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

This video gives an overview of the contents of my book, Heartbreak and Rage: Ten Years Under Sun Myung Moon, A Cult Survivor's Memoir, which is available from moonbook.com and from online bookstores. The book recounts how I was deceptively recruited into the Unification Church, founded by Korean messianic cult leader Sun Myung Moon, in 1976, and how I was induced to work extremely hard selling cheap items for the group. Later I went to their seminary and was engaged to a woman I did not know through Moon's arranged marriage system, in which he randomly selected my future spouse from a crowd. In 1982 we were "Blessed" (married, sort of) at Madison Square Garden in a mass wedding of 2,075 couples, but we were not permitted to live together. Four years later I finally summoned the courage to leave the group. This is my story.

Category:

People & Blogs

Tags:

• cults
• brainwashing
• mind control
• Unification Church
• Sun Myung Moon
• Rev. Moon
• new religions
• book trailers
• mass weddings
• K. Gordon Neufeld

[synamor1]

my honest opinion is that these books are a difficult way to make money. it's almost like selling poetry books. i think his experience is a very personal one. and i empathized with his journey. despite the fact that my experience wasn't terrible. i also joined the church at 18 in 1979. and left after many years. i never got married or "blessed." having traveled through asia/india has given me a better understanding of church dogma. and how the teachings are extensions of ancient eastern thought

[exmoonie1]

@synamor1: Thanks for your comments. You're right, the book is not a money-maker, despite the assumptions of current Unification Church members who want to attribute crass motives to me for having written it. I'm glad your experience was not as bad.

[chonesong]

Just a short comment from one who also left the church. They gave me gifts to

take home with me and said go visit home. I never did go back but, I never have

disbelieved in Rev. Moon or felt betrayed at all. If we have a job, what is that...

doing what one man thinks is right for his own family's benefit. Personally,

I'm glad I could have given myself to a man who truly lives for God and Jesus.

I've read the words a hundred times and embody them. Someday very soon

I'll prove it to you. =)

[exmoonie1]

@chonesong It doesn't sound like you have left the church at all, despite your claims. Moon committed adultery, which is directly against his own teachings. Therefore, he cannot embody those teachings that he betrayed. I have decided to remove your other comments and to block you from further posts.

[cumacumachameleon]

WOW you kinda sad really!

Making a youtube account named 'exmoonie' just to spread your propaganda and then writing a book im guessing to make money.

you talk about liberating ancestors is used to make money but arent you doing pritty much the same.

i think something bad happened to you in the church, something that was no ones fault; you got resentful; turn your back on god because you felt unloved im sure you cared enough for god to join..........so whats the real story???

[exmoonie1]

@cumacumachameleon You're kind of pitiful really. Considering all the evidence that Moon is a false Messiah who disobeyed his own teachings and fell with other women (as described in Nansook Hong's book), it is truly disturbing that there continue to be people like you that believe in him anyway.

[exmoonie1]

Why is it that Unificationists always come back to the idea that a person had to have had a gun held to their heads in order for them to be able to claim they were duped into believing things and doing things that were wrong? There are many more subtle methods than physical force that can be applied to dupe people, and these are still unethical and deplorable. But you want to make excuses for these other methods of manipulation, so you fall back on the lack of physical force as your excuse.

[exmoonie1]

@sommersprossen92 It's been my experience as a former member of the Unification Church that Unificationists always claim that other people don't understand "heart" whenever Unificationism makes claims that are obviously illogical or self-evidently false. They say, "Oh, you just don't have enough heart to understand this!" This is simply an intellectual dodge; it allows them to feel superior even though they have no good arguments to support their case.

[gothgod]

@jerwincascarro18 Sun Myung Moon does not live his life as simply as his duped followers . Moon is worth a billion$ runs large corporations and a media empire while claiming to be spiritual and a God or the God. He uses his church to avoid paying taxes . He is corrupt and insincere. Suggested reading: John Gorenfeld's "Bad Moon Rising". His Empire rivals that of Pat Robertson and Pastor John Hagee-money to be made selling salvation and/or prosperity gospel & the gifts of the spirit.

[ElizabethGS]

@jerwincascarro18 How could you possibly 'know' what he's doing? And what right do you have to tell him to live a life of 'service'? Choose for yourself (which he's doing). If you remain in a cult, I suppose that's your choice (as horribly out of kilter as it seems to the rest of normal society). But your assumption that he's making money from his writings rather than 'donating money to charity' is none of your business. You can't know any of your 'claims', nor can you speak for others.

[arayalrio]

@uriituw Lots of moonies voting. Some of the comments that have been thumbs-upped are frightening.

[MaxSpires]

@exmoonie1

Then you don't beleive in the Bible. I was under the impression that you did.

[georgecwmacdonald]

@exmoonie1

I thankyou for your sacrafice

I pray deeply that you will find peace

may God's blessings pour down on you forever

[jerwincascarro18]

@exmoonie1 I guess you are trapped w/ your boredom. you should live a life of truth, service and love and not hatred and resentment. By the way, would you like try to share how is your life going on now. It must be a lot nicer to make money from your propaganda's for yourself and get all your material aspiration rather than donating money to charitable groups.

[ChabadCult]

the moonie cult is very similar to the chabad cult which is explained on my channel. what do you think?