Sun Myung Moon

Sun Myung Moon (Korean: 문선명; born Moon Yong-Myeong; 6 January 1920 – 3 September 2012) was a Korean religious leader, also known for his business ventures and support for conservative political causes. A messiah claimant, he was the founder of the Unification Church (members of which consider him and his wife Hak Ja Han to be their "True Parents"), and of its "Blessing" or mass wedding ceremonies, and the author of its unique theology the Divine Principle.Moon's death marks end of an era, Eileen Barker, CNN, 2012-9-3, Although Moon is likely to be remembered for all these things – mass weddings, accusations of brainwashing, political intrigue and enormous wealth – he should also be remembered as creating what was arguably one of the most comprehensive and innovative theologies embraced by a new religion of the period. He was an anti-communist and an advocate for Korean reunification, for which he was recognized by the governments of both North and South Korea.Sun Myung Moon's Groundbreaking Campaign to Open North Korea, The Atlantic, Armin Rosen, 6 September 2012, But for all the focus on the eccentric mogul's quirks and U.S. investments, his role in North Korea may turn out to be his most enduring legacy, a fascinating story of how one man opened one of the very few cracks in this modern hermit kingdom. Businesses he promoted included News World Communications, an international news media corporation known for its American subsidiary The Washington Times, and Tongil Group, a South Korean business group (chaebol), as well as other related organizations.
Moon was born in what is now North Korea. When he was a child, his family converted to Christianity. In the 1940s and 1950s, he was imprisoned multiple times by the North and South Korean governments during his early new-religious ministries, formally founding the Holy Spirit Association for the Unification of World Christianity, simply known as the Unification Church, in Seoul, South Korea in 1954. Since that time, the Church teaches conservative, family-oriented values from new interpretations of the Christian Bible mixed with theology from Moon's own text, the Divine Principle. In 1971, he moved to the United Statesexcerpt The Unification Church Studies in Contemporary Religion, Massimo Introvigne, 2000, Signature Books, Salt Lake City, Utah, ISBN 1560851457 and became well known after giving a series of public speeches on his beliefs."Moon Festival Draws 50,000 to Monument", Washington Post, 19 September 1976.Introvigne, Massimo, 2000, The Unification Church Studies in Contemporary Religion, Signature Books, Salt Lake City, Utah, ISBN 1560851457, excerpt In the 1982 case United States v. Sun Myung Moon, he was found guilty of willfully filing false federal income tax returns and sentenced to 18 months in federal prison. His case generated protests from clergy and civil libertarians, who said that the trial was biased against him.Raspberry, William, "Did Unpopular Moonie Get a Fair Trial?", Washington Post, 19 April 1984
Moon was criticized for making high demands of his followers, who were very dedicated and often referred to in popular parlance as "Moonies". His wedding ceremonies also drew criticism, especially after members of other churches took part, including the excommunicated Roman Catholic archbishop Emmanuel Milingo."The archbishop's wife speaks for herself", National Catholic Reporter 31 August 2001 He was also criticized for his relationships with political and religious figures, including US presidents Richard Nixon,Introvigne, Massimo, 2000, The Unification Church Studies in Contemporary Religion, Signature Books, Salt Lake City, Utah, ISBN 1560851457, excerpt page 16 George H. W. Bush and George W. Bush, Soviet president Mikhail Gorbachev,EVOLUTION IN EUROPE; New Flock for Moon Church: The Changing Soviet Student from The New York Times North Korean president Kim Il Sung,At Time of Change for Rev. Moon Church, a Return to Tradition // The New York Times, 14 October 2009 and Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan.
==Early life==
Sun Myung Moon was born Yong Myung Moon on 6 January 1920, in modern-day North P'yŏng'an Province, North Korea, at a time when Korea was under Japanese rule. He was the second son in a farming family of thirteen children,Mickler, Michael L. (2022). The Unification Church Movement. Cambridge University Press, p. 6. eight of whom survived. Moon's family followed Confucianist beliefs until he was around 10 years old, when they converted to Christianity and joined the Presbyterian Church. Moon claims that he experienced a religious vision of Jesus at age 16 that laid out his life's mission.Mickler, 2022, p. 8.
In 1941, Moon began studying electrical engineering at Waseda University in Japan. During this time he cooperated with Communist Party members in the Korean independence movement against Imperial Japan. In 1943, he returned to Seoul and, in 1944,Mickler, 2022, p. 10. married his first wife, Sun-kil Choi (; ; Choe Seon-gil). They had a son, Sung Jin Moon (; ; Mun Seong-jin)."Rev. Moon oversaw large, often bickering brood". Associated Press, 2012. In the 1940s, Sun Myung Moon attended a church led by Kim Baek-moon, who influentially taught that he had been given by Jesus the mission to spread the message of a "new Israel" throughout the world. Around this time Moon changed his given name to Sun Myung, as an effort to quell the increased resentment of other Christians against him, as he gradually began gathering his own followers.
Following World War II, Korea was divided (South and North) along the 38th parallel into two trusteeships: the United States and the Soviet Union. Pyongyang (the eventual capital of North Korea) was the center of Christian activity in Korea until 1945. From the late 1940s, hundreds of Korean Christian religious figures were killed or disappeared in concentration camps, including Francis Hong Yong-ho, Catholic bishop of Pyongyang and all monks of Tokwon Abbey. When Moon started his own movement in Pyongyang in 1946,Mickler, 2022, p. 11. an early version of the Unification Church, the Soviet-controlled North Korean government imprisoned and, he claims, tortured him. Sources vary on the motivation behind his arrest: religious persecution,Dunkel, Tom (2018). "Locked and Loaded for the Lord". The Washington Post. or a charge of espionageMickler, 2022, p. 12. or polygamy. His religious practices during this time may have included unorthodox sexual rituals with multiple women, a claim the Unification Church denies and some scholars have doubted.Mickler, 2022, p. 12.
