Chronology of the Unification Movement
From 1920/35 to Now: (Development ongoing as more information surfaces in my research; as the Movement's body of work is exceptionally huge). *All Rights Reserved (See Copyright for this Publication)
Reverend Sun Myung Moon
A Note on my References, Sources and Research: In order to more fully understand someone or something, especially as deeply misunderstood as Reverend Moon and the Unification Movement; it is vital to have a working knowledge of not just “the facts” as well as one can know them accurately; but to also have a working knowledge of: Historical contexts, and patterns, in similar situations in which the True Nature of someone or something has become so hopelessly obfuscated, the everyday person has little chance in knowing the Truth; because the “educated,” “powerful,” and “influential,” of a society have used their “intelligence” and “education” to misinform, abuse, ridicule, and gain notoriety, and control, at someone else's expense.
Father Moon was born in 1920, in what is currently Communist North Korea.
1935 Father Moon Received his mission from Jesus Christ Easter Morning. He was the son of a strong, long-standing Confucian Family, who converted to Presbyterian Christianity.
By the end of the Second World War, Father Moon had developed the Fundamentals of The Divine Principle and Unification Principles, which are: Ultimately, to Unify the World through the devoted practice of Unconditional Love; to heal historical wounds between men and women, countries, faiths, and races; in order to realize World Peace.
He was a Christian leader in the Korean Independence Movement against the Japanese occupation of Korea.
Early 1940’s while in College for Electric Engineering, Father Moon was imprisoned and tortured by the Japanese Government for his underground resistance activities.
He married Sang Il Choi around 1943.
In 1944 Father Moon was once again arrested and severely tortured by the Japanese Government.
In 1945 Father Moon systemized his teachings in what is the Divine Principle book, the core teaching of the Unification Movement.
He tried to work with other Christian denominations to introduce his new revelations and advance what he understood as God's will through their unity in one another.
Though he inspired many as a young preacher, many Christian ministers became jealous of his impact, and they worked to ostracize him, and he finally was forced to leave the established Christian communities.
In 1946, Father Moon felt called by God to leave immediately to preach in Communist North Korea. He did not notify his family.
There were several churches in North Korea at that time who had received revelations that the Messiah would be born in Korea. Poor, as well as a preacher with new revelations, he was vulnerable to Communist persecution.
He was arrested and tortured, and tossed out for dead in the prison yard. Some of his followers found him and they attended to him to heal his broken body. Miraculously, he survived, recovered, and immediately began preaching again.
In 1948 Father Moon was arrested a second time and sentenced to five years in a Communist concentration camp. Though conditions were set up to cruelly kill the prisoners through hard labor, Father Moon survived almost three years. Many prisoners gathered around him to seek his guidance and receive spiritual strength.
In 1950 North Korean Communists invaded South Korea. UN Forces stepped in and rescued South Korea from Communist takeover. Hours before Father Moon was to be executed, the UN liberated the North Korean labor camp.
Instead of immediately returning South, Father Moon went to Pyeongyang and spent 40 days searching for his scattered followers. He found a few members and began traveling South on foot with two of them. One of them had a broken leg, and he carried him on his back, or pushed him on a bicycle the entire journey.
One of the two followers was named Won Pil Kim; who would be the one, single person left with Father Moon, to continue Father Moon's mission work after arriving in Busan.
They arrived in Busan, South Korea where Father Moon and Won Pil Kim built the first Unification Church out of discarded army ration boxes. Father Moon prophesied at that time that people all over the entire world would hear the Divine Principle; and venerate the very spot on which the first UC was built. Today, tens of thousands sojourn to that very spot in Busan.
Finally around this time, Father Moon was reunited with his wife and child. Sadly, she eventually filed for divorce, as she felt she could not sustain a family with him; as he was deeply dedicated to his mission day and night.
On May 1st, 1954 Father Moon founded “The Holy Spirit Association for the Unification of World Christianity,” in Seoul Korea.
Many members joined from a nearby University, students and professors alike. The school began persecuting Rev. Moon and his followers, and the Press began printing distorted, and sensationalized stories about the new Church.
“Thus began the pattern of collusion between religious leaders, government and the media that to this day suppresses Rev. Moon and his church.” ~ upf.org
Reverend Moon was thrown into prison during this time twice; once on the basis of the slanderous media coverage that included an accusation that he was a North Korean Agent. He was released because they found nothing to charge him formally with. The second time was based on the accusation that he evaded the military draft, when at the time of the draft, he was in the North Korean labor camp.
