Cham Bumo Gyeong: Episode 316

Cham Bumo Gyeong
Book 11: Ecumenical Initiatives
Chapter 2: The Interreligious Peace Movement and the Blessing Ceremony
Section 2: IRFWP and IIFWP, Interreligious and International Federation for World Peace
Section 3. Interfaith Marriage and the Middle East, Paragraph 02

Interreligious and International Federation for World Peace

True Parents founded the Interreligious and International Federation for World Peace (IIFWP) on February 6, 1999, for the purpose of connecting our international foundation, centered on the UN, with our interreligious foundation. The interreligious and international visions were merged into one through the establishment of organizations to elevate the work of the UN, with the founding of the Interreligious and International Peace Council (IIPC) on October 3, 2003, and of the Universal Peace Federation (UPF) on September 12, 2005.

9  True Parents have not had even one day of rest. We are working to restore even the United Nations. We received a global commendation called the World Peace Award from a global association of nongovernmental organizations (NGOs). As a result of its research into our 40 years of work, that association came to respect True Parents and its personnel volunteered to attend the IIFWP conference at the UN on August 17 of this year. The term "interreligious" in its name means "beyond religious," calling us to establish a standard that transcends religion. The term "international" likewise means "transnational," as it calls the UN to operate beyond nationality. Accordingly, True Parents have the desire to gather and edify the world's most eminent religious figures and political leaders. By doing so, we certainly will help them excel in their callings.

10  The term "interreligious" does not fit with religions as they have existed up to now. We must present a new global pathway for religions. The term "international," or "transnational," is a term that does not fit with the political climate of the UN as it has been up to now. These words mean "transcending nationality and religion." In the same vein, I have been preparing an institution that will take us beyond the present media and financial structures in order to impact the direction of the world.

With this in mind, we have created an institution to link to the UN, which we have named the Interreligious and International Federation for World Peace. Now we must gather the NGOs in various fields and elevate the work of the UN. UN member nations have welcomed our assemblies and our arts and science conferences; they know the UN needs these insights.

11  It is clear that the UN needs a deliberative body made up of religious leaders as an upper house, and a deliberative body of political leaders as a lower house. Their role would be to cooperate, not to confront each other as though they were a ruling party and an opposition party. Currently there is a clear separation between religion and politics. If we create an upper house and a lower house in the UN, the religious realm naturally will participate in guiding the political realm.

In the future we will surpass the current dysfunctional system of elections. Through good education we can go beyond the conflicts rooted in religious factions and political corruption. Our ideal transcends religions and nations. Religions and nations are not in the position of enemies but must love each other and achieve harmony.

12  Presently the UN cannot shed the environment of nationalism, and this means that the UN also cannot transcend religious boundaries. It needs the thought of True Parents, reflecting Godism and head-wing thought. In the future, a UN that cannot go beyond nationalism and religious boundaries will fail miserably. For the UN to transcend these limitations, it needs our help. This is why I established the Abel-type Federation of Island Nations for World Peace, Federation of Peninsular Nations for World Peace and Federation of Continental Nations for World Peace. Centering on these, I am creating the Abel UN.

13  The American motto "One Nation under God" must be elevated by the Abel UN to "One World under God." If this happens, everything can be included naturally. "One Nation Under God" still allows for the potential for nationalism and the domination of weaker nations by stronger ones. The post-Second World War international system tried to influence the world with a system based on the viewpoint of the war's victors. However, because the system was defined by those countries, it could not develop to transcend nationality with a transnational worldview. Accordingly, we founded the Interreligious and International Federation for World Peace.

We must transcend even the current UN. This is the idea behind the World Association of Non-Governmental Organizations (WANGO). The UN should function as an extended family. It should become one by means of family morality and ethics, which God formed as the ideal of creation. Our teaching will connect all of this together.

14  With the start of the new millennium, we are rapidly heading toward one world. We are leaving behind the era of "One Nation under God" and going toward "One Cosmos under God." The world of one great family and one global village, which I explained already, is emerging. 

However, there are two serious obstacles to realizing this ideal: racial discrimination and religious discord. In particular, conflicts among religions represent the most serious impediment to a peaceful world. God did not create denominations and sects. Religion itself is a byproduct of the Fall. The movement to break down all varieties of national boundaries and head to a world of peace, which I already clarified at the UN, is rapidly developing. The IIFWP is taking the lead, and on that foundation the WANGO is rapidly expanding its influence from the UN headquarters across five continents and six oceans.

15  There are thousands of NGOs in the world. Any given country might have more than 3,000. So the IIFWP can organize general meetings and mobilize the NGOs. WANGO is a global network that transcends the UN. The Women's Federation for World Peace (WFWP) was the first of four organizations through which we are providing education in the 2000s. No nations will oppose the direction of WANGO, the IIFWP, the WFWP and the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification. These organizations are in more than 160 countries. We have broken through normal limitations, and no one can deny that.

Section 3. Interfaith Marriage and the Middle East

The forty-day workshop for Muslims

At the Second Assembly of the World's Religions that opened in San Francisco on August 16, 1990, True Parents proposed the establishment of the Interreligious Leadership Seminars as an education project that would internally bind together the world's faiths. Connected to that, the following year a 40-day workshop was held for 40 Muslim leaders from Syria at the New Yorker Hotel in New York City from December 2, 1991 until January 10, 1992. True Parents implored the attending leaders to strive to resolve the long-standing impediments among Judaism, Christianity and Islam and take the lead in realizing peace in the Middle East.

The Middle East Peace Initiative (MEPI) brought thousands of Christian ministers and faith leaders from the United States to the Middle East. They began as efforts for interfaith reconciliation between Christians and Jews, and developed into efforts to reconcile Jews and Palestinians, including peace marches in Jerusalem proclaiming peace among the Abrahamic faiths.

On December 22, 2003, in accordance with True Parents' guidance, thousands of people, including religious leaders from around the world, gathered and held historic events for peace in Israel and Palestine. This laid the foundation for True Parents to later conduct the Ceremony for Total Unity, which created a victorious realm in which the First, Second, Third and Fourth Israels can be united.

1  Before creating the Unification Church in 1954, I taught that communism could not last more than 73 years. Communist expansionism is no longer an issue. Now we have to shift our focus to the issue of religious conflicts. For 50 years I have talked about who is going to stop the fighting between Judaism, Christianity and Islam. My preparations for resolving this conflict began five decades ago. In the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus says, "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God." Since the beginning of history, there has been only one person who tried to reconcile religions and who devoted himself to this work despite persecution from individuals, families, religions and nations. That person is me. But I was not alone. Together with God, I have been laying the foundation to unite the religious world. This is not just a theory or classroom exercise. It is happening in the real world, in history.

2  In an announcement at the second Assembly of the World's Religions in San Francisco, the participants agreed to cooperate in uniting their educational efforts. This was to be for the purpose of developing internal unity, and I stepped up to take the lead. All present, by raising their hands, pledged to participate. As we have pledged, so must we carry it out.

The first phase was education of Muslims from Syria. They are now receiving training in New York City at a 40-day workshop that began December 2. In the 1,500-year history of Islam, this is unprecedented. Middle East leaders representing Muslim countries are connecting for educational purposes with the Unification Church, which the world has opposed. The participants call me "Father Moon." I did not suggest this; they came up with it on their own.

These Muslim leaders are better than the members of the Unification Church. I told those who are attending the workshop, "Now that you have received this education, you know that doctrine is not an issue. The Will is the issue, so if you have found illumination in the Unification teachings and want to become my student, you are welcome."