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Unification Church Member Runs For Iowa House Of Representatives
Len printable version print page     Bookmark and Share
Thu Aug 24, 2006 at 12:35:58 PM EST
Sun Myung Moon's IA House 61
Man, when it rains in Blogistan, it pours. I've just been tipped that David Payer is running for the Iowa House of Representatives in District 61 against incumbent Democrat Jo Oldson. The fact that he's a Republican isn't necessarily the problem; the fact that David Payer is an avowed Moonie cultist is the problem. This multi-source PDF archive provides detail from a variety of sources.

Moonies believe that Sun Myung Moon is the Messiah, Jesus was a failure and other bizarre dogmas. Are the outlandish tenets of the Unification Church the kind of values that the good citizens of Des Moines want represented in their state legislature?

Regular readers might recall my investigation into David Payer's run-in with investigative journalist John Gorenfeld. Gorenfeld's exposé of Sun Myung Moon's Senate coronation (which was arranged by John Warner, R-VA) offended Payer's delicate Moonie sensibilities.

Developing....

Update [2006-8-24 21:35:49 by Len]: The PDF archive has been greatly expanded to more clearly show the Moonie connections. Check it out.


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Display:
Unification Church Member Runs For Iowa House Of Representatives | 14 comments (14 topical, 0 hidden)
Also See My Recent Roundup : (none / 0)
Moon Boasts of "Hundreds Of Millions" From Abroad Poured Into US To Influence Nation - A great catch by John Gorenfeld, of a 1984 video CSPAN clip of a rather curious Moon statement that 100's of millions of dollars from abroad had been dupmed into the US to influence the counrties' direction. Also, a superb coverage of the Unification Church's influence by Daily Kos diarist "Moonbats".

by Bruce Wilson on Thu Aug 24, 2006 at 01:28:56 PM EST

Just FYI for readers: (none / 0)
This is a crosspost from my site that Bruce was kind enough to post for me after I had some technical glitches.

The key link in this story is the one labeled "my investigation." That leads to a post from last year about him, and it goes into some length on his Moonie connections.

The cat's out of the bag where Mr. Payer's Moonie background is concerned. Let's hope Des Moines voters are paying attention.

by Len on Thu Aug 24, 2006 at 05:29:29 PM EST


Some Thoughts (none / 0)
Len, please understand that my intent here is not to put you down but to remain as neutral and positive as possible as I share with you some of the thoughts I had as I read your statement.  

I have the impression that the language you have used hinders mutual understanding among people who hold disparate, or even opposing, belief systems, e.g.,

"Moonie," "cultist," "bizarre (dogmas)," "outlandish (tenets)," "delicate Moonie sensibilities."

One of my goals in life is to foster mutual understanding, especially in the area of religion and politics.  I admire greatly the writings and actions of Marshall Rosenburg in this regard: Speak Peace in a World of Conflict, etc.

"Moonie" is a disparaging term, like "kike" or "fag."  I imagine that you will agree that using it does not help promote a dialog with Unification Church members.

Whether the Unification Church is a cult or not is a debatable question.  One may call the Jewish Christianity of Paul's day a cult, no?  And I think we can safely say that the Jews of that time regarded Paul's dogma as "bizarre" and his tenets as "outlandish."  It's an interesting question: How long does a religious organization have to exist and how large must its membership be in order to no longer be regarded as a cult?

It is a common  misunderstanding that Unification theology teaches that Jesus was a failure.  The actual doctrine is somewhat more complex.  What it says is that although Jesus did not accomplish all of his mission, which was to establish the Kingdom of Heaven on earth, he did, however, create the Kingdom of Heaven in the spirit world.  Thus, a "Second Coming" became necessary, to complete the mission to establish the Kingdom of Heaven on earth.

