Cham Bumo Gyeong: Episode 198

Cham Bumo Gyeong
Book 7: True Parents’ Course of Suffering and Victory
Chapter 3: Suffering In Danbury Prison And True Parents' Victory
Section 4: Mission in Prison and Christian Support, Fall of the Soviet Union

Section 4: Mission in Prison and Christian Support, Paragraph 10

Section 4. Mission in Prison and Christian Support

Fall of the Soviet Union

True Father had long predicted that the communist world would fall. While in Danbury Prison, he asked Professor Morton Kaplan to make "The Fall of the Soviet Empire" the theme of the upcoming Second International Congress of the Professors World Peace Academy held in Geneva, Switzerland in August 1985. Also while in prison True Father developed The Washington Times and promoted other activities for the sake of world peace; most notably, he encouraged Nicaraguans who were working to prevent communists from overrunning Central America.

1  On at least three occasions while in Danbury Prison, I spoke with Professor Kaplan, who was responsible for the upcoming International Congress of the Professors World Peace Academy, and persuaded him to give it the title, "The Fall of the Soviet Empire." At first he urged me to use a different title, saying, "Please let's not say ‘the Fall.' Instead, what about saying ‘maybe' it will end?" I asked him, "What will you do if communism does in fact end in the next five years?" Within five years it actually happened. 

I am the only one who knew when the communist world would collapse. Neither the academic world, nor the religious world, nor the media knew. The entire world opposed me, but I am the one who foresaw when it would happen. It was also in Danbury that I proclaimed the opening of the gate to heaven.

2  America opposed me, but I have been loving America. I cannot fulfill the history of restoration unless I am more patriotic than the American people. There will be no path open to restore America unless I make the condition of loving America more than its own citizens and patriots who lived for the sake of their nation. For this reason, when I established The Washington Times, I authorized the first payment while I was actually in the courtroom facing the trial that would send me to Danbury Prison. I founded The Washington Times to save America, even while America was in a rage against me and trying to bring me down.

3  The weapon that I possess is love. That is why, even though I was incarcerated in Danbury Prison, I called the leaders of The Washington Times to begin publishing Insight and The World & I magazines. I established six other organizations as well. My purpose in all of this was to revive America. It is because of the foundation that I made while in prison that we could establish today's worldwide foundation.

4  President Reagan submitted to Congress a bill authorizing $14 million to aid the Nicaraguan Contras. However, Congress rejected it. Why do you think that, out of the 240 million people who are living in America, God would wake me up in the middle of the night in my cell in Danbury and give me an urgent command regarding this matter? He ordered me to do it right away, so I called True Mother at once. I told her that The Washington Times had to solve this problem of support for freedom. I said they had to be determined to succeed, and even stake the future of the newspaper on it. 

At that time, President Reagan was in Germany and not on US soil. I called those in charge of The Washington Times to create a fund-raising campaign with the American people to generate the $14 million for the Contras. I told them that the newspaper should encourage people to step forward and take responsibility for it. This kind of thing was inconceivable in the world of mass media, but I told them they had to do it. I told them that if they were not willing to do it, within a month I would find the money to fund the Contras myself. I said, "Write an editorial and publish it." 

A great leader makes things happen while not taking the credit. I asked the newspaper leadership to contact the editor-in-chief of The Washington Times directly and ask him to initiate a fund-raising campaign to mobilize all the American citizens who wanted to support the Nicaraguan Contras. Thanks to God's help, within seven weeks American public opinion completely reversed and a majority supported the Contras. Congress again took up the matter, and this time it passed a bill authorizing $27 million in aid.

5  God blessed America in order to build the kingdom of heaven, with North and South America as His base. Nicaragua was in a critical situation; if it fell to communism, God would face a situation in which He might lose all of South America. Have you ever thought about God's miserable heart when He came to me while I was in prison and told me I must save the Americas, even though there are many capable people such as the US president, Christian leaders and the like? You may doubt my direction, but if had I doubted God's direction and thought, "I'm not sure if this is God's command; let's just wait and see," what do you think would have happened? God directly gave me an order, and it had to be carried out. We could not be even one or two days late. It was Saturday night and the next day was Sunday, when the entire US government was not working. God knew this situation. If we had waited until Monday night, rumors probably would have spread that The Washington Times was conspiring with the White House.

6  Even when I was in prison, God continued to give me directions. He ordered me to carry out all kinds of tasks in order to resolve the Nicaraguan issue. As a result, American public opinion in support of the Nicaraguan Contras grew, and the aid bill that Congress had put aside was passed. The US government needed to provide $27 million of support to the Nicaraguan Contras; otherwise Nicaragua might well have fallen under the control of the Soviet Union. If that had happened, then five other nations, including Mexico, Guatemala and Honduras, would also have been attacked by communist forces and a major war could have broken out.

