Fredsfesten avlyst :(

Fra Universel Fredsforbundet:

Hei.
Pga. en uforutsett situasjon måtte vår gjestetaler trekke seg. Vi har derfor bestemt å avlyse fredsfesten (17. oktober kl 1600). Beklager!

Universal Fredsforbundet Fredsfest på 17.10.10

Universal Fredsforbundet holder en Fredsfest med Tema: “Sjelens psykologi” søndag, 17. oktober 2010, kl 1600 på Grorudvn. 39 (underetasje), Oslo i Familieforbundets lokaler.

Gjestetaler er Thomas Weys (som snakker på engelsk), med innlegg også ved Knut Holdhus, og sang ved Victor mm.

Weys vil bl.a. ta opp hvordan vi bedre kan nytte vår spirituelle kraft.

Her er en link til invitasjonen: https://docs.google.com/fileview?id=1dQS6N9G6QmJZseAsdlHnPM741Z3o77D3Lw4oJvT62V6v9JpZr0u7Pi46ZwI4&hl=en&authkey=CIfoj40J

Det høres interessant ut, og jeg serfrem til det!

Mvh,

Christopher D. Osborn
Ski, Norge

Happy New Year and Happy God's Day 2010!

Here in Norway we celebrated New Years and God's Day at Nordtangen, a cabin owned by the Norwegian Scouts.

Below is the new motto for the Unification Movement for the year 2010. If you click on it you can see a picture of the original calligraphy.

"Mansei for oneness with True Parents' pure heart and with all their victories in the realm of the Cosmic Sabbath centered on true love!"

- FamilyFed.org

Click here to see a video of Father Moon's 'God's Day 2010' address.

In other news about the new year, the UPF (Universal Peace Federation) is calling for a the '10's do be a decade of peace. While the UN's millennium development goals are meant to be accomplished by 2015, the UPF is working to achieve significant goals by 2013.

You can check out a PDF presentation of the UPF's highlights for 2009 here: http://www.upf.org/images/stories2/highlightphotoessay-upf2009.pdf

Again, happy New Year and happy God's Day 2010! I pray we truly can make this a decade of peace.

Centering on True Love,

Christopher D. Osborn
Siggerud, Ski, Akershus, Norway

fredsfest06.12.09 Å leve for andre

 

Fredsfest

”En familie under Gud”

 

Tema:

”Å leve for andre”

 

søndag, 6. desember 2009 kl 1600

Grorudvn. 39 (underetasje), Oslo

i Familieforbundets lokaler

"

Gjestetaler er major Njål Djurhuus

Njål er en av Frelsesarmeens mer kjente størrelser, han har vært informasjonssjef og er en erfaren foredragsholder, men viktigst av alt han har mange års erfaring som leder for Frelsesarmeens arbeid blant rusavhengige på Grønland i Oslo - et arbeid han fikk Kongens fortjenestemedalje i gull for sammen med sin kone Erna.

 

Kulturelle innslag.

 

Servering – fri adgang.

Du er hjertelig velkommen!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Universelt Fredsforbund

www.fredsforbundet.no

fredsfest 25.10.09 Frihet

 

Fredsfest

”En familie under Gud”

 

søndag, 25. oktober kl 1600

Grorudvn. 39 (underetasje), Oslo

i Familieforbundets lokaler

 

Tema:

”frihet” 

Vet vi hva frihet er? Friheten har begrensninger og med

frihet følger ansvar. Vi vil belyse hva sann frihet er.

 

I tillegg vil vår gjestetaler, Keyhan Ighanian, fortelle fra sitt

arbeid med å hjelpe mennesker å finne indre ro og frihet.

Ighanian er Bowen- og TankeFelt-terapeut.

 

Kulturelle innslag.

 

Servering – fri adgang.

Du er hjertelig velkommen!

 

 

                                                                     

 

Universelt Fredsforbund

www.fredsforbundet.no

Crossing - LiNK film on North Korean refugees trying to get to China

Crossing - Trailer from LiNK Global on Vimeo.

