Responses to Questions on
Unificationism on the Internet - Volume 56



From: Damian J. Anderson <damian@unification.net> To: Unification Church Internet Evangelism mailing list <UNIF-EVANGELISM@LISTSERV.AOL.COM> Newsgroups: alt.religion.unification, alt.support.ex-cult Subject: What Damian really said to Craig Maxim Attached is the text of the instant message conversation that I had with Craig Maxim on July 22, 1999. I believe that it shows conclusively that I did reach out to him in friendship, no matter what he now says. Craig. It is never too late to say that you are sorry. I am sincerely and seriously interested in helping people overcome their anger in relation to negative experiences they have had with the Unification Church. Danny Harth believes that. Craig appears not to believe it yet. Furthermore, I have the blessing of the top level leadership of the Unification Church in America to undertake this activity. For those in the anti-cult community, I would hope that you would take this as a positive sign. Somehow though, I have the feeling that nothing is ever good enough for you, other than the extermination of our church. (Note: This post is in text and HTML.) In True Parents' Names, -- Damian Anderson damian@unification.net http://www.unification.net
DamianUnif: :-)
Rosa maxim: Working hard?
DamianUnif: I just got out of a long meeting.
Rosa maxim: Is there anything I can do for you?
DamianUnif: I need to take my son to the ortodontist at 7 pm, but
I still have quite a bit of work to do before I can leave the office.

DamianUnif: I just wanted to say Hi. I am not your enemy.
Rosa maxim: We are not enemies, but I will speak what I believe
to be true. I care about your life, and hope that you will find truth in
it. Moon is not that truth. Thanks for the hello, my prayers are with
you and your family.

DamianUnif: There is one truth which is absolute. I don't think
anyone has a monopoly on that truth.
Rosa maxim: God does. :-)
DamianUnif: Well, we are talking about humans here.
Rosa maxim: That's true, but if you were a Muslim, even though I
am a Christian, I would have far less to be critical of. Moon is
clearly a liar and deceiver and his church reflects his own
shortcomings. I believe that you have far too much invested to be
objective personally any longer.

DamianUnif: The reason I talk to you is because you spend an
inordinate amount of time criticizing and belittling my community of
faith.

DamianUnif: What do you think I have invested? I do not derive
any income from the church.
Rosa maxim: You get something more valuable to you than money.
You get a sense of importance and fulfilled purpose that satisfies
your need to be more than just a person with the same trials and
problems of any other person. But you are willing to lay the truth
aside and rationalise to the point of absurdity to justify what
essentially is a personal (and selfish) motivation.

DamianUnif: I object to that characterization. I am a seeker of
truth more than most people.

DamianUnif: Perhaps you are speaking more of your own motives.
Rosa maxim: That may be true, but only because very few people
really seek the truth.

DamianUnif: And you do?
DamianUnif: What is a red flag for me is the level of anger that you
invest in all that you say on the net. It makes me wary of you.
Rosa maxim: No. I want to know the truth, even if it cannot do
anything for me. Even if I am the only one that believes it. It is not
because I am better than anyone else that I desire the truth that
strongly, but probably just because I reached a pit of despair at
being so lied to and deceived by so many throughout my life, that in
tears I just told God one day, that I didn't even care what the truth
was any more, as I long as I KNEW it was the truth.

DamianUnif: Once you know the truth, you have a responsibility to
live it. He who hates his brother is a murderer, the Apolstle John
says.

DamianUnif: Apostle
Rosa maxim: I can't justify my anger. It is a personal issue. If you
had any idea how I have been abused in my life, you might at least
understand it, although that does not justify it. Some anger can be
healthy, but I agree that I get too angry. I apologize.

DamianUnif: I think you do. But you don't need to apologize to
me, you just need to get over it. It is your spirit that you take to
eternity. The anger will destroy you, not me.
Rosa maxim: Anger can hurt many people. So can deception.
DamianUnif: I have had my hard times too, everyone has, and I
understand that you it pretty rough with your father being murdered,
and then a series of step-fathers. That is far from ideal, I know.

DamianUnif: I agree. I am as strightforward as I can possibly be.
You don't see me lying.

DamianUnif: Here is the quote I was referring to: 1 John 3:15 :

"
Anyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know
that no murderer has eternal life in him.
"
Rosa maxim: I disagree. I think you purposefully deceive. It is
almost neccessary for members to do so. I am sure that it is more
repulsive to you possibly than many of your brethren.

DamianUnif: How do I deceive, in your view?
Rosa maxim: Half-truths and avoiding what are obvious truths.
DamianUnif: Do I speak half-truths?
Rosa maxim: You have.
DamianUnif: I promote the teachings of True Parents as the
teachings of True Parents. That is merely an information service.

DamianUnif: Whether you agree of disagree with them, there is no
deception there.

DamianUnif: of = or
Rosa maxim: I am not speaking of that.
DamianUnif: Then what are you talking about?
Rosa maxim: An example is when we discussed physical blood
being in the Holy Wine. You tried many ways to deny that this was
true without actually saying the lie itself. Finally you ended with "we
aren't vampires, Craig" Of course you aren't Vampires, and that
was not your point anyway, it was to divert attention away from the
truth of my point. You knew that by saying that comment, people
would "assume" incorrectly, that you were actually denying the
reality of physical blood being used in Holy Wine.
Rosa maxim: That is a half-truth, it is purposefully designed to lead
others to a false conclusion.

