Dan Fefferman

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Dan Fefferman
Born Daniel G. Fefferman
Residence Washington, D.C., United States
Alma mater Unification Theological Seminary
University of California at Berkeley
Occupation Executive director, International Coalition for Religious Freedom
Known for Senior official for Sun Myung Moon-related organizations
Religion Unification Church
Children 2
Website
ICRF

Daniel G. Fefferman (known as Dan Fefferman) is the executive director of the International Coalition for Religious Freedom (ICRF), an organization affiliated with Sun Myung Moon's Unification Church and headquartered in Virginia, United States. The ICRF describes itself as "a non-profit, non-sectarian, educational organization dedicated to defending the religious freedom of all, regardless of creed, gender or ethnic origin."[1]

Fefferman has served in leadership positions in various Unification Church affiliated organizations, as well as in the church itself. 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 Watergate scandal. 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 Sun Myung Moon sponsored 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).

In 1982, Fefferman was the headquarters director of Collegiate Association for the Research of Principles (CARP). 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".

Contents

[edit] Early life and family

Fefferman became a member of the Unification Church in 1968.[2][3] After he joined the Unification Church, he obtained degrees from the University of California at Berkeley and from the Unification Theological Seminary.[2][3] Fefferman is married with two daughters, and resides in Washington, D.C. with his family.[2][3]

[edit] Unification Church work

[edit] 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 Watergate scandal.[4][5] 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.[6] According to Gifts of Deceit, "[Sun Myung Moon] had also designated [Fefferman] to be Prime Minister of Israel when the time came".[5] Fefferman was an official with the Moon-sponsored organization Freedom Leadership Foundation,[6] deemed a "political arm" of the Unification Church.[7] 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.[8] The rally was canceled prior to being carried out.[8] Fefferman was profiled in a September 1974 issue of the Freedom Leadership Foundation publication Rising Tide.[6] The issue also featured a profile of the newsletter's publisher, titled, "FLF Founder Sun Myung Moon: One Man's Struggle for Truth".[6] Fefferman and Neil Salonen selected Unification Church member Chris Elkins to campaign for politician Charlie Stephens, who was running against Richard Ottinger to become a member of the United States House of Representatives.[5]

Fefferman served as leader of the branch in Illinois of the Unification Church in 1977,[4] as well as regional director for the Unification Church for the Midwestern United States.[9] 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).[4] Testimony from Fefferman confirmed that he had social ties to officials within the Korean embassy.[8] 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.[6][7][8] Minister Kim Yung Hwan was then-station chief for the KCIA.[6][8] During his testimony, Fefferman refused to answer nine questions from the subcommittee.[10] The subcommittee recommended that Fefferman be cited for contempt of Congress due to his refusal to this.[8][10][11]

In 1982, Fefferman was headquarters director and national president of Collegiate Association for the Research of Principles (CARP).[2][12] CARP is described by The Washington Post as "the youth organization of the Rev. Sun Myung Moon's Unification Church",[12] and by the ICSA as "the UC's youth arm".[2] CARP sponsored residential buildings on university campuses in the U.S., and held counterdemonstrations during rallies against policies of the Reagan administration.[12] Fefferman held the position of editor of the national journal of the Unification Church in 1989,[13] and served as chief editor of the first edition of Divine Principle in English, as well as other publications put out by the organization.[2] 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."[13]

[edit] 1990s-2000s

In 1999, Fefferman was the executive director of the Moon-affiliated organization the International Coalition for Religious Freedom in Virginia.[14][15][16] 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.[14][15][16] "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.[16] 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.'"[14] The Maryland state task force concluded universities should alert students to organizations that could cause possible harm, but did not recommend policy changes.[15] 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."[15]

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, acknowledging that the two leaders' views differed on multiple issues but shared a view of a "God-centered family".[17] Fefferman presented on the Unification Church at a conference of the International Cultic Studies Association in 2004.[3][18] In 2008 he gave a presentation on the Unification Church at the London School of Economics at a conference sponsored by the organizations INFORM and CESNUR.[19]

