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Moon's U.S. Tour 2001 |
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Moon's U.S. Tour 2001 |
It was a busy night for local faith communities Wednesday, when two internationally known religious leaders arrived in Detroit to visit with followers and reach out to other groups.
In two simultaneous but unrelated appearances, Imam W. Deen Mohammed, the most prominent African-American leader in mainline Islam, and the Rev. Sun Myung Moon, the controversial head of the Unification Church, told Detroit audiences that unity among the faith groups is key to doing God's work.
About 500 people turned out at Detroit's Historic Little Rock Baptist Church to hear Moon, an 81-year-old North Korean best known for performing mass weddings. Detroit is the 25th stop for Moon, who is touring to recruit support for his organization, which preaches interfaith and interracial cooperation.
"We are all here as a family," Moon said through a Korean translator Wednesday.
A biography passed out to the audience said Moon met Jesus on a mountainside in 1935 and was told that he was chosen to complete Jesus' work.
Moon's speech was preceded by praises from pastors and church leaders, some who are members of his Unification Church. The majority of the pastors were black, a group Moon is courting on his tour.
Last week, two Detroit preachers, the Rev. Frederick Sampson of Tabernacle Baptist Church and the Rev. Eddie Edwards said they were displeased by a letter that inaccurately listed them as cosponsors of Moon's visit.
Mary Davenport, a member of the Unification Church since 1973, said problems in the community can't be solved without different religions working together.
"It's not about getting hung up on whose issue it is.
Mohammed's appearance at the Dr. Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History was much more low-key, though his main theme was also about bridging religious and social divides. When he entered the museum, the small-framed leader was surrounded by attendees eager to welcome him back to the city where he was born in 1933.
During his speech, Mohammed told about 200 civic and religious leaders that he was there in part to "make you more comfortable with us.
"You can't make progress in a battlefield," Mohammed said. "You have to work with friends and not be at war.
Non-Muslim religious leaders said they like Mohammed's message. Bishop Kevin Britt of the Archdiocese of Detroit said he respected the interfaith effort and was there partly to learn more about Detroit's strong black Muslim community. "It's important for faiths in our community to know one another, to know about each other, so that we can work toward the benefit of our city," Britt said.
Mohammed, who runs the Muslim American Society out of Chicago, also wanted to reconnect with his local followers. Since his father, Elijah Muhammad, founder of the black separatist Nation of Islam, died in 1975, Mohammed has worked to move black Muslims toward mainline Islam and away from his father's nationalist legacy.
"That wasn't true Islam," Southfield resident Rasool Muhammad said of the Nation of Islam. He talked while waiting with a smile to shake the imam's hand. "Islam has been misunderstood and considered terrorist, but the religion itself means peace."
JACKSON, Miss. - Rev. Sun Myung Moon brought his message of racial unification and mixed marriage to the Bible Belt, where he found himself on the defensive before a large crowd.
I have been the object of scrutiny for years, said the 81-year-old leader of the Unification Church, whose followers are often referred to as Moonies. I carry no animosity. Jesus Christ forgave his tormentors.
Some of the more than 700 people in the Jackson audience Saturday said they were uncomfortable when the Korean evangelist spoke of the love organs of men and women while praising fidelity and rejecting illicit sex and divorce.
I love much of what the Rev. Moon says about dismantling the forces of bigotry and hate, said John Hancock, pastor of Calvary Apostolic Church in McComb, who brought friends and family to hear Moon. But that does not convince me of the validity of his religious beliefs.
Moon, on a national speaking tour, said he wants America to get back to family values and attempt racial reconciliation.
The farmer's son was born in what is now North Korea in 1920. He founded the Unification Church in 1954.
Moon's ideal is to unify all races and nationalities through mixed marriages.
PROVIDENCE - The man America came to know as the messianic leader of the Moonies swept into Rhode Island yesterday with a plea for racial and interfaith harmony.
The Rev. Sun Myung Moon addressed a racially mixed crowd of about 440 people in a ballroom at the Providence Marriott.
