The Unification Church and politics

Since its start in advocating for the Korean independence movement[1] the Unification Church led by Sun Myung Moon has been highly politically active.

The degree of involvement of the Unification Church, as well as some of its specific stances, have also been part of the reason for the movement's controversial status over the years. The belief in the establishment of a literal Kingdom of God on earth and church founder Sun Myung Moon's teaching that religion alone is not enough to bring this about provides a motivation for political involvement.[2]

In the 1950s and 80s, the Unification Church set up media companies, research centers, and educational institutions that focused on anti-communist ideologies. The media heavily criticizeed them for possibly leading to nuclear war.[3][4][5] The movement also took part in politics, particularly concerning the reunification of Korea. Moon had links to conservative politicians, including members of the Abe family in Japan, leading to debates about the extent of the movement’s influence in political matters.[6]

The Unification Church has distinct teachings on politics as depicted in its central book, the Divine Principle. The book argues that God-centered governance will eventually replace existing political structures. This is envisioned as a family-like structure with Moon serving as the monarch and being referred to as the "True Parent." The Church teaches about establishing a “Kingdom of Heaven on Earth,” which would be a religious monarchy.[7]

Furthermore, the movement's connections and activities in Japan garnered attention when the son of a member of the Unification Church was implicated in the assassination of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in 2022.[8][9][10] In the United States, the involvement of Moon's son, Hyung Jin Moon, in the January 6 United States Capitol attack,[11] was another instance that highlighted the Church's engagement in political affairs.

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In the 1940s, Moon cooperated with Communist Party members in support of the Korean independence movement against Imperial Japan. After the Korean War (1950–1953), he became an outspoken anti-communist.[1]

In 1964, he founded the Korean Culture and Freedom Foundation, a public diplomacy agency that promoted South Korea's interests and sponsored Radio Free Asia. Former U.S. Presidents Harry S. Truman, Dwight D. Eisenhower, and Richard Nixon were honorary presidents or directors at various times.[12]

Moon viewed the Cold War between liberal democracy and communism as the final conflict between God and Satan, with divided Korea as its primary front line.[13] Soon after its founding, the Unification movement began supporting anti-communist organizations, including the World League for Freedom and Democracy founded in 1966 in Taipei, Republic of China (Taiwan), by Chiang Kai-shek,[14] and the Korean Culture and Freedom Foundation, an international public diplomacy organization which also sponsored Radio Free Asia.[15] The Unification movement was criticized for its anti-communist activism by the mainstream media and the alternative press, and many members of them said that it could lead to World War Three and a nuclear holocaust. The movement's anti-communist activities received financial support from Japanese millionaire and activist Ryōichi Sasakawa.[3][4][5]

1970s–1980s

In 1972, Moon predicted the decline of communism, based on the teachings of the Divine Principle: "After 7,000 biblical years—6,000 years of restoration history plus the millennium, the time of completion—communism will fall in its 70th year. Here is the meaning of the year 1978. Communism, begun in 1917, could maintain itself approximately 60 years and reach its peak. So 1978 is the border line and afterward communism will decline; in the 70th year it will be altogether ruined. This is true. Therefore, now is the time for people who are studying communism to abandon it."[16] In 1973, he called for an "automatic theocracy" to replace communism and solve "every political and economic situation in every field".[17] In 1975, Moon spoke at a government sponsored rally against potential North Korean military aggression on Yeouido Island in Seoul to an audience of around 1 million.[18]

In 1976, Moon established News World Communications, an international news media conglomerate which publishes The Washington Times newspaper in Washington, D.C., and newspapers in South Korea, Japan, and South America, partly in order to promote political conservatism. According to The Washington Post, "the Times was established by Moon to combat communism and be a conservative alternative to what he perceived as the liberal bias of The Washington Post."[19] Bo Hi Pak, called Moon's "right-hand man", was the founding president and the founding chairman of the board.[20] Moon asked Richard L. Rubenstein, a rabbi and college professor, to join its board of directors.[21] The Washington Times has often been noted for its generally pro-Israel editorial policies.[22] In 2002, during the 20th anniversary party for the Times, Moon said: "The Washington Times will become the instrument in spreading the truth about God to the world."[19]