Because of the intense persecution, and tearful prayers of Reverend Moon and his followers, UC became known as “The Weeping Church.”
1955 Mother Moon's Mother, joined the UC and met Father Moon. She had felt for 30 years that she was meant to meet who she deeply felt was the Lord of the Second Advent; and had dedicated her life, many times at the risk of her life, to helping liberate Korea and serve God's Will.
At that time, Mother Moon was 12 Years Old.
1956 Hak Ja Han Moon, “Mother Moon” met Father Moon.
Dr. Hak Ja Han Moon
By 1957, Chapters of the UC were formed in 30 Korean cities and towns.
In 1960 Hak Ja Han Moon received her mission from God to become Father Moon's Bride, and what she understood deeply as the “Universal Mother.”
Father and Mother Moon were officially engaged, and then married, that same year. The marriage ceremony took place April 11th, 1960
Father Moon was arrested and harshly interrogated, due to a Christian group's accusations, the day before the wedding ceremony.
Wedding Ceremony: First in Western Attire, then in Traditional Korean attire.
“As we were joined as husband and wife, I made a firm resolution in front of God: During my lifetime, my beloved husband and I will bring to a conclusion the history of the providence of restoration through indemnity, during which God has laboriously toiled. I know that what hurts God’s heart more than anything else are the religious conflicts that take place in His name. Without fail, we will end them.” Mother Moon ~ From: “Mother of Peace.”
“Beginning with our first daughter, Ye-jin, I gave birth to children one after another. The church headquarters that served also as our home was a small and poorly insulated Japanese-style house, and I suffered postpartum ailments as a result of delivering babies there. I was young but, as women have done from time immemorial, I quietly endured the pain of childbirth. Within my heart, Heavenly Parent was present at every moment. No matter how difficult the situation and surroundings, I was filled with joy. Never for a moment did I lack the helping hand of God, working His miracles in the background.” ~ Mother Moon From: “Mother of Peace”
Mother Moon would give birth to 14 children over the course of 20 years. Seven sons and seven daughters.
Mother Moon with Unification Church wives and their children in the early church.
The early members though heavily persecuted by the left and right factions of government, media, and religion, and therefore left out of government sponsorships for rebuilding South Korea; nonetheless built classrooms with mud walls for the children. These were the formative years of what is now the Unification Movement's Sunhak Educational Foundation.
Late 1950s the UC began their International Mission work.
May 1963: Though impoverished, the early UC through inspiration and innovation, persisted, and after several rejections due to bigotry from many established churches, finally registered their Church legally as The Holy Spirit Association for the Unification of World Christianity.
First Independent School that Father and Mother Moon established was, “The Little Angels Art School,” in 1974.
1970s: Father and Mother Moon launched the VOC or “Victory Over Communism,” as the threat of Communism was always looming from North Korea, and at that time spreading all over the world. They knew first hand its brutality, and therefore their country's need to be educated and uplifted to continue to resist it.
The VOC formative years eventually led, decades later to Father and Mother Moon meeting Mikhail Gorbachev, then president of the Soviet Union, and in 1991, Kim Il Sung, then the leader of Communist North Korea. These visits profoundly opened the way for the fall of Communism and dialogue between North and South Korea.
In 1965 Father Moon toured for ten months in the US to encourage and uplift the early member's mission work. In that time he met former US President Dwight Eisenhower.
The UC Missions spread in this time to Europe, the Middle East and South America.
1970s: The Divine Principle and the UC spread rapidly throughout the world.
June 1st, 1976: Yankee Stadium (USA) Rally in which more than 50,000 people attended. The reason Father and Mother Moon and the Unification Movement held this rally was to inspire America to fight Communism and restore Family Values.
Three months later, the Unification Movement held another equally impressive rally in Washington DC, at Washington Monument.
“Arrayed against us at the Yankee Stadium and Washington Monument events were more than 30 opposition groups, including the US Communist Party. Nonetheless, without a trace of fear or the remotest consideration about pulling back, my husband and I set aside our personal safety and dedicated our lives to the future of the United States.” ~ From: “Mother of Peace”
1972: Father and Mother Moon and their Movement established the American branch of the Professors World Peace Academy (worked in tandem with VOC).
