The Leader of the Gun Church That Worships With AR-15s Is Now a MAGA Rapper

Pastor Hyung-Jin “Sean” Moon, the leader of the controversial Rod of Iron Ministries, is now spreading far-right rhetoric via a series of wild low-budget music videos.

Tess Owen

VICE
May 31, 2023


PASTOR HYUNG-JIN “SEAN” MOON AKA KING BULLETHEAD, SEEN IN A VIDEO.



The leader of a controversial religious sect that worships with AR-15s has been taking notes from the niche but growing music subgenre dubbed “MAGA Rap.”

Pastor Hyung-Jin “Sean” Moon, the flamboyant figurehead of the Rod of Iron Ministries (also known as The Sanctuary Church) has a YouTube channel where he’s spinning his far-right sermons into rap videos. (YouTube removed the channel shortly after VICE News reached out for comment).

Moon’s rap name is “King Bullethead,” and like others in the genre, he’s looking to spread far-right ideological positions through questionable rhymes and low-budget, bombastic music videos, often while taking aim at the LGBTQ community.

In “Eggplant Emoji,” Moon appears in a rural setting, clad in camouflage, wearing reflective Oakley-esque sunglasses, a crown of gold bullets balanced atop his bald head. He wears skeleton gloves and waves around a gold-plated AR-15.

A group of heavily-armed church members dressed in patriotic colors stand behind Moon, as he fast-raps about how children are being brainwashed into joining the LGBTQ community and praises conservative women who discriminate against trans women. “They got no shlong, ding dong, hot dog, johnny eggplant emoji/ they got no thang swinging between their legs and making them horny,” he raps. “Conservative women knows that only God can make ‘em man and women/ Love Jesus, family, guns, USA they be lovin’.”

In “Big MAGA 20,” Moon appears at the same desk where he usually delivers his rambling hours-long sermons (these days, they’re uploaded to Rumble since the church was kicked off YouTube years ago for spreading election and COVID-19 disinformation).

“They can’t stop us so they silence, censor and act like Communists,” he raps. “Politicians lie to get their power and form their little cliques/Politics is a combination of the words ‘poly’ and ‘ticks’/‘Poly’ means more than one, a few, a group of cliques, and ticks are parasites that suck your blood until the very last drip.”

Moon’s church, which imagines the “Rod of Iron” in the Bible’s Book of Revelations as a modern-day AR-15 and Jesus Christ as a manufacturer of assault weapons, is an example of an extremist group that, despite being somewhat insular and fringe, operates in lockstep with the broader far-right and GOP when it comes to fighting the culture war du jour.

Moon started his church in Newfoundland, Pennsylvania, in 2017, with the help of his elder brother, the CEO of a gun manufacturing company called Kahr Arms. It was a spinoff from the Unification Church, an accused global cult founded and led by his late father, Rev. Sun Myung Moon, whose devoted adherents became known as “Moonies.” It was famous for holding mass weddings featuring thousands of couples.

Like his father, Hyung-Jin Moon has sought to fuse spirituality with right-wing politics, preaching a form of Christian nationalism that has increasingly crept into the GOP and pews nationwide. In his theological framework, anything he considers “unchristian” or progressive is dubbed “political satanism,” an evil force that’s working counter to the holy mission to restore God’s kingdom.

In late 2020, fighting “political satanism” meant contesting the results of the presidential election. Moon and other senior members of the church were at the Capitol on Jan. 6 (though there’s no evidence to suggest they went inside).

But today, the current “Satanic panic,” which has led far-right militants to target drag shows and family-friendly pride events nationwide, appears to be massively influential on Moon’s burgeoning rap career. The far right has coalesced around false narratives that claim exposing children to anything vaguely LGBTQ is tantamount to grooming, and that the LGBTQ community are pursuing a secret satanic agenda to brainwash children.

Moon labels many of his tracks targeting the LGBTQ community as “Comedy” despite his dehumanizing, apocalyptic lyrics (for some reason, he also tags far-right commentator Matt Walsh, a leader in the current attack on LGBTQ culture and rights).

“Stonewall gay riots began a movement, to take Christian morals down and make us the U.S. of Gays,” Moon raps in one track called “Rainbow Ishtar.” “If we don’t turn, we’re gonna burn/If we keep pissing God off, we’ll be food for the worms/The rainbow is for promise, not pride for the pervs.”

Another six-minute song called “Fruit Ninja,” Moon raps, “Did you hear about this group called LGTBQ/You may have heard them in your school or even your church pew/They are telling our kids they can switch to any gender/Taking hormones slicing organs like they’re playing Fruit Ninja.”

Other tracks promote a grab bag of other far-right conspiracy theories. “Suddenly Dead” promotes the widely debunked claim that people who received the COVID-19 vaccine have been dropping dead. “Red Eye Patriot” promotes the baseless “Fedsurrection” conspiracy, which claims undercover federal agents were behind Jan. 6 with the goal of smearing Trump supporters. “They call us conspiracy theorists and domestic terrorists/They did the sedition and blamed it on you and me,” Moon raps.

Moon launched his King Bullethead channel on YouTube in Dec. 2022, and he promises new music videos every Friday, uploaded under the banner “Guns, God, MAGA.”

The fact he hopes to maintain a presence on YouTube offers some insight into Moon’s goals, which may include further expanding his reach into mainstream MAGA circles and broadening his appeal beyond his dedicated cadre of followers, many of whom he siphoned away from his late father’s congregation.

In recent years, the church has acquired two significant plots of property, a compound near Waco, Texas, and a mountain in Tennessee.

The church also hosts an annual “Freedom Festival” on his brother’s Kahr Arms property in Pennsylvania. Recent speakers have included an array of fringe GOP candidates, gun-world influencers, and even some former Trump-orbit personalities, such as Steve Bannon and Sebastian Gorka.

While Moon may be enjoying his reach on YouTube for now, he has a long way to go if he wants to compete with some of the biggest MAGA rappers in the game. He currently has just 1,000 subscribers, and some videos have only broken 3,000 views, compared to the 50,000 subscribers enjoyed by others in the genre.

What’s more, it appears YouTube has recently started to take action against the King Bullethead channel by flagging some of his more incendiary videos for removal. As a result, he’s started redirecting followers and subscribers towards his Rumble channel.

https://www.vice.com/en/article/v7bvkj/rod-of-iron-ministries-sean-moon-rapper-king-bullethead

Gun Church That Worships With AR-15s Bought a 40-Acre Compound in Texas for Its 'Patriots'

The Rod of Iron Ministries has become more militant since leader Hyung Jin “Sean” Moon attended the riot at the U.S. Capitol on January 6.


Tess Owen
VICE
May 27, 2021

A religious sect known for worshipping with AR-15s and its MAGA politics has purchased a sprawling, 40-acre compound in central Texas, which it hopes will offer a safe-haven for “patriots” from what they believe is an imminent war brought by the “deep state,” VICE News has learned.

The property, located in the small community of Thornton, 40 miles from Waco, was listed at just under $1 million. It’s been dubbed “Liberty Rock'' by its new owners, the Sanctuary Church aka Rod of Iron Ministries, led by Pastor Hyung Jin “Sean” Moon. Members of the congregation often refer to him as “King.”

While Moon’s congregation, estimated to number in the hundreds, is relatively fringe, it’s a direct descendant of the much larger Unification Church, founded by his father, Rev. Sun Myung Moon, a self-proclaimed messiah and accused cult leader whose adoring followers became known to outsiders as “Moonies.”

The younger Moon, who set up shop in 2017 in Newfoundland, Pennsylvania, follows the doctrine of his late father—with a twist. Moon says he was inspired by a biblical passage in the Book of Revelation that talked about Jesus using a “rod of iron” to protect himself and others. He concluded this was a reference to AR-15s, and integrated high-powered firearms into regular church services, including wedding ceremonies. He founded the church with the support of his brother, Kook-jin “Justin” Moon, the CEO of Kahr Arms, a gun manufacturing company headquartered nearby.

From its beginning, the church wholeheartedly embraced former President Donald Trump and incorporated Trumpian culture war and conspiracies into its rhetoric. Moon told VICE News in late 2019 that he believed God was working through Trump to rid the world of “political satanism” (for example, the “deep state” and “the swamp”) and restore Eden. Through his gun-centric, MAGA-friendly outlook, Moon has been able to establish some fringe political alliances. Former Trump adviser Steve Bannon spoke at a recent event hosted by the church. Pennsylvania state senator and “Stop the Steal” organizer Doug Mastriano was also recently billed as a special guest at another church event.

As Moon’s church has expanded, bought additional property, and incorporated in at least two more states (Delaware and Florida), his teachings and rhetoric have grown even more radical and militaristic. His sermons contain a wide range of topics, from the weather, to why he hates ski resorts (too many “leftist lunatics”), to how to prepare for the coming “false flag” deep-state war.

