#Creative Community Project

[howwelldoyouknowyourmoon]

Ex-Moonie recounts his life as a follower of the Rev. Moon

Chicago Tribune March 1979

By Michael Hirsley

One week, he was a Yale University graduate with a bachelor of arts degree in psychology and philosophy, considering graduate school and beginning summer vacation in Berkeley, Calif.

The next week, he was on a farm with his new friends, jumping and pumping his arms up and down while chanting, “Choo-choo-choo-choo,” like a “choo-choo” train in a sort of rural Romper Room gone wrong.

After four weeks, he called his parents to assure them he was doing well. Within six months, his new California friends had become his only family.

He turned over to them his earnings from selling flowers, then from washing dishes, while settling for peanut butter sandwiches as nourishment, and four hours for sleep. Once, he sneaked away and bought himself a glass of milk and a cookie. After he finished them, his shame was instant. He threw up.

Why would a 22-year-old man with a college education begin acting like a child, pliantly follow orders and work for next to nothing, and be unable to eat a cookie in solitude without feeling like a traitor?

He met them that first week in Berkeley. A man who had been kind enough to direct him to a hotel invited him to dinner. There, he met the group.

“They didn't say anything about being a religious group. They were friendly and paid incredible attention to everything I told them about myself,” Edwards says. ‘‘I liked the atmosphere better than social hours in college.”

But still, it is disquieting to imagine that someone like Christopher Edwards — who still fits the Ivy League image in a vested suit, and still looks like a college student as he sips a cup of coffee in a Chicago hotel room — “gave” his soul temporarily to a cult.

His credentials are non-radical, middle-of-the-road: Son of a doctor, member of an upper middle class family, spent summers traveling in this country and in Europe... Was he really the typical college graduate he seemed to be when he became a Moonie?

“What’s typical?” he asks. “One of the last memories I have of college is sitting with a friend and watching (on television) the last troops leave Vietnam. I was somewhat disillusioned with the war and our society.”

He said his peers in the Moonies included many white, middle-class, college-educated men and women in their early 20s.

“There are people who are more susceptible to a religious group like this, people coming out of college, a little disillusioned, looking for a loving community,” he says. “But I really fight the notion that something has to be wrong with you to get involved in a group like this. I think only an extremely selfish, narrow-minded person would not be susceptible.”

He accepted the group’s invitation to go to the farm in California for the weekend. Once there, he ignored guards at the front gate, the silly “choo-choo” game and the fact that “someone followed me everywhere I went, even to the bathroom.”

Edwards admits he found those things “silly and embarrassing, and very odd, but they seemed harmless. I thought theirs was a simplicity that could be trusted.”

And, he concedes, that as a psychology student, “part of my motivation for staying was pure curiosity. Their tactics attracted me.”

His early days with the group consisted of repetitive exercises and lectures in which “you were praised for following directions and accepting repetitive boring speeches without questioning them,” he says. “I felt confident that I couldn’t be manipulated, but I was.”

Those childish games and dogmatic speeches were exercises to break down resistance to brainwashing, he says. “I was put in a hypnotic state,” he says. “I was in a trance.”

For nearly four months, his parents — Dr. Charles Edwards. a surgeon, and his wife, Betty, of Montclair, N. J. — were blissfully unaware of what was happening to their son. It wasn’t unusual to hear little from him when he was traveling on his vacation.

Even a letter, in which he described to them his work with a Creative Community Project in Oakland, caused them no anxiety until they saw the project name again in a newspaper article.

“It was about a meeting for parents who had lost their children to cults. It indicated that Christopher’s project was part of the Rev. Sun Myung Moon’s Unification Church, the Moonies,” Dr. Edwards said in a phone conversation from his New Jersey office. “We were shocked.”

The Edwards attended the meeting, and were shocked anew. “It was supposed to be a one-hour meeting, from 3 p.m. to 4 p.m.,” Dr. Edwards recalled. “It lasted until 8 p.m. There were over 500 parents there.” Unification Church membership is estimated at 80,000.  [There were never more than about 10,000 core members in the US and many of those were imported from Japan and Europe. If everyone who ever had any connection with the UC was counted the number of 30,000 might have been reached decades ago.]

