60th Anniversary of the Signing of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights; Dr. Hyun Jin Moon

Dr. Hyun Jin Moon: Interfaith Cooperation, Protection of Human Rights and Dignity
December 02, 2008

A Symposium in Celebration of the 60th Anniversary of the Signing of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights

Address at the United Nations Headquarters, New York, USA

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Your Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen. It is indeed a privilege and a high honor to speak to you here at the United Nations today. I'd like to thank the missions of Guinea, Kenya, Ethiopia, and Nepal for their support of this precedent-setting initiative.

For the last month the eyes of the world have been on Barack Obama, President-elect of the United States, and his preparations to take office. Each new appointment to his cabinet team is being scrutinized hopefully for evidence that we are about to witness a new era in this country with new policies that can bring about peace and prosperity for all people.

"Change, yes we can!" has become the slogan of not only a successful campaign but also a message of hope at a time of national and global crisis. Of course, change for the sake of change is not enough. The goal and direction of that change is far more important.

This is therefore a very good time for the United Nations to reflect upon its own strategies and policies to create peace, and to consider options that will help the UN gain greater support from all the nations and peoples of the world.

Eight years ago, my father, the Reverend Dr. Sun Myung Moon, speaking right here in this room, predicted that the greatest challenge to peace in the 21st century would come from conflict between religions and their followers.

For that reason, he urged the UN to quickly create an "Interreligious Council" that would bring together the leaders of the world's great faiths.

There are several reasons why this is so important. Firstly, the UN certainly needs to pay a lot attention to the voices of the faith communities of the world. More than 90 percent of the world is religious, and spiritual passions are a fundamental source of meaning and purpose for most people on the planet. Religions, at their best, must bring their wisdom to bear on the great problems facing humanity.

The second and equally important reason is that the creation of such an Interreligious Council will allow the United Nations to play a coordinating and mediating role when conflict and dispute arises. Moreover, the religious leaders and the communities they represent could be better held to account for their actions when they become part of the formal UN structure.

When my father first made these recommendations in 2000, there was considerable skepticism that religion and religious issues were really that significant. 9/11 has changed all that.

If, as seems likely, the recent atrocities in Mumbai, India, prove to have had a religious as well as a political motive, this will only serve to underline that religion has become one of the most important peace issues of our time.

Of course the religions of the world should not just be waiting for the United Nations to act. All of them must urgently find ways to come into closer relationships with each other. We need to focus on the vast areas of common ground, rather than obsess on the much smaller areas of difference.

We need a new, spiritual vision of peace for the 21st century that can bring all people of faith together as one. That vision, I believe, is "One Family Under God."

Relations between faith traditions are about much more than mere toleration of one another's prayers and rituals. A true interfaith experience is a celebration of the core principles that bind all God-affirming people together as one family.

The family is universal. Regardless of race, ethnicity, nationality, and religion, we are all members of families. The family represents the most intimate of relationships. When we feel close to someone, we use familial terms, saying "that person is like my father, my mother, my brother, my sister." In the family we are meant to learn to love humanity in all its richness and diversity.

However, although all religions agree that marriage and family are the fundamental building blocks of any society, the reality is that the United States and all other nations are in danger of losing these most valuable traditions and institutions. Divorce and family breakdown are at an all time high. Sexually transmitted diseases are on the rise, even among the youngest teenagers. Violence and crime among young people are on the rise, and many say they have little hope of securing dignified, meaningful jobs to support their future families.

The social and economic cost of this breakdown of the family is staggering. The breakdown of the family contributes directly to poverty, disease, child mortality and is possibly the single most significant obstacle to the fulfillment of the UN Millennium Development Goals. If we are to realize "One Family Under God" we must invest, "one family at a time."

Another immediate practical task of all religions is to create a global culture of service, or "living for the sake of others." Imagine if young people from enemy nations worked side by side in service! Any misunderstandings and hatred that existed would fade away as they sweat, cry, and laugh together with a common purpose and cause.

To this end, I would like to see the United Nations encourage every nation's faith-based and community partners to join with those of other countries to establish a Global Peace Corps that will be more than just an American or European effort.

Finally, I want say that the best way to solve the ongoing problem of human rights violations is through creating "One Family Under God."