Arrested again in 1948, he was sentenced to five years at Hungnam labor camp,Mickler, 2022, p. 12. though in 1950, during the Korean War, he was liberated by United Nations troops and allegedly traveled by foot to Busan, (South) Korea. Moon emerged from his years in the labor camp as a staunch anti-communist. His teachings viewed the Cold War between democracy and communism as the final conflict between God and Satan, with divided Korea as its primary front line.Christianity: A Global History, David Chidester, HarperCollins, 2001, ISBN 0062517708, ISBN 9780062517708, pages 514 to 515
In 1952 or 1955, after years separated from his wife and child before reuniting,Mickler, 2022, p. 19. Moon and Choi divorced. Moon moved to Seoul once again and, continuing his ministry, was arrested two more times: once on suspicion of religious orgies and once for draft evasion; both charges were overturned.Mickler, 2022, p. 18. 
In 1954, Moon formally founded the Holy Spirit Association for the Unification of World Christianity in Seoul and fathered an illegitimate child (who died in 1969).Mickler, 2022, p. 20. In the 1950s, Moon quickly drew young acolytes who helped to build the foundations of church affiliated business and cultural organizations. At his new church, he preached a conservative, family-oriented value system and his interpretation of the Bible. A follower whose family joined Moon's movement in the early 1950s claims that she and Moon engaged in various religious sexual rituals, including with several other women, and that she remained Moon's mistress through his second marriage, up until 1964 (bearing Moon another son, in secret, in 1965).
==Second marriage and Blessing ceremonies==
===Marriage to Hak Ja Han===
Moon married his second wife, Hak Ja Han who was 17 at the time, on 11 April 1960, soon after Moon turned 40 years old, in a ceremony called the Holy Marriage. Han is called "Mother" or "True Mother". She and Moon together are referred to as the "True Parents" by members of the Unification Church and their family as the "True Family".Moon At Twilight: Amid scandal, the Unification Church has a strange new mission, Peter Maass New Yorker Magazine, 14 September 1998. "Moon sees the essence of his own mission as completing the one given to Jesus – establishing a 'true family' untouched by Satan while teaching all people to lead a God-centered life under his spiritual leadership." Jesus was divine but not God; he was supposed to be the second Adam who would create a perfect family by joining with the ideal wife and creating a pure family that would have begun humanity's liberation from its sinful condition. When Jesus was crucified before marrying, he redeemed mankind spiritually but not physically. That task was left to the "True Parents" – Moon and Han – who would link married couples and their families to God.
===Blessing ceremonies===
Although they initially lived communally, his followers gradually returned to the traditional Christian family form (monogamy). Blessing ceremonies have attracted attention in the press and in the public imagination, often being labeled "mass weddings". People who have never met, from completely different countries, were married by the Messiah of the Unification Church by "matching". They were informed that a certain person, specially chosen for him/her by the Messiah, would become their husband/wife. Some of them did not see their future partner until the day of the "marriage". Public mass blessing ceremonies followed.The men and women entered a large room, where Moon began matching couples by pointing at them."NY Daily News "In the Unification tradition, romantic liaisons are forbidden until the members are deemed by Mr. Moon to be spiritually ready to be matched at a huge gathering where he points future spouses out to one another. His followers believe that his decisions are based on his ability to discern their suitability and see their future descendants. Many are matched with people of other races and nationalities, in keeping with Mr. Moon's ideal of unifying all races and nations in the Unification Church. Though some couples are matched immediately before the mass wedding ceremonies, which are held every two or three years, most have long engagements during which they are typically posted in different cities or even continents, and get to know one another through letters."NY Times "Many were personally matched by Moon, who taught that romantic love led to sexual promiscuity, mismatched couples and dysfunctional societies. Moon's preference for cross-cultural marriages also meant that couples often shared no common language."Manchester Guardian "Moon’s death Sept. 2 and funeral Saturday signaled the end of the random pairings that helped make Moon’s Unification Church famous — and infamous — a generation ago." Washington Post "Many of the couples who married at mass weddings were hand-picked by Moon from photos. It led to some strange pairs such as a 71-year-old African Catholic archbishop who wed a 43-year-old Korean acupuncturist. In 1988 Moon entered the Guinness Book of Records when he married 6,516 identically dressed couples at Seoul’s Olympic Stadium. Moonie newly-weds were forbidden to sleep together for 40 days to prove their marriage was on a higher plane. They then had to consummate their marriage in a three-day ritual with the sexual positions stipulated by their leader."Daily Mirror Some couples are already married and those that are engaged are later legally married according to the laws of their own countries. Meant to highlight the church's emphasis on traditional morality, they brought Moon both fame and controversy.
36 couples participated in the first ceremony in 1961 for members of the early church in Seoul. The ceremonies continued to grow in scale; over 2,000 couples participated in the 1982 one at New York's Madison Square Garden, the first outside South Korea. In 1992, about 30,000 couples took part in a ceremony and a record 360,000 couples in Seoul took part three years later.
Moon said that he matched couples from differing races and nationalities because of his belief that all of humanity should be united: "International and intercultural marriages are the quickest way to bring about an ideal world of peace. People should marry across national and cultural boundaries with people from countries they consider to be their enemies so that the world of peace can come that much more quickly."