I'm sure that you know that a number of religions other than the Unification Church believe that a messiah, avatar, or prophet has to appear in order to accomplish this task or mission of establishing peace for the entire world.  If the Rev. Moon wishes to believe that he has that role, then that is his choice.  Whether we wish to accept him in that role is an entirely different question, of course.

With that said, let me to turn to the political issue here.  I infer that you believe that a Unification Church member will not, cannot, be a "good" representative in the Iowa state legislature, perhaps in any political office -- because his or her values will be at odds with the values, in this case, of the "good citizens of Des Moines."  You also equate Unfication Church "tenets" with "values."

Those are pretty broad statements, so broad and vague, in fact, that I really don't understand what you mean.  I don't know what the values are of the citizens of Des Moines.  I imagine that they vary greatly from one person to another -- values with regard to what?  Economics?  Politics?  Parenting?  Education?  And hundreds of other areas.

I hear here the same vague issue that many evangelical Christian groups present when they disagree with the viewpoints of other groups -- "they" ("the other") don't share "our" (family) values.  I believe that vague, broad, statements like these hinder dialog and mutual understanding among disparate groups of people.  My impression is that they often arise from fear, fear of "the other," of the "unknown."  As Rosenburg and other people who are trained in nonviolent communication have shown time and again, people who are afraid of each other, even who hate each other, can and do become friends if they learn to communicate with one another using NVC methods.  

I think it is essential to focus on what we humans have in common, not on how we differ.  What is the common denominator?  We all need clean air and water, healthful food, a clean place to live, clothes to protect us from the elements, a fulfilling occupation, and a supportive group of people (family, friends, etc.).  These are values that everyone, I think, can accept.

The problem here, as I see it, is not that you informed us that David Payer is a member of the Unification Church -- and, yes, I agree that it would be helpful if the Iowa voters knew this fact.  I felt disappointed because some of the terms you used attacked the dignity of other human beings (all Unification Church members), an attack that really wasn't necessary in order to inform people of David Payer's religious association and of his political ambitions.

My hope in saying this is that your future comments will show that you respect all human beings, regardless of their beliefs.

And, no, I am not a member of the Unification Church. :)

All the best --

Gordon

by gfross on Thu Aug 24, 2006 at 07:28:04 PM EST

Don't take my word for it. (none / 0)
Check out what Rick Ross' Cult Awareness Network has to say about the Unification Church/Moonies:

http://www.rickross.com/groups/moonie.html

And as for the term "Moonie," it's a term they themselves embrace. Don't believe me? Take a look at tparents.org, an official Unification site.

You apparently don't know much about Moon's political ambitions, either. Sun Myung Moon's goal is to create a global theocracy with himself as its king and sole ruler, starting with the United States. His aim is to abolish Democracy as being too individualistic. His aim is to destroy labor unions and execute gays as the purported will of god, and on and on. I'm sure you are aware of his deep connections with the power centers of the Republican and Religious right wing, which is the vehicle he chose to help bring this all about.

The fact that he enjoys an interesting relationship with the paranoiac and nuclear-capable North Korean regime (a US-designated state sponsor of terrorism), the fact that he owns and operates an arms manufacturer, the fact that he attempted to purchase Russian nuclear submarine technology for North Korea via Japan, the fact that he and his former lieutenant Bo Hi Pak were named in a front-page June 5 1977 article as KCIA (Korean intelligence) agents by the former head of that agency, etc etc etc, seem to have escaped your notice. Do some research, please.

Several years ago, he made a conscious effort to change the public's perception of the Moonies, while leaving the structure and goals of his group intact and untouched. It looks like you may have fallen for it.

I stand behind my every word.

by Len on Thu Aug 24, 2006 at 10:06:08 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Article was from NYT (none / 0)
I thought that line looked incomplete...

You can see excerpts of it here:

http://www.blogesque.com/?p=157

by Len on Thu Aug 24, 2006 at 10:26:54 PM EST
[ Parent ]


Welcome Information! (none / 0)
Thank you so much, Len, for posting this information in your reply!  I was not aware of much of it.

