Moonies
Encyclopedia
Moonie is a nickname
sometimes used to refer to members of the Unification Church
. This is derived from the name of the church's founder Sun Myung Moon
, and was first used in 1974 by the American
media. Church members have used the word "Moonie", including Sun Myung Moon, President of the Unification Theological Seminary
David Kim, and Moon's aide Bo Hi Pak
. In the 1980s and 1990s the church undertook an extensive public relations
campaign against the use of the word by the news media
, including hiring civil rights activist Ralph Abernathy
to equate it with the word "nigger
". In commentary on the term and its usage, scholars have noted it is both a popular colloquial term, and one that has negative connotations. Scholars including Anson Shupe
, David G. Bromley
, and Eileen Barker
have used the word to refer to members of the Unification Church. In his 2000 book Mystics and Messiahs, Philip Jenkins discussed the term's usage, and likened it to "smear words" associated with other religions; giving examples of Shaker, Methodist, and Mormon
. Journalistic authorities, including the New York Times and Reuters
, now discourage its use in news reporting.
, the founder and leader of the Unification Church. The 2002 edition of The World Book Dictionary does not note a negative connotation, defining it simply as: "a follower of Sun Myung Moon"; nor does the 1999 edition of the Webster's II New College Dictionary
, which defines it as "a member of the Unification Church established and headed by Sun Myung Moon." The 2009 Random House Dictionary states the word is offensive, and the 2009 Compact Oxford English Dictionary defines it as derogatory in nature. The Dictionary of the Modern Politics of Japan describes it as a colloquial term to refer to a member of the Unification Church.
The New Partridge Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English (2005), The Concise New Partridge Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English (2007), and The Routledge Dictionary of Modern American Slang and Unconventional English (2008) give a secondary meaning as "any blind, unthinking, unquestioning follower of a philosophy."
The word "Moonie" is also a family name in the United Kingdom
. The town of Moonie, Queensland
in Australia
was founded in 1840. In more recent times it has also been used to refer to fans of the anime character Sailor Moon
.
in New York City
in 1974. It became prevalent and was used both by critics of the Unification Church, as well as by church members themselves. It has been used in other languages, including French
, German
, Spanish
, and Portuguese
.
The word "Moonie" used within the Unification Church itself and by church members in public as a self-designation. During the 1970s and 1980s, it was used by members of the Unification Church "as a badge of honor". In 1978, Sun Myung Moon declared: "In two and a half years the word 'Moonie' shall become an honorable name and we will have demonstrations and victory celebrations from coast to coast." In 1979, church members could be seen on subways in New York
displaying t-shirts that read: "I'm a Moonie and I love it". Religious scholar Anson Shupe
notes that "on many occasions" he heard "David Kim, President of the Unification Theological Seminary, refer to 'Moonie theology,' the 'Moonie lifestyle,' and so forth matter-of-factly". The principal aide to Sun Myung Moon, Bo Hi Pak
, was quoted by Carlton Sherwood
in his book Inquisition: The Persecution and Prosecution of the Reverend Sun Myung Moon as declaring to the United States Congress
: "I am a proud Korean – a proud 'Moonie' – and a dedicated anti-Communist and I intend to remain so the rest of my life."
During the United States v. Sun Myung Moon in 1982, federal prosecutors argued that the word "Moonie" be banned during the jury selection process because they said it was considered "a negative term," and prejudicial in nature. Defense counsel for Sun Myung Moon instead asserted use of the word in the jury selection process was necessary to identify the Unification Church and to question jurors about possible prejudice. The court denied the prosecution's request, and ruled that the term was appropriately "descriptive." Judge Gerard L. Goettel instructed the jury that the case involved the Unification Church, Sun Myung Moon, and his followers, whom the judge stated were "sometimes referred to as Moonies." That same year a report sponsored in part by Auburn University
, P. Nelson Reid and Paul D. Starr noted: "In informal interviews with U.C. members have indicated that they do not consider the term 'Moonie' derogatory."
noted: "Members of the Unification Church resent references to them as 'Moonies'", and quoted one church member who said "Even in quotation marks, it's derogatory". In 1985, the president of the Unification Church of the United States
, Mose Durst
, asserted there was a positive change in perception of the church after Moon's trial and his conviction on federal tax violations and conspiracy: "In one year, we moved from being a pariah
to being part of the mainstream
. People recognized that Reverend Moon was abused for his religious beliefs and they rallied around. You rarely hear the word 'Moonie' anymore. We're 'Unificationists.'"
