The betrayal of Sun Myung Moon and what can be done about it

As they have every year for over five decades, tens of millions of Americans on this Memorial Day are remembering and honoring the heroes who made the ultimate sacrifice for their country and the freedoms it represents and upholds. These sacrifices hold particular meaning because they were most often made in foreign lands on behalf of people of other nationalities who were victims of unjust aggression or oppression.

Earlier this year, hundreds of millions of Christians around the world paused to remember and commemorate a similar but more universally significant sacrifice by Jesus, who gave his life to save the world from evil. His goodness and life of selfless service to humanity have from the earliest days of the church inspired Christians to honor him every year at Easter.

Why is Sun Myung Moon not Honored in a Similar Way? It’s not quite 12 years since Sun Myung Moon passed into the Spirit World, on September 3, 2012. He was honored by his followers at a massive funeral, and for several years his death was commemorated by his widow, Hak Ja Han, together with other leaders and members of the Unification Church. However, already that tradition has largely been diminished to irrelevance as faithful Unificationist hearts and minds have been re-educated by Hak Ja Han to focus on her as the central figure of God’s providence, to learn her new theology of the Only Begotten Daughter (OBD), and to accept her claims of God-like status and accomplishments. She now insists that all members be absolutely obedient to her.

This is a stunning and disturbing development. After all, Unificationists always looked up to her as the female representative of True Parents, such that all she had to do to be their temporal leader was to build on the incredible foundation laid by her husband through his life of sacrificial service and immense suffering. Instead, she has taken brick after brick from his foundation to build an edifice in her own honor, while step by step diminishing his importance in the eyes of members and the world.

The truth is that everything she claims as her own legacy was earned through the shedding of blood, sweat and tears by her husband in his life of service to God and humanity. It was he who defeated Satan in spirit and gave us the profound insights of the Divine Principle, the core teaching of the movement; it was he who won over hundreds of thousands of dedicated members in countries around the world; and it was the sacrificial efforts of these members that provided the funds to build the global movement.

She has tampered with core Divine Principle scriptures to give herself a central providential role above that of her husband’s; she has renamed many of the organizations he founded to make them part of her legacy; she has sold off providential properties to raise funds for her own pet projects; and she has sought to secure her legacy by erecting two massive statues of herself standing alone surrounded by adoring little people.

All of this has been carried out under cover of a clever deception, a grooming of Unificationists into believing she has always known the Principle and seen the errors of her husband. She ungratefully omits to remind members that it was he who made her his spouse in 1960, when she was a mere 17 years old (she was 11 when he founded the Unification Church as HSA-UWC in 1954), or that through their marriage she was elevated to the position of True Mother while still a teenager.

Despite her young age and lack of external qualification, True Father honored her position in the central providence by teaching that True Parents represent the Heavenly Parent, God the Creator, in a position above other central figures in history, and that it was they who would restore Adam and Eve as progenitors of a sinless lineage. When he spoke, he spoke as True Parents, from a dais with two special but equal chairs beneath pictures of them as a couple.

Hak Ja Han still speaks on behalf of True Parents, but long since hers has been the only chair on the dais and, increasingly, her picture the only one on the wall. These tokens of her ambition are confirmed by those immense statues. To diminish True Father and his importance, she says that he should not have married before 1960, but waited for her; she testifies in court that he was born with original sin, while she was not; she sends out lecturers who instruct leaders to pray for him in the Spirit World, so that he can be freed from his sins, and others who explain that the Protestant Reformation was to prepare for the OBD, not for a returning Messiah and True Parents.

She definitely paid a price of sacrifice herself, giving birth to 14 children and supporting her incredibly driven husband through many difficult times, always in the spotlight of a global movement. As a young and faithful bride and wife she was much admired by members. But on his death she has repeated the mistake of Sarah who could not fully embrace Abraham and the actions he took on behalf of the providence when they appeared to reduce her importance—with catastrophic consequences.

Remember, because Sarah was barren but recognized that Abraham must have offspring to continue the providence, she had offered her servant, Hagar, to Abraham for that purpose. However, once Sarah in old age was able to have Isaac, she turned on Hagar and Hagar’s son Ishmael, insisting that Abraham drive them from the family home. He reluctantly acquiesced but her jealousy was used by Satan to divide the central family—the descendants of the 12 sons of Ishmael were never reconciled with those of the 12 sons of Jacob, a problem that has grown with the spread of Islam and its conflict with Judaism and Christianity.

Satan was able to use Sarah’s jealousy because it was unprincipled. Could it be that a similar Satanic influence not only corrupted Eve’s innocence but also served to groom her into believing Lucifer’s lie—that she could be Godlike? If so, she likely acquired a self-importance that prevented her from repenting and accepting the guidance of Adam instead of dominating him with a rebellious, Luciferian spirit, resulting in their alienation from God.

