Eyes and ears.
g*nshots
Hit!
g*nsh*t AND APPLAUSE
Ohh!
APPLAUSE
You in a cult, bro. You in a cult.
JAMALI LAUGHS
Are you sure
you don't wanna become American?
We need you on this side, bro.
JAMALI LAUGHS
VOICEOVER: What drives someone to
join extreme groups and subcultures?
If you wanna know
what I really think,
Satan wants to destroy America.
VOICEOVER:
And what do their leaders promise?
I'm immersing myself in fringe groups
to understand
the real motivations
behind their beliefs.
And this time, I'm in Tennessee
with the Rod Of Iron Ministries,
founded by Pastor Sean Moon
..AKA King Bullethead.
There's no gunpowder?You don't
want it blowing up on your head.
VOICEOVER:
He's the son of Reverend Moon,
the self-proclaimed second Messiah
and founder
of the Unification Church in Korea,
denounced by many as the Moonie Cult.
ALL CHEER
Pastor Sean
formed a radical breakaway sect.
And he's been accused
of fetishising g*ns.
That's a dangerous woman
right there.
"Communism political Satanism."
Our country is in big trouble.
VOICEOVER:
What do his followers believe?
p*nis and a**l is g*y
and doesn't reproduce children.
Children don't come out of the butt!
VOICEOVER: Is it just another
fundamental Bible-based religion
or does Pastor Sean have a master
plan to take over the world?
# This is America #
TRAIN BELL RINGS
VOICEOVER: I'm in Tennessee,
America's Bible Belt,
home to more than 11,000 churches.
But even so,
the Rod Of Iron Ministry stands out.
ALL: # We are going to bring back
the glory #
VOICEOVER: In 2018, the church
in Pennsylvania hit the headlines
when they held
a controversial service
in the wake
of a mass school sh**ting.
TV REPORTER:Exactly 2 weeks after
the deadly sh**ting in Florida,
the Sanctuary Church
near Newfoundland
encouraged people to bring AR-15s
to a couple's blessing ceremony
Wednesday.
Participants say the firearms
symbolise the rod of iron
in the Bible's Book Of Revelation.
That's all that weapon is good for,
mass k*lling.
And you wanna bless it?
Shame on you!
CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
OK, let us give a warm welcome
to the second king.
CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
Praise the Lord.
Oh, my goodness!
Praise God, everybody.
VOICEOVER: Now Pastor Sean
has given me access
to find out about his church
and its obsession with g*ns.
People say I'm cult leader,
I am brainwasher, right,
because I'm literally
reading the Bible.
It's always, "Oh, g*n is bad."
They say, "Oh, the g*n is evil.
"Only Satan would create a weapon."
Well, I don't know what Bible you're
reading, because in the Bible,
Jesus never forbade his disciples
to have swords, right?
So they had military-grade weapons.
Jesus didn't say, "How dare you have
a weapon? This is a g*n-free zone."
LAUGHTER AND APPLAUSE
The cult of the left keep women
What?
..unmarried, because unmarried women
will vote heavy, heavy leftist.
That's just statistics.
I'm sorry. That's how it is.
When women get married, what do they
vote? Like their husband.
So they vote way more conservatively
than unmarried women.
73 percent of g*y men
have stated that they had sex
with somebody under age.
73 percent! Oh, my gosh!
That's the big secret.
There's a lot of paedos
hiding in that rainbow cult.
"Love is love." No, it's not.
Love is not love. God is love.
Amen!Amen!
See the difference?
Love is not love. God is love!
APPLAUSE
And God does have wrath
against those who sin.
Can I get an amen from the
ALL:Amen!
I'm not gonna call you
cis gender men.
LAUGHTER
Y'all are men!
All right, folks, let's all rise
and give glory to God.
VOICEOVER: I question the validity
of Pastor Sean's stats.
I think they could be conflated,
or even made up.
But his congregation
seem to take it all as facts.
Amen!
VOICEOVER: Same as his father's did
in the 1970s,
when he preached to estimated crowds
of 25,000,
as the Unification Church
became one of the richest,
most powerful right-wing churches
in the world.
When the Reverend Moon died,
his family fought for leadership of
the church and its $2 billion assets,
including hotels, food companies
and newspaper publishers.
And Pastor Sean was forced out.
I've come to speak to Gideon,
a church rep
who runs his own cleaning company,
to find out about the link
between Pastor Sean and his father.
Can you explain to me
who Reverend Moon is?
So, Reverend Moon, he is
the second coming of Christ.OK.
Is Sean Jesus?
Who?Sean.
No, no, no, no.
He's the son of Jesus.
So, he's the son
of the second coming of Christ.
It's like when a king passes away
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
He's the successor of that.
Exactly.
You can't be
You can't inherit Jesus.
OG Jesus. The first Jesus.
GIDEON LAUGHS
Everything originates
back in the garden.
