sam Park’s mother] says, weeping. ‘I used to worry about my financial future and about my son’s security. But now it’s very clear to me: My job is to light the candle—to light a candle so that people can see that the entire movement was built on a lie.’”
Youtube: “Sam Park: Rev Moon’s son speaks”
Link to a full transcript (sometimes the audio is hard to understand)
“There is one more point I wanted to make before I give the floor to Donna [Orme-Collins], because people are wondering why did it take so long for me to come forward? Why didn’t I come forward in support of Nansook [Hong] and Donna. And simply the reason was…I was hoping for some kind of reconciliation with my father. Despite the church stuff, ultimately he was my biological dad, and as a son, I really wanted to believe in his goodness, I really wanted to believe that he cared, that he really gave a damn. That was the toughest thing to let go of, eventually.”
Sam Park: “In response to the feedback I have received”
Moon used a ‘Honey Trap’, a beautiful woman, to ensnare Sam Park’s very rich grandfather. Annie Choi’s brother explains.
Sun Myung Moon makes me feel ashamed to be Korean
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The Unification Church / FFWPU and the LGBT Community
Homosexuality and the Unification Church
Thoughts on UC and homosexuality
Collection of video testimonies of LGBT people
Many professional medical and social organizations, after opposing homosexuality in the past, now say it’s OK
Testimony of gay ex-member
Another testimony of a gay ex-member
Third testimony
Fourth testimony (very bottom of page)
Rebuttals from a member:
How many people switch sexual orientations?
Dad admits that there’s no actual evidence that LGBT is caused by spiritual causes
Spiritual solutions meaning things like prayer, meditation, etc.
By this argument, isn’t it also immoral to not have kids? Liberals may scoff at this argument. But to the liberals concerned about population growth: don’t those liberals believe it’s wrong to have too many kids (whatever one considers that number to be)?
In response to the rebuttals:
The categorical imperative
Homosexual behavior in animals
Causes of homosexuality
Biology and sexual orientation
Environment and sexual orientation
Sexual orientation change efforts
Change over time in LGBT demographics
“Some Gays Can Go Straight, Study Says”
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Dong-sook
Dong-sook was born in Korea on March 7, 1955. Apparently her mother died sometime before 1960 – the circumstances of her death are not known. Nansook Hong has mentioned that the mother of one of Moon’s children died.
▲ Sun Myung Moon and Dong-sook. They resemble each other. She has frequently been called a ‘True Child’. She visited him in hospital during his last days and has attended numerous events alongside other ‘True Children’
▲ Dong-sook sitting on the floor beside Won-pok Choi at the Cheongpa Dong church. This is probably 1961 with Moon holding Ye Jin.
▲ Dong-sook was married to Moon’s first son, Sung Jin Moon. The wedding took place in Japan to avoid controversy. They lived in Japan but are now divorced. Dong-sook is a talented artist. LINK
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Myung-hee Kim
Mr. Moon had a son, Hee-jin (born in Tokyo on August 17, 1955), with a woman named Myung-hee Kim.
▲ Myung-hee Kim was a university student
The story within our movement is that although Mr. Moon wanted Myung-hee to be the True Mother, she was [falsely reported by the UC to have been] raped in Japan and subsequently hid herself from Moon out of shame. The real reason Moon sent Myung-hee to Japan was because he was at risk of being jailed for adultery if a second illegitimate child of his, besides Dong-sook, was found.
Just before he turned fourteen Hee-jin died on August 1, 1969 when he leaned out of a moving train and his head was hit by a track side-post. (These details have been confirmed by a number of people who directly heard Myung-hee Kim’s testimony in Korea and in London where she lived at the headquarters church for several years in the mid 1980s. In Japan, in internal magazines, the UC has published articles about her. Myung-hee Kim herself said she was not raped, but felt abandoned by Moon who NEVER sent her any support money during her four years in Japan raising Hee-jin. In Tokyo she stayed with a Korean religious group that she knew about before she left Korea.)
An important question arises: Since Sun Myung Moon and Myung-hee Kim had a child, this implies that there was a wedding beforehand in which Myung-hee Kim became the True Mother. If such is the case, why is this wedding not acknowledged in official church history? [A 1955 marriage, some time before she fled to Japan just before she gave birth, is mentioned in one or two official UC publications in Japan. The marriage is said to have happened at the “House of Three Doors” in Seoul before Moon was arrested.] If Myung-hee Kim was at any point the True Mother of Humankind, shouldn’t she be more regularly acknowledged?
