All posts tagged: Moonies

Allen Tate Wood, former Moon cult leader

The Moon Cult: An Interview with former top American leader Allen Tate Wood

With the assassination of former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe by Tetsuya Yamagami, the Moon cult is back in the news. Abe became a target, reportedly because he and his father publicly supported the Moon cult. The assassin was reportedly furious because his mother had given away all the family money to the cult. I interviewed former top American political leader of Unification Church, Allen Tate Wood, and wish to expose the mindset of cult psychology.

Steven Hassan, July 14, 2022

Understanding High Conflict and Proven Solutions with Amanda Ripley

In a recent episode of my podcast, The Influence Continuum, I interviewed Amanda Ripley, a best-selling author, journalist, and host of the How-To! Podcast on Slate. Her timely book, High Conflict: Why We Get Trapped and How We Get Out, explores this concept of “high conflict” and approaches to identifying and escaping it.   

Steven Hassan, June 30, 2022

Shincheonji: A Cult Engaged in World-Wide Deceptive Recruitment

In previous blog posts, I have mentioned Shincheonji several times, most significantly in relation to the COVID-19 pandemic. The cult was  blamed by South Korean officials for the worst outbreak of this virus outside of China, because they took no active measures to prevent the outbreak from spreading. Members are required to always attend services,

Steven Hassan, October 26, 2021
cult involvement democracy Moonies Helen Christophi

Cult Involvement in the Attempt to Destroy Democracy

Helen Christophi, a freelance journalist working on an article for Political Research Associates about the January 6th failed insurrection attempt, contacted me for an interview. Christophi was interested in cult involvement (particularly the Moon cult) in the planning and execution of that event. One of her most pertinent questions was how the GOP became so

Steven Hassan, September 20, 2021
Sean Moon Crown Rifle Insurrection Moonies

Rod of Iron Ministries and Its Role in Carrying Out the Attack on the Capitol

Rod of Iron Ministries Stormed US Capitol On January 6, insurrectionists came dangerously close to overthrowing the United States government. The organizations that were instrumental in organizing the attacks on the US Capitol were sophisticated and highly connected with prominent GOP political figures. Hyung Jin “Sean” Moon — the youngest son of Moonie cult founder

Steven Hassan, August 15, 2021
Bill and Lorna Goldberg

Lorna and Bill Goldberg: Fifty Years of Helping People Out of Cults

I often find it hard to believe that this year marks my 45th anniversary of freedom from the insidious cult indoctrination of the Moonies. For the 40th anniversary of my deprogramming, I wrote a blog to thank the people directly responsible for the intervention that liberated me. As I reflect, there have been many people

Steven Hassan, August 4, 2021
left-wing cult

International Marxist Tendency (IMT): A Left-Wing Trotskyist Cult

The story of Aaron Kyereh-Mireku, a former member of a left-wing Trotskyist cult (IMT), is very important for two reasons. His experience is more proof that anyone can be seduced into a cult, no matter how intelligent, educated or influence-resistant they may be. Further, his story demonstrates that there are cults with left-wing, communist ideology,

Steven Hassan, July 10, 2021

The Moon Organization: 70 Years of Extremism, Power, Money, and Sex

The Unification Church (“Moonies”) now goes by the name The Family Federation for World Peace and Unification. The authoritarian cult was founded in the early 1950s by Sun Myung Moon. My family hired ex-members to deprogram me from it, following a severe van crash in 1976. Moon’s wife, Hak Ja Han, has been in charge

Steven Hassan, June 10, 2021

Authoritarian Bible Cults Actively Recruiting at College and Online: Interview With Former BCC Member Chris Lee

Searching for spiritual meaning and connection with others is common when young adults enter their college years. There are many positive and ethical religious groups open to these young people, but, unfortunately, there are also destructive religious cults actively recruiting new members through deceptive and authoritarian means. I have recently been contacted by people from

Steven Hassan, January 29, 2021

How to Help People Involved in QAnon–A Reddit AMA: QAnonCasualties

On Sunday, January 10, 2021, I was invited to answer questions during an Ask Me Anything (AMA) for the subreddit group QAnonCasualties. This is a link to the entire thread:  https://www.reddit.com/r/QAnonCasualties/comments/kukco0/ama_with_steven_hassan_phd/.  Below are most of the questions, along with my answers. This blog is longer than usual, but I felt it was important to include

Steven Hassan, January 15, 2021