A Sociological Study of the

A Thesis Presented to The Faculty of the Department of Sociology The Colorado College In Partial Fulfillment Of the Requirements for the Degree Bachelor of Arts

Erika Hiromitsu Spring 2018

On my honor I have neither given nor received Unauthorized aid on this thesis.

______Erika Hiromitsu Spring 2018

I was in a ballroom at the Doubletree Hotel waiting for the keynote speaker with the

Denver church congregation and the various guests that were invited. At eight years old, I was young enough I didn’t have to sit with my parents and could go to the kid’s room and play. I was on the way there when an older man from my church congregation asked if I wanted a special task. Despite being in a slight hurry to find the kid’s room, I was intrigued and said yes. He gave me a comb and told me to follow. He took me to the side of the stage, hidden from the waiting audience, where two chairs sat on a persian rug,

“This is where True Parents will wait to be introduced and Mother will sit while Father speaks. See how the russells on the side of this rug are really knotted? Would you comb them out so they look nice and neat?” I accepted the task and got to it. I may have been young enough to be in the kid’s room, but I still understood the importance of preparing for the arrival of True Parents. I was nervous and excited, doing anything for the True

Parents directly was an honor and a privilege. I combed those russells with as much love and care as an eight year old could possibly muster.

Although the Unification Church is one among many New Religious Movements

(NRM) it grew rapidly not only in the United States but across the globe, giving it an infamous reputation. Since the death of , the founder, it has been full of unrest organizationally and is in a transitional time. I seek to analyze the Unification

Church structurally as a NRM by situating it in the to denomination continuum

(Johnstone 2001). I also seek to understand through qualitative methods how individuals are making sense of what they believe and of their identities as both former and current members and from first generation to second. In order to better understand and analyze the experiences of the Unification Church and its members, past and present, I created

three categories in which these experiences occur; theological, organizational, and community.

LITERATURE REVIEW

The role of religion in society, or society in religion as Durkheim believes, is vast and complicated. In The Elementary Forms of Religious Life he attempted to understand religion in the present and the past across cultures, challenging accepted processes on knowledge and science and connecting religion inextricably with society (Durkheim

1912). His definition of religion is “a unified system of beliefs and practices relative to sacred things, that is to say, things set apart and forbidden-- beliefs and practices which unite into one single moral community called a Church, all those who adhere to them,” encompasses the importance of a collective or community. This collective is made up of individuals, because without them practices and rituals cannot be learned, practiced and passed down (Durkheim, 1912:44). This definition also implies that religion across space and time is connected to the sacred, something that is always present. Durkheim (1912) admitted to something eternal in religion and also said that “religion seems destined to transform itself rather than disappear” (1912:432). This destined transformation of religion may come from a collective or community’s lack of energy or lack of excitement for their religious rituals or practices. This is not a permanent state; it eventually becomes the space in which a transformation emerges. Durkheim (1912) expressed that these potential transformations could be derivatives of the past or be completely new

(1912:430). His position on the inevitable transformation for religions can be further explored by examining religious .

As explained by Johnstone (2001), a sect is generally formed when there are dissatisfied individuals and/or families in a religious community with the current state of their church or denomination who then break off in protest. A sect in its “pure state” is

“composed of the exclusive ‘elect’ or select few, who practice what they see as ‘pure,’ authentic religion and who avoid secular involvement and contamination” (Johnstone,

2001:93). Once the sect is formed it will eventually end up one of three ways; it will move towards becoming a denomination, it will become an institutionalized sect, or it will cease to exist. If a sect heads towards denominationalism, it may begin to resemble the original denomination it broke away from, especially organizationally. As the number of members increase “tolerance for deviance” increases and norms are present for leadership succession and financial matters (Johnstone, 2001:94-95). If a sect becomes an institutionalized sect, it may adopt attributes of a denominational sect in its organization and establishment of norms, however the numbers remain fairly small. Due to the consistent population size and isolation from modern society they are able to practice their beliefs and perform rituals without compromise. The final if, the possibility of extinction, is most common. A lot can go awry with in the transition period, leadership succession may not go smoothly if there are rivalries, personality clashes or someone is power hungry (Johnstone, 2001). Similar to sects or New Religious Movements

(NRMs), tend to remain small in number and are often just as transitory. In contrast,

NRMs believe in a new message, not related to an already established religion that’s brought by a charismatic leader (Johnstone 2001, Campbell 1978).

Pure charisma is a quality that is considered extraordinary or supernatural and

“regarded as of the divine origin” (Weber, 1978:241). Charisma goes against the typical

structures of society, for instance charismatic leaders and their followers often leave behind earthly possessions (like money, family, careers) in order to pursue their mission or goal. It is crucial that the charismatic leader is recognized and followed, and

“frequently deified” (Johnstone, 2001:102). The belief in the charismatic leader needs to be continually tended to by the leader, making for instability in their leadership. This instability, not just in the belief of the charismatic leader, but the mortality of the leader, adds to the transitory nature of NRMs (Weber 1978).

Unification Church

Sun Myung Moon (referred to as Moon from now on) was born in the Korean countryside in 1920. At the age of 16, Moon reported that after a long night of tearful prayer, Jesus appeared early Easter morning and asked him to “take on a special mission on earth having to do with Heaven’s mission” (Moon, 2009:50). After this point, he dedicated his energy into understanding the Bible and God, uncovering revelations about

God’s principles of creation (Moon 2009). Moon faced opposition from many including already established churches and the communist party. He was imprisoned twice, the second time at Heungnam Prison, shortly before the Korean war began. He escaped the prison when the United States bombed Heungnam and made his way south to Busan,

South , with a couple of disciples. He continued preaching, however persecution was so severe in Busan that he and his followers decided to go back to Seoul.

