#paul perry

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[whatisonthemoon]

Bo Hi Pak: The CAUSA Movement That Shook the Kremlin

Chapter 16 - The CAUSA Movement That Shook the Kremlin from Bo Hi Pak’s Messiah - My Testimony to Rev. Sun Myung Moon Volume II

As if the Washington Times hadn't already struck terror in the heart of the Kremlin, the international CAUSA movement finished the job. Together, the Times and the CAUSA movement were determined champions of truth that hastened the downfall of international communism.

From 1980 to 1991, CAUSA swept every continent. In this critical span of eleven years, the movement frustrated the ideological offensive of world communism and put it on the defensive. A masterstroke, the movement eventually caused the Soviet Union to completely abandon its world communization strategy. Before I explain what it is, I would like to describe Reverend Moon's basic understanding of and strategy for dealing with communism.

Reverend Moon, as I have mentioned, defines communism as the last worldwide satanic force in human history, the last political and ideological enemy of God. In essence, communism is a pseudo-religion -- militant atheism garbed in a deceptive ideological cloak. Class struggle, the liberation of the world proletariat, the vindication of the have-nots, and the other philosophical and political trappings of communism -- which gain adherents -- are not the core of communism. The hidden purpose within communism was to eliminate God from the face of the earth.

Accordingly, the communists denounced God as an idol created by man and a crutch for the weak. "Our spaceship orbited the earth on Christmas Day," they said, "but we didn't see any God." The communists also boasted: "Science is the true savior of mankind; twentieth-century science will debunk God as a superstition and a myth." Religion they defined as the opiate of the masses.

If there was one person who grasped the true nature of communism and its purpose, it was Reverend Moon. "The only way to defeat communism is to clearly prove the existence of God," he declared. His view was that the ideology that can defeat communism must have its origin and root in God. Only those who have met God can truly fight communism.

And no one has had a more compelling, ongoing encounter with God in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries than Reverend Moon. After a life-changing encounter with God as a young man, he was raised up by God to be the savior of humankind. God has constantly urged him forward. Only the messianic message he brought with him could win over communism.

The struggle with communism was a war between theism and atheism. It boiled down to a simple question: "Does God exist or not?" As Reverend Moon said, if God does not exist, then we would lose the struggle against atheistic communism no matter what we did. If God does, in fact, exist, then if we do our best, the downfall of communism will surely come about.

"The final victor will be truth," he said. Of course, this means that those with truth on their side will be the victors. That is why Reverend Moon defined the conflict with communism as a conflict of ideology.

Within this basic framework, Reverend Moon developed his Victory Over Communism (VOC) thought. VOC thought exposes the fallacies of communist theory and logically sets about proving the existence and reality of God.

Until this time, the best strategy that the free West could propose for blocking the advance of communism was anti-communism. Reverend Moon staunchly asserted that anti-communism was a passive stance; communism never could he defeated by a movement that only opposed it.

Has there ever been an instance when a war has been won just by defense? No matter how much effort you make, a defense can turn back the enemy's attacks but cannot win. Therefore, Reverend Moon advocated Victory Over Communism as the ideology for the struggle with Marxism. This name encapsulates the philosophy of the victory of goodness over evil that Reverend Moon has continuously sought to live by.

VOC thought can largely be divided into two main strands.

The first is a critique of communism that exposes the falsities of communist theory in detail. It starts with a critique of the "theory of alienation" and continues on to deal with the Marxist dialectic as well as communist economic theory. It explains step by step just how much this ideology is actually a poorly researched and malformed theoretical aberration, although the communists labeled Marxism as scientific and lionized it as a historical principle. VOC thought reveals just how deceitfully and craftily decorated the communist theory is. Throughout the world, many scientists and philosophers accepted Marxism-Leninism unquestioningly because it was touted as scientific and appeared to explain some of the trends of human life. Through VOC thought, however, they realized that they had fallen victim to a unique philosophical siren song.

The second strand is a counterproposal: an ideology that step by step scientifically proves the existence and nature of God and their implications. This component explains God's principles of creation and demonstrates in detail how God guides human history. This universal, systematic God-centered ideology transcends historical, cultural, and religious contexts and fuses theory with deep conviction.

Through these two strands, VOC thought liberates followers of communism from the ideological chains of the superstitious and malformed communist theory and empowers them with the ideological thought of "Godism." They come to a lucid understanding of what the true path of life is for all human beings.

VOC is truly a persuasive and revolutionary system of thought. As you go deeper into it, you become more passionate and more willing to sacrifice. Thus, VOC is a thought system capable of defeating communism.

Along with Reverend Moon, some astute observers in the West came to understand that the conflict with communism was an ideological war. David Satter, special correspondent for the Wall Street Journal and former Moscow correspondent for the Financial Times, wrote an article in the Journal on May 23, 1983, entitled "Soviet Threat Is One of Ideas More Than Arms." Satter observed, "As absurd as communist ideology may appear, it provides a consistent view of history to adherents and makes even the simplest citizen feel as though his life has meaning. ... [Communism] cannot be defeated militarily, and its adherents cannot be bribed into giving it up. It can be defeated in only one way: by being confronted with an idea that is better."

That better idea is not simply democracy. Democracy is a system of government, not a system of thought. VOC presents a philosophical framework that provides a basis for effective government, centered on an understanding of God.

The VOC movement spread like wildfire throughout South Korea, which had to deal with a hostile regime in the North that continually sought to undermine and communize it, during the 1970s. It veritably became a new movement for the survival and salvation of the nation. Although South Korea at that time considered itself an anti-communist nation, it was, in reality, unequipped; it had no ideology that could be victorious over communism. South Korea's embrace of the VOC movement culminated in a rally attended by one million people in the huge plaza at Seoul's Yoido Island on June 7, 1975.

With this success under its belt, the VOC movement crossed the straits of Japan and kindled hope in that neighboring nation, where the Communist Party was well established and a powerful political force in the Diet. Moreover, the quasi-communist Socialist Party was also influential.