The controversial religious leader, now 81, is leading a We Will Stand tour 50 states in 51 days in which he asks people to put aside religious, racial and social differences and stand up for the creation of a loving community under God.
He champions family values, calling the nuclear family the salvation of America and insisting that people refrain from having sex outside marriage.
Moon, who began his ministry in 1945, brought his controversial Unification Church from Korea to the United States in the 1960s. While his creed is Christian in most respects, Moon has cast himself as the New Messiah, sent by God to continue the work of Jesus.
Backed by a zealous army of recruiters, Moon was accused of using brainwashing techniques to keep his followers obedient. He raised eyebrows by conducting mass marriages, sometimes thousands at a time.
At one point he ran afoul of the U.S. government, was convicted of tax evasion and served 13 months in prison.
While he no longer commands the attention and the crowds he once did, Moon's persistence in the face of harsh criticism has won him friends in black churches. Five years ago, he reconstituted his movement as the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification.
The Southern Christian Leadership Conference, a largely black organization, denounced the government's treatment of Moon as religious persecution, and he has cultivated ties to the black clergy ever since. The Rev. Al Sharpton, a national black political leader from New York City who is a Baptist minister, renewed his marriage vows in 1997 in a Unification Church ceremony.
Some leaders of black congregations spoke up for Moon's crusade yesterday, including the Rev. Rufus Oscar Kuma, of Living Hope Assembly of God in Pawtucket. Mr. Kuma sought to reassure his fellow clergy, saying that Moon is not trying to convert people to his church but is only trying to unite various religious faiths in one community.
The Rev. Michael Jenkins, president of Moon's church, told the audience, Years ago you may have heard that Rev. Moon was not very popular. Times have changed. He likened Moon to Jesus and Martin Luther King Jr., as a prophet reviled by many in his own time but carrying a message of eternal validity.
Moon's current message is sufficiently mainstream to draw declarations of support from U.S. Sen. Lincoln Chafee, Governor Almond and Mayor Vincent A. Cianci Jr.
Chafee and Cianci hailed Moon as a unifier of people. And Almond and Cianci both proclaimed yesterday as We Will Stand Day in Rhode Island.
In an extemporaneous speech that was alternately self-effacing and self-aggrandizing, Moon referred to his controversial image.
People used to say, don't go to see Rev. Moon and look in his eyes, you'll be brainwashed, he said.
Although some of his words were recognizable in English, he spoke through an interpreter. Moon urged his audience to follow his example and preach the truth with courage, no matter how much persecution they encounter.
JACKSON, Miss. - The Rev. Sun Myung Moon brought his message of racial unification and mixed marriage to the Bible Belt, where he found himself on the defensive before a large crowd.
I have been the object of scrutiny for years, said the 81-year-old leader of the Unification Church, whose followers are often referred to as Moonies.
I carry no animosity. Jesus Christ forgave his tormentors. Some of the more than 700 people in the Jackson audience Saturday said they were uncomfortable when the Korean evangelist spoke of the love organs of men and women while praising fidelity and rejecting illicit sex and divorce.
I love much of what the Rev. Moon says about dismantling the forces of bigotry and hate, said John Hancock, pastor of Calvary Apostolic Church in McComb, who brought friends and family to hear Moon. But that does not convince me of the validity of his religious beliefs.
Moon, on a national speaking tour, said he wants America to get back to family values and attempt racial reconciliation.
A farmer's son, Moon was born in what is now North Korea in 1920. He founded the Unification Church in 1954.
Moon's ideal theme is to unify all races and nationalities by mixed marriages. In 1982, Moon married 2,075 couples at a mass wedding in New York's Madison Square Garden.
For whatever theologic faults he has, the man has a tremendous persona, Hancock said.
More than 700 people listened Saturday evening to the Rev. Sun Myung Moon, in Jackson as part of his 50-state tour dubbed "We Will Stand!"
Moon, 81, a Korean evangelist and the married father of 13 children, spoke through a translator.
