The Church Behind the Washington Times
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Date: 28 January 2010
Inside the Unification Church
The theology of the Unification Church begins in the Garden of Eden. That’s where, according to founder Rev. Sun Myung Moon, Satan seduced Eve, causing her to have a sexual relationship with Adam before they reached spiritual maturity. As a result, humanity’s lineage is incorrectly linked to Satan, not God. The only way to restore it, Moon teaches, is through a church-sanctioned blessing ceremony. Moon, who considers himself a messiah, began performing the ceremonies himself in 1961, blessing as many as 30,000 couples at once in sports stadiums and concert halls.
Unification scholar David Bromley explains the beliefs of the church, which is loosely based on Christianity.
Pictured: Rev. Moon presiding over a mass blessing, 1982
David Bromley, professor of Religious Studies at Virginia Commonwealth University
The Future of the Washington Times
Begins at 22 min 30 sec
In 1982, Rev. Sun Myung Moon founded the Washington Times, a Washington, D.C. daily with a conservative bent. Though the paper has become an important training ground for conservative journalists, it has lost money every year it has been in business. Since November, nearly 60 percent of the staff have been laid off, from sports and metro staff to top editors. Justin Elliot lets us in on the family feud that sparked the lay offs, and considers the paper's future.
Justin Elliot, reporter-blogger for Talking Points Memo
Commentary: Keeping the Faith in Health Care Reform
Begins at 33 min 1 sec
The morning after Scott Brown’s upset victory in the Massachusetts Senate race, Rev. Rob Hardies put his head out the door and “heard a loud sucking sound.” It was the sound, he explains, of a leadership vacuum, sweeping through the city as Democrats retreated from their commitment to comprehensive health care reform.
Rev. Rob Hardies, Senior Minister of All Souls Church, Unitarian in Washington, DC
Tracking Prejudice Against Muslims
Begins at 37 min 46 sec
About 4 in ten Americans report feeling prejudice against Muslims and Islam-- and that’s just the people who admit it. That’s according to a new study from the Gallup Center for Muslim Studies, which looks at public opinions of different religions.
Dalia Mogahed, Executive Director of the Gallup Center for Muslim Studies
The Link Between Antisemitism and Islamophobia
Begins at 46 min 20 sec
Americans who admit bias towards Jews are 32 times more likely to dislike Muslims. That finding, from the Gallup poll, comes as no surprise to James Carroll, who traces both antisemitism and Islamophobia back to the Crusades.
Image: a French Bible depicts Crusaders attacking people believed to be Jews, identifiable by their hats.
James Carroll, author of
Constantine's Sword: The Church and the Jews: A History
