Image provided by: Texas A&M University
About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 25, 1981)
r&ue 8 i ric. o/M WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 25, 1981 Local CARP wants University recognition OF SOOTS HOUSE OF TIRES At the corner of Tex Texas & Coulter 779-2458 Bryan By BELINDA McCOY Battalion Staff People call them “Moonies,” and they are usually portrayed by the media as paupers-cum- monsters feeding on the innocent generosity of well-meaning Amer ica, torturing and enslaving stray youth who have wandered into their den. Indeed the horror stories of Moon inspired several students in Japan in 1964 to establish CARP. His purpose was to create a campus organization to ‘‘revitalize the founding spirit of Judeo- Christianity, ” based on the Unification Principle — Moon's teachings. brainwashed youth could prob ably fill books. Many of those stor ies may be true, but some students 4 HAPPY HOURS! ZACHAR1AS PUB GAME ROOM 1. 2. Regular Happy Hour 4-6 p.m. and Happy Hour at the Choice of the = Bartender or 3. 2 Surprise Happy half-hours at Texas A&M University who have met any of the Moonies living in Bryan might wonder how the picture ever got painted that color. “Moonies” is a name given to members of the Holy Spirit Asso ciation for the Unification of World Christians, or the Unifica tion Church. The Unification Church is a cult founded in Korea in the mid 1950s by Sun Myung Moon, more com monly known as Reverend Moon. If anything, these followers of Moon, selling flowers on the street corners in Bryan and Col lege Station, seem to be the anti thesis of their stereotype. "People get all these horror stories,” said Ron Tewson, off- campus adviser of OASIS, a cam pus Christian organization oppos ing the Unification Church, “and then they meet one (a Moonie) and they (Moonies) are being polite and kind and loving, and they in vite you over to dinner, and they give, and you say, ‘Man, whoever wrote those articles was really off the wall,’ so you discredit all of the media coverage.” But the people selling flowers are not necessarily members of the Unification Church — they are members of the Collegiate Association for the Research of Principles (CARP), said Kim Dickinson, a local member of CARP and the Unification Church. Moon inspired several students in Japan in 1964 to establish CARP. His purpose was to create a campus organization to “revitalize the founding spirit of Judeo- Christianity, ” based on the Uni fication Principle — Moon’s teachings. Dickinson said there is no “direct affiliation” by CARP with the Unification Church. CARP’s members are not required to be members of the Unification Church. Dickinson said that five CARP members live together in Bryan r i- i | ■ „,, *j nl HUGHES A I ‘t v , | GROUND SYST6 Proof of U& Citizenship Equal Opportunity Bmp , Hughof Aircraft Co P.O. BOX 331# * SSSi now. Sometimes, she said, that number climbs to ten. Since its founding CARP has recruited more than 6,000 student Since its founding CARP has recruited more than 6,000 student members and has expanded to more than 100 campuses world-wide. members and has expanded to more than 100 campuses world wide. Now the organization is trying to add one more campus to that list. Recently CARP presented a petition for recognition as a stu dent organization to the student activities department at Texas A&M. Even though the group has been in Bryan since last spring, said Dickinson, it is just now get ting organized. CARP may have trouble get ting officially recognized on cam pus, though, because of “mecha nical reasons,” said Dr. Carolyn Adair, student activities director. CARP submitted its second ap plication for recognition to the stu dent activities department. The first application was rejected by the department because CARP failed to meet certain require ments. The second application is hav ing some problems, too. One of the requirements for a student organization on campus, Adair said, is that it “must show how this organization can be be neficial to the students (at A&M). There is not enough detail in the application. It is fuzzy as far as what they plan to do is con cerned. ” Before an organization can be come recognized it must also have a faculty adviser, said Adair. Roy Gilbert, associate profes sor of economics at Texas A&M has consented to be faculty adviser to CARP. The organization is receiving another type of opposition, be sides administrative opposition. “There are some people who are prejudiced,” said Dickinson. One of those groups opposing the recognition is OASIS. “If people know who they really are, I don’t think their chances are very good (for recognition),” said Tewson. “They oppose