Sun Myung Moon

Sun Myung Moon's church, the Unification Church, spread to basically every country in the world from its founding in South Korea in 1954. His teachings, known as the "Divine Principle," are an interpretation of the Bible taken together with other religious understandings. This is certainly threatening to many Christian churches, bringing a new, possibly heretical, understanding which attracts lots of young people!

Sun Myung Moon taughts that God's ideal, the human family, was shattered by the Human Fall. In order to accomplish the restoration of ideal families, after finding his own bride, Sun Myung Moon became the world's most prolific matchmaker! Matching people from all over the world to each other, often people who had not and would not have met, he then blessed them in holy marriage at "mass weddings." Some of the couples don't speak a common language, and it's not quite the romantic wedding one imagines when there are rows and rows of identically dressed brides and grooms lined up to take their vows all at once!

Sun Myung Moon was not just the leader of a controversial new religion, he was also active in numerous arenas of life. These range from fervent anti-Communism (he was imprisoned in a Communist prison camp in North Korea until its liberation at the end of the Korean War), through media activities (he founded the Washington Times among other prominent newspapers), to the arts (the Little Angels dance troupe has delighted audiences around the world) and numerous speaking tours to promote world peace.

To the world, Sun Myung Moon is either a great man, or maybe more importantly, together with his wife and family he is a True Parent, or he is a dangerous cult leader and charlatan. Many may be afraid of his teachings (that doesn't make him evil though, for the truth can be hard to swallow!), and others may be afraid of his practices (reaching out to people of all faiths, races, nationalities and asking them to love each other is challenging for sure!). But for others, he brought new hope to a world that certainly needs hope.

Sun Myung Moon is famous for his arranged marriages between followers who often come from opposite sides of the world, didn't speak the same language, and met only hours before their wedding which took place "en masse" with thousands of other couples. Actually, it's no wonder he's a controversial figure!

So what is the deal here? Are these real marriages that develop into happy families? What happens to these couples after their great wedding day? And why do they agree to it at all?

Well, as outlined above, one of the core teachings of Sun Myung Moon is the establishment of ideal families of true love centered on God. His followers believe that God has prepared ideal partners, their "soul mates," for each of them, and that Sun Myung Moon had the ability to recognize these partners. Therefore, many asked him to "match" them. Since the followers number in the hundreds of thousands, and are spread throughout the world, many were not surprised to find that their ideal spouse came from another country, nor were they surprised to be married in one mass ceremony with all the other couples matched at that time. The ceremony itself is actually considered a "blessing" on the marriage, although if the correct forms are completed it can also be a legal wedding. Thus, these blessing ceremonies have not been limited to couples arranged in this way but also to already married couples who wish to rededicate their marriage and renew their vows.

Why have so many accepted these arranged marriages? Well, looking at the divorce rate among those who choose their own spouses gives a good enough reason. In this time of so many failed marriages people are quite unsure about finding their own spouse, many turning to online dating websites in hopes of finding their perfect match. In my youth it was bars and dance floors where we met our potential mates! Maybe prayer and faith that God can work through a religious figure is not such a bad idea after all!

And what about the children of these arranged marriages? Well, there are quite a lot of children by now. Many have also had their marriages arranged in similar fashion. But more commonly in recent times the parents have been doing the arranging, seeking children of other families and suggesting matches to their children. And these couples also attend large ceremonies of many couples of their peers to receive blessings on their marriages.

So, yes, a bit unorthodox maybe! But the trend is toward something that actually makes good sense. Parents working together, praying and asking God to guide them to find the best partners for their children. In an ideal world, who would be best prepared to find a good spouse - I reckon God first and our parents second!

In the 1980s or so it was common for people to accuse the many organizations founded by Sun Myung Moon as "front groups" designed to lure people into his sphere of influence, and then "brainwash" them or take all their money or something. But looking at the situation today that argument seems a bit spurious. There are so many organizations in so many areas of life, and in so many countries around the world, founded by Sun Myung Moon. These cover a range so broad that the common goal does seem to be to improve human society and work toward a world of peace, harmony and prosperity for all.

With earlier organizations dedicated to fighting Communism, often called something like "Victory Over Communism," the names of these groups have come to include the title "World Peace." There is a Federation for World Peace, a Women's Federation for World Peace, Federations of Island, Peninsular and Continental Nations for World Peace, a Mongolian People's Federation for World Peace, the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification, and the Universal Peace Federation.

But this is only a small sample, there are organizations in the arts like The Little Angels of Korea and the Universal Ballet; educational organizations like the International Educational Foundation, Unification Theological Seminary, and the World University Federation; media organizations like the World Media Association, Middle East Times and The Washington Times; service organizations like the International Relief and Friendship Foundation, Isshin Hospital, and Aewon; and sports programs like the World Cultural and Sports Festival and the Peace Cup International Football Tournament.

In his statements about these organizations Sun Myung Moon claimed the goals of advancing international understanding, helping bring people closer to God and each other, and building lasting peace in the world.

There are numerous books written about Sun Myung Moon and his worldwide Unification movement.

• Sun Myung Moon on New World Encyclopedia
  Comprehensive article on the life and works of Sun Myung Moon.
• Crown of Glory - A poem written by Sun Myung Moon when he was 16 years old.