WORLD RELIGIONS Non-Traditional Beliefs I

Transcription

1 Non-Traditional Beliefs I

2 Sun MyungMoon born 1920 WORLD RELIGIONS Unification Church At age 10 family converted from Confucianism to Presbyterian Church At 16 claims to have hade a? Jesus appeared and requested that Moon complete the mission he stated 2,000 years ago Korea is the new Israel, the land God chose for the second coming Moon was to be that second coming Nine year spiritual path of study and devotion and warfare with Satan 1948 arrested for sedition in North Korea freed by UN Forces after 2½ years and fled to South Korea 1954 est. The Holy Spirit Association for the Unification of World Christianity 1955 arrested for ritual sex practices

3 Unification Church 1957 published the Divine Principle Moons revelations outlining the teachings of the church 1960 married second wife Marriage of the Lamb Spread to Japan and eventually U.S. in the 70 s Famous for mass marriages (1975 1,800 couples in one ceremony) Purchased investment properties all over U.S. Controversy over brainwashing techniques and tax evasion Developed 100 s of front organizations to lure people into church involvement and eventual indoctrination. September 3, 2012 Moon dies of pneumonia at 92. His children have assumed leadership of church

4 Unification Church God Monotheistic, but not the God of the Bible Dualistic: Male/Female, Positive/Negative, Yin/Yang (borrowed from Chinese Popular religions) The Bible Moon s revelations (Divine Principle) supersede the Bible (a textbook) Jesus Not God but could have been had he not failed in his mission Trinity Originally Father, Adam& Eve fall. Then Father, Jesus, Holy Spirit (female side of God) Jesus failed and was crucified by mistake. Now Father/Moon & Wife Sin Sin is both physical and spiritual.jesus death redeemed man spiritually but not physically. Moon has come (Lord of the 2 nd Advent) to redeem physically. Heaven/Hell - Eventually all people will become divine beings Earthly Hell is when we succumb to our evil nature Spiritual Hell is for the wicked (anyone who rejects Moon or the Divine Principle)

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6 Unitarian Universalists Official name: Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA) Headquarters: (USA): 25 Beacon Street, Boston, MA Membership (2002): 1,010 churches, 214,738 members Ministries and Organizations of UUA: Religious Education Action Clearing House (REACH) Young Religious Unitarian Universalists (YRUU, teens) Covenant of Unitarian Universalist Pagans Unitarian Universalist Service Committee (UUSC)

7 Brief History of Unitarianism Arius (A.D ) Council of Niceain 325 WORLD RELIGIONS Unitarian Universalists Dormant until the Reformation/Enlightenment Michael Servetus ( ) Spain and Faustus Socinus ( ) Poland Frances David ( ) Hungary John Biddle ( ) England In the United States First church to adopt Unitarian doctrine officially was King's Chapel in Boston, Mass. In Congregation left its Episcopal roots to embrace the Unitarian view. Soon afterward, Harvard University followed suit. The American Unitarian Association (AUA) was formally established in 1825

8 Unitarian Universalists William Ellery Channing ( ) pastor of Federal Street Congregational Church in Boston In the twentieth century Unitarianism abandoned any claim to biblical authority 1918 to 1937, the movement internally debated the very existence of God Eventually, it fell under the domination of naturalism and humanism. Culminated in 1933 with the publishing of the starkly naturalistic Humanist Manifesto In 1961, the Unitarian churches merged with a small movement called the Universalist Church of America to form the Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA)

9 1997 survey WORLD RELIGIONS Unitarian Universalists 46% described themselves as humanist (atheist or agnostic) 55% regarded themselves as earth or nature-centered (pantheists), Buddhists, Hindu, undefined theists, mystics (New Agers) or other (pagan) 1.5% identified themselves as Jewish 9.5% described themselves as Christian by any definition 10.5% identified themselves as gay, lesbian, bi-sexual, or transgender.

10 Unitarian Universalists Beliefs of the UUA Complete religious freedom for each individual Unitarian Universalists affirm and defend the right of all people to accept or reject any or all religions beliefs. No specific doctrinal perspective is required for membership. We uphold the free search for truth. We will not be bound by a statement of belief. We do not ask anyone to subscribe to a creed. We say ours is a noncreedalreligion. Ours is a free faith. (Marta Flanagan) Humanism

11 Beliefs of the UUA WORLD RELIGIONS Unitarian Universalists The Bible One among many religious books Authority Reason and experience God Can be interpreted in many ways Jesus Great moralteacher Man Essentially good Sin No such thing Salvation Self improvement in this world Heaven/Hell No afterlife (naturalists)

12 Christian Science Phineas P. Quimby( ) Father of the Mind Sciences Clockmaker from New Lebanon, NH Studied metaphysics Developed the idea that diseases are caused by wrong thinking or false beliefs Disease is an error created not by God but by man False beliefs remedied by The Christ or the Science of Christ Never founded and organized movement but coined term Christian Science Mary Baker Born in 1821 in Bow NH as a Congregationalist Many illnesses as a child Went to Quimby for spinal inflammation following a fall Claims she was healed (it was later discovered she continued to suffer pain) Became a student of Quimby s teachings