Although the ruling Liberal Democratic Party had adopted an anti-communist stance, Japan had no guiding ideology and was experiencing the same plight as South Korea. Suddenly, inspired by VOC, thousands of young people appeared in the streets chanting "Communism is wrong!" They quickly became a bulwark protecting the nation from communization. In time, the VOC membership grew to eight million members nationwide.

The goal of international communism was never simply control of South Korea or Japan, however. Its ultimate goal was world communization, and the core of that strategy meant defeating the United States. To do that, the communists intended to isolate America. The first step was to cut off its influence in the world. Accordingly, the Soviet Union employed a strategy to reduce U.S. influence in Africa, the Middle East, Asia, and Latin America.

Soviet troops invaded Afghanistan in December 1979. In Africa, Moscow set up communist governments in Angola and Mozambique. Cuban troops became the spearhead for communization in Africa.

Using Cuba as a beachhead, the Soviet Union exported revolution to Central and South America, primarily through the Marxist regime in Nicaragua led by Daniel Ortega. Communist brushfire revolutions erupted in every part of South America as guerrilla forces sprang up in Argentina, Uruguay, Nicaragua, El Salvador, and Colombia. Acts of atrocity by armed insurgents marked the arrival of communist revolution in every country. Ultimately, they aimed to take advantage of grievances and poverty in Mexico and establish a revolutionary Marxist government there. If communism became entrenched there, it would create a threat to America itself -- a virtual dagger to the throat.

Faced with that danger, the United States would come under tremendous pressure to curtail its military commitments in Europe, Asia, and other vulnerable spots. This was exactly what the Soviet Union was aiming for.

Under these circumstances, Reverend Moon decided to expand the VOC movement to the worldwide level. There was, however, a problem. Early attempts to introduce the VOC movement, so successful in South Korea and Japan, did not go well in the United States, due in part to its adverse experience in Vietnam and elsewhere.

In a growing climate of defeatism, Americans had become reluctant to even use the term anti-communist. Given this atmosphere, how could we come out with "Victory Over Communism"? Launching a VOC movement would only get us labeled as fanatical ultra-rightists.

At this point, Reverend Moon thought carefully over what strategy to use. Despite its malaise, the United States was still the worldwide bastion of belief in God and a home to all religions, Christianity in particular. Even if Americans might not welcome a campaign for victory over communism, they are interested in thought systems centered on God, and VOC is a theistic philosophical and ideological movement.

We decided to emphasize this aspect of the VOC movement in America. This explains the origin of the name "CAUSA," which stands for Confederation of Associations for the Unification of the Societies of the Americas. More important, CAUSA means "the cause" in Spanish and is commonly used to denote the first cause -- God. We approached the ideological struggle centering on the "God or no God" issue, so the name CAUSA itself was a proclamation of our mission. Finally, then, the VOC movement made its way to the \Vest, beginning in Central America.

An Unexpected Trip to the South

In January 1980, Unification Church members worldwide were planning a fitting celebration of Reverend Moon's sixtieth birthday. In the Korean tradition, the sixtieth birthday is the most important, and I had been designated as chairman of the preparations committee. We had already begun renovations of the New Yorker Hotel, where the celebrations were to be held, and preparations for the event were under way. The date of Reverend Moon's birthday was February 21. (In the classical Korean tradition, birthdays are reckoned according to the lunar calendar and are celebrated on a different solar calendar date each year.) I was completely focused on these activities when suddenly, two weeks beforehand, Reverend Moon requested that I come see him. When I got there, I received an instruction that struck me like a lightning bolt out of the blue. "Get down to South America right away," he said. "The world is being sucked down in a communist whirlpool, and the situation in South America is critical. They can't hold out much longer. We have to take the VOC movement to Central and South America without delay. It's far more pressing than the preparations for my birthday."

I answered Reverend Moon. "Father, couldn't I wait until after the celebration? We have only two weeks left..."

Rather than being persuaded, Reverend Moon became more adamant. "You know the kind of mission I have and yet you say such things. Why should you wait for two weeks? Don't you know how much I feel the pressure of every passing day?"

In the light of his words, I had no choice but to say, "Yes, Father. I will leave tomorrow."

The next day, I was on a flight to Buenos Aires, Argentina, accompanied by Colombia-born Antonio Betancourt as my interpreter and assistant.

When we arrived, I was amazed at Reverend Moon's foresight in sending me on this urgent trip. Argentina was in an uproar. The combination of Marxist-Leninist guerrilla attacks and the seeming inability of the United States to comprehend and respond to their situation had left the Argentine leaders at their wit's end. The national government, the police in Buenos Aires and other cities, and the army had all but given up in the face of cunning propaganda and terror tactics by the communist guerrilla group the Tupamaros.

The first thing I did was gather news reporters and announce that Reverend Moon had a solution. I strongly emphasized the need for an ideological as opposed to a purely pragmatic approach. I then introduced the CAUSA movement and declared that we had an ideological counterproposal that could defeat Marxist-Leninist thought and save Argentina.

This bold proclamation was received like a promise of rain to end a long drought. The next day, the contents of my press conference were featured in stories in the major newspapers. After that, the doors of the government were flung wide open. I was able to meet many political leaders in Argentina, both from the ruling and opposition parties, and was enthusiastically received by leaders of the police and army as well. In the end, I had a personal interview with President Jorge Rafael Videla in his residence.

These favorable results were then carried to neighboring Uruguay and Paraguay, whose situations mirrored that of Argentina. Indeed, Uruguay had established a military regime to prevent a communist takeover. I had a conference with both Lt. Gen. Luis V. Queirolo, head of the military forces, and the civilian president, Dr. Aparicio Mendez.

All the people I met developed great expectations for the CAUSA movement. Their national fates were at stake. An ideological counterproposal that could defeat Marxist ideology was the answer to their prayers.

In Paraguay, the head of state was the longtime president Gen. Alfredo Stroessner. He had come to power in a coup d'etat designed to block the communization of the nation but had been unable to make the transition back to a functioning democracy. He was in a quandary how to prevent the infiltration of Marxist revolution. He needed a messiah, and through me, he was able to find him: Reverend Moon.

After spending ten days in these three nations, I returned to New York enthusiastic and hopeful. When I reported the results to Reverend Moon, he responded, "Great! You brought me the best birthday present of all! From this point on, I want you to spread the CAUSA movement throughout Central and South America. This is the way to save the world."

