LARGEST MASS WEDDING EVER TO BE HELD AT RFK STADIUM IN WASHINGTON, D.C., NOV. 29, 1997
Sun Myung Moon -- the self-proclaimed "sinless Messiah" from Korea is planning another one of his famous mass weddings, this one to take place in our nation's capital at RFK Stadium. The goal of the Unification Church is that 3.6 million couples will be "blessed" by Moon in marriage simultaneously at this time -- thousands upon thousands in person at the stadium and the rest by satellite linkup throughout the world. What is the true meaning and significance of these "Blessing Ceremonies"? And how can Rev. Moon and his Unification Church, once relegated to cult status and derided by the American media, still be flourishing and expanding his empire after all these years?
IN THE PAST -- A NEGATIVE U.S. MEDIA
In the past much negative media attention came to the Unification Church in the United States because of their bizarre mass weddings. For example on July 1, 1982 Sun Myung Moon and his wife Hak Ja Han married, "blessed", 2,075 couples at one time in Madison Square Garden, New York City. This was very shocking to many in the West who view marriage as a highly personal and deeply intimate experience--and created much negative media coverage. Most of the couples in these weddings were "matched" by Moon himself, and many of them had never even met before the day of the wedding.
Another strange thing associated with the Unification Church "Blessing" is the "tangam ceremony". In those days this was a secret marriage initiation ritual in which the husband was required to first hit his future wife as hard as he could with a baseball bat 3 times on the buttocks. If she passed out in between, he had to wait and then continue. Then it was her turn and if she was too weak, another member had to take her place to perform the rite. According to the Unification Church this was supposed to "indemnify" (pay for) the sin of Adam and Eve (which Moon says was sex) and the historical resentment between men and women since the Fall, and to prevent future resentment in the marriage. There are people who have suffered serious back injuries as a result of this, and some of them are still sitting in wheel chairs today. The "tangam ceremony" has been somewhat toned down and modified since then, but it still has the same concept and doctrine behind it.
MOON -- THE PERFECT MATCH-MAKER
Moon claims that he can see 7 generations of his followers' ancestors in order to find the perfect spouse for them. Yet Moon himself failed at his first marriage, divorcing his first wife, supposedly because "she did not understand his mission", only to later marry one of his devoted followers, the then 17 year-old Hak Ja Han. (Many critics say there are more than one ex-wife, though I have only seen proof of one). As one distraught parent said, "How can someone who failed to pick the right partner for himself pick one for my son?" In a more recent public relations embarrassment Moon's elder son, Hyo Jin Moon, and his wife Nansook, whom Moon matched and "blessed" in marriage to Hyo Jin when Nansook was just a 15 year-old school girl, are in the process of getting a divorce.
The Unification Church teaches: "In 1960 Rev. Moon fulfilled the ideal of heavenly marriage himself, with his bride Hak Ja Han, now Mrs. Moon." (From a Unification Church video promoting the Aug. 1992, "Blessing" in Korea) Rev. Moon claims that his wedding to Hak Ja Han (at least his second wife) in 1960 was the "marriage of the Lamb" prophesied in the book of Revelation. As such he also claims that he is the only one who can open the scroll sealed with 7 seals in the book of Revelation (Divine Principle pp. 133+519), a claim that was the core teaching of another false Messiah -- David Koresh.
WEDDINGS HELD IN KOREA
Since the Madison Square Garden extravaganza the mass weddings were moved back to Korea where there have been several since then, each succeeding one growing dramatically in numbers. On August 25, 1992 in Seoul's Olympic Stadium, Sun Myung Moon "blessed" 30,000 couples at one time -- 20,000 in the stadium and 10,000 via satellite. This was an especially important occasion because in the days leading up to this event, Rev. Moon had made speeches in several cities throughout Korea in which -- for the first time -- he publicly proclaimed that he is the Messiah, "The Lord of the Second Advent", the "Savior" of the world. This was one of the most momentous events in the history of the Unification Church and in the career of Sun Myung Moon, but the media here in the U.S. hardly picked up on it. The latest of the mass weddings was held on August 25, 1995. Again, the American media hardly noticed. The Unification Church claims that then a staggering 360,000
couples participated in their "international blessing" (many by satellite
linkup), held again at the Olympic Stadium in Seoul, Korea.