The Unification Church hired civil rights activist Ralph Abernathy
to equate the word "Moonie" with the word "nigger
". Abernathy was also the vice president of the Unification Church-affiliated American Freedom Coalition, and served on boards of directors for two other related organizations. According to the San Francisco Chronicle
, by 1989 Unification Church members preferred to be called "Unificationists" rather than "Moonies." The Washington Post reported that "Unification Church members are being advised no longer to accept the designation of 'Moonie,' and to declare any such nomenclature as indicative of a prejudiced view of the church." In 1989 the Chicago Tribune
was picketed after referring to members of the Unification Church as Moonies. Sun Myung Moon directed minister and civil rights leader James Bevel
to form a protest by religious officials against the Chicago Tribune because of the newspaper's use of the word. Bevel handed out fliers at the protest which said: "Are the Moonies our new niggers?"
Unification Church official Michael Jenkins (who later became president of the Unification Church of the United States
) commented in 1989 on his views of why the Unification Church was shifting its public stance regarding use of the word: "Why, after so many years, should we now be taking such a stand to eliminate the term 'Moonie?' For me, it is a sign that the American Unification Church has come of age. We can no longer allow our founder, our members, and allies to be dehumanized and unfairly discriminated against. ... We are now entering a period of our history where our Church development and family orientation are strong enough that we can turn our attention toward ending the widespread misunderstanding about our founder and the Unification movement." In 1990, a position paper sent from the Unification Church to The Fresno Bee
gave a warning to journalists about use of the word: "We will fight gratuitous use of the 'Moonie' or 'cult' pejoratives. We will call journalists on every instance of unprofessional reporting. We intend to stop distortions plagiarized from file clippings which propagate from story to story like a computer virus
." In 1992 the Unification Church-affiliated organization Professors World Peace Academy asserted use of the word "Moonie" was akin to that of the word "nigger". Unification Church member Kristopher Esplin told Reuters
what is normally done if the word is seen in media sources: "If it's printed in newspapers, we will respond, write to the editor, that sort of thing." On an October 6, 1994 broadcast of Nightline, host Ted Koppel
stated: "On last night's program ...I used the term 'Moonies'. This is a label which members of the Reverend Sun Myung Moon's Unification Church find demeaning and offensive, and I'd like to apologize for its use."
about a talk former Prime Minister Edward Heath
gave at a Unification Church sponsored conference, Andrew Brown commented: "The term 'Moonie' has entered the language as meaning a brainwashed, bright-eyed zombie." Brown also quoted William Shaw, a broadcaster who was presenting the Cult Fiction series on BBC Radio Five Live
: "Most Moonies embrace a morality which would make them acceptable in the most genteel Anglican social circle."
According to the 1999 edition of Religion and Politics In America Unification Church followers were known "universally" by the term. In a 2004 interview with The New York Times, playwright
Tony Kushner
used the term "Moonies" to refer to religious converts
who lacked "spiritual liveliness or freedom of thought". The 2004 book Can I Know What to Believe? (written for high school students) asks: "When I say the word Moonies, what do you think of? Because Moonies aren't as prevalent in our society today as they were several years ago ... some might mentioned the mass weddings performed by Sun Myung Moon. Others might mention the group's fund-raising efforts through flower selling." In 2005 the New York Times published (as a part of their series "Modern Love") the testimony of former Unification Church member Renee Watabe about her arranged marriage
in which her husband was selected for her by Moon. Watabe said about her former religious affiliation: "We 'Moonies' were willing to sacrifice personal choice to spin gold out of the raw silk of ourselves, to help create world harmony through family harmony."
In 2009 The Daily Telegraph
suggested that the Manchester City football club be nicknamed "The Blue Moonies" for their "evangelical zeal." In 2010 National Public Radio reported that young members of the Unification Church "bristle at the term 'Moonie'", while USA Today
reported that "the folks who follow Rev. Sun Myung Moon (also known, to their dislike, as the Moonies)." In 2010 The New York Times
noted that the word “Moonie“ was being used in Washington D.C. to denote that someone was a “swooning loyalist.” The Denver Post reported that supporters of conservative congressional candidate Dan Maes
were being called "Maes moonies" for their "almost cultish" devotion to him. In 2010, David McWilliams, writing in the Sunday Business Post of Dublin, Ireland, referred to the irresponsible fiscal policies that lead to the world-wide late-2000s recession as "Moonie economics."
