Hak Ja Han
August 10, 2014
Founders' Address
Millennium Seoul Hilton Hotel
Opening Plenary: Global Assembly of the UPF's Summit 2014
Read by Sun Jin Moon
Director General of the FFWPU International Headquarters
Ladies and gentlemen, for the sake of our nations and the world, we must open our hearts and minds to receive the guidance of God, our Heavenly Parent.
Inter-religious Cooperation
Among 7 billion people, well over two thirds are religious. The great civilizations throughout history have endured because of their religious and spiritual foundations. Religion has always called us to examine the deeper, underlying reality of our existence -- to turn our eyes, our hearts and our minds toward Heaven, and to listen to those Heaven has sent to earth. However, while called into being by God's direct intervention, religions and religious believers often stray from the true path. As such, we witness a dark side of religion, expressed in narrow sectarianism, extremism, bigotry and triumphalism. These deviations have led to serious disunity and even conflict among believers of various religions.
This reality undermines Heaven's will and breaks God's heart. That is why a movement to bring together leaders and believers from all spiritual traditions, in mutual respect and cooperation, is important. For more than fifty years, we have invested more of our resources in ecumenical and interfaith dialogue than in our own church. It is that important!
Our efforts in the Middle East, and especially the Holy Land, are carried out by UPF through MEPI (Middle East Peace Initiative), and date back to my husband's visit there in 1965. At that time, with a sincere prayer for unity among Jews, Christians and Muslims, he dedicated a holy ground near the Garden of Gethsemane. He cried out to God, and to Jesus, Moses and Mohammad. Since that day, not a year has passed without serious investment being made to promote harmony and cooperation among religions, and even among the various sects that are often disunited within each religious tradition. In 2000, Father Moon and I spoke at the United Nations, calling for the UN to establish an inter-religious council.
This council would fill a gap at the United Nations, serving as a senate or "upper house" of spiritual and moral leaders. The members of the council would be expected to rise above sectarian or partisan interests, and advocate for the good of the whole human family, not merely one nation or religion.
The following year, when terrorists attacked the World Trade Towers and the Pentagon on September 11, 2001, we responded immediately by convening, four weeks after the attacks, a major international interfaith conference in New York City aimed at stopping the spread of violence. At that time, we conferred with Muslim leaders and planned a series of "Muslim Summits" to promote peace. Similar initiatives have been carried out over several decades in a variety of places where inter-religious discord feeds the potential for conflict.
Good Government
Just as internal corruption and hostile relations among religions stand in the way of lasting peace, the same problems plague relations among nation states. When the cold war ended twenty-five years ago, we thought perhaps a new millennium of peace would emerge. However, we can see that many obstacles remain. The Middle East is now on fire with conflict.
The crisis in Ukraine threatens the stability of the international order. East Asia faces continuous threats, including those from increased militarization, complex disputes over island territories and North Korea's nuclear weapons program. Through the programs of UPF, WFWP and other organizations, we have been actively engaged in seeking to resolve these conflicts, offering "soft power" alternatives to "hard power" politics, aggression and open conflict.
For example, we have been convening, over many years, a series of programs aimed at promoting peace in Northeast Asia. As a counterpart to MEPI, we call this series the Northeast Asia Peace Initiative (NEAPI). We hold these programs continuously in Korea, Japan, the United States, and recently in Vladivostok, Russia. We are considering future programs for China, Mongolia and even North Korea. Through dialogue, we can build trust, mutual respect, and break down the barriers that stand in the way of cooperation.
During the cold war, my husband and I were straightforwardly opposed to communist ideology, which advocated violent revolution, limited freedoms and atheism. Our opposition to communism was based on an affirmation of religious freedom, limited government, rule of law, and open markets. These ideals were expressed through the organization we founded in 1980 called CAUSA. We also convened an important international conference in Geneva, in 1985, sponsored by the Professors World Peace Academy, to discuss the imminent demise of the Soviet Union and the need to prepare for a post-Soviet world. We never closed the door to dialogue.
We made every effort to meet leaders of the Soviet Union and North Korea. In 1990, we held a Summit in Moscow with the support and participation of President Gorbachev and his wife Raisa. We did everything we could to promote a smooth transition from communism to democracy in Russia. We placed strong emphasis on good governance, character education for youth, the strengthening of civil society and religious freedom. In 1991, we travelled to North Korea to meet its president, Kim Il Sung, the grandfather of North Korea's current leader, Kim Jong-un. Despite our aversion to North Korean policies, including assassination attempts on my husband, we embraced President Kim and urged him to open the borders to dialogue, economic cooperation, and people- to-people exchange through sports, the arts, tourism, and humanitarian relief efforts. We have invested enormous resources in North Korea, in order to reduce tensions and build the trust that is necessary for peaceful reunification.
