Federation for World Peace Founder's Address
Little Angels Performing Arts Center, Seoul, Korea
Today, upon the founding of The Federation for World Peace, I am very honored and pleased by the presence of such distinguished leaders of the world. Please accept my heartfelt gratitude for coming and for making this ceremony most memorable.
From the beginning of human history until the present time there has never been a period when people did not long for lasting peace, nor has there ever been a person who did not wish deeply in his heart for true peace during his lifetime.
Yet, contrary to the desires of all people and in spite of our great achievements, humanity has yet to secure world peace. Quite the contrary has been the case. At no time has human life been free of war and bloodshed. Why is this so?
In contemporary history mankind has experienced two world wars. In 1914 with the assassination of an Austrian archduke at Sarajevo in Bosinia, the first world war was ignited. Eventually this war engulfed the whole of Europe. Sixteen nations were involved. In the end at least 30 million men and women were either dead or wounded. It was Europe's worst tragedy.
The inhumanity and severity of this war caused world leaders to acutely realize the need to strive for world peace at all costs, to end all wars. On the wave of this genuine desire for peace and longing for the improvement of human welfare President Woodrow Wilson of the United States spearheaded the founding of the League of Nations.
Although the League handled over forty political disputes with varying degrees of success, its inability to resolve major crises between the powers eventually determined its failure. Sadly, President Wilson could not even bring the United States to participate in the League, and his noble dream for peace failed. The world's ardent desire to put an end to war remained unfulfilled.
Less than 20 years after the ending of World War l mankind faced another cataclysmic war. At that time, World War ll engulfed not only the Atlantic Region but the Pacific Region as well. Many more millions of human beings were the victims of war, suffering injury, destruction, and death. Only after the atomic bomb was used against Japan did this most tragic world war come to an end.
Once more world leaders were alarmed and anguished. They sought to find a means to prevent the world from again becoming a living hell by war. The fruit of their efforts was the United nations which was inaugurated on April 25th, 1945 in San Francisco. The history of the United Nations has thus spanned 46 years until this time.
Yet, has the United Nations been able to alleviate the tragedy of war? Is humanity living in peace? Unfortunately the answer to these questions is no. Even after the founding of the United Nations, wars have continued to break out. There have been more than 60 wars and skirmishes since the end of World War ll, including the Korean War, the Vietnam War, and the Persian Gulf War. The tragic cycle of human destruction continues as before.
Why is peace so difficult to achieve? Today we are gathered together for the inauguration of The Federation for World Peace. Before we proceed, however, bearing in mind the previous record of mankind, we must think deeply and analyze accurately as to why peace is so difficult to achieve. Without knowing the causes of war, without a deep analysis of the past, we may very well repeat past history, and the noble goals and ambitions of this Federation would remain unachieved.
Ladies and gentlemen, up until this time people have longed for and anguished for peace without having a true philosophy of peace. Without this philosophy of peace, there can be no true methodology for achieving peace.
The fundamental reason that peace has constantly eluded mankind is rather simple yet profound. Human beings have lost their relationship with God. Because of that, they have lost the ability to attain true peace. Since that time, men and women have repeatedly tried to restore peace, but have met with failure after failure because they have been trying without God. This is the fundamental error mankind has been committing. This is the real reason why we have not yet achieved peace.
God is the source of true love and true peace. Yet in the world which God created, the inhabitants are pitted against each other in war and mutual killing. This is completely paradoxical.
God created man in his own image. Furthermore, God created man as a holy temple in which He, God Himself, wanted to dwell. Suppose each individual were a perfected temple of God so that each individual was living every minute of every day with the spirit of God dwelling within him. In this situation could man war against man?
In the original world of God's creation men struggling against men would be something like your right hand fighting against your left hand, or even more, your own hand pulling out your own eyes. In other words, in the ideal world of creation it would be impossible to have war among men. In this world, people would only be capable of loving each other and harmonizing together. The only challenge would be in competing in ways to glorify our Creator better and further.
