Hyung Jin Moon (born September 26, 1979), also known as Sean Moon, is an American

pastor A pastor (abbreviated as "Pr" or "Ptr" , or "Ps" ) is the leader of a Christian congregation who also gives advice and counsel to people from the community or congregation. In Lutheranism, Catholicism, Eastern Orthodoxy, Oriental Orthodoxy and ...

and co-founder, alongside his wife, Yeon Ah Lee Moon, of the

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

-based World Peace and Unification Sanctuary Church, also known as Rod of Iron Ministries. The Sanctuary Church is a schismatic and militant sect of the

Unification movement The Family Federation for World Peace and Unification, widely known as the Unification Church, is a new religious movement, whose members are called Unificationists, or "Moonies". It was officially founded on 1 May 1954 under the name Holy Spi ...

, which was founded by Hyung Jin Moon's father Reverend

Sun Myung Moon Sun Myung Moon (; born Yong Myung Moon; 6 January 1920 – 3 September 2012) was a Korean religious leader, also known for his business ventures and support for conservative political causes. A messiah claimant, he was the founder of the Unif ...

. The

Southern Poverty Law Center The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) is an American 501(c)(3) nonprofit legal advocacy organization specializing in civil rights and public interest litigation. Based in Montgomery, Alabama, it is known for its legal cases against white su ...

called Hyung Jin Moon an LGBT cult leader" in January 2018. Moon and Sanctuary Church followers helped organize the

2021 United States Capitol attack On January 6, 2021, following the defeat of then-U.S. President Donald Trump in the 2020 presidential election, a mob of his supporters attacked the United States Capitol Building in Washington, D.C. The mob was seeking to keep Trump in pow ...

Early life and education

Hyung Jin Sean Moon was born on September 26, 1979,Staff report (1979)
Transition
''

Newsweek ''Newsweek'' is an American weekly online news magazine co-owned 50 percent each by Dev Pragad, its president and CEO, and Johnathan Davis (businessman), Johnathan Davis, who has no operational role at ''Newsweek''. Founded as a weekly print m ...

'' in

Tarrytown, New York Tarrytown is a village in the town of Greenburgh in Westchester County, New York. It is located on the eastern bank of the Hudson River, approximately north of Midtown Manhattan in New York City, and is served by a stop on the Metro-North ...

. He is the youngest son of the Reverend

, the founder of the

, and

Hak Ja Han Hak Ja Han (Korean: 한학자, Hanja: 韓鶴子) (born January 6, 1943, lunar calendar which is February 10, 1943, Gregorian) is a Korean religious leader. Her late husband Sun Myung Moon was the founder of the Unification movement, also known ...

. He attended the

Hackley School Hackley School is a private college preparatory school located in Tarrytown, New York, and is a member of the Ivy Preparatory School League. Founded in 1899 by a wealthy philanthropist, Frances Hackley, Hackley was intended to be a Unitarian a ...

until college. He earned

bachelor of liberal arts The Bachelor of Liberal Arts (BLA or ALB) is the title of an undergraduate bachelor's degree. Generally, it is awarded to students who major in liberal arts, pursue interdisciplinary studies, or design their own concentrations. Often a ''Bachelor ...

and

master of theology Master of Theology ( la, Theologiae Magister, abbreviated MTh, ThM, or MTheol) is a post-graduate degree offered by universities, divinity schools, and seminaries. It can serve as a transition degree for entrance into a PhD program or as a stand ...

degrees from

Harvard Extension University Harvard Extension School (HES) is the extension school of Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The school is one among 12 schools that grant degrees and falls under the Division of Continuing Education in the Harvard Faculty of Art ...

. At the Harvard Center for the Study of World Religions, he met the leader of the

Jogye Order The Jogye Order, officially the Jogye Order of Korean Buddhism (대한불교조계종, 大韓佛敎曹溪宗), is the representative order of traditional Korean Buddhism with roots that date back 1200 years to the Later Silla National Master D ...