Satan’s deceptions are the root of all false ideologies, from which ungodly behavior is justified. As Alexsandr Solzhenitsyn wisely pointed out in The Gulag Archipelago:

Ideology—that is what gives evildoing its long-sought justification and gives the evildoer the necessary steadfastness and determination. That is the social theory

which helps to make his acts seem good instead of bad in his own and others’ eyes, so that he won’t hear reproaches and curses but will receive praise and honors.

In the meantime, the lack of providential leadership for members is coming ever more into focus. Instead of an agenda that critiques Marxist and Neo-Marxist/Postmodernist ideologies and the destruction of our civilization they are wreaking, the new OBD era is embracing radical environmentalism, global warming hysteria, postcolonial and critical race theory as well as other Cain-type theories and positions. Meanwhile, no moral leadership is being offered on critical elections in the US or on the most important geopolitical issues of our day—Russia’s predatory and brutal invasion of Ukraine and the horrific attack on Israel by Hamas terrorists.

The Shameful Silence and Collaboration of Unification Leaders Meanwhile, the second generation and other young Unificationists are being led astray by OBD Pied Pipers, such as Damien Dunkley and Michael Balcomb, who exploit the use of ‘True Parents’ to create followers of her new religion, with its worship of Hak Ja Han. They teach that her words are nothing less than a new depth of revelation and that the older generation of Unificationists is unlikely to be able to adjust its ossified faith to comprehend how the providence has shifted away from True Father to True Mother, who now stands alone as True Parents. Older members need to get with this new program, which is focused on second, third and fourth generation members, or simply get out of the way of the neo-Unificationism.

These leaders are part of a Unification elite, that very small group of brothers (and a few sisters) who have made a career out of leading Unification projects—such as local, regional and national churches, UPF and its related organizations, and major publications and educational institutions— which pay them salaries. These people have remained largely mute, accepting and promoting the new world order to preserve their status and incomes. Worse still, some have come up with theories to explain why all of this change is theologically fine and consistent with the Principle, while others argue their responsibility is to go along with the new program in the name of remaining loyal to ‘True Parents’.

These leaders are betraying True Father and the Providence he advanced. They bear a particular responsibility as leaders living off public money.

There are, of course, also the two splinter groups headed by children of the Moon family, referred to in abbreviated form as H1 and H2. Like their mother, each considers himself the legitimate heir of True Father’s foundation and central providential position, and requires their followers to treat them as such. Both reject the OBD claims of their mother. However, these claims are problematic for many Unificationists. Many believe H1 acquired valuable Unification Movement assets by unprincipled means, while others cannot accept the ‘new True Mother’ installed by H2 or his radical pro-gun agenda and lifestyle.

None of the three major Unification factions has made significant progress in attracting new members or raising significant funds. All three have been built with members and money won by Sun Myung Moon.

It’s Time for Reformation and for Another Way This message will not interest those Unificationists who are committed to their affiliation with one of the three Unification factions. But for those troubled by the developments since True Father’s passing, here are some thoughts to consider:

1. It should be recognized that as individuals and families our first priority always should be to follow our Heavenly Father and the Divine Providence. This responsibility is important since the providence precedes and transcends all human divisions and affiliations, including those within the Unification Movement. It also transcends any personal loyalties, as important as individuals may be to the providence. No Unificationist should feel intimidated into declaring loyalty to a central figure!

2. In lieu of an Absolute Abel on earth, we can learn how to advance the providence from the example offered by Christianity, which has grown based on three pillars of the faith: A. The teachings of Jesus B. The lessons from the life of Jesus C. The sacrament of baptism

The Unification equivalents are: A. The teachings of Sun Myung Moon B. The lessons from the life of Sun Myung Moon and the establishment of True Parents C. The sacrament of the Blessing

3. For parents of children reaching blessing age, the third point is likely troubling, given the traditions of Unificationism. However, the matching and blessing have both been devolved to blessed couples, and the holy wine and any other necessary accoutrements for the blessing ceremony can be provided outside of a formal hierarchical structure.

It’s Time to Act The betrayal of Sun Myung Moon is now fully evident. There are no more legitimate excuses for ignoring it or for rationalizing the providential deviations that have been unfolding for 12 years now. Our children and grandchildren are being educated into a false OBD ideology and pressured into accepting a false savior while the actual central figure of today’s providence is being sidelined and buried beneath a mountain of false accusations—echoing Christian accusations of Jacob for what they believe was immoral behavior, when in fact he was enormously important for the providence.

Leaders must be responsible, even if it means loss of income. Parents must take responsibility for the education of their children. Families can create their own Divine Principle education, based on original texts, and form groups or associations to provide mutual support for study, socialization and worship. New and responsible leaders can be chosen from among trustworthy members. The result will be the creation of a global community of Abel-type believers who take responsibility for their own families in alignment with the Divine Providence as revealed through the teachings of Sun Myung Moon. This approach will overcome Unificationist factionalism and help break down barriers with other faith traditions. The impact will be similar to that of the Protestant Reformation which helped advance Christianity by providing a way for the faithful to break away from institutions that had lost their way and no longer served their providential purpose.