titled her 1984 book, which was based on seven years of first-person study of members of the Unification Church in the United States and Great Britain and has been influential in the field of the sociology of religion
, The Making of a Moonie: Choice or Brainwashing?. She commented in the book's introduction: "Mention the name 'Moonies' to anyone in the West today, and the chances are that you will receive an immediate reaction which falls somewhere between a delicate shudder and an indignant outburst of fury." In the 1995 book America's Alternative Religions, published by the State University of New York Press
, Baker wrote: "Although they prefer to be called Unificationists, they are referred to in the media and popularly known as 'Moonies'." In the same book, Anson Shupe
, a sociologist known for his studies of religious issues, and David Bromley, a sociologist who has written extensively on new religious movements, also use the word Moonies to refer to members of the Unification Church. In his 1998 book Religion, Mobilization, and Social Action, Shupe notes that Barker, Bromley, and he himself had used the term in other publications, "and meant no offense". In his 2000 book Mystics and Messiahs, Philip Jenkins likens the term to "smear words such as Shaker, Methodist, Mormon". Jenkins mentions use of the word in book titles including Life among the Moonies and Escape from the Moonies, and comments: "These titles further illustrate how the derogatory term 'Moonie' became a standard for members of this denomination, in a way that would have been inconceivable for any of the insulting epithets that could be applied to, say, Catholics or Jews."
A 1992 study by Jeffrey E. Pfeifer of the University of Virginia
on "The Psychological Framing of Cults" found that 75.51% (74 of 98) of participating individuals were familiar with the word "Moonies". Dr Pfeifer sums up his findings by saying:
Rosalind Millam's 2002 book Anti-Discriminatory Practice notes that "Its followers are better known as Moonies"; the entry on the Unification Church in the book is titled: "Unification Church (Moonies)". In its entry on "Unification Church", the 2002 edition of The New York Times Manual of Style and Usage
advised: "Unification Church is appropriate in all references to the Holy Spirit Association for the Unification of World Christianity, which was founded by the Rev. Sun Myung Moon. Do not use the disparaging Moonie(s)". Reuters
, in its handbook for journalists, says: "'Moonie' is a perjorative term for members of the Unification Church. We should not use it in copy and avoid it when possible in direct quotations."
Nickname
A nickname is "a usually familiar or humorous but sometimes pointed or cruel name given to a person or place, as a supposedly appropriate replacement for or addition to the proper name.", or a name similar in origin and pronunciation from the original name....
sometimes used to refer to members of the Unification Church
Unification Church
The Unification Church is a new religious movement founded by Korean religious leader Sun Myung Moon. In 1954, the Unification Church was formally and legally established in Seoul, South Korea, as The Holy Spirit Association for the Unification of World Christianity . In 1994, Moon gave the church...
. This is derived from the name of the church's founder Sun Myung Moon
Sun Myung Moon
Sun Myung Moon is the Korean founder and leader of the worldwide Unification Church. He is also the founder of many other organizations and projects...
, and was first used in 1974 by the American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
media. Church members have used the word "Moonie", including Sun Myung Moon, President of the Unification Theological Seminary
Unification Theological Seminary
The Unification Theological Seminary , is the main seminary of the international Unification Church. It is located in Barrytown, New York and with an Extension Center in midtown Manhattan. Its purpose has been described as training leaders and theologians within the Unification Church. The...
David Kim, and Moon's aide Bo Hi Pak
Bo Hi Pak
Bo Hi Pak is a prominent member of the Unification Church. During the 1970s and 1980s, he was a major leader in the organization, running projects such as newspapers , schools, performing arts projects, political projects such as the anti-communist organization CAUSA International, and was...
. In the 1980s and 1990s the church undertook an extensive public relations
Public relations
Public relations is the actions of a corporation, store, government, individual, etc., in promoting goodwill between itself and the public, the community, employees, customers, etc....
campaign against the use of the word by the news media
News media
The news media are those elements of the mass media that focus on delivering news to the general public or a target public.These include print media , broadcast news , and more recently the Internet .-Etymology:A medium is a carrier of something...
, including hiring civil rights activist Ralph Abernathy
Ralph Abernathy
Ralph David Abernathy, Sr. was a leader of the American Civil Rights Movement, a minister, and a close associate of Martin Luther King, Jr. in the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. Following King's assassination, Dr. Abernathy took up the leadership of the SCLC Poor People's Campaign and...
to equate it with the word "nigger
Nigger
Nigger is a noun in the English language, most notable for its usage in a pejorative context to refer to black people , and also as an informal slang term, among other contexts. It is a common ethnic slur...
". In commentary on the term and its usage, scholars have noted it is both a popular colloquial term, and one that has negative connotations. Scholars including Anson Shupe
Anson Shupe
Anson D. Shupe is an American sociologist noted for his studies of religious groups and their countermovements, family violence and clergy misconduct.-Work:...
, David G. Bromley
David G. Bromley
David G. Bromley is a professor of sociology at Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA and the University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA. He has written extensively about "cults", new religious movements, apostasy, and the anti-cult movement.- Education and career :Bromley received his...
