Reflecting About Inner Causes For Our Sister Liza's Imprisonment 1

Nikolaus Beutl
January 26, 2009

My dear brothers and sisters,

I am deeply grateful for your prayers and support in the case of Elizaveta Drenicheva. I suppose you have all read the open letter by Rev. Jenkins, the explanations by Peter Zoehrer, and the article about religious freedom in Kazakhstan (familyfed.org). Hopefully most of you could also watch the video about her trial which allows us to be like a "first hand witness" about what has been going on.

We know the external facts but it is even more important to know what is behind this trial and imprisonment of our beloved sister Liza so that we can have the right attitude as we strive to support her situation. Let us reflect about what is at stake from God's point of view.

For this purpose I would like to quote from a letter by our brother who has been a missionary in Russia for 18 years. He was actually the last Western missionary working with his wife (and children) to support the work of our movement in Russia before he was kicked out last summer with one day's notice. He was basically kicked out of Russia by the ever-restricting visa laws which are directed against foreigners and particularly religious workers.

Please take the time to reflect together with this exemplary brother about the underlying issues that are the inner cause or reason behind our sister sitting in prison today. For me personally it had been clear from the very beginning that there are indeed worldwide dimensions connected to her court case and conviction as being guilty even though she is completely innocent.

Already on the next day after the verdict brothers and sisters could watch a video made by STAN.TV to learn "firsthand" about what happened on the 9th of January 2009 in one of the former republics of the former Soviet Union.

Let us listen to what our brother, who knows Liza personally well and who translated the whole court case and accusation against her, shares about his insights:

"What is different about this legal proceedings, different from any other I've ever seen, is that the charges deal directly with Divine Principle and Father's teaching itself. In no other case have they directly found fault with the core teachings of our Church.

The essence of the accusation is that we are racist by saying that there are some people who are better than others because they are Unification Church members, they are of God's blood lineage, and they are ideal or perfect people, whereas the rest of humankind is sinful, wayward, and inferior. Secondly they say we practice class discrimination by saying that some families are better than other families, because they are the True Family or ideal families, whereas the other families are secular, sinful, fallen, non-ideal, and therefore inferior.

So I thought about that and concluded, "Yes, they're actually right about that. That is what we believe and teach." And so I had a deep struggle that has continued for quite some time. Yet I am continuing in my Church life, going to Sunday Service, offering tithes, praying, reading Hoon Dok Hae every morning, going to Chung Pyung, maintaining my Blessed Family.

But each time I read the contents of the Cheon Seong Gyeong, it comes to me so poignantly, "Oh, my goodness, reading this, I can see exactly what they mean. Yes, indeed, we are saying exactly the very things they are accusing us of." So the morning Hoon Dok Hae readings became so painful for me.

Meanwhile our poor beloved sister Liza Drenicheva, whom I know well, is in prison for teaching this very content, that which the Divine Principle and the Peace Scriptures teach explicitly. Did she do something wrong? Obviously not.

So I have been thinking and struggling every day. Now this morning it finally hit me -- I could finally realize what is the essence and core of it, in terms of right and wrong, from Satan's viewpoint and from God's viewpoint.

Yes, indeed, that is Satan's viewpoint, that we are practicing racial and class discrimination against his blood lineage, his families, his world order, his worldview. But this accusation applies not only to our Unification Church but extends to all Christian churches, for they all teach the same thing, in terms of Jesus Christ being the pure, sinless, only-begotten Son of God, of God's blood lineage, whereas all other people are sinners, inheriting Satan's blood, and must be reborn by "dying to themselves" and receiving salvation and grafting to the True Olive Tree, Jesus Christ.

This is normal Christian teaching, in essence. Just most Christians do not take it very seriously, for the implications are too heavy, too severe and too demanding for them. In this sense, the Unification Church is the truest of Christian churches, to be sure. We know this...

Not only that, but it applies to all religious people, for all teach that God is pure, holy, sinless, lofty, exalted, good -- whereas people are sinful, fallen, impure, inclined to evil, etc., etc. In various forms and degrees.