When the Global Peace Festival visited Ottawa, Canada, in October, we took a moment to participate in a simple ceremony to honor John Humphries, the Canadian statesman who was the principal author of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

The head of the Canada Human Rights Commission reminded us that the Declaration of Human Rights, like the United Nations itself, was never intended to be entirely secular. The authors had in mind the claims of the American Declaration of Independence, which states that all people have "inalienable rights, endowed by their Creator."

Unfortunately, the ability of the UN to honor these religious and spiritual concerns was largely taken hostage by Cold War tensions and the desire to keep the communist nations at the negotiating table.

The world today, however, is very different. We must return to the original ideal and dream of the founders of the United Nations, to create one human family that will never again know the scourge of war.

In order to do this, we must recognize the need to break new ground in order to establish a path to peace. It must be rooted in a spiritual vision which can bring people of faith together as "One Family Under God."

Imagine the power of one human family united! It can quell the turmoil of conflict throughout the world, from the strife and poverty of Africa, to the conflict in the Middle East, and the final remnant of the Cold War on the Korean Peninsula.

As citizens of the world, let us make a solemn pledge to dream the greatest dream of all, to lead the world to peace at last through the vision of "One Family Under God."

Thank you very much.

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In true brotherly love,

Christopher D. Osborn
battleforheaven.blogspot.com
www.globalpeacefestival.org
www.upf.org

NEWS - GPF Korea Success

Below is a new report from the Universal Peace federation about the successful Global Peace Festival in Korea, which was held from November 7th to the 9th.

Let us celebrate its success and pray for the success of future GPF's as well. More importantly, let us pray that these GPF's will not simply be big parties with good intentions, but truly produce real differences toward peace in the world.

As of 2008, South Korea is in 32nd place in the Global Peace Index, while North Korea is in 133rd place. In comparison, Russia is in 131st, Japan is in 5th, China is in 67th, and the United States is 97th. The six party talks seem to have a very wide range of peacefulness within the individual member nations.

Also of note reguarding the Global Peace Index: Norge (Norway), where I am posting this from, is in 3rd. With Iceland in 1st and Danmark in 2nd, I'd say Scandinavia has come a long way from it's Viking days and I am quite proud to be living here maried to a Scandinavian.

I've noticed that the pictures haven't loaded, so here's a link to the Global Peace Festival website where you will be able to see a sideshow. For more GPF news, go here.

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Knut Holdhus
Date: Mon, Nov 10, 2008 at 4:54 PM
Subject: Fwd: NEWS - GPF Korea Success

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: European Office FFWPU
Date: 2008/11/10
Subject: NEWS - GPF Korea Success