, and Eileen Barker
Eileen Barker
Eileen Vartan Barker OBE, born in Edinburgh, UK, is a professor in sociology, an emeritus member of the London School of Economics , and a consultant to that institution's Centre for the Study of Human Rights...
have used the word to refer to members of the Unification Church. In his 2000 book Mystics and Messiahs, Philip Jenkins discussed the term's usage, and likened it to "smear words" associated with other religions; giving examples of Shaker, Methodist, and Mormon
Mormon
The term Mormon most commonly denotes an adherent, practitioner, follower, or constituent of Mormonism, which is the largest branch of the Latter Day Saint movement in restorationist Christianity...
. Journalistic authorities, including the New York Times and Reuters
Reuters
Reuters is a news agency headquartered in New York City. Until 2008 the Reuters news agency formed part of a British independent company, Reuters Group plc, which was also a provider of financial market data...
, now discourage its use in news reporting.
Definition
The word "Moonie" is derived from the name of Sun Myung MoonSun Myung Moon
Sun Myung Moon is the Korean founder and leader of the worldwide Unification Church. He is also the founder of many other organizations and projects...
, the founder and leader of the Unification Church. The 2002 edition of The World Book Dictionary does not note a negative connotation, defining it simply as: "a follower of Sun Myung Moon"; nor does the 1999 edition of the Webster's II New College Dictionary
Webster's Dictionary
Webster's Dictionary refers to the line of dictionaries first developed by Noah Webster in the early 19th century, and also to numerous unrelated dictionaries that added Webster's name just to share his prestige. The term is a genericized trademark in the U.S.A...
, which defines it as "a member of the Unification Church established and headed by Sun Myung Moon." The 2009 Random House Dictionary states the word is offensive, and the 2009 Compact Oxford English Dictionary defines it as derogatory in nature. The Dictionary of the Modern Politics of Japan describes it as a colloquial term to refer to a member of the Unification Church.
The New Partridge Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English (2005), The Concise New Partridge Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English (2007), and The Routledge Dictionary of Modern American Slang and Unconventional English (2008) give a secondary meaning as "any blind, unthinking, unquestioning follower of a philosophy."
The word "Moonie" is also a family name in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
. The town of Moonie, Queensland
Moonie, Queensland
Moonie is a town in the Darling Downs region of Queensland, Australia. The town is located in the Western Downs Region Local Government Area at the intersection of the Leichhardt and Moonie Highways, west of the state capital, Brisbane, and is the Official Oil Capital of Australia.The town's name...
in Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
was founded in 1840. In more recent times it has also been used to refer to fans of the anime character Sailor Moon
Sailor Moon
Sailor Moon, known as , is a media franchise created by manga artist Naoko Takeuchi. Fred Patten credits Takeuchi with popularizing the concept of a team of magical girls, and Paul Gravett credits the series with "revitalizing" the magical-girl genre itself...
.
Early use
The word "Moonie" was first used by the American news media in the 1970s when Sun Myung Moon moved to the United States and came into public notice through a series of public speeches he gave, including one at Madison Square GardenMadison Square Garden
Madison Square Garden, often abbreviated as MSG and known colloquially as The Garden, is a multi-purpose indoor arena in the New York City borough of Manhattan and located at 8th Avenue, between 31st and 33rd Streets, situated on top of Pennsylvania Station.Opened on February 11, 1968, it is the...
in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
in 1974. It became prevalent and was used both by critics of the Unification Church, as well as by church members themselves. It has been used in other languages, including French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
, German
German language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
, Spanish
Spanish language
Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...
, and Portuguese
Portuguese language
Portuguese is a Romance language that arose in the medieval Kingdom of Galicia, nowadays Galicia and Northern Portugal. The southern part of the Kingdom of Galicia became independent as the County of Portugal in 1095...
.
The word "Moonie" used within the Unification Church itself and by church members in public as a self-designation. During the 1970s and 1980s, it was used by members of the Unification Church "as a badge of honor". In 1978, Sun Myung Moon declared: "In two and a half years the word 'Moonie' shall become an honorable name and we will have demonstrations and victory celebrations from coast to coast." In 1979, church members could be seen on subways in New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
displaying t-shirts that read: "I'm a Moonie and I love it". Religious scholar Anson Shupe
Anson Shupe
Anson D. Shupe is an American sociologist noted for his studies of religious groups and their countermovements, family violence and clergy misconduct.-Work:...
notes that "on many occasions" he heard "David Kim, President of the Unification Theological Seminary, refer to 'Moonie theology,' the 'Moonie lifestyle,' and so forth matter-of-factly". The principal aide to Sun Myung Moon, Bo Hi Pak
Bo Hi Pak
Bo Hi Pak is a prominent member of the Unification Church. During the 1970s and 1980s, he was a major leader in the organization, running projects such as newspapers , schools, performing arts projects, political projects such as the anti-communist organization CAUSA International, and was...
