Rev. Sun Myung Moon, What Religious Leaders Say about Rev. Moon

WHAT RELIGIOUS LEADERS SAY ABOUT HIM

Iman Haitham Bundakji President, Orange County CA Muslim Association

Through the efforts of Dr. Sun Myung Moon and the Universal Peace Federation, I have come to love Jews and Christians as my brothers and sisters. We are working together to bring peace.

Archbishop George Stallings 
Founder, Imani Temple, Washington DC

When you understand the fruits, you’ll understand the man. By his fruits you will know him, and I’ve come to know that his identity is clear.

Dr. Babs Phillips 
Personal Secretary to the late Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Upon seeing a one of Reverent Moon's large marriage ceremonies with couples marrying between races, religions and nations: “When I see your faces, I see the dream of Rev. King being actualized.”

Rev. Dr. David A. Hart 
World Congress of Faiths, UK, India

In the early 1990s, when the Western world began once again to find reasons to regard Islam as a hostile religion, Sun Myung Moon made staunch efforts to engage with Muslim scholars and religious leaders, in his quest for a universal message for our times."

H.E. Abdurrahman Wahid 
Muslim Cleric and President of Indonesia, 1999-2001

We come here to welcome Rev. Moon and then to listen to his speech. This is actually a simple schedule, a simple thing to do. But simplicity doesn’t mean that the result is simple. Because in the speech and in the person of Rev. Moon, we can find a whole long life, a very, very long struggle to establish peace in a peaceful way.

Religion does not permit the use of violence. Under Islamic law, only if you are abducted from your home are you entitled to physical defence. Christians are admonished to give the left cheek if the right has been struck. All religions insist on peace. From this we would think that the religious struggle for peace is simple… but it is not. The deep problem is that people use religion wrongly in pursuit of victory and triumph. This sad fact then leads to conflict with people who believe differently.

For this reason Rev. Moon’s call for peace though religion is something of great nuance and profundity. We are deeply fortunate for the chance now to hear him and observe his life-long struggle for world peace through religion. We can see how he lives peace so fully in his life. He has endured unspeakable persecution. I know this. This puts us all in his debt. If he can continue, we are the beneficiaries. This is why I harbor an inner hope that this visit will bring about that peace he lives and gives through his life and his speeches.

Dr. Ralph Abernathy 
Late American Civil Rights leader, speaking at a rally to protest Reverend Moon's US imprisonment

Republican, Democrat, conservative, liberal--all people are welcome in this great organization. I came into it because this organization crosses denominational lines, political lines and racial lines. Now we have come together and agreed on one common cause."

Rev. Dean Kelley Late President of the National Council of Churches USA

Commenting on the unjust American imprisonment of Rev. Moon in 1983 as recounted in the bookInquisition:The Persecution and Prosecution of Rev. Sun Myung Moon: "Here is the whole appalling story of how Sun Myung Moon and his accountant were framed by the government of the United States…this is a story that should be read …by every American who values religious liberty and wants this miscarriage of justice never to be repeated.”

Dr. Hycel Taylor 
Senior Pastor, Second Baptist Church, Ilinois

Rev. Sun Myung Moon--The great man who has realized the ultimate ideal of religion. In the first instance, he is deserving of tribute because of his willingness to subject not only his theology to the scrutiny and criticism of other renowned religious scholars arid critics, but to subject his life to the inevitable castigation and controversy that attends such openness. He stands within the sacred tradition of Christ, Krishna, Confucius, Buddha, Mohammed, Gandhi, Malcolm X, and Martin Luther King, Jr. It is a hallowed tradition that is marked by great suffering and sacrifice. Its path is paved with pain, and painted with the blood of martyrs. According to Rev. Moon’s biography which I read intensely, so has been the path and pilgrimage on which his spirit has been purged of the painful aberrations and occlusions of his life experience pains that yet paralyze the lives of too many, and obscure their vision of the “ideal” of a totally reconciled and redeemed humanity.

In the second instance, he is deserving of tribute because he has produced an ideal paradigm to set a standard for the attaining of the original ideal state of the creation of humanity, namely, the state of spiritual oneness with God, oneness with the individual self, and oneness with others. In a world fraught with social fragmentation that has lead to the destruction of the family, a model of familial wholeness is, itself healing to the despairing human heart…. In the third instance, I pay tribute to Rev. Moon because his passion for world peace leads him to propose an actual plan for religious leaders of the world to surround and complement the United Nations assembly of political and secular leaders.… That is an extraordinary assumption. It is a statement of’ his faith in religious leaders that they have been given a special revelation and thereby possess unique powers to make a quantum difference.… In the fourth instance, I pay tribute to Rev. Moon for his prodigious productivity in the material world. I see him as a man who, because of his experience of’ extreme material poverty, has attained the power to produce materially out the power of his spirit. He has learned that to own nothing is to have power and dominion over everything. This power, it seems, has put at his disposal the necessary material resources of the earth for the purpose of transforming the minds of the masses though information, economics, inter-cultural enrichment, and spiritual unification. His endless enterprising is expressive of a transcending spirit that creatively exists in the world, but is not qf the world.

In Gok Hong Secretary General of Korean Taego Buddhism

I think Reverend Moon is a worldwide religious leader in this age and even for future time. He is a great religious leader who has lead the world religion. Reverend Moon's interreligious thought and international vision for world peace evidently prove it.

I met Reverend Moon first time in the conference of Interreligious and International Federation for World Peace. I was deeply inspired by his noble personality and moreover by his worldwide interreligious mind. I am convinced that Reverend Moon is one of those true religious men and true religious leaders. Reverend Moon has always devoted himself to the life of faith and solely dedicated his life to world peace through the religion. I can not stop my respect to Reverend Moon, with my deep impression of him for such endeavors.

His worldwide activities and projects through the religion are so great and respectable that no one has ever achieved these during their lifetime.

Moon's patriotism was special. Even when the relationship between South and North was frozen hard after the battle of the West Sea, Rev. Moon had university students of South and North hold a seminar.
Fourthly, it is completely impossible as an ordinary man to establish the unified world in every field by going beyond the wall of knowledge, thought, and religion. Regarding the argument whether the origin of the existence is material or spirit, Rev. Moon teaches that every existence was derived from God's love. In the ideological conflict between Democracy and Communism, he presented the Theory of Victory of Communism as the alternative proposal, which became a theoretical basis in breaking down the former Soviet Union. Moreover, he emphasized the necessity of the unity of religion and science and explained clearly about the problem of sin.
In Christian terms, Rev. Moon is called Messiah, and in Korean terms, he is called True Parents. No matter what he may be called, since he is a Korean and is doing a great thing which nobody elsecan do, as a Korean, I want to give a big applause to him.

Dr. Abdulijalil Sajid Muslim Council for Religious & Racial Harmony, UK 

Dialogue and engagement are the only possible way to succeed, however impossible it may seem, and theUniversal Peace Federation is providing the way to start that conversation.

Rev. Kwang Myung KimPresident of Presbyterian Association of Dae Han Jesus, Korea

Rev. Yoon Kuk Moon is a grandfather of Rev. Sun Myung Moon. Rev. Yoon Kuk Moon graduated from Pyung Yang Theological school. While waited for riding a ship at Jin Nam port to study abroad in USA, he decided his mind to give up studying abroad in order to donate all school expenses as the fund for the independence movement. Reverend Sun Myung Moon inherited such great tradition and great blood lineage. I believe confidently that it was not an accident, but God's providence that Reverend Sun Myung Moon appeared like a comet from such a great place and great blood lineage. Rev. Moon has lived a sacrificial life in his whole life time for the sake of reconciliation of east and west, and south and north, and unification of south and north Korea. If who is the greatest worldwide leader in this century is asked to me, I will answer confidently that it is Reverend Sun Myung Moon. 

