Moon Shadow: Dubya Helps Cult Leader Sun Myung Moon
ptsc
cult whore Dan Burton.
http://www.au.org/churchstate/cs6013.htm
Moon Shadow
With Help From Congressional Republicans And The Bush 'Faith-Based' Initiative,
Controversial Korean Evangelist Sun Myung Moon Is Trying To Expand His
Religious-Political Empire
By Rob Boston
At first glance, the invitation many clergy and community leaders around the
country received last April to attend conferences on "Faith-Based Initiatives
For Family and Community Renewal" might have looked like it came from the
Republican congressional leadership and the Bush administration.
The material, decorated with a drawing of the U.S. Capitol, noted that the
events would include a satellite broadcast of a GOP-sponsored "faith-based
summit" for clergy transmitted live from the Library of Congress in Washington,
D.C., and said that prominent congressional leaders and White House staffers
would take part.
The flyer promised that the "cutting edge program" would "provide the latest
information on innovative policies and programs from the Executive and
Congressional leadership in Washington; and build alliances for faith-based
services at the state and community level."
Meanwhile, in Washington, D.C., U.S. Rep. J.C. Watts, the House Republican
Conference Chairman, was issuing press releases noting that the GOP’s
"faith-based" summit would be viewed by satellite at events in over 45 cities.
But if invitees took the time to read the fine print on the flyers touting the
local gatherings, they would have learned that the get-togethers were sponsored
not directly by the Republican Party but on its behalf by a group called the
American Leadership Conference (ALC).
Reading further, they would have found out that the ALC is a project of the
American Family Coalition and The Washington Times Foundation – both front
organizations for the Rev. Sun Myung Moon, a controversial Korean evangelist and
founder of the Unification Church. The "faith-based summit" itself was sponsored
by Watts (R-Okla.), Sen. Rick Santorum (R-Pa.) and other top congressional
Republicans, but efforts to promote it at the grassroots level were turned over
to a Moon organization.
Why is the Republican Party working hand in glove with Moon front groups? The
partnership stems largely from Moon’s phenomenal ability to make inroads in GOP
and Religious Right circles. Despite his unorthodox theological views – Moon
teaches that he is the new Messiah, sent by God to complete the failed mission
of Jesus – Moon has had little difficulty penetrating the upper echelons of
American conservatism.
While a number of Republican-aligned private organizations have promoted
President George W. Bush’s religion funding scheme, only Moon won an official
relationship with the Republican leadership to rally grassroots forces on behalf
of the "faith-based" summit. This enhanced status enabled him to do grassroots
political organizing – and religious recruitment – with the apparent blessing of
Bush and his GOP allies in Congress.
Just a few years ago, Moon announced he was ready to give up on the United
States, but the change of administrations in Washington seems to have sparked a
change of heart in him. Frederick Clarkson, a journalist who has studied Moon
and other far-right movements, notes that Moon specializes in the creation of
"Astroturf organizations" – groups that appear to have grassroots power but that
in reality speak mostly for Moon. Moon has used these groups to curry favor with
Republicans for more than 30 years, Clarkson said, and is revving them up again
to help the new Bush administration.
"Whenever the conservatives identify an issue as important to their agenda, Moon
creates an Astroturf organization to create the appearance of grassroots support
for these initiatives," Clarkson said.
Moon also has great influence among Capitol Hill Republicans through his
ownership of the ultra-conservative Washington Times newspaper. Although the
paper has never turned a profit, Moon has subsidized its operations since he
founded the publication in 1982. Gradually, it has become an important outlet
for conservatives eager for a vehicle to spread their views. Through the related
Washington Times Foundation, Moon holds opulent seminars, dinners and other
events that attract the top names in the Religious Right, clergy and political
leaders.
Over the years, Moon has played host to Religious Right bigwigs like Jerry
Falwell, Ralph Reed, Gary Bauer and Beverly LaHaye. He has also paid high fees
to ex-presidents Gerald Ford and George Bush to speak at Moon events.
To preview the Watts "faith-based" summit, Moon did a whirlwind tour of all 50
states in March and April, called the "We Will Stand Tour," to discuss family
issues and plug the Bush proposal.
Although the speeches were billed as "a celebration of faith and family," Moon,
81, was frequently off message. In Las Vegas, for example, the more than 600
people who gathered at a church April 11 to hear the Korean evangelist may have
gotten a little more than they bargained for. Moon’s discussion of "faith"
turned out to be a claim that he is the rebirth of Jesus Christ backed by
assertions that only people who have received his blessing can enter Heaven.
