#eileen barker

[howwelldoyouknowyourmoon]

There are examples of marriages (some never consumated) arranged by Sun Myung Moon for the purposes of gaining visas.

The Unification Church: A Kaleidoscopic Introduction by Eileen Barker

“Several members and former members have talked about smuggling money across national borders (Hong 1998: 173); I have been told by a former Unificationist that she was instructed to sew money into her petticoat; another said he had carried a suitcase packed with notes through customs. I have heard directly and indirectly of Unificationists entering into marriages that they had no intention of honouring in order to acquire visas for other Unificationists.” (page 43)

Published in Acta Comparanda SUBSIDIA VI  May 29-30, 2017 The Life and Legacy of Sun Myung Moon and the Unification Movements in Scholarly Perspective

_______________________________________

Sun Myung Moon had no respect for US immigration law

Nansook Hong: “I entered the United States illegally on January 3, 1982”

[princess-peregrine]

10 Most Read Authors

Thanks for tagging me @godzilla-reads

"what are your ten most most read authors? and how many books have you read by them? also tag someone who you would like to do this!

instructions: scroll to the bottom of your goodreads shelves and most read authors is listed underneath."

I don't use goodreads but here's what ibknow from my personal collection

1. Seanan McGuire (21 books) Seanan McGuire is an amazing writer and one of the hardest things to do is put down one of her books once you start, it's always a captivating adventure to read one of her books

2. Kay Hooper (16 books) I'm not done with her Bishop/Special Crimes Unit books but oh my gosh, she writes good. If i had to give a short and sweet summary of what she writes, it would come off as a trashy genre. But she writes possibly my favorite romances I have ever read. Once a Thief and Always a Thief are my favorite romace books of all time, and the reason I read them was because of a ML fanfic called Once a thief Always a Thief by, I believe, Saijispellhart, I think that's right, if you read that fic and liked it then you will love Kay Hooper

3. CJ Cherryh (12) this is possibly my favorite writer of science fiction full stop and i can't even get into it here because i would talk for ages, the message here is to read CJ Cherryh's books, for the love of Goddess read them

4. Jimmy Gownley (8 books) Amelia Rules is my favorite comic of all time with a close secomd being the planet Sakaar arc in the hulk comics

5. Diana Rowland (7 books) people just love her white trash zombie books, and foe good reason, but personally i loved her Mark/Blood of the Demon books a whole lot more

6. Victoria Laurie (7 books) i loved the first book in her ghost hunter mystery books, then 2 and 3 were a slog, and then the rest were good again, not sure what happened to the second and third book

7. Marrion Zimmer Bradley (7 books) ew ew ew ew ew ew ew ew ew ew what the fuck is up with her ew ew ew ew ew ew this is what passed for feminist writing back then?! I've read incel rants with more respect for women than some of the stuff she writes!

Anyway she's an ok science fiction writer with a way of writing really engaging stories with a strong narrative voice, don't read her books, they really are not kind to women

8. Michelle Tea (5 books) go read mermaid in chelsea creek, go do it, right now, this is a demand, read mermaid in chelsea creek, cry about it and then come back to me and tell me what you thought about it, do it now

My favorite book from her is Valencia btw, an excellent memoir

9. Kim Harrison (4 books) don't ask me anything about her books, i could not tell you, i know what happened because i read them but the memories are jumbled up with details from the October Day novels

10. Stephen king (4 books) Stephen King is, ehhhh, i read him more for the status that he was a prolific writer and had a lot of popular books, the first one i read, which is still my favorite by the way, is The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon

Honorable mentions that i just recommend you go read because i love their books

Eileen Myles shouldn't need and introduction and if she does then you are living a worse life for it

Rob Reger who wrote the Emily The Strange books

Clive Barker who i have read quite a bit but excluded him for the same of smaller names (but you included stephen king) shut up

Wendy Holden, she didn't write many books but the ones she wrote were good

Dana Fredsti, her plague books are like brownies

Jeanien Frost, imagine if Kim Harrison was more memorable

Now i'll tag @scham-wcan @vivaciousarcanist @zerm2v0hg @far-side-skies @grimm-the-6th @overlordneon @transgressivepistoleer @mx-kit

[scurvgirl]

This week’s @galladrabbles is Perseverance, given to us by @twinklyylights. This was a great word! I’ve only watched Shameless all the way through one time (working on #2 right now), but I’m pretty sure Ian’s parole officer after Paula was never mentioned - SO! Here we go. 

“Put me down for fifty on one year.”

“One year? Optimistic, Jones.”

“Two hundred on not breaking parole,” Parole Officer Eileen Barker piped up. Her colleagues looked at her in shock.

“You can root for’em, Barker, but you gotta be realistic,” Isaac, a senior parole officer, said with a sympathetic look. Eileen raised her chin.

“I believe in Gallagher. And Milkovich. They’re gonna make it.”

“Gallagher, maybe. Milkovich? Not a chance.”

“Two hundred. They persevere.” Eileen smiled as she grasped her file - it was the best one she had and damn it all, she was rooting for those two felons.

[ao3feeddestiel]