Top of the page.Rev. Sun Myung Moon, What Religious Leaders Say about Rev. Moon:

'via Blog this'

What Religious Scholars say about Rev. Sun Myung Moon

WHAT RELIGIOUS SCHOLARS SAY ABOUT HIM

Dr. Ninian Smart 
Professor of Comparative Religions
The University of California at Santa Barbara, US 

It is remarkable how open and free the conferences he sponsored were. He fully appreciated, as seen by his actions, the nature of science and scholarship. This was true both of the way he attempted to implement his vision of the unity of science and his God at the conferences, likewise at his meetings on world peace and the family. So the first main achievement would be his dedication to an open society of scholars and religious people. This combined with an undoubted ecumenism. He was always eager to attract Buddhists, Jews, Hindus, Muslims, Christians and many more to his gatherings. Though he and his followers assert the veracity of their worldview, this has in no way prevented his giving the utmost freedom to those whose traditions differ from his ideas.

Perhaps I can interpret his generosity and openness from the point of view of my own convictions, as a person who has been friendly with many members of his Church, and who has been happy to work with them and Rev. Moon; I do not share his theology but I admire his work and contribution to the world. I regard myself as a loyal Anglican, and therefore believe in Trinity, and therefore in the Holy Spirit, which is among other things the Light that lightens every person. Too often the Holy Spirit is neglected by Christians; it is relevant to Rev. Moon’s achievements.

So it can be that Rev. Moon’s vigorous engagement with the contemporary world supplies emphases which are important to other religions. They can be neglected by the inward-looking nature of Buddhism, and other-worldliness of mainstream Christianity. His early experience of Stalinism imprinted itself indelibly on his consciousness, and resulted in a strong belief in the future which had rid itself of Communism’s repressive system. The point was that Communism failed to give a reverence to the individual human being. There were, of course, other Christians who shared this perception with Rev. Moon, notably Pope John Paul II. For Rev. Moon it was both fortunate and unfortunate that his main engagement with America occurred in the 1970s, when many well-meaning people had accepted the part-truth of Marxism, often naively, as a result of their opposition to the Vietnam War. But Rev. Moon’s opposition to the Soviet Union and its system was based on religion, and on the form of Christianity in particular. He was unfortunate in that many American liberals opposed his message because they had missed essential importance of humanity, and this is integral to the Christian message. His theology was a complement to much contemporary Christian theology.

One of his inspiring visions has to do with his married followers: not invariably, but most frequently, they share races, share nationalities. And this trend is growing in the world. It undermines our racial distinctions. He has paved the way for this diminution of such categories.Indeed, as the Census in America will sooner or later have to acknowledge that people of mixed marriages cannot simply be assigned to one category or another. We are all children of the same humanity; and from religion’s point of view are rooted in the Transcendent.

The question of the family makes our attitude to sex serious. In many ways, our modern knowledge about sex makes us more relaxed than in older Christian days. I respect the vision of Rev. Moon and Mrs. Moon of a vast congregation of those who acknowledge his mission and who join him in a single family, which embraces many families. The people of this world who have reared families and who live together in amity and joy should recognize that vision of his as a vital ingredient in true happiness. But again as with religions, people differ in their interpretation of the divine will; but those diverse interpretations ought in the new world to live together in harmony. And the vision of the family implies too a vision of education. The parents need to bring up children in love and knowledge. This implies the stability of the family.

He has stamped a mark on our epoch, from before the Korean War till the present age and after the year 2000. But already his achievements are immense.

Dr. Harvey Cox 
Protestant Theologian, Harvard Divinity School, US

Here is a movement which manages to combine religious universality, Pentecostal immediacy, a warmly supportive family and a program for allegedly building the kingdom of God on earth. Such a potent admixture cannot be dismissed lightly.

Joseph Fichter, SJ
Late Jesuit priest and sociologist of religion, US
Author of the book The Holy Family of Father Moon

From his article Marriage, Family, and Sun Myung Moon in America magazine:

While marriage counselors and parish clergy are wringing their hands over the breakdown of modern family life, the Unification Church proposes a solution. The God-centered family is not merely a nice slogan or a spiritual ideal suggested by the churches leaders. It is the essential core of community among the faithful of the church. It is also a deeply motivated system for restoring marital fidelity and family stability to modern society. 
Whatever one may say in criticism of the Unification Church as a social and religious movement and even as a purveyer of theological heresy, one has to recognize its systematic program for the restoration of “old-fashioned” morality, its emphasis on chastity before marriage, prayful preparation for marriage, a readiness to accept guidance in the choice of a spouse, marital love reflective of love of God, transmission of spiritual perfection to children. The Unification Church insists that religion is the moral bond of family solidarity and that the family is the moral basis of society.

Professor Cromwell Crawford
Professor of Religion, University of Hawaii, US

Rev. Moon is one of these select multi-cultural individuals. It is now well-known that for the past 20 years or so he has been performing international marriages. Thousands of individuals of every race, culture and nation have been united by him in holy matrimony. The full impact of these crossover marriages will be fully felt in offspring of the second and third generations. Already the bonding of individuals who, otherwise, would have perpetuated traditional divisions, has produced profound changes, because the foundations of love and peace have been laid on the most basic foundation of society, namely, the family.

I have personally witnessed three of these international ceremonies, and though they have been described in the media as ‘mass marriages,’ I have found the exchange of vows to be uncommonly elevated by the element of the miraculous, because, if it were not for the Blessing of one man, they would surely not be husband and wife together. Each one of these couplings is a mediated marriage. While other leaders talk of “family values,” Rev. Moon creates them.

The image of Rev. Moon as a mediating man is best exemplified in the area of religion, for it is his love of God that animates all of the activities we have mentioned, and many more. Moon is not a missionary; he is a mediator. His goal is not to convert but to convince, to reason, and to respect. As a scholar in the field of Comparative Religion, I find it safe to say that there are few, if any, who have done more for the cause of inter-faith dialogue than Rev. Moon. He has generously sponsored hundreds of international conferences in which people freely discuss matters of faith. I have been honoured to serve as moderator on numerous occasions, and am therefore able to testify to the true ecumenicity and openness of these conferences.

What I have learned through international, inter-religious gatherings is that we cannot claim there is some common “core” in all religions, so that Hindus and Christians are referring to the same “Reality.” Simultaneously, the Hindu need not reject the insights of the Christian, because he may have equally valid truth. Therefore, the task of truly understanding and appreciating other religions makes demands upon us to be sensitive to what others are saying and to evaluate it without presupposing that, on some deep level, they are really saying what we are saying. Having this open attitude, when the Hindu and Christian encounter each other in these conferences, they are indeed mutually enriched, because they learn from one another without surrendering their uniqueness. This has been my observation of academic meetings sponsored by Rev. Moon, and though there are no pretensions to find precise correspondence with his stated teachings, Liberation Theology has taught the value of praxis, and I bear witness to the genuine ecumenicity of all such gatherings. Christians always leave as better Christians for having dialogued with Buddhists, and so forth. There is no presumption of “anonymous Christians” because the spirit these meetings communicate is that each faith has a unique slice of life, which is worthy of respect, and perhaps, emulation.

The celebration of Rev. Moon’s 80th birthday is more than a glorious day in the life of a man; it is also the celebration of new types of individuals he has inspired--mediating men and women, who can act as links between diverse cultures, races and religions of the world. For the demands of the 21st. century, the role of such persons is no longer nice, it is necessary.

Dr. Juergen Redhardt 
Professor Emeritus of Theology, psychologist, Giessen, Germany

In my opinion, Sun Myung Moon can without doubt be included in this extensive catalogue of characteristics of "saints". Under the precondition that every saint without exception is only able to objectify and demonstrate a single perspective on the truth of the gospel, one may well state: Sun Myung Moon belongs to the lineage of those who, in terms of biography and life content, in a particularly vivid and unforgettable way represent that which all Christians demand: to take responsibility for the initiating nature of God's love. He establishes here markers and directional constants, which one ought to take seriously. Sun Myung Moon is in full accordance with the most essential and unmistakable characteristic of saintliness: to bring strongly into focus again a socially predominant, diffuse, but currently dying relationship to God.