If you want to see the film, there is a chance. To find a screening near you, click here.

There may not currently be a screening near you - especially if you're outside the U.S. since it looks like right now they are concentrating their efforts on awareness there. This makes sense because currently the United States is still technically at war with North Korean government. This status is one of the reasons why the North Korean people suffer so much. Kim-Jong-Il is insane, more so than his father, and so the North Korean people have no hope at all from him. However, South Korea and it's allies such as the United States do have the power to save the North Korean people. We can and must do something.

However, our governments will not do anything unless we damand it, and we will not be able to demand it with a lound enough voice unless we have millions of people demanding it with the heart of someone who knows the situation there. In order to occomplish this, we have got to spread this movie around not just the United States but the whole world. I urge everyone to try to get a screening near you, even if you're not in the United States.

For information on organising a screening near you, click here.

Here is a list of other ways you can help the North Korean people.

1. Join the Universal Peace Federation in their effort towards Korean Reunification with their North East Asia Peace Initiative.

2. Join LiNK in one of their three projects: The Movement, The Underground, The Transition.

3. Donate directly to LiNK or help rais funds and awareness by shopping at their store and using their products on a daily basis. When you where an I Love North Korea T-Shirt you are sure to get some stares, and an opportunity to explain yourself is a really great personal way to spread awareness.

How far do your donations go? LiNK claims that just 20 USD will provide a child with a month of food, clothing, and childcare, 50 USD provides 6 months of shelter, 100 USD provides 4 months of tuition (not college, but normal elemtry school), 250 USD privides 1 child with food and supplies for 3 months, and 1,000 USD provides 1 child with food and supplies for a whole year. To learn more about donating to LiNK, click here.

4. Reprioratise your finances to include less flashy cell phones and more helping people other than yourself.

I am sure there are other ways you can help if you only look hard enough. One website that I keep finding in searches is Life Funds for North Korean Refugees. Perhaps LFNKR and LiNK should think about linking up - pun intended.

For the fight for Cheon-Il-Guk,

Christopher D. Osborn
Bergen, Hordaland, Norge

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

---

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.

--
In true brotherly love,

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

December Holy Days

Hey, it's December! Happy Holidays! Which holidays you ask? All of them! Here's a list from Religious Youth Service.

RYS honors the observance of the following Holy days: December

6

• Saint Nicholas Day - Christian

6-9

• Hajj - Islam

7

• Waqf al Arafa - Hajj Day - Islam

8

• Bodhi Day (Rohatsu) - Buddhism
• Immaculate Conception - Catholic Christian

9

• Eid al Adha - Islam

12

• Feast day - Our Lady of Guadalupe - Catholic Christian
• Advent/Nativity Fast begins - Orthodox Christian

16-25

• Posadas Navidenas - Christian

21

• Yule - Christian

22-29

• Hanukkah - Jewish

25

• Christmas - Christian
• Feast of the Nativity - Orthodox Christian

26

• Zarathosht Diso (Death of Prophet Zarathushtra) - Zoroastrian

28

• Holy Innocents - Christian
• Feast of the Holy Family - Catholic Christian

29

• Hijra - Muharram (first day of new year) - Islam

31

• Watch Night - Christian

Now, you might wonder - “Why isn’t Kwanzaa listed on this list?!” Well, I can’t say for sure, for I am no true representative of RYS. Here’s my suggestion though. The Religious Youth Service is a part of the Universal Peace Federation.

There are a couple key principles which lie at the core of the UPF. First, that no matter what race, religion, or national you come from, you are a child of God and thereby at your most fundamental level no less or more important, and no different, than anyone else. It argues that one day all our barriers should be obliterated, literally, through interracial, interreligious, and international marriage.

Through one persons viewpoint, Kwansaa would be a great holy day for RYS and the UPF as a whole to celebrate, because it’s an interreligious holy day. The thing is, while it is interreligious by celebrating the creator but not naming a specific creator, it is not interracial. Kwanzaa is highly focused on Africans, and anyone who was not African or of African decent showing up at a Kwanzaa party would probably feel rather out of place. This makes Kwanzaa very uniting for people of African decent, but quite divisive for everyone else.