The aid bill had to be passed. Since Congress knew I was prepared to raise the support myself, which would have been a great embarrassment for America, Congress had to pass the bill.

7  While in Danbury Prison, I established six organizations in the span of nine days. This work, which I did in a very short time, was to promote religious freedom and to save America—although America had taken the position of my enemy. Nevertheless, these organizations, which I established to play a pivotal role for this nation, became an issue for Americans. Americans were not supposed to oppose these organizations; they were supposed to support them. So I had to make a condition for Americans to welcome them. 

America is the leading nation of the free world, yet Satan was blocking America from returning to its founding spirit. Therefore, I had to make a condition in front of God to love America more than the Americans love their own nation. I received God's affirmation that I had done so. With God as my judge, I fought to set the condition of having the highest standard of love, and I succeeded.

Uniting Christianity

On May 30, 1984, at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Washington, D.C., members of the clergy from 40 denominations participated in a rally to protest the US government's prosecution and imprisonment of True Father as religious persecution. It was followed by a conference at the Sheraton Hotel in New York on June 11. True Father then worked with the religious leaders who gathered in support of religious freedom and religious tolerance to develop further activities for the revival of American Christianity. 

Moreover, while True Father was incarcerated in Danbury Prison, he prepared educational materials and sent them together with his own letter dated February 28, 1985, to more than 300.000 American clergy. In his letter, he urged them to stand for religious freedom and religious tolerance. Each minister received a copy of Divine Principle, a Divine Principle lecture video, and a copy of God's Warning to the World. Father also set up seminars for 7,000 Christian leaders, inviting them to Korea and Japan to study the Unification Principle.

8  We must gain victory over the American government before we can enter the promised land, the land of Canaan. It is that simple. I understood this before I went to trial. So even now my focus is on making all the necessary preparations to lay the foundation by which I can influence the government to go in the right direction. I am determined that I will not be defeated like Moses was in the Old Testament Age; I will not be like Moses who died and could not enter the promised land. 

Now the time has come when I can restore all that was lost with Jesus' death on the cross. Christianity today is in the same position as Judaism at the time of the Roman Empire. I am in the same position as Jesus of that time. When Jesus carried the cross, Judaism and Rome were estranged. However, when I am walking the path of the cross, Unification members did not run away from me; my 12 disciples did not run away from me. Even Christianity did not oppose me. On the contrary, 40 Christian religious bodies united and welcomed me, pledging to support me in my fight. Therefore, if the American government says even one word in support, everything will be done.

9  Jesus was not welcomed, either by Judaism or by the nation of Judea. They persecuted him and worked to destroy him. His situation was as a third party, an outsider, fighting to restore the standard whereby Judaism and the nation of Judea would cooperate with him. Under those circumstances, he ended up dying on the cross. Likewise, I was not welcomed, either by Korea on the national level or by Christianity on the worldwide level, and I too was driven to the position of a third party, an outsider. It was in order to overcome this situation that I came to America, but I have been opposed in America as well. Now I am faced with the prospect of being hung on the Danbury cross. I must reverse this entire situation of opposition. 

It is an unsettling truth that because John the Baptist failed to attend Jesus, not only did the nation of Judea and Judaism oppose Jesus, but Rome joined them in opposing him. The opposition of Christianity and America came about because the Unification Church was not able to establish a strong enough foundation in Korea to overcome the persecution there. To make matters worse, we are receiving opposition from communism, which has a worldwide foundation. This puts us in a position exactly like that at the time of Jesus. The opposition of Rome was exactly the same as the opposition of America, which represents the free world. Because of this, even if it takes going to prison in America, I will have to mobilize Christian churches and establish a coalition movement. If we cannot do this, it will be a serious problem for us.

10  The purpose for my coming to America is to save Christianity. God's Will is to unify world Christianity. So, whatever it takes, we must influence the Christian ministers and guide America and the world in the direction that God desires and connect them to God's Will. 

After the people of Israel finished their 40 years in the wilderness, the time came for them to migrate to a new land and settle there together. Where can the Unification Church go to settle? God's desire is for the Unification Church to settle in America and create a new America. I came to America because I knew that God wants to build a new, ideal nation in America. In order to create a new America, we will have to be victorious over communism, prevent the breakdown of families, stop the moral degradation of young people, and revive Christianity. There is no way other than this to revive America.