Chapter 1 The Life of the Founder

 

 

 

 

 

 Victory in Danbury Prison

 

 Reverend Moon leaving Phoenix House with Mrs. Moon

 Reverend Moon was released on August 20, 1985, having served thirteen months of his eighteen months sentence for tax evasion. He spent approximately twelve months at Danbury Federal Prison in the state of Connecticut and, immediately prior to his release, forty-five days at Phoenix House, a Brooklyn "half-way house" for those soon to be released.

Reverend Moon can be considered as representative of the suffering of the twentieth century. Mr. Eun-woo Kim, who authored a Christian White Paper, asked the question "Who could save the world today?" and wrote: "Look at the suffering Unification Church and Reverend Moon from a new angle. I testify, on my reputation, conscience, and academic knowledge, to my conviction that only he can save this world." Moreover, Senator Orrin Hatch said, on Reverend Moon's completing his one year prison sentence, that he had been the victim of a political conspiracy.

Reverend Moon is welcomed on his release from Phoenix House

Reverend Moon, sentenced on the basis of being declared guilty by the US administration, ironically ended up the winner due to his release amid fervent support and welcome from the religious world. This was due to the exposure of a deliberate political conspiracy against a man who had been innocent from the beginning.

 

Press Conference on Reverend Moon's Release

On August 20, 1985, thirteen months after beginning his prison sentence, Reverend Moon was released as a complete victor of freedom. Twenty-five representatives of the religious community throughout America gathered in Washington DC and held a welcoming press conference. Reverend Jerry Falwell, leader of the Moral Majority and a well-known television evangelist, and Reverend Joseph Lowery, president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference and an activist in the cause of black civil rights, were among those who welcomed Reverend Moon's release and urged President Reagan to pardon him. Reverend Falwell stated that whilst Reverend Moon might be the unpopular one at that time, it might be anyone else in the future. Further, that religious leaders were certainly not above the law, but that they ought to have absolute religious freedom.

 

God and Freedom Banquet

At six o'clock in the evening of the day of Reverend Moon's release, the God and Freedom National Committee sponsored the God and Freedom Banquet in honor of Reverend Moon's release. It was held at the Regency Ballroom of the Omni Shoreham Hotel in Washington DC.

Reverend and Mrs. Moon praying at the banquetParticipating were seventeen hundred dignitaries including clergymen, scholars and media representatives from across the United States, transcending denomination and race. They included Reverend Donald Sills, president of the Coalition for Religious Freedom, Reverend Jerry Falwell, Reverend Joseph Lowery, Dr. Cleon Skousen, director of the National Center for Constitutional Studies in Washington DC and former chancellor of the University of Utah, Professor Richard Rubenstein, professor of religion at Florida State University, and Dr. Robert Grant, chairman of Christian Voice Inc.

God and Freedom Banquet sponsored by the God and Freedom National Committee

  After welcoming remarks by several dignitaries, Reverend Moon was presented with a trophy and victory plaque. In his speech, The Will of God, Reverend Moon pointed out that the greatest problems facing America are racism, deterioration of social, ethical and moral values, the decline of religious life and the rise of materialism and communism. He further emphasized that all Christians should unite transcending denominational boundaries to "lead a supra-denominational, cultural revolution on a worldwide scale."

 

 

 

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