So, this is my first personal guess as to why Kwanzaa is not on the RYS list. Then again, I guess Kwanzaa is just as divisive as any other holy day. Jews don’t celebrate Christmas, and Christians don’t celebrate Bodhi Day. So while Kwanza is racially divisive but religiously uniting, other religious holy days could be considered religiously both uniting and divisive.

Perhaps then, Kwanzaa isn’t on the list because it was founded more as a racial and cultural holiday than a religious holy day, and RYS has a focus on bringing together different religious people. Or, maybe they just forgot, who knows? In any case, I hope nobody holds it against them, for no matter what their reasoning I’m 100% positive they meant no harm.

As a Christian Unificationist, this December I’ll be only be celebrating Christmas on 25th (in addition to the two days before and the day after - per my wife's Norwegian tradition, though we will be in the United States this year). I’d love to celebrate them all, but who really has time to actively celebrate every holy day? Maybe if there were no such thing as the military, yet every single human had a job, there would be so many people in the work place that each individual would have enough time so that everyone could celebrate every holy day. Until then, I’ll pretty much stick to my own sectarian holy days and national holidays - unless of course invited to celebrate with a friend of another faith (hint hint, wink wink).

Merry Christmas and happy Holy days,

Christopher D. Osborn
Bergen, Hordeland, Norge

Global Peace Festival - UK Details

Hello everybody!

Only three days to the Global Peace Festival in London, being held on Nov. 22nd at ExCel London Docklands. So, I thought I'd post the schedule here. Below I'll also have ticket and travel information.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

9 AM to 12 PM: European Inter-Religious Forum: "European Year of Inter-Cultural Dialogue"

This is a delegate only event, for London ILC delegates and registered European Ambassadors for peace.

1 PM to 8 PM: Culture of Peace Exhibition
NGO stands, art, film, and networking hub. Click here for more general information, or here for information about renting an exhibition booth.

Open to all GPF Ticket (£10) and Day Pass (£20) holders.

1:45 PM to 4 PM: Focus Sessions (1:45 registration, 2:15 sessions begin)
Bringing together peace activists to network, share, and take home a best practice or two.

Women's Initiatives
The Environment
Marriage and Family
Community Cohesion
Peace and Development Networks (MDGs)
Interreligious Cooperation

This is for pre-registered participants only - with a GPF Day Pass (£20).

4:30 PM to 7 PM: Global Peace Concert!

Peace has never been so loud! Bring family and friends! Great international performers, speakers, and awards!

Amung those sharing the stage will be:

Dawud Wharnsby
Ola Onabule
Patti Boulaye
The Royal Philharmonic Ensemble
Steve Balsamo(The Storys)

For more details on the performers, click here.

Open to all GPF Ticket (£10) and Day Pass (£20) holders.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Global Peace Festival celebrates the vision of 'One Family Under God' by developing ongoing programs that:

• Raise and nurture strong marriages and families
• Facilitate Inter-religious harmony
• Foster a culture of peace and service

The GPF I attended in Washington D.C. exemplified this basic statement, and after visiting GPF UK headquarters in the beginning of October I am sure GPF Lodnon will be just as much of a success. I truely hope that anyone who is able to will come to this event. I am so very disapointed that I won't be able to go myself.

Here's the infor you need. First, click here to puchas tickets to the main event, or here to find out about getting a free ticket. For tickets to the Focus Sessions or to purchas a booth, click here.

Now, how do you get there?

ExCeL London is located 10-minutes from Canary Wharf, in the heart of London's Royal Docks.

There is easy access to the venue - with 3 onsite DLR (Docklands Light Railway) stations, easy access to London Underground (Jubilee Line - 2-stops), parking for 4,000 cars and an international airport 5-minutes away.


View Larger Map

For more information about getting to ExCeL London, go here.

Feel like helping out but don't have the time or money to travel? Click here to donate, or here to find out about a Global Peace Festival near you.

