When I was put in Seodaemun prison through what we now call the July 4 incident, everyone thought that the era of Mr. Moon was over. But that Mr. Moon, whom it was thought would disappear from Korean history, began anew.
At that time, they had the intention of striking, grabbing, trampling, and erasing me. The established churches and the Korean government joined forces and did whatever they could to get rid of me.
Because I was found innocent and set free, a new history of the Unification Church began. Despite various investigations, there was nothing to warrant the charge, and I was acquitted and released on October 4, 1955. Thereafter, however, I still had to shrug off the opposition and make one new start after another.
If we had been defeated by those issues that the nation had raised against us, the problems would have become bigger and more serious. Because of my acquittal and release on October 4, we were able to make a new start, spiritually and practically, as our foundation to that point had not been lost.
What if you looked at our church as it was, or looked at me as I was? From such a simple viewpoint, we were not in a position of having regained everything that had been lost.
From that point, we had to reestablish our position. Christianity laid the foundation in the spirit world, and I must create a foundation that can work in place of that foundation. We must lay a foundation that is similar to that of Christianity’s. The Unification Church is doing this.
Through the Unification Church, we have to establish a new foundation to influence the nation and unite the country and Christianity.
That establishes a standard allowing us to reverse the effects of the opposition. To establish that standard, we must move forward and strengthen our spiritual foundation, and at the same time, establish a material base.
Even though the Unification Church is still small, we cannot allow persecution by the nation and Christian churches to defeat us. Instead, we must endure and overcome difficulties.
Victory based on prison life
God tried to protect Christianity by striking me. He tried to raise Christianity in Korea by putting me through hardship. When he protected me, he could not protect Christianity as well.
God was unable to protect both. So, he left me on my own. By accepting all the persecution, I had to climb to the position of an original man.
Therefore, the life I led in prison became the vertical foundation upon which to lay the individual foundation. To establish the vertical realm conveying God’s heart in this hell on earth, based on the vertical love of God, I had to go to prison.
From God’s viewpoint, this was not the fastest way. I had to go into this situation and be victorious on the individual level. For me, it was a fight between the physical body refusing to endure pain and the mind.
I needed to lead a life wherein I set my mind to the vertical standard and the body to the horizontal standard at right angles. In so doing, I had to give love.
I had to love everything in that environment as I would my parents and siblings, and stay imprisoned with members of the church family who represented God’s desire for my family.
Therefore, instead of the parents, I needed to walk the path of the cross on the individual level. As an individual, I had to overcome the environment of the cross in my country.
Three months after my release, the prison superintendent, the section chiefs, the Christian chaplain, and many other people visited the Unification Church.
Did you know that? When they observed, they found it was quite different from what the rumors depicted.
At the time of my release, the superintendent, and guards had come out to see me off. Some guards even followed me and joined our church. From this, you can understand that even if an enemy appears on the path Heaven is forging, that path will nonetheless be opened.
In this situation, we must be united with God to become Abel. Do not think that you are alone, even when you are following a difficult path.
From what standpoint does God determine who is Abel?
He determines this when someone is in a position where Satan cannot invade.
Under what circumstances is Satan unable to accuse you?
It is when you are becoming one with God, which doesn’t occur in a joyful situation but in the saddest and the most difficult state. In other words, in about one who dies, under the most miserable circumstances, you can become one with God. That is why true religion begins in prison. You need to know this.
Don’t feel that you have been wronged if you are struck even though you are good. You should understand that through that incident, blessings can come to you from the four directions.
This is the way I have lived my life. Even though Korea was furious and made me serve time in prison in 1955, I only became stronger the more I underwent such treatment.
I came out better equipped than I’d been when I went in. Though it was a prison, to me, it felt as if I had gone on a journey and come back.
God also treats me mercilessly. He thrusts me in with my head down and only watches and does not teach me anything until I come out. When I have found my way out, braced myself with a laugh and hurried on my way, He intervenes, asking, “Where are you going? Where?” God is masterful.
The continuing influence of the media
If you read newspapers from the time I was imprisoned and released, which was under the Liberal Party government, you will find the articles about the church interesting because they’re filled with all kinds of rumors. Those papers are a golden treasure that no money could buy.
Righteous patriots who had shed blood and sweat for justice and their country and had lost sleep worrying about the 30 million Korean people were cornered, beaten, and imprisoned by their fellow Koreans. Just wait and see. A time will come when the descendants of those persecutors can be rounded up and made to exhume their bodies.
Did you hear of my release? If you look in the newspapers, you will find only three lines written about it. Do you know how much blood and how many tears I shed to break my way through the false charges brought against me?
The question was how we were to change our nationwide image. When we promoted the Unification Church, everyone opposed us and spread rumors about us. They caused legal problems and fights.
When people went to the police station because of that concern, the police would say, “The Unification Church is not like that,” but everyone else in the nation thought it was.
When the public saw that the police thought otherwise, people would say, “Who are these policemen? They have been bought off by the Unification Church.” It became impossible to overcome the environment created by that vile propaganda.
Everyone, even higher-class people, such as professors and church leaders, took it to be true that we had bought off the police. Pastors from various denominations spread bad rumors, even to my relatives and to every other person they met.
No matter how much we pointed out, the explanations availed nothing. We had no option other than to carry on, with the rumors hanging over our heads, and gradually bring results. It will take decades for us to reach the level where we can be cleared of those rumors.
For this reason, I have lived under false charges in complete silence. I can digest them and make them into fertilizer. It is all historical. That is why, in the future, if the Republic of Korea provides me with access to a microphone at a broadcasting station and lets me tell the Korean people the truth for three days, all the people in the entire nation will clutch their midriffs and crawl on the floor, weeping.
It is my conclusion that there is no way I can go to the next world if this world does not believe me.
Members’ righteous indignation
They have squandered a huge blessing through which the blessed land, the kingdom of heaven, could be built in the world and be blessed by God. They have pushed me, kicked me, into the gutter.
Christian ministers have punched, stepped on, and done all kinds of other things to me. But did you ever hear of me making a public statement about this in my name, Rev. Moon of the Unification Church?
I was incarcerated in Seodaemun Prison and was made to endure all kinds of experiences before being found innocent and acquitted. At that time, all our church officials met and said, “Teacher, we’re so exasperated; we can’t endure this anymore.”
Korean Church President Eu Hyo-won was known for his peaceful, easygoing character, and yet the circumstances drove him to say venomously, “Let’s gut those bastards.”… But I persuaded them, saying, “God’s love is not like that. It’s not about striking first and taking by force, but involves the law of moving the hearts of others through love and bringing them to voluntary submission.”
At that time, Rev. Eu and other officials tried to publish a public statement and take the offensive, but do you think I didn’t know how to take the offensive? We had to go through the eras of the family, tribe, and race.
The truth was more essential than words, and results were more essential than making excuses. Something right will turn out to be right in the end, and something evil will be determined in the end to be evil. A victory will, in the end, be a victory.
When I entered prison, I did not do so in shame but held my head high, and when I was released, I did not offer prayers saying, “You! I will grow stronger, and then you will see.
I will take revenge on you all.” Instead, I prayed, “Father! Please allow me to visit this place again with laughter.” That is the path Heaven follows, and God always protects people who follow that path.
Sun Myung Moon