Moon: The Acceptance Of Religion

Introduction

Religion is often regarded as an instrument through which one finds shelter and community. It has affected the way we see the world, the way we vote and articulate our decisions. Society has formulated opinions and ideas as to what a religion should incorporate and stand for. While many believe it provides a unity in society, gives meaning to life and imparts knowledge between right and wrong others view it as an oppressor and a divider between groups. All in all, religion has been around from the beginning of time and it has provided a vast majority of peace and hope. According to Rodney Stark, religion is “Any socially organized pattern of beliefs and practices concerning ultimate meaning that assumes the existence of the supernatural.”

At first Moon did not want to bare the weight of establishing the kingdom but eventually he came to the point where he would accept the favor ask by Jesus Christ and began to live his life in a way that would best assist his goal of bringing peace to Earth. This brought about many questions to Moon about the true root of sin; he studied various religious teachings including the Bible trying to reveal the truths about human life. Moon’s devotion to finding answers would often times cause him to spend countless days fasting, in deep prayer, and studying religious texts and by the age of 25 he had developed both the Divine and Unifications

While there are some contrasting factors, the foundation of the faith is quite similar to Christianity. In a book, called Divine principle, inspired by Sun Myung Moon he dictates the essential core beliefs of the faith, stating that members of the Unification Church believe humankind to have both an internal and external form. The internal form can be depicted as mind and the external as the body. Being the creator, God too has an internal and external form, with the addition of a heart. The heart allows him to demonstrate and express joy, love and sorrow. Humankind can also be described by their positivity and negativity or masculinity and femininity. The Unification Church also incorporates Chinese philosophy to further explain the difference between the male and the female. The female is characterized by the Yin. Ideally, the Yin “is the female aspect of the universe: maternal, yielding, intuitive, receptive and restful, and is associated with the Earth.” The male counterpart, is the opposite, known as the Yang, is “associated with Heaven: strong, rational, creative and active” (Chryssides 1991: 25). The distinctions between each are not regarded as opposites, but rather they complement one