13 Christian Science 1875 (Nine years after Quimby sdeath ) Mary Baker Eddy published Science and Health With Key to the Scriptures Plagiarism of Quimby swritings though she claimed to have discovered these ideas prior to meeting Quimby. Relocated to Boston est. Mass. Metaphysical College (4,000 students in eight years) 1879 Founded The Church of Christ Science By Christian Science churches and societies 1910 Mary Baker Eddy died over 1 million members Some dispute over leadership but finally assumed by board of directors Faced multiple lawsuits and loss of membership in mid to late 20 th century Current HQ in Boston, 2,300 churches in 60 countries, < 250,000 members

14 Christian Science The Bible- to be interpreted spiritually using Eddy s book Sin an illusion like sickness and death God Nota person but a divine mind All is God Jesus A mere human who demonstrated the Divine Christ Man Divine, no existence apart from God as a drop of water is one with the ocean) Jesus Death An illusion He hid in the tomb Salvation By realizing that sin, sickness and death are illusions and casting out the mental error Heaven/Hell Death is an illusion so man continues after so-called death to struggle with mental error. In the end all error will be dispelled and all will be saved.

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16 Scientology Lafayette Ronald Hubbard (Tilden Nebraska) Conflicting stories about his youth including: School, trips to Asia, college education, war injuries and twice pronounced dead As an adult became a popular and prolific author (primarily science fiction novels) Connections to Jack Parsons, a disciple of Alistair Crowley (Satanist) Said he was undercover with Naval intelligence Stole second wife from Parsons Hubbard once said, If you want to make a million dollars, the best way would be to start your own religion Wrote Dianetics(through the mind) in 1950 Church of Scientology founded 1954

17 In his later years went into seclusion WORLD RELIGIONS Scientology Died in 1986 at age 74 of a cerebral vascular accident (stroke) Scientology is the western Anglicized continuance of many earlier forms of wisdom such as Confucianism, Hinduism, Buddhism, Taoism, Judaism, Gnosticism, Jesus teachings,.sigmund Freud and Friedrich Nietzsche. L. Ron Hubbard

18 Scientology Beliefs: WORLD RELIGIONS Scientology Non authoritarian, no enforcedbeliefs, in some respects not even a religion, but has all the earmarks of a religion (world view, practices, view of condition of man and remedies) The Mind Analytical: A perfect computer the I of every person Reactive: Operates on stimulus/response basis. Holds mental pictures (engrams) Somatic: Directed by other two minds to place solutions on the physical level. Keeps the body regulated and functioning Engrams Images of past experiences (even from previous lives). The source of stress and physical and mental illnesses Analytical mind gets turned off by engrams from reactive mind

19 Scientology Reactivemind must be rid of engrams to become clear through auditing Thetan Likened to human spirit. Timeless entity that reincarnates on interplanetary levels until it returns to Earth to be released Auditing discovery of engrams through counseling and an E-meter A cleared Thetanmust gain control ofits environment to become an Operating Thetan(OT) Man Thetan(Mind) not fallen but enslaved to engrams, ignorant of our perfection, fallen into matter not sin Sin No such thing, only error and ignorance. Man must become clear not righteous

20 Scientology God Everyone is free to interpret God in their own way. Called the author of the universe, nature, eternity, all Thetan, no worship of divine being Jesus Not an operating Thetan, just a shade above clear (like Buddah) Scripture Dianetics and anything written by Hubbard after that Church of Scientology Facts Most litigious church in history: numbers in the 1,000 s Response to criticism is to sue chronically vexatious litigant Ironically has done much to preserve religious liberty in U.S. Pursues celebrities for money and validation Approximately 8 Million worldwide

21 Applied Scholastics WORLD RELIGIONS Scientology Organizations Association for Better Living and Education (ABLE) Citizens for an Alternative Tax System (CATS) Citizens Commission on Human Rights Concerned Businessmen of America Hubbard Dianetics Center International Association of Scientology (IAS) England Narconon/Criminon Religious Technology Center Sterling Management Systems The Way to Happiness Foundation World Institute of Scientology Enterprises (WISE)

22 Scientology Headquarters Gold Base: Riverside County,CA

23 Headquarters Spiritual HQ: Clearwater, FL WORLD RELIGIONS Scientology

24 Scientology E-Meter: Short for Electropsychometer THE PERSON HOLDS TWO METAL CANS IN HIS HAND AND RESPONDS TO PERSONAL QUESTIONS PUT TO HIM BY THE AUDITOR WHO LOOKS FOR RESPONSES ON A GAUGE WHICH SUPPOSEDLY DETECTS ENGRAMS.