Who IS driving the bus?

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Trooper: Let me see your identification.
Ben: You don't need to see his identification.
Trooper: We don't need to see his identification.
Ben: These are not the droids you're looking for.
Trooper: These are not the droids we're looking for.
Ben: He can go about his business.
Trooper: You can go about your business.
Ben: Move along.
Trooper: Move along. Move along.

George Lucas, Star Wars


About this “independence” at the Washington Times.

People say that the paper created from scratch by Sun Myung Moon in 1982, the Washington Times, is “independent” of Moon and his “church.” Everyone seems to instinctively know that the Washington Times’ independence from Moon is very important. Given his belief that he is the Messiah (1) and that the world, according to his plan, is destined to be governed by his organization, their instincts are quite well founded.

The official findings of the 1977-78 congressional investigation into Korean influence on our country, known as the Fraser Report, included the following:

Among the goals of the Moon Organization is the establishment of a worldwide government in which the separation of church and state would be abolished and which would be governed by Moon and his followers. (2)

The Washington Times has served Moon well in many areas, opening doors and gaining credibility for his organization. Moon has certainly received a lot of bang for the buck through his Washington Times project. Sporting losses of tens of millions annually and barely making it into the top 100 in circulation for any paper in the country, it still manages to be one of the most-quoted papers in the world. With Moon distanced behind the curtain, the cry of “independence” provides a rationalization for those who embrace the paper. It allows them to think that they are not following or promoting Moon’s stated goals.

However, Robert Parry, veteran investigative journalist, in his book Fooling America, How Washington Insiders Twist the Truth and Manufacture the Conventional Wisdom, (published in 1992) describes the Washington Times in this manner: While the (Washington) Post was tracking ever rightward during the 1980’s, the capital’s other daily paper was The Washington Times, a far-right journal financed and controlled by the Unification Church cult. The cult’s founder Sun-Yung Moon of South Korea, espoused a totalitarian rightist vision of the world’s future. His domination over the lives of his followers was so complete that he would select their spouses and preside over their weddings in bizarre mass ceremonies. Moon’s Organization covered the paper’s annual losses, estimated in the tens of millions of dollars. But the original sources for that money remained shrouded in secrecy. Though the cult had close ties South Korean intelligence, most of its money appeared to flow from rightist Japanese business interests.

Besides financing a virulent brand of right-wing journalism, The Washington Times and Moon’s cult had institutionalized a means of buying influence for its extremist points of view. Through conferences, contributions, and salaries, the Unification Church and its panoply of front groups put money in the pockets of right wing thinkers, conservative journalists and pro military political organizations. During the 1980’s, the Reagan White House often used The Washington Times as a billboard for its conservative strategies or as a weapon to attack administration critics. (pgs. 118-119.)

And author/columnist Joe Conason, in an exchange with Chris Matthews, the host of MSNBC’s “Hardball,” musing about having a liberal equivalent to Moon, willing to spend huge sums of money on a newspaper: CONASON: It would have been good if somebody had decided to be like Reverend Moon and spend hundred of millions of dollars on the “Washington Times” where Tony Blankley works, which has never made any money. It loses — no, you said the free market, Chris. It’s not the free market. The free market isn't what supports the “Washington Times.” They can’t get any advertising or subscriptions. That is a propaganda operation that is paid for by Reverend Sun Moon. (3)

The Washington Times’ so-called “independence” from Moon, although untrue, obscures the larger point: the newspaper was a subsidy to right-wing politics and thus plays a role in molding our society. No doubt Moon’s money and front groups have played a role; Moon himself brags that he has “influenced America through the Washington Times and so many different activities.” (4)

If you read this report and the articles linked in the notes below, and do your own research, I think you will find that the Washington Times has served Moon’s real intentions, to give backbone to hard-right conservatism, driving our country right politically, thus creating a political climate for the theocrats within the Republican Party to flourish. A more theocratic government for the United States is always at the top of Moon’s list of things to do. His interim goal is to unite the world’s religions under his flag. The closer to theocracy any country is, the easier it will be for his group to manipulate those countries and through them, world events.

Moon’s type of theocracy has been described as “Godism,” (5) meaning that God will rule the world by speaking through Moon and his organization. This is how Moon described a step in his plan to theocratize our country, as cited in the Fraser Report:

“My dream is to organize a Christian political party including the Protestant denominations and Catholics and all the religious sects.” (6)

Moon also said in the 1970s that if he couldn’t find the people to accomplish his goals using current congressmen, he would make congressmen out of his members. (7) Turns out that wasn’t necessary, for as we shall see, he found a willing partner in the new right conservatism now in charge of the Republican Party. In addition to subsidizing this new conservatism with billions of dollars, Moon has also provided “vision” and “leadership” to their efforts. (8)

Representative Jim Leach (R- Iowa) expressed his concerns about Moon’s influence on the Republican Party as early as 1983, saying that Moon’s organization had “infiltrated the New Right and the party it (the New Right) wants to control, the Republican Party, and infiltrated the media as well.” (9)

The Washington Times gave Moon the keys to our political system. U.S. News & World Report stated that by 1989, the church (Unification) has established a network of affiliated organizations and connections in almost every conservative organization in Washington, including the Heritage Foundation, the largest of the conservative think tanks and an important source of government personnel during the Reagan administration. ... As the Washington Times has become the voice of capital conservatives, the Heritage Foundation has become far more tolerant of church ties. ....

“Most people are afraid to address the issue because they don’t want to publicize the extent of the church’s involvement,” says Amy Moritz of the Conservative National Center for Public Policy Research. Because almost all conservative organizations in Washington have some ties to the church, conservatives also fear repercussions if they expose the church’s role. (10)

Reporting that Moon’s organization had “established a network of affiliated organizations and connections in almost every conservative organization in Washington, including the Heritage Foundation...” is quite a revelation given Moon’s stated goals and the authoritarian demands he makes on his followers. Moon’s recruits believe him to be the Messiah and that as such he speaks for God. Indeed, in 2003 Moon told his Workshop on Journalism and Media that, “If I say something, you must do it. If you don’t, that will be sin.” (11)

That’s a lot of power to wield over people. John F. Kennedy fought to show that he would not take instructions from his religious leader while performing his duties as a public servant. Kennedy believed in a strong wall between church and state. Moon teaches the opposite, going so far as to say that separation is the desire of the devil. (12) Moon doesn’t separate anything he does from his “religion;” political goals and his efforts to manipulate the world are one. Church and state, in his mind, should be one. As cited in the congressional investigation, Moon once told his group that they “cannot separate the political field from the religious.” (13)

It is easy to see why the leadership of the conservative movement has feared Moon’s influence being exposed within their operation all these years. Claiming to be the “family values” party while working closely with a group famous worldwide for breaking up families makes one look like something well beyond a hypocrite. The relationship not only calls into question conservatism’s real “values” but also exposes the movement’s lack of judgment in its quest for raw power. Bluntly stated, it shows that the new right’s support for the Constitution is quite fraudulent – they’ve given a seat at the table to a man whose sole intention is to wrench control of the world, a man Time magazine in 1976 quoted as saying, “I want to have new members under me who will be willing to obey me even though they may have to disobey their own parents and the Presidents of their own nations.” (14)

Moon supplies money, “leadership” and “vision” to the religious right.

Doug Wead has been a Bush family liaison to the fundamentalist movement and was the man who put together the Inaugural Prayer Luncheon honoring George W. Bush in January of 2001. During the luncheon, Moon spoke and received an award for his “work in support of traditional family values.”(15) Wead stated that the American Freedom Coalition (AFC) was one of the two most powerful conservative organizations in the country when fully active.

Here PBS’s FRONTLINE in 1992 describes a letter from the head of the AFC to Sun Myung Moon:

AFC President Robert Grant, writing to Reverend Moon, thanks him for investing heavily and “helping to bring the AFC into being.” Grant concludes by telling Moon, “Without your leadership, vision and the support of your devoted followers, the AFC would not exist.” (16)

Moon, through his fronts, supplied money, “vision” and “leadership” to the conservative movement we see blossoming around us today.

Moon believes he is here to save the entire world, including Christianity. His son Hyo Jin Moon put his father’s vision bluntly:“we must restore Christianity.” (17) For that restoration to happen, Sun Myung Moon believes he must lead Christians into accepting him and his organization. Moon does not expect everyone to become a member of his group, at least not yet. His first step is to gain acceptance as a legitimate participant in the political dialogue, so that he can operate more freely. The American Freedom Coalition played a role in Moon’s plan by gaining acceptance among conservatives, just as the Washington Times did. The AFC was started in 1987, two years before the Christian Coalition was founded. According to Christianity Today the head of the AFC, Robert Grant, explained why the organization, which “would not exist” without Moon, was created. Its purpose was to bring together not Christian groups, but “Christian Right” groups, the theocrats, for political power:

He (Robert Grant) emphasized that AFC is a political coalition formed because of the “inability of the ‘Christian Right’ to achieve its agenda” due to its “fragmentation and its failure to build coalitions with its philosophical allies from other communities for effective civic participation.” (18)

Moon describes what he is doing as “the natural subjugation of the American government and population.” (19) We are to go willingly, naturally. Moon doesn’t have to force it; the Christian right and the conservative movement have been bringing us all along as they have accepted Moon’s money and influence. Here is how Moon’s son, Hyo Jin Moon, put it while speaking to members of Moon’s organization in 1991:

We must make Christianity understand and help them be responsible through their own volition. That is why Father has picked these Christian people. It’s not because they are becoming subject over you, don’t look at it in the scheme of subject and object. We are in the course of restoration and we must restore Christianity. That means we must motivate them, just as God motivated Adam. God gave Adam a certain commandment, however, He did not manipulate Adam to perfect himself. No, that portion of Adam’s responsibility was crucial. There has to be a condition within the Christian community of fulfilling their own responsibility. It is our duty to motivate Christian people so that they can ultimately realize who Father is and support Father’s work. (20)

To reach his goals, Moon must move the country theocratic. With the Washington Times propping up right-wing politics, Moon has been busy picking up the naive religious right by the scruff of the neck and leading them to control of our government. Looking around our political landscape today, one can see that Moon’s efforts have been quite successful. Electing George W. Bush will obviously continue to speed up the process, but even if he is defeated in November of 2004, it won’t stop the direction we are heading – increasingly rightward and theocratic. Already, the party currently in control of all three branches of the United States government should rightfully be called The American Theocratic Party.

The Republican Party is controlled by theocrats.

