The two aging demagogues -- one the leader of the Unification Church and the other the African-American head of the Nation of Islam -- are collaborating on the sequel to Farrakhan's wildly successful Million Man March -- the Million Family March, scheduled for Oct. 16 in Washington.

The march's pièce de résistance will be a spectacular ceremony in which Farrakhan will renew the vows of thousands, perhaps tens of thousands of married couples -- modeled after the mass marriage ceremonies led by Moon for the past 30 years.

"This reflects the ways Rev. Moon has influenced Minister Farrakhan," explained Rev. Phil Schanker, an official of Moon's Family Federation for World Peace and Unification (FFWPU).

Schanker says that Moon's role in the Million Family March is the fruit of a three-year personal relationship that began when Farrakhan helped officiate at one of Moon's marriage ceremonies at Washington's RFK Stadium in 1997. Though Moon may not address the march himself for what Schanker describes as "security reasons," internal FFWPU memos posted on a church Web site state that Moon, who turned 80 in February, decided to back the event after learning from his aides "of Minister Farrakhan's personal desire to ask him to bless all the families at the MFM."

The alliance took some scholars and experts of the religious groups by surprise. Martha Lee, the Canadian author of "The Nation of Islam: An American Millenarian Movement" found it "curious ... that the two of them are trying to become respectable by allying with each other." But Chip Berlet, senior analyst at Political Research Associates in Somerville, Mass., was quick to point out similarities between the leaders: "They are both completely authoritarian, theocratic, male-dominated and homophobic."

As Moon and Farrakhan edge toward the ends of their respective scandal-prone careers, they are increasingly mindful of their legacies. Both have sought to move beyond their controversial reputations to achieve mainstream legitimacy.

Each group has a checkered history that it would rather people forget. While the Million Man March proved to be dramatic and inspiring for many African-American men, it was also notable for its controversy and divisiveness. Many objected to the exclusion of women. The headline-grabbing anti-Jewish and anti-white demagoguery that has marked the history of the Nation of Islam (NOI) and its leaders, including Farrakhan, drove others away. NOI security team, the Fruit of Islam, has had a thuggish history that Farrakhan has sought to put behind the organization.

Farrakhan, 67, who has suffered from prostate cancer, emerged from his illness earlier this year with new messages of reconciliation. While Farrakhan watchers are divided about the sincerity of his change of heart, the new messages of inclusiveness are evident in Farrakhan's approach to the march. He has invited people of all ethnicities, races and religions -- even Jews -- to march "under their own banners" at the Million Family March.

But only weeks before the march, a sex scandal centered around march coordinator Minister Benjamin F. Muhammad, threatened to overshadow the event. In an investigative story titled "The Shame of Mosque No. 7," the Village Voice questioned whether march coordinator Muhammad "is fit to lead" in light of a $140 million civil suit recently filed against him. The suit alleges that Muhammad sexually harassed and assaulted an NOI volunteer secretary when he served as Farrakhan's lone representative in New York. "Until recently," wrote reporter Peter Noel, "the sordid details of his three-year stint at the 127th Street mosque remained hidden behind Farrakhan's new family values crusade." Muhammad denies the allegations.

The charges are noteworthy in part because Muhammad, previously known as Rev. Ben Chavis, was fired as head of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) in 1994 amid revelations that he had diverted at least $250,000 of the organization's funds to quietly settle charges of sex-discrimination against him. Farrakhan subsequently hired Chavis to direct the Million Man March. Chavis changed his name to Muhammad when he converted from Christianity to Islam. In 1997, Farrakhan appointed him head of the New York mosque once led by Malcolm X.

Politics 2000: Unflinching daily political news, analysis and commentary.