jnc@iham1.UUCP (Jeff Coleman) (07/12/84)
In response to some of !charm!ge5422's questions concerning CARP: Yes, your office mate is correct: CARP is part of Rev. Sun Moon's Unification Church. The name is an acronym, and I believe it stands for Collegiate Association for the Research of Principles (?). The Unification Church itself is an extreme right-wing, anti-communist religious organization whose members regard Moon as the second coming of Christ. Moon is a South Korean who was imprisoned there in the 1950's for bizarre sexual practices related to his religious ceremonies. Moon's translator and second-in-command is Lt. Col. Bo Hi Pak, an officer in the South Korean Central Intelligence Agency. When CARP was organized some years ago, its members seemed content to spend their time setting up informational booths and preaching on college campuses, selling flowers on street corners and engaging in other kinds of fund-raising, and encouraging potential recruits to join them in weekend brainwashing sessions at remote Unification Church retreats. In recent years, however, the organization's activities have become more overtly political. Groups of hundreds of CARP members have been showing up at liberal/leftist demonstrations and intimidating, or in some cases physically attacking, demonstrators, often with tacit police approval. Apparently the group is involved in public opinion polling these days as well. I really have no idea how CARP might have gotten their information about !charm!ge5422. It does sound rather fishy to me.