Irving Hexham 
Professor, Department of Religious Studies, University of Calgary, Canada

And who is the Reverent Moon? Frankly, I am unable to give an answer to this question. Like Gamaliel in the Acts of the Apostles, 5:34 -39, I can only council caution. Clearly, the Rev. Moon is a great religious visionary who ranks among the greatest religious figures of history. Clearly, he is a very gifted, far sighted, individual who has a keen sense of history and God’s providence. Clearly, he is a charismatic figure who attracts followers by his example, lifestyle and teaching. Equally clearly, his works cannot be judged from the perspective of the present time if only because he has not yet completed his mission.

From the book Understanding Cults and New Religions

Dr. Paul Schwarzenau
Professor Emeritus of Protestant Theology and Comparative Religion,
University of Dortmund, Germany

Summary of a four-page tribute:

I have always been interested in certain ideas in the Divine Principle, which the Christian churches cannot afford to ignore. Irrespective of, or indeed because of my standpoint as a Protestant theologian, I am of the opinion that Christianity has reached a point at which it must further develop through a relationship with the great world religions and the great non-European cultural spheres. Christianity must find the courage to free itself from the limitations of the western cultural sphere.

According to the teaching of the distinguished psychologist C. G. Jung, Jesus appeared proclaiming the Kingdom of God, which should naturally dawn on earth, but his life ended on the cross and, instead of the Kingdom, arose the church and the separation between the church and the world. In the history of Christianity, there have been very few attempts to overcome this split. The Divine Principle, however, researches this in detail. According to the Principle, in the perfected universe, God is fully perfected and fulfilled only through perfected human beings. This is a theory of the Divine which at last accords with the dignity of man. Further, it is a theory appropriate for modern man, who is bound to partnership and democracy.

In each of us, as well as in the churches, there is a bit of "Second Coming", a subconscious striving for a more perfected philosophy of man, embracing both the spiritual and the physical realms. There is therefore a renewed emphasis on apocalyptic matters in today's churches. There is a search for the realisation not only of things spiritual, but also of the ideal, "as in heaven, so also on earth". In striving for such a reality, we could enter into brotherly dialogue with the Unification movement, by mutually stimulating each other and strengthening our powers of expectation.

Dr. Richard Rubenstein 
Historian of Religion, President Emeritus, University of Bridgeport, US 

I must confess that as a historian of religion who received his scientific training at Harvard University, your explicit and unambiguous sharing with us of your understanding of who you are is one of the most extraordinary moments of my entire career. Indeed, you yourself have described the announcement of your calling as "astonishing and fearful". For myself and for many of my peers whose vocation is the scientific study of religion, awesome religious inspiration is something that happened, if at all, long ago. We are most comfortable studying derivative accounts of religious inspiration and revelation in books and manuscripts. Engaged in this labor, we are interested in our subject matter; we are calm; we are dispassionate and without inner disturbance. The situation is radically transformed, indeed it is, as you say, truly "astonishing," when we are confronted by an inspired religious leader whose vocation is in the process of unfolding in our own times and even before our very eyes. We are not accustomed to such a manifestation of spiritual power and charisma. Our scientific and professional training has not prepared us for the encounter. Hence, we guard ourselves against it by inventing psychological categories to neutralize its potency as well as our discomfort before it. Nevertheless, the spiritual power is there, and, whatever may be the religious tradition in which we are rooted, we feel it. Of one thing concerning your messianic vision I am certain: all of your works, from which the world has already derived so much benefit, have sprung from your messianic vision. Without it, there would be no ICUS, no PWPA, no Washington Times, no Assembly of World Religions, no Little Angels School, no revivified University of Bridgeport ; without your messianic vision, your original tiny church in Pusan would never have become the worldwide religious force for human betterment you now lead.

That statement expresses much of what I feel about Rev. Moon and his mission. To repeat, no person in my adult life apart from my family has had a greater impact on my adult life. 
Rev. Moon, the task you have set for yourself and for us requires the cooperation of every segment of humanity…Someone must bring them together. Someone must provide the structures and the leadership with which such cooperation becomes possible. It will assuredly not happen by itself. No one has reached out so extensively , consistently and universally to bring intelligent men and women together in shared endeavor as have you. It is for this reason that men and women of many faiths and traditions can turn to you and accept your leadership.

J. Gordon Melton
Executive Director, Institute for the Study of American Religions at the University of California, Santa Barbara, US

"The most successful new religion of the past century?
"Probably Scientology," Dr. Melton said. Other successful movements include the Unification Church, led by the Rev. Sun Myung Moon..."
New York Times article. "Seeking Entry-Level Prophet: Burning Bush and Tablets Not Required." August, 2006.

Top of the page. What Religious Scholars say about Rev. Sun Myung Moon:

'via Blog this'

THE PERSECUTION AND PROSECUTION OF REVEREND MOON BY THE UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT: THE TRUTH ABOUT HIS UNJUST 1984 CONVICTION AND IMPRISONMENT FOR TAX EVASION.

In the media’s coverage of Reverend Moon, it is often mentioned that he was convicted of tax evasion and imprisoned in 1984. But little is written regarding the legal controversies surrounding his troubling case. Little is also written about broad cross-section of religious and civic organizations that spoke on Reverend Moon’s behalf regarding him as a victim of religious persecution plain and simple. 

Reverend Moon's court case is now cited in law courses as an example of the law gone wrong. Forty leading groups and individuals signed amicus curiae (friend of the court) briefs on behalf of Rev. Moon's appeal to the US Supreme Court. The outcry in support of Reverend Moon by the religious community and civil liberty organizations has rarely been seen in US legal history.

Reverend Moon is no stranger to unjust treatment by state authorities: he has been jailed other times by three different governments: once in Japan, twice in North Korea, and once in South Korea.

Those who know Rev. Moon see his ordeals as badges of honor conferred on a man of uncompromising faith. Other religious leaders imprisoned by secular authorities, to name just a few, are Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King, Jr., Saint Francis, Ignatius Loyola, George Fox and, of course, Jesus Christ.


Opinions on Reverend Moon's felony conviction for "tax evasion" of
$7300.00 by religious leaders who worked on his behalf and the press.  

Rev. Ralph Abernathy, President Emeritus of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, in his review of the book The Odyssey of New Religious Movements:

"The abuse of the Unification Church and other new religions is painfully reminiscent of the black experience."

Rev. Dean Kelley, head of the National Council of Churches at the time, said:

“…the whole appalling story of how Sun Myung Moon and his accountant were framed by the government of the United States … should be read by every American who values religious liberty and wants this miscarriage of justice never to be repeated.”

Los Angeles Times editorial (3/2/84)

"The Supreme Court should reverse Moon’s conviction and reaffirm the principle that the First Amendment makes no distinction between popular and unpopular religions or orthodox and unorthodox faiths."

Senator Orrin G. Hatch, Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee

"I do feel strongly, after my subcommittee has carefully and objectively reviewed this case from both sides, that injustice rather than justice has been served. The Moon case sends a strong signal that if one’s views are unpopular enough, this country will find a way not to tolerate, but to convict."

Dr. Joseph E. Lowery, President of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference

“…Reverend Moon was a victim of both religious and racial bigotry.… May all of us in the community of conscience pray and work that such injustice may never, never happen again.”

Carlton Sherwood, Pulitzer Prize Winner and author of the book, Inquisition: The Persecution and Prosecution of the Rev. Sun Myung Moon

“Rev. Moon was tried and convicted for operating his church in much the same manner as mainstream U.S. religions do… The hypocrisy of selective investigation and prosecution in the Moon case is as astonishing as it is obvious. Realizing that most any church could be prosecuted in the same way, more than 40 religious groups representing 160 million Americans filed “friend of the court” briefs urging the Supreme Court to overturn Rev. Moon’s conviction.”

James J. Kilpatrick, Syndicated Columnist

“Viewed as a matter of criminal law, the record does not establish Moon’s guilt… Moon was denied a fair trial. It is not necessary to like this Korean guru to say, as I must, that he got a bum rap. It is small wonder that other churches are alarmed.”

MORE ABOUT THIS UNITED STATES MISCARRIAGE OF JUSTICE AND THE INNOCENCE OF REVEREND MOON:

Troubling Issues in the Tax Case of Reverend Moon

Most are unaware that:The actual tax liability in question was $7,300. over a three-year period, which is below the Justice Department’s minimum standards for criminal prosecution.