After the meeting, the Edwards’ contacted Ted Patrick, the controversial “deprogrammer” who assists parents in kidnapping their children from the Moonies.

“Patrick had a three-and-a-half month waiting list,” Dr. Edwards said. While he waited for Patrick’s call, he read everything he could about the Moonies.

In January of 1976, Dr. Edwards met with Patrick to plot Christopher’s kidnaping.

The doctor closed his practice for three weeks. He flew to California, found his son after considerable searching, and said he just wanted to be sure Christopher was all right.

“I met him in a coffee shop were he worked,” Dr. Edwards said. “I saw all these kids there walking around with passive looks and mechanical movements. I thought they were in a trance, and I have had some training in hypnosis.

“I didn't say anything against the cult, and I was invited to lunch the next day. I watched recruiting techniques used on me. They looked me in the eye and spoke lovingly, flatteringly, and made me feel important.

The next day, Patrick and assistants helped Dr. Edwards pull his son out of a car and away from a fellow group member.

Dr. Edwards said the weeks of deprogramming that followed — including plane fares for five deprogrammers and assistants and a detective after the family received threatening phone calls and suffered two break-ins at their home — cost “tens of thousands of dollars.”

Christopher Edwards now lectures on cults, and has written a book about his experiences, entitled, “Crazy for God.”

“Its just coincidental that my book is coming out just when Guyana and Jonestown are making us worry about cults,” Edwards says.

“The People’s Temple suicides in Jonestown and thereafter; and an “informal” congressional hearing on cult worship last month; are heightening public anxiety about cults.

Edwards’ book provides fuel for such concern, citing mechanical movements, glassy eyes, and loss of intelligence and initiative as changes which cult members undergo hypnosis.

In one small section, where Edwards expresses hope that “a psychological test will one day emerge to verify these changes,” the book provides a scary glimpse at the potential for “psycho-war” between cults and deprogrammers.

“I fought against the deprogrammers for quite a while, and I told them I would die for my cult friends and leaders,” Edwards says “That still worries me a great deal.”

__________________________________

Crazy for God: The nightmare of cult life by Christopher Edwards

The Social Organization of Recruitment in the Unification Church PDF  
 by David Frank Taylor, M.A., July 1978, Sociology

Moonwebs by Josh Freed (the book was made into a movie)

__________________________________

Unification Church’s deceptive recruiting tactics - Part 1

4:00 Ford Greene “At the outset there is never a disclosure: 1) We are the Unification Church
 2) We believe that Rev. Moon is the second coming of Christ
 3) We believe that you are dominated by Satan 
4) The way for you to become free from Satan is by being unconditionally obedient to Moon because he is the only human being who has ever conquered and defeated Satan.”

1:30 Allen Tate Wood
“…The purpose of getting there is to get them off to a training center, run them through a training regimen of 7, 21 or 40 days. When that is complete that person is going to be on a bus for the next seven years, working 16 hours a day. They are not up front about that.”

Unification Church’s deceptive recruiting tactics - Part 2 5:00 Ford Greene:
 “The pitch that is always made is a pitch to conscience, is a pitch to a person’s highest, most moral inner yearnings and the ultimate result is enslavement.”

__________________________________

Ford Greene on Sun Myung Moon and the Unification Church

Allen Tate Wood (was also interviewed by News Center 4) LINK to a webpage of interviews with Allen Tate Wood

[thewriteadviceforwriters]