He told the audience gathered from 4:30-7:30 p.m. in the Jackson Hilton Grand Ballroom he wants America to get back to family values, and he promoted racial reconciliation.
"Grandparents are the universe of the family," said Moon, as he asked for a show of hands of those older than him. Two hands went up.
"Then, I believe I am in the position of the grandfather in this room," Moon said. "And when people get old, they sometimes say harsh words, others do not want to hear.
Moon, a farmer's son, was born in what is now North Korea in 1920. He founded the Unification Church in 1954.
Moon's ideal is to unify all races and nationalities by mixed marriages. In 1982, Moon married 2,075 couples at a mass wedding in New York's Madison Square Garden.
Some in the audience Saturday appeared visibly uncomfortable when Moon spoke repeatedly about the "love organs" of men and women as he praised fidelity and rejected illicit sex and divorce.
"I have been the object of scrutiny for years," said Moon, whose followers are often referred to derisively as "Moonies." "I carry no animosity. Jesus Christ forgave his tormentors.
Jorge Padilla, the pastor of the Church of God, a five-year-old bilingual but predominantly Hispanic congregation in Pearl, heard about Moon's tour through visiting missionaries. "I think we need to encourage family values," Padilla said.
John Hancock, pastor of Calvary Apostolic Church in McComb, brought friends and family to hear Moon. "I love much of what the Rev. Moon says about dismantling the forces of bigotry and hate," Hancock said. "But that does not convince me of the validity of his religious beliefs.
"For whatever theologic faults he has, the man has a tremendous persona," Hancock said.
The Rev. Sun Myung Moon will be the main speaker at a rally here April 2 to help build strong families and bridge gaps of all kinds.
"We hope to energize people. People of all colors - black, white, purple and green - ought to be brothers and sisters under God," said the Rev. Joseph Paige of Raleigh, a former president and dean of Shaw Divinity School and an organizer of the rally.
The rally, also aimed at bridging gaps of politics and class and building "God-centered families," is part of a 50-state tour that ends in April. The rally will be held at the Adams Mark Winston Plaza.
The Unification Church that Moon founded in Korea in the 1950s is one of the sponsors. Other sponsors include the American Clergy Leadership Conference, a group that includes Paige.
Organizers selected Winston-Salem for the tour's North Carolina stop because of its central position, Paige said. Moon, whose church combines Christianity with Buddhist ideas, is known for conducting mass weddings.
His followers consider him to be the Messiah, according to the HarperCollins Dictionary of Religion.
Moon served 13 months in federal prison in the mid-1980s for income-tax evasion.
Paige said that Moon, 81, has several strengths. "Like he loves America and Martin Luther King, Jr. I love him for that. He hates racism. I love him for that."
The Rev. Fermin Bocanegra of Iglesia Cristiana Wesleyana Church in Kernersville said that he plans to attend the rally. "I know he's (Moon is) a very controversial guy. However, on the family values, I agree. Our families are disintegrating."
Bocanegra also likes the fact that the rally will try to bridge religious differences. "The major religions and denominations, they've been fighting one another. The real enemy is the devil," he said. "We need to look for things we have in common and work together on those things."
The religious groups that Moon has worked with include the Nation of Islam
Speech of Unification Church leader criticizes childless women
Seeking to forge a new alliance with African American churches, the Rev. Sun Myung Moon barnstormed through Oakland last night on the latest stop of a 50-day, 50-state tour. Moon, the controversial Korean-born sect leader and founder of the Unification Church, spoke before a crowd of about 2,000 at a banquet to "celebrate faith and family" at the Oakland Convention Center.
Two wide screens helped broadcast his message -- emphasizing how men and women have to come together to unite humankind -- to the enthusiastic, largely Asian audience.
"There are 6 billion people in this world right now, but there are two kinds of people -- man and woman," Moon said. He went on to say that every woman should bear a child, and if she did not, "I'm sorry to say, you're disqualified as a woman."
At a news conference earlier in the day, the U.S. leader of Moon's messianic religious movement, which now calls itself the Family Federation of World Peace and Unification, defended his church against charges that it is a dangerous cult.
