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The Rod of Iron Festival is a two-day event in rural northern Pennsylvania that celebrates God, guns, and a certain former President.

Organized by the Moon family, who have created a rightwing religious cult that worships AR-15s and preaches a gun-focused faith, the festival functions as a showcase for the far rights up-and-comers, and its biggest names.

Reverend Hyung Jin Sean Moon, the chosen heir of Unification Churchs founder (you may know them as The Moonies), acts as the head of the Pennsylvania Sanctuary Church. His brother, Jason Moon, is the owner of the successful Kahr Firearms Group, a maker of semi-automatic handguns and a main sponsor of the Rod of Iron Festival.

In previous years, the festival drew thousands of attendees. This year, attendees numbered in the low hundreds. Most were Korean Americans who either flew in or were members of the Reverend Moons congregation outside of Scranton, Pennsylvania. The rest were mostly white Pennsylvanians who showed up for a love of God, guns, and Donald Trump.

The speakers included local political figures, such as Pennsylvania Congressional candidate Teddy Daniels and former Pennsylvania state Reprepresentative Rick Saccone, along with a smattering of national conservative figures like Dana Loesch of the NRAs online video channel NRATV and former Trump adviser Steve Bannon (via skype).

While Trump is no longer in the White House, his presence filled the hearts and minds of most Rod of Iron attendees. The MAGA cult was in full force here, with nearly every spreaker praising the former leader and questioning the outcome of the otherwise-resolved 2020 election.

Reverend Sean Moon (left) wears a crown of bullets and a golden AR-15 across his chest as he waits backstage to open his festival. His older brother and KAHR Arms founder, Jason, seems to find the adoration that Sean receives amusing.

Owning the libs is a core principle of any successful MAGA event. The idea that liberals need safe spaces is the regular punchline among the proudly toxic masculine men of MAGA. So here at the Rod of Iron Festival, they built what I originally thought was a childrens play area but was, in fact, a mock safe space.

Teddy Daniels, a Congressional candidate for Pennsylvanias Eighth District and a proudly toxic man.

Sheriff Richard Mack, a founder of the Constitutional Sheriffs and Peace Officers Association, believes that elected sheriffs who swear their oath to the U.S. Constitution are among the highest authorities in the land and do not need to listen to the other elected leaders or the U.S. Supreme Court. Hes seen here posing in front of a Three Percenter flag. (He has in the past aligned himself with the OathKeepers, a group that is made up of many Threepers.)

Guns were, of course, ubiquitous. But so were gun-shaped souvenirs, including the chocolates sold at a coffee and desserts tent. Cindys Gun Sweets were created by a granddaughter of the Reverend Sun Myung Moon. The box they come in tells the story of how Cindys grandfather brought chocolates for his grandchildren at Christmas after being freed from a North Korean concentration camp by U.S. troops in 1950, during the Korean War.

Flags at MAGA events are a big thing. But even at the Trump rallies Ive been to, Ive never seen flags as extensive as on this Americas Flag Truck, a pick-up decked out with dozens of different varieties of the Confederate flag.

Some attendees make their own custom flags, such as this fan of Alex Jones and his show InfoWars who also discussed his belief in QAnon. In my short conversation with him, as he held a flag referencing the meme that Epstein didnt hang himself, he riffed on nearly every conspiracy theory I know, from Trump winning 2020 to a deep state cover-up of Bidens mental capabilities.

Every year at the Rod of Iron Festival, theres an art contest. Most of the art is focused on Reverend Moon and his brother, like this paper clay figurine with an AR-15 accessory. Other pieces included digital art of Jesus with an AR-15 and photos of the Moons on motorcycles.

Former NRATV host Dana Loesch was the keynote speaker on Saturday, October 9. Her speech focused on how her friends told her not to attend the Rod of Iron Festival. She denounced the website The Daily Beast for an article that outlined Rod of Irons far-right funders and connections.

The night ended with an extensive fireworks show that reverberated over the entire region, with the remaining audience numbering around 100 as the show started to run late. The extremely pro-American band that closed out the night went on for a long time, playing one encore after another.

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For the Love of Guns, God, and Donald Trump - Progressive.org