In 1980, members founded CAUSA International, an anti-communist educational organization based in New York City.[23] In the 1980s, it was active in 21 countries. In the United States, it sponsored educational conferences for evangelical and fundamentalist Christian leaders[24] as well as seminars and conferences for Senate staffers, Hispanic Americans and conservative activists.[25] In 1986, CAUSA International sponsored the documentary film Nicaragua Was Our Home, about the Miskito Indians of Nicaragua and their persecution at the hands of the Nicaraguan government. It was filmed and produced by USA-UWC member Lee Shapiro, who later died while filming with anti-Soviet forces during the Soviet–Afghan War.[26][27][28][29] At this time CAUSA international also directly assisted the United States Central Intelligence Agency in supplying the Contras, in addition to paying for flights by rebel leaders. CAUSA's aid to the Contras escalated after Congress cut off CIA funding for them. According to contemporary CIA reports, supplies for the anti-Sandinista forces and their families came from a variety of sources in the US ranging from Moon's Unification Church to U.S. politicians, evangelical groups and former military officers.[30][31][32][33]

In 1980, members in Washington, D.C., disrupted a protest rally against the United States military draft.[34] In 1981, the Appellate Division of New York State Supreme Court ruled that the HSA–UWC was not entitled to property tax exemptions on its New York City properties since its primary purpose was political, not religious.[35] In 1982, this ruling was overturned by the New York State Supreme Court itself, which ruled that it should be considered a religious organization for tax purposes.[36]

In 1983, some American members joined a public protest against the Soviet Union in response to its shooting down of Korean Airlines Flight 007.[37] In 1984, the HSA–UWC founded the Washington Institute for Values in Public Policy, a Washington, D.C. think tank that underwrites conservative-oriented research and seminars at Stanford University, the University of Chicago, and other institutions.[38] In the same year, member Dan Fefferman founded the International Coalition for Religious Freedom in Virginia, which is active in protesting what it considers to be threats to religious freedom by governmental agencies.[39] In August 1985, the Professors World Peace Academy, an organization founded by Moon, sponsored a conference in Geneva to debate the theme "The situation in the world after the fall of the communist empire."[40] After the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991 the Unification movement promoted extensive missionary work in Russia and other former Soviet nations.[41]

1990s

In April 1990, Moon visited the Soviet Union and met with President Mikhail Gorbachev. Moon expressed support for the political and economic transformations under way in the Soviet Union. At the same time the Unification Church was expanding into formerly communist nations.[42] In 1991, he met with Kim Il Sung, the North Korean President, to discuss ways to achieve peace on the Korean peninsula, as well as on international relations, tourism, and other topics.[43] In 1994, Moon was officially invited to the funeral of Kim Il Sung, in spite of the absence of diplomatic relations between North Korea and South Korea.[44]

In 1994 the New York Times recognized the church's political influence, saying it was "a theocratic powerhouse that is pouring foreign fortunes into conservative causes in the United States."[45] In 1998 the Egyptian newspaper Al-Ahram criticized Moon's "ultra-right leanings" and suggested a personal relationship with conservative Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu.[46]

In 1995, the former U.S. President George H. W. Bush and his wife, Barbara Bush, spoke at a Unification Church event in the Tokyo Dome.[47] "If as president I could have done one thing to have helped the country more," Mr. Bush told the gathering, "it would have been to do a better job in finding a way, either through speaking out or through raising a moral standard, to strengthen the American family."[48] Hak Ja Han, the main speaker, credited her husband with bringing about Communism's fall and declared that he must save America from "the destruction of the family and moral decay."[49]

In 2000 Moon founded the World Association of Non-Governmental Organizations (WANGO), which describes itself as "a global organization whose mission is to serve its member organizations, strengthen and encourage the non-governmental sector as a whole, increase public understanding of the non-governmental community, and provide the mechanism and support needed for NGOs to connect, partner, and multiply their contributions to solve humanity's basic problems." However it has been criticized for promoting conservatism in contrast to some of the ideals of the United Nations.[50][51][52]

In 2003, Korean Unification Church members started a political party in South Korea. It was named "The Party for God, Peace, Unification, and Home." In an inauguration declaration, the new party said it would focus on preparing for the reunification of the South and North Korea by educating the public about God and peace. A church official said that similar political parties would be started in Japan and the United States.[53]

Moon was a member of the Honorary Committee of the Unification Ministry of the Republic of Korea.[54] The church member Jae-jung Lee had been once a unification minister of the Republic of Korea.[55] Another, Ek Nath Dhakal, is a member of the Nepalese Constituent Assembly,[56] and a first Minister for Co-operatives and Poverty Alleviationu Ministry of the Government of Nepal.[57]

Korean unification

In 1991, Moon met with Kim Il-sung, the North Korean President, to discuss ways to achieve peace on the Korean Peninsula, as well as on international relations, tourism, and other topics.[43] In 1992, Kim gave his first and only interview with the Western news media to Washington Times reporter Josette Sheeran, who later became executive director of the United Nations World Food Programme.[58] In 1994, Moon was officially invited to Kim's funeral, in spite of the absence of diplomatic relations between North Korea and South Korea.[59]