More information will be coming up about a much smaller related event in Oslo, Norge this December. So far all I know is that it'll be on December 14th, and it looks like it's just going to be a small even to commemorate the GPF in London, showing a DVD and that sort of thing, but I can't say for sure as this just came up to my attention 12 hours ago.

For One Family Under God,

Christopher D. Osborn

Posted from Løbergsveien, Bergen, Norge.
See Google Translate

Oversette på Goolge Translate

Fwd: Congo: Time to Act

Have you ever seen the movie Hotel Rwanda? How about Blood Diomond? Well, it seems as though what is going on right now in Eastern Congo is like a combination of both of these situations. Different nations and other groups are fighting eachother for natural recourses, while the same groups from Rawanda are at the killing and raping of civilians again, this time in Eastern Congo(where they fled from prosecution after the Rwanda Genocide). Oh, and once again United Nations troops are present, but aren't accomplishing anything whatsoever.

Accourding to Avaaz (I know it wounds like some sort of terrorist organization, but it looks like a lagitimate not for profit based in Europe, Canada, and the United States) anyway, the U.N. troops stationed there are not allowed to protect civillians, while they have been fighting nalongside the Congolise army, and have been accused of sheltering pro-government mallitias.

If that last statement is true, here's what I think should happen. First, the current U.N. force should be fulled out, for they are already in the mindset of taking a side. Second, I new dominantly french-speaking U.N. peacekeeping force should be deployed with the express mission to protect civillians and provide a safe zone for peacekeeping talks to occur. Finally, reconcilliation experts from the United Nations and the Universal Peace Federartion should be sent to this no-fighting zone to help calm to mood and allow for fair-minded treaties to be written and signd. Once treaties are signed, the United Nations Troops are not to leave until these traties are actually implimented. In addition, justice must be had and those who have commited crimes must be put on trial and punished through the International Criminal Tribunal.

Below is some information and a plea for help from Avaaz, and indipendent global NGO that works to ensure the views and values of the world's people inform global decision-making.