Korean Buddhism Korean Buddhism is distinguished from other forms of Buddhism by its attempt to resolve what its early practitioners saw as inconsistencies within the Mahayana Buddhist traditions that they received from foreign countries. To address this, the ...

, Bub Jang, and pursued an interest in Buddhism.Rev. Sun Myung Moon: His Family
www.tparents.org 2014-05-20. He also practiced

Tibetan Buddhism Tibetan Buddhism (also referred to as Indo-Tibetan Buddhism, Lamaism, Lamaistic Buddhism, Himalayan Buddhism, and Northern Buddhism) is the form of Buddhism practiced in Tibet and Bhutan, where it is the dominant religion. It is also in majo ...

, and for a time lived in a

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

monastery.Son of Moonies founder takes over as church leader
Justin McCurry,

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

, 26 April 2008

Religious career

Unification Church

In April 2008, Sun Myung Moon (then 88 years old) appointed Hyung Jin Moon to be the International President of the

Family Federation for World Peace and Unification The Family Federation for World Peace and Unification, widely known as the Unification Church, is a new religious movement, whose members are called Unificationists, or "Moonies". It was officially founded on 1 May 1954 under the name Holy Sp ...

(FFWPU). Hyung Jin Moon and members of his church, believe that a coronation ceremony with his father in 2009 made him heir and successor. Under his leadership, the Family Federation for World Peace was changed to the Unification Church. He also introduced new practices, like spiritual energy hand movements. In 2011, Hyung Jin Moon visited

North Korea North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and shares borders with China and Russia to the north, at the Yalu River, Y ...

to express condolences on the death of

Kim Jong-il Kim Jong-il (; ; ; born Yuri Irsenovich Kim;, 16 February 1941 – 17 December 2011) was a North Korean politician who was the second supreme leader of North Korea from 1994 to 2011. He led North Korea from the 1994 death of his father Kim ...

. In 2011, in

Pyongyang Pyongyang (, , ) is the capital and largest city of North Korea, where it is known as the "Capital of the Revolution". Pyongyang is located on the Taedong River about upstream from its mouth on the Yellow Sea. According to the 2008 populatio ...

, to mark the 20th anniversary of Sun Myung Moon's visit to North Korea,

de jure In law and government, ''de jure'' ( ; , "by law") describes practices that are legally recognized, regardless of whether the practice exists in reality. In contrast, ("in fact") describes situations that exist in reality, even if not legally ...

President

Kim Yong-nam Kim or KIM may refer to: Names * Kim (given name) * Kim (surname) ** Kim (Korean surname) *** Kim family (disambiguation), several dynasties **** Kim family (North Korea), the rulers of North Korea since Kim Il-sung in 1948 ** Kim, Vietnamese f ...

hosted Hyung Jin Moon in the

official residence An official residence is the House, residence of a head of state, head of government, governor, Clergy, religious leader, leaders of international organizations, or other senior figure. It may be the same place where they conduct their work-relate ...

. The latter donated 600 tons of

flour Flour is a powder made by grinding raw grains, roots, beans, nuts, or seeds. Flours are used to make many different foods. Cereal flour, particularly wheat flour, is the main ingredient of bread, which is a staple food for many culture ...

to North Korean children of

North Pyongan Province North Pyongan Province (Phyŏnganbukto; , also spelled North P'yŏngan), is a western province of North Korea. The province was formed in 1896 from the northern half of the former P'yŏng'an Province, remained a province of Korea until 1945, th ...

, the birthplace of Sun Myung Moon. Also, after the

2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami The occurred at 14:46 JST (05:46 UTC) on 11 March. The magnitude 9.0–9.1 (M) undersea megathrust earthquake had an epicenter in the Pacific Ocean, east of the Oshika Peninsula of the Tōhoku region, and lasted approximately six minutes ...

, he donated $1.7 million to the

Japanese Red Cross The is the Japanese affiliate of the International Red Cross. The Imperial Family of Japan traditionally has supported the society, with the Empress as Honorary President and other imperial family members as vice presidents. Its headquarters i ...

