Catholic and a Protestant leader joined with two Jewish spokesmen yesterday in denouncing the Rev, Sun Myung Moon and his Unification Church for promoting “bigotry against Christian and Jews.” Speaking at a press conference at the American Jewish Committee national headquarters, the Christian and Jewish spokesmen called Moon’s movement “anti-democratic, anti-Jewish and in direct conflict with basic Christian teaching.”
The spokesmen, all of whom had made studies of the beliefs and methods of the Moons movement, urged Americans, especially young people not be misled by Moon’s appeals to patriotism and national unity. They called on Congress to continue its investigation of Moon’s involvement with South Korean intelligence forces in this country and their reported illegal lobbying and bribery. They also criticized Moon’s methods of indoctrination which had been reported by former Moonies who have defected from the group.
Rabbi Marc H. Tanenbaum, national director of the AJCommittee’s interreligious department, noting that Moon said recently he “categorically condemns anti-Semitism and anti-Christian attitudes,” declared, “we trust” that these condemnations “will now result in concrete actions that will demonstrate that he means what he professes.”
Repeating his comments after Moon published a full page advertisement in the New York Times Dec. 19 condemning anti-Semitism, Tanenbaum said “a comprehensive and systematic removal of negative and hostile references to Jews and Judaism and to Christians and Christianity which abound in the “Divine Principle” would be one such demonstration that his statements are serious and are made in good faith and are not simply public relations pieties.” The book, “Divine Principle,” written by Moon, serves as the basic text of his movement.
EARLIER WELCOME WAS TOO STRONG
Responding to questions from the Jewish Telegraphic Agency today, Tanenbaum said when he originally saw the Moon advertisement he welcomed it more than it deserved. He said after closer study he found the ad to be nothing more than a “fraud” and “public relations” gimmick. He said the Unification movement in Moon’s books and its other publications are full of anti-Semitic statements and in effect question the right of the Jewish people to exist.
Tanenbaum said that neither he nor other AJCommittee members would meet with Unification leaders to discuss their differences. He said his original statement Dec. 19 in which he said the AJCommittee had accepted an offer to meet with the Unification Theological Seminary to discuss issues was incorrect and he should have said the organization was considering accepting at the time.
The AJCommittee official revealed today that three Moonies had come to his office unannounced Monday, the day before the press conference, to urge him to meet with Moon and other Unification Church leaders. Tanenbaum said he told them he would never meet with them until they expunge all of their anti-Semitic material and end their proselytizing of the Jewish community and their deceptive tactics.
CITES 62 ‘FRONT’ ORGANIZATIONS
The Rev. James J. LeBar, county coordinator of the Office of Communications of the Catholic Archdiocese of New York, told the press conference yesterday that his office, through letters and a closed circuit television program had warned all priests in the Archdiocese of “the acute dangers” that Moon represents. “It is important to bear in mind that Rev. Moon’s teachings are in direct conflict with Catholic theology and, therefore, render his movement suspect for Catholic participation.” LeBar said.
He noted that the Unification Church has 62 “front” organizations. “If their teachings and practices were that attractive,” he said, “why would there be need to hide behind such fronts which often deny any association with Sun Myung Moon and his followers?”
Dr. Jorge Lara-Braud, executive director of the Commission on Faith and Order of the National Council of Churches, said that Moon’s doctrines “deny the classic Christian understanding of Jesus Christ” and “claim a deficiency for Christ’s work which Christians could not accept.” “He also pointed out that Moon’s book “fosters continuing anti-Semitism” in that it claims that “Christ failed because the Jews did not believe in him and put him to death.”
Rabbi A. James Rudin, assistant director of the AJCommittee’s department of interreligious affairs, referred to his recent study of Moon’s book in which he documented 125 hostile references to Jews and Judaism. He again accused Moon of reviving the “worst traditions of theological and cultural anti-Semitism.”
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