Justice Department internal memos indicate that virtually all senior attorneys familiar with the case, including the chief of criminal tax prosecution, opposed prosecution of Reverend Moon, believing there was no case against him. **

Reverend Moon’s church maintained from beginning to end that the assets in question were church-owned, held in Rev. Moon’s name in trust for the church. This practice is common to many Catholic dioceses, and a host of large and small churches in America. Rev. Moon had faithfully paid tax on all assets he considered personal. Yet the government claimed that all the funds should be considered personal, and insisted on criminal rather than civil prosecution.

Virtually every federal law enforcement agency in the country spent a combined ten years and untold millions investigating Rev. Moon and found no wrongdoing. Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative reporter Carlton Sherwood called this final case “"the most intensive and expensive criminal tax investigation of any religious figure in U.S. history." IRS accountants set up offices in his church’s headquarters for two years, poring over church financial records. The account upon which they based their case had been closed years earlier, in 1975, as professional tax accountants worked to organize the young church’s finances.

Rev. Moon waived his right to a jury trial, preferring a panel of judges familiar with tax law, rather than a citizen panel with potential bias against a controversial religious leader. The government refused his request, and trial Judge Gerard Goettel imposed a jury trial upon Rev. Moon. The judge later acknowledged that a non-jury trial would have been fairer, and made a surprising and widely publicized observation: “In attempting to get an unbiased jury,” he stated, “the leaning has been heavily towards people who don’t read much, don’t talk much, and don’t know much because they are obviously the persons who start off with the least bias. Conversely, they might tend to be the less educated and less intelligent people.”*

James J. Kilpatrick, Syndicated Columnist

“Viewed as a matter of criminal law, the record does not establish Moon's guilt… Moon was denied a fair trial. It is not necessary to like this Korean guru to say, as I must, that he got a bum rap. It is small wonder that other churches are alarmed.”

Realizing that most any church could be prosecuted in the same way, more than 40 religious groups representing 160 million Americans filed “friend of the court” briefs urging the Supreme Court to overturn Rev. Moon’s conviction. 
These included The National Council of Churches, the Presbyterian Church, the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights, the American Baptist Churches, the National Association of Evangelicals and the American Civil Liberties Union.

Thousands of clergy across America joined the “Common Suffering Fellowship.” demanding to go to jail on Rev. Moon’s behalf. Many of these were veterans of the Civil Rights Movement, such as Rev. Ralph Abernathy, Dr. Wyatt Tee Walker, Rev. James Bevel, Dr. Milton Reid, Rev. Walter Fauntroy, and others who walked with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. The response of the African-American community was so strong and immediate, veteran columnist William Raspberry asked, “Why are these people, whose judicial concerns tend towards the legal rights of poor blacks, moved to support a controversial Korean nearly all of whose American followers are white?” The Southern Christian Leadership Conference, National Black Catholic Clergy Caucus, African Methodist Episcopal Church, and the National Conference of Black Mayors also filed briefs with the Supreme Court on Rev. Moon’s behalf.

Unanswered Questions

1. According to a Justice Department review, the same tax theory applied to convict Rev. Moon would have made him eligible for a $700,000 charitable deduction. One reviewing attorney observed it was “inconsistent to try an evasion charge in the face of a $700,000 deduction.” **

2. Why would Rev. Moon, who has invested vast amounts into numerous enterprises in the United States, seek to purposely defraud the US Government of $7,300? And if he were hiding the assets, why would he place them in an account in his own name, declaring and paying taxes on any income he considered personal?

3. Well-known Americans are routinely forgiven by the IRS for “oversights” as large as $50,000, $100,000 or more, and through civil prosecution merely asked to repay the amount owed, or given a monetary fine. Why was Rev. Moon prosecuted criminally and put in jail for $7,300?

From Jesus to Gandhi to Martin Luther King, Jr., the use of judicial authority to oppose unpopular and revolutionary leaders is common. When speeding tickets and loitering charges failed to stop Dr. King, officials re-audited previous tax returns and charged him with tax fraud in Alabama. In Rev. Moon’s case, media professionals who value truth and fairness should take care not to base new stories upon old prejudices and misinformation.

 

* ”INQUISITION: The Persecution & Prosecution of the Rev. Sun Myung Moon,” Carlton Sherwood, 1991

** Justice Department documents available through Freedom of Information Act

Top of the page.Rev. Sun Myung Moon, his daily life:

'via Blog this'

Rev. Sun Myung Moon, world record

WORLD RECORDS ESTABLISHED BY AND AMAZING FACTS ABOUT THE  REVEREND SUN MYUNG MOON

1. Presided over the largest marriage ceremony in history according to the Guiness Book of World Records.Reverend Moon has presided over group weddings since 1960 beginning with 36 couples. The largest wedding to date was a wedding of 40,000 couples in Seoul's Olympic Stadium.

2. Founded the only religion to spread to the all the countries of the world in the lifetime of its Founder. The Unification Movement has members and an active presence in 192 countries.

3. More published volumes of sermons than any other religious leader.
There are 450 volumes of Reverend Moon's sermons. Reverend Moon gives sermons and guidance usually several hours long on a daily basis. Incredibly he does not speak from notes and does not repeat himself.

4. More published volumes of prayers than any other religious leader.
There are twelve published volumes of Reverend Moon's prayers entitled: Prayers - A Lifetime of Conversation with Our Heavenly Father

5. Sponsored more conferences on world peace than anyone in history.
6. Sponsored more interreligious conferences than anyone in history.

7. Sponsored and founded more activities for the peaceful defeat of Communism than any other person.This includes worldwide and regional organizations in Asia, Europe, the United States and Latin America, educational seminars, massive rallies and numerous publications including newspapers and books for the sole purpose of the peaceful defeat of communism.

8. Only religious leader to found a major daily newspaper in the United States. The Washington Times is the number two daily newspaper in United States capital, Washington D.C. Reverend Moon has also founded daily newspapers in Korea and Japan.

9. Reverend Moon once gave a sermon 16 hours long with no break. This is most likely a world record.

Rev. Sun Myung Moon, world record:

'via Blog this'

Rev. Sun Myung Moon, his daily life

REV. SUN MYUNG MOON: HIS DAILY LIFE
A Life of Teaching by Example

HIS DAILY SCHEDULE: For those who personally observe Reverend Moon, one of the most astounding things about him is his daily schedule. To start, Reverend Moon sleeps only 2-3 hours a night. It has always been that way, even now at the age of 87. His day begins around 3 am with prayer and ends every well past midnight. Day after day, year after year he keeps this grueling schedule. No one, including persons far younger, can keep up with his grueling pace.

His daily activites are entirely public. He and Mrs. Moon begin every day with a 5 am public prayer service. Afterwards, he commonly speaks two or three hours to the gathering of members or leaders. A public breakfast follows with a table full lof leaders who give him reports about activities around the world. The rest of the day is spent meeting with world leaders, visiting projects and giving more inspiration.

In the evening, weary followers leave meetings with him well after midnight. Rather than going up to his room right away to get a rest, he is often observed with his wife staying in the lecture hall deep in prayer for those who just left. His bedtime is sometime past 2 am,  but at times he does not sleep at all, speaking and guiding followers the whole night through or praying the night through over some serious situation.

Everyday he gives guidance to members, visitors and leadership usually for several hours at a time. His record for length of a sermon is 16 hours. Reverend Moon's sermons and speeches are given spontaneously without notes. They come to him after his daily hours of prayer received in inspiration from God. There are now more than 400 published volumes of his sermons and speeches. There are 12 volumes of his prayers. Yet, incredibly each speech is unique. No religious leader has a record of as many speeches, sermons and prayers as Reverend Moon.

Another unusual thing about Reverend Moon are his prayers-they are tearful prayers focused on comforting God. For those who observe him closely, it is clear that the absolute center of Reverend Moon's life is a profound, heartfelt relationship with God. His tearful prayers are both public and heard from his room in the early morning hours and late at night.