In 1998, Unification movement-related businesses launched operations in North Korea with the approval of the government of South Korea, which had prohibited business relationships between North and South before.[60] In 2000, the church-associated business group Tongil Group founded Pyeonghwa Motors in the North Korean port of Nampo, in cooperation with the North Korean government. It was the first automobile factory in North Korea.[61]

During the presidency of George W. Bush, Dong Moon Joo, a Unification movement member and then president of The Washington Times, undertook unofficial diplomatic missions to North Korea in an effort to improve its relationship with the United States.[62] Joo was born in North Korea and is a citizen of the United States.[63]

In 2003, Korean Unification Movement members started a political party in South Korea. It was named The Party for God, Peace, Unification and Home. In its inauguration declaration, the new party said it would focus on preparing for Korean reunification by educating the public about God and peace.[64] Moon was a member of the Honorary Committee of the Unification Ministry of the Republic of Korea.[65] Church member Jae-jung Lee was a Unification Minister of the Republic of Korea.[66]

In 2010, in Pyongyang, to mark the 20th anniversary of Moon's visit to Kim Il-sung, de jure head of state Kim Yong-nam hosted Moon's son Hyung Jin Moon, then the president of the Unification Church, in his official residence.[67][68] At that time, Hyung Jin Moon donated 600 tons of flour to the children of Jeongju, the birthplace of Sun Myung Moon.[69][70]

In 2012, Moon was posthumously awarded North Korea's National Reunification Prize.[71] On the first anniversary of Moon's death, North Korean chairman Kim Jong-un expressed condolences to Han and the family, saying: "Kim Jong-un prayed for the repose of Moon, who worked hard for national concord, prosperity and reunification and world peace."[72] In 2017, the Unification Church sponsored the International Association of Parliamentarians for Peace (IAPP)—headed by former Prime Minister of Nepal Madhav Kumar Nepal and former Minister of Peace and Reconstruction Ek Nath Dhakal—visited Pyongyang and had constructive talks with the Korean Workers' Party.[73] In 2020 the movement held an in-person and virtual rally for Korean unification which drew about one million attendees.[74]

Unification Church practices in Japan

The Japanese government certified the UC as a religious organisation in 1964; the Agency for Cultural Affairs classifies the UC as a Christian organisation.[75] Since then the government was unable to prevent the UC's activities because of the freedom of religion guaranteed in the Constitution of Japan, according to Mitsuhiro Suganuma, the former section head of the Public Security Intelligence Agency's Second Intelligence Department.[76]

According to historians, up to 70% of the UC's wealth has been accumulated through outdoor fundraising rounds. Steven Hassan, a former UC member, engaged in the deprogramming of other UC members,[77] describes these as "spiritual sales" (reikan shōhō, 霊感商法), with parishioners scanning obituaries, going door-to-door, and saying, "Your dead loved one is communicating with us, so please go to the bank and send money to the Unification Church so your loved one can ascend to heaven in the spirit world."[78]

Moon's theology teaches that his homeland Korea is the "Adam country", home of the rulers destined to control the world. Japan is the "fallen Eve country". The dogma teaches Eve had sexual relations with Satan and then seduced Adam, which caused mankind to fall from grace (original sin), while Moon was appointed to bring mankind to salvation. Japan must be subservient to Korea.[78][79] This was used to encourage their Japanese followers into offering every single material belonging to Korea via the church.[80]

According to journalist Fumiaki Tada and other former UC followers, the conditions for Japanese followers to participate in the UC's mass wedding were substantially more difficult than Korean people, on grounds of "Japan's sinful occupation of Korea" between 1910 and 1945. In 1992, each Japanese follower needed to successfully bring three more people into the church, fulfill certain quota of fundraising by selling the church's merchandise, undergo a 7-day long fasting, and pay an appreciation fee of 1.4 million yen. For Korean people, the fee for attending the mass wedding was 2 million won (about 200 thousand yen in September 2022). Most Korean attendees were not followers of the church to begin with, as UC considered it was an honour for a Japanese woman to be married to a Korean man, like an abandoned dog being picked up by a prince. If the Japanese followers wanted to leave their partners of the mass wedding or the church, they would be told that they be damned to the "hell of hell".[81][82]