New Hope For Korean Reunification
Can Korea ever be reunited? That was the urgent question posed separately to a crowd of tens of thousands at the Global Peace Festival in Seoul's Yoido Plaza, and to a smaller but highly placed group of more than 600 people at the Korean National Assembly. Congressmen and women and representatives of the international diplomatic community in Seoul gathered November 7-9 for a frank and often outspoken debate on the need for new strategies for the reunification of Korea, the last divided nation on earth. The UPF's International Leadership Conference also included 177 delegates from 55 nations gathered in Seoul to celebrate the Global Peace Festival.
A view of the massive crowd at the Global Peace Festival Korea at Yoido Plaza
The Hon. Young-sun Song, a National Assemblywoman and Co-chair of the International Leadership Conference, outlined the case for a new approach to peacemaking. "The current Six-Party talks are producing only one winner, and that is North Korea," she said. "The more we talk, and the more aid we send to the North – more than US$6.7 billion already – the more the North develops its nuclear and military capabilities."
Mr. Cheol-hwan Kang, a defector from North Korea who now works for the Chosun Ilbo newspaper in Seoul, agreed that the North Korean leaders were being manipulative, but explained: "The reality is that the ordinary people of North Korea are in a disastrous situation. More than three million have already died from hunger. Human rights are almost non-existent, and even the deployment of more and more troops on the Chinese border is failing to prevent the flow of North Koreans wanting to defect."
The seminar featured panelists from each of the nations participating in the Six-Party talks that are the current framework for the peace process on the peninsula. In turn, each panelist outlined the primary and often conflicting concerns of their nations. With common land borders with North Korea, China and Russia are very cautious about any sudden changes. In contrast, the Japanese focus on the human rights abuses in the North, especially the much-publicized abductions of Japanese citizens to train as North Korean agents.
Dr. Victor Cha, former US National Security Director for Asian Affairs at the White House, sounded a more optimistic note. "The US-ROK alliance remains one of the most underrated," he said. After a low point in 2002 following death of two Korean girls accidentally run down by a US military vehicle, the alliance has gone from strength to strength, with ROK troops a key US ally in Iraq and playing peace-keeping roles in other nations.
"The key task facing the United States now is to prepare for change in the North," Cha said. "Kim Jong-il is not well, and there is no clear line of succession. The US and the ROK may very soon need a 'concept plan' to deal with the possibility of a collapse or implosion of the regime."
"The relationship between Korea and the United States is at a new turning point," said Hon. Hyong O Kim, Speaker of the Korean National Assembly, "and we hope that the election of Barack Obama will provide an opportunity for a new beginning for our two nations."
A highlight of the seminar was a moving ceremony to honor 21 Korean War Veterans representing all 16 nations of the United Nations Forces that defended South Korea after the North Korean invasion in 1950. "Australia is intimately involved with the Republic of Korea," said H.E. Peter Rowe, the Australian Ambassador to Korea in a greeting to the veterans. "We are proud to have spilled both blood and treasure here to help a young nation be free, a decision that has been vindicated by the progress this country has made."
"The Philippines is also proud to have been a member of the UN Command," said Ambassador Luis T. Cruz. "Over 7,000 Filipino soldiers served here in Korea, and for 116 it became their final resting place. We must not let the young generation forget the price of freedom."
Dr. Hyun Jin Moon, the International President of the Universal Peace Federation, spoke to the need for the inclusion of faith leaders in a new peace process that would bring the conflict on the Korean peninsula to a final conclusion. "We only need to look back to the last century to recognize the futility of tackling the world's problems through the same old military, economic, political, and diplomatic solutions," he said. "Dealing with the symptoms of global crisis and conflict and ignoring the root cause just will not work. Without a foundation in the universal principles that come from God, there can be no lasting human rights and no peace."
Despite Korea's profound spiritual traditions going back over a thousand years, Dr. Moon said that the current situation was worrying. "The fact is that North Korea has become an atheistic, secular society, while here in the South we are seeing religious conflict as an increasing source of tension in our nation," he said. "We are in danger of losing our most valuable spiritual and moral traditions. This is why the vision of 'One Family under God' is so important for Korea at this time."
Rev. Jim Swilley and Bishop William Sheals, leaders of two fast-growing megachurches in the United States, representing the many faith leaders supporting the Global Peace Festival, strongly agreed. "Peace is always possible with God," said Swilley, speaking later that evening at an Opening Banquet for the Global Peace Festival, "even when it seems impossible from the perspective of men."
"Humanity is now entering a new era—the era of heaven that turns the world upside down," said UPF Founder, the Rev. Dr. Sun Myung Moon. "The time of suffering for both God and human beings is coming to an end. We are in a new era of peace when all humanity can live as 'One Family under God.'"
Dr. Hyun Jin Moon speaks at the Global Peace Festival, Korea. Despite forecasts of rain, the weather was perfect.
On Sunday, November 9, the Global Peace Festival took its message of hope and reunification to the streets in a rousing appeal to the citizens of Seoul and Korea to stand up for peace. Tens of thousands came out to voice their support for a peaceful reunification with the North.
Interfaith 'peace waters' ceremony is introduced by Dr. Hyung Jin Moon, President of the Family Federation
Religious leaders from more than a dozen faiths joined an interfaith reconciliation ceremony in front of a cheering and enthusiastic crowd, and called for everyone present to make a personal, family, and national commitment to the work of peace, and above all to dream big dreams of peace.
"It is no coincidence that today a Korean, Ban Ki-moon, serves as the Secretary-General of the United Nations," said Dr. Hyun Jin Moon in his GPF keynote address. "I believe that it is God's will for Korea to work anew with the international community of nations and lead the peace process. Together, we can dare to dream the greatest dream of all, to create 'One Family under God.'"