"All the prophets of history are misunderstood," said the Rev. Michael Jenkins. "Jesus was called a cult leader."
Since the 1970s, Moon's critics have accused his church of brainwashing its members, and using their labor to amass a global business empire and media network to promote his religious and political views.
In recent years, Moon has sought to strengthen ties with the African American churches, as well as with the equally controversial leader of the Nation of Islam, the Rev. Louis Farrakhan.
Jenkins worked closely with Farrakhan on the Million Family March last October in Washington, D.C.
"We believe the honorable Louis Farrakhan is another man anointed by God," Jenkins said.
Unification Church teachings that the 81-year-old Moon is a new messiah destined to unify the world's religions has kept many mainstream Christian leaders from working with the Korean evangelist, while others have no hesitation in associating with him.
At yesterday's news conference, the Rev. William Perry of the Gospel Harvest Church of God in Christ, a black Pentecostal congregation in Oakland, praised Moon as "God-sent and God-anointed."
Perry was the only Northern California minister at yesterday's news conference. The two other speakers were the Rev. Jesse Edwards, who pastors a Pentecostal church in Philadelphia, and the Rev. Connie Crawford Banza, pastor of the Church of the Living God in Chicago.
"Rev. Moon is not my messiah. Jesus is my messiah," she said. "Rev. Moon is a small God, like you and I."
Edwards, a white Pentecostal who has flown in for eight of the first 16 stops on Moon's whirlwind tour, said he had met Unification Church leaders three years ago at a meeting sponsored by the Rev. Jerry Falwell.
Edwards said he was impressed with Moon's strong stand against premarital sex, adultery and divorce, and is not bothered by the sect leader's unique brand of theology.
"We don't discuss doctrine," he said. "We all disagree about how you get to heaven."'
DETROIT -- A controversial religious leader's upcoming Michigan tour has distressed some local preachers, provoking them to speak out against his visit.
The Rev. Sun Myung Moon's staff sent a letter to many Detroit-area churches earlier this month, inviting the religious community to his March 21 appearance at a Detroit Baptist church.
But two Detroit preachers who say Moon's staff claimed they are cosponsoring the event have spoken out against the event.
The Rev. Frederick Sampson of Tabernacle Baptist Church and the Rev. Eddie Edwards expressed their frustrations with Moon in a live television broadcast Monday.
Moon is making a whirlwind tour of 49 cities that began Feb. 25 in New York City.
"It is important to let people know that I am not in support of this event," Edwards told the Detroit Free Press.
Edwards and Sampson say they oppose Moon's ministry as contrary to Christian teaching. They say Moon's church promotes him as a new messiah sent by God.
Moon's Michigan director, the Rev. David Kasbow apologized for including the names.
Baptist leaders say they don't endorse talk
An upcoming visit by the Rev. Sun Myung Moon touched off fireworks among some of Detroit's best-known Baptist pastors on Monday.
A pair of nationally known Detroit preachers denounced Moon's staff for claiming the two pastors are cosponsoring Moon's March 21 visit to the city. The Rev. Frederick Sampson of Tabernacle Baptist Church, listed among Ebony Magazine's Top 10 U.S. preachers, and the Rev. Eddie Edwards, famous for his community development work, expressed their frustrations with Moon in a live television broadcast.
Earlier this month, Moon's Michigan staff sent a letter to many metro Detroit churches inviting the religious community to Moon's March 21 appearance at Historic Little Rock Baptist Church in Detroit. To try to build greater acceptance with members of other religious groups, Moon is making a whirlwind tour of 49 cities that began Feb. 25 in New York City.
The letter announcing his Detroit stop listed 43 local clergy as cosponsors of the event, including some clergy who say they had no connection with the event.
"I went on the air to clear my name," said Edwards. "It is important to let people know that I am not in support of this event."
Edwards was especially concerned about distancing himself from Moon, because he had accepted a two-day, all-expenses-paid trip to Washington for President George W. Bush's inauguration from the Unification Church. Edwards said he had no idea who was paying his bills until the group was taken on a tour of the Moon-owned Washington Times newspaper. Although he took the trip, Edwards said he opposes Moon's ministry as contrary to Christian teaching.
