Pyeong Hwa Gyeong: Episode 255
Pyeong Hwa Gyeong: A Selection of True Parents’ Speeches
Book 6: The Role of Women in Creating the Ideal World
Speech 7: Women Will Play a Leading Role in the Ideal World III, pg 925-929
Practical steps
To bring Godism into reality, Rev. Moon has made efforts in a wide variety of fields. Using the Unification Church as a foundation, he has established the International Conference on the Unity of the Sciences, the Professors World Peace Academy, the World Media Conference, the Summit Council for World Peace, the Global Congress of Religions, the Federation for World Peace, the Interreligious Federation for World Peace, the World Collegiate Association for the Research of Principles, the World University Federation, various international performing arts groups and many other organizations. Each of these organizations holds as its ideal and purpose the building of a world of peace centered on God.
Rev. Moon, who has devoted his heart and soul to the realization of world peace through the establishment of ideal families, was also the central figure in the establishment of the Women’s Federation for Peace in Asia and the Women’s Federation for World Peace. In addition, he has founded the House of Unification for World Peace in order to bring together the efforts that are already in existence in each country around the world.
No one can deny that Rev. Moon has established the most expansive foundation in the world, extending into religion, philosophy, academia, media, education, science and culture. When all these different fields join forces and begin to step forward as one, the world of peace that has been the object of our desires surely will appear before our eyes.
True love, by its nature, perpetually seeks to give and to sacrifice for the sake of others. True love allows no concept of an enemy. In his practice of Godism centered on true love, Rev. Moon has received all sorts of misunderstanding, persecution, slander and innumerable hardships. Rev. Moon, however, would never even think of considering anyone his enemy. In keeping with this spirit, even though for almost a century the Soviet Union had been considered the enemy of the free world, Rev. Moon visited Mikhail Gorbachev when he was president of the Soviet Union. Rev. Moon also went to North Korea and met with President Kim Il Sung. There he expounded on Head-wing Thought, which is the principle of peace centered on God’s true love. Rev. Moon has shown that he is willing to go to the ends of the earth for the purpose of practicing the true love that perpetually gives to others.
Even at this moment, Rev. Moon is working harder than anyone to lay the foundation for Japan to become a nation most respected in Asia and the world. He is also working day and night to ensure that his teachings reach the young people of Japan so that they can follow a properly moral path. Look at those young people working in a pure and healthy manner! Already many Japanese young people have gone out across the world. As a result of their activities, they are experiencing overflowing love, esteem and respect from the people of the world.
Rev. Moon would have had much to say to each one of you regarding the true way to save Japan. I know very well how much love my husband holds for this country and for its people. Unfortunately, however, I must appear on this stage alone tonight, even though I am not really qualified to give to you the full message of his deep love. Certain persons who are ignorant and caught up in their own prejudices continue to persecute and oppose our work. I hope that they will come as quickly as possible to a true understanding of Rev. Moon’s love and his true will.
Ladies and gentlemen, in order for Japan to strengthen its relations with other Asian countries, it needs to establish a position of unity with Korea.
This will give Japan more friends and a larger foundation. Koreans and Japanese each refer to the others’ country as “the country that is so close and yet so distant.” Now it is time for our two countries to become close to each other in every meaning of that word and to stand side by side in shouldering the future of Asia. More than anything else, I believe that Japan has to devote its full energies to the unification of Korea.
Japan’s rule over Korea culminated in a division of the peninsula. The deep pain that comes from this division can be relieved completely by efforts on your part for Korean reunification. A first step would be to unite the two organizations of Korean residents in Japan, one of which is pro-Seoul and the other pro-Pyongyang. These two organizations can be brought together by means of Head-wing Thought, centered on true love. If Korea and Japan oppose each other, they will both lose all that they have. If these two countries combine their strengths, they will provide the strongest energy to build Asia’s future and accomplish world peace.
Historically Asia has been the leader in developing the spiritual aspect of world civilization. It is inevitable that a new movement of women, a new movement of families, and a new movement for peace begin here in Asia.
Rights and responsibilities
The women’s movement that I have been directing has a character that is fundamentally different from the women’s rights movements that challenge male authority and assert our rights exclusively. The women’s rights movements that have developed in western societies until now reflect the antagonism and animosity that have been an integral part of western civilization’s culture of struggle. Ours, by contrast, is a movement based on the East Asian principles of harmony that stress mutual accord and complementarity. Our movement’s ideal is to seek out tasks that men cannot perform, that is, tasks that can be performed only by women, so that we can join men in complementarity in order to establish true families.
The destruction of families is becoming the most serious problem in our societies, and yet no one is able to propose an effective solution. The very foundation of human existence is being shaken. Thus, in the United States, family values and issues of social morality are becoming major issues in the ongoing presidential election campaign. Such issues are not the concern of America and Western Europe alone, however. They represent a serious crisis for all humankind.
Japan and Korea are also affected by such problems. We are at a stage in which we must seriously concern ourselves with the moral crisis that supersedes our economic development. The only way to resolve this crisis is to teach Godism and Head-wing Thought, which approach the problem from the perspective of providential history.
We have a particularly urgent need for the moral education of our young people. In this regard, I was surprised to hear that many Japanese people responded positively to the recent series of rallies upholding the spirit of Yu Gwan-soon. Certainly Yu Gwan-soon, who is known as “the Joan of Arc of Asia,” is a most appropriate role model for instilling patriotism in young people. What surprised and moved me, though, was the progressive and broad-minded attitude of the Japanese people in their search to transcend the historically unpleasant relations between Korea and Japan and open a new avenue of understanding.
World peace through ideal families
I would like to ask the women of Japan, in particular, to take your stand at the forefront of the effort to resolve the serious issues in our world related to the family. You possess the most admirable tradition of women in the world because, through your country’s long history, you have protected your families and nation in a spirit of love and sacrifice. Also, I know that you women were the hidden force behind your country’s recovery after the total destruction of World War II. You enabled Japan to become one of the strongest economic powers in the world. You need to take the foremost position in our movement, because the virtues of sacrifice and service that you have cherished through your tradition now must be applied on the worldwide level in the form of true love and perpetual giving for all of humankind.
Men have tried for the past twenty centuries to build a world of peace, and now the task has been entrusted to us women. It is the decree of Heaven that we take up the task of building world peace through ideal families. In general, men tend to center on themselves, whereas women tend to be more willing to sacrifice themselves. With the coming of the age of women, we are entering a new history in which, instead of sacrificing the whole for the benefit of each individual, we are to sacrifice ourselves for the benefit of the whole and, in this way, exercise true love.
Let us strengthen our spirits with Head-wing Thought and become leading figures in building a world of peace. We need to correct deteriorating family morals. We must stand up against drug abuse and the spread of AIDS. We need to give proper guidance to our young people, who are wandering aimlessly along self-destructive paths.
We are in a new age of transition in which women have to take a firm stand and contribute to world peace. I hope all of you will stand proudly at the frontline of peace. Once again, I thank you for your support for this upcoming nationwide speaking tour.
I pray that God’s blessing will be upon you and your families.
Thank you.
FFWPU, USA