#unification church in asia

[whatisonthemoon]

How the Unification Church Fits Into the Three Basic Problems of the Filipino People

The three basic problems of Filipino people, according to those in the movement for national and social liberation in the Philippines, are:

Feudalism - This refers to a social, economic and political system characterized by the ownership of land and other resources by a small and wealthy class, who then exploit the majority of the population for their labor and resources. In the Philippines, feudalism is seen as a legacy of Spanish colonial rule, where large landed estates were maintained and controlled by a small number of wealthy families and the majority of the population face poverty and inequality.

Imperialism - The Philippines has a long history of being a victim of foreign domination and exploitation. During the Spanish colonial period, the country was forced to provide resources and labor to the Spanish Empire. Later, the Philippines became a colony of the United States, and was subjected to American imperialism until its independence in 1946.

Bureaucrat capitalism - This term refers to a system of government where the state and its institutions, including the military and police, are controlled by a small and wealthy class of capitalists. In the Philippines, this has led to widespread corruption, and the concentration of wealth and power in the hands of a few families and corporations. The result is a system that serves the interests of the wealthy elite, while neglecting the needs and rights of the majority of the population.

These three root problems are often seen as being interconnected, and contributing to the ongoing economic, social, and political crises faced by the Philippines and its people. The labor export policy of the Philippine government, bound to these three problems, has also played a major role in maintaining the vulnerability of Filipinos, including members of the Unification Church, to exploitation and abuse. This policy encourages the export of Philippine workers to other countries and resulted in a significant number of Filipinos being sent to other countries for work, leaving them vulnerable to exploitation and abuse by their employers and other individuals. In the Philippines, the Unification Church has been criticized for its exploitative and abusive practices.

The vestiges of feudal culture have created an environment in which vulnerable individuals, such as the Filipinas trafficked by the Unification Church through deception and trickery, are easy targets for exploitation. This has allowed powerful entities, like the UC, to take advantage of those who are struggling to make ends meet and exploit them, leading to human trafficking. Most infamously in the Philippines are the thousands of women tricked into being marriage-trafficked to Korea. Women are treated as objects to be traded. 

The UC is a religious organization that has long represented the interests of the Republic of Korea, Japan, and USA. They have revealed their imperialist interests by using its international influence and resources to exploit the Philippines. As made evident by the UC and its related organizations’ longstanding relationships with most, if not all, Philippine presidents since Marcos, and their constant partnerships with members of the Philippine 1%, or the bureaucrat capitalists, the church's political and economic power in the Philippines has enabled it to exploit its members, who are often from lower-income backgrounds, for the benefit of the church's leadership.  One example of the UC’s actions in the Philippines that further reflect these “three basic problems”...

The Philippine government is sending individuals who have been arrested for using recreational drugs to the International Peace Leadership College (ILPC), which is run by the Universal Peace Federation (UPF), a Moonie front organization. The ILPC originally started as a seminary for Filipino Unification Church members in 1999 and has since been transformed into a year-long program for arrested drug users, formed when Duterte’s War on Drugs was initiated. The program consists of four months of martial arts training, four months of character education, four months of community service, and one year of Divine Principle training. Over 600 participants have completed this program by 2020, with many of them joining the Unification Church. After graduation, they go on internships and are sent to various parts of the world as missionaries to teach Unification theology. The UPF sees these individuals as the 'dregs of society' and shames them into submission. Most of these individuals are poor and vulnerable, and the Unification Church takes advantage of their situation, forcing them to sit through indoctrination and offering them opportunities within the church. Many of these new members are unaware of the labor trafficking that occurs within the Unification Church and are often sent on missions to provide free help to Korean church leaders and their families, or to provide cheap or free labor to church organizations and companies.

