Unification Church
The Unification church which is based on his book entitled Divine Principle written by was founded in 1954 by Sun Young Moon. The movement’s strange behaviours are best exemplified by their mass wedding ceremonies which often turn into a media spectacle. The movement has taken a name in popular culture as “the Moonies” as they have turned into a joke for strange and off-kilter ideas and events. None of their activities are more strange than the mass marriages called “blessings”.
The Unification Church is based on his book entitled Divine Principle written by their leader Sun Young Moon. The preachings of the Unification Church are not discriminatory and mainly revolve around the idea that God is working to return the world to the way he intended. Sun Young Moon describes himself as God’s second son who is responsible for carrying out the plans set forth by God and in the Divine Principle. Moon’s followers describe the book as the divine truth much like many followers of catholicism refer to the bible.
The Unification Church’s primal motivations and ideals are not erroneous. The qualms that many have with the movement rely upon the worshiping of their leaders and the strange marriage traditions.
Exploitive Leadership
When one thinks of destructive New Religious Movements it is easy to look at the Jonestown mass murder or the Waco siege as examples of how leaders’ can be responsible for the death of their disciples. However, some groups like NXIVM demonstrate more insidious and less visible exploitation that only becomes clear with the graces of hindsight and outside perspectives.
The leader of the Unification Church, Sun Young Moon, was a prime example of less noticeable exploitation. The previous members experienced the exploitation by Moon.
“They had to put the cult leaders’ needs above their childrens”
Every time the leaders needed something, Teddy Hose’s parents would prioritize their needs over his. The missions and adventures directly enriched the Moon’s. Today, Moon’s widowed wife lives in a mansion modelled after the White House.
The wealth they have siphoned from their followers has provided them with the money to live the most lavish of lifestyles. In addition, when others grew the movement, Moon was able to exert even more control over more people which seems to be a priority when you look at how describes himself as the ‘true parent’.
“He was a fraud and his legacy is false.”
The hypocrisy of the Moon’s image would be revealed as time passed. Many followers would leave the moment as light was shined on the true nature of their ‘messiah’. It is challenging to preach of marriages bringing the world together when you have 6 wives of your own. The purity of the leader was also challenged during an 18-month jail stint after he was convicted of income tax fraud in 1984.
Sun Young Moon’s death left his wife named Hak Ja Han as the remaining ‘parent’ of their movement. She continues to preside over the organization’s mass marriages and other activities. The limelight and the death of Moon may be a critical blow to movement as their family attempts to continue the movement following Moon’s fall from grace. Ultimately, the group maintains a strong enough following that Moon’s descendants will be able to continue the movement exploiting as they please.
So You Joined the Unification Church
As someone who has grown in a largely traditional western home, the concept of an arranged marriage to the level that the moonies have resorted to is depressing. ABC News coverage of a 2014 mass marriage highlighted a soon-to-be-married couple who do not speak any of each other’s native language. As the crew checked in closer to the ceremony, the young woman forgets her soon-to-be husband’s name. As someone who believes that everyone should have the means to live for the rest of their life with some whom they love and build deep emotional connections, the idea of forced marriage at this level is despicable.
It is challenging to understand considering joining the movement without being able to empathize with the followers of the religion. Without understanding the underlying methods used by the cult leaders to recruit their members you will be unjust judgements of the nature of the cult members.
One of the women about to be married shared her reasoning when question by the ABC reporter:
“in our movement we really think and feel deeply that mrriage is not just for my sake or my personal atratiction but it is something bigger, somrthing that can bring the world together if really commit ourselves”
-Rominia
If I were to listen to her reasoning in isolation, I can see the seeming nobility of searching for the greater meaning. There is a sense of idealism in the ideals spoken by the Unification Church’s mass marriages. In first-generation membership, the selling of Sun Young Moon as the second son of god – a messiah – lead to a circular logic loop that helped members keep their beliefs despite rising tides of exploitation from its leaders.
What happens is circular logic takes over. “Moon is one with god. God is going to fix all of the problems in the world. All I have to do is humbly follow. Because after all, god is working the messiah he’s going fix all this”
-Diane Benscoter (5 year member of “the Moonies)
The Dilution
The Unification Church transition from first-generation members to the second generation makes an interesting case study. The layout of the current movement lacks the type of isolation that the cult held during its first generation of membership.
“now well into a second- or even third-generation membership that is no longer so concerned with recruitment but, more frequently, with getting on in the outside world”
The early period of the cult was more reminiscent of the traditional view of a commune religion that presents itself as a cult. As time has passed more and more of normal society has been woven into the psyche of “the moonies”. The current membership continues to participate in mass marriages, but they live and work in regular society. Their ability to visit the outside world has made membership diminish and has decreased the likelihood of members being excessively fervent to upholding and spreading the ideals of the Unification Church.
Following the death of the founder of the movement Sun Young Moon and dilution of membership, the Unification Church is fading. The flickering light of passionate Unification Church members reflects on the nature of cults. Some cults implode in violent outbursts like Jonestown or the Movement for the Restoration of the Ten Commandments of God, but others will burn out with the passing of time as their ideals and values face the scrutiny of the greater society like the Unification Church.
Ultimately there is no apparatus for charismatic cult leaders to maintain control over their acolytes over multiple generations because of the nature of modern society. No one can maintain the visage of a great saviour because isolation is not a functional long-term strategy; New Religious Movements are caught in a catch 22 where they must soften their beliefs or risk lose their members as the next generations have more exposure to the world. Cults and communities led by powerful leaders and based on absurd ideas and ideals will never be successful. Their ideas may change and develop to mould to the general acceptance in society, but their original ideas and methods will never be as successful as they were in their first generation of the movement.
Truly a fantastic post, Logan. The thinking is outstanding here. Great use of connecting different NRMs together to make your point.