“Building a family, community” – Golden Rule Moments published in AzCentral

GOLDEN RULE MOMENTS

Building a family, community

Albert Celoza

Special for The Republic

The front page of the July 2, 1982, New York Times featured a photo of “four thousand followers of the Rev. Sun Myung Moon, most of them selected for each other by him, married amid flags and balloons yesterday in a mass ceremony at Madison Square Garden”. This “Holy Marriage Blessing Ceremony” was believed to remove couples from original sin and engraft them into God’s sinless lineage. Rev. Moon personally matched couples, often strangers from different countries, based on his spiritual discernment.

Over forty-three years later, I spent a beautiful afternoon talking to Staffan and Jane Berg, a couple matched by Rev. Moon. Long-time residents of Tempe, Arizona, they have welcomed hundreds of people from around the world into their home.

The ceremony’s central theme was to fulfill the church’s mission of creating ideal, multicultural families to achieve world peace. The Unification Church, officially called Family Federation for Peace and Reunification (colloquially “Moonies”), sees these marriages as a demonstration of their vision for a unified, peaceful world.

In 1976, Reverend Moon stated, “The international Blessing developed by the Unification Church is not limited to only Unification Church members. This is the official course that all human beings must pass through.” Even prominent already-married couples participated in blessing ceremonies, including Baptist minister Al Sharpton and his wife Kathy, and former Ugandan President Godfrey Binaisa and Tomoko Yamamoto.

Staffan Berg, from Sweden, traveled extensively in a spiritual search before joining the church. Jane, from the United Kingdom, was attracted to the church’s principles while visiting San Francisco.

For over four decades, Staffan and Jane Berg have worked to build a family, heal relationships, and bring peace through their family and community.

At the 1982 ceremony, participants shouted “Mansae!” (meaning “eternal victory” in Korean) at their leader’s urging. We extend the same wish to Staffan and Jane Berg.