In this one example, we can see these root issues clearly illustrated. Feudalism can be seen in how the UPF exploits the vulnerable and poor individuals who are arrested for drug use, using their situation to control and manipulate them. This is also an example of bureaucrat capitalism, as the church uses their relationship to ruling families in the Philippines in order to exploit these individuals for labor and financial gain, exploiting their vulnerability for personal benefit. We can see imperialism in the religious indoctrination and the sending of missionaries to various parts of the world, as the church seeks to expand its influence and control into the Philippines and abroad. The three root problems of Philippine society, feudalism, imperialism, and bureaucrat capitalism, have not just contributed to the exploitation and abuse experienced by members of the Unification Church in the Philippines, but made this all possible. The church's behavior and practices are seen as a reflection of these broader social and economic conditions, which leave Filipinos, particularly the poor masses, vulnerable to exploitation and abuse.

[howwelldoyouknowyourmoon]

TOKYO – Sayuri Ogawa spent 20 years living in accordance with Unification Church doctrine. Her family forced her to attend services and read the church's literature, and she was forbidden to have romantic relationships.

Ogawa was told that she would go to hell if she violated the rules.

Her parents impoverished her family through prodigious donations to the church, also known as the Moonies after founder Sun Myung Moon. She was bullied at school for appearing poor, and her parents confiscated her savings of around 2 million yen ($14,300), claiming they would use it for living expenses. Ogawa never saw that money again, but her parents kept donating to the religious group.

Years of mental health struggles led Ogawa to leave the church six years ago. "I want the church to be dissolved," Ogawa told Nikkei Asia. "Society must not allow the wrongdoings of this group."

On Tuesday, Japan's Ministry of Education and Culture announced the beginning of an official investigation into the Unification Church's activities, invoking its "right to question" the group under Japan's Religious Corporation Law. The announcement follows months of revelations about links between Prime Minister Fumio Kishida's ruling Liberal Democratic Party and the church.

This is the first time the right to question a religious group has been exercised since the law was revised in 1995 following a deadly sarin gas attack on Tokyo's subway by Aum Shinrikyo, another controversial religious group. Under the law's provisions, if enough evidence of "violating the law and significantly harming public welfare" is found, the Unification Church in Japan could be dissolved, stripping the group of its "religious juridical person" status and tax benefits.

The government's investigation launches shortly after Ogawa went public with her story at a news conference on Oct. 7, where she called for the church to be disbanded in Japan. Since then, more than 200,000 people have signed a petition on the website change.org asking for the church to be dissolved.

...

"Dissolving the church would send a strong message to society, and to similar fringe religious groups," Levi McLaughlin, an associate professor of religion and philosophy at North Carolina State University and longtime scholar of Japanese religious groups, told Nikkei Asia.

McLaughlin added that only two out of Japan's roughly 180,000 registered "religious juridical" organizations have been dissolved since the Religious Corporation Law was enacted after World War II: Aum Shinrikyo and Myokakuji, a temple group that was accused of fraud and ordered to dissolve in 2002.

The case against the Unification Church is strong. Testimonials from former members such as Ogawa have been making headlines in Japan since Abe's death. They include the story of Tatsuo Hashida, whose son burned himself to death after his mother donated extortionate amounts of money to the church.

...

Experts say that dissolving the church would not infringe upon members' religious freedoms, as it would simply change the group's legal standing, not prevent people from becoming followers or practicing their faith.

"A dissolution order would not mean the organization itself will disappear but it would mean the government revokes the group's religious juridical person status. The group would no longer enjoy tax exemptions and other benefits, but it would continue to exist," said Hotaka Tsukada, an associate professor of the sociology of religion at Joetsu University of Education.

...

Yoshifu Arita, a journalist and former Upper House member for the opposition Constitutional Democratic Party, considers the group "an anti-social organization, not a religion."

Arita told Nikkei Asia that the group operates "under the guise of religion," and that Japan should provide better education on religion and cults in schools to prevent people from being sucked in by the church's promises of "community and kindness."

...