almost ev ery major teaching of the Bible, and yet they call themselves Christians and that fakes a lot of people out.” Tewson has spent several years of self-study on the Unification Principle and recently lectured on the subject at an OASIS meeting. The Unification Church iy Margarita Jinn Kim Dickinson, a member of the Unification Church associ ated with the Rev. Moon, sells flowers on the corner of Villa Maria and Texas Avenue. Members of the church have been in town for the past month trying to strengthen their studenl organization CARP on the Texas A&M campus. through CARP teaches that the Bible was written figuratively, not literally as Christians believe, said Tewson. “They say the Bible is figura tive, not to be taken literally ... The purpose of the Bible was to communicate truth, not to be obscure,” said Tewson. Dickinson defended the Uni fication Church’s beliefs in a later interview. “When the Bible says, ‘Thou shalt not kill,’ I figure it’s literal, explained Dickinson. “But when they say eating a fruit is a source of evil, I thinks it’s a little deeper than just eating a piece of fruit. ” Members of the Unification Church rely on the Divine Princi ple— a document written by Moon — for their interpretation of the Bible. Tewson argued that not every thing in the Divine Principle is supported by the Bible. “The Divine Principle as a book is, in their words, the fullest expla nation of the scripture,” Tewson said. “It is an explanation, an in terpretation of the Bible. They also admit — and I’m glad they do — that not everything in it is in the Bible and not everything in it is Sun Theatres 333 University 846-9808 The only movie in town Double-Feature Every Week 10 a.m.‘2 a.m. Sun.-Thurs. 10 a.m.-3 p.m. Fri.-Sat. No one under 18 BOOK STORE A ?5e PEEP SHOWS supported by the Bible. They say that it is the most logical anil reasonable explanation of the Bible.” Dickinson explained: ‘‘Nothing in the Divine Principle contra dicts the Bible, but sometimes its a deeper explanation based on the Bible and what the Bible is saying. ” Moon teaches that Christ left his mission incomplete with his death, Tewson said. “They believe his mission was to marry a perfect wife, and have perfect children, and createaper- feet society, and that he foiled by his death, Tewson said.” Dickinson said, “Jesus didn’t fail, the people around him failed They failed to believe in him and have faith in him. If they had be lieved in him, they wouldn’t have killed him. There would have been no reason to kill him, be cause they would have loved him You don’t kill someone you love After a while, it was obvious that that was the only thing he coulddo — sacrifice his life.” Tewson also said that the Uni fication Church denies thedeityof Christ. “They say Jesus was the son of God, not God,” Tewson said. Dickinson said that the Unifica tion Church believes Jesus was the first person to ever be the im age of God. “In Genesis, it says we were created to be in the image of God So all people were meant to be in the image of God. Jesus was the first person ever to be in the image of God, so in that way he’s one with God. But he’s the first person ever to be one with God, and we were all meant to be that way. Of course, Jesus is more extraordin ary in that he was the first to ever be that way.” Now Better Than Ever. You Will Be Pleased With These Carefully Prepared and Taste Tempting Foods Each Daily Special Only $2.13 Plus Tax. “Open Daily” Dining: 11 A.NI. to 1:30 P.M. — 4:00 P.M. to 7:00 P.M MONDAY EVENING SPECIAL Salisbury Steak with Mushroom Gravy Whipped Potatoes Your Choice of One Vegetable Roll or Corn Bread and Butter Coffee or Tea TUESDAY EVENING SPECIAL Mexican Fiesta Dinner Two Cheese and Onion Enchiladas w chili Mexican Rice Patio Style Pinto Beans Tostadas Coffee or Tea One Corn Bread and Butter WEDNESDAY EVENING SPECIAL Chicken Fried Steak w cream Gravy Whipped Potatoes and Choice of one other Vegetable Roll or Corn Bread and Butter Coffee or Tea THURSDAY EVENING SPECIAL Italian Candle Light Spaghetti Dinner SERVED WITH SPICED MEAT BALLS AND SAUCE Parmesan Cheese - Tossed Green Salad Choice of Salad Dressing - Hot Garlic Bread Tea or Coffee FOR YOUR PROTECTION OUR PERSONNEL HAVE HEALTH CARDS FRIDAY EVENING SPECIAL BREADED FISH FILET w/TARTAR SAUCE Cole Slaw Hush Puppies Choice of one vegetable Roll or Corn Bread & Butter Tea or Coffee SATURDAY NOON and EVENING SPECIAL Yankee Pot Roast (Texas Salad) Mashed Potato w/ gravy Roll or Corn Bread & Butter Tea or Coffee SUNDAY SPECIAL NOON and EVENING ROAST TURKEY DINNER Served with Cranberry Sauce Cornbread Dressing Roll or Corn Bread - Butter- CoffeorTea Giblet Gravy And your choice of any One vegetable