, was quoted by Carlton Sherwood
Carlton Sherwood
Carlton Sherwood is an American journalist who produced the anti-John Kerry film Stolen Honor. Sherwood served on two news teams which were responsible for the award of the Pulitzer Prize and the Peabody Award to their organizations....
in his book Inquisition: The Persecution and Prosecution of the Reverend Sun Myung Moon as declaring to the United States Congress
United States Congress
The United States Congress is the bicameral legislature of the federal government of the United States, consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives. The Congress meets in the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C....
: "I am a proud Korean – a proud 'Moonie' – and a dedicated anti-Communist and I intend to remain so the rest of my life."
During the United States v. Sun Myung Moon in 1982, federal prosecutors argued that the word "Moonie" be banned during the jury selection process because they said it was considered "a negative term," and prejudicial in nature. Defense counsel for Sun Myung Moon instead asserted use of the word in the jury selection process was necessary to identify the Unification Church and to question jurors about possible prejudice. The court denied the prosecution's request, and ruled that the term was appropriately "descriptive." Judge Gerard L. Goettel instructed the jury that the case involved the Unification Church, Sun Myung Moon, and his followers, whom the judge stated were "sometimes referred to as Moonies." That same year a report sponsored in part by Auburn University
Auburn University
Auburn University is a public university located in Auburn, Alabama, United States. With more than 25,000 students and 1,200 faculty members, it is one of the largest universities in the state. Auburn was chartered on February 7, 1856, as the East Alabama Male College, a private liberal arts...
, P. Nelson Reid and Paul D. Starr noted: "In informal interviews with U.C. members have indicated that they do not consider the term 'Moonie' derogatory."
Reaction by church members
In 1984, The Washington PostThe Washington Post
The Washington Post is Washington, D.C.'s largest newspaper and its oldest still-existing paper, founded in 1877. Located in the capital of the United States, The Post has a particular emphasis on national politics. D.C., Maryland, and Virginia editions are printed for daily circulation...
noted: "Members of the Unification Church resent references to them as 'Moonies'", and quoted one church member who said "Even in quotation marks, it's derogatory". In 1985, the president of the Unification Church of the United States
Unification Church of the United States
The Unification Church of the United States is a new religious movement in the United States of America. It began in the 1950s and 1960s when missionaries from Japan and South Korea were sent to the United States by the international Unification Church's founder and leader Sun Myung Moon...
, Mose Durst
Mose Durst
Mose Durst is an author, educator, and the former national president of the Unification Church of the United States. He was born in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, New York City; then an Orthodox Jewish community; to immigrants from Russia. He received a Master's degree and Ph.D while studying English...
, asserted there was a positive change in perception of the church after Moon's trial and his conviction on federal tax violations and conspiracy: "In one year, we moved from being a pariah
Pariah
Pariah may refer to:* A member of the Paraiyar caste in Indian society* Pariah state, a country whose behavior is out of line with international norms-Science and mathematics:* Pariah dog, a type of semi-feral dog...
to being part of the mainstream
Mainstream
Mainstream is, generally, the common current thought of the majority. However, the mainstream is far from cohesive; rather the concept is often considered a cultural construct....
. People recognized that Reverend Moon was abused for his religious beliefs and they rallied around. You rarely hear the word 'Moonie' anymore. We're 'Unificationists.'"
The Unification Church hired civil rights activist Ralph Abernathy
Ralph Abernathy
Ralph David Abernathy, Sr. was a leader of the American Civil Rights Movement, a minister, and a close associate of Martin Luther King, Jr. in the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. Following King's assassination, Dr. Abernathy took up the leadership of the SCLC Poor People's Campaign and...
to equate the word "Moonie" with the word "nigger
Nigger
Nigger is a noun in the English language, most notable for its usage in a pejorative context to refer to black people , and also as an informal slang term, among other contexts. It is a common ethnic slur...
". Abernathy was also the vice president of the Unification Church-affiliated American Freedom Coalition, and served on boards of directors for two other related organizations. According to the San Francisco Chronicle
San Francisco Chronicle
thumb|right|upright|The Chronicle Building following the [[1906 San Francisco earthquake|1906 earthquake]] and fireThe San Francisco Chronicle is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of the U.S. state of California, but distributed throughout Northern and Central California,...
