Moonies director answers accusations
By loan Herman
Of the Emerald
This is the first in a four-part series examin
ing the Unification Church.
The Rev. Sun Myung Moon's Unification
Church is back in Eugene 24 years after a
woman disciple founded the controversial
church's first American branch here.
And the church, says its Oregon Director
Matthew Morrison, has come of age.
"We're no longer the new kid on the block.
We're here to stay, and people are beginn
ing to see that," Morrison says.
After leaving Eugene in 1977 amid finan
cial difficulties, the church's return signals
a nationwide, three-year effort to spread its
leader's spiritual message, he says.
"We embark on this three-year campaign
because half the world is controlled by an
atheistic Marxist state. Rev. Moon feels
there is a major confrontation coming bet
ween Marxist communism and the Chris
tian civilization, and this conflict can't be
solved by guns," Morrison says.
The essential purpose of the church's
move to Eugene is "not recruitment, but to
awaken the young people of America to
their responsibility in the world. We're not
looking to amass large numbers of con
verts," he says, but to educate them about
Christian theology.
"Rev. Moon feels this is an absolutely
urgent time for America." The nation must
change its downward trend toward "selfish
individualism" that is contributing to the
"decline in Christian values and the
breakdown of morality and the family,"
says the soft-spoken Morrison.
The Unification Church has opened its of
fice at 348 W. 8th St. and will have a
videomobile parked in the campus area to
educate people about Moon's Christian
teachings, he says. The church also has set
up booths on the downtown mall and at
East 13th Street near the University
Bookstore.
The videomobiles, staffed by Unification
followers, contain short films about the
church's projects around the world, which
include Christian missionary work and
medical and nutritional aid to Third World
nations, Morrison says.
Despite these relief programs, several
people have questioned the church's self
proclaimed Christian status in addition to
its techniques for recruiting followers, com
monly dubbed "Moonies" after the
church's founder.
The church's history is perhaps as in
teresting as the countless stories it has
inspired.
On Easter morning in 1936, Moon claimed
he received a revelation from Jesus Christ,
who told him that he had been chosen to
complete Christ's mission, which was cut
short by his early death.
In 1954, Moon established the Unification
Church in South Korea and three years later
published the Divine Principles, a text that
Continued on Page 9
Photo by Bruit trb
Matthew Morrison, Oregon director of the Unification Church, says criticisms of
Rev. Myung Sun Moon, the church’s leader, are an example of religious
persecution.
Touring Moonies explain their involvement
By Barbara Hicks
Of the Emerald
Michael Wildman and Nancy Makowski belong to one
of 50 traveling teams that are touring the United States to
spread the word about the Unification Church.
Wildman, who has been a Moonie for eight years, grew
up in Oakland, Calif., where he attended the Congrega
tional church until age 12. He graduated from the Universi
ty of Massachusetts with an engineering degree in 1972.
Makowski is from Ecuador, where she was raised a
Roman Catholic. She joined the Unification Church after
she went to New York to study psychology and romance
languages. She has been a Moonie for seven years, but still
attends the Catholic church.
Emerald: Michael, why did you join the Unification
Church?
Wildman: After I graduated from college, I rode a bicy
cle from Massachusetts to California in two and a half mon
ths. It was a part of my internal search for who I was. After
that I volunteered for the Peace Corps. I ended up in Iran
teaching students in electronics and translating instruc
tional books.
In Iran, I didn't have much money. I realized the value
of relations there, and began to put money in perspective.
After the Peace Corps, I wanted to study physical therapy —
to work with and help people in their lives.
I met the Unification Church in Berkeley, (Calif.) and
they invited me to hear a lecture. I was inspired by the peo
ple freely relating to each other in a spiritual and elevating
way. They held the key to what I was trying to understand.
Emerald: Did the Moonies make you give up any
possessions to them?
Wildman: I didn't give up anything I didn't want to. I
had to choose what was valuable. I had to choose between
the dull life and the opportunity to relate to people. I
became involved in different projects, like Project
Volunteer (a Unification outreach program), which began
as a food distributing service. We would contact local
bakeries and other food places that had extra food and
distribute it to people who needed it.
Emerald: Does the church limit you in the types of ac
tivities you can become involved in?
Wildman: The only limitation I feel is my own creativity.
I spent the last six and a half years in New York as produc
tion manager for the New York Tribune, a newspaper own
ed by the Unification Church. I had no journalism
background, but with my training in engineering and com
puters I helped start the newspaper.
Emerald: Do you find that people put the Moonies in
the same category with other out-of-the-ordinary religions,
such as the Rajneesh?
Wildman: At first they do, but when people get to know
us they change. In New York, I went around
neighborhoods and people came to know that our purpose
was to manifest Christ's spirit. (Doing this is) not only good
for the people you're serving, but good for you. It really
develops a love for mankind.
Emerald: Nancy, you grew up Roman Catholic. Why did
you join the Unification Church?
Makowski: I always knew Cod existed. I started ques
tioning a lot when I was in college in New York. The
teachings in the school were atheistic, especially
psychology. I questioned my priest why, if God existed,
there was so much suffering. My belief in God was very
strong, but there were questions that nobody could
answer.
I met the Unification Church after four years in
America, in 1976. I heard Rev. Moon at Yankee Stadium and
at the Unification Church where he spoke every Sunday.
Rev. Moon explained scientifically and physically that God
exists.
I had many communist friends who tried to convert me
to communism. What made me commit myself (to the
Unification Church) was when I heard Rev. Moon's
ideology that proves communism wrong. It denies human
rights and the existence of God. I tried to convey (to com
munist friends) that the world is based on harmony. (To the
communists) harmony is based on violence, not on God.
Most Christian churches are not doing anything about
communism. They become 'saved' and that's the way it is.
We can overcome communism with truth.
Emerald: What is your mission as a team member?
Makowski: My mission is to teach — to share our ideals
with the world. Rev. Moon feels an urgency to get the
message (about communism) to America. Communism is at
our door because of immorality and violence. Most young
people hate America. To me that is shocking. Even though
I'm not American, I love America. The Moonies want to
resurrect the goodness that was the original intent of
America — to build a country of love.
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