In 1987, about 300 lawyers in Japan set up an association called the National Network of Lawyers Against Spiritual Sales (Zenkoku Benren) to help victims of the UC and similar organisations.[83][84] According to statistics compiled by the association's lawyers between 1987 and 2021, the association and local government consumer centers received 34,537 complaints alleging that UC had forced people to make unreasonably large donations or purchase large amounts of items, amounting to about 123.7 billion yen.[85] According to the internal data compiled by the UC which leaked to the media, the donation by the Japanese followers between 1999 and 2011 was about 60 billion yen annually.[86]

Relationship between Abe's family and the Unification Church
See also: Assassination of Shinzo Abe

Abe, as well as his father Shintaro Abe and his grandfather Nobusuke Kishi, had longstanding ties to the Unification Church (UC), a new religious movement known for its mass wedding ceremonies.[6] Known officially as the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification (FFWPU), the movement was founded by Sun Myung Moon in Korea in 1954 and its followers are colloquially known as "Moonies". Moon was a self-declared messiah and ardent anti-communist.[87]

Nobusuke Kishi's postwar political agenda led him to work closely with Ryoichi Sasakawa, a businessman and nationalist politician during the Second World War. As Moon's advisor, Sasakawa helped establish the UC in Japan in 1963 and assumed the roles of both patron and president of the church's political wing, International Federation for Victory over Communism (IFVOC, 国際勝共連合), which would forge intimate ties with Japan's conservative politicians.[88] In this way, Sasakawa and Kishi shielded what would become one of the most widely distrusted groups in contemporary Japan.[89]

Moon's organisations, including the UC and the overtly political IFVOC, were financially supported by Ryoichi Sasakawa and Yoshio Kodama.[90]

When the UC still had a few thousand followers, its headquarters was located on land once owned by Kishi in Nanpeidaichō, Shibuya, Tokyo, and UC officials frequently visited the adjacent Kishi residence. By the early 1970s, UC members were being used by the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) as campaign workers without compensation. LDP politicians were also required to visit the UC's headquarters in South Korea and receive Moon's lectures on theology, regardless of their religious views or membership. In return, Japanese authorities shielded the UC from legal penalties over their often-fraudulent and aggressive practices.[89] Subsequently, the UC gained much influence in Japan, laying the groundwork for its push into the United States and its later entrenchment.[91]

Such a relationship was passed on to Kishi's son-in-law, former foreign minister Shintaro Abe, who attended a dinner party held by Moon at the Imperial Hotel in 1974. In the US, the 1978 Fraser Report – an inquiry by the US Congress into American–Korean relations – determined that, Kim Jong-pil, founder and director of the Korean C.I.A. an associate of Yoshio Kodama[90] and from 1971 to 1975 Prime Minister of South Korea, had "organized" the UC in the early 1960s and was using it "as a political tool" on behalf of authoritarian President Park Chung-hee and the military dictatorship.[92] In 1989, Moon urged his followers to establish their footing in Japan's parliament, then install themselves as secretaries for the Japanese lawmakers, and focus on those of [Shintaro] Abe's faction in the LDP. Moon also stressed that they must construct their political influence not only in the parliament, but also on Japan's district level.[93]

Shinzo Abe continued this relationship, and in May 2006, when he was Chief Cabinet Secretary, he and several cabinet ministers sent congratulatory telegrams to a mass wedding ceremony organised by the UC's front group, Universal Peace Federation (UPF, 天宙平和連合), for 2,500 couples of Japanese and Korean men and women.[94][95][96]

On 8 July 2022 around 11:30 JST,[97][98] a 41-year-old man named Tetsuya Yamagami, a former JMSDF member, shot Shinzo Abe and was immediately arrested and later confessed to local police.[99][100] Yamagami stated that he held a grudge against the Unification Church[8][9][10] and shot Abe because "the religious group and Abe were connected".[101][102][103] Yamagami said he resented the fact that his mother was brain-washed by the religious group, and had gone bankrupt as a result.[104][105] Yamagami had been trying to kill Hak Ja Han of the Unification Church since around 2002, but he gave up because he could not get close to her, changing his target to Abe.[106] Yamagami said that he "didn't have a grudge against Abe's political beliefs", but instead that he killed Abe because he believed the former prime minister had spread the religion to Japan.[104][105] Abe and his family were known to have long-standing ties to the Unification Church, dating back to his grandfather Kishi Nobusuke; Abe himself had held speeches in support of the religious movement.[107][108] According to research by Nikkan Gendai, 10 out of 20 members in the Fourth Abe Cabinet had connections to the Unification Church.[109]

On October 1, 2023, the Japanese government began to pursue an attempt to dissolve the Unification Church in Japan.[110]

