The Words of the Fredrickson Family |
CARP's UCLA Mistake
Jim Fredrickson
January 20, 1999
I am convinced that the failure to have Americans leading the American movement is directly responsible for the appalling lack of results here. In 1984 we had a tremendous opportunity when a Nobel Prize Winner (ICUS participant) agreed to speak at a CARP affair at UCLA. He was extremely well known by the faculty there, and his willingness to associate with us was having a very powerful effect. An American sister and myself were responsible for organizing, etc. We had a Japanese leader who assured me that he would not turn the affair into a CARP/True Father rally. I explained repeatedly that it was enough that this gentleman was there and speaking at our podium. Everyone knew CARP was connected to Father, we need not throw it in everyone's faces. (The talk was on some facet of brain research.) After many weeks of planning, on the day of the speech, our regional leader told me he was making it a CARP/TF rally. I pleaded with him not to do it. He couldn't see he was going to embarrass our guest. He overruled me.
Sure enough, when the speaker arrived, and saw TF's picture everywhere, he grew angry and felt he was being used. (He was correct of course). His first words at the podium, in front of that august and distinguished crowd of UCLA faculty, were something like "CARP has misrepresented this meeting to me. I feel used and exploited. If I didn't feel an obligation to those in the audience who have come to listen to my talk I would leave right now. . ."
Every CARP member in the place went white. The next day the regional leader explained to the CARP membership that the problem was that I failed to unite with him. . . . Perhaps that was an internal contributory factor. But I firmly believe that if the regional leader had been American, or just understood the American psyche, that would have been a glorious day, and that UCLA would have made a huge step toward embracing CARP. Instead it was dismal, and was such a colossal blunder we would have been much better off if we had all just stayed home watching TV that day.
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