Image of Reverend Sun Myung Moon Greets Drivers in Sin City

Douglas Burton
April 20, 2011

The Student Peace Initiative in association with the Universal Peace Federation presents the 'God and Sex in Las Vegas' Conference to address the issue of sin in 'Sin City' on April 26.

Sin City isn't normally thought of as a haven for marriage and conservative mores, but there is mounting evidence that the Reverend Sun Myung Moon is seeking to make it just that. Chances are that if you drive into Las Vegas any day for the next couple of months you will see Rev. Moon's smiling face on baby-blue billboards along Interstate 15.

The founder of the Unification Church has said on several occasions that he would like the culture of Las Vegas to shift dramatically toward the family-friendly side of the entertainment scale, and he is doing his best to turn the culture of the city around. The billboards are advertising his autobiography, As a Peace-Loving Global Citizen, which was first introduced in the United States in October, 2009. Mrs. Kaye Yamaguchi, a leading church activist in Las Vegas, had a vision a few months ago that the billboards should be set up, and she initiated a fundraising campaign to purchase them, according to Rev. Staffan Berg, the Unification Church minister responsible for the state of Nevada. Rev. Moon has noted at one of his early morning talks that he would love see similar billboards in all 50 states, Rev. Berg adds.

Even if you don't drive into the city, you are liable to meet Unification church members offering you a free copy of Rev. Moon's autobiography at shopping center parking lots, at stoplights, and out in front of businesses. If you live in Las Vegas, there is a good chance a missionary will offer you a book at your door step.

"We have between 20 and 25 members giving out books on week days, and on weekends, we have as many as 50 volunteers. Between 1,000 and 2,000 books are given out every day. Currently we have given out about 65,000 copies," Rev. Berg tells Familyfed.org.

Meanwhile, Unificationists and like-minded allies of other faiths are fighting the war of ideas regarding the commercialized sex culture at a thinkers' conference on the campus of the University of Nevada in Las Vegas on the evening of April 26, 2011. Organized by the Student Peace Initiative at the university, the students will hear from faculty in the Department of Marriage and Family Therapy as well as the Department of Criminal Justice and from several local clergy.

Unificationist T. K., one of several organizers of the conference, has written that the downsides of the sex-driven economy is increasingly a concern of policy makers and social activists.

"Along with the moniker of 'Sin City,' Las Vegas is also known as the suicide capital of America as well as the leading city for divorce. In Las Vegas, the odds of dying by suicide are strikingly high -- twice as high as in the rest of the country. According to Center for Disease Control statistics, Las Vegas has had the highest divorce rate for at least the past two decades. The Federal Government believes that Las Vegas is a top destination for human trafficking and sex trade victims -- in massage parlors are held captive as prostitutes and forced to commit sex acts," according to Mr. Kurylowicz.

"These problems will only be multiplied by the budget cuts that the schools and social programs are facing in the area. Only through a combined effort from the leaders of the community based on our commonly shared values and a strong clear vision for the future can we change the direction of Las Vegas. The Student Peace Initiative in association with the Universal Peace Federation presents the 'God and Sex in Las Vegas' Conference to address the issue of sin in 'Sin City.' We will be gathering leaders from a number of faith traditions, community leaders and academic experts to discuss from various points of view the potential future of Las Vegas as a 'Sun City' rather than a 'Sin City' that has a bright future," writes Mr. Kurylowicz.

Panelists at the conference will include clergy from the faiths of Roman Catholicism, Islam, Buddhism, Unificationism, and Sikhism.