So what happened was that
Lucifer came in
Mmand he tempted Eve, saying,
"Hey, how about you eat this fruit?"
What really happened was that Eve
actually had a committed, sexual
relationship with Lucifer.
That'sWhere you hear about this?
The Bible just got sexy, bro.
The Bible just got sexy. What's going
on?Oh, it's very sexual.
I saw there was one guy, he was
singing and he had a g*n on him.
Now, why did he have a g*n in church?
That's also a biblical thing that
it's a natural way of self defence.
OK. Yeah, yeah, yeah.So, matter
of fact, one of Jesus's disciples
actually had two swords on him.
Damn!
So Jesus wasn't this passive hippie.
He turned over the tables at the
Oh, yeah, yeah, he hadTurned my
Father's temple into a marketplace.
Yeah, exactly. Right?
He kicked over some stuff.
So, violenceYou didn't know
I knew that, did you?
GIDEON LAUGHS
I thought you knew that.
Yeah, well,
I'm glad that you knew that.
I'm Jamali. How are you doing, boss?
Thank you for having me, man.
Lovely day. Really good cake.
JAMALI LAUGHS
Thank you. Thank you.
Can you explain to me the crown?
And why is it b*ll*ts?
Uh-huh. That's your dad.
Yeah. Fair enough. It suits you.
BOTH LAUGH
VOICEOVER: Pastor Sean
expanded the ministry,
building a second church
in Tennessee,
where federal law allows loaded g*ns
to be openly carried.
Around 200
of his most devoted followers
have come to help him build a new
church and have bought houses nearby.
I've come to see Fran
and her husband, Yoshi,
to find out what it's like
to follow the second Messiah.
She's waiting for us at the front.
She's not even waiting for us
to knock on the door.
How you doing?
Hey.Hello.
Hello.I like funny people,
so I'm sure I will like you.
Oh! I'm Jamali.
Can I have a hug?
Of course you can. Nice to meet you.
My husband, Yoshi.Lovely to meet
you, Yoshi. How you doing, sir?
VOICEOVER: Fran's a ballet teacher
who joined Sean's dad's church
at the age of 22
and taught at the church's
ballet school in Korea.
She met Yoshi, who joined
while he was at university in Japan.
Here's our cute little house.
Wow!
This is our son, Kenji.
Hey, Kenji.Kenji, say hi.
He probably won't say anything.No,
it's all right. I'll leave him to it.
But he'svery
Oh, you've got a lot of photos. Can
I see your photos?Yeah, yeah, sure.
This is my family.Yeah. All your
children are in the church, too?
All the children are in the church.
Hey, Kenji, are you in the church?
There you go.If he said no,
that would've been a big reveal.
Yeah, right!
ALL LAUGH
You really risked it on that one.
When did you move here?
Three months ago.
We were in Maryland for 37 years.
Why did you move?
Well, we thought,
"We wanna move away from Maryland,
let's move where the king is."
We thought that was very important
for us.Yeah, yeah, yeah.
And that was Sean.
Yeah. And I trust him.
And I think he's a great leader.
Are your parents in the church?
Er, no.No.Oh, my gosh,
they're very anti-church.
They think I'm Looney Tunes.
And that's OK.Yeah, yeah, yeah.I
accept it. I mean, I don't like it.
Do they swing more on maybe the left
wing, then?Oh, yeah. Yeah.Mm.
They're allCos politics is
quite important within the movement.
You know what I mean? I know Reverend
Moon was very political.He was.
Because he was gonna fight
Communism, which is anti-God.
Got Trump right there.Is this
signed? Can I pick it up?Yeah, sure.
What is it about Trump?
He loves America.Yeah.
And he wants to save America.
So that's why he's so hated. If you
wanna know what I really think,
Satan wants to destroy America.
They just approved assisted suicide,
which I think is wrong.
They already have ab*rtion
to the ninth month.
Even after the baby is born.
Oh, they're all excited.
k*lling the baby after it's born. To
me, that'sAfter it's born?Yes.
I don't believe that's true.
Oh, yeah. I've seen it all.
They're selling the body parts.
That's all I can think.
Oh, yeah. There's videos of them
saying, "Oh, how much for an arm?
"A liver?" I can send you links.I
don't know if I wanna see that video.
JAMALI LAUGHS
I don't know.
ALL LAUGH
VOICEOVER: At the Rod Of Iron Church
in Tennessee, it's blessing day.
Two couples are celebrating
their marriages in the church.
Dearest beloved heavenly Father,
we thank you for this beautiful day,
we thank you for our lives.
VOICEOVER: In Pastor Sean's ministry,
couples are matched
by their families.
In the 1980s,
his father, Reverend Moon,
used to fill stadiums
with mass arranged marriages.
Answer, "Yes, I do."
ALL:Yes, I do.
APPLAUSE
The new kings and queens
of the kingdom
are being instituted today, Father.
