Responses to Questions on
Unificationism on the Internet - Volume 20


Jan 2, 1996 Subject: Re: Moon buys Sen Grassley, Helms and Lugar Newsgroups: alt.religion.unification,talk.religion.misc,alt.religion.christian References: <30d85ed7.3722047@news.snafu.de> <4bo19p$pha@zippy.cais.net> <30dface3.821568@news.snafu.de> <4bt32k$6m4@malasada.lava.net> <30e2698d.3409744@news.snafu.de> <4c2j5k$jtf@ixnews8.ix.netcom.com> <4c6un4$bhv@linet02.li.net> Organization: Capital Area Internet Service Distribution: Merchant of Chaos (peegee@newshost.li.net) wrote: : Laszlo Weress (laszlozw@ix.netcom.com) wrote: : : Who, what, where. Evidence. You always screaming for facts, yet not : : too liberal giving any. : : Laszlo Z. Weress : Apparently Moon hasn't allowed you to read the MacLean's article that : came out last October. Lots o' facts in there, that's for sure... How very quaint! The Merchant of Deception thinks that a 75 year old religious leader can control what his followers all around the world read on a daily basis. Do you still believe in Santa Claus? :-) If Laszlo knows about the article and wants to read it, he is free to do so. There is no Unificationist thought police who are going to tell him not to read it. That kind of restriction to access to information is much more likely to come in American oh-so-politically correct universities, than to the hundreds of thousands of Unificationists who are free to read what they please. Get real! Damian Anderson +1-301-921-0082 Home +1-202-267-9403 Work damian@unification.net Unification Home Page http://www.unification.net Web Pages in French, Spanish, German, Japanese, Norwegian, Portuguese, Italian See daily articles on talk.religion.misc, or to receive by e-mail, Send "subscribe unification-texts your name" to listserv@garcia.com Send "subscribe world-scripture your name" to listserv@garcia.com
Jan 2, 1996 Subject: Re: Driving Principle: Some things never change (by Steve Hassan) Newsgroups: alt.religion.unification,talk.religion.misc,alt.religion.christian,alt.messianic References: <30d861cf.4481440@news.snafu.de> <4bo5lv$qdk@zippy.cais.net> <30dfcaf7.8400668@news.snafu.de> <4bqpt0$9qf@zippy.cais.net> <30e11500.1748592@news.snafu.de> <4bt5us$6m4@malasada.lava.net> <30e26b67.3883966@news.snafu.de> Organization: Capital Area Internet Service Distribution: Tilman Hausherr (tilman@berlin.snafu.de) wrote: : In <4bt5us$6m4@malasada.lava.net>, Rich Rubasch : wrote: : >I have long considered my purpose and role in this world. I have read : >Norman Cousins, Hans Kung, C. S. Lewis, Huston Smith and many others. I : >have also read the Divine Principle by Reverend Sun Myung Moon. : Well that's not so sure if the DP is written by Moon. Some detractors : claim that the DP was just a plagiarism of the books "Divine basic : principles" and "Theology of the holy spirit" by Kim Baek-Moon. This "some detractors claim ..." argument is a convenient way to make a slur. For example, "Some detractors claim that Christians eat babies and drink their blood." "Some detractors claim that Tilman is XXX." You fill in the blank. Just because someone makes an unsubstantiated claim does not justify your repeating it as fact. If you don't know it is fact, why repeat it? For your information, Rev. Moon taught his early disciples the Divine Principle, and Rev. Hyo Won Eu wrote them down and Rev. Moon checked over his work at each step. So, you may say that it was co-written by the two men, but the ideas were Rev. Moon's. You may ask why he did not write it himself, and I would have to say that I don't know. : --- Tilman Hausherr Damian Anderson +1-301-921-0082 Home +1-202-267-9403 Work damian@unification.net Unification Home Page http://www.unification.net Web Pages in French, Spanish, German, Japanese, Norwegian, Portuguese, Italian See daily articles on talk.religion.misc, or to receive by e-mail, Send "subscribe unification-texts your name" to listserv@garcia.com Send "subscribe world-scripture your name" to listserv@garcia.com
Jan 5, 1996 Subject: Re: Steve Hassan's deceptive exit counselling Newsgroups: alt.religion.unification,talk.religion.misc,alt.religion.christian,alt.support.ex-cult References: <30e014cd.13615797@news.snafu.de> <4bq325$hhh@newsbf02.news.aol.com> <30e134ed.9913907@news.snafu.de> <4c192m$mo9@zippy.cais.net> <30e431c1.21808245@news.snafu.de> <4c2kq0$fln@ixnews2.ix.netcom.com> <4ccu15$ni@sundog.tiac.net> Organization: Capital Area Internet Service Distribution: Steven Hassan (shassan@tiac.net) wrote: : I challenge any leader of the Moon group to an in- person debate about : the Divine Principle, the methods of recruitment and indoctrination, the : Bible, and Moon's multi-billion dollar conglomerate. Such a debate will : be