- "BUSH PUSH" AGAINST FIRST AMENDMENT BEGINS:
- ASHCROFT IS AT REV. MOON INAUGURAL BASH
Web Posted: January 23, 2001: George W. Bush began his term
in office this weekend with a proposal for a voucher program,
and promises that he would soon unveil specifics for his planned
Federal Office of Faith-Based Partnership.
The former Texas governor was sworn in on Saturday as the
nation's 43rd President amidst protests throughout the Washington,
D.C. area, and celebrations by supporters. Among the festivities
was a lavish Interfaith Inaugural Prayer Luncheon organized by
a front for Korean evangelist and cult leader Rev. Sun Myung
Moon. The "America Come Together Luncheon For Unity and
Renewal" was hosted by Moon's Washington Times Foundation,
and attracted over 1,700 key religious right political operatives,
ministers and public officials.
Despite the impressive line-up of speakers and attendees,
the surprise guest of honor was former Missouri Sen. John Ashcroft
who was still under consideration as Mr. Bush's choice to be
the nation's next Attorney General. Ashcroft "brought down
the house" according to a Washington Times newspaper story,
and told the assembled ministers and political officials, "This
is a country worth praying for."
The event was described as "one of the largest and most
diverse inaugural religious gatherings of clergy and lawmakers
in memory."
The three-hour festival included a wide mix of ecclesiastical
leaders, despite the overt involvement of Moon-controlled groups.
Other organizations endorsed the luncheon, including The Empowerment
Network, Christian Voice, American Forum for Jewish-Christian
Cooperation, and the Martin Luther King Family Life Institute.
Among those slated at the podium were Pat Boone, Congressman
Danny Davis, Rev. Walter Fauntroy, "Crystal Cathedral"
evangelist Robert Schuller, Rep. Matt Salmon, and GOP political
operative Douglas Wead.
Davis, also a Franciscan layman, told the guests at the $100-a-seat
bash that he and Rep. Philip M. Crane (R-Ill.) will introduce
this week a congressional resolution calling upon Americans to
"dwell in unity and one accord."
Speakers praised each other as well as the absent Rev. Billy
Graham. The Rev. James Merritt, president of the Southern Baptist
Convention, hailed the aging evangelist noting that throughout
his life "there had not been one hint of scandal."
Also coming in for effusive recognition was Rev. Moon, who was
presented with a special award for his work in support of "traditional
family values."
Moon has been accused of operating a religious cult, the Unification
Church. The bizarre evangelist is also noted for his mass wedding
ceremonies, and has described American women as "prostitutes"
and sexually promiscuous. Moon and his dozens of political organizations
have been active in religious right causes for over three decades.
A 1977 congressional probe chaired by Rep. Donald Fraser revealed
that Moon had been an important asset of the Korean Central Intelligence
Agency (KCIA), which had funded the Unification Church as a "political
tool" within the United States. One KCIA-Moon operation
involved the Asian People's Anti-Communist League (APACL), which
according to sociologist Sarah Diamond ("Spiritual Warfare,
The Politics of the Christian Right," South End Press, 1989)
was part of a multinational network of "Nazi war criminals,
Latin American death squad leaders, North American racists and
anti-Semites, and fascist politicians from every continent."
Moon has enjoyed close ties with American religious right
operatives including direct mail wizard Richard Viguerie, Rev.
Jerry Falwell, apocalypse novelist Tim LaHaye, evangelists Jimmy
Swaggart, Rex Humbard, and D. James Kennedy, Hal Lindsey, and
Christian Voice executives Robert Grant and Colonel Doner.
In 1986, then-President George Bush -- father of the current
chief executive -- spoke at a conference dinner organized by
another Moon-linked newspaper in Buenos Aires, Argentina, the
Tiempos del Mundo. Conspicuously absent from the affair was Argentine's
President Carlos Menem, who had been advised to shun the dinner
because of its close association with the controversial Rev.