===Establishing beliefs of the Unification movement===
Moon said that, when he was 16 years old,Mickler, 2022, p. 8. Jesus appeared to him, anointing him to carry out his unfinished work by becoming parent to all of humanity. The Divine Principle, or Exposition of the Divine Principle, is the main theological textbook of the Unification movement. It was co-written by Moon and early disciple Hyo Won Eu and first published in 1966. A translation entitled Divine Principle was published in English in 1973. The book lays out the core of Unification theology, and is held to have the status of scripture by believers. Following the format of systematic theology, it includes (1) God's purpose in creating human beings, (2) the fall of man, and (3) restoration – the process through history by which God is working to remove the ill effects of the fall and restore humanity back to the relationship and position that God originally intended.Korean Moon: Waxing of Waning?, Leo Sandon Jr., Theology Today, Vol 35, No 2, July 1978, "The movement's official doctrinal statement, and a part of the revelation, is the Divine Principle. Both an oral tradition and a written one and published in several versions, Divine Principle is the Completed Testament. The Rev. Moon claims to have come not to destroy or abrogate the Old and New Testaments, but to fulfill them-to "complete" them. To his Moonist followers, the Rev. Moon is primarily "true father," probably the Messiah, and only secondarily a theologian. In an effort to systematize Moon's teachings, several members of the Unification Church in Korea have put together a developing theological system in Divine Principle which is impressive in its imaginative nature, coherence, and consistency, if not in its Christian orthodoxy. As the most complete expression of Moonist teachings to date, Divine Principle is the basic text of the Unification Church. The two major divisions of the system are the doctrines of Creation and Restoration. There are many subsets to these major divisions, but Creation and Restoration are the foci for the Moonist theological system."
God is viewed as the creator, whose nature combines both masculinity and femininity, and is the source of all truth, beauty, and goodness. Human beings and the universe reflect God's personality, nature, and purpose. "Give-and-take action" (reciprocal interaction) and "subject and object position" (initiator and responder) are "key interpretive concepts", and the self is designed to be God's object. The purpose of human existence is to return joy to God. The "four-position foundation" (Origin, Subject, Object and Union) is another important and interpretive concept, and explains in part the emphasis on the family.
==Move to United States==
In 1971, Moon moved to the United States, which he had first visited in 1965. He remained a citizen of the Republic of Korea and maintained a residence in South Korea. In 1972, Moon founded the International Conference on the Unity of the Sciences, a series of scientific conferences.Kety Quits Moon-Linked ICF Conference Harvard Crimson, 10 August 1976. The first conference had 20 participants, while the largest conference in Seoul in 1982, had 808 participants from over 100 countries.Church Spends Millions On Its Image The Washington Post. 17 September 1984 Participants included Nobel laureates John Eccles] (Physiology or Medicine 1963, who chaired the 1976 conference)
and Eugene Wigner (Physics 1963).Eugene Paul Wigner Papers Princeton University Library
In 1974, Moon asked church members in the United States to support President Richard Nixon during the Watergate scandal when Nixon was being pressured to resign his office. Church members prayed and fasted in support of Nixon for three days in front of the United States Capitol, under the motto: "Forgive, Love and Unite." On 1 February 1974 Nixon publicly thanked them for their support and officially received Moon. This brought the church into widespread public and media attention.
In the 1970s, Moon, who had seldom before spoken to the general public, gave a series of public speeches to audiences in the United States, Japan, and South Korea. The largest were a rally in 1975 against North Korean aggression in Seoul and a speech at an event organized by the Unification Church in Washington D.C.
===United States v. Sun Myung Moon===
In 1982, Moon was convicted in the United States of filing false federal income tax returns and conspiracy. His conviction was upheld on appeal in a split decision. Moon was given an 18-month sentence and a $15,000 fine. He served 13 months of the sentence at the Federal Correctional Institution, Danbury before being released on good behavior to a halfway house.Moon's Japanese Profits Bolster Efforts in U.S., Washington Post, 16 September 2008.
The case was the center of national freedom of religion and free speech debates. Prof. Laurence H. Tribe of the Harvard University Law School argued that the trial by jury had "doomed (Moon) to conviction based on religious prejudice." The American Baptist Churches in the U.S.A, the National Council of Churches, the National Black Catholic Clergy Caucus, and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference filed briefs in support of Moon.Raspberry, William, "Did Unpopular Moonie Get a Fair Trial?", The Washington Post, 19 April 1984 Many notable clergy, including Jerry Falwell and Joseph Lowery, signed petitions protesting the government's case and spoke out in defense of Moon."The Unification Church Aims a Major Public Relations Effort at Christian Leaders", Christianity Today, 19 April 1985.Moon's financial rise and fall, Harvard Crimson, 11 October 1984. After his prison sentence Moon began calling himself humanity's Messiah, and officially conferred the title of "Messiah" on himself in 1992.
===The Washington Times===
In 1982 The Washington Times was founded by News World Communications, an international media conglomerate associated with Moon which also owned newspapers in South Korea], Japan, and South America, as well as the news agency United Press International. The political views of The Washington Times have often been described as conservative.New business models for news are not that new, Nikki Usher, Knight Digital Media Center, 2008-12-17, "And the Washington Times' conservative stance pursues its agenda from the Rev. Sun Myung Moon's Unification Church." The Times was read by many Washington DC insiders, including Ronald Reagan.Conservative Daily Tries to Expand National Niche, New York Times, 27 June 1994. That kind of political access has given The Times, after nearly a decade of publication, its own genuine, if limited, place in the capital's rich media mix. "It's the other half of the political picture, and without it I found I would be missing a lot of what was going on in conservative thinking," said Stephen G. Smith, news editor of the Knight-Ridder Newspapers bureau here. "While its circulation is small, its influence is out-sized." But The Washington Times has always been and remains a very expensive and unsuccessful business, losing an estimated $35 million a year. Part of The Times's problem is being the city's second-ranked daily newspaper during a deep advertising recession. The market is dominated in circulation and advertising by The Times's more liberal archrival, The Washington Post. Almost since it was started in 1982, The Times has seen its average weekday circulation hover at about 100,000, compared with nearly 800,000 for The Post. And The Times estimates that about two-thirds of its subscribers also take The Post. The Washington Times, it notes, took in $1 billion in subsidies over its first decade and was a favorite read for President Ronald Reagan. By 2002 Moon had invested roughly $1.7 billion to support the Times,Ahrens, Frank, "Moon Speech Raises Old Ghosts as the Times Turns 20", Washington Post, 23 May 2002. "As of this year, Moon and his businesses have plowed about $1.7 billion into subsidizing the Times, say current and former employees." which he called "the instrument in spreading the truth about God to the world".