IN OUR NATION'S CAPITAL
Rev. Moon seems to be getting bolder lately as he is now moving his mass weddings back to America, even to our nation's capital. The Unification Church has been extremely active all these years developing into a worldwide movement and has made tremendous strides toward gaining public acceptance and legitimacy. It has established major businesses of many kinds, with at least 335 closely affiliated companies worldwide, 280 or so of these in the U.S. It owns The Washington Times (the second largest newspaper in our nation's capital, Sae Gae Ilbo in Seoul, Korea, Noticias Del Mundo in New York, Ultimas Noticias in Uruguay, the Middle East Times and other publications. Tiempos Del Mundo, Moon's latest media venture (headquartered in Argentina), is slated to become the first Pan-American newspaper, planning publications in at least 17 different countries (10 in South America, 5 in Central America, 1 in the Caribbean, plus the United States). Unificationists have been very active in American politics via the American Freedom Coalition, and have gained clout and influence among many U.S. politicians. On July 28, 1993, Mrs. Moon, "True Mother", gave a speech on Capitol Hill, proclaiming Unification Church doctrine to Senators, Congressmen and their staff. Senator Orrin Hatch from Utah was the sponsor of her speech. Then on September 7, 1993, Mrs. Moon gave the Unification Church message at the United Nations, announcing to ambassadors, embassy and consulate representatives and prominent American political, civic, and religious leaders the beginning of "the Completed Testament Age". It is for this reason that Rev. Moon has proclaimed to his members, "After being released from Danbury prison, I prevailed over the U.S. Congress within seven years. Do you understand? I prevailed over the United Nations General Assembly in seven years." (Sun Myung Moon, Today's World, March, 1995, pp. 6-7) Amazingly, the Unification Church, one of the most bizarre cults ever on American soil, has done a tremendous job of gaining public support and legitimacy in the U.S. This is partly because most people are not aware of the inner teachings of the group, but only see the face they put on for the public. It is also because many people can be easily bought, and the super rich Sun Myung Moon is a master at using his money to gain influence. And the Unification Church conducts many different projects and conferences seeking to change its image from that of a cult to a respectable and legitimate religious movement. Now they even have big name celebrities and politicians like former President Bush going around making speeches for their organizations like the "Women's Federation for World Peace" and the "Family Federation for World Peace." The Unification Church uses these celebrities and politicians to seek to gain credibility and legitimacy in the eyes of the public and to recruit new members.
A few years ago Moon made his first public speaking tour through the U.S. in 17 years. In a tour of 32 major U.S. cities he made public speeches proclaiming that he has established the first "True Family" and "true blood lineage" and announced the beginning of the "Completed Testament Age". He taught (his version of) the purpose of the Messiah and spoke of (his version of ) his own life's purpose and course, inferring and implying over and over again that he is the Messiah, the Lord of the Second Advent, the Second Coming of Christ, and warned that America had better listen to him! Concerning that tour, Dr. James Baughman, then President of the Unification Church in America, told Unification Church members:
"What is interesting is that the media never published a negative article, even though they could have. There were no established Christian ministers protesting, there was nobody there to reject True Parents. In that sense, Christian America as elder brother united with True Parents." (Dr. James Baughman, "The United Nations -- Springboard to the World", Today's World, November, 1993, p. 17.)
The American media, which used to give the Unification Church so much opposition, gives them very little opposition now. And Christians, who used to constantly protest and speak out against Moon when he first came to this country, have slacked off, many have grown apathetic, and many who call themselves "Christians" now actually support and embrace Sun Myung Moon and his Unification Church! Famous American evangelist Jerry Falwell often appears at Unification Church functions. The Unification Church says of him, "Southern Baptist church leader Rev. Jerry Falwell sincerely praised Father as the world leader establishing true love." (Rev. Chung Hwan Kwak, "The Significance of True Parents' American Speech Tour", Today's World, September , 1993, p. 22.) "Jerry Falwell and people of conscience in America are beginning to recognize the contributions and sacrifices Father has made for America. For the first time in 40 years, Abel-minded people like Jerry Falwell are testifying to Father ..." (Jin Hun Moon [one of Moon's daughters], "Challenge Yourselves", Today's World, May, 1995, p. 22.) "Father" of course is referring to Sun Myung Moon. Moon himself says of Falwell, "Rev. Jerry Falwell is a leading representative. He tried to revive America centering on Father." (Sun Myung Moon, "A New Dimension is Beginning", Today's World, April, 1995, p.12.)
All of these factors seem to have emboldened Rev. Moon and now he is planning
his largest mass wedding ever in our nation's capital.
