Editing Sun Myung Moon (section)

==Criticism==

Moon's claim to be the [[Messiah]] and the [[Second Coming of Christ]] has been rejected by both Jewish and Christian scholars.<ref name="Dialogue with the Moonies">Rodney Sawatsky, 1978, [http://theologytoday.ptsem.edu/apr1978/v35-1-criticscorner3.htm Dialogue with the Moonies] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081211184615/http://theologytoday.ptsem.edu/apr1978/v35-1-criticscorner3.htm |date=11 December 2008 }} ''Theology Today.''</ref><ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20100323061342/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,913685-2,00.html Mad About Moon], ''[[Time Magazine]]'', 10 November 1975</ref> The ''Divine Principle'' was labeled as [[heresy|heretical]] by Protestant churches in South Korea, including Moon's own [[Presbyterian Church]]. In the United States, it was rejected by ecumenical organizations as being non-Christian.<ref name="Chryssides2003">[http://www.cesnur.org/2003/vil2003_chryssides.htm Unifying or Dividing? Sun Myung Moon and the Origins of the Unification Church] George D. Chryssides, University of Wolverhampton, U.K. 2003, Since doctrine looms large in Christian thought, it is understandable that its objections to Unificationism are principally on doctrinal grounds. Although the Christian counter-cult literature does not always expound Unification teachings fairly, it is almost unanimous in identifying the respects in which Unificationism diverges from mainstream Christianity: it is unbiblical; teaches erroneous doctrines of God, Christ and salvation; Divine Principle usurps the status of the Judaeo-Christian Bible; it teaches that Jesus did not fully accomplish his mission and that a new messiah is needed to complete it; it introduces new rituals and forms of worship; and it is spiritist. As new religions progress, they occasionally gain acceptance into the mainstream fold, as happened with Seventh-day Adventism, and, even more strikingly, with the Worldwide Church of God. At the turn of the 21st century, however, Unificationism seems no more likely to gain recognition by mainstream Christians.</ref> Protestant commentators have also criticized Moon's teachings as being contrary to the Protestant doctrine of [[Sola fide|salvation by faith alone]].<ref name="Daske, D 2005, p142">Daske, D. and Ashcraft, W. 2005, ''New Religious Movements'', New York: New York University Press, {{ISBN|0-8147-0702-5}} p142</ref><ref name="Yamamoto, J 1995, p40">Yamamoto, J. 1995, ''Unification Church'', Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan Press, {{ISBN|0-310-70381-6}} p40</ref> In their influential book ''[[The Kingdom of the Cults]]'' (first published in 1965), [[Walter Ralston Martin]] and [[Ravi K. Zacharias]] disagreed with the ''Divine Principle'' on the issues of the [[divinity of Christ]], the [[virgin birth of Jesus]], Moon's belief that [[Jesus bloodline|Jesus should have married]], the necessity of the [[crucifixion of Jesus]], a literal [[resurrection of Jesus]], as well as a literal [[second coming of Jesus]].<ref name="Walter Ralston Martin 2003, pages 368-370">Walter Ralston Martin, Ravi K. Zacharias, ''The Kingdom of the Cults'', Bethany House, 2003, {{ISBN|0764228218}} pages 368-370</ref> Commentators have criticized the ''Divine Principle'' for saying that the [[First World War]], the [[Second World War]], the [[Holocaust]], and the [[Cold War]] served as [[Indemnity in the Unification Church|indemnity conditions]] to prepare the world for the establishment of the [[Kingdom of God]].<ref>Helm, S. [https://www.religion-online.org/article/divine-principle-and-the-second-advent/ Divine Principle and the Second Advent] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080921143920/http://www.religion-online.org/showarticle.asp?title=1163 |date=21 September 2008 }} ''[[Christian Century]]'' 11 May 1977.</ref>

