Wherever people subscribe to a religion or doctrine of moral excellence, there is always the danger of hypocrisy. The hypocrite wishes to enjoy the approval of his peers and even the benefits of a religious office by appearing outwardly moral or religious, while inwardly he is not.
Where religion makes serious demands upon people’s lives, such as Jesus’ call to love your enemy, Islam’s call to jihad, or Buddhism’s strict precepts of monastic discipline, the hypocrite tries to circumvent these demands while appearing outwardly righteous.
The hypocrite does not pay the price of commitment to the religious life and hence does not reap its spiritual benefits; hence he remains at a low state.
Furthermore, when hypocrisy becomes prevalent and lowers the standards expected of religious people, it brings religion itself into disrepute.
In Father Moon’s survey of history, he teaches that the decline of the Christian spirit, accompanied by the hypocrisy of the rich who tolerated and justified widespread poverty and racism, was the direct cause for the spread of materialistic ideologies in the 19th and 20th centuries. (See Chapter 8: Christianity)
Only by recovering the true godly spirit of religion, Father Moon teaches, can we establish a spiritual civilization that can bring lasting peace to this planet.
Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs, which outwardly appear beautiful, but within they are full of dead men’s bones and all uncleanness. So you also outwardly appear righteous to men, but within you are full of hypocrisy and iniquity. Matthew 23.27-28
He who has the character of a sinner, though he lays great stress on the outward signs of his religious calling as a means of living, he who does not control himself, though he pretends to do so, will come to grief for a long time. Uttaradhyayana Sutra 20.43 (Jainism)
Whoever derives a profit for himself from the words of the Torah is helping his own destruction. Mishnah, Avot 4.7 (Judaism)
Better to swallow a red-hot iron ball like a flame of fire than to be an immoral and uncontrolled person feeding on the alms offered by the devout. Dhammapada 307 (Buddhism)
Many are the gurus who rob the disciple of his wealth; but rare is the guru who removes the disciple’s afflictions. Kularnava Tantra 13 (Hinduism)
Just as kusa grass cuts the hand when wrongly grasped, even so monkhood wrongly handled drags one to a woeful state. Any loose act, any corrupt practice, a life of dubious holiness— none of these is of much fruit. Dhammapada 311-12 (Buddhism)
Woe to those who pray and are heedless of their prayers, to those who make a display and refuse charity. have earned. God guides not the people of the unbelievers. Qur’an 2.264
The man of superior “righteousness” takes action, and has an ulterior motive to do so. The man of superior “propriety” takes action, and when people do not respond to it, he will stretch his arms and force it on them. Tao Te Ching 38 (Taoism) Qur’an 107.4-7
Prayers to the Deity accompanied by monetary gifts secured by injustice are sure not to be granted. Pray in all righteousness, and the Deity will be pleased to listen to your supplication. Foolish is he who, in impatient eagerness and without following the path of righteousness, hopes to obtain divine protection. Shinto-Uden-Futsujosho (Shinto)
Beware of practicing your piety before men in order to be seen by them; for then you have no reward from your Father who is in heaven. Matthew 6.1
O believers, void not your freewill offerings with reproach and injury, as one who expends of his substance to show off to men and believes not in God and the Last Day. The likeness of him is as the likeness of a smooth rock on which is soil, and a torrent smites it, and leaves it barren. They have no power over anything that they The man of superior “righteousness” takes action, and has an ulterior motive to do so. The man of superior “propriety” takes action, and when people do not respond to it, he will stretch his arms and force it on them. Tao Te Ching 38 (Taoism)
Physician, heal thyself. Luke 4.23
What is the use of your matted hair, O witless man? What is the use of your antelope skin garment? Within, you are full of passions; without, you embellish yourself [with the paraphernalia of an ascetic]. Dhammapada 394 (Buddhism)
And of mankind are some who say, “We believe in God and the Last Day,” when they believe not. They think to beguile God and those who believe, and they beguile none save themselves; but they perceive not. In their hearts is a disease, and God increases their disease. A painful doom is theirs because they lie. And when it is said to them, “Make not mischief on the earth,” they say, “We are only peacemakers.” Behold they are indeed the mischief-makers but they perceive not.14 Qur’an 2.8-12
Teachings of Sun Myung Moon
If you convey God’s words to someone only to use him or her in some way, you will never be able to establish the standard of the Way. Give what you have to others with a sincere heart. (Way of God’s Will 3.3)
Satan is clever and smart. Using his cunning, he manipulates God’s methods to put himself at the center. Likewise, people who act on their selfish desires cause the worst harm within the world of religion.
They will speak about the will of God or the advancement of their nation, but actually they are doing things only to benefit themselves. Ignoring the fact that God is the starting point of everything, they act only for themselves.
Anyone who collects believers’ money for the greater purpose of God and uses that money unscrupulously for himself is a thief. The same applies to anyone who takes church property for his own use without getting permission. Such people will be destroyed from within. (God’s Will and the World, April 3, 1983)
What is the purpose of religion?
It is to clean out Satan’s den within my body that causes me to struggle. All of us need to do this, and that is why we need religion.
Yet many believers only try to discern evils in the world out there while they cover up their own faults. They think that they will attain goodness when they get to heaven. However, this does not make any sense. (131:23, March 11, 1984)
It is time to overcome the hypocritical faith in God’s name that lacks true love and abandon all selfish works that violate original human rights and result in injustice. (400:95, December 27, 2002)
Although Christian doctrine teaches that all humanity descended from the same parents, many citizens of Christian nations who profess this doctrine will not even sit together with their brothers and sisters of different skin colors. (Exposition of the Divine Principle, Introduction)
As religious people, we should feel responsible for the shaky spiritual foundation of this generation, and should deeply repent. Throughout the long history of religion, we have not made a convincing witness to the living God.
We have been negligent in the practice of love. As a result, we have allowed atheism to prevail and communism to flourish throughout the world.
As religious people, we should take responsibility for this. Today God is calling us.
All religious people, standing on the internal foundation of deep self-reflection, should challenge the evils of our world and work creatively to realize God’s Will on earth.
The living God does not want to relate to us merely in the context of scriptures and rituals. He wants to dwell in the hearts of people who keep God’s Will in their minds and live it twenty-four hours a day. (135:222, November 16, 1985)
END OF BOOK CHAPTER