Ed Brayton is a journalist, commentator and speaker. He is the co-founder and president of 
From beyond the grave. Yes, it sounds like a bad movie. But the moonies seriously claim this. In fact, they claim that damn never every famous dead person in history with any tie to religion or politics has endorsed Moon in the "spirit world" where they are apparently convinced of the truth of Unificationism by Sang Hun Lee, a dead Moon. And yes, this would be a bad joke if I was actually making it up. But I'm not. Seriously.
Here's what Jefferson had to say:
A great saint, the Messiah, has been born in the calm country Korea, so I shall convey the heart of Jefferson with the desire that the bright light from the East shine on all people. The founding spirit of America is second to that of no other country in the world. I take pride in that. Yet in this place, the world after death, I am quite envious of the people of Korea, a calm and quiet country. Where is there any peace or happiness for the people of America, vexed by philosophical struggle, racial struggle, and countless incidents of terror? The Messiah of humanity, the True Parents of humankind, has the philosophy of peace for the World. See what happens when the leaders of America accept this thought. See what happens when America no longer seeks after only its pride as the strongest country externally but makes an unbiased examination of itself to see what it has done for peace among humankind.People of America, rise again. Return to the country's founding spirit. Follow the teachings of Rev. Sun Myung Moon, the Messiah of humankind who has appeared in Korea. There is no inconsistency between our foundation spirit and his teachings. Historically famous presidents and kings are excited by the greatness of his philosophy of peace.
America, rise again. Make America the land of Gods new truth and new hope. That is the mission America is called to fulfil in this age.
Thomas Jefferson. 6.10.2002
I love the fact that they bother to put the date on there, like that somehow lends credibility to this ridiculous lie by making it more verifiable. It's really quite an amusing site to read.
Comments
I think they have the wrong Thomas Jefferson. The poor grammar is the giveaway. The REAL Thomas Jefferson is on a nickel I keep under my pillow.
Posted by: kehrsam | April 4, 2008 10:19 AM
From beyond the grave. Yes, it sounds like a bad movie
Are you kidding? It sounds like a GREAT movie!
Posted by: Will E. | April 4, 2008 10:33 AM
That's nothing compared to the deliciously insane Clouds of Witnesses document.
Posted by: C.W | April 4, 2008 10:35 AM
Be on a look out for Descartes, Ben Franklin and Sun-Tzu to be proclaiming future past support of Rev. Moon soon.
Posted by: Rev. BigDumbChimp | April 4, 2008 10:46 AM
Jeez Ed, you gave me a heart attack with that headline. Apoplectic shock at seeing those two names together.
Posted by: Braxton Thomason | April 4, 2008 10:51 AM
"In fact, they claim that damn never every famous dead person in history with any tie to religion or politics has endorsed Moon in the "spirit world" where they are apparently convinced of the truth of Unificationism by Sang Hun Lee, a dead Moon."
Yeah, and the Mormons teach (or used to; I don't hang with them any more) that they've all converted to Mormonism in the afterlife. Sounds to me like there's a turf war brewing somewhere.
Posted by: Elaine | April 4, 2008 10:51 AM
Imagine if this catches on in politics. As if the competition for meaningless celebrity endorsements wasn't bad enough. Imagine headlines like, "Cleopatra endorses Clinton, 'A great day for women' says former Queen of Egypt and teen idol" or "Marilyn Monroe Declares: Obama is the new Kennedy, sings Happy Birthday."
Heck why stop at celebrities? How about "Gallup Mediums poll shows McCain gaining ground in Purgatory," or, "Soothsayers say healthcare most important issue to recently deceased."
I'm starting to understand the appeal of Rev. Moon. It's a wacky fun world he lives in.
Posted by: Abby Normal | April 4, 2008 10:51 AM
Why would Jefferson endorse Rev. Moon? I'll bet Jefferson is baptised as a Mormon by now.
Posted by: Reginald Selkirk | April 4, 2008 10:57 AM
When is Rev. Moon going to visit the spirit world to talk to Brigham Young?
Posted by: twincats | April 4, 2008 11:58 AM
The "Message from Spirit World" is a modern classic of insanity. I've always particularly liked the section that begins "Friends in Communist countries, I am Stalin. You have had wrong thinking."
Posted by: Aaron M | April 4, 2008 11:59 AM
Abby -
The Catholic Church has decided that there is no more Purgatory. Its all or nothing now. No more counting on being almost good enough and then some low temp parboiling for the soul for a few millennia.
BTW - I am a lapsed RC, so I'll go straight to the fryer. Of course, I've read Inferno by Larry Niven, so I know the way out.
Posted by: Pineyman | April 4, 2008 12:41 PM
Maybe they were thinking of George Jefferson. I will have some dramatic readings of the Messages From The Spirit World on my Web site. For now, here's Washington.
Posted by: John Gorenfeld | April 4, 2008 12:42 PM
"There is no inconsistency between our foundation spirit and his teachings'
Are the Moonies the ones who introduced crack to America? They obviously are smoking it. I can think of one little "inconsistency": We were indiviualists that believed in the freedom of religion. I think I even read a quote by him on here where he talked about how are individualist tendencies as American's were destroying us. This is Looney Tunes. Any politician that takes money from this dude ought to be targeted by the American people to be defeated in election no matter what party they belong to. I would hopefully die for his right to say this crack induced hallucination but it does not mean that anyone who associates with him should not be seriously questioned.
