The Death Of Sun Myung Moon
Sun Myung Moon was an addict. He was addicted to power and money. He acquired a great deal of both in his lifetime. The psychological elements he was able to exploit – to feed his addiction – are similar to those utilized by Hitler, Jim Jones, and leaders of Al Qaeda.
Driven by his desire to have more and more power – and more and more money, Sun Myung Moon was able to convince many people, including myself, that he was the manifestation of God and that I/we should devote our lives to him. I would have done ANYTHING for him.
The main agenda of his “church” was always to raise him up as the one and only true son of God. He held all power. Sun Myung Moon was an addict. His empire was built from the free labor of those psychologically and emotionally enslaved by the memeplex he constructed to feed his addiction.
Sun Myung Moon died a rich man. His legacy will be passed down to his youngest son. The memeplex will continue in spite of his passing.
Much will be said in these coming days as the journalists turns their focus to his life. They will talk about his money, his tax fraud and his bizarre doctrine, claiming he was the messiah. Nothing that will be said in the news, however, will change the minds of his followers. It would not have changed mine. What changed my mind – and set me free – was the understanding of HOW I was manipulated.
I am contacted almost daily by people who have been affected by Moon’s organization or some similar memeplex. Their loss of autonomy, their fear and guilt of leaving – or even questioning the doctrine – are all very similar, regardless of the leader or doctrine.
It is important NOT to point to Sun Myung Moon or Jim Jones, or Hitler or Bin Laden and simply be glad they are gone. It is also important NOT to simply point to the doctrines they professed as the culprit. We must understand how these memeplex builders were able to gain the power they did. Without understanding the psychological structure of the memeplexes these historical figures built, history will be repeated. Moon constructed invisible chains having the effect of psychological enslavement of his followers. THIS is why the “The Moonies” are important to understand.
We cannot predict the direction the next big memeplex will take, but we can know that vulnerable people, mostly young people, will be willing to give their lives for the next addict who is able to harness similar psychological components, which when combined, hold the power to control the decision making processes of its victims.
It is my goal to expose these components and in doing so lower the vulnerability of potential victims of dangerous memeplexes like the Moonies.
There was no tragedy like Jonestown, no gas chambers and no suicide bombers in Moon’s memeplex. Because of this the importance is often discounted. The reason Sun Myung Moon and the empire he built are so important is that there could have been such a tragedy. Members were equally prepared to do what he asked of them. It is the power to control the decision making processes of large numbers of people we must be concerned about.
Addiction is a relentless motivator. Not all addicts can harness the combination of psychological elements necessary to gain the power Sun Myung Moon did.
Others will succeed in the future; they may be building momentum as I write these words.
Light must be shed on the way these memeplexes work and how human vulnerability allows addicts like Moon to feed on their prey.
I joined the Unification Church in New Zealand in 1979 and left the Church in 1981. At the time I left I was working for the Church in New York in their daily newspaper the “News World”. When I left Rev. Moon was in the middle of his tax evasion trial for which he was later found guilty and sentenced to 3 years in jail.
I left the Church in 1981 because I realized that I had been deceived. My decision to leave had nothing to with the trial. In fact, the thought of betraying Rev. Moon at his hour of need weighed heavily upon me. I went to Rev. Moon’s Belvedere estate in upstate New York as often as I could to hear him speak and on the occasion of his trail listened to a message by Mr Kamayama about how Moon’s trial. He said Moon’s trail was like Jesus’s trail before the Sanhedrin. The Message being that leaving the Church at that time would be worse than the betrayal by Judas which led to Jesus’ arrest and crucifixion. Nevertheless, I left the Moonies. I did not not do so because I had any doubts about Moon’s innocence at the time or because I could not take the lifestyle anymore but because I discovered a misrepresentation of Biblical facts in the Divine Principle (Rev. Moon’s Bible) which led me to the realization that I was lied to and the author of the Divine Principle i.e. Rev. Moon must have known that he was lying when he wrote the Divine Principle. The doubts I had then began to invade my every thought and emotion making it impossible for me to continue to function with the level of commitment I had to the Church at the time. I told the leadership at the News World that I was leaving. They were at the time training me for the position of Layout Manager for the paper. They tried to bribe me to stay. They offered me full pay for my job (I had been working for no pay). They also offered me a free 40 day workshop and assured me that I would be married to a US citizen at the upcoming mass wedding where I was a candidate and that this would ensure I would get a green card and be able to work legally in the paper (I was not working there legally at the time). All this did not dissuade me, though I was very tempted. I had the courage of my convictions.
