A Christian Gun Cult Holds a Trump Festival

The Rev. Hyung Jin “Sean” Moon, 45, opened the second day of the Rod of Iron Freedom Festival with a sermon. Clutching a gold AR-15 and wearing his signature crown of bullets, Moon stood beneath a big tent in a muddy field in Greeley, Pennsylvania, and told his audience, “In John Chapter 2, we see that Jesus Christ, God in the flesh, is an assault weapons manufacturer.” His congregation, dressed in their Sunday best with red Make America Great Again hats, listened intently as Moon explained that Jesus told his disciples to break unconstitutional laws to save America from tyranny. The sermon was short, and Moon abruptly shifted from pastor to emcee, declaring, “Welcome to the Rod of Iron Freedom Festival, folks. God bless you; may God save America using President Trump and every single one of you. God bless you. MAGA 2024, let’s go, baby!”

Rod of Iron Ministries split from the Unification Church in 2017. The Unification Church, a Korean group founded by Sean Moon’s father, Sun Myung Moon, is known for its belief that Moon is the messiah. Two of Sun Myung Moon’s sons, Sean and Kook-jin, or Justin, founded Rod of Iron Ministries. The church shares many core beliefs with the Unification Church but claims that AR-15s are the “rod of iron” that Jesus wields in the Book of Revelation. Justin Moon, one of the founders, established Kahr Arms, a firearms manufacturer that produces a commemorative Donald Trump AR-15.

The two-day festival was free and open to the public, but admission to Friday’s pre-event screening of *Flynn*, a film about the life of Michael T. Flynn, was $25. Flynn, a retired lieutenant general and former national security adviser to Donald Trump, has been touring to promote the movie. The film has partnered with Ivan Raiklin for Q&As across the country.

Raiklin, the man behind the “Pence card,” is a legal theory that then–Vice President Mike Pence could have blocked the election certification on January 6, 2021. This theory led to Trump’s now-infamous tweet questioning Pence’s courage. Raiklin is also the self-appointed secretary of the so-called Department of Retribution, for which he maintains a “Deep State Target List” of journalists, politicians, and other foes. He advocates using sheriffs and local officials to arrest his enemies and has called for “Public, Live-Streamed (in the interest of transparency) Capital punishment” for officials who crafted pro-vaccine Covid-19 policies. After the first assassination attempt on Trump, Raiklin demanded that the former US Secret Service director Kimberly Cheatle be executed.

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