religious improvisations - making of a moonie

Question 1

what is barker’s focus

Answer 1

• she focuses greatly on the experiences of the people immersing herself in the tradition BUT - she is out to answer the question about brainwashing - so her ethnography has a slightly different focus essentially studying the circumstances under which young, educated Westerners follow a man from Korea, accept his set of proposed beliefs and adopt a style of life performing actions that may seem strange and unnatural to others eg. their parents

Question 2

analysis of straw men argument

Answer 2

• begins with a balanced and rational analysis of the popular press’ straw men arguments for participation in new religious movements - namely that participation must be either fully voluntary or totally by coercive means - Barker informs us that neither views is adequate + that persons become moonies for a wide variety of different social and psychological reasons

Question 3

moonie and brainwashing investigation

Answer 3

• main focus is whether the movement might in any sense by properly accused of brainwashing its contacts - the point at which encounter occurs the social background of those contacted, their pre-existing dispositions and their past experiences - provides a breakdown of the kind of people most ‘at risk’ of becoming Moonies + what constitutes the background of their motivation
• makes clear that the Moonies are not disposed in any greater degree to mental illness (according to the matched sample of the general population) - a link to spiritualism

Question 4

unification church summary

Answer 4

o Founded in Korea by Reverend Sun Myung Moon in 1954
o Theology = Divine Principle – interpretation of OT and NT with additional revelations by Moon
o Messianic theology, works for restoration of Kingdom of Heaven on earth
o Moon fought Satan and then received secret revelations from Jesus, Moses, Buddha and God
o Moon = imprisoned several times
o Early missionaries struggled to bring movement to the West
o Diverse personalities of missionaries led to different style of method
o 1969, first ‘Blessing’ outside Korea
o made their ideas more widespread through attracting the attention of the socially influential e.g. would organise conferences etc.
♣ International Leadership Seminars attracted students in order to teach them about UC
o Moonie imprisoned for 18 months for tax evasion – interpreted by followers as ultimate sacrifice

Question 5

3 - beliefs and divine principle

Answer 5

• ‘It is sometimes suggested that the Unification Church is not a religion. This is nonsense.’ - their theology is directed by the idea of the Divine Principle - plays a key role in recruitment: 1. as a key role in workshops + 2. the people think they have become the people they are due to the DP - it is the knowledge of this new revelation that gives them hope, happiness and purpose - it claims to be a christian religion but questions the boundaries of permissible interpretation of the Testaments -it provides a new internal world view and channel of communication so confuses and disrupts previous patterns of mutual understanding between Moonies and their friends and families - causing them to fear for the sanity or health of the Moonie

Question 6

3 - what is the divine principle based on

Answer 6

• the Divine Principle is based on observations of the creation in order to understand the Creator, Moon observed that everything in nature comes in pairs: male and female, positive and negative charges, arteries and veins etc. - the duality of male and female must come from God as God is creator of all - his nature is then characterised by equal masculine and feminine aspects joined together in perfect harmony

Question 7

3 - love and harmony

Answer 7

• Humans value love and harmony so we can conclude that “heart” is the essence of God’s being = the impulse to love and seek an object to love - god loves each of us and rejoices when we return His love and multiply it by loving others - the purpose of creation was to experience the joys of love, as shown in his original ideal embodied in Adam and Eve - ‘the Unification goal is conceptualised as restoring the Kingdom of Heaven on earth; the means are conceptualised as following the Messiah, paying indemnity, understanding God’s Divine Principle and perfection oneself - the last being a process which has its ritual celebration in the Holy Wine ceremony (held before the marriage “Blessings”) when, it is believed, the participants are purified and cleansed of original sin as the satanic component on their lineage is changed into a heavenly lineage.’
• A “perfect marriage” produces perfect and sinless children - having a dominion over all creation

Question 8

asking a lot of adherents

Answer 8

• it has been widely viewed as asking a movement that asks a lot of its adherents - as a unique interpretation of Christianity it regards Rev. Moon as the Messiah and believes world peace can be attained through the creation of “true families” - so members must hand over their future life partner to Rev. Moon - it is especially known for its mass weddings - Barker wants to show that this is not all the movement should be seen as, and these people are not crazy

Question 9

controversy surrounding status as a religion

Answer 9

• in 1981, bidding for tax - exempt status and being rejected - in 1982, Moon was then convicted of tax evasion and sentenced imprisonment and fined - which he served - many followers seeing this as religious persecution by the government

Question 10

barker conclusion

Answer 10

• CONCLUSION - she herself goes through the “brainwashing” process + didn’t feel as if she needed to join - a ‘complicated picture’ - ‘no evidence that any kind of physical coercion is used’ or that the diet or workshop activities impair the biological functionings of the guests