My intent in making my comments, by the way, was not to support the Rev. Sun Myung Moon or the Unification Church.  I do not support or agree with his theology or his ambitions -- at all!

My intent was to draw your attention to the lack of respect that the terms you used (those which I pointed out) showed toward other human beings.  I believe that although we may intensely dislike another person's beliefs and actions based on those beliefs, we do not have to choose to use pejorative terms that attack the dignity of other human beings, for doing so only fosters ill will, and there's already enough of that in the world, don't you agree?

People often attack others out of anger, anger that is usually based on fear, often fear that someone else might gain unwelcome and harmful power over them and people whom they love or identify with.  Such fear and anger are understandable, of course.  I have felt it myself.  I handle it by unstressing through meditation (TM and other kinds) and by various physical activities.  And when I have released those restrictive emotions, I find that I can communicate more peacefully and in less of a biased way.

Anyway, thanks again for the factual information you gave you in reply!

by gfross on Fri Aug 25, 2006 at 04:50:27 PM EST
[ Parent ]

There's lots more... (none / 0)
The political/religious intersection at Moonie and Republican is chock-full of fascinating and near-unbelievable tidbits. It would read like an Ian Fleming novel (007) if it wasn't true.

I have a modest section on the Moonies (now called the Family Federation for Word Peace & Unification instead of the Unification Church) on my site:

http://www.blogesque.com/?cat=29

but for the in-depth scoop, you have to check out John Gorenfeld:

http://www.iapprovethismessiah.com/

by Len on Fri Aug 25, 2006 at 10:03:21 PM EST
[ Parent ]


Moonian? (none / 0)
Moonian? If the tenets of Unification Church include the claim that Moon is the Messiah, why not use an analogous term to Christian.

BTW, if I have accidentally rated people poorly on the 1-5 scale, that's because I didn't really notice it until recently. I assume "5" is best.

by NancyP on Fri Aug 25, 2006 at 10:11:16 PM EST
[ Parent ]

There's no such thing as... (none / 0)
the "Unification Church" anymore.

As part of his whole rebranding PR exercise, Moon dropped the name Unification Church in favor of the new moniker Family Federation for World Peace and Unification:

it was Adam's family that destroyed the path to true love and world peace yet Adam's family had the potential to establish absolute values of true love and lay the cornerstone of world peace if only they had maintained their pure love and received God's holy marriage blessing the reason why 10 yrs ago I brought an end to the unification church, which is the holy spirit assoc for the unification of world Christianity, and raised instead the banner of the family federation, is because the time had come to call people of all faiths to receive the holy blessing

source

by Len on Fri Aug 25, 2006 at 11:04:24 PM EST
[ Parent ]






Was Jesus a Failure? (none / 0)
Len wrote:

"Moonies believe that Sun Myung Moon is the Messiah, Jesus was a failure and other bizarre dogmas."

  If you really want to know what is actually taught about Jesus' life and ministry,, via, Reverend Moon,  here's
a good place to start. 

   http://www.divineprinciple.net/israel.htm

  Let's have some fact based discussion here.

  Ron
  



by ronhhi on Tue Aug 29, 2006 at 11:29:32 PM EST

Jesus' Death,, (none / 0)
Len,

  Now, if you took the time to read the link I provided, it's clear that the Divine Principle does not teach that Jesus failed.  God did not send Jesus on earth to die on the cross, but he sent Jesus to a nation that had been prepared to receive him, and should have. His trajic death was caused by those who failed HIM.  John the Baptist, and the Religious Leaders of the time.  Jesus did everything he could to sway the nation, including raising the dead and performing miracle, all so that they might "believe in whom He has sent". 

  Len your comment about our beliefs in this regard are either a lie, or incompentence.  Which is it?