No matter how large the population of this world, it should still function like one person's body. In one human body, as you know, there are many billions of cells. Although each cell has its own individuality, among them there is not contradiction. Likewise, each individual in the original world would become a temple of God, and God would dwell in the hearts of everyone. How can God, dwelling in each person, engender a contradiction among men? It would be impossible.
In such a world there would be no conflict, no misunderstanding. There would only be harmony, cooperation and mutual assistance. There would be unity among people in the pursuit of truth, goodness and beauty. This is truly the world of peace which man seeks. This world would reflect the nature of God, whose primary characteristic is unselfishness unselfish love, unselfish peace. In religious terms this is called the Kingdom of God on Earth. The basis of such a world is the worldview of Godism, or the headwing ideology.
If God is Almighty, He is certainly capable of realizing a world of peace and happiness for all humanity. If this type of world could not be achieved, then we would be forced to conclude that there is no God.
At the dawn of human history, when God began to realize His world, something tragic happened. Our first human ancestors lost God.
God created one man and one woman to be the beginning point of humankind. In religious terms they are called Adam and Eve. Tragically, at the outset of human history they committed sin, not allowing God to dwell in them, and they were expelled by God from His Kingdom. At that very moment, with their departure from God, man and woman failed to achieve their potential, and were unable to become temples of God. At that moment peace was lost. Instead they became the temples of Satan, whose characteristic is selfishness.
Since this occurred at the very start of human history with the very first human ancestors, all their descendants up to the present generations have grappled with the arduous task of finding God. Without the knowledge of God as our True Father and the understanding that all humankind are true brothers and sisters, men have become each other's enemies. Originally if you were to hurt someone else, it would be the same as hurting yourself, since the same God is dwelling in both. But humankind has become spiritually darkened. Under the present tragic conditions when one kills his own brother he feels no pain.
Furthermore, to make things worse, since man has become the dwelling place of Satan, he is aware only of himself and not the whole. The natural result if the manifestation of selfishness from the level of the individual to the family, society nation and world.
With this limited outlook, when someone's own interest or profit is violated, he is ready to fight. War is thus inevitable. This is the real reason for war on every level. Then what does God intend to do with this fallen world? God is living and God is Almighty. As I said, God is a God of love.
God, our Creator, has a Will. That Will is to restore this world into the world of true peace. In other words, He will restore the world of His original nature and ideal by re-creating the present world.
For this reason, there is hope for true peace in the future. God's Will is to eradicate selfishness from each individual, then transform or re-create that person into His own temple, and make all men holy.
For this reason true world peace between nations begins not at the national level, but with the perfection of the individual. Each person is perfected by becoming the temple of God. This is where world peace is germinated. Each one of you, ladies and gentlemen, is the true beginning point of world peace.
Since the Fall of Man, there has been a constant war going on within each of us. It is an inevitable consequence of the Fall of Man that there is continuous struggle and conflict going on within ourselves between mind and body, and between the desire for good and the desire for evil.
Originally mind and body were to be one.. The mind and body were to be one. The human mind represents God's mind. The human body is to be a container to accommodate the mind, or a dwelling place for the mind. Separation came between these two when the Fall of Man occurred.
The Fall of Man resulted in the body coming under the domain of Satan or selfishness. Thus tragically the human body has become the servant of Satan.
On the other hand, the human conscience is the agent of God in the individual person. One's conscience does not exist for the benefit of oneself. The conscience is planted by God for the sake of righteousness. Thus, the conscience always strives toward goodness and unselfishness. Yet the body rebels against this conscience. The body only seeks after comforts and tends to act selfishly, going after carnal desires. The conscience in turn is trying to chastise the body and direct it toward the mind. This is why there is always inevitable conflict and struggle within one's self.
This is the reason why the traditional religions of the world unanimously teach the principle of chastisement of the body through fasting, prayer, and other disciplines doing things the body does not want to do. Religion is the training ground where the desire of the body is suppressed, thus bringing the body to the will of the mind. For this reason religion has been the instrument of God to bring men back into the original ideal.