Last month, it was revealed by the Asahi Shimbun that some LDP lawmakers had signed a policy agreement with church-affiliated organizations in which politicians promised to act in favor of constitutional amendments and exercise "caution" regarding LGBTQ rights and same-sex marriage.

...

"I am grateful to Prime Minister Kishida for taking this issue seriously," defector Ogawa told Nikkei Asia in an interview on Nov. 12. "Children are being harmed by this organization ... action must be taken as quickly as possible."

The current spotlight on the Unification Church presents an important opportunity not to repeat mistakes made after the Aum Shinrikyo incident. In the nearly 30 years since the imprisonment and subsequent execution of Aum's leaders after the 1995 sarin attack on Tokyo's metro — which left 14 dead — the issue of religious groups in Japan has been largely swept under the rug.

In 2000, the government compiled a report focusing on measures to prevent such attacks from recurring. The report was obtained by Eito Suzuki, a freelance journalist who has been investigating the church for over 20 years, and viewed by Nikkei Asia. It lays out the need to establish support systems for cult defectors and a research center dedicated to cult studies.

The government did not implement any of the measures listed in the report, said Kimiaki Nishida, a cult expert and professor of social psychology at Tokyo's Rissho University.

...

Suzuki, the freelance journalist who has been raising awareness about cults for years, hopes Japan can harness the momentum triggered by Abe's assassination to push for social change.

"The church problem has broader implications for the entire nation ... as we are now living with the rise of conspiracy theories in the internet era," Suzuki said. "We should expand our awareness to other groups that take advantage of people's vulnerability. Society as a whole needs to tackle this issue."

[zvaigzdelasas]

From the 1960s to late 1980s, the Unification Church was stridently anti-communist. More than 300,000 South Korean troops were sent to support American forces defending South Vietnam and Moon was a vocal supporter of the Vietnam War. His position was fully shared throughout the war by all mainstream Protestant churches in South Korea. At home, critics of the South Korean military deployment risked detention and torture by the KCIA, and massacres by Korean troops in Vietnam were covered up.[...]

Moon also sponsored the 1970 Tokyo meeting of the World Anti-Communist League, with which the IFVOC and Shokyo Rengo were affiliated. The WACL grew out of the Asian People’s Anti-Communist League, formed in 1954, at the request of South Korea’s Rhee Syngman and Taiwan’s Chiang Kai-shek, to fight communism in Asia after the end of the Korean War. The WACL, established in Taiwan in 1966, expanded the scope of anti-communist activity onto a global stage. In the 1970s, the European division of WACL became notorious for a large influx of fascist groups, especially after British white supremacist Roger Pearson took over as WACL chairman in 1978. Geoffrey Stewart-Smith, who headed the League’s British chapter, resigned in protest, describing the WACL as “largely a collection of Nazis, Fascists, anti-Semites, sellers of forgeries, vicious racialists, and corrupt self-seekers.”

Unification Church expansion in the United States began after Moon moved there with his rapidly growing family in the early 1970s, settling in a sprawling country estate in Tarrytown, in the Hudson Valley outside New York City. His religion appealed to young people seeking a communal ethos but turned off by the drugs and free love of the hippie counterculture. Converts hawked flowers and candles at airports and street corners, and with money also pouring in from Japan, the Unification Church bought the New Yorker Hotel in Manhattan, a seafood operation said to supply half of the sushi sold in the United States, a cable TV network, a recording studio, and a shipbuilding firm.[...]

When Maj. Gen. John Singlaub, chief of staff of U.S. forces in Korea, and a former field officer of the CIA, criticised the troop drawdown [from Korea] in an interview with the Washington Post, he was relieved from duty and later resigned from the military. In 1981, Singlaub founded the U.S. chapter of the WACL, the United States Council for World Freedom.