==Twenty-first century events==
In 2000, Moon sponsored a United Nations conference which proposed the formation of "a religious assembly, or council of religious representatives, within the structure of the United Nations."International religious summit at U.N. receives criticism, Baptist Press, 28 August 2000.
In 2003, Moon sponsored the first Peace Cup international club football tournament.Korean influence: PSV's Hiddink hoping to win Peace Cup Sports Illustrated 21 July 2003South Korea to host global peace cup in July Sports Illustrated 6 May 2003 The Los Angeles Galaxy, which competes in Major League Soccer, played in South Korea in the Peace Cup. During the event Pelé, widely regarded as the best soccer player of all time and former Brazilian Sports Minister, met with Moon.
In 2009, Moon's autobiography, As a Peace-Loving Global Citizen (평화를 사랑하는 세계인으로), was published by Gimm-Young Publishers in South Korea. The book became a best-seller in Korea and Japan.
By 2010, Moon had given much of the responsibility for Family Federation for World Peace and Unification religious and business activities to his children, who were then in their 30s and 40s.Sons Rise in a Moon Shadow, Forbes, 12 April 2010 In 2012, the South Korean press reported that Moon traveled worldwide in his private jet which cost $50 million.
==Illness and death==
On 14 August 2012, after suffering from pneumonia earlier in the month, Moon was admitted to Saint Mary's Hospital at The Catholic University of Korea in Seoul. On 15 August 2012, he was reported to be gravely ill and was put on a ventilator at the intensive care unit of St. Mary's Hospital. On 31 August 2012, Moon was transferred to a church-owned hospital near his home in Gapyeong, northeast of Seoul, after suffering multiple organ failure. Moon died on the morning of 3 September 2012 (1:54 am KST) at the age of 92."The Rev. Sun Myung Moon, founder of The Times, dies at 92", Washington Times, 9 February 2012.
A two-week mourning period was conducted in honor of him. On 15 September, after a funeral service attended by tens of thousands of Unification Church followers, Moon was buried at a church-owned mansion in Gapyeong.
==Activities and interests==
===Politics===
In 1964, Moon founded the Korean Culture and Freedom Foundation, which promoted the interests of South Korea and sponsored Radio Free Asia. Former U.S. Presidents Harry S Truman, Dwight D. Eisenhower and Richard Nixon were honorary presidents or directors at various times.
In 1972, Moon predicted the decline of communism, based on the teachings of the Divine Principle: "After 7,000 biblical years – 6,000 years of restoration history plus the millennium, the time of completion – communism will fall in its 70th year. Here is the meaning of the year 1978. Communism, begun in 1917, could maintain itself approximately 60 years and reach its peak. So 1978 is the border line and afterward communism will decline; in the 70th year it will be altogether ruined. This is true. Therefore, now is the time for people who are studying communism to abandon it."The Way of Restoration, (April 1972)
In 1980, Moon asked church members to found CAUSA International as an anti-communist educational organization, based in New York."Moon's 'Cause' Takes Aim at Communism in Americas", The Washington Post, 28 August 1983. In the 1980s, it was active in 21 countries. In the United States it sponsored educational conferences for Christian leadersSun Myung Moon's Followers Recruit Christians to Assist in Battle Against Communism Christianity Today 15 June 1985 as well as seminars and conferences for Senate staffers and other activists.Church Spends Millions On Its Image, The Washington Post, 17 September 1984. "Another church political arm, Causa International, which preaches a philosophy it calls "God-ism," has been spending millions of dollars on expense-paid seminars and conferences for Senate staffers, Hispanic Americans and conservative activists. It also has contributed $500,000 to finance an anticommunist lobbying campaign headed by John T. (Terry) Dolan, chairman of the National Conservative Political Action Committee (NCPAC)." In 1986, it produced the anti-communist documentary film Nicaragua Was Our Home.Public TV Tilts Toward Conservatives, Fairness & Accuracy in Reporting "While conservatives dismiss Bill Moyers' world-class documentaries on our constitutional checks and balances as "propaganda," they never mention PBS's airing of unabashed right-wing agitprop films such as Nicaragua Was Our Home (the pro-contra film produced by Rev. Sun Myung Moon's CAUSA, which funded the contras after Congress' ban)...." CAUSA supported the Nicaraguan Contras.
In August 1985, the Professors World Peace Academy, an organization founded by Moon, sponsored a conference in Geneva to debate the theme "The situation in the world after the fall of the communist empire."Projections about a post-Soviet world-twenty-five years later. // Goliath Business News In April 1990, Moon visited the Soviet Union and met with President Mikhail Gorbachev. Moon expressed support for the political and economic transformations under way in the Soviet Union. At the same time the Unification Church was expanding into formerly communist nations. After the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, some American conservatives criticized Moon for his softening of his previous anti-communist stance.News and Curiosities, Prospect, September 2006
In 1991, Moon met with Kim Il Sung, the North Korean President, to discuss ways to achieve peace on the Korean peninsula, as well as on international relations, tourism, etc. In 1994, Moon was officially invited to the funeral of Kim Il Sung, in spite of the absence of diplomatic relations between North Korea and South Korea. Moon and his church are known for their efforts to promote Korean unification.
In 2003, Korean Unification Church members started a political party in South Korea. It was named "The Party for God, Peace, Unification, and Home." In its inauguration declaration, the new party said it would focus on preparing for Korean reunification by educating the public about God and peace.'Moonies' launch political party in S Korea,The Independent (South Africa), 10 March 2003 Moon was a member of the Honorary Committee of the Unification Ministry of the Republic of Korea. In 2012, Moon was posthumously awarded North Korea's National Reunification Prize.