held in a public forum (I would be happy to travel to New York, where : "Headquarters" are located) and will be videotaped and transcribed. I : believe that if the Moon followers truly believe that they have the : "Truth", they will welcome such an exchange of information. I suspect we : might even be able to interest a network to film the event. This offer of Steve Hassan is akin to a Ku Klux Klan leader inviting the late Martin Luther King Jr. or another civil rights leader to debate their accusations against blacks in a public forum. Given the level of rhetoric and violence against members of the Unification Church by professional kidnappers, deprogrammers and exit counselors, what possible advantage could there be to members of the Church debating with Hassan? It would provide Hassan with a forum to spout his hatred and venom towards a group that he makes no secret of despising. But there would be no advantage for the Unification Church. No thanks, Steve. We will continue to offer what we do to the general public and you will have to create your own forum for venting. I will not do it, and I would not recommend that any other Unificationist leader do so. : Unfortunately, Moon leaders will not allow such a thing to take place. : The reason: Information control. They do not want members to see me tell : what I have experienced and what I have learned. They do not want : members to think. Obedience to the "True Parents". That is the only way : to the "Kingdom of Heaven". Not at all. We have better things to do with our time and more productive audiences to talk to. Why waste our breath on you? Damian Anderson +1-301-921-0082 Home +1-202-267-9403 Work damian@unification.net Unification Home Page http://www.unification.net Web Pages in French, Spanish, German, Japanese, Norwegian, Portuguese, Italian See daily articles on talk.religion.misc, or to receive by e-mail, Send "subscribe unification-texts your name" to listserv@garcia.com Send "subscribe world-scripture your name" to listserv@garcia.com
Jan 10, 1996 Subject: Re: Reincarnation of Heung Jin Nim Newsgroups: alt.religion.unification,talk.religion.misc,alt.religion.christian,alt.messianic References: <199601042016.VAA27289@utopia.hacktic.nl> <30ed77d8.41290308@news.snafu.de> Organization: Capital Area Internet Service Distribution: Tilman Hausherr (tilman@berlin.snafu.de) wrote: : In <199601042016.VAA27289@utopia.hacktic.nl>, Anonymous : wrote: : > Some Unification Church members are upset because their church : >founder, Rev. Sun Myung Moon, believes one of his followers from : >Zimbabwe is the reincarnation of his son, according to a report : >published Wednesday. : > The affair began last fall at the Unification Theological Seminary : >in upstate New York, where a senior named Charles was believed to be : >hearing and relaying messages from Rev. Moon`s deceased son, ``Lord`` : >Heung Jin Nim, the Washington Post said, quoting former and present : >church members. : Is this scam still active ? : Is reincanation part of the "divine principle" ? : Is this an official Moon policy ? Reincarnation is NOT part of the belief system of the Unification Church. For the official doctrinal position of the Church on the subject, see the Divine Principle section called: The Theory of Reincarnation Viewed from the Standpoint of Resurrection Through Second Coming. You can find it at the following URL: http://www.unification.net/dp73/dp73-1-5.html#2.4 : --- Tilman Hausherr Damian Anderson +1-301-921-0082 Home +1-202-267-9403 Work damian@unification.net Unification Home Page http://www.unification.net Web Pages in French, Spanish, German, Japanese, Norwegian, Portuguese, Italian See daily articles on talk.religion.misc, or to receive by e-mail, Send "subscribe unification-texts your name" to listserv@garcia.com Send "subscribe world-scripture your name" to listserv@garcia.com
Jan 12, 1996 Subject: Re: Hassan-Bacus Debate Newsgroups: alt.religion.unification,talk.religion.misc,alt.religion.christian References: <4cru1h$3b9@linet02.li.net> Organization: Capital Area Internet Service Distribution: Merchant of Chaos (peegee@newshost.li.net) wrote: : Hey! This is going to be good!!! Only one question...why is that only : high-ranking Moonies like Andy Bacus and Peter Ross have the guts to go : face-to-face with Steve Hassan? Can't the average, ordinary Moonie speak : up for himself? Laszlo? Damian? Well, Steve Hassan has a lot of acusations about things that happened in the church in America in the 1970s when he was a member. I was not in America at that time and so I have no first hand knowledge. My experience is as a member of the church in Europe in the late 1970s, in New England in the early 1980s and in Washington DC