Danny Davis, Moon struck

Follow up on the Danny Davis attending Sun Moon 'coronation' ceremony. Congressman Davis still has not responded to my letter, but it's only been a few days. I still am a little skeptical of his intentions, how anyone could put a freakin' crown on such a loony as Sun Myung Moon is beyond my comprehension. And I also don't buy the argument that the ceremony was like a local Elks Lodge, puhlease!

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Congressman Davis, reached yesterday at his Washington, DC office, distanced himself from Rev. Moon's declaration that he was the new Messiah. "There are things that ministers sometimes will say and characterize, but I'm not necessarily in agreement with everything that they said," Davis explained.


It's one thing to quibble over biblical interpretations. Isn't it another to ignore it when a guy announces that he has converted Hitler and Stalin and then declares himself to be the "Returning Lord" right before you bring him a crown?


Davis wouldn't budge, comparing the elaborate ceremony to a "fraternity or sorority meeting," or rituals performed by the local Elks lodge. "That's kind of the way I regard these ceremonies."


"I don't know if he was comparing himself to Jesus the Christ or anything like that," Davis said, adding, "and if he was, then that was his conceptualization of himself." But, he stressed that Moon was not his messiah. "Jesus the Christ is my guy."


Davis said he "probably" met people associated with Moon "at some black church event or something with ministers and the relationship has probably grown over the years." (Moon's organization has run an outreach program to African-American activists and churches since the mid-1990s.)


"Generally, whenever I'm around them, they're talking two things, peace and family values. Both are things that I have a great deal of interest in, although I probably disagree with many of their social positions."


Moon's "social positions" include a strong anti-gay agenda. Rev. Moon referred to gays as "dung eating dogs," during a 1997 speech. The day after the March "coronation," Moon said homosexuality is "worse than an animal lifestyle."


"I'm totally pro-gay," Davis insisted yesterday. "That's obviously a position that we disagree on." Davis pointed out that many black churches are also very anti-gay, but said that wouldn't stop him from going to church.


"I'm a live and let live kind of person," Davis said. "I go to their banquets and we talk peace. They've never asked me to do anything, other than give a speech, anything that I find offensive."