In 1954 a former Presbyterian Korean Sun Myung Moon, founded the Unification Church. His church grew extensively with branches worldwide, but Moon became a controversial figure accused of using brainwashing and mind control techniques on his followers.
In 1960, at the age of 40, Sun Myung Moon married 17-year-old Hak Ja Han and over the years they had 14 children. They moved from South Korea to the United States in 1971.
Moon's theology unites Christian and Taoist ideas and is based on his book Divine Principle, which teaches that the original purpose of creation was to set up a perfect family in a perfect relationship with God; throughout history there have been attempts to renew this plan, which finally found in fulfilment in the Reverend and Mrs Moon.
In the 1970s the Unification Church pronounced that the entire family of Sun Myung Moon was free from sin. This tenet did not please the principal of the American school where Moon's eldest son Hyo Jin attended as they had been forced to expel him for lack of discipline.
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| Rev. Sun Myung Moon speaking in Las Vegas in 2010. By Everyguy |
In 1960, at the age of 40, Sun Myung Moon married 17-year-old Hak Ja Han and over the years they had 14 children. They moved from South Korea to the United States in 1971.
Moon's theology unites Christian and Taoist ideas and is based on his book Divine Principle, which teaches that the original purpose of creation was to set up a perfect family in a perfect relationship with God; throughout history there have been attempts to renew this plan, which finally found in fulfilment in the Reverend and Mrs Moon.
In the 1970s the Unification Church pronounced that the entire family of Sun Myung Moon was free from sin. This tenet did not please the principal of the American school where Moon's eldest son Hyo Jin attended as they had been forced to expel him for lack of discipline.
Rhe term "Moonie" was first used by American media sources to refer to members of The Unification Church in 1974, during church events at the Madison Square Garden.
The New Yorker Hotel, which was purchased by the Unification Church of the United States in 1976 for $5.6 million is now the site of national church headquarters offices. In 1994, the Unification Church elected to convert a portion of the building to use as a hotel again and the New Yorker Hotel Management Company took over operation of the building.
Sun Myung Moon was jailed in New York in 1984 for tax irregularities and served 13 months of an 18-month sentence in a federal prison.
When the American news media began using the word "Moonie" to refer to Unification Church members, it was considered to be derogatory by Moon and his followers. In the 1980s and 1990s the church undertook an extensive public relations campaign against the use of the word by the news media.
Sun Myung Moon declared at a 1992 mass rally that he and his wife were the true parents of all humanity.
Moon's blessing ceremonies have attracted a lot of attention in the press and in the public imagination, often being labeled "mass weddings." Some 30,000 members of the Unification Church gathered at RFK sports stadium in Washington in the last weekend of November 1997. Most were affirming their vows but 2,000 of them were embarking on arranged marriages. Most of the brides and grooms were matched with their future spouses by Moon.
On October 12, 2009, it was announced that Sun Myung Moon had handed down the church to his sons, Moon Hyung-jin, Moon Kook-jin, and Moon Hyun-jin. Moon died on the morning of September 3, 2012 at the age of 92.
At its height, the Unification Church counted nearly 30,000 members in the U.S. But as Moon gained prominence in the United States, critics accused his church of deceiving converts and brainwashing members. In the U.S., estimates of their current membership range from 15,000 to 25,000. No one knows how many Unificationists there are worldwide.
The New Yorker Hotel, which was purchased by the Unification Church of the United States in 1976 for $5.6 million is now the site of national church headquarters offices. In 1994, the Unification Church elected to convert a portion of the building to use as a hotel again and the New Yorker Hotel Management Company took over operation of the building.
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| The New Yorker Hotel, By Daniel Schwen |
Sun Myung Moon was jailed in New York in 1984 for tax irregularities and served 13 months of an 18-month sentence in a federal prison.
When the American news media began using the word "Moonie" to refer to Unification Church members, it was considered to be derogatory by Moon and his followers. In the 1980s and 1990s the church undertook an extensive public relations campaign against the use of the word by the news media.
Sun Myung Moon declared at a 1992 mass rally that he and his wife were the true parents of all humanity.
Moon's blessing ceremonies have attracted a lot of attention in the press and in the public imagination, often being labeled "mass weddings." Some 30,000 members of the Unification Church gathered at RFK sports stadium in Washington in the last weekend of November 1997. Most were affirming their vows but 2,000 of them were embarking on arranged marriages. Most of the brides and grooms were matched with their future spouses by Moon.
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| Moon presides over a mass blessing ceremony in 2010. By Cristinadeargentina |
On October 12, 2009, it was announced that Sun Myung Moon had handed down the church to his sons, Moon Hyung-jin, Moon Kook-jin, and Moon Hyun-jin. Moon died on the morning of September 3, 2012 at the age of 92.
At its height, the Unification Church counted nearly 30,000 members in the U.S. But as Moon gained prominence in the United States, critics accused his church of deceiving converts and brainwashing members. In the U.S., estimates of their current membership range from 15,000 to 25,000. No one knows how many Unificationists there are worldwide.
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