Cultic Studies Review, Vol. 1, No. 2, 2002, Page 64
To appease local politicians Moon donated an ambulance to the local hospital in Jardim and
provided funds for a small airport with one landing strip. Then, in what looked like a plan to
boost his local following among soccer-crazed Brazilians, he set up his own professional
football team. Moon said that he proposed to build a giant stadium in Jardim, where he
would host national league games as well as perform mass weddings. But the plans — along
with those to build hotels and foster an eco-tourist industry — have not materialized. And
his moves to expand his territory across the border in Paraguay have only served to
heighten the suspicions of Brazilian politicians.
"He just does not stop buying, and yet his impact on the local economy has not been that
positive," says Governor Santos. "The main question is: what does he intend to do with it
all?"
Moon‘s recent acquisition of 500,000 acres of infertile flatland in Paraguay includes the river
port of Puerto Casado, a town of 6,000 inhabitants. Most of the impoverished town‘s
residents took part in protests against what they called a "Moonie invasion." Once a thriving
port, the town went bankrupt when the local logging industry turned nonviable in the
1980s. Moon has vowed that he will "industrialize, fertilize and commercialize" the poor
riverside community. But the local Catholic Church accuses the sect leader of preying on the
hopes of the poor and desperate to increase his following.
Local politicians say that dozens of luxury yachts have docked at the river port since the
sect‘s arrival, claiming that this is a sign that the Moonies intend to expel locals who fail to
join their ranks. They are lobbying the central government in Asuncion to begin legal
procedures to recover ownership of the town. But it is a battle that could take years, as the
sale was made by an Argentine timber company which owns huge tracts of land in the
region and built the town to house plantation workers in the 1950s. Brazilian and
Paraguayan authorities have vowed to investigate plans to build what they fear is "a sort of
Moonlandia." However, it remains to be seen if they will be able to counter Moon‘s plans. He
is, after all, the legal owner of much of this backwater corner of the continent. (The
Scotsman, 4/18/02, Internet)
The Scotsman article cited above briefly notes other attempts “to colonize a whole area…
some with tragic results”: The Peoples’ Temple at Jonestown the Branch Davidians at
Waco the United Nuwaubian Nation of Moors (now involved with authorities in the state of
Georgia) Aum Shinrikyo (now called Aleph), in Japan and Friedrichshop, a sex commune in
Germany and Portugal.
Rev. Moon Officiates at Marriage of 144,000
The Rev. Sun Myung Moon, leader of the Unification Church, officiated in late April at
the arranged marriages of 700 couples in the Sheraton National Hotel in Arlington, Virginia,
and a reported 144,00 more couples worldwide by satellite and live webcast. Among those
married in Virginia were Archbishop George Stallings, a former Roman Catholic Priest and
founder of the breakaway African-American Congregation, and the Rev. Dr. Charles
Kenyatta, assistant pastor of the White Rock Baptist Church in Harlem, NY, onetime special
assistant to Malcolm X. Many of the couples were reaffirming vows made at previous mass
weddings.
The marriage of 18-year-old high school student Kendra Anderson and 20-year-old David
Stein, was actually arranged by their fathers, Virginia state legislator Mark Anderson and
Dan Stein, vice president of U.S. Properties Development Corps. ―We decided they would be
best for each other,‖ said Dan Stein, ―so we asked them to talk and meet and see how they
would get along. We were amazed! The chemistry turned to fire. We‘ve had a hard time
keeping them apart.‖ (Julia Watson, Life &Mind Desk, UPI, 4/28/02, Internet. UPI is owned
by News World Communications, Ink., a media company founded by Moon)
To appease local politicians Moon donated an ambulance to the local hospital in Jardim and
provided funds for a small airport with one landing strip. Then, in what looked like a plan to
boost his local following among soccer-crazed Brazilians, he set up his own professional
football team. Moon said that he proposed to build a giant stadium in Jardim, where he
would host national league games as well as perform mass weddings. But the plans — along
with those to build hotels and foster an eco-tourist industry — have not materialized. And
his moves to expand his territory across the border in Paraguay have only served to
heighten the suspicions of Brazilian politicians.
"He just does not stop buying, and yet his impact on the local economy has not been that
positive," says Governor Santos. "The main question is: what does he intend to do with it
all?"
Moon‘s recent acquisition of 500,000 acres of infertile flatland in Paraguay includes the river
port of Puerto Casado, a town of 6,000 inhabitants. Most of the impoverished town‘s
residents took part in protests against what they called a "Moonie invasion." Once a thriving
port, the town went bankrupt when the local logging industry turned nonviable in the
1980s. Moon has vowed that he will "industrialize, fertilize and commercialize" the poor
riverside community. But the local Catholic Church accuses the sect leader of preying on the
hopes of the poor and desperate to increase his following.
Local politicians say that dozens of luxury yachts have docked at the river port since the
sect‘s arrival, claiming that this is a sign that the Moonies intend to expel locals who fail to
join their ranks. They are lobbying the central government in Asuncion to begin legal
procedures to recover ownership of the town. But it is a battle that could take years, as the
sale was made by an Argentine timber company which owns huge tracts of land in the
region and built the town to house plantation workers in the 1950s. Brazilian and
Paraguayan authorities have vowed to investigate plans to build what they fear is "a sort of
Moonlandia." However, it remains to be seen if they will be able to counter Moon‘s plans. He
is, after all, the legal owner of much of this backwater corner of the continent. (The
Scotsman, 4/18/02, Internet)
The Scotsman article cited above briefly notes other attempts “to colonize a whole area…
some with tragic results”: The Peoples’ Temple at Jonestown the Branch Davidians at
Waco the United Nuwaubian Nation of Moors (now involved with authorities in the state of
Georgia) Aum Shinrikyo (now called Aleph), in Japan and Friedrichshop, a sex commune in
Germany and Portugal.
Rev. Moon Officiates at Marriage of 144,000
The Rev. Sun Myung Moon, leader of the Unification Church, officiated in late April at
the arranged marriages of 700 couples in the Sheraton National Hotel in Arlington, Virginia,
and a reported 144,00 more couples worldwide by satellite and live webcast. Among those
married in Virginia were Archbishop George Stallings, a former Roman Catholic Priest and
founder of the breakaway African-American Congregation, and the Rev. Dr. Charles
Kenyatta, assistant pastor of the White Rock Baptist Church in Harlem, NY, onetime special
assistant to Malcolm X. Many of the couples were reaffirming vows made at previous mass
weddings.
The marriage of 18-year-old high school student Kendra Anderson and 20-year-old David
Stein, was actually arranged by their fathers, Virginia state legislator Mark Anderson and
Dan Stein, vice president of U.S. Properties Development Corps. ―We decided they would be
best for each other,‖ said Dan Stein, ―so we asked them to talk and meet and see how they
would get along. We were amazed! The chemistry turned to fire. We‘ve had a hard time
keeping them apart.‖ (Julia Watson, Life &Mind Desk, UPI, 4/28/02, Internet. UPI is owned
by News World Communications, Ink., a media company founded by Moon)