In 2005, Rev. Sun Myung Moon and his wife, Dr. Hak Ja Han Moon, founded the Universal Peace Federation (UPF), an NGO in Special Consultative Status with the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC). "We support and promote the work of the United Nations and the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals."
Moon's projects have been lobbied in the National Congress of Brazil by Brazilian MPs. Moon has held dialogues between members of the Israeli Knesset and the Palestinian Parliament as part of his Middle East Peace Initiatives.
===Business===
Tongil Group is a South Korean business group (chaebol "Tongil" is Korean for "unification," the name of the Unification Church in Korean is "Tongilgyo."), founded in 1963 by Moon as a nonprofit organization to provide revenue for the church. Its core focus was manufacturing but in the 1970s and 1980s it expanded by founding or acquiring businesses in pharmaceuticals, tourism, and publishing. Among Tongil Group's chief holdings are: The Ilwha Company, which produces ginseng and related products; Ilshin Stone, building materials; and Tongil Heavy Industries, machine parts including hardware for the South Korean military.
News World Communications is an international news media corporation founded by Moon in 1976. It owns United Press International, World and I, Tiempos del Mundo (Latin America), The Segye Ilbo (South Korea), The Sekai Nippo (Japan), the Zambezi Times (South Africa), and The Middle East Times (Egypt). Until 2008 it published the Washington D.C.-based newsmagazine Insight on the News. Until 2010, it owned the Washington Times. On 2 November 2010, Sun Myung Moon and a group of former Times editors purchased the Times from News World.
In 1982, Moon sponsored the film Inchon, a historical drama about the Battle of Inchon during the Korean War. It was not successful critically or financially, and was criticized for its unfair treatment of the North Korean government.
In 1989, Moon founded Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma, the second most successful soccer club in Korean football, having won a record 7 league titles, 2 FA Cups, 3 League Cups, and 2 AFC Champions League titles. Seongnam's record was beaten by Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors in 2020.
The church is the largest owner of U.S. sushi restaurants and in the Kodiak region of Alaska, is the area's largest employer.Eng, Monica, Delroy Alexander, and David Jackson "Sushi and Rev. Moon: How Americans' growing appetite for sushi is helping to support his controversial church", Chicago Tribune, 11 April 2006. The church founded the first currently operating automobile manufacturing plant in North Korea, Pyeonghwa Motors, and is the second largest exporter of Korean goods.Kirk, Donald, No, Not Yet. Palaver in Pyongyang doesn't signal a northern manufacturing itch from Korea's conglomerates., Forbes, 29 October 2007.Demick, Barbara, "Who gave N. Korea those power tools?", Los Angeles Times, 27 September 2008.
In 2011, construction of $18 million Yeosu Expo Hotel was completed; the hotel located at Moon-owned The Ocean Resort in Yeosu, the venue of the Expo 2012. The opening ceremony was attended by the governor of the province. Another one, The Ocean Hotel, was completed in February 2012. Moon-owned Yeongpyeong Resort, The Ocean Resort and Pineridge Resort are scheduled to host the Expo 2012, 2018 Winter Olympics and Formula 1. Moon also managed the FIFA-accredited Peace Cup. The FIFA itself has funded more than $2m for the Peace Cup since 2003.
===Race relations===
Moon took a strong stance against racism and racial discrimination. In 1974 he urged Unification Church members to support an African American president of the United States: "We have had enough of white presidents. So, let's this time elect a president from the Negro race. What will you do if I say so? There's no question there. We must never forget that we are brothers and sisters in a huge human family. In any level of community, we must become like a family."Restoration Through Indemnity And America's Role 23 March 1974
In 1981 he said that he himself was a victim of racial prejudice in the United States (concerning his prosecution on tax charges in United States v. Sun Myung Moon), saying: "I would not be standing here today if my skin were white or my religion were Presbyterian. I am here today only because my skin is yellow and my religion is Unification Church. The ugliest things in this beautiful country of America are religious bigotry and racism."On the tax charges against him, in a speech at Foley Square in New York City (22 October 1981); published in a full page advertisement in The New York Times (5 November 1981), as quoted in US Court of Appeals document wikisource:U.S. v. Sun Myung Moon 718 F.2d 1210 (1983)
Several African American organizations and individuals spoke out in defense of Moon at this time including the National Black Catholic Clergy Caucus, the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, the National Conference of Black Mayors,Raspberry, William, "Did Unpopular Moonie Get a Fair Trial?", Washington Post, 19 April 1984 and Joseph Lowery who was then the head of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference.
In a later controversy over the use of the word "Moonie" by the American news media, which was said to be offensive, Moon's position was supported by civil rights activists Ralph Abernathy and James Bevel.
In 2000 Moon and The Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan got together to sponsor the Million Family March,Families Arrive in Washington For March Called by Farrakhan, New York Times, 16 October 2000 a rally in Washington D.C. to celebrate family unity and racial and religious harmony; as well as to address other issues, including abortion, capital punishment, health care, education, welfare and Social Security reform, substance abuse prevention, and overhaul of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund.Million Family March reaches out to all In his keynote speech Farrakhan called for racial harmony.
===Dance===
In 1962, Moon and other church members founded the Little Angels Children's Folk Ballet of Korea, a children's dance troupe which presents traditional Korean folk dances. He said that this was to project a positive image of South Korea to the world. In 1984, Moon founded the $8-million Universal Ballet project, with Soviet-born Oleg Vinogradov as its art director and Moon's daughter-in-law Julia as its prima ballerina. It was described by The New York Times as the top ballet company in Asia. In 1989, Moon founded Universal Ballet Academy which changed its name later to Kirov Academy of Ballet in Washington, D.C.Kim, James S. (11 March 2015). "South Korean Ballerina Hee Seo Dazzles in 'The Sleeping Beauty'". KoreAm. Seoul, South Korea. Retrieved 1 November 2015.
