In article <s3jld0tp943l9288tjavf9ndh4ccbn4mmu@4ax.com>,

Lawmakers attended Rev. Moon's coronation




THE WASHINGTON POST

WASHINGTON - More than a dozen lawmakers attended a congressional
reception this year honoring the Rev. Sun Myung Moon where Moon
declared himself the Messiah and said his teachings have helped Hitler
and Stalin be "reborn as new persons."

At the March 23 ceremony in the Dirksen Senate Office Building, Rep.
Danny Davis, D-Ill., wore white gloves and carried a pillow holding an
ornate crown that was placed on Moon's head.

The Korean-born businessman and religious leader then delivered a long
speech saying he was "sent to Earth . . . to save the world's six
billion people. . . . Emperors, kings and presidents . . . have
declared to all Heaven and Earth that Rev. Sun Myung Moon is none
other than humanity's Savior, Messiah, Returning Lord and True
Parent."

Details of the ceremony - first reported by Salon.com writer John
Gorenfeld - have prompted several lawmakers to say they were misled or
duped by organizers. Their complaints prompted a Moon-affiliated Web
site to remove a video of the "Crown of Peace" ceremony two days ago,
but other Web sites have preserved photos.

Moon, 85, has been controversial. Renowned for officiating at mass
weddings, he received an 18-month prison sentence in 1982 for tax
fraud and conspiracy to obstruct justice.

Among the more than 300 people who attended all or part of the
ceremony was Sen. Mark Dayton, D-Minn., who now says he was honoring a
constituent receiving a peace award and did not know Moon would be
there.

"We fell victim to it, we were duped," Dayton spokeswoman Chris Lisi
said Tuesday.

Other lawmakers who attended or were listed as hosts felt the same,
she said.

"Everyone I talked to was furious," she said.

With Minnesotans demanding to know if Dayton is "a Moonie," Lisi said,
the senator persuaded the St. Paul Pioneer Press to write an article
allowing him to reply.

The event's organizers flew in nearly 100 honorees from all 50 states
to receive state and national peace awards. The only "international
crown of peace awards" went to Moon and his wife.

Some Republicans who attended the event, including Rep. Roscoe
Bartlett, R-Md., said they did so mainly to salute the Washington
Times, a conservative-leaning paper owned by Moon's organization.

Well, Bartlett should know that the apple doesn't fall too far from the tree, so
he must be okay generally with Moon misleading people.

Woods