The Republican Party would have you believe that they are the “big tent” party. In fact, the group with overwhelming control of Republican Party policies is a theocratic movement, nurtured over the years by Moon’s money and his fronts, such as CAUSA and the American Freedom Coalition mentioned above.

In October 2002, Republicans proposed and Congress voted on HR 2357, The House of Worship Political Speech Protection Act, which would have allowed churches to spend up to 20% of their collection plates on partisan politics and still remain tax exempt.

It isn’t hard to figure out which churches would take advantage of that bill. The Episcopal Church, USA and the Interfaith Alliance view HR 2357 and its latest incarnation before Congress, HR 235, as doing roughly the same thing. Commenting on HR 235, the Alliance said the “bill would turn the inner sanctuaries and pulpits of America’s houses of worship into partisan political rally halls.” (21)

These unnecessary bills over time would destroy any separation of church and state, something Moon says is “what Satan likes most.” (22) It’s hard to imagine a bill such as HR 2357 even being proposed 25 years ago. It certainly wouldn’t have received any significant support. The vote was in essence a vote to provide the funding for the theocratization of the American government.

Has Moon’s influence helped to make our country more theocratic?

Although defeated, 168 out of 214 Republicans in the House voted for HR 2357, the so-called House of Worship Political Speech Protection Act.

Here’s the link to the 2002 vote: http://clerk.house.gov/evs/2002/roll429.xml

That’s 168 out of 214 Republican House members, a mind-boggling 78%, who voted for the theocratization of our government. The hard-line Republicans voted for this when in fact, the majority of the clergy in America do not want to see a situation where preachers are endorsing politicians from the pulpit, which is precisely where this type of legislation would lead. The Republican theocrats don’t care what the majority of the clergy think; they want to empower the small percentage who will use their church’s collection plates to support theocratic and extreme right-wing agendas.

Here’s the Interfaith Alliance, commenting on HR 235, the latest bill currently being proposed by the Republicans to make us a more theocratic nation. This legislation travels under the deceptive name, "Houses Of Worship Free Speech Restoration Act.” This bill is unwanted and unneeded by America’s clergy. In a recent Gallup/Interfaith Alliance Foundation poll, a full 77% of clergy were opposed to their fellow clergy endorsing political candidates. Another poll conducted by The Pew Research Center for the People and the Press and The Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life, found that 70% of Americans feel that houses of worship should not come out in favor of one candidate over another during political elections. (23)

As the survey implies, most churches would not likely get involved in local elections, giving a huge advantage to, you guessed it, politically-driven, right-wing theocratic churches. The moderate-to-liberal churches would be forced in self-defense to participate in something they see as wrong.

Non-citizen Moon, by spending billions of agenda-driven dollars, has played a major role in bringing our country’s political system to where it is today. In my opinion, the religious right, which has effective control of the conservative movement, which in turn has effective control of and influence over the Republican Party and the Bush administration, has become Moon’s theocratic political army. They have become the soldiers in Moon’s “natural subjugation of the American government and population.” (24)

Although the press doesn’t report it, the Republican leadership no longer hides its theocratic desires. Not only do they propose and overwhelmingly support bills such as HR 2357 and its newest face, HR 235, but they have gone as far as to work with Moon’s organization to promote Bush’s Faith-Based Initiative. Bush’s initiative, as originally proposed, included direct payments to churches and backdoor deals to get around time honored regulations. “Moon Shadow,” an article by Rob Boston and published by Americans United for Separation of Church and State, explored the Moon fronts used by the Bush administration to promote the funding of churches with taxpayer dollars. These actions amount to Bush literally using Moon, the grand theocrat, to help tear down the wall between church and state.

From the Americans United article:

To preview the (J.C.) 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. ...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.

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. (25)

Moon working with conservatives behind the scenes to influence our society politically is nothing new. It has been going strong ever since Moon was a guest at the Reagan-Bush inaugural in 1981 and he was welcomed into the conservative movement. Moon, the master of illusion, has been used by conservatives to fool America. Again from the Americans United article:

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. (26)

So you see, Moon’s molding and manipulation of the new conservatism in America has been going on under the radar for many years, with TV coverage of his activities non-existent. Television news refuses to tell the American public about the Unification Church leader’s goals and efforts, and as a result, few know who Moon is, let alone the daily influence he has on our political system and thus all our lives.

Moon has been working on America since he sent Bo Hi Pak, his long-time right-hand man, to America in the early 1960s to prepare the way. Carla Binion reported the following on information provided by Robert Roland, a witness before the Fraser Committee who dined with Pak in the early 1960s: Roland said that after dinner one evening, Pak revealed “step by step how the destiny of mankind was in the hands of a Korean named Moon.” When Roland asked what his aim was in Washington, Pak said, “I must lay a firm foundation for Master by making influential political and social contacts.” (27)

In the 1980s, Moon’s lieutenant, Pak, made no secret of the group’s goal to manipulate our political system to meet their ends. U.S. News & World Report quoted Pak as he stated the Moon organization’s vision of our country’s future: “We are going to make it where no one can run for office in the United States without our permission.” (28)

In the January 1986 Mother Jones magazine, Carolyn Weaver wrote an article entitled “Unholy Alliance” in which she covered some of the growing ties between the Moon organization and the evangelical movement in America. Over the years, Moon has funded many on the right including Jerry Falwell (29), but Weaver reported an even odder contact for Pak’s efforts at laying a “firm foundation for Master” – none other than Left Behind author Tim LaHaye. LaHaye has received funding from Moon and has given Moon’s group a ringside seat to the religious right’s efforts. Here is an excerpt of a dictated letter uncovered by Weaver, from LaHaye to Bo Hi Pak, thanking Pak for his help, advising him of the right’s latest efforts and fishing for more Moon money:

Bo Hi, I am encouraged! Amid the bad signs I see today, I also detect a lot of good signs. The secretary of education, Don Regan, Ed Meese, Pat Buchanan and many others. Even physical ailments to three of the 76 (year old) flaming liberal Supreme Court justices. Bev was invited to the White House yesterday and was introduced to over 300 conservative leaders as “the president of the largest women’s organization in America - over twice as large as NOW”... and was extended a thunderous applause. ...

Once again, my friend, I am in your debt for your generous help to our work. You don’t know how timely it was! This move and reorganization of the whole ministry to free me for more time in Washington and ACTV (American Coalition for Traditional Values) activities has been extremely expensive, much more so than I originally thought. But I see daylight down the road and feel it is all part of the Master’s plan. As soon as I can afford it, I plan to hire a PR firm to give more coverage for ACTV, get our message to the people. (30)

The Washington Timesfor its part has been a huge cog in Moon’s plans. It provided the push, the backbone to hard-right politics while Moon’s real agenda, a more theocratic United States, was pushed within the Republican Party. The problem is that Moon and all his followers could fall off the face of the earth tomorrow and it would not change the theocratic direction in which those empowered by Moon are taking our country.

Marching to Moonification

Likely knowing the value of an artfully-presented message, and undoubtedly skilled at public relations, here Moon instructs his followers to cultivate silence as they work to bring his vision to fruition.

“If the U.S. continues its corruption, and we find among the Senators and Congressmen no one really usable for our purpose, we can make Senators and Congressmen out of our members…I have met many famous, so-called famous, Senators and Congressmen; but to my eyes, they are nothing. They are weak and helpless. We will win the battle. This is our dream, our project. But shut your mouth tight.” (31)

Moon himself has given orders not to spill the beans as to how the organization often operates in the political arena. The Fraser Report found that: In 1974, while preparing his followers for a demonstration at the U.N. against withdrawal of troops from South Korea Moon said: “You must remember that you should not be saying anything in political terms. You must say, "We are not concerned about political things. We are not doing this for political reasons, but out of humanitarian motivation.” (32)

Often Moon has predicted dates by which he would control our country and the world. When one looks at his agenda and the new Republican Party’s control over our government and their efforts of late, one can see that he is correct. We are heading where he has wanted us to go all along. The Bush administration recently gave nearly half a million dollars to the Moon organization to teach our kids not to have sex. (33) I believe he had himself “crowned” recently on Capital Hill (34) because he knows he has accomplished what he intended. We are being “naturally” subjugated. We are going, with the help of what might best be called the ‘cult of conservatism,’ where Moon wants us to go.
Here is how Moon described his efforts in 1997:

The famous term “melting pot” is always used to describe America. However, Reverend Moon came to America over twenty-five years ago but he has not become Americanized at all. Rather he has caused America to become Moonized. (35)

Was Moon the only person involved in driving our country right? Of course not. But take for instance Richard Mellon Scaife, the person most point to as the main sugar daddy of the right; Scaife will have to go some to match Moon when it comes to spending targeted, agenda-driven dollars and creating front groups to promote his political goals. The Washington Post reported that Scaife has donated 600 million dollars to conservative causes over the past 40 years.(36) Moon spent a couple billion, at least, on the Washington Times alone - in 20 years. (37) For that matter, as noted in the U.S News & World Report article quoted above, the Heritage Foundation, one of Scaife’s biggest beneficiaries, was compromised by the Moon organization long ago.

To think Moon does anything not designed to reach his personal goals is ignoring who Moon is, what he says and his past actions. The Washington Times has not been stagnant the last 20 years. Moon may be rarely seen around the office today, but his impact on the paper is undeniable. Wes Pruden, the current man in charge at the Washington Times, is the appropriately right-wing person to run your paper if your goal is driving a country’s politics rightward. Pruden, described by Bo Hi Pak as “the soul and conscience in the newsroom,” (38) may be free as a bird, but in my opinion, to say he isn’t helping Moon’s agenda is ludicrous. Anyone who takes Moon’s money, works for his front groups, and speaks on his behalf can be seen as furthering Moon’s overall agenda. Even if it were just the credibility Pruden gives Moon by introducing him at functions, it still helps Moon move his ball down the field. Remember, Moon himself said this about his movement: “we cannot separate the political field from the religious.” (39)

The Washington Times is not a product of the free market of ideas. The paper has never reported a profit.(40) Moon himself admitted that he had spent a billion dollars on the paper by 1991.(41) Although most reports today estimate Moon’s subsidy to the Washington Times at around two billion dollars, (42) conservative Joseph Farah recently estimated the figure to be closer to four billion during an interview with journalist John Gorenfeld.(43) Pruden may have convinced himself that his views have been mainstreamed because of his talents. But in reality his ideas have been pumped into the political dialogue with the backing of the conservative’s number one sugar daddy, the man who led them out of the 40-year liberal wilderness, their political savior, Sun Myung Moon.

