Sun Myung Moon
Sun Myung Moon (Korean 문선명; born Mun Yong-myeong; 25 February 1920 – 3 September 2012) was a Korean religious leader, businessperson, political activist, and media mogul. A self-proclaimed messiah, he was the founder of the Unification Church, and of its widely noted "Blessing" or mass wedding ceremony, and the author of its unique theology the Divine Principle. Moon was active in conservative politics and courted world leaders. An ardent anti-communist and advocate for Korean reunification, his support helped turn The Washington Times into a respected newspaper in conservative circles. He expanded his business interests, which included News World Communications, an international news media corporation and Tongil Group, a South Korean business group (chaebol), as well as various affiliated organizations. Born in what is now North Korea, Moon's family converted to Christianity when he was a child. In 1947 he was convicted by the North Korean government of spying for South Korea and given a five-year sentence to the Hŭngnam labor camp. In 1954, he founded the Unification Church in Seoul, South Korea based on conservative, family-oriented teachings from new interpretations of the Bible. Moon has been criticized for claiming that his book Divine Principle "usurps the status of the Judaeo-Christian Bible," and for rejecting the mainline Christian doctrines of salvation by faith alone, the divinity of Christ, the virgin birth of Jesus, the necessity of the crucifixion of Jesus, a literal resurrection of Jesus, a literal second coming of Jesus, and for the assertion that Jesus should have married. In 1971, Moon moved to the United States, and became a leading figure in a wave of new religious movements that were then raising controversy on several issues. Church members, who were then sometimes called "Moonies", considered him their True Father while critics labeled him a cult leader, who made high demands on his followers. In the 1982 case United States v. Sun Myung Moon he was charged by the United States government with willfully filing false federal income tax returns, found guilty in a jury trial, and sentenced to 18 months in federal prison. His case generated some protests from clergy and civil libertarians.