The Supernatural Hunting Academy for Boys and Girls

read it on AO3 at https://ift.tt/LHR8KV6 by HallmarkDestiel At the Supernatural Hunting Academy, Claire Novak embarks on a thrilling journey of discovery, friendship, and adventure. With her new friend Kaia by her side, Claire navigates the challenges of training to become a hunter while uncovering hidden powers within herself. Together, they face supernatural threats and forge a bond that strengthens with each passing day, proving that with courage and determination, they can overcome any obstacle that comes their way. Words: 11136, Chapters: 2/?, Language: English Fandoms: Supernatural (TV 2005) Rating: Mature Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence Categories: F/F, M/M Characters: Sam Winchester, Dean Winchester, Castiel (Supernatural), Gabriel (Supernatural), Michael (Supernatural), Balthazar (Supernatural), Crowley (Supernatural), Meg Masters, Rowena MacLeod, Max Banes, Alicia Banes, Bobby Singer (Supernatural), Rufus Turner, Ellen Harvelle, Jo Harvelle, Jody Mills, Donna Hanscum, Kathleen Hudak, Christine Barker, Clark Barker, Audrey (Supernatural: Just My Imagination), Jesse Turner (Supernatural), Magda Peterson, Kevin Tran (Supernatural), Jack Kline, Claire Novak, Kaia Nieves, Patience Turner, Pamela Barnes (Supernatural), Benny Lafitte, Garth Fitzgerald IV, Ash (Supernatural), Missouri Moseley, Eileen Leahy, Max (Supernatural: Lebanon), Stacy (Supernatural: Lebanon), Eliot (Supernatural: Lebanon), Aidan (Supernatural: Freaks and Geeks), Krissy Chambers, Josephine Barnes, Ben Braeden, Emma (Supernatural: Slice Girls), Adam Milligan, Bobby John (Supernatural: Two and a Half Men) Relationships: Castiel/Dean Winchester, Gabriel/Sam Winchester, Donna Hanscum/Jody Mills, Kathleen Hudak/Christine Barker, Kaia Nieves/Claire Novak, Alex Jones/Patience Turner, Other Relationship Tags to Be Added Additional Tags: Hunting school, School Life, Boarding School, Hunting, Monsters, Canon-Typical Violence read it on AO3 at https://ift.tt/LHR8KV6

[ao3feed-destiel-02]

The Supernatural Hunting Academy for Boys and Girls

read it on AO3 at https://ift.tt/4E6WmCj by HallmarkDestiel At the Supernatural Hunting Academy, Claire Novak embarks on a thrilling journey of discovery, friendship, and adventure. With her new friend Kaia by her side, Claire navigates the challenges of training to become a hunter while uncovering hidden powers within herself. Together, they face supernatural threats and forge a bond that strengthens with each passing day, proving that with courage and determination, they can overcome any obstacle that comes their way. Words: 11136, Chapters: 2/?, Language: English Fandoms: Supernatural (TV 2005) Rating: Mature Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence Categories: F/F, M/M Characters: Sam Winchester, Dean Winchester, Castiel (Supernatural), Gabriel (Supernatural), Michael (Supernatural), Balthazar (Supernatural), Crowley (Supernatural), Meg Masters, Rowena MacLeod, Max Banes, Alicia Banes, Bobby Singer (Supernatural), Rufus Turner, Ellen Harvelle, Jo Harvelle, Jody Mills, Donna Hanscum, Kathleen Hudak, Christine Barker, Clark Barker, Audrey (Supernatural: Just My Imagination), Jesse Turner (Supernatural), Magda Peterson, Kevin Tran (Supernatural), Jack Kline, Claire Novak, Kaia Nieves, Patience Turner, Pamela Barnes (Supernatural), Benny Lafitte, Garth Fitzgerald IV, Ash (Supernatural), Missouri Moseley, Eileen Leahy, Max (Supernatural: Lebanon), Stacy (Supernatural: Lebanon), Eliot (Supernatural: Lebanon), Aidan (Supernatural: Freaks and Geeks), Krissy Chambers, Josephine Barnes, Ben Braeden, Emma (Supernatural: Slice Girls), Adam Milligan, Bobby John (Supernatural: Two and a Half Men) Relationships: Castiel/Dean Winchester, Gabriel/Sam Winchester, Donna Hanscum/Jody Mills, Kathleen Hudak/Christine Barker, Kaia Nieves/Claire Novak, Alex Jones/Patience Turner, Other Relationship Tags to Be Added Additional Tags: Hunting school, School Life, Boarding School, Hunting, Monsters, Canon-Typical Violence read it on AO3 at https://ift.tt/4E6WmCj

[tenth-sentence]

He was certain that Brendan's cleaving to a room he knew – one he'd shared with Eileen for so many years – was all that was keeping him from total breakdown.

"Weaveworld" - Clive Barker

[wutbju]

Dr. Harold Eugene Asire, age 93, went home to be with the Lord on Saturday evening, June 18, 2022 in perfect time to spend Father’s Day with his heavenly Father. Dr. Asire faithfully served as a pastor for more than 60 years. He began pastoring at Bertrand Bible Church in Niles, MI, until 1967 when he, along with other faithful believers, founded the Emanuel Baptist Bible Church in Niles, where he ministered until 1983. He was called to be the pastor of The First Baptist Church in Pinedale, WY in 1983, and served there for 30 years, after which he retired back to Niles MI in 2014.

Dr. Asire was born on December 20, 1928 in Granger, IN, to the late Dale and Olive (Fuller) Asire.  On October 22, 1949, he married Lois Eileen (Butterbaugh) Asire, who preceded him in death on August 2, 2020.  

Dr. Asire graduated from Clay High School and received his BA from Bob Jones University.  He received an Honorary Doctorate of Divinity from Bob Jones in 1975. 

Survivors include two daughters, Karen (Paul) Rifenberg of Niles, MI, and Pegge (Brett) Borst of Bloomington, IL; four sons, Mark (Kay) Asire of Pacifica, CA; Richard (Jan) Asire of Holiday, FL; Jeffery (Karen) Asire of Greenville, SC; Tim (Brenda) Asire of Mahomet, IL; 26 grandchildren, Kim, Kristy, Kyle, Karla, Katherine, Kenny, Chad, Beau, Nathan, Matthew, Michael, Peter, Katie, Daniel, Jessica, Donnie, Laura, Lisa, Tosca, Danica, Mariah, Philip, Joshua, Emily, Tirzah, Tamara; 60 great-grandchildren; one great-great grandchild; and Harold’s brother, Thomas (Sue) Asire of Georgia.

Dr. Asire was preceded in death by his son-in-law, Donald Lee Barker, Jr.; granddaughter, Meghan Elaine Rifenberg; and great-grandson, Cameron Maust.

