Skip to main content.
Religion News Blog is a non-profit service providing academics, religion professionals and other researchers with religion & cult news
ReligionNewsBlog

Religion news articles about religious cults, sects, world religions, and related issues

Navigation:
Web religionnewsblog.com
Home | Site Menu | About RNB | RNB Store | Cult FAQ | Cult Experts | Apologetics Index | Cult Information Search Engine
A Random Image
Unification Church:

Royal pastor worried about door-to-door ‘fraud’

Columbia Basin Herald, USA
Dec. 22, 2003
Erik Olson, Herald Staff Writer
www.columbiabasinherald.com

ReligionNewsBlog.com • Item 5451 • Posted: Tuesday December 23, 2003  

Click here... More articles on this topic: Unification Church

Member of Rev. Sun Myung Moon’s church misrepresented self when selling jewelry, pastor alleges

When a man came selling jewelry for a popular abstinence-advocacy group at a board meeting last week for the Royal City Church of the Nazarene, Pastor Tim Snyder saw no problem at first.

A Cult of Christianity
Theologically, the Unification Church is, at best, a cult of Christianity. It does not represent historical, biblical Christianity in any way. Leader Sun Myung Moon’s theology can only be described as insane.
Given the fact that the Unification Church rejects the essential doctrines of the Christian faith, teaches heresy, and engages in unbiblical practices, Christian churches can not have unity and/or any form of cooperation with the Unification Church or its front groups.

The man, who called himself Louie, told the board members that the proceeds for the items would go to True Love Waits, a pro-abstinence known well to churches throughout the country. So three board members bought an item, which cost $20 a piece.

The man told Snyder he was with the Holy Spiritual Association, the pastor said, which made him suspicious.

So Snyder called Royal City Police Chief Darin Smith, who told him he was selling the items not for True Love Waits but for the Unification Church, a world-wide faith that subscribes to the teachings of the Rev. Sun Myung Moon and, according to many of its critics, believes that man is the true savior.

“If he would have said, ‘I’m selling this for the Unification Church,’ nobody would have bought it,” Snyder said.

Smith told the Herald he only heard of one other complaint of a door-to-door salesman selling the merchandise. When Royal police spoke with that man, he identified himself as being with the Unification Church, Smith said.

Because the men (about four were riding in a van) were selling items door-to-door for a nonprofit group, Smith said they broke no laws within the city. But if they misrepresented themselves, the scenario changes, he said.

“If they were representing themselves as this (True Love Waits) organization, I would consider this as a fraud,” Smith said.

Snyder said he thinks the man named Louie did not tell Nazarene church leaders that he was with the Unification Church because that group is known within Christian circles as a “cult.”

According to its Web site, Unification.org, followers of the Unification Church (sometimes called Moonies) believe in the eventual unification of all world religions into one belief system.

The church has been criticized for operating under more 1,000 front organizations, including the conservative newspaper the Washington Times, and that Moon’s true belief is that he is the new messiah.

A phone call to the Holy Spirit Association in New York, and umbrella organization of the Unification Church, was not immediately returned.

A posting on Unification.org states that Moon believes Jesus Christ is the savior, and Moon is the fulfillment of Jesus’ appearance on Earth.

True Love Waits is an abstinence-advocacy group for teenagers, according to its Web site truelovewaits.com. No mention of the Unification Church is made on the site.

Snyder said the Unification Church member selling the items should have been more upfront about who he represented.

“It’s a fraud. They’re committing a fraud,” Snyder said.



Religion News Blog RSS feed Subscribe: Religion News Blog RSS feed  |  Religion News Blog RSS feed Subscribe by topic: Unification Church
more cult news articlemore religion news More articles about Unification Church

Like this story?

Today's Most Popular Articles

Share this

To share this page simply copy and paste one of these URL's:




Article and Site Tools

» PermaLink to: Royal pastor worried about door-to-door ‘fraud’
   Need a shorter link? You can remove everything after the final /
» More news articles + news archive on Unification Church
» More religion and cult news

Subscribe (RSS / Email) [What is RSS?]
» RSS News Feed - All Topics: Religion News Blog RSS Feed
» RSS News Feed - Single Topic: Unification Church
» Headlines by Email: Daily Religion News Blog Headlines

More Article Tools
• Bookmark / Tag: Del.icio.us
• Bookmark / Tag: Furl
Save this article
Email this article
Print this article [Temporarily out of order]

More Information
Books about Unification Church
Relevant books (and other goodies)

more religion news aboutmore Religion News Blog articles about

About Religion News Blog
Religion News Blog (RNB), published by Apologetics Index, highlights news items and other resources on world religions, cults, religious sects, alternative religions and related issues. RNB's non-profit news clipping service is used by - among others - Christian apologists, countercult professionals, anticult organizations, cult experts, teachers, religion professionals, reporters and other researchers.

Home
Latest Headlines
RSS news feed [?]
Headlines by Email
News Trackers
Free content for your site
About RNB
Privacy Policy
Contact RNB
Link to RNB
Advertise on RNB
Apologetics Index
Cult FAQ
Apologetics Search Engine
CounterCult Search Engine