Good is often followed by the bad. Some people drew mustaches on my picture, trying to associate me with Hitler. They called me “anti-Semitic” and claimed I taught against Jews. Trouble also happened with Christians. As the number of young people following me and the number of ministers who wanted to learn the Principle increased, America’s established churches also began to persecute me. Lastly, leftists in America reacted against my position that it was America’s responsibility to stop the spread of communism in the world. They, too, began to look for ways to stop my activities.

        Furthermore, the United States had become embroiled in the Watergate crisis. I met with President Richard Nixon to urge him to seek God’s will in leading the nation. I issued an appeal to the American people to “forgive, love, and unite” around the position of the president. This sparked opposition from the leftist news media. Things that previously had not been an issue suddenly came pressing down upon me. At the same time, conservatives said I was too liberal and that my teachings would break down traditional values.

       Many Christians were unhappy about the new understanding of the cross that I was teaching: Jesus came as the Messiah, and it was not God’s predestined will that he be crucified. With the execution of Jesus, God’s plan for the kingdom of peace went awry. If Israel had received Jesus as the Messiah, he could have brought about a world of peace, uniting cultures and religions of the East and West. Jesus, however, died on the cross, and God’s work of complete salvation was delayed until the Second Coming. This understanding of the cross brought a great deal of opposition. Established churches and the Jewish community both came to regard me as their enemy. They tried any number of ways to have me removed from America, each for their own different reasons.

       Ultimately, I was imprisoned once again. All I did was work to reestablish the morality of America and restore it to be a country in line with God’s will, but I was accused of not paying my taxes. I was well past my sixtieth birthday by this time.