Because of ill health, Sampson did not appear in the one-hour show on low-power Christian television station WLPC-TV (Channel 26) on Monday, but his concern was expressed on the air.
"Rev. Sampson was very upset," said the Rev. Glenn Plummer, the host of the television show, who plans to continue his own criticism of Moon in a second live show at 11 a.m. today.
Sampson, Edwards and Plummer said they are mainly opposed to claims by Moon's church that he is a new messiah sent by God to complete work left unfinished by Jesus. Their criticisms drew both an apology and a defense of Moon's tour from Unification Church officials.
Moon's Michigan director, the Rev. David Kasbow, said, "I want to offer a heartfelt apology for the list of names. We got excited about this event and we were overzealous in listing names."
The Rev. Phillip Schanker, the church's national spokesman, said Moon's interfaith appearances have gone smoothly in 15 other states.
"People have stood up for this interfaith message, beyond denomination and race, all across this country," said Schanker. "We have nothing to gain by abusing anyone's name."
Meanwhile, the Rev. Jim Holley, pastor of Little Rock, said he felt compelled to defend Moon's visit.
"Here's an 81-year-old man who is making probably his last trip around the world to meet with his followers and I'm just giving him a facility to do that," Holley said. "I don't agree with Rev. Moon. I'm not becoming a Moonie. I'm very confident in my Christian faith. I just don't have all these hangups that some people seem to have about letting other religious groups speak."
Several other Detroit clergy said they were not upset to be listed as cosponsors.
The Rev. Horace Sheffield III, pastor of New Galilee Baptist Church in Detroit, said religious leaders who are upset about being on the list may be partly to blame. They may have some past contact with the Unification Church but are reluctant to publicly acknowledge it.
"Now that there may be some public scrutiny, they may be ducking for cover," Sheffield said.
Tonight's prayer dinner designed to bring religious faiths together has upset some Christians because the controversial Rev. Sun Myung Moon is the keynote speaker.
The Arizona Ecumenical Council, which represents 700 Protestant churches in Arizona, would not have been a sponsor for "America Come Together" if its leaders had known the Unification Church founder was a speaker and the main sponsor, said the Rev. Paul Eppinger, executive director of the council.
Eppinger said he is uncomfortable about the ties to Moon but will attend anyway.
Rep. Mark Anderson, R-Mesa, said the $25-a-plate dinner tonight at the Phoenix Airport Marriott stems from President Bush's creation of a White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives.
"There are controversies on both sides of the aisle," said Anderson, a Unification Church member who was married during a mass wedding ceremony in New York's Madison Square Garden.
"There are people who are worried that churches are going to overtake the government. And churches out there are worried that government is going to take over churches," he said. "The concept of the dinner is to attract people from all different faiths and religions.
"It's been very clear from the beginning that Reverend Moon would be one of the speakers," Anderson said. "The invitations state that. There's been no attempt to conceal that fact at all."
Moon, 81, formed the Unification Church in 1954. In 1992, he and his wife declared themselves "the Messiah and True Parents of all Humanity."
Local speakers at tonight's event include Arizona House Speaker Jim Weiers and Doug Wead, who lost his bid for an Arizona congressional seat and is an unofficial adviser to Bush.
Former Congressman Matt Salmon was asked to be on the invitational committee for the event. Considered one of the GOP's top contenders for the 2002 governor's race, Salmon said he believes in the spirit of the event.
"I believe in religious freedom," said Salmon, a Mesa resident who can't make the dinner because of a business trip. "I've been supportive of the Buddhists, the Muslims and all kinds of religions."
Larry Miller, executive director of Arizona Call to Renewal, attended a similar event in Washington, D.C., in January and said no one tried to convert him. Some members of his group, which aims to fight poverty, were concerned with involvement with the Unification Church, but others were pleased that so many groups were meeting, said Miller, a Sun City resident.
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