Rev. Moonlight Founds the fresh new Unification Church
Rev. Moonlight gone to live in Seoul in the 1953 and you may shaped the Unification church inside 1954. They expanded quickly. Contained in this a year, in the 29 church stores got sprung right up. Moonlight sent 1st missionary in order to The united states inside the 1960. From the 1960s he began and make globe trips.
Daniel J. Wakin typed from the Ny Moments: “Until the a decade is actually aside, the guy typed “Brand new Divine Concept,” a heavy exposition from their theology that has been revised multiple times; within her publication, Ms. Hong, their child-in-law, told you it absolutely was compiled by an earlier disciple predicated on Mr. Moon’s notes and you may dialogue. He delivered his first chapel emissaries serious link in order to Japan, the reason from early growth, as well as the You, and you will began building his Korean providers empire.” [Source: Daniel J. Wakin, Ny Moments, ]
The fresh Unification Church (T’ongilgyo) was technically called the Holy Soul Association with the Unification regarding Business Christianity. Donald N. Clark wrote within the “Culture and you will Heritage out-of Korea”: “To help with his chapel” Moonlight “turned to business, starting production facilities you to generated weapons in addition to present packages of one’s medicinal resources ginseng. He along with performed valuable personal attributes by giving chapel people as volunteers so you can poorer aspects of the nation to run kindergartens and you will help with agriculture. And an occasion he seemed like good overseas ambassador to own Korea, giving an adorable youngsters’ choir called the “Absolutely nothing Angels” abroad on the show trips. [Source: “People and you will Tradition off Korea” from the Donald N. Clark, Greenwood Push, 2000]
Alcohol and drugs have been from-constraints, and you will sex outside relationship try the new terrible you can sin, punishable by eternal hellfire
From inside the 70s in america, Moonlight hired more and more young adults and you can sent them to camps in which it learned – some say indoctrinated – towards Unification viewpoints and you may most readily useful. Many of these recruits appeared in the flight terminals and on Western path edges offering plants and you can flipping the fresh continues over to the new Moon organization, and this expanded somewhat rich. By the middle seventies, Moon had based an enormous multimillion buck spiritual and you can business kingdom. During the 1982 the guy offered a year inside a national penitentiary for the Danbury Connecticut just after are convicted from taxation evasion. [Source: “Community and Community regarding Korea” by the Donald N. Clark, Greenwood Press, 2000]
Mariah Blake blogged from the The newest Republic: Moon “first started aggressively recruiting brand new supporters, have been anticipated to live-in monk-including purity. His religion appealed so you can young adults just who preferred the newest public ethos of one’s counterculture, although not the brand new drugs and you may free like. His expanding army of heavenly troops raised money by the hawking plant life and you can candles during the flight terminals and on street sides. Money as well as stream inside regarding The japanese (the fresh “Eve country”), where more youthful devotees persuaded older Japanese widows so you can liberate the ancestors from heck by buying grossly overpriced trinkets. From the 1974, the fresh new U.S. chapel is raking into the You$8 million a year. [Source: ]
Throughout their period of rigid expansion inside 1970s, the new Unification Church had multiple hundred or so thousand players into the South Korea and you can The japanese and a hefty (regardless if basically overestimated) level of professionals in United states and Western European countries. Moonlight reported he is actually this new “messiah” appointed because of the Jesus so you’re able to unite all individuals of the globe to the one “members of the family,” influenced theocratically by himself. The fresh Unification Chapel was highly authoritarian, demanding sheer behavior off chapel professionals. Moon, such as for instance, has actually created marriage ceremonies for his young followers; Us tv visitors have been handled certain in years past to a great bulk ceremony of which multiple hundred or so more youthful “Moonies” was basically Shaw, Library out of Congress, 1990]
Daniel J. Wakin typed throughout the Ny Times: “Out of in early stages Mr. Moonlight try revered because of the their followers since messiah, plus in 1992 he conferred one to identity into themselves. He in addition to proclaimed that he with his 2nd spouse, Hak Ja Han, was basically the latest “true mothers of all the humanity.”: The guy first started throwing the latest Unification Church “towards a huge scale in america during the early 1970s. [Source: Daniel J. Wakin, Ny Moments, ]