PROMOTING THE "BLESSING"
In seeking to promote this "Blessing" the Unification Church often publicly speaks of the importance of the family unit, that the family is the most important unit in our societies and in our nations. They speak of the importance of fidelity between the husband and wife and the need to teach children sexual abstinence before marriage. All of these things this writer wholeheartedly agrees with. What could possibly be wrong with that? In a large advertisement that recently ran in The Washington Times, The Washington Post and other newspapers nationwide entitled, "Proclamation Of The 3.6 Million Couples Marriage Blessing" the Unification Church said, "We invite the leaders of the world and the people of all nations to join us in this noble endeavor, by actively promoting and participating in the international blessing ceremony ..." Elsewhere the advertisement says, "Through a special marriage blessing, couples worldwide have the opportunity to become true families." Fairly innocuous words, but the "Proclamation" fails to tell people what "true families" are according to the Unification Church, or how participating in a mass wedding -- held by a man who claims to be the Messiah, "the Lord of the Universe", who vows he will "conquer and subjugate the world"-- will cause them to become "true families".
BRING THE CHRISTIANS
The Unification Church has taught its members that one of the main strategies that they are to use in promoting the "Blessing" is to seek to persuade Christian Ministers and their congregations to participate (see article in Unification News, April 19, 1997, p. 4 under sub-headings "Five Stage Strategy" and "First Stage"). Among other things in this article, the Unification Church instructed its members: "When ministers receive the Blessing, then it is expected that their congregations will follow. When the Shepherd leads, the sheep follow (and the lambs). So in November, our Blessing is a guaranteed victory." (Rev. Joong Hyun Pak, from a speech given to the Chicago Unification Church and recorded in the April, 1997 Unification News, p. 4, [Rev. Pak is the Continental Director of the Unification Church in North America]) The Unification Church has been busy this year giving "True Family Values" seminars to Christians and using these to try to influence people to be involved in the November "Blessing Ceremony". One wonders what they have told Christian Ministers and Christians at these "True Family Values" seminars in seeking to persuade them to participate in the "Blessing". Have they told them that participation in the Blessing is not just pledging to remain faithful to your spouse, and to teach marital fidelity etc.? Have they told them such things as we have presented in the article, "Examples of the Use of Deception by the Unification Church"? For example have they told them that the Unification Church teaches:
"Of course, in order that the Ministers feel at home, you must declare your love to Brother Jesus, but at the same time do not forget your goal, which is to bring them to the Lord of the Second Advent." (Purportedly by the spirit of Heung Jin Moon, The Victory of Love [New York, N.Y.: The Holy Spirit Association for the Unification of World Christianity, 1992], p.41.)
And that Rev. Moon teaches: "...I know the established Christian theology....I know the enemy, but the enemy doesn't know me. Thus the enemy has already lost the war..." (Rev. Moon, Today's World, Feb 95, p. 14)
And: "You can do it even without the Old and New Testaments. You do not need them anymore." (Sun Myung Moon, "My Life of Faith", Today's World, May, 1995, p. 15.)
Has the Unification Church told them all the implications involved in their teaching about the "Blessing" and what is the true meaning of the "Blessing Ceremony" according to Unification Church doctrine?
WHAT IS THE TRUE MEANING OF THE "BLESSING"?
The Unification Church teaches:
"The external form is similar to a marriage ceremony, but the Unification
Church Blessing Ceremony is far beyond a simple marriage and has deep
significant meaning." (Rev. Chung Hwan Kwak, "The Internal Meaning of the
Holy Wine Ceremony, Part II", Today's World, June, 1997, p. 2.)
To understand the "deep significant meaning" of the Unification Church "Blessing Ceremony" one must understand at least a little bit about Moon's doctrine. Moon teaches:
"No one throughout history has known God better than I do." (Sun Myung Moon, "In Search of the Origin of the Universe", Speech given at the first Family Federation for World Peace Convention and recorded in Today's World, September, 1996, p. 9.)
And his Unification Church teaches: "Only Father has been able to solve the secrets of heaven which have been veiled for 6,000 years. True Father proclaimed that he knows more about God than anyone in the world." (Prof. Taek Yong Oh, Today's World, June, 1997, p. 17.)
One of the "secrets" that Moon "discovered" is that the Fall of Man occurred by Eve having sexual relations with Lucifer in the Garden of Eden, and then in turn she seduced Adam. Through this the blood lineage was tainted. Thus in order to be "saved" one must have their "blood lineage changed" by undergoing Moon's Holy Wine Ceremony, and then be "blessed" by Moon in marriage! According to Moon, this is how the Kingdom of God will come into the earth.
