Light on Sun Myung Moon

Messages from spirit world

2009-07-14T05:51:00.000-07:00

David and King Saul, by Rembrandt

The king of Israel, Saul, had left God, and not being able anymore to receive God's direct guidance, neither directly nor through prophets of God, he turned for information to mediums. 1 Samuel 27-3/19 (Revised Std Ver):

"Now Samuel had died, and all Israel had mourned for him and buried him in Ramah, his own city. And Saul had put the mediums and the wizards out of the land. ⁴ The Philistines assembled, and came and encamped at Shunem; and Saul gathered all Israel, and they encamped at Gilbo'a. ⁵ When Saul saw the army of the Philistines, he was afraid, and his heart trembled greatly. ⁶ And when Saul inquired of the LORD, the LORD did not answer him, either by dreams, or by Urim, or by prophets. ⁷ Then Saul said to his servants, "Seek out for me a woman who is a medium, that I may go to her and inquire of her." And his servants said to him, "Behold, there is a medium at Endor." ⁸ So Saul disguised himself and put on other garments, and went, he and two men with him; and they came to the woman by night. And he said, "Divine for me by a spirit, and bring up for me whomever I shall name to you." ⁹ The woman said to him, "Surely you know what Saul has done, how he has cut off the mediums and the wizards from the land. Why then are you laying a snare for my life to bring about my death?" ¹⁰ But Saul swore to her by the LORD, "As the LORD lives, no punishment shall come upon you for this thing." ¹¹ Then the woman said, "Whom shall I bring up for you?" He said, "Bring up Samuel for me." ¹² When the woman saw Samuel, she cried out with a loud voice; and the woman said to Saul, "Why have you deceived me? You are Saul." ¹³ The king said to her, "Have no fear; what do you see?" And the woman said to Saul, "I see a god coming up out of the earth." ¹⁴ He said to her, "What is his appearance?" And she said, "An old man is coming up; and he is wrapped in a robe." And Saul knew that it was Samuel, and he bowed with his face to the ground, and did obeisance. ¹⁵ Then Samuel said to Saul, "Why have you disturbed me by bringing me up?" Saul answered, "I am in great distress; for the Philistines are warring against me, and God has turned away from me and answers me no more, either by prophets or by dreams; therefore I have summoned you to tell me what I shall do." ¹⁶ And Samuel said, "Why then do you ask me, since the LORD has turned from you and become your enemy? ¹⁷ The LORD has done to you as he spoke by me; for the LORD has torn the kingdom out of your hand, and given it to your neighbor, David. ¹⁸ Because you did not obey the voice of the LORD, and did not carry out his fierce wrath against Am'alek, therefore the LORD has done this thing to you this day. ¹⁹ Moreover the LORD will give Israel also with you into the hand of the Philistines; and tomorrow you and your sons shall be with me; the LORD will give the army of Israel also into the hand of the Philistines." "

I had to think of this biblical story when i came across a hugely weird site called 'Messages from spirit world.' On this site which apparently was set up by Derk van Dorsten (see this article), we find a long list of so-called revelations from the spiritual world all testifying of the greatness of Rev. Sun Myung Moon. While reading through all these purported reports from the spiritual world, i am trying to understand what could have been the intention of those in the spiritual world who fabricated these messages and of those who received and reported on them. It seems to me that if anyone wished to do great harm to Rev. Moon, this would be the most brilliant and effective way to do it.

Because, who could ever believe that most of the founders of world religions, together with communist dictators and mass murderers, and the originator of evil, Lucifer himself, and even 'God,' would all unitedly proclaim the greatness of Sun Myung Moon? Apparently all these spiritual beings have now been united under the banner of love of Rev. Moon and this came across by them only having received lectures on Rev. Moon's teaching.

Who could be so foolish to believe that all these people would suddenly 'know' the truth, that their hearts became soft and open, that they all decided to either recognize Sun Myung Moon as the greatest who ever lived, or would have repented for sins that are so terrible that if there were listed the crimes of the evil people included it would read like the worst horror book that has ever been written in human history.

These messages, the content conveyed through them, the emphasis put upon them on the website, these all occur to me as a ploy to bring Sun Myung Moon to fall, to make him look entirely ridiculous in the eyes of any logical thinking person. I don't know if Rev. Moon has recognized all of these messages, but if he would have done, it seems to me that this would have been his final and complete fall away from God.

Reading through the messages, one theme controls all of them. All of these messages could be summarized in one slogan: "Rev. Moon is the greatest, Rev. Moon is the greatest, Rev. Moon is the greatest." Could Sun Myung Moon really have approved these messages? It is entirely staggering and confusing.

I wonder what Jesus, Moses, Buddha and many other great saints of human history would have to say knowing that their names were used to exalt the glory of Sun Myung Moon, that their names were given in one line with those of the worst criminals of history, Lucifer, Mao Tse Tung, Pol Pot, Stalin, to mention just a few.

How could anybody be so foolish to believe that Satan himself and all these other criminals would have gone on their knees in repentance only after having heard some lectures about Rev. Moon and his Divine Principle? As if the act of only listening to explanations of truth or thought-to-be truth have ever been sufficient to bring anybody to repentance!

More information about the messages

They are said to have been brought from spirit world through the medium Young Soon Kim

In spirit world said to be moderated by Dr. Sang Hun Lee; quote from this Wikipedia article:
"Sang Hun Lee (September 5, 1914 - March 22, 1999), was the author of several books on "Unification Thought". After his death, the Unification Church asserts that he conducted a number of seminars in the spirit world, from which testimony from deceased United States Presidents endorsing Sun Myung Moon were relayed."
Dates of the messages: 1999-2001. Apparently there were some older messages dated 1997 which came moderated by or from Sang Hun Lee in spirit world. Not sure how this could be as Sang Hun Lee died only in 1999?

The alleged spirits who testified of Moon

Lucifer
St. Augustine
Confucius
Jesus, Buddha, Mohammed, Socrates
The 12 disciples of Jesus
Central figures of the Old-Testament age such as Abraham, Moses, David, Solomon, Elijah and many more
Representatives of Christianity such as Paul, Marten Luther, John Wesley, Tertullian, the emperor Constantine and many more
Church representatives denominational - such as Henry VIII, Ignatius Loyola, George Fox and many more
Disciples of Confucius
Communist thinkers Marx and Lenin
Communist politicians - Lenin, Stalin, Mao, Honecker and many more
Communist disciples - Ceaucescu, Ho Chi-Minh, Pol Pot and other mass murderers
12 0 world-famous communists - including the communists mentioned above
12 journalists - representing 120 world journalists
A cloud of witnesses - including founders of world religions, communist central figures, and last but not least: 'GOD'
'God's' message to the UN & testimonies of 36 US presidents

Contact to spirit world

See this video of an interview of Sun Myung Moon by Al Capp in 1972, where Moon states that he has the ability to relate to spirit world since his earliest childhood.

See also

John Gorenfeld - The king of America (website and video) - http://www.gorenfeld.net/book/

Rev. Moon live interview with Al Capp in 1972

2009-07-13T20:30:00.000-07:00

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David Kim is Rev. Moon's interpreter.
In the audience another one of Sun Myung Moon's eldest followers, Young Whi Kim, is attending.

Watch this video on YouTube

Watch this video on YouTube

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The Divine Principle 5: General Introduction - The new truth is to shed a new light

2009-07-13T16:40:00.000-07:00

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Text from Divine Principle, General Introduction, fifth set of paragraphs:

"Religion came into existence as the means to accomplish the purpose of goodness in following the way of God according to the intention of the original mind. The need for different kinds of understanding compelled the appearance of various religions. Scriptures of different religions varied according to the mission of the religion, the people who received it, and the age in which it came. Scripture can be likened to a lamp which illuminates the truth. Its mission is to shed the light of truth. When a brighter light appears, the mission of the old one fades. Today's religions have failed to lead the present generation out of the dark valley of death into the radiance of life, so there must now come a new truth that can shed a new light.

Many passages in the Bible say that new words of truth will be given to mankind in the "Last Days". What will be the mission of the new truth? Its mission will be to present the internal truth that religion has pursued and the external truth searched for by science under one unified theme. It should also seek to overcome both the internal and external ignorance of man and offer him internal and external knowledge. It must eliminate the contradiction within man, who is receptive to good and evil, by helping fallen man resist the way of evil and attain the purpose of goodness. For fallen man, knowledge is the light of life and holds the power of revival; ignorance is the shadow of death and the cause of ruin. No feeling or emotion can be derived from ignorance, no act of will can arise from ignorance. Thus, when knowledge, emotion and will do not function properly in man, life is no longer worth living.

If man is created to be unable to live apart from God, how miserable life must be when he is ignorant of God. Yet, can man know God clearly, even though he may diligently consult the Bible? Furthermore, how can man ever know God's heart? The new truth should enable us to know God as a reality. It should also be able to reveal His heart and feeling of joy at the time of creation, and His broken heart and feeling of grief as He struggles to save fallen man who rebels against Him."