The birthday celebrations in February came and went. In April, Reverend Moon invited some twenty Argentine anti-communist leaders to New York. Thomas Ward, one of our most capable CAUSA lecturers, taught them the basics of VOC thought, even though our lecture series had not yet been thoroughly prepared. Upon completion of the seminar, our guests were amazed.

These leaders were invited to visit Reverend Moon at East Garden. This was the first time a group of South American leaders had the chance to meet Reverend Moon and listen to him directly. He outlined not only his plans to turn the tide of communism but to bring about a renaissance of truth and morality in the world. They had never heard such ideas before, and by the end of the evening emotions were high and the spirit of God was present.

After this event, Reverend Moon organized the structure of the CAUSA movement. He selected the key leaders, including graduates of the Unification Theological Seminary at Barrytown, New York. Antonio Betancourt became the secretary-general and Thomas Ward the executive vice president. Also chosen were William Lay (who became head of the CAUSA Research Institute), Brazil's Paul Perry, Juan Sanchis from Spain, Mexican-American Beatriz Gonzalez-Steeghs, and Americans William Selig and Jean Jonet-Rondan. Together, they were an impressive and capable crack contingent that stood on the frontline of the CAUSA movement. (They were later joined by many others, including Jesus Gonzales, Roger Johnstone, Frederick and Lourdes Swans, Mark Tobkin, Paul Tobkin, Celia Fraga, Yolanda Watanabe, Hitoshi Nagai, Mark Wilenchek, and others.) Each of the lecturers was thoroughly at home in both English and a second language, usually Spanish.

Under my direction, these staff members worked diligently to reshape VOC thought into the unique CAUSA format. To improve the effectiveness of our teaching methods, we also prepared audio and visual-based materials. Finally, we were ready to test the waters. Would the CAUSA approach be successful?

In December 1980, the first country to request onsite CAUSA training was Bolivia. The Bolivian authorities had gathered forty-five intelligent young people from the nation's elite and asked us to educate them in the CAUSA thought. Most of the young people of South America, however, were infatuated with leftist and Marxist thought at that time. Among the group, many were already deeply influenced by Marxist thought. This added greatly to the challenge, and to the opportunity.

Before we traveled to Bolivia, the CAUSA staff visited East Garden to receive instructions from Reverend Moon. His directions at that time became CAUSA's guiding principles. "The CAUSA movement is a movement of truth that uses Godism to reform and re-create human beings," he said. "The CAUSA movement is an ideological movement, not an academic one. If you don't bring about a revolution in people's heart and character, you will have failed. To bring the revolution, you have to move their hearts. Don't just lecture but revive people's souls. Prepare for a two-hour talk by praying for six hours. What I'm saying is, use spiritual power to bring about a reformation in the people. You should take leftist sympathizers and make brave VOC fighters out of them."

Inspired by his remarks, the team departed for Bolivia. Our destination was a remote and secluded area in the Bolivian Altiplano, in the shadow of snowcapped Andes mountain peaks. For ten days, the CAUSA team invested all its dedication and passion in a test of wills with those forty-five young people. It was a wrestling match that required both spiritual and physical endurance.

During that time, an unusual spiritual phenomenon happened to the participants. Many had dreams of Reverend Moon, though not one had ever met him. The human revolution we wanted to spark in these young people progressed much faster than we had expected. On the last day, some government officials came to observe the results of the training. When they stepped into the lecture hall, they were moved to tears.

"How could they have been changed so much? It feels like there are warriors from Heaven in here," they said, feeling the tangible success of the seminar directly.

After seeing these results, it was only natural for the Bolivian government to ask the CAUSA movement to educate ten thousand military cadets and university students. It decided to cast its lot with CAUSA and entrust the future of the nation to the great power of the CAUSA movement, which had captured the hearts and imagination of the young people.

From this point on, the nations of South America, which had felt helpless in the face of waves of Marxist infiltration, received the CAUSA movement wholeheartedly. From the start of 1981, I became extremely busy, visiting nations one after another with the CAUSA team to hold seminars.

Wherever I went, the highest leaders welcomed me. I testified to them about the purpose of the CAUSA movement and the thought of Reverend Moon. One time, when we were holding a seminar for the national leaders of Bolivia, the president attended the opening ceremony. Another time, President Aparicio Mendez of Uruguay invited all the members of his cabinet and their wives to the presidential residence for a banquet and asked me to give a CAUSA lecture there. There were even instances when, in some nations, I gave CAUSA lectures at cabinet meetings.

CAUSA seminars, sponsored by the nations involved, were held in Paraguay, Uruguay, Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Peru, Honduras, Guatemala, El Salvador, and Brazil. In each one, the Catholic Church supported the CAUSA movement. We felt that we were working hand in hand with the pope and Catholics throughout the world for a common cause.

In Argentina, seminars were held at the Catholic University of La Plata, convened under the sponsorship of Archbishop Antonio Plaza. The message the archbishop delivered at the seminar was particularly noteworthy. Quoting from Popes Leo VIII and Paul VI, Archbishop Plaza warned, "A humanism closed in on itself, and not open to the values of the spirit and to God who is their source -- that is, communism -- is false humanism. History shows us man's need and dependence upon the Supreme Being." He added, "Reverend Moon's CAUSA movement, which seeks to challenge communism with the Godism ideology, is the hope of South America and the hope of humankind. I highly praise their courage and conviction."

When officials at that university witnessed Reverend Moon's imprisonment in 1984, they were irate. In an expression of support, the university sent a contingent to the United States with an honorary doctorate honoring Reverend Moon during his imprisonment. This honorary degree was received on Reverend Moon's behalf by his wife, Mrs. Hak Ja Han Moon, at the United Nations in New York.

The university also conferred an honorary doctorate on me in recognition of CAUSA's results in South America. This was a strong testimony to how great an influence CAUSA achieved.

The CAUSA Movement Goes to Brazil

Because of the size and significance of Brazil, the largest country in South America, its opening to the CAUSA work was particularly important. Since the language is Portuguese, not Spanish, it took a little longer to prepare to work there. In time, we gathered the political, economic, social, religious, athletic, and cultural leaders of the nation for a historic seminar.