Character Flaws and Their Meanings

Impulsiveness : Acts on instinct without careful planning. Perfectionism : Sets unrealistically high standards, leading to self-criticism. Indecisiveness : Struggles to commit to decisions or choose a path. Arrogance : Overestimates one’s abilities and dismisses others. Pessimism : Habitually expects negative outcomes in most situations. Cynicism : Distrusts the motives and sincerity of others. Overconfidence : Places excessive faith in one’s skills, often underestimating risks. Stubbornness : Resists change and refuses to adapt to new ideas. Jealousy : Feels envious of others' success or possessions. Insecurity : Experiences frequent self-doubt and a lack of confidence. Procrastination : Tends to delay tasks, often leading to missed opportunities. Passivity : Avoids taking initiative and relies on others to act. Aggressiveness : Responds with hostility or force rather than reason. Selfishness : Prioritizes personal gain over the welfare of others. Fragility : Is overly sensitive to criticism and easily discouraged. Egotism : Constantly focuses on oneself and one’s own importance. Defensiveness : Quickly rejects or rationalizes away critique or new information. Manipulativeness : Exploits others to fulfill personal needs or desires. Recklessness : Shows a careless disregard for potential risks or consequences. Resentfulness : Holds lingering bitterness and grudges over perceived wrongs. Distractibility : Finds it hard to maintain focus amid competing interests. Impatience : Lacks the willingness to wait, often spoiling opportunities to learn. Perfunctory : Performs actions in a mechanical, uninspired manner. Self-Doubt : Consistently questions personal abilities and decisions. Arbitraryness : Makes decisions based on whim rather than reason or evidence. Rigidity : Is inflexible and unwilling to consider alternative viewpoints. Gullibility : Trusts too easily, often leading to being misled or deceived. Obsession : Becomes excessively fixated on particular ideas or details. Aloofness : Maintains emotional distance, appearing detached or indifferent. Intolerance : Refuses to accept differing perspectives or lifestyles.

Writing Advice for Brainstorming

Mix genres and time periods: Experiment by combining elements from different eras or genres to create unique settings and narratives.

Use "what if" scenarios: Pose unexpected questions (e.g., What if time travel operated on emotions rather than mechanics?) to spark novel ideas.

Draw from diverse mediums: Engage with art, music, or even scientific papers to inspire unexpected plot twists.

Embrace absurdity: Let illogical or surreal ideas guide you; sometimes the wildest thoughts lead to compelling stories.

Reverse clichés: Identify common tropes in your favorite genres and deliberately invert them to create fresh perspectives.

Incorporate personal anomalies: Transform your idiosyncrasies and personal struggles into rich, multi-dimensional characters.

Use mind-mapping: Visually plot your ideas in a freeform way to uncover hidden connections between disparate elements.

[poorly-drawn-mdzs]

With the end of season two comes a second redraw!

[Nov 2022] [June 2023] [June 2024]

[nondelphic]

"once upon a time" is a great opening line if you’re writing a fairy tale, but unfortunately, your novel is a gritty dystopian nightmare about capitalism, so now it’s “in the year 3098…”

[agentc0rn]

Found a really cool trend from twitter that I wanted to share on here, basically has to do with form changes in relation to the abilities of each pokemon! I thought of going with Volcarona as it is one of my favs. The Flame Body ability was pretty straightforward to work with, which I made Volcarona's body entirely in flames except for its thorax and little mandibles.

I had more difficulty with the swarm, but decided to add more wings to give off an illusion of sorts, more so a mimicry of the swarm movement (alternatively, they reflect the solar flares). I added small random moths cuddling Volcarona, joined with hovering yellow ones that were allured by its warmth and light (moths like warm places!)

Had tons of fun with this :)

Thank you and credits to @n0rtist for the wonderful idea/trend!

Original post: https://www.tumblr.com/n0rtist/752603925067268096?source=share

[niightegoblingtyime]

Thank you for reading my zine on fanfiction and disability!

One of the big obstacles for disability advocacy is when disability gets divided into small categories, with each individual disability only standing up for people like them. But we really are all one community!

What they don't want you to know is that inclusion is accessible to anyone! Whether you're disabled, a fanfiction writer, or both, we all have similar values! We're all on the same team!

Shoutout to @valleykey for letting me include a paragraph from their Jujutsu Kaisen fanfiction something funny that ive learned!

[dorian-wilde-writings]

Worried about losing access to important literature now that you have some dipshit running things?

Fear not! The Free Book access server is purely for that and that only! We’re working to collect as many free pdf copies as possible for anyone who may have limited resources to literature

Knowledge should never be a finite resource.