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The above quotes from the Divine Principle book of Sun Myung Moon explain that there must come a new truth that will shed a new light on the fading truth of scriptures of religions of the past. This new truth will overcome the external ignorance of science and the internal ignorance of religion by presenting new knowledge under a unified theme. This truth should also enable us to know God as a reality and reveal God's heart of joy over the creation and His heart of suffering over the situation of fallen man.

Throughout history, God has worked to install the missions of religious central figures. God raised those central figures of faith in all cultures in order that they would find truth to pass this on to the people around them. As history progressed, more and more truth was revealed. But often that shining light of truth was later again covered with shadows of dogmas and theology and external interpretations that have blocked our ways to know the depth of the original truth revealed.

Always again God is able to give new truth when certain people prepared by God who fulfilled their mission as given by God were open to receive such truth. This is an ongoing process. Thinking from God's viewpoint, it is logical that God will always again attempt to tell us the truth, and God will choose people to receive and pass on that truth.

Such truth is always coming upon a foundation of understanding in a certain tradition of culture or religion. The truth always has the purpose to liberate us from ignorance and illusions that have crept into the traditions in which we are living. For example, Jesus spoke to clarify to the people of his time about wrong concepts that had come into the Jewish religion. In our time it is logical that truth must come to clear up all that has been wrongly understood in Christian theology and in other religions of the past millennia.

This is an ongoing process and as time passes by, always new truth must come and will come to enlighten us and to lead us on more advanced paths of perfection in God's love.

The truth is not absolute when this truth is seen as words that are written down on paper. The truth is absolute insofar it always leads us on a way to more deeply understand God's heart, to perfect our individuality and to build a more ideal society. This process has never stopped and it will never stop.

The former blog in these Divine Principle series

The next blog in these Divine Principle series

The Divine Principle 4: General Introduction - Causes of failures of religion

2009-07-13T12:08:00.000-07:00

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The rainbow set as a symbol of the Covenant with Noah after the Great Flood

Text from Divine Principle, General Introduction, fourth set of paragraphs:

"The relationship between the essential world and the phenomenal world is similar to that between mind and body. It is the relationship between cause and result, internal and external, subjective and objective. Since man can attain perfect personality only when his mind and body become harmonized in perfect oneness, the ideal world can be realized only when the two worlds--one of essence, the other of phenomena--have been joined in perfect unity.
As it is with the relationship between mind and body, so there can also be no phenomenal world apart from the essential world and no essential world apart from the phenomenal world. Neither can there be a spiritual world apart from a physical world, nor spiritual happiness apart from true physical happiness. Religion has until now de-emphasized the value of everyday reality; it has denied the value of physical happiness in order to stress the attainment of spiritual joy. However strenuously man may try, he cannot cut himself off from reality, nor can he annihilate the desire for physical happiness that follows him always like a shadow.
In reality, the desire for physical happiness persistently takes hold of men of religion, leading them into the depths of agony. Such a contradiction exists even in the lives of spiritual leaders. Many spiritual leaders, torn by such contradictions, have met a sad end. Herein is a principal cause for the weakness and inactivity of today's religions; the weakness lies in the contradiction which has not yet been overcome.
Another factor has fated religion to decline. Modern men, whose intelligence has developed to the utmost degree, demand scientific proof for all things. However, religious doctrine, which remains unchanged, does not interpret things scientifically. That is to say, man's interpretation of internal truth (religion) and his interpretation of external truth (science) do not agree.
The ultimate purpose of religion can be fulfilled only by first believing in and then by practicing the truth. But true belief cannot come about today without knowledge and understanding. We study the Bible to confirm our belief by knowing the truth. Jesus' performance of miracles and his revelation of signs were to let the people know that he was the Messiah and enable them to believe in him. Knowledge comes from cognition, and man today cannot cognize anything which lacks logic and scientific proof. To understand something, there must first be cognition. Thus, internal truth also requires logical proof. Religion has been moving through the long course of history toward an age in which it must be explained scientifically.
Religion and science began with the missions of dispelling, respectively, the two aspects of human ignorance. In their courses, these two areas of thought and exploration came into apparently uncompromising conflict with each other. In order for man to attain the good purpose of the original mind's desire, there must come a time when there is a new expression of truth, enabling mankind to bring these two matters together under one unified theme. These two matters are religion, which has been coming closer to science, and science, which has been approaching religion.
It may be displeasing to religious believers, especially to Christians, to learn that a new expression of truth must appear. They believe that the Bible, which they now have, is perfect and absolute in itself. Truth, of course, is unique, eternal, unchangeable, and absolute. The Bible, however, is not the truth itself, but a textbook teaching the truth. Naturally, the quality of teaching and the method and extent of giving the truth must vary according to each age, for the truth is given to people of different ages, who are at different spiritual and intellectual levels. Therefore, we must not regard the textbook as absolute in every detail (cf. Part I, Ch. 3, Sec. V--129)."
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Although the religions of the past have done many good things for the people of the world, they have not been able to build an ideal world as purposed by God. There are to be mentioned several reasons for this.

The Divine Principle book of Sun Myung Moon lists two main causes for the failure of religion. First there is the inability of religion to unite the internal and external world, the world of essence and that of phenomenons, the spiritual world and the physical world. A second and related cause mentioned is that there hasn't been a logical proof for religious doctrine, and religion could not explain or always unite with the findings of science. To overcome these problems, a new truth must come to solve these problems, according to the Divine Principle of Sun Myung Moon.

Here i wish to focus on what is the essence of faith. All religions that are centered on God the Creator expect that their believers have faith in God. It is through faith in God the Creator that we can advance in our spiritual development. Also the Divine Principle book is stating this, see later chapters.

Of course there are also religions that do not recognize God the Creator, or who place God the Creator along in a line of other revered deities. Religions that recognize God as the Creator do however expect each believer to have faith in God in a personal relationship.

There are many examples of central figures of faith who lived in the past in a time that science was not yet developed as much as in the present time. These religious individuals stand today as models for us to follow. For example in the Judeo-Christian realm there are such men as Noah, Abraham, Jacob, David, Elijah, Jesus, Francis of Assisi. All these central figures of faith, all being men of stature on different levels in their own frame of time, have taught us the meaning of faith.

What is faith? Can faith be acquired by understanding and knowledge first of all? Faith always comes from having a personal relationship to God. Noah built the ark because he obeyed God's will. Noah did not know that it was going to rain for a long time. It were not knowledge and understanding that formed his faith. In fact, from the viewpoint of knowledge, many people around him who based their judgment on what were reasonable from a human point of view, did persecute Noah. All people who received a central mission in God's world have gone through similar persecution from people who could not understand with their logical mind.

Although true scientific findings will always be in accordance with true religious principles (which are not the same as religious dogmas) we never come to a close relationship with God through our understanding firstly. A person of faith reaches heights of spirituality through his faith in God, that is faith in doing God's will as revealed to him or her personally. From doing God's will, from having faith, understanding can be built up about the phenomenal world in accordance with scientific discoveries.

Such kind of faith is based on God's love for that person and on that person's love for God. A person of faith wants to do God's will out of love, not because he or she understands or can logically deduct that this somehow will work out the best.

Always in our lives of faith we are placed again and again in situations in which we cannot see our future, we cannot reason it ahead of time, we just feel compelled to do what we know God wants us to do. It is only later, after having done God's will, that we understand that God's will was really the best for us, and was in accordance with external developments which occured.

When Jacob left his home being threatened by his brother Esau, Jacob could not know what his future would be. It was his faith in God while working for his uncle Laban for a few decades that taught him that it was good to obey God's will. He could not know this in advance as he did not know how God was going to work with him. He could not foresee that God would make him the ancestor of a people of Israel whom God would make into a tribe and a nation as the center of God's Providence.

The main problem therefore that has befallen on religions of the past is that many of its central figures have not lived a true life of faith, but instead lived acoording to dead dogmas. This problem cannot be solved entirely by the uniting of religion and science. It is my conviction that when people really are doing God's will, God will reveal truth to them that is in accordance with true scientific findings. The unity of good religion and good science will come about as a logical result from the lives of people living in faith in the only God the Creator.

The former blog in these Divine Principle series

The next blog in these Divine Principle series

The Divine Principle 3: General Introduction - Christianity unable to overcome its internal division and immorality, and communism

2009-07-13T01:12:00.000-07:00

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Icon depicting the First Council of Nicaea

Text from Divine Principle, General Introduction, third set of paragraphs:

"Let us study the history of Christianity. For nearly 2,000 years Christianity grew, professed the salvation of mankind, and established worldwide dominion. But what has become of the Christian spirit which cast forth such a brilliant light of life that, even in the days of persecution under the Roman Empire, Romans were brought to their knees before the crucified Jesus? Medieval feudal society buried this Christianity alive. Yet, even in its grave, the torch of Christian religious reformation still shone out against the engulfing darkness of that age. It could not, however, turn back the tide of those dark days.
When ecclesiastic love expired, when the surging desire for material wealth swept the society of Europe and countless millions of starving masses shouted bitterly in the industrial slums, the promise of salvation came not from heaven but from earth. Its name was communism. Christianity, though it professed God's love, had turned out to be in reality a dead body of clergy trailing empty slogans. It was then only natural that a banner of revolt would be raised against a seemingly merciless God. Christian society became the hotbed of materialism. Absorbing fertilizer from this soil, communism, the foremost materialist ideology, has grown rapidly and unchecked.
Christianity lost its capacity to surpass the practice of communism and has not been able to present a truth which overcomes communist theory. Christians watch communism grow within their own midst, expanding its dominion over the world. Although they teach and believe that all men are descendants of the same parents, many Christians do not like to sit with brothers and sisters of different skin color. This is a representative example of today's Christianity, which is deprived of the life force needed to practice the word of Christ.
There may come a day when such social tragedies will end, but there is one social vice which is beyond the control of many men and women today. That is adultery. Christian doctrine holds this sin to be the greatest of all sins. What a tragedy that today's Christian society cannot halt this degradation, into which so many people today are rushing blindly.
What these realities mean to us is that Christianity today is in a state of confusion. Split by the chaotic tide of the present generation, it is unable to do anything for the lives of the people who have been drawn into today's whirlpool of immorality. Is Christianity unable to achieve God's promise of salvation for the present era of mankind? Why have men of religion thus far been unable to fulfill their missions even though they have struggled desperately and devotedly in pursuit of internal truth?"