, by 1989 Unification Church members preferred to be called "Unificationists" rather than "Moonies." The Washington Post reported that "Unification Church members are being advised no longer to accept the designation of 'Moonie,' and to declare any such nomenclature as indicative of a prejudiced view of the church." In 1989 the Chicago Tribune
Chicago Tribune
The Chicago Tribune is a major daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, and the flagship publication of the Tribune Company. Formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" , it remains the most read daily newspaper of the Chicago metropolitan area and the Great Lakes region and is...
was picketed after referring to members of the Unification Church as Moonies. Sun Myung Moon directed minister and civil rights leader James Bevel
James Bevel
James L. Bevel was an American minister and leader of the 1960s Civil Rights Movement who, as the Director of Direct Action and Director of Nonviolent Education of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference initiated, strategized, directed, and developed SCLC's three major successes of the era:...
to form a protest by religious officials against the Chicago Tribune because of the newspaper's use of the word. Bevel handed out fliers at the protest which said: "Are the Moonies our new niggers?"
Unification Church official Michael Jenkins (who later became president of the Unification Church of the United States
Unification Church of the United States
The Unification Church of the United States is a new religious movement in the United States of America. It began in the 1950s and 1960s when missionaries from Japan and South Korea were sent to the United States by the international Unification Church's founder and leader Sun Myung Moon...
) commented in 1989 on his views of why the Unification Church was shifting its public stance regarding use of the word: "Why, after so many years, should we now be taking such a stand to eliminate the term 'Moonie?' For me, it is a sign that the American Unification Church has come of age. We can no longer allow our founder, our members, and allies to be dehumanized and unfairly discriminated against. ... We are now entering a period of our history where our Church development and family orientation are strong enough that we can turn our attention toward ending the widespread misunderstanding about our founder and the Unification movement." In 1990, a position paper sent from the Unification Church to The Fresno Bee
The Fresno Bee
The Fresno Bee is the daily newspaper serving Fresno, California and surrounding counties in that U.S. state's San Joaquin Valley. It is owned by The McClatchy Company and ranks fourth in circulation among the company's newspapers....
gave a warning to journalists about use of the word: "We will fight gratuitous use of the 'Moonie' or 'cult' pejoratives. We will call journalists on every instance of unprofessional reporting. We intend to stop distortions plagiarized from file clippings which propagate from story to story like a computer virus
Computer virus
A computer virus is a computer program that can replicate itself and spread from one computer to another. The term "virus" is also commonly but erroneously used to refer to other types of malware, including but not limited to adware and spyware programs that do not have the reproductive ability...
." In 1992 the Unification Church-affiliated organization Professors World Peace Academy asserted use of the word "Moonie" was akin to that of the word "nigger". Unification Church member Kristopher Esplin told Reuters
Reuters
Reuters is a news agency headquartered in New York City. Until 2008 the Reuters news agency formed part of a British independent company, Reuters Group plc, which was also a provider of financial market data...
what is normally done if the word is seen in media sources: "If it's printed in newspapers, we will respond, write to the editor, that sort of thing." On an October 6, 1994 broadcast of Nightline, host Ted Koppel
Ted Koppel
Edward James "Ted" Koppel is an English-born American broadcast journalist, best known as the anchor for Nightline from the program's inception in 1980 until his retirement in late 2005. After leaving Nightline, Koppel worked as managing editor for the Discovery Channel before resigning in 2008...
stated: "On last night's program ...I used the term 'Moonies'. This is a label which members of the Reverend Sun Myung Moon's Unification Church find demeaning and offensive, and I'd like to apologize for its use."
Recent use
In a 1996 article for The IndependentThe Independent
The Independent is a British national morning newspaper published in London by Independent Print Limited, owned by Alexander Lebedev since 2010. It is nicknamed the Indy, while the Sunday edition, The Independent on Sunday, is the Sindy. Launched in 1986, it is one of the youngest UK national daily...
about a talk former Prime Minister Edward Heath
Edward Heath
Sir Edward Richard George "Ted" Heath, KG, MBE, PC was a British Conservative politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and as Leader of the Conservative Party ....
gave at a Unification Church sponsored conference, Andrew Brown commented: "The term 'Moonie' has entered the language as meaning a brainwashed, bright-eyed zombie." Brown also quoted William Shaw, a broadcaster who was presenting the Cult Fiction series on BBC Radio Five Live
BBC Radio Five Live
BBC Radio 5 Live is the BBC's national radio service that specialises in live BBC News, phone-ins, and sports commentaries...
: "Most Moonies embrace a morality which would make them acceptable in the most genteel Anglican social circle."
According to the 1999 edition of Religion and Politics In America Unification Church followers were known "universally" by the term. In a 2004 interview with The New York Times, playwright
Playwright
A playwright, also called a dramatist, is a person who writes plays.The term is not a variant spelling of "playwrite", but something quite distinct: the word wright is an archaic English term for a craftsman or builder...
