Guns For God: The Church of the AR-15

[Music] when you have armed citizenry and they try to do evil they get shot quickly they get punished fast my name is jung jin shan moon no one has also passed a shan or known as also second king my father is the remnants under moon we believe is the lord and second Advent and he has created a cave lion of which I am his appointed heir and successor the Bible is very clear in showing that Christ requires us to be judges over the nation judges of the wicked to rule with the wrought-iron moon I convey the message from the second king about the lord of iron but their reaction is you're so wicked and you're in a cult are you trying to appeal to all the pro-gun people of America I'm not talking how to do your job but it seems like a massive opportunity for your church to be a king you're gonna have territory and you better have a means to keep that territory pastor Shan and God working through him he's taking the Providence of God forward in the scripture it says thy kingdom come on earth as it is in heaven now that on earth is literal okay he is no longer talking about let's just wait till we die in the kingdom comes we don't build this here now Psalm 2 and also revelation 2 says that the believers will rule the world of iron [Music] it's 2018 and we seem no closer to understanding the meaning of life if anything it can feel like we're further away than ever [Music] when looking for answers in such a confusing world having something to believe in can be a convenient remedy and revealing reflections of the society we live it we're in Pennsylvania it's just a turn half-hour drive outside of New York City that's extremely rural and their makeshift gun range but people who love guns I've got your neighbor the world peace and unification sang tree is a small fringe set of Christianity which has origins in Korea is based in America even with that texture and has been accused of being a cult started already as we've been practicing led by the charismatic pastor shun Jin Shan moon or the second king these Christians believe they must build God's kingdom on earth and to do that they'll need guns we thank you that we would have the opportunity to be able to practice and love God and love our neighbor from you we receive our rights of kingship and sovereignty and father these are the right to bear arms that we exercise today and your precious name we pray amen all right y'all good job hug your neighbor my parents you know were part of the church and so I grew up kind of like in the faith but my family has always been to like the Second Amendment and hunting so that's been a part of my life this whole time we're gonna [Applause] how does the actual out of eighth element play into this activity being able to take your own life as seriously as God takes your life is I think loving God is showing God yes I appreciate this life this gift that you've given me and the lives of those around me and I want to take your work seriously so I'm not going to just be stopped by some crazy dude it's trying to hurt me I consider this an honor to be able to train in this way this is the peace Kingdom police peace Kingdom war and our motto is love God love your neighbor as a Christian community we're not naive about what evil intent Satan has in for us I think a lot people think that because we have guns and we like guns we're going to go out looking for trouble like some vigilante there's nothing further from the truth I would just as soon be left alone but if somebody's gonna come to my house to rape and kill my children I'm sorry all bets are off and I don't I dare say I think you'd think the same way it was your mother your sister your brother you know or your father I mean come on let's realize we have to understand that there's evil in the world the police can't always be there and in many cases like it wasn't parkland Florida they just did not do a thing about it you got a kid in there going out mowing kids with one of these with one of these ones so what do we do we choose this what about the sheriff who should have gone in there and stopped it when he had the power to do so please until recently the unifications factory had kept a fairly low profile then in February 2018 the church made national news with a blessing ceremony where the congregation carried ar-15s just two weeks after the Parkland school shooting which triggered mass gun reform protests across the come the ceremony drew widespread criticism for its timing during what felt like such a consequential period of America's gun debate all that weapon is good for mass killing and you want to bless it shame on you so where did this right-wing Second Amendment loving church with this devoted following and young leader even come from it's really the crack of dawn here we're on our way to Pastor Shawn's house because at 5:00 a.m. he begins recording his weekly outreach broadcast called the King's report we weren't allowed to know Pastor Shawn's address so one of his inner circle drove us up into the hills Thank You Regis very good driver we're just arriving at Pastor Shawn's property where he lives with his beautiful wife and he's got a pretty muddy view apparently from his patio he can see three states Pennsylvania New York and New Jersey it's like this hand-painted sign by the front door says Father the Son and the Holy Spirit those are the people who obviously finance the house okay it's Jeep the church even has its own unique camo print that was designed for them it's made up of crowns and silhouettes of ar-15s and this is the crest of the church it's got two crossed rifles and a sword and some crowns we weren't allowed to know his address now I'm hearing a nootropic drop a pen screenshot in I'm joking hi everyone looks so nice in their crowns we arrived bleary-eyed before breakfast to a room of people wearing crowns gathered around a podcast livestream of another man in crowd recording in the other room Pastor Sean is only in his late 30s and studied religion at Harvard nice Jesus language and biblical language really what they're teaching is socialism and worship of the state and now he's going into the world windows go into what he calls a political Satanism how Satan is working in the world sort of destroy sovereignty and destroy and then the counterproposal of hot today the featured guest was a man named Andrew Hammond