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Moonies (singular Moonie) is an informal term for members of the Unification Church, based on the name of church founder Sun Myung Moon. Some dictionaries see it as offensive or derogatory in nature, while others do not. It is considered a disparagement by most church members, but has nevertheless been used by them and others on occasion without any negative connotations.

Definition

The term is derived from the name of the founder of the Unification Church, Sun Myung Moon. The 2002 edition of The World Book Dictionary does not note a negative connotation of the term, defining it simply as: "a follower of Sun Myung Moon"; nor does the 1999 edition of the Webster's II New College Dictionary, which defines the term as "a member of the Unification Church established and headed by Sun Myung Moon". Other dictionaries view the term as either offensive, or derogatory in nature.

According to The New Partridge Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English (2005), the term "moonie" has come to be used to refer to "any blind, unthinking, unquestioning follower of a philosophy".

History

The term was applied by church critics, although members picked it up, and it was casually used within the organization itself and by members on the street; it was a self-designation. During the 1970s and 1980s, the term was used by members of the Unification Church "as a badge of honor". In 1979, members of the organization could be viewed on subways in New York displaying t-shirts that read: "I'm a Moonie and I love it". Religious scholar Anson Shupe notes that "on many occasions" he heard "David Kim, President of the Unification Theological Seminary, refer to 'Moonie theology,' the 'Moonie lifestyle,' and so forth matter-of-factly".

The Unification Church paid civil rights activist Ralph Abernathy to equate the term Moonies with the "N-word." In 1984, The Washington Post noted "Members of the Unification Church resent references to them as 'Moonies'", and quoted one member who said "Even in quotation marks, it's derogatory". In 1989, The Seattle Times reported that the Chicago Tribune was picketed after referring to members of the Unification Church as Moonies.

Commentary

The 1989 book Competition in Religious Life notes that "Moon and his disciples" have been "often unflatteringly referred to as 'Moonies'". Eileen Barker writes in the 1995 book America's Alternative Religions that "members prefer to be called Unificationists", and acknowledges that "they are referred to in the media and popularly known as 'Moonies'". In the same book, scholars Anson Shupe and David G. Bromley use the term Moonies to refer to members of the organization. According to the 1997 book Daily Life in the United States, 1960-1990 by Myron A. Marty, Unification Church members are "known as 'Moonies' for their absolute subservience to the leader". In his 1998 book Religion, Mobilization, and Social Action, Anson Shupe notes that he and David Bromley used the term in publications in 1979, and Eileen Barker (who titled her 1984 book The Making of a Moonie) used the term in 1981 and 1984, "and meant no offense".

The 1999 book Religion and politics in America notes that "this movement - its followers are universally known, often derisively, as 'Moonies'" and Philosophers and Religious Leaders, published in the same year, states that "Many Americans view Moon's church suspiciously as a cult with its members pejoratively referred to as 'Moonies'." The 1999 Encyclopedia of Contemporary British Culture states followers are known derogatively as 'Moonies' because their leader is the Second Coming. Rosalind Millam's 2002 book Anti-Discriminatory Practice notes that "Its followers are better known as Moonies"; the entry on the organization in the book is titled: "Unification Church (Moonies)". Paul Weller's 2005 book Time for a Change notes that "Unifications have often popularly - and sometimes disparagingly - been referred to as 'Moonies', in reference to the founder of their movement". Eugene V. Gallagher writes in the 2006 work Introduction to New and Alternative Religions in America that a pejorative use of the term is linked with a negative view of the leader of the organization: "even his name attracted the hostility of enemies who derided followers as 'Moonies' and the movement as a 'cult'".

See also

• Unification Church
• Unification Church of the United States

References

1. ^ Miller, Timothy (1995). America's Alternative Religions. State University of New York Press. pp. 223, 414. ISBN 0791423980.
2. World Book Encyclopedia (2002). The World Book Dictionary: L-Z. World Book, Inc. p. 1348. ISBN 0716602997.
3. Editors of Webster's II Dictionaries (1999). Webster's II New College Dictionary. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. p. 711. ISBN 0395962145. {{cite book}}: |last= has generic name (help)
4. WordNet 3.0, © 2006 by Princeton University
5. Oxford English Dictionary
6. Partridge, Eric (2005). The New Partridge Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English: J-Z. TF-ROUTL. p. 1319. ISBN 978-0415259385. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
7. Dalzell, Tom (2007). The Concise New Partridge Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English. Routledge. p. 439. ISBN 0415212596. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
8. BBC News 2008
9. Koff, Stephen (August 1983). "Religion: Getting Mooned, Legitimately". Cincinnati Magazine. 16 (11): 14.
10. ^ Gorenfeld, John (2008). Bad Moon Rising. PoliPointPress. p. 96. ISBN 0979482232.
11. Lichtman, Allan J. (2008). White Protestant Nation. Atlantic Monthly Press. p. 304. ISBN 0871139847.
12. ^ Shupe, Anson D. (1998). Religion, Mobilization, and Social Action. Praeger. pp. 197, 215. ISBN 978-0275956257. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
13. Zagoria, Sam (September 19, 1984). "Journalism's Three Sins". The Washington Post. The Washington Post Company. p. A26.
14. Helvarg, David (2004). The War Against the Greens. Johnson Books. p. 211. ISBN 1555663281.
15. Newman, Jay (1989). Competition in Religious Life (Editions Sr ; V. 11). Wilfrid Laurier University Press. p. 82. ISBN 0889209898.
16. Marty, Myron A. (1997). Daily Life in the United States, 1960-1990. Greenwood Press. p. 173. ISBN 0313295549.
17. The Market for Martyrs, Laurence Iannaccone, George Mason University, 2006, "One of the most comprehensive and influential studies was The Making of a Moonie: Choice or Brainwashing? by Eileen Barker (1984).
18. Fowler, Robert Booth (1999). Religion And Politics In America. Westview Press. p. 199. ISBN 978-0813334905. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
19. Von Dehsen, Christian D. (1999). Philosophers and Religious Leaders. Greenwood. p. 136. ISBN 1573561525.
20. Childs, Peter (1999). Encyclopedia of Contemporary British Culture. Routledge. p. 548. ISBN 978-0415147262. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
21. Millam, Rosalind (2002). Anti-Discriminatory Practice. Continuum. p. 98. ISBN 0826454755.
22. Weller, Paul (2005). Time For A Change: Reconfiguring Religion, State And Society. T. & T. Clark Publishers. p. 105. ISBN 0567084876.
23. Gallagher, Eugene V. (2006). Introduction to New and Alternative Religions in America. Greenwood Press. p. 160. ISBN 0275987132.

External links

• An essay on the use of the term "Moonie" by a Unificationist
• Testimony of Alex Colvin to the Maryland Task Force to study the effects of cult activities on public senior Higher Education institutions which contains a discussion of the use of "Moonie"
• Anti-Unification site retaining use of the word "Moonie"
• News stories from the early 1990s liberally using the "M-word"
• Page from anti-Unification site asserting that the term "Moonie" was once acceptable to Unificationists including a photograph near the bottom of the page showing a coffee mug bearing the slogan "I'm a Moonie and I it!"
• Dialogue with the Moonies Article by a Christian theologian which praises the character of Unificationists, yet uses the word "Moonie".

• Articles with topics of unclear notability from September 2009
• Pejorative terms for people
• Unificationists
• Unification Church
• Unification Church neologisms