From Walls to Freedom

This week in history, November 8-14:

• UTS students hold a prayer walk for religious freedom in the Soviet Union (November 8, 1987)
• East Germany opens the Berlin Wall (November 9, 1989)
• True Father proposes an international highway (November 10, 1981)
• David S.C. Kim’s Seonghwa Ceremony is held (November 10, 2011)
• True Mother begins a 12-city speaking tour of the United States (November 11, 2007)
• Mr. Sang Ik “Papa-san” Choi arrives in San Francisco (November 12, 1965)
• The dedication ceremony for the Cheongshim Youth Center is held (November 12, 2004)
• The Japan High Court makes landmark ruling against kidnapping and “deprogramming” (November 13, 2014)

November 8, 1987

UTS Students Hold Prayer Walk for Religious Freedom in the Soviet Union

The “Soul of Russia,” a Unification Theological Seminary (UTS) student-based prayer and educational group concerned with ending religious persecution in communist countries, held a prayer walk with more than 250 participants at UTS on November 8, 1987. Titled a “Restorational Prayer Walk for Religious Freedom in the Soviet Union,” the candlelight walk was timed to follow the 70^th anniversary of the Bolshevik Revolution. The turnout generated extensive media coverage, including front-page photos in local newspapers.

November 9, 1989

East Germany Opens the Berlin Wall

The Unification movement dedicated itself to “Victory over Communism” for many years. In 1985, True Father sponsored a major conference in Geneva, Switzerland, titled The Fall of the Soviet Empire. At that time, few thought this was a realistic possibility. However, four years later, on November 9, 1989, East Germany officially announced freedom of travel and border guards opened the gates which had restricted travel since 1961. This major symbol of the Cold War and the Iron Curtain subsequently was demolished and the Soviet Union itself collapsed less than two years later.

November 10, 1981

True Father Proposes International Highway

In “The Creation of a New World,” the Founder’s Address at the 10^th International Conference on the Unity of the Sciences (ICUS), held in Seoul, Korea, from November 9 to 13, 1981, True Father proposed the construction of a “Great Asian Highway” that eventually would link the world. This, he said, “would be a great international highway around which freedom is guaranteed.” He also envisioned the highway as a spur for economic development and cultural integration. His call resulted in the establishment of the Japan-Korea Tunnel Research Institute and the International Highway Construction Corporation, which conducted extensive private research and public relations activities during the 1980s and 1990s. In 2005 at the Inaugural Convocation of the Universal Peace Federation (UPF), True Father renewed his call for an International Highway System, focusing on “a passage for transit across the Bering Strait.”

November 10, 2011

David S.C. Kim’s Seonghwa Ceremony

David S.C. Kim working with the One World Crusade.

David S.C. Kim, one of the five founding members of the Unification Church in 1954, the second missionary to the United States in 1959, and the founding president of Unification Theological Seminary (1975-1994), passed away on November 8, 2011, at age 96. On his passing, True Father stated that he had “entered the Garden of Heaven as a representative of filial piety and loyalty.”

November 11, 2007

True Mother Begins Twelve-City Speaking Tour of the United States

True Mother began a U.S. 12-city speaking tour titled Providential View of the Pacific Rim Era in Light of God’s Will on November 11, 2007. She began the tour in Los Angeles and concluded it in New York on November 21. Wherever she spoke, many people came. Throughout the tour, True Father offered conditions on Geomun Island, Yeosu, Korea, and encouraged True Mother by telephone. (Materials provided by the FFWPU History Compilation Committee.)

November 12, 1965

Mr. Sang Ik “Papa-san” Choi Arrives in San Francisco

True Father with Mr. Sang Ik “Papa-san” Choi prior to his departure as a missionary

Mr. Sang Ik “Papa-san” Choi, the first successful Unification Church missionary to Japan, began his mission in the United States on November 12, 1965. He was the fourth Korean missionary to pioneer the United States, following Miss Young Oon Kim, Mr. David S.C. Kim and Col. Bo Hi Pak. Mr. Choi was joined by Daikon Ohnuki and Soo Lim (later known as “Onni” Durst). They, along with Mrs. Choi, the Chois’ infant son and three members from the church in Japan, developed what later became the International Re-Education Foundation in San Francisco. Mr. Choi adapted “Principles of Education” and a social movement rather than church profile to reach the secular Bay Area audience and hippie youth. The original community of eight doubled itself with eight new American members by the end of 1967. A pattern of doubling membership annually continued until 1971.

November 12, 2004

Dedication Ceremony for the Cheongshim Youth Center

The Cheongshim Youth Center in Cheongpyeong, Gyeonggi Province, was dedicated on November 12, 2004. Around a thousand Cheongpyeong Heaven and Earth Training Center workshop participants came for the ceremonial dedication. True Parents planted a commemorative tree and cut a ribbon. True Father wrote a calligraphic message, “Cheon-ji Gae-byeok Cheon-jin-gyeok-dong Man-hwa-seong-chui.” The Cheongshim Youth Center began to play a key role in the education of Unificationist-born young people under the vision “Challenge to Achieve Dreams and Hopes.” (Materials provided by the FFWPU History Compilation Committee.)

November 13, 2014

Japan High Court Landmark Ruling against Kidnapping and “Deprogramming”

The Unification movement in Japan won a major victory on November 13, 2014, when Tokyo’s High Court ruled in favor of Mr. Toru Goto in his civil suit against family members and “deprogrammers” who had held him captive for 12 years and five months (September 11, 1995 to February 10, 2008) in order to force him to abandon the Unification faith. The court ruled that this amounted to kidnapping and “an unlawful suppression of freedom of action.” It ordered three family members to pay compensation of 22 million yen (2.2 million US$). The lead deprogrammer was ordered to pay 11 million yen (1.1 million US$) in compensation. Over the past 45 years, more than 4,300 persons, mostly Unificationists and 80 percent of them women, have been kidnapped for the purpose of breaking their faith. The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom and the U.S. State Department previously filed reports critical of Japan for inaction on this human rights abuse. Mr. Goto’s initial effort to press criminal charges was denied in 2009 by the Tokyo Prosecutors Office, which cited “insufficient evidence.” He subsequently filed a civil lawsuit, which resulted in the 2014 decision. Japan’s Supreme Court dismissed appeals by the defendants in the case and upheld the verdict by the Tokyo High Court on September 29, 2015. This concluded Mr. Goto’s seven-year legal battle and put an end to kidnapping and deprogramming as a legal option in Japan.

This Week in History briefly lists significant events in the history of the Unification Church, the lives of the Founders, and world events that are momentous to Unificationists. Most items are marked according to the solar calendar. Items marked “H.C.” correspond to the Cheon-gi or Heavenly Calendar, which is based on the lunar calendar. This installment covers the week of November 8-14.