The Reverend Moon's Comeback

By Bill Berkowitz, AlterNet. Posted March 13, 2001.

In one of his first moves as president, George W. Bush signed a proclamation designating the day after the inauguration as a National Day of Prayer and Thanksgiving. Hold onto your prayer shawls my friends, because behind the most prominent Inaugural weekend prayer event was the Rev. Sun Myung Moon. Out of the pomp and pomposity of the inauguration comes the rising of the Rev. Moon.

The January 19, pre-inaugural prayer luncheon was attended by some 1,700 religious, civic, and political leaders. The guest list included a host of Religious Right luminaries; the ubiquitous Rev. Jerry Falwell, former National Evangelical Association President Don Argue, Trinity Broadcasting Network's Paul Crouch and a host of leaders from the Southern Baptist Convention including President James Merritt, Executive Committee President and CEO Morris H. Chapman, and Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission President Richard Land.

According to a front-page story in the Moon-owned Washington Times, Sen. John Ashcroft, who had not yet been confirmed as President Bush's attorney general, dropped by and "brought down the house with a tale of amazing grace." One of the featured speakers at the luncheon was Dr. Tony Evans, head of the Texas-based group, The Urban Alternative. Dr. Evans, an African American, is an entertaining and unrestrained speaker with a penchant for saying outrageous things. He is frequently a featured speaker at assorted Promise Keeper events around the country. He is also a close friend and confidant to President Bush. Several months ago, The New York Times reported Bush often calls upon Evans for spiritual guidance. According to its website The Urban Alternative proclaims itself "a ministry that seeks to equip, empower and unite Christians to impact individuals, families, churches and communities for the rebuilding of lives from the inside out."

Despite being a rhetorically-charged and lively interdenominational event, some leaders from the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) backpedaled quickly after learning that the Inaugural Prayer Luncheon for Unity and Renewal was sponsored by the Rev. Moon-run Washington Times Foundation. In a January 23 report from Baptist Press, some SBC officials claimed they knew nothing about Moon's imprint on the event. "We knew that it was going to be an interdenominational event, but we had no idea that the luncheon was hosted by the Moonies," said Merritt, pastor of an Atlanta-area church. This despite the fact that for years Moon has been lending a helping hand to several financially challenged Religious Right organizations; not long ago, he gave a large donation to help shore up the Rev. Jerry Falwell's financially troubled Liberty University.

Rising of the Moon

One of the Unification Church's desired outcomes from sponsoring a prayer gathering of this magnitude was to indicate that the Rev. Moon could still bring together a diverse group of religious and civic leaders.

Rev. Moon's Unification Church, which enjoys 501(c)(3) nonprofit tax status, is once again finding fertile ground for its political mission. Moon, the owner of the ultra-conservative Washington Times and a large group of other media outlets, including the recently acquired United Press International, delivered an address at the prayer luncheon, and then handed out complimentary copies of one of his books and other Unification Church materials.

For a period of time during the past few years, things weren't looking so good for the Reverend and his family. In 1998, Moon's former daughter-in-law, Nansook Hong, wrote an explosive book, "In the Shadow of the Moons," detailing her stormy relationship with Moon's eldest son, Hyo Jin Moon, including alcoholism, drug abuse, wife beating and his cavorting with prostitutes. In October 1999, another of Moon's sons, Phillip Youngiin Moon, committed suicide by jumping from a 17th-story balcony at Harrah's hotel in Reno. According to Don Lattin, Religion writer for the San Francisco Chronicle, revelations in Nansook Hong's book, coupled with the death of his son were important because they strike at the heart of Moon's teachings "that he and his wife are the True Parents of a new spiritual lineage born without original sin." Last year, Lattin reports, the Unification Church published a history of its U.S. ministry, "40 Years in America." The book "ends with the clear anointing of Hyun Jin Nim, a graduate of Harvard Business School."

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