After the death of Moon

In spring 2021, the chairman of the UPF's Japanese branch, Masayoshi Kajikuri, called Abe and asked if the latter would consider speaking before an upcoming UPF rally in September if former US president Donald Trump also attended.[108][111] Abe replied that he had to accept the offer should that be the case; he formally agreed to his participation on 24 August 2021. At the September rally, held ten months before the assassination, Abe stated to Kajikuri that, "The image of the Great Father [Moon] crossing his arms and smiling gave me goosebumps. I still respectably remember the sincerity [you] showed in the last six elections in the past eight years." Kajikuri claimed that he originally invited three unnamed former Japanese prime ministers, but was turned down due to concern of being used as poster boys for UC's mission.[112][113]

According to research by Nikkan Gendai, ten out of twenty members in the Fourth Abe Cabinet had connections to the UC,[114] but these connections were largely ignored by Japanese journalists.[115] After the assassination, Japanese defence minister Nobuo Kishi, Abe's younger brother, was forced to disclose that he had been supported by the UC in past elections.[116][117][118][119]

In America

In 2016 a study sponsored by the Unification Theological Seminary found that American church members were divided in their choices in the 2016 United States presidential election, with the largest bloc supporting Senator Bernie Sanders.[120]

After the founding of Rod of Iron Ministries, a splinter group from the Unification church, Hyung Jin Moon publicly aligned with conservative politicians and other far-right media figures.[121] Moon espoused strong support for President Donald Trump during and after Trump's presidency.[122] Moon endorsed the "big lie" that the 2020 presidential election was stolen from Trump.[123] Moon and other members of Sanctuary Church participated in the January 6, 2021 United States Capitol attack.[11] Moon faced no criminal charges from his involvement in the January 6 insurrection.[124]

Gun ritual controversy

Hyung Jin Moon's church, World Peace and Unification Sanctuary Church in Newfoundland, Pennsylvania, gained national attention[125][126][127] in early 2018 for holding a marriage vows renewal ceremony that asked participants to bring their AR–15 rifles.[128] Hyung Jin Moon has likened the AR–15 rifles to the biblical "rod of iron".[123][129] Neighbors of the church came out to protest the insensitivity of having the AR–15 rifles at the event so soon after the Parkland, Florida shooting that killed 17.[130] To address concerns voiced by parents of an elementary school nearby, the Wallenpaupack Area School District relocated students for the day.[131]

Political teachings

Future leadership of the world

Some critics of the Unification Church portray Rev. Moon as having desired (or predicted) that he would become the world's dictator (or monarch). Church sources deny that Rev. Moon had this motive, saying that critics use selective, out-of-context quotations to make this argument.

View of Unification Church critics

Longtime church critic and former deprogrammer Steve Hassan says, "Moon believes that he is ordained by God to take over the earth, where he and his progeny have absolute power to rule politically."[132]

View of Unification Church

Rev. Moon has stated that he has no desire for political office but that his role is an educational one. He has also advised that leadership does not carry absolute authority. He once admonished the Japanese UC leaders who assumed the contrary that they were "making up their own Divine Principle" and reproved them, saying. "You must guide people with love".

  • Japanese leaders aren't you teaching a principle that I do not teach, when you say, "I am Abel because I am a church leader. You are Cain. Cain obeys Abel. This is the Principle. So obey." There is no such principle. The person who does not fulfill his mission and become the embodiment of love is not Abel.[133]
  • Satan tried to control the world with power but created hell. That power cannot create the ideal world. God has to create the Kingdom of Heaven on Earth by true love, even to liberate hell. Based on true love, not politics or economy, scholars can change their concepts. So far, scholars have supported political authority, but that must change. Economy has supported the reigning political power, which makes for division. Now unity will come by parental love.[7]

Politics in scripture and ritual

Politics in Divine Principle, the central book of teachings of the Unification Church (UC) include the assertion that monarchies and dictatorships are outdated modes of political structure which will be superseded by increasingly God-centered forms of democracy. Thus the UC teaches that repressive regimes such as fascism and communism will finally give way to a giant worldwide family-like structure centered on the returning Christ as "True Parents of Humanity."

Moon portrayed as a monarch

The Rev. Dr. Sun Myung Moon, founder of the Unification Church, is portrayed in some church publications as a monarch of the nation Cheon Il Guk.