over the last 11 years but I am not informed as to all the things that go on in the church. You could say to me, well what about X? and I would say that I had never heard of X. Andy Bacus and Peter Ross are both attorneys and well acquainted with the controversies associated with the church and are in better command of the facts. I would be happy to talk about our theology, but I am not an apologist for the practices of the church or its mistakes. My preference is to dialogue with people who want to have a mutually beneficial discussion and a furtherance towards the solving of the problems in the world that cause agony and grief to millions of people and to God Himself. Debating with the likes of Steve Hassan does not seem to be a good use of my time. On the other hand, Rev. Moon teaches us to love everyone of similar age to us as our brothers or sisters, to love those older than us as our parents or grandparents, uncles and aunts, and to love those younger than us as our children, grandchildren, nephews and nieces. So, in this spirit, when he was under attack from the US prosecutor Martin Flumenbaum, he said to his wife that he and she must love him more than the baby in her womb. So, my response to Steve is to say that I wish him well, and I hope that one day he recognizes the harm that he is doing and repents and that God will be merciful to him on the day of judgement, which is coming soon. Sincerely, Damian Anderson +1-301-921-0082 Home +1-202-267-9403 Work damian@unification.net Unification Home Page http://www.unification.net Web Pages in French, Spanish, German, Japanese, Norwegian, Portuguese, Italian See daily articles on talk.religion.misc, or to receive by e-mail, Send "subscribe unification-texts your name" to listserv@garcia.com Send "subscribe world-scripture your name" to listserv@garcia.com
Jan 12, 1996 Subject: Re: New Years Wishes Newsgroups: alt.religion.unification,talk.religion.misc,alt.religion.christian References: <4c5brs$7eb@usenet.kornet.nm.kr> <4crq7a$3b9@linet02.li.net> Organization: Capital Area Internet Service Distribution: Merchant of Chaos (peegee@newshost.li.net) wrote: : SeKeo (kornet) (sgtimes@soback.kornet.nm.kr) wrote: : : : : My wish for 1996 is that Tilman will come to understand the following: : What's this?!!! Tim isn't wishing anything for me??!! The Moonies don't : love me anymore!!!! I can't even get love-bombed by the Moonies!!! How : depressing!!! So there we have it. One man's love-bombing is another man's being showered with attention. Everyone likes such care and attention, so it is unfortunate that when we love as Jesus taught us to love, that we are then accused of having ulterior motives. Ah well. Damian Anderson +1-301-921-0082 Home +1-202-267-9403 Work damian@unification.net Unification Home Page http://www.unification.net Web Pages in French, Spanish, German, Japanese, Norwegian, Portuguese, Italian See daily articles on talk.religion.misc, or to receive by e-mail, Send "subscribe unification-texts your name" to listserv@garcia.com Send "subscribe world-scripture your name" to listserv@garcia.com
Jan 13, 1996 Subject: Re: German TV: "Mit Moon zum Honeymoon" Newsgroups: alt.religion.unification,de.soc.weltanschauung Followup-To: alt.religion.unification,de.soc.weltanschauung References: <30f59446.6085580@news.snafu.de> Organization: Capital Area Internet Service info@cais.com 703-448-4470 Distribution: Tilman Hausherr (tilman@berlin.snafu.de) wrote: : Di 23.1 22:15 ZDF : Mit Moon zum Honeymoon : Massenhochzeit in der Sekte : Reportage von Martin Blachmann : u.a. "Für die Vermittlung kassierte er jeweils bis zu 43500 Mark" Well, I don't get ZDF - (Is that Zud-Deutsche Fernseh?). And my German is poor enough that you would laugh at it, so I will not be writing in German. Somehow, I don't expect fair treatment from this TV show. : --- Tilman Hausherr Damian Anderson +1-301-921-0082 Home +1-202-267-9403 Work damian@unification.net Unification Home Page http://www.unification.net Web Pages in French, Spanish, German, Japanese, Norwegian, Portuguese, Italian See daily articles on talk.religion.misc, or to receive by e-mail, Send "subscribe unification-texts your name" to listserv@garcia.com Send "subscribe world-scripture your name" to listserv@garcia.com