Moon teaches "Through adultery, the archangel who became Satan stole the intended bride of heaven." (Sun Myung Moon, Today's World, May/June 1994, p. 22.) "God expelled fallen Adam and Eve from the Garden of Eden. ...all the ancestors of humankind came to inherit the lineage of Satan. Their blood lineage was corrupted." (Ibid. p. 22)
"We have inherited Satan's blood lineage..." (Sun Myung Moon, Today's
World, June 1996, p. 4.)
The Unification Church teaches: "All humanity has to relate with the Messiah and through his grace we have to be reborn. ...How can we be reborn? ...This is through the Holy Wine Ceremony. Today's Holy Wine Ceremony is very important. This is the process of rebirth. Under Heavenly Father's and True Parents' grace, we can change our fallen blood lineage; we can change our life from the satanic dominion to Heavenly Father's dominion." ...The original human ancestors, Adam and Eve, received the fallen blood lineage from the archangel--Eve first and then Adam. In the Holy Wine Ceremony, the process of restoration is that the wife first receives the Holy Wine and the husband receives it from her." (Rev. Chung Hwan Kwak, "The Internal Meaning of the Holy Wine Ceremony, Part II", Today's World, June, 1997, p.2.)
"Therefore satanic life energy emerges from us. This means we need to change our blood lineage. Before receiving the Blessing, we went through the Holy Wine Ceremony. Through this ceremony, we were born again into God's pure lineage and then we received the blessing...Blessing then means that we change the satanic false lineage and receive the blessing of the true lineage through True Parents....Therefore, we need True Parents in order to receive God's heavenly pure lineage." (Rev. Joong Hyun Pak, "The Year of Great Blessing", Unification News, January, 1997, p.6.)
"True Parents have received the absolute Blessing from God and come as God's physical representatives on the Earth to give that Blessing to others, changing the blood lineage from Satan to God." (Rev. Joong Hyun Pak, "Volunteering to Save the American Family", Unification News, June, 1997, p. 4.)
"...the ceremony to change the blood lineage is done with the name of True
Parents." (Sun Myung Moon, Today's World, June, 1997, p. 9.)
"Father said that the most important thing about True Parents is their
authority to give the Blessing." (Unification News, June, 1997, p.32.)
"To realize the Blessing of Marriage we need: 1. to accept True Parents as the center of God's Providence. 2. attend the Holy Wine Ceremony and experience rebirth so as to switch our lineage from the false to the true. 3. pass through the gate of the Blessing Ceremony officiated by True Parents to become an eternal Blessed Couple. ..." (Rev. Joong Hyun Pak, "The Year of Great Blessing", Unification News, January, 1997, p. 6.)
So to support or participate in the so-called "Blessing" is tantamount to endorsing Moon's claim that he and Mrs. Moon are the "True Parents" of mankind -- and that Moon is the "Sinless Messiah" the only hope of salvation. It is to endorse his doctrine that the Fall of Man occurred by Eve having sex with Lucifer and that the only hope of salvation is for one to have their "blood lineage changed" by undergoing Moon's "Holy Wine Ceremony"! Many have alleged that this "holy wine", which participants drink, contains a small amount of Moon's literal blood (in highly diluted form, of course). Thus through undergoing this ceremony one can have their "blood lineage changed" and be engrafted onto Moon's own "sinless perfect family". According to the Unification Church this is how you, your spouse and your children can become a "true family".
Despite the teaching of the Bible and of Christianity for 2000 years, Moon teaches that Jesus was not supposed to be crucified but was supposed to marry John the Baptist's younger sister, and that Jesus and her were supposed to start a family of sinless children, etc.
Sun Myung Moon teaches: "God intended him [Jesus] to bring forth upon this earth his own sinless children. Then Jesus and his bride would have become the True Parents for humankind, and all humankind would have found life by grafting onto them." (Sun Myung Moon, "God's Warning", p. 42.)
But according to Moon Jesus failed in his Christly mission and ended up being crucified. Moon teaches, "Abraham was the father of faith, Moses was a man of faith, Jesus was the son of man, trying to carry out his mission at the cost of his life. But they are, in a way, failures." (Sun Myung Moon, "Victory or Defeat, " from Master Speaks, March 31, 1973, p. 1.) He also teaches: "This means that the failures of Adam and of Jesus Christ have been restored by the appearance of True Parents." (Sun Myung Moon, Today's World, January, 1995, p. 8.)