In May 1954, the Holy Spirit Association for the Unification of World

Christianity (HSA-UWC), more commonly known as the Unification Church (UC) was founded (Moon 2009). Several years later, as the church was expanding membership in

Korea, Moon sent missionaries to Japan and the United States around 1958 in order to

spreading his teachings internationally. In 1960, Moon married (Moon,

2009:190). In 1965, Moon took a world tour, first stopping in Japan, then to various nations in Europe and also the United States. Moon had started sending out in years previous, but began to send more into the 70s. In 1964, there were missionaries in ten countries and 10 years later, there were missionaries in 127 countries, four being in communist countries (Moon 2009). During this time period, despite the danger, Moon was determined to send missionaries to communist countries. In 1973, two out of thirty members in Czechoslovakia that had been arrested died in prison which caused Moon great sorrow (Moon, 2009:163-164). Nevertheless he continued to send missionaries to countries all over the world and he came to the United States to “fight against the dark forces that had caused America’s moral degradation” (Moon, 2009:164). After Moon moved to the United States permanently in 1971, he not focused on holding large rallies like at the Yankee Stadium and the Washington Monument, he also made political moves by endorsing Nixon a year after the Watergate scandal. In the following decades, Moon went to prison for tax evasion in 1981, he met with Gorbachev and Kim Il Sung, and he kept holding mass weddings. These things and numerous more made Moon “one of the most visible targets of the anti- movement, and his followers were often subject to kidnapping and deprogramming (Lewis and Petersen, 2005:44). Eileen Barker confronted the question “why should - how could - anyone become a Moonie?” and spent time in

San Francisco with the community there, observing, interviewing, doing surveys and conducting research to answer questions of concern, disgust, and confusion (1984:1).

As mentioned previously there was one Korean missionary sent to the United

States in 1959, named Dr. Young Oon Kim. She started small in Oregon and eventually

moved to San Francisco and then others started to progressively go east (Pumphrey

2004). Eventually, the community in San Francisco began to grow and groups began to emerge. These groups had different leaders and had distinct lenses to their styles of teaching, for example, Miss Kim “generated hope for her hearers through spiritual prophecies” while Mr. Choi “generated hope through utopian ideals” (Barker 1984:50).

Both groups kept gaining members which reflected the general trend of the UC at that current moment. In 1971 there were about 300 members, three years later there were

3,000 and in 1978 membership was up to 35,000 with 7,000 full time members in the

United States alone (Barker, 1984:64- 65). Although these numbers are estimates, they still help illustrate the story of the Unification Church during that time. Wade Clark Roof examines the environment in the United States surrounding religion and identity during this time period and brings up an interesting insight, “young adult Americans at the time, it was clear, were looking for a more direct experience of the sacred, for greater immediacy, spontaneity, and spiritual depth - in short, they were very much into quest mode” (Roof, 1999:86). Regardless of their reason for joining, whether that was wanting to belong to community, or listen to the inner“quest mode,” if they really wanted to be a part of the community and they believed in the Divine Principle (DP, the main holy text), members were expected to go wherever they were asked; this could mean go fundraising even if you weren’t particularly excited about it (Kempermen 1981). At workshops too, the UC community asked anyone who did not want to follow their timetable of lectures and activities to leave (Barker, 1984:174). As mentioned before, this was an energetic time period, physically as were a lot of speeches and rallies, fundraising and witnessing efforts, and spiritually, learning the Divine Principle etc. Although it was not first

blessing in the United States, it was his biggest up to date, 2,075 couples on July 1, 1982 at Madison Square Garden New York. In 1991, Moon told everyone to return to their hometowns and be the “tribal messiahs,” in other words, bring families. In 1991, he announced that his wife had completed her mission and together they were “the True

Parents of humankind and therefore, jointly the Lord of the Second Advent” (Bromley and Blonner, 2012:87). In 1996, Moon launched the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification (FFWPU), which focused on salvation through families, not through religion. One significant change made possible by the FFWPU was nonmember couples could get blessed by Moon. However during this time, the UC struggled financially on all levels from local churches to large businesses like (Bromley and

Blonner 2012).

In the late 90s, Hyun Jin took on leadership roles in the FFWPU and other facets of the more movement (as opposed to church) based organizations of the UC, like

Universal Peace Federation (UPF), and it seemed that he was in position to be the next successor to Moon. However around 2007, Kook Jin and Hyung Jin moved to be based in

Seoul. Kook Jin was in charge of managing the Korean UC businesses and Hyung Jin was the senior pastor at the Seoul Headquarters Church. Hyung Jin gave services in

English and Korean and incorporated scriptures from various religions, including

Buddhism, Christianity, and Islam, in his weekly sermons. Several years following their arrival in Korea, Hyung Jin kept being given various leadership roles, some that Hyun Jin had been in charge of previously (Bromley and Blonner 2012). In 2009, In Jin became the president of the United States branch of the UC and her main goal was to “to win back the young people” (Hagerty 2010). Attracting membership was difficult, but

maintaining it was also challenging. The second generation (second gen from now on) were expected to follow strict rules and to maintain their status as “blessed children,” children born without original sin. They were expected to abstain from drinking, drugs, and dating and eventually get blessed and have families themselves and continue God’s lineage. However with strict rules came harsh judgement and many second gen were leaving. In Jin revamped the church in the United States by starting Lovin’ Life

Ministries. While it was based in , she asked that all congregations tune in with them during a live broadcast every week in an attempt to connect the United States communities together.