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From the earliest beginning until today many Christians have thought Jesus to be God Himself. Some argue that this was already believed in certain ways by John, Paul and early Christian writers like Polycarp of Smyrna and Irenaeus. See for example the arguments as shown in this article.

At the first Council of Nicaea in what today is Turkey in 325 AD, which is believed to be the first Ecumenical Council, one of the topics which the gathered Christian bishops had to agree upon was a question of Christology. Here the notion was rejected brought forward by the priest Arius of Alexandria. The Arians believed that God the Father and Jesus the Son were different and that the Son, though he may be the most perfect of creations, was only a creation of God the Father.

The First Council of Nicaea (Wikipedia):

"The Council declared that the Father and the Son are of the same substance and are co-eternal, basing the declaration in the claim that this was a formulation of traditional Christian belief handed down from the Apostles. This belief was expressed in the Nicene Creed."

However there is other evidence that the first apostles and many early Christian writers did not believe Jesus to be God. For example, Mark did not believe Jesus to have unlimited knowledge like God has. According to Mark 13:32 (KJV), Jesus said:

“But of that day and that hour no man knows, no, not the angels who are in heaven, neither the Son, but the Father.”

The same article also quotes the Church Father Tertullian (ca. 160 - ca. 220 AD) as believing that God, the Father, was superior to Jesus:

“... the Son differs from the Father ... it is not by division that He is different, but by distinction; because the Father is not the same as the Son, since they differ one from the other in the mode of their being. For the Father is the entire substance, but the Son is a derivation and portion of the whole, as He Himself acknowledges: ‘My Father is greater than I.’ In the Psalm {Psalm 7:5} His inferiority is described as being ‘a little lower than the angels.’ Thus the Father is distinct from the Son, being greater than the Son, inasmuch as He who begets is one, and He who is begotten is another; He, too, who sends is one, and He who is sent is another; and He, again, who makes is one, and He through whom the thing is made is another.”

Where did the belief come from that Jesus were God? Jesus was born as a Jew and in that religion, nobody thought that a human being could be God.

According to this article 'The Origins of Christianity and the Bible' by Andrew D. Benson:

"Diaspora Jews referred to God as "the Father." Those Jews believed God is one person. They believed only the Father is God. Had Paul preached Jesus is God, he would have been forbidden from preaching in Diaspora synagogues. “… he {Paul} began to proclaim Jesus in the synagogues, saying, ‘He is the Son of God.’ … But Saul {Paul} kept increasing in strength and confounding the Jews who lived at Damascus by proving that this Jesus is the Christ.” (Acts 9:20, 22 NASB) Paul proved that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, not God. The terms “Son of God,” “Messiah” and “Christ” were synonymous terms, which were commonly used in Israel in those days. The Jews used the terms “Son of God” and “Christ” to refer to their awaited Messiah, whom they expected to be a mere man."

The belief that a man like Jesus could be or would have to be God came from pagan origins. Nations surrounding the old Israel like Babylonia, Egypt, Greece and the Roman Empire all were known for their many deities. Often historical figures in these cultures who were seen as having had extraordinary or sacred lives on earth, later were worshiped as deities.

To worship a human being as a god means to deny that the Creator is the only God. It puts saints and idolgods in the place of the Creator or in-between man and the Creator. Thus the direct relationship with God that was still normal for Old-Testament central figures like Noah, Abraham, Jacob, Moses, David and many prophets has become an unreachable ideal for many Christians.

Here lies the real cause of the inability of Christian religion to make victory over materialist ideologies such as that of the Roman Empire and later communism. Without having a direct relationship to God we cannot understand the essence of life to be an eternal spiritual existence and we are vulnerable to be deceived by evil spirits and to overvalue the meaning of the physical existence.

Communists have advanced their causes above those of Christianity by accusing them to have immoral and adulterous societies and to be unjustly dividing material wealth. It is only possible to overcome such accusations when religious people are really finding back to an original and individual direct relationship to God the Creator. Only our deep love for and direct relationship with God can give us the strength to overcome the temptations of free sex, external power and material wealth.

Sources quoted in this article

http://www.cogwriter.com/jesusgod.htm - Jesus is God, But Was Made Man (by COGwriter)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Council_of_Nicaea - The First Council of Nicaea (Wikipedia)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arius - Arius (Wikipedia)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicene_Creed - The Nicene Creed (Wikipedia)
http://www.prudentialpublishing.info/ - The Origins of Christianity and the Bible (by Andrew D. Benson)

The former blog in these Divine Principle series

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The Divine Principle 2: General introduction - External and internal ignorance

2009-07-12T18:08:00.000-07:00

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Text from Divine Principle, General Introduction, second set of paragraphs:

To the grief of mankind, the ultimate solution to the problem of good and evil has not yet been reached. Regarding the doctrines of theism and atheism, if one of the two should be judged good, the other must be evil. Yet we have not reached a theory of an absolute nature concerning the problem of good and evil. Moreover, men and women remain entirely ignorant of the answers to many fundamental questions, such as: What is the original mind, the source of good desire? What was the origin of the wicked mind, which caused evil desire? What was the fundamental cause of the fall which permitted man to embody such a contradiction? Before being able to lead a good life by following the good desire of the original mind and repelling evil desire, it is necessary to overcome ignorance and be able to distinguish between good and evil.
Seen from the viewpoint of knowledge, the human fall signifies man's descent into the darkness of ignorance. Since man consists of two aspects, internal and external, or spiritual and physical, there are also two aspects of knowledge, internal and external, and two aspects of ignorance, internal and external.
Internal ignorance, in the religious sense, means spiritual ignorance; that is, ignorance of the answers to such questions as: What is man's origin? What is the purpose of his life? Do God and the next world exist? What are good and evil?
External ignorance is ignorance of physical reality; that is, ignorance concerning the natural world, which includes the human body; also, ignorance of such questions as: What is the basis of the material world? According to which natural laws do all physical phenomena occur?
From the earliest dawn of history to the present, men have constantly and earnestly searched for the truth with which to overcome this ignorance and restore the light of knowledge. Man has struggled to discover internal truth through the way of religion. Science has been the path taken toward the discovery of external truth.
Religion and science have been the methods of searching for the two aspects of truth, in order to overcome the two aspects of ignorance and restore the two aspects of knowledge. The day must come when religion and science advance in one united way, so that man may enjoy eternal happiness, completely liberated from ignorance and directed toward goodness, which is what the original mind desires. Then, mutual understanding will occur between the two aspects of truth, the internal and the external.
Man has been approaching a solution to the fundamental questions of life by following two different courses. The first course is to search for the solution within the material world. Those who take this route think it to be the sublime path. They yield to science, taking pride in its omnipotence, and seek material happiness. However, can man enjoy full happiness when he limits his search to external material conditions centered upon the physical body? Science may create a pleasant social environment in which man can enjoy the utmost in wealth, but is such an environment able to satisfy the spiritual desire of the inner man?
The passing joys of the man who delights in the pleasures of the flesh are nothing when compared to the happiness experienced by a devout man of God. Gautama Buddha, who left the glory of the royal palace, was not the only one who has taken the long journey of life in pursuit of the Way. His goal was man's lost home--his status before the fall, his permanent domicile--although he did not know where it was. Just as a man becomes whole and sane when his mind is in harmony with his body, so it is with joy. The joy of the body becomes whole and sane when it is in harmony with the joy of the mind.
What is the destiny of science? Until now, scientific research has not embraced the internal world of cause, but only the external world of result; not the world of essence, but only the world of phenomena. Today science is entering a higher dimension; it is no longer concerned exclusively with the external world of result and phenomena, but has begun to examine the internal world of cause and essence as well. Those who have taken the path of science are concluding that, without the truth that relates to the spiritual world of cause; that is, the internal truth, man cannot attain the ultimate purpose of science; that is, the discovery of the external truth, which pertains to the external world of result.
A sailor making a voyage on the sea of the material world under the sail of science in search of the pleasures of the flesh may reach the coast of his ideal, but he will soon find it to be nothing more than a graveyard to hold his flesh. But when the sailor who has completed his voyage in search of external truth under the sail of science comes into contact with the sea-route to internal truth, under the sail of religion, he will be able to end his voyage in the ideal world, which is the goal of the original mind's desire.
The second course of human endeavor has been directed toward solving the fundamental questions of life in the essential world of "cause". Philosophy and religion, which have gone this way, have made substantial contributions. On the other hand, both philosophy and religion have been saddled with many spiritual burdens. In their own times, philosophers and saints have pioneered the way of life, but their deeds have often resulted in placing added burdens on the people of the present era.
Consider the matter objectively. Has there ever been a philosopher who was able to end human misery? Has there ever been a saint who has clearly shown us the way of life? The principles and ideologies presented to mankind so far have given rise to skepticism; they have created many themes which need to be untangled, and numerous problems to be solved. The lights of revival with which the great religions illuminated their respective ages have faded out with the ebb of the age, leaving only dim, sputtering wicks glimmering in the falling darkness.