During the [[Cold War]], Moon was criticized by both the [[mainstream media]] and the [[alternative media|alternative press]] for his [[anti-communist]] activism, which many said could lead to [[World War III]] and a [[nuclear holocaust]].<ref>Thomas Ward, 2006, [http://www.tparents.org/Library/Unification/Publications/SMM-Communism-060300/giveforget.html#chap2a Give and Forget]</ref> Moon's anti-communist activities received financial support from controversial Japanese millionaire and activist [[Ryōichi Sasakawa]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.mediachannel.org/originals/moontranscript2.shtml |title=The Resurrection of Reverend Moon |date=21 January 1992 |work=Frontline |publisher=PBS | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110107084418/http://www.mediachannel.org/originals/moontranscript2.shtml|archive-date=7 January 2011}}</ref><ref>[https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9E0CEEDB1F3FF932A15752C0A964958260 Sun Myung Moon Changes Robes], ''[[New York Times]]'', 21 January 1992</ref> In 1977, the [[Subcommittee on International Organizations of the Committee on International Relations]] of the [[United States House of Representatives]], while investigating the [[Koreagate]] scandal, found that the [[National Intelligence Service (South Korea)|South Korean National Intelligence Service]] (KCIA) had worked with the Unification Church to gain political influence within the United States, with some members working as volunteers in Congressional offices. Together, they founded the Korean Cultural Freedom Foundation, a nonprofit organization that undertook [[public diplomacy]] for the Republic of Korea.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=AabywLOknbsC&dq=fraser+kcia&pg=PA59 Spiritual warfare: the politics of the Christian right], [[Sara Diamond (sociologist)]], 1989, [[Pluto Press]], Page 58</ref> The committee also investigated possible KCIA influence on Moon's campaign in support of [[Richard Nixon]].<ref>[https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=f7ITAAAAIBAJ&sjid=KeADAAAAIBAJ&pg=6935,979096&dq=fraser+korea Ex-aide of Moon Faces Citation for Contempt], [[Associated Press]], ''[[Eugene Register-Guard]]'', 5 August 1977</ref> 
After the [[dissolution of the Soviet Union]] in 1991, some American conservatives criticized Moon for his softening of his previous anti-communist stance.<ref name=salonfeb/><ref name="auto"/>

In the 1990s, when Moon began to offer the Unification marriage blessing ceremony to members of other churches and religions, he was criticized for creating possible confusion.<ref>[http://www.signaturebooks.com/excerpts/unification.htm excerpt] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20030429161208/http://www.signaturebooks.com/excerpts/unification.htm |date=29 April 2003 }} The Unification Church Studies in Contemporary Religion, Massimo Introvigne, 2000, Signature Books, Salt Lake City, Utah, {{ISBN|1-56085-145-7}} "From a different perspective, it is true that participation of people who are not members of the Unification Church in certain Unificationist activities, such as marriage blessings, may be of concern to established churches. They perceive the possibility that their own members may become confused by their participation in such Unificationist activities and fear that they may in fact end up converting to Unificationism." -p 59–60</ref> In 1998, journalist [[Peter Maass]], writing for ''[[The New Yorker]]'', reported that some Unification members were dismayed and also grumbled when Moon extended the Blessing to non-members, who had not gone through the same course that members had.<ref>[http://www.petermaass.com/core.cfm?p=1&mag=48&magtype=1 Moon at Twilight] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20010411094005/http://www.petermaass.com/core.cfm?p=1&mag=48&magtype=1 |date=11 April 2001 }}, [[Peter Maass]], ''[[The New Yorker]]'' "The campaign has dismayed some church members, because a blessing from Moon used to be a hard-won privilege, typically attained only after a person had joined the church, worked in it for several years, and agreed to marry someone--usually a stranger--selected by Moon. But grumblings about the blessing campaign are just the beginning of Moon's current troubles."</ref> In 2001, Moon came into conflict with the [[Roman Catholic Church]] when 71-year-old Catholic archbishop [[Emmanuel Milingo]] and Maria Sung, a 43-year-old [[Korea]]n acupuncturist, married in a blessing ceremony, presided over by Moon and his wife. Following his marriage, the archbishop was called to the Vatican by [[Pope John Paul II]], where he was asked not to see his wife anymore and to move to a Capuchin monastery. Sung went on a hunger strike to protest their separation. This attracted much media attention.<ref name="nationalcatholicreporter.org"/> Milingo is now an advocate of the removal of the requirement for [[celibacy]] by priests in the Catholic Church. He is the founder of the [[Married Priests Now!]] advocacy group.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://wpherald.com/articles/326/1/Archbishop-launches-married-priests-movement/quotMarried-Priests-Nowquot.html|title=Archbishop launches married priests movement|website=wpherald.com|access-date=28 January 2018|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071222235907/http://wpherald.com/articles/326/1/Archbishop-launches-married-priests-movement/quotMarried-Priests-Nowquot.html|archive-date=22 December 2007}}</ref>

In 1998, the Egyptian newspaper ''[[Al-Ahram]]'' criticized Moon's possible relationship with Israeli Prime Minister [[Benjamin Netanyahu]] and wrote that ''The Washington Times'' editorial policy was "rabidly anti-Arab, anti-Muslim and pro-Israel."<ref>[http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/1998/403/op1.htm The same old game] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090215193404/http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/1998/403/op1.htm|date=15 February 2009}}, ''[[Al-Ahram]]'', 12–18 November 1998, "The Washington Times is a mouthpiece for the ultra conservative right, unquestioning supporters of Israel's [[Likud]] government. The newspaper is owned by Sun Myung Moon, originally a native of North Korea and head of the Unification Church, whose ultra-right leanings make him a ready ally for Netanyahu. Whether or not Netanyahu is personally acquainted with Moon is unclear, though there is no doubt that he has established close friendships with several staff members on ''The Washington Times'', whose editorial policy is rabidly anti-Arab, anti-Muslim and pro-Israel."</ref><ref>[http://www.wrmea.com/backissues/1297/9712060.html As U.S. Media Ownership Shrinks, Who Covers Islam?], ''[[Washington Report on Middle East Affairs]]'', December 1997</ref>