The new property, known locally as “Running Branch Camp and Marina,” came equipped with a general store, fishing equipment, an industrial kitchen, RV hook-ups, cabins, and camping sites.

The purpose of the property, according to a GoFundMe seeking $21,000 for renovations, is to “expand God’s Kingdom to the Western and Southern regions of the United States.”

After renovations, the church hopes that Liberty Rock will be “home to over 100 sites that will serve our community and Patriots from Texas and around the country.” The Rod of Iron Instagram account features photos from the site, including their ribbon-cutting and blessing ceremony, held on April 20. At least one family from the church appears to be living there full-time while renovations are going on.

“It's a dangerous time, and this is a place of refuge and retreat if our community needs it.”

“It's a dangerous time, and this is a place of refuge and retreat if our community needs it,” Moon said in one of his recent sermons, titled “The King’s Report,” which he typically delivers wearing a crown made of bullets and a golden AR-15 displayed before him. “Of course, in worst-case scenarios.”

Leaders of a local community association contacted by VICE News did not seem to be aware that they had new neighbors. “Is this going to be a problem?” asked one concerned resident.

The new property acquisition has been a recurring topic in Moon’s King’s Reports, which are now broadcast via the gaming platform Twitch or the streaming site Rumble since they were booted off YouTube for violating community guidelines. Their videos are often accompanied by a slew of hashtags, including #MAGA, #Trump, #QAnon, #Q and #bluelivesmatter.

“The internationalist Marxist globalists are trying to start a civil war here, so that they can bring in the U.N. troops and Chi-Com Chinese military to come in and destroy and kill all gun owners, Christians, and any opposition, i.e., Trump supporters,” Moon said matter-of-factly in a recent sermon. “We are in the death of America right now, and that’s why, of course, God is allowing for our expansion.”

On January 3, his church sent out a notice to members. “Some federal agents operate as a criminal cartel and are in the process of stealing this presidential election,” the notice read. “We need to prepare and train for the fight.”

“It's obviously better if we can use our rights to freedom of speech, assembly, to seek redress of grievances,” it continued. “Otherwise we will have to fight physically, with many dying.”

Three days later, when Trump fans gathered in Washington, D.C., Moon posted a video to Instagram from outside the Capitol, amid the insurrectionist mob, running from clouds of tear gas with his wife and brother. (It does not appear that they actually went inside the Capitol. Church officials did not respond to VICE News’ request for comment.)

“THEY TEAR GAS BOMBED US!” he wrote in the video’s caption. “THEY PROTECT ANTIFA BUT SHOOT AND TEAR GAS PATRIOTS!”

Since January 6, Moon’s sermons have taken on a greater intensity and urgency. In a broadcast from February titled “Danger coming for Trump supporters,” Moon warned viewers that the Biden administration was plotting genocide against its political opponents–or planning to round up Trump supporters and put them in “reeducation camps.”

“We have to understand the enemy we are dealing with,” Moon said. “We have to be ready to pray very, very hard, move fast, and of course, to resist on many levels, all the evil that they are trying to perpetrate on the world.”

He’s also adopted a new biker-gang aesthetic, swapping out his camouflage blazers for biker jackets emblazoned with patches showing a crown and “Rod of Iron Ministries,” as well as the words “Black Robed Regiment” above an image of an AR-15.

All the while, a community of former “Moonies,” many of whom have family or friends who are deeply involved with the Sanctuary Church, are watching its slide into extremism with horror.

“It feels like I’m watching a school shooting or something in slow motion,” said Jane, whose parents are prominent members of the Sanctuary Church and asked that her real name be withheld for safety reasons. “These people are just getting crazier and crazier, and scaring everyone. And I don’t know what’s going to happen next.”

Like many other “Moonie” families, Jane’s parents were matched and married through the church. She was raised living and breathing Unification Church doctrine, attending Unification Church summer camps, and taught that doubting any of its teachings meant that you were opening yourself up to satanic thought and temptation.

Guns were not a part of her life. She said she remembers hearing gossip from other kids at Sunday school that the church owned a gun company. “Then, as a kid, I would say things innocently, because I was confused, that would get me in trouble,” Jane said. “Like, ‘Why do we have a gun company? Aren’t we about peace? What’s so peaceful about guns?’”

Her parents didn’t own guns, but she’d heard that the Moon family enjoyed hunting. “I’ve personally never even held a gun in my life,” Jane said. “I think they had guns at camp one year, and some of the older people, who we call ‘uncles’, would take the kids out for target practice, like shooting a can off a wall or something.”

In 2000, Jane’s family moved to Seoul, where her dad was tasked with helping Sean Moon set up an English-language Unification Church service. A decade later, they returned to the U.S. and settled in Berkeley, California. That was around the same time, she said, that she noticed her parents, seemingly out of nowhere, start talking about guns. They were saying things like, “If everyone owned a gun, there would be no need for police.” Her father suggested that she get a gun for personal protection. “He was saying, like, what if you’re at McDonald’s, and you go to the bathroom, and you get raped?”

Around 2010, Jane left the church, started therapy, and severed ties with her parents.

“I cut them off as an attempt to not drown,” said Jane. “Then the longer I went without talking with them, the more I realized how abusive they’d been.”

Years later, she heard that her parents were moving to Pennsylvania. “They gave some bogus excuse, and told everyone in their lives they were moving to help out a family member, but really they were moving to be closer to the Sanctuary Church,” Jane said.

Then she saw the pictures of her parents holding AR-15s.

She takes pains to ensure her parents don’t find out where she lives—and she’s trying to determine whether they’ve relocated to Liberty Rock.

“It’s not that I believe they’re going to come here with guns and try to kill me. But I do think that they could come here with guns and be like, ‘Oh, we’re going to save you and bring you back to this workshop and take care of you’,” said Jane. “I don’t trust them. I don’t trust them with a fucking butter knife.”

The Sanctuary Church made headlines for the first time in 2018, when news outlets covered a mass wedding ceremony featuring AR-15s. To an outsider, the fact that so many people were willing to take the unusual—and radical—step of integrating high-powered firearms into their spiritual life was perplexing. It appeared a giant psychological leap to go from, as was the case for many “Moonie” families, not having much to do with guns to suddenly worshipping with them in church.

But self-described “ex-Moonies’ told VICE News that many who belonged to the original church were psychologically conditioned to make that leap.

“When the split happened, it wasn’t like enrolling a membership into the YMCA,” said Renee Martinez, an artist who works in a tattoo parlor, who left the church in 2012 after Rev. Moon died. “It was a slow roll, clinging onto a new belief system that was nearly identical to what you already believed.”

“The Unification Church has groomed generations for this,” Martinez added. “The church is now 60 years old, with three generations now. It’s not just some cult that hippies joined. People are programmed into it and know nothing else.” (The Unification Church did not respond to VICE News’ request for comment).

“When Sean started pushing guns and his brother started pushing his gun company, it was easily accepted because Rev. Moon himself said we had to prepare to protect peace,” said Martinez. “I think violence and supporting guns has always been part of the Unification Church.”

Former members of the Unification Church say that it operates on a buffet of cohesive and abusive tactics to foster enduring loyalty and blind trust.

For example, they create heightened anxiety and fear around a common enemy, former members said. They rely on “love-bombing,” where important church officials shower new members with love. “You get scared of that being taken away,” said Jane. “And you’d do anything to get it back.”

Martinez said that she was harassed by church officials after she broke from the Unification Church around 2012.

“The state leader came to my house and told me to go to a workshop, two day, then a three-day, then a 21-day workshop, to get re-indoctrinated, essentially,” said Martinez, who now works in a rural part of Texas. “It was terrifying. That’s why I moved out to the desert.” These kinds of allegations against the church have simmered for decades, and the church has repeatedly asserted that its critics are bitter or disaffected former members. There’s no current evidence to show that the younger Moon’s spinoff church relies on similar coercive tactics.

Martinez and Jane are part of a community of second-generation former Moonies who are connected via WhatsApp and increasingly speaking out against what they allege were psychological abuses inflicted by the church.

They say that a recent violent incident involving one of the church’s members, whom some of them knew, should be seen as a warning for what’s to come and the inevitable byproduct of years of psychological manipulation, mental health abuse, and increasingly radical rhetoric.

Nicholas Skulstad, 33, was also raised in the Unification Church, and after Rev. Moon's death, he joined the gun-centric spinoff, according to Martinez, who grew up a few houses away from him. Skulstad describes himself as a “follower of Hyung Jin Moon” and a “warrior for christ” in his Instagram bio. His Instagram is littered with hashtags referencing the QAnon conspiracy theory.