Although it was an unprecedented success, shortly after the program was completed, a series of violent and lawless incidents occurred. Leftists who felt threatened by the advances we had made attacked the Unification Church in all parts of the country, stoning and in some cases setting fire to buildings, destroying property, and threatening members. This rampage was inflamed by Brazil's leftist media, which fanned anti-Unificationist hysteria and literally called for violence. In the end, the incident deeply brought home to us just how close the communist threat was to all of South America, and Brazil in particular.

This was a turning point of sorts. I now felt keenly that the CAUSA movement in South America was actually a war we were fighting at the risk of life and limb. Of course, our struggle was an ideological one, but I realized that we needed to put our lives on the line to win.

After the violence in Brazil, the CAUSA team did nor retreat. The fight with the leftist press was fierce and exhausting, and we didn't know when or where we might he the target of a terrorist attack. Yet every day we advanced, all the while facing various kinds of illegal and violent opposition. Despite the opposition, wherever we went there were always righteous people ready to take up our cause. In fact, the more intense the opposition, the more Heaven mobilized patriots and people of goodwill to support us.

CAUSA Wins Over Central America

Without even time to catch our breath, the CAUSA movement, so successful in the Southern Cone (the southern part of the South American continent that includes Uruguay, Paraguay, Chile, and Argentina), proceeded to focus its efforts on Central America.

With Soviet support, communists had successfully taken control of Nicaragua in 1979 and were waging a war of attrition in El Salvador. To most observers, it seemed just a matter of time before that nation, too, fell to Marxists. The CAUSA team drew a line of defense focusing on three nations: El Salvador, Honduras, and Guatemala.

We began an intense schedule of seminars. On one occasion, I conducted a seminar at the El Salvador Military Academy for army officers scheduled to go directly into action against the guerrillas. Because the situation in San Salvador was so dangerous, I was protected twenty-four hours a day by soldiers. I was wearing fatigues, the first time I had worn a uniform since I had taken off my South Korean army uniform many years earlier. This experience accentuated for me how much our lives were at stake in this fight, how much this ideological war was in fact a life-and-death struggle.

As I lectured to officers who were to go into battle the next day, all of us were totally earnest. One officer was killed by an enemy shell the following day. A crumpled diary, found in his pocket, contained words he had written while listening to the CAUSA lecture:

Through this CAUSA seminar, I learned why we have to fight and win over the communist guerrillas. At this point, I'm happy to give my life for my country. Even if I am killed while protecting my homeland and freedom, I won't regret it. I'm not afraid to go into battle.

Who could help but shed tears at these last written words of that officer? When I heard the news, I wept, silently wishing this patriot every happiness in Heaven.

CAUSA Arrives in the United States

In 1983, Reverend Moon gave the direction for CAUSA to work directly in the United States. "Even if we win the ideological war in South America, the ultimate goal of the Soviet Union is America," he said. "Without arming the United States ideologically, the world will always he in danger. I want you to move CAUSA into America and educate the country."

Our team was inwardly apprehensive about whether the United States would receive this ideology. Its decisive defeat in the Vietnam War had sapped the nation's resolve, and further damage had been done by the mishandled "human rights" policies of the Carter administration. As a result, although Marxism was virtually at their doorstep and President Reagan was warning about the "evil empire," Americans were largely complacent about communism.

Under those conditions, what kind of response could we expect with our Victory Over Communism message? In those days, one popular response to communism was, "So what?

Why get involved? I'd rather he red than dead." But the direction had been given, so we had no choice but to advance.

We cautiously decided first to do a trial seminar in the Caribbean country of Jamaica, a stone's throw from Florida. We invited a number of conservative Americans, including Terry Dolan, creator of the Conservative Political Action Committee (CPAC). A retired Air Force general, David Woellner, and his wife also attended. The general later became the initial president of CAUSA USA.

This was the first seminar in English. Facing the audience without my crack interpreter beside me, I felt alone. Once I got started, however, I experienced a blaze of passion. I could taste how my emotions were directly conveyed to the participants.

The main lecturers were Thomas Ward and William Lay. Both were true veterans, having given lectures in fluent Spanish throughout South America. But what second language can match a native tongue?

Their power-packed lectures were reinforced by hard-won experience, and now, speaking in their mother tongue, Tom and Bill enthralled their audience. It was truly like a spirit-filled revivalist meeting. The seminar achieved its goal: a true re-creation of character in the participants.

Truth is something that sheds its light wherever it goes. However, it was only when we arrived in North America that the truth we were teaching really began to show its value.

We took our report of victory to Reverend Moon. As a souvenir of our success, we brought some beautiful stones that we had found on the beach and presented them to our mentor. Signing each of the stones and returning them to us, Reverend Moon said, "You must have determination like these stones." In retrospect, I realized that the date was March 1, the anniversary of the movement for Korean independence.

The Jamaican seminar had been attended by a prominent public information officer from the Honduran government, Amilcar Santamaria. Convinced that only the CAUSA ideology could save his nation, he organized CAUSA Honduras and used that organization to educate thousands of educators, government officials, labor union leaders, and workers.

CAUSA Fire Spreads Across America

In July 1983, we set up the CAUSA International headquarters in the Tiffany Building on New York's Fifth Avenue. Reverend and Mrs. Moon attended the opening, cutting the ceremonial ribbon and then encouraging the CAUSA staff at the celebration banquet by giving a sermon that made clear the importance of the CAUSA movement. Reverend Moon spoke about the march to Moscow to liberate the communist countries and his ideal for all of humankind: "Once we have made it to Moscow, that will not he the end of things. Moscow is simply our intermediate goal. Beyond that, we have to liberate even hell. In the end, we have to also liberate God from His sorrows. CAUSA members, don't think for a moment that you can take it easy. This is just the beginning. I want you to use this new CAUSA headquarters as your base and continue your advance."

In May 1984, even as we were effectively educating a wider audience of civic and religious leaders in the United States, we were deeply saddened by the incarceration of Reverend Moon. He never wavered, however. Even from prison, he guided us. Inspired by his determination, those in CAUSA regarded the thirteen months that our teacher was in prison as a time to redouble our efforts. We put all our hearts into the work, thinking that in some way this might comfort our leader in prison.

