And you thought the Moonies were nutters

These days, it's so very, very difficult to absorb the news. 

Every day seems to run the gamut from the ludicrous (Rudy Giuliani appearing on The Masked Singer), to the pathetic (Don Jr.'r coke-fueled Instagram screeds), to the moronic (going nuts about Minnie Mouse's pant suit), to the stultifying (banning Maus, the graphic novel about the Holocaust), to the gallingly racist (the Black woman in Tennessee sentenced to 6 years in prison for voting as a felon - after her parole officer told her it was okay), and beyond. The pandemic/the anti-vaxxers. The Trump rallies. Voter suppression. The emerging evidence of the attempted coup. Weather craziness. Russia v. Ukraine. 

All of it terrifying. Relentlessly so.

Every day, every hour, every minute, yet another existential threat. 

So what's another story about an AR15-worshipping religo cult in Tennessee? Just another spatula-full of poison frosting on an arsenic-laced case, I guess. 

Still, it's so peculiar, so peculiarly American, so wacko, so crazy-arsed Moonie, that it's worth pausing on for just a moment or two to think about it.

The Rod of Iron Ministries, also known as The World of Peace and Unification Sanctuary, is run by Pastor Hyung Jin “Sean” Moon, a conspiracy theorist who proclaims that his followers are at war with the “deep state”.

The group has a growing following among MAGA supporters and Second Amendment devotees, and has attracted Trump allies Steve Bannon and former NRA spokeswoman Dana Loesch to appear at a Freedom Festival [in January].

Mr Moon’s late father Reverend Sun Myung Moon, who died in 2012, headed the Unification Church cult whose followers were known as the “Moonies”. (Source: Independent/UK)

And they've bought some property in the mountains of Tennessee to set up a retreat - remote enough that they can shoot off their AR15s to their crazy little hearts' conent. They're on something of a buying spree, having also bought land near Waco - yes, that Waco - Texas. (Oh, give me land, lots of land...)

The Moon business is diversified. They don't just have their schismatic religion - an offshoot of the Unification Church, and their property holdings. Sean Moon's bro Justin - formal name: Kook-jin (how apt) - runs a gun manufacturing company. (How convenient.)

(Sean and Justin are Trumpists, who took part in the January 6, 2021 pro-Trump gathering in DC. Not clear if they actually took part in the riot in the Capitol Building.)

Guns play an important role in the Sanctuary Church's liturgy.

Sean Moon claims his inclusion of AR-15s into his church’s worship ceremonies is Biblically based, citing a passage in the Book of Revelation that speaks of Jesus using a “rod of iron” to assert his authority during the End Times. Traditional readings of the verses interpret the “rod of iron” to be a shepherd’s staff, which was a symbol of authority, particularly when in reference to Jesus. 

Under Sean Moon’s reading, the rod of iron was not a sceptre or staff, but an American-made AR-15.

No surprise, there are plenty of other nutty aspects to this "church." But, hey, most religions have some aspects that appear nutty to a non-believer. And if you want to be a nutter in your church, as long as you don't come after me and mine, have at it.  

It's the combo of right-wing politics and gun lust that bothers me. Sean Moon wants to make this "an incubator for future MAGA politicians."

Swell.

I'm not sure whether they're still there, but the traditional Moonies - who've been around these parts at least since the 1970's - used to own a very large building just up the hill from where I live. Unless you got sucked in and were a member, they were mostly harmless to those of us on the outside. Oh, there may have been a little larceny in the hearts of some of them. Long ago, my sister Kath was in operations at a big financial services firm. There was a bit of a scandal when some Moonies had infiltrated the back end of the firm and were siphoning money into Moonie accounts. 

But I don't believe the mass Moonie weddings - the ones where thousands of couples were wed simultaneously - were of the shotgun variety.

This Sanctuary Church is something else.

Ah, for the kinder, gentler time when we thought the Moonies were nutters.