. After Sun Myung Moon died in 2012, Hyung Jin Moon and his mother began expressing open differences. Hyung Myung was removed by his mother from various positions from 2013 and eventually taken down as International President of the Family Federation for World Peace and replaced by

Sung Jin Moon This article is a list of prominent members and supporters of the Unification movement, founded by Sun Myung Moon. Moon family The family of Rev. Moon and his wife Hak Ja Han are known as the "True Family". Rev. and Mrs. Moon are known as "True ...

. The Family Federation for World Peace now considers Hyung Jin Moon's church a "breakaway organization" and most of the changes led by Hyung Jin in the Unification movement were dismissed after his removal.

Sanctuary Church

Hyung Jin Moon and members of his church have publicly criticized his mother,

, for changing the theological foundations of his father's teachings and elevating her own status. This led Hyung Jin and his wife to separate from the movement and establish a local offshoot sect named ''World Peace and Unification Sanctuary Church'' in early 2013. The church, also called Rod of Iron Ministries, officially opened in January 2015.{{cite news , last1=Dunkel , first1=Tom , title=Locked and Loaded for the Lord , url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/style/wp/2018/05/21/feature/two-sons-of-rev-moon-have-split-from-his-church-and-their-followers-are-armed/ , access-date=November 27, 2020 , newspaper=

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...

, date=May 21, 2018 In 2015, Hyung Jin Moon began renouncing his mother as the '

Whore of Babylon Babylon the Great, commonly known as the Whore of Babylon, refers to both a symbolic female figure and place of evil mentioned in the Book of Revelation in the Bible. Her full title is stated in Revelation 17 (verse 5) as "Mystery, Babylon the Gr ...

', saying she was no longer a "True Mother". He also began teaching that Hyun Shil Kang, one of Sun Myung Moon's first disciples, was now True Mother instead, as his spirit had married her. He and his wife Yeon Ah Lee also began assuming the titles 'Second King' and 'Second Queen' respectively. Hyung Jin Moon is backed by his elder brother Kook Jin Justin Moon, who effectively serves as assistant pastor of the church and owns

Kahr Arms Kahr () is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Andrew Kahr, executive * Claudia Kahr (b 1955), Austrian judge * Gustav Ritter von Kahr (1862–1934), German politician See also

* KAHR, radio station * Kahr Arms, manufa ...

, a small arms manufacturer. By 2018, Hyung Jin Moon began wearing a crown of bullets on his head and expressed a more

militant The English word ''militant'' is both an adjective and a noun, and it is generally used to mean vigorously active, combative and/or aggressive, especially in support of a cause, as in "militant reformers". It comes from the 15th century Latin " ...

and pro-gun rights ideology. Sanctuary Church also went by the name Rod of Iron Ministries and performed religious rituals that heavily involved the

AR-15 An AR-15-style rifle is any lightweight semi-automatic rifle based on the Colt AR-15 design. The original ArmaLite AR-15 is a scaled-down derivative of Eugene Stoner's ArmaLite AR-10 design. The then Fairchild Engine and Airplane Corporation d ...

semiautomatic rifle. In October 2019, members of the World Peace and Unification Sanctuary were invited to "show their willingness to defend their families, communities and nation" by bringing their semi-auto rifles to a service in which their weapons were blessed. In 2021, Moon and Sanctuary Church bought and moved to a compound 40 miles from

Waco, Texas Waco ( ) is the county seat of McLennan County, Texas, United States. It is situated along the Brazos River and I-35, halfway between Dallas and Austin. The city had a 2020 population of 138,486, making it the 22nd-most populous city in the ...

, the site of the

Waco siege The Waco siege, also known as the Waco massacre, was the law enforcement siege of the compound that belonged to the religious sect Branch Davidians. It was carried out by the U.S. federal government, Texas state law enforcement, and the U.S. mi ...