1972: They Commenced the first “International Conference on the Unity of the Sciences (ICUS).”
During the Watergate Scandal Father and Mother Moon with their Movement called for America to “Forgive, Love and Unite,” as a Nation to overcome Communism and Restore Family Values.
1974: Father and Mother Moon met President Richard Nixon.
1974: Held at Madison Square Garden, The Moons and the Movement hosted an event and speech entitled, “The New Future of Christianity.” 30,000 people attended.
During this time they established “The Confederation of Associations for the Unity of the Societies of the Americas (CAUSA);” millions in the West, Latin America and Asia listened to CAUSA lectures, and empowered religious and political leaders as well as others to fight against Communism through education.
1970s - 1980s: The media, governmental and religious persecution was very intense, and many times life-threatening:
“In these ‘Iron Curtain’ countries, surveillance, deportation, shadowing and terror were our missionaries’ everyday experiences. In 1973 in Czechoslovakia, the police arrested most of the core members. Almost 30 young people received prison sentences of up to nearly five years; others were released but endured ongoing repression. In 1976 in France, unidentified assailants bombed our Villa Aublet Church in Paris, injuring two members. Our French members marched from the Eiffel Tower to the Trocadéro calling for religious liberty and winning the sympathy of many. Finally, when it was revealed that communists were involved in the bombing, prominent leaders, including US congressional members, publicly condemned the attack on religion.” ~ From: “Mother of Peace.”
1982-1984: Father Moon was outside of the USA when he was accused along with Takeru Kamiyama, by the American media and government of tax evasion and conspiracy. They were were found guilty sentenced to many months in prison (Danbury, Connecticut) and fined thousands of dollars.
A professional poll conducted in New York City, through the request of the Moon-Kamiyama Defense Team, showed that 40% of the poll's far-reaching sample, declared that Father Moon should be thrown in prison without a trial; indeed the poll showed that this “lynch mob" 40% believed he deserved prison with or without official charges against him.
Despite this devastating, and horrific information lifted from New York's American Public, among many other equally horrific media and government factors, Father Moon and Mr. Kamiyama's Defense were repeatedly denied a bench trial by the Court. Therefore denying them their right, with impunity, to the Sixth Amendment.
At anytime during the entire judicial process, the two men could have left the United States; they were given no travel restrictions by the Federal Government, and tax evasion is not subject to extradition or prosecution in another country. The day they gave themselves over to the guards at Danbury CT Prison, in the end, had been of their own free will.
To this day; the Federal Prosecution against Father Moon and Mr. Kamiyama have no physical or direct evidence in record, that they were guilty of the charges lodged against them.
The Jury that pronounced the final verdict on the Case, without direct evidence; had black, white, and hispanic representation.
To this day however, the U.S. Federal Government has recorded proof of the Federal Prosecution's withholding of vital evidence; that would have shown the many charges of perjury against Kamiyama were fabricated by the Prosecution, by taking advantage of a terribly faulty translation, in order to entrap Kamiyama, who at the time, spoke very limited English.
The physical evidence surfaced in 1984, through an interview with the Japanese translator Eisuke Sasagawa who painstakingly and thoroughly found, and recorded hundreds of mistakes in the original translation in Court proceedings, to Kamiyama.
Sasagawa had made it clear to the Head Prosecutor that because of the botched translation, Kamiyama had not been properly informed of his Rights to the Fifth Amendment.
The second translation had been requested by the Prosecution, however, the results would have been devastating to the Prosecution's Case, and so they withheld it from the Defense, and the Court.
In order to seem legitimate, the Prosecution manipulated the evidence, by trimming it to suit their case, before presenting it in Court.
“The Unification Church, its leaders and followers were and continue to be the victims of the worst kind of religious prejudice and racial bigotry this country has witnessed in over a century. Moreover, virtually every institution we as Americans hold sacred the Congress, the courts, law enforcement agencies, the press, even the U.S. Constitution itself was prostituted in a malicious, oftentimes brutal manner, as part of a determined effort to wipe out this small but expanding religious movement.” ~ Carlton Sherwood, Respected Journalist and Author of: “Inquisition: The Persecution and Prosecution of the Reverend Sun Myung Moon.”
Dr. Pak, a devoted and beloved longtime follower of Father and Mother Moon, was kidnapped by the USA Communist Party while Father Moon was in prison. They beat him and tortured him unconscious.