on the owner of Florida guns supply who in 2015 controversially declared his store to be a Muslim free zone history you've got registration which leads to confiscation within the genocide every time in history he really I mean how that is such a critical element in understand firearms is it not I know everyone's wonderful you I know everyone's hungry so I'm gonna be super quick delicious I love your look it's very memorable it's a little wacky it's a little wacky something's like II would think you got it good track but the attention well you know yeah this is a ebay suit that we got and it's kind of a fun way to you know talk about serious issues this is on our table of course the crowns and and rod of iron is a real the two main biblical truth treatments of the citizens of God's kingdom in the Bible right you know so we have those prominently displayed but I think one of the key scriptures on God's side is the crown that's in Revelation 3 and 11 the Bible says let no man take thy crown so we see that the faithful who are overcoming with Christ are given crowns of sovereignty no royalty and then we also see that they're given another accoutrement which is the rod of iron I think exemplified strongest in Psalm 2 and revelation to where it says they will rule with a rod of iron and they will break a nation's into shivers so has tremendous power in the hands of the corners of Christ to even take down Nations the adoption of guns within the church is new in 2017 pastor Shawn claims to have had a revelation that the rod of iron mentioned in the Bible should be interpreted as a gun I'm now working on a new series ok that which we you will see which will combine the study of the gospel which is deleted by Jesus Christ the gospel of the kingdom with how you will rule that kingdom with a rod of iron well gums at the church are a new thing most of the church's beliefs are not the unification sanctuary has deep-seated roots in its own dynasty one that has origins a world away from rural Pennsylvania during our visit the church was celebrating one of its holidays called the day of true all things a legacy of the sanctuaries Korean history without begin ceremonies to commemorate b56 they are true all things so true ladi Dadi if Charaka Samhita to lani if china the attendance will now enter i Justi Pramila now the true parents and the second king and queen will enter please greet them with warm applause the second king is carrying the rolls in crown bar to prepare some young wood the returning Christ [Music] thank you I'd like to ask the king and queen now to take their seats on their throne so that they can receive our youngest all second generation couples the Indy Hall will please come forward and their pastor Shawn moon is the son of Reverend Sun Myung Moon a self-proclaimed Messiah from Korea who founded the unification movement more infamously known as the Moonies before pastor Shawn was even born the group was already being labeled a cult becoming most famous in the 80s for its mass arranged marriages throughout its history the group was allegedly the target of everyone from cult deprogrammers to the FBI many former members would also go on to accuse the Church of using brainwashing tactics and mind-control like his son reverend moon was known for his anti-communist stance and endorsement of right-wing politics upon his father's death in 2012 pastor Shawn who believes himself to be his father's true heir split from the unification Church and founded his own the one we see today in Pennsylvania when we contacted the unification Church they offered the following statement the unification Church is in no way affiliated with sanctuary church we absolutely oppose violence and do not use weapons in any of our religious ceremonies even so much of Pastor Shawn's congregation is made up of longtime followers of his father who were placed in arranged marriages by him and who've moved to Pennsylvania to be closer to the new church today's to you happy to all things Oh [Music] [Applause] how long have you been with the chatter since 81 it's like only now making headlines again because of brainwashed the accusation of like cult gets thrown around in America so much like um what's it like being told by other Outsiders that you're in a cult you know I was like I need my brainwashed okay if you think about how decadent and fallen society is thinking that pedophilia is okay yeah no things are wait wait try again the embrace of rod of iron under costume moon whenever when was it first announced and what did you think I didn't grow up in a in a gun community my parents didn't have guns we didn't talk about guns I didn't even think I don't even go just didn't wasn't my consciousness and so for me this has been a tremendous like a sort of an awakening because he's super small and it's easy to be like okay I can trust this guy and he's leading us into the future right well I don't it's smart he is smart but I think it's his it's his profound faith you know it is a profound belief in the reality of God and God what God would like to see him in this present age Germany announced that they are blessing you're like oh that's curious okay well we can do that when do people wear that crown is it all the time right um a lot of people were a percentage service and how do you feel when you're wearing your crown I guess I I feel really good now at the beginning I felt a little self-conscious you know it's the same with with anything why do you think so this is a calendar twenty twelve dollars piece police piece militia so it's a it's a piece police branded yearly calendar look at these pictures imagine having that on your walls well I get should I get this for my kitchen do you like the crown over/under single right now ass you have to wait till we get married so who are you gonna marry when will you find out hey Raylan space our parents are interesting themselves first okay and then we can start to like communicate later I can't so yeah it's kind of process how is it for you and the other Korean boys and girls to bring guns into life Oh frankly most of Koreans are so surprised about our church event and also I took our churches came from Korea I like convey the message from the second king and about the Lord of iron and competition in Korea but their reaction is you're so vacant and you're you're in a cult how do you respond to