---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Paul Hilder - Avaaz.org Date: 2008/11/12 Subject: Congo: Time to Act Dear friends, The people of Congo are being terrorised -- they need protection urgently, Europe could help but our leaders are delaying -- call on them to act urgently to protect civilians: Take action now The people of Congo need our help. In recent weeks over 200,000 people have been driven from their homes, and murder and rape are rife. Families are running for their lives, caught between the brutal violence of both the rebels and the Congolese army. But shockingly, European foreign ministers meeting earlier this week said it's too early to act. Europe can deploy a well-equipped protection force to be on the ground in two weeks - no one else can get such a capable presence in that fast. European engagement could push back the armed groups and put real pressure on Congo and neighbouring countries, curbing this humanitarian disaster and making peace possible. This tough crisis will not be solved militarily, but civilians need protection now, and facing down the warlords on all sides will make a political deal more likely. The lesson of Rwanda was to step in before it's too late -- Europe's politicians seem to have forgotten that. The people of eastern Congo need us urgently. Send a message to your leader and forward this email to friends and family -- we'll also place our message in newspapers around Europe, so follow this link to take action: http://www.avaaz.org/en/european_action_on_congo/?cl=147002389&v=2418 The recent clashes between General Nkunda's militias and the Congolese army are the latest in a place where the population has been attacked and terrorised for years by armed groups. Over five million people have been killed. It's been termed 'Africa's world war', with Rwanda, Uganda, Zimbabwe, Angola and Namibia all getting involved. The fighting is fed by a lethal war economy based on the extraction of minerals such as coltan, cobalt, diamonds and gold, to which we're all connected through the worldwide market. Allegations abound of Angolan and Zimbabwean troops fighting alongside the Congolese army -- Congolese army soldiers committing atrocities and working with militias including the Rwandan Hutu Forces, some of whose leaders were responsible for the 1994 Rwandan genocide -- and the Rwandan army supporting General Nkunda to muscle the Congolese government to fulfill its commitment to demobilise these same Hutu militias. So it is no surprise that African-only diplomacy is faltering. The United Nations mission (MONUC) is in Congo to keep the peace between this web of armed groups, but recently it has made clear statements that it cannot protect civilians. We have heard reliably that MONUC are desperate for a rapid EU bridging force to do what they can't and start restoring international legitimacy, which has been lost through overstretch and perceptions of taking sides -- UN troops have fought alongside the Congolese army and are even accused of sheltering pro-government militias. To have a credible and effective force the United Nations mission will soon have to be reformed and redeployed. In the longer term, the international community needs to be a strong and honest broker to ensure implementation of peace agreements and confront the underlying issues feeding this war. If Europe sends a short-term, neutral force to the region now to protect civilians, it can start to change the terms of this brutal game -- providing a basis both to defend the defenceless and to apply political leverage to all sides. Click below to send a message asking your own country's leader to support action now: http://www.avaaz.org/en/european_action_on_congo/?cl=147002389&v=2418 We cannot let the best chance to stop the terror in Congo slip by as European leaders turn their backs. Congo needs concerted engagement now. Europe is providing millions in aid to Congo and Rwanda to ensure reconstruction and development, but without a more forceful and permanent push, there will be no peace to keep. Let's flood European leaders with requests for firm action. Sign the petition and please send it to your friends and family: http://www.avaaz.org/en/european_action_on_congo/?cl=147002389&v=2418 With hope, Paul, Alice, Pascal, Ricken, Ben, Paula, Brett, Graziela, Iain and Milena - the Avaaz.org team PS: For a report on Avaaz's campaigning so far, see: https://secure.avaaz.org/en/report_back_2 PSS: Here are links to sources for this alert: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/africa/article5126970.ece http://www.monuc.org/news.aspx?newsID=18960 http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/nov/10/congo-kiwanja-un-goma-angola-laurent-nkunda-war-crimes-fighting http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/world-news/congos-tragedy-the-war-the-world-has-forgotten-14023616.html http://www.monuc.org/news.aspx?newsID=18996 http://www.un.org/News/briefings/docs/2008/081107_Mulet.doc.htm ABOUT AVAAZ Avaaz.org is an independent, not-for-profit global campaigning organization that works to ensure that the views and values of the world's people inform global decision-making. (Avaaz means "voice" in many languages.) Avaaz receives no money from governments or corporations, and is staffed by a global team based in Ottawa, London, Rio de Janeiro, New York, Paris, Sydney and Geneva. Call us at: +1 888 922 8229. Click here to learn more about our largest campaigns. Don't forget to check out our Facebook and Myspace and Bebo pages! You are getting this message because you signed "Stand with Tibet - Support the Dalai Lama" on 2008-03-18 using the email address mailto:brunoklotz@gmail.com. To ensure that Avaaz messages reach your inbox, please add mailto:avaaz@avaaz.org to your address book. To change your email address, language settings, or other personal information, https://secure.avaaz.org/act/index.php?r=profile&user=6cdb18d3ffa2abdcd0395ff46203f035&lang=en, or simply go here to unsubscribe. To contact Avaaz, please do not reply to this email. Instead, write to info@avaaz.org. You can also call us or send postal mail to our New York office: 857 Broadway, 3rd floor, New York, NY 10003 U.S.A. p: 1-888-YA-AVAAZ (1-888-922-8229) If you have technical problems, please go to http://www.avaaz.org/ ____________ _________ _____ __._,_.___ Messages in this topic (1) Reply (via web post) Start a new topic Messages Files Photos Links Polls Calendar MARKETPLACE From kitchen basics to easy recipes - join the Group from Kraft Foods Change settings via the Web (Yahoo! ID required) Change settings via email: Switch delivery to Daily Digest Switch format to Traditional Visit Your Group Yahoo! Groups Terms of Use Unsubscribe Recent Activity Visit Your Group Popular Y! Groups Is your group one? Check it out and see. Yahoo! Groups w/ John McEnroe Join the All-Bran Day 10 Club. Y! Groups blog The place to go to stay informed on Groups news! . __,_._,___ See how Windows® connects the people, information, and fun that are part of your life Click here

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

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.