From there things took an even more bizarre turn. Moon went off on an explicit
tangent about "love organs," comparing male genitalia to rattlesnakes and
telling the crowd, "If you misuse your love organ, you destroy your life, your
nation, your world." He added that most divorces can be blamed on women who
don’t understand that their love organs belong to their husbands, not
themselves.
All of this did not sit too well with some members of the audience. The Las
Vegas Review-Journal reported that several people walked out, including one
woman who screamed, "Liar!" at Moon as she left.
Moon crisscrossed the country under the auspices of his American Clergy
Leadership Conference (ACLC), which has made a special effort to reach out to
African-American clergy. (This was not the first time Moon has tried to enlist
black religious leaders. Last year’s "Million Family March" in Washington was
sponsored in part by an unusual alliance of Moon front groups and the Nation of
Islam.)
A Moon speech in Washington last month drew dozens of African-American pastors,
among them the Rev. Walter Fauntroy, D.C.’s former non-voting delegate to
Congress, and the Rev. Donald Robinson, Mayor Anthony Williams’ special
assistant for religious affairs.
"Many of the goals of the ‘We Will Stand’ tour are consistent with the goals the
mayor espouses for the city," Robinson told The Washington Post. "I don’t see a
conflict. I just see this as an opportunity for the city to align itself with
like-minded people. We want the renewal and restoration of families, the renewal
and revival of community. We want a sense of racial harmony."
As he traveled around the United States, Moon was often introduced by Bishop
George Augustus Stallings Jr., a black former Catholic priest who left the
church and founded a splinter denomination called Imani Temple in 1989. In
Minneapolis Stallings told the crowd, "I know there are people saying, ‘Why in
the world are you having that man [Moon] in your church?’ Before tonight is
over, you will know that God has put a prophet in our midst!"
But other black clergy took a different view. The Rev. A. Michael Black of
Washington’s Bethesda Baptist Church was invited to attend the April 16 event in
the nation’s capital but refused. Black told The Post that orthodox Christians
cannot accept Moon’s theology.
"How can pastors accept Rev. Moon as the messiah one day after they preach Jesus
being raised from the dead on Easter?" he asked.
Other critics note that Moon’s message, while ostensibly about "unity," in fact
excludes many people. During his remarks in Washington, Moon attacked gay men,
lesbians and "those who go after free sex," labeling them "less than animals."
Moon also blasted married couples who don’t have children. According to Moon,
failure to reproduce can have dire consequences. "I encourage all of you, please
have more children," he said. "That is the contribution and service you can do
the world and God. If you stay away from having children, you cannot enter the
kingdom of God. You are bound to go to somewhere else – you can call it Hell."
The Korean evangelist offered up similar comments in other cities during his
nationwide tour, in each case reading from a prepared text through an
interpreter. In Winston-Salem, N.C., he admonished women to have lots of
children, saying, "Why do you think God gave you such broad, cushion-like hips –
for your own sake, to sit any place comfortably? No, for your children."
In spite of these views, Moon operatives managed to win endorsements from some
local clergy in each city, although the going was not always smooth.
Days before the event in Milwaukee, the Rev. Joseph Dallas of New Creation Bible
Church in Milwaukee told the Milwaukee Sentinel, "Some people in the Baptist
organization are quite appalled by a Baptist church [hosting Moon]. We are going
to have an informational protest. We’re going to be passing out information
about the Unification Church to expose their lies. We believe Moon has a hidden
agenda to deceive the churches."
To mollify critics, Moon lieutenants even backed off the claim that their boss
is the Messiah. In several cities, the Rev. Michael Jenkins, a church official,
told reporters that "messiah" simply means "anointed one." Thus, Jenkins
asserted, Moon believes he is a messiah, not necessarily the messiah. "He
believes he is anointed by Jesus, not that he is The Christ or the Savior,"
Jenkins told the Billings (Mont.) Gazette. "Rev. Moon believes pastors are
messiahs. We believe Jesus is working through him."
But scholars who study Moon tell a different story. Dr. Massimo Introvigne,
director of the Center for the Studies of New Religions in Torino, Italy, who
has tracked Moon’s activities globally, told Church & State, "There is no doubt
that Moon and his followers believe that he IS the Lord of the Second Advent,
i.e. a Messianic figure complementary to Jesus Christ."
