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• Born in early 1950's.
• Joined the Unification Church in 1974, in California.
• Worked at various missions, including mobile fundraising, in California, New York, and Texas.
• Was blessed to a Japanese sister in Korea in 1982.
• Moved to Japan in 1991.
• Separated finally from the church in 1999.
• Living currently in Japan with wife and one child.

Craig's Note: The following article originally appeared on ARU, and is republished here with the premission of Isshi.

"Some months ago there was a thread about honesty in the UC, and this is my somewhat tardy addition to that thread. Pardon my lengthy post."

~My wife once (several years ago) heard SMM say: "You must follow your original mind". (This was in Japanese, to a group of Japanese members. ) The meaning of this is not very clear, and it could be translated several ways. At the time, it gave me hope that he was encouraging us to be ethical. On reflection, it seems more like one of those platitudes that can mean anything to anyone. Especially in Asia, we hear the dictate "Absolute Faith, Absolute Obediance, Absolute Love" like a mantra, but the emphasis seems most often to fall on "Absolute Obediance".

It's heartbreaking to see members struggling financially, often seperated from spouses or children, berate THEMSELVES for not having yet attained "Absolute Obediance". Perfection of obediance to TP/UC often demands neglect of immediate family, which causes (naturally) inner conflict and guilt. Most UC campaigns (marble vases, gold name stamps, Holy wine candy, tea sets, etc.) demand deception; both of prospective customers/ converts, and ultimately of the members themselves. The latter is the saddest to me; to see good people I consider noble in many ways, living in self-deception.

Basically, honesty (and ethics in general) is not emphasized in the UC. Being a good member means being faithful and sacrificial, obediant to leaders' directions. Members who are concerned with a concept of honesty are not trusted.

One Korean leader I knew very well had a favorite saying whenever the topic of honesty came up: "You don't feed steak to a baby". Lying and decieving was not only permissible; it was actually for the good of those being decieved.

The leader I respected most in the UC was an American, who had a Jewish background. He once said in a speech to us: "don't do anything immoral, illegal, or dishonest". He was basically shunned and driven out of the movement by the other leaders, and is no longer active, or at most, marginal, in the movement.

Last year I had a letter printed in a UC group newsletter, saying that our movement was being dishonest and unethical, and that I could no longer support it. Although several were asked to, no leaders responded in print. Of the responding letters printed, one was outraged that I would dare question the motives of the UC, the other said "a little imperfect honesty is okay". One member phoned me to give his support, saying; "You're right, but the dishonesty is so obvious to all of us, and that's never going to change. So why did you bother to write the letter?" His basic conclusion was: "SMM is the mesiah, and he can do whatever he wants".

Remember, the concept of honesty shared by most Western people comes from our Judeo-Christian heritage. Saving face and keeping position are more important virtues in Oriental (and UC) culture. Having a sense of honesty implies having a reference point of truth centered on God, and that is simply incompatible with being centered on (obediant to) SMM, or DP. A sense of honesty is not only not useful in the UC, it is an obstacle to being an effective part of the movement. EVERY member I know struggles with this, every... single... one. When my desire for honesty and personal integrity became strong enough, I had to seperate from the UC.

For those reading this who are still active in the UC movement, I extend my heartfelt greetings, and an appeal. Think of someone who takes off the muffler on his motorcycle and revs the engine while coasting through a residential area at 3:30 AM (an almost nightly occurance through the summer in Japan). By disrupting the sleep of hundreds of families, he has incurred the anger of thousands. In spiritual terms, he has burdened himself with a great indemnity to pay. Decieving others does the same thing: it burdens oneself with a spiritual debt that must be paid, and actually repels God. How can it be God's work to trick people into salvation? Such a bad concept will only produce bad fruit.

Conversely, God loves honesty and rejoices in it (Proverbs 11:1 etc.). That is the direction to go, with all your heart and soul. Let me conclude with a quote from a Jewish commentator who was instrumental in clarifying the dilema for me.

This is ethical monotheism:

There is a God.
God's primary demand is ethics.
God without ethics leads to religous evil.
Ethics without God produces secular evil.

      Dennis Prager -Ultimate Issues 1991

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