Freedom Writer - November 1995

BEST OF THE FREEDOM WRITER
What's in a name?

By Skipp Porteous

_For_most,_it's_a_question_of_money._For_American_Continental_
Corporation,_it_is_a_question_of_morals._Widely_known_
for_its_support_of_anti-pornography_issues,_American_
Continental_Corporation_is_the_parent_company_of_the_
Crescent_Hotel_Group,_which_opened_the_world's_finest_
resort_in_Scottsdale,_Arizona,_on_October_1,_1988._
The_605-room_resort_does_not_have_porn_movies_in_its_
rooms_or_porn_magazines_in_the_gift_shops._

_The_CDL_Reporter_, November 1988

In November 16, 1989, more than 60 federal agents and 
plainclothes police officers conducted a pre-dawn raid 
on the squeaky-clean Crescent Hotel. The agents seized 
the resort and secured the office of the president 
of the hotel, long-time Christian activist Charles 
H. Keating Jr.

The feds' takeover of the porn-free Crescent Hotel 
was just another chapter in a scandal that will cost 
U.S. taxpayers billions of dollars. Keating has been 
the focus of criminal investigations by the Federal 
Bureau of Investigation, the Internal Revenue Service, 
the Justice Department, the Securities and Exchange 
Commission, and the House Banking Committee. The federal 
government has also filed a $1.1 billion suit against 
Keating and his associates. The suit arises from accusations 
of fraud and illegal loan activity by the Lincoln Savings 
and Loan Association, another Keating company.

Additionally, it was revealed that five U.S. Senators 
who tried to stall regulatory actions against Keating 
had received $1.3 million in campaign contributions 
from him. Keating has openly admitted that he sought 
to buy Congressional influence.

In 1957, Charles H. Keating Jr. founded the non-profit 
Citizens for Decency Through Law (CDL), a pro-censorship 
organization. He has remained active with CDL for the 
past 32 years.

Earlier this year, we observed a subtle change in _The_
CDL_Reporter_, the group's newsletter. Until that time, 
the words "Founded in 1957 by Charles H. Keating, Jr." 
appeared on the back of every issue. Suddenly, Keating's 
name was omitted. It wasn't that Keating withdrew his 
abundant financial support or his active involvement, 
but perhaps the group anticipated what lay ahead.

Then, in April, the government seized Keating's insolvent 
Lincoln Savings and Loan Association. Keating is also 
chairman of the American Continental Corporation, Lincoln's 
parent company. The government contends that American 
Continental took $95 million from Lincoln's depositors 
with bogus land investments. Some 23,000 uninsured 
customers lost their savings.

In July, CDL changed its name and became Children's 
Legal Foundation (CLF). In its July/August newsletter, 
executive director Alan Sears attempted to explain 
the change. In doublespeak, he said the old name was 
"cumbersome and does not have the distinct message 
it originally carried." He added that its staff has 
"encountered increasing confusion about our name and 
mission." More likely, in light of the founder's deceitful 
activities, the old name had become an embarrassment.

Keating is to the savings and loan industry what Jim 
Bakker was to television evangelism. Both men, notable 
Christian crusaders, represent wealth attained through 
deceit and fraud. Perhaps the Children's Legal Foundation 
will redeem its founder. It could come to the aid of 
the families who lost their Christmas club savings, 
and the families which put money aside for their children's 
education.

Citizens for Decency Through Law, though, was not the 
first radical right organization to change its name 
out of embarrassment.

The Moral Majority was chided about its name probably 
more than any organization in history. A popular bumpersticker 
proclaimed, "the Moral Majority is neither."

Then came a parade of disgraced TV evangelists — our 
keepers of morality. The scandals got so bad that the 
Rev. Falwell had to change his group's name to the 
Liberty Federation. At the time, _The_Freedom_Writer_ 
commented, "The Liberty Federation will do no more 
for liberty than the Moral Majority did for morality." 
Since the January 1986 name change, the Liberty Federation 
has also become history.

Even before the advent of the Moral Majority, another 
moralist, the Rev. Donald Wildmon, founded the National 
Federation for Decency. His purpose was to "promote 
the Biblical ethic of decency in American society." 
This "decent" fellow has recently been blasted over 
his use of anti-Semitic innuendo. Last year, the Rev. 
Wildmon announced that his group would henceforth be 
known as the American Family Association.

Radical religious zealots continue to be their own 
worst enemy. Decency and morality are more than a name. 
Unable to keep the standards implicit in their names, 
group after group has been forced to adopt  "safe" 
new names.

_First_published_in_the_November1989_Freedom_Writer_



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