The former governor of Virginia, A. Linwood Holton, is a member of a group of Republicans who, as their name implies, are trying to get their party to “Come Back to the Mainstream.” According to an Associated Press report, the “problem lies with the ‘extremist element that controls the Republican party,’ Holton said, ‘which has polarized this country.’” (44)

Sun Myung Moon has had as much to do with the changes within the conservative movement, the Republican Party and the political landscape of the United States as any man alive and yet the broadcast media and most of the print media continue to keep the American public in the dark on the subject.

The money to influence America.

The Moon organization admits that much of the money for their operations in the United States has come from Japan.(45) Recently, this flow of cash has been slowed somewhat as the Japanese legal system has tried to protect its citizens from what some call Moon’s “swindling” followers (46) who engage in “spiritual sales,” the selling of ginseng, marble jars, small statues and other items with purported supernatural qualities.(47) In Japan the courts ruled that Moon’s “church” had perpetrated “unlawful acts” defrauding hundreds of millions of dollars from the citizens of Japan. In the very non-litigious Japan, there are now some 20,000 claims against the Moon organization totaling several hundred million dollars. (48) Japanese widows are among the more vulnerable people targeted by Moon’s followers. (49) For years critics have pondered the sources of Moon’s seemingly never ending flow of cash. Thanks to the Japanese legal system, and to former church members speaking out, we now know that much of Moon's money used to further his conservative agenda in America has come from fraudulent, high-pressure, intimidating sales tactics used on vulnerable widows and others in Japan. (50)

However, as much as Moon reaped from the practice of “spiritual sales” in Japan, that apparently was not the extent of his international dealings. In his forthcoming book, Secrecy & Privilege: Rise of the Bush Dynasty from Watergate to Iraq, Robert Parry, the former Associated Press and Newsweek journalist who exposed much of the Iran Contra affair and who is a long-time Moon watcher, explores the source of Moon’s money and alleged ties to organized crime. Writing for Consortium News, Parry notes that Limited investigations of Moon’s organization have revealed large sums of money flowing into the United States mostly from untraceable accounts in Japan, where Moon had close ties to yakuza gangster Ryoichi Sasakawa. Former Moon associates also have revealed major money flows from shadowy sources in South America, where Moon built relationships with right-wing elements associated with the cocaine trade, including the so-called Cocaine Coup government of Bolivia in the early 1980s. (51)

Many countries around the world do not open their arms and welcome Moon’s influence on their societies. Germany and the United Kingdom do not allow Moon to personally enter their countries. (52) In June of 2004, Moon’s “church” - which Honduran Roman Catholic Archbishop Oscar Rodriguez described as a “pernicious plague” (52) - was denied legal status in Chile because it found “the sect a danger to society and internal order.” One report from Chile said that, “The government says Moon’s doctrine ‘injures the political stability of the democratic system that governs the nation’ and promotes conflict among the legislative, executive and judicial branches.” (54)

Does that remind you of any country?

Appendix A: Notes for above post.

Appendix A: Notes

(1) Sun Myung Moon, “Leaders Building a World of Peace.” This speech was given on August 24, 1992, at the Little Angels Performing Arts Center, Seoul, Korea, to those attending the World Culture and Sports Festival.

An excerpt from the speech: “In early July, I spoke in five cities around Korea at rallies held by the Women’s Federation for World Peace. There, I declared that my wife, WFWP President Hak Ja Han Moon, and I are the True Parents of all humanity. I declared that we are the Savior, the Lord of the Second Advent, the Messiah.” http://www.unification.org/ucbooks/Mspks/1992/920824.html

Chung Hwan Kwak, current chairman, chief executive officer and president of the Moon owned United Press International (UPI). IIPC Consultation: Opening Remarks Chung Hwan KwakOctober 3, 2003: I will not be vague as I think many of you know that within our movement we refer to Rev. and Mrs. Moon as True Parents. This term is not only a term of honor for them, but represents a very important status in God's providence. What various religions have referred to as messiah, savior, anointed one, or the second coming, is included in the term True Parents. http://www.tparents.org/UNews/Unws0310/iipc_consult_kwak.htm

(2) United States House of Representatives. Investigation of Korean-American Relations, Report of the Subcommittee on International Relations of the Committee on International Relations (Fraser Report). October 31, 1978.

Scroll down here for a 43-page pdf file excerpt of the congressional investigation report. http://www.freedomofmind.com/resourcecenter/groups/m/moonies/

(3) “Hardball with Chris Matthews,” MSNBC, Aug. 18, 2003.

(4) Sun Myung Moon, “The Last Days are Coming to America.”Excerpted from an address given by Moon at his East Garden estate in Irvington, New York on September 13, 2002 to clergy planning the September 14, 2002 “blessing.” http://www.tparents.org/UNews/Unws0209/SM020913.htm

(5) Kim A. Lawton, “Unification Church Ties Haunt New Coalition - Are followers of Sun Myung Moon expanding their influence among conservative Christians?” Christianity Today, Feb. 5, 1988. An excerpt: At these meetings, "Godism" is touted as the means to defeat communism. According to the CAUSA Lecture Manual, Godism was developed by Moon "through extraordinary communication with God" and will unite all mankind, "for we are all the children of God" (CT, June 14, 1985, p. 55). http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2001/132/36.0.html

See also Sun Myung Moon, “The Time is Right for Godism.” Founder's Address of the Youth Federation for World Peace, 1994. http://www.tparents.org/Moon-Talks/sunmyungmoon94/SM940726.htm

(6) Fraser Report. (See #2.)

(7) Sun Myung Moon, “Significance of the Training Session.” A speech delivered by Moon on May 17, 1973. Third Directors' Conference, Master Speaks. Translated by: Mrs. Won Pok Choi. Excerpt: “If the U. S. continues its corruption, and we find among the senators and congressmen no one really usable for our purposes, we can make senators and congressmen out of our members.” http://www.tparents.org/Moon-Talks/sunmyungmoon73/SM730517.htm

(8) “FRONTLINE: The Resurrection Of Reverend Moon.” Eric Nadler, reporter. Written and produced by Rory O’Connor. Jan. 21, 1992 broadcast. Copyright (c)1991 WGBH Educational Foundation. Excerpt: “Narrator: But Moon's influence over the AFC (American Freedom Coalition) is underscored by this 1988 letter FRONTLINE obtained from a source who once worked within the Moon Organization. AFC President Robert Grant, writing to Reverend Moon, thanks him for investing heavily and “helping to bring the AFC into being.” Grant concludes by telling Moon, "Without your leadership, vision and the support of your devoted followers, the AFC would not exist.” http://www.mediachannel.org/originals/moontranscript.shtml

Sun Myung Moon speaks to the International Leaders' Conference January 2, 1992 Grand Ball Room, World Mission Center, New York Translator - Dr. Bo Hi Pak Dr. Pak then introduced Dr. Robert Grant as a man with a deep spiritual connection to Father. Dr. Grant then spoke about his work for God and the direction of the USA activities.
http://www.unification.net/1992/920102b.html

In addition, at a 1996 banquet in Buenos Aires to celebrate the launch of a Moon newspaper, former president George H.W. Bush praised Moon as “the man with the vision.” Full quote: “I want to salute Reverend Moon who is the founder of the Washington Times and of the new paper here,” said Bush, who was reported by the Washington Post to have been paid $100,000 for his Buenos Aires appearance.

“A lot of my friends in South America don't know about the Washington Times but it is an independent voice,” said Bush. “The editors of the Washington Times tell me that never once has the man with the vision interfered with the running of the paper, a paper that in my view brings sanity to Washington DC.” http://www.geocities.com/CapitolHill/8425/BUSHMOON.HTM

One year after Bush called Moon the “man with the vision" the Washington Post on Nov. 24, 1997 reported that Moon’s Washington Times Foundation donated $1 million to George Bush's presidential library in Texas. http://www.consortiumnews.com/archive/moon7.html

See also: “A Church in Flux Is Flush With Cash” By Marc Fisher and Jeff Leen Washington Post Staff Writers Sunday, November 23, 1997; Page A01 Excerpt: Other groups get quick infusions of cash for special projects. Gifts and contributions to the Women's Federation for World Peace, for example, soared to $10.7 million in 1995. The federation sponsored a series of speeches by George and Barbara Bush in Asia and the United States, with total fees estimated at about $1 million. ... Bush (George H.W. Bush) spokesman Jim McGrath said the ex-president "strongly believes in the mission" of Moon's federations, but "has no relationship with Moon." McGrath said all of Bush's appearances have been arranged through Wesley Pruden, editor in chief of the Washington Times. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/national/longterm/cult/unification/main.htm

(9) Robert Parry, “Dark Side of Rev. Moon: Buying the Right.” Consortium, 1997. http://www.consortiumnews.com/archive/moon3.html

(10) John B. Judis, “Rev. Moon’s Rising Political Influence - His empire is spending big money trying to win favor with conservatives.” U.S. News & World Report, March 27, 1989.

(11) Workshop on Journalism and Media.Excerpted from a speech given by Sun Myung Moon to workshop participants at the Sheraton National Hotel in Washington, D.C. on May 30, 2003. Notes by M. Herbers and M. Jenkins. Translated by J. Hong. http://www.tparents.org/Moon-Talks/SunMyungMoon03/SM030530.htm

(12) Fraser Report. (See # 2).Excerpt from the 1978 congressional report: In many public statements and in applications for tax-exempt status, the goals of the Moon movement are said to be religious. Actions which appeared to be clearly political or economic to outsiders were explained as necessary means to achieve religious goals. The apparent contradictions in many of the activities of the Moon Organization are explained by Moon's overriding religious goal--to establish a worldwide "theocracy," that is, a world order which would abolish separation of church and state and be governed by the immediate direction of God. As Moon explained to his followers: … In the Medieval Ages, they had to separate from the cities--statesmanship from the religious field--because people were corrupted at that time. But when it comes to our age, we must have an automatic theocracy to rule the world. So, we cannot separate the political field from the religious…Separation between religion and politics is what Satan likes most.

(13) “cannot separate the political field from the religious.” Fraser Report. (See #2.)

also from Fraser: Alan Tate Wood, a former UC member who had been president of the FLF, described to the subcommittee some of Moon's political ambitions and activities. He said that Moon, through the UC and its numerous front organizations, wanted to acquire enough influence in America to be able to "dictate policy on major issues, to influence legislation, and move into electoral politics."In the United States, the political goals of the UC and those of the KCIA "overlap so thoroughly as to display no difference at all." Wood also charged that Moon was violating U.S. laws by importing aliens to raise funds and that fundraising by UC members was often done under false pretenses.

