Pyeong Hwa Gyeong: Episode 212
Pyeong Hwa Gyeong: A Selection of True Parents’ Speeches
Book 5: Absolute Values and New World Order
Speech 10: Professors World Peace Academy and Our Resolution, pg 756-759
The reason to host the international congress in Korea
I will now explain why I invited all of you to Korea to observe the National Rallies for Victory over Communism and to attend the first international congress of PWPA.
First, Korea has often been the victim of foreign aggression during her long history. Located on a peninsula, her geopolitical situation makes her a bridgehead between the continent and the ocean, and a strategic point for expansion of the great powers. Even today, the Korean peninsula is a strategic area of confrontation between the Eastern and Western blocs and is playing a frontline role for the free nations by holding off impending invasion by North Korea and Russia.
Korea is a worldwide testing ground. The spotlight of world attention is focused on her, waiting to see whether she will become a casualty of communism or whether she will remain a member of the community of free nations. From the providential point of view, I see the situation of Korea as a sort of microcosm, reproducing in miniature the major developments and confrontations of the age.
Directly or indirectly, all the major currents of world affairs, past and present, are converging on this peninsula. Therefore, if these problems can be solved in Korea, they can be solved worldwide. The resolutions and proclamations made by the distinguished scholars from Korea and abroad on this occasion are related to each of your nations. Because they represent the interests of the entire world, they will certainly have international impact.
Second, Korea has a long tradition of culture and thought that honors God, and it has enjoyed a rich spiritual life for nearly five thousand years. Our ancestors created a brilliant civilization based on Buddhism and Confucianism. Today, a scant one hundred years after the arrival of Christianity, the Korean churches have astonished all of Christendom with the ardor of their faith. What is more important is that in Korea all the higher religions have been harmoniously assimilated by the original spiritual culture, resulting in a social climate in which all the different religions coexist and complement one another without conflict. Korea is unique in this respect. Considering all these facts, we cannot avoid the conclusion that it is impossible for communism to long maintain a foothold on this peninsula. I firmly believe that, as surely as God exists, He will teach a lesson to the world by destroying communism through the Korean people.
Third, Koreans are an energetic, keen-minded, righteous people. With such a national character, they surely cannot fail to grasp the significance of historical trends and respond appropriately. Once the Korean people come to realize clearly the evil of communism, they will immediately rise up and demonstrate to the whole world a model national movement for victory over communism.
Fourth, Korea is a meeting point of Eastern and Western cultures. I think you will agree with me that many leading scholars are rather pessimistic about the future of Western civilization and are awaiting a great era of religious and spiritual transformation to come. The increasing fascination that Oriental thought and Oriental religions have for Westerners may be taken as evidence that the harmonious unification of Eastern and Western cultures is an idea whose time has come.
Atheism and communism are obstacles to peace
The very fact that distinguished scholars from around the world have come together here in Korea, with the objective of securing world peace and establishing an ideal world, illustrates this point very well. The very existence of PWPA and ICUS, following the inspiration of Rev. Moon, who was born in the Orient, would have been unthinkable in the past. This signals a major turning point in the intellectual history of humanity. It marks nothing less than the beginning of a new culture.
The best shortcut to achieving harmonious unification between East and West may be by means of a religious teaching that seeks to realize one worldwide family under God as our Parent. If the goal of PWPA is to realize world peace, and if all of us as brothers and sisters are truly serious about achieving this goal by uniting intellect with conscience, we now need a reawakening and a redetermination. A real and lasting peace for all humankind will never be achieved through horizontal relationships between individuals holding different values. It will be achieved only through universal recognition of the absolute values derived from God.
The fundamental obstacle in achieving this ideal of peace is atheistic communism. I have also clearly taught that capitalism is not the ultimate ideology desired by God. Communism, however, denies the very existence of God, and so it is the number one obstacle to a God-centered thought system.
I already proclaimed at the Chicago ICUS that scholars must actively protest against communist ideology. Some people may have felt that this proclamation and my advice on that occasion were expressed too strongly. Although one day may seem very much like the next in the passage of time, there comes a time that serves as a crossroads, watershed or crucial turning point in human history and God’s dispensation. There is a time that will never come again. There is a time for irrevocable decision and a time for crucial determination. That time is now. I give you this solemn advice based on my serious consideration of the future of humanity.
Urgency to educate our youth based on clear values
The National Rallies for Victory over Communism that you attended in Korea can serve as a model that can be duplicated in each of your nations. If the leaders of the free world remain irresolute about communism, there will be no way to prevent the expansion and world conquest that communism dreams of. If professors do not confidently proclaim what is true and refute what is false, but remain aloof from the struggle with folded hands, to whom can we entrust the future of the next generation?
It is an absolute requirement in this era that education of the next generation be shaped by the firm moral convictions of their professors, who must communicate a clear sense of values. This needs to be the basic attitude of educators. From this point of view, the role of a professor is the same as that of a religious leader. We educators have to assume the responsibility of not only transmitting facts but also sharing with our students the meaning and purpose of human life.
I am convinced that a resolute determination on the part of the participants of this congress, grounded firmly on theistic beliefs, will enable PWPA to achieve its historic goal and assure a decisive victory over communism in your countries. Once again, I hope this congress will make a definitive contribution toward the construction of a strong international foundation for an alliance of all peoples for victory over communism.
May God bless each of your nations, and may He bless you and your families as well.
Thank you.