Pyeong Hwa Gyeong: Episode 27
Pyeong Hwa Gyeong: A Selection of True Parents’ Speeches
Book 1: The Principles of True Peace
Speech 7: A truly Peaceful Word, Pg 98-100
A Truly Peaceful World
August 23, 1995, Lotte Hotel, Seoul, Korea
Third World Peace Conference
Honored chairman, distinguished former and current heads of state, ladies and gentlemen:
At the opening of the third World Peace Conference today, I would like to express my deepest respect to you for coming to this historic event. It is a pleasure to take this opportunity to share my beliefs regarding true world peace.
Matters of world peace are of greater concern than ever before. I want to extend my heartfelt thanks to you who, out of your desire to realize world peace, have traveled from afar and brought into being this magnificent conference. I would like to share with you members of the Federation for World Peace my activities these past few months.
Earnest advice for Central and South America
Recognizing that God has a will for Latin America, I embarked on a tour of twenty-three nations on that great continent. In each nation, I shared my beliefs with key leaders, and in eight of these nations, I met the head of state to discuss matters related to world peace. The title of my tour was “True Family and I.”
While traveling around the continent, north, south, east, and west, I meditated and prayed about this special part of the world. I considered how the nations that make up Latin America can achieve true peace and establish an ideal society. Clearly, the continent has stunning and rich potential. There are seemingly unlimited resources in a rich and peaceful natural paradise of grand mountains and unspoiled nature. The mountains and jungles remind us of the original creation, the garden of Eden.
I envisioned glory-filled days that lie ahead in the Latin America of the twenty-first century. At each opportunity, I gave a single piece of advice. I said, “Please do not blindly follow in the footsteps of the developed nations. Do not repeat their errors in rushing to harness natural resources in the name of progress.” Why would I give this advice? It is because the so-called developed countries have not found the balance with nature and the happiness that humankind has wanted from its inception.
In the twenty-first century we will return to the original world
Let us take the United States as an example. I am someone who genuinely loves the United States. For the past twenty-five years, I have devoted myself to establish the foundation for world peace in that country. Although I have suffered persecution for my efforts to guide America in the right direction, my love for America and my belief in its vital role for world peace has not changed.
In the 1960s, when I first visited that land of opportunity, it seemed that the whole world wanted to be like America. We deeply admired the life depicted on television shows such as “Little House on the Prairie.” Come Sunday morning, the sounds of hymns were heard from all directions. Superman, a superhero of justice, was a symbol of the righteous American spirit, and city streets were thought to be spotless, in good order, and beautiful. The whole world looked at America with respect in those days.
Yet if we look at America today, thirty years later, what do we see? It is a nation in decay, strewn with difficult problems they cannot solve. In the midst of this, moral decadence and increase in crime demand our close attention. Numerous, unimaginable acts, including murder, drug abuse, divorce, child molestation, gang violence, and teenage pregnancy, emanate from America today. As a person who loves that nation, I feel deeply hurt by what I see.
Yet this phenomenon is not limited to America. All of the developed countries at the end of the twentieth century are struggling with many of the same problems. Having reached the summit of consumer wealth and technological sophistication, the developed world is caught in the trap of materialism. With the mind and spirit obsessed by material wealth, our true essence as human beings is enslaved by selfish desires. The result is a collapse of true love. Although there is an abundance of material wealth and our cities are crowded with skyscrapers, the human mind has become desolate and dried up like a desert, and the oasis of true love is not to be found. The absence of true love is the breeding ground for selfishness.
The most helpless victim of this attitude is the world of nature. One of the themes of this peace conference is the restoration of the environment. We are abusing many of our resources, including our water supply. Even the atmosphere that protects our planet is affected by the misuse of natural resources. If this trend continues, the so-called benefits of materialistic civilization will lead to the earth’s self-destruction.
The most serious damage of all, however, is the destruction of the family as a basic building block for the nation. The family is the cell of society. If each of the tens of trillions of cells in our body is healthy, then the body is likewise healthy. Conversely, if the cells are weakened and destroyed, then the whole body will weaken and eventually stop functioning. Similarly, destruction of the true family system foretells the destruction of all humankind. Our society is charging toward a destination directly opposite to what was originally designed and created by God.
The twenty-first century is inevitably a time to return to the original world of God’s Will. A civilization placing the spirit and mind as subject partner is coming. The twenty-first century is only five years away. It is my sincere wish that the developing countries not follow in the footsteps of the so-called developed countries. Instead, they ought to use the developed countries’ experience as a lesson and move directly into the world where spirit and mind are in control. Do not fall into a pit of nationalism and materialism. This is the message that I want to share with you in our time together today.
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