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On 28 February 2018, the Associated Press published photographs showing people wearing brightly colored robes and crowns (some of which appeared to have been crafted from bullets) carrying AR-15 firearms in what was termed a commitment ceremony. The surreal scene showcased in the photographs prompted readers to inquire whether it was actually real: The AP is a legitimate news agency, and — as reality is sometimes much stranger than fiction — this story and these photographs are authentic. They show roughly 600 members of the World Peace and Unification Sanctuary church in Newfoundland, Pennsylvania, considered by some to be a cult. The sect has undergone some rebranding since its heyday, but it is not new. It is an offshoot of the notorious Unification Church, perhaps best known for its adherents — who are sometimes colloquially called Moonies, after its late founder, Rev. Sun Myung Moon, described by RationalWiki as a nutjob from South Korea who claimed he was the Second Coming of Jesus. His son, Rev. Sean Moon, oversees the Newfoundland congregation; his other son, Justin Moon, owns a gun manufacturing business — which sponsored the event, as reported by the Standard-Speaker: The photographs were taken at a ceremony in which couples were asked to bring their rods of iron, a phrase from the apocalyptic Book of Revelation in the New Testament that Moon has interpreted rather specifically to mean AR-15s. The Philadelphia Inquirer had still more about the event: The ceremony so spooked the community that the local school district closed a nearby elementary school and moved children to other locations that day.
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