In the Shadow of the Moons

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For the book by Francis French, see In the Shadow of the Moon (book).
In the Shadow of the Moons
Hardcover Edition
Book cover, Hardcover ed.
Author Nansook Hong
Country Canada
Language English
Subject(s) religion
Genre(s) non-fiction
Publisher Little, Brown and Company
Publication date September 2, 1998
Media type Hardcover
Pages 240
ISBN ISBN 0316348163
ISBN 978-0316348164

In the Shadow of the Moons: My Life in the Reverend Sun Myung Moon's Family is a 1998, non-fiction work by Nansook Hong, published by Little, Brown and Company. The book is cited by six other books relating to cults and new religious movements.[1] New Yorker Magazine called what is revealed in the book Sun Myung Moon's "most damaging scandal", and categorized the book as a "tell-all memoir".[2]

The book has also been published in German, in 1998,[3] and in French, in 2000.[4]

In the copyright, Hong wrote that the book was dedicated: "For my children".

Contents

[edit] Background

Nansook Hong was chosen by Reverend Sun Myung Moon to be the wife of his eldest son, Hyo Jin Moon. According to Hong, Hyo Jin abused drugs and was a womanizer. His drug lapses were blamed on Hong. Bringing her children with her, Hong left the Unification Church and Hyo Jin, and recounts her experiences in In the Shadow of the Moons.[5] Hong's older brother, along with one of Sun Myung Moon's daughters to whom he is married - as well as Hong's parents - had all left the Unification Church prior to Hong.[6]

Hong recounted some of the material described in her book, in an interview by Mike Wallace on 60 Minutes, in September 1998.[7] According to an article in the New York Post, Hong stated that "she contracted a sexually transmitted disease from her husband and was "a toy for his sexual pleasure or an outlet for his violent rages." She also reports she saw the elder Moon abusing his children."[8]

In October 1998, Hong participated in an online interview hosted by TIME Magazine, in which she stated: "Rev. Moon has been proclaiming that he has established his ideal family, and fulfilled his mission, and when I pinpointed that his family is just as dysfunctional as any other family - or more than most - then I think his theology falls apart."[9]

In May 1999, Hong presented a talk on her book at the International Cultic Studies Association Conference: Cults, Psychological Manipulation & Society.[10]

[edit] Reviews

The Consortium

Robert Parry reviewed the book, and wrote that "it adds first-person evidence that Rev. Moon has flouted U.S. currency laws through a long-running conspiracy to smuggle cash into the United States or to lie to customs agents about where the cash is going."[11]

Cultic Studies Journal

In her review of the book, Marcia Rudin wrote that due to Nansook Hong's position within the Moon family, her story cannot simply be dismissed by cult apologists as an atrocity tale. Rudin went on to state that: "The compelling credibility of this book demands that Nansook's story be paid attention to. Many Unification Church members are paying it attention, for, according to Nansook and others, the first-hand testimony delivered through this book has already caused many Unification Church members to leave the group."[12]

Spirit Watch

Rafael Martinez, Director, Spiritwatch Ministries writes that the book is a "...painfully honest and personal reflection of her life as a bride to Hyo Jin, Moon's eldest son...",[13] and goes on to comment that: "The Moons, as she recounted, made no attempt to ever intervene or confront him, and instead heaped abuse and blame on her for Hyo Jin's own personal irresponsibility and wickedness."[13]

Unification Church member

In his review, Eugene Curtin - a journalist and member of the Unification Church, wrote: " While it frequently lapses into stale and questionable criticism of church practices and motivations, and while some of it seems to have been written by the anti-cult crowd that is currently holding her hand, this indictment of the church and the family that personifies it screams for a response."[14] Curtin recounts highlights of Hong's description of abuses and failures, and concludes with: "In these pages perhaps lie the seeds of a new Unificationism, one which abandons the idolatry of the True Family and pursues instead the building of loving, God-centered families."[14] and "It may well be, however, that like a butterfly discarding its chrysalis, Unificationism will have to join Hong and break from the True Family if it wishes to fly."[14]

[edit] Book covers

French edition,
L'Ombre de Moon,
September 1998,
ISBN 2-86391-883-4

German edition,
Ich schaue nicht zurück: Moons Schwiegertochter berichtet,
Bastei Lübbe, 2000,
ISBN 3-404-61446-1

[edit] See also

  • The Moon Is Not the Son, James Bjornstad, 1976

[edit] References

  1. ^ The Challenge of the Cults and New Religions, Dr. Ron Rhodes, p. 195; Twisted Scriptures, Mary Alice Chrnalogar; Lost History: Contras, Cocaine, the Press & 'Project Truth' , Robert Parry, p. 291; The Power of Persuasion: How We're Bought and Sold, Robert V. Levine; Charts of Cults, Sects, and Religious Movements, Dr. H. Wayne House; Following Our Bliss: How the Spiritual Ideals of the Sixties Shape Our Lives Today, Don Lattin, p. 203.
  2. ^ Moon At Twilight: Amid scandal, the Unification Church has a strange new mission, Peter Maass New Yorker Magazine, September 14, 1998.

    The most damaging scandal involves Hyo Jin, Moon's eldest son by his current wife and onetime heir apparent. In 1995, Hyo Jin's wife, Nansook Hong, fled the family compound in Irvington, New York, taking her five children, and subsequently filed for divorce and for a restraining order against Hyo Jin. In affidavits, she outlined a tale of drug use and spousal abuse by Hyo Jin, accusing him of "secreting himself in the master bedroom, sometimes for hours, sometimes for days, drinking alcohol, using cocaine and watching pornographic films." She said he beat her repeatedly, even when she was pregnant. Hyo Jin, through his lawyer, denies Nansook's accusations. Hyo Jin was jailed for a few months after failing to obey a court order to pay sixty-five thousand dollars toward Hong's legal fees. At the end of 1997, Hyo Jin and Nansook reached a divorce agreement, in which she was granted full custody of their children.

  3. ^ Hong, Nansook: Ich schaue nicht zurück: Moons Schwiegertochter berichtet. , Bastei Lübbe, 2000, ISBN 3-404-61446-1.
  4. ^ L'Ombre de Moon, French edition, September 1998, ISBN 2-86391-883-4.
  5. ^ Review, In the Shadow of the Moons, Library Journal, 1998, Reed Business Information, Inc.
  6. ^ The Reveal Library, Review, 1998, Kim Krecek.
  7. ^ Nansook Hong, interviewed by Mike Wallace, 60 Minutes, September 20, 1998, [1], [2]
  8. ^ "Double Trouble for Moon Empire", New York Post, August 17, 1998.
  9. ^ Life with the Moons: A conversation with Nansook Hong, former daughter-in-law of the Rev. Sun Myung Moon, TIME Magazine, October 13, 1998.
  10. ^ Conference Speakers, May 14-16, 1999, Minneapolis, Minnesota, International Cultic Studies Association, Cults, Psychological Manipulation & Society.
  11. ^ Review, Robert Parry, The Consortium, October 1, 1998.
  12. ^ Book Review, Marcia Rudin, Cultic Studies Journal, Volume 16, Number 1, 1999.
  13. ^ a b The True Family's Real Values, Rafael Martinez, Director, Spiritwatch Ministries.
  14. ^ a b c Review, Eugene Curtin, journalist and member of Unification Church.

[edit] External links

Excerpts
Book reviews