Posted by: King of Ireland | April 4, 2008 12:53 PM
Poor, TJ. Between this posthumous essay and the interview with Pat Boone you posted a couple of days ago, Jefferson has been getting some really bad press. He needs a new publicist.
Forgive me if I don't see a major difference between Boone and the Moonies, either.
Posted by: Jonathan | April 4, 2008 2:18 PM
Why do dead people always refer to themselves in the third person?
Posted by: Steve Reuland | April 4, 2008 2:26 PM
Abby -
That sounds straight out of a Piers Anthony book.
Posted by: Andrea | April 4, 2008 2:47 PM
Korea is "a calm and quiet country"?
Posted by: Matthew L. | April 4, 2008 3:21 PM
Darn. I was going for Onionesque. Though I must admit, I did read a lot of Anthony back in Junior High. I even tried to start a religion based on his Incarnations of Immortality series. Not that I told anyone else from where I drew my inspiration. (Other kids started clubs. I founded religions. Everyone needs a hobby.) I got a couple of Buckland Wiccans to incorporate it into their practices. But then one of them happened to read On a Pale Horse and the jig was up. True story.
Anyway I guess I shouldn't be too surprised Anthony still has some influence.
Posted by: Abby Normal | April 4, 2008 3:23 PM
Pineyman: Has Purgatory been reinterpreted now? I thought it was Limbo that was out. You see how far behind I am in catechism.
Sometimes I think it is a toss up between the Moonies and the Scientologists as to which bunch is more Looney Tunes, but then the Holy Father comes to visit and I realize that it's no contest.
Posted by: Elizabeth | April 4, 2008 5:16 PM
That's right, Limbo is out now (although with deniable wording that is a lot more murky that I would use if I knew I could speak infallibly.) Purgatory is still in. Oh, and indulgences are back! It's hard to keep up with the latest in medieval theology.
Posted by: Reginald Selkirk | April 4, 2008 6:47 PM
As measured by the sanity of the head honchos, I agree that the Moonies win, hands down. Moon is an obvious whackjob; Elron and his successors I take to be deliberate and cynical con-men.
Posted by: Eamon Knight | April 4, 2008 7:43 PM
I just want to say that I attended a Moon event in 2007, held at a deluxe conference hall near the San Francisco Airport...and a young Berkeley student breathlessly read an opening statement by James Madison.
Posted by: John Gorenfeld | April 4, 2008 7:54 PM
I wish I had Moon's money. Think of the private jets, the mansions, the abundant variety of willing sex partners. Oh, to be a crazy billionaire!
Posted by: soboco | April 5, 2008 12:11 AM
This should have been posted on April Fool's day. Of course that wasn't Jefferson; it doesn't sound at all like the author of the Declaration of Independence. It was Patrick Henry, disguising his voice to sound like Jefferson. I'm amazed that Moon fell for it, but you know how it is with messiahs.
Posted by: Nowhere Man | April 5, 2008 6:49 AM
This "endorsement" by "George Washington" didn't impress me, either:
Can you imagine the depth of insanity it took to amass all this nonsense? Can you imagine the gullibility it takes to swallow it?
It's amazing to me that ANYONE can fall for this crap, much less some of the "leaders" of the free world.
Posted by: CodeTalker | April 5, 2008 8:46 AM
Elizabeth -
Limbo went years ago. Can't have all those unbaptized baby souls mucking up eternity. Purgatory just went. Now it's like the Romans - either thumbs up or thumbs down.
Reg - my wife teaches CCD, so I get more than an earful of the hows and whys of the hereafter. She also belongs to a home Mass group that gathers once a month. I balance her out in the cosmic scheme of things.
That being said, if you have different info, I'd love the reference so I can debate with the "group".
Posted by: Pineyman | April 5, 2008 9:55 AM
Lenny Bruce asked, "What do we do when we get to the Promised Land?" and answered, "We subdivide!" Now we need an "Afterlife Facebook" or "Myspace of the Dead" to keep track of who those late icons are endorsing politically. We may as well do a census of them and include them in the Zogby and Gallup Polls. How might you conduct a focus group in Hell or a product test in Heaven. So many questions. So little sanity.
Posted by: Marty Kay Zee | April 5, 2008 2:01 PM
Head-desk!
Head-deak!
Head-desk!
Is Rev. Moon still talking shit about Jefferson? Yes?
Head-desk!
Head-deak!
Head-desk!
That's better.
Posted by: Lalita | April 7, 2008 3:50 AM
Elaine- Actually, the Mormons don't believe that everyone has converted, but one of their imperatives is to posthumously baptize their ancestors, so they can be promoted to a higher level of heaven (or something. Their beliefs about heaven and hell are a whole other topic). That's why they're so preoccupied with genealogy.
For a while, there was a trend of proxy baptizing people they had no relationship to (historic figures, celebrities, holocaust victims, etc) without obtaining permission from family members. There was some controversy, and I think that practice has been officially denounced by the church elders.
Posted by: Jordan | April 8, 2008 5:13 PM