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Rev. Sun Myung Moon
We don't have to look far into back the twentieth century to see that it was stark with severe conflicts and unspeakable violence placed upon humanity. We experienced the horrors of two world war and through seventy years of the Cold War and torture of communistic ideals that tries to erase the existence and evidence of the Creator.
Everyone can remember the collapse of the Berlin wall and celebrated the end of the Cold War and truly believed that peace had arrived. Then the world realized that the end of the Cold War did not bring automatic peace around the world. As we speak, Communism still captures its people and wars and brutal massacres abound all around the globe.
We must see the true primary factor which contributes to these conflicts arising. When one looks beneath the surface, they will see the deep-rooted disharmony that exists between the world's religion. The more we witness the atrocities that happen around the world, the more we should see the importance that all religions based on the same God should come together and learn to embrace one another.
In modern times, most nations have a separation of religious ideals and secular political power. People in society have accepted this as this is how the world is supposed to operate. The better system should be that international organizations purpose is to support the ideal world of peace by reconsidering a relationship with the traditions of the religions of the world.
The world held high hopes for the expectations of the United Nations to bring about the realization of humanity's hope for peace. Every nation is represented to work together to promote peace and human prosperity. These peace efforts have met stubborn resistance.
The United Nations should encourage mutual respect and increased cooperation between the world's political and religious leaders.
Is it possible for humanity to have a complete mind and body unity? This was God's original plan. It will be realized when people completely possess God's true love.
"Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called the children of God," a quote from the Bible illustrates this point. Peacemakers are those that bring mind and body unity centering on the true love of God.
Because the beginning of the fall where humanity followed Satan's ideal, human beings lost the high standard of mind and body oneness and harmony. Through this each person has lived in internal strife and self-contradiction with a war within themselves.
This clash of mind and body centering on Satan has manifested from the individual, family, nation to the world. In fact, this mind and body separation is what caused Cain to murder his younger brother Abel.
When we look at history from this viewpoint, all wars and battles have essentially been between the evil Cain camp and more God-like Abel camp. How does humanity end this struggle between the Cain and Abel camps and restore them to the original state of harmony and love? To do this, each person has the responsibility to bring a harmonious union between their own mind and body which is in conflict.
This principle should not only be applied and practiced on the individual level, but also on the worldwide level.
"Also, to address the external management of human affairs, representing the body, I have worked to promote harmony among nations through the activities of the Federation for World Peace, the Federation for Island Nations for World Peace, the Federation for Peninsula Nations for World Peace, and the Federation for Continental Nations for World Peace. Most recently, signifying the emergence of an era when mind and body, or religion and rational governance can work together: cooperatively, I founded the Interreligious and International Federation for World Peace."
At their root, human problems are not entirely social or political, and so social and political approaches will always be of limited effectiveness.
Even though secular authorities have rule over societies, people place far greater importance on faith and devotion than on political loyalties. Religion lies at the heart of most national and cultural identities.
Those who hold their faith should feel that it is their responsibility to the suffering and injustices experienced in the world. We are living in the age of renewal in religion where true leadership will manifest itself with religious people leading as an example by living for the sake of others.
In this age, those who practiced the faith just for their own individual salvation should repent for it has prevented the religious bodies from giving their utmost for the cause of world salvation. God brought Jesus to save the world, not just to save the Jewish people or just for Israel. This age demands, more than any other time, that we go beyond faith and the individual interest in each religion and place our heart and ideals into practice for the sake of the world.
All people of faith should unite into one heart to give out God's passionate desire for humanity's restoration and peace. God calls upon leaders especially those religious leaders to take a stand against the injustices and evils of the world by bestowing His true love and releasing it upon the world.
World Peace Begin?
We will be able to see world peace when the world's religious leaders representing the internal concerns of mind and conscience, work together with national leaders who have practical wisdom and the worldly experience about the external reality. Restructuring the United Nations, for instance, to carry out this vision is necessary.
Dr. Reverend Sun Myung Moon gives his ideals for a United Nations that could bring about God's ideals in this speech:
"The existing United Nations structure, composed of national representatives, may be regarded as a congress where the interests of each member nation are represented. However, serious consideration should be given to forming a religious assembly, or council of religious representatives within the structure of the United Nations.