Funeral services will be held at 11:00 a.m. on Saturday, June 25, 2022 at Palmer Funeral Home – Hickey Chapel, 17131 Cleveland Road, South Bend, IN.  Graveside services and burial will follow at City Cemetery, South Bend. The family would love for friends to come visit with them between 5:00-8:00 p.m. on Friday, June 24th at the funeral home.

[aestheticsuwu]

🌅Found Peace In Your Violence 🌅

Dean Winchester x Castiel

..... ..... ......... ....... ............ ....... .......

Moving to a new place for a new start was always hard for Castiel . He wasn't really a people person , not because he didn't like them . It was just that his " people skills " are " rusty " as he likes to say .

His mother and Father liked to adopt & foster until they divorced .

Father had gotten custody of everyone and got remarried to Becky , my mother used to call her the annoying , crazy ,bitch etc , etc . He wonders how she's doing , she wasn't quite the best mother but he still  remembers everyone that comes and goes from his life .

His family was weird , they weren't like other family's.  It always seemed to be a competition among each other . It even caused almost half his siblings to leave and never look back . Anna is probably living the craziest life with no rules . 

Balthazer is probably running a fashion line . Or maybe there all with Lucifer breaking the rules and rebelling to everything. Although he thinks Balthazar would have gone far away from those three . He was the one he miss the most .

Father doesn't like talking about them , maybe he doesn't cares . We were after all kids he took in his home to create a batallion of soldiers that's what Gabriel says all the time . It was now 9 members of the family that was left  .  His Father , Becky , their son Alfie , Michael the oldest , Gabriel the trickster,   Eileen Leahy his favorite sister , she was the last child to be recruited from the foster house . I was the youngest one from the rest of the herd .

..... ..... .....

His Mother was the first to go , should he still call her that . Once the divorce papers was filed , Naomi packed her stuff and slammed the door shut . Castiel waited for her to come back that night . Hours went by but she never came back .

Anna soon left after , She had left in there middle of the night .

Father wasn't upset he just announced that we should move soon .

3 week before moving , dad and Raphael had a fight . Father faced him and gave him ultimatum,  it had seemed for a while everything was alright . But Lucifer had other plans ,he had managed to convince raph that he shouldn't listen to father .

The move was cancelled , and when Gabriel had started prank wars against everyone Father wasn't even there to ground him . Balthazar told his siblings that he would soon move out he was 18 after all . He talked about his dreams , plans and adventures . Michael and lucifer didn't sticked around to listen  only Gabriel,  Eileen,  and him .

He promised that every time he would go visit a different place he would bring back souvenirs . And once he was stabled they would take a family trip together .

In their last hug castiel didn't want to let go , something told him that he wasn't gonna see him anymore .

When he was  15 , standing near  the porch in front the house waiting for Balthazar to appear until father shouted his name . They had to get on the road to head to their new home . All he could do was hold Eileen and Gabriel's hand .

..... ... .....

 Everything was calm , other than the fear of not knowing if you were the next victim of Gabriel's prank list .

Eileen was teaching him to get better at sign language . Michael was going to college while Lucifer was only 17 but seemed no to be interested in school . Becky had Alfie.  Silence didn't exist in the household .

. And for once he had a friend , He was kinda surprised she stucked around.

Her name was Kelly Kline , she was in the debate team and a Straight A student . He met her through Eileen . He understood why they both got along . Both were strong minded girls and didn't let anybody tell them shit .

Kelly wanted to make a change and she wanted both Eileen and him to help her . And to this day he doesn't understand why the world took her away soon .

She was pretty , she had raven hair and had a kind smile . She taught him good things can come out of the bad things . She made him want to do things he normally wouldn't do .

So he honestly didn't understand what she saw in Lucifer. They would constantly bicker but yet  they were together . Eileen would just let him rant about bees because she preferred that instead of seeing him wallow .

Gabriel would often give him advice that would make her  be interested but it usually involve some porno Gabe once watched . And Castiel usually didn't know If he was kidding or not .

But then suddenly His brother and best friend broke up . Kelly wanted to go out and forget she ever dated an asshole . Lucky for her They were invited to a party .

He doesn't quite remember that much of that night .

" Are you sure you want to do this . I think we are extremely intoxicated and not in our right minds . And we might doing a mistake that we will regret , I'm not saying I regret making out with you cause your an amazing girl I have ever meet besides Eileen but that's different cause she's my sister and I don't think of her that way , And now I made this so awkward by bringing up m- "

A hand covering his mouth making him stop ranting . looking up to see her , and the fear he once had just vanished just by looking at her smile

" Castiel ! There are alot of regrets that I have done including that I ever got involve with that douchebag . I just want to make a choice that I know won't end up as a mistake . "

..... ...... .....

That choice was inevitable to hide , not because both Kelly and castiel started a somewhat relationship . It was revealed on a Thursday that Kelly was pregnant .

Lucifer was never one take responsibility for his actions , so he told her to get rid of it .

" yeah I'm not planning to do some father bonding or give up my plans for a baby that might not even be mine . Hey you can't lie and deny that you haven't been jumping back and forth with Novak brothers . But wow really castiel , but look at the bright side you can dump all that responsibility to him . He will believe anything - ".

The sound of the slap that Kelly gave him echoed but it wasn't enough so she kneed him on the balls and lastly punched him .

" I hope you rot in hell , "

That was the last conversation she had with him when Eileen told her he had left the house .  

... ..... ..... ..... ....

Father never showed  how it affected him when his children left . But now that Lucifer left , he started to drink again and he looked sad .

He shook it off when it had been a week later . It  seemed a good time to mention someone pregnancy.  Father didn't think the same , he was quite mad , especially when it was revealed that they weren't sure who the father was . He remained calm afterwards when they all agreed it was 90 percent Lucifers .

Castiel was only 18 and now left with the mess of his own brother .

Once he graduated he stopped seeing Kelly for 5 months . Eileen would lecture him how he was being a bad friend , how he should be more supportive. He let 2 more months pass by and he couldn't help but ask Eileen how was Kelly doing .

