Claim. Abel is the public-minded member regardless of when they joined; the one who lives for personal interest is Cain even if they joined first, and the one who is struck without retaliating is Abel even if they joined later — public-mindedness, not seniority, decides the position.
Elaboration. SMM dismantles the seniority-defines-Abel assumption: “Among the members of the Unification Church today, there are those crazy ones who say, ‘Hey, I am Abel because I joined earlier and those who joined later are Cain, so you should serve me!’ What kind of person is Abel? Abel is the one who lives according to God’s will. The one who is more public-minded is Abel. Who is Cain? He stands on the side of Satan. Satan starts off from selfish thoughts. Abel begins with thinking not about himself, but about God” (9.3. Definition of Cain and Abel, 58-68, 1972.6.6). The criterion is operational: “Even among those who joined earlier, the one who is satisfying his own greed is Cain. The one who thinks about himself first is Cain… You are not Abel just because you joined earlier” (ibid). The struck/striker distinction is parallel: “The one who is struck is Abel and one who strikes is Cain” — and the word-test follows: speech that benefits is Abel, speech that harms is Cain (ibid, 56-85, 1972.5.14). The implication: every interaction within the church is a Cain-Abel test, won by living-for-others.
See also. populist-church