[frank-olivier]

Analysis of Linguistic Differences in East Asia and Their Interpretation in a Global Context

The interplay between language, politics, and culture is a fundamental aspect of societal development and identity formation. In East Asia, linguistic differences are deeply embedded in the region's historical and political landscapes, reflecting centuries of cultural evolution and power dynamics. This text explores how the Chinese, Japanese, and Korean languages and writing systems have been shaped by their respective political and cultural contexts. Examining these linguistic developments uncovers broader insights into the ways language functions as both a tool of unification and a means of cultural expression. Additionally, placing these East Asian examples in a global context provides a deeper understanding of the universal principles governing the relationship between language, power, and culture across different societies.

The complexity of the Chinese writing system and pronunciation with its tonal system reflects China's long centralist tradition and the diversity of its regions. The logographic script served as a unifying force for the various dialects and supported the power of the scholarly bureaucracy. From a political standpoint, one could argue that this system of knowledge control served to secure the rule of Chinese authorities.

In contrast, the phonetic alphabets of Japanese and Korean facilitated the spread of education among broader segments of the population. The introduction of the Hangul alphabet in Korea in the 15th century by King Sejong is often seen as a democratic measure to strengthen Korean culture against the overpowering Chinese influence. Similarly, one could interpret the adaptation of the Chinese script to the Japanese sound structure as an expression of a cultural emancipation movement.

The importance of honorifics and hierarchies, especially in Korean, can be seen as a reflection of a highly stratified social order with pronounced respect for authorities. From a critical perspective, however, one could also recognize remnants of a feudal social structure.

Overall, it becomes apparent that linguistic and written developments are often intertwined with power-political motives and structures of the respective societies. A purely linguistic perspective may fall short. The integration of political and historical viewpoints can provide a more complete picture of the cultural differences in East Asia.

The analysis of linguistic differences in East Asia can also be applied to other regions of the world, where language and script are deeply intertwined with political and cultural developments. Just as in East Asia, scripts and languages have been used as tools for the consolidation or democratization of power, similar patterns are found worldwide.

For example, one can consider the role of Latin in Europe during the Middle Ages and the Renaissance. Latin served as the lingua franca for scholars and the Church, which strengthened the intellectual and spiritual control of the Catholic Church. With the rise of national languages and their promotion by the Reformation and the spread of the printing press, Europe experienced a cultural emancipation and democratization of knowledge, comparable to the introduction of Hangul in Korea.

In Africa, postcolonial language policies are of interest. Many African countries adopt European colonial languages such as English, French, or Portuguese as official languages, ensuring political and administrative continuity, but often at the expense of indigenous languages and cultures. These language decisions also reflect power structures and cultural dynamics, similar to the role of the Chinese script in East Asia.

The diversity of indigenous languages in Latin America and the movement to revive and recognize these languages also show how language policy is used to strengthen cultural identity and address historical injustices.

Overall, the global context shows that linguistic and written systems are not merely means of communication but also important instruments for shaping societies, enforcing or challenging power structures, and promoting or suppressing cultural identities. Therefore, the political and historical examination of language can provide a deeper understanding of the complex social and cultural processes worldwide.

Thursday, May 16, 2024

[jakethesequel]

Things on my mind today because school research:

(Tldr: The Japanese government is dominated by a single party founded and maintained by a semi-secret society of fascists, former war criminals, ultranationalists, yakuza, cultists, and billionaires; brought together by CIA anti-communism efforts.)

Japan has had one political party in power almost continuously since 1955, only stepping down for a total 4 non-consective years: the broadly conservative Liberal Democratic Party

The LDP was formed by a merger between the Liberal Party and the Democratic Party. Instrumental in this was politician Nobusuke Kishi, a Democratic Party official formerly high up in the Liberal Party. He would represent the LDP as Japan's Prime Minister from 1957-1960

Previously, Mr. Kishi had been a minister in the government of Imperial Japan, considered a protégé of General Tōjō. Post-war he was imprisoned by the Allied Forces under charges of "class A" war crimes for being a major planner of the Japanese war effort. Other fascists held in the same cell were ultranationalist yakuza boss Yoshio Kodama, anti-communist millionaire and billionaire-to-be Ryōichi Sasakawa, and former Yomiuri Shinbun (Japan's preeminent conservative newspaper) owner Matsurarō Shōriki. The bonds they formed in Sugamo prison would become a lifelong secret society influencing Japanese politics.