VOICEOVER: Pastor Sean's blessings
might be on the smaller scale,
but he's brought
his trademark weaponry, the AR-15.
Let's invite the king and queen
to enter now.
APPLAUSE
Father, we thank you
for this beautiful day, Father.
We pray that the husband
praises his wife.
And that a wifegives
unconditional respect.
As a priest of love,
the devil will be attacking these
couples and every blessed family.
May that evil message
from the outside world
be extinguished
in the shield of faith.
Amen.
ALL:Amen.
APPLAUSE AND MUSIC
# Hey, hey #
HE SINGS
How come there's a g*n element to it?
Like, why is that a part of it?
Freedom is God's gift.
Uh-huh.
So, for us, even our biblical view
of the kingdom of God
is all the citizens armed.Is that
why you're pro-Trump and that?
Trump is definitely
trying to get America
back to its proper values.
You know what I mean?
Like get back to family, you know,
protect this country, cos
the free world is all we have left.
I mean, if America falls,
it's the Chinese and the Russians
are gonna be the next tyrannical,
you know, superpowers.Yeah, yeah.
That's not good for the world.
Yeah.
VOICEOVER: Next stop for the wedding
couples, the reception
..at the g*n range.
g*nshots
Nice one!All right!
APPLAUSE
VOICEOVER: Across the compound,
I'm seeing the faithful
constructing Pastor Sean's vision
for his new church.
Today he's going to take me
on a tour of the property.
What's up, brother? How you doing?
Good to see you.Are you good?Yeah.
VOICEOVER: I was looking forward
to having some time alone
with the son of the second Messiah.
But he wants our conversation filmed
to protect him from defamation.
How long you been living here for?
Two or three years now.
When we first got here,
there was nothing on the property.
No running water.
No bathrooms. No, er, showers.
22 acres, right?
All together, it's 225.
Why do you need so much land?
No, it's not about
That's a lot of land!
Why would you need
Well, I mean, you know,
for our church, you know, worldwide,
folks come and then we have
different religious activities,
or workshops, summer camps.
And, you know, we have more
flexibility with a larger space.
And do you live here?
Yeah. We'll take you up to
Oh, let me see it, man. I'd love
to see the property, bro.OK.
I'll just do a U real quick.
ENGINE STARTS
DOG BARKS
VOICEOVER: I've come to Pastor Sean's
home, where he lives with his wife,
Queen Yeon Ah Lee.
It must be very different
to the lifestyle he was expecting
as the heir to his father's
religious empire.
This is our tiny palace.
SEAN LAUGHS
Yeah. You like quite loud clothing.
SEAN LAUGHS
"Second king, founder"
That's like my road name, too.
What, Second King?
Yeah.Yeah, that's cool.
You've got the Trump trainers!
I got the Trump shoes!
Can I see them? I ain't seen them in
person yet.You can't see them, man!
They're not the real Trump shoes.
Oh, they're not?
That's why I don'tI thought
they were the Trump sneakers.
That's why I don't want you
to look close, cos you may know
that's not the real thing.
No, no, no. They're hard to get.
I guess, as a preacher, you're trying
to get people in, innit?
Was you two paired?Yes. The Queen
was selected by Father for me.
Oh, wow! And what did you think
of him when you first met him?
Er
"That boy is hot!"
BOTH LAUGH
How should I say in English?You say
it in Korean and I'll translate.
SHE SPEAKS KOREAN
Er, she says I had a prince disease.
That means, like,
I'm full of myself, basically.
BOTH LAUGH
Yeah.And you know what he said?
"Once you get blessed to me,
you will like me."
Wow!That's what he said.
I said, "You will love me."
That's bold. Yeah, that's bold.
Obviously being armed was important.
Like, you say your father
preached about being armed
and being self-reliant.Yeah.
But it was never really marketed
when it was the Unification Church.
Even though they believed in it,
they didn't have g*ns in photos.
Your thing is, like,
you have a crown of b*ll*ts,
even in your emblem, it's got g*ns.
How come when you broke off
and started your ministry
that you sort of put g*ns
at the forefront?
Well, you know,
my father helped build up
the Korean self-defence industry
for the Korean military.Uh-huh.
Cos he has that experience
from being under Communism.Yeah.
Like, he was beaten so bad,
he was k*lled in prison.
Yeah.
But God kind of resurrected him.
And so he got free from Communism.
So, how come you started
talking about the g*ns more?
For us, it was representing
who our father was.OK. Yeah, yeah.
He was, you know, a big hunter.
I would go hunting with Father
every year.
But the church felt
it was too masculine.
The bureaucrats, they definitely
wanted to package him
as a little more feminine, a
little more You know what I mean?
But it was not honest
to what kind of a man he was.
Cos it gets people talking.
"What's that g*n church over there?"
You know what I'm saying?
They call us a g*n cult.