The results were overwhelming. The CAUSA movement scored victory after victory in the United States during that time. Most significantly, all across the nation, Christian clergy rose up like an angry nest of hornets and opposed the unjust incarceration of Reverend Moon. In every state, in every major city, demonstrations against religious oppression were held. Moreover, the central movers at these rallies were Christian clergy. Groups of ministers handcuffed themselves in front of the White House, chanting in protest: "If you want to imprison Reverend Moon, put us in prison, too." The sight of these ministers in handcuffs of their own accord was incredibly moving, chanting as they were on behalf of Reverend Moon, a foreigner. How would this be possible if not for the power of God?

These angry demonstrations were not what Reverend Moon wanted, however. He appealed to them. "I am now in prison, but don't worry about me. God is here with me. If you really love me and want to support me, do something for America. Please go to a CAUSA seminar, learn my ideology, and put it into practice, rather than demonstrate." In response, the ministers organized a group called the Common Suffering Fellowship. Members spent one week at our Washington training center, fasting and studying the CAUSA ideology, in the spirit of spending one week living with Reverend Moon in prison.

This became the starting point for CAUSA thought to spread into Christian churches all across the United States. God's historical work is nothing short of amazing. God sent His son into prison and reaped huge victories.

Among the roughly three hundred thousand clergymen in the United States then, more than seventy thousand were educated in the CAUSA teaching during that period. Many were members of minority communities that had been targeted by communists and leftists because they were perceived as being susceptible to the leftists' influence. Instead, equipped with CAUSA's teachings, they became a bulwark blocking the advance of Marxism in the United States.

The day that Reverend Moon left the tribulations of prison and walked out a free man was a festive day. Across the nation, thousands of clergymen celebrated.

Four days after he was released from Danbury, Reverend Moon called the CAUSA staff to East Garden. "While I was in prison," Reverend Moon said, "I read the English version of the CAUSA textbook twice and the Korean version twice as well, so I am very familiar with the lectures you have been giving. You have done a tremendous job, and I am very pleased. Any way you look at it, the work of CAUSA has been a triumph. But it is important that you remember that God's truth is not limited to a single book, or even a hundred books. And there is much more to do.

President Luis Aberto Lacaife and Dr. Bo Hi Pak with Antonio Betancourt. Montevideo, Uruguay July 10, 1992.

"The CAUSA movement has cleared up much of the ideological confusion in America and other parts of the free world. Where there is light, the darkness is driven away automatically. The end of the Soviet Union is not far off. Don't stop the push until the last person has been reached. And never think that you won the victory. God won the victory. You won the victory because God was there."

At this point, multiple CAUSA seminars had been held in every major city in the United States and had stimulated Americans to reconsider the philosophical and religious underpinnings of the nation. The CAUSA movement shaped a new ideological trend developing in the United States. The goal of this trend was to build on America's strengths and fulfill its vision and promise.

Slowly but surely, the politicians of America came to recognize the value of the CAUSA movement in building good citizenship. Thousands of city councilmen, members of state assemblies, and members of Congress -- just about every kind of civic leader -- learned the CAUSA ideology. The CAUSA movement became a patriotic movement all across America. We received powerful testimonials from participants in our seminars expressing how deeply they were moved and inspired. Step by step, CAUSA came to stand at the core of a new movement to save the nation.

Patriotic organizations sprang from CAUSA International and CAUSA USA one after the other. These include the American Constitution Committee (ACC) and the American Freedom Coalition (AFC). Other international organizations that developed out of CAUSA include the Association for the Unity of the Americas (HULA), the Minority Alliance International (MAI), and the Summit Council for World Peace (SCWP).

The International Security Council also derived from the CAUSA movement. This council gathered international security specialists and academics to form a high-level strategy research institute. CAUSA also launched Global Affairs, a monthly journal of policy research that became must reading for security professionals and academics and, in fact, was the fourth top circulated journal in its field. For educating military personnel who served on the front line of international security, the CAUSA International Military Association (CIMA) was created.

In the end, from 1980 until December 1991, when the Soviet Union collapsed, the CAUSA movement combined with the Washington Times to form a tandem team that ushered in the demise of that communist state.

In retrospect, Reverend Moon was the one person who accurately understood the nature of communism and correctly prescribed the right medicine: a new system of thought centered on God. Moreover, he placed his life, his good name, and his entire resources on the line, finally precipitating the demise of the communist system and the liberation of the people under it.

Reverend Moon's VOC movement put international communism on the defensive everywhere. Schooled in CAUSA, El Salvador avoided a communist takeover. Strengthened by CAUSA education and Reverend Moon's media support, the United States released Grenada from communist control. With CAUSA's active participation, Paraguay, Uruguay, Argentina, Bolivia, and Brazil all shifted control from military regimes besieged by communism to democratically elected civilian governments. Challenged by the Washington Times and the international VOC movement, the Soviet Union was forced to pull its army out of Afghanistan.

In Poland and Hungary, the movement for democratic rights was victorious. Finally, on November 9, 1989, the Berlin Wall, the foremost symbol of communist oppression and of the Cold War between East and West, crumbled before the world's eyes. Within two more years, the premier state of communism, the very core of communist power that had sought for seventy-four years to dominate the world in the name of Marxism, disintegrated. The date was December 25, 1991: Christmas Day.

Would it have been possible for this chain of events to unfold as it did without the stubborn, sacrificial, and unrelenting efforts of a man who accepted a mission from God to put an end to international communism? The man is Sun Myung Moon, and the facts tell the story.

The fall of communism was more than a political and social event. It was the defeat of Satan. With this work completed, Reverend Moon fulfilled one of the major responsibilities of the Messiah, who comes as the Son of God. The ideology that proclaimed God's non-existence was defeated by the messianic ideology that proclaimed His existence.

The CAUSA movement crossed the Atlantic and went on to spread throughout Europe. In London, Paris, Rome, Berlin, Lisbon, and Geneva, the movement left its mark. CAUSA had become a world movement in every sense of the word.

