Ex-Moonie Diane Benscoter: How cults think

New Steve Hassan Videos

Along with my blogs devoted to exposing the Unification movement, I have blogs (here and here) that look at the insidious influence of Amway Global. The Unification Movement and Amway, though very different, are inextricably linked in that they have support the same reactionary causes. Cult expert and former Moonie Steve Hassan discusses Amway Global with Eric Scheibeler. Watch the videos here.

Former President Bush and World Leaders on Moon

Bush and other prominent current and former world leaders recently congratulated Moon on his autobiography. Bush wrote (6:37 of the video), "I salute Rev. Moon, and all of you, for your work and your service to the world. I believe that public service of all kinds is an honorable calling. Yes, there are great challenges, but our will and determination are, and must be, greater."

Watch the video:

Fox News Feature on Unification Movement

This is an old Fox News broadcast:

Irreverent YouTube Video About Sun Myung Moon

Take it for what it's worth:

Must See Video: Heartbreak and Rage: : Ten Years Under Sun Myung Moon, A Cult Survivor's Memoir

K. Gordon Neufeld, author of Heartbreak and Rage: Ten Years Under Sun Myung Moon, A Cult Survivor's Memoir, has a YouTube video that summarizes his ordeal in the Unification Church:

Global Peace Festival in Washington

Here's the flyer for the Moon-backed gathering. The festival has gospel music; the featured artist is Yolanda Adams.

Two Recent Moon-Related Deaths: Tony Snow and Patricia Buckley Bozell

Tony Snow and Patricia Buckley Bozell, two operatives who had close ties with Sun Myung Moon and his media operation have recently died. Snow, who was recently press secretary for George W. Bush, was the editorial page editor of Moon's Washington Times from 1987 to 1991. Bozell had been an editor at Regnery Publishing. She was had an instrumental in the publication of Regnery's apologia for Moon, Inquisition (authored by Carlton Sherwood). She was the mother of L. Brent Bozell, the head of the Media Research Center. I wrote a long post on the Bozell family here.

Moonies Censor My Bush/Holy Wine YouTube Video

In March, I posted a video on YouTube of Unification Church president Michael Jenkins explaining to church members how he got former president Bush to participate in the church's creepy "Holy Wine" ceremony. As I explained in the post for the video:

The meaning of the Holy Wine Ceremony: According to Moon's theology, those who participate in this ceremony become part of Moon's "blessed family," giving the recipient what Moonies believe is a pure, untainted "lineage." In Unification theology, "lineage" is a central concept. Moon believes that Adam and Eve were perfected beings whose lineage was corrupted by Eve's sexual seduction by Lucifer. Since the Fall, humanity's blood line has been corrupted. Moon believes that Jesus emerged to save humanity but failed because he was crucified before he could fulfill his mission to marry and produce perfect children. Moon believes that he is the second Messiah who will restore humanity to its uncorrupted state and create the kingdom of heaven on earth. Drinking the church-sanctioned wine is part of the process of becoming, in Jenkin's words, "engrafted into the lineage of Heaven" by separating from Satan's lineage and becoming one of Moon's "blessed families"--the "chosen people" that Jenkins mentions near the end of the video. As Moon himself claims, as a consequence of participating in the Holy Wine Ceremony, "[y]ou are going to be in ultimate infinite faith to God, to True Parents [Rev. Moon and his wife], grateful to them and obedient to their will."

When I checked my e-mail this morning, I received an e-mail from YouTube with the subject heading, "Video Removed: Copyright Infringement." When I opened the email, I received the following message:

Dear Member:

This is to notify you that we have removed or disabled access to the following material as a result of a third-party notification by Holy Spirit Association for the Unification of World Christianity claiming that this material is infringing:

George Bush and the Moonie Cult's "Holy Wine" Ceremony: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tkq44UTt5pI

Please Note: Repeat incidents of copyright infringement will result in the deletion of your account and all videos uploaded to that account. In order to prevent this from happening, please delete any videos to which you do not own the rights, and refrain from uploading additional videos that infringe on the copyrights of others. For more information about YouTube's copyright policy, please read the Copyright Tips guide.

If you elect to send us a counter notice, please go to our Help Center to access the instructions.

Please note that under Section 512(f) of the Copyright Act, any person who knowingly materially misrepresents that material or activity was removed or disabled by mistake or misidentification may be subject to liability.

Sincerely,
YouTube, Inc.

The location where the video used to be informs people that "[t]he video is no longer available due to a copyright claim by Holy Spirit Association for the Unification of World Christianity."

When I posted the video, I did not edit it for the following reasons:
1) At that time, I didn't have easy access to editing equipment.
2) I wanted to include the entirety of the video I had so that viewers could draw their own conclusions.

In the near future, I will take portions of the videos and edit them with an explanation of the holy wine ceremony. If the Unification Church attempts to take the video down due to an alleged copyright infringement, I believe I have a strong case for fair use of video excerpts.

The video in question was not intended to be viewed by non-Moonies. Because I and others posted it, the video has been an embarrassment to Moon, the Unification movement, and especially to former president Bush. One way to counter the Unifications movement's actions is to publicize the deleting of the video and create the "Streisand Effect."

Addendum: It is revealing that since I quoted Moon's words regarding how participating in the holy wine ceremony makes a person "obedient to [the] will" of the True Parents, the Unification Church removed the sermon from their web site containing the quote. When I clicked the original link to the sermon on the church's web site, I discovered that it is now a dead link.

The Moonies Removed My YouTube Video!

Details later

I will post More Videos Soon

Stay tuned and check out the one currently on the site.

Sun Myung Moon's Bizarre Rant at Washington Times Ceremony

Celebrity Religionists at their worst--Sun Myung Moon's bizarre rant at the Washington Times' 15 anniversary ceremony:

Orrin Hatch and Sun Myung Moon

Sun Myung Moon's biggest friend in the U.S. Congress is Utah Senator Orrin Hatch (R-UT). I have written about Hatch's close ties with Moon. In this video, Hatch gives a gushing introduction to his "friend" Hak Ja Han, wife of Sun Myung Moon.


Hatch is also featured in this video of this hilarious video that shows the Messiah in a bizarre rant.

Sun Myung Moon Crowned on Capitol Hill

John Gorenfeld broke the story for Salon.com.


The Daily Show's Jon Stewart responds to the controversy:

Video on Sun Myung Moon: The World's Most Powerful Cult

This is my Youtube video on Moon and the Unification movement:

Radio Interview with Former Moonie Steven Hassan

Steven Hassan is a former member of the Unification Church. He is the author of Combatting Cult Mind Control and his website is The Freedom of Mind Resource Center.

John Gorenfeld's Video: "The King of America"

John Gorenfeld is the author of Bad Moon Rising: How Reverend Moon Created the Washington Times, Seduced the Religious Right, and Built an American Kingdom.
Online Videos by Veoh.com

BBC Documentary: Emperor of the Universe

Steve Allen on Sun Myung Moon and Religion

The late Steve Allen, the writer, comedian, talk show host, and musician discusses religion and freedom:

Welcome

This blog will serve as a centralized location for videos that are critical of The Reverend Sun Myung Moon and his various front groups such as the Unification Church, The Family Federation for World Peace and Unification (FFWFU), The Universal Peace Federation (UPF).

I am blogger Scoobie Davis. My main website is Scoobie Davis Online. I also have a blog that addresses Sun Myung Moon and the Unification movement.