Michael Balcomb
Communications Director
Universal Peace Federation

Matching/Blessing: Korea, February 2009

Below is a letter from the the head of the European Blessed Family Department/European Second Generation Blessing Affairs of FFWPU/HSA-UWC describing a little detail of a matching/blessing marriage ceremonies to be held in Korea in February 2009.

To : All Blessed Families

From : Geros Kunkel
Refer : Blessing February 1st 2009
Date : 4th November 2008 Pages including this front page: 1



Dear Blessed Families,

I would like to announce in advance, that there will be a Blessing on February 1st 2009 after True Parents 90th Birthday. In the days before that there will also be a matching by True Father for 2nd Generation Blessing candidates.

We are still working to prepare the official Letter concerning the details of the upcoming Matching and Blessing, therefore please wait for further announcements. We cannot say any details yet, concerning who will be eligible to attend the matching or details regarding the schedule and events in Korea around that time.

If you wish to attend either the Matching and Blessing or the Blessing as a matched couple, please get in touch with me and prepare now, so that you can be informed about further details.

For the Blessing Application, please go to: www.2ndgenblessing.com where you will find all info, requirements, forms, etc. concerning the Blessing Application process.

If you have any questions, please feel free to be in touch with me. geros (at) esgd.org

Yours sincerely,

Geros Kunkel
European Blessed Family Department
European Second Generation Blessing Affairs

Inspiration

For the opening post on this blog, I want share with you what inspired me to start it. I guess it started with the Global Peace Festival and was helped by a book along the way, but what really inspired me was one young girl's testimony the day before GPF USA 2008.

Naturally I'm predisposed to wanting to do something like this, but I'm not going to go through my entire life history of being born into Rev. Moon's Unification movement (HSA-UWC, FFWPU, New Hope Academy, Camp Aurora, SFP, UPF, WFWP, CARP, etc). Instead I'll just say that, and start right off with the Global Peace Festival.

The Global Peace Festival is essentially a celebration of the common values all peoples of the world have and how we can highlight them to create world peace. It brings together people from every race, religion, nationality, and culture to show that we can not only tolerate one another, or even simply work together for a common goal. We can truly love each other as one family under God.

Speaking from a nation at war, yet a nation which is so mixed and has been so for so long that it is easy for us to see the similarities between people, this whole concept One Family Under God really resonated with me well. It touched my heart to think that the whole of humanity could live in a world where it doesn't matter what label you've been assigned, but what kind of character you have inside.

Abraham Lincoln lead the United States of America to the decision that our nation would do it's best to live that dream, the dream of all people being judged by their individual character, not their creed. He lead this national movement with arms during a the American Civil War. I believe strongly that with his father's guidance, Dr. Hyun Jin Moon (International President of the FFWPU, Co-Chairman of the UPF, and founder of the GPF) will lead the whole world to the same place, but rather than through arms, he'll do it with heart. In fact, he'll take us even farther than where the United States has gone. I believe he'll take us to Cheon-Il-Guk, or the Kingdom of Heaven, where all people truly live as one family under God.

Slightly before I had heard about the Global Peace Festival I picked up a book, Owning The Culture of Heart - Selected Speeches of World CARP President Hyun Jin Moon, published by World CARP. I want to share with you two short segments of it.

"Transformation has to happen first on the individual level. This transformation can come about through owning the Culture of Heart and embodying the Core Values. The most important component of the Core Values is living for the greater good, living for the sake of others. Why is this cultural battleground so important? Because this cultural battleground will allow us to fight directly with the satanic culture that exists today, that is rooted in the original sin of Adam and Eve. Remember, the impulse behind the Fall was false love, i.e., self-centered love. If the world truly wants to find peace on the individual, national, and worldwide levels, it first has to address this issue. Instead of planting the seed of false love or self-centered love, you have to plant the seed of true love. Then, and only then shall the world be able to reap true goodness and joy. The only way to establish peace is through living for the sake of others."

From President Hyun Jin Moon's Speech
July 12, 2003 at Sunmoon University, Asan, Korea
Back book flap.