  Ron

by ronhhi on Wed Aug 30, 2006 at 11:51:57 AM EST
If you do posts on Moon, expect deception peddlers (none / 0)
IMO, Moon followers are a mix of people who are honestly deceived by the organization and don't know any better and people who have so much of their lives invested in the group that they will lie and deceive to save face for themselves and protect the deceptive organization and its leader. Hard to tell sometimes which they are, unwitting tools or intentionally deceptive - people who rationalize deception to "save" the world for Moon's vision which they are conditioned to believe is God's desire.

They practice what former members call "Heavenly Deception" which means it is OK to lie to save the world for what Moon interprets as "God's" wishes. They will tell you they want a world that is run by people doing God's will but leave out that Moon and his organization just happen to know God's will better than anyone so therefore they play the role of arbiter of God's desires. They, of course, will deny that they practice Heavenly Deception and when they deny it they are lying or truly can't see the reality of what their organization does.

Example: Here is a statement by Ron Paquette, former member from the 2000 BBC documentary "Emerpor of the Universe."

Not paying your taxes, withholding payroll taxes, paying people under the table cash so you didn't have to pay the government money, that saved Father money, so therefore it was OK. It was doing God's will because anything that supported Moon or supported the agenda was doing God's will.

Moon followers will always expect to be given a wide berth when they are deceiving you and themselves but if you misspeak so much as vowel they will never let you forget it.

Here's a little something about how Moon sees his relationship with Jesus from a review by Robert Parry of Nansook Hong, Moon's x-daughter in law's book.

http://www.consortiumnews.com/1990s/consor25.html

Even as Moon poured hundreds of millions of dollars into the American Right and ingratiated himself with President Reagan, Moon's religious pronouncements grew increasingly bizarre. When one of his teenage sons, Heung Jin, died in a car crash in 1983, Moon declared the Heung Jin had supplanted Jesus as the King of Heaven.

In 1984, Moon arranged a strange ceremony in which he married his dead son's spirit to Hoon Sook Pak, the daughter of longtime Moon lieutenant Bo Hi Pak, then the publisher of The Washington Times. Moon's theology required the wedding because he believed only married individuals could enter the Kingdom of Heaven.

Even Jesus needed Rev. Moon's help in this way. "In what must stand as his ultimate act of arrogance, Sun Myung Moon actually had matched Jesus to an elderly Korean woman," Nansook Hong wrote. "Jesus himself needed the intervention of the Reverend Moon to move through those gates" of heaven.

EVERYTHING centers on Moon, a megalomaniac at the least. Jesus, God, no one can get the job done without Moon. The organization gives lip service to "family values." That's another whole discussion but you can watch this video for some discussion to give you a feel for it.

http://www.xenutv.com/cults/gb2.htm

The Moon organzation will also claim to be about "true love" and "living for the sake of others." haha Tell that to the widows in Japan who the Unification Church has been found responcible for swindling them out their husband's life insurance policies.

Find some of that here:
http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2006/8/9/13513/46197

They'll say "oh, it wasn't His fault" but the fact is Moon says Jesus FAILED. What I don't understand is why the members hide from this belief in public, other than it causes them problems when trying to sell their wares. Or when they are selling their rationalizations to black ministers as to why they dump dirt on the cross when they bury it under Moon's flag at his orders.

Some of that here:
http://gadflyer.com/articles/?ArticleID=258

Moon doesn't just believes he is 1,000 times greater than Jesus, he believes he is better than God and has said so.