This assembly or council would consist of respected spiritual leaders in fields such as religion, culture, and education. Of course, the members of this inter-religious assembly will need to have demonstrated an ability to transcend the limited interests of individual nations and to speak for the concerns of the entire world and humanity at large.
The two chambers, working together in mutual respect and cooperation, will be able to make great advances in ushering in a world of peace. The wisdom and vision of great religious leaders will substantially supplement the political insight, experience and skill of the world's political leaders. Even at this moment, more and more conflicts are breaking out across the world over disputed borders.
As a result, the world is sustaining substantial loss of human life. In addition, the money poured into war-making and peacekeeping runs into the billions of dollars. So many resources and efforts are being wasted. Yet, comprehensive solutions have not been fully achieved with respect to any given conflict.
To solve this problem, I would like to make some proposals for your consideration:
I propose today that the United Nations and religious leaders join their hearts and work to create peace zones in areas of conflict. Whether the disputed borders pass through rivers, mountains, fields, or the sea, we can create buffer zones or peace zones along these borders.
These zones could be governed directly by the United Nations, and people from around the world dedicated to the establishment of peace will be allowed to settle in these zones.
The United Nations will be responsible to provide guidance to those living in these areas so that they come to embody the founding ideals of the United Nations and comply with its declarations for peace. These peace zones will be havens that exist for the sake of peace, prosperity, and reconciliation. They will be free of racial and sexual discrimination, human rights violations, and war.
These areas must also be ecological and environmental havens for the entire natural world. To create such zones of peace, freedom, and ecological harmony, the concerned nations will have to be willing to provide the necessary land. This is not a simple matter, for there will be resistance to the surrender of land, even for a peace zone. I have dedicated much effort toward finding solutions to this problem, particularly as it applies to my native land, Korea.
I have taught that there is a providential significance to Korea's having been a victim of the Cold War. As you know, both the division of Korea and the war that followed are outgrowths of the Cold War.
The Korean War, in which the youth of sixteen countries shed their blood under the United Nations flag to protect freedom, was a righteous war unprecedented in history. I remain ever grateful to the United Nations and those sixteen nations.
And yet, the peaceful unification of Korea still remains to be accomplished. For this reason I have continually pondered about the United Nations' solemn mission for building a world of peace and how this relates to God's providence.
I sincerely hope that the current mood of reconciliation and cooperation between North and South Korea, which began last June, will continue. I hope the entire demilitarized zone along the 155-mile military demarcation line that crosses the Korean peninsula can be turned into a peace zone under UN jurisdiction. I believe the United Nations will take the lead in this effort and build exhibition halls, museums, educational sites, and peace parks in this zone in order to teach visitors important lessons regarding peace.
It is my fervent hope that world leaders of good will can understand my purpose and join with me. In particular, I hope that they will join me in willingly donating their land and money for use in creating UN supervised peace zones. These zones, under UN leadership, will give rise to ideal moral societies where nature and people live in harmony.
I proposed the founding of an international Peace Fund in an address I gave to world religious leaders gathered for an international conference that had as its theme, Realizing the Interfaith Ideal: Beyond Dialogue into Practice.
All the leaders who participated in this conference resolved to initiate a movement for the world's religious people to lead the way in making donations for world peace. I proposed that donations we given in amounts related to the number seven.
Because various individuals and countries face differing economic realities, one person may find it difficult to give even seven dollars, whereas someone else may be able to give even $7 million. I believe that if all religious people on earth become one in heart, they will actively participate in this fundraising effort.
The funds thus created will be used to establish peace zones and to teach the ideals of peace and the methods to achieve it. In addition to religious people, the United Nations too can encourage all nations and their peoples to make annual contributions to this fund. These funds might be donated under the name of the White Cross Fund.
Wealthy philanthropists, business leaders, and industrialists, leaders in other fields, along with individuals, and organizations, can actively participate in the construction of UN peace zones. In this way, they can lead the way in creating an atmosphere of peace and in raising the necessary funds."
Return for Tomorrow's Post: Bodily Desires: The Internal War
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