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."

As Davis points out, Moon has a unique relationship with some black congregations, encouraging them to remove the symbol of the cross from their churches in “exchange for a crown.” Churches in the Bronx and in Houston have held elaborate ceremonies in which the cross was removed from behind the pulpit and replaced by, “not one but two crowns -- a larger one for a King and a smaller one for a Queen.” According the Unification News report, “It was clear to me that Rev. H. and his people and all the other ACLC clergy realized fully the historical significance of what they were undertaking and H. gave all the credit for this era of resurrection and new truth to Rev Sun Myung Moon.”

Davis, however, isn’t the only one smitten by Rev. Moon. Congressman Charlie Rangel issued a proclamation in which he praised the "King of Peace":

Be it known...I, CHARLES B. RANGEL, Member of Congress, 15th Congressional District, by the power and authority vested in me, this 16th day of April, 2004, do recognize you as "True Parents" exemplifying self-giving service and leadership and of "King of Peace" in the key areas of reconciliation and peacemaking over fifty (50) years.

The term “True Parents” refers to Rev. Moon and his wife, who are sent to redeem mankind:

Adam and Eve should have been the True Parents of humanity. A physical and spiritual ideal world (Kingdom of Heaven) should have stemmed from them. However, they fell by sexual sin.

Heavenly Father worked with fallen man to make a foundation to send a Second Adam, Jesus. Jesus, the Second Adam, should have fulfilled what Adam did not. Jesus should have grown to maturity, married a Second Eve, had children, and established a Kingdom of Heaven on Earth and in Heaven. However, he was not received by those prepared to welcome him, resulting in Jesus going the way of the cross. The cross gave spiritual salvation, but could not solve the entire problem of sin.

Since, Jesus could not fulfil (sic) his entire mission, Heavenly Father had to rebuild the foundation for True Parents, by sending the Third Adam, Sun Myung Moon. Rev. Moon fulfilled the mission of True Parents that Adam and Jesus had failed to fulfil. (sic) By uniting with Rev. and Mrs. Moon humanity can fulfil (sic) their purpose of creation and enter the Kingdom of Heaven both spiritually and physically. .

The Democrats, however, aren't the only ones to have fallen under the Rev. Moon’s spell. The Reverend -- or more accurately, his money -- has long been the object of admiration by those on the Right. He has received praise from President Bush and donated $3.5 million to Jerry Fallwell’s Liberty University. Ironically, even Tim La Haye, author of the Left Behind series, has courted Moon’s organization, seeking money from a man who claims to be the “messiah.”

What is most surprising, however, is that the event has received so little attention by the mainstream media. At a time when the words “under God” are considered to lead us down the slippery slope to theocracy, the coronation of a man who wants to scrap the Constitution in favor of “Godism” should have raised at least a few eyebrows. Even those of us who don’t subscribe to end-times speculation have to find the crowing of the “King of Peace” in a U.S. Senate building a bit, well, prophetic.

Maybe the plots of apocalyptic thrillers aren’t as ludicrous as I once thought.