However, no one is capable of dominating his body without uniting with God within himself. The only power that enables the mind to have dominion over the body is that generated by the unity of the mind with God's truth and love. Mind is subject and body is object. God's love and truth have the power to bring them together into one harmonious person. This is what religion defines as a man of perfection or a holy man.
God-centered men and women in perfection are called men and women of goodness. These good men and women may receive God's blessing of marriage and be united into a couple of husband and wife. This will be the beginning of one ideal family of men on the face of the earth. This model family is what God wanted to have as a building block of the society, nation and world.
There is an old saying in the Orient that "once peace is dwelling in the family, everything goes right." A happy and harmonious family is a family of peace and the foundation of the heavenly kingdom.
The dynamic of the family is true love. You must love God first, then love your husband or wife and your children with truly pure and sacrificial love. This is the manifestation of true love. God created love as the supreme force in the universe. He has created nothing greater in this universe. True love is supreme.
True love, of course, originates from God. God has invested everything, every ounce of His energy, for the creation of all things and mankind. Love is the only thing that when invested fully, returns fully. When you invest true love, no attrition occurs. It will multiply and prosper. Investing 10 per cent of true love will yield or return 120 per cent. One might think that those who practice true love would become poor and miserable, yet the end result is to the contrary. By practicing true love you will acquire prosperity and eternal life.
This kind of family of true love becomes the foundation for creating a society, nation and world. That society, nation and world shall be true-love centered, and shall become ideal and peaceful. There you will find harmony instead of contradiction. You will find understanding instead of misunderstanding. You will find unity instead of division. You will find unselfishness instead of selfishness. This is the society, nation and world where sacrifices and good service become the dominant virtues. The realization of the ideal of God is the way to achieve the ideal of true peace in the world.
When the Bible says that God sought to create human beings in "His own image," this means that the invisible God wanted to manifest Himself into a visible form. In other words, men and women would have become the personifications of God.
If the first man and woman had realized the ideal of God they would have become the first visible form of God and created the first family of man. Then God-centered children and grandchildren would have formed an ideal society, nation and world. In this case the invisible God would become the vertical True Parents of man centering upon true love, and the first man and woman, Adam and Eve, would have become the horizontal True Parents of mankind centering upon that same true love. Centered upon these True Parents of man, humanity would have become one family eternally fulfilling true brotherhood.
however, the fall of Adam and Eve meant that humanity lost True Parents. That day we became orphans. Brothers turned into enemies. As a result, nations came to develop antagonistic relationships rather than friendly ones. Accusations abound on every level
In the final fulfillment of human history, therefore, God's work of restoration is the restoration of True Parents first, liberating humanity from its orphan status. Today this is the central dispensational work of God to bestow True Parents upon mankind, to create the original family of man centering on God and true love.
Ladies and gentlemen, today's creation of the Federation for World Peace must be different from that of the League of Nations and the United Nations. Most important is that we must found this organization upon the true ideal and philosophy of lasting peace as well as the ideal of True Parents. In the final analysis, peace in God and with God is the newest level of awakening. This is therefore a refreshing new beginning toward the attainment of peace. The exclusion of God from human efforts for peace is the core reason for their failure. Therefore we shall make God the center of this movement and the dynamics of this movement will be true love.
For men and women who are fervently longing for world peace, today's gathering is a historical gathering. There are many presidents and former presidents here today, as well as prominent religious leaders and leaders from every walk of life. This is truly a rare and extraordinary assembly. Furthermore, there are leaders from the East bloc and the West bloc. Until recently, those leaders were mired in the Cold War and locked in a chilling confrontation. In this auditorium however there is no East no West. Everyone is gathered together in one spirit of cooperation and reconciliation.
On November 9, 1989 the Berlin Wall finally came tumbling down. Ever since that event we have been living in a different world. The world is moving quickly toward reformation, change, mutual understanding and friendship. Everyone today feels acutely that the mood of the world is opening up to the blossoming opportunity of peace.