being called a cult I mean I think I get that more from the left but I think many on the right would see the left as behaving as a cult you know educators on the Left or many people who are put through the sort of government schooling have a lot of cognitions when they have to interpret new data that opposes their you know set of values many people have analyzed that as a sort of a new religion that that is being pushed on young people it's it's it's devoid of God but sort of the state has become the new God when people call us a call or things of that I mean that's what they call early Christianity they called almost all forms of religion that I would say you know please be careful of statism that's also a cult the voice of gun reform is so loud at the moment you've got protests all around the country and you've literally got young people standing up and begging the government please do something you know every day that goes by you're just endorsing more innocent deaths um can you explain how you respond to that yes I think you know love God love your neighbor I mean if you really love your neighbor you love love the people that are there in the public schools teaching and the kids that are there going to school I mean you have to do what needs to be done to protect them you know the air 15 gets like this focus and this is sort of bad rap but it what if those people in the in the class could shoot back at the person at the bad guy the Bible is very clear in showing that Christ requires us to be for example judges over the nation judges of the wicked to rule with the rod of iron people in the kingdom have some roles and responsibilities they're not like drinking pina colada on a beach or playing harps I wanted to talk to somebody who could help explain what it means that this group of believers who've been around for decades suddenly have a new mission and one that arguably appeals to a new audience of Americans charged by the political climate dr. Matthew schmaltz is a widely published religious scholar whose work has focused on new religious movements and their place in society how do we categorize belief systems when are they kind of fringe or problematic group and when are they just an established accepted group I think there are two things to distinguish in one sense a fringe group is simply that a group that pushes back against accepted social values a dangerous group is usually one that's isolated and has a leader who is particularly concerned with maintaining control and also exerting that control over others what do you make of pasta Sean's group I think it it shows interesting dynamics not only in terms of the way in which the group is organized but it's connections with conservative politics especially guns my rights activists and that's a fairly new thing how are we the public supposed to understand what Pastor Sean's adoption of guns is all about in light of the current political climate I think that any new religion needs a constituency and especially for a group that's new that's relatively small making connections with other groups that might have similar commitments is something that can be quite productive if you're a leader of a new religion pastor Shawn is a Harvard educated theologian could that impact his leadership strategy at all well certainly he is familiar with the dynamics of religious groups and what makes them successful certainly he has a cosmopolitan understanding of religious beliefs that would make him particularly keen it seems to me to adapt beliefs from different religious traditions so in many ways at least intellectually he's well positioned to be a charismatic leader who can draw people to him so pastor Shawn's father's church is technically still around and pastor Shawn has broken away how does that tension play out in terms of when we look at the direction that Pastor Sean is taking his church well simply put what you have is a succession struggle who has the most legitimate claim to the legacy of Reverend moon and certainly adopting extreme or publicly noticeable and controversial rituals or beliefs is one way of attracting attention and certainly grafting on to contemporary right-wing movements is a way of adding a kind of gravity and weight to what is it seems to me right now a very small movement with many alt rights organizations there is a sense of impending doom or a sense that society really needs to be remade or returned to its pristine or relatively pristine origins at least in the in the minds of some of these people so there is a great deal of social unease that provides fuel for these kinds of movements and allows them to join together at least tactically if not strategically are you trying to appeal to all the pro-gun people of America I'm not telling you how to do your job but it seems like a massive opportunity for your church it's a Christian country already you're speaking their language and the time when Second Amendment is highly politicized more than ever I think we're definitely making networks you know we've connected with a lot of folks a lot of the stars in the gun community we've connected with people have been showing interest in joining up since you sort of become more visible and with this you look I want to say yeah I think I I think there's there's definitely a lot more interest people even in a local area they've been very supportive our local area we have we have a lot of gun owners a lot of veterans I think the highest concentration of veterans and gun owners what's that pop the reason why you moved together it wasn't it wasn't it wasn't all I mean it just happened that we settled here and it just happened that the veterans and high gun ownership I mean we did not plan this at all but if you're looking for a home for your gun church you could do worse than here a County with more guns than people even pastor Shawn's brother Justin Liu who owns leading gun manufacturer car arms is based near here tommy gun warehouse is one of his stores I'm at the book signing a pastor Shawn's new book rod of iron Kingdom it's taking place in his brother's gun store and there's a huge line of people coming to get their book signed by the man himself the book describes itself as an excellent apologetic for the Second Amendment we've got a chapter on the apartment Florida shooting chapter about the left-wing fascist threat to democracy the