[edit] Works

[edit] See also

Korea portal
Religion portal

[edit] References

  1. ^ ICRF website
  2. ^ a b c d e f ICSA staff (2009). "Fefferman, Dan - profile". International Cultic Studies Association (www.icsahome.com). http://www.icsahome.com/infoserv_profile/fefferman_dan.asp. Retrieved 2009-11-06. 
  3. ^ a b c d ICSA staff (June 2004). "Conference 2004 AB - Draft Presenters". International Cultic Studies Association (www.cultinfobooks.com). http://www.cultinfobooks.com/infoserv_events/2004/aff_conference_2004_06AB_presenters%20.htm. Retrieved 2009-11-06. 
  4. ^ 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. http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/washingtonpost_historical/access/120059729.html?FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:AI&date=Aug+5%2C+1977&author=By+T.R.+ReidWashington+Post+Staff+Writer&pub=The+Washington+Post++%281974-Current+file%29&edition=&startpage=A7&desc=House+Subcommittee%27s+Report+Links+Rev.+Moon+to+the+KCIA. 
  5. ^ a b c Boettcher, Robert; Gordon L. Freedman (1980). Gifts of Deceit. Holt, Rinehart and Winston. pp. 152, 164. ISBN 0030445760. 
  6. ^ a b c d e f Gorenfeld, John (2008). Bad Moon Rising. PoliPointPress. pp. 138, 164, 174, 176, 214. ISBN 0979482232. 
  7. ^ a b Bellant, Russ (1999). The Coors Connection. South End Press. pp. 5–6. ISBN 0896084167. 
  8. ^ 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. http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/washingtonpost_historical/access/138203752.html?FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:AI&date=Nov+10%2C+1977&author=By+Charles+R.+BabcockWashington+Post+Staff+Writer&pub=The+Washington+Post++%281974-Current+file%29&edition=&startpage=A1&desc=Moon+Sect+Support+of+Nixon+Detailed. 
  9. ^ Yamamoto, J. Isamu; Alan W. Gomes (1995). Unification Church. Zondervan. p. 22. ISBN 0310703816. 
  10. ^ a b Associated Press (November 5, 1977). "Moon official balks at probe, faces House contempt action". Eugene Register-Guard. http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=rRMRAAAAIBAJ&sjid=LuADAAAAIBAJ&pg=5054,1158886&dq=moon-official-balks-at-probe-faces&hl=en. 
  11. ^ The New York Times staff (August 5, 1977). "New York Times Abstracts". The New York Times (The New York Times Company): p. 9. 
  12. ^ a b c Shaw, Terri (March 7, 1982). "Mimeographs Roar In Propaganda War". The Washington Post (The Washington Post Company): p. A1. http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/washingtonpost_historical/access/136888142.html?FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:AI&date=Mar+7%2C+1982&author=By+Terri+Shaw+Washington+Post+Foreign+Service&pub=The+Washington+Post++%281974-Current+file%29&edition=&startpage=A1&desc=Mimeographs+Roar+In+Propaganda+War. 
  13. ^ 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. 
  14. ^ 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. 
  15. ^ 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. 
  16. ^ 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. 
  17. ^ Clarkson, Frederick (October 9, 2000). "Million Moon March". Salon (Salon.com, Inc.). http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2000/10/09/march/print.html. Retrieved 2009-11-05. 
  18. ^ ICSA staff (June 2004). "Conference 2004 AB - Draft Agenda". International Cultic Studies Association (www.cultinfobooks.com). http://www.cultinfobooks.com/infoserv_events/2004/aff_conference_2004_06AB_draft_agenda.htm. Retrieved 2009-11-06. 
  19. ^ CESNUR staff (April 2008). "The 2008 International Conference". CESNUR (www.cesnur.org). http://www.cesnur.org/2008/london_prg.htm. Retrieved 2009-11-06. 

[edit] Further reading

[edit] External links

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