Yeah, g*n cult. Sorry. I was being
polite. I'm in your home. I can't
I can't say you're in a cult
when I'm in your house!
You know what I'm saying?
Before he passes away, he says,
"Sean is the next heir
to run the church."Right.
And your mum says, "No."
She was claiming she was God.
She said she was God?Yeah.
When was the last time you spoke to
her?She cut off all communication.
So people think I cut her off.
Mm-hm.
She disowned me.
I didn't You know?Yeah.
So
Mm-hm.
R&B MUSIC
# Hey, ha, ha, ha #
VOICEOVER: As the second king
with a father who built
an international religion,
Pastor Sean is as ambitious
to grow his ministry.
He needs to convert young people.
So it's not just about
uploading sermons online.
He wants to appeal
to his target audience,
with a provocative mix of g*ns,
controversial religious views,
set to rap lyrics.
So, this is a studio/media room.
Oh, OK.Yeah.
We can actually open those windows
cos it's kind of hot.
So, when you sort of write raps now,
what's your inspiration?
Like, gospel rap. Spiritual stuff.
And then another one is, you know,
punish the paedos.
Punish the paedos.
Punish the paedos.
Woodchipper. Woodchipper was a big
one.Yeah. OK. That's like a genre.
I think I'm the only pastor
that has that genre.Yeah, yeah.
It's a niche market. Yeah,
if I was a record label, I'd say,
"Listen, I like the music,
but we need to broaden out a bit."
Why do you rap about it?
Do you pick subjects
that you know are
sort of headline grabby?
I preach from the Bible about what
God says about h*m*.Mm.
Just like any preacher should do.
What's the viewership
of the music videos?
You know, we really don't know,
cos they keep on banning us.
So we're on our fourth channel. And
they just keep on shutting us down.
Why do you get banned from YouTube?
Well, they don't like the songs
that are about punishing paedos.
What was the other videos
you had on there?
We had one called Fruit Ninja.
That was about, you know,
the trans doctors just trying
to make money chopping off
kids', you know, genitals
and breasts.Yeah, yeah, yeah.
I think that got you banned.
Probably.
ALL LAUGH
If I'm taking a guess,
I think that one was the one
that got you banned.
SEAN LAUGHS
What's the next music video about?
Oppression.
VOICEOVER: What I don't understand
is what Pastor Sean
wants to do with his followers
and what he wants to achieve.
This is the Trump Truck.
Why did you make it?
You know, we're
JAMALI LAUGHS
You know, our country
is in big trouble.
We're big on supporting
President Trump.
You know, my father
has always been
In our theological tradition, we
don't only just do spiritual stuff.
Religious, economic and political.
And then Communism
political Satanism.
Yeah, that's from my father's
teachings.Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Communism
He hated Communism, innit?
It means centralised.
Your dad didn't like Communism.
The constitutionthat our church
has for our future kingdomMm.
..is when the people are armed,
but they're training together,
they would be able to have
the right to bear arms.
How do we know when that's coming?
Will there be a second coming
or something?
Or you say third coming, right?No,
we don't believe in a third coming.
We believe in the second coming
of Christ, returning Jesus,
whom our church believes is
my father, Reverend Sun Myung Moon.
So your dad would come back?
No, he has come, and he
established that kingdom.Yeah.
OK. Sorry. Sorry. I understand now.
So, say if that happens tomorrow,
you would be the king of that,
cos your father,
who was the MessiahRight.
..instilled that into you,
that you're the next in line.
He chose me to be heir.
He chose you to be heir.Right.
And then say if it happened,
say you pass away
Right.
..and your son's alive,
he would then be the king
of the kingdom?Correct.
If you want military-grade weapons,
do you want a m*ssile?
Of course.Oh, wow!
SEAN LAUGHS
Cos if you would've asked me,
I would've gone, "Yeah, probably."
I probably would buy one, too.
You know the answer to that.
Come on. Let's go see some more.
That's a cool truck, though.
Thank you, man. Appreciate it.
I would put a different paint job
on it, but I like the truck.
Well, actually it's a wrap.
It's a wrap?Yeah.
Yeah, I'd take the wrap off,
but it's a cool truck nevertheless.
g*nshots
VOICEOVER: I've come to the r*fle
range on the Rod Of Iron compound
where Pastor Sean
encourages members to train
with the church's favourite firearm,
the AR-15.
What's the A?
No, no, that's the Demoness.
It's luring you sexually.Oh, OK.
I see it now. It's like a lady.
A demon lady.
Have you ever seen that before?
In person?Lure you, sexually?
In person?
Boy, that's another question.
BOTH LAUGH
That's a whole 'nother story, Pastor.
I can't even let you know that.
g*nshots
Father, we thank you for this
beautiful day that we can practise
the Rod Of Iron training. Everybody
has the right of self defence.
VOICEOVER: Pastor Sean has got
no problem mixing g*ns and religion.
We pray that everybody
can remain safe
and improve their understanding
of how valuable freedom is.
