Reverend Sun Myung Moon

Have you ever heard of Reverend Moon or the Moonies?  Here is my experience of almost being recruited by them:

A few years ago I was wandering around Penn's campus, when a nice looking pair of college age students approached me.  One male and one female.  As someone who had just finished AmeriCorps, I was still interested in doing volunteer work.  The pair wanted to talk to me about "CARP," a collegiate group who did charity and volunteer work.  Bored and wanting to find new volunteer work, I agreed to go with them into one of Penn's buildings to listen and hear more.  There were a few more people in the room, and a man began to explain what CARP is.  He went on to talk about Reverend Moon.  I suddenly became a little frightened and said I wasn't interested.  I asked, "Reverend Moon, like the Moonies?!"  He politely confirmed and said that they prefer the term "Unificationists."  



One of the "pair" followed me out and asked me to sit on a bench with him.  Some of the things he said were strange, but overall he seemed nice and very happy to be a Moonie.  He talked about getting married and something about Reverend Moon's arranged marriages- something along the lines of happiness, love, completeness, etc.  Whatever he was selling it wasn't just CARP.  After that, my interest in the Moonies grew.  One thing that I did discover is that Reverend Moon owns a large seafood distribution company, True World Foods.  Interestingly, Reverend Moon wrote an interesting sermon titled, "The Way of the Tuna."  I'm not sure what to think, but you can connect your own dots. 

Also, do you know that Reverend Moon's son, heir to the throne of the Moonies, has his own blog?  Below is a funny excerpt from his blog.

Question: What do snowmen eat for breakfast?
Answer (by Pastor Michael Brazil): Snowflakes. Pastor Michael, you’ve got it.
Next question: Why does Santa have three gardens?
The answer is very profound: So that he can hoe, hoe, hoe. – Lord have mercy.
Are you ready for the next question? What do you get when you cross a snowman with a vampire?
Answer: Frostbites.
 
 In closing, I'm not sure if the Moonies are a "cult" or how different they are from any other religion.  I believe in religious freedom.  Although, I don't agree with some things I've heard, I do find Reverend Moon fascinating.  He is actually a North Korean, was imprisoned in a North Korean labor camp, started a newspaper, and pals with George Bush.  He was basically a middle class North Korean, who was able to leave the North, earn billions, and spread a worldwide religion.   


You decide.
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