Tony Kushner
Tony Kushner
Anthony Robert "Tony" Kushner is an American playwright and screenwriter. He received the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1993 for his play, Angels in America: A Gay Fantasia on National Themes, and co-authored with Eric Roth the screenplay for the 2005 film, Munich.-Life and career:Kushner was born...
used the term "Moonies" to refer to religious converts
Religious conversion
Religious conversion is the adoption of a new religion that differs from the convert's previous religion. Changing from one denomination to another within the same religion is usually described as reaffiliation rather than conversion.People convert to a different religion for various reasons,...
who lacked "spiritual liveliness or freedom of thought". The 2004 book Can I Know What to Believe? (written for high school students) asks: "When I say the word Moonies, what do you think of? Because Moonies aren't as prevalent in our society today as they were several years ago ... some might mentioned the mass weddings performed by Sun Myung Moon. Others might mention the group's fund-raising efforts through flower selling." In 2005 the New York Times published (as a part of their series "Modern Love") the testimony of former Unification Church member Renee Watabe about her arranged marriage
Arranged marriage
An arranged marriage is a practice in which someone other than the couple getting married makes the selection of the persons to be wed, meanwhile curtailing or avoiding the process of courtship. Such marriages had deep roots in royal and aristocratic families around the world...
in which her husband was selected for her by Moon. Watabe said about her former religious affiliation: "We 'Moonies' were willing to sacrifice personal choice to spin gold out of the raw silk of ourselves, to help create world harmony through family harmony."
In 2009 The Daily Telegraph
The Daily Telegraph
The Daily Telegraph is a daily morning broadsheet newspaper distributed throughout the United Kingdom and internationally. The newspaper was founded by Arthur B...
suggested that the Manchester City football club be nicknamed "The Blue Moonies" for their "evangelical zeal." In 2010 National Public Radio reported that young members of the Unification Church "bristle at the term 'Moonie'", while USA Today
USA Today
USA Today is a national American daily newspaper published by the Gannett Company. It was founded by Al Neuharth. The newspaper vies with The Wall Street Journal for the position of having the widest circulation of any newspaper in the United States, something it previously held since 2003...
reported that "the folks who follow Rev. Sun Myung Moon (also known, to their dislike, as the Moonies)." In 2010 The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
noted that the word “Moonie“ was being used in Washington D.C. to denote that someone was a “swooning loyalist.” The Denver Post reported that supporters of conservative congressional candidate Dan Maes
Dan Maes
Daniel B. Maes , is an American businessman and politician of Dutch descent. He was the Republican candidate in the 2010 Colorado gubernatorial election. Maes lives in Evergreen.-Early life, education and career:...
were being called "Maes moonies" for their "almost cultish" devotion to him. In 2010, David McWilliams, writing in the Sunday Business Post of Dublin, Ireland, referred to the irresponsible fiscal policies that lead to the world-wide late-2000s recession as "Moonie economics."
Commentary
British sociologist Eileen BarkerEileen Barker
Eileen Vartan Barker OBE, born in Edinburgh, UK, is a professor in sociology, an emeritus member of the London School of Economics , and a consultant to that institution's Centre for the Study of Human Rights...
titled her 1984 book, which was based on seven years of first-person study of members of the Unification Church in the United States and Great Britain and has been influential in the field of the sociology of religion
Sociology of religion
The sociology of religion concerns the role of religion in society: practices, historical backgrounds, developments and universal themes. There is particular emphasis on the recurring role of religion in all societies and throughout recorded history...
, The Making of a Moonie: Choice or Brainwashing?. She commented in the book's introduction: "Mention the name 'Moonies' to anyone in the West today, and the chances are that you will receive an immediate reaction which falls somewhere between a delicate shudder and an indignant outburst of fury." In the 1995 book America's Alternative Religions, published by the State University of New York Press
State University of New York
The State University of New York, abbreviated SUNY , is a system of public institutions of higher education in New York, United States. It is the largest comprehensive system of universities, colleges, and community colleges in the United States, with a total enrollment of 465,000 students, plus...
, Baker wrote: "Although they prefer to be called Unificationists, they are referred to in the media and popularly known as 'Moonies'." In the same book, Anson Shupe
Anson Shupe
Anson D. Shupe is an American sociologist noted for his studies of religious groups and their countermovements, family violence and clergy misconduct.-Work:...
, a sociologist known for his studies of religious issues, and David Bromley, a sociologist who has written extensively on new religious movements, also use the word Moonies to refer to members of the Unification Church. In his 1998 book Religion, Mobilization, and Social Action, Shupe notes that Barker, Bromley, and he himself had used the term in other publications, "and meant no offense". In his 2000 book Mystics and Messiahs, Philip Jenkins likens the term to "smear words such as Shaker, Methodist, Mormon". Jenkins mentions use of the word in book titles including Life among the Moonies and Escape from the Moonies, and comments: "These titles further illustrate how the derogatory term 'Moonie' became a standard for members of this denomination, in a way that would have been inconceivable for any of the insulting epithets that could be applied to, say, Catholics or Jews."
