Mr. Jones wants everyone to know how seriously Rev. Moon takes himself and his work. He has apparently attempted to select quotes in an effort to discolor Moon's character and to represent unificationists as tyrannical and blasphemous. How simple a task this is to pull quotes, without context and point a finger. Don't be misled.
Rev. Moon is the Father of humanity. Because he is a father of love, he lives a life of unification and harmony. He does not discriminate believers from non-believers, nor adherents of one religion from the next. Instead, he is focused on the work of God which is to uproot sin from our families through following the path of sexual purity, participating in cross-cultural marriage, and becoming a member of God's own lineage. No other person that I am aware of, has invested more resources into interreligious and international peace initiatives. That's what makes him an authority on peace building.
The Global Peace Festival is a collaborative work of religionists and non-religionists alike, who advocate family values. Theological differences are not relevant to the work of building strong families. What is important is what is common. Now is the time for collaborative efforts to strengthen our families, not for theological arguments. Any of Rev. Moon's quotes can be fully appreciated for their intended meaning by studying the Unification Principle or listening to the messages located online (googling "audio peace messages" should get you there.)
For the record I will do my best to briefly illuminate each of Rev. Moon's quotes which Mr. Jones apparently finds objectionable. However, it should be noted that theological agreement is not relevant to effectively cooperating in the great work at hand: being truly responsible for the welfare of our families and citizens as true parents, teachers, and owners.
It is no small task to elucidate these quotes fully. But I will give a small taste of what lies beneath the surface, as I understand it. I am not an 'official' of the church, so bear this in mind. Also, everything Father says is in his native Korean, so even these quotes are not meant to perfectly represent the inherent meaning. Enjoy!
1. "Judaism committed a historical sin in front of Jesus, so Jewish people experienced the Holocaust under Hitler." The Torah is a long record of repeated failures of the Israelites. Their task was next to impossible, and their victories were miraculous. The fact that they failed to give Jesus his fair hearing, is just one of a long history of understandable mistakes. If the Jews had inherited God's direct lineage from Jesus, they would become respected and honored forever (and would not have been feared, persecuted and misunderstood as they were over the past 2000 years). In such a favorable situation, the holocaust would never have materialized. Calling the holocaust "the fault of the Jews", is beyond the pale. Without the history of God's nation, Jesus could never have been born to begin with. We are indebted to the Jews for the core values of western civilization that make modern life bearable and worth living. The record of Christianity and Islam may prove to be even more blundering than Jewish history has been. Study Unification Principle for the full details.
2. "Islam is a religion which originally should not have come into being." In fact, no religion should have ever come into being originally. The fall of man and the work of restoration were not God's original plan. As does any religion, Islam has a reparative function, to prepare the way for the establishment of true family values to a particularly suited demographic. When those values are practiced and perfected, the religions forms will become novelties and presumably, eventually obsolete.
3. "As the Lord of the Second Advent I am the owner of this world of death... therefore, the world must follow Rev. Moon. There is no other solution, no other direction or choice..." In fact, Rev. Moon is the qualified father of mankind. He accomplished what we are all purposed for: to be ideal parents, siblings, spouses, and children of God, each as unique expressions of divinity. Because Rev. Moon has God's blood lineage and the unique truths required by humanity in this age, he has clearly stated that there isn't another way that will work to permanently eradicate evil. It's his job to let everyone know that.
4. "When you work hard, Congressmen and Senators must be controlled by you." Through humble efforts, people of conscience recognize your worth and harmonize with you. This quote is about what kind of power is legitimate.the power of conscience and hard work, not mere titles.
5. "The Religious Leaders that attend Father will have more and more influence over other religious leaders and soon they will influence political leaders as well..." As well they should! The power of conscience is unstoppable.
6. "The significance and meaning of Father's last world tour was in his gathering of the heads of state and teaching them. In other words, he rose above them and declared kingship." Father is the King. Someone had to do it. Adam didn't, and Jesus never married. It's not God's lineage if you don't have kids and a family tradition.
7. "The time is coming that we have to abolish the concept of separation between church and state. We need a political party centered upon religious ideology...This democratic period in human history is passing away. Soon the heavenly sovereignty will be established to lead the world." That's right. This physical world is the location of the establishment of God's Kingdom, a Kingdom of selfless joy, and brotherly love. All will be guided by the strength of conscience. The spirit will be indwelling.religion and politics will give way to simple administrative functions, while humanity leaps into full harmonized form.
