Sun Myung Moon World Christianity in Seoul, South Korea based on conservative, family-oriented teachings from new interpretations of the Bible. In 1971, he moved to the United States and became well known after giving a series of public speeches on his beliefs. In the 1982 case "United States v. Sun Myung Moon" he was found guilty of willfully filing false federal income tax returns and sentenced to 18 months in federal prison. His case generated protests from clergy and civil libertarians, who said that the trial was biased against him. Moon was criticized for making high demands of his followers. His wedding ceremonies
Unification Church of the United States of "Nightline", host Ted Koppel stated: "On last night's program ...I used the term 'Moonies'. This is a label which members of the Reverend Sun Myung Moon's Unification Church find demeaning and offensive, and I'd like to apologize for its use." Journalistic authorities, including the "New York Times" and Reuters, now discourage its use in news reporting. On July 1, 1982 a large number of the members of the Unification Church of the United States were married by Rev. and Mrs. Moon in a Blessing ceremony (sometimes called a "mass wedding") in Madison Square Garden in New York City. The