challenge of political Islam and then a justification of why he believes the rod of iron should be interpreted as a gun ideally an ar-15 there's a lot of people here keen to get that book signed this book is very important but I'm gonna say actually it is dynamite because it exposes the leftist media government higher education collusion to undermine our freedom the author of the rod of iron Kingdom and dungeon genre we're in the business of coordinating kings and queens so we're so grateful that all the you know key the queens of the kingdom all right and the rod of iron commonly seen as a very powerful tool that will bring about almost a dictatorial Christian reign but we don't when you look at the script or closer you do a closer analysis you'll see that in the original Greek it means to defend it means shepherding it means protecting our rights don't come from government come from some bureaucracy they come from Almighty God and that's why their inalienable so grateful that all of you came out today and of course we're very honored and blessed to be here with you so thank you so much for coming out thank you do you feel like at this time with the rod of iron discussion yeah the church actually finally has a chance to break out and stop growing Pastor Sean and God working through him he's taking the Providence of God forward right okay he is no longer talking about let's just wait till we die in the kingdom comes we don't build this here now because in the scripture it says you know thy kingdom come on earth as it is in heaven now that on earth is literal okay so we have to think about how we're gonna structure this kingdom yeah okay now to be a king you're gonna have territory and you better have a means to keep that territory [Music] we've been invited to a barbecue of the unification sanctuary church barbecue is poppin off I'm looking forward to eating some unification sausages in the spirit of loving thy neighbor we brought an offering of burgers should we go up here and present our meat the barbecue was a celebration for the launch of Pastor Shawn's book hi and what many see as a new era for the church and its teachings we are so grateful to be out here in the beautiful nature we are so grateful to have the leadership of our second king and we are so grateful that you have shown us so much love a day of victory for the rod of iron ministry and the celebration of the publishing of the book we pray these things together and all our family names are Joe the rod of iron Kingdom book we have high hopes that this will represent and be a response for all the publicity we got in February that people will look at and say wow there's something really serious behind this this is not just somebody trying to use you know something strange or weird to get public attention what the pastor Shawn has explained to us is that in any population eight to ten percent or Psychopaths or sociopaths we're gonna have these people it happens genetically I don't know why it happens God knows not to pray about that I have no idea why that happens but it happens have you had new people wanting to come and be part of the church yes does it bother any of you that it's because of the second amendment debate that's raging in this country no on the contrary Pastor Shawn believes that that may be the major issue in the election this fall it's such a big issue and so he feels that it's were we're right where we need to be that's a GLAAD message it's a glad tiding when you we can see into the future of the kingdom where the walls and the printers cannot succeed and that they will be punished quickly and just as we be served quickly of course that's what happens when you have a armed citizenry and they try to do evil they get shot quickly they get punished fast concealed carry holders have the lowest crime rate out of enemy population in the United States including police officers but yet the left says you're the dangerous ones you're the Nazis you're the white supremacy Xander half of you are 90 percent of you are not waiting they say I'm white supremacist you see I do looking at you when you see my complexion at times pastor Shawn's anti-state pro sovereignty rhetoric feels better suited to a political rally than a church the day I attended his sermon he preached about the evils of everything from Hillary Clinton to brainwash public school educated liberal indoctrinated cultural Marxists so when you see brainwash public school educated liberal and doctrine and cultural Marxist that come out universities think they're smarter have useless degrees and they wear Mao Zedong's shirts forgive me if we're a little upset what would you say to on lookers who are unnerved by this group carrying guns in church learn about the belief system of a group before you judge now that doesn't mean that we can't debate whether or not certain forms of religion are a healthy or unhealthy more rational or less rational we can talk about all that but we can only do that an intelligent way when we take people afterward and at least treat these beliefs with the seriousness that their actual adherents treat them their sovereign individuals co-heirs with Christ kings and queens and the kingdom of God it's not only can only can only wish be verbal like that it's gotta be backed up with this crown of Socrates and the rod of iron real political power must be given to the coal kings and queens with Christ that's why it is a human right in the kingdom you have the rod of iron rod of iron in the hands of the cores of Christ has tremendous power to even take down Nations I think that the very hard left that pushes you know gun control and confiscation of ar-15 I think they know the power of that rifle in the hands of a hundred million people it's it's it's quite a force right to deal with [Applause] [Music] [Applause] the believers I spoke to throughout the week told me they joined the church because they were seeking something and after meeting pastor Shawn I can see how the church has provided answers for them but pastor Shawn's church while small has aligned itself with one of the most divisive issues of our time what that means for their future is anybody's guess what you're looking at is essentially gun fanaticism and extreme Christian beliefs and mix those together and you can see why for a lot of people that could be pretty worrisome [Music] you [Music]