That's how he end up in her room , Kelly was glowing . She had belly bump , He apologized for not being by her side , for letting their friendship tumble down the drain . She forgave him , discussing what they had missed . Avoiding the topic of the elephant of the room , until the baby kicked .

Castiel loved the baby already .

..... ..... .....

They never really tackled in depth of truth of who was the father . Castiel didn't put mind into it , since he felt the baby move he doesn't know how to explain it . it was like epiphany , a connection. 

So he soon took the role , he read books , used the internet , asked some questions from Becky that rambled on and on but he still got information he needed .  In favor that he would learn and be ready when his baby would come . He helped Becky with Alfie  , at first it was hard but then it was fine

" your gonna be alright , you got this castiel . "

" I hope so . "

... .... ..... .... .... .... .....

It happened so fast , his mind was so confused one second he's in bed and then he's at the hospital . Every time she would scream of pain he felt bad . his hand was hurting from the way she was holding it .She  held a grimace from every contraction .

" It hurts so much , I don't think I can't do it . Ahhh baby you have to go easy on mommy . "

She screamed again of agony , she hold his hand tighter as if it would help from the pain .

" You can , your strong and soon we will be at home I'll be taking care of our baby while you rest and sleep . How does that sound ? "

" That sounds like the best idea "

..... ...... ...... ....

He feels like he failed , he could've done something or maybe done something different . He didn't think Kelly would leave him , she promised no to . He guess it wasn't a coincidence,  life seemed to take everything from him .

Today was supposed to be the happiest day in his life . Now he's holding onto his siblings , crying seemed it would help but the feeling wouldn't go away .

" Its gonna be alright cassie , it's gonna get better . "

He really hoped Gabe was right .

...

He was following the nurses that was leading him to his baby . He didn't even got to see his newborn , it just happened to fast .

The nurse open the door wide to let him pass , his hands were shaking waiting for her directions .

" Here they are , seems like they were waiting for dad to come see them . Congratulations Mr Novak and I'm sorry for you loss ."

stunned he couldn't answer , he had his eyes only for them . he heard the door close he assumed she left to give him privacy . Tears started to build up but of happiness. 

"  We're gonna be ok , I will do my best because your all I got . I love you so much , Mommy loved you so much but she had to go rest . I think she deserves it , how ironic how she always said there was an angel watching you over . Now you do , . "

Chuckling , as he wipes away his tears  trying to compose himself . Letting out a shaky breath he starts speaking again .

" I guess is time to give you a name , bear this in mind when the time comes be thankful I didn't give you a horrendous name . You in the other hand are lucky because Kelly had already picked out one for you  . "

Smiling as they both made a noise that seemed they were going along with him on the conversation. 

.... ..... .

" I'm so ready to meet my nephew !! , I'm so excited !!! "

" shhh  "        " shhhhhhh" 

                   "shh "      " Shhh "          "sHhhh"

It wasn't like Gabriel was screaming , sheesh these people sometimes , ready to respond he stays quiet when he sees his brother motioning his family to come closer .

" Say Hello to Jack and Claire Novak . "

.... ..... ..... ..... ... .....

His kids were his pride and young , he will admit he struggled at first but with the help of his siblings he catched on . They had already turned two , they were growing so fast . Both are so smart and beautiful .

Claire with her beautiful blue eyes and blonde hair that were in pigtails in the moment . She was a troublemaker but love her endlessly.  Jack is his small bee , he was tiny and adorable . The kid loves nougat , he blames it on Gabriel.  He also had blonde hair but he had golden eyes .

He wants the best for his kids , thats why  he was contemplating on Gabriel's plan to move .

Gabe was planning to open another bakery ,

since his last three was successful and was trying expand his work . Father was quite happy with Gabriel , he helped with everything he could do . As usual Gabe took advantage and stacked up on candy , his response was always with

 " he won't even notice , he has enough and more . So shut up and help me decided between those two , who am i kidding Im taking  both . " 

Eileen was going with Gabriel,  something about a fresh start . Michael was only going to keep an eye on his siblings  , Fathers orders . And his big brother isn't one to disobey  , he was gonna get paid for babysitting gabe . His study's are kept on hold until father says so .

Castiel didn't  know what to do . He was a highschool dropout , father of fraternal twins , relying with the money of his father and it wasn't like someone is waiting for him here .

Maybe this would do him good and for his kids .

Gabriel went full on screamed of joy that he had accepted,  screaming that they were gonna have a blast . Michael was boxing their stuff fully knowing the trickster of his brother wouldn't do it , he turns to look at the youngest giving him a pointed look .

..... ..... ..... ...

Gabriel was full on rambling of why he choose the location . He wanted a challenge and one of the many things he loves to do is

1: Himself

2:Candy

3: Pranks

4: proving Dad wrong

Once the trickster told his father his plans , he told him no . To him is practically a Yes , he wasn't planning getting him self involved , oh well  you gotta do what you gotta do .

Michael was pissed but hey he could just for once say no to dad . Eileen and Castiel and his nephew coming along was the best thing of the trip . He might even admit that he's kinda glad dad forced his big bro to come along .

The perks of having a wealthy father is that they had everything solved . Airplane . Check . Ride CHECK.  House check . Moving Truck . Check . Schelduing everything on the same date ...........

It wasn't his fault , who would in their right mind would leave him with all that responsibility.  They got to their flight , the ride into country , House was there and with their boxes surrounding it . Hey they got Michael might as well put use to his muscles .

..... .... ... ..... ....

" Only you would do this Gabriel , I don't know why I let you drag me into this "

" Look at the bright side , were surrounded with some hot cowboys " Eileen spoke and signed with a mischievous smirk .

" see cassie , even Eileen  not complaining , just relax . Take a deep breath and - Ok you grab that box and I will take the heavier one . "

Gabe said as to fool Michael they were helping but as the annoyed glared they were all receiving it was obviously the 3 younger siblings were just resting .

" Your doing well Michael keep up the good work "

They all burst out laughing when the oldest retorted with a angry 'Shut up ! '

" Maybe we should help " She said & signed to both of them .