DamianUnif: Hold on .. on the phone.
DamianUnif: I don't know for a fact one way or another whether
there is any blodd in the holy wine, though I have heard people such
as yourself say so. As far as I know, it is wine that has been
sanctified by prayer.
Rosa maxim: Then you should have simply said that, and nothing
further.

DamianUnif: Why should I? You are the one who is making
unprovable assertions.

DamianUnif: Danny says Hi.
Rosa maxim: Danny who?
DamianUnif: Danny Harth.
DamianUnif: Your buddy.
Rosa maxim: Was he the one on the phone?
DamianUnif: No, he is on an IM also. I had someone at work on
the phone.
Rosa maxim: You can instant message more than one person at a
time? I didn't know that.

DamianUnif: You can IM as many people as you want at once, or
even make a chat room.

DamianUnif: He is on as DDDHA
DamianUnif: Put him on your buddy list and you will see him.
Rosa maxim: I really don't communicate in this way. Only people I
know, too many people try and talk to me that way, I would never
get anything done.

DamianUnif: I can only make a chat room with people on the
AOL instant messenger, not with AOL subscribers though. I am not
an AOL subscriber.

DamianUnif: I see.
Rosa maxim: Let me ask you something. If you were ever
completely convinced that DP was a third rate philosophy and
Moon a promiscuous messiah-wannabe, what would you do? All
the time invested in your webpage, etc.. I don't believe you have the
heart to follow truth no matter what it costs you personally.

DamianUnif: That is a hypothetical question. It is like asking you,
what if I could prove to you that your wife is a whore, what would
you do. You are making a question based on a flase premise.

DamianUnif: flase = false
Rosa maxim: It is not a false premise. It is hypothetical. We live
with choices based on hypothetical situations every day. For
instance, if you asked me whether I would leave my church if they
began practicing satanism, I would say "of course."
Rosa maxim: I think you are simply afraid of that question.
DamianUnif: Whatever someone else does, I am going to follow
my conscience. If I were to be convinced that all that Rev. Moon
teaches is false, I would still follow my conscience.
Rosa maxim: You chose your words very carefully:
If I were to be convinced that --->all that Rev. Moon teaches is
false

DamianUnif: Yes I did. I am not going to tell a lie! :-)
DamianUnif: If I were to be convinced that my own father had
done something wrong, I would still love him because he is my
father.

DamianUnif: I feel a strong kinship of love with Rev. Moon and I
am not going to betray him.
Rosa maxim: My feeling is that you know how wrong many things
are, including the false family, but that you have decided "It isn't any
worse than any other organized religion" Then you are not being
guided by conscience, but by human standards.

DamianUnif: Did I say that?
Rosa maxim: I said it was my feeling.
DamianUnif: I knnow that Rev. Moon's family has had problems.
Are you so without sin that you can cast stones?
Rosa maxim: I don't claim to be a sinless messiah.
DamianUnif: Rev, Moon's children don't claim to be sinless
messiahs either, they were born into that family without their choice.

DamianUnif: Perhaps you shold be aiming to be a sinless messiah.
Then some of the things you currently allow yourself to do would be
intolerable to you, such as your mocking of others.
Rosa maxim: Moon DOES claim to be a sinless messiah, but he is
the most selfish person alive, that lies and uses people for his own
gratification.

DamianUnif: I don't agree with you that he is selfish, or that he
abuses people.

DamianUnif: He is calling on people to live in a sacrificial way for
the sake of God's providence and for their own sake too, beecause
that is God's way of life.
Rosa maxim: He lives in luxury and lies to defend himself. It is at
the expense of suffering members that he lives that way.

DamianUnif: I disagree.
Rosa maxim: So, you believe that Moon tells the truth when he
says that he doesn't wash his underwear but once a week so that he
can save starving Africans?

DamianUnif: Even if he were Satan himself, it is wrong for you to
be on the attack against him all the time. Are you God that you set
yourself up as a judge?

DamianUnif: How would I know how often he washes his
underwear? Come on!
Rosa maxim: You are the one that posted the speech where he
claimed that.

DamianUnif: Yes, I posted the speech. So what?
Rosa maxim: So, you believe Moon was telling the truth?
DamianUnif: I have even heard him say it with my own ears, as
recently as this month.
Rosa maxim: And you believe it?
DamianUnif: I really don't know. He says some things for
rhetorical effect, which are jokes, other things he says to be taken
seriously. Sometimes it is hard to know the difference. but the fact
that he has said it so many times when it would seem illogical
otherwise suggests to me that it is true.

DamianUnif: You see, your whole approach to me is one of an
attack dog. You can see why people may be reluctant to dialogue
with you. Did Jesus act that way? How would Jesus have dealt with
someone like Rev. Moon in your view?

DamianUnif: And I will have to leave you with that thought as I
have a 40 mile drive home, I need to get dinner, and then take my
son to the dentist with Rosalie. We will have to leave this for
another day.
Rosa maxim: If it is a joke, then it is a sick joke. Starving Africans
is not humorous. If he is serious then he is an idiot, how much more
food could be bought by not buying expensive suits and living in
mansions that cost tens of millions of dollars than the paultry few
cents that washing underwear costs?
Rosa maxim: Well, I am happy that your family is in tact, Bill
Taylor seemed to suggest otherwise. Take care.

DamianUnif: Good night. :-)
Rosa maxim: :~)