8. "If Catholic priests and nuns remain single, they will all end up in hell... The Unification Church blesses the bride and the bridegroom so they will not perish." No one should be single eternally. How difficult is that to understand? Each is only half. The season of lifelong abstinence, while providentially meaningful has passed. God's lineage is here. Our sexual lives can be fully blessed by God for the first time in history.
9. "They may be proud to call themselves Catholic, Protestant and so forth, but they have nothing to be proud of. God is even rejected in the true sense by Christians, so how can God visit the Christian churches and expect something?" Only pray to see if this is true and in what way specifically. Not hard to understand.
10. "Are we able to swap one real true Unification Church member with all the members of the Catholic faith in the world? (No.)." The question is: what is a real true Unification Church member? If it is someone who embodies God's heart, word, and lineage, then of course, the truth of this statement should be clear.
11. "All Christian ministers must be re-educated. They must become new Christians. Unity with Reverend Moon is of vital importance. Without it, no matter how much they do, God will not be on their side." Unity with Rev. Moon is not hard to do. Practice sexual purity, support cross-cultural marriage, and be of God's blood lineage.
12. "Homosexuals: ... They have no rights. There should be a law to prohibit this. ... But homosexuals and lesbians are lower than animals." Well, it's easy to see why this statement might be offensive to some people. Surrendering our sexual life to the standard of heaven is not easy for any of us, but in the end it will free us beyond measure. The fact is, Rev. Moon often preaches that ALL people became lower than animals because of sexual misconduct. This is not hard to defend when we see the level of cruelty and ignorance and disharmony humanity is known for. From this viewpoint, there is nothing unusually extreme about this statement. Concerning laws, yes, temporarily laws should be enacted to prevent and discourage damaging behavior. Sex outside of family building (which includes couple strengthening), is the ultimate violation of the Heart, which is worthy of legal protection.
13. "America declined because it rejected Reverend Moon. ...Once the Messiah sits upon that throne, the Kingdom of Heaven on earth will come about through the unification and perfection of the family, world and cosmos..." America has not yet come to the full defense of the values of sexual purity. It has not acknowledged this responsibility, and is, in certain respects, in decline because of it.
14. "I want to see the unification of languages all over the world. As of now, about 1,600 different languages are spoken. Who is going to unify all of these languages? I am. Once we have one single language for the entire world, it will take only one broadcasting station, radio or TV, to reach every corner of the world. In terms of publications, if there is one language it takes only one book, then everyone in the world will be able to read and learn. But right now 1,600 different books have to come out on the same contents. It is a waste of time, manpower and materials. Everything is being wasted because of the division of languages." Korean has unique advantages as a universal language of heart. English is more technically effective. Either way, one family, one central language. The purpose is not to abolish other languages, but to arrive at a common tongue shared by all.
Whoever wishes to argue against this obviously has little faith in what humanity can accomplish and experience if unified lingually (is that a word?).
15. "Where is the root of the problem of divorce? It is in the woman." At other times, Rev. Moon puts the responsibility squarely on the husband.
16. "In the near future, True Family will rise above the entire human race and establish the Kingdom of Heaven." God's blood lineage is open to everyone, in no way is this an exclusive distinction. A self-purifying lineage of enemies wed (through cross-cultural marriage), is sorely needed and has great moral power.
17. "Once we accomplish the goal of 3.6 million Blessing ceremony, then all of the young people in the world, from elementary school up through college, will look to the Unification Church Holy Wedding Ceremony..." Yes. This ceremony is key to renewing our identity as God's children and bearers of his lineage. Not to be missed.
18. "Alcohol, smoking and evil social behavior are also satanic weapons to destroy the human race. Once we understand this clearly we cannot touch those kinds of satanic weapons. We have to destroy them." Not sure why this is objectionable.
19. "Weapon factories must be placed under the supervision of the religious spheres..." No, Rev. Moon is not a sponsor of fanatical terrorism. He's talking about maintaining military strength to defend moral societies.
20. "All the irrelevant books in the world should be burned away. I cannot tolerate books that belong under the leftist ideology. Do you understand?" By leftist, he doesn't mean Hillary Clinton. Rev. Moon fought butcherous old school communism with his own sweat and blood. He is referring to Godless political ideology that views man as meat.
I hope that helps. It's impossible to be thorough.
Reading Between the Lines
Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this letter are those of Charles Bingham and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of Solomon Times Online.
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