Did Rev. Sun Myung Moon destroy his own movement with nepotism?

Throughout history the plague of nepotism has brought down more than one empire. The Roman and Ottoman empires among them. Catholic priests adopted celibacy in the middle ages, not to chasten themselves, but to abolish the passing of position and property to decedents. Even in modern corporation, nepotism rules prevent managers from hiring relatives.

In the early days of the Unification Church, the children of Rev. Moon were considered truly superior, being born on a foundation that enabled a higher level of communication with God. They were to be the culmination of all that God had worked for and considered to be born on a foundation never before engaged by mankind.

As the years have passed we now know that our expectations of them were misplaced. They are not seemingly in any way closer or farther to God than your typical Unification Church faithful. This is not to pass judgement on them… just to point out that this dogma did not bear fruit.

Nevertheless, Rev. Moon entrusted huge assets and responsibilities to his very young children. They performed very well when being adulated and celebrated, but as soon as challenges arose they rebelled, committed atrocities against the Unification Church and their own parents. Ironically these challenges were inflicted by their own parents in the form of positions change and/or conflicting direction.

The Unification Church now finds itself with at least 3 rival factions, all headed up by relatives of Rev. Moon. They have secured members and assets…assets given to them freely, but built on the backs of members working for little or no wages for decades. Many of those members conflicted, and continue under them only because of their need for employment.

We know that even messianic figures have had errors in judgment. Most members can easily explain that Jesus’ decision to use miracles to gain followers was a mistake (because Rev. Moon told them so). I wonder how many members can be as objective about Rev. Moon and the decisions he has made?

This is not to say that people don’t make mistakes… even great people. Unfortunately I feel that the Unification Church is unable to process the possibility that Rev. Moon and his family are capable of mistakes, blaming all wrong directions and bad outcomes on Satan. They are too wrapped up in “deity worship” and maintaining their own fragile place in heaven to challenge the system.

Rev. Moon assumed absolute authority over his movement. His was it’s dictator. It was his decision to put his immature and untested children in positions of great power, proclaiming them as “Adam” to the movement. It was also his decision to not raise them directly, but though his staff, which I believe created a great deal of resentment, as well as complete lack of genuine love and relationship between him and his children. It was this lack of relationship that contributed to their abject rebellion and rupture of the movement.