Moon. Bush, however, praised Moon's Washington Times newspaper
for its "defense of liberty and democracy." Moon then
delivered a 50-minute speech, and in reference to having served
a year in a U.S. prison for tax evasion, said "I am a person
who had to overcome significant persecution in the United States."
Moon also denounced the U.S. as "a nation of extreme
individualism, a nation whose people are pursuing private interests,
over-indulging themselves, gluttonous, practicing free sex."
(Associated Press, 11/23/96)
Rev. Moon's hostility toward secularism, individualism and
popular culture, seemed to resonate with many of those attending
the inaugural bash. Rev. Jerry Falwell even brought greetings
to the event from an unlikely co-religionist, the Rev. Jesse
Jackson. Jackson was in an accelerated recovery-rehabilitation
mode following revelations that he had fathered a child with
a staff secretary of his Operation PUSH, out of wedlock.
"He asks your prayers,' declared Falwell. "He apologizes,
he takes responsibility and makes no excuses, points no fingers
at anyone else, and that's all a man can do."
Rev. Jack Hayford praised the Moon-sponsored banquet as symbolic
of a new era of interreligious and interracial cooperation. Hayford
is a leading figure in the "Vineyard" evangelical and
"Latter Rain" movements which critics say involve cult-like
control over religious followers known as "shepherding"
and "discipleship." Hayford is considered one of the
theological influences within the Promise Keepers movement, and
encouraged former university football coach Bill McCartney to
form the controversial men's revival group.
Hayford was tapped to give the benediction at the 54th Inaugural
Prayer Service at the National Cathedral to honor incoming President
Bush.
The Times noted that "Many of the religious figures spoke
of the size and ecumenical nature of the prayer luncheon."
Robert Schuller, author of numerous feel-good, religion themed
tracts, and host of the "Hour of Power" television
program told the audience, "Many of you had reason not to
accept this invitation because of 'Who else will be there?' And
yet there is an overriding unity. And the only way I can explain
it in my theology is the Holy Spirit and Jesus Christ has really
diversified His investment portfolio."
Also gushing over the theme of religious unity was singer
Pat Boone, who spoke of his "wonderful feeling" at
being surrounded by Christians, Muslims, Buddhists and Hindus.
"We love you, we cherish you, we respect you," said
Boone.
POLITICS AND PRAYER
Ecumenism, affirming the primacy of faith over doubt, was
not the only agenda item at the Moon-sponsored luncheon. Politics
was also on the menu, especially with the presence of Bush campaign
domestic policy adviser Stephen Goldsmith, former mayor of Indianapolis
and a leading advocating of using "faith-based partnerships"
to involve religious groups in addressing social problems. Goldsmith
told the gathering, "All of us here want the government
to no longer be hostile to religion." He praised Mr. Bush
and his cabinet, noting "This is an administration that
will clear out the regulation problems, clear out the legal problems"
in giving religious leaders and groups greater access to public
funding.
UPDATE: BUSH MOVING ON VOUCHERS, "PARTNERSHIPS"
Today, President Bush began his policy offensive on capitol
hill with a series of briefing meetings with key congressional
leaders. The Bush voucher plan is part of an education reform
package which would rate all schools, and allow parents of youngsters
in failing public schools to obtain up to $1,700 per child for
use toward tuition at private and religious institutions. There
is speculation that this part of the Bush package could be sacrificed,
though, especially in light of recent court rulings which have
struck down voucher programs as a violation of the separation
of church and state.
Next week, Bush is expected to conduct a similar round of
hearings in hopes of laying the groundwork for his Federal Office
of Faith-Based Partnerships. During the campaign, he promised
to spend $8 billion in the first year through a series of tax
incentives, grants, loans and other funding which would subsidize
religious groups engaged in faith-based social outreaches. Source:
http://www.atheists.org/flash.line/bush8.htm
Editor's Note: The Bush voucher plan passed Congress but is
encountering problems in various states. In Florida the issue
is in court because vouchers are illegal. The Faith-Based Partnerships
seems to have disappeared. There is hardly ever any mention of
it in Congress. |