Children to carry on Rev. Moon's religious movement, but feuding could endanger the empire

[cbayer]

http://www.greenfieldreporter.com/view/story/d6be7c6ee0d645cdb8c0b48f5cf1fab5/AS--SKorea-Sun-Myung-Moon

HYUN-AH KIM Associated Press
First Posted: September 03, 2012 - 9:53 am
Last Updated: September 03, 2012 - 9:53 am


GAPYEONG, South Korea — Unification Church patriarch Sun Myung Moon leaves behind children who have been groomed to lead a religious movement famous for its mass weddings and business interests — if family feuds don't bring down the empire.

Moon, the charismatic and controversial founder of the church, died Monday at age 92 at a church-owned hospital near his home in Gapyeong County, northeast of Seoul, two weeks after being hospitalized with pneumonia, church officials said.

Flags flew at half-staff at a Unification Church in Seoul as followers trickled in, some wiping away tears as they wondered what would happen to a movement defined for decades by the man who founded the movement in 1954.

The Rev. Moon and wife Hak Ja Han have 10 surviving children and in recent years, the aging Moon had been handing over power of the church's religious, charitable and business entities to them.

more at link

[Raster]

1. I am surprised we are not hearing more about this:

http://www.businessweek.com/news/2012-09-02/sun-myung-moon-church-head-who-ran-business-empire-dead-at-92

Sun Myung Moon, the Korean-born founder of the Unification Church and self-proclaimed messiah who built a secretive global business empire that sells cars, guns, newspapers and sushi, has died. He was 92.

Moon died in the early hours of this morning at a church- owned hospital in Gapyeong County, northeast of Seoul, the church said in an e-mailed statement. On Aug. 14, he had entered the intensive-care unit of St. Mary’s Hospital in Seoul with complications from a cold and pneumonia.

To thousands of followers, Moon was the benevolent “True Father” who was asked by Jesus to complete his unfinished mission on Earth. To detractors, he was a megalomaniacal cult leader who exploited disciples though brainwashing, separated them from their families and used their labor to amass a personal fortune.

“I don’t think there will be any individual who will take his place,” said Frederick Sontag, a former professor of religion at Pomona College in California who studied Moon’s organization, in a 2007 interview. “He is too powerful a figure.”

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This should get interesting. Moon interfered in American politics at every possible turn.

[cbayer]

2. I hadn't heard much about him for years until he was hospitalized a couple of weeks ago.

And I didn't know how active and powerful he still was, that's for sure.

[Raster]

3. I know his health had been waning...and an accurate assessment of his health...

...had been as low-key as possible. When you preach that you are the Messiah and are regarded by some as a living link to God, sickness and death bring a kind of unwanted perspective to the discussion.

Moon, a rabid conservative, spent MILLIONS interfering and manipulating the American political system.

[tanyev]

4. Yeah, seems like all those politicians who attended his coronation in the Dirksen Senate Office Bldg

would be pushing for a state funeral for him.

[Raster]

5. Quite a few right-wing politicians - especially rethuglicans - accepted money from Moon...

...over the years. And almost all wanted it to be as discrete as possible. I'm sure this morning many are saying a private prayer that Moon died and did so without fanfare or nasty little revelations. However, I would not be surprised if a lot of unflattering information - about Moon and his relationships to American politics - starts worming its way to surface.

[tanyev]

6. Jerry Falwell took a lot of money from him, too.

Maybe they are having a nice warm reunion right now.

[DonCoquixote]

7. In a few years

Moon will join L.Ron Hubbard, Joseph Smith, and other charlatans. Sadly, their legacy will continue, as long as there are suckers, and as Barnum said, there is one born every minute.

[TlalocW]

10. Maybe he did, maybe not

Both Barnum and a fellow con-man were displaying the "Cardiff Giant," claiming theirs was real. Barnum's was declared a fake first, but people kept going to see it so the con-man said, "There's a sucker born every minute," in reference to Barnum's customers. Later, another rival attributed the quote to Barnum in a newspaper interview. Barnum appreciated the publicity though.

TlalocW

[edhopper]

8. So should we be

respectful and deferential to the beliefs of the Moonies?

[cleanhippie]

9. Depends. Are they true christians?

Or are they just a "bunch of dumbasses"?

[dimbear]

11. Respecting one religion and disrespecting another is bigotry. There is one way

to avoid that ethical bind. Maybe two if your mind is extremely all encompassing. Mine is simpler, tho.

[cbayer]

12. Who said that?