The Unification Church - From Kingdom to Colony - Mike Garde

The Unification Church (commonly known as the Moonies), like Jesus when he was on earth, is having problems bringing in the "Kingdom". According to the Unification Church (UC), Jesus was supposed to introduce the Kingdom, but was failed by his disciples, especially John the Baptist, and so was crucified. As a result he only accomplished "spiritual" salvation. He did not get married and have sinless children, and did not introduce the Kingdom of God.

Now the Rev. Sun Myung Moon has come to complete the Kingdom work Jesus left undone. According to the UC, historical developments such as the 'conversion' of Constantine the Roman Emperor led to the unity of the church and the Empire in preparation for the Messiah's return. This unification of church and state is called GODISM.

Ideally, now the world should recognise the Lord of the Second Advent and unite with him through a marriage blessed by the Messiah. The purpose of this marriage is to reverse the effects of the fall and, at this late stage in history, the Rev. Moon's initiative in marriage is only doing what Jesus failed to do. The Church held a world-wide blessing on August 25th, 1995 of 360,000 couples.
KOREA AND THE U.S.A.

Korea is viewed as holding a special place in God's providence and certainly the Korean language is viewed very highly in the Unification Church.

The Church teaches a very strong anti-Communist doctrine and when the Rev. Moon moved to the U.S.A. he saw that country as having a very special role in the Godism project. "The political attitude of the Unification Church (headed by pastor Sun Myung Moon) is characterised by a specific understanding of the relationship between the lst, 2nd and 3rd world wars. The main idea is that the Unification Church considers America to be God's chosen nation which has to fight the communist world and has to "achieve the final victory" by means of a third world war. This understanding can be illustrated by the following quotation:
MASTER MOON SPEAKS

"Once we have this rank and this unity and strength here in America, then the ultimate enemy is Soviet Russia. Then the "March to Moscow" is going to be our motto. That new command begins today. The determination of the disciples of Jesus, when they would march toward Rome, was such that they would give their lives. By this same token, our resolution today must be "We fight with our lives to achieve the final victory". If at the time of Jesus, with Jesus as a center, the Jewish church and the Israeli people were resolved to unite into one, they would never have died, they would all have become the victorious conquerors. At the time of Jesus that resolution was not there. Each sought their own lives, so one by one they were systematically destroyed. Instead of dying all together, all the people of the Jewish nation died individually, separately, by themselves. Jesus died by himself, his disciples died separately. Because they did not unite with Jesus, they lost the most fortunate moment to die for God which is the true way to live. So, the Bible says that those who seek life will lose it, and those who lose life for his sake will find it. This tremendous promise was not fulfilled at that time...

I am not speaking to you at random, but this is the absolute truth and the world will follow this pattem. There is no other way. The great crisis is at hand here in America. In the next 7 years, up to 1978, the most catastrophic and chaotic situation will persist in America. Then, when we've fulfilled our three years, we can turn the history of the next 7 years' crisis in our favor. We can then promise new history, new hope to this land, America. In this particular period we are really restoring, we are doing a total restoration equivalent to the 200 years of American history .This 200 years of American history must conclude when these 20 years of our Father's life and the 20 years of the Unification Church make a most successful conclusion together. These 3 years, in a way, are the preparation for the final 7 years which will be "ended in 1981". In the Divine Principle you learn that all the great dispensations have been prepared for 3 years. These 3 years are critical, and preparation so important that this will in fact decide the final 7 years' history.

The final 7 years is nothing but a straightforward pioneering path. In these 3 years, if America does not listen to us, follow us, then America is destined to a doomed fate thereafter. Our fate is no better. So, we have to combat this physical battIe, and win this physical victory . When you look at the world situation today, don't you feel this urgency? (Yes!) If it is so apparent on the surface of the world, then you can well imagine how much hard work and labor God has been doing in order to have this opportunity ready for us. So, we are to fulfill for America, more than any other great saint that has come to America. We are doing the greatest for this country and for the world. Our heart is a historical heart in which 6,000 years of history has been dwelling: thus we have this feeling for history. God labored so hard for 6,000 years, but he wants to reap the final crop.

Whether you like it or not, God has given you this mission. It is now up to us to fulfil our task and win for God. If we fail, the first one to be punished is us ..."

(from: Master Speaks, 4. Significance of July 1st, 1973.)
SUPPORTING US PRESIDENTS

During the 70's, the Church supported the then President Nixon as a way of retaining a fierce anti-communist president in office. This policy continued until the end of President Bush's term of office. God wanted to use the United States in a special way, but instead of accepting the 'Messiah' they put him in prison for tax evasion.

Still America was central to God's plan so the best leaders from Unification Churches around the world were brought to the U .S. to accomplish the goal of Godism. Political lobbying and the purchase of the Washington Times were all part of this strategy.

 

It is clear that the UC works on the assumption of a reductionist eschatology. When its goals are not achieved they are given a symbolic meaning. They issued a paper which was called "March on Moscow by 1981". Also the 3rd world war, originally announced for 1981, was seen to have been symbolically achieved in 1989 when the Rev. Moon had a meeting with Mikhail Gorbachev and gave Novosti Press $100,000. Also the world paying homage to Korea was 'realised' at the 01ympic Games in 1988.

There is no way the 'blessing' in August will have achieved a figure of 360,000 couples, even with satellite link-ups from London, Paris, Kremlin Square in Moscow beamed in from Seoul, Korea. Again this will have been seen in symbolic terms.

The UC also saw its activities as part of the reason the fall of communism occurred after 1989 - i.e. the symbolic 3rd world war. After the 90's, there was again a change of direction in Church policy which emphasised the doctrine of "Tribal Messiahship", which called for members to go home and develop their own countries. This relativisation of the tradition has the effect of reducing the likelihood of a Jonestown or Solar Temple type ending in suicide and murder of members, or more ominously the alleged killing of the general public as in the Aum Shinrikyo sect.

In some ways the Rev. Moon combines the role of Messiah, Badhi Sattva and a Confucian Emperor who has started a sinless dynasty. Even in communist north Korea, Kim Il Sung has handed power down to his son following this tradition. Since 1992, Mrs Moon has been taking a more upfront role in the Church, as if to prepare the members for the death of Rev. Moon who is now a very healthy 75 year old.

Through CAUSA, the 'Confederation of the Associations for the Unification of the Societies of America', many contacts have been developed all over Latin America. Now the Rev. Moon sees the providential period of Protestant America being over, and as a result he is moving into Catholic Latin America. The Church in Brazil has developed a major ecological project and is calling for volunteers from around the world.

More important, however, is the news that the Church has been granted territory in Paraguay. They have been granted major tracts of land in the Chaco where Mennonites have had colonies since the early part of the century. The move to Paraguay is also necessary as the close relationship which existed with the earlier Park Government in Korea has not continued with the present regime.

Perhaps what we see here is the reduction of the ideal of bringing in the Kingdom of God on earth to a Unification Church colony to carry on the work of the Messiah.