"True Love King"[134]
"Family Federation for World Peace and Unification"[135]
"Declaration of the Establishment of Cheon Il Guk"[136]

Rev. Moon was also portrayed as the leader of all religions in the online article "Cloud of Witnesses"[137] and the church website "Messages From Spirit World."[138]

Political statements in Moon's Divine Principle

The Divine Principle states that existing modern democracies have been a necessary, but temporary, stage in history and politics. The world is historically "fated" to make a political transition from democracy to the Unificationist ideal of a "Kingdom of Heaven" religious monarchy:

"How can democracy accomplish its purpose? With the flow of history, humankind's spirituality has become enlightened due to the merit of the age in the providence of restoration. People's original minds respond to the providence and seek religion, often without their knowing why. Eventually, people will come to receive Christianity, which God is raising to be the highest religion. In this way, the world today is converging to form a single civilization based on Christian ideals. As history nears its consummation, the will of the people inclines toward Christian values. Democratic governments which abide by the will of the people also gradually become more Christian. Thus, when the Messiah returns to societies under the rule of democratic governments well-matured by the Christian spirit, he will be able to establish God's sovereignty upon the earth with the wholehearted support of the people. This will be the Kingdom of Heaven on earth. We need to understand that democracy was born to undermine satanic monopolies of power for the purpose of God's final providence to restore, by the will of the people, a heavenly sovereignty under the leadership of the returning Christ."
– Principle of Restoration, Unification Church Divine Principle

"The universe, as we have seen, is patterned after the structure of a perfect human being. By the same token, the ideal world to be built by fully mature people is also to resemble the structure and functions of a perfect individual.10(cf. Creation 1.1; 1.2; 3.2) By analogy with the human body, whose organs function in accordance with the subtle commands of the brain, all the institutions of the ideal global society are to abide by the desires of God. Just as the commands of the brain are transmitted to every part of the body through the peripheral nervous system branching out from the spinal cord, in the ideal world God's guidance is conveyed to the entire society through Christ, who corresponds to the spinal cord, and God-loving leaders, who correspond to the peripheral nervous system. The peripheral nervous system branching out from the spinal cord corresponds to a nation's political parties. Thus, in the ideal world, people of God led by Christ will form organizations analogous to today's political parties...

Therefore, Christ at the Second Advent will remedy the illness of the present political system that it may reflect God's design by restoring people's vertical relationship with God. This will unleash society's true potential."
– Divine Principle, Unification Church

"If we are to realize the ideal world of one global family which can honor Christ at the Second Advent as our True Parent, surely our languages must be unified. As expressed in the account of the building of the Tower of Babel, chaos was brought to our languages when we exalted the will of Satan. The principle of restoration through indemnity requires that we participate in the construction of God's tower and the glorification of God's Will as the way to unify all languages. Based upon which language will all languages be unified? The answer to this question is obvious. Children should learn the language of their parents. If Christ does indeed return to the land of Korea, then he will certainly use the Korean language, which will then become the mother tongue for all humanity."
– Divine Principle, Unification Church

"What, then, is fascism? Fascism denies the fundamental values of modern democracy, including respect for the individual and his basic rights, freedoms of speech, the press and association, and the parliamentary system. Race or nationality is the ultimate value, to be upheld by a strong nation-state. Individuals and institutions exist only for the benefit of the state. Under fascism, individuals cannot claim freedom as their inviolable right; they are to sacrifice their freedom in their duty to serve the state. The guiding political principle of fascism holds that all power and authority should be entrusted in one supreme leader rather than distributed among people. The personal will of the leader dictates the governing ideology for the entire nation. Mussolini in Italy, Hitler in Germany, and the leaders of Japan's militaristic government were dictators of the fascist type."
– Divine Principle, Unification Church

"Third, by examining trends in the history of conflict, we can understand that human history is the history of the providence of restoration. Battles over property, territory and people have continued without interruption, expanding their scope in step with the progress of human society. The scale of these struggles has broadened from the family level to the levels of tribe, society, nation and world until today, when the democratic world and the communist world confront each other in a final conflict. In these Last Days of human history, heavenly law has descended upon the earth in the name of democracy, bringing an end to the long phase of history in which people sought to obtain happiness by seizing property, land and people. At the conclusion of World War I, the defeated nations gave up their colonies. At the end of World War II, the victors voluntarily liberated their colonies and provided them with material aid. In recent years, the great powers have invited weak and tiny nations, some smaller than one of their own cities, to become member states of the United Nations, giving them equal rights and status in the brotherhood of nations. What form does this final war between democracy and communism take? It is primarily a war of ideologies. Indeed, this war will never truly cease unless a truth emerges which can completely overthrow the ideology of Marxism-Leninism that is threatening the modern world. Communist ideology negates religion and promotes the exclusive supremacy of science. Hence, the new truth which can reconcile religion and science will emerge and prevail over the communist ideology. It will bring about the unification of the communist and democratic worlds. The trend of the history of conflict thus confirms that human history is the providential history to restore the original, ideal world."
– Divine Principle, Unification Church

