SEOUL, South Korea, July 19, 2008

Rev. Moon Injured In Helicopter Crash

Aircraft Carrying Leader Of Unification Church Makes Emergency Landing Then Bursts Into Flames

  • The Rev. Sun Myung Moon, seen here in 1986.

    The Rev. Sun Myung Moon, seen here in 1986.  (AP Photo)

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(AP)  A helicopter carrying the Rev. Sun Myung Moon crashed Saturday into a mountain in South Korea, injuring the founder of the Unification Church and 13 others, officials said.

Moon was slightly injured but his exact condition was not known, fire official Kim Wu-jong told The Associated Press. Members of Moon's family, including his wife, were also hurt.

One person was seriously injured, Kim said.

The helicopter was carrying 16 people when it crashed in Gapyeong, about 37 miles northeast of Seoul, Kim said. It burst into flames after hitting the ground.

Police and fire officials said the cause of the crash was under investigation.

Church official Kim Dae-yeol said the helicopter was flying to a church-affiliated hospital in the area.

Moon founded the Seoul-based Unification Church in the 1950s and the conservative Washington Times newspaper in 1982.

The church's doctrine is a mixture of Christian, Confucian and traditional Korean values, and Moon's followers believe he came into the world to complete the work of Jesus Christ.

In February, a South Korean army helicopter crashed into a mountain near Seoul, killing all seven people on board. Last year, three helicopters and two fighter jets crashed in South Korea.


© MMVIII The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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by smurfcrusher July 21, 2008 10:38 PM EDT
An inspiration to con men everywhere. Of every denomination.
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by dakotaclark July 20, 2008 5:05 PM EDT
Hmmm...

Moon is not the first, nor will he be the last, person to claim some sort of special connectivity to God, or J-e-s-u-s C-h-r-i-s-t.

There is a reason why pastors call their church membership a flock - and that is, because they are like sheep. They follow the leader.

There are many false religions harvesting dollars from reasoning impaired followers. One does not have to look too far to see that morons are being taken advantage of by other religions.

The real scary thing is - more than likely, these morons are registered voters, and, they are licensed to drive vehicles.



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by hermitdave July 20, 2008 4:53 PM EDT
Don''t worry, that crazy old Korean thinks he is a God, so he can heal himself. He is the greatest con man since Joseph Smith. Both guys proving just how stupid humans are.
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by jmurrieta1 July 20, 2008 10:50 AM EDT
Could our courageous free press kindly give us a summary of how much of America the "reverend" Moon owns?
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by July 20, 2008 3:17 AM EDT
He should die a slow and torturous death for all of the lives he has ruined.
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by louklou51 July 19, 2008 11:57 PM EDT
Who cares?
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by hypnotoad72 July 19, 2008 11:56 PM EDT
Posted by occams_taser
---------------------

Utter baloney and hogwash. As with any structure or foundation, it''s up to the people within to keep it going properly. And I don''t know if the people know or care anymore.

These are the days when clerks, employees, and people in general find it surprising when a customer or fellow citizen is *nice* or *polite*. We demand clerks and other staff be polite, but that does not give the customer the right to be rude b*stards either...

We let vicious criminals go free only to get arrested time and again, and then whine how police officers end up using excessive violence at times. They''re as human and don''t have the time to be nice in any perceived life threatening situation. (Hindsight being 20/20 and the anti-police crowd can''t even see their own myopia!) Now that''s not all to say people deserve a second chance, but there are times when you have to say "enough is enough". Murder and rape qualify as cases where you don''t let people continue to get away doing it!!

These are also the days when young adults are freely groping each other in stores (the couple I saw today tops the list; baby in the cart, while she eyes the pasta sauces, he grabs down between her legs and grabs her behind from her front. Yet for anybody to say that''s not civilized behavior would be shot down. Ironic. In the 1960s, people went to jail for saying "free love". In the 2000s, people go to jail for saying "be respectful of others and yourselves".
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by occams_taser July 19, 2008 10:14 PM EDT
Religion and conservatism are alike. They both keep doing the same things that don''t work over and over again, expecting different results. Insanity, in other words.
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by occams_taser July 19, 2008 10:13 PM EDT
It''s wierd how this whack-job cult leader is a hero of the CONservative "media" establishment.

On second thought, it fits. He''s a symbol of the criminally insane Bush cult.
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by daysrnumbrd July 19, 2008 9:19 PM EDT
Close call. UNfortunately, even if the *** had croaked, the moonie times would live on.

Posted by dnamj at 04:39 PM : Jul 19, 2008
...........

When he eventually dies, we''ll have to stuff his coffin with crumpled up pieces of his Washington Times paper...

...like packing a box of old Christmas ornaments!
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