There are many more references like these:

Quoting Moon:

Since Jesus failed to carry out his whole mission, there must come the Lord of the Second Advent, as the third Adam. God's will once intended, does not change. [Speech On True Parents' Birthday - Sun Myung Moon Tarrytown, New York - Feb. 16,1975 - Master Speaks ]

Jesus was to become a perfect man, completely unified, and as a man who could realize God's full potential of creation, Jesus was to give birth to his sons and daughters. However, Jesus was unable to do this. This is the most important responsibility for a man, but Jesus failed to fulfill it. [Blessing And Ideal Family (Part 1)by Sun Myung Moon ]

You must love the people you are helping to restore even more than your own child. Then Satan will say, "You deserve to be blessed." In that way, you will be blessed on a victorious foundation. That was what Jesus failed to do. [Chapter 2 The Master Speaks On The Blessing And Witnessing ]

In order to restore a family, the entire nation stands in the position where Jesus failed. [Father's Word in Washington D.C. 17 May 2003 Sun Myung Moon]

Do you understand? [Yes] There will be a formation of the people. Jesus failed in his attempt to achieve this. [The Way of the Spiritual Leader by Sun Myung Moon Section 2 - Witnessing (Part 6)]

In order to receive the Blessing, you must go beyond the standard at which Jesus failed.[Blessing And Ideal Family (Part 1) by Sun Myung Moon]

Here we have them using children's games to drive home the point that Jesus failed. This was in the Unification News April 2005, so no need to scrub it..

Children's Workshop and Youth Workshop in Winston Salem, NC

By Rev. Mike Lamson

From March 18-20, 2005 a children's workshop was organized in Winston Salem, North Carolina. The workshop focused on helping children from 6- 11 years old learn the "Family Pledge"...

Over the three days we all learned a lot about Fathe'rs(sic) vision for us to become engrafted into his family....

After lunch we went outside for an "activity pertaining to the messiah's course". This activity involved groups of two people washing and getting their feet washed. The idea was to humble yourself before someone else by washing their feet. It seemed those getting their feet washed were more embarrassed than those washing.

The next activity was "the Crucifixion." We all got crucified! One person at a time would pick up a wooden cross and run around a storage shed once and then meet on the hill where everyone would ridicule and throw things. We all felt some heartistic pain. After that we had a human wheelbarrow contest by team. The next activity had us laying firewood logs on top of each other to reach a certain height, which represented the foundation for the messiah to come. At our first success Takamitsu just pushed them over and informed us that Jesus failed and we have to start all over again. Later we went to a large field where the staff had hidden small scraps of paper with our names on them, representing how hard it was for True Parents to find the principle. Some kids found their paper and some did not.

Night fell, and we went inside where we had dinner and watched a musical about Father's life. Then we started a 500-piece jigsaw puzzle just for fun, which we were unable to finish that night even though we stayed up till 1:00 am trying.

Ron, to use your words...your comment about your beliefs in this regard was either a lie, or incompentence.  Which was it?

by Lou on Thu Aug 31, 2006 at 03:09:09 AM EST
[ Parent ]



Give it up, Ron. (none / 0)
You're busted.

by Len on Wed Aug 30, 2006 at 09:31:57 PM EST

Busted (none / 0)

  Len,,  since I am "busted" and banned from your site,
 you can find my replies to your charges here.


  Rgds,

  Ron 



by ronhhi on Fri Sep 01, 2006 at 08:58:21 AM EST

Unification Church Member Runs For Iowa House Of Representatives | 14 comments (14 topical, 0 hidden)

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US News and World Report's Dan Gilgoff has charitably provided evangelist Ray Comfort a media platform in the form of a US News & World "exclusive" through which Comfort defends his efforts to distribute,......
Bruce Wilson (0 comments)
Atheist billboard in Central Florida
The organization "Atheists of Florida" sponsored a billboard promoting atheism in Lakeland, Florida.  I, however, have some concerns. ......
ArchaeoBob (4 comments)
Transcript: Billy Graham and Richard Nixon, February 21, 1973
The following is my own transcript of a 20 minute phone conversation between Richard Nixon and Billy Graham, on February 23, 1973. As far as I am aware this is the only publicly available,......
Bruce Wilson (0 comments)
Rifqa Bary being sent back to Ohio now
Well, there's a change in this case.  After the judge gets immigration documents and so on from the parents, he will send her back. ......
ArchaeoBob (2 comments)

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