The Rev. Sun Myung Moon, leader of the Unification Church and supporter of conservative causes who founded The Washington Times newspaper, died on Sept. 3, 2012, in South Korea. He was 92.
Moon was a strident anti-communist known as much for the mass weddings over which he presided as for his unorthodox teachings.
He was a self-proclaimed messiah and “True Parent” of the world who told others that Jesus had appeared to him on a mountaintop in 1936 and that his mission was to complete Jesus’ work on Earth. Moon taught that Jesus had died without fathering children and so Moon’s mission was to unite humankind in a single sinless family.
Critics called him a cult leader and his theology heretical.
Resources
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“Unification Church founder Sun Myung Moon dies at 92”
Read an obituary for Sun Myung Moon from Religion News Service.
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“Sun Myung Moon dies at 92; led controversial Unification Church”
Read an obituary for Sun Myung Moon from the Los Angeles Times.
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“Sun Myung Moon dies at 92; Washington Times owner led the Unification Church”
Read an obituary for Sun Myung Moon from The Washington Post.
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“Rev. Sun Myung Moon, Self-Proclaimed Messiah Who Built Religious Movement, Dies at 92”
Read an obituary for Sun Myung Moon from The New York Times.
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“Rev. Moon, Times founder, dies at 92”
Read an obituary for Sun Myung Moon from The Washington Times, the newspaper Moon founded.
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“Unification Home Page”
An unofficial Unification Church site posts numerous links to Moon’s teachings, questions and answers about Unificationism, and other matters.
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“Thousands join Moon for mass wedding in South Korea”
Read a March 24, 2012, Reuters story about one of the mass weddings over which Sun Myung Moon presided.
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“Sons Rise in a Moon Shadow”
Read an April 2, 2010, Forbes story about Sun Myung Moon’s sons vying to reinvigorate the spiritual enterprise.
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“Unification Church Woos a Second Generation”
Read a Feb. 7, 2010, NPR story about Sun Myung Moon’s efforts to reinvigorate the Unification Church.
National sources
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Michael Breen
Michael Breen is the founder of a public relations firm in South Korea. He calls himself a lapsed member of the Unification Church and is the author of Sun Myung Moon: The Early Years 1920-53.
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Steven Hassan
Steven Hassan has written several books about cult experiences, including Freedom of Mind: Helping Loved Ones Leave Controlling People, Cults and Beliefs. Hassan lives in the Boston area.
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John Lofland
John Lofland is professor emeritus of sociology at the University of California, Davis, and author of Doomsday Cult: A Study of Conversion, Proselytization and Maintenance of Faith, which stemmed from research among the Unification Church’s U.S. members in the 1960s.