VOICEOVER: But I still feel confused
about it.
Praise God. Amen.
VOICEOVER: I want to speak
to the younger members of the church
about their views. I've heard that
if you're born into the church,
you're called second generation
and considered more pure.
Today's talk is the kingly guidance.
VOICEOVER: I've talked to Gideon
again, who's brought a group
of second generation church members
together.
So, say, like, I joined the church,
right?
I say, "I'm ready to get blessed."
So can I see her physically
until I marry her?
Yeah, you just don't wanna be,
like, intimate.
Ideally, you don't even touch,
so you can talk as much as you want.
So like a prison visit.Yeah, yeah.
WellI mean
What is sex about? Why do you
have sex?Why do I have sex?
You can answer, but my point is
I don't mind answering.
My point is it's not about
just the temporal pleasure.
You guys are gonna have a lineage
and a kinship line.
And I believe that you could have
good sex, like, with anyone.
You're gonna have a good time,
especially if the purpose is
that important central lineage.
I haven't had it and I know that's
gonna happen.So, how do you know?
I just know. Oh, I know.
THEY LAUGH
In front of God?
Yeah, because he create everything.
He create sex to
How do you have sex in front of God?
How do you have a photo of God?
OK. OK. OK.
So, in the first three days,
you have sex in front of God,
like a symbolism.
Yeah.
Is everything allowed in the bedroom?
Oh, so no a**l sex.
Just simple, classic,
p*nis and vag*na, man.
Because p*nis and a**l is g*y
and doesn't reproduce children.
Children don't come out of the butt.
JAMALI LAUGHS
Do you believe you should have
a lot of children?
Be fruitful, multiply,
have dominion.
Dominion,
does that mean to take over?
The plan is to, at some point,
have a country
that starts and then grows.
So at the beginning, the dominion
will be a singular nation.
Your country.Yes.
OK. All right. Sorry,
give me a second. OK. All right.
So you're starting a country now.
Where is this country?
It's nowhere yet.Everywhere would
be occupied right now, though, no?
Correct. All the land's taken
currently.Yeah.
We're not gonna use, you know,
like, a g*n to someone's head
and say, "Hey, give us your nation."
Communists are kind of doing it
right now.
Globally, they're taking over
without a shot fired.
I mean, they're trying to change
the culture.
They've infiltrated the schools,
the universities.
I believe within our lifetimes,
we will see
the formation of the kingdom.
Maybe not over the whole world.
You know, hopefully, but
It's not done by conquest,
but through other nations
voluntarily joining.Yeah.Yeah.
VOICEOVER: Some of their views
felt like a mix
of comically juvenile jokes
and untrue facts.
Not just about the church
getting its own land,
but their views on sex, as well.
I wonder how much they question
what Pastor Sean is telling them.
Jamali.Nice to see you, man.
How you doing?
Doing good, man.What's going on?
We're sh**ting the video today.
SHE SHOUTS
VOICEOVER: Today,
I'm coming to see Pastor Sean
filming his latest rap video.
It's called Oppressive.
It's about how women live freer
and more fulfilled lives
by being in his church.
SHE SHOUTS
VOICEOVER: And the younger women
of the congregation
have come as the extras.
What's the plan for the actual video?
Like, in terms of shots and scenes
and stuff? What were you thinking?
One will be the martial arts
training.Yeah.
And then here,
they're also in the kitchen.
And they're cooking b*ll*ts
in the kitchen.
Like, in the second world, they say
if the woman is in the kitchen,
she's oppressed.
We're King BulletheadYeah. OK.
..and we're the g*n church.
JAMALI LAUGHS
If there wasn't a b*llet, I would
have been disappointed.That's right.
Are the kids gonna be in the video?
The kids are in it.
Oh.Yeah, because the whole thing is,
like, we're investing in our youth
and our family and our kids.
A lot of the young people,
they will vote very heavy
for things that promote
the breakdown of family,
like ab*rtion, g*y marriage,
you know.
These things break down
the traditional family,
which is statistically proven to be
the safest place for children.
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
What does that say?
"Our Queens read the Bible,
"sh**t lots a g*ns, bang, bang.
"Your girls bang fools for money,
legs over they head."
SEAN LAUGHS
Why are you laughing, man?
It's just funny.You're being
misogynist.It's very funny.
Do you think the music videos is a
good way to get your message across?
Music has always been part of
the Christian tradition.Yeah, yeah.
Yes. And, like,
making songs that praise to God
I'd say your gospel music is a lot
different to other gospel music.
SEAN LAUGHS
Everybody ready? OK. Music.
R'N'B BEATS
I've gotta say, that's truly
one of the most unique things
I've ever seen in my life.
SEAN LAUGHS
Praise the Lord. Nice.
VOICEOVER: I'm still trying to get
the inside view of life in the church
to find out what happens if you
have doubts about their teachings.
