Talk:Deception in the Unification Church

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The cult will not normally tell people exactly what they believe, their origins, what they practice, and what life is really like in the cult, because if people knew they would not join. This information is taught to the new recruit slowly and in pieces - a "frog in the pot" tactic. [1]

I take issue with this statement, at least as applied to the Unification Church. (In fact, it's actually two different, mutually contradictory statements. Which is what makes it so tricky, and thus easy to deceive people with. How ironic.)

It's not true that if people know what life is really like in my church (or what our "real beliefs and practices" are), that they would not join. On the contrary, it is false propaganda spread about my church which dissuades people from coming over to see for themselves.

• They worship a false Christ.

Well, first of all, we don't "worship" Moon. Not they way Christians use the term 'worship'. Sure, we revere him, but that's not out of line; Roman Catholics revere (or "reverence") the Pope - while reserving authentic worship for God. (Side point, the doctrine of Trinity means that Catholics like almost all the rest of Christians worship the triune [yet monotheistic!] Father, Son and Holy Ghost; for them, Jesus and God are literally One -- along with the Holy Ghost.)

So the worship that should be reserved only for God does NOT go to Rev. and Mrs. Moon.

Secondly, he isn't a false Christ. Why would we follow him if he were?

So we're not "concealing from people the fact that we worship a false Christ". But we *DO* soft-pedal the fact that we consider Rev. Moon to be the Messiah - not that this is any kind of closely guarded secret. Our theology textbook, whose full text is available on the web, clearly states that the Messiah will be a married Korean, whose birthdate falls between 1917 and 1930. And everyone knows Rev. Moon was 16 in the mid-1930s, so do a little math, for Pete's sake! Gosh, if puzzles like that are too much for you, don't even bother with Biblical hermeneutics.

[edit] honesty, purity and unselfishness

While I think these are great values to have, for both us and our critics, I have never heard that they are the "three chief moral tenents" of the Unification Church. Could you provide a cite? Thanks.Steve Dufour 16:24, 23 June 2006 (UTC)

[edit] NPOV

This article is not written in a very encyclopedic, nor objective, manner. I have nothing against the information that is brought up, only the manner in which it is brought up. Here are some examples of very un-encyclopedic writing:

A favored albeit risky practice was to sneak into office buildings or factories. ("Think of the no soliciting sign as really meaning: Fundraisers welcome, coffee and donuts served.") The idea was to blitz through fast enough to evade the dreaded "kick-out".

and

Not that many people were fooled. Local pastors such as the Rev. Dr. McGhee of Queens, New York might pass by and steal or destroy a Japanese sister's flowers (ironically getting a sincere "God bless you!" in return.)

More citation and less subjective language would be a start. -Emiellaiendiay 07:10, 11 December 2006 (UTC)