Unification Church and political involvement

Politics are a part of the Unification Church's concerns and activities, and have also been part of the reason for the church's controversial status over the years. The church's belief in the establishment of a literal Kingdom of Heaven on earth and its belief that religion alone is not enough to bring this about is sometimes mentioned as a motivation for political involvement. [Tingle, D. and Fordyce, R. 1979, "Phases and Faces of the Moon: A Critical Examination of the Unification Church and its Principles", Hicksville, NY: Exposition Press ISBN 0682492647 p86-87]

Opposition to monarchy and dictatorship

The Unification Church regards dictatorial governments such as monachy as forms of government on Satan's side which must be overcome before Heaven can be established on earth. The Divine Principle says:

:Democracies of two types arose with the purpose of dismantling absolute monarchy and transferring sovereignty to the people. Likewise, movements to further the ideals of interdependence, mutual prosperity and universally shared values arose on God's side, while communism was born on Satan's side, in order to demolish economic systems which concentrated a society's wealth in the hands of a privileged few. Each of these movements has sought to establish a system which would distribute wealth more equally among people. The aspirations to socialism on both sides have arisen in their providential striving to realize a society based on a truly democratic economic system. [ [http://www.unification.net/dp96/dp96-2-4.html#Sec7_2_7 The Parallels between the Two Ages in the Providence of Restoration ] ]

Anti-communism

Communism is seen by the Unification Church as being on the side of Satan. Democracy is seen as being on God's side:

:When ecclesiastic love waned, when waves of capitalistic greed surged across Christian Europe, when starving masses cried out bitterly in the slums, the promise of their salvation came not from heaven but from the earth. Its name was communism. Christianity, though it professed the love of God, had degenerated into a dead body of clergy trailing empty slogans. It was then only natural that a banner of rebellion would be raised, arguing that a merciless God who would allow such suffering could not exist. Hence, modern materialism was born. Western society became a hotbed of materialism; it was the fertile soil in which communism flourished. [http://www.unification.net/dp96/dp96-1-0.html#Introduction Introduction ] ]

:Nonetheless, one final and inescapable conflict remains before us, the war between democracy and communism. Although each side has equipped itself with fearsome weapons and is pitted against the other in readiness for battle, the core of their conflict is internal and ideological.

:Which side will triumph in this final ideological conflict? Anyone who believes in the reality of God will surely answer that democracy will win. However, democracy does not possess any doctrine which can win over communism, nor does it have the power to do so. Therefore, in order for God's providence of salvation to be completely fulfilled, this new truth should first elevate the idealism of the democratic world to a new level, then use it to assimilate materialism, and finally bring humanity into a new world. This truth must be able to embrace all historical religions, ideologies and philosophies and bring complete unity among them.

In 1983 American church members publicly protested against the Soviet Union over its shooting down of Korean Airlines Flight 007. [ [http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/08/29/PK2812ETF2.DTL] San Francisco Chronicle September 3, 1983 "For a second day, the Soviet Consulate in Pacific Heights was the scene of emotional protests against the shooting down of a Korean Air Lines jumbo jet. About 300 people held demonstration yesterday morning. Among them were members of the Unification Church, or "Moonies," whose founder is the Rev. Sun Myung Moon, the controversial South Korean who has melded a fierce anti-communism into his ideology. Eldridge Cleaver, the onetime black radical who recently has had ties with the Moonies, spoke at the rally. Many pickets carried signs accusing the Soviet Union of murdering the 269 passengers and crew aboard the airliner. In another development, San Francisco attorney Melvin Belli filed a $109 billion lawsuit against the Soviet Union on behalf of the 269 victims."] In 1986 CAUSA International, a church supported anti-communist organization, 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 church member Lee Shapiro, who later died in Afghanistan while filming with anti-Soviet forces there. [ [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9A0DE5D9173BF93AA15754C0A960948260&sec=&pagewanted=print New York Times review.] ] [ [http://www.envio.org.ni/articulo/3245 How to Read the Reagan Administration: The Miskito Case] ] [ [http://www.fair.org/index.php?page=1555 Public TV Tilts Toward Conservatives] , Fairness & Accuracy In Reporting] [ [http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F40717F738590C7B8EDDA90994DF484D81 2 Americans Reported Killed In an Ambush in Afghanistan] New York Times 1987-10-28 ]

Accusations of improper political ties

Critics of the Unification Church have accused the organization of being closely involved with covert CIA-authored operations against Communism in Korea during the 1960s, largely due to similarity in names of the actual Korean CIA director and Won Pil Kim, the teenage follower who accompanied Sun Myung Moon on his journey from North Korea to the safety of Pusan during the Korean War, and who became the first long-time member.