Reverend Moon takes no personal time, no vacations, no breaks--and it has been that way for the more than 50 years of his public life. His life is lived entirely for others: his daily schedule seems beyond any human capacity.

When asked how he can live like this, Reverend Moon has commented that it is because he is thinking as a parent of the thousands of persons who are dying every day without knowing God. The central concern of Reverend Moon's life is  love and concern for the suffering of God and humanity. It is his love for God and others that enables him to keep up such a sacrificial lifestyle day in and day out for the more than 70 years since he responded to the call of Jesus as a youth on a Korean mountainside.

About Reverend Moon's daily life, these are the words of one of his earliest followers, the Rev. Chung Hwan Kwak:

In teaching us, he would speak from one dawn to the next without stopping to rest. With ever benevolent warmth and engaging geniality, often with words so profound that one would not exchange even for the world, at times persevering through stifling heat with sweat pouring down his body and soaking his clothes, his face drenched in tears as he strove to share the precious gems of truth won by dint of grim struggle to the point of shedding blood, sometimes with raised voice and at other times pausing meaningfully, he fully reflects the all-encompassing dynamism of God, the origin of all existence.

An important part of his daily life is his prayers. His objective in prayer is not to ask for help but rather to comfort God who as our Parent is suffering over mankinds tragic circumstances. He prays before gatherings, often with tears streaming down his face.

While it would be foolhardy to attempt to characterize Reverend Moon's life in an aphorism, I would venture to testify that he has taught us by the power of his own example of living a life entirely for the sake of the liberation of God and the salvation of humankind.

Throughout his life, Reverend Moon has been single-mindedly walking the path of untiring devotion to God. As God's representative, he has experienced God's pain and sorrow with all his heart and with all his strength, exerting his utmost to plant love with a heavenly heart amid a sinful world, forsaking all personal and familial concerns.

This can be best exemplified in one of his prayers:
Heavenly Father, we long for the day when we can live together with You. Please let us become sons and daughters who long for You, and run towards You, and who can bring all the things of creation into harmony by offering greetings of joy and gratitude to You, having arrived at the day of glory when we can live together with You.

Since our minds and bodies were created resembling the external form of our Father, we earnestly hope and desire, Father, that You will allow us to become sons and daughters who resemble You completely.

Oh Father!
Humankind does not know that Your sorrowful mind has permeated the earth, and does not know that the footprints of human history are soaked with the lonely tears of heaven.

We have not known that the endless lamentations of heaven are encircling our minds and bodies. Now we cannot help but admit that we are the descendants of rebellious humankind and that we cannot establish our dignity before heaven or be trusted by heaven.

Father!
There is no one on earth who can stop Your tears, and there is no one to hold and comfort You in Your sorrow, and there is no one to guard the path You are going. Therefore, if there is grief on this earth, that grief is heaven's grief which has permeated the earth; if there is sorrow, that sorrow is heaven's sorrow which has permeated the earth, and if there is enmity, that enmity is heaven's enmity which has permeated the earth. Therefore, humankind who are living on this earth are facing a destiny of not being able to help but be sacrifices of sorrow whether they want to be or not, and are facing a destiny of not being able to help but overcome their grief-filled selves whether they want to do so or not.

(Reverend Sun Myung Moon: Prayers: A Lifetime of Conversation with Our Heavenly Father; "Please Let Us Be Close to the Wellspring of Your Heart." 24 May 1959)

Another longtime follower writes:

"In teaching us, he would speak from one dawn to the next without stopping to rest. With ever benevolent warmth and engaging geniality, often with words so profound that one would not exchange even for the world, at times persevering through stifling heat with sweat pouring down his body and soaking his clothes, his face drenched in tears as he strove to share the precious gems of truth won by dint of grim struggle to the point of shedding blood--sometimes with raised voice, at other times pausing meaningfully--he fully reflects the all-encompassing dynamism of God, the origin of all existence." Rev. Sun Myung Moon, his daily life:

'via Blog this'

Rev. Sun Myung Moon, Biography

BIOGRAPHY of REV. SUN MYUNG MOON

A brief description of Reverend Moon’s life.
For more complete information about his works see His Works. 
1920: Reverend Moon’s Birth in What Is Now North Korea

The house Rev. Moon was born at (North Korea)

Sun Myung Moon was born on January 6, 1920, into a family of farmers that had tilled the land for centuries. As a boy he studied at a Confucian school and was a keen observer of the natural world. Around 1930, his parents became fervent Christians--Presbyterians--and the young Sun Myung Moon became a Sunday school teacher.

At that time, Japan ruled Korea and was trying to force the practice of the Shinto religion onto all Koreans.The religious intolerance of the Japanese regime was one facet of the contempt they held for the Koreans, a people they believed to be inferior. The Korean people were subjected to forty years of humiliation and cruelty as part of Japan's Greater Asian Co-Prosperity Sphere. Growing up oppressed in his own land, Sun Myung Moon learned early the pain of injustice, whether among his own people or at the hands of the Japanese rulers.

The young Moon became intensely aware of human suffering and the failure of humanity to create a loving and just world. He sought to understand why people suffer and how suffering can be ended. From going to church, he knew that religion addressed the fundamental human condition and promised an ideal world to those who obey God; but he saw that established religions, although centuries old and based on scriptures offering revelatory insights, were, in practice, unable to answer many of life's questions or solve the deepest problems facing humankind. Troubled by the immense gap between religious ideals and the actual state of the world, he began his own ardent pursuit of solutions through a life of prayer and study.

1935: A Calling from Jesus Christ
Early Easter morning 1935, Jesus appeared to the young Sun Myung Moon as he was praying in the Korean mountains. In that vision, Jesus asked him to continue the work which he had begun on earth nearly 2,000 years before. Jesus asked him to complete the task of establishing God's kingdom on earth and bringing peace to humankind.

The young Korean was stunned by this encounter, and especially by the request that had been made of him, and at first he refused. However, after deep reflection, meditation and prayer, he pledged to take on the overwhelming mission.

1935-41: Reverend Moon Receives and Develops the Divine PrincipleAfter personally accepting Jesus' call, the young Moon set out to discover the meaning of this unusual call. If Jesus called him to complete his mission, it meant that Jesus' mission was incomplete. Was not salvation through the cross all that humankind needs? What was it that Jesus had left undone on earth? If sin is not completely solved, then what is the actual root of sin?

Sun Myung Moon ceaselessly studied the Bible and other religious teachings in order to unravel these mysteries of life and human history. During this time, he went into deep communion with God and entered the vast battlefield of the spirit and flesh. Through denying his personal desires he overcame temptations of knowledge, wealth and physical pleasure. He came to understand God's own suffering and His longing to be reunited with His children. He learned the difficult steps that humankind would have to take in order to return to God and establish true peace on earth. After receiving his commission from God, he knew he could not succeed in his task without a profound understanding of the Creator and His creation. He intensified his quest for the truth, spending days and nights in passionate prayer, rigorous fasting and study. His method was to posit specific questions, research answers in the physical and spiritual worlds, and then seek confirmation for those answers through prayer. On several occasions he was guided directly by Abraham, Moses, Jesus, Mohammed, Buddha and other saints and sages of all faiths, who met him in spirit and contributed to his understanding of God and the complex history of God's relationship with humankind. By the age of 25, he had developed the fundamentals of the Divine Principle and Unification Principles.

1941-43: Education, Imprisonment and Torture in JapanIn 1941, Rev. Moon graduated from high school and went to Japan to study electronic engineering at an industrial college affiliated with Waseda University. During his time in Japan, he continued his intense prayer and search for the truth. A school friend during that time said that in his room he kept three Bibles —one in Korean, one in English and one in Japanese, which he studied continuously.