So, what is this court case? It is Satan's rebuttal against God and against all religions. What about the position of True Parents, the Unification Church, and ourselves? The fact remains: The standpoint of God, True Parents, the Unification Church, and all religious people is a sort of "racial discrimination" in that the human race is sinful and has to be redeemed, and it is a form of "class discrimination" in that the Son of God and the Prophets, True Parents and the True Family are pure, good and ideal whereas the families and societies and nations of the fallen world are off-centered and bound for decline and/or destruction.

So, are we right? Yes, we are. This is the viewpoint of God and this is the viewpoint we must fundamentally uphold. Otherwise we surrender God's standpoint and just admit, "Everybody is okay. You're okay and I'm okay, and if by chance we relate together, it's beautiful." That's the "California surfer's philosophy."

Then what is this court case all about? Liza Drenicheva is paying indemnity on the cosmic level to affirm that God's position is right.

Satan of course has a legitimate claim, because of the fall. He indeed has a right to claim those who chose to opt for and live by his philosophy, which is basically all mankind. And he has a right to protest if people decide to go over to the side of God and True Parents, or if someone is teaching God's word which will lead to cutting off his lineage and his right of ownership in the fallen world.

So this court case means that, although Satan has a legitimate claim or protest, God's side is standing in there and saying, "Okay, you made the laws of this world, including those of racial and class equality, etc., but nevertheless it is true that those who uphold God's way are better, and those who belong to God's lineage are superior."

So who will pay the price? Who will stand in there for God's claim? That is Liza Drenicheva. She is just one person, a small person, a powerless person, a young woman, and a Russian. But, by standing in there, teaching God's truth, which Satan and the fallen world hates, and by being willing to go to prison for this sake, she represents all of us who basically would be willing to do the same as she is.

From God's and Satan's standpoint, it is not necessary that 6.5 billion people go to prison, or that all Unification Church members pay such indemnity, but it is sufficient that one faithful, humble, sincere person, a vulnerable, nice and innocent person like Liza, pay that indemnity by standing in there, just as Jesus Christ as one person paid the price for redemption of all mankind.

Then Satan must release mankind, and acknowledge that, although he holds the power, the money, and the law, he does not hold the right. Of course if he does not concede, there will be a big civil rights, human rights and religious freedom battle. Potentially, things could even lead to a war between East and West.

Actually, this is why I came to Russia as a missionary: to preserve the legacy of peace and freedom, love and unity between East and West, specifically between Russia and America, so that we could live happily and love each other as bosom brothers.

(This letter was sent by an American to a Russian brother)

I knew well that the Soviet Union in the Cold War was founded upon a certain humanistic principle, which had a certain raison d'être, which many people in the West also recognized and affirmed and supported. Whereas one could absolutely condemn Nazism, the case was not so clear with Communism (although the record of human rights violation was terrible indeed).

Without actually judging or condemning the former Soviet Union and Communism, but instead befriending, reconciling, and uniting together centering on True Parents, it was possible to build the world of peace. Then, by receiving the Blessing and teaching the moral principles of purity and altruism, it was possible to give rebirth to all people.

But instead many East Bloc countries (Russia, China, Belarus, Kazakhstan, etc.) took the path of continuing to stand upon that ideology of opposition. Thereby Satan's standpoint is maintained in the division. Thus we have come to a new Cold War stance, and there are presently Unification Church members living in countries which are both sides of a newly divided world.

The logical conclusion of this all is the standoff where Liza Drenicheva was imprisoned in the effort of the former Soviet world to reinstate the former state atheism. We must see that Russia, Kazakhstan, Mongolia and China are all connected invisibly in this case and its ramifications. It is a frightful situation!

As I see it, Liza is the last bastion, the last person to prevent a new, terrible conflict between East and West. Let's hope and pray that, by standing in there in prison for all of us and for God and True Parents, she can win the hearts and sympathies of decent and conscientious people who can see through this and prevent the world from collapsing into such a scenario once more."

Personally I am convinced that in this respect our unity with our sister Liza is crucial for this battle against the God-denying forces. As I mentioned above all members of the Unification Movement could hear about her case soon after Liza was pronounced guilty. Not only that, we can read what Liza writes in prison and we have the chance to write to her. In this way we can express our solidarity which is crucial in the give issue to make a united statement against the forces of evil.