In 1978, Moon's group was the focus of a Congressional investigation that alleged widespread fraud as well as ties to the Koreagate influence-peddling scandal.

Rep. Donald Fraser asserted that the Unification Church and other related groups constitute a single, monolithic "Moon organization". Like-minded critics accuse the church of working to further a political agenda in both Asia and the United States. Sun Myung Moon's controversial religious and political Unification Movement, which includes not only the Unification Church but an enormous constellation of civic organizations, including the Washington Times foundation, allied politically with such Washington, D.C. evangelical Christians as Jerry Falwell and Tim LaHaye. Advocates adhering to this point of view have challenged the church's tax-exempt status in the US, arguing that the political activities of church-related groups comprise an impermissible intrusion of the church into political areas.

Defenders of the church dismiss this argument, on the grounds that the Unification movement is properly divided into distinct organizations, each of which should be judged by the laws relating to its type. Thus, church-owned businesses pay taxes, while the church itself largely need not. It has been claimed that church missionaries who decided to campaign for Ronald Reagan in 1980, had to resign from the church (at least on paper) while conducting their non-church political activities [(private communication from Dan Peterson and Tom Carter).]

In 1997 Rev. Moon said:

*Reagan became the president in 1980 through me. Think about it. Five years after the Vietnam War, a conservative, moral, rightwing Reagan could become the President of the United States. Who made that? Reverend Moon. [ [http://www.realjournalism.net/times.htm The Washington Times - Comments by Sun Myung Moon ] ]

Political organizations formed by Unification Church members

The church-related Collegiate Association for the Research of Principles (CARP), which has a different type of tax-exempt charter, has more freedom than the church itself to engage in political speech and hold demonstrations on political topics. Church treasurer Kevin Smith said (in 1992) that the church is not permitted by US law to give any money to CARP, a fact that even some church leaders might not even be aware of.

Cheon Il Guk

Cheon Il Guk (天一国) is the ideal of God's Kingdom on earth and in heaven, as enunciated by the Unification Church. Church members pledge themselves to become "owners of Cheon Il Guk". The kingdom is described in the "Divine Principle", the original holy text of the church, in this way:

: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.

:In the human body, the lungs, heart and stomach maintain harmonious interaction in accord with the directions of the brain, transmitted through the spinal cord and the peripheral nervous system. By analogy, the three branches of government in the ideal world - the legislative, judicial and executive branches - will interact in harmonious and principled relationships when they follow God's guidance as conveyed through Christ and people of God. Just as the four limbs of the body move according to the commands of the brain for the welfare of the individual as a whole, the economic institutions of the ideal world, corresponding to the limbs, will uphold the desire of God and promote the welfare of the entire world. Just as the liver stores nourishment for the entire body, in the ideal world there will always be a certain reserve to be tapped as needed for the public good.

:Since every part of the human body has a vertical relationship with the brain, horizontal relationships are naturally established between the different organs to form an integrated organism. Likewise, in the ideal world, because people's horizontal relationships with each other are rooted in their vertical relationship with God, they will form one integrated and interdependent society in which they share all their joys and sorrows. In this society, to hurt someone else will be experienced as hurting one's own self. Hence, its citizens simply will not want to commit crime. [ [http://www.unification.net/dp96/dp96-2-5.html#Sec3_2 The Period of Preparation for the Second Advent of the Messiah ] ]

Politics and economics

In direct 180 degree contrast to theocracies such as that of the Taliban, the Unification Church ideal is allegedly based completely on the spirit of voluntarism. Rev. Moon has said that there will be no coercion whatsoever, and not even tax collection:

*In addition, all citizens of Cheon Il Guk will provide funds for the well being and peace of humanity, not by taxation but by voluntary contributions. They will demonstrate the model of offering the first three tenths of their income for public purposes. This cannot be an imposed tax; it has to be a gift that citizens offer willingly to Heaven with joyful hearts. [ [http://www.unification.net/2006/20060613_1.html Declaration of the Establishment of Cheon Il Guk "Cheon Il Guk is the Ideal Heavenly Kingdom of Eternal Peace" ] ]

References

External links

* [http://www.tparents.org/UNews/Unws0302/tf_on_cheon_jan_31.htm What is Cheon Il Guk?] - Sun Myung Moon - January 31, 2003
* [http://www.tparents.org/Library/Unification/Publications/SMM-Communism-060300/top.html The Role of Rev. Sun Myung Moon in the Downfall of Communism]