THE MERIT OF THE AGE AND THE OPPORTUNISTIC MYTHOMANIAC

                                    IT DOES TAKE A BIG HEAD TO WEAR A COSMIC CROWN…

The Divine Principle mentions the “merit of the age”. This concept refers to the undeniable reality that collectively humankind is steadily progressing. Through hard learned lessons and rewarding experiences of peaceful cooperation we come to more fully express together and individually our God given potential.

However, this “merit of the age” concept was cleverly hijacked by Sun Myung Moon ‘s misleading and opportunistic claims. According to him, mankind’s progress would only be the result of his incomparable achievements. He alone deserved the merit. He was then to become the absolute ruler of this age…

Confidence is a beautiful healthy feeling one can develop in a positive loving environment. It’s the result of both successful experiences and lessons learned from previous errors. Confident individuals greatly contribute to build a healthy dynamic society and creative prosperity for all.

Sadly, such healthy confidence can be crushed by manipulative authoritarian figures who, unchallenged, might soon become dangerous psychopaths. They characteristically need to dominate and impose their views on others. They always seek to control others through induced fear and guilt, deceitfully using them to fulfill their megalomaniac agenda.

Most dictators have been following such pattern to set up institutions and societies where individual freedom is confiscated. Totalitarianisms however are doomed to perish and disappear. They soon or later implode due to their inherent contradictions and their constant denials of individual rights and values.

Gurus and religious manipulators have particularly become experts in “explaining” how greatest happenings are merely due to their exceptional deeds, proclamations or accurate prophecies. So their superior wisdom and unfathomable divine insights entitle them to providentially control mankind’s destiny.

Unificationists are now weirdly divided into rival sectarian groups with irreconcilable theologies. However, they all have in common to attribute to Sun Myung Moon an imaginary and out of proportion central role in recent world history.

For example, they genuinely believe he had been the main decisive actor in defeating communism. Actually, he himself has kept proclaiming again and again that he deserved all the merit for this historical turning point. Isn't a most stunning arrogant claim?  What a despising ignorance of the steady efforts made by thousands of other people who, for decades, immensely contributed underground to make that happen!

Sun Myung Moon is known for having made many other weird claims. The mythical Unificationist propaganda states that he managed to have Satan surrender in 1999. I heard he also claimed he should have received Nobel Prizes for having “invented” electrotherapy and “happy machines”, for having “cured cancer”, for having “re-united” Koreas as well as having made Peace “progressing so much” during his life time, etc.…

Of course, none of these prophecies was ever fulfilled, and unsurprisingly Sun Myung Moon never received such highly expected but undeserved worldly recognitions. He somehow compensated that by regularly himself staging fake “self-awarding” ceremonies in order to impress his flock.  

Posthumously, however, there is at least one recognition he undeniably would fully be entitled to:

If we were to rank the most deceitful modern day religious leaders, Sun Myung Moon would certainly “merit” to stand on the highest place of the podium. Through his recurrent fascinating lies, he undoubtedly became the world champion who managed to appear to his followers as the origin of each and every good happening in this world!

He knew perfectly how take advantage of any situation for self-aggrandizement. He particularly used with great efficiency the simultaneity of events to mislead his followers. So, very often Unificationists have erroneously seen a “cause and effect” relationship between actions and phenomena which actually were unrelated, despite the fact they had been occurring almost at the same time.

Unchecked seductive suggestions can definitely generate superstitions that keep people trapped in obscurantism, unfounded fears or blissful hopefulness. The Unification Movement saga is a living proof of that.

We all deserve truth and we long for genuine love. The real merit of our age is that collective intelligence and responsible behaviors are becoming more and more commonly shared. We can rejoice and be grateful that consequently good leaders will then be promoted and others will be dismissed.  Love and truth will also dismiss superstitions, fears and ambiguous beliefs.

A friend of mine jokingly reminded me that being superstitious is indeed a bad omen…