He also was a Christian leader in the Korean independence movement against the Japanese occupation of Korea. Young Christians and communists were the strongest leaders of the independence movement against the Japanese occupation. In Japan, some of his closest school friends were communists, and while their atheism pained him, he recognized their sincere dedication to a utopian ideal. A fellow student at that time, Aum Duk-Moon, reports that Reverend Moon defended communists to his Christian friends, saying that they were good people and that Koreans should work together to save their country. He was eventually imprisoned by the Japanese for his student underground activities and tortured for not revealing the names of his collaborators. This imprisonment was what would be his first of six imprisonments under four governments: Japan, North Korea, South Korea and the United States

1943-46: Return to Korea, Outreach to Christian Churches, Imprisonment and TortureIn 1943, Reverend Moon returned to his native land.Upon returning from Japan, Reverend Moon was married to Sang Il Choi, a strong Christian from a well-known Presbyterian family.

In 1944, Reverend Moon was again arrested and severely tortured by the Japanese occupation government in Korea after his name came up in the interrogation of a communist student friend who had been active in the anti-Japanese underground in Tokyo. He refused to confess and was finally released.
In spite of such treatment by the Japanese; his cousin and companion at the time reports that Reverend Moon showed only love and respect to Japanese people. When the war ended in August 1945 he persuaded others not to take revenge on local Japanese officials and worked secretly to get them safe transport back to Japan.

By 1945 he had systemized his teachings, which came to be known as the Divine Principle, and he began his public ministry. The Divine Principle is the fundamental teaching of Reverend Moon and the Unification Church.

Korea, although an Asian country, is recognized having perhaps the most fervent Christian faith of any nation. Reverend Billy Graham was so impressed by the spiritual vitality of her churches during his first visit to Korea that he predicted that one day Korea would send missionaries to revive the West. In this atmosphere of fervent Christianity, Reverend Moon’s original plan was not to start a separate denomination but to work with other Christians to build God's kingdom on the earth. He worked hard to introduce his new revelations to existing Korean Christian churches. But his new teachings were not well received. American Christian missionaries disregarded him as an unschooled "country preacher." Korean ministers, jealous of the young man's impact on their congregation members, accused him of espousing false teachings. Despite his many efforts to reach out to established Christian churches, they did not respond to his new ideas. Reverend Moon soon realized that he was headed down the lonely path of a pioneer religious visionary.

In 1946 while buying rice for his family, Reverend Moon was told by God to leave his family without notifying them and go to communist North Korea to preach.

1946-50: Preaching in Communist North Korea, Imprisonment in a “Death Camp” and Escape to the South Before World War II, the center of Korean Christian activity was Pyongyang, now the capital of North Korea; it was called the "Jerusalem of the East." Among the spirit-filled churches were many with strong messianic expectations. Some of these churches had received revelations that the Messiah would be born in Korea, and they were directed in various ways to prepare to receive him.

He began to teach publicly, despite the dangers presented by the communist-dominated government. As a poor preacher with new interpretations of the  Bible, Reverend Moon was more vulnerable than leaders of the established churches and was, therefore, one of the first religious figures to be imprisoned by the communists.

Rev. Moon at North Korean court

Charged with disturbing the social order, in November 1946, the young minister was imprisoned and tortured. The police believed him to be dead and tossed his body into the prison yard. Some of his followers found him and carried him away to tend to his broken body. Miraculously, Reverend Moon survived and regained his strength. Undaunted, he began preaching in public once again.

Hungnam prison camp

Labor at death camp

In April 1948, he was arrested a second time and sentenced to five years of hard labor in Hungnam prison. He was among the first of the Christian ministers sent to the Soviet-style North Korean gulag. Hungnam was an extermination camp where prisoners were deliberately worked to death. Few lasted more than six months. Yet in that horrific concentration camp, Reverend Moon survived for nearly three years. Although he did not speak a word of the Divine Principle, many of his fellow prisoners looked to him for spiritual strength and became his disciples.

On June 25, 1950, the North Korean army invaded the South in a lightning attempt to unify the entire peninsula by force. UN and American forces, under Gen. Douglas MacArthur, rescued the beleaguered South. One month after the capture of Seoul, UN forces reached the gates of Hungnam prison. Knowing the UN forces were near, the communist prison authorities began to execute the prisoners. The prison camp was liberated by UN forces just hours before Reverend Moon's scheduled execution.

Despite his brutal prison camp experience, Reverend Moon did not immediately flee to the South. Instead, he returned to Pyongyang and spent forty days searching for the members of his scattered flock. He eventually found a few members and then traveled south on foot with two of them. One of his followers had a broken leg and protested that he would slow the party down. Reverend Moon insisted on bringing him and for the long trek either pushed him on a bicycle or carried him on his back.

1950: Evangelization Begins Anew in the Refugee City of Pusan, South Korea 

The f irst church (Pusan)

As a one of hundreds of thousands of war refugees, Reverend Moon arrived in the southern port city of Pusan, where he and one disciple built the first Unification Church from discarded army ration boxes. At that time, he told his small following that one day the message of the Divine Principle would be spread all over the world. He prophesied that people from all over the world would venerate that hillside. Reverend Moon's predictions sounded unbelievable. Today, in fact, tens of thousands of people make a pilgrimage to the spot.

Beginning his evangelization work in the South after nearly five years in the North, Reverend Moon was rejoined by his wife. However, he continued to dedicate himself night and day to his religious mission. She could not accept his dedication to the mission at the sacrifice of his family. Finally she filed for divorce, in spite of Reverend Moon’s strong opposition to a divorce and efforts to dissuade her. (His only child from this marriage and his family are loyal followers of Reverend Moon.)

1954: The Founding of the Holy Spirit Association for the Unification of World Christianity (known as the Unification Church)

Church in Seoul

On May 1,1954, in Seoul, Reverend Moon founded the Holy Spirit Association for the Unification of World Christianity, Reverend Moon's faith community which became popularly called the “Unification Church” worldwide.

The church immediately attracted followers from a major Christian women's university, Ewha University, a school closely linked with the Korean government and with the mainline Protestant denominations. Because many students were joining the church, the school sent professors to investigate. When several professors also joined, instead of sincerely welcoming this new church, the school persecuted it. The university president ordered the professors and students to either leave the church or leave the school.

Coincidentally, newspapers in Seoul suddenly began to print alarming stories about the Unification Church, sex orgies and Reverend Moon being a North Korean agent. Reverend Moon was thrown in jail, to be released weeks later when no charges could be found. Again the following year he was thrown in jail on charges of evading the military draft, even though during the time in question he had been in Hungnam prison. After several months confinement--and sensational media coverage--the charges were dropped. His release received scant notice in the press. Thus began the pattern of collusion between religious leaders, government and the media that to this day suppresses Reverend Moon and his church.

Amid this severe persecution, Reverend Moon nurtured a growing community of faithful disciples, known as the “weeping church” because of the tearful prayers of Reverend Moon and his followers. By 1957, churches were established in thirty Korean cities and towns.

1958-59: First Missionaries Sent to Japan and the United StatesIn the late 1950s, the first international missionaries were sent, one to neighboring Japan in 1958 and two to the United States in 1959.

1960: Marriage to Hak Ja Han MoonOn March 16, 1960, Reverend Moon was blessed in holy marriage to Hak Ja Han. Their blessing was followed by a series of group marriage blessing ceremonies for their followers. Hak Ja Han and her mother, a devout Christian, had also fled south during the Korean War. They soon thereafter joined the Unification Church. Since their marriage, Mrs. Hak Ja Han has dedicated herself entirely to supporting Reverend Moon and his mission. With an unwavering life of sacrifice, courage and dignity, she has stood by her husband through every hardship, borne 14 children and is the grandmother of more than 40 grandchildren.

1965: Reverend Moon Makes His First World Tour, Visiting 40 Nations

1968: The International Federation for Victory Over Communism (IFVOC) Is Founded
IFVOC was the first of many organizations and activities founded by Reverend Moon to bring about the peaceful downfall of communism. Reverend Moon taught that communism should be defeated ideologically through education about the fallacies of Marxism-Leninism, offering a counterproposal consisting of universal principles called Godism, conferences, global networking, rallies and demonstrations in Asia, the United States and Latin America.

1971: Reverend Moon’s Ministry in America Begins

In 1971, God directed Reverend Moon to expand his ministry to the world level by going to the United States. America, which embraces all peoples, races and religions, represents the world. What happens in America has global repercussions. He expressed gratitude for America’s role in liberating his homeland. But he also knew that God expected much more from this land that had been so richly blessed. It was clear to Reverend Moon that America had drifted from its original ideals.