(14) “The Secret Sayings of Master Moon.” Time, June 14, 1976, pg. 49.

(15) Carla Binion, “Why is TV news ignoring the relationship between Moon and the Bush family?” Online Journal, Feb. 22, 2001. http://www.rickross.com/reference/unif/unif112.html

(16) “FRONTLINE: The Resurrection Of Reverend Moon.” Eric Nadler, reporter. Written and produced by Rory O’Connor. Jan. 21, 1992 broadcast. Copyright (c)1991 WGBH Educational Foundation. http://www.mediachannel.org/originals/moontranscript.shtml

(17) Hyo Jin Moon, “Restoration Through Indemnity.” Excerpted from a speech by Hyo Jin Moon, Belvedere, New York, Aug. 18, 1991. http://www.tparents.org/Moon-Talks/hyojinmoon/HJ910818.htm

Sun Myung Moon speaks on the Unification Church and the land and the sea. June 1, 1991 Belvedere, New York Translator Col. Sang Kil Han By the same token Christianity needs the same overhaul, the same thing. Christianity in America alone will never amount to anything and they know that as well as we do. We have to revive them. Ron Godwin, Robert Grant and Donald Sills and Dr. Pak formed a revival group. They all agreed. Last Friday, Father went to Washington and persuaded them. Each one understood. They will lead the revival of American Christianity. http://www.unification.net/1991/910601.html

(18) Kim A. Lawton, “Unification Church Ties Haunt New Coalition - Are followers of Sun Myung Moon expanding their influence among conservative Christians?” Christianity Today, Feb. 5, 1988. http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2001/132/36.0.html

(19) U.S. News & World Report (see #10) and Parry, “Dark Side of Rev. Moon,” (see #9). From Parry: By the mid-1980s, Moon’s Unification Church had carved out a niche as an acceptable part of the American right. In one speech to his followers, Moon boasted that “without knowing it, even President Reagan is being guided by Father (Moon).”Yet, Moon also made clear that his longer-range goal was the destruction of the U.S. Constitution and America’s democratic form of government. “History will make the position of Reverend Moon clear, and his enemies, the American population and government will bow down to him.” Moon said, speaking of himself in the third person. “That is Father’s tactic, the natural subjugation of the American government and population.” http://www.consortiumnews.com/archive/moon3.html

(20) Hyo Jin Moon, “Restoration Through Indemnity.” (See #17.)

(21) “Religious Leaders Say: Oppose The ‘Houses Of Worship Free Speech Restoration Act’ H.R. 235.” Episcopal Public Policy Network, Episcopal Church Office of Government Relations, The Episcopal Church, USA, February 28, 2003. http://arc.episcopalchurch.org/eppn/publications_HR235.asp

(22) Fraser Report. (See #2.)

(23) Episcopal Public Policy Network. (See #21.)

(24) U.S. News & World Report (see #10) and Parry, Dark Side of Rev. Moon (see # 9).

(25) Rob Boston, “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.” Americans United for Separation of Church and State, June 2001.http://www.au.org/site/News2?page=NewsArticle&id=5684&abbr=cs_

(26) Boston, “Moon Shadow.” (See #25.)

(27) Binion, “Why is TV news ignoring the relationship between Moon and the Bush family?” (See #15.)

(28) Judis, “Rev. Moon’s Rising Political Influence - His empire is spending big money trying to win favor with conservatives.” (See #10.)

(29) Robert Parry, “Dark Side of Rev. Moon: Buying the Right.” http://www.freedomofmind.com/stevehassan/presskit/articles/parry1.htm

(30) Carolyn Weaver, “Unholy Alliance.” Mother Jones, Jan. 1986. From an audiotape uncovered by Weaver of a letter dictated by Tim LaHaye. Transcript of the entire letter from Tim LaHaye to Bo Hi Pak may be found here: http://tinyurl.com/3rolo

(31) “The Secret Sayings of Master Moon.” Time. (See #14.)

(32) Fraser Report. (See #2.)

(33) John Gorenfeld, “Bad Moon on the rise - Overcoming his church’s bizarre reputation and his own criminal record, the Rev. Sun Myung Moon has cemented ties with the Bush administration -- and gained government funding for his closest disciples.” Salon, Sept. 24, 2003.http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2003/09/24/moon/index_np.html

(34) John Gorenfeld, “This really happened at the Senate office building.” Where in Washington, D.C. is Sun Myung Moon? June 13, 2004. http://tinyurl.com/48w8g

See also “Moon Over Washington: Why are some of the capital’s most influential power players hanging out with a bizarre Korean billionaire who claims to be the Messiah?” Gadflyer by John Gorenfeld, June 9, 2004. http://gadflyer.com/articles/?ArticleID=131

For additional and recent information on Moon’s organization please see Gorenfeld’s blog. http://www.iapprovethismessiah.com/

(35) Sun Myung Moon, “True Day Of All Things And The Initiator Of Harmony.” An address by Moon at the Belvedere International Training Center, June 5, 1997. Translator: Mr. Peter Kim. http://www.tparents.org/Moon-Talks/sunmyungmoon97/970605.htm

(36) Robert G. Kaiser and Ira Chinoy, “Scaife: Funding Father of the Right.” Washington Post, Sunday, May 2, 1999, pg. A1. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/politics/special/clinton/stories/scaifemain050299.htm

(37) Dante Chinni, “The Other Paper – The Washington Times' Role.” Columbia Journalism Review, 2002. Excerpt: Pruden says Moon hasn’t visited the Times in at least a year, and doesn’t pressure him editorially. Still, it is Moon’s largess that keeps the Times afloat. Exact numbers on the privately owned paper are hard to get, but published reports indicate Moon has sunk nearly $2 billion into the Times. http://archives.cjr.org/year/02/5/chinni.asp

(38) Bo Hi Pak, “Greetings from the Chain of the Washington Times.” A speech by Bo Hi Pak, May 16, 1991. Truth Is My Sword Volume I – Collected Speeches in the Public Arena. http://www.tparents.org/library/unification/books/tims1/Tims1-55.htm

(39) Fraser Report. (See #2.)

(40) John Gorenfeld, “Bad Moon on the Rise.” Salon, Sept. 24, 2003. Excerpt: Along the way, he has been able to gain acceptance by the most powerful people in the country, surely with the help of his media mini-empire -- including the UPI wire service and the right-wing newspapers Tiempos del Mundo, in South America, and the Washington Times, which he runs at losses well into the tens of millions every year. His exorbitant spending on politicians, largely conservative, hasn't hurt either; his Washington Times foundation gave $1 million to the George H.W. Bush presidential library and has paid the former president untold amounts in speaking fees. http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2003/09/24/moon/

See also the Washington Post story of July 27, 1990 by Peter Maass in which Moon's mouthpiece and top aide Pak admits to losses of $35 million per year. Excerpt: Pak said that the newspaper has lost about $250 million since its founding eight years ago, and he estimates that it continues to lose $35 million a year.

(41) Sun Myung Moon, “Sun Myung Moon speaks on our mission during the time of the World Transition.” A speech given by Moon at Belvedere, Tarrytown, New York on Dec. 23, 1991. Translator: Col. San Kil Han. Excerpt: Look at the Washington Times. No one in America helped to create that. Without Father’s guidance for the Washington Times, this country couldn’t have found a direction. Literally nine hundred million to one billion dollars has been spent to activate and run the Washington Times. Did we make any part of this money and give it to Father, saying, “Father, please use this to continue the Washington Times”? The world thinks it is true that Reverend Moon really exploited young Americans by making them go out and sell flowers. The amount of money that American members raised was not even enough to support themselves with food and shelter every day. Father brought tons of money to this country to accomplish his goals. http://www.unification.net/1991/911223.html

(42) Chinni, Columbia Journalism Review. (See #37.)

(43) Joseph Farah's “Radio Active” radio show interview with John Gorenfeld. June 15, 2004.

(44) Jesse J. Holland, Associated Press, “Some Moderate Republicans Criticize Bush.” phillyBurbs.com, August 29, 2004. http://www.phillyburbs.com/pb-dyn/news/32-08292004-357325.html

“Come Back to the Mainstream” information at http://www.backtothemainstream.org/

(45) “Once-generous Japanese become disenchanted with Moon's church.”By Kevin Sullivan and Mary Jordan, Washington Post, 4 August 1996, p. A01 Excerpt: In the decade that followed, Fukasawa became a key cog in the Japanese fund-raising machinery that is a central source of the church's financial might and its high-profile activities in the United States. Church officials say that they raise $400 million a year here and that followers worldwide have invested more than $1 billion in the United States in the last 20 years, including more than $800 million in the Washington Times newspaper. ….Oe said Unification Church doctrine requires Japan to bankroll church activities. He said South Korea is "Adam's country," Japan is "Eve's country" and the other countries where the church has followers are their offspring. "Japan is mother and wife," Oe said. "So Japan has the mission to support her husband and raise her children." http://www.hartford-hwp.com/archives/55a/018.html

See also “Moon’s Japanese Profits Bolster Efforts in U.S.” By John Burgess and Michael Isikoff, Washington Post, Sunday, September 16, 1984; Page A01. Excerpt: Exhorted by pep talks to meet "the respected father's" needs, Japanese church members have worked in recent years under sales quotas requiring them to transfer to the United States roughly $2.5 million a month earmarked for The Times, Soejima said. "The Washington Times was the top priority of the entire Unification Church worldwide," said Soejima, who was editor of Sekai Nippo (World Daily News), a church-controlled Tokyo newspaper, before being fired last October following a dispute with church officials over control of the paper. .....Handwritten notes that Soejima made at some church finance meetings indicate that the Japanese church was taking in more than $100 million a year during 1981 and 1982, most of which was transferred to church headquarters in New York. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/national/longterm/cult/unification/profit.htm

See also “Church Spends Millions On Its Image” By Michael Isikoff Washington Post Staff Writer Monday, September 17, 1984; Page A01 Excerpt: …the Japanese branch of the Rev. Sun Myung Moon's Unification Church has transferred at least $800 million over the past nine years into the United States to finance the church's political activities and business operations, including The Washington Times newspaper, according to two former high-ranking church officials. This money is generated in Japan, primarily through a Tokyo-based business operation that uses church members to sell marble vases, miniature treasure pagodas and other religious icons that are represented as having supernatural powers, the former officials said. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-rv/national/longterm/cult/unification/image.htm

See also “Sun Myung Moon speaks on our mission during the time of the World Transition.” December 23, 1991 Belvedere, Tarrytown. New York Translator - Col. San Kil Han. Excerpt: The amount of money that American members raised was not even enough to support themselves with food and shelter every day. Father brought tons of money to this country to accomplish his goal. http://www.unification.net/1991/911223.html

See also the Fraser Report: Several persons interviewed by the subcommittee staff stated that prominent Moon Organization figures had admitted bringing in large amounts of cash from Japan by concealing it on their persons. Since 1972, U.S. law has required that all persons moving cash in excess of $5,000 in or out of the country fill out a Treasury report. Japan has similar requirements, as well as limitations on converting yen to other currencies.