Moon has made numerous statements over the years implying that he is something
more than a mere mortal. A passage on Moon’s official website
(www.unification.net) states the matter plainly: "The Christian world must
confront the fact that the Messiah’s second advent took place at the end of
World War II, in an obscure setting," it reads. "As did Jesus, he met with
countless difficulties, including accusation and rejection. Bearing every cross,
he – the Reverend Sun Myung Moon – took responsibility for the failure of this
generation of Christians, and he stands today as the historical victor with a
worldwide following."
In a speech delivered on January 10, 1993, Moon outlined his emergence as the
Messiah. During the speech, titled "Proclamation of the Messiah," Moon compares
himself to Jesus and asserts that he was persecuted in a manner similar to
Christ’s crucifixion.
Moon is apparently aware that his claim to be the Messiah could harm his
inter-faith efforts. Introvigne noted that a few years ago, Moon announced the
dissolution of the Unification Church and now runs many of his religious
activities through the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification. The
move has actually helped expand Moon’s circle of influence, since members of
other faiths can now endorse his endeavors and claim they are working with a
"pro-family" organization, not the Unification Church.
"[The Family Federation] is not a church but a coalition of people sharing
certain spiritual and moral values – and certainly a sympathy for Moon," said
Introvigne. "It would have been inconceivable to be a member of the Unification
Church without believing that Moon is a Messianic figure, whereby it is possible
to be a member of the current Federation and at the same time regard Moon as an
inspired religious leader but not the Messiah. It is, however, also the case
that the top leadership of the Federation comes from the Unification Church and
fully accepts Moon’s role as Messianic."
Those who study Moon note that he refers to himself as the "physical third Adam"
and that Unification theology breaks sharply with orthodox Christianity by
teaching that Jesus Christ failed in his efforts to redeem humanity. The
Unification website states that Jesus was never meant to die on the cross.
Because Jesus’s death was an error, Moon believes he must pick up where Christ
left off. His book The Divine Principle, the heart of Unification theology,
stresses that people can receive "spiritual salvation" through Christ but only
Moon can give believers "physical salvation" – a key component to getting into
Heaven.
In another sharp break with orthodox Christianity, Unification theology holds
that Moon and his wife, known as the "True Parents" in Unification parlance, and
their children were born without Original Sin.
None of these theological views have stopped Moon from making great headway in
conservative politics and even the Religious Right, a movement whose
fundamentalist Christian viewpoint would seem to be greatly at odds with Moon.
One key to Moon’s success is a longtime political operative named David Caprara.
Caprara, a Unification Church member and former assistant secretary of the
Department of Housing and Urban Development under Jack Kemp, is well connected
in the nation’s capital and serves Moon in various overlapping capacities.
Caprara serves as president of the American Family Coalition, a Moon front
group, as well as representing The Washington Times Foundation. He recently
accepted an appointment to serve on an advisory council that Watts put together
in advance of the GOP "faith-based" summit. The Washington Times Foundation then
arranged to broadcast the event live via satellite to dozens of communities.
Caprara also runs The Empowerment Network, a public policy organization that
promotes "faith-based" and family solutions to societal problems. Two U.S.
senators, Santorum and Joseph Lieberman (D-Conn.), serve as caucus chairmen of
the organization. Its "Empowerment Leadership Roundtable" lists two men who have
gone to work in Bush’s Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives – Stanley
Carlson-Thies and Don Eberly.
Through operatives like Caprara, Moon keeps a steady hand in Washington and thus
in national affairs. Moon is able to open other doors through infusions of cold,
hard cash when necessary. For example, many of the ministers who attended the
"We Will Stand" events were given gold Christian Bernard wristwatches estimated
to cost thousands of dollars apiece.
The Rev. Phillip Schanker, a Moon spokesman, told The Washington Post, "The gold
watches are a personal expression from Rev. Moon, and the gold represents his
unchanging love."
Moon also pays speakers handsomely. After former President George Bush spoke at
a Moon event in July of 1996, a London newspaper reported that he received $1
million in British pounds (nearly $1.5 million in U.S. dollars) for the speech.
Kemp, who spoke at a series of Moon events between January of 1995 and the
summer of 1996, walked away with a total of $68,000.
Other prominent politicians and national figures who have addressed Moon
gatherings include former Vice President Dan Quayle and his wife, Marilyn, Sens.
