Customer Reviews

Bad Moon Rising: How Reverend Moon Created the Washington Times, Seduced the Religious Right, and Built an American Kingdom

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This is an excellent and well written book. The facts and details are well researched. It's the kind of book that makes you wish you could bury your head in the sand. There are couple of slow parts but that's to be expected in a book that has to layout some detail and background information. It's well worth the time and money spent just to have an understanding of the inner workings and failings of our political system and how greed can create a whole flock of silent sheep.

When looking to explain the ascendancy of the paleo-conservatives in U.S. politics, few commentators have remarked upon the sinister and seminal influence of the enigmatic and unfathomably wealthy Sun Myung Moon. Who else has the resources to unflinchingly lose billions on a newspaper, The Washington Times, merely to champion conservative causes, in the teeth of all evidence and in defiance of all flagrant hypocrisy? John Gorenfeld in Bad Moon Rising chronicles the rise of a pseudo-Messiah to the point of fooling a brace of senators and congressmen into crowning him "King of Peace" at the Senate Dirksen Building in 2004, in a wide-ranging account that moves back and forth from Moon's early years in Korea in the 1950s to his dotage claiming imaginary converts from among the ranks of dead U.S. presidents.

This is the story of a man who would not be deterred, even by his failure to live up to his own teachings, from aspiring to the title of "King of Kings" and leader of all the world. The fact that he must make this claim by subterfuge, by staging events that appear to mean one thing to the general public but another to his own disciples, means little to him. Appearances are all to this would-be Messiah.

If I was to fault this important book in any way, it would be for minor errors of fact. I was a member of Moon's Unification Church from 1976 to 1986, so I know what I'm talking about. In particular, Gorenfeld's claim on page 13, which he repeats on page 75, that the American branch of the Unification Church reached a "one-time peak of thirty thousand members" is simply untrue. The 30,000 figure was a goal that I often heard the members being urged to attain in the late 1970s, when achieving that level of membership was considered crucial to Moon's success in America. When this goal could not be reached, members took to claiming that it had anyway by including people who had merely attended a Moon-inspired lecture or shown mild interest in the ideas of the "True Father". In truth, even at its peak, the Moon movement likely never exceeded 5,000 full-time, committed members in America.

Another reviewer has complained of the confusing structure of this account, which moves associatively from personality to personaltiy, instead of providing a meticulously chronological record of Moon's rise, fall and (seeming) resurrection. This structure, which works well enough in a magazine article, is indeed confusing in the context of a book. On the other hand, there are 53 pages of notes, which more than answers the claim that the text is insufficiently annotated.

These are quibbles. This book deserves 5 stars because it exposes the heinous influence of a rarely acknowledged foreign influence upon American politics -- one which has provided bottomless cash contributions to conservative causes, and which has in consequence helped to puff up the hubris of the George W. Bush presidency to the point where it may fairly be likened to the Roman imperium.

This is not to say, however, that Moon and his organization actually control any one American political party; Mr. Gorenfeld makes no such claim. Rather, he points out that Moon's enormous wealth has been used to shift the American political dialogue sharply to the right compared with where it stood in the early 1970s. This rightward shift in American politics has occurred without Moon having to give direct orders to any one politician and without his controlling any one political party. It should be added that in recent years the Washington Times has declined in influence because of a schism among the elderly Moon's sons, two of whom are vying to control his movement in the light of Moon's senescence and probable impending death. Nevertheless, the rightward shift in American politics that Moon helped to finance will continue as his most dubious legacy long after he himself has mercifully expired.

It's so important for us to understand the forces seeking and gaining control over our democracy - and Moon is certainly one of the more dangerous ones. Gorenfeld has not only done extensive research, he's pulled it all together in a page-turning, great read.

From the Washington Times to the sushi we eat, Moon has so much influence - it's time we knew what his operation was all about.

Thanks you Mr. Gorenfeld for doing some real journalism!

I had thought Rev. Moon was old news, long forgotten since his disgrace and prison term. But he's still at it, and livelier than ever! And rolling in money, which he liberally hands out (mostly to right-wing politicians). Gorenfeld examines the rather murky sources of his money, which isn't from US kids selling flowers any more. It seems to come largely from Japanese widows who are buying their husbands out of hell (really!). And he gives a lot of attention to who's getting it. As an NPR producer told the author, politicians are all whores, but I hadn't realized the extent to which preachers were, too (Jerry Falwell got several million from this guy). The accounts of Moon's coronation in Washington, with politicians in attendance, and of his endorsements by 36 former US presidents (from the "spirit world") are jaw-dropping and would be hard to believe if they weren't available right on the Moon web sites themselves!