▲ Myung-hee Kim with Hee-jin Moon in the very early 1960s. They were in Japan for four years without any documentation and were eventually caught, detained and sent back to Korea. (There were no diplomatic relations between Japan and Korea at the time, so it was impossible to get a passport or visa.)
There is NO acknowledgement of this part of Mr. Moon’s life in his autobiography, As a Peace-Loving Global Citizen. I have also read the entirety of Chambumo Gyeong, a 1600-page volume of church history, and I cannot recall this part of Moon’s life being mentioned in those pages either, although I could be wrong.
The most plausible explanation seems to be that Sun Myung Moon and Myung-hee Kim’s sexual relationship was not acceptable by current church standards, and that as a result this relationship has been hidden in order to uphold the image of Mr. Moon as a model of family values. This explanation is made further plausible by the fact that Mr. Moon already has a record of withholding damaging personal information from church members, as illustrated in the Sam Park situation.
Mr. Moon was scared of being jailed for adultery because he was producing illegitimate children. If his first wife, Sun-gil Choi, complained to the authorities, Mr. Moon would automatically have been jailed as that was the law at that time. Mr. Moon was only divorced by his first wife on January 8, 1957.
Rebuttal: Myung-hee Kim is mentioned in certain church documents, e.g. December 2011 issue of Today’s World.
No, her name is NOT mentioned at all in that issue of TW. Hee-jin is named on pages 7 and 8.
Tongil.org published a Moon family tree in 2013, or earlier. This tree clearly shows Moon as the father of Hee-jin, but shows “Sun Kil Moon” or “? Moon” as his mother – two women. This is entirely false. Myung-hee Kim was the mother of Hee-jin. His birth and death dates on the tree are correct.
http://www.tongil.org/ucbooks/smmspeaks/2013/Family_tree_of_Sun_Myung_Moon.pdf
Dan Fefferman does mention Myung-hee Kim’s name here: http://www.tparents.org/library/unification/Talks/Feffermn/Fefferman-HeeJin.htm
Counterargument: if Myung-hee Kim was at one point the True Mother of Humankind, this information should be a major bullet point in every account of church history!
The Lie that Myung-hee Kim was Raped in Japan
Kim Myung-hee, the third wife of Sun Myung Moon
“Before the heavenly wedding in 1960, for more than 15 years I was alone” – Moon’s words were not true
▲ Sun Myung Moon with Hee-jin Moon in January 1965. This photo was also published in Today’s World, December 2011, but the mother is NOT mentioned.
The six ‘wives’ of Sun Myung Moon _________________________________
The questionable veracity of the Divine Principle
Moon claimed authority through his “meeting with Jesus”
Exploration of the Divine Principle
My study of religion from philosophical and scientific perspectives
A Brief Critical Examination of the Divine Principle Theory of History, A Pilot Study: by Jane E.M. Williams & Allen Tate Wood
Seong-do Kim: the woman who created the Divine Principle
Baek-moon Kim devised the Parallels of History teaching
▲ This chart proves that Baek-moon Kim, born in 1917, was the messiah. Sun Myung Moon stole many ideas from Baek-moon Kim, Seong-do Kim and other Korean messiahs.
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▲ Nansook Hong was interviewed by Mike Wallace on ‘60 minutes’
In The Shadow of the Moons, by Nansook Hong (first wife of Hyo Jin Moon)
Nansook Hong discusses her book on C-Span
Nansook Hong on 60 Minutes
Nansook Hong: “I snatched my children from Sun Myung Moon”
Selected quotes from the book
In the Shadow of the Moons book
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Testimonies
Also: eight reasons why he left the UC
Video testimony from her
Steve Hassan video testimony
TED Talk from former member
Cathryn Mazer and the Unification Church
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Comfort Blessings
Comfort Blessings are when a widow or widower is remarried.
Doesn’t the practice of Comfort Blessings contradict our belief regarding the eternal and sacred relationship between husband and wife?
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Cheon Il Guk Constitution, Freedom of Speech, and Freedom of Religion
Cheon Il Guk Constitution
“Article 23: Forfeiture and Recovery of Rights
Some or all of the rights of a Cheon Il Guk citizen shall be forfeited in the event that he or she is found to have committed any of the following:
An act disavowing God and True Parents
An act disavowing the identity and ideology of Cheon Il Guk
An act disavowing the Cheon Il Guk Constitution
An act that the substantial establishment and completion of Cheon Il Guk”
“Article 24: True Parents’ Family
True Parents’ family is defined as True Parents’ direct descendants and their spouses.