He was arrested last month after he allegedly repeatedly rammed his car into a New York Department of Transport vehicle in Westchester, New York, smashed its window, and attacked officers who arrived at the scene, screaming, “I’m Jesus Christ! You are going to die today! Are you ready to die?” according to federal charging documents. When police searched his vehicle, they discovered a shell casing and a notebook. Inside the notebook, there was a page titled “List-To Kill” that consisted of names of current and former public officials and other public figures, according to prosecutors. (Skulstad has pleaded not guilty, and his lawyer did not respond to VICE News’ request for comment.)

Days before his arrest, Skulstad had contacted Martinez.

“He started saying some really crazy shit,” Martinez said. “He said everyone was going to die. He told me to start praying… I asked him what he meant. I thought he was going to shoot everyone.”

He began talking about how the vaccine was going to kill everyone, and that it was the “mark of the beast.” He also spouted conspiracies about the Rockefellers and the Rothschilds being part of “satanic lineages” who “run the banks and governments” around the world. He talked of a coming “purge” that would eradicate everyone who “commits evil, like pedophiles.”

“It was shocking but not unexpected,” said Martinez about Skulstad’s arrest. “It seemed like the natural evolution of things. I know how radical the church is. I know how it doesn’t believe in mental health. I know how it ruins people’s lives.”

https://www.vice.com/en/article/y3dp8j/gun-church-that-worships-with-ar-15s-bought-a-40-acre-compound-in-texas-for-its-patriots

CultNEWS101 Articles: 10/30/2020

World Peace and Unification Sanctuary Church, Sun Myung Moon, Duggar's, NXIVM, La Luz del Mundo 

The Trace: Far-Right Gun Festival Boosts Election Conspiracy Theories

"During the weekend of October 9, more than 5,000 gun enthusiasts filled the parking lot of Kahr Arms's Tommy Gun Warehouse in Greeley, a small Pennsylvania town with just 1,300 residents. The group had assembled for the second annual Rod of Iron Freedom Festival, a gathering of far-right ideologues and Second Amendment activists organized by the sons of the late Rev. Sun Myung Moon, the controversial Korean religious leader. At the center of the asphalt lot, organizers erected a stage, and vendors, including members of the National Rifle Association, surrounded it, selling food, marketing law enforcement and citizen defense groups, and hawking Trump-themed clothes and decor.

Attendees were treated to a smorgasbord of fringe conspiracies trotted out by politicians, right-wing icons, military veterans, and religious leaders. Stephen Bannon, the former White House senior counselor and Breitbart founder, even made a special virtual appearance, in which he warned of a Democratic conspiracy to rob President Donald Trump of the election through voter fraud, "particularly in certain areas of Pennsylvania." He encouraged the crowd to watch polling places to protect against such [an] attack, adding, "We need tough people."

"What the left intends to do — and you're seeing it in Pennsylvania right now," Bannon told the crowd. "Use the courts, use social media, use the mainstream media to try to make sure Trump is not declared the winner that night." He said falsely that "uncertifiable" mail-in ballots would be used to "steal the presidency" away from Trump. "Look we're going to win this thing," he said. "Pennsylvania is the key that picks the lock for a second Trump term."

As The Trace has reported, election officials across the country have expressed concern over how fear mongering about vote fraud, which has been repeatedly debunked, might lead to instances of voter intimidation."

CNN: Jill Duggar Dillard explains why she broke away from her famous family

"Jill Duggar Dillard says she never expected to be distant from her large family.

Duggar Dillard, who with her parents and siblings found fame on the TLC series "19 Kids and Counting," talked to People magazine about how her life has taken a turn since she and her husband, Derick Dillard, pulled away from the family business.

"I never expected this to happen or for it to get to this point," she told the publication. "But I'm realizing I can't put a timeline on healing. I love my family and they love me. I really just have to follow God's lead and take it one day at a time."

Duggar Dillard, 29 and her 31-year-old husband are now the parents of two young sons. They talked about the show, which showcased the very religious and conservative Duggar family, as well as it's spin-off, "Counting On."

She said: "Our control to choose what jobs we were allowed to accept and even where we were allowed to live was taken away from us."

Added Derick Dillard: "The first few years of our marriage, we spent time and money working towards opportunities only to hit a dead end when we'd be told, 'Well, you're not allowed to do that.'"

The couple said pulling out of the family business did not go over well."

The Spinoff: Review: The Vow takes a deep dive into the cesspit of the NXIVM cult

"Just a few years ago, few people had heard of the self-help group/cult of personality known as NXIVM. Now the dark story has gone global, thanks to an eight-part docuseries that debuts on Neon today."

ABC7: Judge throws out extortion charges against megachurch leader

"A Los Angeles judge has thrown out extortion charges against the leader of a Mexican megachurch but left in place accusations of child rape and human trafficking.

The Los Angeles Times says the judge ruled Wednesday that state prosecutors lacked sufficient evidence for the four charges against Naasón Joaquín García, and also for two sentencing enhancements involving sex with a minor.

However, he refused to throw out other charges, including rape of a minor. Last month, García was arraigned on dozens of sex-related charges involving underage girls. He has pleaded not guilty.

He is the self-proclaimed apostle of La Luz del Mundo, a Mexico-based evangelical Christian church that claims 5 million followers."

News, Education, Intervention, Recovery

CultEducationEvents.com

CultMediation.com   

Intervention101.com to help families and friends understand and effectively respond to the complexity of a loved one's cult involvement.

CultRecovery101.com assists group members and their families make the sometimes difficult transition from coercion to renewed individual choice.

CultNEWS101.com news, links, resources.

Facebook

Flipboard

Twitter

Instagram

Cults101.org resources about cults, cultic groups, abusive relationships, movements, religions, political organizations and related topics.

Selection of articles for CultNEWS101 does not mean that Patrick Ryan or Joseph Kelly agree with the content. We provide information from many points of view in order to promote dialogue.

Please forward articles that you think we should add to CultNEWS101.com.

We Spent a Wild Weekend with the Gun-Worshipping Moonie Church That's Trying to Go MAGA

“Jesus is an assault weapons manufacturer.”

Tess Owen
Vice
October 31, 2019

GREELEY, Pa. — Pastor Hyung Jin “Sean” Moon took the stage in rural Pennsylvania wearing his trademark green camo blazer, a crown made of empty bullet casings, and a gold AR-15 slung over his shoulder.

“Good morning, patriots and freedom-loving people made in the image of God,” Moon told his enthralled crowd.

The occasion was the first-ever “Rod of Iron” Freedom Festival, a two-day celebration of guns and God, hosted by Moon’s church.

But Moon, 40, isn’t any ordinary pastor. He’s the son of the late Rev. Sun Myung Moon, a Korean self-proclaimed messiah, accused cult leader, and founder of an international religious movement whose followers became known as “Moonies.” Last year, Pastor Sean Moon started his own church in Newfoundland, Pennsylvania. It has some of the same philosophies as his father’s, but with a pretty significant twist:

“In John, Chapter 2, we see that Jesus is an assault weapons manufacturer,” Moon, who studied theology at Harvard, told the audience.

Through the festival, an open-carry, pro-MAGA affair, Pastor Moon was able to draw in scores of local conservatives who 10 years ago probably wanted nothing to do with the Moonies.

“The radical leftists are treasonously indoctrinating our children into Communism!” Moon told the crowd at an opening address that recalled themes from President Trump’s Twitter feed. “They are trying to impeach a duly elected president for crimes they committed. And are trying to … place us under the rule of global governance, ruled by the elites of the world, the U.N., radical Islam, Communist China — you name it.”

Other speakers included gun-rights celebrities and right-wing provocateurs who railed against socialism, political correctness, and Hillary Clinton, prompting a faint, fleeting chant of “Lock her up!”


“In John, Chapter 2, we see that Jesus is an assault weapons manufacturer.”

Meanwhile, the hundreds who’d traveled from abroad to attend the festival over Columbus Day weekend outnumbered the locals. They listened to live translations of speeches via audio devices, and were easily recognizable through their matching blue camo hoodies sold by Moon’s church.

Rod of Iron Ministries was born out of a “Succession”-like family power struggle for control of the church after Rev. Sun Myung Moon’s death in 2012.

Pastor Sean Moon believes he was the rightful heir to his father’s Unification Church, but he lost the battle to his mother. So he founded the Rod of Iron Ministries — formally, the World Peace and Unification Sanctuary Church — which put a more extreme, pro-gun spin on his father’s teachings, and successfully siphoned off hundreds of his members.

Rod of Iron Ministries first made headlines in February 2018, when images from its inaugural marriage-blessing ceremony showing hundreds of couples in crowns and clutching AR-15s were received with a collective “WTF” across the country.