Emerald and Dajo are married.
They're second generation
whose parents joined in the '70s.
Now they've agreed to talk to me
on camera.
Can you tell me about
when you guys got matched?
There was, like,
a matching website.
Yeah, we just asked each other
all these big points,
and we both wanted 12 kids
and something like that.
She asked me if I liked g*ns.
Yeah.
SHE LAUGHS
Why is that important,
if he likes g*ns?
Well, cos he can protect the family
that way. You know?
It's
It's a protective shield, so
How long have you been married?
Almost three years?Three years.
Do you guys want kids?
Yeah, yeah.
What type of, like, standards
would you hold your kids to?
If one of your kids was like, "I'm
g*y," what would your reaction be?
Why?
BOTH LAUGH
No.If he was like, "I'm born g*y.
It's just how I feel."
People aren't born g*y.
It's socially constructed.
There's no genetic
It's socially constructed?Yeah.
You don't think people are born g*y?
No. No.
You can be attracted to anything,
really.
If it's channelled the wrong way,
it could be animals,
which is not good, you know?
Anything that's not man and woman
is just outside of God's principle.
How was it like growing up in the
church?He was Catholic for a while.
What?Yeah.
So what's happened?
He doubted the whole church and he
was Catholic for a couple of years.
Why did you doubt the church?
So, I have a birth family
and then my adopted family.
So I was an offering child.
OK. Did you know from a little kid
that you was an offering child?
I was six when I found out.
But I wasn't really told the story
until I was 30.
When the mother gave birth
to her first child,
she was like, "This is an amazing
experience of motherhood.
"I feel sorry for the women
who can't conceive and give birth."
And then she started
talking to her husband
and he was like, "No,
I'm not giving away any babies."
He was like, "No way."
And then the fourth one,
which was Dajo, then he was like,
"OK, it really feels like
it's coming from God."
And then they had a list of,
you know, all the people
who couldn't have kids,
all the blessed couples,
and they knew each other
in the church,
so they picked his adoptive parents.
I don't wanna tell you what you felt,
but it must be difficult.
And I think that's a lot
of the reason why I fell away,
cos I had a lot of resentment.
Your biological father,
does he feel weird about it now,
doing that?
Yeah, when I talked to him,
he didn't regret it at all.
On a human level,
you still must feel those feelings.
I think it's getting better.
Yeah.
And I think
that's the purpose of religion
and the purpose of, like,
understanding these truths
is so that you can forgive
with God's heart.
VOICEOVER: I understand that
the practice of offering children
isn't done
at the Rod of Iron Church now.
But it's a huge act of devotion
and it reveals
just how much faith they have
and both Pastor Sean and his father.
I'm back with Fran, who's offering up
her services to Pastor Sean
by publicising his big next event.
It's a freedom festival
to take place in Tennessee,
aimed at attracting right-wing
Christians and g*n enthusiasts
to join the church.
Jay the sh**ter.
I'm gonna take a guess
and say this guy's to do with g*ns.
This guy, he looks like a patriot.
Yeah, he is a patriot.
This guy's a patriot.
What do you call someone in England
who loves their country? A patriot?
Crazy.
A nationalist.
Nationalist? Royalist?
VOICEOVER: Fran's doing the rounds
at the local shops,
who's agreed to display their flyers.
First stop is the local g*n store
that's actually owned by
Pastor Sean's brother.
Wow!
Yeah, I can do that still.
But I, er Whenever I see
something like this,
I want to practise
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
SHE LAUGHS
You should put on a show.
Oh!You should do a show.
Too old.
There, I can practise.
Wahh! There. Uhh.
My hair looks good.
It does look good.
I'm gonna get the gold one,
like Pastor Sean.
SHE LAUGHS
That must be very expensive.
It feels heavy,
but that's how they all feel.
Right?Most are gonna be
around that weight.
VOICEOVER: Fran's doing publicity
with Sun Me,
who I met at Gideon's meeting.
She combines volunteering at the
church while working at the g*n shop.
And was you born into the church?
Yes. Yes, I was.
I'm one of seven children
that are in our family,
but then our parents had friends
that couldn't have children,
so then they adopted one of our
my brother,
so I consider him like a cousin,
cosOK.
..you know, he's their son.
We had a baby for someone, too.
You had a baby for someone?Yeah.
Yeah, that was the fourth one
that was born.
We already had three, including
Kenji, which was a challenge.
And I got pregnant. And we knew
right away, my husband and I.
We say, "This child is meant for
my husband's friends."
It's surprising to hear,
because I know it happens more
within the culture in this religion.
It's definitely a different culture.
It's not common.Yeah.
Yeah, let's go put some stuff
in the stores.
OK, let's go visit some stores.
We didn't coordinate.I know.
Prove to me he was the Messiah.
What is the convincing factor
that he was the second Messiah?
So, Jesus came to him
on Easter Sunday and he was,
"You do it!"
