Dan Fefferman

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Daniel Fefferman
Occupation(s)Executive director, International Coalition for Religious Freedom
Known forSenior official for Sun Myung Moon-related organizations
WebsiteAbout ICRF

Daniel Fefferman is the executive director of the International Coalition for Religious Freedom, an organization affiliated with Sun Myung Moon's Unification Church. In 1974, Fefferman was the executive director of the National Prayer and Fast Committee, a group organized by Moon to support Richard Nixon during the proposed impeachment against the U.S. President. He was also the head of a Unification Church mission to support Nixon and make him aware of their organization, called Project Watergate. Fefferman served as an official within the Moon organization the Freedom Leadership Foundation, a branch of the Unification Church involved in politics. In 1977, Fefferman was leader of the Unification Church branch in Illinois, and was regional director for the Unification Church for the Midwestern United States. He testified in August 1977 before the Fraser Committee, a subcommittee of the United States House of Representatives which investigated possible ties between Sun Myung Moon and the South Korean Central Intelligence Agency (KCIA). He said in his testimony that he had arranged a meeting in 1975 between Republican aide Edwin Feulner of the Heritage Foundation and a KCIA official. The subcommittee recommended that Fefferman be cited for contempt of Congress due to his refusal to answer some of their questions.

In 1982, Fefferman was the headquarters director of Collegiate Association for the Research of Principles (CARP), a Unification Church youth organization. In 1989, Fefferman held the position of editor of the national journal of the Unification Church, and The Seattle Times described him as "a longtime Moon aide". In 1999, Fefferman was the executive director of the Moon-affiliated organization the International Coalition for Religious Freedom in Virginia. In 2000, Fefferman wrote to his colleagues about a planned march sponsored both by Sun Myung Moon and Louis Farrakhan called the Million Family March, acknowleding that the two leaders' views differed on multiple issues but shared a view of a "God-centered family".

Unification Church work

1970s-1980s

In 1974, Fefferman was the executive director of the National Prayer and Fast Committee, a group organized by Sun Myung Moon to support Richard Nixon during the proposed impeachment against the U.S. President.[1] He was the head of the Unification Church's mission to "bring new life to the archangel, Nixon – hence to make him aware of our significance", a program known as Project Watergate.[2] Fefferman was an official with the the Moon-sponsored organization Freedom Leadership Foundation,[2] a "political arm" of the Unification Church.[3] According to testimony provided by Fefferman to the United States Congress, at a scheduled September 1974 rally by the Freedom Leadership Foundation against the government of Japan, members debated cutting off their fingers as a form of raising dramatic effect, but instead decided on egg throwing.[4] The rally was canceled prior to being carried out.[4] Fefferman was profiled in a September 1974 issue of the Freedom Leadership Foundation publication Rising Tide.[2] The issue also featured a profile of the newsletter's publisher, titled, "FLF Founder Sun Myung Moon: One Man's Struggle for Truth".[2]

Fefferman served as leader of the branch in Illinois of the Unification Church in 1977,[1] as well as regional director for the Unification Church for the Midwestern United States.[5] Fefferman testified in August 1977 before the Fraser Committee, a subcommittee of the United States House of Representatives which investigated possible ties between Sun Myung Moon and the South Korean Central Intelligence Agency (KCIA).[1] Testimony from Fefferman confirmed that he had social ties to officials within the Korean embassy.[4] Fefferman testified that he had arranged a meeting in 1975 between Republican aide Edwin Feulner of the Heritage Foundation and Korean Minister Kim Yung Hwan, to potentially put together a group of congressional aides who would travel to Korea.[4][2][3] Minister Kim Yung Hwan was then-station chief for the KCIA.[4][2] The subcommittee recommended that Fefferman be cited for contempt of Congress due to his refusal to answer some of their questions.[4][6]

In 1982, Fefferman was the headquarters director of Collegiate Association for the Research of Principles (CARP), a Unification Church youth organization.[7] CARP sponsored residential buildings on university campuses in the U.S., and held "counterdemonstrations" during rallies against policies of the Reagan administration.[7] Fefferman held the position of editor of the national journal of the Unification Church in 1989.[8] The Seattle Times described Fefferman in 1989 as "a longtime Moon aide who headed the church's Project Watergate, a series of prayer meetings and public rallies on behalf of then-President Richard Nixon."[8]

