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(This article originally appeared in the September 7, 1984, issue of Christianity Today.)

Full acceptance into the mainstream of American religious life is a cherished goal of Sun Myung Moon's Unification Church. Ironically, Moon's recent imprisonment for tax evasion appears to be bringing that dream a step closer to reality.

"Religious freedom" rallies around the country are drawing thousands of unsuspecting Christians into emotionally charged meetings that portray Moon as a persecuted man of God. No ties with the Unification Church are mentioned in promotional mailings. The sponsors are identified as a coalition of Christian leaders including author Tim LaHaye; Robert Grant, of Christian Voice; and Joseph Lowery, of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. Greg Dixon and Everett Sileven, leaders of a coalition of independent, fundamentalist churches, are involved as well.

The sponsors view Moon as a persecuted ally in an escalating battle against secular humanism and government intrusion into church ministries. "One person's religious freedom equates to everyone's religious freedom," LaHaye says. "If one person's freedom is robbed, then potentially anyone's religious freedom can be robbed." Whether Moon is a victim of persecution or a felon is a matter of considerable debate. There is little doubt, however, that the entire affair is a public relations bonanza for his church.

"His jailing brought the issue home," says Joy Garratt, public affairs director for Moon's church. "We're not just talking theories anymore, and it's scaring people." Garratt says a fundamentalist pastor told her he no longer ignores appeals for money from Moonie solicitors. "I realize you've been targeted as a scapegoat by anti-religious people, and I'm next," she says he told her.

But a number of pastors are wary of the Moonies' motives. Darrel Malcom, senior pastor of Webber Street Church of Christ in Urbana, Illinois, accepted an offer for an expense-paid trip to Washington, D.C., to attend the massive "Pageant for Religious Freedom" on July 25. He learned of the event from two Unification Church members in Urbana. Their involvement gave him pause, but he says he accepted their invitation because he respects LaHaye. LaHaye is cochairman of the Coalition on Religious Freedom, the group that sponsored the event. Malcom says he enjoyed the lavish production, but returned home feeling "a little bit used."

"There are some issues we need to be aware of, but I personally do not perceive as great a threat as some who sponsored the rally," he says. "I felt there was a hidden agenda of trying to buy legitimacy [for Moon] within the Christian community. I'm not ready to grant that."

When Malcom returned home, Unification Church members asked him to consider sponsoring a local rally in support of Moon. "They wanted to meet and discuss getting Christians together," he says. "I said I do not consider their group Christian."

Lori Antolock, deputy assistant to Moon's top aide, says half of the several thousand pastors who attended the Washington rally were offered expense paid trips. She says the pageant cost at least $250,000, a substantial portion of which was donated by the Unification Church. Neither Antolock nor Garratt would specify the amount. LaHaye says he does not know who paid for ministers to attend, adding, "I had nothing to do with the financing of [the rally].

"By no stretch of the imagination does my participation in that rally indicate that I support Reverend Moon's doctrine," LaHaye says. "Frankly, I don't really know what his doctrine is. But in America, Reverend Moon and [Nebraska pastor] Reverend Sileven and every other religious organization ought to have the freedom to communicate their doctrine within the framework of the law."

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August (Web-only) 2001, Vol. 45