The Words of the Durst Family
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The Words of the Durst Family |
On October 21, 1981, Reverend Sun Myung Moon arrived at New York's Kennedy International Airport to fight the strongest challenge ever to him and to his movement. On the following day, Reverend Moon declared to a rally of over 5,000 followers and supporters:
"I came back to America not just for my own vindication. I came back to America as a representative of all those who suffer governmental injustice, racial prejudice or religious bigotry... Today I declare war against these enemies."
Racism and religious intolerance still threaten today's world. In the United States, the Ku Klux Klan's activities show a marked upswing, and many deplore the government's unjust handling of Haitian refugees. In the Soviet Union, African exchange students decry racism, and testimonies abound concerning the Soviet persecution of Baptists and Jews.
Visionary men and women have fought against these social cancers. A white man, Abraham Lincoln, risked civil war and sacrificed his own life in his historic battle against slavery. A black man, Dr. Martin Luther King, suffered martyrdom in order to see the coming of the "promised land" where all would live in freedom.
Today Reverend Sun Myung Moon, a yellow man, feels called by God to take up this baton. On October 22, 1981, he declared:
"This is a new day for minorities, a new beginning, a new fight. I am creating a new... alliance for civil rights."
Reverend Moon feels that this alliance must commit itself to the total eradication of racial, religious and sexist bigotry. In the eyes of God, there is no white, no black, no yellow: they are all part of one beautiful family. A capacity for greatness lies in all peoples and all societies.
The World Alliance for Civil Rights will champion the cause of those religious and racial groups who are the victims of unjust persecution. It will seek an appropriate response for each situation. It will often call such problems to the attention of the international community of nations.
The World Alliance for Civil Rights will also seek peaceful means to better the situation of the poor and the oppressed peoples of the world. It will support the well-planned projects of men and women who exhibit a selfless desire to help improve the condition of the poor.
To facilitate this project, the Unification Movement under the leadership of Reverend Sun Myung Moon has established an initial endowment of $2,000,000 for the work of the World Alliance for Civil Rights. The Alliance will establish its headquarters in New York, under the guidance of Col. Bo Hi Pak, and will begin a concentrated effort aimed at restoring dignity to all man, kind.
If men and women of conscience commit themselves unselfishly we believe that it is possible to realize this dream which Reverend Moon has championed.
"If they come for Reverend Moon in the morning, they may come for any of us in the night. When the Unification Church is persecuted, I am persecuted. Out of our adversity, God will work wonders." -- Rev. Mohammed Kenvatta, a Baptist minister, from Boston
"The loss of freedom anywhere threatens freedom everywhere. I am concerned because I am compassionate for the right of freedom. The history of religious intolerance is all too well known to us. I stand before you as a champion of freedom and of your right to exist as a denomination and as a religion. We may expect new religions to arise and many of them rise out of the ashes of the old."
"My passion for freedom comes out of my background. My grandfather was born a slave; and I knew him, as a young boy, telling me of his experiences, telling me that he recollects seeing his mother pleading with her master not to sell him when her other sons and husband had already been sold. And then he turned to me and said, 'Son, always remember this -- never again, never again, never again."
"When the freedom of anyone is jeopardized, it threatens me." -- Rev. Osborne Scott, a Baptist minister and professor of religion at City University of New York
"It is a disgrace that the government of this nation uses its resources to suppress the free expression of religion rather than defend it as a sacred trust. The persecution of religious minorities by government agencies sets a dangerous precedent for us all. Reverend Moon's offense is that his skin is yellow and he loudly professes his faith." -- Dr. Joseph Bettis, professor of religious studies at Western Washington University
"[This rally is] one more demonstration that the spirit of liberty is alive and people are still seeking for justice and freedom in this land of the free. The reality is that today there is more discrimination, racism and threat to freedom than ever before. We are here to reaffirm our faith in the principles of the Constitution that have served as an inspiration and guide to people all throughout the world." -- Jose Chaves, former chairman of the United Nations Commission on Racism
Dr. Maria Foresca, a Cuban immigrant and psychiatrist from Queens, said that she brought a message in solidarity with Reverend Moon's fight against communism and expressed her determination to help end "once and for all the quasi-liberal communist attacks against Reverend Moon." She said that, as a physician, it was her duty to support Reverend Moon, whom she called a "spiritual healer" and asked that Reverend Moon be given "the freedom to continue in the hard task of bringing freedom to America."