Thought I should capture this blog exchange with Howard Tayler of the most excellent webcomic Schlock Mercenary for the record. Perhaps it makes my views on scary Moonie sushi fish more clear. It all started when Howard gave a glowing review to a Utah sushi restauarant that had just opened in his neighborhood…
I havent had any sushi except the occasional vegetarian and the occasional lapse for a year or two, Im afraid. It turns out that, in one of the weirder true conspiracy stories, the US sushi fish business is essentially entirely owned by the Rev Sun Myung Moon and his Unification Church, through a company known as True World Seafood. I cant in good conscience contribute to their financial success.
It all sounds crazy, but heres the original Chicago Times article, and you can Google for plenty more. The final straw for me was when a paper here in Portland Oregon surveyed 23 local sushi restaurantsall of which were True World customers, as near as could be determined. The article makes interesting reading.
Im afraid you may, like me, want to pass on the raw fish from here on out.
PO8, Im having trouble reconciling your I cant in good conscience statement with my love for the United States of America and its twin freedoms of religion and capitalism. After all, theres always going to be somebody whose ideology you disagree with who stands to profit from making your happy. Im not enough of an idealogue to hold that against them.
And, as was pointed out in the Chicago Times article, lots of the sushi places buying from TWS are not owned or otherwise influenced by Moon. Theyre just buying the best fresh fish around.
Howard, your conscience is your own.
But I think I hold a different view of Freedom of Religion and Freedom of Capitalism (whatever that isit sounds kinda scary) than you. I am promised that in a free country (status pending) I can make choices about what I want to support: thats the fundamental right that my government has promised to protect and to absolutely not interfere with. The government has promised not to force me to be a Moonie, or prevent me from being a Moonie, or even permit others to do these things. God bless America. Concomitantly, I have the right and responsibility to choose to assist or associate myself with the Unification Church and its works, or to choose not to do so. God bless America a second time.
You write that Theres always going to be somebody whose ideology you disagree with who stands to profit from making your happy. Im not enough of an ideologue to hold that against them. I certainly make decisions to purchase every day from folks whose ideology I disagree with; I dont think theres any absolute rule here.
However, if the behavior of the folks involved is egregious enough, I feel compelled to draw the line. Read the references from the previous articles: Moon is no Jim Jones, but he seems to be involved in fraud, money laundering, and tax evasion. Hes recently notable for defrauding a bunch of elderly Japanese for a lot of money; check this article out.
Suppose that you were offered a great price on a used car that you knew had been purchased from a chop shop? Dont your arguments hold equally well? The guy who is selling you the car didnt steal anything, after all; he just has a different ideology than you about property. Shouldnt you support his freedom to make a profit by making you happy?
But obviously that analogy isnt quite square, and I hate arguing by analogy in any case. If your conscience allows you to knowingly be two financial hops away from a cult leader who claims to be a better replacement for Jesus Christ and who runs for his own personal gain a vast financial empire based to some degree on illegal and immoral activities and aimed at world domination, thats not my call to make. For me, I think not.
Sorry for the long diatribe. Probably would be better posted to my blog. :-) I feel better for having gotten it off my chest, though.
And that's that. Hope it isn't too boring, and it gives you some insight into my thinking on the subject. I generally try to stay away from controversial opinion on this site, but I think on this one I'd just as soon folks know where I stand.
<sarcasm> A bold stand indeed. </sarcasm> (B)