My only quibble with the book is that it could stand some editing: some sentences are garbled, and there are minor errors of fact (Inchon! grossed $5.2 million, not $5200, for example). But it's a book that deserves a lot more attention than it's been getting. The corruption Moon generates with his money is absolutely staggering (he's sunk a billion dollars into the Washington Times so far).

Important But Disorganized

The interest and importance of the information in John Gorenfeld's book "Bad Moon Rising" rates five stars out of five. The way this information is organized rates about one star. Gorenfeld is a skilled writer of sentences and paragraphs but there is little detectable structure to the book. It jumps from topic to topic and back and forth in time. The same incidents are re-described here and there in various chapters. The punctuation " * * * " appears every few pages to separate various sections, but how one section relates to another is usually not clear.

I speculate that a reader with certain skills and proclivities would enjoy the book. Such a reader would have on the tip of his tongue the names many politicians, religious leaders, and journalists. He would also enjoy (or at least have objectivity about) criticism of prominent conservative personalities. To a reader with those prerequisites, the book would be like hearing juicy gossip about people that he already knows. The jumping around from victim to victim and year to year would not be so distracting.

The information in the book is fascinating. A summary is this: Reverend Moon and his Unification Church espouse beliefs and practices that are repulsive, amusing and bizarre to any person who holds traditional conservative religious or political beliefs. Organizations controlled by Moon have been convicted of tax evasion (for which Moon himself served prison time in the USA) and fraud (e.g. in Japan, certain spiritual mediums convince eldery widows that their dead husbands wish them to make contributions to Rev. Moon's organizations). Yet many conservative political figures and journalists accept money from organizations controlled by Rev. Moon and associate themselves with the activities of those organizations. The Unification Church seeks to influence the US media. It controls the UPI wire service (not to be confused with the API wire service). Moon also controls the Washington Times newspaper ( not to be confused with the Washington Post or New York Times newspapers). Fox News commentators sometimes cite articles from the Washington Times.

A reader who does not have the patience to put up with Gorenfeld's chaotic presentation can nevertheless enjoy browsing the book and marveling at the claims of Rev. Moon and his followers.
A brief sampling of these is:

1. Jesus failed in his mission to save mankind and Rev. Moon is the Messiah who will accomplish this mission. Hence it is not correct for Christians to use the cross a symbol of their faith since this symbolizes failure. Instead, they should use a crown, which symbolizes Rev. Moon.

2. Children should look to Rev. Moon as their "True Parent" instead of being loyal to their birth parents.

3. The secular governments of the nations of the world should be replaced with governments run by followers of Rev. Moon.

4. It right to lie for a good cause and God tells lies.

5. Through a human medium, thirtysix dead US presidents have issued statements from beyond the grave that support Rev. Moon.

6. Rev. Moon interceded to get Hitler out of hell.

7. Men should punish their penises every day by using pliers to cut the skin a little bit.

Gorenfeld does not attribute Moon's influence on certain conservatives to any sort of vast conspiracy on the part of conservatives. The Unification Church and its front organizations select prominent conservative figures as allies in preference to selecting liberals. One historical reason for this trend is that Rev. Moon is nominally a staunch anti-communist. The number of conservative politicians, journalists and religious leaders who have some association with the Unification Church is not proof that liberals are morally superior. It merely shows that liberals are less often targets.

The relationships that public figures have with the Unification Church can take many forms. Some possiblities are:

1. The person may tricked into giving a boilerplate endorsement of Moon via a front organization. (e.g. After Dwight Eisenhour left Office, he was wiling to hear a group of child singers called "The Little Angels". When the group wished him to meet with a "special guest", the guest turned out to be Rev. Moon.)

2. Front organizations of Rev. Moon may give unsolicited help to the person (e.g. pro-Nixon demonstrations) and then expect a return favor.

3. The person my give a boilerplate endorsement of Moon in order to obtain money from his organizations. Such a person may understand what he is doing but rationalize it by thinking that he is tricking the Unification Church. The person may feel that the Unification Church is too wacky to be a political threat to government and may ignore the harm done by its cult activities.

4. The person may give substantial endorsements and assistance to Moon in an actual quid pro quo arrangement.

Gorenfeld presents the observable facts about particular public figures (e.g. George H. W. Bush, Jerry Falwell). It is left to the reader to infer how each public figure manages his relationship with Rev. Moon. Although the book is disorganized, it does have an index. It also has "notes by pages" in an appendix (rather than numbered footnotes within the text).

There is some truth to a cliche such as "Every US citizen should read this book from cover to cover". However, as civic duties go, this would be an onerous one.

John Gorenfeld may well be this generation of journalists Ishmael. He clearly and authoritatively documents the motives, techniques and extent of Moon's unquenchable drive for power.

The story he tells weaves together many of the hidden or overlooked elements of the right wing's abysmal march to dominion over the congress, the executive and the judiciary. He reveals Moon as the pimp, apologist and handmaiden of unbridled executive power.

