Support Anti-Kidnapping Awareness Efforts

The International Coalition for Religious Freedom is sponsoring Seattle’s anti-kidnapping table this Friday, April 25, to Sunday, April 27, and needs your support! The kidnapping and deprogramming of Unificationists in Japan gained worldwide attention when Mr. Toru Goto, who was imprisoned by his family for 12 years, was finally freed. His recently won civil case against his captors was a step in the right direction, but there is still a long way to go to secure religious freedom and bring the perpetrators to justice.

We have volunteers ready to inform the public about the torture of our Japanese brothers and sisters and to solicit signatures for a petition. There has been wonderful support for our efforts so far. Two Christian ministers who never worked with us before have committed to come, and the new Japanese consul general has been informed and invited.  We recently received responses from as far away as Italy, and we are within reach of our goal.

We are still a grass-roots movement in the United States, and so we rely on donor support. You can help make this our most effective year yet!

Mr. Goto may have won his civil case, but even after the imprisonment and abuse of thousands of Japanese Unificationists, not one of the criminals has even been arrested, let alone prosecuted. They remain free to act with impunity. 

Please don’t allow one more Japanese member to become a victim through our inaction. As the Irish statesman Edmund Burke famously said, “All it takes for evil to triumph is for good people to do nothing.”

Make your donation online or send a check by mail to the International Coalition for Religious Freedom, 7245 Hanover Parkway, Suite A, Greenbelt, MD 20770-3607, noting that it is for the Seattle event. Any unused funds will be used to expand the effort to other venues such as “From Hiroshima to Hope” on August 6  and “Aki Matsuri” in early September.

Contributed by Scott Dolfay
Stop Japanese Kidnappings Now
www.religiousfreedom.com