When I did leave and return to New Zealand I suffered from terrible depression. I am sure my years in the Moonies affected my mind. Although I was able to release myself from the circular logic of the Divine Principle I was never able to completely escape the emotional, physical and psychological effects of my Moonie experience.
I am interested in the idea of the memeplex. I see, as only someone can who has experienced life in a cult, how certain patterns of behavior exist within many different cults, religions and political movements. I can also testify how difficult it is to break away from these groups and how circular thinking can hold you to the most absurd notions.
However, I am also convinced that people who are in these groups can be helped. All that is needed is to put one idea in their mind which stops the circular thinking and starts the domino effect of doubt. The difficulty is reaching these people who are often isolated from all outside contact.
When you start to add up how many people are in these groups the number is staggering and the number of those suffering as a consequence of these groups quite overwhelming. But the problem is that society response is to ostracize these people to call them cults and isolate them from society which only helps the cult to reinforce its them and us mentality. Society has to reach out to these groups and the Law makers need to write laws which protect the individuals rights against being exploited.
It has been decades since I left the Unification Church but the experience has deeply affected me. I still suffer depression and struggle in life. Although I have no doubt that Rev. Moon was nothing more than a self deluded megalomaniac the effect of my years in the Moonies has never left me. I am sure my brain was infected and I still suffer the scars of that infection which affects my emotions, and reasoning. However, I can not afford the expense of a lot of psychoanalysis to cure it.
One thing I have done, to help my self, is to write a book on the Divine Principle which shows how the book works as a method of control and manipulation as well as exposing the misrepresentation of its many Biblical quotes. I was once told when I was in the Moonies that the Divine Principle was scientific, in that it starts with an hypothesis and then when evidence it found which supports the hypothesis, then you have a proven theory. However, as I wrote in my book, if you misrepresent the facts and distort the facts to fit the hypothesis then you prove that you do not have a proven theory but you have a deception.
My book is not yet finished. I pick it up for a while and do some work on it then stop. I really hate the Principle and find it very tiring work critiquing it. I tell myself that it is good therapy but do not hold much hope for it ever being published. Although I do hope that if I do get it finished and get my book out there it may help someone to escape the Moonies mental clutches.
Well I shall keep an eye on your website and wish you well in your endeavours
Bunch of crying babies restauration come with responsibilities lazy ass
Having received Jesus as my Lord in 1972 he guided me to God, to his second coming. But salvation is just the beginning. The Kingdom of Heaven on Earth Jesus told us to daily pray for is at hand. I have been following Rev Moon well over forty years now and his teachings, that God is the INVISIBLE man and man is the VISIBLE God becomes more clear to me with each passing day. God and man are one, separated by sin. The one free from that original sin is the True Parent, Sun Myung Moon. The marriage Blessing he offers is more than a ceremony of the Unification Church. It is a change of blood lineage from Satan’s bloodline back to God’s.
My heart goes out to those that are deceived as I know how easy it is to be fooled. I have been deceived many a time and only when I have read the bible (KJV revised1611) so as to understand what I had come to believe did it become clear to me that I had been deceived by someone, some book, or some organization (often churches).
Disbelief and apostacy have become rampant in these times, though Satan began his campaign way back with Adam and Eve. And he has through the ages continued ever so stealthily to advance, till finally today, we are bombarded by apostacy blatantly served up by most so called Christian churches who are professing Christ but denying the power thereof. The gospel of Jesus Christ has been highjacked, and almost no-one knows it.
Only those that realize that the word of God, the bible, is the only sure truth, and cannot be broken, … “2Ti 3:16 All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:” and for mental health. Always check out what you hear with the bible, like the Bereans did, to assure yourself that you are keeping on track with the only Saviour of the world, Jesus Christ.
Why should you believe me! Don’t! Don’t believe any man. Believe Jesus, who left His word so we could be wise in His ways and see through the wiles of the devil.