[China Anti-Cult Network, August 11, 2022 news, correspondent: Wang Qiang] On July 8, after former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was shot while participating in election assistance activities, the South Korean cult "Unification Religion" behind the incident triggered media attention around the world. Since July 29, the US "Insider" website (Insider.com) has published a series of articles written by Korean journalist Yoonji Han revealing the life of "Unification Church" believers, in which this article tells the current situation of the lives of "second-generation" teenagers who collect donations for "Unification Religion". The report pointed out that it was these teenagers who paid a huge price, including their lives, to build a huge business empire for the "Unification Church" and the Wen Ming family.
Wen Mingming preached with open arms. He founded the United Church in 1954, preaching its mission to purify the world. Original picture
"I fight for 'God'! I will fight to the death! ”
Sujin (not his real name) is immersed in this chant. It was the summer of 2012, and she and four other teenagers went on a three-month U.S. road trip — driving from Texas to Arizona and then to New Mexico, California and Washington, all the way to collect money for their denominations. Sukin and her peers are members of the World Federation of Peaceful United Families (i.e., the "Unification Church"). The money they raise from the sale of trinkets is only a fraction of the income of the "Unification Church".
Founded in Korea in 1954 by Moon Ming, the "Unification Church" is a cult believer who believes that Moon Stark can unify the world through peace and faith. Thanks to their efforts, the religion quickly gained attention both in Korea and abroad. This emerging sectarian movement, which peaked in the United States in the 1970s, attracted followers from around the world and was notorious for the "Blessing of Holy Marriages" (collective arranged marriage ceremonies) it hosted. According to a spokesperson for the Unification Church, the Unity Church currently has 10 million adherents around the world and 10,000 to 25,000 in the United States, but experts believe that the actual number is much lower than this number.
After former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was assassinated on July 8 in an election aid campaign, the cult re-entered the public eye. Japanese police and media said that gunman Tetsuya Yamagami's mother was a member of the "Unification Church" and that her mother's long-term donations had caused their family to be heavily indebted, and Yamayama resented Abe, who supported the "Unification Church".
Shinzo Abe's maternal grandfather, Kishi Nobusuke (third from left), and Wen Mingming and his wife Han Hezi. Osami Kuboki (first from right) has been president of the Japanese chapter of the Unification Church for many years. Original picture
The Unity Church has long been in contact with the leaders of a number of countries, including former U.S. President Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan, George W. Bush, and former U.S. President Richard Nixon. W. Bush and Donald Trump, who praised the "Unification Church" for "inspiring the whole planet." Tomohiro Tanaka, the current president of the Unification Church's Japanese chapter, has said that although Abe himself is not a member of the religion, he has always supported the religion's so-called peace movement. In 2021, Abe gave a video speech to an organization affiliated with the United Education.
Wen's widespread influence and consequent wealth were closely watched, culminating in an investigation by the FBI in 2002. The FBI released more than 500 pages of dossier documents revealing unambiguous "Unification Church" bribery, forced labor for believers, and amassing money and other donations, particularly through the sale of trinkets, but did not file any charges against him.
Raised as a "son of innocence"
The Generation Peace Academy is a year-long program in which most children born into the "Unification Church," or what they call "second generation," join the program before they go to college. This is a rite of passage of the "Unification Church" that tests the degree of faith of young believers in the text. Sugin attended the prescribed training for the church and spent three months preaching in Bryant Park, New York. These trainings instilled in the "second generation" the importance of "cleanliness" and a strong belief in their "True Father."
Su jin said, "Pastor Wen often pressures parents to raise their children correctly, because 'God's son' (another name for 'second generation') is destined to be innocent. People expect a new world to be built through clean families. "It means they're banned from drinking and smoking, and certainly not having sex before marriage."
The "second generation" is now in the final stages of the program: fundraising, that is, mainly selling trinkets. Their day begins at 7 a.m.: they go around the city collecting donations and drinking water and eating with a short break. Girls sometimes go to "bars and sweep the streets" in the evenings, teaming up to sell trinkets at local bars. In 2002, after 18-year-old "second generation" Jin Joo Byrne was strangled to death in a fundraising campaign in Charlotte, North Carolina, the Unity Church established this system of co-operative work. Su Jin remembered hearing from the other members that the leader of the "Unification Church" told them that it was a good thing for Jinzhu to die before he was raped, and that it was better to die than to be defiled.