(46) “The Activities of the Unification Church in Japan.” National Network of Lawyers Against the Spiritual Sales, a group of 300 Japanese lawyers representing plaintiffs against the Unification Church in Japan since the 1980s. Excerpt from the Network’s website: All day long, they (Unification Church members) are forced to do fund-raising by committing illegal acts such as swindling through a fraudulent missionary (sic) work and spiritual sales. They are taught to “Believe and die, and live for Sun Myung Moon,” and they believe that by deceiving people to come to the church, intimidating people and making them pay money, will save the people and themselves in the spiritual world. The problem with the missionary activities of the Unification Church is that they first invite people by hiding their identity as the Unification Church and a religion, and then to do mind control by cleverly threatening. http://www1k.mesh.ne.jp/reikan/eactivi.htmfrom: http://www1k.mesh.ne.jp/reikan/english/index-e.htm

See also “Once-generous Japanese become disenchanted with Moon’s church .” By Kevin Sullivan and Mary Jordan, Washington Post, 4 August 1996, p. A01. http://www.hartford-hwp.com/archives/55a/018.html Excerpt: Masuo Oe, the church’s chief spokesman in Japan, says its Japanese operations are healthier than ever and are still raising more than $400 million a year in donations here -- surpassing the amount raised in the heyday of Japan's booming economy in the mid-1980s. …

A much different portrait of the church’s financial health in Japan emerges in interviews with dozens of former church members, their attorneys and analysts who have investigated the Unification Church, as well as in hundreds of pages of documents filed in Japanese courts. Each of these sources says the church’s immense fund-raising machine in Japan has faltered. It has slipped largely because of intense scrutiny from the media and civic watchdogs, and an ever-increasing number of complaints and lawsuits filed against the church and its members. http://www.hartford-hwp.com/archives/55a/018.html

(47) National Network of Lawyers Against the Spiritual Sales. (See #46.)

Excerpt from the roughly-translated English version of the Network’s website (spelling corrected for clarity): The Spiritual Sales is a wicked sales conducted by the “Holy Spirit Association for the Unification of World Christianity” (“Unification Church” hereafter) for gaining money for its activities. The typical ways of doing this are as follows…Approaching the citizens through individual door-to-door visitations or in the downtown area while hiding its identity as the Unification Church “Please cooperate in the questionnaire for the study of the youths’ consciousness.” “I am studying palm reading.” “There are lines in your hand which tell that you are in the transition period.” They draw out the worries, unfortunate happenings in the family and check the financial situation...Through such an approach, they trick the people into buying a seal stamp (hanko) or a sosary, at home, coffee shop, or apartment room, by threatening them for long hours saying, "In order to free you from the fateful destiny of ancestors…” This costs about 100,000 yen and up to 2 million yen… Until 1987, in addition to the above-mentioned tactics, they made people buy marble jar (a few million to ten million yen), Shakato (4.4 million yen), Korai Jinsen (Korean ginseng) extract (essence, concentrated) (80,000 yen per bottle, of which some bought over100 bottles).

By saying, "A very prominent mentor who can see the spiritual world will take time especially to meet you,” they tempt people to come to a sacred place, and by using the worries they had learned of in advance, say, “If you leave it the way it is now, your parents will die soon...your children will become sick ...your husband will have an affair...you won't be able to have a happy marriage. And these are because your ancestors have committed murder, have had affairs, etc.” They continue to bluff and intimidate people for hours…After 1988, the followers were continuously imposed upon with a quota and were selling Jinsen (ginseng) extracts. However, recently, they are making people buy Buddha statues and family trees for a few million yen by using the same threatening words, and forcing them to make all their savings into an offering… In addition, they use tactics which violate the door-to-door sales law by making people buy items such as jewelry, kimonos, and paintings at exorbitant prices in a very forcible manner…The amount of offerings Sun Myung Moon orders to be collected from the Japanese followers every month through the Japanese senior officials is enormous. In 1986 and 1987, the amount was as high as 10 billion yen every month, and, in about 1990, it was still a few billion yen every month. In order to fulfill the assigned task, the followers who have jobs are forced to make loans of approximately 1 million yen from a number of financial institutions.

In addition, housewives who have real estate and old aged people living alone have been forced to make offerings in the amount of tens and hundreds of million yen by intimidation. They have also been made to borrow money from financial institutions on the security of real estates, which are then taken by the Unification Church. This kind of debts are received with increasing debts and without any repayment, there are many citizens who are in trouble…A part of the victims of the Spiritual Sales have come to us lawyers and consumer counselors of the government bodies. The total number of victims has soared and the damages are high. The true figure of victimized citizens, however, is assumed to be over ten times more than what is recognized, for the fear of bad luck from ancestors and repercussions from the Unification Church. http://www1k.mesh.ne.jp/reikan/eactivi.htm From: http://www1k.mesh.ne.jp/reikan/english/index-e.htm

(48) For information on the many court rulings in Japan involving the Unification Church, see the National Network of Lawyers Against the Spiritual Sales website pages: http://www1k.mesh.ne.jp/reikan/english/index-e.htm

Excerpt from the Network’s pages: Judgment by the Fukuoka District Court on the Unification Church. The Court recognized that the Unification Church as a religious corporate body did perpetrate unlawful acts against plaintiffs ‘A’ and ‘B’. In addition to corporate liability, the Court also holds the employees of the Unification Church liable for the actions of the church corporate body. The Court ruling has set a new, epoch-making legal precedent for future District Court decisions. At the time of this writing, the Unification Church has appealed the District Court decision to the Fukuoka High Court. http://www1k.mesh.ne.jp/reikan/english/judement/fukuoka/fuku1.htm

Excerpt from Lawyer's Network website’s “Representation” page: Over the 14 years since 1987, more than 20,000 people have claimed sums totaling 800 million dollars. http://www1k.mesh.ne.jp/reikan/english/representation/represent.htm

From: http://www1k.mesh.ne.jp/reikan/english/index-e.htm

For the complete 20 April 1999 National Network of Lawyers Against the Spiritual Sales report see: “Moonies in Japan.” Steven Alan Hassan’s Freedom of Mind Center, (home page http://www.freedomofmind.com/ ). http://tinyurl.com/39ejt

Excerpt: According to figures compiled by the National Network of Lawyers Against the Spiritual Sales, between 1987 and 1998, a total of 19,689 cases were reported. The total sum of damages claimed in the cases totaled 74,676,016,952 yen. Using the date of the report (04/20/99) for a conversion date and this conversion tool: http://www.oanda.com/convert/classic They are saying between 1987 and 1998 the amount claimed from 19,689 cases is 74676016952 Japanese Yen = 632,901,248 US Dollars. That is $632 million on claims filed for a ten year period. (More has been claimed since.) The report adds this comment taking into account that many people were likely ashamed to come forward and that Japan is not a litigious society. “However, most certainly this sum is only a fraction of all real damages incurred by people in Japan as a result of Unification Church activities.” The report also states that from about 1975, the Church was able to pocket enormous sums of money by their spiritual sales strategies, i.e. by selling ginseng extract and marble urns. Many sources concur that between 1975 and 1985 the Unification Church in Japan remitted 5-10 billion yen each month to Sun Myung Moon.

Using a mid-point June 30, 1980 as a conversion date--when a million dollars was something to be gawked at, 5,000,000,000 Japanese Yen = 22,990,620 US Dollars 10000000000 Japanese Yen = 45,981,240 US Dollars

They are saying Japan sent Moon’s organization roughly between 23 and 46 million a month for ten years. That’s between 275 to 550 million a year from Japan between 1975 and 1985.Using this inflation calculator: http://www.westegg.com/inflation/ and adjusting those 1980 figures to the report's date, 1999, the figures per year adjusted for inflation in 1999 would be: low estimate of $275 million a year in 1980 would be 612 million and on the high end would be $1.22 billion per year from Japan to Moon between 1975-85.

From the Japanese Lawyer's Network quoted in note 47 above: The total number of victims has soared and the damages are high. The true figure of victimized citizens, however, is assumed to be over ten times more than what is recognized, for the fear of bad luck from ancestors and repercussions from the Unification Church. (based on the Lawyers figure of $800,000,000 in claims, that would mean that the Moon organization made $8 billion from running these cons in Japan.)