Moon says he was inspired to start Rod of Iron Ministries after he came across a passage in Revelations that talked about Jesus using a “Rod of Iron” to protect himself and others. He concluded that the “Rod of Iron” could well be the AR-15 — and that everyone should have one to defend God’s kingdom.

”This is the Jesus of the Founding Fathers, and this is the key to a safe and secure America from tyranny,” he said.


“We want everyone in the world to have a rod of iron.”

Moon’s older brother, Kook-jin “Justin” Moon, the owner of gun manufacturing company Kahr Arms, has taken his brother’s side. The freedom festival was held at the 620-acre Kahr Arms property in Greeley, and attendees were invited to shoot an AR-15 at the firing range, purchase gun-shaped chocolates, and participate in a “Concealed Carry Fashion Show.”
Culture war pastor

The original Moon founded the Unification Church in Korea in the 1950s, years after he’d escaped from a labor camp in North Korea, where he’d been imprisoned for preaching a “messianic message.” He claimed he was the returning messiah, on a mission to fulfill Jesus Christ’s original mission of restoring Earth to the Garden of Eden.

Rev. Moon and his wife Hak Ja Han were known as the “True Parents,” and they believed that world peace could be achieved through marrying individuals from historically enemy countries, who had been matched through the church, and who would go on to have children who are free of sin. This was the idea behind the famous Moonie mass wedding ceremonies; 2,075 couples were married in one such ceremony in Madison Square Garden in 1982.

But the Rev. Moon’s church ballooned into a multimillion-dollar business empire over the years. While on the one hand, he and his wife were accused of being cult leaders and even barred from entering Germany, the U.K., and other Western European countries for a 10-year period, Rev. Moon also dabbled in conservative politics and rubbed shoulders with Nixon.

He even founded the Washington Times, a conservative newspaper, with the hopes of influencing D.C. And in 2004, a group of Republican and Democratic lawmakers held a coronation ceremony for Rev. Moon at the U.S. Senate Offices, where he was “crowned” and declared the messiah.

Like his father, Pastor Sean Moon ardently embraces conservativism, but his brand is distinctly Trumpian. The festival had a “Safe Space” play area for kids with signs reading “Gun-Free Zone” and “Trigger Warning.” Parents laughed and snapped pictures as their kids strangled pink unicorns and pummeled rag dolls. The emcee of the event was Joey Gibson, the leader of the far-right Patriot Prayer, who is currently facing felony charges for his involvement in a violent street brawl with antifa in Portland, Oregon. There was even a seminar about the “Sissification of American Men.”

Moon himself believes that God is “working through” Trump to help establish God’s kingdom.

“We think that God is using him [Trump], doing a job that’s taking on the deep state, swamp, whatever you want to call it, the bureaucracy of the federal government,” Moon told VICE News. His church even hosted a “President Trump Thank You Dinner” in February 2018 featuring the executive director of Gun Owners of America, a popular Second Amendment advocacy group.

When Pastor Sean Moon isn’t at church, practicing martial arts, or holding tea ceremonies with his wife, he’s preaching the gospel of the AR-15 to his nearly 3,000 subscribers via YouTube. His broadcast, “The King’s Report,” often ventures well beyond the Bible to touch on the cultural issues du jour. For example, a recent broadcast was titled “Harlot Mother Behind ‘Joker’ Story.” He also describes public schools as “synagogues of Satan” — places where they’re “indoctrinated into the homosexual political agenda.”

In his spare time, he catches up on the news. “We like Breitbart, Daily Caller — Drudge is a great news hub, Infowars,” Moon said. “Project Veritas does incredible undercover work,” he added, name-checking a right-wing activist group that’s best known for carrying out “stings” aimed at exposing media bias.

Moon’s Trump-era dogma and gun-centric focus seems to have helped him shake off the stigma associated with the “Moonies” and appeal to a wider American demographic.

One festival attendee, Bill Russell, 66, acknowledged that two decades ago he probably wouldn’t have wanted anything to do with the Moonies. “It was generally viewed as unsavory or off-putting,” said Russell, who was toting a Civil War–style rifle. But he was pleasantly surprised by the freedom festival.

“I found nothing like that in my brief time visiting here,” he added. “I do like the message about empowering the individual. Any organization that makes that its message and means it, I think is worth listening to.”

Moon has also won the affections of local renegade pastor George Cook. “A year and a half ago, I didn’t know him,” Cook told the audience before introducing Pastor Moon. “Now, apparently, I’m a Moonie.”

Cook’s speech was fiery and vaguely threatening. “I just want to say one thing to Joe Biden, to Beto O’Rourke, Elizabeth Warren — Pocahontas — and all the rest of them who have come out proudly to say that I’m gonna have to give up my AR-15, and my AK-47, and my other AR-15,” he bellowed. “The bad news is, when you come to get that rifle, the barrel is going to be damned hot!”
‘Succession’ meets ‘Righteous Gemstones’

When Rev. Moon died in 2012, he left behind his widow, Hak Ja Han, and 10 children. Sean Moon, the youngest son, claims his father crowned him three times as his heir and successor. But Hak Ja Han was under the impression that she was expected to take the reins.

So the younger Moon and his mother met at the family-owned Cheong Jeong Peace Palace about an hour from Seoul, South Korea, to iron out their dispute. What happened next isn’t entirely clear, but it definitely didn’t go well.

Moon claims that his mother “declared herself as God” and essentially banished him from the church. Years later he’d accuse her of rewriting his father’s theology with satanic overtones.

“She was taking the position of what’s described in the Bible as the ‘Harlot of Babylon’ position,” Moon said of his mother, before adding, “That doesn’t mean I see her as a prostitute.”

(A representative of the Unification Church says that Hak Ja Han continues “the legacy work” of “bringing people of different cultures, religions, and nations together through interfaith and intercultural dialogue.)

Sean and his family moved from New York to Pennsylvania, where, with the support of his brother Justin of Kahr Arms, he eventually formed the Rod of Iron Ministries.

Moonies were left with two choices: Stay with the church that many of them had belonged to for decades and that some were even born into, or defect. Hundreds, if not thousands, agreed that the younger Moon was his father’s rightful heir and took a big leap of faith. Following Pastor Moon also meant welcoming guns into their spiritual life.

One man in the midst of that transition was Johann Hobl, 69, who traveled from Vienna to attend the festival. Last year, heeding Moon’s call to take up arms, Hobl underwent Austria’s lengthy process to obtain a semi-automatic rifle.

Dressed in traditional Austrian garb of suede britches and a jaunty green Alpine hat, Hobl said, “It was new for me to think about guns. Now I see it’s something that has much to do — actually, much, much to do with the Bible.”

And Chad Johnson, a 30-year-old from New Jersey, shot his very first gun during the Freedom Festival: an AR-15. His parents were married by the Unification Church, and he was one of the couples married at the Rod of Iron Ministries’ first mass wedding last year.

“It was interesting with all those guns there,” Johnson recalled of his wedding day. “But really it’s the love, a loving atmosphere…. I think the thing with the guns is more about freedom and rights.”
Rewriting history

Pastor Sean Moon and his brother Justin claim that their father was an avid hunter and a passionate supporter of Second Amendment rights. Sean Moon told VICE News that the children received lessons in gun safety when they were as young as 5 or 6. They also point to the fact that their father owned a company that manufactured weapons for the Korean military to argue that guns have always been a part of the church — even if people didn’t know it at the time.

But representatives from the Unification Church say that the brothers are rewriting history.

“It is blatantly untrue to say that firearms were an important part of Rev. Sun Myung Moon's life,” said Nancy Jubb, who runs communications for the church. She also said she was unable to confirm that the children received formal firearms training, but added that their early exposure to guns may have stemmed from the fact that Rev. Moon’s security detail were armed.

“Firearms have never been a part of our religious practices or beliefs. Sean suddenly involving them in his ministry, which he started on his own, doesn’t reflect the Unification Church at all,” said Jubb. “It also begs the question — the fact that his organization is financed by his brother, who has a gun company just up the road, conveniently.”

She added, “I think the most concerning thing is that it’s such an angry ministry. That, combined with the firearms, is alarming.”

The Moon family feud triggered a rift within the wider Moonie community, one that continues to play out on social media. The Facebook page for Pastor Moon’s church is full of his followers squabbling with his mother’s loyalists. One person from the original church at the freedom festival likened Pastor Moon’s teachings to those espoused by the Branch Davidians, the religious sect at the center of the Waco Siege in 1993 that left dozens dead. “It will all end up very badly with blood on the floor, like a Tarantino-type movie ending.”

Much like his father’s business empire, the financial inner workings of Pastor Moon’s church are opaque. Entry to the Freedom Festival was free, and Moon said the event was bankrolled by donations from Moon’s “supporters.”

Both the church and Kahr Arms are associated with the Young Jin Moon Charitable Foundation, named for their oldest brother, who died from a heart attack in 2008. The most recently available tax records, from 2016, show that the foundation had nearly $10 million in the bank.

