Cham Bumo Gyeong
Book 9. Activities in the Media, Education and the Arts for the Culture of Heart
Chapter 1: Unification Thought And International Academic Activities
Section 1: Unification Thought, The Unification Thought Institute
Section 1: Unification Thought, Paragraph 13

Chapter 1.  Unification Thought And International Academic Activities

Section 1. Unification Thought

The Unification Thought Institute

According to True Father, a world based on the culture of heart entails the unification of thought and value perspectives. He established the Unification Thought Institute on August 20, 1972. As a response to the Cold War, the 20th century's expression of the pervasive confrontation between materialism, on which communism is based, and recognition of spiritual reality, on which free democratic society is based, he proposed Unification Thought, head-wing thought, as a way to critique and transcend these two opposing thought systems. As a way to realize world peace, he founded the Unification Thought Institute to research, discuss in depth, and develop this thought system.

1  In the future, centering on the Korean Peninsula, a new view of history, a new unifying philosophy and a new world culture must be established. This is the starting point for realizing God's ultimate hope and heart, the ideal that He had from before the creation. Also, it is the starting point for the liberation of the fallen world from its deep sorrow.

2  From now on, we will surely embrace the world. And when we do, within a short time we will lead the world into God's embrace, without having to make great sacrifices. I am making such plans at this time. This is why many things are happening that you cannot understand. Accordingly, we are organizing the Unification Thought Institute. Modern civilizations follow philosophies from thinkers who take an academic and scholarly approach. So, after strengthening our organization, we must not only influence the worlds of culture and ideas, but we must also set a foundation to assume leadership.

3  All the members of the International Federation for Victory over Communism (IFVOC) must be leaders. The entire Unification Church and IFVOC need to devote themselves completely to this, as should the Professors World Peace Academy (PWPA), Collegiate Association for the Research of Principles (CARP) and Christian Students Association. First, we need to train 100,000 local community leaders. We have to arm them with the right ideas. Then the Unification Thought Institute must oversee and diligently instruct IFVOC lecturers to educate the community leaders using good lectures that have accurate content. You need to record and assess their lectures. If they are teaching incorrectly, correct them right away. Since IFVOC has grown larger, its lecturers must use the official contents only, not teach with something that they devised personally. The Unification Thought Institute has to take overall responsibility to systematize the equipping of people with the right worldview.

4  Unification Thought Institutes in Japan, America and Korea have to meet and collaborate to establish the correct view of history and show clearly how philosophy is rooted in religion. If this is not clear there will be problems, and factions will arise. The issue for religion and philosophy is whether philosophy is first or God is first. On what basis do we begin to solve this issue? If opinions differ, it becomes easy to diverge and separate. This is why researchers from the University of Bridgeport in America and experts in Korea and Japan have to discuss and evaluate this issue. The questions are: is God first? Is ideology first? Is the Principle first? Ideology is in the object partner position; it cannot take the position of subject partner. Also, there is the issue of the origin of ideology. If there is no God, then ideology simply floats in the air. We must unfold a system of thought based on logic that defines one origin. If we cannot establish the origin of ideology, two factions will develop and the problem will gradually expand. We must get hold of these threads of thought and settle the question.

5  Who bears responsibility for this world? No single person's philosophy has ever worked. The history of  philosophy has become nothing but a wasteland. Seen from this viewpoint, who guides the way and bears responsibility for this world? The materialistic interpretation of the origin and history of the world has failed completely. Humanistic thought is rooted directly in the decadent ideology of hedonism. What do we need instead? If God exists, we have to consider how God thinks about this world and look at it theoretically. For many years, while investigating historical systems of thought, I meditated on the direction that people will have to go in the future. I thought, "From God's perspective, there must be an absolute, necessary and valuable content in the human world. And there must be an ultimate purpose that history pursues and that human beings must attain."

6  If we are going to move the world, we must present an ideology that the world recognizes as most eminent. This is our primary task. Then we have to climb to the foremost position in science and technology. Next, we must rise to the top in the development of economic policies. Then we need to become world leaders in the area of the media. If we accomplish these things, we will be able to move the world. The order is: first ideology, then science and technology, then economics and finally the media. If we are able to assume leadership in these four areas, we will create relationships with these fields as the object partners. With these relationships, we will be able to move the world, and a political foundation will naturally come about. I have dedicated my entire life to such work. I have been working alone until now, preparing the world to take the position of object partner to its principled subject partner.