In August 2002, 18-year-old Jinzhu Bourne (second from left) was kidnapped, robbed and strangled to death by a 21-year-old man selling clothing in an apartment building to collect donations for the Unity Church. (Internet Map)
The teens were selling sunscreen wholesale from a supplier in the Philippines for less than $1 each and were ordered to sell at a premium: a small bottle listed at $15 with a pink flamingo on it, trimmed with green blades of grass. More expensive ones are priced at $35 and feature designs like blue butterflies and brown-winged butterflies. With good luck, Sugin can earn $400 a day.
"We can make money," Sugin said, "and they encourage us to turn away money." ”
Su Jin (second from right) and five other "second generations" are collecting donations for the Unification Church's Generation Peace Academy to blur the faces of people who protect privacy. Original picture
At the end of each day's mission, they gathered the cash they had raised as a "sacrifice" to "God," a small portion of which was used to buy food and gasoline for the team, and the rest of which the Uniducated Church claimed to be used for the "second generation" of overseas travel. In three months, there have been about 120 different teams of fundraisers across the country, and if you're lucky, you can earn about $400 a day each. Su Jin speculated that the "Unification Church" could have a large amount of income according to this.
It is well known that the Unification Church owns hundreds of acres of land in upstate New York, with at least four of them similar to sprawling estates called Gracemere and Belvedere. The Unification Church also reportedly spent $1 billion — most of it out of pocket or through fundraising — to build the Cheongpyeong Palace in South Korea, which became a holy site for the "Unification Church."
However, during the road trip, Su Jin always reminded himself not to forget the "core mission". "It's not about money," Mr. Wen said, "and fundraising trips are designed to focus on your inner purpose, which brings you closer to 'God.'" Su Jin kept meditating in his heart: To offer the love of "God", you must arrive at the scene of the (fundraising) and find "God" from others.
A donation to God
At a fundraising event, Su Jin saw a tall, thin man walking through the parking lot carrying a shopping bag.
Su Jin guessed that the man should be in his forties, looked quite good, and asked her what she believed. When she mentioned the Bible, he became more talkative and recited the scriptures.
Sugin was surprised because she herself could not quote any of the words from the Divine Principle. The Treatise on Principles is a distinctly "core theological view" and written doctrine of the "True Father" revered by the followers of the "Unification Religion." She thought, "His faith is much stronger than mine." ”
The man asked if he could pray for her, and then he closed his eyes and bowed his head, begging "God" to help the young woman accept Jesus into her life and redeem herself.
For the first time, Sugin was struck by the thought, "These people are so devout to other religions, how can they go to hell?" She asked herself, "Is it true that the one I believe in is the true religion?" This idea frightened her, and similar ideas flooded in, eventually leading her out of the "Unification Church."
From sectarian to global business empire
According to the "Doctrine of unification", Wen Mingming was born on January 6, 1920 in a village in what is now North Korea. He grew up in a Christian family, and one Easter morning he was praying on a hilltop when he suddenly saw an illusion: Jesus appeared before him and asked him to do what he had not done before he was crucified, to purify the earth by giving birth to the "innocent son." The 16-year-old Wen Ming accepted this mission and put on the robe of the Messiah ("Savior").
In 1947, Moon was expelled from the Korean Presbyterian Church for heresy, and seven years later he officially founded the "Unification Church". In 1953, he divorced his first wife, Sun Gil Choi, on the grounds that she could not accept his teachings. Seven years after their divorce, he married what he considered the "perfect woman," Hak Ja Han, whom believers hailed as "true parents" for the cleansing of the world, and their biological children as "true sons."
In 1984, Wen Mingming and Han Hezi. Original picture
In the decades that followed, the "Unification Church" grew from a sectarian group into a business empire that spanned the North American continent, including schools, hospitals, ski resorts, dance academies, and soccer teams. The Washington Times, owned by the Unification Church, is a conservative washington, D.C.-based newspaper that former U.S. President Reagan allegedly read every morning during his lifetime. It owns the Manhattan Center, a large event venue on 34th Street in New York City. The New Yorker Hotel, located next to the center of Manhattan, is the main office building of the "Unification Church" in Manhattan.