The value of members of True Parents’ family is legitimized though their relationship of absolute faith, absolute love, and absolute obedience with True Parents.”
“Article 30: Chairperson and Vice Chairperson
The Chairperson shall be appointed by True Parents from among True Parents’ family members, and shall concurrently serve as the World President of the Cheon Jeong Won (Cheon Il Guk Government).
The Vice Chairperson shall be appointed by True Parents…”
Taken together, these excerpts elicit several questions:
Note: The Chairperson and Vice Chairperson noted in Article 30 are not the only ones whom the Constitution states are appointed by True Parents
Moreover: haven’t the scandals involving the True Children (e.g., Hyo Jin’s drugs and extramarital sex, In Jin’s extramarital sex, Hyung Jin’s opposition to True Mother) dispelled the notion that the True Children are somehow superior to regular members?
▲ Sun Myung Moon and Hak Ja Han on their wedding day in 1960.
Age Difference Between Rev. & Mrs. Moon
When they were married in 1960, Sun Myung Moon was 40 and Hak Ja Han was 17.
If I remember correctly, Mr. Moon’s justification for this age difference is that because Eve was 16 when she fell, the woman who becomes the True Mother needed to be 16 or younger at the time of the wedding. Hak Ja Han’s age of 17 was considered close enough.
Would any parent in the church even consider giving their 17-year old daughter away to marriage to a 40 year old? Why is Moon an exception to parents’ personal convictions regarding appropriate age differences between spouses?
Interestingly, in Mr. Moon’s first marriage (in which he was married to Sun Gil Choi), at the date of the wedding he was 25 and Sun-gil Choi was 19-20 (date of marriage is disputed as either 1944 or 1945, Sun-gil Choi was born in 1924).
▲ Sun Myung Moon demonstrates sexual intercourse
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“Pikareum”/“P’i kareum”/“Womb Cleansing” 피가름 = pikareum
“[Soon-hwa, or ‘Annie’] Choi says the initiation rites for early female disciples involved having sex with Moon three times. She also alleges that Moon kept a stable of a half-dozen concubines, known as the Six Marys, and inducted her into the group when she was 17. Sometimes, she adds, he would assemble them all in a circle and take turns mounting them.”
Thorough article discussing pikareum
Deok-jin Kim, composer of many Holy Songs, claims that he participated in pikareum
Shin-hee Eu (cousin of Hyo-won Eu) claims that she participated in pikareum
Chong-hwa Kim claims to have had sex repeatedly with Moon
Hyo-min Eu, one of the 36 Couples, claims that pikareum truly did occur
Sun Gil Choi, Father’s first wife, claims that the real reason for their divorce was Father’s relationships with other women
Chung Hwa Pak (primary author of Tragedy of the Six Marys) retracts his pikareum allegations
A Japanese member of parliament, Mr Atsuo Nakamura, interviewed Mr Chung-hwa Pak about the “SEX relays” of Sun Myung Moon
“I Am A Traitor – At that time Satan possessed me!” Did Chung-hwa Pak write such a book?
Unification Church of Japan 1991 Pikareum lecture notes
Professor from a top Korean university, Ewha Woman’s University, recalls the 1955 pikareum scandal involving the arrest of Sun Myung Moon
If Deok-jin Kim, Shin-hee Eu, Chong-hwa Kim, and Soon-hwa (“Annie”) Choi were lying about pikareum, and were simply attempting to slander Moon’s name, then why did they implicate themselves in their allegations by claiming that they themselves practiced pikareum? Is their resentment toward Moon so great that they would destroy their personal reputations in service of a lie?
It seems that if they simply wanted to slander Moon’s name, they would accuse Moon (and the general membership) of practicing pikareum, but claim that they themselves did not participate in it.
Hyung-jin Moon on the Six Marys and his father’s pikareum providence
Sun Myung Moon explains pikareum in his own words
Pikareum theology is at the core of the Divine Principle
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Won-pok Choi
Mr. Moon began a thirty year relationship with Won-pok Choi in the 1950s. She accompanied him on his first world tour in 1965. She was known as ‘Great Mother’ or ‘Second Mother’. Moon claimed to be following ‘Jacob’s course’. Won-pok Choi was his ‘Leah’ wife and Hak Ja Han was his ‘Rachel’ wife.