All four were released from prison without ever facing trial for their war crimes charges. Why? The CIA was very concerned about communist influence in East Asia, and figured letting a handful of fascists go free would give them a very useful tool to suppress socialist movements in Japan.

Mr. Shōriki went on to found Japan's first commercial television broadcaster, Nippon TV. A few years later he became the first chairman of Prime Minister Kishi's new Japanese Atomic Energy Commission. Declassified documents have revealed that he did both those things because the CIA suggested that Japan should have a pro-US TV channel across the nation, and wanted to bring Japan into the sphere of influence of US nuclear technology

Mr. Kodama again became a leader in Japanese organized crime, bringing together a coalition of ultranationalist paramilitaries and yakuza families all committed to a shared right-wing ideology. With his thugs he broke strikes, beat protestors, threatened journalists, managed bribes, and laundered a ton of money, all in service of the LDP and the CIA. At least, until 1976, where he was publicly outed as the main facilitator for Lockheed Martin bribing its way into major Japanese government contracts to the tune of millions of dollars.

Mr. Sasakawa got mega rich off of rebuilding Japan's wartorn infrastructure and establishing a gambling industry. He called himself "the world's richest fascist." He funneled his profits into international political interest groups, like the World Anti-Communist League he founded with his buddies Syngman Rhee of South Korea and Chiang Kai-Shek of Taiwan.

Mr. Sasakawa's activist groups attracted the attention of Korean cult leader Sun Myung Moon, the founder of the Unification Church. The UC's eccentric adaptation of Christianity has a very political theology, and before anything else it's devoutly anti-communist. Mr. Sasakawa became a major financial supporter of the Church, and helped establish its presence in Japan. He connected Mr. Moon with Mr. Kishi, bringing him into the extended Sugamo circle.

Even after his reign as PM, Mr. Kishi remained a central figure in LDP decision-making. He and Mr. Sasakawa developed close ties between the cult and the LDP, and made sure they were regularly maintained. The LDP used Moonies as unpaid campaign assistants, and in exchange Japan became the primary source of the UC's financial support. The UC helped the LDP spread, and the LDP helped the UC spread, growing both.

When Mr. Sasakawa died, his son-in-law Shintarō Abe became the main ambassador of the UC-LDP alliance, which was stronger than ever. When Shintarō Abe died, his son Shinzō Abe (Mr. Kishi's grandson) took over managing UC-LDP affairs. The younger Mr. Abe became the LDP's Prime Minister of Japan from 2007-2008, had a second term from 2012-2020, and faced the consequences of his actions in 2022

Ps: If I've said anything incorrect or unsupported here do let me know, I'm working on an essay.

[whydidisavethistomyphone]

https://asia.nikkei.com/Spotlight/Asia-Insight/Japan-builds-case-to-dissolve-scandal-hit-Unification-Church

[head-post]

Japan’s Prime Minister Kishida resigns amid scandals

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida announced he would step down in September, ending a three-year term marred by political scandals, according to Asian media.

Politics cannot function without public trust. I will now focus on supporting the newly elected LDP leader as a rank-and-file member of the party.

Kishida’s public support has been falling amid revelations of the LDP’s ties to the controversial Unification Church and political donations made at party fundraising events that went unrecorded.

He has also faced public discontent over wages failing to keep pace with the rising cost of living as the country finally shakes off years of deflationary pressures. Koichi Nakano, political science professor at Sophia University, stated:

An LDP incumbent prime minister cannot run in the presidential race unless he’s assured of a victory. It’s like the grand champion yokozunas of sumo. You don’t just win, but you need to win with grace.