=== Seafood and shipbuilding===
The Unification Church owns True World Foods, which controls a major portion of the sushi trade in the US.Sushi and Rev. Moon: How Americans' growing appetite for sushi is helping to support his controversial church Chicago Tribune, April 11, 2006 True World Foods parent company is the corporate conglomerate True World Group which operates restaurants and markets.
The Unification Church's foray into the seafood industry began at the direction of Moon who ordered an expansion into "the oceanic providence." In 1976 and 1977 the Unification Church invested nearly a million dollars into the American seafood industry. Moon delivered a speech in 1980 entitled "The Way of Tuna" in which he claimed that "After we build the boats, we catch the fish and process them for the market, and then have a distribution network. This is not just on the drawing board; I have already done it." and declared himself the "king of the ocean." He also suggested that they could get around the recently imposed 200 nautical mile exclusive economic zone by marrying American and Japanese members allowing the Japanese ones to become American citizens, because once married "we are not foreigners; therefore Japanese brothers, particularly those matched to Americans, are becoming ..... leaders for fishing and distribution." He also declared that "Gloucester is almost a Moonie town now!"
Later in 1980 Moon gave a sermon in which he said that "This ocean business is really reserved for Unification Church. How much income would this business generate? Roughly speaking, enough money to buy the entire world. That's true! It has unlimited potential." In 1986 he advised his followers to open a thousand restaurants in America.
The Unification Church owns Master Marine, a shipbuilding and fishing company in Alabama; International Seafood of Kodiak, Alaska;Philippines political leader visits Kodiak, Kodiak Mirror, September 14, 2010 In 2011 Master Marine opened a factory in Las Vegas, Nevada, to manufacture a 27-foot pleasure boat designed by Moon.Unification Church "means business" with Las Vegas facility, Las Vegas Sun, 9-2-2011Innovative Sport Fishing Boat to Be Unveiled in Las Vegas, Boating World, 8-18-2011
==Honorary degrees and other recognition==
Moon held honorary degrees from more than ten universities and colleges worldwide;Moon Gets Honorary Degree From Argentine at the U.N. / New York Times, 17 November 1984 at least one of which, the University of Bridgeport, received significant funding from his organizations. He was a member of the Honorary Committee of the Unification Ministry of the Republic of Korea. In 1985, he and his wife received Doctor of Divinity degrees from Shaw University.
In 2004, Moon was honored as the Messiah at an event in the Dirksen Senate Office Building, Washington, D.C. This attracted much public attention and was criticized by The New York Times and The Washington Post as a possible violation of the principle of separation of church and state in the United States. Some of the political figures who had attended the event later told reporters that they had been misled as to its nature.
Several months after his death, an award named after him and his wife (Sunhak Peace Prize) was proposed, inheriting his will to "recognize and empower innovations in human development, conflict resolution and ecological conservation." Its laureates receive a certificate, a medal, and US$1 million.
Moon was posthumously awarded North Korea's National Reunification Prize in 2012 and a meritorious award by K-League. On the first anniversary of Moon's death, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un expressed condolences to Han and the family saying: "Kim Jong-un prayed for the repose of Moon, who worked hard for national concord, prosperity and reunification and world peace."North Korean leader extends condolences over 1 yr anniversary of Unification Church founder death, Yonhap News, 20 August 2013
In 2013, Zimbabwean Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai stated: "I remain greatly inspired by people like Reverend Dr. Sun Myung Moon, whose work and life across continents continue to impact positively on the lives of millions of others in the world."
In 2021, Donald Trump] praised Moon in an event linked to Unification Church. Previously, such events held by Unification Church named Rally of Hope, gathered speakers from Trump Administration, e.g. former Vice President Mike Pence, former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Advisor Paula White.
==Criticisms==
Moon's claim to be the Messiah and the Second Coming of Christ has been rejected by both Jewish and Christian scholars.Rodney Sawatsky, 1978, Dialogue with the Moonies, Theology Today.Mad About Moon, Time Magazine, 10 November 1975 The Divine Principle was labeled as heretical by Protestant churches in South Korea, including Moon's own Presbyterian Church. In the United States it was rejected by ecumenical organizations as being non-Christian.Unifying or Dividing? Sun Myung Moon and the Origins of the Unification Church George D. Chryssides, University of Wolverhampton, U.K. 2003, Since doctrine looms large in Christian thought, it is understandable that its objections to Unificationism are principally on doctrinal grounds. Although the Christian counter-cult literature does not always expound Unification teachings fairly, it is almost unanimous in identifying the respects in which Unificationism diverges from mainstream Christianity: it is unbiblical; teaches erroneous doctrines of God, Christ and salvation; Divine Principle usurps the status of the Judaeo-Christian Bible; it teaches that Jesus did not fully accomplish his mission and that a new messiah is needed to complete it; it introduces new rituals and forms of worship; and it is spiritist. As new religions progress, they occasionally gain acceptance into the mainstream fold, as happened with Seventh-day Adventism, and, even more strikingly, with the Worldwide Church of God. At the turn of the 21st century, however, Unificationism seems no more likely to gain recognition by mainstream Christians. Protestant commentators have also criticized Moon's teachings as being contrary to the Protestant doctrine of salvation by faith alone.Daske, D. and Ashcraft, W. 2005, New Religious Movements, New York: New York University Press, ISBN 0814707025 p142Yamamoto, J. 1995, Unification Church, Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan Press, ISBN 0310703816 p40 In their influential book The Kingdom of the Cults (first published in 1965), Walter Ralston Martin and Ravi K. Zacharias disagreed with the Divine Principle on the issues of the divinity of Christ, the virgin birth of Jesus, Moon's belief that Jesus should have married, the necessity of the crucifixion of Jesus, a literal resurrection of Jesus, as well as a literal second coming of Jesus.Walter Ralston Martin, Ravi K. Zacharias, The Kingdom of the Cults, Bethany House, 2003, ISBN 0764228218 pages 368-370 Commentators have criticized the Divine Principle for saying that the First World War, the Second World War, the Holocaust, and the Cold War served as indemnity conditions to prepare the world for the establishment of the Kingdom of God.Helm, S. Divine Principle and the Second Advent, Christian Century 11 May 1977. In 2003, George D. Chryssides of the University of Wolverhampton criticized Moon for introducing doctrines which tended to divide the Christian church rather than uniting it, which was his stated purpose in founding the Unification movement (originally named the Holy Spirit Association for the Unification of World Christianity). In his 2009 autobiography Moon himself wrote that he did not originally intend on founding a separate denomination.