In Asia, CAUSA brought a new light to its original homeland, Korea, as well as neighboring Japan. In both nations, the CAUSA-style VOC theory elicited a new and fresh response. In the neighboring Philippines, CAUSA was spotlighted as a movement for national restoration and assisted the Philippines in overcoming a national crisis in transitioning from authoritarian to democratic government. One CAUSA alumnus, former general Fidel Ramos, was elected president, and another, Sen. Salvador Laurel, became vice president. If you go to the Philippines, you can still hear people praise the way that CAUSA helped the Philippine nation.

When President Mikhail Gorbachev led the USSR to abandon world communization, introducing glasnost, perestroika, and a genuine opening to the West, Reverend Moon proclaimed that we had to move quickly to educate the leadership of the USSR. Accordingly, Reverend Moon formed the World Leadership Conference (WLC) and started this work by audaciously inviting numerous political figures from the Soviet Union itself. Amazingly, many high government officials attended, starting with the incumbent Soviet minister of justice and including even the deputy head of the KGB. This was nothing short of miraculous.

Naturally, the White House, the State Department, and even members of Congress took notice. Even more amazing, however, was the fact that these personnel from the Soviet administration, media, and educational and cultural fields heard, for the first time, lectures on God, clearly learning that the Marxism-Leninism they had been raised on was false. Their dormant consciences were awakened. They came to understand clearly the crimes and sins they and their predecessors had inflicted on humankind for over seventy years.

This is where the greatness of Reverend Moon lies. His desire was not to kill and destroy the communists. Rather, he sought to liberate them with a correct and truthful ideology, to give them true life. This motivation forms the essence of Victory Over Communism thought. VOC thought is the ideology of true love. It is also the ideology of national and world deliverance. Human history will record the fact that CAUSA was the movement that first proclaimed this ideology to the whole world.

[whatisonthemoon]

Paul Perry, or Paulo-Juarez Pereira, a CIA-Connected Moonie

▲ ▲ Both pictures: Pereira speakings to soldiers in South America during his CAUSA years

Many organizations associated with the Unification Church have been linked to US intelligence agencies and the military, whether through volunteer cooperation or contracted work. Individual members also have been linked to these institutions, most infamously Bo Hi Pak, who was said to be the head of KCIA agents in the US and played a leading role at the KCIA for decades, as well Paul Perry, Juan Sanchis, Tom Ward, and countless others. These individuals have been accused of engaging in covert operations that include drug trafficking or aiding coups and paramilitaries, collecting intel on both fascist/right-wing and left-wing organizations, and broadly working with the US government to further its interests. Perry, or Pereira, is one of the most intriguing cases, with countless connections and allegations, and yet little recorded history of his life, outside of his own blog and a recent video series he did with Sanctuary Church members. Interestingly enough, some of the details of both his presentations of his life story do not quite match, with some details having changed over the last decade. 

▲ Pictured: Pereira at the Seventh Symposium of ICUS Professors. Pereira is in the middle row in a white shirt and tie at the center. In the past decade, Perry has re-emerged in social media, connecting to church members. He became especially active after the death of his ex-wife. At this time, he began blogging about his life. Since the pandemic, he has become somewhat active in Hyung Jin’s Sanctuary community. This is likely more due to social and political reasons than theological or spiritual. According to Perry, it’s where the Holy Spirit just led him, and he agreed with their values and politics. He finds their political valuable and wanted to participate in it himself. He admires Hyung Jin Moon for being a patriot. But ultimately, he likes the group. He likes that it feels like a group--that people support each other and are connected to one another. 

His testimony regarding his conversion to the Unification Church in 1970 is very similar, mostly testifying to the kind nature of the idealistic members, though he thought they were profoundly naive. No mention of Moon being the messiah, or the revelation of God’s lineage being on earth, or anything like that. Allegedly Pereira's wife is an atheist, and until he turned 75, he was one too.  He’s not likely a member of the Sanctuary movement, and has spoken and socialized among various Moonie sects in the past few years. The information below is collected from FOIA documents, Pereira’s own re-tellings of his life story, as well as both church publications found on tparents.org and members’ and ex-members’ recollections and experiences of Pereira. There are a number of unconfirmed allegations, but there is no doubt that Pereira was actively coordinating and cooperating with the CIA, more intimately and perhaps more professionally than other “connected” members.

▲ Pictured: A facebook post from Paulo Pereira where he says he took part in the “effort to win people’s hearts by supporting people’s efforts to liberates themselves from Communism” Paul J. Perry, or Paulo-Juarez Pereira, Paulo Pereira, and sometimes mis-printed as “Paul Berry,” was born in Brazil in 1942. He spent much of his early life receiving a Catholic education in Brazil, studying for the priesthood, even moving to Rome to receive his doctorate. While in Rome studying philosophy during Vatican II he became very close to a number of Americans, who got him involved in a choir. Soon after, though, news of death of John F. Kennedy Jr. reached Pereira, causing him to re-evaluate his path and career.  He spent his summer vacation in Ireland, returning to Rome to inform the Church and faculty that he had made his decision to leave the priesthood. His college director suggested he wait another year before making this decision, which he did. Not much is known about this year. In another account, he claims that he realized he had the capacity for romantic love, after an experience of quiet unrequited love in Ireland, and left the priesthood after Vatican II with other priests who were disappointed by the lack of reform around priests getting married. After the year of discernment, he finalized his break with the priesthood and was planning on moving to Germany to continue his education. His American friends, though, strongly encouraged him to move to the United States, even helping with arrangements. Through the help of his friends, he was able to land a job as a trilingual translator and interpreter and International Student Office at the University of San Francisco. He played a vital role in doubling the number of Latin American students, directly recruiting many. According to Pereira, "on February 9, 1965, I landed in New York, in transit to San Francisco." While little is known about Perry's early life, some have claimed he was linked to the CIA while studying to become a priest through a fellow seminarian. Others have speculated that he was not directly recruited into covert work until Tom Ward took him under his wing. Pereira was very close to Bo Hi Pak, known liaison between the KCIA and CIA for many years. That said, there are a number of allegations about Perry’s intelligence activity that has not been confirmed. Though it is clear that Perry developed ties to anti-Castroist activist and Cuban exiles while doing anti-communist work in the Unification Church, some believe these connections were developed even prior to joining the UC.  That said, in either 1968 or 1969, after graduating from the University of San Francisco with a BA, using credits from his previous schooling in the Catholic Church. Perry was drafted and served in Vietnam from 1969 to 1970. Perry was in the Air Force.  A few months prior to being drafted, he began teaching Portuguese at the Defense Language Institute, often teaching those who would work in Brazil on behalf of the US government, instructing many who worked in intelligence.  According to Pereira, by January 30, 1968, he was scheduled to be in Vietnam. In another account, he says by April, “around the Tet Offensive.” That winter he was in Brazil to say goodbye to his loved ones. He didn’t tell them he was on his way to Vietnam because he allegedly did not want to worry them.

