ID :
50289
Thu, 03/12/2009 - 21:54
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://www.oananews.org//node/50289
The shortlink copeid
(Yonhap Feature) Christian cult leader tells his own edited version of life
By Shin Hae-in
SEOUL, March 12 (Yonhap) -- He is one of the world's most controversial religious figures, a self-proclaimed messiah whose services have attracted crowds of up to 300,000 and with missionaries in 194 countries.
He is also an ex-convict, jailed
twice for adultery and tax fraud.
At 89 and entering the final days of his life, Moon Sun-myung, the notorious
founder of the Unification Church of Korea, published his first memoir this week,
telling his own version of his life and religion.
"I was born in a country where people hated each other for different ideologies
and religions. God gave me a mission to realize peace at the second coming of
Christ. Since then, I became a fool who knew nothing other than to worship God,"
Moon says in the opening of his autobiography "As a Global Man of Peace."
Moon's Unification Church, a worldwide network with followers in 120 countries
including Japan and the United States, is among the most disputed religious
organizations in the world today.
While his memoir, written over the span of two years starting in 2006, offers
some intriguing tidbits about Moon's personal life, it makes no mention of the
rampant accusations surrounding his business activities, sexual behavior and
brainwashing of worshippers.
His autobiography has already triggered anger among South Korea's Christians,
which account for nearly 30 percent of the country's population, with
organizations vowing a nationwide boycott against the book.
"Existing churches did not understand me and called me pseudo-Christian. Only God
knows the truth and can judge me," Moon says, adding the name of his organization
reflected his goal of unifying all Christian denominations.
"I was faced with harsh criticism and discrimination, but was still able to move
people who had been desperate to return to morality and the teachings of God,"
Moon says.
While critics dismiss Moon as a bizarre cult leader who claims to be the second
coming of Christ with the power to communicate with the dead, a court in Germany
overturned a government ban on his entering the country, concluding the church
and its leader have a "genuine spiritual basis."
Officially founded in 1954 under the title "The Holy Spirit Association for the
Unification of World Christianity," the church claims to have some 3 million
members, although many believe the number to be exaggerated.
Born in 1920 as the second of 13 children in Korea's northwestern Pyongan
Province, now in North Korea, Moon claims Jesus Christ appeared to him on Easter
morning when he was 16 and told him God had chosen him to establish the Kingdom
of Heaven on Earth.
"Christ told me I would be the one who completes man's salvation by being the
second coming of Christ and to become his messenger for life," Moon recalls in
his book.
After World War II, Moon went to Pyongyang and set up his first church in 1945.
He was arrested in 1948 and jailed for two years and eight months after
conducting "rituals" forcing female church members to have sex with him to
"cleanse themselves of Satan's influence."
He was set free by United Nations' troops in 1950 during the Korean War and fled
to South Korea where he established the Unification Church in 1954.
He started dispatching missionaries in 1958 and founded the Unification Church of
America in 1972 in New York. His Washington Monument speech in 1976 drew more
than 300,000 people, earning him the title of man of the year by the U.S.
magazine Newsweek.
Despite its stellar growth, Moon's church has been the subject of much negative
U.S. publicity, primarily due to alleged unethical recruitment and fund-raising
tactics.
Though not mentioned in the autobiography, the church's practice of separating
members from their families and its emphasis on "absolute love," forcing church
members to wed partners of Moon's choosing, have been decried by many as
brainwashing.
In 1982, Moon was convicted of federal income tax fraud in the United States, for
which he served 11 months of an 18-month sentence in federal prison.
In the 1990s, thousands of elderly Japanese claimed to have been defrauded of
their life savings by the Unification Church, which became the subject of the
largest consumer fraud investigation in Japan's history in 1997.
Moon's fame and fortune also gave him access to world leaders, the accounts of
which are the better parts of his autobiography.
In addition to his meeting with former Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev in
1990, he describes his encounter with North Korea's founder and late leader Kim
Il-sung in 1991.
Kim, he writes, asked him to "give a hand" in developing Mount Kumgang, now a
tourist resort that attracted thousands of South Korean visitors until it was
suspended last summer.
"Kim and I shared a heart-warming reunion as people of the same blood and
ethnicity," Moon says. "Calling the mountain a 'national asset,' the chairman
said he could trust me, a man of international understanding, to develop the
mountain the right way."
Moon also takes credit for persuading Kim to strike an international nuclear
disarmament pact, saying "the North signed a joint-denuclearization pact shortly
after" his visit.
"Kim held my hand tight several times," Moon added. "We connected so well that
the former North Korean leader told his successor to consult me if anything bad
happens between the two Koreas."
Moon returned to Seoul in 2004 after 34 years of residence in the United States.
Although he has never made a public appearance, he reportedly celebrated his 90th
(89th by Western standards) birthday with about 3,000 Unification Church members
in January.
Moon does seem aware of the accusations and criticism surrounding him.
"People say those who have been hated by many live longer. If that's the case, I
could easily live another 100 years," he says. "But I am proud of myself after
all these years. I served as a bridge of peace between people and God will reward
me."
Park Eun-joo, head of Gimmyoung Publishers, said she decided to print Moon's
autobiography despite the controversy due to the high interest in and out of the
country surrounding him.
"Moon said he put more than 80 percent of his thoughts into the book," she said.
"I am sure many will want to know of those thoughts and beliefs regardless of the
controversy."
The Korea Christian Publication Association and the Korean Association of Church
Communication each issued statements Thursday criticizing the publisher for
printing Moon's book without a "true understanding of Christianity."