Jesse Helms and Orrin Hatch, ex-United Nations Ambassador Jeanne Kirkpatrick,
former Education Secretary William Bennett, former Defense Secretary Alexander
Haig and the late Robert Casey, former Democratic governor of Pennsylvania.
Moon has also lured prominent Religious Right leaders to his events. A
conference held in Washington in July of 1996 sponsored by the Family Federation
for World Peace, a Moon front organization, heard remarks by Ralph Reed, then
executive director of the Christian Coalition, Gary Bauer, then head of the
Family Research Council, and Concerned Women for America’s Beverly LaHaye.
Moon also has ties to TV preachers Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson. Falwell has
accepted money to speak at several Moon events, including a July 26, 1994,
meeting of the Youth Federation for World Peace, yet another Moon front group.
After that gathering, a photo of Falwell standing alongside Moon and his wife,
Hak Ja Han, appeared in the Unification News. About a year a half later, Falwell
participated in a Moon-sponsored "Christian Unity in the Americas" conference in
Uruguay.
In 1997, Moon money bailed Falwell out of a tight financial spot. A Moon-run
group, the Women’s Federation for World Peace, gave $3.5 million to the
Christian Heritage Foundation with instructions to use it to buy some of the
debt incurred by Falwell’s Liberty University, reported The Washington Post.
(The group later forgave the debt.) The paper also reported that a Moon
publishing outfit had lent Falwell $400,000 at a low interest rate in 1996 for
use in propping up Liberty.
In February of 2000, the Washington Times Foundation held an event on Capitol
Hill honoring Moon that included an awards ceremony. Falwell was a top awardee,
receiving a "Distinguished Lifetime Achievement Award for Freedom, Faith and
Family." (Several members of Congress, including Speaker Dennis Hastert also
attended the event, which took place at the Canon Office Building.)
Moon’s relationship with Robertson is more complex. The volatile Virginia
televangelist has launched many verbal broadsides against Moon over the years
and has apparently had no direct dealings with him. However, Robertson’s
longtime political associate, Billy McCormack, is close to Moon.
McCormack, a Louisiana preacher who Robertson says first gave him the idea to
form the Christian Coalition, has served on the Coalition’s board of directors
for many years. Recently, he has begun popping up at Moon events in his official
Coalition capacity. McCormack was originally scheduled to appear at an ACLC
"unity rally" held at the Supreme Court last Dec. 1, but dropped out due to a
family illness. (Another Christian Coalition representative, Daniel Perkins,
spoke instead.)
But McCormack did show up in person in January for a Moon-sponsored luncheon
during the Bush inaugural, where he joined 1,700 other religious leaders for an
event called "America Come Together." McCormack and Falwell both spoke at the
luncheon, and McCormack later joined Moon on stage in Little Rock during Moon’s
multi-state tour; he also served on the "Invitation Committee" that coordinated
the "We Will Stand" events. (McCormack did not respond to Church & State’s
request for an interview.)
Joining McCormack on the Moon committee was the Rev. Wiley Drake of Buena Park,
Calif. Drake, a Southern Baptist minister, has frequently attacked church-state
separation and Americans United. (He once announced that he would use
imprecatory prayers – prayers designed to bring down the wrath of God – against
AU and its staff.) In mid April, Drake issued a public apology for his
involvement with the United Federation of Churches, another Moon group, but as
of May was still listed on a Moon website promoting the We Will Stand events
(www.wewillstand.org).
Where does Moon get the money he uses to buy influence among the Religious
Right? That question remains open. Journalist Clarkson, author of the 1997 book
Eternal Hostility: The Struggle Between Theocracy And Democracy, noted that
possible sources for Moon’s millions include foreign government and intelligence
agencies and Moon-controlled businesses around the world.
Moon served time in prison in the mid 1980s for tax evasion, and investigations
undertaken during the trial indicated that much of his money comes from Japan.
Research conducted since then has not shed much more light on the subject. As
Clarkson noted "where [Moon’s fortune] originates exactly remains a matter of
considerable conjecture." One source may be the door-to-door sale of overpriced
religious artifacts to mostly older residents in large Japanese cities. Former
church members in Japan have claimed that they were forced to engage in
high-pressure sales of assorted religious goods at inflated prices.
Moon could be pulling in money from his far-flung business holdings as well.