If you agree that the principles I have expounded are the fundamental criteria for peace, then true peace is reachable and achievable. The industrialized North must reach out to help liberate the South from pervasive impoverishment. The developed nations must reach out with a helping hand toward the developing countries and the new democracies. Each nation's attitude must be changed from a selfish one to an unselfish one. That in itself is a revolution. Nations can do this when leaders see from the position of parents. The most unselfish and sacrificial love of all is the love of parents. From that perspective, one can see that all nations are brother and sister nations. Then a fresh new vision emerges and new opportunities will open up in front of us.
It has already been announced that in September North Korea and South Korea together will become member nations of the United Nations. This is another significant positive development toward the achievement of world peace. Then the number of member nations of the UN will reach 163 countries. What should be the priority of those 163 countries in the days to come?
The time of colonialism is over, where the powerful nations exploited the weakest ones. The law of the jungle and Herbert Spencer's "survival of the fittest" do not apply in our world. The age of the superpower arms race that drove the world and humanity into fear and uncertainty has also passed; humanity ought to be liberated from the devastating threat of nuclear arms. What time is it in God's timetable? This is the time that the Holy Scriptures refer to as that of "beating our swords into plowshares."
This is the time for developing mutual trust based on a high moral standard. It is a time when all the member nations of the United Nations with a relationship of mutual respect and love should jointly declare one final war against our common enemies the scourges of hunger, ignorance, disease and crime.
This is in God's plan. From this time on, the definition of "my country" will expand. Although everyone has their home country where their family lives, in a larger sense, the world now becomes "my country" because it is where God my Father and my brothers and sisters all the people of the world live.
From this point-of-view, advanced nations should seek to share high technology with the developing nations and new democracies. To do otherwise would be a moral crime. Things which are good and beneficial must be shared among all nations. When a new discovery is made, it should benefit all nations. If something is good for humanity and the world we must fulfill it transcendent of national boundaries. For a long time, I have been fighting for equal opportunity in the use of high technology by all developing nations.
Ladies and gentlemen, your coming to this place is not an accident. Nothing happens by accident. I feel you are ordained to be here. You are chosen by God as champions of peace.
Within our lifetime we shall commemorate the year 2000. That year will be history's new turning point. A new era is unfolding. With the cooperation of God and man together the twenty-first century will be a century of peace. In order to make that happen we shall work tirelessly together for the next nine years. If we do, we shall be able to eliminate all obstacles that might hinder the attainment of peace.
The twenty-first century shall be a righteous century. In the twenty-first century wealth will not be the dominating factor. Instead the human spirit and human soul shall be dominant. The twenty-first century shall be the era of unity between God and man. It shall be the era where a new awakening will come to every man a realization that he shall benefit himself more when he genuinely lives for the sake of others. In the twenty-first century selfishness will decline. Life, honor, and glory based on unselfishness shall be triumphant. These are the characteristics of the coming twenty-first century.
The era for peace is approaching. Even the opportunity for the Kingdom of Heaven on earth is closer. The twenty-first century shall be a hopeful and glorious century. TO make this happen, the Federation for World Peace will provide the ideal and philosophy to educate the world's population. The Federation will assist spiritually, mentally, and financially in the development of needy nations. The Federation will set a high moral standard and take up a dynamic role in building a world of peace.
Ladies and gentlemen, you are the apostles of peace. A bright new hope as well as an exciting new future is awaiting us. Today we should fervently feel the desire to fulfill the great mission that is being bestowed upon us.
In order to achieve this sacred duty and the historic responsibility of building lasting peace, we should dedicate our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor with total commitment. The very first item on our agenda shall be to invite God into our individual hearts, and those of our family, society, nation and world. When God is with us, who shall be against us?
Respected friends, my beloved brothers and sisters, we are called to this sacred mission the building of world peace. Our noble march shall begin today toward that glorious future. Let us build a true world of peace together with God.