Sun Myung Moon claims to have more wisdom than Jesus, he has often said that he is greater than Jesus and he has even claimed that Jesus Christ has bowed down to him! And from the above quote we can also see that he claims to have "restored" the "failures" of Jesus Christ! So we see that to support or to participate in Moon's so-called "Blessing Ceremony"is to also endorse Moon's teaching that Jesus Christ is a failure, that Jesus failed in His mission and that Moon is greater than Jesus! Actually, to support or participate in the so-called "Blessing" is to endorse all of Moon's teachings (that Jesus was conceived by Mary having sex with Zachariah etc., etc., ) as Moon also claims that he is the true teacher, the teacher of teachers. In Moon's own words:
"The real teacher, the king of teachers, is Father. The real king of kings is Father. ...My teaching is the real one." (Sun Myung Moon, "Let Us Realize That My Family Is The Representative and Central Family", Today's World, Sept/Oct. 1994, p. 7. )
Moon teaches: "I am now making a prototype of the perfect family, accomplishing what Jesus could not do." (Sun Myung Moon, from the Unification Church Magazine, Today's World, May, 1995, p.12.)
"Humankind needs the Messiah. The Messiah comes as the True Man who can establish the sinless family just like Adam and Eve were supposed to establish in the Garden of Eden for all humankind. Once the Messiah's family is established, all human beings can be engrafted into it and we can build a society, nation and world." (Sun Myung Moon, from the Unification Church Magazine, Today's World, September 1996, pp. 8-9.)
"Thus, I established the True Parents' family, the origin of true love, true life, and true blood lineage, based on God." (Sun Myung Moon, "True Parents' and the Completed Testament Age", p.10.)
"Through the blessing of new marriages that pass on God's original blood lineage, the True Parents will be able to give salvation to all humanity." (Sun Myung Moon, "View of the Principle of the Providential History of Salvation", Today's World, May, 1996, p. 10.)
"Thus, it is the international holy weddings that establish this new blood lineage when the Lord of the Second Advent comes in the flesh." (Sun Myung Moon, "View of the Principle of the Providential History of Salvation", Today's World, May, 1996, p. 10.)
And his Unification Church teaches: "Thus, we have to attend Rev. and Mrs. Sun Myung Moon as the True Parents of humankind coming with the seed of the true child of new life. Also, we have to experience rebirth through the International Holy Blessing, which is the divine ceremony to transfer lineage through receiving the seed of the child of true life." (Prof. Taek Yong Oh, Today's World, June, 1997, p. 17.)
"Thus, it is the International Holy Blessing that establishes this new blood lineage when the Lord of the Second Advent comes in the flesh." (Ibid. pp. 17-18)
"What is the meaning of the Blessing? Blessing means coming from God through the True Parents." (Rev. Joong Hyun Pak, "The Year of Great Blessing", Unification News, January, 1997, p. 6.)
"The first ceremony was the Holy Wine Ceremony. Through this ceremony, Heavenly Father and True Parents have forgiven your past. I suppose that many of you have a lot of guilty feelings, unworthy and terrible experiences in your past, but through receiving the Holy Wine, Heavenly Father and True Parents have forgiven you." (Rev. Chung Hwan Kwak, "The Internal Meaning of the Holy Wine Ceremony, Part II", Today's World, June, 1997, p. 24.)
"Once again I want to emphasize that the Unification Blessing Ceremony is not
just one church's marriage ceremony, but is a ceremony of historic
significance, a precious ceremony for the sake of all humanity, for the sake
of the nation, and all society." (Ibid. p. 27)
"The Blessing means everything to us... The Messiah comes to give the Blessing to everyone who will receive it." (Rev. Joong Hyun Pak, "The Open Blessing", Unification News, August, 1997, p. 4. )
"...our Family Federation can offer real hope to mankind for the first time in history. Since a True Man and True Woman have now appeared and have pioneered the path of True Love in their own lives and their family, they have become the visible expression of the True Love of God: the first True Parents of mankind. ...Through the marriage blessing given by the True Parents, we can all be engrafted back to our true relationship with God and become true parents ourselves. ...So our blessing ceremony is not just the Unification Church marriage ritual but the ritual of salvation and restoration..." (Rev. Chung Hwan Kwak, "Family Federation for World Peace, The Inaugural World Convention of the FFWP", Today's World, September 1996, p.11.)
The purpose of this article is to warn the public, the Christian community and the media of the true significance of the "International Holy Wedding" according to the Unification Church. And we at New Covenant Publications would like to encourage all true Christians and the media to expose and speak out against the false Messiah Sun Myung Moon and the many false and abominable teachings of his Unification Church.
Ephesians 5:11 Have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them..
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