Jan 15, 1996 Subject: Re: Reincarnation of Heung Jin Nim Newsgroups: alt.religion.unification References: <4d1j0u$g5k@zippy.cais.net> <4d655h$4er@news4.digex.net> Organization: Capital Area Internet Service info@cais.com 703-448-4470 Distribution: dsmith@access.digex.net wrote: : My understanding of the situation with the member from Zimbabwe is : that Sun Myung Moon dispatched Rev. Kwak to Zimbabwe with a series : of questions to ask. Only Moon's son would have the answer to the : questions. This was the only way to verify if it was infact Heung : Jin Nim communicating from beyond. Kwak came back with the answers : and shortly thereafter the guy is touring church centers channeling : Heung Jin Nim. I would assume that Kwak came back with the correct : answers or it would have ended there. My questions for Damian is: : Do you believe this guy from Zimbabwe was channeling Heung Jin Nim? I don't believe that this guy was authentic. I opposed him at the time and I think he was a fraud. There is an inherent problem with people having spiritist experiences in that they tend to become arrogant and think that they are above all others, and then go seriously off the track. He was certainly one of this category. : D.Smith Damian Anderson +1-301-921-0082 Home +1-202-267-9403 Work damian@unification.net Unification Home Page http://www.unification.net Web Pages in French, Spanish, German, Japanese, Norwegian, Portuguese, Italian See daily articles on talk.religion.misc, or to receive by e-mail, Send "subscribe unification-texts your name" to listserv@garcia.com Send "subscribe world-scripture your name" to listserv@garcia.com
Jan 16, 1996 Subject: Re: Hassan-Bacus Debate Newsgroups: alt.religion.unification,talk.religion.misc,alt.religion.christian Followup-To: alt.religion.unification,talk.religion.misc,alt.religion.christian References: <4cru1h$3b9@linet02.li.net> <4d6ndn$uop@zippy.cais.net> <30f6fcd9.705017@news.snafu.de> Organization: Capital Area Internet Service Distribution: Tilman Hausherr (tilman@berlin.snafu.de) wrote: : In <4d6ndn$uop@zippy.cais.net>, damian@cais2.cais.com (Damian J. : Anderson) wrote: : >On the other hand, Rev. Moon teaches us to love everyone of similar : >age to us as our brothers or sisters, to love those older than us as : >our parents or grandparents, uncles and aunts, and to love those : >younger than us as our children, grandchildren, nephews and nieces. : So, do you love Steve Hassan ? Yes, I do. I would say that my implementation of it would fall into the TOUGHLOVE category however. If you love someone who is harming you, it may not be the best policy to agree with them or to give them what they want. The love of a parent towards a deviant teenager may appear harsh, but that is what is needed. God loves everyone and yet he punishes the unrighteous in order that they may repent and turn to the ways of goodness. And in fact, he asks those whom he loves the most to sacrifice themselves and suffer often more than the unrighteous. Job is a notable example, and Jesus is another. I try to take my example for how to behave from how God behaves, as revealed in various scriptures. : >So, in this spirit, when he was under attack from the US prosecutor : >Martin Flumenbaum, he said to his wife that he and she must love : Wasn't it James DeVita who did the job ? I don't know that name, but there may have been someone by that name involved. Andy would be likely to know that. But I am sure that the main prosecutor was a young buck named Martin Flumenbaum, out to make a name for himself. The book Inquisition has a large amount of documentation on this and many other matters with detailed footnotes on dates, places, documents and so forth. Even if you do not like the tone of the book, it is a great source of documented factual information about Rev. Moon and the Unification Church. : >him more than the baby in her womb. So, my response to Steve is to : >say that I wish him well, and I hope that one day he recognizes : >the harm that he is doing and repents and that God will be merciful : >to him on the day of judgement, which is coming soon. : Sure. Moon had already set several (wrong) dates in the past. What's the : current one ? Please give quotes to support this. I think you are wrong on this. Rev. Moon is not in the habit of giving dates for the day of judgement. But no doubt we are living in the age know in the Bible as the Last Days. : Tilman Damian Anderson +1-301-921-0082 Home +1-202-267-9403 Work damian@unification.net Unification Home Page http://www.unification.net Web Pages in French, Spanish, German, Japanese, Norwegian, Portuguese, Italian See daily articles on talk.religion.misc, or to receive by e-mail, Send "subscribe unification-texts your name" to listserv@garcia.com Send "subscribe world-scripture your name" to listserv@garcia.com