Statements from Rev. Moon's speeches on government, politics and war

"The democratic world has come to a dead end; likewise, the communist world has come to a dead end. But the Unification Church is just beginning! At this time, everything we are involved with is moving us forward toward a new era-that includes the court battle and all the difficulties of the Unification Church. They will all come to an end."
– Rev. Sun Myung Moon, Creation Of The Fatherland, January 1, 1984[139]

"This country desperately needs a God-centered president, senators and congressmen. America's intellectual establishment is liberal, godless, secular, humanistic, and anti-religious. We are declaring war against three main enemies: godless communism, Christ-less American liberalism, and secular-humanistic morality. They are the enemies of God, the True Parents, the Unification Church, all of Christianity, and all religions. We are working to mobilize a united front against them."
– Rev. Sun Myung Moon, August 29, 1985[140]

"Through True Love our family shall accomplish the True Family of the Filial Child, the Loyal Subject, the Saint and the Holy Child of the Cheon Il Guk (God's Kingdom on earth.)"
– Church Motto, Sun Myung Moon, January 1, 2003[141]

"After 7,000 biblical years—6,000 years of restoration history plus the millennium, the time of completion—communism will fall in its 70th year. Here is the meaning of the year 1978. Communism, begun in 1917, could maintain itself approximately 60 years and reach its peak. So 1978 is the border line and afterward communism will decline; in the 70th year it will be altogether ruined. This is true. Therefore, now is the time for people who are studying communism to abandon it."

– "The Way of Restoration" given in Paris in April, 1972 reprinted in the book God's Will and the World published in 1985[142]

"Modern war has occurred primarily in the Western culture. Western culture is short-tempered in a sense, always resorting to showdowns with weapons. It originated in the cold North with hunters who killed to eat and then moved on. The tradition of Vikings and pirates is strong in Western culture, and when Western culture moves into a new territory it is accompanied by rifles and guns. You don't like to hear this because you are Westerners, but someone must wake you up."

– "New Morning of Glory" January 22, 1978 Belvedere, New York Translator – Bo Hi Pak[143]

"There is no doubt that this kingdom is one that the children of God's direct lineage can reign over by upholding the heavenly decree. In other words, it is a nation in which they rule on behalf of God's commands and kingship. Democracy and communism cannot exist in such a kingdom. Once established, it will remain as an eternal state system. Considering these things, isn't it mortifying that you have not yet become the citizens of that kingdom?"
– Sun Myung Moon, March 4, 2005[144]

Automatic theocracy

Automatic theocracy is a phrase used in a speech by Sun Myung Moon.

The term "automatic theocracy" was used in a hasty translation of a speech by the Reverend Sun Myung Moon, by a non-professional translating Korean language into English. The translated passage concerned Rev. Moon's prediction that the people of the earth would voluntarily adopt a God-centered way of life. If enough people freely chose to live in accordance with God's will, this would automatically result in realization of the Kingdom of God on earth.

The "theocracy" part of the term was taken by church opponents to have a meaning opposite to Rev. Moon's intended meaning. Critics seized upon the phrase as proof that "the Moonies" intended to impose a totalitarian, anti-democratic regime on any country they could get a toe-hold.

It was many years after the original speech was given that Dr. Andrew Wilson, a professor in Old Testament studies at Unification Theological Seminary, had the passage re-translated. He discovered that the first translator had compressed a very lengthy portion of the speech into one short paragraph. In particular, she used the term "automatic theocracy" to indicate an "automatic" transition to "rule by God".

Theocracy itself is an idea which has many variations, of which is controversial. The meaning intended by the translator was diametrically opposed to the Talibanic interpretation of Sharia law (in Islam), which permits a judge to order forced marriages, excuse honor killings, or sentence a prisoner to flogging, prison, or death.

In the Unification Church view of the Kingdom of God (Unification Theology), all relationships are based on common base (Unification Theology) and mutual benefit.

What the mistranslation led to was a controversy over the church's ideas on government, such as democracy versus dictatorship; this is beyond the scope of this article.