" yeah , I'm gonna go check on the kids , they might wake up any --- . "

Turning around to see where the noise was coming from , he took in the sight of a sleek  black jaguar . Squinting to block the sun , he hears the person above signalling the horse to halt .

" I wasn't informed new people were moving in , Welcome . "

  Removing his stetson , he looks at them but his gaze fall onto the bluest eye he had ever seen and the cutest head tilt . Making his Voice huskier and putting on his best smile he asked .

" Dean Winchester .

              Need A Hand , Angel ? "

..... ...... . ... ...... ...... .....

[lakka-arts]

I’m not one for DTS’ but I had an idea for a Winchester Game Night + Claire, Kaia (the one who’s stressing out) Jack and Clark (the one with the terrified expression and standing next to Jack)

[tepot]

A linguistic concept called the theory of performativity says that language does not simply describe or reflect who we are, it creates who we are. That's because speech itself has the capacity to consummate actions, thus exhibiting a level of intrinsic power. (The plainest examples of performative language would be making a promise, performing a wedding ceremony, or pronouncing a legal sentence.) When repeated over and over again, speech has meaningful, consequential power to construct and contain our reality. Ideally, most people's understandings of reality are shared and grounded in logic. But to enmesh in a community that uses linguistic rituals-- chants, prayers, turns of phrase--to reshape that "culture of shared understanding" Eileen Barker spoke of can draw us away from the real world. Without us even noticing, our very understanding of ourselves and what we believe to be true becomes bound up with the group.

Cultish: The Language of Fanaticism, Amanda Montell (2021)

[whatisonthemoon]

Let Pinochet go! Let Scientology go!

Let Pinochet go! Let Scientology go! By Miguel Martinez

Concerning an article published in Cristianità, the official magazine of Alleanza Cattolica. which includes CESNUR's director Massimo Introvigne among its leaders.

The January-February 1999 issue of Cristianità has just come out. To refresh the memory of our readers: this magazine is the official organ of Alleanza Cattolica, the right-wing organization one of whose five national leaders ("consultori") is Massimo Introvigne, and to which nearly all the members of CESNUR Italy also belong.

This issue has an article by Introvigne ("Reiki: technique or religion?") and an article in defence of Introvigne (against the Fraternity of Saint Pius X). The magazine claims no fewer than twenty-six activities of CESNUR as part of the "Good battle" ("La buona battaglia") of Alleanza Cattolica.

In other words, CESNUR and Cristianità are synonyms, at least for Cristianità. (CESNUR generally seems a little more embarrassed about the link.)

The "good battles" listed in the magazine include the presentation of Reverend James Gordon Melton's book on Scientology and even a lecture by Eileen Barker of the UK organization INFORM. The latter is under a special heading, "religious freedom", a title reminiscent of Introvigne's famous appeal in favour of Scientology in Germany.

However, this is not the only kind of freedom that interests Cristianità/CESNUR. Another victim of persecution, besides Scientology, receives special attention from Cristianità. This time it is Augusto Pinochet Ugarte, the expressionless Chilean former dictator.

First comes an article on Pinochet, explicitly titled "Let Pinochet go!", by American rightist Pat Buchanan. Then comes an article (four pages long) by a gentleman described as "Senator for life and General of the Reserve, Augusto Pinochet Ugarte". In this article we learn, for example, how Senator Pinochet is "…deeply convinced that those countries which are unable to discover the historical mission they are called on to perform, do not and never will have a future".

I wish to make it clear that I do not intend to dispute the right of Introvigne's organization to campaign for the release of the tough old general.

However, I think this campaign can help readers understand more clearly what CESNUR means by "freedom."

Originally posted here: http://www.kelebekler.com/cesnur/txt/pinogb.htm

[howwelldoyouknowyourmoon]

Sun Myung Moon dies at 92; led controversial Unification Church (as reported in the US)

South Korean immigrated to the U.S. and became the wealthy leader of an unorthodox religious movement that was labeled a cult and featured mass marriage ceremonies.

By Elaine Woo

Los Angeles Times  September 3, 2012

The Rev. Sun Myung Moon, the self-proclaimed Messiah from South Korea who led the Unification Church, one of the most controversial religious movements to sweep America in the 1970s, has died. He was 92.

Moon, who had been hospitalized with pneumonia in August, died Monday at a hospital in Gapyeong, South Korea, church officials announced.

Although greeted as a Korean Billy Graham when he arrived in the United States four decades ago, Moon gradually emerged as a religious figure with quite different beliefs, whose movement was labeled a cult and whose followers were mocked as "Moonies." At the height of his popularity, he claimed 5 million members worldwide, a figure that ex-members and other observers have called inflated. Those numbers are believed to have fallen into the thousands today.

Moon offered an unorthodox message that blended calls for world peace with an unusual interpretation of Christianity, strains of Confucianism and a strident anti-communism. He was famous for presiding over mass marriage ceremonies that highlighted Unification's emphasis on traditional morality.

What also made Moon unusual was a multinational corporate vision that made him a millionaire many times over. He owned vast tracts of land in the U.S. and South America, as well as dozens of enterprises, including a ballet company, a university, a gun manufacturer, a seafood operation and several media organizations, most notably the conservative Washington Times newspaper. He also owned United Press International.

Moon was “the object of more suspicion and enmity than almost any other contemporary religious leader,” Eileen Barker, an authority on the Unification Church and new religions at the London School of Economics, wrote some years ago.

The short, balding immigrant evangelist was not charismatic in the usual sense. He spoke poor English and gave few interviews. His sermons, delivered through interpreters, rambled on for hours and often exhorted followers against using “love organs” in promiscuous behavior or homosexual relationships.

His ideas often seemed bizarre: He believed in numerology, proposed building a highway around the world and for a while embraced a Zimbabwean man as the reincarnation of a son [Heung-jin] who had died in an accident.