As the country’s eighth longest-serving postwar leader, Kishida led Japan out of the COVID pandemic with massive stimulus spending. He also appointed Kazuo Ueda to head the Bank of Japan (BOJ), a scholar charged with ending the radical monetary stimulus pursued by his predecessor.

The BOJ unexpectedly raised interest rates in July as inflation intensified, contributing to stock market volatility and causing the yen to plummet.

Despite the shift away from economic policy, Kishida stuck to the hawkish security policy pursued by his predecessor Shinzo Abe assassinated in 2022. He unveiled Japan’s biggest military build-up since World War II, pledging to double defence spending to deter neighbouring China from its territorial ambitions in East Asia.

Kishida also mended Japan’s strained relations with South Korea, allowing the two countries and their common ally, the United States, to pursue deeper security co-operation.

Read more HERE

[businesspr]

Japan Seeks to Dissolve Unification Church After Abe Killing

The assassination of Shinzo Abe, the country’s longest-serving prime minister, shed light on the fringe group’s political ties and manipulation of its followers. source https://www.nytimes.com/2023/10/12/world/asia/unification-church-japan-abe.html

[nasmu]

Strings pulled: Dissecting Japan's Unification Church problem - Nikkei Asia

Strings pulled: Dissecting Japan’s Unification Church problem – Nikkei Asia

https://asia.nikkei.com/Spotlight/The-Big-Story/Strings-pulled-Dissecting-Japan-s-Unification-Church-problem

[whatisonthemoon]

More Develop at Cheongpyeong: HJ Marina

Related

Hak Ja Han’s unfinished palace

Demian Dunkley Admits Fraud - from the twitter of ex-Moonie podcast Falling Out Reports last week on the blessing and the palace Jeffrey Hall on the Unification Church Property Near Tama Center Hak Ja Han’s new palace (the third at Cheongpyeong) was opened on May 6, 2023 Hak Ja Han’s Greed Has No Limits Fundraising Email for New Palace Sent to Members Hak Ja Han Is a Criminal Who Extorts Members to Death Tensions between Japanese 1st and 2nd gen; US Members Must Pay $12,000 for Hak Ja Han’s New Palace Elgen Strait describes Hak Ja Han’s new palace Hak Ja Han’s Gambling Has Gone TOO Far

[howwelldoyouknowyourmoon]

In a first, Japan plans to question Unification Church about operations

Move would open door to asking court for dissolution order



Nikkei Asia  October 16, 2022 00:31 JST

by Nikkei staff writers

https://asia.nikkei.com/Politics/Unification-Church-and-politics/In-a-first-Japan-plans-to-question-Unification-Church-about-operations

TOKYO – The Japanese government plans to question and request reports from the Unification Church, now formally known as the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification, about its operations and management, a step that opens the door to a dissolution court order that would strip of its corporation status in Japan.

This would be the first time a government will use a provision of the Religious Corporation Law that gives it the “right to question” a religious organization.

The government can ask a court to issue a dissolution order based on “acts that are clearly recognized as violating the law and significantly harming public welfare” and “acts that significantly deviate from the purpose of the religious organization.”

Questions and requests for reports can be made once it is established that there are grounds for suspicions of such violations.

The church came under heightened scrutiny after the assassination of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in July. The man accused of the killing had a grudge against the Unification Church, saying his mother’s massive donations to the group drove the family to financial ruin.

As of Sept. 28, more than 2,200 calls had been made to a hotline for complaints about the Unification Church that the government opened on Sept. 5.

The government plans to consult with the Council on Religious Corporations, which operates under the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, as to whether the suspicions rise to the level where the exercise of the “right to question” can be invoked.

Prime Minister Fumio Kishida is expected to soon announce a relief package for victims of the Unification Church. Revisions to the Consumer Contract Act now make it easier to cancel high-value donations.