That paragraph is basically the gist of the most important part of the Moon family's ideology, and and I believe it is how they plan to create world peace. Through living for the sake of others and the individual, family, municipal, national, and international levels. This idea has already worked in substantial ways. It is this ideology that has made a relationship between the Moon family and the North Korean government - the one which imporisoned Sun. Myung Moon for speaking out about his religious convictions - possible. It is why they were able to create a special economic zone in North Korea where South Koreans could do business freely, providing some jobs for North Koreans. It is also why the Universal peace Federation is able to get Christians, Muslums, and Jews together at the same table in Isreal and Palestine to talk things over, and why in Washington D.C. the mother of the victim of a gang killing was able to embrace the mother of the person who killed her son. This basic ideoligy of living for the sake of others, is practiced unconditionally, will save this world.

"We are fighting a life-threatening battle, a most severe, desperate battle at this time. Because what is at stake is not just some nation or some ideology; what is at stake is that which is most precious to God, that which becomes the cornerstone for the building of the Kingdom of Heaven. This cornerstone is the ideal family."

Heavenly Soldiers Fighting for the Ideal Family
Closing Speach at the Third Special 21 Day Workshop
June 17, 2001, Druskininkai, Lithuania
Page 127

This little peice inspired great curage in me. I've almost alwasy been a very shy person, when I was preparing to go to Washington D.C. for the Global Peace Festival I was a bit nervous. I knew part of what they would need would be outreach, going out to toal strangers in the big city, giving them a flyer, and trying to convince them to come to the GPF on August 9th. For me this ordinarily would be a big thing, but this sort of talk from Hyung Jin Moon really inspired me. What we are doing now with the Global Peace Festival is way too important for me to be afraid. This is war. We may not be using violence, but war it is anyway, and I can't let my petty worries get in the way of doing my part to win it.

Finally, I'll tell a story of one young girl who did much more for the GPF than she realised. I won't name her because first I haven't any idea of her name, and second, even if I did, I'd want to get her permission first. So instead I'll call her "Anna".

I think it was the night before the GPF, but I can't be sure. We were working hard and long hours, and I never was one for keeping track of time, so the dates around that time are a bit fuzzy for me. Anyway, Junior STF, an educational organization for teenagers in the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification (Unification Church), were having a reflection night and I thought I'd sit in to hear what the younger boys and girls of our movement thought of all we were doing.

When Anna went up to the mic. I could tell she had a lot on her mind and was nervous about it. She started with talking about how she'd felt rather selfish a lot of the time she'd been in D.C. She said she kept on thinking about herself, how she was too hot or tired, how she'd rather go home and she never thoguht of the other people on her team. More improtant, she said, she hadn't been thinking of God. God suffers all the time seeing His children suffer, fighting eachother, killing eachother, or even just waching while our brothers and sisters - weather across the ocean or right next door, starve to death. Meanwhile, as our Heavenly Father suffers every single time any of His children suffers, she had been complaining about being too hot, too boared, or tired, and it made her sick about herself.

She further touched on how whenever she comes to a church event she becomes very inspired to work for furthering God's providence, and even after she get's home for a couple weeks or so she'll feel more inspired to study God's word, pray more often, and participate in church or related things more. However, after a couple weeks or so this feeling wears off, and "real life" starts to get in the way. Homework, school, friends, work, sports, and other things make us think we just don't have the time. Yet, does our Heavenley Father, who worries about every single one of His children on the earth and in the spirit world, ever say He hasn't the time for us? She had been crying intermitently during her whole testimony, and especially here.

That last point she made really resonated with me, for I feel the exact same way. Whevenewvr I come back from visiting the church in Oslo or Boston, or back from a workshop and big event our church is behind, the same exact thing has happened to me, and I'm sure it happens with others too. We always get so inspired, but in the end get cought up in our own lives so much that we feel we don't have the time to live for the sake of others, to live for the sake of God.

I really wish I new that girls name, because she really did a lot there, at least for me. She inspired within me the conviction that I would not leave D.C. and go back to my normal self centered life. I would go home from D.C., and I would pay attantion to family, work, and other things. However, I would also, pay attention to what I most important, which to me is everyone other than myself. I will live for the sake of others, I will live for God.

Thanks Anna, you saved me.