Where in Washington, D.C. is Reverend Moon?: Antics

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3/26/2004

Antics

From the Arizona Daily Star:

PHOENIX - State senators voted 15-10 Thursday to ask Congress to approve a U.S. constitutional amendment banning gay marriage, after debate that was often emotional and angry.[...] The proposal's prime Senate sponsor, Mark Anderson, R-Mesa, conceded all five senators who were absent for Thursday's vote have told him they do not support what he's trying to do. [...]

Tempers flared when Sen. Bill Brotherton, D-Phoenix, a foe of the amendment, said lawmakers should be tolerant of the beliefs of others.

He said, for example, some religions believe in mass marriages - a clear reference to Anderson, who is a member of the Unification Church, founded by the Rev. Sun Myung Moon, which traditionally performs that kind of ceremony.

"It's a minority view, I would think," Brotherton said. "Yet we don't bring it up, we don't throw stones at it, we don't question the sincerity of those beliefs that he has and we don't throw derision on those beliefs or that lifestyle."

That brought an objection from Sen. Robert Blendu, R-Litchfield Park, who said Senate rules prohibit members from maligning one another. Brotherton said he was doing no such thing.

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Surreal

"John Gorenfeld: The first man on the Moon"
-- Ana Marie Cox ("Wonkette," Time.com Washington editor)

"Thanks to the superb reporting of John Gorenfeld on Salon.com and his indispensable Web page, Moon's shenanigans are routinely scrutinized. Maybe some of Gorenfeld's discernment will rub off on preachers and politicians."
-- Tony Norman, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette columnist

"The scene summoned the moment in Robert Graves's "I, Claudius" when Emperor Caligula declares himself a god in the Roman Senate; a fawning solon instantly offers a prayer."
-- New York Times editorial on the Crown of Peace scandal

"I am happy that our work is being challenged and improved in consistency, openness and coordination, by the accountability your spotlight demands. I am not talking about simply removing stuff from websites..."
-- Moon spokesman the Rev. Phil Schanker

"Instead of welcoming Reverend Moon, this government put me into prison. History will reveal the truth in the future and the American government and people will realize what an evil thing they did. What will they do then? They will bow down. Again, that is the way of natural subjugation." -- Moon in 1987

"A political movement basing its appeal on old fashioned patriotism and family values simply cannot justify an alliance with a cult that preys on the disintegration of the American family and advocates allegiance to an international social order operating with cell-like secrecy."
-- Rep. Jim Leach (R-IA)