Pyeong Hwa Gyeong: Episode 366
Pyeong Hwa Gyeong: A Selection of True Parents’ Speeches
Book 9: The Role of Nations in Realizing World Peace
Speech 11: The Role of Continental Nations in the Twenty-first Century, pg 1369-1373
The development of civilization from the viewpoint of the Principle
Jesus was born in Israel, but he was not born for the Jewish people alone. Jesus came in the position of the Messiah and the True Parent. It was his purpose to realize God’s ideal, that is, a world of true love and peace. At that time, Israel was under Roman colonial rule. If Jesus could have accomplished his purpose among the people of Israel, then God’s providence would have spread his message throughout the world.
In fact, Israel’s location at the crossroads of three continents—Asia, Africa and Europe—led to the transmission of Jesus’ teachings during the first centuries of the Christian era. Christianity spread south into Africa, east into Asia and west into Europe. Christianity attained continental dominion in Europe, western Asia and the Americas. Through Christianity these vast continents each accomplished relative unity. These unified continental powers came to dominate the world in the modern era.
Civilization first emerged on continents, in Egypt, Mesopotamia and China. The center of western civilization then shifted to peninsular cultures in Greece, Rome and then Iberia. These peninsular civilizations gave way to an island civilization in Great Britain. The center of civilization then moved to the continental civilization of North America, and then across the Pacific to an island civilization centering in Japan. It is the view of providence that the development of civilization will bear fruit in a peninsular culture emerging in Korea.
Peninsular cultures have given rise to important civilizations. Great religions and philosophies have emerged from peninsular cultures to guide the human spirit. These include, among others, Greek philosophy that came from the Balkan Peninsula, Catholic culture that blossomed on the Italian Peninsula, Hindu philosophy and culture from India, Islamic culture that arose on the Arabian Peninsula, Buddhist culture that flourished on the peninsulas of Southeast Asia, the art of navigation of the Iberian Peninsula, and the Nordic culture on the Scandinavian Peninsula. These peninsular initiatives took root on continents. Greco-Roman and Iberian culture flourished in Europe and the Americas, and Islamic culture spread across Africa and Asia.
From another perspective, civilizations that developed along major rivers such as the Nile, the Yellow, the Tigris and the Euphrates gave way to Mediterranean civilizations, in Greece, Rome, Spain and North Africa.
The center then moved to the Atlantic civilization of North America, France, Great Britain and Spain. Civilization will ultimately bear fruit in a Pacific civilization, linking North America, Japan and Korea.
Major historical religious founders, including Moses, Zoroaster, Buddha, Lao Tzu, Confucius and Jesus, emerged on continents. God’s Will through Jesus, which He hoped to establish in Israel on the continent of Asia, was to reach the western world via the peninsular power of Rome and to reach Asia via the peninsular power of Greece. Today global power resides on the continents of North America and Asia. The Will of God for Christ’s return can be accomplished only when these and all continents invest themselves completely in service to the world, based upon the place where Jesus is to return, that is, where the True Parents are to come, in Korea, which is a peninsular nation.
The surface of the earth is composed of land and ocean. I believe that the ocean, in which the simplest forms of life were born, has played the role of a mother. If the ocean symbolizes femininity because it gives life, nurtures and embraces, then we can say that land symbolizes masculinity. Thus, island nations surrounded by ocean signify the feminine, and continental nations, with the peninsular nations extending from them, symbolize the masculine.
People from peninsular nations in particular have inherited strength and courage by having to defend against enemies from the surrounding seas and continents. Under their pioneering, exploring and adventurous spirit, their brilliant cultures blossomed and expanded. People from continental nations have rugged endurance. They cultivated difficult natural environments over vast distances. Living for generations isolated from cosmopolitan cultures, continental peoples retain the permanent, unchanging values attached to the land. Through the right relationship of island, peninsular and continental peoples, world peace will come.
As we greet the new millennium, the continental nations are called to accomplish a providentially significant mission. They must fulfill a leading role in realizing a peaceful world by combining their power to serve the world, together with their common experiences, into the Federation of Continental Nations for World Peace.
Respected leaders, I have not been satisfied merely to speak about humankind living happily in a peaceful world. I have been receiving tremendous spiritual support for actually creating substantial projects and organizations for this purpose. These projects include the Federation for World Peace, the Inter-Religious Federation for World Peace, the Women’s Federation for World Peace, the Youth Federation for World Peace, the Student Federation for World Peace, the Professors World Peace Academy, the Federation of Island Nations for World Peace and the Federation of Peninsular Nations for World Peace. The Federation of Continental Nations for World Peace is dedicated to this same purpose.
The solution is in recovering our original nature
There are many obstacles blocking the way to human happiness and peace, including political and economic conflicts. Most fundamental, however, is the conflict between mind and body within the individual. Throughout history, the conflict between mind and body has never been completely resolved. This is the serious and miserable result of the human Fall.
Thus, people with inner conflict establish families, which cannot set up a proper standard of ethics and morality. They cannot experience the world of heart based on true love. Can such families achieve complete harmony and unity? Since the family unit has abandoned its responsibility to practice true love, it is now being shaken and destroyed. In light of the breakdown of the family, is peace in the society, nation and world a realistic possibility?
I convened the inaugural world convention of the Family Federation for World Peace in Washington, D.C., the United States Capitol, from July 30 to August 1 of this year. Two former United States presidents, Gerald Ford and George H.W. Bush, sitting and former heads of state from forty nations, as well as representatives of 120 nations gathered for that historic international conference.
The Family Federation for World Peace will be the most treasured organization, coming as it does on the foundation of the above-mentioned international organizations that I have already set up in the course of investing my life for the realization of a world of peace and true love.
Today, each individual must recover his or her true human nature, by uniting mind and body harmoniously within the realm of God’s true love. Humankind must prepare a realm of eternal happiness through a movement for sexual purity and for the realization of true families. The Family Federation is dedicated to this task.
From the viewpoint of God’s dispensation in the course of human history, humankind is one great family that is to live in attendance to God as the True Parent, transcending national boundaries, race and religious differences. Despite the fact that humankind as a single community is destined to cooperate as a global family, we live in an age when we feel that we have nothing to do with the problems of our neighbors and other countries. We cannot, however, ignore the reality of humanity ravaged by war, crime, drug abuse, pollution, destruction of ecosystems, corruption and the scourge of AIDS.
Today, with the eyes of history upon us, we must answer to God. How can humankind, whose mandate is the realization of complete harmony and unity, overcome the unfortunate reality and greet the coming millennium with hope? How can we realize a peaceful world, in which everyone lives for and trusts others without regard for personal and national interests? What is the new value system by which we shall attain this ideal?
Rather than riding the chariot of science and technology pulled by the horses of secular humanism, we must humbly seek the answers within our original mind. If we cannot find the solution on earth, we must find it through listening to the voice of Heaven.
I sincerely hope your deliberations at this conference can be fruitful in realizing the dream of a peaceful world. May God protect you and your families eternally.
FFWPU, USA