Stranger Things

I'll start with two videos that explores the two groups that Dr. Choe (below) explores in her Ph.D dissertation: The Olive Tree Movement and the Unification ChurchL

False Christs of Korea: The Unification Church & Olive Tree Legacy

QuoteWe're joined by Pastor Yang, Adjunct Professor of New Testament at the Presbyterian University and Theological Seminary in Seoul, who holds a Doctor of Theology in New Testament and served as a Visiting Scholar at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School (2023–2024). Also joining us is Chris, a former member of Shincheonji and returning Cultish guest, who shares his firsthand experience and ongoing efforts to raise awareness about the growing global influence of Korean cults.

And an exploration of Shamanistic roots of Korean cults:

1993: The Korean War and Messianic Groups: Two Cases in Contrast (Choe Joong-hyun, Ph. D - Syracuse University)

1999: Sun Myung Moon, The Early Years, 1920-53 (Michael Breen)

The two histories are vastly different in style and intent. Dr. Choe's dissertation covers more ground in both time and scope - exploring the growth of groups and self-proclaimed messiahs before Moon came along and continues past 1953, the year Michael Breen ended is early history. Dr. Choe does explore that briefly and explores theories regarding how such groups arise and disappear. And Dr. Choe isn't just concerned with Moon's group, but also The Olive Tree Movement, which was much more successful than Moon's group in the 1950s. Lee Man-hee, the leader of Shincheonji, was a member of that group, and I'm sure he learned a few tricks of the trade while he was there.. Whereas Michael's book, as his title announces, is just concerned with the early history of the UC.

One interesting tidbit is that Dr. Choe mentions that at the time of writing, other UC histories made no mention of Moon's first wife. Breen corrects that ommission and mentions her.

I'll provide a few quotes that I find interesting. This first one could perhaps be related to the scandals in Japan with members making large donations to "liberate" their ancestors and safely see them to heaven:

Chapter 2, Page 30:

QuoteAs his faith developed, a nascent desire to free the world from suffering crystallized within him. Around him he saw material hardship and spiritual suffering. People were not joyful or fulfilled. At the ancestral shrine on the hill above the village he wondered about his ancestors and felt that they, too, had suffered, and that their spirits still suffered. Death did not bring perfection. In the spiritual world, a man continues as he is in life. His descendants, too, would struggle with the same problems for generations, unless liberated.

At the very end, the surprising origins of the group's name are given:

Chapter 10, Page 159:

QuoteDuring this time, an elderly woman in the Taegu group, Lee Jae-gun, was asked by a Christian which church she belonged to. "The Unification Church," she said, making the name up on the spot. In the following year, Moon chose as a legal title for his group, the Holy Spirit Association for the Unification of World Christianity.

This review of Michael's book by a fellow Unificationist is quite interesting as he explains in detail what he feels is worthy of praise along with some criticisms:

A Friendly Biography About An Extraordinary Man" Michael Breen's Sun Myung Moon: The Early Years, 1920-53 (Michael L. Mickler)

QuoteNevertheless, Breen approaches his subject, at least in part, as a professional historian might. That is, he attempts to confront the past on its own terms. He does not seek to impose meaning from without or occupy a privileged vantage point. He rather seeks to immerse himself in the period, bringing it to life as it was experienced. This diverges from the tendency in most church accounts to project present understandings or theological presuppositions about Rev. Moon into the past, according immense significance to what may have been obscure and unnoticed details at the time.

Breen, however, claims his book is "the work of a journalist."' To him, this primarily means the sustained quest to be factual and objective. He, thereby, presents details "with a minimum of comment," and expresses hope that his work will "help readers in making their own assessment." At the same time, having striven "to avoid hagiography," Breen contends that he is "not required to remain neutral" and, in a memorable turn of phrase, conceives his book "as a friendly biography about an extraordinary man." In true journalistic fashion, Breen bases the information in the book "mainly on interviews... conducted over several years." Those interviewed include "Moon's family members, fellow prisoners, and early followers, some of whom are still with him and some who later opposed him." All of his sources, he tells us, were "primary" and he "took no account of commentators who did not have first-hand experience." He also expresses skepticism about written Unificationist sources, most of which, he contends, were published "for the purpose of uplifting or converting audiences" and "are suspect as history." ...

Breen's "middle ground" has no more place for distinctive Unification teachings about Rev. Moon than it does for the allegations of critics. For while Breen is content to treat the young Sun Myung Moon as authentically "spiritual" or even "extraordinary," he stops short of any explicit acknowledgment of him as the Second Coming of Christ, which of course is the crux of the matter for Unificationists. More than that, he dismisses accounts that so depict Rev. Moon, terming them "suspect" as history. Thus, Breen gives as little credence to insider treatments which type Rev. Moon as the Lord of the Second Advent as he does to external attacks which depict him as a social menace. Breen maintains that his biography is not "neutral" but "friendly." However, any approach which isolates facts from faith or sets facts and faith in opposition can only be regarded by Unificationists as self-defeating. For most insiders, it would make little sense to gain credibility at the expense of losing transcendence.