The truth that we all are searching, comes from God the Creator. All truth comes from God, that is internal truth as pursued in the realm of religion and external truth as sought by scientists. It is by overcoming ignorance on both the external level and internal level that we can learn to conduct our lives well.

The problem of evil, however, cannot be overcome only by learning the truth. The problem of evil is one of self-centeredness that is rooted in our heart of desires and that is also perpetuated by influences from the realms of evil spirits. Whatever truth we learn and understand, there is still the path to go of practicing God’s Will by expressing our heart of good desires through our mind and actions. When we attempt to do this, we are confronted not only with the evil desires that are rooted in our own self, we also need to overcome wrong influences from the spiritual world, as these come to us directly or through people around us.

Neither religions nor sciences of the past have managed to teach us how to build an entirely ideal world. Religions and science have followed diverse and often contradicting paths, but there are reasons for this.

On the one hand, scientists often have pursued paths of knowledge that only concerned the physical or material world. Many of them have denied the existence of God and of the spiritual world and they also often have neglected the working of the inner heart and mind. On the other hand, religions have often been restrained by the demand of their authorities to believe in certain rules and principles in a dogmatic way. Another problem in many religions is the belief in deities, competing with the only one and true God the Creator. Yet another difficulty of religions is that many of them have been more or less under the control of dark angels who posed as if ‘angels of light.’

It will therefore not be easy to bring back both religion and science under the banner of the only God the Creator. Although we can learn much that is good from science and from many religions, there also is the necessity to sort out what is not good. It is only true religion that can be united with true science.

The former blog in these Divine Principle series

The next blog in these Divine Principle series

The Divine Principle 1: General introduction - The contradiction in man of good and evil desire

2009-07-12T16:15:00.000-07:00

Good and evil

Text from Divine Principle, General Introduction, first set of paragraphs:

Everyone, without exception, is struggling to gain happiness. The first step in attaining this goal is to overcome present unhappiness. From small individual affairs to history-making global events, everything is an expression of human lives, which are constantly striving to become happier. How, then, can happiness be attained?
Every person feels happy when his desire is fulfilled. The word "desire" however, is apt to be misinterpreted. This is because everyone is now living in circumstances which can drive desire in the direction of evil rather than in the direction of goodness. The desire which results in unrighteousness does not come from the "original mind of man"; that is, one's inmost self which delights in the law of God. The path to happiness is reached by overcoming the desire which leads to evil and by following the desire which pursues goodness. Man's original mind knows that evil desire will lead only to unhappiness and misery. This is the reality of human life: man gropes in the shadow of death as he searches for the light of life.
Has any man, by pursuing evil desire, been able to find the happiness in which his original mind could take delight? The answer is no. Whenever man attains the object of evil desire, he feels conscience-stricken. Would parents teach their children to do evil, or a teacher instruct his students to pursue unrighteousness? Again the answer must be no. It is the nature of man's original mind to hate evil and to exalt goodness.
In the lives of religious men we can see an intense and relentless struggle to attain goodness by following the desire of the original mind only. Yet, since the beginning of time, no man has completely followed his original mind. For this reason the Bible says, "None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands, no one seeks for God." (Rom. 3:10-11).
The apostle Paul, who was faced with such wretchedness of heart, said in lamentation, "For I delight in the law of God, in my inmost self, but I see in my members another law at war with the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin which dwells in my members. Wretched man that I am!" (Rom 7:22-24).
There is a great contradiction in man. Within the same individual, the power of the original mind, which desires goodness, is at violent war against the power of the wicked mind, which desires evil. All life, all matter is doomed to destruction as long as it contains such a contradiction. Every man who contains such a contradiction within himself lives on the brink of destruction.
Can it be that man was created with such a contradiction? The answer again is no. Nothing could ever have been created with such an inherent contradiction. The contradiction, therefore, must have developed in man after the creation. In Christianity, we call this development the "Fall of Man".
Due to his fall, man is always near the point of destruction. For this reason, he makes a desperate effort to remove the contradiction by following the good desire of his original mind and repelling the evil desire of his wicked mind.

There is a contradiction in man. This essentially is the contradiction between the desire to do good and the desire to be self-centered. This contradiction is plaguing every single person. The desires of our heart are torn between wanting to do good and wishing to take it easy and to pursue selfish goals.

Each person who is honestly researching the depth of his or her heart will recognize this inconsistency. There is in each individual the original mind who wants to do good, but there also is the mind that wants to do wrong.

At the deepest level this contradiction must be sought at the level of the heart of love and desires. It is in our heart where we desire to do good and where we also desire to do what is wrong. Our thoughts and feelings result from these desires.

The problem needs to be solved at the level of heart and desires, otherwise the mind and body will always again be infected and polluted by their source, which is to be sought in the motivation why we do things.

The problem of evil can only be solved when it is done at this deepest level of desires and motivation. We could say that this level can be found in the human heart. It is through our heart that we relate to God the Creator, but it is also through our heart that we may connect to evil desires.

These evil or self-centered desires do not come from the Creator. They come from sources or a source that is called 'Satan' in many religions. Satan is thought to be a spiritual being, or better said: 'Satan is a word that refers to the combined force of evil as generated by all beings living in the spiritual world who deviated from God's ways.' Although these influences from 'Satan' do originate in the spiritual realms, they also have their effects and working in the physical world.

The problem of selfish motivation can be studied in the heart, mind and body of man, and it can also be understood on a spiritual level. One main reason why it is so difficult to overcome the tendency to be selfish is that it again and again is stimulated and reinforced by evil spiritual influences.

The contradiction between good and evil in ourselves is apparent. It needs to be solved in order that we all can attain our happiness as purposed for us by God the Creator. The problem must be solved in ourselves by investigating and cleansing our heart of desires, our mind of feelings and thoughts and our body of actions. It is also necessary to solve these problems at a spiritual level by overcoming the influences that come to us from egoistic spiritual forces.

The next blog in these Divine Principle series

The way of inner change to bring peace

2009-07-05T22:09:00.000-07:00

Image by melolou via Flickr

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There are these movements in the world that speak about peace and they are holding big conferences about peace and make public statements to contribute to human rights and personal dignity. Sometimes it is impressive how many dignataries and celebrities they gather and one is tempted to believe that world peace finally is at hand.

Sometimes such conferences are attended by the very same people who in their political functions also contributed to wars, or they made friends with others who started wars and who are out to control and suppress human freedom.

These gathered people enjoying their conferences seem to be in high spirit and the pleasance and excitement of their being together in harmony makes them believe that they are the very figures who are at the center of a movement saving the world. It is as if they almost feel to be messiahs whose lives and thoughts are to be models for everyone else.

But let us inquire how peace really should come about. Peace is the opposite of conflict. Conflict arises whenever people are in disagreement. Conflicts also occur in ourselves, in our minds and in our bodies. When conflicts are present in the body, disease results. Enduring conflicts in the mind may lead to mental illness.

How do we go about in the right way to cure such diseases of mind and body? We can distinguish two different types of therapies. One is to cure the symptoms resulting from the disease or conflict. The other one is to find the core and causes of the disease and to try to solve the problems there, meanwhile also attempting to soothen the pains of the symptoms.

I would always choose for the second option, because when only the symptoms are being treated the causes of the illness remain unnoticed and will eventually burst out in untreatable ailments.

So what are the real causes of conflicts and disturbances of peace in the world? Some would say that the destruction of the family institution is the cause. Others believe that racism and lack of understanding between different religions are to blame.

Although i believe that it is commendable to advance the family institution and good understanding between the races and religions, i still believe that here are being addressed symptoms rather than causes.

Some diseases result from being infected with harmful bacteria or viruses. Other illnesses result from wrong habits of eating or lack of moving the body. Would it be wise to ignore these causes? Something has been done wrong on the level of the behavior of an individual. He or she may not always be responsible for attracting a disease, as it may be difficult to prevent coming in touch with viruses, and some illnesses are inherited from ancestors. Yet even in those cases, the way to go about is to first of all strengthen the body's immune system by eating and living and moving in the right way.

So what are the viruses and wrong habits of living on the level of societies? It may not be easy to track these down and people have different opinions on what are the evils that cause conflicts in society. But surely we can point out some dictatorial individuals and forces that always again have gotten the upperhand in history. So it would not be wise to make friends with such individuals or such kind of ideologies.