[sculkfeathers]

I know not everything needs a comment, but this is like my first time posting on Tumblr, so bear with me

I have been partially helping @gtwscratch with her Wonderful Wildlife Project X AU and made this low quality video this morning for fun since I see so many people [ including me ] excited about it

I have seen a lot of creative work from fans surrounding the AU [ and made some fanart myself in private ] and it's honestly just amazing

[rae-butter]

Something that is so important in fiction writing is your characters worldview. What I don’t mean is their religious beliefs or the views on politics—I mean how they view life as a whole.

When something unfair happens to them—some form of emotional pain—how do they react? How do they view themselves? What are things that commonly pass through their mind? Where do they run to when they need help, when they have good news, or when they need a place to relax?

It’s something that’s so obvious yet overlooked when fleshing out OC’s bc most OC creators are like “yeah, they would do x” but why they react that way is where most people are stumped. If you can trace that reaction back to a moment in their past, or an aspect of their personality, then that’s a fleshed out character.

[angels-of-horror]

“Stop writing villains as aroace! It’s bad and perpetuates the stereotype that aroace’s are evil!”

Okay, but have you considered that I am the evil aroace??

[howwelldoyouknowyourmoon]

The Boonville Plague, constant diarrhea, probably due to the poor plumbing

I was a member of Rev. Moon’s movement—called the Unification Center at 6502 Dana St., Oakland, California, and at New Ideal City Ranch, Boonville, California—from August 7, 1975, to January 16, 1976.

I was one of the countless number of people who experienced the Boonville Plague, constant diarrhea probably due to the poor plumbing which always seemed to be in need of repair. In any event, I soon found that almost all disease and injury is considered as “spiritual problems”. Unity is constantly stressed as the only way to feel “Heavenly Father’s heart,” Father being Moon himself, and not God as the initial training indicated. I heard dozens of members pledge to do anything —including die for Moon.

A similar loyalty was expressed for Onni and Dr. Mose Durst who are considered to be the True Parents of the United States by Jeremiah Schnee, Michelle Tunis and the rest of the leaders and followers in the Bay Area houses. “Unity” was supposed to be accomplished by following “the higher standard of love” that my “center person” or leader had. “Don’t worry about externals” was the common response to my request for warmer clothing and repair of broken glasses that were giving me headaches. There were no doctors at either Boonvllle or Oakland, so when I felt really ill, I ignored their suggestion of extra rest and went to a doctor who treated me for pneumonia.

I finally left the cult, unable to accept their assertion that Jews have been paying indemnity throughout history—the slaughter in Nazi Germany is often cited—for not following the will of God. Members are told the best thing they can do for their parents is to stay at the center. When my mother was about to have an operation, I asked to see her and was denied that request. I was told my parents would have to pay a terrible indemnity in the spirit world (heaven) if they ever influenced me to leave the movement.

Looking back, I can see it was the poor health and intense pace and isolation at the Boonville training center that makes people believers of Divine Principle, because it doesn’t stand up to any logical religious or ideological scrutiny. I hope that, at the very least, an effort can be made that would allow cult members to see what’s really going on in the world, not with another member, but for themselves, and then decide what is right.

Respectfully yours,

David L. Needle

____________________________________

Scared of Leaving the Moon church?

My advice on leaving the Unification Church of Sun Myung Moon An Open Letter to the Moon church from a former 2nd Gen. Raising Hell: Growing up 2nd gen in the Moon church by Julia McKenna

Barbara Underwood and the Oakland Moonies

Papasan Choi and Boonville’s Japanese origins

Sun Myung Moon and his anti-Semitism

Sun Myung Moon’s theology used to control members

Sun Myung Moon makes me feel ashamed to be Korean

[thewriteadviceforwriters]

Is Your Villain Dry? Internal Conflict is Needed!

@thewriteadviceforwriters

Villains aren’t evil just for chaos. there’s a whole world of internal battles waging behind that hardened façade. Dive deep into your villain’s psyche to reveal:

A haunting past or a pivotal mistake that shadows their every move 😌

A remnant of empathy or humanity that makes them tragically relatable

Subvert expectations:

Avoid the cliché "pure evil" stereotype by exploring the layers of regret, loss, or even doubtful remorse.