While the expectations of behavior remained the same for second gen, the mentality began to shift. There was less emphasis to separate from the “outside world” and more on embracing it to and being an example within it. There was less judgement towards people who were not following the strict expectations and towards people who had left the church and it was replaced with an openness to welcome them back (Hagerty

2010). It could be argued that especially In Jin and Hyung Jin, the leaders of the UC in

Korea and the United States were attempting to normalize the Unification Church to become a more mainstream denomination. As In Jin and Hyung Jin took the spotlight with the church based efforts, the movement based parts charged by Hyun Jin appeared to move towards the periphery. Although there is more to the story, Hyun Jin’s lack of credit for his work and his younger brother, Hyung Jin moving into his spot as successor to their father lead him to split from the Unification Church in 2010 taking assets and followers with him (Bromley and Blonner 2012).

In September 2012, at 92 years old, the charismatic leader, purported to be the second coming of the Messiah on which the Unification Church was centered, had passed. Moon’s death alone was monumental, but for the UC in the United States, news of an affair and baby born by In Jin and a man in the band at Lovin’ Life Ministries came out around the same time. In addition, a little while after that, it was revealed that her husband, Jinsung (James) Park, was personally benefiting financially from the health drink, Vemma, he had been promoting to members as healthy and a great way to make income, many were shocked to say the least. In Jin stepped down from her position and a power struggle for the new leadership of the Unification Church ensued between Hak Ja

Han and her son Hyung Jin. Currently Hak Ja Han is in charge of the Unification Church, but Hyung Jin and his brother Kook Jin started a new sect of the Unification Church, claiming Hyung Jin to be the rightful leader. Sanctuary Church (SC) is located near the

Pocono Mountains in and was founded in 2013.

Symbolic Interactionism

Symbolic interactionism seeks to understand how perceptions of the self and mind interact with the social (Mead 1934). Coates can help us understand how former members make sense of their identities and of themselves in relation to NRMs.

There are two prominent typologies, the “social self” and the “protected self,” however he says that “these selves can be viewed along a continuum” (2013:315). The

“social self” describes someone whose identity is rooted in the group. If there are doubts, the “social self” tends adjust themselves to it or reason the doubts away until they find security of another group or their doubts cannot be reconciled and they leave. The

“protected self” describes someone who struggles to be a part of the group in a genuine

way. They may have the desire for “self-change,” which could be what lead them to the group initially, so they conform in their actions, but due to unresolved doubts or the restraint of expressing themselves fully, they can never fully feel a part of the group

(Coates 2013). When leaving the group the “social self” and “protected self” had different reactions, the former seeing it as difficult and a “loss of self” and the latter seeing it as a “relief” (Coates, 2013:329).

METHODS

A qualitative methodology was determined to be most effective to understand the opinions of people associated with the Unification Church and how their beliefs and affiliation with the UC have affected their decisions and identity. A small amount of content analysis was used only when literature and interviews could not fill a gap in knowledge. Purposive and snowball sampling were used to recruit participants. I posted a public message on Facebook (see Appendix A) to my personal wall and on several UC related Facebook groups. The initial responses I received were only from second gen, so I reached out specifically to a couple of first gen either due to recommendation or being acquainted with them personally. I tried to pay attention to the general status of membership, current vs. former members, in order to hear from a variety of experiences.

A total number of 16 people were interviewed; five joined in their mid to late 20s during the 1970s and 1980s, and the remaining 11 interviewees grew up in the Unification

Church ranging from 24 to 34 years old. There were a total of seven females and nine males, five who identified as ‘in’ the original Unification Church, two in the Sanctuary

Church sect, and nine who did not consider themselves to be members. Two participants, a married couple in the Sanctuary Church sect, decided to interview together, other than

that, all participants did individual interviews which were conducted through skype or on the phone as the majority of interviewees currently live outside of Colorado. In total, there were eight different states including, Florida, Georgia, Colorado, Ohio, Texas,

California, Pennsylvania, and Massachusetts represented and two foreign countries and England. Of the two participants outside of the United States, one was born and raised in Europe and the other grew up in the United States and later moved to England.

Interviews typically lasted for 45 minutes to an hour with a couple nearly reaching two hours. I created interview questions (Appendix B) to guide the conversation, and catering to individuals as needed adjusting questions and/or asking follow up questions. My relationship previous this research varied from person to person. I have did my best to take a step back and do the interview from a third person objective perspective while calling upon my personal experiences to steer the interview. All of the interviewees were given pseudonyms in order to protect their identities. Although interviewees are living in various parts of the United States and world, the UC community is still interconnected enough that pairing experiences of interviewees with their locations had the risk of revealing their identities.

FINDINGS

Theological

The Unification Church (hereafter UC) shows signs of moving to what sociologists call a “denominational status”(Johnstone 2001). A sect or NRM heading in the denominational direction often deals with “the laws of increasing group size.” As a group grows there is less consensus on the group’s goals, subgroups with their own goals and norms inevitably develop while perhaps still respecting the larger structure, and

tolerance for deviance increases (Johnstone 2001). The desire to go towards a denominational status is enacted through not only the new membership, but the second generation born into an NRM. A majority of the second gen participants interviewed said that one of the biggest challenges of growing up in the UC was explaining it to their non- church friends. It wasn’t only explaining the ideology or why there was a picture of two

Korean people on an alter at their house (if they even got to there), but justifying the various rules by which they were constrained, like no sleepovers, no dating, or no drinking. This was especially challenging when they were merely obeying their parents and did not have personal convictions about those rules. True to the standards of a sect, there used to be a strong feeling that breaking any of these rules, especially drinking or dating, meant you had left the church. However, presently these standards have become more relaxed and being identified as a member is not driven exclusively by these rules.