Breen's failure to address the fundamental concerns of Rev. Moon's critics and followers is exceeded by his failure to probe very deeply into the young Sun Myung Moon's character. Biographies typically afford authors the opportunity to explore intricacies of personality, sometimes in minute detail. This is not the case in Breen's book. Instead, the narrative and setting take precedence.

I read Michael's book maybe 20 years ago, and I recently skimmed a few parts. It is a certainly a friendly biography, and that is of course to be expected as he was a member then. I do recall there were some interesting details scattered throughout, but it certainly isn't full-on propaganda like the "official" autobiographies of Moon and his widow, Han Hak-ja.

As Michael L. Mickler in his review noted: "narrative and setting take precedence": something happened here, then something else happened over there, Moon went somewhere, he went somewhere else, and someone said this, then someone said that, then Jesus said to Moon "I've got a very important job for you" etc.

That sections is worth quoting. We are also treated to insights into Moon's thinking at the time although Michael did not have access to Moon when writing his book, which is hence described as an unofficial biography:

QuoteOn April 17, 1935, he was praying on South Hill, which was half a mile from his home, when Jesus appeared to him. Addressing Moon's youthful ambition, Jesus asked him to make its fulfillment his life's work. He refused. To dream is one thing, but to promise to God is something else altogether. He was not one to make promises lightly, out of a desire to please or in the awe of spiritual experience. Jesus asked him again "This is my work, my mission and I want you to take it over."

Moon refused again. Jesus asked him a third time: "There is no one else who can do this work." His meditations of a world in perpetual suffering returned to him. From the comfort of his youthful ideals, he peered over the abyss of the difficulties that would lie ahead and decided. "I will do it," he promised."

With this pledge, his life was forever changed. While, like any normal child, he studied, fished and played sports with his friends and cousins, he lived an inner life he could share with no one. None would have understood the mission he had resolved to undertake. Had he revealed it, his family and friends may have tried to tease or persuade him to be more down to earth, and thereby destroyed his developing dream, as easily as a tree is crushed underfoot when it is still a seed.

Related articles exploring the history of those groups and others that came about due to cult-related tragedies and controversies: The Sewol Ferry Disaster and the Daegu Covid outbreak caused by Shincheonji:

May 25, 2014: Sects, Money & Tragedy Have History in Korea (Korea JoongAng Daily)

QuoteAccording to Professor Tark, the phenomenon of "new religions pursuing profit through corporate activities" is unique to Korea. That conclusion is based on his comparison of the classification of new religious movements in the United States and Europe over the past 120 years and a similar study of modern Korea by Lee Kang-oh, head of the private Korean New Religion Research Center.

Tark is one of three sons, all religion experts, of Tark Myung-hwan, a renowned religious researcher who spearheaded a move to combat crazy cults. He was murdered by a religious zealot in 1994. The scope of his research included the Salvation Sect.

As Korea went through rapid social changes over a relatively short period - from colonialism to war, dictatorship and democracy - traditional religions had trouble keeping up with the chaos and insecurity, and the door was opened to ambitious shysters, according to Lee. They thrived by criticizing existing religions and offering salvation in a quicker or more direct way.

Personally, they became wealthy because of all the opportunities available in rapidly developing Korea, especially in the real estate market.

Lee, the research center head and an honorary professor of philosophy at Chonbuk National University, noted in his epic 1992 "Korea's New Religion Almanac" that 200 of the 390 new religious bodies that came into existence between the 1960s and 1990s were born in the 1980s. He interpreted that as a sign that South Korea's dictatorship stirred both political tensions and confusions that led to the weakening of traditional religions.

March 6, 2020: How One Man's Epiphany on a Seoul Mountain in 1955 Laid the Foundation for Many Religious Sects in South Korea (CNN)

Where Moon got his theology from (The Tragedy of the Six Marys)

Contains this image showing earlier groups:

QuoteHere is a chart of some of the small spiritual groups active in Korea from the 1920s. Rev. Moon studied the ideas of all of them. Baek Nam-joo taught about the three ages of providential history. Rev. Lee Yong-do heavily influenced both Rev. Moon and Miss Kim Young-oon. She had met him in person; Rev. Moon did not, but he did join Lee's church as a teenager and a pastor from that church performed his marriage to his first wife, Choi Seon-gil. Kim Baek-moon devised the parallels of history which culminated in 1917, the year of his own birth.

March 17, 1994: Death of Pseudoreligion Critic Focuses Attention (UCA News)

QuoteAn estimated 300-400 sects or cults are currently thriving outside established religious structures in Korea, according to scholars of religions. Some scholars refer to these groups as "new religions." ...

