Despite its central role in bankrolling the American Christian right the Unification Church has received little sustained scrutiny, nor has its influence in American politics been given much media treatment despite such striking evidence as this footage - again found by Gorenfeld - of President George W. Bush Sr. and first lady Barbara Bush at a public birthday party for Sun Myung Moon's wife.

That display of Moon's Washington connections pales in comparison to the now notorious 2004 incident in which Sun Myung Moon was "coronated" as "the messiah", in the Dirksen US federal office building, during a ceremony attended by as many as ( claims the Unification Church ) 81 members of the US Congress.

[ excerpt from Moon's speech ] "The five great saints and many other leaders in the spirit world, including even Communist leaders such as Marx and Lenin, who committed all manner of barbarity and murders on earth, and dictators such as Hitler and Stalin, have found strength in my teachings, mended their ways and been reborn as new persons. Emperors, kings and presidents who enjoyed opulence and power on earth, and even journalists who had worldwide fame, have now placed themselves at the forefront of the column of the true love revolution. Together they have sent to earth a resolution expressing their determination in the light of my teaching of the true family ideal. They have declared to all Heaven and Earth that Reverend Sun Myung Moon is none other than humanity's Savior, Messiah, Returning Lord and True Parent. This resolution has been announced on every corner of the globe."

John Gorenfeld has given extensive coverage to the bizzare incident that has been given spotty ( at best ) mainstream media notice.

For a good, brief overview of the dubious financial dealings of the Unification Church, and its influence on US politics, see this recent post on the Daily Kos by contributor "moonboots".

[ US News and World report excerpt provided in Daily Kos story mentioned above ]

From U.S News and World Report March 27, 1989 (transcribed not available on the net):

    "On New Year's Day, 1987, South Korean mystic Sun Myung Moon, who considers himself to be the son of God, told his Unification Church followers that he wanted to expand the church's political influence in the United States. His aim, Moon said, was "the natural subjugation of the American government and population." ...

    [the Unification Church] 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. Although Heritage officials deny it, the foundation has dramatically changed its policy toward the Unification Church. In the early 80's the foundation, wary of the church's aims, prohibited staff or fellows from being associated with Unification Church organizations or taking money from the church or church-financed institutions.

    As the Washington Times has become the voice of capital conservatives, the Heritage Foundation has become far more tolerant of church ties. ...

    The Unification Church's newfound influence has occasioned intense debate among conservatives. One group of worried young conservatives meets regularly in private to compare notes about the problem. But little of the debate has surfaced in public forums. "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. That happened when one organization, the Capital Research Center, published a newsletter last November warning of the church's attempt to create a "centralized world theocracy." One of its board members, who was also on the board of the International Security Council, resigned in protest, and conservatives charging that the paper was creating discord on the right, besieged the center with angry calls. "We got a very, very strong reaction -- almost as if we were the enemy -- because we raised the issue," says CRC Chairman Willa Johnson, a former president of the Heritage Foundation."

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