Rev. Moon's Curtain Call

It's practically impossible to keep up with all the projects and conferences, rallies and summits, front groups and businesses, and political machinations involving the Rev. Moon's Unification Church -- currently known as the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification. Having recently celebrated his 84th birthday, the Rev. Moon seems rejuvenated and desiring to increase his visibility, while at the same time this master of mixed and often convoluted messages appears to be preparing his final farewell to America. Along the way, however, he is trying to plant the seeds of his political legacy -- with help from some powerful political friends.

For several decades the Unification Church -- not a Christian Church, but more of a theocratic movement with the Rev. Sun Myung Moon at its head -- has played a significant role in supporting the Christian Right and the Republican Party. Besides supporting the right financially, Moon has given them a daily voice via the pages of the Washington Times, which in these times has become a very influential newspaper.

Moon considers himself to be the True Father, the Messiah, and has stated numerous times that his goal, as Fred Clarkson put it in his book Eternal Hostility, is "an autocratic theocracy to rule the world."

On the evening of March 23, a group of the Rev. Moon's powerful political friends gathered at the Dirksen Senate Office Building in Washington. There, the Reverend presided over a ceremony presenting "Crown of Peace" awards to a number of honored guests. Seven U.S. Congressmen -- Democrats Sen. Mark Dayton of Minnesota, Rep. Danny K. Davis of Illinois, Harold E Ford Jr. of Tennessee, Sanford D. Bishop Jr. of Georgia and Republicans Rep. Roscoe G. Bartlett of Maryland, Christopher B. Cannon of Utah, and Curt Weldon of Pennsylvania -- received "Ambassadors for Peace" awards.

The Rev. Moon, who was decked out in a campy floor-length cape, was presented with an ornate gold crown and a lifetime achievement award. Introduced by a shofar-blowing rabbi, the Rev. told the star-studded audience -- made up of congressional members and a number of religious leaders -- that a "new era" had come: "Open your hearts and receive the secrets that Heaven is disclosing in this age through me."

The Rev. Moon may have turned a few heads by pointing out that while he is as human as the next guy, "in the context of Heaven's providence, I am God's ambassador, sent to earth with His full authority. I am sent to accomplish His command to save the world's six billion people, restoring them to Heaven with the original goodness in which they were created."

Inexplicably, a day after his coronation the Rev. Moon seemed ready to bid the U.S. goodbye. During an address at the Sheraton National Hotel in Arlington, Virginia, he said that after 34 years in America he was heading home to Korea. Even before this surprising announcement, the Reverend talked about how he came to the U.S. decades before and had worked "hard to support and develop America to save America and Christianity." Although he had been "persecuted in this country", he gave it his all. "Dark Forces tried to kick me out of America, but I overcame," the Rev. said. "Now a great transition is on. The Jewish and Christian people have been at odds but now the solution has come. Now the homosexuality is coming out. It is worse than an animal lifestyle. However, we will solve it."

Why would the Rev. Moon think about leaving the U.S. when he has a gaggle of congressional buddies, as well as friends in the White House? "He's contemplating the move but I don't know how serious he is," John Gorenfeld, a freelance writer whose web log keeps close tabs on the Rev. Moon's operations, told me in a recent phone conversation. "He's mentioned moving on in a few recent speeches, but he changes his mind very often, whimsically renaming his church or frequently setting new 'conditions' for his followers."