According to VICE News, the 40-acre compound is in central Texas, 40 miles from Waco. The congregation, known as “Rod of Iron Ministries,” is led by Pastor Hyung Jin “Sean” Moon, often referred to as “King.” The group follows the original Moonie doctrine, but with guns.
Moon says he was inspired by a biblical passage in the Book of Revelation that talked about Jesus using a “rod of iron” to protect himself and others. He concluded this was a reference to AR-15s, and integrated high-powered firearms into regular church services, including wedding ceremonies. He founded the church with the support of his brother, Kook-jin “Justin” Moon, the CEO of Kahr Arms, a gun manufacturing company headquartered nearby.
The church has always embraced Trump and Trumpism, VICE notes. As a result, the likes of Steve Bannon and “Stop the Steal” organizer Doug Mastriano have given them the stamp of MAGA legitimacy by speaking at their events. Bannon spoke at the second annual Rod of Iron Freedom Festival, held in October, in the parking lot of Kahr Arms’ Tommy Gun Warehouse in Greeley, Pennsylvania.
VICE video from the 2019 Freedom Festival shows Moon wearing a crown made of bullets. He told VICE that God is using Trump “to create the environment for God’s kingdom to come, taking on the deep state, the swamp, whatever you want to call it.”
But since January 6, Moon’s sermons have “taken on a greater intensity and urgency,” VICE reports. He has warned that “internationalist Marxist globalists are trying to start a civil war here” in order to kill all gun owners, Christians and Trump supporters. He also claims that the Biden administration may be plotting genocide against them. He urged his followers “to be ready” and “to resist on many levels all the evil that they are trying to perpetrate.”
What could go wrong?