Channel: VICE

Views: 2,181,592

Rating: 4.5440063 out of 5

Keywords: documentary, documentaries, docs, interview, culture, lifestyle, world, exclusive, videos, journalism, vice guide, vice.com, vice, vice magazine, vice mag, vice videos, film, short films, cult, church, religion, believers, charlet duboc, parkland school shooting, ar-15, guns, weapons, firearms, gun reform, debate, united states, moonies, pastor sean moon, Pennsylvania, gun blessing ceremony, ar-15 blessing ceremony, worship, sanctuary church, brainwashing, brainwashed, World Peace and Unification Sanctuary

Id: ArfGyo6HQ_E

Length: 31min 57sec (1917 seconds)

Published: Mon Nov 12 2018

Reddit Comments

[u/apenamedjojo]

I loved this guy in Far Cry 4

[u/TheJawsThemeSong]

There's a great documentary on this group on Hulu on this show called Cults and Extreme Beliefs. Definitely worth checking out

[u/blyat55]

And lo on the fifth day did the Korean bodega owner take his rifle up to the rooftop...

[u/shogih]

I grew up in the Unification Church. I vaguely know some people in this group and I eagerly watch their antics on facebook. Some late twenties kid doing like gun runs? He trains with body armor on and does wilderness runs.... This group is an offshoot of the Unification Church, while they both are rotten, this is quite a bit more disturbing.

[u/Tulanol]

Unification church has always been a dangerous group , lot’s of brainwashing etc. dunno if they are better or worse since the founder kicked the bucket.

But ya they own a bunch of firearms companies , odd for a church 👎

[u/Company_of_gyros]

I lost it at 29:43... that dude who trips up in the tires and loses his shoe then has horrible trigger jerk and shoots the ground lol

[u/4look4rd]

That's a really good interviewer, she asked great questions without sounding condescending, and didn't tipy toe around the obvious questions related to cults.

[u/Rydenan]

The lady at 4:09 seems pretty sane:

"A lot of people think that because we have guns and we love guns, that we're going to go out looking for trouble, like some vigilantes. There's nothing further from the truth. I would just as soon be left alone, but if somebody's going to break into my house, to rape or kill my children, I'm sorry; all bets are off. ... The police can't always be there."

(Note: not defending the organization as a whole.)

[u/Mrfrodough]

It's a dangerous cult that needs to be monitored.