(49) Kevin Sullivan, “Widow Pays Church to End Husband’s ‘Suffering in Hell.’” Washington Post, Sunday, August 4, 1996; Page A30. Excerpt: In June 1988, four months after her husband died, Nakajima went with several church members to an apartment, where she met a man who appeared to be praying. He told her: “Your husband is suffering in hell. Your husband desires [about $500,000]. But your husband says that at the least he wants you to donate [about $300,000].” http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/national/longterm/cult/unification/widow.htm

See also, Kevin Sullivan and Mary Jordan, “Once-generou0111s Japanese become disenchanted with Moon’s church.” Washington Post, 4 August 1996, p. A01. Excerpt: Fukasawa said she was taught by church members that the key to successful fund-raising was choosing the right people to target. She said church members were told to focus mainly on housewives, women over 30 who appeared to have some money. Once at the door, she said she pretended to read palms and flattered the person at the door at every opportunity. “When we felt someone was a good target, it could be very exciting,” she said. "The key was to get inside the house. If we got inside, we felt we won the battle." http://www.hartford-hwp.com/archives/55a/018.html

(50) John Burgess and Michael Isikoff, “Moon’s Japanese Profits Bolster Efforts in U.S.” Washington Post, Sunday, Sept. 16, 1984, pg. A01. Excerpt: The Japanese branch of the Rev. Sun Myung Moon’s Unification Church has transferred at least $800 million over the past nine years into the United States to finance the church’s political activities and business operations, including The Washington Times newspaper, according to two former high-ranking church officials. This money is generated in Japan, primarily through a Tokyo-based business operation that uses church members to sell marble vases, miniature treasure pagodas and other religious icons that are represented as having supernatural powers, the former officials said. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/national/longterm/cult/unification/profit.htm

(51) Robert Parry, “Mysterious Republican Money.” Consortium News, Sept. 7, 2004. http://www.consortiumnews.com/2004/090704.html

(52) Martin Stott, “Moon Ban and Religious Freedom.” Religionnewsblog.com, a BBC report May 30, 2004. Excerpt: The Reverend Sun Myung Moon has failed in his latest attempt to lift the ban on him coming to Britain. Secretary, David Blunkett, believes a visit from the 84-year-old leader of the Unification Church – or Moonies – would revitalise the movement in Britain and lead to “undesirable methods of recruitment”. A recent appeal to the immigration authority adjudicator to overturn his decision has been rejected. http://www.religionnewsblog.com/7476-Moon_ban_and_religious_freedom.html

See also: Germany - International Religious Freedom Report 2004, Released by the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor. Excerpt: The Federal Interior Ministry continued its immigration exclusion (refusal to issue a visitor visa) against the founder of the Unification Church, Reverend Sun Myung Moon, and his wife, Hak Ja Har Moon. The couple have been refused entry to the country (and through Schengen Treaty visa ineligibility, to other Schengen countries as well) since 1995, when the Chief Office for Border Security issued a notice of refusal of entry for an initial period of 3 years. The Government refused entry based on its characterization of Reverend Moon and his wife as leaders of a “cult” that endangers the personal and social development of young persons. Citing this original justification, the Government extended its refusal of entry for another 2 years in August 2002 and was the only Schengen country to do so. http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/irf/2004/35456.htm

See also 2000 Annual Report on International Religious Freedom: Czech Republic. Released by the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor, U.S. Department of State, Sept. 5, 2000. Excerpt: One group, the Unification Church (UC), was denied registration in January 1999 when the Department of Churches determined that it had obtained the required proof of membership by fraud; the UC is contesting the decision in court. http://www.uscirf.gov/dos00Pages/irf_czechrep.php3?mode=print

See also U.S. Department of State Annual Report on International Religious Freedom for 1999: Central African Republic. Released by the Bureau for Democracy, Human Rights and Labor, Sept. 9, 1999. Excerpt: The Government continued during the period covered by this report to refuse to reregister the previously registered and subsequently banned Unification Church. The Government does not register traditional indigenous religious groups. .... Any religious or nonreligious group that the Government considers subversive is subject to sanctions. The Ministry of Interior may decline to register, suspend the operations of, or ban any organization that it deems offensive to public morals or likely to disturb the peace. The Government has banned the Unification Church since the mid-1980’s as a subversive organization likely to disturb the peace, specifically in connection with alleged paramilitary training of young church members. However, the Government imposed no new sanctions on any religious group during the period covered by this report.http://www.uscirf.gov/dos99Pages/irf_car99.php3?mode=print

(53) Kenneth D. MacHarg, “Venezuela Restricts Unification Church.” Christianity Today, Nov. 17, 1997. http://www.rickross.com/reference/unif/Unif27.html

(54) “Chilean gov’t calls Moon sect dangerous to society.” countrywatch.com,June 7, Santiago. (EFE)http://www.countrywatch.com/@school/as_wire.asp?vCOUNTRY=036&UID=1121925 See also http://groups.yahoo.com/group/rnrs/message/2434

The "Independent" Washington Times?

Note: All quotes in part "A" of this post will come from a 1977-78 congressional investigation unless otherwise attributed. You can find the quotes in a 43 page excerpt pdf file of the United States House of Representatives. Investigation of Korean-American Relations, Report of the Subcommittee on International Relations ( known as the Fraser Report) by scrolling: down here:
http://www.freedomofmind.com/resourcecenter/groups/m/moonies/
________

Part A

The "Independent" Washington Times?

Since Sun Myung Moon created the Washington Times in 1982 there have been those who claim that the paper is independent of Moon and his "church." This is difficult to believe, given that Moon is a man who claims to be the Messiah, and given that a congressional investigation in the 70’s reported this in its findings: Among the goals of the Moon Organization is the establishment of a worldwide government in which the separation of church and state would be abolished and which would be governed by Moon and his followers.

The idea of Moon's agenda not being front and center with the Washington Times strikes me as rather odd. Any cursory reading of Moon's story, as well as statements he has made and news reports over the years, shows he does indeed believe he is the Messiah. It also shows that he works tirelessly day in and day out to achieve his goal of putting his organization in charge of the direction of world events. In short, Moon puts everything into his goal of subduing the planet. That's all he does.

Moon is so into control that he even says he's re-arranging the spirit world. Which brings up another point. Does anyone really think that a man who demands the strict obedience of his followers would just flop a few billion down on a paper and not have his own long term interests at heart? We are talking about the same man Time magazine in 1976 quoted as saying, “I want to have new members under me who will be willing to obey me even though they may have to disobey their own parents and the Presidents of their own nations.”

The investigation also reported this:

Alan Tate Wood, a former UC member who had been president of the FLF,(Moon's political front) described to the subcommittee some of Moon's political ambitions and activities. He said that Moon, through the UC and its numerous front organizations, wanted to acquire enough influence in America to be able to "dictate policy on major issues, to influence legislation, and move into electoral politics.” In the United States, the political goals of the UC and those of the KCIA "overlap so thoroughly as to display no difference at all.”

Now to me that just doesn't sound like a man or organization that would spend billions of dollars on the money draining operation known as the Washington Times without doing it to aid in Moon's goals. I will post more on this subject soon, but the paper being "independent” of Moon and his "church” slams up against reality often, such as when the investigation quoted Moon as saying his group “cannot separate the political field from the religious.”

I mean, it isn't as if Moon denies that he is out to influence the country. He even says how he plans to do it. Another quote from the 70s Fraser Report.

"This year we have to expand our UN campaign, work among all the Senators and Congressmen with our PR brothers and sisters, and we are going to establish a university. Another thing we are going to do is to start a newspaper plant."

So, anyone want to tell me those are just random items on Moon's "to do" list to manipulate the world? Let's take a look....

This year we have to expand our UN campaign

Moon said in 1976 they "must make a new UN."(Time Magazine June 14, 1976) His organization is currently promoting, through the Philippines, that the UN add a theocratic body. The UN has turned him down so far, so Moon has formed his own theocratic "Peace UN." Don't count him out or laugh at him, appears that it is Moon who is getting the last laugh.

work among all the Senators and Congressmen with our PR brothers and sisters

It was found that Moon's organization had operatives crawling all over capital hill in the 70s. Apparently they haven't slowed too much, for Moon was able to finagle a room and a couple of congressman to crown him King in the Dirksen Federal Office Building last March(2004). You can find out about that here and here and here. - (note the video was scrubbed from the Moon site after it was exposed, among other things, that the video was edited to make it appear one congressman was praising Moon when in fact he was honoring a constituent.) Moon's organization brags that they are advising our State Department on Korea and the Middle East. This is very likely true.

we are going to establish a university

He now controls an accredited college, the University of Bridgeport in Connecticut. Why a college? from Fraser:

Wood further quoted Moon: "Once we can control two or three universities, then we will be on the way to controlling the certification for the major professions in the United States."

and then we have...."Another thing we are going to do is to start a newspaper plant."

Moon opened a paper in New York shortly after this statement and then the Washington Times in 1982.

Seriously, does this sound like Moon would just toss a couple billion on the Bar-B and not expect something in return? We’ll go over some of that later, but given his goals, views, past statements and actions, I think we can say that the Washington Times has done what Moon hoped for...create a more right wing, extreme conservatism in our country while Moon worked with, financed and supplied the "leadership" and "vision" to the right wing theocrats who now control the Republican Party. In short the Washington Times has served Moon's purpose. He could sell it tomorrow; it has done its job.

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Part B

The Washington Times’ "independence" from Moon?

Not everyone agrees with the statement that the paper is independent and these are a few of the reasons why:

(1) In a speech to “church” member/employees of the Washington Times in 1982, Bo Hi Pak, Moon’s long-time right-hand man at the time, told them the “chain of command” at the paper leads to Moon and that employees must be “absolutely loyal to the chain of command.”

Jim Whelan has been given authority to run the Washington Times. He is your boss, your professional boss. He reports to me. You report to your department heads, who report to the top executives, who report to Jim Whelan, Jim Whelan reports to me, and I report to Father (Moon). That is the way it goes. And I want to honor the chain of command. So from the professional point of view, you are absolutely loyal to the chain of command.

(Bo Hi Pak, “Truth Is My Sword, Volume II.” Chapter 40: “Wise As Serpents Pure As Doves.” A speech by Pak at the Unification Church on Columbia Road, Washington, DC May 1, 1982.) http://www.tparents.org/Library/Unification/Books/Tims2/Tims2-40.htm

(2) Pak said James Whelan had been given “authority to run the Washington Times.” Who is James Whelan? What did he think of the “independence” of the Washington Times? James Whelan is the staunch conservative who was heavily recruited by Bo Hi Pak to be the first editor/publisher of the Washington Times. The newspaper, or we should say, Moon, needed a credible person in that position to get the paper off the ground. Whelan was perfect. Conservative? He was working for conservative Richard Mellon Scaife’s paper at the time Pak recruited him. What was Whelan’s experience with “independence” at the Washington Times?

From FRONTLINE in 1992:

Narrator: But Whelan’s wall of editorial independence was often breached.

Whelan: “Moon himself gave direct instructions to the editors. …Who in fact calls the shots? Ultimately Moon calls the shots.”…

Whelan (at press conference): “The Washington Times has become a Moonie newspaper.”

(FRONTLINE: “The Resurrection Of Reverend Moon.” Eric Nadler, reporter. Written and produced by Rory O’Connor. Jan. 21, 1992 broadcast. Copyright (c)1991 WGBH Educational Foundation.) http://www.mediachannel.org/originals/moontranscript.shtml

(3) The first editor, James Whelan, resigned in 1984, confessing that he had “blood on his hands” for helping the church achieve greater legitimacy. (Robert Parry, “Dark Side of Rev. Moon: Hooking George Bush.” 1997.) http://www.consortiumnews.com/archive/moon1.html

more on Whelan:

Among the specific indictments he (James Whelan) cited was Pak’s appointment of Sang Kook Han, a former member of the South Korean diplomatic corps, as a “sort of inspector general” at the paper with direct control over the newsroom budget. Han, said Whelan in a recent interview, is “part of Moon’s inner sanctum. … Han has been de facto publisher over there since July 1984.” (The Washington Times' Mission by Michael Isikoff and Eleanor Randolph in the Washington Post, May 6, 1987.)

