Comment by brightball | Hacker News Reader

Comment by brightball | Hacker News Reader

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I ran it through Google Translate because I was curious. It appears to be something called the Unification Church?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unification_Church

> The Family Federation for World Peace and Unification, widely known as the Unification Church or Unificationism, is a new religious movement whose members are called Unificationists and sometimes colloquially Moonies.[2] It was officially founded on 1 May 1954 under the name Holy Spirit Association for the Unification of World Christianity (HSA-UWC) in Seoul, South Korea by Sun Myung Moon (1920–2012), a Korean Messiah claimant also known for his business ventures and engagement in social and political causes.[3][4][5][6]

> The beliefs of the Unification Church are based on Moon's book Divine Principle, which differs from the teachings of Nicene Christianity in its view of Jesus[7] and in its introduction of the concept of "indemnity".[8] The movement is well known for its unique "Blessing" or mass wedding ceremonies.[9]

> The Unification Church has been controversial, with some early critics calling it a dangerous cult.[10][11] It also has been controversial for its involvement in politics, which include anti-communism and support for Korean reunification.

Moonies used to be a big deal at college campuses in California. When my husband and I went to Berkeley in the 1970s, the Moonies were everywhere. They did many questionable things before fading away.

My husband is 4 years older than me - so he was not as aware of their recruitment practices. He said he was invited to dinner by a very attractive young woman who kept flirting with him all through dinner. She then invited him to a weekend retreat. He said he became suspicious and did not go. It was a good thing he did not go. By the time I went to Berkeley - we all knew about the retreats.

Yep I remember the "Moonie" cult in the news from the 1970s. They seemed to fade out after a while, like most fads do. I had no idea they were still operating.

They still own and publish the Washington Times.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Washington_Times

They also owned the University of Bridgeport until a few years ago.

Abe gave a speech at a Unification Church event commemorating 9/11 in 2021. The keynote speaker was Donald Trump:

https://twitter.com/koryodynasty/status/1436866339113627648?...

Moonies were prevalent in Chile later on, during the late 90s. The press would refer to them as “la secta Moon” (the Moon cult).

What would happen at the retreat? Just indoctrination?

Very heavy pressure to join and indoctrination. The pressure tactics were very coercive. Essentially thought reform via a high control group/environment. Eventually people would think they made the choice to join themselves and had come to their own conclusions but in fact it was essentially are manipulation.

What happened at the retreats? Quick search gave no answers...

Pressure to join and indoctrination

  >  She then invited him to a weekend retreat. He said he became suspicious and did not go

great article about that (infiltrating the moonies in san diego)

https://www.sandiegoreader.com/news/1980/may/08/cover-revere...

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