The Words of the Poor Family

Answer to In the Shadow of Reverend Moon

Ed Poor
January 4, 1999

The most disturbing aspect of "In the Shadow of the Moons" is that it attacks True Parent's messiahship using false arguments and unverifiable sources. We need to expose and counter these.

1. Secrecy about the book's real author

Herbert Rosedale, a long-time Unification Church opponent, had the book ghostwritten secretly by a writer for the Boston Globe. This fact was not indicated anywhere in the book, nor has he otherwise publicized this. It was only after a dispute about plagiarism that the true writer came forward, in a signed column in the Boston Globe, revealing her authorship. Usually a celebrity autobiography will have a credit, like "As told to John Smith" or "With Sally Jones."

We don't know to what extent (if any) Nan Sook Nim had editorial control over the book.

2. The "Heir Apparent" Issue.

Rosedale's book (for he is the agent responsible for its production) also makes the argument that Father could not be the Messiah because his judgment about his "heir apparent", Hyo Jin Nim, was so poor. I will grant Rosedale's premise, that a real Messiah would never choose an unqualified successor. However, there is no evidence that Father actually appointed Hyo Jin Nim his successor. There may have been great expectation in Korea, to the point that it was considered (however erroneously) common knowledge. A majority of Manhattan Center members may have believed this. (Some people I heard of even thought that Hyo Jin Nim had already reached perfection!) Although it is true that Father once said he was looking for successor among his sons, he has only made one appointment: Mother is his successor. The book does not clarify this point, but uses the members' viewpoint as evidence overriding Father's authority.

This is a typical tactic in the work of painting the worst possible picture of an opponent: i.e., attributing false views to him, while ignoring his actual statements.

3. The Sammy Pak Saga.

The only thing that matters is the truth. Until it is verified one way or the other, the story that Father conceived a child via a "concubine" remains an unverified rumor. It is pointless to speculate about such things. (By the way, I despise the snide tone of questions such as "Does this mean I should have a concubine too?" This argument poses as an example of reduction ad absurdum, the rhetorical technique of disproving a premise by demonstrating that it leads to an absurd conclusion.) But the author overlooked the fact that Father chose a bride without asking his church leader, something we members are expressly forbidden to do. Clearly not everything Father did can automatically be considered something we should do also. I once knew a state leader who figured that since Father was watching the Olympics, he (the state leader) should also watch the Olympics while the members went out fundraising, meanwhile disobeying the regional leader's order to fundraise twice as much as anyone else.

The lack of logical rigor here contradicts the air of sincere inquiry assumed by the author.

4. The "me too" syndrome.

The book is meant not for outsiders, so that they'll persecute and reject us more -- it is meant to destroy the faith of us on the inside. After all, the argument goes, if members of the True Family have huge allowances, take drugs, beat people up, and (most telling of all) screw around or even marry outside the faith, why can't I?

The answer is simply this: you can do as you like. However, you are responsible for your actions, just as the straying True Family members are. We don't hear much from "Shadow" about the accomplishments of True Parents, or the good aspects of True Children. One would think that the very one-sidedness of the account would raise suspicion. Human beings are smarter than lemmings, and we have free will transcending instinct. When we see other "lemmings" jumping off the cliff, we don't have to join them.

I invite you all to join me in repudiating this book's invitation to sin, and continue doing your missions to accomplish the Providence of Restoration and so usher in the Kingdom of Heaven on Earth.

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