July 19, 1984
I am innocent of any wrongdoing; on the contrary, I am the victim of government abuse and persecution. Thousands of clergymen around America have protested the government's persecution of me and have pledged to commit one week of their lives in prison with me in the name of religious freedom.
In 1971, God called me to come to America and lead a movement to revive the fervor of Christianity and restore the founding spirit of this nation. He sent me to bring about a dramatic spiritual awakening at a time when a dark spirit of atheism and religious intolerance is found in America.
I myself suffered nearly to the point of death in a communist prison camp. I am willing to suffer in an American prison if it will serve God's purpose of awakening America from its spiritual sleep.
Today the state is encroaching more than ever on the affairs of the church. There are now several thousand cases in the courts which involve church-state conflicts. How can we in the United States criticize the Soviet state for imprisoning Sakharov, when ministers are jailed here in America?
I have had just one goal for this nation: to strengthen the moral fiber of America and to enlarge her capacity to fulfill God's Will. For this purpose the Unification movement has spent several hundred million dollars in America for the sake of this nation. We have funded:
The International Religious Foundation
The International Cultural Foundation
The National Council for the Church and Social Action
The International Relief Friendship Foundation
Project Volunteer
The Washington Times, and numerous other projects.
When you understand the scope of my work, can you really believe that I came to America to defraud the United States government of an estimated $25,000 in taxes?
From the very beginning this was not a tax case. It has been an invasion by the government into the internal affairs of religion.
I stand convicted for no other reason than my religious beliefs and practices.
I will now move the worldwide headquarters of my church to Danbury Prison, where I will pray and work for this country. I thank God that He is using me as His instrument to lead the fight for religious freedom and to ignite the spiritual awakening of America in this most crucial hour of human history.
May God bless America.