The compelling leit-motif to this gigantic
tour de force is the seemingly endless ranks of politicians, bureaucrats, ministers, priests, rabbis, celebrities and ex presidents who have somehow
wound up dancing along with Moon as he heards us all toward the cliff. Hats off to John Gorenfeld!!! Bravo!!!

....you're not paying attention. I learned of Gorenfeld's work and the outrageous relationship Moon has with the American right when he was interviewed by Lizz Winstead in NYC. I was shocked to hear about all of the rich white guys who have accepted Moon money and flabbergasted to learn of the Senate coronation. My curiosity piqued, I dove into Bad Moon Rising and proceeded to become more and more dismayed by the hypocrisy of the aforementioned rich white guys.

Moon's recent helicopter crash and the ensuing media coverage reminded me how poorly his weird access to Washington has been covered. All we hear about is the wacky guy with the cult. The far more important details about the wacky guy buying his way into right wing politics (while ruining the lives of countless young people and their families) are contained within the pages of Bad Moon Rising. And as disheartened as I was by the information, Gorenfeld makes it palatable with some well-placed humor. I laughed out loud more than once. Highly recommended.

If you're a Gorenfeld fan, you can see an in depth interview here: http://www.shootthemessengernyc.com/index.php?/video/player/john_gorenfeld_part_1_2/

I always heard about Reverend Moon while I was growing up in the 70s and early 80s, but assumed that he faded from the limelight. Of course, that was a false impression, and now John Gorenfeld has told--for the first time--the full story of Reverend Moon's amazing transformation from reviled cult leader to international business magnate and political powerbroker. I loved the factual detail of this book. Instead of expressing throwaway opinions or advancing unprovable conspiracy theories, the book paints with very detailed strokes on a broad canvas that will be surprising to readers of modern political books. Prior articles and tv pieces about Moon have focused on the silly aspects of his cult or the fact that he owns the Washington Times, but this book actually brings the whole thing together. Highly recommended!

I have to admit, I had forgotten all about Reverend Moon and after reading this book I don't think I will make that same mistake twice, but, unlike the True Father, this book has more bark than bite. John Gorenfeld has taken his copious notes on Moon and assembled them here in a rather scattershot and often hard to follow account of Moon and his "power" in Washington, D.C.

Facts abound (Moon still owns the WASHINGTON TIMES, UPI and paid both Chris Matthews and Hillary Clinton for contributions to his paper), details emerge (the True Father has a second, trophy wife), there are quotable lines, a WHO'S WHO list of names (both living and dead, in case you were unaware, a majority of our past presidents in the after-life have all found Moon to be the Messiah and have converted to the teachings of the True Father) and connections and a paper trail a mile wide of money and influence peddling (the largest, most shocking and most recent perhaps being the hint that the US employed Moon to speak with the North Korean's to bring them to table to talk... which, if true, may be the masterstroke of Bush White House, they got a madman to talk to a madman).

It's all a rich mix, deeper than you first imagine and very alarming when you start to piece it all together, but that there is the biggest fault of Gorenfeld's work. Instead of taking us from START to FINISH by setting up a timeline and following the rabbit down the hole, Gorenfeld instead presents us with a choppy mix of dates and names that zip back and forth through time from paragraph to paragraph. One moment it's 1983, the next it's 2002, then we're back in the 70's and then zipping back to the future and little of it follows on the heels of what came before. It just seems completely random like buying a load of bricks and throwing them into a pile and calling it a "house" or a "book".

It's got a front and a back and a load of words in the middle, but it's not easy to follow and you will get frustrated looking for some contunity. Also, there are a wealth of footnotes that are not numbered in the body of the work, but are all stored at the back, complete with page numbers, but no numeral markings on the the material for you to quickly locate the source. So, if you're really curious where something came from, or who really said what... you will have to do the heavy lifting here. Very odd. Also, no pictures... I've found this to be common now. I assumed it was oversight or sloppy publishing, but now see it all comes down to money. It's expensive getting rights to images and then priting them up... so, just use your imagination.

Overall, BAD MOON RISING has its moments and some of them will surprise you, but the lack of a clear narrative, a deeper study into the history of Moon himself and a focus for just what, if anything, it all means, marks this as a curosity and nothing more

The "Bad Moon Rising" book includes such serious errors of fact about me that it causes me to question the accuracy of all the rest of its "presumed" facts. The author has identified me, William Reed, author of the comment "Is there a better icon for people of color than the Reverend Moon" as an east Texas preacher. This is sloppy writing at best. My commentary that addressed Reverend Moon's pragmatism on interracial matters, indeed, was printed in the "East Texas Review" publication, but I am neither a preacher nor a resident of East Texas. Rather I am a journalist residing in Washington, DC.