Jan 16, 1996 Subject: Re: Hassan-Bacus Debate Newsgroups: alt.religion.unification,talk.religion.misc,alt.religion.christian References: <4cru1h$3b9@linet02.li.net> <4d6ndn$uop@zippy.cais.net> <4d6ss8$c8@sundog.tiac.net> Organization: Capital Area Internet Service Distribution: Steven Hassan (shassan@tiac.net) wrote: : It is true that the Divine Principle lectures I listened to and : responded to included the teachings of unconditional love. However, : these are words and are Not practiced either in the group or outside of : the group. I have not been "loved" by members once I left and spoke out. : In fact, the group continually tells lies about me and mistreats me in a : variety of ways too numerous to mention. Ah, so there was something good in the teachings of the church after all! :-) As with all great religious teachings, the ideal may be great, but it ALWAYS hard to live up to. I can truthfully say that I have met a larger number of people sincerely interested in living a life of unconditional love in the Unification Church than I have anywhere else, and I have lived and worked in four countries and met many people. The higher the ideal, the easier it is to fall short of it and then to be vulnerable to the accusation of being a hypocrite. I have also met a lot of people who have fallen short of their own ideals, myself included. : I speak out against the group because I care about members and treat : individuals with respect. Everything I have written in my book and web : page is truthful and based on provable fact or personal experience. I have not read your book. However, I take issue with your practice of attempting to break the faith of others which I have heard talked about on this forum. One would think that you would be able to promote something good in the world rather than to try to tear down the good that others are trying to do. Your emphasis is on a negative, which cannot end up producing a positive. You must promote a positive to end up with a positive result. But, we in America live in a free society, and you are free to do whatever you please within the bounds of the law, as we are too. One day we will win you over too, but for now you are the loyal opposition and will not let us get away with anything, and maybe we need that. The only way our harshest critics will be won over to our ideals is if we live them ourselves and if they are such that they promote the wellbeing of everyone without exception. : I do not fear Judgement Day, if there is going to be one. I have a clear : conscience about my activities. We are all to account for our thoughts, words and deeds on the day of judgement, and there will be no double standard. One rule will go for everyone. If there are improper activities in the Unification Church and the affiliated organizations, then I have an interest in reforming them as it hurts our credibility if abuses exist. But when you cite events that took place 20 years ago, that stretches my faith in you. If there is current violation of the law, then you can have charges pressed against us. If it is not illegal, then our activities fall within the protection of the First Amendment. There may be practices that you would regard as strange or unethical. But many things that religious people do appear strange to the unbeliever. Tithing would be one. Praying, fasting, sexual abstinence would be others, and so on. Whatever way in which you were mistreated or misunderstood by a member or members of the Unification Church in the 1970s happened a very long time ago. I cannot and will not comment on things that happened to you 20 years ago in the Unification Church as I was not there. But I can and will be happy to comment on what I know the church is doing today. For your own sake, you need to forgive those people and move on with your life. I am sincerely interested in propagating the message of the Unification Church because I think it is something of great value. If you can dialogue with me in a tone of mutual respect, then I can certainly do that too. : I suggest you take time out to think reflectively about what I : write and teach. Tell me what you write and teach. I have no desire to buy your book and subsidize your activities. : I believe that the human spirit wants to be free and people want : to know the truth! I agree that the human spirit wants to be free and that people want to know the truth. And I am a great believer in the human conscience to discern good and evil, even if it takes a while for the good and evil to become clear. : Steve Hassan M.Ed, LMHC Sincerely, your brother, yes, really, Damian Anderson MA (Cantab) (Math), MS (Comp Sci), Dipl. Rel Ed. :-) Damian Anderson +1-301-921-0082 Home +1-202-267-9403 Work damian@unification.net Unification Home Page http://www.unification.net Web Pages in French, Spanish, German, Japanese, Norwegian, Portuguese, Italian See daily articles on talk.religion.misc, or to receive by e-mail, Send "subscribe unification-texts your name" to listserv@garcia.com Send "subscribe world-scripture your name" to listserv@garcia.com