(4) William Cheshire, former Washington Times editorial page editor, and his staff, quit the Washington Times over the issue of editorial independence. Arnaud de Borchgrave, who replaced James Whelan, was editor in chief at the paper at the time. Upon leaving, Cheshire said, “It is no longer possible, in my judgment, for the Times to maintain independence from the Unification Church under the editorship of Mr. de Borchgrave, if it is indeed at all.” (Washington Post 4/15/87.) http://www.rickross.com/reference/unif/Unif9.html

The disputes over the church meddling - one of the many issues that divided Cheshire and de Borchgrave - boiled over on April 19 when, according to Cheshire, de Borchgrave pressured him to kill an editorial critical of the South Korean government. De Borchgrave acknowledges that he had consulted hours earlier on the South Korean issue with Han, but he said he never mentioned to Han that the paper was contemplating an editorial on the subject. (The Washington Times' Mission by Michael Isikoff and Eleanor Randolph in the Washington Post, May 6, 1987.)

(5) Cheshire: “I protested to de Borchgrave. I went up to his office when I saw this happening, I told him this was unethical, improper, unprofessional, and it ought to stop. Also, it was dumb.”

Narrator: Cheshire and four others resigned after de Borchgrave ordered an about-face on an editorial critical of the South Korean government.

Cheshire: “I said, ‘Arnaud, we have a problem.’ He said, ‘What’s the problem?’ I said, ‘The problem is you’ve conferred with the owners of this newspaper, come back downstairs and demanded a reversal of editorial policy on their say so.’
(FRONTLINE: “The Resurrection Of Reverend Moon.” Eric Nadler, reporter. Written and produced by Rory O’Connor. Jan. 21, 1992 broadcast. Copyright (c)1991 WGBH Educational Foundation.) http://www.mediachannel.org/originals/moontranscript.shtml

(6) Moon himself says that he used the paper and other “activities” to influence America.

I influenced America through the Washington Times and so many different activities. Do you want Father in America. (YES !! The ministers responded)…The Last Days are coming to America. Be careful. Those that oppose Rev. Moon will perish. Since I came here, I didn’t get anything from America.
(Sun Myung Moon, Sun Myung MoonSeptember 13, 2002 “The Last Days Are Coming to America.” An address by Moon given at East Garden to clergy planning the Sept. 14 “blessing.”) http://www.tparents.org/UNews/Unws0209/SM020913.htm

(7) Mr. Soejima, who ran Moon’s papers in Japan, said Moon bragged about how he influenced our president through the Washington Times.

“The Washington Times was the top priority of the entire Unification Church worldwide,” said Soejima, who was editor of Sekai Nippo (World Daily News), a church-controlled Tokyo newspaper, before being fired last October following a dispute with church officials over control of the paper. …

But he (Moon) spoke with pride of The Washington Times, bragging of important officials who had attended its opening ceremonies. Moon said that James Whelan, then publisher of The Washington Times, “listens to what I say and makes the newspaper as I tell him,” according to Soejima…“With journalism, we have now reached success by establishing The Washington Times,” Moon said, according to Soejima. “We now have a direct influence on Reagan through The Washington Times.” (John Burgess and Michael Isikoff, “Moon’s Profits Bolster Efforts in U.S.” Washington Post, Sunday, Sept, 16, 1984, pg. A01.)
Link

(8) Moon bragged that with the Washington Times his organization has gathered intelligence, “not only from America but also from other governments all over the world.”

quoting Moon: In order to realize the world of peace which God desires, the following must be accomplished… With the Washington Times as Fourth, it has to take preeminence in the realm of media. With the Washington Times as the core, we are establishing preeminence in the American print media, a field of more than 1,750 American newspapers. By doing so we can include all fields of intelligence. Today we have in this area surpassed the liberal New York Times and Washington Post, and continually gaining important confidential information not only from America but also from other governments all over the world.

(The Words of Reverend Sun Myung Moon from 1986. “Absolute Values and The New Cultural Revolution - True Love and the Unified World.” Sun Myung Moon Founder's Address, Fifteenth International Conference on the Unity of the Sciences, November 28, 1986. J. W. Marriott Hotel, Washington, D.C.)Link

(9) The Washington Times, supposedly strongly anti-communist, hasn’t reported on Moon’s business deals with communist North Korea. When Bill Gertz, defense and national security reporter for the paper and a follower of Moon was asked on C-Span why the newspaper didn’t cover Moon’s North Korean business deals, Gertz replied,“I don’t know. Have you read the Washington Times? We carry a number of stories about Reverend Moon’s activities. We have not - not reported on that. And I think we’ve covered it in a fair and unbiased way.” (C-Span Washington Journal, June 2, 2002.)

(10) Before the Washington Times, did Moon have a history of using his media for personal political gain? FRONTLINE interviewed Michael Warder, who was an important part of the Unification drive in America in the 1970s, and as someone close to Moon for six years, managed Moon’s News World, a daily paper in New York.

Warder: “Moon wanted a whole series of articles going after poor Congressman Fraser, who was heading up the congressional investigations there. And so we would assign reporters to try and dig up all the dirt we could find on Congressman Fraser, and of course I would say to Moon, I said, ‘On one hand, we’re supposed to be doing this but on the other hand, we’re competing with the New York Times. And so there’s matters of credibility here.’ And he would, you know, bluster and get angry at these kinds of things and say, ‘Just do what I’m ordering you to do and don’t ask so many questions,’ and that sort of thing. And of course Colonel Pak would reinforce these messages from Moon.”
(FRONTLINE: “The Resurrection Of Reverend Moon.” Eric Nadler, reporter. Written and produced by Rory O’Connor. Jan. 21, 1992 broadcast. Copyright (c)1991 WGBH Educational Foundation.) http://www.mediachannel.org/originals/moontranscript.shtml

(11) Jack Kneece, the Washington Times reporter who was assigned to Pakistan, found out the “church” sent him there.

Upon arrival in Islamabad, Kneece said, he was picked up at the airport by an official of the Pakistani information ministry. In a meeting the next day, Kneece said the official told him, “We had our meeting with (Unification) church people in Tokyo a few months ago and they told us they would send somebody here to Islamabad.”

Kneece said he was “disturbed” about the comment and relayed it to his editors who “pooh-poohed” it.

(The Washington Times' Mission by Michael Isikoff and Eleanor Randolph in the Washington Post, May 6, 1987.)

(12) This JoongAng Daily article states that Moon sent a reporter to North Korea to make “a better image” of North Korea. Moon himself says he did that.

“The church, which owns Pyonghwa and such companies as the Tongil Group, the Washington Times, and UPI news service, among others, has had close ties with the North. …Mr. Moon then worked to improve the image of the North. He, for example, sent a Washington Times reporter to the North and made the country known to the West with a better image. Since then, the North has confided in the church.”
(Min Seong-jae, “Pyonghwa Motors, Unification Church Do a Deal.” JoongAng Daily, Aug. 31, 2003 - link )

(13) Moon himself confirms the above quote as he brags that the Washington Times and his media are at “our disposal”:

Through The Washington Times and the other media which we have at our disposal, I introduced this whole concept, even bringing to America an interview with Kim Il Sung, who is the most remote national leader in the world. (Sun Myung Moon, “COMPLETION OF THE RESPONSIBILITIES OF TRUE PARENTS.” A speech given by Moon on December 6, 1992 in Belvedere, New York. Translator - Sang Kil Han.) http://www.unification.net/1992/921206.html

(14) Editors challenge the Washington Times' “independence.” William Cheshire, former Washington Times editorial page editor, and his deputy editor Michael J. Bonafield spoke out after leaving the Times in 1987.

Cheshire and Bonafield also have charged that de Borchgrave ordered or sanctioned the “tampering” of wire copy to reflect the church positions. Wire stories mentioning Moon’s conviction for “tax evasion” were changed to “failing to pay taxes on income which he defended as holding in trust for the church.” Pruden said he ordered the change because he “wanted to give the readers more information.”

One of the more serious incidents, Cheshire and Bonafield said, occurred on March 26, when former treasury secretary Robert Anderson was indicted by a federal grand jury on charges of tax evasion relating to his failure to disclose income he had received from the Unification Church. The church was not charged with wrongdoing.

The story of Anderson’s indictment ran on the front page of the New York Times and the Washington Post. In the Washington Times it was handled as a brief item in a news roundup on page 4 - with references to the Unification Church deleted.

De Borchgrave said he had nothing to do with the handling of the Anderson story, which he said was a “bad call.” Pruden, who made the decision, agrees. “That was my call...and I goofed,” he said.
(The Washington Times' Mission by Michael Isikoff and Eleanor Randolph in the Washington Post, May 6, 1987.)

(15) “Goofed” seems to be the out for people at the Washington Times.

The one blunder he (de Borchgrave) admits to was running a page-one story under a banner headline during the 1988 election asserting that Democratic presidential candidate Michael Dukakis saw a psychiatrist after his brother’s death. The story, attributed to the candidate’s sister-in-law, turned out to be false, and promoted the resignation of reporter Gene Grabowski. “The Dukakis story was bogus.” says conservative columnist Charles Krauthammer of the Washington Post, “and it really hurt their credibility.”

“It was a deadline rush. I admitted I goofed and apologized,” says de Borchgrave. “How many people admit they goof in this business?! No one!” (From “Moonstruck: The Reverend and his Newspaper” by Ann Louise Bardach, an article that was originally to have appeared in Vanity Fair in 1992 but was killed by the publication. The article finally saw print when included in the book Killed, Great Journalism Too Hot to Print by David Wallis, pages 137-165.)

The author Bardach from the forward to her article in Killed, Great Journalism Too Hot to Print giving her best estimate for why the article was not published: "I was never given a specific reason why this story was killed. However, reservations were expressed about the litigious Moonies. I think it is fair to say that taking on a billionaire mogul, especially one who happens to believe he is the Messiah, with powerful pals in the White House, and more money (and lawyers) than God, was the primary reason."