He courted the powerful with surprising success, at one time counting among his friends and allies Christian right leader Jerry Falwell, who defended Moon when he was tried and later convicted in the U.S. on charges of tax evasion [and document forgery]; the Nation of Islam's Louis Farrakhan, who shared pulpits with him; and former President George H.W. Bush, who appeared at Unification Church-affiliated events in the U.S. and abroad.

In 2004, Moon invited guests to a U.S. Senate office building in Washington, where he had himself crowned "none other than humanity's Savior, Messiah, Returning Lord and True Parent." The ceremony was attended by a dozen members of Congress, several of whom later told reporters they had been misled about the purpose of the event.

His religious journey purportedly began 16 years after his birth on Jan. 2, 1920, in what is now North Korea. According to biographical accounts, Jesus appeared to the young Moon on a Korean mountaintop on Easter Sunday in 1936. From this meeting Moon divined that his job was to complete Jesus' mission of creating heaven on Earth.

During high school in Korea and at [evening classes at a Technical High School connected to] Waseda College in Tokyo, where he studied electrical engineering, Moon claimed to receive more messages from spiritual figures, including Buddha and Moses. He later said that Buddha told him to seek the unification of world religions "in a common effort to salvage the universe."

After World War II, Moon founded a church and began preaching full-time, often speaking out against communism. His strong political stands caused problems with the North Korean government, which jailed him on charges of bigamy and draft evasion. He was freed in 1950. [In 1955 in Seoul he was jailed on charges of draft evasion.]

In 1954, he founded the Holy Spirit Assn. for the Unification of World Christianity in Seoul. Three years later he published "The Divine Principle," the main text of his church.

Unification theology is complex, but a central tenet is to right the wrongs of Adam and Eve. According to the Divine Principle, Satan seduced Eve, who then had illicit relations with Adam and spawned impure children.

Moon regarded Jesus as the second Adam, but Jesus was crucified before he could marry and bring forth sinless progeny. Thus, according to Moon, mankind's salvation depended on a third savior to appear on Earth and marry a pure woman. Together they would become the "true parents" of mankind and beget pure families to populate the kingdom of God.

The new Christ, Moon prophesied, would be born in Korea.

Moon's beliefs did not go over well with leaders of mainline Christianity. He was turned down when he applied for membership to the major ecumenical organizations, the National Council of Churches and the World Council of Churches.

"His theology was heretical," said David Bromley, a Virginia Commonwealth University sociologist who co-authored "Moonies in America," a major study of the Unification movement during its peak in the 1970s.

Church members addressed Moon and his wife, Hak Ja Han, as the "True Parents," a title that outraged many of the actual parents of Moon's followers. The Moons moved to the U.S. in 1971 and eventually lived in a 35-room mansion on an estate in Irvington, N.Y.

Moon's first marriage, to Choe Sung-kil, ended in divorce in 1957. He had a son with her and another with Kim Myung-hee, who lived with Moon during the 1950s. In 1960 he married Han, then a young disciple. They had 14 children, of whom 10 survive him. He was believed to have more than 40 grandchildren and numerous great-grandchildren.

Had Moon restricted his recruiting to ethnic Koreans, he might have avoided criticism, Bromley said. But the church began targeting white middle-class youths on or near college campuses, a tactic also pursued by two other sects that attained notoriety in the 1970s, the Children of God and the Hare Krishnas.

An anti-cult movement rose in opposition to the groups and created a market for "deprogrammers" who abducted church members and tried to reverse the brainwashing they believed was fundamental to the cults' influence.

Moon promoted interracial and intercultural marriages and arranged thousands of unions. Couples matched by the church were instructed to refrain from having intercourse for 40 days, partly to ensure that the unions were based on “pure love” rather than carnal desire. In one of the church's most publicized events, Moon blessed 6,500 couples [it was 2,075 couples] in New York's Madison Square Garden in 1988. [It was 1982.]

Followers were expected to live communally under austere conditions, although the church later moved away from group living as members matured and started their own families. Each member also was expected to raise money for the church, often by peddling flowers or other innocuous items at airports and shopping malls.

In 1978 Congress investigated the church as part of a broader probe into Korean influence-buying. A congressional subcommittee concluded that Moon’s organization had violated U.S. tax, immigration, banking and currency laws. In 1982 he was convicted on tax evasion [and document forgery] charges and served 11 months in a federal prison in Danbury, Conn.

That year, he launched the Washington Times, which positioned itself as a conservative alternative to the Washington Post. It won loyal readers in the White House and among conservative strategists but has been a chronic money-loser, surviving on more than $2 billion in subsidies from the church. Circulation fell to about 40,000 daily copies in 2010, when a family feud caused the patriarch to repurchase the paper after having given control of it four years earlier to his eldest son, Preston [Hyun-jin Moon].

Times special correspondent Jung-yoon Choi in Seoul contributed to this report.

http://www.latimes.com/news/obituaries/la-me-sun-myung-moon-20120903,0,619774.story

_______________________________

Sun Myung Moon makes me ashamed to be Korean

Japanese woman recruited by the Unification Church and sold to an older Korean farmer

Allen Tate Wood on Sun Myung Moon and the UC

United States Congressional investigation of Moon’s organization

Gifts of Deceit: Sun Myung Moon and Koreagate – Robert Boettcher

Politics and religion interwoven in the Unification Church

Sun Myung Moon’s third wife – Kim Myung-hee

The lie that Kim Myung-hee was raped in Japan

Sun Myung Moon found guilty in 1955; started two year jail sentence

Sun Myung Moon claimed authority through his “meeting with Jesus”

Black Heung Jin Nim – Violence in the Moon church

[gatheringbones]

[“In middle school, my best friend’s mother was a born-again Christian, and I’d sometimes secretly skip Hebrew school on Sundays to accompany the family to their evangelical megachurch. Nothing enraptured me more than the way these churchgoers spoke—how, upon setting foot in the building, everyone slipped into a dialect of “evangelicalese.” It wasn’t King James Bible English; it was modern and very distinct. I started using their glossary of buzzwords whenever I attended services, just to see if it affected how the congregants treated me. I picked up phrases like “on my heart” (a synonym for “on my mind”), “love up on someone” (to show someone love), “in the word” (reading the Bible), “Father of Lies” (Satan, the evil that “governs the world”), and “convicted” (to be divinely moved to do something). It was like the code language of an exclusive clubhouse. Though these special terms didn’t communicate anything that couldn’t be said in plain English, using them in the right way at the right time was like a key unlocking the group’s acceptance. Immediately, I was perceived as an insider. The language was a password, a disguise, a truth serum. It was so powerful.