From Brazil, he returned to the US, going to Ft. Hood, Texas. As soon as he arrived, he was told his application to be an officer was approved. As a result, all his orders were cancelled. He alleges that this prevented him from going to Vietnam in 1968. He had to work in the United States as a Specialist 4th grade to Second Lieutenant, and be trained as a Field Artillery Communications Officer with the 18th Airborne Corps in Fort Bragg, North Carolina. 

Like many of Pereira's stories, as soon as he got to Vietnam, he experienced a miraculous change of course. He was called into the office of the commanding officer within 15 minutes of being in Vietnam. He was afraid of getting in trouble but then pleasantly surprised to hear his commanding officer speak to him in Portuguese. He finds out that the officer was trained at the language school he taught at in Monterey, California, and was in Brazil as a military attache for 4 years. They hit it off and the office invited him to join his social club in Saigon that includes officers and other agents that all spent time in Brazil and spoke Portuguese. They wanted a native speaker in their Portuguese-speaking social club so the officer asked him to come to Saigon. This took him out of his order to be out in the boondocks in northern South Vietnam, and he went to Saigon for “3-6 months”. He became an assistant to the company commander in the 4th Infantry Division. There is likely more to the story regarding his Saigon assignment than he is sharing.

As soon as Perry returned to San Francisco from his duty in Vietnam, he met the Unification Church at the international student center he used to work at. Some Moonies had a band playing at the student center and some members witnessing. Kathy Sato was there, and Pereira considers her his spiritual mother. Apparently she engaged in some classic Bay Area flirty witnessing,  inviting him to dance with her. Apparently he won a free trip to Boonville that day. In Boonville he was immediately hooked by the lectures, conversations about building the ideal world, and the loving people. He quickly joined and rose through the ranks of the organization. Despite other members allegedly being wary of him, seeing him as too argumentative, secular, and “horizontal.” Pereira joined when Boonville was still under Papasan Choi’s leadership. 

It is believed that Perry had CIA connections coming into the church, and continued to work with these agencies to some degree throughout his involvement with the organization. His central figure after joining was KCIA agent Sang Ik Choi, or Papasan Choi, who was implicated in the infamous Frasier Committee investigation for bribing politicians on behalf of South Korean interests. It has been speculated that Choi knew about Perry’s activities. Moon is said to have given him his mission to Brazil on December 21, 1972. He had been preparing for his mission, with five others, for some time before this.

He received training from Young Hwi Kim and Moon in Belvedere for 10 days before being launched. He asked Pereira to stay a few days longer to edit the speeches Moon delivered to them during their stay to be distributed to members.

He left early on in the new year to be a missionary, rather than Argentina or the Philippines, which were his preferences. In 1965, the first UC missionary was sent to Brazil, Tatsushiko Sasaki, but had little success. Perry’s arrival was not a huge revival, but it did bring in many of his family members, who ardently helped him translate UC documents and texts and lectured seekers with Perry.

Though Pereira did put considerable time into witnessing and church efforts in 1973-1974, he largely depended on his family for support. It seems that he did spent a lot of these years also traveling South America on behalf of WACL and other directions coming from Sang Ik Choi and Moon. 

Concerned over his inability to convert permanent members outside of his family, Sang Ik Choi told Perry to report directly to Moon, who he shared his witnessing concerns with. Within two years, a Korean missionary (Hyun Tae Kim) and Japanese missionaries (Toru Nishiwak  arrived on May 31, 1975, Tomoichi Sogo in August of 75, and Mr. Koji Ozeki, July 1) came to support Perry’s work, who was often traveling, and the church began rapidly growing. 

With these new missionaries came new business ventures, and revival, according to Pereira. He credits Rev. Kim for the spiritual power and direction of that time. Perry did end up bringing in some early members that stayed in the movement through the decades, including Mauricio Baldini and a number of other strong, witnessing, leading members. Though other members had been lecturing and teaching Baldini for awhile, when Pereira was back in town, the two had a conversation regarding the Principle that led Baldini to confirm his faith. He considers Pereira his spiritual father. Baldini is also his nephew. By the late 70s, even more missionaries from Japan arrived. Fatima Cardoso da Silveira was a charismatic lecturer in these early years. AMASA or IRFF became a major effort throughout the Brazilian Church by the late 70s. 

As Perry established himself as a missionary in the UC, he also began purchasing real estate and laying the foundations for UC businesses and political organizations.  Within a few years, the Brazilian Church had purchased land for training workshops, had holdings and assets in the manufacturing sector, including textiles, and were actively selling ginseng tea to the Japanese community of Sao Paolo. By the 80s, the UC in Brazil owned II Hwa Trade Co., Tong II Custom Tailor Co., II Heung Food Trade Co., World Jewelry Trade Co., as well as Happy World and other businesses.