During the Cold War, Moon was criticized by both the mainstream media and the alternative press for his anti-communist activism, which many said could lead to World War Three and a nuclear holocaust.Thomas Ward, 2006, Give and Forget Moon's anti-communist activities received financial support from controversial Japanese millionaire and activist Ryōichi Sasakawa.Sun Myung Moon Changes Robes, New York Times, 21 January 1992 In 1977, the Subcommittee on International Organizations of the Committee on International Relations of the United States House of Representatives, while investigating the Koreagate scandal, found that the South Korean National Intelligence Service (KCIA) had worked with the Unification Church to gain political influence within the United States, with some members working as volunteers in Congressional offices. Together, they founded the Korean Cultural Freedom Foundation, a nonprofit organization which undertook public diplomacy for the Republic of Korea.Spiritual warfare: the politics of the Christian right, Sara Diamond, 1989, Pluto Press, Page 58 The committee also investigated possible KCIA influence on Moon's campaign in support of Richard Nixon.Ex-aide of Moon Faces Citation for Contempt, Associated Press, Eugene Register-Guard, 5 August 1977 After the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, some American conservatives criticized Moon for his softening of his previous anti-communist stance.
In the 1990s, when Moon began to offer the Unification marriage blessing ceremony to members of other churches and religions, he was criticized for creating possible confusion.excerpt The Unification Church Studies in Contemporary Religion, Massimo Introvigne, 2000, Signature Books, Salt Lake City, Utah, ISBN 1560851457 "From a different perspective, it is true that participation of people who are not members of the Unification Church in certain Unificationist activities, such as marriage blessings, may be of concern to established churches. They perceive the possibility that their own members may become confused by their participation in such Unificationist activities and fear that they may in fact end up converting to Unificationism." -p 59–60 In 1998, journalist Peter Maass, writing for The New Yorker, reported that some Unification members were dismayed and also grumbled when Moon extended the Blessing to non-members, who had not gone through the same course that members had.Moon at Twilight, Peter Maass, The New Yorker "The campaign has dismayed some church members, because a blessing from Moon used to be a hard-won privilege, typically attained only after a person had joined the church, worked in it for several years, and agreed to marry someone--usually a stranger--selected by Moon. But grumblings about the blessing campaign are just the beginning of Moon's current troubles." In 2001, Moon came into conflict with the Roman Catholic Church when 71-year-old Catholic archbishop Emmanuel Milingo and Maria Sung, a 43-year-old Korean acupuncturist, married in a blessing ceremony, presided over by Moon and his wife. Following his marriage, the archbishop was called to the Vatican by Pope John Paul II, where he was asked not to see his wife anymore and to move to a Capuchin monastery. Sung went on a hunger strike to protest their separation. This attracted much media attention. Milingo is now an advocate of the removal of the requirement for celibacy by priests in the Catholic Church. He is the founder of Married Priests Now!.
In 2000, Moon was criticized, including by some members of his church, for his support of controversial Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan's Million Family March. Moon was also criticized for his relationship with controversial Jewish scholar Richard L. Rubenstein, an advocate of the "death of God theology" of the 1960s.John Warwick Montgomery and Thomas J. J. Altizer, The Altizer-Montgomery Dialogue: A Chapter in the God is Dead Controversy (InterVarsity Press, Chicago, 1967), p.7 Rubenstein was a defender of the Unification Church and served on its advisory council, as well as on the board of directors of the church-owned Washington Times newspaper."Rabbi Joins the Board of Moonie Newspaper", The Palm Beach Post, 21 May 1978 In the 1990s, he served as president of the University of Bridgeport, which was then affiliated with the church.U. of Bridgeport Honors Rev. Moon, Fiscal Savior, New York Times, 8 September 1995 In 1998, the Egyptian newspaper Al-Ahram criticized Moon's possible relationship with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and wrote that the Washington Times editorial policy was "rabidly anti-Arab, anti-Muslim and pro-Israel."The same old game, Al-Ahram, 12–18 November 1998, "The Washington Times is a mouthpiece for the ultra conservative right, unquestioning supporters of Israel's Likud government. The newspaper is owned by Sun Myung Moon, originally a native of North Korea and head of the Unification Church, whose ultra-right leanings make him a ready ally for Netanyahu. Whether or not Netanyahu is personally acquainted with Moon is unclear, though there is no doubt that he has established close friendships with several staff members on The Washington Times, whose editorial policy is rabidly anti-Arab, anti-Muslim and pro-Israel."As U.S. Media Ownership Shrinks, Who Covers Islam?, Washington Report on Middle East Affairs, December 1997
Moon opposed homosexuality and compared gay people to "dirty dung-eating dogs". He said that "gays will be eliminated" in a "purge on God's orders". In 2009, Moon's support for the Japan–Korea Undersea Tunnel was criticized in Japan and South Korea as a possible threat to both nations' interests and national identities. Other criticisms include Moon's apparent neglect of his wife, Hak Ja Han, and his appointments of their children and their spouses to leadership positions in the church and related businesses, including their daughter In Jin Moon to the presidency of the Unification Church of the United States against the wishes of some church members; his support of conservatives within the government of South Korea; his assignment of movement members and resources to business projects and political activism, including The Washington Times; as well as the relationship between the Unification Church and Islam, especially following the September 11 attacks in New York City. Moon has also been criticized for his advocacy of a world-wide "automatic theocracy",Sun Myung Moon and the Unification Church, Frederick Sontag, Abingdon Press, 1 January 1977, page 122 as well as for advising his followers that they should become "crazy for God".
