When a group of clergy members held a news conference this week to defend the Rev. Sun Myung Moon, the controversial founder of the Unification Church, some of the most supportive words came from an unlikely source: black preachers.
The Rev. Walter E. Fauntroy, who served for two decades as District of Columbia's delegate to Congress, praised Moon as a spiritual fellow-traveler for his efforts to strengthen families and work for peace around the globe.
"That's my man!" said Fauntroy, a civil rights activist and pastor of Washington's New Bethel Baptist Church who first met Moon in 1971.
Fauntroy's words underscored the improbable relationship the Korean evangelist has forged with African-American preachers over the past three decades. As a part of his drive for world unity, the wealthy businessman has developed ties with at least hundreds of black clergy members through the sponsorship of trips, seminars and workshops on issues of common interest, including sexual abstinence, social justice and world peace.
Despite their political differences - a Moon organization owns the conservative Washington Times, and most black preachers are liberal Democrats - African-American clergy have proven to be among his most faithful allies, according to David G. Bromley, a professor at Virginia Commonwealth University and author of a 1979 book, Moonies in America.
"He's targeted virtually every group," said Bromley, referring to Moon's overtures to other influential sectors of society, including scientists, academics and journalists. But "he's resonated more with certain elements of the African-American religious community and nurtured those ties." [...]
| Continue Frank Langfitt's Baltimore Sun article "Rev. Moon cultivates black allies"
Also: "Feeds me spiritually a whole lot more than a choir service"
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