While there are some members (first and second gen) that adamantly abstain from drinking, one second gen participant, Katherine, who considers herself a member, described how she and her husband’s group of friends (also married couples that grew up in the UC) hang out and have parties. Another second gen participant, Thomas, likes to meet up not only with second gen in his community, but friends he hasn’t seen in a while and check in. He likes to understand how they have processed growing up in the UC and their various experiences like the UC related gap year program, GPA. In order to do that

Thomas said jokingly, “I don’t mind using substances to loosen people up.” Although he was generally referring to experiences drinking with friends, Thomas also admitted that

“psychedelics had an impact on me for processing and dealing with experiences I found very painful. That ultimately helped me heal and come back to giving UC community

another shot.” While Thomas was not “in” the church at that time and expressed that doing drugs is not a regular activity, this quote still exhibits an openness to not only speak about drugs and alcohol but their potential helpful role in relation to faith and processing thoughts and past experiences.

The Blessing

Another great example of how the UC is heading toward a “denominational status” is the blessing. Among the first generation, the blessing is understood to be significant historically; for the second generation, it is viewed more as a tradition. The understanding of the blessing is not only less theologically centered, but the process and resources for getting matched and blessed resemble mainstream society more than it did in the earlier years.

Bella, a first generation woman who has studied at the Unification Theological

Seminary (UTS) explains the blessing and its significance as fitting into two components, salvational and societal. UC beliefs fall into Augustinian Xian theology in that the lineage of humanity comes from Adam and Eve’s family which had many problems; not only did

Adam and Eve fall away from God, but Cain killed Abel. So there is “fallen nature” in the lineage in the first family which is then passed down through the generations. The blessing is a way to separate your lineage from original sin and join God’s lineage.

Although, there are numerous various types of sins to reconcile (personal, hereditary, and collective), original sin is erased via the authority of the True Parents. Bella also emphasized the importance of family as the “school of love” and the family as “a place to train and socialize and develop individual character, and work together with love - the quality of that love is to imbue a sense of moral, ethical, spiritual and service of society.

That’s a different way to look at a family, but that’s inherent in our theology.” The first generation had already left their families, plans, and so on and were dedicating time and effort by fundraising or witnessing when they were called to go to Moon’s matching and blessing, so they went.

When the blessing came up during interviews with second gen however, theological reasons did not seem to be at the core of their discourse. Those who to the blessing in Korea, had varying answers as to why they decided to go to Korea to be blessed by Moon in person instead of using a combination of live video and local church offiators in the United States. Some of the reasons given from the second gen were that it worked as a nice honeymoon spot afterwards, it was more convenient (for a couple who had been traveling), or it was important to their parents. No one expressed strong opinions on being blessed in person by Moon nor identified a soteriological aspect of the blessing. Although there are likely second gen who feel more connected to the salvation and social aspects of the blessing, it does appear that at least for some, the blessing’s significance is no more than a Unificationist tradition.

There is also a variety of experiences among the second generation in regard to the matching and blessing process. In particular, the role of who was doing the matching changed from Moon to the multiple ways a person can be matched by their parents. Now blessing education, though different in every community, is taught in middle and high school. For someone ready to begin getting matched, there are a lot of online resources.

For example, there is a Matching Plan Worksheet which goes from personal life/relationship questions like “What kind of life are you planning for?” and “Do you have any deal breakers or absolute requirements?” to logistical questions like “Once a

potential spouse has been found, how do you want to proceed?” (See Appendix C). There is a matching website where one can view profiles of other available second gen in the

United States and internationally and post one’s own profile as well. If a potential spouse is found, a person may talk to their parents who then contact the church leader to see if that person is interested in talking, or the interested person may just reach out directly.

Regardless of the next steps, the parents are aware and can act as a facilitators if needed.

Second gen members are encouraged to get to know each other, email, call, and visit and if they like each other, to treat the commitment of being matched like getting engaged.

One participant, Kyle, described it as “intentional dating.” There are also resources for couples after being blessed and after becoming parents. This education on the matching and blessing as well as the online resources available now have been developed over the last 15 years. Bella gave some insight on the history of the “Blessed Family Ministry”

(BFM) in the United States. She worked with the BFM after she got blessed in 1975 to help prepare and recruit people to the increasingly large blessings ceremonies. Around

1991, a Korean leader in charge of the United States church shut down the BFM for no apparent reason and was nonexistent until 2003.

The BFM department was fairly young for the three second generation participants who are now over 30 years old when they were getting matched and blessed. The current recommendations and resources were not available during their processes. At 18 years old, Edward heard from his dad that there was going to be a Blessing and decided to fly

New York City to get matched and blessed by Rev. Moon, “I wasn’t super religious, but I always thought that this would be the way that I would find my partner and it was just gonna be that -- there wasn’t really any hesitation.” Edward is still married and has a

daughter, although he now considers himself agnostic. The other two participants in their

30s, Ben and Kelsi, also had experiences of being matched and blessed fairly quickly, but unlike Edward, their blessings have not lasted.

Ben shared his difficulty with this process due to the fact that his parents had not been blessed. Since he was technically a first generation and he could be matched to any second gen. As a result, even if he liked someone in his community, they were off limits because of his generational status. He struggled with very few people his age in the same position, so when someone was interested, he was excited and they went to blessing after meeting each other twice. Several months after, due to an alarming event during a visit when she and her family overacted to him wanting to take a little more time before getting official married, Ben realized it wasn’t going to work and broke it off.

Kelsi did a parents matching through the matching website. She and her match spoke for about two or three months and decided to get blessed. In the beginning it was fine, but their personalities were very different and within six years, it ended. Ben and

Kelsi expressed confusion after their relationships ended. Should they try again? Both ended up deciding not to, but also shared how it’s been weird dating. Either because they have to go through awkwardness as adults they “should have gone through in middle school” and old matching thought patterns persist, like “What is their family like? Could

I marry them?” They also both reflected on their “of course we’ll get matched and blessed” mentality, Kelsi shared “I think even though it was a very kind of toxic relationship, I always at the time I always thought that I would be with him forever. Like how they teach you in the church.” Ben, Kelsi and Edward went to the blessing when the

Unification Church was still in a sect mentality, there were specific rules and guidelines to follow and the only option was to follow them.