Peace cannot be reached by just making friends with everyone. Religion doesn't get better when people of different religions come together and make friends. Religion gets better by going to the core of what religion is. When people of different religions do this, they will automatically come together and recognize each other when they meet.

It is not a process of stating the unity of religions or the desire to not discriminate. Almost all of us know that it is wrong to hate and discriminate. The problem is not that we don't know it, the problem is that we don't know how to overcome hatred in ourselves.

This is why each individual needs to live a true life of religion or spirituality, not the type that is organized from above by great movements, but the kind that is practiced in stillness, in a true desire to be good, in a personal relationship with the Creator and in awareness of the spiritual dimension of life.

Massive peace movements carry in them the danger that their participants believe they are doing so much for peace in the world that they ignore the task to really work on perfection of their own inner self.

Video: A new tomorrow, the early days of the UK Unification movement

2009-07-04T17:09:00.000-07:00

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When i see these images filmed in the early days of the Unification movement in the United Kingdom, i cannot escape to make a comparison between the movement today and in that time. And with all respect, the early time comes out better.

There is a lot of conviction, some might say arrogance, in the narrative that goes with the film. There is spoken of

the most beautiful farmhouse of the UK, not physically but spiritually ..... because here God's Kingdom is built....

There is shown the printing of booklets containing 'God's Word.' Then we see images of a campaign of a group of Unification Church members going out in a doubledecker bus, to do 'God's work.'

Yet it is undeniable that the people shown in the film are happy and energetic. There is shown work on a farm, a tractor plowing the land, Rev. Moon planting a tree. This looks quite different from the large-scale peace conferences with celebrities from around the world.

Also Rev. Moon and his wife look like people you can love, unlike how they appear to me today. There are scenes of joyful singing and Rev. Moon giving a speech translated by Bo Hi Pak, one of Moon's elder disciples. Also Young Whi Kim, one of the first three disciples of Sun Myung Moon is shown for a short moment. Moon's voice in that time still sounded attractive.

At the end of the video you see members taking off in a chartered airplane to America, to restore that nation.

That's my impression of the videos, now see for yourself.

Here are the links to the videos on YouTube:

Video 1

Video 2

Video 3

And here is the text as posted with the videos on YouTube:

This film, provides a great insight into the early years of the Unification Movement in the UK with footage of Reverend Moon making a holy ground in the village of Stanton FItzwarren. You can catch the enthusiasm and the spirit of dedication that the pioneers of the British movement had, and how creative they were in carrying out what they saw as their mission.

As always it also provides a helpful perspective on the present day when we are able to look back more than 30 years ago and see how everything was. As people's voices and cars have changed over the last 3 decades, so has the Unification Church.

How we live today is obviously so different, and it is a sign of how fast the world is always changing. All the more reason to always dig deep inside our heart to remember our identity and have a sense of where we come from.

Note: the sound in the latter part of the second video was missing when i watched it.

My dream about Rev. Moon's helicopter accident

2009-07-04T13:22:00.000-07:00

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For decades i have had regular dreams about Rev. Moon. His followers believe this to be something very special, well, that must mean i am quite special as i dream about the man about every few weeks. I say this with a big smile of irony because in my dreams, Sun Myung Moon doesn't appear as the great king and messiah he is believed to be by Unificationists.

I won't share all of my dreams i had with and about Rev. Moon, but the dream of this blog was kind of special and informative. I got the dream on the day that he and his wife and 11 of his relatives and three crew members (according to this article) were involved in a helicopter accident. I did not hear of the accident until about one week later, when i read about it in the news. I do not recall whether i got the dream just before, during or after the accident, but i did get it on the same day, July 19, 2008.

Here's how the dream is recorded in my diary:

"IHTML clipboard dream that Moon and his whole family visit me in my house. He behaves as if he were messiah and as if he were very good. D (someone whom i know in the Unification Church) is also in the dream and acts as if he were my brother. Moon asks me to serve him. He is showing off how good he is and questions me why i lost faith in him. Moon's children are also there and are serving in a very demonstrative way.
Then we go all out on a trip. Moon sits next to me in the train.
Later in the dream i stand next to Moon on a very high bridge over water and over land. He sees someone jumping off the bridge and he wants to save the person and jumps behind him.
I still try to stop Moon because i saw that the person doesn't need to be saved, as he is only bungee jumping. The bungee-jumping person has no injuries but Moon lands on the ground underneath the bridge and is injured.
There comes an investigation and i am suspect of having thrown Moon off the bridge. I tell them that i tried to stop him from jumping."

I interpret the dream as meaning that Rev. Moon got the helicopter accident because he is trying to save people who are not in need of his salvation and Moon himself cannot even save them but only hurts himself. The accident is a warning to him.

I later heard that Moon spoke about angels who would have saved him from death through this accident. These angels were reportedly seen around the helicopter. But might it not just as well be that these angels did not try to save Moon but have actually caused the accident? There are not just good angels in spirits world. There are also those who try to cause harm to people.

Another thing i learn from this dream that in trying to save Moon from jumping to death or injury, i became suspect of having caused the problem. I know i am trying to reach out to people who misunderstand who Moon really is, and it has been my experience over the years that this made many Unificationist persecute me in all kinds of ways.

A few news articles about the helicopter accident

Sun Myung Moon helicopter
Rev. Moon injured in helicopter crash - CBS News

Followers and sympathizers of Moon - names + links

2009-07-03T23:53:00.000-07:00

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As this blog is growing this list will expand. Use it for your research or just to browse.
a = audio
i = image
s = site (website or -page)
v = video

De Venecia, Jose - Speaker of the House, Philippines 2001-2008 - v1 -
Durst, Mose - s1 -
Ferreira, Congressman Bishop Manoel - Brazil - v1 -
Hendricks, Tyler - v1
Herndon, Rev. James K. - Captain US Air Force - v1 -
Kim, David - v1 - v2 -
Kim, Young Whi - v1
Kwak, Chung Hwan - s1 - s2
Lowery, Rev. Joseph E. - Southern Christian Leadership Conference - v1 -
Marata, Mitsuhei - Japanese diplomat - v1 -
McDevitt, Tom - s1 - v1 - v2 - v3 - v4 - v5 - v6 - v7 - v8 - v9 - v10 - v11
Mikho, David - Kurdistan regional government - v1 -
Mohammad, H.E. Dr. Mahatir - Prime Minister Malaysia 1981-2003 - v1 -
Moon, Hyo Jin - v1 - v2
Moon, Hyun Jin - s1 - v1 -
Moon, Kook Jin - s1 - s2 - v1
Moon, Sun Jin - v1 -
Murray, Rev. Paul - v1 -
HTML clipboardNichi, Gayokla - Executive Council of Native American Leadership Alliance - v1 -
Nguyai, Lewis - member of parliament, Kenya - v1 -
Odinga, Raila - pm of Kenya - v1 -
Pak, Bo Hi - s1 - s2 - s3 - v1 -
Rev. Robert A. Schuller - American evangelist - v1 -
Shanker, Phillip - v1
Shuskevich, Stanislau - a1 - s1 - s2 - v1 -
Stallings, George A. - Archbishop, founder of Imani Temple - v1 -
Wilson, Andrew - s1 -
Zakham, Sam - US ambassador - v1 -

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How to recognize a false ideal?

2009-07-03T17:52:00.000-07:00

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There are true and original ideals and there are false ideals. It isn't easy to point out the differences between these, as you will see in the article below. When we study history we realize that many evil rulers got their power over people because they were able to inspire common citizens with ideals. At the end of this article i shall come to the question how it is possible to differentiate between true and false ideals.

Let us first examine some viewpoints that have made part of the philosophy of Adolf Hitler. All the quotes below are from Adolf Hitler.

Image via Wikipedia

Warning for sexual liberties

We might think that it is a good ideal to warn for free sex, but see what Hitler said (i found these and all other quotes from Hitler here).

"Parallel to the training of the body a struggle against the poisoning of the soul must begin. Our whole public life today is like a hothouse for sexual ideas and simulations. Just look at the bill of fare served up in our movies, vaudeville and theaters, and you will hardly be able to deny that this is not the right kind of food, particularly for the youth...

Theater, art, literature, cinema, press, posters, and window displays must be cleansed of all manifestations of our rotting world and placed in the service of a moral, political, and cultural idea."

Desire for purified blood

Hitler wanted people with 'purified blood' and also thought that his ideals were coming from the Creator of the universe.

"What we must fight for is to safeguard the existence and reproduction of our race and our people, the sustenance of our children and the purity of our blood, the freedom and independence of the fatherland, so that our people may mature for the fulfillment of the mission allotted it by the creator of the universe."

References to God

Here is more proof that Hitler was not an atheist but thought himself to be a believer in God.

"...we must pray to the Almighty not to refuse His blessing to this change and not to abandon our people in the times to come."

And:

"Even today I am not ashamed to say that, overpowered by stormy enthusiasm, I fell down on my knees and thanked Heaven from an overflowing heart for granting me the good fortune of being permitted to live at this time."

All those fighting for a good cause are persecuted

Hitler uses the argument that those who do great work for the future will have to fight very hard and will go through persecution.

