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Thursday, April 06, 2006

PA-07: Curt Weldon a Moonie Cultist

Posted by DavidNYC

When I got an e-mail yesterday from Admiral Joe Sestak's campaign about Curt Weldon's depraved attack on Sestak's four-year-old, cancer-stricken daughter, I wanted to throw things. What kind of disturbed, twisted nutbag could stoop so low? Well, as community member Predictor reminds us in the comments, this kind of nutbag:

Weldon spoke at the coronation of Sun Myung Moon "as humanity's Savior, Messiah, Returning Lord and True Parent", on March 23, 2004. His office originally vehemently denied his attendance, then when he was revealed to be a co-chair organizer of the event claimed that he had intended to attend but could not because of a scheduling conflict; then when a photo surfaced of him speaking at the event while standing next to a lifesize photo of him pinning a Unification Church medal on Moammar Al Qadhafi, stated that he had left immediately after the speech and had no knowledge of what else went on.

That whole Moon coronation thing seriously, seriously creeped me out. I mean, it was really beyond insane. Get this:

• It was freakin' coronation for cryin' out loud! Since when do we have coronations in this country, except at Burger King?

• It was in a Senate office building! The United States Senate! Hell, Art. I, Sec. 9 of the Constitution even forbids Congress to grant "titles of nobility." I realize this was not some kind of legislative act, but jeez.

• Rev. Moon declared himself to be the Messiah?!? Look, man, I don't know about you, but in my religion, worshipping false gods is a serious no-no. Oh wait, Weldon's a Christian. So that means the Ten Commandments apply to him, too. Weldon even voted for something called the "Ten Commandments Defense Act," a bill to let states display the decalogue in government buildings. And man, even I know that Christianity accepts Jesus as the Messiah, not Rev. Sun Myung Moon.

• And Moon himself? How could any serious person ever be associated with someone so sick? This is a man who has called gays "dirty, dung-eating dogs," declared that "the Jews" killed Jesus, and thinks that "Satan is clinging to our sexual organs." How is it acceptable for politicians to even get near this freak?

Personally, I think the whole Rev. Moon story is just too weird for the media. Crazy tax felon billionaire with delusions of being the Messiah publishes major DC paper, holds Washington power-players in his thrall? That's the plain n' simple truth, and yet because it's so bizarre, I just think the traditional media has no interest in touching it. If they ran honest stories about Moon, I think ordinary folks would assume they were made up.

Of course, that doesn't excuse the media turning a blind eye to this savage cult - and it certainly doesn't get sicko Curt Weldon off the hook for being a Moon lackey. As noted above, Weldon denied attening Moon's "coronation," but only later fessed up when photos emerged - including a photo of another photo of Weldon pinning a medal on that well-known American hero, Col. Muammar Qadafi.

Busted, you sonofabitch. Now how about apologizing to Joe Sestak and his daughter?

UPDATE: Another photo of Weldon giving a plaque (or as Monty Burns would style it, "the plague") of some sort to Qadafi. I gotta say again, what the hell? What American - let alone what American politician - would want to be within 100 feet of a terrorist-supporting dictator like Qadafi? This is so topsy-turvy that even I can hardly believe it.

Posted at 11:16 AM in 2006 Elections - House, Pennsylvania | Technorati

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Comments

Sounds like more than just Weldon has some explaining to do -- what a strange, diverse group of people that were at this event. And I'm sorry, but saying "I was there to just say hi to someone," or "I wasn't really sure what was going on" just doesn't come close to cutting it. How any elected official can get anywhere near this nutball is beyond me.

Posted by: IndianaProgressive at April 6, 2006 12:29 PM | Permalink | Edit Comment | Delete Comment

Yes, the involvement of Democrats is the most senseless, since Moon is a big funder of conservative causes. I guess it has something to do with Moon's bizarre success in taking over urban black churches. How can any of these people (including Jerry Falwell) call themselves Christians while associating with Moon? It seems like their fundamentalist followers would revolt.

Posted by: KCinDC at April 6, 2006 01:09 PM | Permalink | Edit Comment | Delete Comment

This sounds like something out of a comedy skit. Really scary it is true. I can't wait for the Oct commercial with Weldon pinning the medal on Qadhafi.

Posted by: John Mills at April 6, 2006 02:52 PM | Permalink | Edit Comment | Delete Comment

Weldon is a serious piece of trash. This is a good time to discuss his friends tied to Slobodon Milosevic and how his daughter receives large amounts of money from a shadowy Russian oil company. Read the stories the LA Times published!!!

Posted by: Ahmed at April 6, 2006 03:04 PM | Permalink | Edit Comment | Delete Comment

So just to review -- we've got a lying, dictator-loving Moonie who attacks sick little girls and has a potentially mobbed-up daughter running against a retired Navy Admiral in a Democrat-trending suburban swing district in what's going to be a Democratic year? The more I read the better I feel about this race.

Posted by: IndianaProgressive at April 6, 2006 03:10 PM | Permalink | Edit Comment | Delete Comment

Um, on Weldon denying he was there, your linker article said his *office* denied it.

That's an important difference. Of course he's responsible for what his office says. However, you're responsible for reporting the facts accurately.

Posted by: Craig at April 6, 2006 07:19 PM | Permalink | Edit Comment | Delete Comment

It's called synechdoche (or, if you prefer, metonymy).

Posted by: DavidNYC at April 6, 2006 07:27 PM | Permalink | Edit Comment | Delete Comment

I have often wondered why Washington media insiders are willing to sit down next to someone from the Washington Times for one of the Sunday roundtables. I can understand having collegial relations with someone from a different political stripe like the National Review (ugh), but the Moonie Times can't be in the acceptable category.