The participants that are under 30 and blessed did so under a reform of the recommendations for people considering matching and blessing. Longer periods before going to the blessing were recommended, having personal life goals and qualifications before even talking to anyone, consulting with a matching advisor in the district are just a few. The structures and resources being formed and regulated and the matching and blessing being framed as “intentional dating” as opposed to arranged marriage normalizes the matching and blessing and is another indication of denominalization. Ben mentions in his interview that In Jin declared that “anyone could marry anyone” regardless of their first, second, third gen status. This is a small indicator of the matching and blessing becoming more open and accepting, in other words, more mainstream.

Sanctuary Church

The Unification Church was born from Moon, a charismatic leader his followers believe to be the lord of the second advent. As already discussed, with increasing numbers and less strict standards, it has been moving away from being a sect and towards being a denomination. While there are two sects other that could be argued to have been formed from the Unification Church, for purposes of time focus will only be put on the

Sanctuary Church.

The Sanctuary Church, as mentioned in the literature review, broke off after

Moon passed away because his son is believed to be the next rightful

“heir” or “providential figure.” Chris and Theresa moved from their home of 20 plus years to rural Pennsylvania to follow Hyung Jin Moon and support the Sanctuary Church.

Chris and Theresa both shared that not only had they expected some sort of pentecost, even just on a small scale, but that they felt something was off after Moon died, like something was missing. In January 2015, Hyung Jin began a series of sermons sharing his testimony and breaking down what happened during and after the death of his father.

Some friends of Theresa and Chris reached out to them during this time and told them to check it out. Theresa shared that when she heard some of Hyung Jin’s early sermons in

2015 she said “I woke up, I became reborn, I had faith again, I understood who Father was, it’s been an amazing journey since that time.”

There are a lot of details to relay from Hyung Jin’s testimony, but the main points

Chris and Theresa elaborated on were that Hyung Jin had been clearly chosen as Moon’s successor. However, Hak Ja Han and the leadership surrounding her ignored not only

Moon’s wishes for his successor but also his desire for his words in the eight great textbooks to remain unchanged by anyone. Chris and Theresa explained that although together Moon and Hak Ja Han were the “True Parents,” Hak Ja does not have the authority as Moon had as the Messiah who brought God’s words. In his sermon

“Breaking the Silence” Hyung Jin says he went to Korea every year to try to speak with his mother but was kicked out met with high security (53:38). The whole situation was devastating for Hyung Jin, Theresa shared, “they (Hyung Jin and his brother Kook Jin) were waiting for a different kind of Hak Ja Han, a person who would testify to who True

Father was, to really speak out, to talk about him as her lord and savior, and honor him.”

Due to Hak Ja Han’s failure to complete her role as True Mother, an 89 year old woman known as Mrs Kong, who was an early disciple of Moon, was anointed as the new True

Mother. Sanctuary Church works to continue God’s providence as Moon wanted it,

starting with Hyung Jin as the leader. Chris explained that Hyung Jin upholds all of

Moon’s traditions like reading scripture early in the morning, also known as Hoon-Dok-

Hwe (HDH) and celebrating holy days for example, but that he also has a similar spirit to

Moon.

That’s why Theresa and I came here, because of Father and because we admire Hyung Jin. He’s still a young man and growing and learning, but he has the foundation and Father said no one demonstrated the faith that he did - so we came (to Sanctuary Church) because of Father, because Father chose him as his heir - when I see him, I see Father, I see Father’s spirit working. - Chris

In the last year, Hyung Jin launched the Rod of Iron Ministries which uses the bible as a backbone to support sovereignty and second amendment rights. More than that, a rod of iron is necessary in the process to build the Kingdom, in Revelations 12:5 it says “And she gave birth to a son, a male child, who is to rule all of the nations with a rod of iron; and her child was caught up to God and to His throne.” Rod of Iron ministries has resulting in training for everyone how to shoot a gun, how to use a knife, and ultimately how to defend oneself and one’s family.

The concept is that in the ideal world there won’t be any need for standing armies but there will be a need for militia if needed to be called up. It would come from volunteers from yourself... you’re going to rule with love and it’s based on love that you have the ability to defend yourself.

To some this may seem outside of Moon’s teaching but Theresa and Chris believe Moon would have gotten to this point sooner or later. Membership of Sanctuary Church has been growing, Chris and Theresa estimated there to currently be about 150 families that live in Pennsylvania and more that drive to service every Sunday from surrounding states.

There is also a national and international base that tunes in online of about 10,000 individuals.

Like many sects that form, the Sanctuary Church broke off in protest of the way the Unification Church was headed, primarily in regards to leadership. There is another charismatic leader, Hyung Jin, who the congregation gathers around. Chris mentioned several times in the interview that he feels Moon’s spirit is present and is the reason Chris and Theresa moved to Pennsylvania. While Hyung Jin upholds Moon’s teachings, he has begun to incorporate his own ministry, the Rod of Iron Ministry, as well as been politically involved, supporting President Trump and other conservative politicians.

Creating Sanctuary Church was a way to start a sect that does align with their beliefs, but as it continues to grow in numbers, it will likely face the same junction as the Unification

Church did before it, head towards denominational status, become an institutionalized sect or cease to exist.

