At a time when information continues to come at us faster and faster, sometimes you need to hit pause.

And rewind.

NPR's Thuleine takes you back in time to the source of the news stories filling your

feed. Find NPR's Thuleine wherever you get your podcasts.

There's a Christian church in Pennsylvania. On Sundays, dozens of congregants file in, men, women, families with their kids.

They pray and listen to readings from the Bible.

The pastor wears a gold crown, encrusted with bullets,

and he carries an AR-15.

Now the two parents and the second king and queen will enter.

Please greet them with warm applause.

The pastor is Sean Moon.

His followers call him King.

His brother is the CEO of a local gun manufacturing company

and their late father was Reverend Sun Meang Moon,

a self-proclaimed Messiah and the leader of an ultra-conservative church, often compared to a cult.

You may know them as the Moonies.

Pastor Sean Moon's Church, Rod of Iron Ministries, is a lot like his dads.

But he believes that the AR-15 is a divine instrument, the modern embodiment of a rod of iron referenced in the book of

revelation. The center of the kingdom of God is the crown and land ownership and guns, the AR 15 assault rifle, the rod of iron, it's the

center of the kingdom. This is obviously not your average church, and its members don't represent the average gun owner.

But to some, this church might seem the epitome of gun culture in America. And it fits a sort of caricature of gun rights proponents.

Today, more than ever, guns are a lifestyle and a divisive political symbol, worshipped by some,

...