In 2000, Moon was criticized, including by some members of his church, for his support of controversial [[Nation of Islam]] leader [[Louis Farrakhan]]'s [[Million Family March]].<ref name="clarkson" /> Moon was also criticized for his relationship with controversial Jewish scholar [[Richard L. Rubenstein]], an advocate of the "[[death of God theology]]" of the 1960s.<ref>John Warwick Montgomery and Thomas J. J. Altizer, ''The Altizer-Montgomery Dialogue: A Chapter in the God is Dead Controversy'' (InterVarsity Press, Chicago, 1967), p.7</ref> Rubenstein was a defender of the [[Unification Church]] and served on its advisory council,<ref name="AJA">{{cite web|url=http://www.americanjewisharchives.org/aja/FindingAids/RichardRubenstein.htm|title=Richard L. Rubenstein Papers|website=www.americanjewisharchives.org|access-date=28 January 2018|archive-date=29 July 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120729145441/http://americanjewisharchives.org/aja/FindingAids/RichardRubenstein.htm|url-status=dead}}</ref> and on the board of directors of ''[[The Washington Times]]'', a church-owned newspaper.<ref>"Rabbi Joins the Board of Moonie Newspaper", ''[[The Palm Beach Post]]'', 21 May 1978</ref> In the 1990s, he served as president of the [[University of Bridgeport]], which was then affiliated with the church.<ref>[https://archive.today/20121208134740/http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F60616FA3D550C7B8CDDA00894DD494D81 U. of Bridgeport Honors Rev. Moon, Fiscal Savior], ''[[New York Times]]'', 8 September 1995</ref>

In 2003, George D. Chryssides of the [[University of Wolverhampton]] criticized Moon for introducing doctrines that tended to divide the Christian church rather than uniting it, which was his stated purpose in founding the Unification movement (originally named the Holy Spirit Association for the Unification of World Christianity).<ref name="Chryssides2003" /> In his 2009 autobiography, Moon himself wrote that he did not originally intend on founding a separate denomination.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Moon |first=Sun Myung |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/638962627 |title=As a peace-loving global citizen |date=2011 |publisher=Washington Times Foundation |isbn=978-0-615-39377-3 |location=[Washington, D.C.] |pages=121–122 |language=en |chapter=Chapter three, part "A Church with No Denomination" |oclc=638962627 |chapter-url=http://www.euro-tongil.org/swedish/english/TFbiography%20v1.pdf}}</ref>

Moon opposed homosexuality and compared gay people to "dirty dung-eating dogs".<ref>{{cite web|last1=Moon|first1=Sun Myung|title=The Family Federation for Cosmic Peace and Unification and the Cosmic Era of the Blessed Family|url=http://www.unification.net/1997/970504.html|website=unification.net|access-date=30 November 2015}}</ref> He said that "gays will be eliminated" in a "purge on God's orders".<ref>{{cite web|title=The Unification Church and Homosexuality|url=http://www.religioustolerance.org/hom_uni.htm|website=www.ReligiousTolerance.org|publisher=Ontario Consultants on Religious Tolerance|access-date=30 November 2015|archive-date=2 August 2003|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20030802213412/http://www.religioustolerance.org/hom_uni.htm|url-status=dead}}</ref> 

In 2009, Moon's support for the [[Japan-Korea Undersea Tunnel]] was criticized in Japan and South Korea as a possible threat to both nations' interests and [[national identities]].<ref name="UPIAsia-Yamazaki-2009">{{cite news
  | url = http://www.upiasia.com/Society_Culture/2009/08/10/is_it_time_for_japan-south_korea_tunnel/9918
  | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20100125140319/http://www.upiasia.com/Society_Culture/2009/08/10/is_it_time_for_japan-south_korea_tunnel/9918
  | url-status = dead
  | archive-date = 25 January 2010
| title = Is it time for Japan-South Korea tunnel?
  | last = Yamazaki | first = Hiroshi
  | date = 10 August 2009
| publisher=UPIAsia.com website
  | access-date =11 August 2009}}
</ref>

Other criticisms include Moon's apparent neglect of his wife, [[Hak Ja Han]], and his appointments of their children and their spouses to leadership positions in the church and related businesses, including their daughter [[In Jin Moon]] to the presidency of the [[Unification Church of the United States]] against the wishes of some church members; his support of conservatives within the government of South Korea; his assignment of movement members and resources to business projects and political activism, including ''The Washington Times''; as well as the relationship between the [[Unification Church and Islam]], especially following the [[September 11 attacks]] in New York City.<ref name="NewRepub"/>