1972: Reverend Moon's Makes HIs First Public Speaking Tour in Seven US Cities

The "Day of Hope" speaking tour began February 3 in Alice Tully Hall at the Lincoln Center in New York and went on to seven major US cities with the purpose of reviving traditional Judeo-Christian values.

1972: The Unification Church Is Established in All Fifty States of the USThe Unification Church had centers in ten states, and in 1972 pioneer leaders were sent out to the forty remaining states to found Unification Church centers. In the same year, evangelical bus teams went state by state in a membership campaign, and thousands of young people accepted his message and dedicated themselves to the Unification Church.

1974: Reverend Moon Speaks to an Overflow crowd 0f 25,000 in New York's Madison Square Garden and Holds Speeches in All Fifty StatesAfter the very successful Madison Square Garden event on September 18, public speeches were given and banquets hosted for thousands of society's leaders in all fifty states.

1974: Reverend Moon Meets with President Richard Nixon in the White House

Reverend Moon met with US President Richard Nixon during the Watergate crisis. Through rallies and newspaper statements, he urged Americans to forgive the beleaguered Richard Nixon at the time of the Watergate scandal. Any public relations strategist would have advised him against such action, which called on Americans to "forgive, love and unite." Virtually no one at the time was willing to side with a president on the verge of impeachment, but Reverend Moon does not flinch when he receives God’s directions. He also foresaw the serious consequences of undercutting the American presidency in a world still dominated by the communist threat. His appeal was met with scorn, even though his “forgive, love and unite” message embodied the essence of Christian practice.

1974: Persecution in America BeginsAs a result the rapid growth of the movement in the United States, it went through a period of persecution similar to what other new religious leaders and movements have faced in the past--the new was seen to be strange and threatening.

Reverend Moon's appeal for a true Christian renewal of America was initially welcomed. However, this receptivity proved shallow when, in 1974, he became an easy target for the now-hostile news media unhappy over Reverend Moon's "forgive, love and unite" message concerning the Watergate scandal.
The fair and objective coverage of the past was replaced by portrayals of Reverend Moon and his church in the worst possible light. All sorts of unfounded allegations from Korea were dug up. In this atmosphere of hysteria, the enthusiasm and idealism of his young followers was reinterpreted as “brainwashing.” Reverend Moon was portrayed as a hypnotist and an agent of a foreign government. Religious and racial bigotry and persecution, a phenomenon in the United States as old as the country itself, showed its ugly face. Even though the United States was founded for the sake of establishing religious freedom, regrettably, religious intolerance remains today. The Unification Church bore the brunt of America’s religious intolerance for three decades.

1975: The Unification Church Spreads Worldwide, Sending MIssionaries to 120 Countries 
With churches already established in Korea, Japan, North America, and the Western European countries, in May 1975, Reverend Moon sent out missionary teams consisting of one Japanese, one American and one German to countries in Asia, Africa, the MIddle East, Latin America and Oceania, bringing the total number of nations with Unification Church representatives to 120.

1975: Reverend Moon speaks to 1.2 million people in Seoul at the Yoido Island Rally for the Protection of the Fatherland

Reverend Moon continued his Day of Hope tour, accompanied by a Global Team of young followers from America, Europe and Asia, with speeches in Japan and Korea, concluding with a rally at Yoido Island near Seoul which was attended by 1.2 million people. Reverend Moon spoke a message of determination to stand against communism in South Korea and establish a world centered on God, at the height of the Cold War during a time of great tension between North and South Korea.

1975: The Unification Theological Seminary (UTS) Is Founded in Barrytown, New York 

UTS is a fully accredited graduate school offering Master's Degrees in Divinity and Religious Education. UTS was founded as an ecumenical seminary, and faculty members have belonged to a broad range of religious denominations. Rather than concentrating solely on Unification theology, students learn philosopy, psychology, world religions and homiletics, as well as the histories, theologies, and scriptures of Judaism, Christianity, Islam and other world religions.

1975: International Interreligious Work Begins
Starting with dialogues at the Unification Theological Seminary, the New Ecumenical Research Association for Christian Unity and continuing with other initiatives, such as the Assembly of the World's Religions, Reverend Moon has been working to promote interreligious discussion, understanding and cooperation to solve the problems of poverty, war, injustice and breakdown of the family. The 1985 Assembly of the World's Religions was attended by 1,000 distinguished religious leaders and scholars. A key social teaching of Reverend Moon is that the world’s most difficult problems will be best solved by religious leaders working interreligiously rather than by purely political and economic initiatives.

1976: During America's Bicentennial Year Reverend Moon speaks to 300,000 Persons at the Washington Monument on the Theme God's Hope for America 

Rally at Washington Monument

To date this was the greatest religious rally ever assembled in Washington, D.C. An estimated 300,000 people of all creeds and colors came to hear him speak at the "God Bless America Festival" on September 18, 1976. At this historic rally, Reverend Moon called upon America to fulfill its blessing as one nation under God, and to create "one world under God." He referred to himself as a "doctor" or a "fire fighter" from the outside who has come to help America meet its third great "test" as a nation, that of "God-denying" communism, and to revive its religious heritage. He proclaimed that the Unification Church with its "absolutely God-centered ideology" had the "power to awaken America, and raise up the model of the ideal nation upon this land."

1978: Reverend Moon Founds the Home Church MovementIn 1978, Reverend Moon called members from around the world to England, where he gave them daily guidance and sent them around the country in a grass-roots community service initiative called "home church." He gave direction to members around the world to choose an area of 360 homes and serve the people and be examples of God's love.

1983: Investigation and Indictment by the United States Government
Under strong pressure from a few politicians who saw an easy way to garner favor with voters riled up by the bad press about Reverend Moon and the Unification Church, the United States government launched a plethora of official investigations of Reverend Moon involving nearly twenty federal agencies. Hearings were conducted on Capitol Hill to warn of the dangers of new religious movements. 

Meanwhile, a five-year Internal Revenue Service investigation finally produced a politically-crafted indictment against Reverend Moon. This indictment, handed down in 1981, charged him with evading income taxes nearly a decade earlier, as well as conspiracy to avoid those taxes. The total amount of taxes supposedly evaded was less than $8000.00. No one in the United States has ever been indicted for tax evasion of such a small amount. The indictment's real purpose, however, was to spur Reverend Moon to leave America.

However, the United States government and some politicians underestimated Reverend Moon’s religiosity and commitment to his mission in America. When the indictment was handed down, Reverend Moon was in Korea. His lawyers recommended that he not come back to America, since there is no extradition treaty between the United States and Korea and by staying away he could avoid conviction and imprisonment. However, he did not follow their advice. He was, after all, a man of God, not a criminal fleeing the law. He immediately returned to the United States. He told his counsel: "I will not abandon my mission in America. That I will never do."

Upon arriving in New York for the Federal District Court arraignment he spoke only one sentence: "Your Honor, I am not guilty." The outcome of the trial was a foregone conclusion. He was convicted and sentenced to spend eighteen months in a federal prison. When, the Supreme Court refused to hear the case, despite forty amicus briefs from mainline Christian leaders, legal associations, civil liberty groups and state governments, he prepared to go to jail.

Still, the US Justice Department tried to negotiate with Reverend Moon's attorneys, determined to achieve their goal of him leaving the United States permanently. On the condition that Reverend Moon depart for Korea and never come back to the United States, they said the government would waive his prison sentence. He flatly refused. His comment was, "It must be God's will that I go to prison. There must be a providential reason why I must go this way." Imprisonment was not new to Reverend Moon: He already had endured imprisonment in communist North Korea, South Korea and Japan during World War II.

1984: Top Religious Leaders Call the Indictment a Serious Violation of Religious Freedom 

In the meantime, protests were being made all around the nation over the injustice Reverend Moon was suffering as a result of religious persecution. Many Christian leaders who never knew or cared about him began to realize that the government had made a serious assault on religious freedom. Christians, including the National Council of Churches headed by Rev. Dean Kelley and non-religious groups representing more than 160 million Americans, came to his legal defense.