1990s-2000s

In 1999, Fefferman was the executive director of the Moon-affiliated organization the International Coalition for Religious Freedom in Virginia.[9][10][11] The organization filed a lawsuit in United States District Court in Baltimore, Maryland, against a Maryland state task force whose purpose was to investigate cults.[9][10][11] "This is a '90s version of the '50s red scare. The state of Maryland is looking for a 'cultist' under every college dormitory bed," said Fefferman to The Baltimore Sun.[11] Fefferman commented to The Boston Globe about the case, "The United States has correctly criticized European states for scrutinizing smaller and newer religions through government commissions such as this one. The state of Maryland has been manipulated into engaging in religious McCarthyism by carrying out a biased inquisition into new religious minorities as 'cults.'"[9] The Maryland state task force concluded universities should alert students to organizations that could cause possible harm, but did not recommend polic changes.[10] Fefferman asserted the goal of the task force was not to identify cults, and said to The Washington Post, "The investigation sent a signal out to the universities that they should be on the lookout for cult activities."[10]

Fefferman wrote to his colleagues in 2000 regarding a planned march sponsored both by Sun Myung Moon and Louis Farrakhan.[12] The event was scheduled for October 16, 2000, and was called the Million Family March; a follow-up to Farrakhan's Million Man March.[12] Fefferman wrote that Sun Myung Moon understood his followers had "problems with Farrakhan", including the Nation of Islam's push for "a ban on interracial marriage and their support for a separate nation for American blacks", and its denial of slavery in Sudan.[12] "There are certainly policies in the march's agenda ... which most of us do not support," acknowledged Fefferman.[12] He emphasized that Unification Church leadership said, "our support for the march is limited to central themes such as the God-centered family, interracial harmony, interreligous unity and moral revival."[12]

See also

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References

  1. ^ a b c Reid, T.R. (August 5, 1977). "House Subcommittee's Report Links Rev. Moon to the KCIA". The Washington Post. The Washington Post Company. p. A7.
  2. ^ a b c d e f Gorenfeld, John (2008). Bad Moon Rising. PoliPointPress. pp. 138, 164, 174, 176, 214. ISBN 0979482232.
  3. ^ a b Bellant, Russ (1999). The Coors Connection. South End Press. pp. 5–6. ISBN 0896084167.
  4. ^ a b c d e f Babcock, Charles R. (November 10, 1977). "Moon Sect Support of Nixon Detailed". The Washington Post. The Washington Post Company. p. A1.
  5. ^ Yamamoto, J. Isamu (1995). Unification Church. Zondervan. p. 22. ISBN 0310703816. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  6. ^ The New York Times staff (August 5, 1977). "New York Times Abstracts". The New York Times. The New York Times Company. p. 9.
  7. ^ a b Shaw, Terri (March 7, 1982). "Mimeographs Roar In Propaganda War". The Washington Post. The Washington Post Company. p. A1.
  8. ^ a b Hatch, Walter (February 12, 1989). "Mainstream Moon - The Unification Church, once relegated to cult status, now is exerting subtle but growing political influence here and around the world". The Seattle Times. p. A1.
  9. ^ a b c Ribadeneira, Diego (August 21, 1999). "Ire at school Star of David ruling unites ACLU, Pat Robertson". The Boston Globe. The New York Times Company. p. B2.
  10. ^ a b c d Argetsinger, Amy (October 14, 1999). "Task Force Finds Few Instances of Campus Cults". The Washington Post. The Washington Post Company. p. M4.
  11. ^ a b c Dorsey, Gary (August 26, 1999). "Unification Church group sues state over task force; Investigation of cults called unconstitutional". The Baltimore Sun. p. 2B.
  12. ^ a b c d e Clarkson, Frederick (October 9, 2000). "Million Moon March". Salon. Salon.com, Inc.

External links

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