He escaped, saying later that he heard a voice that told him he could escape if he did so within 12 hours.
1982: Father and Mother Moon established “The Washington Times” Newspaper.
1984: They Founded “Universal Ballet”
1990s: Mother Moon toured Globally to spread the Ideals of Unification, and introduce officials, religious leaders and common people alike to the Divine Principle Teachings; that she calls in her Memoir, “the new expression of the Truth.”
1992: Mother Moon Founded with her husband “Women's Federation for World Peace.”
1994: Father and Mother Moon Established “Youth Federation for World Peace,” (YFWP)
2005: Father and Mother Moon Established “Universal Peace Federation” (UPF). “The Universal Peace Federation is now an NGO in General Consultative Status with the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), where its representatives work with like-minded, peace-loving global citizens.”
2015: “I have mentioned the Peace Road project. It consists of events in which people of all ages and nationalities, wearing Peace Road tee shirts and carrying a Peace Road flag, ride bicycles or walk to show their support for our proposed International Peace Highway. Their path ends at local government centers where officials and social and religious leaders speak at rallies, publicly announcing their support for the initiative and stimulating publicity in local media. Leaders and citizens of many countries, including members of the International Association of Parliamentarians for Peace, have welcomed the Peace Road movement. In 2015, people in more than 120 countries participated. All together, the peace riders that year symbolically traversed the world in 93 days.”~ From: “Mother of Peace”
2013: Father and Mother Moon Established “HJ World Peace Foundation.”
2015: Mother Moon Founded “Global Top Gun Youth” (GTGY).
2018: “In 2018 I visited South Africa, which has experienced heartbreaking agony due to racial conflict. In the past, it was not easy for me to enter the country, but this time the nation welcomed me with open arms. I hosted the Africa Summit and a marriage Blessing Ceremony. More than 1,000 representatives from some 60 nations attended the Summit and adopted my proposal for the settlement of peace and improvement of living standards. The Summit’s purpose was to commemorate the centenary of the birth of Nelson Mandela and honor his legacy. The participants cheered the speech of Mr. Mandela’s eldest grandson, Zwelivelile ‘Mandla’ Mandela, a member of South Africa’s Parliament, in which he sincerely testified to me. ‘Just like my grandfather,’ he said, ‘Dr. Hak Ja Han Moon is an icon of peace in this age. Africa should carry on the work left by President Mandela together with Dr. Hak Ja Han Moon, who has presented a new hope and vision to us through the Heavenly Africa Project.’” ~ From: “Mother of Peace”
REFERENCES, SOURCES, RESEARCH:
(Understanding historical facts, context and patterns; as well as the development of laws and the media; as well as patterns of human psychology, neurosis, Divinity and religion)
upf.org
“Mother of Peace: And God Shall Wipe Away all Tears from Their Eyes.” A Memoir by Dr. Hak Ja Han Moon
“Inquisition: The Persecution and Prosecution of the Reverend Sun Myung Moon.” by Carlton Sherwood
The United States Constitution
“Divine Principle,” Holy Spirit Association
“The Holy Bible,” Various Christian Institutions
“The Crucifixion by an Eye Witness: A Letter Written Seven Years after the Crucifixion, by a Personal Friend of Jesus in Jerusalem, to an Esseer Brother in Alexandria.” (Historical Artifact)
“The True Story of Pocahontas: The Other Side of History” by, Dr. Linwood “Little Bear" Custalow, and Angela L. Daniel “Silver Star”
“Psychology and Religion,” by C.G. Jung M.D.
“Women who Run with the Wolves: Myths and Stories of the Wild Woman Archetype,” by, Clarissa Pinkola Estes Ph.D.
“Mr. God, this is Anna,” by Fynn
“Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln,” by Doris Kearns Goodwin
“Harriet, the Moses of Her People,” Sarah Hopkins Bradford
“Birthing a Slave: Motherhood and Medicine in the Antebellum South,” by, Marie Jenkins Schwartz
“Understanding Criminal Law,” by Joshua Dressler
http://www.causafoundation.org/top.html
http://www.hyojeong.org/en/sp.php?p=21
anylaw.com
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inquisition:_The_Persecution_and_Prosecution_of_the_Reverend_Sun_Myung_Moon
Unification Links:
http://www.littleangels.or.kr/
http://www.hyojeong.org/en/sp.php?p=21