Creating special language to influence people’s behavior and beliefs is so effective in part simply because speech is the first thing we’re willing to change about ourselves . . . and also the last thing we let go. Unlike shaving your head, relocating to a commune, or even changing your clothes, adopting new terminology is instant and (seemingly) commitment-free. Let’s say you show up to a spiritual meeting out of curiosity, and the host starts off by asking the group to repeat a chant. Odds are, you do it. Maybe it feels odd and peer pressure–y at first, but they didn’t ask you to fork over your life savings or kill anyone. How much damage can it do? Cultish language works so efficiently (and invisibly) to mold our worldview in the shape of the guru’s that once it’s embedded, it sticks. After you grow your hair out, move back home, delete the app, whatever it is, the special vocabulary is still there.

(…) The haunting, beautiful, stomach-twisting truth is that no matter how cult-phobic you fancy yourself, our participation in things is what defines us. Whether you were born into a family of Pentecostals who speak in tongues, left home at eighteen to join the Kundalini yogis, got dragged into a soul-sucking start-up right out of college, became an AA regular last year, or just five seconds ago clicked a targeted ad promoting not just a skincare product but the “priceless opportunity” to become “part of a movement,” group affiliations—which can have profound, even eternal significance—make up the scaffolding upon which we build our lives. It doesn’t take someone broken or disturbed to crave that structure. Again, we’re wired to. And what we often overlook is that the material with which that scaffolding is built, the very material that fabricates our reality, is language. “We have always used language to explain what we already knew,” wrote English scholar Gary Eberle in his 2007 book Dangerous Words, “but, more importantly, we have also used it to reach toward what we did not yet know or understand.” With words, we breathe reality into being.

A linguistic concept called the theory of performativity says that language does not simply describe or reflect who we are, it creates who we are. That’s because speech itself has the capacity to consummate actions, thus exhibiting a level of intrinsic power. (The plainest examples of performative language would be making a promise, performing a wedding ceremony, or pronouncing a legal sentence.) When repeated over and over again, speech has meaningful, consequential power to construct and constrain our reality. Ideally, most people’s understandings of reality are shared, and grounded in logic. But to enmesh in a community that uses linguistic rituals—chants, prayers, turns of phrase—to reshape that “culture of shared understanding” Eileen Barker spoke of can draw us away from the real world. Without us even noticing, our very understanding of ourselves and what we believe to be true becomes bound up with the group. With the leader. All because of language.”]

Cultish, by Amanda Montell

[mittensmorgul]

Today on the TNT loop... 12.23 and 13.01 (so far, it’s early and we’re going through 13.04 today). So I’m deep in the Grief Arc feels.

But again, it all hits different now. Yes, I’ve rewatched these since 15.20 aired, this is my second pass through the loop since then. But with a bit of emotional distance from that mess, there’s interesting stuff here.

Looking at the finale, at what Jack would become, at how that ties in with themes of Faith versus Free Will... it’s like this was the point where Chuck finally weaponized free will against them, where their choices would play into his story rather than fight against it. No wonder Dean was so angry after this point.

No wonder Chuck abandoned them, refused to answer Dean’s prayer to bring Cas back. Cas wasn’t SUPPOSED to come back. Chuck finally got him out of the way, and it was literally Dean’s grief unwittingly channeled through Jack’s power that woke him up again and gave him the tools to fight his way back. The fact Cas never KNEW this is still one of those things that I will scream forever about.

(In every way that actually mattered, Dean was silenced)

But in today’s viewing, I’m mostly screaming about the “drunk angel” Miriam and her vendetta against Becky.

DRUNK WOMAN: Whoa. What happened to you hand?

DEAN: Nothin’.

DRUNK WOMAN: Doesn’t look like nothing. You punch a wall or something? I punched a wall once. Well, a poster on a wall, but same diff, right? Freshman year, I had this roommate, Becky. She had this giant poster of Elsa. You know, from “Frozen”? And I mean, first, who brings something like that to college? A cartoon? Really? Like, “hello homeschool,” right?

[As she is talking, Drunk Woman is writing something in the dust of the Impala’s passenger side window, and Dean removes a bottle of whisky from the trunk. He takes a swallow and then pours some over his bloody knuckles]

DEAN: You done?

DRUNK WOMAN: Anyway, Becky was - and I say this in the most feminist, screw the patriarchy way - a giant superbitch. She’d take things, and break things, and piss people off, and just do whatever she wanted, no matter who it hurt.

[Dean is making please stop talking faces at her but she is oblivious]

DRUNK WOMAN: It’s like the whole world was just Becky to her, you know?

DEAN: Mmm. So you punched her poster.

DRUNK WOMAN: And lit most of her stuff on fire.

[Dean gives her a look]

DRUNK WOMAN: I got issues.

[...]

[As the Impala pulls away, you can see Drunk Woman has written “BITCH” in the dust on the window.]

*

So, we have this invented story about a woman named Becky. But after s15, we KNOW how much control Chuck has over the story, and especially of certain characters-- like demons and angels. This is why he was so infuriated that he couldn’t just control Castiel. We saw him DIRECTLY insert Lilith back into the story in 15.05, limiting her power to ONLY follow his “script.” To the point she was entirely self-aware of this and her place in the story, and the fact that she was essentially just a character in the story without free will.

And I kinda wonder how much Miriam functions in the exact same way-- the way Chuck has implied that ALL angels are expected to function.