"For the greater a man's works for the future, the less the present can comprehend them; the harder his fight, and the rarer success."

The emphasis on religion

Hitler worked as a politician but he believed that religion was more important to reach his goals than politics.

"Verily a man cannot serve two masters. And I consider the foundation or destruction of a religion far greater than the foundation or destruction of a state, let alone a party."

Faith and strong determination is needed

"A man does not die for something which he himself does not believe in."

"Thus my faith grew that my beautiful dream for the future would become reality after all, even though this might require long years."

The importance of the spoken word

"But the power which has always started the greatest religious and political avalanches in history rolling has from time to immemorial been the magic of power of the spoken word, and that alone.

Particularly the broad masses of the people can be moved only by the power of speech."

What characterizes a false ideal?

Jim Walker, the writer of the article from which i quoted Hitler, emphasizes that Hitler could only come in power because of the support of Christian churches. Hitler spoke a language that was based on Christian thought.

So many times in history, evil rules who brought great empires under them wished two things: peace and unification. I mention only two examples from the many that could be given.

The Roman Empire was known for its Pax Romana, which was a period of relative peace established by Ceasar Augustus. It lasted from 27 BC to 180 AD. Of course, the peace of the Roman Empire could only be established after a period of military conquest that destroyed the overeignties of tribes and nations that were taken over by the Romans.

Also the Mongol Empire was known for the peace it brought after a period of conquest.

Most evil empires brought peace by unifying tribes and nations after having conquered them first. These tribes and nations often had ceased to exist.

So are peace and unification marks of a good ideal?

I doubt it very much. Peace and unification should be reached in complete freedom. Complete freedom can only be acquired when each individual can have an individual relationship to the Creator. Individuals should not be required to worship or submit to rulers above them. It is the individual conscience, the heart of love in each person that comes from having a personal relationship to God that must guide their actions.

When peace is reached by making friendship with evil governors, that kind of peace will not be lasting. Peace and unification always require that the ones who have evil aspirations must bow down or be defeated. They are not the ones to make friendship with.

When a powerful figure wants people to bow down for him, when he wants to be king or emperor over many or all, it shows that the ideals of such a person should not be trusted.

See also

Hitler's religious beliefs and fanaticism

My thoughts about Sun Myung Moon

2009-07-02T17:42:00.000-07:00

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Most people are making two typical mistakes about Sun Myung Moon. The one error is to think that he has always been evil. The other blunder is to believe that he is just entirely good.

When you think that Moon has always been evil, you make the mistake that you don't realize that Moon was once chosen by God for a central mission. When you believe he is good, you don't understand how he has fallen and failed his original task.

In either case, you won't really grasp the work God did with him and you won't catch how he came under evil influence. You're short in understanding of both God's work and of how people who were once chosen can fall under evil temptations.

I have been a member of the Unification Church for a number of years. When i joined the movement it was not because i thought that i would find God there. At the time i knew i had to go a course inside of that movement, but of course i wasn't yet aware of what really was going on. After years in the Unification Church and of studying their principles and Rev. Moon's teaching it came to a point that members chased me out. I was kicked out because i understood too much, i had come to see too much of the evils going on there, i had heard too many testimonies of members who had told me about what they had experienced. These testimonies came from members who had been sexually abused by leaders and who had been forced to do things they didn't really want to do.

Although i was tempted to altogether reject the Unification Church, i did not do that. From the time on that i lived outside of the Unification Church, i felt compelled to go on studying Moon and his movement. There was nothing true of the warnings that members gave that after you left the church you would come into a deep hell. My life was so much better in all respects outside of the Unification Church, except for one thing: ever since i had to leave that church their members have given me hell by persecuting me.

They are ignorant fools for the largest part. Some of them are not ignorant. They are sometimes idiots who want to keep what they have gotten, influence and power over other people. Sometimes they are really evil, in complete awareness of the reality that they don't believe in God, don't pray to God, but nevertheless always speak about God.

To which category does Moon belong? He is a case on its own. One answer that i got from God in my many prayers about Moon was that he is like a stubborn pig. Do you want him to go left, he goes right, do you want him to go right, he goes left. But knowing this, you steer him to the right if you want him to go left, and vice versa. This is how i believe that God had to work with that great master Sun Myung Moon.

He was a chosen one, but a chosen one with many big problems.

Why did God choose him for an important mission? I believe that this has to do with restoration of the past. Always, everything that we experience in life is to restore the mistakes of history. Moon has his particular role to play in the house of God's providence of restoration. I won't go into details here, but if you wish to find out more, contact me.

Rev. Moon has received great gifts from God and many of these are passed on to his children. Yet, in the latter part of his life, Moon has fallen into the habit of misusing his blessings for himself. Although he still speaks about God as he did in the earlier years of his ministry, he doesn't pray anymore to God. He prays to himself now, believing that he stands above God, that God needs him and that he did things that not even God couild accomplish. For example, Moon believes that he were capable of loving Satan more than God did and therefore he would have liberated God. It is based on such kind of nonsense thoughts that he did the most terrible thing any created being could ever do to God Almighthy.... he crowned God to king. Do you realize what this means? Only someone who stands above God could do such a thing. Moon actually tried to degrade God to a puppet of Moon's own making.

Moon always had a desire to be big and great, to have people look up to him. But he also had the wish to serve God. I don't know how deep that latter craving was in him. Maybe he wanted to obey God so he could achieve much in his life. Fact is that at a certain point in his later life, Moon came to stand for a difficult choice. Already he had built up a worldwide foundation and he had suffered much. But many things had gone wrong and he knew that very well. He knew that he would have to start all over again because his entire mission had become a failure, that he had come under the influence of followers who were only out for money and power, who had flattered him and who had come to dominate him. Yet, Moon at that point felt that he had suffered his entire life to reach the success that was now his harvest. He saw that the world would open for him and lie at his feet and he deliberately and consciously made the choice to take that harvest and to not do God's will to start all over again.

After this he wasn't anymore capable to pass on God's revelations. His speeches became empty and external. He told people to obey and respect him and to work for peace in the world and influence in society. He made friends with many evil rulers in the world. Right now his powerful foundation has become worthless in the eyes of any person loving God. He is bribing politicians and other influential figures with his big bags of money.

I don't believe that Rev. Moon can still change before he dies. He may still utter a few words of repentance in his deathbed. Rev. Moon is not important anymore. He is a figure of the past. What still is important is what God has invested in his children, his grandchildren and the most earnest ones of his followers.

That i have set up this blog is to reach out to them.

Links to videos concerning Sun Myung Moon

2009-07-02T09:28:00.000-07:00

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Documentaries

Moon - Emperor of the Universe (BBC documentary 2000) - in my blog

Unificationist

A New Tomorrow 1 of 3 - The early days of the United Kingdom Unification movement
A New Tomorrow 2 of 3 - The early days of the United Kingdom Unification movement
A New Tomorrow 3 of 3 - The early days of the United Kingdom Unification movement
Building God's Fatherland on Earth - First of a set of 10 commemmorative videos for Rev. Moon's 80th birthday: 1. Building God's Fatherland On Earth 2. True Mother of True Love 3. From The African Outback to The UN 4. One Homeland Under One God 5. True God, the King of All Kings 6. Glory to Heaven! Blessing to those on earth! 7. The True Love 8. My True Parents,Our Parents of Heaven and Earth 9. Musical;The Lord of the Second Advent 10. Musical; True Mother's Life (Access the other videos from video 1)
Crown of Glory ( Rev, Sun Myung Moon) Love and forgiveness - poem written by Moon when he was 16 years old
David Mikho - Speaks about the 5 UPF principles of peace, he represents the Kurdistan regional government
Denied - Unificationist critique at a 2007, Channel 4 production entitled "My Big Fat Moonie Wedding"
Divine Principle Video Series Chapter One Part 1
GPF Review 2008 - Global Peace Festival review 2008, celebreties promoting UPF, including Hyun Jin Moon
Hyung Jin Moon sermon 'Nobody believed...." Dec. 13, 2008
Hyung Jin Moon sermon 'This freed me from suffering" - May 9, 2009 - More sermons of Hyung Jin Moon were recently posted on YouTube. You find them through this video. NEW!
Hyung Jin Moon sermon 'Desiring the promise' (June 20, 2009) - in my blog
Natural Healing & Spirit World 3 - The Defining Moment Television Talk Show interview with Gayokla Nichi, Native American traditional healer & executive council member of the Native American Leadership Alliance speaking about spirit world
Independence Day 2009 - God bless America again - with part of Reverend Moon's public speech in Madison Square Garden on September 18th, 1974, and part of the speech at the Washington Monument Rally on September 18th, 1976. NEW!
One world of peace under Rev. Moon? - in my blog
Recent activities of the Universal Peace Federation (posted April 13, 2009) - in my blog
Rev. Sun Myung Moon - A man of peace - Promotion video of Rev. Moon, including his trip to North Korea where he embraced Kim Il Sung. Also lists a number of prominent Sun Myung Moon organizations in several fields of society.
Rev. Moon's Bering Strait Peace King tunnel project - in my blog
Rev. Moon crowned 'King of Peace' in the Dirkson Senate Building - The way the video is made reminds me of Leni Riefenstahl's propaganda films for Hitler. Remember? Also Hitler was seen as bringing peace to the entire world. See for example this (long) movie Triumph des Willens (Full movie - English subbed)
Rev. Moon the 2nd Coming of Christ - with Tyler Hendricks - Interview with a clever Unification Church representative. The interview is entirely uncritical and lets Hendricks fully promote the teaching of Moon. No miracle as definingmoment.tv of Gazer Productions is a front group of the Unification Church.
Stanislau Shuskevich speaks at Unificationist gathering (June 27, 2009) - in my blog
Sun Jin Moon sermon Sept. 27, 2008 - Tearful testimony of a Moon daughter feeling guilty after her parents were involved in a helicopter accident
The basic beliefs of the Unification Church - Hyung Jin Moon July 10, 2009
They are Not one of us... - American clergy and some others supporting Rev. Moon
Unification (The Power of True Love part1)
Videos of Sun Myung Moon's family - in my blog
World Summit on Peace 2008 - Korea - UPF promotion video

