- Automatic theocracy
The term "automatic theocracy" was used in a hasty translation of a speech by the Reverend
Sun Myung Moon , by non-professional translatingKorean 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 theKingdom 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 atotalitarian , anti-democratic regime on any country where 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 atUnification 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".It should be noted that theocracy itself is an idea which has many variations, of which is controversial. The meaning intended by the translator was diametrically opposed to the
Taliban ic interpretation ofSharia law (inIslam ), which permits a judge to order forced marriages, excusehonor killing s, 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 oncommon base (Unification Theology) and mutual benefit.What the mistranslation led to was a controversy over the church's ideas on government, such as
democracy versusdictatorship ; this is beyond the scope of this article. See ...External links
* [http://www.tparents.org/Library/Unification/Publications/UC-Apology/UC-Apology-23.htm Problems with translating Rev. Moon from Korean to English]
* [http://www.tparents.org/Library/Unification/Publications/10-Keys99/10key10a.htm Official Unification Church teachings on democracy and totalitarianism]
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