Pyeong Hwa Gyeong: Episode 274
Pyeong Hwa Gyeong: A Selection of True Parents’ Speeches
Book 6: The Role of Women in Creating the Ideal World
Speech 17: The Central Role of Young People in the Realization of True Love, pg 1000-1002
The Central Role of Young People in the Realization of True Love
November 28, 1997
Hyatt Regency Hotel, Washington, D.C., USA
The Third World Congress of the Youth Federation for World Peace
Esteemed President of the Youth Federation for World Peace, honored Co-Chairman Richard Rubenstein, guests from all parts of the world, and ladies and gentlemen:
I am truly happy that we are able to hold the Third World Congress of the Youth Federation for World Peace in Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States, together with representatives from more than one hundred thirty countries. It is particularly meaningful that this gathering is part of the World Culture and Sports Festival III, the centerpiece of which is the Blessing ceremony for 3.6 million couples.
This is partly because you pure-hearted men and women from around the world, transcending boundaries of race, religion and nationality, have been chosen to form the main pillar of the Blessing ceremony. In addition, it is because, ultimately, you young people are the ones who have to put into practice the results of all the conferences held during this festival in preparation for the twenty-first century. I would like to express my heartfelt congratulations and gratitude to you Youth Federation for World Peace members for dedicating your heart and soul in all areas and levels of society for the sake of achieving world peace, and for the contributions you have made toward that end.
I would particularly like to thank Heaven and praise you for the fact that your activities, along with those of World Collegiate Association for the Research of Principles, the Women’s Federation for World Peace, the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification, and other organizations, have provided a foundation for the worldwide realization of the true family ideal.
These activities have led to the surprising result that we have exceeded the original Blessing goal of 3.6 million couples by tenfold, or thirty-six million couples, and we have gone even beyond that number by several million couples. I hope that you members of the YFWP will work with even greater enthusiasm to stand at the forefront of the Blessing event as it is expanded in the future to three hundred sixty million couples.
Young people are the central figures in the transition period of history
Today we stand on the threshold of the twenty-first century. Already, people in many parts of the world have begun the countdown to celebrations that will mark the beginning of the twenty-first century. As they look forward to the new century, their hearts are filled with fervent hope that this will be a time for a new world that is better than anything humanity has experienced at any time in the past, a world in which we are able to establish God’s new family values of absolute true love.
In the history of the world, humanity’s strong desire for an ideal of true love has been the motivating force for change. Because you young people pursue the lofty ideal of establishing a true family and possess a greater capability for realizing this ideal than anyone else, you are undoubtedly the initiators and principal actors in this time of major historical change. For this reason, you are the symbols of hope for people who are opening the gate to the new century, with the earnest desire that it will lead to the establishment of new, ideal families.
During the course of history, there have been many literary works and recorded accounts praising young people and their roles and special characteristics. I think, however, that the roles and responsibilities of young people in the family, nation and world have rarely been of such critical importance as they are today, most notably in terms of a revolution to create ideal families. Thus, I think it is very timely and appropriate that the discussions of this conference will focus on the theme, “Youth for the True Family, Nation and World.”
Today, families, nations, and even the world are facing serious dilemmas.
The greater the development of industry and technology around the world and the greater the number of conveniences that people enjoy, the more erosion we find taking place in the family institution that forms the foundation of our lives.
According to data from the United States Census Bureau, the divorce rate in the United States increased threefold between 1970 and 1990, to the point where each year one couple in every six has a divorce. Across the United States, thirty percent of children are raised in single-parent families. Even further, we see that the decadent, end-of-culture phenomenon of same-sex marriage is becoming more prevalent.
There are reports that as many as forty percent of American girls between the ages of fourteen and nineteen years are sexually active. It is shocking to see that the rate of suicide among young people has increased by three hundred percent during the past thirty years. The breakdown of the family is cited as the most critical issue facing modem society. On the national level, too, we see the limits of political power in the face of drugs, violence, AIDS, chronic economic imbalances, and other social problems that are accumulating everywhere.
The world today continues to agonize over issues affecting all of humanity, such as the threat of war and terrorism, discord between races, antagonism among religious groups, and destruction of the environment. We cannot ignore the continuing reality that many regions of the world are afflicted with hunger and disease. If we evaluate these realities, the outcome of all the ideas and activities of humankind during the past twenty centuries, the result would be a failing grade. Thus, all families, nations, and the entire world are urgently seeking change.
As we enter the new century, it is imperative that we place priority on developing an awareness of our responsibility to bring about changes in the family, nation and world. Our task is to establish for youth true families and true nations, so that we may harness the winds of change for the creation of a true world. Members of the Youth Federation for World Peace, what is the one means by which we can renew ourselves, our families, our nations and our world, and change the flow of history?
As we stand on the threshold of the twenty-first century, the philosophy of building a true family, true nation and true world is opening up a new, historic horizon as the fundamental principle for world peace. Rev. Moon has been teaching and exemplifying this philosophy.
FFWPU, USA