Question 11

what does UC offer the recruit

Answer 11

• 1. the vision of an ultimate goal 2. the more immediate means that it is said will bring about this goal - puts off some + attracts others
• in opposition to scientology the goal is not only to perfect yourself but also others
• it provides a society and safety that is not presented as a political machine but instead as a family of brothers
• it provides an explanation for the evils of the contemporary world and a religious community where God is the centre of everyday life
• but many different reasons - some eg. joined because they thought it was political - makes generalising a risky business

Question 12

William

Answer 12

• respectable Baptist background, sunday - school teacher, hears a lecture about Moonies - liked the idea that it was based on God’s principles + the idea of perfect marriage

Question 13

3 - emphasis on process

Answer 13

♣ Looks at relationships between structures
♣ God = personal
♣ God = reflected in nature. Masculine and feminine features
♣ God = loving

Question 14

3 - messiah

Answer 14

o Need Messiah to restore world
♣ Jesus had potential to be Messiah
♣ To fulfil his role, he should have married

Question 15

3 - contemporary struggle between good and evil

Answer 15

o Struggle between good and evil is figured today through the battle between communism and democracy
♣ Third world war = inevitable
♣ Current confrontation is the war
o Moonies are fighting on the side of democracy
o Messianic expectation in Korea – Messiah was born in Korea between 1917-30
♣ Common belief that Moon = Messiah
o Variation amongst Moonie beliefs e.g. fundamentalists vs. liberals

Question 16

Oakland family

Answer 16

o Appeals more to people socially than theologically
o Three themes of the Principle
♣ True nature of creation
♣ Man’s deviation from creation
♣ The task of restoration
o Looks at evil in the world
o We must work on ourselves before we can help others
o Xianity did not answer all the questions
o Marxism is an atheistic threat
o Need to work together to restore God’s kingdom on earth – for our benefit and for the benefit of all those that live on earth

Question 17

evidence of brainwashing?

Answer 17

o No evidence of brainwashing. Attention rates are too low – many don’t stay with the movement very long. This suggests that they are not brainwashed
♣ ‘from an outside perspective, the UC imposes bondage, exploitation and materialism; for the Moonie, it offers freedom, opportunity and spirituality’ (6)
♣ We use the excuse of brainwashing to exempt people from guilt e.g. parents
♣ Brainwashing is the response of people who do not understand the appeal of the movement
♣ Even deprogrammings were not enough for people to completely quit the movement
♣ ‘a high turnover rate seems to have characterised the movement throughout most of its time in the West’ (65)

Question 18

why do people join?

Answer 18

o People do not join for theological reasons. They are working with a broad analysis of the world
o They experience companionship in a group within which they find a context
o Movement has the potential to be universally significant – salvific quality

Question 19

leaving

Answer 19

o People who leave feel a sense of regret.
♣ They try to make sense of their previous involvement
♣ Feel a sense of loss, they had been part of something universally worthwhile
o Experience changes when you join
♣ Someone who joins is opaque – they distance themselves from their family
♣ Their mind changes
o People who leave are isolated by the movement
♣ They return to the family circle
♣ In order to be re-accepted in their families, they must play on the idea that they were manipulated, even if this is not true

Question 20

structure of recruitment

Answer 20

o Meet a Moonie
♣ No link between gender and successful initial contacts
♣ Often travellers that agree to second step – do not have any other plans, open to meeting new people
o Meet the movement in more informal setting
o Invited to take part in 2-day course
o Invited to progress to 7-day workshop
o 21-day workshop
o then invited to become full-time/Home-Church members

Question 21

analysis - Ralph hood

Answer 21

• widespread interest in new religious movements combined with a popular press that emphasises claims to brainwashing make Barker’s text highly relevant
• detailed discussion of methodological issues and rational arguments for diversity of procedures employed in this study are provided, making this book almost like a how to on doing complex “real life” research

Question 22

analysis - b r Wilson

Answer 22

• Barker conducted an extensive questionnaire of a large sample of Moonies and of those who, although attending Moonie ‘workshops’ did not become Moonies + with a matched control group to provide the basis for rigorous comparison - reinforced with a series of extensive interviews with members + by prolonged participant observation
• a deep and detailed penetration of the movement - but keeps the basic questions in mind
• despite the wealth of questionnaires, the text is not lumbered with statistical tables - those with strictly methodological concerns may consider that too much of the technical apparatus has been relegated
• findings rooted in a scrupulous objectivity and exposed by penetrating analysis - the author keeping great detachment and impartiality - where other social scientists have lost their sense of academic propriety - especially commendable when compared to Palmer’s account