Ep. 3: Moonies (But Don't Call Them Moonies) 2

10/14/19 • 46 min

In Part 2 of our two-part series about The Unification Church (Holy Spirit Association for the Unification of World Christianity) otherwise known as the "Moonies," we chat with Lisa Kohn, author of the recent memoir "To the Moon and Back: A Childhood Under the Influence."

Lisa joined the church at age 10 with her mom and little brother and thought it was the answer to her family's problems. She hadn't approved of her parents' counter-culture lifestyle and craved the stability she believed she was offered in the Unification Church. She preached on soapboxes, enthusiastically wore a pin featuring the Rev. Sun Myung Moon's face and watched her mom get remarried in a mass wedding at Madison Square Garden.

But in college, her ideas began to change and she suffered while figuring out where she belonged in the outside world -- a struggle that included drug abuse, an eating disorder and unhealthy relationships.

*Image from photo courtesy of Lisa Kohn

*Image from photo courtesy of Lisa Kohn

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Ep. 2: Moonies (But Don't Call Them Moonies) 1

In Part 1 of our two-part series about The Unification Church (Holy Spirit Association for the Unification of World Christianity) otherwise known as the "Moonies," we sit down for a chat with San Francisco artist and comedian Teddy Hose. He was a "blessed child" -- the result of a marriage between two church members brought together by the Rev. Sun Myung Moon -- and grew up close to the Moon family.

Join us as we discuss Moon's children, the church, concerns about its use of guns and Teddy's recent gun-control activism related to a splinter group called the Sanctuary Church.

*Image from comic: Growing Up “Moonie” by Teddy Hose The Nib, posted March 7th, 2019 https://thenib.com/moon-child

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Ep. 4: Fright-Based Faith

During this week of Halloween, we discuss fear -- fear of punishment, fear of the apocalypse, fear of God. Tammie grew up with these fears in an ultra fundamentalist Christian organization that subjected children to harsh punishments and encouraged its members not to interact with the rest of society.

Tammie was taught everyone outside her church and school was sinful, but what she ended up fearing most was the group itself. And now that she's out, she sees some pretty scary things in current politics that remind her of her childhood.

*Image from photo courtesy of Tammie Willis