But Pastor Moon shrugged off the notion that his church’s embrace of guns was a ruse to financially benefit his brother’s firearms manufacturing company.

“My brother was already top 10 in the industry long before I was preaching about the rod of iron,” said Moon, “so me talking about it doesn’t really increase his sales.”
‘They call us Moonies’

On Sunday morning, the second day of the festival, festival-goers held a brief rally where they learned to sing “God Bless the USA,” waving Trump flags, Japanese flags, and Korean flags. They then left the main festival arena, headed across a field and up a hill into the forest, where Pastor Moon had organized an intimate gathering with his supporters — away from the outsiders of the church.

With a Japanese translator by his side and with a Kahr Arms baseball cap perched on his bald head, Pastor Moon talked and joked in Korean for an hour. The meeting was part sermon, part reassurance that church members needn’t be concerned about the local gun lovers who were at the festival.

“So... you see the American citizens holding guns,” said Moon, pretending to point a gun around. “But it's not like they’ll shoot at you saying, ‘You Asian guys!’"

“In America, they call us Moonies. They think Moonies are crazy,” Moon continued. “But they came here to see we hate Communism, we want to protect our families, we want to protect our marriage, and we want to protect babies from abortion. And we want everyone in the world to have a rod of iron.”

Seeing and hearing Pastor Moon speak in Korean seemed to soothe many in the audience who may have been feeling uneasy about the unfamiliar environment. “When he speaks Korean, it’s uncanny: his mannerisms, his voice, how much he’s like his father,” one onlooker remarked. “Much more so than when he speaks English, it’s as if his father was here.”

By Monday morning it was business as usual for the church, which had organized a mass wedding-blessing ceremony to commemorate the date that Rev. Moon escaped a labor camp in North Korea.

Six white buses rumbled through the small town of Newfoundland, and pulled around the white clapboard side of the Sanctuary church. Hundreds of visitors got out, the men in dark suits, the women in shades of white. At the entrance of the church, volunteers were zip-tying worshippers’ AR-15s to secure them. A marquee was set up outside, with televisions, to accommodate the additional guests who’d flown in.

Seven young couples to be married that day were sitting inside the church as family members fussed over them. Most of the audience members — those who’d been blessed by Rev. Moon or Pastor Moon’s church — wore crowns. They ranged from cheap plastic to intricately designed tiaras with pearl inlay, some of which were sold at the Freedom Festival.

After a prayer in English and Korean, “Agnus Dei” blared from speakers. Twenty men and women wearing pink silk tunics over white robes, and holding AR-15’s, formed an aisle. The color guard walked through, followed by Pastor Moon and his wife, both in robes, capes and ornate crowns. Behind them walked his brother Justin, wearing white gloves, a black suit, and his Kahr Arms baseball cap. His wife, in a cream-colored suit and gloves, carried the gold AR-15, and set it down by the altar.

Pastor Moon invited attendees to remove their “rods of iron” from their cases. The whole ceremony lasted an hour, and after a brief mix-up with the wedding rings, the seven couples were sprinkled with holy water and declared married.

Outside the church after the ceremony, kids in their Sunday best played on the lawn, elderly women gossiped in Korean, and newly-weds walked around holding hands while volunteers got lunch ready. For a moment, it was easy to forget about the pageantry of the event, the sea of crowns — and all those AR-15s.

Cover: Pastor Sean Moon in his office. (Photo by Roberto Daza)

Video and additional reporting by Robert Daza and Jika Gonzalez. Edited by Michael Shade.

https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/xwep53/we-spent-a-wild-weekend-with-the-gun-worshipping-moonie-church-thats-trying-to-go-maga

Over the Moon - Escaping the Unification Church

Talk Beliefs

Published on Aug 12, 2018

Photo-illustrated interview with TEDDY HOSE, a former member of the Unification Church (the 'Moonies'), known for its odd practices including stadium-filled mass weddings.

Growing up, Teddy knew the Moon family well, including Reverend Moon's youngest son, Sean - now leader of the infamous splinter group, the Sanctuary Church.

MARK from Talk Beliefs talks with Teddy about the Unification Church, its splinter group, the Sanctuary Church, and the weird practices of this offshoot sect - practices that Teddy considers to be highly dangerous.

Teddy recently appeared on the A&E documentary series, Cults & Extreme Belief. Now - he tells his powerful story in even greater detail.


LINKS FOR TEDDY HOSE:
Website: http://teddyhose.com/
Twitter: @teddyhose

WATCH the A&E documentary series 'Cults & Extreme Belief' on Amazon (easiest/cheapest way to access). Teddy is featured in episodes 5 & 9: https://amzn.to/2MeSOAr

Take Back Your Life - Book by Janja Lalich

Family Federation sues Sanctuary Church over logo

Peter Becker
The News Eagle
August 9, 2018

NEWFOUNDLAND - Two religious organizations claiming to be the rightful heir to the Unification Church founded by the late Rev. Myung Moon, one led by his widow and the other by one of their sons, have found themselves at odds.

The church, Family Federation for World Peace and Unification USA (a.k.a. "Unification Church"), led by Dr. Hak Ja Han Moon, the widow and headquartered in New York City, has filed suit against the church led by her son, Rev. Hyung Jin Sean Moon, the World Peace and Unification Sanctuary (a.k.a. "Sanctuary Church") located in Newfoundland, Pa.

The suit alleges unauthorized use of the registered trademark used by the Unification Church.
It was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania.

According to the Unification Church statement, Family Federation's proprietary logo is being used unlawfully to identify and brand Sanctuary Church, causing confusion among the public. Sanctuary Church has continued to disregard numerous cease-and-desist requests sent from Family Federation.

In light of the recent media attention surrounding Sanctuary Church, public concern regarding the political views of this organization, and public brand confusion, Family Federation has made the "difficult decision" to pursue litigation to protect the legacy of its founders, the Reverend Sun Myung Moon and Dr. Hak Ja Han Moon.

Firearm controversy

"Family Federation is in no way affiliated with Sanctuary Church," said Rev. Richard Buessing, president of Family Federation USA. "While we respect every individual's right to freedom of religion, freedom of speech, and other constitutional rights, we oppose violence and do not use weapons in any of our religious ceremonies. Sean Hyung Jin Moon has disregarded his father's teachings regarding the importance of true love and reconciliation in addressing the problems of the world."

In February 2018, Sanctuary Church received international media attention when the church hosted a Blessing Service for hundreds of married couples, who were urged to bring their semi-automatic weapons (unloaded). The AR-15s were displayed as a pledge to defend themselves, their families, nation and church in keeping with the Second Amendment Right to Bear Arms. Sanctuary Church leadership noted the weapons symbolized the "Rod of Iron" described in the Book of Revelation.

Controversy rose over the timing of the service, held only days after the mass shootings with an AR-15 at the middle school in Parkland, FL, although the service had been planned months before.

Not about a trademark
Sanctuary Church released a counter statement, which Timothy Elder, their Director of World Missions, stated was approved by Rev. Sean Moon.

http://www.neagle.com/news/20180809/family-federation-sues-sanctuary-church-over-logo

Family Federation Files Lawsuit

NEWS PROVIDED BY
Family Federation for World Peace and Unification 
06:00 ET

NEW YORK, July 31, 2018/PRNewswire/ -- Family Federation for World Peace and Unification USA (a.k.a. the Unification Church) has filed a lawsuit for unauthorized use of a registered trademark against The World Peace and Unification Sanctuary in Newfoundland, Pennsylvania(a.k.a. "Sanctuary Church").

Family Federation's proprietary logo is being used unlawfully to identify and brand Sanctuary Church, causing confusion among the public. Sanctuary Church has continued to disregard numerous cease-and-desist requests sent from Family Federation.

In light of the recent media attention surrounding Sanctuary Church, public concern regarding the political views of this organization, and public brand confusion, Family Federation has made the difficult decision to pursue litigation to protect the legacy of its founders, the Reverend Sun Myung Moon and Dr. Hak Ja Han Moon.

"Family Federation is in no way affiliated with Sanctuary Church," says Rev. Richard Buessing, president of Family Federation USA. "While we respect every individual's right to freedom of religion, freedom of speech, and other constitutional rights, we oppose violence and do not use weapons in any of our religious ceremonies. Sean Hyung Jin Moon has disregarded his father's teachings regarding the importance of true love and reconciliation in addressing the problems of the world."

About Family Federation

Family Federation is composed of families around the world striving to establish peace and unity among all peoples, races, and religions as envisioned by Rev. Sun Myung Moon and Dr. Hak Ja Han Moon and to embody the ideal of true love as taught in the Divine Principle, the core teachings of the Unification Movement. Family Federation champions three ideals: family, peace, and unification. The mission statement of Family Federation USA is: "To guide America back to God through the teachings and Marriage Blessing of True Parents."

