Sun Myung Moon

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.

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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 of the international Moon organization (aside from the schisms with her two sons) since his death in 2012. Deceptive recruitment and a program of systematic social influence induce people to become involved. Undue influence and immoral tactics describe a corrupt organization under any circumstances. Authoritarian political leaders, malignant narcissists, labor, and sex traffickers all use these practices to maintain power and control. When used by a person or organization claiming exclusive spiritual knowledge and a divinely ordained role in the salvation of the world, this type of exploitation becomes malicious and dangerous.

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What Can We Learn From the Uncanny Parallels Between the Moonies and the Cult of Trump?

Last month, Moon Organization leader, Rev. Hyung Jin Moon (Sean Moon), told his followers of his Sanctuary Church to be ready to take up arms and die for President Trump. The bullets in his crown and Moon referring to himself as King, is of course disturbing. Fortunately, after Sun Myung Moon died, there was a power struggle and several of the Moon sons fought with their mother for money and power. Justin Moon, his brother, owns Kahr Arms as well as a large gun factory and controls great wealth. Most people do not know that Moon bought the Washington Star newspaper and created the Washington Times which has been used for decades to promote conservative right-wing points of view. The founding editor of the Times left because of editorial interference (they said he was dismissed) and spoke along with William Cheshire, the editorial page editor who also later resigned. A 1991 presentation was videotaped explaining why they left–the paper was not independent. This presentation also included Michael Warder, editor of Moon’s first U.S. paper, the News World, later called the New York Tribune. Warder, a leader in the Moon organization was a witness in the trial and later conviction of Sun Myung Moon for conspiracy to evade income taxes. The Moonies spent an estimated $2-3 billion dollars on the Washington Times– a propaganda entity which failed to make money for decades. Did Americans, including Republican Presidents have no problem with a Korean with a felony conviction that had ties to South Korean intelligence not a question for anyone?

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Undue Influence, Judge Barrett and the People of Praise Covenantal Community

In an AP article written about Amy Coney Barrett’s nomination to the Supreme Court and her involvement with the People of Praise, Vice President Mike Pence was quoted from a television interview as saying, “The intolerance expressed during her last confirmation about her Catholic faith I really think was a disservice to the process and a disappointment to millions of Americans.”

In this blog, I assert that the issue is really not about religion, or about Catholicism, or religious freedom, but rather a legal issue: undue influence. This is the subject of my doctoral research which is focused on offering a scientifically validated instrument to help ascertain if undue influence has been exerted.

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Jim Heller and Steven Hassan Debate “The Cult of Trump”

This week, we have a blog about a civil discussion I had with Jim Heller, a Canadian criminal lawyer and Trump supporter. After the release of my book, The Cult of Trump, Jim wrote me explaining that he was a Trump supporter who found my argument that Trump was a cult leader untenable and insulting. He expressed his interest in challenging my thesis but offered to do so with civility and respect.

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The Netflix Docuseries “The Family”: A Review by Steven Hassan

I binge watched this excellent docuseries the day after it was released. I only recently have caught up to blogging about it. I want everyone to watch it! And ask friends and your family to watch it all also. Especially activists. Rather than covering the same ground as this superb review by Frederick Clarkson, I hope you will read Frederick’s piece after you read this. If you haven’t already watched the series, start by watching the trailer below.

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Announcing My New Book with Simon and Schuster Entitled The Cult of Trump

Many of you are aware that I have been writing a large number of blogs concerning the current President of the United States, Donald Trump. I have been working tremendously hard on an extremely short deadline to produce a book that connects the dots with my involvement with the Moon cult since 1974 and my fasting on the Capitol stairs for President Richard Nixon because “God wants Nixon to be President” despite Watergate and calls for impeachment. Sun Myung Moon was brought to meet Nixon right after the Family’s National Prayer Breakfast in 1974. Jeffrey Sharlet wrote about this group in two books, The Family and C Street. Recently, Netflix put online a docuseries on the Family which is a must see. My book goes into much, much more than this one group.

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