Critical

Atheist Experience: Rev. Sun Myung Rev. Moon - 1:30-hour film produced by the Atheist Community of Austin
Heartbreak and rage - 10 years under Moon - Introduction to a book with the same title by Kenneth Gordon Neufeld who was in the Unification Church for 10 years in the 1970s and 1980s
Nan Sook Hong interview after she fled with her children from her husband Hyo Jin Moon - giving an inside view on life in the Moon family. At the time of this interview Nan Sook was still in a divorce battle with Hyo Jin.
Rev. Moon sermon 1996 - Moon speaking at a Family Federation rally in Washington. He speaks about the unity between man and woman bringing down God's love. Just wondering which God he is referring to....
Rev. Moon speaking on Washington Times dinner party (1997) - A party at the Sun Myung Moon newspaper where he speaks to celebrities. Hard to understand how anyone could still believe in Moon as the messiah after having seen this video. Moon's voice is awkward and screechy and the content about sex embarrassing to the invitees.
Radio interview with Steven Hassan of Freedom of Mind center in my blog
'The King of America' by John Gorenfeld in my blog

News videos

Unification Church on Fox News - posted January 31, 2008 - Fox News letting Unification Church representative Phillip Shanker speak his ideas

Other

Gomer Pyle joins the Moonies - in my blog
Hyo Jin Moon song - Beat the devil - Hard rock by the late Hyo Jin Moon's band
Hyo Jin Moon speaking in France - Hyo Jin Moon in an aggressive speech to Unification Church members in France. The commentary audio is in French and makes it hard to understand the original English spoken by Hyo Jin.
Rev. Moon live interviewed by Al Capp in USA in 1972 - David Kim interprets - Video 1 - Video 2
Unification Church vs Christianity debate - A debate with Dr. Walter Martin and representatives of the Unification Church. Why it is not compatible with the teachings of Christianity. Video 1 - Video 2 - Video 3 - Video 4 - Video 5 - Video 6 - Video 7 - Video 8 - Video 9 - Video 10 - Video 11

See also

Links to web sites concerning Sun Myung Moon

Links to web sites concerning Sun Myung Moon

2009-07-02T09:20:00.000-07:00

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Biography Sun Myung Moon

Blogs about Moon & Unificationists

Light on Sun Myung Moon
Moon Tribune
News about Unificationists
The children of Sun Myung Moon
Rev. Moon exposed
The family fireplace blog - Unificationist communities with God at their center
The real Sun Myung Moon
Unicorn 144's Blog by Chrisopher Diamant
Ambassadors for Moon

News articles

Moon's children

Moon's organizations & publications

Blessed Family Association - for married members
De Familiefederatie voor wereldvrede
Divine Principle book - the main teaching of SMM
Family Federation Cavite, Phils.
Family Federation for World Peace and Unification
Family Federation for World Peace and Unification (news page)
Library of Unification Church
List of Unificationists - Wikipedia
List of Unificationist affiliated organizations - Wikipedia
Lucifer, A Criminal Against Humanity - Young Soon Kim Channeling Sang Hun Lee - scary revelations about and from Satan
Main site of Unification Church - www.tparents.org
Messages from spirit world - Have fun on this site. Many prophets and saints of human history declare Rev. Moon to be the greatest. Even Lucifer offers his repentance and is said to be helping Rev. Moon.
Moon Front Groups (organizations of Unificationists)
Moon's speeches
News for Unificationists - Yahoo group World Ties
New World Encyclopedia
Rev. Moon on Facebook
Sun Myung Moon bibliography
Testimonies to True Parents - Seems to be a new site to collect testimonies in relation to Rev. Moon and his movement
The Defining Moment - definingmoment.tv
The Unification Church - Current events, Rev. and Mrs. Moon, Teachings, The Blessing, Global Outreach, Projects, Education, Bibliography, Bookstore
The Unification Church described at ReligionFacts
The Washington Times - Moon's newspaper in Washington
The Way of the Unification Church - a personal comparative view of
Reverend Sun Myung Moon's Unification Church
Today's World Magazine
Unificationists' dating site
Unificationists' dating site for younger members
Unification Study
Unification Theological Seminary
United Communities of Spirit - Moon's interfaith organization
Universal Peace Federation
Universal Peace Federation (Dutch)
Universal Peace Federation website about Moon
Universal Peace Federation, United Kingdom
Universal Peace Television
UPI - Moon's news agency

Unificationists & followers of Moon

Other

See also

Links to videos concerning Sun Myung Moon

Rev. Moon's Bering Strait Peace King Tunnel Project

2009-07-01T10:24:00.000-07:00

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Sun Myung Moon and his Universal Peace Federation have planned to make a tunnel and bridge crossing the Bering Strait to directly connect Russia and the US and to strengthen the ties between two former enemies. A video on the site of Universal Peace Television shows some of their ideas. To watch the video please click here or on the picture below. On the site, scroll down in the right box under the tab 'shows' until you find the video 'Peace King Tunnel Project.'

Screenshot, use Ctr+ to enlarge picture

The video shows a special forum held at the US Capitol Hill Building on May 17, 2006, promoting US and Russian relations and a bridge across the Bering Strait. The forum wanted Russia and the US to develop better relations in order to counter problems in the world such as posed by North Korea and Iran.
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Some of the attendees shown in the video

Thomas Pickering, former US ambassador to Russia, declaring that global actions must come to link the world closer then ever before.
Dr. Thomas Walsh, Secretary-General of UPF, who at the forum stated his vision of humanity as one global family and that the project is high in significance of symbolic value for the sake of peace between two former enemies, Russia and the US.
Joseph R. Henri, former Commissioner Office of Budget & Mgmt., State of Alaska
George Koumal, President Bering Strait Tunnel & Railroad Group, saying that we should open the door wide in the West for our Russian neighbor.
Edward D. Lozansky, President Russia House / Kontinent USA, who spoke about making a good business plan for the tunnel and then to lobby Congress.
Robert Corbisier, State of Alaska, Governor's Office.

What to think about the plan

Screenshot from the video

While the desire for good relations between the US and Russia and for global peace may seem a noble motive, questions should be asked whether now is the time for the West to promote more cooperation with Russia. The West and Russia, and also China to an extent, are increasingly working together to counter perceived enemies such as North Korea and Iran.

For example, HTML clipboardDeputy Defense Secretary William J. Lynn III told Congress on June 16, 2009 that the Obama administration is exploring ways to involve two Russian radar installations in a missile-defense system for Central Europe to defend against an Iranian missile threat.

Recently China and Russia backed the US adopting a UN resolution to put sanctions on North Korea after its president Kim Jong Il threatened the West with nuclear attacks.

Now this may all seem fair and reasonable in light of the threats or perceived threats posed by Iran and North Korea, but according to this German magazine Spiegel article of December 14, 2006, the Kremlin is riddled with former KGB agents. The magazine quotes a study that suggests that 78 percent of the elite in Putin's Russia have a KGB background.

clipboardChina of course also is still a socialist republic, or a people's democratic dictatorship according to its constitution, ruled by the Communist Party of China under a single-party system (see this Wikipedia article).

Russia, according to Soviet-era dissident Vladimir Bukovsky, is still ruled by communists. In an article published on www.frontpagemag.com Bukovsky argues that the West rather than having won the Cold War, has lost it.

Already in 1984, Anatoliy Golitsyn, a Soviet KGB defector andHTML clipboard author of two books about long-term deception strategy of the KGB leadership, warned the world of KGB plans to lull the West into a false sense of security. In 1995 he stated that the power of the KGB remains as great as ever. (see this Wikipedia article about Golitsyn)

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See also

One world of peace under Rev. Moon?

2009-07-01T08:02:00.000-07:00

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Last night i watched a video on the site of Universal Peace Television. This is of course another one of Sun Myung Moon's organizations. They don't allow embedding the videos and there's not even a url for single videos. To watch the video yourself, please click here or on the picture below. It leads you to the page of that i took the screenshot. Scroll down in the right box under the tab 'shows' until you find the video 'Mongolian Federation for World Peace.'