Organizationally

Most second gen participants interviewed had at least one issue with the

Unification Church on an organizational level. One main critique being the leadership, whether that was with Moon himself, his family, or church leaders often in relation to the use and abuse of money. These organizational issues compounded with already difficult experiences for some interviewees resulted in them leaving the Unification Church. In other cases, the organizational issues were and continue to be bothersome, but not enough to leave completely, largely in part due to their connection to their community.

For Ben, the breaking point was learning about Moon’s illegitimate son, Sammy

Park. Before sharing his experience, Ben had expressed his personal hurt and frustrations being a person who was not technically a “blessed child,” someone born without original sin. He shared that “as great as the people were in it, the structure and the religion itself

was actually pretty bad for me. I realize as I get older that I was part of a caste system and I didn’t realize it when I was in it.” No matter what he did, no matter how much he prayed, how much he studied, how much time or effort he put into the community, it was not enough, he would never be one of them. He was living by the standards of the UC, not dating, drinking, and so on. Therefore could not be easily understood by people at school, but could also never completely fit in or belong with his peers in the UC community. So when he ready about Sammy park in an autobiography called “In the

Shadow of the Moons” written by Nansook Hong (1998), the ex-wife of Moon’s oldest son. Ben asked an older first gen man who had been a security guard for the Moon family when they were living at East Garden, an estate in Westchester, New York, who confirmed the story which was the last straw for Ben.

I’m trying to live my life with this absolute standard and do everything the right way and the dude at the very top, that we say is the only human being that can hear the voice of god, did something that is completely opposite of what he teaches the bold faced opposite and everybody’s like ‘oh, god works in mysterious ways’ and I’m like no, f- that. -Ben

Similar to Ben, the hypocrisy of Moon frustrated Edward. However, Edward’s disenchantment and disaffiliation from Moon and the UC was more gradual. After having been “straight edge” and involved (in youth ministry etc), Edward didn’t want to jump to any conclusions. However it was when the truth of In Jin’s affair come out that his perspective became more critical. He began reflecting on other rumors he’d been told to ignore, realizing that those were likely true as well. He additionally began to critically examine the Moon family and Moon himself.

And then when I started to see what a poor shape the family was in and then Rev. Moon started saying it’s not my fault, it’s your fault and started trying to put blame on the members, meanwhile saying he’s taking responsibility for the

universe. It just felt like catching him in one lie or inconsistency with another. I’d say that was a big part of me not believing anymore. - Edward

In addition to the incongruences of Moon’s words and actions, several second gen participants, (Darcy, Kirk, and Will) voiced that they thought leaders are not always qualified for their positions. Will studies finance and shared that he’s taken a look at some spreadsheets for his local church and found that they spend their money poorly and thinks that this is not uncommon. (Darcy mentions something - go find her interview and see). That said, most of the issues with the UC, the leadership and the Moon family are intertwined with money.

Exasperation, anger and disgust came across multiple interviews with second gen in regards to money in the Unification Church. On one hand they see the wealth and luxury of the Moon family and on the other hand, their parents and other first gen members and their families struggling to meet basic needs in some cases. In Hong’s account of living with the Moon’s, she recalls that money (around $7000 a month) was given to Hyo Jin (her then husband) on a regularly basis in the “True Family Trust,” and at other seemingly random times money was given in cash. She only understood the source of this money to be “Japan,” nothing more specific than that (1998:102). Ben adds to this by speaking of the present day, explaining that there are “million dollar lawsuits” happening between Hak Ja Han, Hyun Jin, In Jin, and Hyung Jin adding that “while the church is falling apart, while the adults don’t have health care, some of them don’t have jobs, places to live, they (the Moons) are spending millions of dollars on lawsuits fighting over what’s yours, what’s mine, and it’s just disgusting.” Although I am not aware of any in depth research or report on the average income of members in the Unification Church and while there is undoubtedly a range of income among members, various participants

interviewed mentioned that members in their community are on welfare, one interviewee sharing more specifically, “my parents can’t pay the rent and they have to take out loans to do dental work.” Cassie, one of the first gen participants, shares her experience which may have one explanation to this range of income among members.

I think there is one thing about the church that I got really hurt by, which was I always thought we were so united together. So even when I was out doing minister work and I had two or three kids, and was always out, and other people were working at the Washington Times and getting paid, I always thought “in the end we will all be together and it doesn’t matter that they are making money and I’m still volunteering” - Cassie

Perhaps Cassie was naive, regardless of if that’s the case or not, the reality is that Cassie was not the only person in this position. She is one among many who completely changed what they were doing in their life because of they saw the “possibility to build a better world.” They were willing to do what was needed of them in order to do that, whether it was the mobile fundraising team or going back to school, they followed as they were prompted to do (Kempermen 1981). And as Cassie points out, not only were some of them were getting paid while others were not, but there was no planning for the future and no support financially for members who had given years to mission work without a steady income. Although some participants blame Moon and his family outright, Cassie reflected on Moon’s family breakdown and speculated that “maybe he didn’t know how to do the family configuration, so we didn’t know… and maybe Father’s head got too big and then family’s started to break down and maybe we weren’t taking care of each other…” She acknowledges that it is possible he didn’t know what he was doing and that an ego developed, but she also acknowledged some of her shortcomings.