(16) The Washington Post reports more tampering with the news by de Borchgrave: But according to several former employees, de Borchgrave has issued directives that they believe are designed to placate the paper’s Korean owners, if not actually ordered by them. Michael Bonafield, one of the editorial writers who quit with Cheshire, said that after Moon revealed in a meeting with the Times editors last year that he was engaged in business talks with China, de Borchgrave “issued an edict that we were no longer to attack” the Chinese government. When one of his colleagues wrote an “innocuous” editorial praising economic progress in the “Republic of China” on Taiwan, “Arnaud went ballistic,” said Bonafield. “He said we were not to refer to the Republic of China-ever, that it doesn’t exist. …For a conservative newspaper, this was pretty much of an embarrassment.” De Borchgrave denies this had anything to do with the Unification Church. “I did that without any consultations with the owners,” he said. “Taiwan is Taiwan.” (The Washington Times' Mission by Michael Isikoff and Eleanor Randolph in the Washington Post, May 6, 1987.)

(17) Moon brags that he was asked to push Star Wars by a member of a couple of his front groups and top Star Wars backer, Lt. Gen. Daniel O. Graham. Odd enough that a man of Graham’s stature, a man who served as a Reagan military advisor, would feel Moon was the man to go to for this type of effort, but the fact is Moon was exactly the person to go to. Moon says he gave his support and stated he used the Washington Times to promote Star Wars. You may support Star Wars today, but the scientists in 1983 concluded the technology for Star Wars was at least 20 years into the future and they have been proven correct. But the bigger point is, is Moon the one we want tipping the balance in our government’s decisions of this kind?

But who is the author of the Reagan doctrine? SDI, commonly known as the Star Wars program was not widely supported by Reagan and others in government. General Daniel Graham, the founder of SDI came to Father and asked him for support saying it was a crucial program for the nation’s security. Father pledged his support. SDI was promoted and finally the defense department and the White House became convinced it was a good idea. Three weeks later Reagan announced in the State of the Union message that SDI would become part of the national defense program. If SDI was not created at that time, the existence of the Patriot missile would be impossible. The Patriot is an offspring of the SDI program. American people today know how valuable that program is. They say, "Thank God for SDI." thank God for Reverend Moon.(note: the Patriot Missile was proven to have been a complete failure during the 1991 Gulf War) (Sun Myung Moon, “Sun Myung Moon speaks on True Parents’ birthday.” A speech given by Moon at the Grand Ball Room, World Mission Center, New York, on Feb. 20, 1991.)http://www.unification.net/1991/910220.html

Because of communist influence, American people and others opposed and nearly trashed the SDI program. But the Washington Times encouraged Reagan’s support for this, and this helped save the free world. (Sun Myung Moon, “Sunday Morning Hoon Dok Hae and Sermon.” A speech given by Moon at the Belvedere International Training Center on Aug. 29, 1999.)
http://www.tparents.org/Moon-Talks/sunmyungmoon99/UM990829.htm

Further notes from the same speech:

During this time the conservative movement became dominant In 1984, Father was in Danbury from where he commanded the Unification forces to support Reagan again.

Reagan was not interested in the SDI, commonly called star wars, program. How can we shoot down flying missiles? The founder of SDI, Gen. Grant,(Graham) asked Father to save this program. He said he would help to support the defense program. The Washington Times was mobilized, then Reagan was convinced and announced this at the state of the union address. This was the basis of the Patriot missile, an offspring of the SDI program. Today people say, "Thank God for the SDI program." (Rev. Sun Myung Moon True Parent's Birthday February 20, 1991 World Mission Center New York Unofficial Notes.) http://www.tparents.org/Moon-Talks/sunmyungmoon91/UM910220.htm

Side note: Lt. Gen. Graham admitted that the $200,000 to make a propaganda film to keep the money flowing to Star Wars was from the Moon organization.

Graham: "It cost a lot of money to produce it — $200,000 — and Grant said he could raise the $200,000. Now Grant is supported substantially by the Reverend Moon — and I'm sure that's where the money came from to produce that movie."

Narrator: According to Graham, the film has been seen on four hundred television stations. (FRONTLINE 1992)

(18) Moon says Reagan couldn’t have done it without him.

What is the so-called Reagan doctrine? That Reagan doctrine was coached along by the Washington Times.

(Sun Myung Moon, “Sun Myung Moon speaks on bearing fruits of the world of faith and strength.” A speech given by Moon at the Belvedere International Training Center Translator on April 7, 1991. Col. Sang Kil Han, translator.) http://www.unification.net/1991/910407.html

(19) Bo Hi Pak, Moon’s right-hand man, said Reagan personally told him his “Reagan Doctrine” would have failed without Moon’s help via the creation of the Washington Times.

The Hon. Newt Gingrich, Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, said upon his inauguration, The Washington Times “has the real interests of America at heart.”

When Reagan’s term was almost over, he invited me, as the President and Publisher of The Washington Times, to the Oval Office in the White House. As can be seen in this picture, he firmly shook my hand in appreciation and said, “Dr. Pak, no one appreciates the value of The Washington Times more than I. Without The Washington Times, my Reagan Doctrine would have been a failure. It could not have triumphed over the Brezhnev Doctrine. Would you kindly convey my deep thanks and appreciation to Rev. Moon, the founder of The Washington Times, who made this most precious investment for freedom?” (Bo Hi Pak, “Introduction to the Life and Work of the Rev. and Mrs. Sun Myung Moon.” An address given by Pak to the World Convention of theFederation of Island Nations for World Peace, Tokyo, Japan, June 17, 1996.) http://www.unification.net/misc/bhp9606.html

(20) Here Moon says he guides the Washington Times:

Look at the Washington Times. No one in America helped to create that. Without Father’s guidance for the Washington Times, this country couldn’t have found a direction.

(Sun Myung Moon, “Sun Myung Moon speaks on our mission during the time of the World Transition.” An address by Moon at Belvedere, Tarrytown, New York on Dec. 23, 1991. Translator – Col. San Kil Han.) Link

(21) Thinking he’s the Messiah, Moon believes that God personally speaks to and through him and expects the Washington Times to spread the word.

“The Washington Times is responsible to let the American people know about God.” Later, he added: “The Washington Times will become the instrument in spreading the truth about God to the world.” (Frank Ahrens, “Moon Speech Raises Old Ghosts as the Times Turns 20.” Washington Post, May 23, 2002.)Link

(22) In this excerpt from a speech, Moon’s son Hyo Jin Moon makes clear that the plan is to gain control through the media.
Restoration Through Indemnity
Hyo Jin Moon August 18, 1991 Belvedere, New York

A few people are controlling the mentality of the masses. In the same but opposite manner, once we have these media to offer to Father, Father can control. You don’t like that word control, but if you look at it through the eyes of love, you want to be controlled, don’t you? When you truly love your woman, you want to be controlled by that woman, don’t you? Because you don’t understand the nature of love, you deny it, but inherently you long for control. So we can control things and Father can have absolute say so. Everyone can understand this.
( Restoration Through Indemnity Link )

(23) From an article by Fred Clarkson:

Three NWC (News World Communications) executives are not only top Unification Church officials, but have also had high-ranking posts in the Korean CIA (KCIA). Sang Kook Han, a "personal assistant" to the KCIA director in the early 1960s, later served as South Korea's ambassador to Norway and Panama. In 1984, Han was installed at the Washington Times, precipitating the resignation of editor James Whelan. Currently senior vice president of New World Communications, Han is described by Whelan as the "de facto publisher" and "inspector general" of the Times.

Moon's speeches are riddled with contempt for "American-style democracy," which he denigrates as "a good nursery for the growth of Communism." "We must have an automatic theocracy to rule the world," Moon has declared. Former top UC official Steve Hassan believes that the Washington Times is a "Trojan horse" within the conservative movement. Hassan told EXTRA!, "Conservative politics is glad to have a voice through the Times, but ultimately it has nothing to do with conservatism. It has to do with fascism."

(Extra! Aug./Sept. '87 Behind the Times: Who Pulls The Strings at Washington's No. 2 Daily? By Fred Clarkson http://www.fair.org/extra/best-of-extra/washington-times.html )

___________

a final note....

It is obvious what Moon is doing. His is a political organization first and foremost.
quoting Fraser:
Some observers, however, see goals in the Moon Organization's activities which are clearly political, including those carried on by the Unification Church. Allen Tate Wood, testified that in his view the UC was not a church at all: "It is my contention that it is certainly not a church. It is certainly a political organization which clearly has partisan objectives."

Another ex-member said that her experience in the church led her to believe that Moon intended to make UC members into "a little political army." ...

Alan Tate Wood, a former UC member who had been president of the FLF, described to the subcommittee some of Moon's political ambitions and activities. He said that Moon, through the UC and its numerous front organizations, wanted to acquire enough influence in America to be able to "dictate policy on major issues, to influence legislation, and move into electoral politics."In the United States, the political goals of the UC and those of the KCIA "overlap so thoroughly as to display no difference at all."

The Moon organization claims they are advising our State Department on the North Korea nuclear issue and the Middle East. That is most likely true. The question is, when - if ever - will the TV press decide to inform the public.

Please take note of the six countries Moon mentioned here in the 70s - from the Fraser Report:
Anti-communism is one key reason for Moon's espousal of a worldwide theocracy and rejection of some of the most fundamental tenets of American democracy. Moon finds "American-style democracy" to be "a good nursery for the growth of Communism.'' In a speech in Seoul, Moon proclaimed that God was helping to set up a final battle involving the United States, Russia, China, North Korea, South Korea, and Japan...... The Moon Organization has self-proclaimed goals of controlling political and secular institutions and a strident ideology which envisions the formation of a "Unification Crusade Army." Moon's speeches foresee an apocalyptic confrontation involving the United States, Russia, China, Japan, and North and South Korea, in which the Moon Organization would play a key role.
_____

"the United States, Russia, China, North Korea, South Korea, and Japan"

Moon named those countries in the 70s and they are the same six countries involved currently in the "six way talks" over the North Korean nuclear issue. Lucky guess? Moon does billions of dollars of business with the communist country and he is close friends with Kim Jong Il, the Korean dictator. Moon and Kim Jong Il swap birthday gifts. Maybe some reporter will ask the President what advice he is getting on how to handle foreign policy from the conservative's savior, Sun Myung Moon. The same man who led hard right conservatism out of the forty year liberal wilderness, the man who molded a political setting in America over the last 25 years without which George W. Bush would be an unlikely candidate, let alone president.