Moonie (nickname)

Moonie (nickname)

Moonie is a pejorative term sometimes used to refer to members of the Unification Church. This is derived from the name of the church's founder Sun Myung Moon, and was first used in 1974 by the American media. Church members have used the word "Moonie", including Sun Myung Moon, President of the Unification Theological Seminary David Kim, and Moon's aide Bo Hi Pak. In the 1980s and 1990s the Unification Church of the United States undertook an extensive public relations campaign against the use of the word by the news media, including hiring civil rights activist Ralph Abernathy to equate it with the word "nigger". In commentary on the term and its usage, scholars have noted it is both a popular colloquial term, and one that has negative connotations. In his 2000 book Mystics and Messiahs, Philip Jenkins discussed the term's usage, and likened it to "smear words" associated with other religions; giving examples of Shaker, Methodist, and Mormon. Journalistic authorities, including the New York Times and Reuters, now discourage its use in news reporting.