10th Anniversary of the Washington Times and Presentation of the Freedom Awards
Washington, DC USA
As the Founder of The Washington Times, I would like to extend my congratulations to the Freedom Award recipients, who richly deserve recognition for their service in defense of freedom.
Tonight, as I look back, I remember the day in 1981 when I decided to create this newspaper. With the collapse of The Washington Star, the capital of the United States of America and the world's inspiration for freedom and democracy was left with just one liberal newspaper, The Washington Post.
At that time, the idea of starting up a new, conservative paper to challenge The Post was unthinkable. I assure you that if I had sought political influence, religious propaganda or personal riches, The Washington Times would have been the wrong project indeed. The fact is, I have invested close to one billion dollars in this newspaper during the past 10 years. Why I founded the paper
I founded this newspaper only because I believed that it was the will of God. God loves America and its Judeo-Christian heritage, and looks to America to assume the central role in saving the world from the collapse of traditional values and to defend the free world from the threat of communism. I, therefore, created The Washington Times to provide America with responsible leadership in fulfilling this providential role. This Tenth Anniversary celebration commemorates the decisive role played by The Washington Times in the fall of communism and anticipates America's and the world's hope for a bright future.
In speaking of the future, allow me to share with you my hopes for a world of peace and harmony.
Ladies and gentlemen! What is the most precious thing in the world? It is true love centered upon God. If there is anything that you cannot buy with money or power, it is true love. True love is unique in that it cannot be actualized except within a relationship. A relationship requires give and take between two beings, a subject and an object. Love between husband and wife, parent and child, and brother and sister are all experienced within relationships.
In the same way, in order for God to fulfill the ideal of true love, He created the universe to be His object. Of all His creations, mankind, as His sons and daughters, was created to be His primary object of love. It is only through true love that we can experience true unity between God and man, between men and women, and among all the creatures of the earth. True love is the ultimate center of all unified and absolute values. This love originates from the act of sacrificing oneself for the sake of others. Give yourself to others and forget your giving. Then give again. This is the nature of true love. When God created His object of love, He gave Himself for the sake of His creation. He invested 100 percent of Himself. And then He invested again and again.
In nature, when air moves, a vacuum is created. Then air rushes back in a circular motion to fill the vacuum. In human life, when we give our love until we have no more to give, God's unlimited love rushes back into our hearts to fill the void. Absolute giving for the sake of others, therefore, will bring us unlimited energy. God stands in the subject position of giving love to mankind. His original nature of giving love again and again creates a perpetual dynamic motion characterizing His eternal existence. Thus, eternal life is the natural consequence of living the way of true love.
If you can stand in the position of having God's absolute and unchangeable love, you can be where God is. You will have the right to live together with Him all the time. If we as human beings resonate with God's love and enter a sphere of unified oneness with Him, then God's love will be our love, God's life will be our life, God's lineage will be our lineage, and God's creatures will be our creatures.
It is, therefore, by God's design that man is created to live for the sake of others. By living and sacrificing for others, the ideal of love can be realized. With this in mind, we cannot expect world peace to result from the contemporary philosophy of individualism, in which each person lives for him- or herself. It is the intention of evil to destroy the sphere in which the individual dwells as an object of God. When that occurs, what remains is the individual, living only for oneself. This is the fundamental cause of family breakdown, racial conflict, economic disparity and conflict between religions. America was founded upon the Judeo-Christian spirit of love. Then how did it develop this culture of individualism?
While fighting communism, I have continually tried to awaken America's youth and I have repeated my warnings to the free world so they would not be affected by this degenerating pattern.
Yet America is still suffering from a variety of social ills. Drug wars, AIDS and increasing criminal violence still plague this great country. Even the considerable military, economic and intellectual might of America have not and can not cure these diseases. Decisive Role
I came to America only with the desire to help save her. Even after this country indicted me, I was still committed to this cause. I even made the decisions that created The Washington Times while sitting in the courthouse during my trial. Moreover, I gave instructions to start Insight and The World & I magazines while in Danbury prison. I am proud of the fact that The Washington Times played a decisive role in heightening America's awareness of the threat of communism. Although this country has repeatedly rejected me, I have continued my best efforts to awaken America to its providential responsibility.
The strategy of God to save mankind is to absorb the first blow and suffer loss, but over the course of time regain more than what was lost back to God. Evil, on the other hand, always strikes first and claims initial victory but, ultimately, in the end, loses all. As you know, during World Wars I and II and even the Cold War, the countries that struck first, eventually lost. If a righteous person endures persecution, his commitment to suffer for his faith plants a seed of respect and admiration in the consciences of his oppressors. Eventually, that seed will grow and transform the hearts of many for generations to come. This quiet revolution of the heart is heaven's secret weapon.
Investment to Save America
I have undergone immense hardship in my efforts to pioneer the way to a true and just world peace. When I founded The Washington Times, there were very few people who comprehended my intent, let alone who offered to help. But because I knew the winning strategy of God, I went forward. I foresaw that this newspaper would be an instrument to save America and the world, although it would mean sacrificing myself and my Unification Movement.
In the next decade, our task will be more difficult than ever. We cannot relax just because the fight with communism has ended. For example, who can halt the surging wave of immorality that is sweeping the globe? This is becoming a world that worships hedonism, and seeks only to stimulate carnal desires. The war against drugs in this country has been a complete and utter failure.
The riots that occurred a few weeks ago in Los Angeles, moreover, confronted us with issues that cannot be solved merely with more police, more laws, more money or more political negotiations. Without the true love of God on earth, that is, without people living and sacrificing for the sake of others, we will not be able to solve these problems. As community leaders, it is important to realize that giving and sacrificing for the sake of others is the only way to establish yourself as the head of your true family and society, and to become true leaders of your nation.
When your family, society and nation follow you in practicing the great principles of true love, then you will become the champions in the establishment of world peace. What we need is a revolution-a moral revolution, a revolution of true love. Moreover, this revolution is needed everywhere. Mrs. Moon and I are working to organize this now in Korea.
As you may know, I visited North Korea last November. That event shocked the world. It was considered an impossibility due to my lifelong stand against communism. As early as 1985, I had predicted and proclaimed the fall of communism and the economic disintegration of the Soviet Union. I was known in many communist countries as a national enemy. My trip, therefore, was a life-risking trip for my wife and me.
I went to North Korea out of love for my country and out of a fervent desire for the reunification of my homeland. I met with President Kim Il Sung and had a meaningful dialogue. Even with differences of opinion, dialogue is always useful. Isolation is always dangerous. For example, he promised me that the nuclear issue will be settled to the satisfaction of the United States. The moment of truth on this issue is coming soon. All in all, I feel my visit contributed tremendously to easing the tension in Asia and the world. In that atheistic country, I preached that God and true love must be the basis and spirit for national unification and permanent peace. The Reverend Billy Graham is well known for his great work, the first to preach in several communist countries. This time, however, it was my privilege to be God's instrument and speak God's words in communist North Korea. Today, The Washington Times and its magazines begin another decade of service to America and to God. There lie even greater challenges ahead of us. In order to meet these challenges, I need every one of you to be a champion.
In the next ten years, let us build a moral America, a better world for our children. You can surely count on my support.
Ladies and gentlemen, The Washington Times is your newspaper as much as it is mine. Together we will make this great newspaper even greater.