There have been two other religious organizations dissolved under the Religious Corporation Law. The first was the doomsday Aum Shinrikyo cult, which was responsible for the 1995 sarin gas attack on the Tokyo subway. The other was Myokakuji temple group, which defrauded followers through massive fees for memorials of dead loved ones.

[divinum-pacis]

This is an opinion article.

[zvaigzdelasas]

Radio of Free Asia, sometimes called Radio Free Asia, was an anti-Communist radio station created by the Korean Cultural and Freedom Foundation which broadcast from Seoul into North Korea, China, and Vietnam.[1][2][3] In a congressional hearing, General Coulter, then President of the Korean Cultural and Freedom Foundation, declared Radio of Free Asia the principal project of the foundation.[4] It operated from 1966 to early 1970s.

The Korean Cultural and Freedom Foundation (KFF) was first organized in Washington, D.C. in 1964 with the goal of "containing communism" in Asia.[1] The Korean Central Intelligence Agency (KCIA) put pressure on the KFF to support a project to broadcast anti-communist propaganda into nearby Asian communist states. The intention was to raise money for the project from the US. [5]

Radio of Free Asia (ROFA), as the radio station became known, began broadcasting from Seoul on 15 August 1966.[1][5] The first broadcast featured a taped message from Soong Mei-ling [wife of Chiang Kai-Shek].[3]

ROFA formally had an American chief but it's two directors of operations were KCIA operatives who worked under Kim Jong-Pil. The station was given free access to South Korean government facilities with broadcasts monitored by the KCIA's psychological warfare unit.[5] The US Justice Department later suggested the station was “acting under the direction of and control of the Korean Government”.[6]

Although mainly funded through private donations, it had the financial support of several elected officials before and after broadcasts began, including Senator Bob Dole and Presidents Truman and Eisenhower.[7] South Korean President Park Chung-Hee sent letters to 60,000 prominent Americans asking for contributions to the project.[6] Millions of dollars were raised for Radio of Free Asia through direct mail requests to American citizens, soliciting funds both by claiming they would finance the broadcasts and that they would aid starving children in Asia.[7]

In 1971, US government agencies, including the Justice Department, began investigating the station for alleged violation of the Foreign Agent Registration Act.[8][6] The broadcaster's status as a foreign private foundation was called into question due to the free air time provided by the South Korean government on its national network. Bo Hi Pak secured the services of former CIA Deputy Director of Intelligence Robert Amory Jr. for legal assistance to defend against these charges. At the time Amory was employed by the Thomas Corcoran law firm and was a legal counsellor to the CIA. The investigation was terminated in 1972 and soon after the station stopped broadcasting from Seoul.[6][8]

A newly disclosed Justice Department investigatior into organizations and persons connecter with the controversial Rev, Shn Myung Moon has raised the possibility that American citizens are illegally working on behalf of the South Korean Government.[...]

The Federal officials familiar with the inquiry were careful to assert that Mr. Moon himself and his Unification Church were not being investigated, because Constitutional questions of freedom of religion might be raised. Instead, the inquiry is focusing on organizations associated with the church.[...]

The Federal sources indicated that among the organizations under scrutiny were the Korean Cultural and Freedom Foundation, the Freedom Leadership Foundation, headed by Neil A. Salonen, the International Federation for Victory Over Communism, and the Little Angels of Korea, a children's singing group that tours overseas.[...]

This investigation is one element in broad inquiry that includes allegations that Park Tong Sun, a Korean businessman, and others bribed Congressmen and tried illegally to influence American policy. it also includes an investigation of whether officers of the K.C.1.A. coerced and violated the civil rights of Koreans living in America and Korean‐American citizens.

The South Korean Government, according to both Korean and American officials, has long been eager to improve the image of President Park Chung Hee and his administration. South Korea's economic development, and therefore some of its political stability, depends heavily on trade and financial help from the United States.[...]

Among the earliest missions with that objective was that of the Korean Cultural and Freedom Foundation, founded in 1964. Its head, Pak Bo Hi, joined it in early 1965, shortly after he resigned from the South Korean Arm”.[...]