Screenshot, use Ctr+ to enlarge picture

The video shows a meeting held in Seoul, South Korea, April 9-12, 2006. The conference was called "Mongolian Peoples' Federation for World Peace Assembly III and had the theme 'The Core Values of Mongolian Civilization and their Relevance to World Peace.'

To see the video was rather shocking to me. On the one hand, the Unificationists managed to get together representatives from over 70 countries, several of them having important political or other influential positions in society. But when i hear speaking Mr. Chung Hwan Kwak, one of Moon's elder disciples, about the need to bring all the people of the world together in one global unity, it is where it's getting creepy. Because i also saw videos in which Rev. Moon declared himself the 'emperor of the universe' and the 'king of the world.'

So all people of the world have to come together, become one race under their father Sun Myung Moon? What about cultural diversity? What about all those beautiful indigenous traditions from which we can learn and acquire wisdom? Is that all meant to disappear?

Rev. Moon is a grandiose marriage broker who matched tens of thousands of couples, often bringing together spouses of different skin colors. It's beautiful when a black person marries someone white, but should this be programmed from above?

I have often seen documentaries of Mongolia and through that came to love their original people. However, when speakers testify of the greatness of the Mongolian people in relation to bringing world peace, i cannot but be reminded of that terrifying Mongolian Djengis Khan, who wanted to rule the world and who trained his armies to invade other countries to build the largest land empire that ever existed. At its greatest extent, the Mongolian Empire comprised almost exactly the territory that was occupied by communist countries such as the Soviet Union, China and Eastern Europe in the 20th century.

The orange line shows the extent of the Mongol Empire in the late 13th century. The red areas are the places dominated by ethnic Mongols. From Wikipedia

A portion of Mongolian society still highly reveres Djengis Khan. I don't like to think of Sun Myung Moon ruling over a world empire. Of course, Moon's methods to gain control are not through military means, but once the Khans had control over their empire also they were known for having brought peace to all the peoples they controlled.

Viewing the video really was something close to a nightmare. Here are all these people thinking they could impose peace upon us from above. This isn't a grass root movement. The Unificiationists focus heavily on witnessing to those with powerful positions in society. The conference as shown in the video seems to have much resemblance to Bilderberg meetings and personally, i am more scared of what the open Moon meetings are capable of than what the Bilderberg Group might do to the world.

Looking at the people in the video, it occurs to me that there are three categories of people attending conferences organized by Sun Myung Moon's followers. First there are the organizers like Mr. Chung Hwan Kwak. At the conference he is a main speaker and his way of speaking gives me the creeps. These organizers seem to be very well in control of what they are doing. The second category are the members of Moon's organizations who have learned to serve the invitees and who were conditioned to all speak with one voice. The third category of course are the guests, who give me the impression to believe they are doing a good thing, but i cannot get rid of the thought that at least part of their friendliness toward Moon comes from having their travel, hotel and dinner expenses being paid for by the Unificationists.

See also

Stanislau Shuskevich speaks at Unificationist gathering

2009-06-30T16:11:00.000-07:00

Stanisłaŭ Stanisłavavič Šuškievič (b. 1934), Belarusian politician.
Photo by Mariusz Kubik, http://www.mariuszkubik.pl
Copyright

Stanislau Shuskevich spoke in Seoul for a gathering of Unificationists in Seoul, South Korea on June 27, 2009. He was introduced by Hyung Jin Moon. The meeting had the form of a religious service.
Shuskevich spoke in support of Rev. Sun Myung Moon and his ML clipboardCheon Jeong Gung Peace Palace.
Hmm, i would have been more interested to hear his story of his role and vision of ending the Soviet Union.

Listen to Shuskevich's speech including Hyung Jin Moon's introduction and son gs

Or watch this video with the same content

Shuskevich speaking on June 27, 2009 in Seoul
Screenshot taken from the video

Stanislau Shuskevich ML clipboardis a Belarusian politician and scientist. From September 28, 1991 to January 26, 1994 he was first leader and head of state of independent Belarus after the dissolution of the Soviet Union (Chairman of the Supreme Soviet - also chairman of Parliament). He supported free market and democratic reforms and played a key role in the creation of the Commonwealth of Independent States.
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In 1991 he signed a declaration together with Boris Yeltsin of Russia and Leonid Kravchuk of Ukrain that the Soviet Union was dissolved.

Shuskevich withdrew from Belarus the Soviet nuclear arsenal. Later reforms he wanted to initiate became stalled by opposition of a hostile parliament.

In 1994 Shushevich won the first presidential elections held in Belarus.

In 2004 he attempted to participate in parliamentary elections but was refused registration by the electoral commission. He is now heading the Belarusian Social Democratic Assembly political party.

Belarus

See also

Belarus (Wikipedia)
Stanislau Shuskevich (Wikipedia)

You may be rich but is it God's blessing?

2009-06-30T10:45:00.000-07:00

There is a widespread belief among many who call themselves faithful that the wealth they gathered is proof of God's love for them. I don't recall the exact quotations from which they derive such belief, but it goes more or less in the line that God blesses the ones who are faithful, or blesses those who follow God's laws.

There seems to be a quite big problem with this thinking. I do also believe that God will bless a person who does right. But if we take this in a simple way we are forced to the conclusion that all poor and miserable people would be in their condition because they or their ancestors did once sin. All rich people would be rich because they did right. It surely cannot be that simple. It is actually rather outrageous to make such simple, i would say fundamentalist statements.

So let's assume that God blesses those who are faithful. But what does blessing mean? What would God mean with blessing a person? A person who wants to get rich considers wealth to be a blessing. A person who wants to get powerful considers power to be a blessing. A person who wants to get knowledgeable considers knowledge to be the blessing. Again someone else would find it a great blessing to get many children. People have all kind of opinions about 'blessings' but what matters is what God would consider to be a blessing for us.

Let's do some thought experiments. Suppose a person is addicted to the desire for money. That person goes to church and follows all the rites of his or her religion. The person really likes money and works hard and cheats a little, all within the law of course, and gathers great wealth. The person considers all the riches the result of doing right, of having the right faith. I imagine that God could desire that such person would lose all the money and becomes homeless; after many years the person comes to his or her self and finds out that the greed for money did destroy his or her inner life. I imagine that God would consider it to be a blessing that this person would lose all money and come to a deeper understanding of life.

So in this case God could consider it to be a blessing that a person loses all money, but the person thinks that blessing means getting more money. Rather complicated! Did i say now that all poor and hungry people are in such condition because they once did sin? No, i am not saying that at all. I believe people have a responsibility to care for each other. Some people may get wretched because they were lazy, others may loose their wealth and well-being because others did them wrong -- there could be so many reasons for that.

It's a common way of thinking of certain believers that God gave them wealth to use it in a responsible way. Yes, if you get something from God, you should be responsible for it, but what if you didn't get it from God but you stole it? What would then be your responsibility? It seems rather clear that in that case you should return to the owner what you stole.

There are so many ways of stealing. Many governments steal and have stolen by causing inflation of currencies in some way. They just steal a little bit from each person. Many banks and large corporations do the same. They just take a tiny something from many. Nobody notices it. The banks' owners use their money to influence politics. They get a good name, are respected, but some or more of them may actually be thieves. Instead of discontinuing to steal they make large donations to some kind of charity. Now they are not only thieves but also falsely hailed as famous saints.

The practiced principles of the religions that dominate today's world are clearly incapable of enough judging such misdoings and setting them straight.

Written in 2006

Thoughts on Sun Myung Moon

2009-06-30T06:12:00.000-07:00

Do you really think that God would like someone to dress up like king Moon and queen mrs. Moon, with mighty crowns and gowns and gold and glitter and pump? God regretted Israel's desire to have a king Saul like the pagan countries had. Jesus walked the earth looking more like a vagabond than a king. Do you really think God would wish such external signs of power for a person?

There is the contradiction between what Moon often said, that his followers had failed and that he proclaimed himself higher and higher in the universe. Wouldn't his success have to be the accomplishment of having brought his followers to fulfillment? He has a word to explain this contradiction: Indemnity. What a magical word! What would that have to mean?
Rev. Moon has said that he respects and studied the lives of evil powerful men, to learn from their methods. However, it is wrong to believe that the methods applied by evil subjects could equally be used for spreading goodness. The main problem of evil subjects is that they embark on the freedom of individuals. For God, nothing is more essential than that each person grows in complete freedom.
Rev. Moon explained in some of his speeches that he practiced long in front of a mirror to learn to show a pleasant and amicable smile. Smiles sell great!
The original task of Moon was to find out in which way Christianity had developed wrong ideas about the life and mission of Jesus. Moon realized that Jesus was not supposed to have been crucified. Moon's church was founded with the name the Holy Spirit Association for the Unification of World Christianity. The mission of this association was to live in the Holy Spirit from which the religion of Christianity had disconnected. If one now looks at what is in and around Moon's movement, we see that they embraced many Christian ministers and traditions, but also are most vigorously opposed by other Christians. This demonstrates the failure of the church to have unified Christianity. The Unification Church became just another Christian denomination.
Who does more for peace, someone who states peace at conferences or the unknown individual who fights against evil in himself and around him?

More thoughts will follow

Note: I had these thoughts over the past decades. They're coming up again one after another as i am working on making this blog - Lover of Truth