Pyeong Hwa Gyeong: Episode 271
Pyeong Hwa Gyeong: A Selection of True Parents’ Speeches
Book 6: The Role of Women in Creating the Ideal World
Speech 15: Let Us Open a New Era of Civilization, pg 988-991
Let Us Open a New Era of Civilization
August 20, 1995 Jangchung Gymnasium, Seoul, Korea
Youth Federation for World Peace Korean National Delegates General Assembly
(True Mother’s speech)
My dear members of the Youth Federation for World Peace (YFWP), representatives from nations across the world, and guests from home and abroad:
I would like to take this opportunity to express my heartfelt gratitude for your support and encouragement.
Rev. Sun Myung Moon proposed the establishment of YFWP in October 1993, and it set out on its great quest on July 26, 1994, at a rally in Washington, D.C. In Korea it began with the organization of the South Jeolla Province branch on December 15. By February 1995, the organization of thirty-seven branches in cities and provinces across the nation was completed, and by the end of June there were two hundred seventy-three branches in cities, counties and districts. To my knowledge, at present there are more than three thousand seven hundred branches at the level of town, township and neighborhood. This rapid development in such a short time is the result of the passionate support and interest you have shown in YFWP. Once again, I would like to offer a hearty round of applause for your hard work and the steadily mounting reputation of YFWP.
My beloved YFWP members, we need to show at least as much, if not greater, interest in our internal improvement and practice as in our external achievements. No longer can we repeat the past generation’s conflicts and indiscretions, caused by confusion and chaos. This is because we are the conscience of this generation of young people and we need to take central leadership in the world.
Proper ethics and moral values disappeared from today’s youth a long time ago. Young people cannot even distinguish whether their current values or degenerate actions are right or wrong. The prevailing hedonistic culture and distorted views of life have led to evils that have paralyzed the judgment of young people in finding the right direction for their lives. Unless they go out of their way to seek a life of value, such things as true love, Head-wing Thought and the concept of God will be beyond their reach. Beloved YFWP members, do you know your own value? Can you feel the preciousness and value of the ideals that you hold in your heart and your determination to realize them? You need to know that when those ideals are accompanied by practical actions, they can become the source of energy that can even move mountains. It would be natural not to act when you don’t know what to do. However, the people who are meant to lead this world and become its central figures have to be people who can look squarely at the world without wavering and know how to put their faith into action.
What kind of people do you want to be? Would you become the courageous center, or would you rather be insignificant people who are driven and dragged around from here to there? It is said that long ago our wise Korean ancestors sent their youths for years and even decades to the training grounds of such schools as Hwarang-Do, Gookseon-Do and Gyeong-Dang. Illustrious leaders such as Admiral Lee Soon-shin and General Kim Yoo-shin are representative graduates of such schools.
Through seminars, workshops and youth education the Youth Federation for World Peace is developing a movement for the establishment of true values in a world where traditional values are increasingly forgotten while ethics and morality have become more and more confused. Through this movement we will awaken young people to the preciousness of true love and true life and head toward the original form of humanity. Then they can begin to build the societal structures for the coming ideal world, a world based on the unchanging, absolute values of God and the young people who embody them. These values will form the center of the youth movement of this era. Throughout history, regardless of place or time, God valued young people and made them stand at the center of history. When they march forward, training and cultivating themselves by leading the right kind of life, God will manifest Himself vividly in their daily lives.
Although cultivating your body and mind is something you need to do throughout your life, its importance is truly incalculable during your youth.
This is because adolescence was the period in which the Fall occurred, and also because adolescence signifies the beginning of the awakening of your mind, marking the second stage of your life.
As young people going through such an important period, you need to become the pioneers who have the exceptional courage and vigor to open the gates of a new era. To translate this important task into action, the Youth Federation for World Peace will work, under the principle of mutual benefits, in reciprocal solidarity with all organizations that are in philosophical agreement. These include the Federation for World Peace, the Interreligious Federation for World Peace, the Women’s Federation for World Peace, and the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification. Presently countless young people in nations around the world, including those in Central and South America, are participating in our movement. In particular, the YFWP is actively taking part in efforts to unite Protestantism and Catholicism and to unite North and South America. I believe that these efforts will play constructive roles in bringing about the reunification of our homeland on the Korean Peninsula.
In addition, through the Unification movement and fraternal exchanges and cooperation with international youths and students, the YFWP will fulfill the mission of a “Youth UN” to realize a world of peace and true unity and organize all structures to prepare for the era of a new civilization in the twenty-first century. YFWP will engage in a movement that builds the ideal world of interdependent living, mutual prosperity and shared goodwill, where everyone can live in affluence through the democratization of societies and nations and equitable economic distribution. In such a world all people will be able to enjoy freedom and equality based on the true love of God and will lead lives befitting humankind. Even as we speak, countless people in many developing nations are in miserable circumstances and are dying of starvation and disease. This is not just the business of others, for it concerns us all. Rather than viewing with pity the tragedy of our dying brothers and sisters in the global village, we must carry out the ultimate, global salvation movement to help them substantially.
At present, Rev. Sun Myung Moon, the founder of YFWP, is continuing to educate many young people in Africa and have them participate in the Unification movement in order to liberate their countries from the sufferings of starvation and poverty. Moreover, to take care of the nations in Central and South America, whose development is stagnant and which are second only to African nations in terms of underdevelopment, he is promoting various projects in conjunction with the Association for the Unity of Latin America. To successfully realize these plans, we visited dozens of nations in Central and South America and met with their heads of state. He promised to make joint efforts for the bright future of Latin America before his return.
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