Unification Church of South Korea - Research Paper Example

? Unification Church of South Korea The unification church of South Korea is a church denomination that traces its roots to 1935 which they believe was the year that founder Sun Myung Moon received a vision from Christ asking him to complete his work on earth. Since then the church has grown and with its presence being felt both in the field of religion and in the business world with it sponsoring media houses, universities as well as addressing political issues. Sun Myung Moon began his work in 1946 but was arrested and tortured by the North Korean government, upon his release he fled to South Korea and officially founded the group in 1954. Members of the church have sometimes been referred to as Moonies a term they view as derogatory, and as seen below the church has had both its moments of praise and moments of controversy and investigations by the government. The church in the 1980s grew rapidly and the founder of the church Sun Moon grew very wealthy as it began to invest in ventures outside of the church one notable one being the Washington Times magazine which the church wholly owns and operates. By 1981 the church had grown beyond its home country South Korea and had applied for recognition as a religion in USA and therefore receives tax exemption status. The US government however turned down their application due to their involvement in none religious issues such as supporting Richard Nixon when he was a presidential candidate (Knight, 2003). Moon had also been an ardent supporter of Nixon during the Watergate Scandal and had even sponsored posters that showed his support in 1979 making the church seem politically motivated. These activities are what led to its application being denied and in 1982 Sun moon was arrested on charges of tax evasion charges. Moon was convicted and sentenced to 18 months in prison and to pay a fine of twenty five thousand dollars; he however did not start serving his term until 1984. The unification church received some respite as members of the religious community felt that it was being persecuted unnecessarily by the government as well as the fact that other church leaders also helped as they realized that they too could be in the situation that Moon was in if a religious leader could be jailed over tax charges. Moon Sun also won many converts while in prison as he earned appraisal for being hardworking and empathetic towards the plight of others. Moon only served 11 months of his sentence and once out was desperate to change the image his church had formed of itself although not completely successful. Due to the church being a branch of Christianity, it was viewed by many preachers as a threat to their own churches and the more established denominations. The church was also accused of brainwashing its members and was labeled a cult (Lippy, 2002). As the church underwent its rebranding it changed its focus of converts leaning towards people who were former military officers the thought behind this was that given the strong attachment US citizen have for their army, people with military experience would be more credible as preachers. Members of the church were also noted for their pursuing of advanced degrees and this was seen to make the church have more appeal as it had an “enlightened” congregation. One reason that has been pointed out by critics of the church for the constant involvement in business is to slowly attract people who they hire into the congregation With its growth, the Moonies religious teachings began to be more liberal and laws regarding marriage and alcoholic consumption were eased. When the church began it was rare to see a woman dating or married to a man who was not from the church; however with their growth in numbers it became a common feature to find women engaged or even married to men who were not members. In the previous decades alcohol consumption had also been disapproved by the church so much so that members would not venture into bars, however by the mid-80s they could be seen imbibing mineral water in pubs and before the end of the decade wine was been served in the conferences (Misztal and Anson, 1992). As the church progressed it decided to shift its focus back to Asia in the 90s as well as spread its teachings to countries that were leaving the communist way of life. In April 1990, Sun Moon visited Russia and met with then president Mikhail Gorbachev and expressed his support for the president’s policies (Enroth, 2005), he would then open first Seminary for the church in New York. A significant event that happened in the 1990s was the abandonment of the communal way of life as Moonies were allowed to live in places outside of the church community. The church’s communes had been a bone of contention for many who used them as evidence that the Unification church was a cult and not just a religion (Sutton, p.116). With its shift to Asia, Moon ordered that the members should go back home in order to spread the word of God there, this signified an end to the communal life as people could not evangelize and at the same live in communes in their hometowns. This would see the growth of branches of the church in areas including North Korea which Moon had initially fled from. He would go on to bless 360000 wedding couples in Seoul South Korea as he presided over the largest wedding ceremony on record. The relationship between the Church and North Korea would improve so much that Moon would be invited to the funeral of Kim Il Sung even though the government had yet to improve relations with South Korea (Cheon, 2013). In spite of its newly renewed spirit of charity, the church would continue with its business pursuits more so in Uruguay where it owns the largest hotel and one of the nation’s largest banks (Luft, 1994). Sun Moon has continued on his belief that he is the messiah and although this has earned him some criticism, at the turn of the century, the church once more changed its focus and began improving relations with other denominations such as Judaism and Islam. The Unification Church of South Korea has for this reason cooperated with the nation of Islam on the grounds that they should spread the message of God more so as the end of time was near (Ashahed, 2010). The cooperation with Judaism has been viewed as making amendments for Moon claiming that the Holocaust was their punishment for their deicide in killing Jesus. The Moonies have been constantly identified as a cult and several reasons have been listed as the reasons for people joining. The people who join a cult are usually at a desperate point in their lives and their vulnerability is what the charismatic leaders capitalize on. People would therefore join the Moonies in order to find solutions to their everyday problems as the atmosphere of family, comfort, sense of belonging and understanding was present in the church. The church would also give them an opportunity to serve their community through its charity activities which would appeal to the more generous members of the community (Kirby, 2000). The wealth of the founder Sun Moon has also been a source of criticism by many who are against the modern day prosperity Gospel and feel that it is a case of a man exploiting his congregation to enrich himself (Coonan, 2012). Finally, his proclamation that he is the Messiah is a staple of many cult leaders who must validate their power as being divine in order to have their authority unquestioned. In conclusion, the Unification Church was officially started by Sun Myung in 1954 who believed that he was commanded by Christ to do so. Since its beginnings in South Korea the church has gained a considerable amount of followers in both Southern Asian countries and in Russia and USA. This has not meant that it has not been without controversy, and the constant dabbling in politics by Myung Moon has led the church into troubles on various occasions. The church has also been labeled a cult due to its followers living in communes and the acclamation by Moon that he is the messiah. With his death in 2012 the church’s future seems shaky but his son Hyung Jin Moon has promised to lead it with the same vision as his father. References Ashahed, M., (2010). Nation of Islam: Farrakhan tells spiritual leaders their light should dispel society's darkness. Retrieved on 23rd November, 2013 from http://moonsanmyung.blogspot.com/2010/05/nation-of-islam-farrakhan-tells.html Cheon, G., (2013). Book Nine - Blessed Family. Retrieved on 23rd November, 2013 from http://www.tparents.org/Moon-Books/SunMyungMoon-CSG/CSG-09-03-10.htm Coonan, C. (2012). ‘Messiah’ Moon leaves a vast business – and a tainted image. Irish Times. Retrieved on 23rd November, 2013 from http://dialogueireland.wordpress.com/2012/09/06/to-its-critics-the-unification-church-is-a-dangerous-cult-by-clifford-coonan-in-singapore/ Enroth, R. (2005). A guide to new religious movements. Madison: Intervarsity. Kirby, M., (2000). Sociology in perspective. Chicago: Heinneman. Knight, P., (2003). Conspiracy Theories in American History: An Encyclopedia. Washington DC: ABC- CLIO. Lippy, H., (2002). Pluralism comes of age: American religious culture in the twentieth century. New York: Sharpe. Luft, K., (1994, December 8). Unification Church invests heavily in Uruguay. Illnois: Chicago Tribune. Misztal, B., & Anson, S., (1992). Religion and politics in comparative perspective. Westport: Greenwood. Sutton. P., (2005). Modern American Communes: A Dictionary. Westport: Greenwood. Read More