P E A C E  S T A R T S  W I T H  M E
481 8th Ave. Box A-12, New York, NY 10001 | t: 212.997.0050 | f: 212.997.0051 | www.familyfed.org
Contact: Nancy Jubb 
Communications Director
press@familyfed.org 

212-997-0057
Ron Lucas 

Public Relations Agency 
rlucas@irvingstreetrep.com
973-643-6262

SOURCE Family Federation for World Peace and Unification

http://familyfed.org/

NEWS PROVIDED BY
Family Federation for World Peace and Unification 
06:00 ET

https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/family-federation-files-lawsuit-300689045.html

Churches in fight over trademarked symbol

TERRIE MORGAN-BESECKER
Times-Tribune
AUGUST 1, 2018

SUBMITTED IMAGES The symbol of Newfoundland-based Sanctuary Church, above, contains the symbol also used by Unification Church, right, and is the subject of a lawsuit charging trademark infringement.

A controversial Wayne County church that advocates gun ownership is illegally using the trademarked symbol of the Unification Church to promote its religious and political agenda, according to a federal lawsuit.

Attorneys for Unification Church say the Newfoundland-based Sanctuary Church promotes a gun-centered theology that is “repugnant” and a “perversion” of the Unification Church’s beliefs. Its continued use of a symbol similar to the church’s “twelve gates mark” has caused the public to confuse the two religious organizations, causing extreme harm to Unification Church.

Sanctuary Church is led by the Rev. Hyung Jin “Sean” Moon, whose late father, the Rev. Sun Myung Moon, and his wife founded the Unification Church in the 1950s.

“Sanctuary Church’s conduct is willful, deliberate (and) in bad faith,” the church’s attorney, Adam Shienvold, says in the suit. “Unless restrained by the court . . . (it) will continue to cause serious irreparable injury” to the church.

The suit, filed Monday, comes five months after Sanctuary Church, also known as World Peace and Unification Sanctuary, held a highly publicized “marriage commitment” ceremony in Newfoundland, Dreher Twp., that encouraged couples to bring an AR-15 or other similar semi-automatic rifle to the event to be blessed.

That ceremony was preceded by a pro-gun “thank you” dinner for President Donald Trump in Matamoras arranged by Rod of Iron Ministries, an affiliate of the church. Both events took place shortly after the mass shooting at the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, and were denounced by gun control advocates.

Also known as Holy Spirit Association for the Unification of World Christianity, the Unification Church does not lobby for gun rights or incorporate guns into its religious ceremonies, the suit says.

That’s in stark contrast to Sanctuary Church, which Moon’s son founded in 2015, after he was suspended from the Unification Church for violating its tenets. Sean Moon and other church members sometimes attend church events armed with semi-automatic rifles and wearing crowns made of bullets, the suit says.

The Unification Church has used the twelve gates mark to symbolize its teachings since 1965, and trademarked the image in 2009. The Sanctuary Church’s symbol, which it displays at religious services, political demonstrations, newsletters and videos, is virtually identical, the suit says. The only difference is Sanctuary Church changed the color from red to gold and sometimes sets the mark against a background of guns and other weapons, the suit says.

The Unification Church tried to resolve the dispute without filing a lawsuit. Sean Moon refused its demands to stop utilizing the image, arguing he is the “true heir” to his father’s ministry, therefore he owns the symbol, the suit says. His father died in 2012.

The issue came to a head after the marriage commitment ceremony and Trump thank-you dinner drew extensive media coverage. News organizations “did little to nothing” to differentiate between the churches, which led some members of the public to believe the Unification Church was tied to the events, the suit says.

“Defendants expressly… political exploitation of its marks at gun rights events have, cumulatively, brought this matter... to a level that it is causing irreparable injury,” to the Unification Church, the suit says.

Tim Elder, Sanctuary Church’s director of world missions, said the church follows the teachings of Sun Myung Moon, therefore “it would be natural we also want to use that symbol.” He declined to comment further.
The lawsuit seeks an order forbidding Sanctuary Church from continuing to display the image. It also seeks monetary damages on several counts, including trademark infringement and unfair competition and punitive damages.
Contact the writer:
tbesecker@timesshamrock.com; 570-348-9137;
@tmbeseckerTT on Twitter

http://www.thetimes-tribune.com/news/churches-in-fight-over-trademarked-symbol-1.2368355

Unification Church not affiliated with Sanctuary Church

Nancy Jubb

The Morning Call

June 21, 2018

The author of a recent letter to the editor may be surprised to know that the Unification Church is very alarmed by Sean Moon's breakaway group, Sanctuary Church. It should be stated for the record that we are not one in the same, nor have we ever been.

I am a second-generation practicing-Unificationist, having been born, raised and even married by the Rev. Sun Myung Moon. Weapons have never been a part of my religious beliefs or practices. Our faith focuses primarily on uniting people beyond religion and culture. I believe that my very existence as a half-Korean and half-American person reflects the merging of both Eastern and Western cultures.

Nancy Jubb

The writer is communications director of Family Federation USA/Unification Church.

http://www.mcall.com/opinion/letters/mc-jubb-unification-church-break-away-group-20180621-story.html

PRESS RELEASE: “AR15 Pastor” releases Rod of Iron Kingdom book

June 14, 2018

“True faith in God is not a fairy tale world of delusion. The Rod of Iron Kingdom is where every citizen has the right and the responsibility to defend their family and neighbor.” This is the basic thesis of Rod of Iron Kingdom, a newly released book by Pastor Sean Moon, the youngest son and anointed heir of the late Sun Myung Moon.

Sean Moon is the pastor of the Sanctuary Church, or Unification Sanctuary based in Newfoundland, PA. which received considerable publicity in February of this year when it sponsored a marriage blessing where participants brought their AR 15 rifles. In the wake of the Parkland, Florida school shooting this caused a lot of controversy, but for Pastor Sean, the ARs represent the sovereignty of the co-heirs of Christ and their right and duty to protect the lives of loved ones in their families and community.
“We’ve already seen throughout history what happens when central governments control all the firearms. In the last century, 260 million people were murdered by their own (evil) governments.”
Based on 16 sermons given over the past year, chapters such as the “Civil War in the Western World” and “The Challenge of Political Islam” and the “Leftist Fascist Threat to Democracy” explain how secular and anti-Christian ideologies threaten America’s survival far more than any foreign invader.
Rev. Moon uses facts seldom reported in mainstream media. Average American citizens use firearms in self-defense 2 million times per year, or 5,400 times per day. Pastor Moon writes that the “greatest love is not to call 911 and wait for someone else to do something!” Since it is impossible for the police to always arrive in time to stop criminals, when citizens are properly armed and trained even the elderly or small in stature can prevent or reduce violence. To cite just one of many examples, the church shooting in Sutherland County, Texas, was stopped by a citizen with an AR-15, thus preventing further innocent bloodshed.
Had Aaron Feis, the football coach who lost his life protecting students at Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, been armed, he could have saved many more lives, including his own.
Rod of Iron Kingdom is available at RodofIronMinistries.org or at Amazon.com.

Contact:

Regis Hanna
Media Coordinator, Sanctuary Church
dr.regis.hanna@gmail.com
(570) 618-0367

Poconos gunmaker's vision: An AR-15 for every American

Jason Nark
Philly.com
MARCH 15, 2018

GREELEY, Pa. — An AR-15 semiautomatic rifle sits perched on a rack, higher than all the other things that decorate Justin Moon’s office in the Poconos.

He built the rifle himself, and it rests above his diplomas from Harvard and the University of Miami and shelves jammed with thick economics textbooks and business guides. Last week he sat at a desk beneath it, discussing a dead-serious plan to make that black gun even more ubiquitous in America.

“I mean, every American should really have an AR,” Moon said. “It’s America’s rifle.”

Moon, 47, is a son of the late Rev. Sun Myung Moon, founder of the controversial Unification Church in South Korea, but makes a living as a firearms manufacturer. Kahr Arms, which he founded in 1995, makes tens of thousands of pistols and rifles each year from facilities in Minnesota and Massachusetts, including a semiautomatic version of the Thompson submachine gun, the “Tommy Gun” that mowed down Chicago gangsters in the 1920s.

Moon canceled plans to build a plant in New York state, where his headquarters were located, after more restrictive gun-control measures were passed there in 2013 that expanded bans on military-style weapons and limited magazine sizes. He looked to Pennsylvania, which he described as “very gun-friendly.” In 2015, local and state elected officials helped him cut the ribbon on his new headquarters and retail store in a 620-acre industrial park he purchased off a winding road in Pike County.

