Speaking of crazy pastors: Why the hell aren't the Democrats bringing up Rev. Moon??!?

[mrreowwr_kittty]

He makes Jeremiah Wright look positively boring. Surely a link, however tenuous, can be found between McCain and him.

Hail to the Moon king
The deeply weird coronation of Rev. Sun Myung Moon in a Senate office building -- crown, robes, the works -- is no longer one of Washington's best-kept secrets.

By John Gorenfeld

Jun 21, 2004 | You probably imagine your congressman hard at work in the Capitol debating legislation, making laws -- you know, governing. But your newspaper probably didn't tell you that one night in March, members of Congress hosted a crowning ritual for an ex-convict and multibillionaire who dressed up in maroon robes and declared himself the Second Coming.

On March 23, the Dirksen Senate Office Building was the scene of a coronation ceremony for Rev. Sun Myung Moon, owner of the conservative Washington Times newspaper and UPI wire service, who was given a bejeweled crown by Rep. Danny K. Davis, D-Ill. Afterward, Moon told his bipartisan audience of Washington power players he would save everyone on Earth as he had saved the souls of Hitler and Stalin -- the murderous dictators had been born again through him, he said. In a vision, Moon said the reformed Hitler and Stalin vouched for him, calling him "none other than humanity's Savior, Messiah, Returning Lord and True Parent."

To many observers, this bizarre scene would have looked like the apocalypse as depicted in "Left Behind" novels. Moon, 84, the benefactor of conservative foundations like the American Family Coalition -- who served time in the 1980s for tax fraud and conspiracy to obstruct justice -- has views somewhere to the right of the Taliban's Mullah Omar. Moon preaches that gays are "dung-eating dogs," Jews brought on the Holocaust by betraying Jesus, and the U.S. Constitution should be scrapped in favor of a system he calls "Godism" -- with him in charge. The man crowned "King of Peace" by congressmen once said, according to sermons reprinted in his church's Unification News: "Suppose I were to hit you with the baseball bat to stop you, bloodying your ear and breaking a bone or two, yet still you insisted on doing more work for Father."

What, exactly, drew at least a dozen members of Congress to Moon's coronation? (By the Unification Church's estimate, 81 congressmen attended, although that number is probably high.) The event was the grand finale of Moon's coast-to-coast "tear down the cross" Moonification tour, intended to remove Christian crosses from almost 300 churches in poor neighborhoods -- the idea being that the cross was an obstacle to uniting religions under Moon. Yet the Dirksen ceremony was sold as a celebration of world peace. According to a cheery promotional video released by Moon's International and Interreligious Federation for World Peace, the ceremony marked the dawn of "the era of the Eternal Peace Kingdom, one global family under God." Moon's coronation also cured God's pain, the announcer explains.



http://dir.salon.com/story/news/feature/2004/06/21/moon/index.html

[sniffa]

1. Who were our elected officials in attendance again?

[mrreowwr_kittty]

3. Damn! What the hell were those Dems doing there?

Davis? Charlie Rangel? Harold Ford? (okay no big surprise there)

At any rate, Moon is very much tied to conservative causes and owns the Washington Times. There's gotta be something linking him to McCain. Has he given him money? Any kind of support?

[rurallib]

2. Almost too obvious - maybe overlooked?

[BadgerKid]

4. I had no idea about Moon

http://dir.salon.com/story/news/feature/2003/09/24/moon/index.html
:wow:

Edit: :scared:

[Nay]

5. Because he ministers to the Republicans, who can do no wrong, you

silly thing.

:sarcasm:

[Raejeanowl]

6. I'd Be Interested In Knowing Myself

(your link does not work)

But view all uncorroborated information from Moon sources with a highly jaundiced eye.

Eight or nine years ago, his wife made a visit to the United States for purposes I don't specifically recall now except that they allegedly had something to do with her husband's "work."

She apparently sent out letters to officials, asking not for their attendance at an event or appearance, but a "letter of welcome" regarding her visiting the States to carry on whatever she was doing.

My legislator boss at the time ignored her, for which I do not blame him in the least. But her machine sent out a series of at least four increasingly intimidating and strident demands for a "letter of welcome" that she never got from us.

[mrreowwr_kittty]

7. Fixed the link. nt

[RamboLiberal]

8. You know there's a book out this month on Moon

Bad Moon Rising: How Reverend Moon Created the Washington Times, Seduced the Religious Right, and Built an American Kingdom

Joe Conason
"No American reporter knows more than John Gorenfeld about Sun Myung Moon's hidden influence and megalomaniacal ambitions. His investigations have explored Moon's deep penetration of the religious right, the conservative media, and elite political circles from the Bush family to Capitol Hill. This fascinating book brings the story up to date - and explains why you should still worry."

Review
BAD MOON RISING is a riveting investigation into how a cult leader has guilefully infiltrated and exploited the very heart of our democracy. John Gorenfeld lays bare the real story no one else has dared to tell. -- Sarah Posner, God's Profits: Faith, Fraud, and the Republican Crusade for Values Voters "???"

From author's website:

-----

Bad Moon Rising takes you into the underbelly of the Religious Right. Which is surprisingly, scandalously entwined with Moon and his business empire--an untold chapter in American political history.

The grand absurdity is that Moon has become a major patron of conservative politics. And from his seat of respect, he is launching odd, multi-million dollar campaigns of his own to replace Jesus (whom he considers a failure), and attack the wall between church and state...his church, that is.

There's more. The Chicago Tribune has reported that he controls the U.S. sushi industry. He manufactures heavy industry, does business with Kim Jong-Il. And he now officially considers himself Emperor of the Universe, claiming the imagined endorsements of dead U.S. presidents.

Strange sex and violence, power and blasphemy...The author invites you on an arresting journey as he explores the skullduggery with which Moon insinuated himself into Washington's most moralistic circles, with a cast including the Bush family, Jerry Falwell, Left Behind author Tim LaHaye, Richard Nixon, an overseas gangster or two, and the Americans who built the Religious Right...with more than a little help from Moon.

http://www.gorenfeld.net/book/

Wonder why we haven't seen any of the punditry interview this author...h'mmmmmm? I had this book on my wish list...I'm ordering it now.

[tomreedtoon]

9. Because Moon will kill us just like the Scientologists.

You want to believe that either of these religions will tolerate dissent? They kill those who dare infringe upon them. You have been warned. So have people in the news media.