7  Soon this nation will encounter an ideological battle. Korean politicians ignore the inevitability of this upcoming battle. Because I am the person who received heaven's special grace, I have premonitions and foreboding about the future, and the intellectual ability to gauge the path forward. On this basis, I predict that those who survive the ideological battle that is coming will end up guiding the world. People may oppose and persecute me, but I am pursuing an objective completely different from theirs. My childhood and even my youth, the springtime of life, in which people like to take pride, just flew by for me. While others went looking for places to play, I took the opposite path. I grew up saying to myself, "They may go that way, but I must walk the path needed to win the ideological battle."

8  What is Unification Thought? Regarding the fundamental questions of the universe, two differing  views of history have emerged: the materialistic view and the spiritual view. The book Unification Thought was devised and systematized expressly to solve this fundamental philosophical divergence. It puts everything together and offers a new worldview and a new philosophy of life.

9  There are many systems of thought in this world. However, among them Unification Thought is the system of thought that is in the subject partner position. Unification Thought is the subject partner because it is a thoroughgoing application of God's point of view. It is the thought system that can unite the democratic and communist worlds. It can bring believers and nonbelievers into harmony. Its goal is to create a unified world, a world of oneness.

10  Unification Thought is based on the concept of subject and object partners. Unification means that two entities become one. Man and woman need to unite, parents and children need to unite, the family and society need to unite, the society and the nation need to unite, and the nation and the world need to unite. It is through the unification viewpoint that such things as philosophy and ideals can emerge. Without a purpose around which to unite, everything falls apart. Therefore, since this idea of purpose naturally emerges when we put the concepts of subject partner and object partner in place, the communist theory of the dialectic breaks down. The dialectical principle states that in order for development to occur, subject and object partners must struggle with each other. This is a contradiction, so that principle, which states that unity comes through struggle, completely falls apart. That principle does not acknowledge the object partner. However, without subject and object partners, it is impossible for something to exist. This is not an opinion; it is indeed the case. Therefore, subject and object partners need to unite in order to reach completion.

11  God did not create heaven and earth for His own sake. Before thinking of His own benefit, God made heaven and earth for the sake of His object partner. He invests completely into His object partner. Then, everything that belongs to the object partner is returned to God. That which is being returned to God is bigger than what God originally invested; hence, everything given to Adam and Eve returns to God with more added on. In this way, God becomes a billionaire! Therefore, it is good. By investing completely, He comes to own all the realms of creation. There are myriad ways of giving: by speaking, one can give; with a helping hand, one can give; through deeds, one can give. There are countless ways. The worldview that promotes the attitude of living for the sake of the object partner is the core of Unification Thought. All truths of the Bible are explained in it. No matter what, with this fundamental rule you can understand their core meaning precisely. Seen from this viewpoint, if you go forward with the content of Unification Thought, then amazing internal unification is achieved. This is not external unification; rather, it is unification at a fundamental level. Unification Thought appears with God's heart at its center.

12  Nowadays we are shedding blood and sweat for this country and we are mobilizing people, but it is  not for the sake of this nation alone. It is for the future of the world. Taking a perspective that goes beyond nationality, ethnicity and race, we try to create a great family that transcends borders and shares love and life. In other words, with God at the center, we form one great family bonded by life, love and lineage. This is Unification Thought. This is the thought of the Unification Church, a universal teaching.

13  While we hope for the blessed land of the kingdom of heaven and advance on the path of unification, what is the enemy we must face? Borders are the problem. Unification Thought asserts that we have to transcend sentiments of nationalism. Likewise, we have to go beyond our race. The problem is not whether we are Americans or Africans. The problem is whether we can practice more love toward other peoples than toward our own people. If we are unable to do that, we cannot become the leaders who take responsibility to save the world. This is what Unification Thought is about. The way of love is always accompanied by sacrifice and overcoming. The essence of such love is self-sacrifice and overcoming one's circumstances. Religions call for sacrifice and service because these are necessary when we walk the path of love. Rather than sacrifice and weep, we sacrifice and rejoice.