“I think I share the values of many Pennsylvanians,” Moon said. “I fish, hunt, camp, you name it. Pennsylvania has a strong rural population with strong values. They love America. They love freedom.”

Last month, Moon’s brother, Pastor Hyung Jin “Sean” Moon, brought worldwide attention to rural Pennsylvania when he encouraged couples to bring their AR-15s to a marriage blessing at his World Peace and Unification Sanctuary Church in Newfoundland, about 20 miles from Kahr Arms. The Bible references Jesus ruling with a “rod of iron,” and Sean Moon believes that rod is the AR-15, which is not made from iron.

“His reading of [the Book of] Revelation and the rod of iron makes sense to me,” said Justin Moon, a church member.

Next to his office is the Tommy Gun Warehouse, his retail store, where many of his brother’s followers came shopping before the marriage blessing. Moon stood in front of a wall of AR-15s, only a few of which bore the “Greeley” stamp. But soon, when the adjoining manufacturing plant is fully fired up, Moon said, he’ll roll out a “Thompson AR-15,” priced just under $700, in larger numbers. He currently employs 25 people in the office, store, and web shop.

“I’m going to make a standard AR-15 with my brand on it,” he said. “The AR-15 is the most popular rifle in America. It’s the most common rifle in America.”

The NRA estimates that eight million Americans own an AR-15. It has also been used in five of the six deadliest mass shootings in the nation in the last six years, most recently in the Parkland, Fla., massacre.

Moon said he follows state and federal firearms laws but does not support age restrictions, limitations on specific guns, or even bans on the bump stock, an attachment that uses a semiautomatic rifle’s recoil to fire even faster — the reason why Stephen Paddock was able to kill so many people in Las Vegas last year. In fact, Moon believes the Founding Fathers intended the Second Amendment to evolve with the times, that citizens should be allowed to own any firearms they can literally carry in order to match the government’s firepower.

“We should have the right to have the same arms the military has as soldiers,” he said.

Moon donates to candidates, organizations, and causes countrywide that support the Second Amendment, and his politics have no middle ground.

“It’s not a secret. I support the Republican Party. I’m conservative. I’m not a liberal. Never pretended to be,” he said. “I would be one of the deplorables, clinging to gods and guns. That fits me pretty well.”

A Hillary Clinton bobblehead, dressed in prison garb, sits on a shelf in a Kahr meeting room, next to a bobblehead of the man to whom she lost.

Moon, a married father of seven, came to the United States from South Korea when he was 3, and although he embraces his heritage, the American dream is dearer to him.

“America is the greatest and the freest nation on earth, and I hope it stays that way because I want my kids to grow up in a free nation with opportunity,” he said. “Koreans do well in America because they work hard and take advantage of opportunities. They don’t go on welfare.”

Moon’s hatred of communism and socialism has direct roots in North Korea, where his father was imprisoned in a labor camp for five years, accused of being a spy for the South Korean government.

“Socialism is basically making the whole country a prison,” he said. “In a prison, everyone is equal. They get the same cell, same food; they get the same health care, and only the government employees have guns.”

Sun Myung Moon later became a self-professed messiah and started the Unification Church in 1954. Though it has been called a cult by its detractors, it considers Sean Moon’s church a “breakaway group,” and Unification Church officials said last month that firearms play no part in its doctrine.

While in Miami’s MBA program, Justin Moon drew up plans for a small, powerful pistol that became the Kahr K9. The prototype was an instant hit, Moon said, and he started producing the guns in 1995. According to a 2011 New York Daily News article, Kahr sold 5,000 K9s to the New York Police Department for off-duty use, though it later ordered its officers to stop carrying the gun because the trigger was too light.

Pennsylvania is home to dozens of gun manufacturers, some of which make just a handful of guns, according to statistics from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. One Northumberland County manufacturer specializing in smaller rifles made for younger shooters sold just over 49,000 firearms in 2016. Moon has purchased several other manufacturers over the years, combining many of them into the parent company Saeilo Inc. ATF statistics show Saeilo produced 40,274 pistols and 9,086 rifles in 2016. Those guns were made in Minnesota and Massachusetts, but production of AR-15s will soon ramp up in Greeley.

“They sell a lot, and they manufacture a lot,” said Edwin Gragert, a member of the Delaware Valley Democratic Club, which protested the Sanctuary Church’s weeklong festival last month.

Gragert lives in Milford, 14 miles from the Tommy Gun Warehouse, and he happens to have a master’s degree and doctorate in Korean and Japanese history. He knows the Moons well. He said he believes Sean Moon’s doctrine is dangerous and frets that his brother will be manufacturing AR-15s here in the Poconos.

“This glorification of assault rifles has no place here,” Gragert said. “These weapons are designed to shoot people.”

Moon returned to his office after discussing the AR-15s, and two women shuffled past rows of handguns in glass cases in the Tommy Gun Warehouse, stopping to grip models an employee recommended for personal protection. The women were surprised at how light some were and described one as “sexy.” They lived together in the Poconos, and in the wake of a recent nor’easter and subsequent power outages, they were troubled by reports of break-ins. One of the large TVs on a store wall was set to Infowars, a right-wing media outlet that peddles conspiracy theories.

“We live alone in the woods,” said Evie Ascencio, 62. “There’s no one around, and it would take police 30 minutes to respond to something.”

Outside, Justin Moon’s modified Jeep sat in the snow flurries, complete with a rooftop tent, propane tank, and a spine board, capable of barreling through whatever he thinks is coming.

Sean Moon has a Jeep just like it.

http://www.philly.com/philly/news/ar15-moon-poconos-kahr-firearms-mass-shootings-20180315.html

Members of Pennsylvania ‘Unification Church’ Cult Bring AR-15s to ‘Perfection Level’ Blessing Ceremony

Photo Credit: CBS News/screenshot

Heather Clark

Christian News
March 5, 2018

NEWFOUNDLAND, Pa. — Members of a group in Pennsylvania that is stated to be a breakaway from the “Unification Church” but still follows the late Sun Myung Moon as the “Messiah” raised eyebrows on Wednesday after they brought AR-15s to a couples’ blessing ceremony as the “rod of iron” cited in the Book of Revelation and a commitment to defend their communities and the spiritual “nation of Cheon Il Guk.”

The event was called the “Cosmic True Parents of Heaven, Earth and Humanity Cheon Il Guk Book of Life Registration Blessing” Ceremony, according to a public release, also known as a “perfection level” blessing.

“On February 28, all brothers and sisters who believe that True Father Sun Myung Moon is the Messiah and that Hyung Jin Moon is his representative and heir in the physical world who has inherited the True Parents’ authority and preserves the words and practices established by True Father, are invited to participate in an historic Perfection Stage Book of Life Registration Blessing that True Father promised,” it read.

Dressed in wedding garb, with the men donning crowns and the women wearing either crowns or tiaras, members of the World Peace and Unification Sanctuary in Newfoundland held unloaded assault rifles during the service. Some of the crowns were made of bullets.

“Blessed couples are requested to bring the accouterments of the nation of Cheon Il Guk, crowns representing the sovereignty of kings and queens, and a ‘rod of iron,’ designated by the Second King as an AR-15 semi-automatic rifle or equivalents such as an AK semi-automatic rifle, representing both the intent and the ability to defend one’s family, community and ‘nation of Cheon Il Guk,'” the release outlined.

It said that failure to bring the rifle, or at least a gift certificate as proof of intent to purchase one, would be a sign of disrespect to the group’s founder.

“As the parable of the ten virgins spoken of in Matthew 25:1-13 explains, believers should be prepared internally and externally to receive the grace of the bridegroom’s arrival so they can be welcomed into the ‘wedding banquet,'” the group wrote.

Hyung Jin “Sean” Moon leads the Newfoundland location, being the son of the Korean Unification Church founder Sun Myung Moon, who died in 2012. Moon launched the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification in 1954 after claiming that he was a “messiah” and that Jesus told him at age 15 that he must complete His “unfinished work.” His followers refer to him as the “true father.”

Moon, who once said that because Jesus did not marry during His lifetime, He failed to make humans “perfect children,” became known for officiating mass weddings, which have at times involved more than 2,000 people. His organization received criticism for matchmaking couples, and online reports state that some of those who were wed did not meet until just days before the mass wedding. “Larson’s Book of World Religions and Alternate Spirituality” says that “[s]ome do not meet their future marriage partner until the day of the wedding,” a statement that the Unification Church denies.

Moon himself had 14 children through his second wife Hak Ja Han, who is referred to as the “true mother.”

According to CBS News, Sean Moon prayed at the event that the people would be “a kingdom of peace police and peace militia where the citizens, through the right given to them by almighty God to keep and bear arms, will be able to protect one another and protect human flourishing.” All weapons were reportedly checked at the door to ensure that they were unloaded and secured with zip ties.