MIRIAM: Okay. If she shoots you. (Sheriff Barker looks to Dean in confusion) I don't know what he's told you. I mean, I can guess. Some line about how he and his brother... (deepens voice) save the world. Grr. So macho. (she sighs and speaks in her normal voice) But really, he's not a hero. He's Becky. DEAN: Becky? The roommate Becky? MIRIAM: You take things and break things and piss people off, and just do whatever you want, no matter who it hurts. Also, you're a giant super bitch. DEAN: Well, it takes one to know one. MIRIAM: So, yeah, you're Becky, and Becky needs to die. You're on, Barney Fife.

*

Yes... she says Dean is “Becky,” this Becky that breaks things and who saw the whole world as Becky... Though... her understanding of how free will works in this context really does sound twisted and tainted by Chuck’s perspective on his own “disobedient” characters. Because to Chuck, the story is the most important thing, it’s the only thing, and it’s entirely his own creation.

No wonder creating human souls made him feel a little queasy... and I’m still not sure that was something he actually did on purpose, especially with the free will bit included in the package. Because from the moment free will existed, Chuck began to lose control of the story of creation. People could choose to tell their OWN stories, better stories than the one Chuck created the universe to tell in the first place. Humanity makes things better, bigger than Chuck could imagine, through the power of love that Chuck could never invent for himself or understand for himself. Or even possibly FEEL for himself.

And who was his original human pawn in the story, way back in 5.01? Becky. Becky who took HIS story and “broke” it and pissed him off, doing whatever she wanted no matter who it hurt (even if it was only Him as the Original Author getting precious about his story). But as we saw in 15.04, Becky refused to just take his story as he dished it out. She went out and made her own life, reimagined the Story of Supernatural as something better than it was-- filed with life and humanity and love. She stopped idolizing HIM as the creator and saw it as HER story now too, the version she was passionate about, the version that brought HER joy.

And what did Chuck do to her? Like Miriam, he “punched her cartoon poster” and then burned most of her stuff. Because Becky had the audacity to take the story she’d been written into and make it her own. She refused to “obey” the story Chuck wanted to tell. And he saw her story as infantile and uninteresting. Because he couldn’t just let it go... like Elsa... lol.

And what Chuck can’t control, he tends to destroy, like Miriam did in this episode. Only... Miriam failed too. Sure, it was only one battle in the long war of Free Will versus The Story, but it was the opening note in this section of the story which was supposed to be about Humanity and Free Will finally triumphing over the story to free themselves from it.

The story itself was telling humanity to hold on, to keep telling OUR version of the story, because that was how to defeat the story itself. Human love and choice and will as something BETTER than the story Chuck wanted to tell. Not just handing it off to someone who has been built into the perfect vessel to carry on his story, but literally allowing humanity to be free from the narrative Chuck spent all of creation trying to build for them. And that freedom was literally built upon the very human love embodied in Dean Winchester (and learned by Castiel to the point it changed him and freed him from Chuck’s control). Cas deserved to come back. Jack deserved to be freed from his destiny. Billie deserved better than being manipulated and villainized by Chuck’s final chapter. Eileen deserved the freedom to choose her own happiness. Sam deserved a chance to do the same. Dean deserved to live, and to have a chance to tell Cas he feels exactly the same way about him. And that’s the tip of the iceberg of what everyone deserved.

(they deserved to not be “burned” for their audacity to want something more than what Chuck thought they deserved)

They deserved to hang up their Frozen posters without some self-righteous bitch judging them for it, and to live their lives how THEY wanted to, rather than how Chuck thought they should for his own egotistical self-justification.

Chuck said way back in s11 that he wanted to create the universe to make something better than just him and Amara, and everything after that point reads like he was pissed off at the fact that humanity went out and actually DID grow to be better than him, in every way possible. Sure, we fuck up, we make mistakes, and some of us are actively malicious and terrible people. But... overall? We try. We keep trying to be better, to love more, to choose the right thing... to do our best in a world where it’s far too easy to do our worst, to take a few words from Cas.

And it just hurts my heart to know what we COULD have had if Chuck didn’t actually win.

[bluehwys]

Fall Reading Starts Tomorrow!

I enjoyed reading off of a themed list so much for Summer Reading that I decided to make one for fall, too. This one has spooky, scary, and creepy stories on it. Obviously. Some of them are really old, and some are newer. Most of them were pulled from various reading lists I've reblogged over the years.

So, in no particular order, here's my Fall Reading List:

The Woman in White - Wilkie Collins

The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane - Katherine Howe

The Moonstone - Wilkie Collins

Call of Cthulhu - HP Loevcraft

Carmilla - Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu

Practical Magic - Alice Hoffman

The Turn of the Screw - Henry James

Bright Smoke, Cold Fire - Rosamund Hodge

The Phantom of the Opera - Gaston Laroux

The Scarlet Gospels - Clive Barker

The Vampire: A Tale - John Polidari

House of Leaves - Mark Z. Danielewski

Confessions of an English Opium Eater - Thomas De Quincy

Enduring Love - Ian McEwan

The Cask of Amontillado - Edgar Allen Poe

And Then There Were None - Agatha Christie

The Tell-Tale Heart - Edgar Allan Poe

Ghost Stories of an Antiquary - MR James

The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde - Robert Louis Stevenson

Rebecca - Daphne de Maurier

The Castle of Otranto - Horace Walpole

Interview With a Vampire - Anne Rice

An Occurance at Owl Creek Bridge - Ambrose Bierce

Eileen - Ottessa Moshfegh

The King in Yellow - Robert W. Chambers

White is for Witching - Helen Oyeyemi

The Legend of Sleepy Hollow - Washington Irving

Zombie - Joyce Carol Oates

The Yellow Wallpaper - Charlotte Perkins Gillman

The Talented Mr. Ripley - Patricia Highsmith

Oedipus, King of Thebes - Sophocles

Young Goodman Brown - Nathanial Hawthorne

A lot of these are going to come from Project Gutenberg, but I own quite a few, too. Only a few are coming from the library.

I'm starting with Practical Magic - which I've never read - and I'm super excited. I love the movie and can't wait to read the book!