In 1977, Pereira was back in New York for some time. Before launching into CAUSA, he received “VOC” (Victory Over Communism) training, which had become integrated into the Brazilian Church. In 1980, the International Association of Freedom and Peace was founded, which led the Moonie student movement in Brazil, and an IFVOC chapter was also founded. In 1981, the CAUSA International Conference was held in Rio de Janeiro with three hundred participants. Essential to Pereira’s teachings in the early church recognized that capitalism has its issues but that the primary concern for people today is communism, not capitalism, as communism was a dangerous ideology rapidly taking over nations. Pereira justifies many war crimes committed by the United States with this logic. A consistent theme in Pereira’s political thought even today is that liberation causes may seem worthy but will ultimately fail and become genocidal. It has been alleged that Perry sought to build an “armed church” in Brazil sometime around the 70s-80s. This may have been to protect themselves from the violence of critics. Many UC members in Brazil remember 1981 as a year of great persecution, when fourteen UC centers were raided and/or attacked, six were set on fire, with five of them burning down to the ground. These attacks were largely led by riots, though the police were said to have looked the other way in many cases, or even harassed members themselves. This was provoked by “negative” news stories that detailed UC’s recruitment practices of the church, as well as accusations around money laundering and financial exploitations of members. Prior to these attacks, the UC had exploded in Brazil, with 64 centers. Following these attacks, the church continued to grow, and quickly repaired and rebuilt all their buildings. There have been rumors about the UC attempting a “armed church” in Bolivia, too. When Perry first returned to South America in 1973, it has been said that he visited and worked some in Chile on behalf of WACL, building connections with the Pinochet regime.  Pereira did claim that he supported "people's efforts to liberate themselves from Communism," as a separate point from his service in Vietnam in a facebook post (image above). He is likely referring to his covert work.

Jean-François Boyer and Alejandro Alem’s reporting revealed that “Alfredo Mingolla, an Argentine secret service operative, says, however, that he met Perry in the Causa offices and that he is one of the four Moonies who collaborated with General García Meza, the ousted Bolivian leader.” It is believed that Pereira worked closely with the Brazilian government under the military dictatorship, which lasted from 1964 into 1985, particularly with the National Intelligence Service (SNI) and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He also had close ties with President João Figueiredo, who appointed him as a special advisor on international affairs. In Paraguay, Pereira had close ties to the Stroessner regime, serving as an advisor on intelligence matters. 

It seems that Perry may have been working in concert with U.S. intelligence agencies to undermine the Allende government even prior to Pinochet’s murderous coup. Some have claimed that Perry helped facilitate the re-arrival of assassin Michael Townley in Chile in 1973. Townley became employed by the Dirección de Inteligencia Nacional (DINA), the Chilean secret police. Townley was a U.S. citizen who in 1976 was involved in the assassination of Orlando Letelier, a Chilean diplomat who had been critical of the Pinochet regime. Letelier was killed by a car bomb in Washington, D.C. in 1976. There is little basis for this theory other than hearsay. Some have linked CAUSA and the UC to this event through their Coordination of United Revolutionary Organizations (CORU) connections. There is currently little known evidence of this, but the UC did have CORU connections.

▲ Pictured: Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) documents regarding a meeting between Unification Church members and Coordination of United Revolutionary Organizations in 1978 The above documents reveal that the Unification Church was attempting to form formal connections to CORU, a CIA-backed anti-Castroist terrorist organization. A church representative shared with the agent or informant present in this meeting that Moon and his organization actively sought to fund “radical anti-communist groups,” and that WACL was 85% funded by the UC. In 1978, prior to the Contras and the vigilante death squads in the Philippines, what kind of radical activities was Moon funding?  Most of the above documents are blocked out and one page says that "much of the information above is of a singular nature, and sensitive" and therefore should be secret. There are more pages than included here that are mostly blocked. The Moonie described in this meeting has not been determined by the description (white male, 6 foot, light brown hair, light brown eyes, light complexion, athletic built). People have wondered if these documents somehow implicate Perry, as he has endless connections to Cuban exiles, though the description of the Moonie does not match Pereira (he’s 5′6, had dark brown hair, etc.). From 1977-1979, Pereira was at UTS. In his accounts of this period, he rarely discloses much outside of working on editing and translating anti-communist and theological works with other members.  Perry claims that by the late 1970s, he began to feel alien in the Unification Church, and was especially put off by the conception of the movement as “not a church.” Despite this, he was active in the Unification Church’s activities, namely their political work, into the 90s, promoting Unification Thought as a counter-proposal to Marxism. He more formally broke away from the UC in 1996 after leaving his wife and family, and quickly re-marrying an “outsider.”

Though Perry has been willing to disclose many stories from his childhood, and stories of the early UC in Brazil, in various blogs and presentations, he has been unwilling to share much of the details of his political work from the 70s into the 80s. His re-tellings of his own life are cryptic, and it is apparent that he shifts around certain topics to avoid disclosing damning details. Even his own faith in the Unification Church is hard to discern and understand. He speaks of the members who drew him to the faith as kind, ignorant people. With his connections to the CIA, KCIA, Chile’s DINA, militant Cuban exiles, etc., as well as his own service in the US Air Force, there has to be more substance to the endless rumors about his covert work, including facilitating illegal trading and trafficking of weapons and/or drugs, and supporting and funneling funds into militant anti-communist organizing and fascist dictatorships.

[yarrowmagazine-blog]

In the field —  shepherd’s purse: to be seen even in the dark. Think on it — after the gravel paths, after the roads — uneven and achingly long, across the cold promise the border makes to a sloping field, to a ditch. A ditch like any other. A ditch I have known — since. Imagine them: green, slender, from crown to root, a rosette of radical leaves, smooth, arrow-shaped and above them numerous small, white, inconspicuous flowers. There was no need to ask the man to kneel but he did, as if he were going to beg forgiveness, which he did not, nor did he ask for his life. He named his children and his wife, murmured to his own private God. Overhead, there was the sound of pine shifting, the moon winnowing in the distance. So, nothing terrible about the night then, if you do not count the earth tilting, or the sound in the undergrowth of a passage from this world to the next. More than that I remember the flat-seed pouch: weed some call it, as if to flourish and seed in the poorest soil is to be just that. They are everywhere now —  it seems to me, populating my field of vision like a generative disease, an affliction. Look: a man walks into a field. A field with shepherd’s purse. He falls. He falls again. Every day, from this day until kingdom come, he falls into the embrace of a field of flowers, into shepherd’s purse.

Shepherd’s Purse, Paul Perry (2015)

[isaluciole]

Promise . Paul Perry .

In her silence, there is something of a promise, something which suggests you could if you wanted become again the person you wished to be.