1984: US Senate Subcommittee Publishes a Report That in Reverend Moon’s Tax Case “Injustice rather than justice has been served"A US Senate Subcommitte published the following report on Reverend Moon's conviction:
“We accused a newcomer to our shores of criminal and intentional wrongdoing for conduct commonly engaged in by a large percentage of our own religious leaders, namely, the holding of church funds in bank accounts in their own names. Catholic priests do it. Baptist ministers do it, and so did Sun Myung Moon… we charged a non-English-speaking alien with criminal tax evasion on the first tax returns he filed in this country. It appears that we didn't give him a fair chance to understand our laws. We didn't seek a civil penalty as an initial means of redress. We didn't give him the benefit of any doubt. Rather, we took a novel theory of tax liability of less than $10,000 and turned it into a guilty verdict and eighteen months in a federal prison.
"I do feel strongly, after my subcommittee has carefully and objectively reviewed this [Reverend Moon's tax] case from both sides, that injustice rather than justice has been served. The Moon case sends a strong signal that if one's views are unpopular enough, this country will find a way not to tolerate, but to convict. I don't believe that you or I or anyone else, no matter how innocent, could realistically prevail against the combined forces of our Justice Department and judicial branch in a case such as Reverend Moon's.”
1984-85: Prison Life in America

Rev. Moon with Rev. Kamiyama
in Danbury Federal Prison

Without bitterness, Reverend Moon served time in Danbury Federal Prison, the sixth imprisonment of his life. He quickly won the respect of fellow inmates for his humble and friendly ways.

On August 20, 1985, Reverend Moon was freed after completing thirteen months of incarceration. Upon his release, major Christian and civil rights leaders, including Reverend Jerry Falwell of the Moral Majority and Reverend Joseph Lowery of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, held a press conference decrying the persecution and imprisonment of Reverend Moon and to welcome him back.

1984: The Washington Times Is Founded: the Number Two Daily Newspaper in Washington, D.C.
In 1984, during his Danbury imprisonment, Reverend Moon founded the The Washington Times, which became the second largest daily newspaper in America’s capital. The Washington Times was founded by Reverend Moon first to be instrumental in the peaceful fall of communism, a goal achieved in conjunction with the Reagan Administration, and then with the end of the Cold War, to promote family values and support of the role of religion in society.

1990: Reverend Moon and Mrs. Moon Meet with Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev

Rev. and Mrs. Moon with President Gorbachev

In 1990, Reverend Moon organized a major conference of news media leaders and former heads of state in Moscow. This fulfilled a pledge he had made in 1976 that one day he would organize a "great rally for God in Moscow." During this conference, Reverend and Mrs. Moon met with Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev. Through several interviews, televised and in print, he gave a message of hope to the Soviet people, urging them to turn toward God. A strong opponent of communism, Reverend Moon taught that the ideology was mistaken but he came to love the communist people. Since the fall of the Soviet Empire, he has funded numerous activities to assist former communist countries in their transition to democracy and freedom.

1991: Reverend and Mrs. Moon Meet with North Korean President Kim Il Sung 

Rev. and Mrs. Moon with with Kim Il Sung

In 1991, Reverend Moon made a crucial step towards the establishment of world peace through the peaceful reunification of North and South Korea. Risking his life, he traveled to North Korea in December 1991, and met with President Kim Il Sung, under whose regime he had been tortured and sent to a labor camp. His purpose was to seek ways to bridge the gap between the two countries. The North Korean ruler, who had suppressed religion for forty years, met and graciously welcomed Reverend and Mrs. Moon. In the same visit Reverend Moon was permitted to return to his hometown and the house of his birth, placing flowers on the graves of his parents and embracing proud and tearful surviving relatives.


1992: The International Women's Federation for World Peace Is Founded, and Mrs. Hak Ja Han Moons Begins Her Own Public Activities for Peace
In 1992, Mrs. Hak Ja Han Moon, the devoted wife and mother of 14 children, began her own public activities for world peace beginning with a world speaking tour. Her mission is both to lead peacemaking work and promote the central role of women in creating a just and peaceful society. Today, after years of intense international work, Mrs. Moon is recognized as one of the most effective woman leaders in the world. She has spoken in such notable venues as Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., the United Nations in New York City, the Kremlin, the Great Hall in Bejing and congressional buildings in Japan, Korea, and Canada. Perhaps no other woman leader has addressed so many large audiences in as many countries as Mrs. Moon.

Her first world tour in 1993 took her to 44 cities in America, 27 cities in Japan, 40 university campuses in Korea, and 41 nations around the world. In 2006, accompanied by her adult children and grandchildren, she undertook two world tours for peace at the incredible pace of a country per day. She and her family spoke to enthusiastic audiences in 120 countries in Asia, Europe, Africa, the Middle East, Oceania and Latin America. She was received as a dignitary and met with many heads of states, prominent religious leaders and political leaders.

1996: The Family Federation for World Peace Is Founded

Keynote address at FFWP inauguration

In 1996, Reverend Moon announced the end of the era of the Holy Spirit Association for the Unification of World Christianity. In its place, he founded the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification, building a network of families from every race, religion and culture, united in the belief that centered on God's love, happy marriages and successful families are the cornerstones for solving the most fundamental problems of society.

1999: International and Interreligious Federation for World Peace Is Founded Reverend Moon proposes the creation of an international council of religious, civic and political leaders to supplement the peacekeeping work of the United Nations. The IIFWP, known as the Universal Peace Federation since 2005, has been active in 190 countries with 110,000 “Ambassadors for Peace” who work for peace in their nations and internationally. The IIFWP is a Non-Governmental Organization with Special Consultative Status with the Economic and Social Council of the UN.

2001: Reverend Moon responds to September 11 by Organizing Conferences to Address Interreligious Conflict The first was held in New York itself, in October 2001, for religious and political leaders from around the globe; the second, an unprecedented conference for international Muslim leaders in Indonesia in December 2001, was titled: Islam and the Future World of Peace, reflecting Reverend Moon's confidence in Islam's potential to be a major partner in the global quest for peace.

2003: Middle East Peace Initiative Begins
Reverend Moon is dedicating himself to address the world’s most unsolvable challenges--achieving peace in the Middle East and a peaceful reconciliation between North and South Korea. The Middle East Peace Initiative exemplifies his approach to peace by calling on leaders of all fields, including government, academia, religion and the arts, to join in interreligious peace missions to the trouble spots of the world.

2005 Universal Peace Federation (UPF) Is Launched on Six ContinentsThe mission of UPF is to create a global council of religious and other leaders to supplement and support the peace-making work of the United Nations. It has a Global Peace Council with distinguished leaders from all continents and will have a Peace Force to mediate in the world’s trouble spots.

2005: Bering Strait Tunnel Project Is Announced
2005-2006: Three Generations of the Moon Family Bring Message of Peace to 120 Countries 

Rev. Moon's children completed 120 country speaking tour

Reverend and Mrs. Moon are the parents of 14 children and more than 40 grandchildren. Beginning in 2006, a number of their adult children and adult grandchildren, accompanied by their spouses, joined Mrs. Moon on a history-making world tour for peace to 120 nations. Audiences worldwide are inspired that Reverend Moon’s important work is being effectively continued through the dedication of the second and third generations of his family. Another son, Hyung Jin, who practices Korean Buddhism and is a graduate of Harvard Divinity School, began visits to world religious leaders to network and plan for interreligious peace work.

2006: Cheon Jeong Gung Peace Palace, Museum and Meeting Center Inaugurated in Korea 

Cheon Jeong Gung Peace Palace, Museum and Meeting Center

Called the “Vatican of the East," the Cheon Jeong Gung Peace Museum and Meeting Center is a magnificent building in the mountains of the beautiful Korean countryside two hours outside Seoul and close to the North Korean border. With state-of-the-art meeting facilities, it is designed to be a foremost conference center where world leaders will meet to make plans for the new era of peace and prosperity.

Rev. Sun Myung Moon, Biography:

'via Blog this'