There is not time to fully go into the breakdown of the Moon family, but there would likely be little dispute on attributing much of the breakdown to a struggle for

power over the Unification Church first among the siblings pre Moon’s death and then with Hak Ja Han as well post Moon’s death (Blake 2013). In Edward’s words, the children of Moon are “just a bunch of spoiled rich kids fighting over their daddy’s billion dollar empire and they don’t care who they have to hurt or what they have to do, you know to be the heir to the throne.” As mentioned before, for several interviewees the issue of leadership and money intertwined with that, along with hypocrisy amongst the

Moons was enough for them to leave the Unification Church. However, there were some interviewees, who consider themselves in the church, but have serious problems with the organization. So, they compartmentalize the organization of the church from the religious beliefs of the church. Nathan is hopeful for the new young second gen leaders that are present but are overshadowed by the old leadership at the moment. Ben on the other hand thinks the Unification Church should die, “the beautiful traditions are just human traditions. I think the intrinsically good things, like the community is great, but I don’t think it needs to be under the banner of a hypocrite.” To some capacity, all the participants seemed to separate out aspects of the church they liked and didn’t like, for example, Nathan separating the organization from the theology, Thomas the community from the organization and Ben the community from both the organization and the theology.

Community

One commonality throughout all the interviews, regardless of location or generation, was an acknowledgement of community. All participants had positive aspects of the community to share. Some participants mentioned the community as a minor detail, either finding it unimportant or implying it as a given. On the other hand, some

participants emphasized the community as special and a place of solace. In addition to the positive aspects, several participants shared their frustrations about the community.

The negative aspects of the community that emerged from this data were a separatist mentality and severe community judgement. In retrospect, more specific questions on community would have been beneficial, as some participants alluded to negative experiences but were not always explicit. As a result, some of Flynn’s (2012) findings are used in order to provide a more complete picture. To start, Flynn (2012) situates the role of the second gen or blessed child(bc), in the theology of the UC. As stated previously, blessed children are born without original sin, thus elevating them above everyone else, creating a “caste system.” Depending on the individual, the elevated status might be inspirational, isolating and/or perpetuate the pressure to be perfect by following UC standards, such as staying pure, not drinking or doing drugs, etc (Bryan

2012).

Kyle, a second gen, recalls the fear of the “outside world,” the rhetoric being that if you get too close, the “outside world” could negatively influence you, so it was safer to not associate. With the pressures and expectations that come with being a second gen, this approach is understandable. Sebastian admits that relating to women is difficult and he describes an inner conflict that sometimes occurs where one voice says, “It’s fine, there’s nothing wrong, you can relate with people” and the second voice says “You can’t say you’re strong, you have to be careful!” The second voice in this inner conflict is not about Sebastian’s self-esteem as one might assume, but it is a cautionary and therefore regulatory voice to reduce risk in order to maintain the UC standard. If the second voice

did not exist or it was ignored, the response from the self could be one of judgement

(Flynn 2012).

The response from the community to breaking standards could also be judgement which is the last negative aspect of the community. One participant, who shall go unnamed, shared the story of their brother, Kent, coming out. Kent was a beloved and active member of the community. He stayed in the closet for a while, but eventually moved to a new city and came out there. Afterwards, he received a lot of criticism and judgement from the same community that loved and supported him before his move. He received angry emails and some friends even cut him out completely. Even though some people were criticizing his actions, Kent began receiving messages from other second gen that wanted to come out as well. Kent’s sibling (the participant) shared some reflections on Kent’s experience,

He gave everything to the church and it probably kept him in the closet 10 years longer because he didn’t want to hurt the people around him. Imagine how much that hurts, you don’t want to hurt the people around you by being who you really are. And doesn’t just go for the gay kids, that’s just kids in general. So many parents judge their kids based off church standards and I think that hurt a lot of people over the years.

The severe judgement from the community and families to the second gen, sends the message that what matters more than the second gen are the standards that the UC sets.

The severe judgement becomes one consequence for stepping out of line and perhaps such severity discourages others from deviating from fear of feeling guilty or being criticized. However by doing this, remaining insular is implicitly supported.

From a sociological standpoint the severe judgement from the community could be representative of a sect because there are strict rules that must be followed in order to maintain membership. However, some people who judged Kent for coming out have

since apologized and become his friend again. This is another sign that the UC has been moving towards denominationalizing.

Community was expressed positively by all participants. All but one second gen elaborated on various ways they enjoy and appreciate the community. The one second gen who did not, Darcy, has not attended church regularly since early high school or lived in an areas where there was much of a UC community. She currently lives in on the east coast, but the local church is made up of only first gen, so she and her husband don’t feel compelled to attend. Out of the first gen participants, everyone but Cassie and Bella mentioned the community in passing. However this may be due to the fact that there were not any explicit questions on the opinions of the UC community during the interview.

When participants expressed how the community has benefited them, they spoke of individual connections where they feel comfortable expressing themselves freely and have, in many cases, created genuine and lifelong relationships. It is with fellow second gen that everything, from Moon as the messiah to past experiences on gap year programs, doesn’t need to be carefully explained, but can be thoughtfully discussed instead.

Depending on where the second gen lies in regards to “in” or “out,” there are probably varying levels of comfort. In addition, Bella expressed that the community is enriching because it is full of good people that have “high ideals, morals and ethics” that try to alleviate some of the problems in the world. Regardless of their success, it is the sheer effort and heart to keep trying that Bella is inspired by. In these ways participants have benefited by connecting socially as well as spiritually.

What’s more, these connections can go beyond the typical communities of the

United States. Kyle, a second gen, shared a story of traveling in Africa and met a stranger

who happened to be a member. He and a friend were walking around and somehow they ended up in the home of a stranger and it was “because of the picture of the two koreans on the wall, we became friends.” Kyle thinks it is awesome to have a connected global community, what’s more is Will brings up the point that it is really easy to feel and be trusted as well as connected to strangers within a short amount of time. It seems that even if there are cultural or regional differences between recently acquainted members, there is an assumption or understanding that they both live by similar if not the same moral and ethical standards. A great example of trust and connection of the UC community is a

Facebook page that was created for the purpose of connecting travelers to people in the area they are traveling to for accommodations (often in personal homes) or recommendations in the UC community across the world, Will called it the “Airbnb before Airbnb.”

