How come some Evangelical leaders liked Sun Myung Moon?

[PazzoGrande]

If it makes anyone feel better, I am 32 years old and I did not even know who Moon was. After I read it, I still do not know why he was a big deal

Some people have always claimed to be a prophet, messiah, or an alien creature. Why was he any different?
npatrol: if I do not hear from my Church about a person, then I do not believe. Hence it is why I am Catholic and not the flavor of the month religion.

Yeah it’s interesting, he was once a bigger deal and today people of our generation (I’m 27) aren’t likely to know who he freakin was. Well, at least our Messiah never faded into obscurity.

I guess Moon was a big deal because of just how wealthy and powerful he got. But you have a point – there are always cults that brainwash and swindle. I guess Moon was a bigger deal because he was around longer and was more powerful than the other cultleaders.

I guess a way to think of it is, imagine if Scientology had a front man, their own self-proclaimed messiah, and Scientology was known for this one leader. The organisation is so rich and powerful with its celebrity members and its Scientology branches everywhere around the country, and that one leader managed to really get ahead, so much to the point where politicians (including presidents) and powerful people associated with him.

Aside from owning the Washington Times, he owned United Press International too. Until a year or two ago, UPI’s correspondent was the senior-most White House reporter.

He also had the distinction of producing the biggest movie flip in history. Guiness World Records says it was the biggest money-loser, and critics say it was one of the worst films of all time. Yet it starred Lawrence Olivier and was distributed by MGM. Supposedly it tried to glorify his cult.

He was apparently more than a David Koresh. If you’ve seen the TV show Soap, the story arc where Billy joined a cult was actually a spoof of Moon.

 

[Dale_M]

Politics makes for strange bedfellows.

Moon was a vocal anti-Communist during final decade of the Cold War. He was also politically in tune with the burgeoning “Religious Right” of the 1980s, of which Jerry Falwell was a prime architect.

Moon’s immense wealth allowed him to continue to play a role in US politics and culture into the 1990s. He had clout among political conservatives, some of who were also Evangelicals or other Christian conservatives.

 

[colmywaykurtz]

Yeah it’s interesting, he was once a bigger deal and today people of our generation (I’m 27) aren’t likely to know who he freakin was. Well, at least our Messiah never faded into obscurity.

I guess Moon was a big deal because of just how wealthy and powerful he got. But you have a point – there are always cults that brainwash and swindle. I guess Moon was a bigger deal because he was around longer and was more powerful than the other cultleaders.

I guess a way to think of it is, imagine if Scientology had a front man, their own self-proclaimed messiah, and Scientology was known for this one leader. The organisation is so rich and powerful with its celebrity members and its Scientology branches everywhere around the country, and that one leader managed to really get ahead, so much to the point where politicians (including presidents) and powerful people associated with him.

Aside from owning the Washington Times, he owned United Press International too. Until a year or two ago, UPI’s correspondent was the senior-most White House reporter.

He also had the distinction of producing the biggest movie flip in history. Guiness World Records says it was the biggest money-loser, and critics say it was one of the worst films of all time. Yet it starred Lawrence Olivier and was distributed by MGM. Supposedly it tried to glorify his cult.

He was apparently more than a David Koresh. If you’ve seen the TV show Soap, the story arc where Billy joined a cult was actually a spoof of Moon.

I know the movie you’re talking about—Inchon. I actually found it a decent movie, and was delighted to see that I could view it in its entirety on Youtube. They’ve refused to show it on TV for years, and have never released in on VHS, DVD or Blueray.

Doesn’t mean I like Moon, though.

And I had no idea he owned UPI. That is simply mind-boggling.

I wonder who will succeed him?

 

[PazzoGrande]

I wonder who will succeed him?

Reports I read so far said that his descendants don’t view themselves as inheritors of his messianic character, but more like they are disciples.

Whatever the case, I hope that means the end for the whole Moonie thing.

I never saw the movie; does it really glorify the cult?

 

[Dale_M]

I wonder who will succeed him?

He has more than 16 children, most whom resulted from his marriage to the woman who is now his widow.

Some of those children he had been grooming to take over his religious and financial empire, but control is divided and there seem to be some tensions.

Moon Kook-Jin, raised as “Justin” in the US, and youngest brother Moon Hyung-jin, known as “Sean,” have vowed as leaders of their father’s spiritual and commercial interests in Korea to perpetuate his controversial legacy. Justin Moon runs the Tongil Foundation, the group’s central business organization in Seoul, while Sean Moon is international leader of the church, which claims several million members.

Justin Moon’s foundation, however, has long been at odds with US-based business interests run by brother Moon Hyun-jin, that is, “Preston” Moon.

Their older sister, Moon In-jin, called “Tatiana,” commands her own organization in the US as president of the Unification Church USA. Two years ago she helped to rescue the Washington Times, which has lost more than $2 billion since Moon founded it in 1982, by purchasing it from Preston’s group for one dollar and reviving news and sports coverage.

csmonitor.com/World/Asia-Pacific/2012/0903/Korean-messiah-leaves-behind-religious-and-business-empire-video

 

[colmywaykurtz]

Reports I read so far said that his descendants don’t view themselves as inheritors of his messianic character, but more like they are disciples.

Whatever the case, I hope that means the end for the whole Moonie thing.

I never saw the movie; does it really glorify the cult?

I truthfully don’t remember a single thing about the cult in Inchon. It was just a straightforward war story, as I remember it, with some fine dramatic moments.

 

[LegoGE1947]

I truthfully don’t remember a single thing about the cult in Inchon. It was just a straightforward war story, as I remember it, with some fine dramatic moments.

May his soul rest in peace.