▲ Won-pok Choi is standing on the left, in the highest position. Annie Soon-wha Choi (the mother of Sam Park) is standing directly in front of Moon. Young-oon Kim is on the right. The two professors brought the Ewha Womans University students to Moon to be “purified”. This photo was taken in about 1956.
▲ There is a pig’s head on the altar, in front of the black object. In the Bible the pig is known as a dirty animal. Shaman ceremonies like this, performed by the Sun Myung Moon, Hak Ja Han and Won-pok Choi, contradict Christian beliefs. Mrs. Choi is on Moon’s left; Hak Ja Han is on his right. The ceremony above may be to liberate or mobilize spirits, or it may be to ask for many children, since pigs have many piglets and, in Korea, represent fertility and prosperity.
Shamanism is at the heart of Moon’s church
▲ Won-pok Choi with Sun Myung Moon
Sun Myung Moon’s fourth wife, Won-pok Choi
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Cheongpyeong
▲ Unification Church Ansu or Chanyang singing and clapping to liberate ancestors
Logistical critique of ancestor liberation
Also: is there evidence that ancestor liberation works? Is there evidence that ancestor Blessings truly occur?
▲ Ansu [also called Chanyang]: practice of physically beating others in order to get evil spirits out of them. Daemo-nim is hitting a member in New York.
Is there evidence that ansu works?
▲ Ceremony to marry spirits at Cheongpyeong main hall “Holy Blessing”
Daemo-nim (Hyo-nam Kim) liberates $182 million golf course
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Words from Sun Myung Moon that cast doubt on his status as the Second Coming
“In daily life, which sex is usually more disruptive or problem-causing? Percentage-wise, it is usually women. What contributes to that? It is mainly because they lack perseverance. If you strike a piano key the tone is played instantly. Because women have this same tendency to react quickly, God has tried not to use women as central figures in the dispensation. Do you think God acted wisely? If God’s dispensation were easy, it would have been much more effective to use women in order to finish quickly.” – Source
“You women! Don’t look around at the many men out there in the world. No man should be able to have his way with the women of the Unification Church. If you are assaulted, you should either kill yourself or stab the attacker in the stomach with a knife. Do you understand?” – Source
“There will be a purge on God’s orders, and evil will be eliminated like shadows. Gays will be eliminated, the 3 Israels will unite. If not then they will be burned. We do not know what kind of world God will bring but this is what happens. It will be greater than the communist purge but at God’s orders.” – Source January 1, 2004, Cheongpyeong
▲ Sun Myung Moon at a Unification Church factory in Korea. The marble pagodas were sold in Japan for incredible prices. The Moons pretended that they did not know what the Japanese members were doing. Ginseng was another big money-maker.
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Unethical Fundraising in Japan?
Were the Moons aware of this manipulative fundraising? (Yes!)
From In the Shadow of the Moons, by Nansook Hong (the first wife of Hyo Jin Moon)
“…Japan was fertile fund-raising ground for a messianic leader like Sun Myung Moon. Eager young Unification Church members found elderly people anxious to ensure that their loved ones came to a peaceful rest in the spirit world. To that end, they fleeced thousands of people out of millions of dollars for religious vases, prayer beads, and religious pictures to guarantee that their deceased family members entered the Kingdom of Heaven. A small jade pagoda could sell for as much as fifty thousand dollars. Wealthy widows were conned into donating all of their assets to the Unification Church to guarantee that their loved ones would not languish in hell with Satan.
Members of the Moon family were thoroughly scrutinized by customs agents whenever leaving Korea or entering the United States. This trip [in which Nansook accompanied Hak Ja Han Moon to Japan for a ten-city speaking tour] was no exception. One benefit of her enormous entourage was that Mrs. Moon hd plenty of traveling companions with whom to enter the country. I was given twenty thousand dollars in two packs of crisp new bills…
I knew that smuggling was illegal, but I believed the followers of Sun Myung Moon answered to higher laws…I was so grateful to God that they didn’t find the money. In the distorted lens through which I viewed the world, God actually had thwarted the customs agents…” pages 171-173 LINK
“Japan. Wow! My eyes were opened.” A huge UC scam in Japan is revealed.
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“Emperor of the Universe” Documentary
Watch here (47 minute version)
Full transcript of the 60 minutes here
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Note: Some of the above LINKS are to the Tragedy of the Six Marys website because that website is being constantly updated, and the translations improved. Some of the translations on HWDYKYM are eight years old and are less accurate and cannot be corrected.
