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The article alleges that the ministers, mostly from the South, "have been voted out of office by church boards that object to any affiliation with Moon." The article has been vehemently denied by a group of involved pastors (including Imani Temple archbishop George A. Stallings, who was married at a Moon mass wedding).

This situation may be the boiling point in a mounting unrest over the increasing close ties between Moon's Unification Church and African-American clergy and on on-going mission for Moon.

So what's the fuss over Christian leaders associating with Moon? For starters, he claims Jesus failed his earthly mission, and that Moon was commissioned to finish up. Jesus's real task, Moon maintains, was to form a perfect marriage in order to redeem humanity and reverse the damage that Adam and Eve created. Moon and his wife are held up in his church as the "True Parents" of humanity.

After reportedly seeing Jesus on a mountaintop in 1935, Moon organized his teachings into the Divine Principle ten years later and began his public ministry. The Holy Spirit Association for the Unification of World Christianity was organized in 1954 in Seoul, South Korea, and soon became a worldwide movement.

The San Francisco Chronicle found, in a study of alternative religions (part one | two | three | four), that the Moonies have battled for respect and to be categorized as a "religion" instead of a "cult." The group's image has been tarnished by frightening tales from ex-members, the unusual beliefs of Moon, and a tell-all book by Moon's ex-daughter-in-law, Nansook Hong.

Credibility is critical if Moon hopes to accomplish a major goal of the Unification Church—to unite all of the fragments of Christianity into a single body.

Jailhouse conversion
In this quest, Moon has been reaching out to black Christians as well as members of the Nation of Islam. Last October, he played co-host at the Million Family March led by Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan.

According to the Post, Moon's snuggling up to African-American Christians didn't attract much attention until some ministers and congregations became suspicious of Moon's activity. Some churchgoers, joined by Black Panther members, have protested churches where Moon has had contact with clergy—in some cases even finding spouses for them. The Post reports:

Once, Moon preached the superiority of the Asian race. Then in (1984) he went to jail for tax evasion and found common cause with civil rights leaders who contended that he, like they, had been persecuted because of his minority status.

Now he preaches an interracial message, often marrying female Korean church members with black men. He has donated millions of dollars to black churches and cultivated a network of preachers loyal to him. His latest American tour began in a Bronx church in April and ended 50 days later at the Canaan Baptist Church in Harlem, with Moon surrounded by black preachers testifying to his good works.

Moon has found some pretty alluring ways to attract Christians to his cause. And he apparently has the funds to do it. While no exact numbers could be found on the church's worth, Moon-owned properties are connected to The Washington Times and a laundry list of other businesses. He's a regular travel agency with all the trips he's historically given out. And that's not to mention the free gifts as an April Washington Post article pointed out when Moon invited over 300 black clergy members to attend a recent tour stop at Washington, D.C.

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August (Web-only) 2001, Vol. 45