Rev. Sun Myung Moon was often called a “cult” leader. His followers were labeled “Moonies” as they rampantly recruited at college campuses across America. Moon was a self-proclaimed “messiah” and the founder of the Unification Church. He created spiritual empire worth hundreds of millions of dollars before dying in 2012 at the age of 92.
The purported cult leader’s legacy includes The Washington Times newspaper, which reportedly has lost more than $1 billion dollars and a seafood operation called “True World Group” with a fleet of boats, dozens of distribution centers across the US , which supply most American sushi restaurants.
Moon once said, “God is living in me and I am the incarnation of himself,” He further explained, “The whole world is in my hand, and I will conquer and subjugate the world.” Moon never achieved that goal, but he arguably conquered the sushi market of the United States. This was largely funded with cash collected by his followers and through the free labor they provided.
Rev. Moon and Mrs. Moon
Today Moon the “messiah” may be gone, but the substantial revenue of his sushi business and other substantial financial assets remain, such as the New Yorker Hotel in Manhattan. The Moon family is very rich. And they continue to use their accumulated wealth to feed their egos and fund their pursuit of political power.
Two examples recently popped up in the news. One reported by the The Korea Times is the about the so-called “Global Peace Foundation (GPF)” run by Rev. Moon’s son Moon Hyun-jin. The GPF has apparently achieved official “consultative status” granted by the United Nations Council. According to the U.N. website, “nonprofit organizations that have been granted general and special status can attend meetings of the council and issue statements enabling them to engage with…its subsidiary bodies.”
Son of Moon
The stated goal of Moon Hyun-jin is “to realize the vision of ‘One Family under God.'” Does that mean his family and the supposed “incarnation” of God, which was his father?
Whenever the Moons talk about God it usually means that a Moon is explaining what God wants you to do for the Moons.
Meanwhile Yahoo News ran a PR Newswire release about Rev. Moon’s widow Hak Ja Han Moon, the self-proclaimed “Mother of Peace,” running an event in Las Vegas. Hak Ja Han’s hoedown included a “22-piece orchestra” and a program “starring Grammy award-winning Gospel star Hezekiah Walker, Grammy-winning Christian and Country favorite Jason Crabb, Grammy-nominated and Stellar Award-winning singer Kim Burrell, Stellar Award-winning singer Tasha Page Lockhart, Latina Gospel artist Joann Rosario Condrey and a 500-Voice Choir made up of local singers from across Nevada under the direction of Emmy award-winning producer A. Curtis Farrow.”
Wow!
That sushi money really goes a long way — from the UN in Manhattan to the glitzy Marquee Ballroom at the MGM Grand in “Sin City.” There was even an opening prayer given by a “prophet” from South Africa.
Mrs. Moon told the Vegas gathering, “America is in the position to create change. The time has come to welcome God as the true owner.”
“True owner”?
Could that be some kind of veiled cryptic reference to her dead husband the “incarnation”? Mr. and Mrs. Moon were once called “True Parents” by their devoted followers.
Again, it seems that everything the Moons do is ultimately about the Moons and their sense of entitlement as true owners of so much.
Some scholars have attempted to consign groups like the “Moonies” called “cults” to the past, claiming that they were an apparition of the 1970s or the 1980s. However, with destructive cults persistently in the news this appears to be a failed thesis. And from what is reported about the Moons, it appears that even some of the old “cults,” are very much alive.
The Moons remain a shining example of how much money there is in the “cult” business.
I am completely surprised that the Iglesia Ni Kristo is not on your cult list. It is a vile and hateful cult that has spread from the Philippines and around the world.
Iglesia ni Christo is in the database.
See https://www.culteducation.com/group/1320-inglesia-ni-christo.html
I am a victim of this evil cult. Like you say: “This was largely funded with cash collected by his followers and through the free labor they provided.” I was one of those – labor trafficking. The abuse, the torture, the suffering and now the anxiety and PTSD that I suffer from as a result. I can’t believe they’re still getting away with their evils. But you’re up against a billion $ machine, who made their billions from brainwashing and enslaving young and innocent victims like myself.