Unification Church political activities

Politics are an integral part of the Unification Church's concerns and activities, although the church itself largely remains aloof from politics. The degree of involvement of the movement, 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 Rev. Moon's teaching that religion alone is not enough to bring this provides a motivation for political involvement.^[1]

In the 1940s Sun Myung Moon, the church's founder and leader, cooperated with Communist Party members in the Korean independence movement against Imperial Japan. However after the Korean War (1950–1953) he became an outspoken anti-communist.^[2]

In 1974 , Moon asked church members in the United States to support President Richard Nixon during the Watergate scandal when Nixon was being pressured to resign his office. Church members prayed and fasted in support of Nixon for three days in front of the United States Capitol, under the motto: "Forgive, Love and Unite." On February 1, 1974 Nixon publicly thanked them for their support and officially received Moon. This brought the church into widespread public and media attention.^[3]

In 1976 church president Neil Albert Salonen met with Senator Bob Dole to defend the Unification Church against charges made by its critics, including parents of some members. ^[4]

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."^[5] Bo Hi Pak, called Moon's "right-hand man", was the founding president and the founding chairman of the board.^[6] Moon asked Richard L. Rubenstein, a controversial rabbi and college professor who had written on the Holocaust, to join its board of directors.^[7] The Washington Times has often been noted for its generally pro-Israel editorial policies.^[8] 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."^[9]

In 1977 the Fraser Committee, a committee of the United States House of Representatives, found that the South Korean intelligence agency, the KCIA, had used the Unification Church as a political tool within the United States and that some Unification Church members worked as volunteers in Congressional offices. Together they founded the Korean Cultural Freedom Foundation, a nonprofit organization which acted as a propaganda campaign for the Republic of Korea.^[10] The committee also investigated possible KCIA influence on the Unification Church's campaign in support of Nixon.^[11]

In 1980 Unification Church members in Washington, D.C. disrupted a protest rally against the United States military draft.^[12] In 1981 the Appellate Division of New York State Supreme Court ruled that the Unification Church was not entitled to property tax exemptions on its New York City properties since its primary purpose was political, not religious.^[13] In 1982 this ruling was overturned by the New York State Supreme Court itself, which ruled that the church should be considered a religious organization for tax purposes.^[14]

In 1983 some American church members joined a public protest against the Soviet Union over its shooting down of Korean Airlines Flight 007.^[15] In 1984 the church 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.^[16] In the same year, church 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.^[17]

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 while filming with anti-Soviet forces during the Soviet war in Afghanistan.^{[18][19][20][21]} In 1994 the New York Times, in a review of a PBS Frontline documentary on the Unification Church, said that, "outside investigators and onetime insiders … give a picture of a theocratic powerhouse that is pouring foreign fortunes into conservative causes in the United States."^[22] 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.^[23]

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.^[24][25][26]

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.^[27]

In 2008 the church owned Washington Times was criticized by American conservatives for its ideological move towards the political center from the right.^[28] Prospect magazine attributed the Times' apparent move to differences of opinion over the United Nations and North Korea, and said: "The Republican right may be losing its most devoted media ally."^[29]

See also

• List of Unification Church affiliated organizations
• List of supporters of the Unification Church

References

1. ^ 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
2. ^ Moon, Sun Myung (2009). As a Peace-Loving Global Citizen. Gimm-Young Publishers. ISBN 0716602997. 
3. ^ Introvigne, Massimo, 2000, The Unification Church Studies in Contemporary Religion, Signature Books, Salt Lake City, Utah, ISBN 1-56085-145-7, excerpt page 16
4. ^ Dole meeting with Moon aide called cordial, Lawrence Journal-World, February 24, 1976
5. ^ Ahrens, Frank (May 23, 2002). "Moon Speech Raises Old Ghosts as the Times Turns 20". Washington Post. http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn?pagename=article&contentId=A60061-2002May22. Retrieved 2009-08-16. 
6. ^ Pak was founding president of the Washington Times Corporation (1982-1992), and founding chairman of the board. Bo Hi Pak, Appendix B: Brief Chronology of the Life of Dr. Bo Hi Pak, in Messiah: My Testimony to Rev. Sun Myung Moon, Vol I by Bo Hi Pak (2000), Lanham, MD: University Press of America.
7. ^ "Rabbi Joins the Board of Moonie Newspaper", The Palm Beach Post, May 21, 1978
8. ^ As U.S. Media Ownership Shrinks, Who Covers Islam?, Washington Report on Middle East Affairs, December 1997
9. ^ Ahrens, Frank (May 23, 2002). "Moon Speech Raises Old Ghosts as the Times Turns 20". The Washington Post. http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn?pagename=article&contentId=A60061-2002May22. Retrieved May 26, 2010. 
10. ^ Spiritual warfare: the politics of the Christian right, Sara Diamond, 1989, Pluto Press, Page 58
11. ^ Ex-aide of Moon Faces Citation for Contempt, Associated Press, Eugene Register-Guard, August 5, 1977
12. ^ 30,000 participate in anti-draft rally in Washington, Daily Collegian, March 24, 1980
13. ^ MOON'S SECT IS TAXABLE, COURT RULES, New York Times, May 7, 1981
14. ^ N.Y. Upholds Tax Exemption for 'Moonies', Los Angeles Times, May 6, 1982
15. ^ [1] 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."
16. ^ Church Spends Millions On Its Image, Washington Post, 1984-09-17.
17. ^ Ribadeneira, Diego (August 21, 1999). "Ire at school Star of David ruling unites ACLU, Pat Robertson". The Boston Globe (The New York Times Company): p. B2. 
18. ^ New York Times review.
19. ^ How to Read the Reagan Administration: The Miskito Case
20. ^ Public TV Tilts Toward Conservatives, Fairness & Accuracy In Reporting
21. ^ 2 Americans Reported Killed In an Ambush in Afghanistan New York Times 1987-10-28
22. ^ GOODMAN, WALTER. "Review/Television; Sun Myung Moon Changes Robes". New York Times. January 21, 1992. http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9E0CEEDB1F3FF932A15752C0A964958260&sec=&spon=. 
23. ^ The same old game, Al-Ahram, November 12–18, 1998, "The Washington Times is a mouthpiece for the ultra conservative Republican right, unquestioning supporters of Israel's Likud government. The newspaper is owned by Sun Myung Moon, originally a native of North Korea and head of the Unification Church, whose ultra-right leanings make him a ready ally for Netanyahu. Whether or not Netanyahu is personally acquainted with Moon is unclear, though there is no doubt that he has established close friendships with several staff members on The Washington Times, whose editorial policy is rabidly anti-Arab, anti-Muslim and pro-Israel."
24. ^ Rev. Moon and the United Nations: A Challenge for the NGO Community, Harold Paine and Birgit Gratzer, Global Policy Forum
25. ^ WANGO
26. ^ In Ban's UN, Sun Myung Moon's Paper is Praised, While Gambari Raises Him Funds, WFP Demurs Inner City Press, June 5, 2007
27. ^ 'Moonies' launch political party in S Korea,The Independent (South Africa), March 10, 2003
28. ^ Washington Times updates style guide, conservatives up in arms, Salon.com, February 26, 2008
29. ^ News and Curiosities, Prospect, September 2006

External links

• What is Cheon Il Guk? - Sun Myung Moon - January 31, 2003
• The Role of Rev. Sun Myung Moon in the Downfall of Communism