Posted by: highpost at April 6, 2006 08:39 PM | Permalink | Edit Comment | Delete Comment

Not to defend Weldon, but is not the second picture with a bunch of Congres People in addition to Weldon[I think I see Issa and Rodney Alexander and is it therefore not possible this after the thaw with Libya and not something with which to attack Weldon.I am convinced there is plently left.

Posted by: Democraticavenger at April 7, 2006 03:28 AM | Permalink | Edit Comment | Delete Comment

There were other Congressional luminaries caught up in the Moon event. Politics1 originally broke the story in June 04. Here's a link that will give you some other names and info:
http://www.politics1.com/blog-0604a.htm

Posted by: Predictor at April 7, 2006 12:05 PM | Permalink | Edit Comment | Delete Comment

Have you guys ever heard of honest unbiased research? The coronation was crowning him "Peace King." Calling ones self the Messiah is not necessarily calling yourself God. It could be (such as in this case) be saying that you are God's #1 representative and the one whose duty it is to bring about world peace and unity under God and create the Kingdom of Heaven on Earth.

Unification thought is a combination of Christian and Asian beliefs, and the Divine Principle-the main text of the Unification Church, references the bible all over the place. Often at a Unification Church sunday service gathering, a speaker will use scripture from the Bible as a focus for whatever topic he or she wants to address.

Rev. Moon is a great man who is not only working hard to peacefully unite his home country of Korea, but to unite Christians, Muslims, Jews, and members of other religions to create lasting peace. Believe it or not, despite his support of Conservatives most of the time, he is an outspoken critic of the war in Iraq. Here are some links to learn more about the man and his movement if anyone is really interested in the truth.

Finally, a small technical note. The ceremony when our president is named the president, is openly called the presidential coronation ceremony every year. A coronation is simply the official presenting of a high title. We do it here in the United States all the time, not just at Burger King. In fact, I don't know of it ever happening at Burger King, unless they have one whenever they have to hire a new company president.

http://www.religioustolerance.org/unificat.htm
http://www.iifwp.org/
http://www.rickross.com/groups/moonie.html
http://unification.org/
http://www.familyfed.org/

Goodnight, and God bless.

Posted by: Fipher at April 8, 2006 12:46 AM | Permalink | Edit Comment | Delete Comment

I know little about either candidate but I am outraged by the appeal to religious bigotry coming from DavidNYC.

I have been a member of the religious movement founded by the Rev. Sun Myung Moon for nearly 33 years. I have seen my beliefs disparaged by countless bigots who know nothing about them and I find the bigotry escpecially annoying when it comes from liberals, the people who should be the the most ardent defenders of religious tolerance.

Before I discovered the teachings of Rev. Moon I studied for five years to be a Catholic priest. I have great affection for the Catholic Church but I had questions that were not answered. David alludes to the fact that hundreds of Black ministers now support Rev. Moon's ministry but, like many white liberals, he has no respect for their integrity and intellectual ability. One of the early supporters of Rev. Moon was the Rev. Wyatt T, Walker, a close aide to the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. His son, daughter-in-law and grandchildren performed last year at an rally in Javits Center where Rev. Moon was the featured speaker.

Although there is a wealth of material posted on the internet, I am willing to bet that David has never read the Divine Principle or any of the official explanations of Rev. Moon's beliefs. if he had he would know that his followers do not believe that Rev. Moon is God. That's just nonsense.

When you're a bigot the truth only gets in the way. There is no religion that wouldn't look ridiculous when seen through the superficial eyes of a hatemonger. That holds true for Roman Catholics, Protestants and Orthodox Jews. It's even worse when that bigotry is used to promote a political cause. Shame on David and shame on all the liberals who cheered him on.

I work at a professional job in the shadow of Ground Zero and I would have hoped that the tragedy of 9/11 might have muted the mocking cynicism of religious bigots. Sadly it has not.

Posted by: Dadicated418 at April 9, 2006 08:03 PM | Permalink | Edit Comment | Delete Comment

Now that's rich - being called a religious bigot by someone whose spiritual leader calls gays "dirty, dung-eating dogs" and tells me that I'm responsible for killing Jesus. Or was that all a mis-print?

P.S. I didn't say anything about black ministers. That's called a "comment," written by a "commenter" - ie, someone other than me.

Posted by: DavidNYC at April 9, 2006 10:29 PM | Permalink | Edit Comment | Delete Comment

Well, this thread took an unexpected turn

Posted by: RBH at April 9, 2006 11:14 PM | Permalink | Edit Comment | Delete Comment

It happens once in a blue moon. The SSP is carried by Google News, which is a great thing, but it occasionally means that some very unexpected types drop by. We also come up very high for a lot of regular Google searches, which has the same effect.

Posted by: DavidNYC at April 9, 2006 11:21 PM | Permalink | Edit Comment | Delete Comment

Rev. Moon has a long record of support for fascist regimes around the world; the religious right at home; and the most outrageous excesses of American foreign policy. I have written about the Moon organization many times over the years, and it is fair to say that it is one of the reprehensible, anti-Constitutional organizations in American public life.

I devoted a chapter to the Moon organizaiton in my 1997 book, Eternal Hostility: The Struggle Between Theocracy and Democracy, which is about to be reprinted after being out of print for some months.

I hope the people in Weldon's district get a fair chance to know why their Congressman chose to participate in the crowning of Moon as Messiah -- a title he does indeed claim forhimself, the comment above not withstanding.

Posted by: Frederick Clarkson at April 10, 2006 12:00 AM | Permalink | Edit Comment | Delete Comment