A lesson from history: Who will rid me of this turbulent priest? - Hyung Jin Moon

Nearly 850 years ago King Henry II, in a fit of anger with his friend the Archbishop of Canterbury Thomas Becket, is alleged to have said, "Will no one rid me of this turbulent priest?" Whatever Henry said, it was interpreted as a royal command, and four knights, Reginald FitzUrse, Hugh de Morville, William de Tracy and Richard le Breton, set out to confront the Becket and murdered him in Canterbury Cathedral. Henry was mortified when he found out what had happened to his friend. Although he himself did not commit the crime, he was held responsible by everyone because as a person in authority, he should have been more careful how he spoke to those under his authority.

Listening to the way Hyung-jin and Kook-jin Moon speak about their mother one notices the parallels and wonders if they are aware of the potential consequences of their words. For example: on the 31st October 2016 video you can watch and listen at 55:23 to Kook-jin saying: "The tradition of Kingship is very clear. In that case where the Queen Mother tries to usurp the throne, it's the King's responsibility to arrest her and execute her. That's the king's responsibility." www,youtube,com/watch?v=V6Or6tHmjf4

And then a month later on the 20th November 2016 video you can watch and listen at 55:00 to Hyung-jin saying, "Now what did the Han mother do? Think about it in legal terms, what did she do? The messiah has given the scriptures, he has given what will represent his curriculum and his word. We are a nation of Cheon Il Guk, which is not an actual sovereign nation yet but it will come in the future. But think about what she has done on a legal level. She has gone and desecrated all those national treasures. Do you understand what I am saying. Now, legally what would happen? You have to lock her up, even though she is your mum, you have to lock her up. In a real nation what the Han Mother has done is beyond criminality. She has not only desecrated national treasures, she has not only desecrated museum pieces, she has not only desecrated UNESCO Heritage Sites per the greatest. What else has she done? She has usurped the throne. Now let me ask you in the States, in Britain if you usurp the throne, will you be locked up? You will be beheaded. In a real nation if you usurp the throne and the king has already determined his next king, his successor and heir and representative body, and [say] "No, I don't like that. I am going to change that," you are considered a usurper. And if you try to politically do that, you will be locked up. You are committing treason. You are a traitor to the nation. You are committing crimes against the nation and humanity. Think about that on the national level." www,youtube,com/watch?v=6ZmHcXVtd20

This is a serious issue. There are mentally unstable people everywhere as President Trump himself acknowledges. And most of them are law-abiding citizens. And some own guns. There are also people on the autistic spectrum who take things literally. life-with-aspergers.blogspot.co,uk/2007/10/taking-things- literally.html The problem comes when such people get a dangerous idea into their heads. And there are people who spread dangerous ideas without intending them to be taken literally.

So, it is not hard to imagine a mentally disturbed person taking what the Moon brothers say literally and using a gun, or indeed any weapon, 'the rod of iron', to punish Hak-ja Han and her supporters. That sort of thing is not unheard of in America. People hear voices and commit terrible crimes. It happens in Europe too. The Yorkshire Ripper and Anders Behring Breivik being two well-known examples. And people commit terrorist outrages in the name of God thinking they are doing the will of God. This is not a new phenomenon. As Alexander Solzenitsyn wrote:

"To do evil a human being must first of all believe that what he's doing is good, or else that it's a well- considered act in conformity with natural law. Fortunately, it is in the nature of the human being to seek justification for his actions. Macbeth's self-justifications were feeble – and his conscience devoured him. Yes, even Iago was a little lamb, too. The imagination and spiritual strength of Shakespeare's evildoers stopped short at a dozen corpses. 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 honours. That was how the agents of the Inquisition fortified their wills: by invoking Christianity; the conquerors of foreign lands, by extolling the grandeur of their Motherland; the colonizers, by civilization; the Nazis, by race; and the Jacobins (early and late), by equality, brotherhood, and the happiness of future generations."

As we can see this is something that has happened throughout the ages. Supported by certain ideologies some people are willing to suspend the ethical norms and impulses that bind people to each other. It is a problem that the Muslim world is wrestling with today. Within a short time of being exposed to the sermons of radical imams, some apparently normal, law-abiding, gentle, kind, well-educated Muslims become radicalised. They accept a distorted but persuasive and attractive version of Islam which makes them feel special and gives a meaning and significance to their lives. As a result of being radicalised they feel it is their duty to do something significant for God's sake and in God's name and sometimes it involves violence against ordinary innocent people who they regard as legitimate enemies. Sincere idealists every one of them.

It is hard to live with uncertainty and the confusion of the world in which we live. In such conditions some people seek certainty and direction by finding an authority figure and adopting his opinions as their own. In every community there are people like this who seek sanctuary and refugee in a extreme form of their religion. Some are also mentally unstable. If this fundamentalism has a message justifying violence along with the demonization of certain figures it is not hard to imagine what unstable people might think. And do. This is one of the worries I have about the Sanctuary Church. And who will take responsibility for such unstable members if they take the words of the Kook-jin and Hyung-jin brothers literally?