Political Involvement
Moon had long been an advocate for anti-communism; both because of personal experience, he was born in what is now North Korea and had been imprisoned by the North Korean communist government during the Korean War, and because he believed that the defeat of communism by democracy was a necessary step in God's providence to establish the Kingdom of God on earth. In 1974 he asked church members to support President Richard Nixon during the Watergate scandal when Nixon was being pressured to resign his office. Church members prayed and fasted in support of Nixon for three days in front of the United States Capitol, under the motto: "Forgive, Love and Unite." On February 1, 1974 Nixon publicly thanked them for their support and officially received Moon. This brought the church into widespread public and media attention.
The Unification Church of the United States sponsored other anti-communist activities during the 1970s and 1980s, including the multi-national organization CAUSA International. In 1982 Moon founded the conservative newspaper The Washington Times, in Washington D.C., as part of News World Communications, an international news media conglomerate which also publishes newspapers in South Korea, Japan, and South America. Although never a financial success, the Times was well-read in conservative and anti-communist circles and was credited by President Ronald Reagan with helping to win the Cold War.
In 1983 church members publicly protested against the Soviet Union over its shooting down of Korean Airlines Flight 007. In 1984, church member Dan Fefferman founded the International Coalition for Religious Freedom in Virginia, which is active in protesting what it considers to be threats to religious freedom by governmental agencies. In 1986 conservative author William Rusher wrote: "The members the Reverend Sun Myung Moon's Unification Church, now almost universally referred to as 'Moonies,' constitute a fascinating problem for outsiders--and perhaps above all for conservatives, because they are so unabashedly anti-Communist and pro-American."
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