The Unification Church says its businesses make tens of millions of dollars a year, and sometimes Mr. Wen and his family live in some of the church's mansions, such as the 18-acre East Garden estate, which houses a ballroom, two restaurants and a bowling alley.
Most of the wealth of the "Unification Church" is not enjoyed by ordinary "second generations" and is left to the Wen Ming family and his inner circle. Believers join the Unification Church, and what attracts them is not wealth, but the Unity Religion's sense of community and commitment to salvation.
Match marriage
Su jin's parents joined the "Unification Church" for different reasons. Her father was physically strong and grew up on a farm near São Paulo, Brazil, with 11 siblings. He joined the Unification Church because his father was a fanatical believer in the Unification Church. Sukin's mother, who joined the Unification Church while attending college in the Philippines, was drawn to the sense of community it promoted.
They met in a crowded auditorium in South Korea only a few days before they got married. At that time, the man stood on one side and the woman stood on the other side, just let Wen Ming point to a man, and then point to a woman, you can match the marriage.
The newlyweds had their first blunt conversation through Sugin's uncle, one speaking English and the other Portuguese, and Sukin's uncle acting as an interpreter for both. On January 12, 1989, the two received Wen Ming's "Holy Wedding Blessing" in South Korea, one of the hundreds of couples who were married by Wen Ming at a large group wedding at that time.
Mixed-race weddings, or "holy marriage blessings," are the norm for the "Unification Church," which they profess, aimed at uniting people from all over the world.
"Marriage creates a relationship between two families and brings reconciliation between clans and nations." In his autobiography, Wen Ming wrote, "The marriage of Koreans and Japanese people contributes to the reconciliation of the two countries; The marriage of whites and blacks contributed to the reconciliation of the two races. ”
A new beginning "beyond race"
On July 1, 1982, at a large group wedding in Madison Square Garden in New York, the parents of two other "second generations" Yuri (pseudonym) and Hana (pseudonym) were also married and blessed. Yuri's father is American and his mother is Japanese, while Hana's parents are the opposite.
"I think our parents, a lot of 'first generations,' joined for this sense of community." Hana said.
On July 1, 1982, Wen Mingming and his wife Han Hezi held a "Unification Church" collective wedding blessing ceremony at Madison Square Garden in New York City. Original picture
Like Sugin, Yuri and Hana are also "sons of God"—they are descendants of the Divine Unions, and are therefore born clean, free from the original sin that Adam and Eve committed as a result of sexual temptation.
"The children raised by this marriage represent harmony because they inherit the bloodlines of two races, and they represent a new beginning for humanity to transcend races." Wen Ming wrote.
Although their parents themselves chose to become "Unification" believers, the "second generation" had no choice, they were simply born in it.
On Sundays, Hana's parents often wake them up at 4 a.m., and the family drives to the 35-acre mansion in Tarrytown, New York, owned by the Wen family. The liturgy usually lasted at least three or four hours, and Hana and her sister would inevitably doze off.
Yuri grew up in a large "Unification Church" neighborhood in Natley, New Jersey, when it was still a predominantly white Italian community. He witnessed four older siblings being beaten and ostracized at school by other children who were ridiculed as "Literary Asian children."
Yuri watched as the older siblings finally got matched in their own "Holy Marriage Blessing" marriage. But the doctrine of "unification" and the strict expectation of cleanliness clash with the personal experiences of some "second generations" in the "outside" world. This has led many adolescent "sons of God" to become suspicious of the doctrine of the "Unification Church" that accompanied them as they grew up.
"They say we are the 'second generation' special and demand that we be flawless." Su jin said. As Sugin became more aware of her complex sexual preferences — and the hypocrisy of the "Unification Church" — she soon became suspicious of the religion she grew up with.
Sugin, Yuri, and Hana all end up making the difficult decision to break away from the Unification Church, which also means they need to re-examine their relationship with their families and "God," as well as their own identities.