A 1992 study by Jeffrey E. Pfeifer of the University of Virginia
University of Virginia
The University of Virginia is a public research university located in Charlottesville, Virginia, United States, founded by Thomas Jefferson...
on "The Psychological Framing of Cults" found that 75.51% (74 of 98) of participating individuals were familiar with the word "Moonies". Dr Pfeifer sums up his findings by saying:
- Subjects were asked to read a description of a young man who joins a group and is exposed to its indoctrination process. Depending on the condition, subjects were led to believe that the group was either the Moonies, the Marines, or the Catholic Church. Except for the group label, in all three conditions the description of the indoctrination process was identical. Subjects were then asked to evaluate both the group's indoctrination techniques and the individual who joined the group, and to complete a questionnaire regarding their general knowledge of cults. Results indicate that subject ratings are significantly affected by the group label and that general knowledge regarding cults is based primarily on indirect sources.
Rosalind Millam's 2002 book Anti-Discriminatory Practice notes that "Its followers are better known as Moonies"; the entry on the Unification Church in the book is titled: "Unification Church (Moonies)". In its entry on "Unification Church", the 2002 edition of The New York Times Manual of Style and Usage
The New York Times Manual of Style and Usage
The New York Times Manual of Style and Usage: The Official Style Guide Used by the Writers and Editors of the World's Most Authoritative Newspaper is a style guide created in 1950 by editors at the newspaper and revised in 1974 and 1999 by Allan M. Siegal and William G. Connolly. The revised and...
advised: "Unification Church is appropriate in all references to the Holy Spirit Association for the Unification of World Christianity, which was founded by the Rev. Sun Myung Moon. Do not use the disparaging Moonie(s)". Reuters
Reuters
Reuters is a news agency headquartered in New York City. Until 2008 the Reuters news agency formed part of a British independent company, Reuters Group plc, which was also a provider of financial market data...
, in its handbook for journalists, says: "'Moonie' is a perjorative term for members of the Unification Church. We should not use it in copy and avoid it when possible in direct quotations."
See also
- Cultural appropriationCultural appropriationCultural appropriation is the adoption of some specific elements of one culture by a different cultural group. It describes acculturation or assimilation, but can imply a negative view towards acculturation from a minority culture by a dominant culture. It can include the introduction of forms of...
- NicknameNicknameA nickname is "a usually familiar or humorous but sometimes pointed or cruel name given to a person or place, as a supposedly appropriate replacement for or addition to the proper name.", or a name similar in origin and pronunciation from the original name....
- ReappropriationReappropriationReappropriation is the cultural process by which a group reclaims—re-appropriates—terms or artifacts that were previously used in a way disparaging of that group. For example, since the early 1970s, much terminology referring to homosexuality—such as gay, queer, and faggot—has been reappropriated...
- Reclaimed word
- Unification ChurchUnification ChurchThe Unification Church is a new religious movement founded by Korean religious leader Sun Myung Moon. In 1954, the Unification Church was formally and legally established in Seoul, South Korea, as The Holy Spirit Association for the Unification of World Christianity . In 1994, Moon gave the church...
- Unification Church of the United StatesUnification Church of the United StatesThe Unification Church of the United States is a new religious movement in the United States of America. It began in the 1950s and 1960s when missionaries from Japan and South Korea were sent to the United States by the international Unification Church's founder and leader Sun Myung Moon...
- Jesus freakJesus freakJesus freak is a term arising from the late 1960s and early 1970s counterculture and is incorrectly used as a pejorative for those involved in the Jesus movement...
- HippieHippieThe hippie subculture was originally a youth movement that arose in the United States during the mid-1960s and spread to other countries around the world. The etymology of the term 'hippie' is from hipster, and was initially used to describe beatniks who had moved into San Francisco's...
External links
- Dialogue with the Moonies Article by a Christian theologian which praises the character of Unification Church members, yet uses the word Moonie.
- Report on the Protest Against Moon Mass Wedding Festival (November 1997), includes discussion by critic Steven HassanSteven HassanSteven Alan Hassan is a licensed mental health counselor and an exit counselor. Hassan was an early advocate of exit counseling, and is the author of two books on the subject of "cults", and what he describes as their use of mind control, thought reform, and the psychology of influence in order...
about term - International Conferences for Clergy, Questions And Answers, answer at Unification Church website about term Moonies
- An essay on the use of the term Moonie by a Unification Church member
- Moonie in Urban DictionaryUrban DictionaryUrban Dictionary is a Web-based dictionary of slang words and phrases, which contained over 6 million definitions . Submissions are regulated by volunteer editors and rated by site visitors...
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