Volume 8, 2025

IJCAM

The narcissistic messiah: Personality disorder, Sun Myung Moon, and its legacy in the Unification hurch

, Canada
  • From slogans to mantras: Social protest and religious conversion in the late Vietnam War era. Kent, S. A. (2001). Syracuse University Press.
Published Date
January 15th, 2025
Issue
DOI
10.54208/1000/0008/003

Abstract

In recent years, several scholars have been re-examining the lives of numerous sect and cult leaders through the lens of current psychiatric personality disorders and mental health classifications. Narcissism is a frequently applied disorder used to evaluate the behaviors, attitudes, and beliefs of these leaders, but no one has yet used this personality disorder to examine the life of Sun Myung Moon (founder of the Unification Church) and its significance for a multitude of connected organizations. Using analyses of Moon’s talks and speeches in conjunction with other primary documents from the Unification Church itself (along with court materials and accounts from former members), we argue that Moon likely suffered from narcissistic personality disorder, which (paradoxically) helps to explain much of the devotion that members felt toward him during his life (and now after his death). Moon’s probable narcissism also helps to explain some of the group’s theology and practices that have continued posthumously.

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