SHE LAUGHS
"You're gonna be the Messiah."
Did anyone else see it,
or was it just him that saw it?No,
he was just on the mountain alone.
Yeah, he was praying on Easter
Sunday alone when Jesus came to him.
You say you do voluntary work. What
type of voluntary work do you do?
Outreach,
connecting patriots to our movement.
Sing in the church.
Yeah, I sing in the choir.
We're all supposed to pick up our
crosses and walk with Christ.Mm-hm.
I can't say that I
Did I really do that?
Like, let go of my life? You know?
My confession is that,
as a first gen, I didn't do enough.
If he's the Messiah, he's either the
Messiah or he's not, Reverend Moon.
Mm-hm.
If I had really done my mission,
since I was aged 22
Mm.
The world would know about him
if I had done better.
So exactly what she's saying.
I just feel bad that I didn't
convince my family,
I didn't convince
My kids are great in that regard,
but I didn't convince
all my neighbours,
"Messiah's here! Messiah's here!"
From what you've told me
about your life, it sounds like
you've given a lot, though.
Yeah, I feel I have. I feel I have.
And, but still, as she says,
not enough.Not enough.
Not enough.
What more could you give?
Some people give their children
to other members, that's godly work.
Arguably the most important
possession is your child, you know.
Like your parents did.
That sounds like a lot to give.
It's just a natural feeling, like,
you kind of get this feeling like,
"There's so much more I could do
for God."
VOICEOVER: I'm coming to the end
of my time in Tennessee,
and before my final meeting
with Pastor Sean,
I'm going to see Fran and Yoshi
to talk to them about the church.
Aww.The final hug.
The final hug.
YOSHI LAUGHS
OK.Oh, I get a hug from Yoshi?
Wow! I feel like
it's a rare occurrence.
THEY LAUGH
So, we love the view.
I don't like the wires, but it's OK.
Erm
You can cut them down.The wires?
YOSHI LAUGHS
Get solar.
Oh, there you go.
Wind turbines.
This is so the animals don't get to
our little chickens.
Why doesn't Jamali hold it up there?
Can you just go above that?
Make me happy.How about here?Yeah.
There we go.
We gotta make Fran happy.
What do you think
the future of the church is?
I think it's growing and it's gonna
grow. We wanna have patriots
and people who love this nation
and wanna save this nation
so we can save the world. Shall I
hold it down for you? Or Jamali?
What a helpful guy.
That's all right.
What do you think about Pastor Sean
and our church?
Sometimes it feels more like
a political rally than a religion.
Right.
It sort of talks about a better world
and I don't know if a better world
isn't a tolerant world.
Even for stuff you don't like.
Right.Like g*y marriage or
You know, I think you have a right
to not like it,
but I don't know if that
makes the world a better place.
Mm-hm. I hear you.You know?
Cos I don't know if we will evolve
into the next thing if we're kind of
hung up on stuff like that.
And I think, as well, the church
talks a lot about freedom,
and I think one of the things
of freedom is
people might do stuff you don't like
but they have a right to do it.
Right.Of course, we don't interfere
with their personal lives.
Yeah.They can do
whatever they want to at home.
They have the freedom
to love anybody.Yeah, yeah.
They can marry an animal
if they want to.Yeah, yeah.
That's against the law, but
HE LAUGHS
We just try to show
the ideal marriage
for everyone to hopefully,
eventually, be happy.
I mean, if the whole world was
filled with Yoshi and Frans,
I mean, oh, my God,
we'd just be so great.
A lot would get done.
There would be a lot of Fran saying,
"Do this,"
and then Yoshi having to
Stuff would get done in that world
with all the Yoshi and Frans.
Yeah.
Or Pastor Sean and his wife,
they've very cute.Yeah.Yeah.
VOICEOVER: Today I'm due to have
my final meeting with Pastor Sean
so I can talk to him
about his beliefs,
but he's told my producer
there's been a change of plan.
We've come here
to sh**t the final scene
and they want us to sh**t
other stuff. Can you explain?
They say you can have lunch,
but they wanna have it
on top of the armoured Humvee,
er, if possible.
They said that would be
a really good shot.
And I said, "Let me just
chat to the guys about that."
So they wanna do the interview on top
of theOn top of the Humvee.
..the armoured Humvee.Yeah.And then
we have to film with Black Rambo.
Yeah.
All right.
# I have to hit it like bah, bah
VOICEOVER: Black Rambo is an
ex-marine whose rap went viral
when he featured his g*n collection.
# Gangsta, a gangsta,
that's what you wanna call me
And now he's got three and a half
million followers on YouTube
and some of his posts
get up to seven million views,
so there's no surprise why Pastor
Sean wants to collaborate with him.
Good morning, brother.
This is Black Rambo here.
What's up, brother?
How you doing? I like that ring,
man.Appreciate it, man.