.{{cite news , last1=Graziosi , first1=Graig , title=Trump loving church that uses guns in holy rituals buys compound near Waco, Texas , url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/trump-gun-church-waco-compound-b1856407.html , access-date=13 November 2021 , work=The Independent , date=1 June 2021 , language=en Upon moving to the compound they continued to espouse a highly militant ideology. Later that year it was reported that Moon and Sanctuary Church had bought a 130-acre property in

Grainger County, Tennessee Grainger County is a county located in the U.S. state of Tennessee. As of the 2020 census, the population was 23,527. Its county seat is Rutledge. Grainger County is a part of both the Knoxville Metropolitan Statistical Area and Morristown M ...

, to serve as the church's retreat center.

Political activity

In 2008, Hyung Jin Moon expressed support for newly elected President

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the U ...

: "I am very proud as an American to have a black president. I was born and raised in America. I am a part of a minority. To see a minority representative being the president of the United States of America is extremely inspiring. It's just miraculous." After the founding of Rod of Iron Ministries, Moon publicly aligned with conservative politicians and other far-right media figures. Moon espoused strong support for President

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021. Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of Pe ...

during and after Trump's presidency. Moon endorsed the "

big lie A big lie (german: große Lüge) is a gross distortion or misrepresentation of the truth, used especially as a propaganda technique. The German expression was coined by Adolf Hitler, when he dictated his book '' Mein Kampf'' (1925), to descri ...

" that the 2020 presidential election was stolen from Trump. Moon and other members of Sanctuary Church participated in the January 6, 2021 United States Capitol attack.{{cite news , last1=Green , first1=Jordan , title='Good Way to Die': The Moonies and the Jan. 6 Insurrection , url=https://www.dcreport.org/2021/08/04/good-way-to-die-the-moonies-and-the-jan-6-insurrection/ , access-date=13 November 2021 , work=DC Report , date=4 August 2021 Moon faced no criminal charges from his involvement in the January 6 insurrection.

Gun ritual controversies

Hyung Jin Moon's church, World Peace and Unification Sanctuary Church in

Newfoundland, Pennsylvania Newfoundland ( ) is a village in Dreher Township, Wayne County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is most famously known as host to the Greene-Dreher-Sterling Fair every Labor Day weekend. Newfoundland is also host to an annual fireman's picnic ...

, gained national attention in early 2018 for holding a marriage vows renewal ceremony that asked participants to bring their AR-15 rifles. Hyung Jin Moon has likened the AR-15 rifles to the biblical " rod of iron".{{cite magazine , last1=Dickinson , first1=Tim , title=Inside the Bizarre and Dangerous Rod of Iron Ministries , url=https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-features/rod-of-iron-ministry-jan-6-sean-moon-moonie-1398447/ , magazine=Rolling Stone , access-date=7 September 2022 , date=18 August 2022 Neighbors of the church came out to protest the insensitivity of having the AR-15 rifles at the event so soon after the Parkland, Florida, shooting that killed 17. To address concerns voiced by parents of an elementary school nearby, the

Wallenpaupack Area School District Wallenpaupack Area School District is a third-class school district in Pike and Wayne Counties in Pennsylvania. The district's population was 24,729 at the time of the 2010 United States Census. The district encompasses approximately . Acco ...

relocated students for the day.{{cite web, url=http://wnep.com/2018/02/28/different-school-day-for-wallenpaupack-elementary-students/, title=Different School Day for Wallenpaupack Elementary Students, date=28 February 2018

References

{{Reflist

External links

Hyung Jin Moon's World Peace and Unification Sanctuary websiteRod of Iron Ministries websiteWorld Peace and Unification Sanctuary (Korean website)World Peace and Unification Sanctuary (Japanese website)Interview by BBC
{{Sun Myung Moon {{Authority control {{DEFAULTSORT:Moon, Hyung Jin American Unificationists South Korean Unificationists 1979 births Living people Founders of new religious movements Harvard Divinity School alumni American people of Korean descent American Christians South Korean Christians

Moon The Moon is Earth's only natural satellite. It is the fifth largest satellite in the Solar System and the largest and most massive relative to its parent planet, with a diameter about one-quarter that of Earth (comparable to the width of ...

People from Tarrytown, New York American gun rights activists Cult leaders Discrimination against LGBT people in the United States