The first one is Sun Myung Moon, founder of the Unification Church, AKA The Moonies. A Christian Church that believes Moon is the Messiah.
In the 70s they allied themselves politically with the Republican Party. They own the far-right newspaper The Washington Times. Here’s Moon with both Nixon and Reagan.
The second one is Li Hongzhi, founder of Falun Gong, a cult that believes that Hongzhi is the reincarnation of a divine being here to help humanity ascend.
They’re also allied with the Republican Party and the American right-wing. They own the far-right newspaper The Epoch Times (whose CEO was recently charged with money-laundering $67 million)
Shen Yun is a “traditional Chinese dance” that Falun Gong completely made up to promote and finance their cult. Exploiting the fact that western audiences don’t know any better.
They promote it as “authentic Chinese culture” and “China before Communism” even though it was created in 2006 (and Falun Gong itself was formed in 1992).
I know about the Moonies because of a Binding of Isaac mod, of all things, made by someone who got out. They have a post on their tumblr where they talk about the experiences that led them to make it. They have other posts where they talk about the group too.
Needless to say, it’s a mix of violence, worshipping the figurehead, and customs designed to isolate and degrade the members so that they stay dependant on the cult. Oh, and let’s not forget insisting everything bad that happens to you is the work of evil spirits and/or punishment for your sins (or maybe your ancestors’ sins. some of them probably sinned.) Not to mention the grifting. Why pray for the things you need when you can buy magic paper that will carry your wishes to heaven? Oh, but evil spirits might intercept your wish, so be sure to buy extra paper, just in case!
Steven Hassan is a cult expert and former member of the Moonies who writes books about how cults work and how to combat cult mind control. He also has a podcast called The Influence Continuum about the topic.
He coined the BITE Method, a mnemonic device of the different methods cults use to try to control and brainwash you. It stands for: Behavior control, Information control, Thought control, and Emotion control.