Korean intelligence sources said that Mr. Pak is the K.C.1.A.'s channel to Mr. Moon, A Korean with access to K.C.I.A. reports said that “Pak Bo Hi is a very important man because he made Sun Myung Moon famous. It's all his idea.”

[iv3-b33n-st4rl0ck3d]

Cults

Cult is the term commonly used for a new religion devoted to a living leader and committed to a fixed set of teachings and practices. Such groups range in size from a few followers to worldwide organizations directed by a complex chain of command. Members of these groups generally consider them to be legitimate religions and rarely call them cults. Most historians of religion use the more neutral term new religious movement instead of cult. Because there is no one definition of cults, their number and membership today cannot be accurately measured.

Kinds of cults. Traditionally, the term cult referred to any form of worship or ritual observance, or even to a group of people pursuing common goals. Many groups accepted as religions today were once classified as cults. Christianity began as a cult within Judaism and developed into an established religion. Other groups that began as cults and developed into organized churches include the Quakers, Mormons, Swedenborgians, Christian Scientists, Methodists, Jehovah's Witnesses, and Seventh-day Adventists. For a discussion of cults in the ancient world, see Mysteries .

During the 1960's, new religious movements spread and flourished in the United States. Since that time, negative publicity about cults has altered the meaning of the term cult. Today, the term is applied to groups that follow a living leader who promotes new and unorthodox doctrines and practices. Some leaders demand that members live apart from everyday society in communities called communes. Leaders claim that they possess exclusive religious truth, and they command absolute obedience and allegiance from their followers. Some cults require that members contribute all their possessions to the group. None of these characteristics are unusual in the history of religions. But they tend to create suspicion among outsiders, especially those whose family members join such groups.

Modern cults. Probably the most notorious new religious movement of the late 1900's was the People's Temple, a group led by the Protestant clergyman Jim Jones. Hundreds of his followers moved into a rural commune called Jonestown in the South American country of Guyana. They lived under Jones's absolute rule. In 1978, members of the People's Temple killed a U.S. congressman and three journalists. Jones then ordered his followers to commit suicide, resulting in the deaths of more than 900 people, including Jones. See Guyana (History) .

Another controversial group was the Branch Davidians, led by the self-proclaimed prophet David Koresh. In 1993, a 51-day confrontation between the Branch Davidians and federal forces near Waco, Texas, ended with a tragic fire in the group's compound. More than 80 Branch Davidians died, including Koresh.

Some movements regarded as cults did not begin as religious groups. A movement called Synanon was originally organized in California to rehabilitate drug addicts. It changed into a commune that won legal recognition as a religion.

Two of the largest groups regarded as cults in the United States had origins in Asia. The International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON), commonly called the Hare Krishna movement, was established in 1966. Its leader, the Hindu teacher A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, had come from India to the United States in 1965. During the 1960's and 1970's, he established many centers in the United States and other countries. Many members of ISKCON wear orange robes similar to those worn by Indian holy men.

The Unification Church, founded by the evangelist Sun Myung Moon, is an adaptation of Christianity. Its members, commonly called "Moonies," believe in a cosmic struggle between the forces of good and evil. The Unification Church has been aggressive in seeking conversions. Like many other cults popular in the 1970's, however, it began to adopt a more moderate tone in the 1980's.

Less aggressive and more loosely organized cults tend to stress such personal spiritual practices as meditation. Transcendental meditation, for example, offers forms of meditation practice to participants but does not require adherence to specific religious creeds. See Transcendental meditation.

Source:

[memecucker]

is it colonialist to criticize the Unification Church since it was founded by poc? what about all the other myriad of ultra-rightwing religious movements founded in Asia i mean they were founded by poc some of those religions have an anti-colonialist ethos (in the way that nationalists don’t want to be colonized) so really those gotta be really good things right like sigh of the oppressed and whatnot