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(This article originally appeared in the June 14, 1985, issue of Christianity Today.)

Sun Myung Moon's Unification Church is conducting a political outreach to evangelical and fundamentalist pastors through CAUSA, an anti-Communist organization with headquarters in New York City. The group's "ministerial alliance," headed by Unification pastor Chung Hwan Kwak, is organizing grassroots teams to promote Godism, a philosophy Moon says will defeat communist ideology worldwide.

Pastors are offered all-expense-paid trips to conferences and training seminars; Unification Church members follow up with phone calls and letters; and assurances are made that CAUSA is out to change no one's religious convictions. But Godism is an intricate "world view" that permeates CAUSA seminar materials and is touted as the sole solution to communism, which is viewed as "God's emergency of all time." In essence, Godism is a formula for ushering in the kingdom of God on earth by human effort. CAUSA has attracted a following among some Christians throughout the country, and it has gained at least a temporary hearing among others.

In Washington State, Assemblies of God evangelist Daniel Scalf agreed to become a regional director for CAUSA. In a published CAUSA report about one of its ministerial alliance meetings, Scalf is quoted as saying "I believe that CAUSA has the best material I've ever seen on the subject of Marxism-Leninism."

Reports of Scalf's work on behalf of CAUSA generated alarm at Assemblies of God headquarters in Springfield, Missouri. The denomination's executive committee passed a resolution urging pastors to avoid CAUSA. "Contacts made through this group are followed up by Unification workers who use the openings to solicit for converts," the resolution reads. "The Committee feels our ministers and churches should be discouraged from identification with it."

David C. MacKenzie, assistant rector at The Falls Church (Episcopal) in Falls Church, Virginia, met with CAUSA representatives twice and was contacted by telephone several times. He said they denied any ties between their organization and the Unification Church. MacKenzie said he finally told them not to contact him again because their presentations were based on Unification theology.

Thomas McDevitt, a Unification pastor and CAUSA's East Coast regional director, said there are no formal ties between the Unification Church and the anti-Communist organization. When two Baptist pastors Bo Hi Pak raised questions at a CAUSA conference, McDevitt said he told them, "If you can refute communism with your theological views, then that's fine." He added, however, that he believes an interfaith effort is essential. "As long as you stay in your fortress of orthodoxy," he said, "you will be defeated."

Although it is officially separate from Moon's church, CAUSA has close links with Unificationism financially and through its personnel. The CAUSA Lecture Manual states, "The history of CAUSA is inseparable from the life and experiences of Reverend Moon." Bo Hi Pak, president of CAUSA International, and Joe A. Tully, executive director of CAUSA USA, are highly placed Unification officials.

Lori Antolock, an aide to Pak, confirmed that Unification money pays for most CAUSA events and projects. For a recent East Coast regional meeting in Atlanta, CAUSA prepared invitations for 5,400 pastors, offering each one a full scholarship.

CAUSA International, based in New York City, was founded in 1980 and is active in 21 countries. Its affiliate, CAUSA USA, has headquarters in Washington, D.C. Originally, CAUSA was an acronym for Confederation of the Associations for the Unification of the Societies of the Americas. Now, according to CAUSA USA president Phillip V. Sanchez—former U.S. Ambassador to Honduras—the name refers simply to the "cause" of fighting communism. CAUSA USA inaugurated its ministerial alliance last year following a series of rallies held nationwide to protest perceived threats to religious freedom, including Moon's imprisonment for tax evasion (CT, Sept. 7, 1984, p. 56).

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