RENO, Nevada, Nov. 1 – The son of Unification church leader Reverend
Sun
Myung Moon leaped to his death from the 17th floor of Harrah’s last
week.
Reno police say Younjin Phillip Moon, 21, checked into Harrah’s
Hotel last Wednesday morning and spent much of the day inside. But
sometime Wednesday night or early Thursday, he took his own life.
Authorities say Moon apparently jumped from the 17th floor of Harrah’s
and
landed on the skywalk. He died instantly from multiple injuries and
blunt
force trauma.Younjin Moon was one of Reverend Moon’s 13 children. Reverend
Moon
tells followers he and his children are "sinless" and that he is ten
times
greater than Jesus Christ. Reverend Moon has many followers and also
many
critics.Steven Hassan, a former member of the church commonly called
"Moonies," is an outspoken critic of Reverend Moon. He says Reverend
Moon
is a master of propaganda and deceit but says he feels only sorrow
for the
family after the suicide of Moon’s son. "I feel tremendously sad and
great
pity for all victims of his delusions of grandeur. It must be tremendously
tough to be a child of his," says Steven Hassan. Hassan also says that
the
church doesn’t publicly condone suicide but he says some followers
have
said that the church does teach that suicide is preferable to betraying
Reverend Moon.
Younjin Moon had been traveling around the country and was in Reno
no
more than a day before committing suicide.