Show that they might be wrestling with an internal conflict over choices made in the name of a twisted sense of justice.

Use narrative techniques:

Experiment with fragmented internal monologues instead of well-structured soliloquies.

Incorporate flashbacks or unreliable narration to mirror the fragmented state of their troubled mind.

Infuse subtle moments of vulnerability:

Craft scenes where your villain, in solitude (maybe under a starlit sky 🌟), reflects on their regrets and fears.

Use these quiet moments to hint at the underlying emotional turmoil, avoiding over-dramatization.

Leverage relationships as catalysts:

Introduce secondary characters—like a long-lost friend or a mentor—who evoke memories of who they once were.

Let these interactions expose the conflict between the villain’s desire for power and the remnants of their former, more innocent self.

Remember:

The key to authentic internal conflict is subtlety. Let these emotions simmer beneath the surface, influencing every decision without overtly stating them.

Experiment relentlessly—let your villain’s inner struggle fuel the narrative and add depth to their character arc.

Let your villain be the dark heart of your story, pulsing with all the ambiguities of a lost soul caught between redemption and damnation. Happy writing, and keep weaving that intricate magic! 😊 - Rin T.

[baronboar]

Typical knights from the three great Gilter kingdoms!

Lore dump under the read more~

Typically only a small percentage of an army are recognised by their monarch & knighted. On top of that the responsibilities of a knight differ wildly between the kingdoms.

Waizentrum: These sleek & light warriors rarely fight in close quarters, but will take up a light weapon such as a basket-hilted short sword when the need arises. Instead they are experienced archanists (wizards!) and act as the firepower of a platoon. Usually firing dangerous projectiles from a long range, or razing battlefields with wide indiscriminate fire. Typically an archanist is knighted upon passing a state exam which involves a written and practical test. While it is difficult to become a knight, not just soldiers can take the exam, resulting in those who wouldn't otherwise join the war effort becoming powerful assets to the kingdom.

Nordekoph: Valuing physical strength, this kingdom have a long history of valuing tall, long-tailed individuals, resulting in a population that on average stand a head taller than the other two. A Nordekoph knight is not uncommon to see, as they act as strategists, captains, and peace keepers. A knight will oversee 30-40 mercenaries hired by the reining monarch, co-ordinating their forces with other knights within their local round. While somewhat messy, the system is backed by priestesses of the Sanguine Draken who use their altered vision to forsee the best possible strategies. Usually in Nordekoph a knight must earn a name as a mercenary, if their knight feels particularly impressed the mercenary may travel to the capital to perform a duel before the reining monarch.

Oztenkig: With the fewest knights, the soldiers of Oztenkig do not seem to suffer from any loss. 'Knighthood' is a role that purely marks the soldier as working in the kingdom's capital. Therefore the monarch is personally hiring that warrior to protect their home. With armour made using traditional techniques out of shaped insect chitin, these knights are the cream of the crop, it takes great feats of bravery and trials plenty to become a knight in Oztenkig. Most are trained from childhood, but many who retire from the battlefield un-maimed are offered the position. Oztenkig knights aren't known for having preferences in weaponry, but as they are heavily armoured in a surprisingly light suit they make use of two weapons, often a concussive short lucerne & sword.

[nondelphic]

you ever notice how dystopian novels always have the “rich elite living in a pristine city while the rest suffer” trope? wild how that’s considered fiction and not just an autobiography about late-stage capitalism.

[cr1e]

There’s just so MANY IDEAS in my head but I’m gonna choose with these two 😭😭😭

Option one: reader is not the lads mc, a different person— and have the “I’ll meet you in every lifetime, in every universe, even if you only remember every lives I am not in,” kinda trope but reader is the only one that remembers

Option two: Same as option one but “In every life time, in every universe I will find you, but I won’t associate myself with you, but I can’t help but want—need to feel your presence” kinda trope, but this time, reader is immortal, and a universe jumper