Over the years, his investments have included Kahr Arms, a manufacturer of
handguns, and firms that sell ginseng, computers and seafood. He also has owned
a hotel and a bank in Uruguay, where he maintains a large estate.
Observers who monitor Moon’s activities say his new venture into the GOP may
represent the Korean evangelist’s rekindling of interest in America. As recently
as 1998, Moon seemed to have given up hope on the United States and was focusing
increasing attention on South America.
Three years ago, Moon began construction of a compound he called the New Hope
Ranch in remote southwestern Brazil. Moon groups spent $25 million purchasing
more than 200,000 acres of farmland in the area. According to a report in the
St. Petersburg Times, Moon promised to build a new city in the area, complete
with hotels and an airport.
At the time, Moon had become increasingly critical of the United States,
apparently bitter over the fact that his church never really caught on in
America. "America is the kingdom of extreme individualism, the kingdom of free
sex," he said during a May 1, 1998, speech in New York. "The country that
represents Satan’s harvest is America. America doesn’t have anywhere to go now."
But Moon’s hopes for a new start in South America may have been dashed when New
Hope Ranch got off to a rocky beginning. Moon had hoped to make the facility
self sufficient, but the huge greenhouses he had built failed to produce many
crops. Cattle brought in to establish a breeding population had to be
slaughtered to feed residents. Moon had also hoped to draw students from all
over the world to the compound, but so far the numbers have been less than
encouraging.
With his South American ventures floundering, Moon may believe that it’s time to
take another shot at America – especially since a Religious Right ally now
occupies the White House.
"It’s clearly a friendlier environment for the Moon organization," says
Clarkson. "Going back as far as the Nixon years, you can see the Moon
organization functioning as an early Religious Right group, kind of like an
early Christian Coalition."
Both Introvigne and Clarkson agree that Moon never really intended to give up on
the United States. Introvigne notes that Moon considers the country crucial "for
both theological and geopolitical reasons." Clarkson asserts that Moon has
"always hated America" but regards it as "a necessary base of operations."
What does Moon want? For the short term, Moon may simply want to ingratiate
himself with the new political leadership in Washington. By promoting the
"faith-based initiative," Moon could win another lucrative benefit: Moon front
groups frequently sponsor "abstinence education" programs for teenagers. If Bush
is able to secure congressional approval for "faith-based" programs, these and
other Moon projects could qualify for tax assistance.
Moon-watchers note that the Korean evangelist has won special favors from the
U.S. government before. In 1994, Congress passed a measure creating a new
national holiday called "Parents Day," which falls on the fourth Sunday in July.
Moon ally Rep. Dan Burton (R-Ind.) spearheaded the drive, insisting the day was
only intended to honor hard-working parents.
Critics noted, however, that Moon and his wife call themselves the "True
Parents" of mankind and that a longtime Moon operative in Washington, Gary
Jarmin, did much of the legwork for Burton to get "Parents Day" enacted into
law.
Moon’s long-range goal is more ambitious – and more nefarious. Unification
theology holds that all religions should merge under a theocratic state headed
by Moon himself. Even Moon’s critics assert that’s not a likely prospect at his
advanced age, but he may hope to pass the mantle to his youngest son, Hyun Jin
Nim. (Moon’s oldest son, Hyo Jin, was apparently deemed unfit to take over after
his ex-wife published a book accusing him of being a cocaine addict, an
alcoholic and a frequenter of prostitutes. Moon’s second-eldest son, Phillip
Youngjin, committed suicide in 1999.)
Although Moon himself may not live to see the fruition of all of his goals,
observers who track his movement agree that the religio-political powerhouse he
has built is not likely to collapse any time soon. Moon’s ties to the Republican
Party and the Religious Right as well as his outreach to black clergy could mean
that his influence will carry beyond the grave.
Introvigne and Clarkson both believe that Moon’s wife (his third), who is a good
deal younger than Moon, will pick up the reins of leadership once he dies and
may continue grooming Hyun Jin for eventual coronation. In either case, Moon’s
death, they say, isn’t likely to dampen the far-right activism of the Moon
political machine.
"Once he dies, there will probably be enormous political infighting inside the
Moon organization," Clarkson said. "But the people who run it have tried to
arrange a family succession centered around a compromise candidate: Mrs. Moon.
Mrs. Moon, the ‘true co-parent,’ will be either the titular or actual head of
the Moon operation for the foreseeable future."
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ptsc