The communities have a large role in the Unification Church for many second gen. In fact, many no longer believe in the ideologies but do not lose contact with the community. This is done in a variety of ways. For example, Kirk who has been a long time atheist, yet still attends church weekly and plays in the church band with his wife.

He says sometimes it is intellectually stimulating but the real reason he goes is for the community. One way he described himself is as a “cultural Unificationist” and used

Judaism as an example to illustrate this point.

There are lots of cultural Jews, like there are so many that don’t go to the synagogue, they don’t abide by all the rules, they go once a year, and maybe they have chabot dinners. I’m cultural Unificationist. Ideologically, religiously, spiritually I consider having left but I still participate on the ground level. - Kirk

Kirk was not the only to bring up this concept, a few others echoed his sentiments including Thomas who said he is “more committed to the cultural identity and the health”

of the community. While there are people who still feel connected to the community that attends church weekly and participates in UC events, others do not. There is a Facebook group that is for nonmember second gen only. While this community is exclusively nonmembers, it still exhibits the need and desire for connection and a community.

CONCLUSION

The UC went from being a sect to heading toward a denominational status when

Moon passed away. This has caused a new sect to emerge due to the power struggle between Hak Ja Han and Hyung Jin. Some participants see this fight as an issue of money, to inherit “daddy’s kingdom,” while others believe Hyung Jin is the rightful next leader that has been treated unfairly. Regardless of where participant’s ideologies lied, most mentioned a frustration or criticism of leadership in UC.

By examining the UC during this time, participants can be involved in three ways, theological, organizational, and with community. These three categories are like a three circle Venn diagram, there are overlapping edges between two and one small spot that has all three overlapping and everyone is situated in a different circle or overlap. Most people are out of the organization circle, many are in the theological and community overlap and everyone has at least one foot in the community circle. The community is what keeps everyone in the UC Venn diagram. The future of the UC and its are yet to be seen. Appendix A Facebook post Hi Everyone, I am a student at Colorado College and working on my senior thesis in Sociology. Due to my upbringing in the Unification Church I thought it would be interesting to focus on it for my thesis. The purpose of my research is to understand the opinions about the Unification Church from current and past members. I am conducting interviews in person and via Skype. Participation in my study will be confidential. If you are interested or would like to learn more, feel free to ask me some questions preferably through a direct message/email (unless the question will benefit the group) and we can figure it out from there. Thanks! [email protected]

Appendix B Interview Guide How did you come to be a part of the Unification Church? What does being a part of the Unification Church mean to you?  Any rules you need to follow to be a part of it? Do you know your parents’ stories of how they joined the Unification Church? Please elaborate if you do. (member only) Describe your current community and the role you think you play in it. How do you think the Unification Church has played a role in who you are as a person?  Has that changed over time? What factors have affected that?  Are you blessed? What’s your blessing story? How has your perception of the Unification Church changed over time? Describe any moments you’ve had that strengthened your feelings about the Unification Church? Describe any moments you’ve had that weakened your feelings about the Unification church. What challenges have you/did you face in the Unification Church? What benefits have you gained from the Unification Church? (former member only) When did you leave the Unification Church? What was that experience like for you?  What challenges have you/did you experience when you left the Unification Church?  What benefits have you/did you experience when you left the Unification Church? (former member only) Do you have a new faith community? Describe it to me. What do you think of the church in its current moment, 5 years after Rev. Moon(ex- member)/True Father (member) died? There has been a lot of division, how have you navigated it? Where do you see the movement in several years? What role do you see yourself playing in the future?

Appendix C Matching Plan Workbook I have only copied one page in Appendix C, to view the whole workbook the url is below. https://docs.google.com/document/d/1grAX5fr1QTCHr7NMe0IjFk6sOPsXQgaS5dfhCR F9mrQ/edit

About the Candidate 1. What kind of life are you planning for? Do you plan to remain a private person? Will you be active in your church or community? Are you passionate about particular hobbies or leisure activities? What will be your work/social life balance? Do you plan to travel and be mobile in your younger years? How might your school plans affect your marriage and family plans? When would you anticipate settling down and having children?

2. What kind of marriage relationship fits into the life you anticipated above? Is it private? Public? Spiritually-based? Religious? Strongly Unificationist?

3. Will you intend to be two professionals or career-focused people? Or will you hope to have one of you at home and family-focused? Of course, these may be flexible based upon the person you meet and commit to, but consider what your preferences might be.

4. What qualities are most important in the person who will help you create the relationship you described above? Is he/she spiritual? Religious? More, less or the same amount as you are? Is he/she more outgoing, verbal and expressive, or a more quiet and supportive type of person? Is he/she strong, disciplined and accomplished? Or more heart-oriented and relationship/family-centered? What kind of family does he/she come from? What three-character traits would inspire you the most in a spouse?

5. Who are you? What will you bring into a relationship? What are your most important core values by which you will live your life? What character strengths do you bring to a relationship? What areas of yourself do you think need improvement, that may need your partner’s understanding and support. What is important for your partner to understand about you?

6. Do you have any deal breakers or absolute requirements? Would you consider someone with past-relationship experiences? Consider what you are comfortable with in a partner, and any preferences concerning language, location, race, nationality, faith, physical appearance, or any challenges or complications you are comfortable with and open to in a partner.

7. If you had a previous matching effort or Blessing experience, what lessons did you learn that can help you adjust and approach things more effectively this time?

8. Are there important questions that you need or want to know about any potential match from the very beginning? (Parents/Matching Supporter and the candidate can each make a list, then compare and agree on them. You can refer to Appendix 2 of the Family Matching Handbook for ideas. First Generation members refer to Appendix 3 in Finding the One)

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