Since the turn of the century, a large number of sects or new religions have taken root in this country, leading one sociologist to label generally homogeneous South Korea "the supermarket of world religions." About 1.5 million people adhere to these new religions, according to Lee Kwang-ho, professor emeritus at Chonbuk University in the southern provincial capital of Chonju. Some put the figure at 2 million.

In his 1992 book "General Guide to New Religions in Korea," Lee identifies 390 pseudo-religious sects. He says 78 are associated with Buddhism, 76 with Christianity and 36 are cults for Tangun, the founding father of Korea. Of the latter, 10 are of foreign origin, according to the book.

June 12, 2008: Cult Worship (Andrei Lankov for The Korea Times)

QuoteIn East Asian countries, the 20th century was a golden age of the so-called ``new religions,'' a large array of strange, often bizarre ideological constructs. The ``new religions'' emerged in all countries from Korea to Japan to China.

It is easy to explain why such religious movements briefly enjoyed success in East Asia. For two millennia these countries safely, and generally quite successfully, existed in the ideological space defined by Confucianism ― not quite a religion in the Western sense, but a rather close approximation to it. ...

2009: The Religious Situation in East Asia Joachim Gentz/The University of Edinburgh)


To Japan:
April 10, 2014: Japanese Religion Comes Full Circle: Millennials in Search of Their Spiritual Roots (Nippon)

Aug. 11, 2022: Asian Cults & Castes, Where New Religions Meet Power Politics (World Crunch)

QuoteAccording to Eileen Barker, a sociologist of religion, in 1999 there were already around 2,000 emerging religious movements in Europe, between 800 and 1,000 in Japan, and perhaps 10,000 in the United States, Asia, Africa and Oceania combined, for a total of over 12 million adherents.

But these new religions are often associated with negative portrayals, with ideas of cults, money laundering and brainwashing.

Such assumptions are not hard to make, as new religious movements were behind some of the most horrific mass killings and suicides in the second half of the 20th century. For example, the Peoples Temple of the Disciples of Christ and Heaven's Gate committed mass suicides in the 1970s and 1990s respectively, and there was also Aum Shinrikyo, which masterminded the Tokyo underground sarin gas attack in 1995.

As scholars have pointed out, post-war Japan experienced unprecedented and intense pain: the economic collapse, the hardship of livelihood, and the sense of disorientation were the defining elements of Japan's society during this period, which became a good ground for promoting emerging religions. Against this backdrop, new religious groups sprang up, with the number of groups rising rapidly from 34 during wartime to over 700 nowadays...

Jan. 10, 2025: Why Are There So Many Cults in Japan? (Japan Today)

QuoteSocietal upheaval and social turmoil have played major roles in the development of cults in Japan. A few major cults originated in the 1860s during the violent Bakumatsu period, right before the Meiji restoration. However, the past century has seen a major development in the number of new religions, or "cults," in Japan.

Experts suggest that the end of emperor worship and the abolition of State Shinto after WWII created a spiritual vacuum in Japan. The Allied occupation also reshaped Japan's government, lifting censorship on religious organizations and granting them tax exemptions. During the economic boom of the 1970s and 1980s, growing alienation from an increasingly materialistic society drove many Japanese people toward new religions, leading to the rise of more cults and gurus.

In recent years, the number of new members joining these new religions has increased while attendance at traditional places of worship like Buddhist temples has declined. Today, there are about 183,000 officially registered religions in Japan, and about 2,000 of them have a substantial following. Some are not even religions at all but cover for organized crime or tax evasion. It is estimated that 10 to 20 percent of Japan's population is connected to one of these new religions.

April 26, 1976: Newsweek on the Many Korean Messiahs of the 1970s (Newsweek/Tragedy Of The Six Marys)
     

QuoteTahk Myeong-hwan, director of the New Religions Research Institute, has found at least 302 religious sects flourishing around Seoul, including 64 associated with the Christian faith; estimates of their followers run as high as 1.4 million.

I wasn't sure where to post this, but it does give an overview of the UC from its founding until circa 2020, and I like that it doesn't shy away from noting valid critisicms:

2021: Tzu-Chi and the 'Moonies': New Religious Movements in Taiwan & South Korea (Niki J. P. Alsford & Nataša Visočnik)

QuoteThere are many controversies surrounding the UC, sometimes derided as the 'dark side of the Moon', the most wellknown of which is undoubtedly their mass weddings where hundreds or even thousands of couples are married. Moreover, the UC's teachings are viewed unfavourably by most mainstream Christian churches, and those who join are allegedly subjected to 'heavenly deception' and various brainwashing techniques, and thus the UC is denoted as a cult. The public controversy over the group's methods raises questions as to whether this movement should even be treated as a religion.