==View of Moon by his followers==
The Divine Principle itself says about Moon: "With the fullness of time, God has sent one person to this earth to resolve the fundamental problems of human life and the universe. His name is Sun Myung Moon. For several decades he wandered through the spirit world so vast as to be beyond imagining. He trod a bloody path of suffering in search of the truth, passing through tribulations that God alone remembers. Since he understood that no one can find the ultimate truth to save humanity without first passing through the bitterest of trials, he fought alone against millions of devils, both in the spiritual and physical worlds, and triumphed over them all. Through intimate spiritual communion with God and by meeting with Jesus and many saints in Paradise, he brought to light all the secrets of Heaven."Divine Principle (translated 1966), Introduction
In 1978 Rodney Sawatsky wrote in an article in Theology Today: "Why trust Rev. Moon's dreams and visions of the new age and his role in it, we ask? Most converts actually have had minimal contact with him. Frederick Sontag (Sun Myung Moon and the Unification Church, Abingdon, 1977) in his interviews with Moon appears to have found a pleasant but not an overwhelming personality. Charisma, as traditionally understood, seems hardly applicable here. Rather, Moon provides a model. He suffered valiantly, he knows confidently, he prays assuredly, he lives lovingly, say his followers. The Divine Principle is not an unrealizable ideal; it is incarnate in a man, it lives, it is imitable. His truth is experienced to be their truth. His explanation of the universe becomes their understanding of themselves and the world in which they live."
In 1980 sociologist Irving Louis Horowitz commented: "The Reverend Moon is a fundamentalist with a vengeance. He has a belief system that admits of no boundaries or limits, an all-embracing truth. His writings exhibit a holistic concern for the person, society, nature, and all things embraced by the human vision. In this sense the concept underwriting the Unification church is apt, for its primary drive and appeal is unity, urging a paradigm of essence in an overly complicated world of existence. It is a ready-made doctrine for impatient young people and all those for whom the pursuit of the complex has become a tiresome and fruitless venture."Irving Louis Horowitz, Science, Sin, and Society: The Politics or Reverend Moon and the Unification Church, 1980, MIT Press
In 1998 investigative journalist Peter Maass wrote in an article in The New Yorker: "There are, certainly, differing degrees of devotion among Moon's followers; the fact that they bow at the right moment or shout Mansei! in unison doesn't mean they believe everything Moon says, or do precisely what he commands. Even on important issues, like Moon's claiming to be the messiah, there are church members whom I met, including a close aide to Moon, who demur. A religious leader whom they respect and whose theology they believe, yes; the messiah, perhaps not."Peter Maass, Moon at Twilight, The New Yorker 14 September 1998.
In his 2004 book The New Religious Movement Experience in America Eugene V. Gallagher wrote: "The Divine Principle's analysis of the Fall sets the stage for the mission of Rev. Moon, who in the last days brings a revelation that offers humankind the chance to return to an Edenic state. The account in the Divine Principle offers Unificationists a comprehensive context for understanding human suffering."Eugene V. Gallagher, 2004, The New Religious Movement Experience in America, Greenwood Press], ISBN 0313328072, page 23.
==References==
==Further reading==
* Bjornstad, James (1984). Sun Myung & the Unification Church. Rev. ed. Minneapolis, Minn.: Bethany House Publishers. 57 p. N.B.: Rev. ed. of The Moon Is Not the Sun, which had been published in 1976. ISBN 0871233010
*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.
* Durst, Mose. 1984. To bigotry, no sanction: Reverend Sun Myung Moon and the Unification Church. Chicago: Regnery Gateway. ISBN 9780895266095
* Fichter, Joseph Henry. 1985. The holy family of father Moon. Kansas City, Mo: Leaven Press. ISBN 9780934134132
* 
* Gullery, Jonathan. 1986. The Path of a pioneer: the early days of Reverend Sun Myung Moon and the Unification Church. New York: HSA Publications. ISBN 9780910621502
* Hong, Nansook, 1998, In the Shadow of the Moons, Boston, Little, Brown and Company ISBN 0316348163
* Introvigne, M., 2000, The Unification Church, Salt Lake City, UT: Signature Books, ISBN 1560851457
* Moon, Sun Myung, 2009, As a Peace-Loving Global Citizen. Gimm-Young Publishers ISBN 9788934933755 (in Korean)
* Peemoeller, Gehard, 2011, Bodyguard for Christ, Independent Publisher Services, ISBN 1450764398
* Sherwood, Carlton. 1991. Inquisition: The Persecution and Prosecution of the Reverend Sun Myung Moon. Washington, D.C.: Regnery Gateway. ISBN 9780895265326
* Sontag, Frederick. 1977. Sun Myung Moon and the Unification Church. Nashville, Tenn: Abingdon Press. ISBN 9780687406227
* Tingle, D. and Fordyce, R. 1979, Phases and Faces of the Moon: A Critical Examination of the Unification Church and its Principles, Hicksville, NY: Exposition Press ISBN 0682492647
* Ward, Thomas J. 2006. March to Moscow: the role of the Reverend Sun Myung Moon in the collapse of communism. St. Paul, Minn: Paragon House. ISBN 9781885118165
* Yamamoto, J. Isamu, 1995, Unification Church, Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan Publishing House ISBN 0310703816
==External links==
*Sun Myung Moon on Wikiquote
*Sun Myung Moon portal on Wikisource
* FFWPU USA - Family Federation for World Peace and Unification USA Church site
* Biography in church-sponsored encyclopedia
* Short biography at US church home page
* Universal Peace Federation founded by Moons in 2005
Category:Unification Church
Category:Religious leaders