Over several decades, we invested in the Americas, and especially the United States. Our love for America was not based on nationalism, or a lack of awareness of its flaws, but rather it was based on an understanding of America's unique position and responsibility in the world. The United States, as the leading nation of the free world, represents ideals of freedom, religious liberty, human rights, democratic government and rule of law. Many countries around the world have admired and emulated the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of the United States.
America was blessed by God, and was called to a sacred mission. But with that blessing came great responsibility, the responsibility to share the blessing and serve other nations in order to establish a world of true love and lasting peace. Unfortunately, beginning in the 1960s, many people in the United States began to lose sight of that truth. We began to see the spread of drug abuse, free sex, individualism and materialism. Thus began a trend toward spiritual and moral decline.
Beginning with our arrival in the United States in 1971, my husband and I sought to bring about a great awakening through a grassroots movement dedicated to spiritual and moral renewal. My husband always said that God had called us to serve "in the role of a doctor or firefighter."
We had come to heal the nation, and to put out the fire of selfishness and corruption. The United States had lost its way and needed to rekindle the God-centered spirit that had prevailed at the time of its founding. This was the message that my husband and I conveyed to Presidents Eisenhower, Nixon, Reagan and Bush, and to hundreds of members of congress in the U.S. Capitol, and to many millions of ordinary Americans from every religion, race and cultural background.
In April 2008, my husband and I convened the "Americas Summit" in Washington, D.C., under the sponsorship of the UPF, and dedicated to the theme, "Toward a New Paradigm of Leadership and Good Governance for Development and Peace in the Americas." The former U.S. president, George H. W. Bush, and former Uruguayan president, Julio Maria Sanguinetti, made substantial contributions to the success of this important meeting. My husband and I encouraged both of these leaders to work for the unity of the Americas.
In Jardim, Brazil, we established the Ideal Family Education Headquarters for World Peace, and attracted people from around the world that aspired to create an ideal community. We also established a farm there -- New Hope Farm -- and invited people to come there to work the land, live together and learn with people from around the world. Thus began a movement to build a model, ideal community, in harmony with the environment. In the Pantanal region, as well, centering on Puerto Leda in the Paraguay River basin, we have worked to build an ideal village, with international volunteers living and working together in harmony with nature. We established a farm there with the vision of developing resources for the benefit of the people of the world. In addition, we launched a fish-farming project. Fish farming is necessary, because in the future it will be difficult to supply enough fish from what can be harvested from the open sea. In May last year, we were successful in raising our first batch of pacu. We were honored at that time with a visit from then Paraguayan President Federico Franco and other government officials. Many other major oceanic, fishery and boatbuilding initiatives have been undertaken over the past forty years -- from Kodiak, Alaska, to Antarctica, and from Yeosu, Korea to Gloucester, Massachusetts.
Proper stewardship and care for the environment is essential at this time. Climate change, rising sea levels, deforestation, desertification, an inadequate supply of clean water, malnutrition, and the rising cost of food products require our immediate attention. God created us to love and care for the Earth and all its blessings.
Conclusion
Beloved World Summit participants! My husband and I have lived our lives according to the guidance of Heaven. Called by God to embrace all humanity with the heart of True Parents, we have invested our entire beings for the sake of God's liberation, the salvation of humankind, and the realization of a peaceful world. We have faced many challenges and tribulations on this path, but we have been undeterred in carrying out our heavenly mission.
I pray that we work together in this great mission to build a unified world of peace and prosperity, as one family under God. Please do everything you can to renew and transform your nations and build a world of lasting peace, as envisioned by God from the beginning of time. Such a world goes beyond the divisions of religion, race, ethnicity and nationality. God's ideal world is a borderless world of freedom, peace, unity and happiness.
I pray that the World Summit will serve as an important turning point for all the people of the world. Next year, at World Summit 2015, we will present the Sun Hak Peace Award to an individual or institution that best embodies the principles of peace that my husband and I have espoused in accordance with God's will. Your input and recommendations would be most welcome.
I invite you all to take up this challenge of building a new world of universal peace. Let us all stand together as one and build one family under God. May God's blessings be with every one of you, your families and your nations. Thank you very much.