However, word of the event generated both fear and protest from those who learned of the gathering. The Wallenpaupack Area School District moved students from an elementary school to another location as a precaution. While the event was reportedly planned long before the Parkland, Florida shooting, a group of demonstrators who stood outside of the facility didn’t think that the gathering was a good idea.

“I thought it was a joke, but then here it is real,” one woman told CBS News.

Another held a sign characterizing the World Peace and Unification Sanctuary as an “armed religious cult.”

One neighbor expressed indifference to the group, stating, “Who am I to say that it’s wrong, what they’re doing, you know? They’ve got a lot of followers.”

“[T]he Sanctuary Church in Newfoundland is not ‘blessing guns,’” Sean Moon also wrote in a note of clarification posted to social media, explaining that while the rifles were a part of the service, the event focused on couples gathering to “(re)dedicate their marriages to each other and most importantly to God.” He also cited that participants wore crowns as “the Bible speaks repeatedly of Christ’s followers as co-heirs of His Kingdom, as kings and queens, who must not lose their crowns.”

While some religious groups proclaim men other than Jesus alone as the Messiah, 1 Timothy 2:5-6 states, “For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave Himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time.”

Jesus also declared in John 14:6, “I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father but by Me.” 

http://christiannews.net/2018/03/05/members-of-pennsylvania-unification-church-cult-bring-ar-15s-to-perfection-level-blessing-ceremony/

Couples clutching AR-15 rifles hold commitment ceremony at Pennsylvania church

Michael Ribinkam
Associated Press
February 28, 2018

Crown-wearing worshippers clutching AR-15 rifles drank holy wine and exchanged or renewed wedding vows in a commitment ceremony at a Pennsylvania church on Wednesday, prompting a nearby school to cancel classes.

With state police and a smattering of protesters standing watch outside the church, brides clad in white and grooms in dark suits brought dozens of unloaded AR-15s into World Peace and Unification Sanctuary for a religious event that doubled as an advertisement for the Second Amendment.

The church, which has a worldwide following, believes the AR-15 symbolizes the "rod of iron" in the book of Revelation, and encouraged couples to bring the weapons. An AR-15 was used in the Florida high school massacre on Feb. 14.

The Rev. Sean Moon, who leads the church, prayed for "a kingdom of peace police and peace militia where the citizens, through the right given to them by almighty God to keep and bear arms, will be able to protect one another and protect human flourishing."

Moon is the son of the late Rev. Sun Myung Moon, a self-proclaimed messiah who founded the Unification Church, which critics regard as a cult. The younger Moon's congregation is a breakaway faction of the Unification Church, which had distanced itself from Wednesday's event.

An attendant checked each weapon at the door to make sure it was unloaded and secured with a zip tie, and the elaborate commitment ceremony went off without a hitch.

Tim Elder, Unification Sanctuary's director of world missions, told worshippers the ceremony was meant to be a blessing of couples, not "inanimate objects," calling the AR-15 a "religious accoutrement." The church has held at least one other ceremony featuring assault-style rifles.

But Wednesday's event, coming on the heels of the high school massacre in Parkland, Florida, which killed 17, rubbed emotions raw.

"It's scaring people in the community," one protester told a church member. "Are you aware of that?"

The ceremony prompted Wallenpaupack Area School District to move students at an elementary school down the street to other campuses.

Lisa Desiena, from Scranton, protested outside the church with a sign that called the group an "armed religious cult."

She said she owns a gun, but "I don't need a freaking assault weapon to defend myself. Only thing they're good for is killing. Period. That's all that weapon is good for, mass killing. And you want to bless it? Shame on you."

But Sreymom Ouk, 41, who attended the ceremony with her husband, Sort Ouk, and came with their AR-15, said the weapon is useful for defending her family against "sickos and evil psychopaths."

"People have the right to bear arms, and in God's kingdom, you have to protect that," she said. "You have to protect against evil."

Walmart says it will no longer sell firearms, ammunition to people under 21White House Communications Director Hope Hicks to resign

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/ct-ar-15-rifle-church-ceremony-20180228-story.html

Pennsylvania school cancels classes over nearby church ceremony featuring AR-15s

CBS News
February 26, 2018

NEWFOUNDLAND, Pa. -- A Pennsylvania school district will cancel classes at an elementary school on Wednesday because a church down the street is hosting a ceremony featuring AR-15 rifles. World Peace and Unification Sanctuary in Newfoundland believes the AR-15 symbolizes the "rod of iron" in the biblical book of Revelation, and it is encouraging couples to bring the weapons to a commitment ceremony. 

The ceremony, to be held about a half-mile from Wallenpaupack South Elementary School, is expected to draw hundreds of couples, who are invited to bring their semi-automatic rifles to "show their willingness to defend their families, communities and nation," CBS Philadelphia reports.

On Friday, the superintendent of the Wallenpaupack Area School District wrote in a letter to parents that while "there is no direct threat to our school or community," given concerns about parking, traffic and the "nature of the event," students will be bused to schools about 15 miles away. 

Superintendent Michael Silsby added there will be increased security at the school all week. 

"We respect your decision if you choose to keep your children home for the day," he wrote. 

Why the AR-15 is America's gun

The church -- a breakaway faction of the Unification Church -- has said it planned Wednesday's event months ago, well before the Feb. 14 massacre at a Florida high school. Authorities say the shooting suspect, Nikolas Cruz, used an AR-15 in the attack that killed 17 people. 

Church officials say that weapons will be unloaded, secured with zip ties and checked at the door. 

The Unification Sanctuary's leader, Rev. Sean Moon, is the son of Rev. Sun Myung Moonwho was a self-proclaimed messiah who founded the Unification Church. 

The Unification Church, which is often described as a cult, has distanced itself from Wednesday's event, saying its ceremonies and theology do not involve weapons. 

"It saddens us that Reverend Moon's son has chosen to separate himself and walk in opposition to his parent's legacy building world peace," Rev. Richard Buessing, president of Family Federation, another name for the Unification Church, said in a statement.

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/wallenpaupack-south-elementary-school-to-close-for-church-ceremony-featuring-ar-15-rifles/

Unification Church Does Not Encourage Firearm Use

OFFICIAL PRESS RELEASE:
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

February 22, 2018

Unification Church Does Not Encourage Firearm Use

NEW YORK CITY, NY - After the tragic recent events last week in Parkland, Florida, Family Federation (FFWPU) wishes to express our condolences to the families of the victims of such a horrendous incident. We would also like to take this opportunity to stress that our events, programs and theology do not involve the use of firearms or weapons whatsoever.
Family Federation for a Heavenly USA and Family Federation for World Peace and Unification are founded by Reverend and Mrs. Sun Myung Moon. We are also referred to as simply Family
Federation or the Unification Church.

A breakaway organization calling themselves The World Peace and Unification Sanctuary of Newfoundland, PA, known simply as Sanctuary Church, is not affiliated with Family Federation. While we respect and support every individual's religious freedom, freedom of speech and constitutional rights, as an organization we strongly oppose the initiation of violence and do not utilize weapons in religious ceremonies.

Local Family Federation pastor, Rev. Iwasaki Shota of the Pennsylvania Family Church said, "Family Federation is all about healing and reconciliation. We host events to promote interreligious dialogue, responsible civic leadership, and marriage blessing ceremonies. Rev. Moon's teachings are all about bringing people together so that we bring joy and happiness to God, our Heavenly Parent and feel fulfillment ourselves. Bringing weapons into any of that seems completely contradictory to me."

While the founder of Sanctuary Church is the son of Rev. Moon, it should be noted that he has sadly chosen to separate from and rebel against his mother and his father's philanthropic endeavors. Since the death of Rev. Moon back in 2012, Family Federation has been led by Mrs. Hak Ja Han Moon, the co-founder. The symbols of Family Federation, both pictured above, are also registered trademarks and not authorized for use by Sanctuary Church.

"It saddens us that Reverend Moon's son has chosen to separate himself and walk in opposition to his parent's legacy building world peace. As an organization, Family Federation stresses the value of family as the antidote to societal breakdown. But as any family who has its troubles, we still love all of the members of the Sanctuary Church as our brothers and sisters despite our disagreements. We pray every day and look forward to being able to call each other one united family once again," said Family Federation president Rev. Richard Buessing.

For interviews, statements, or other inquiries, please use the contact information listed below.

###

About Family Federation
Family Federation is composed of families from around the world striving to establish a world of peace and unity among all peoples, races, and religions as envisioned by Rev. and Mrs. Sun Myung Moon and to embody the ideal of true love as taught in the Divine Principle, the core teachings of the Unification Movement. Family Federation champions three ideals: family, peace, and unification. Our mission statement is:
"To guide America back to God through the teachings and Marriage Blessing of True Parents."