-Caveat Lector-
http://www.workingforchange.com/article.cfm?ItemID=14471
>From Team Moon to VISTA
David Caprara's journey from Moonie front group to Americorps leader
(Eds. note: Read part one of this story, "The GOP's Man on the Moon,"
here http://www.workingforchange.com/article.cfm?itemid=14455 )
No mention of David Caprara's connection to Rev. Moon-controlled
organizations was made in the mid-December news release announcing his
appointment as director of VISTA (Volunteers in Service to America). Prior
to moving to AmericCorps*VISTA, Caprara was the president of a Moon front
group called the American Family Coalition (AFC).
According to its Web site, the organization "is a national non-profit
grassroots leadership alliance promoting family and community renewal
through educational and faith-based initiatives. The efforts of AFC are made
possible through the generous support of The Washington Times Foundation and
other individual and corporate donors."
In October, the American Family Coalition sponsored a seminar called
"Relationship Intelligence: Teaching Our Children in the Age of AIDS." The
presenter was Richard Panzer, the founder of Free Teens USA, a Moon front
group that has insinuated its abstinence-only sex education curriculum into
a number of school districts.
In its news release, AmeriCorps Director Rosie Mauk noted that she and
Leslie Lenkowsky were "very pleased to have David, John [Foster-Bey], and
Wendy [Zenker] to lead our programs." Foster-Bey was named to run the
AmeriCorps*State and National program, and Zenker was tabbed to head
AmeriCorps*NCCC (National Civilian Community Corps). "Their combined
knowledge and experience will help us meet the President's goal of meeting
our most pressing human needs through service and volunteerism," she added.
"President Bush has called for service volunteers to play a critical role in
strengthening faith and community groups that meet social needs, as well as
emerging needs in homeland security," Corporation Board Chair Stephen
Goldsmith chimed in. "The Corporation is pleased to have David, John, and
Wendy to help meet the President's goal of engaging more Americans to be
citizens, not spectators."
According to the release, AmeriCorps*VISTA "works primarily with faith-based
and community organizations in low-income neighborhoods to develop lasting
solutions to poverty in the areas of housing, health care, literacy,
community development, technology, crime prevention, and hunger. The 6,000
AmeriCorps*VISTA members nationwide assist these groups by creating and
developing projects, recruiting volunteers, raising funds, and otherwise
building organizations' administrative, technological, and financial
capacity."
"I salute the spirit of service and idealism of AmeriCorps*VISTA members as
they contribute to empowering the poor and renewing our most impoverished
communities," said Caprara. "I look forward to helping build on
AmeriCorps*VISTA's long record of success."
Caprara's record
David Caprara has a long history of service to the conservative community
and right-wing causes. He served three years as deputy assistant secretary
at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development in the first Bush
White House, and later he worked for Virginia's conservative Governor George
Allen as executive director of the Governor's Commission on Citizen
Empowerment, where he launched the Governor's welfare reform plan.
Caprara was one of the founders and is the former president of The
Empowerment Network (TEN), "a resource hub for state legislators, grassroots
organizations, and other civic leaders promoting American family and
community renewal of civil society in the 21st century." According to its
website, "TEN's grassroots network provides the winning edge on policy
initiatives that support youth character and family revitalization,
entrepreneurship and the unleashing of faith-based initiatives and cultural
remedies." (For more on TEN see, "Team Bush funnels money to faith-based
groups: Sens. Lieberman and Santorum's 'compromise' legislation in limbo".)
According to a VISTA official, the director determines the priorities of the
program and to a certain extent has discretion over how funds are dispersed.
Will David Caprara use VISTA as a platform to boost the Unification Church's
political and social agenda? Will Moon front groups play a more active role
in VISTA programs and will they receive taxpayer money to do so?
In a phone interview with Dr. Richard Land, the president of Southern
Baptist Convention's Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission, he told me that
while he was unfamiliar with Mr. Caprara's qualifications, he believed that
"a person's religious convictions or religious beliefs should not qualify or
disqualify a person for service." Land said "government must not decide
which groups are kosher and which aren't."
There's no question that "the Unification Church is a cult," Land said, and
that many people acknowledge that it "in no way shape or form is associated
with orthodox Christianity." Land added that although the Church has used
deception around its sponsorship of events (like the pre-Bush Inaugural
prayer luncheon) he was not worried about it setting the agenda for VISTA.
"If the Unification Church supports the president, they are showing good
taste."
Mike Meneer of the National AmeriCorps Association, whose Web site describes
the 20,000 member organization as "the only non-profit organization solely
dedicated to serving the needs of AmeriCorps alumni and members," said he
didn't know anything about Caprara's background, and although he received a
courtesy call from the new director, he had yet to meet with him.
Ironically, when President Bush announced his faith-based initiative in
January 2001, some of its most vocal critics, including the Rev. Jerry
Falwell and the Rev. Pat Robertson, were concerned that organizations like
the Church of Scientology, the Krishnas and the Unification Church would be
eligible for faith-based grants. As Rob Boston says, "Moon is certainly
interested in leaving some kind of legacy." Will Caprara help make that
happen? Are there other Bush administration operatives who come from the
ranks of Moon's numerous front groups? These are just some of the questions
that remain to be answered.
-----
For more on Rev. Moon, see:
Moonie World: The Rev., the cult, and the GOP --
http://moonieworld.blogspot.com/
True Parents Organization -- http://www.tparents.org/
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