Arizona State Representitive Mark Anderson, a Republican from Mesa, has a long history of loyal and devoted service to Rev. Sun Myung Moon, the self-proclaimed “messiah” (photo below right) and leader of the Unification Church.
Moon’s followers have historically been called “Moonies.”
Almost ten years ago the Mesa Tribune reported about how Anderson’s actions as an elected official were often closely aligned to Rev. Moon’s agenda.
CultNews has now learned from a reliable source that Anderson’s political pandering to his religious leader apparently has continued unabated.
Rev. Moon teaches his disciples that singles should not expect a happy hereafter and that marriage is a requirement for salvation and entering heaven.
Matrimony also plays a pivotal role in Moon’s theology. He calls himself the “Lord of the Second Advent” who provides a “physical salvation,” which Jesus was unable to accomplish, because he was executed and didn’t marry.
It is largely because of these beliefs that Moon has presided over mass weddings, often marrying thousands of his followers simultaneously.
Mark Anderson appears to be dutifully following Moon’s dogma as a state legislator.
In the Spring of 2000 he sponsored a bill that successfully passed and created a “Marriage and Communication Skills Commission.”
Funded by Arizona’s taxpayers, the purpose of the Commission is to recognize “the importance of marriage.”
Beyond this the Commission also doles out funding for “workshops” and “programs,” which are provided through contractors.
And guess who is co-chairman of the Arizona marriage commission?
None other than Mark Anderson (photo left), who has substantial influence concerning which contractors receive state money.
Five states have created marriage commissions including Arizona, South Carolina, Utah, Louisiana and Michigan.
But only Arizona allows its Commission to choose, which community agencies receive a contract.
The selection process includes an objective evaluation process.
That is, because Arizona requires that contracts be awarded to the highest scored vendor.
But are they?
Enter Pastor Leo Godzich, President of the “National Association of Marriage Enhancement” (NAME), a close associate and long-time friend of Mark Anderson.
NAME has been and continues to be the recipient of hundreds of thousands of dollars in state contracts.
But Arizona’s Department of Economic Security (DES) didn’t rank NAME highly through its scoring process as a potential provider for workshops and programs.
Nevertheless Godzich’s group got the money, because the Commission had the power to award a contract regardless of a potential provider’s DES score or ranking.
This isn’t the first time Godzich has gotten money through his buddy Mark Anderson.
In a Mesa Tribune article that raised questions about Representative Anderson’s peculiar mix of religion and politics, Godzich (photo right) is named as one of two “paid speakers” at an Anderson related political event called “Parents Day.”
Should Mark Anderson be helping his cronies with state funds, in what appears to be a blatant breach of public procurement policy in the name of his special interests?
On what basis does his Commission “accept” or “reject” DES recommendations? And what process is in place to ensure that Commission members like Anderson do not have a conflict of interest?
What about NAME and Anderson’s religious agenda?
Doesn’t this potentially represent a violation of the separation of Church and State?
CultNews has been told by a reliable source “that it is unethical for the Commission to have any involvement in ‘recommending’ which community agencies receive a contract award with DES, when the Commission is not involved in the internal DES review, evaluation, and scoring process of the proposals.”
Maybe Rev. Moon should fund Mark Anderson’s pet projects instead of the taxpayers of Arizona.
After all Rev. Moon is a multi-billionaire, while Arizona is currently facing what could become a multi-billion dollar revenue shortfall.
Note: Mark Anderson is running for US Congress. At his Web site Anderson says, “Congress is a mess. Thee is too much partisan bickering, too many scandals and too much wasteful spending of taxpayer’s money.” But given the potentially scandalous and often partisan way Anderson spends taxpayer’s money in Arizona, why send him to Washington to mess around?
It appears that Rev. Moon is near death; as reported by the wikipedia talk page by the author of “Bad Moon Rising”; but Hyo Jin Moon told me his father would be “coming to spirit world soon” because he ignored me and so; my Father Jesus called him back to administer his own rebuke…for Moon to face the Table where sit the 12 Apostles; also known as The Jury…
The Child of the Resurrection: the Wrath of the Lamb