In 1972, Moon predicted the decline of communism, based on the teachings of the Divine Principle: "After 7,000 biblical years—6,000 years of restoration history plus the millennium, the time of completion—communism will fall in its 70th year. Here is the meaning of the year 1978. Communism, begun in 1917, could maintain itself approximately 60 years and reach its peak. So 1978 is the border line and afterward communism will decline; in the 70th year it will be altogether ruined. This is true. Therefore, now is the time for people who are studying communism to abandon it."[16] In 1973, he called for an "automatic theocracy" to replace communism and solve "every political and economic situation in every field".[145]

Moon has also been criticized for his advocacy of a world-wide "automatic theocracy",[145] as well as for advising his followers that they should become "crazy for God".[146][147]

Original quote

*Note that the phrase "automatic theocracy" is seen within the church as a translation error. Mrs. Won Pok Choi, while translating the extemporaneous speech, compressed several minutes of Rev. Moon's exposition about the process by which the world would become transformed into the kingdom of heaven into this two-word phrase. Critics used to use this quote to "prove" their claim that Rev. Moon was dictatorial and anti-democratic, but Andrew Wilson had the recorded speech re-translated and exposed the discrepancy. Here is the word-for-word re-translation:

(as re-translated)

"What? Separate religion from politics? Why separate religion from politics? Why separate politics from religion? Can you separate God from politics? God is active in the realization of all human affairs. Therefore, when the democracies produce a succession of many uncorrupted politicians, it will become heaven on earth. Don't you agree that this is the way it should be?"

(original translation)

"But when it comes to our age, we must have an automatic theocracy* to rule the world. So, we cannot separate the political field from the religious." ...and continuing... "Democracy was born because people ruled the world, like the Pope does. Then, we come to the conclusion that God has to rule the world, and God loving people have to rule the world – and that is logical. We have to purge the corrupted politicians, and the sons of God must rule the world. The separation between religion and politics is what Satan likes most."
– Rev. Sun Myung Moon, Third Directors' Conference, Master Speaks, May 17, 1973[148]

Commentary

Michelle Goldberg: "Like most Americans, Wineburg had been unaware of the power Moon holds in our nation's politics. The reverend, who once served eleven months in prison for income tax fraud, is best known for marrying thousands of strangers in mass weddings. Those events earned him a public reputation as a spectacle-mad eccentric, but that obscures his role as a significant D.C. power broker. In fact, Moon is an important patron of the Republican party and of the conservative movement."[149]

Robert Parry: "Over the past quarter century, South Korean theocrat Sun Myung Moon has been one of the Bush family’s major benefactors – both politically and financially."[150]

Richard Rubenstein: "I especially appreciated Rev. Moon’s commitment to the fight against Communism. From his own first-hand, personal experience and out of his religious convictions, he understood how tragic a political and social blight that movement had been. I had been in East and West Berlin the week the Berlin Wall was erected in August 1961 and had visited communist Poland in 1965. Unfortunately, many of my liberal academic colleagues did not understand the full nature of the threat as did Rev. Moon. I was impressed with the sophistication of Rev. Moon’s anti-communism. He understood communism’s evil, but he also stood ready to meet with communist leaders such as Mikhail Gorbachev and Kim Il Sung in the hope of changing or moderating their views."[151]

Thomas Ward: "With the Cold War's conclusion, a rush began amongst scholars, analysts, and pundits to identify the key personalities and factors that contributed to the Soviet Empire's collapse. Competing theories abounded, with key roles being assigned to Ronald Reagan, John Paul II, Mikhail Gorbachev, Norman Podhoretz, Alexander Solzhenitzyn and Sidney Hook, as well as to freedom fighters, refuseniks and populist movements such as Solidarity. In their interpretation of various events, some scholars opted to depersonalize the process, crediting the fall of the Soviet Union to phenomena such as evolving patterns of economic development and the information revolution. Among the contributions to the postmortem literature is Richard Gid Powers' Not Without Honor (1995), which professed to be "The History of American Anticommunism." Powers' 554-page opus of names and organizations omits all of the American entities associated with Reverend Moon, and denies them any role in rolling back communism in the 1970s and 80s. In the 672 pages of On the Brink: The Dramatic Behind the Scenes Saga of the Reagan Era and the Men and Women who Won the Cold War (1996), Jay Winik records a brief mention of one Moon-related organization, The Washington Times, but only in noting its early reporting on the unfolding story of Iran Contra. Accounts by Brian Crozier, Adam Ulam, Bob Woodward, and Jack Matlock, US Ambassador to the Soviet Union under President Reagan, also make no mention of Moon's efforts. Intentionally or not, Reverend Moon has been expunged from the record in spite of the adverse, critical coverage his activities received in the mainstream and alternative media when anticommunism was viewed with disdain."[152]

See also

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