What you been up to today?Well,
we've been sh**ting some videos
and then he posted up some videos,
like, an hour ago.
You made content together?
Yesterday's video is, like, 200K.
Really?Yeah.
So what's your social media about?
g*ns.It's g*ns?
Like g*n ownership and stuff?
Yep.
Who owns his Humvee?
This one actually was donated
by a brother in Macau.
So he bought it for you?
He bought it for us.
This is yours?Not personally.
They bought it for the church.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
VOICEOVER: I don't mind
appearing in their content,
but it feels unnatural
and stage-managed.
How much do you know
about Sean's church?
Erm, I'm starting to learn more
about it, you know?
I'm just getting into it, learning,
that kind of stuff.
I think they gonna get me married.
I'm single.
SEAN LAUGHS
Oh, you wanna do the matching
process?Yeah, I'm gonna try it out.
I'm 40 years old, man. I wanna be
married one day.You're 40?
Yeah. I look good,
you know, I look good.
JAMALI LAUGHS
Have you found a wife for him yet?
Well, we have a sister
we're talking to
who's agreed to move forward
with her family,
her whole family is praying
for Black Rambo right now
Can I see a photo?
But as you know,
in our church,
celibacy's very important,
so his candidate is a 26-year-old,
she's a virgin, you know, she
What do you think,
in terms of a lifestyle change,
would be the hardest thing to accept
if you joined the Rods?
If I wanna get married, I want one
woman, I don't wanna be a cheater,
so that's not hard.
Cos I think if I was converting,
what would I find hard to accept?
Your dad was the Messiah,
I think that's the hardest one for
me.That's why I wanna learn more.
I don't know much about the church,
everything. I just met him.
I just don't know. Things
you don't know, you gotta learn.
But the little bit you do know, what
is that?They're just good people
and they believe in God
and they believe in
the right to protect themselves.
That's mostly what it is.
It's like a family, bro.
It feels like one big old family.
That's it.
JAMALI SIGHS
He was nothing to do with the church
at all.
Had nothing to do with any of this.
Black Rambo
just wanted to be on telly.
And he asked me,
"How many followers you got?"
I told him I had 90,000.
He went, "Meh."
WOMAN LAUGHS
And Sean was like,
"No, no, he's TV famous."
But it just kind of shows
the show of it.
And it's kind of the modern age.
Everything's content,
even religion now.
So I'm gonna ask this question
one more time.
Do we have any patriots
in the house?
CHEERING
Then let's turn this track up loud
and proud. Let's get this thing
going, y'all. Come on.
VOICEOVER: At the freedom festival,
Pastor Sean's in full flow.
LGBTQ rights and sexualised drag
queen shows in public schools
and multi-billion-dollar
gender mutilation industry,
openly promoting paedophiles.
This is intended to destroy
the American Christian family,
where God, not self-pleasure,
is at the centre of the universe.
VOICEOVER: And in true
Pastor Sean fashion,
it's a heavy mix
of right-wing politics,
conspiracy theories
and unsubstantiated statistics.
..hell on Earth,
dystopian 1984-like world,
centralised digital currency
VOICEOVER: And the members of
his church believe he is speaking
as the son of the second Messiah,
so on that basis, they dedicated
their lives to him and his father.
I wanted to say to you
if Reverend Moon is not the Messiah,
none of this makes sense.
Or if he's the Messiah,
that's why I dedicate.OK.
If he's not, none of this makes
sense.What do you mean?There is
Well, dedicating my life and all
the things, we look crazy.Mm-hm.
And you think I don't know that?
Mm-hm.
Out of everyone I've spoken to,
I think you've said
the most surprising thing
I've probably heard the whole time.
Oh, really? What was that?About
your child you gave as offering.
Isn't that interesting?
But, for me, it was very surprising.
Yeah.It was quite shocking.
It is shocking for a lot of people.
It was shocking for my family.
But then I think,
when they understood
where I was coming from
and I was doing it out of love,
for love, to give love
And for the church, as well.
CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
This song is called No More God.
Let's do it together.
You should go listen. I'm boring.
# This is America
VOICEOVER: I'll often think about
the small but loyal congregation
of the church.
They've given away so much,
whether it's their point of view,
partner and even children.
I wonder what they feel
they've gained.
I suspect
it's a sense of togetherness
from all the things
that they've eagerly parted with
and what I believe to be
distorted truths
solidified by being told by the world
that they're wrong.
For all the theories to why they do
what they do, one thing is for sure.
They are truly fascinating
and strange.
I'm happy to be leaving.
But I'm happy I went.
God bless all of you
and God bless our country!
CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
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01x03 - Rods of Iron
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The comedian and documentary maker spends time with leaders and key figures in growing communities on the fringes of the mainstream to find out just why they inspire such devotion among followers.
The comedian and documentary maker spends time with leaders and key figures in growing communities on the fringes of the mainstream to find out just why they inspire such devotion among followers.