Pyeong Hwa Gyeong: Episode 314
Pyeong Hwa Gyeong: A Selection of True Parents’ Speeches
Book 8: The Reunification of Korea and World Peace
Speech 03: The Resolve of the World and the Korean People, pg 1164-1167
The Resolve of the World and the Korean People
December 14, 1983
Masan Indoor Stadium, Masan, Korea
Victory over Communism rallies in eight cities
Patriots, Victory over Communism members, guests from home and abroad who have filled the stadium:
It is truly a delight to see you again after such a long time. We were shocked and grief-stricken by the downing of Korean Air Lines Flight 007 this past September and the bombing in Rangoon, Burma, in October. I heard the shocking news while I was overseas, and, like most people from our homeland, I could not suppress my grief and great indignation.
Yet, despite this tremendous shock, the people of this nation were not disheartened. We passed through this ordeal. I felt reassured at that time, as I rediscovered in our nation’s people the traditional spirit that rises like a phoenix as we overcame the numerous crises that have befallen this land. The title of the speech I would like to share with you on this occasion is “The Resolve of the World and the Korean People.”
The crisis in the world today
First I would like to talk about the crisis we face today. The world today, simply put, is a world in great confusion. All societies today, in the East and the West, in the Northern and Southern Hemispheres, in developed and developing nations, have fallen ill. Not a day goes by without another case of injustice, corruption, murder, robbery, exploitation, oppression and violence. These incidents increase with each passing day.
On the international level, strife, conflict, rebellion and wars have broken out within and between nations, peoples and religions. The downing of Korean Air Lines Flight 007, and the Rangoon and Beirut incidents, are only the latest in a history of brutal massacres.
People in the developed nations enjoy a life of abundance, while countless people in developing nations are grappling with hunger, and the number of people dying of starvation is increasing. Amid this confusion and horror, what is particularly deplorable is the fact that religions are not functioning properly and instead are fighting among themselves.
I point to examples such as the conflict between Catholics and Protestants in Northern Ireland, the clashes between Judaism and Islam, the infighting between Sunni and Shia in Iraq and Iran, and the denominational conflicts within Protestantism. Religions are supposed to prevent conflict and lead people to reconciliation based on the spirit of human fellowship, but instead they have given in to conflict.
As a result the world has become lawless, and humanity is drowning in a sea of violence, carnage, destruction and brutality. The confusion is intensified due to the barbaric schemes concocted by communists. Consequently, human culture now finds itself in crisis. It seems like a hopeless situation.
The cause of confusion and the limits of our ability to resolve it
What exactly is the fundamental cause of this global confusion? It is the total destruction of traditional values and the loss of the standards that show us how to live an upright life. Hence, it has become difficult to discern what is good, what is true and what is just.
Standards of value differ depending on nation, organization and personal preference. Furthermore, with the emergence of communism, all traditional concepts of morality are being destroyed. What can this situation possibly mean? It means that democracy, communism, religion and philosophy can no longer resolve the problems of the world.
Democracy originally emerged with the aim of solving all the difficult problems through human rights, equality and majority vote. However, today the collapse of value systems is becoming increasingly severe, even as societies are becoming more democratic. This reduces our confidence in democracy to resolve problems in society and in the world.
Communism, on the other hand, emerged under the banner of creating a socialist society through revolution, thereby eliminating the structural contradictions within capitalistic society, liberating the laborers and farmers, and removing all social evils. Today, however, all communist nations, beginning with the Soviet Union, are showing even more extreme structural contradictions than those found in capitalist nations and are committing more severe social evils.
Meanwhile, religions habitually engage in conflicts, thereby relinquishing their responsibility to provide spiritual guidance to humanity. At the same time, irregularities and corruption continue to spread within religious institutions. Philosophy, for its part, has become overly conceptual and divorced from reality. It is not providing any assistance in solving actual problems.
The limitations of democracy, communism, religion and philosophy in the face of social and global problems are plain to see. Humanity is no longer able to rely on any teaching, religion or philosophy to end the confusion in this world. I am saying that if this continues, civilization will inevitably destroy itself.
A solution based on the proposition of God’s existence
Is there a genuine solution that can bring order to this global chaos? Should humanity resign itself and simply wait for the day of destruction? We never can allow that to happen. A fundamental solution to these problems does exist. That solution is based on the proposition that God, the Absolute Being, exists. It is because the world that the absolute God seeks to realize on earth is a world of peace, a world free from confusion.
Without affirming the existence of God and His purpose behind creation, a resolution of the problems of today’s world is impossible. To put it another way, it is because people have been ignorant of God’s existence and His purpose of creation that the current world of chaos has come about.
The world that God sought to realize on earth is a true ideal, a world overflowing with freedom, peace and happiness. With this ideal in His heart, God has been sorrowful to this day, all the while seeking us on earth, even as we have continued to seek the ideal society despite the pain and chaos. The ideal that God cherishes, and which He anxiously wishes to give us, and the ideal of human beings, who continue to seek it, are the same.
Thus, God and humankind can be reunited. Once that happens, this vision will take shape immediately. Yet, people have suffered for a long time because this reunion between God and humankind in every field of endeavor has not taken place.
Unificationism and the Unification movement
Seeing first-hand the pain and suffering of human life, for a very long time I have devoted myself to find a way to save humankind. This led me on a path of meditation and anguished searching for the truth. It was a thorny path that led me through intense spiritual battles.
At the end of indescribable hardships, I finally was able to meet the living God. From this encounter I realized that He is not a God of glory but an anguished Parent seeking to realize His purpose of creation on earth. I also discovered that He is the light of truth and love that illuminates the heavenly way and embraces all things of creation.
When I came in contact with God’s boundless truth and love, I came to see the profound truth that God has cherished deeply. It is a truth that reveals the relationship between God, humankind and the universe. Based on this truth, I saw that the problems of the world can be solved and an ideal society can be realized. I am referring to the teachings of Unificationism, which explain the basic principles of the Unification movement that I am advancing globally.
Ever since my encounter with God, I have upheld God’s truth. To this day I have been advancing the Unification movement in order to manifest an ideal world, which is the dream shared by God and humankind. Based on my experiences, I can confirm that Unificationism is indeed the key to the solution of our problems and the pivotal point in bringing order out of chaos. Many young men and women in the prime of their lives have encountered this teaching. They had agonized over the challenging problems of life, including social issues, religious questions and historical problems, and had given up hope. This teaching rejuvenated them, giving them hope, joy and energy. It is like trees and grass parched by a drought being resuscitated by a long-awaited rain.
The Unification movement still is enduring deliberate persecution by members of the establishment. Yet, these young men and women are following in my footsteps with the conviction that the Unification movement is the only way to reach a fundamental resolution of the world’s problems, and their numbers are increasing rapidly.
Recently many prominent and eminent scholars from around the world have begun to join this movement. Even the general public is gradually coming to realize that Unificationism provides the proper way to resolve the various problems that beset democracy, communism, religion and philosophy.
FFWPU, USA. All Rights Reserved.