"As a Global Man of Peace," 384 pages, is currently on sale for 14,500 won in
local bookstores.
SEOUL, March 12 (Yonhap) -- He is one of the world's most controversial religious figures, a self-proclaimed messiah whose services have attracted crowds of up to 300,000 and with missionaries in 194 countries.
He is also an ex-convict, jailed
twice for adultery and tax fraud.
At 89 and entering the final days of his life, Moon Sun-myung, the notorious
founder of the Unification Church of Korea, published his first memoir this week,
telling his own version of his life and religion.
"I was born in a country where people hated each other for different ideologies
and religions. God gave me a mission to realize peace at the second coming of
Christ. Since then, I became a fool who knew nothing other than to worship God,"
Moon says in the opening of his autobiography "As a Global Man of Peace."
Moon's Unification Church, a worldwide network with followers in 120 countries
including Japan and the United States, is among the most disputed religious
organizations in the world today.
While his memoir, written over the span of two years starting in 2006, offers
some intriguing tidbits about Moon's personal life, it makes no mention of the
rampant accusations surrounding his business activities, sexual behavior and
brainwashing of worshippers.
His autobiography has already triggered anger among South Korea's Christians,
which account for nearly 30 percent of the country's population, with
organizations vowing a nationwide boycott against the book.
"Existing churches did not understand me and called me pseudo-Christian. Only God
knows the truth and can judge me," Moon says, adding the name of his organization
reflected his goal of unifying all Christian denominations.
"I was faced with harsh criticism and discrimination, but was still able to move
people who had been desperate to return to morality and the teachings of God,"
Moon says.
While critics dismiss Moon as a bizarre cult leader who claims to be the second
coming of Christ with the power to communicate with the dead, a court in Germany
overturned a government ban on his entering the country, concluding the church
and its leader have a "genuine spiritual basis."
Officially founded in 1954 under the title "The Holy Spirit Association for the
Unification of World Christianity," the church claims to have some 3 million
members, although many believe the number to be exaggerated.
Born in 1920 as the second of 13 children in Korea's northwestern Pyongan
Province, now in North Korea, Moon claims Jesus Christ appeared to him on Easter
morning when he was 16 and told him God had chosen him to establish the Kingdom
of Heaven on Earth.
"Christ told me I would be the one who completes man's salvation by being the
second coming of Christ and to become his messenger for life," Moon recalls in
his book.
After World War II, Moon went to Pyongyang and set up his first church in 1945.
He was arrested in 1948 and jailed for two years and eight months after
conducting "rituals" forcing female church members to have sex with him to
"cleanse themselves of Satan's influence."
He was set free by United Nations' troops in 1950 during the Korean War and fled
to South Korea where he established the Unification Church in 1954.
He started dispatching missionaries in 1958 and founded the Unification Church of
America in 1972 in New York. His Washington Monument speech in 1976 drew more
than 300,000 people, earning him the title of man of the year by the U.S.
magazine Newsweek.
Despite its stellar growth, Moon's church has been the subject of much negative
U.S. publicity, primarily due to alleged unethical recruitment and fund-raising
tactics.
Though not mentioned in the autobiography, the church's practice of separating
members from their families and its emphasis on "absolute love," forcing church
members to wed partners of Moon's choosing, have been decried by many as
brainwashing.
In 1982, Moon was convicted of federal income tax fraud in the United States, for
which he served 11 months of an 18-month sentence in federal prison.
In the 1990s, thousands of elderly Japanese claimed to have been defrauded of
their life savings by the Unification Church, which became the subject of the
largest consumer fraud investigation in Japan's history in 1997.
Moon's fame and fortune also gave him access to world leaders, the accounts of
which are the better parts of his autobiography.
In addition to his meeting with former Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev in
1990, he describes his encounter with North Korea's founder and late leader Kim
Il-sung in 1991.
Kim, he writes, asked him to "give a hand" in developing Mount Kumgang, now a
tourist resort that attracted thousands of South Korean visitors until it was
suspended last summer.
"Kim and I shared a heart-warming reunion as people of the same blood and
ethnicity," Moon says. "Calling the mountain a 'national asset,' the chairman
said he could trust me, a man of international understanding, to develop the
mountain the right way."
Moon also takes credit for persuading Kim to strike an international nuclear
disarmament pact, saying "the North signed a joint-denuclearization pact shortly
after" his visit.
"Kim held my hand tight several times," Moon added. "We connected so well that
the former North Korean leader told his successor to consult me if anything bad
happens between the two Koreas."
Moon returned to Seoul in 2004 after 34 years of residence in the United States.
Although he has never made a public appearance, he reportedly celebrated his 90th
(89th by Western standards) birthday with about 3,000 Unification Church members
in January.
Moon does seem aware of the accusations and criticism surrounding him.
"People say those who have been hated by many live longer. If that's the case, I
could easily live another 100 years," he says. "But I am proud of myself after
all these years. I served as a bridge of peace between people and God will reward
me."
Park Eun-joo, head of Gimmyoung Publishers, said she decided to print Moon's
autobiography despite the controversy due to the high interest in and out of the
country surrounding him.
"Moon said he put more than 80 percent of his thoughts into the book," she said.
"I am sure many will want to know of those thoughts and beliefs regardless of the
controversy."
The Korea Christian Publication Association and the Korean Association of Church
Communication each issued statements Thursday criticizing the publisher for
printing Moon's book without a "true understanding of Christianity."
"As a Global Man of Peace," 384 pages, is currently on sale for 14,500 won in
local bookstores.
