June 13, 2004

WTF?

Posted by Kieran

I know I’m way late with this, but I must have missed it on my travels last month. The Gadflyer brings me the story that the Rev Sun Myung Moon had himself crowned Emporer of the United States and declared the Messiah at a ceremony in the Dirksen Senate Office Building in the presence and with the enthusiastic participation of a bipartisan contingent of Members of Congress. No, really. Did this even make the newspapers?

Posted on June 13, 2004 12:45 AM UTC
Comments

OMG LOL!

Erm, of course, there is always the possibility that it’s faked.

Posted by Factory · June 13, 2004 02:07 AM

The only mention I can find on Google News is an online chat with the Washington Post gossip columnist, which is amazing. If it happened in Britain the press would be all over it.

Posted by william · June 13, 2004 02:08 AM

That’s just silly. We all know that Joshua Norton is the only real emperor the US will ever have!

Posted by Keith · June 13, 2004 02:16 AM

The coolest thing about this is that Moon is only missing a single element in order to fit the fundevangelist definition of the antichrist. He’s not Jewish. Everything else fits fairly well. If he suffers a head wound but survives, I’m converting just to be on the safe side.

The end times are upon us. Repent, or be Damned!

Kidding aside, I’m f*cking terrified of the people who are running this country.

One other thing - I don’t think he was crowned Emperor of the US. He was crowned Messiah of all mankind. Did I mention that I’m f*cking terrified?

Posted by Andrew Case · June 13, 2004 02:43 AM

I don’t think he was crowned Emperor of the US. He was crowned Messiah of all mankind.

Oh OK, I feel much better now. On the other hand, given the reading of the U.S. constitution that prevails inside the White House and the Pentagon maybe Moon feels that there’s no need to be declared Emperor if he could just get himself elected President instead.

Posted by Kieran Healy · June 13, 2004 02:57 AM

It’s not even clear to me that he was crowned Messiah in so many words. Watching the video leaves it a bit doubtful:

http://iifwp.org/media/media_crownofpeace.php

The video pretty consistently called it the “Crown of Peace Ceremony,” and while it did make some overblown religious claims (“An announcement to God was read aloud…”), still, I can’t get either “Messiah” or “Emperor” out of the video.

The stuff about purges larger than those of the communists, though—That makes me nervous:

http://www.gorenfeld.net/blog/2004/01/moon-calls-for-gays-to-be-eliminated.html

Posted by Jason Kuznicki · June 13, 2004 03:22 AM

The anti christ does not have to be Jewish.

He is supposed to descend from the Roman Emperor.

Doesn’t say which one, but hey, God always liked to keep people guessing.

Posted by IXLNXS · June 13, 2004 03:22 AM

I read a story about this in the Washington Times, but it didn’t seem particularly newsworthy.

Posted by chun the unavoidable · June 13, 2004 03:46 AM

“the fundevangelist definition of the antichrist” - can you give a link to this definition?

Posted by q · June 13, 2004 05:28 AM

Chun, do you have a link for that?

Posted by ArC · June 13, 2004 06:17 AM

I’m not shocked anymore. It’s just that no one believes this kind of stuff unless it’s been on the tv news. And even if it was, then it’d only be a colourful thing to make jokes about.

Posted by pepi · June 13, 2004 07:33 AM

Chun’s being smugly ironic. Moon owns the Washington Times, which has a rich and proud history of printing unabashed dingbat rightwinger spin and calling it reportage.

Posted by schwa · June 13, 2004 10:17 AM

“the fundevangelist definition of the antichrist” - can you give a link to this definition?

The one I was brought up with is the Jerry Falwell version, which claims that the antichrist will have all of the characteristics of the Messiah but will seek temporal power. He will suffer a head wound which ought to kill him but won’t (I think this part is common to people who take Revelation literally). Other people claim that he is the Pope. I used a quick and dirty shorthand that doesn’t do justice to the huge range of endtime scenarios.

So the good news is, Moon may only be missing the head wound in order to qualify. :-)

If you dig around on the net a bit you’ll find some interesting stuff on this. Here are a couple of starting points:

http://www.lcg.org/files/booklets/atc/default.htm A serious church page.

http://www.dccsa.com/greatjoy/whoisthe.htm These guys think it’s Prince Charles

http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Oracle/9941/index.html A historical overview of failed endtime prophecies (a really fun page)

There is a general agreement among fundamentalists in the USA that the antichrist will seek temporal power and will seek to unify all the nations under his leadership. Other than that there’s fairly wide disagreement on details (other than the head wound, which may be interpreted metaphorically). Moon can certainly be made to fit, as can the Pope, Khofi Anan, George Soros, Osama Bin Laden, yada yada yada. It’s in the best interest of the left to convince religious conservatives that it’s really Moon. Spread the meme.

Posted by Andrew Case · June 13, 2004 02:14 PM

Whaaaaaaaaat?

[mutters] This isn’t a hospital, it’s an insane asylum.

Posted by Ophelia Benson · June 13, 2004 08:54 PM

Hi — the reason it’s clear he was crowned Messiah is that Moon, on the basis that he is the Messiah, is going around crowning himself in vast cult ceremonies every few months. This one just happened to involve the U.S. government.

While no Congressman explicitly stated he was the Messiah, the rabbi does, and then Moon gets up there and says he is, after the crowning is all over with.

Thanks for linking to this important story on corruption in the Capitol.

Posted by John G · June 14, 2004 07:13 AM

But this is a far cry from saying he’s been declared the Emperor of the United States.

Posted by Jason Kuznicki · June 14, 2004 12:57 PM

Yes, “Emperor” is just a reference to Joshua Norton. But this isn’t an Elks Club thing, this is a guy who is focused on amassing political power and believes he and Bush should take over the world together. I’m not making this up.

Posted by John G · June 14, 2004 03:49 PM

Kieran that should be “emperor” not “emporer.”

Posted by anonymous · June 14, 2004 05:49 PM

I actually prefer “emporer” in this particular instance. Dunno why.

Posted by d. mason · June 14, 2004 11:17 PM

Jim Jones was also a Messiah

Posted by Jim · June 16, 2004 06:40 AM

I’d like to see an actual article or copy of a speech made by Moon or Bush that he wants Bush to help him take over the world. I support Bush 100% on most things, but this is over the edge. If there is actual proof of this, I’d like to see it. Thanks.

Posted by Susie · June 17, 2004 08:55 PM
Followups

→ Emperor Moon.
Excerpt: Sun Myung Moon had himself crowned the Messiah. Okay, that's fine. He's a whack job. Lots of people have done...Read more at The Gamer's Nook
→ He's the Messiah?.
Excerpt: Sun Myung Moon had himself crowned the Messiah. Okay, that's fine. He's a whack job. Lots of people have done...Read more at The Gamer's Nook
→ He's the Messiah?.
Excerpt: Sun Myung Moon had himself crowned the Messiah. Okay, that's fine. He's a whack job. Lots of people have done...Read more at The Gamer's Nook

This discussion has been closed. Thanks to everyone who contributed.