- Nansook Hong
-
Korean name Hangul 홍난숙 Hanja 洪蘭淑 Revised Romanization Hong Nan-suk McCune–Reischauer Hong Nansuk Nansook Hong (born 1966), is the former wife of Hyo Jin Moon, first son of Unification Church founder and leader Sun Myung Moon and his wife Hakja Han Moon. They divorced in 1995.[1] In 1998 her autobiography (co-authored with Eileen McNamara), In the Shadow of the Moons: My Life in the Reverend Sun Myung Moon's Family, was published.
Contents
Biography
Nansook Hong was chosen by Sun Myung Moon to be the wife of his eldest son, Hyo Jin Moon. According to Hong, Hyo Jin abused drugs and was unfaithful to her. 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.[2]
Hong recounted some of the material described in her book, in an interview by Mike Wallace on 60 Minutes, in September 1998.[3] 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."[4]
In May 1999, Hong presented a talk on her book at the International Cultic Studies Association Conference: Cults, Psychological Manipulation & Society.[5]
In the Shadow of the Moons
In the Shadow of the Moons 
Book cover, Hardcover ed.Author(s) 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 0316348163 OCLC Number 39736042 In the Shadow of the Moons: My Life in the Reverend Sun Myung Moon's Family is a 1998, non-fiction work by Hong, published by Little, Brown and Company. The book is cited by at least six other books relating to cults and new religious movements.[6] Peter Maass, writing in the 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".[7]
The book has also been published in German, in 1998,[8] and in French, in 2000.[9]
The book is dedicated: "For my children". According to an article in the New York Post, Hong stated that "she contracted a sexually transmitted disease from her husband Hyo Jin Moon and was "a toy for his sexual pleasure or an outlet for his violent rages."[10] In her review of the book for Cultic Studies Journal, 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."[11] Rafael Martinez, the director of 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..."[12]
References
- ^ A Scion Falls Short of Sinless, Eileen McNamara, Boston Globe December 20, 1997
- ^ Review, In the Shadow of the Moons, Library Journal, 1998, Reed Business Information, Inc.
- ^ Nansook Hong, interviewed by Mike Wallace, 60 Minutes, September 20, 1998
- ^ Life with the Moons: A conversation with Nansook Hong, former daughter-in-law of the Rev. Sun Myung Moon, TIME Magazine, October 13, 1998.
- ^ Conference Speakers, May 14-16, 1999, Minneapolis, Minnesota, International Cultic Studies Association, Cults, Psychological Manipulation & Society.
- ^ 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.
- ^ Moon At Twilight: Amid scandal, the Unification Church has a strange new mission, Peter Maass New Yorker Magazine, September 14, 1998.
- ^ Hong, Nansook: Ich schaue nicht zurück: Moons Schwiegertochter berichtet. , Bastei Lübbe, 2000, ISBN 3-404-61446-1.
- ^ L'Ombre de Moon, French edition, September 1998, ISBN 2-86391-883-4.
- ^ "Double Trouble for Moon Empire", New York Post, August 17, 1998.
- ^ Book Review, Marcia Rudin, Cultic Studies Journal, Volume 16, Number 1, 1999.
- ^ The True Family's Real Values, Rafael Martinez, Director, Spiritwatch Ministries.
External links
- Review of In the Shadow of the Moons by a Unification Church member.
- Interviews with Nansook Hong on local and national news shows on television, including on 60 Minutes.
Categories:- Critics of the Unification Church
- American people of Korean descent
- 1966 births
- Living people
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