Sun Myung Moon
July 10, 2003
Address at the Opening Ceremony of the World Culture and Sports Festival 2003
Yu Gwan-soon Gymnasium, Cheonan, Korea
Photo date and location unknown
Respected present and former heads of state, eminent religious leaders, leaders in various fields from countries around the world, young people representing each major religion, ladies and gentlemen:
I sincerely welcome you to the Republic of Korea and the World Culture and Sports Festival 2003. The Korean Peninsula is my homeland. It is also the place where God will finally conclude His providence of restoration, the providence of salvation.
A celebration fully supported by the spirit world
Ever since I was a boy, I have had amazing spiritual experiences that enabled me to know God and commune with Jesus and other saints. Through profound spiritual experiences, I learned the depths of God's Will and heart. I investigated the way of Heaven and the original path of life.
Human life does not end with the death of the physical body on earth. In the heavenly world, that is, the spirit world, live the saints and sages and all our ancestors. They live as spirit selves, a form of human existence of a higher order than the physical body. This world where we dwell with physical bodies is nothing more than a minute speck compared with the fundamental world -- the infinite and eternal world that God created for us.
The spirit world is an eternal world. It is the fundamental and essential world. That world is the subject partner to this world of physical reality. I have invested a great deal of sincerity and dedication in the effort to recover principled communion between the earthly world and the spirit world, whose connection was severed by the human Fall. This has been a truly difficult task. It is not possible unless the appropriate conditions are set on earth and in heaven.
Recently, in accordance with God's Will, I was able to instruct people in the spirit world to work through mediums to send instructive messages to this world. They responded precisely to my instructions, and their messages included reports on the actual situation there as well. Even more amazingly, these messages reported that Moses, Confucius, Buddha, Jesus, and Muhammad, the representative figures of the five major religions, gathered in one place to declare that God is the Parent of humankind and that I am the Savior and Messiah of humanity. They affirmed that the Unification Principle is a message of peace for human salvation, and that true love and "living for the sake of others," at a level transcending religion, nationality, and race, will enable humankind to complete the peaceful unity of the cosmos. They further resolved that they would attend the True Parents, and that they would unite in harmony to devote themselves for the sake of God's kingdom and world peace. This took place in the spirit world at the end of 2001.
The spirit world is the fundamental world. Its position is as the subject partner to the physical world, so whatever happens there is sure to have an impact on earth. More and more spiritual phenomena are taking place. The problems that have beset the spirit world are being resolved at an accelerated rate, and this is also bringing resolution to problems on earth.
Religious reconciliation and cooperation is a prerequisite for world peace
Dear participants, the World Culture and Sports Festival did not start from human thinking alone. Its motivation lies in God's Will. The spirit world fully supports it and cooperates with it. It is a celebration to offer the champions of love to God. Please know that your good ancestors and ascended religious leaders are sending you their encouragement from the spirit world.
One of religion's important missions is to teach people properly about the spirit world. If people knew with certainty about God and the spirit world, they would live fulfilled lives by following their divine calling and taking responsibility with conviction and hope.
In the present age, many countries are realizing that they cannot guarantee their national security by themselves. No country is free from international issues such as war, terrorism and the threat of nuclear weapons. World leaders now agree that harmony and cooperation among religions is necessary for the sake of world peace, even more crucially so following September 11, 2001. For the past fifty years, I have warned about the dire threat of conflicts and wars among religions, and finally people are beginning to understand the seriousness of this issue. Reconciliation and cooperation among religions is indeed a prerequisite for world peace. The events of this significant World Culture and Sports Festival are aimed at creating lasting harmony among religions.
Leaders, particularly religious leaders, need to understand the importance of the true love lineage and teach it correctly. God's Will in creating the first man and first woman as the ancestors of humankind was that they would each mature in true love and realize the ideal partnership as husband and wife, thereby establishing a family focusing on God. In this way, their descendants would have multiplied generation after generation as God's people.
The first ancestors were unable to receive God's marriage Blessing and complete the first family that they were supposed to create through it. They fell by making a bond with Satan's false love, and as a consequence God expelled them from the Garden of Eden. What they created was a family that had no relation to God's true love. Adam and Eve did not become God's son and daughter of goodness, husband and wife of goodness, and parents of goodness. For this reason, humanity originates from false parents and false ancestors, and multiplies evil descendants by passing on a false lineage.
Our first ancestors were unable to inherit God's true love, true life and true lineage. Humanity descended from false ancestors, and therefore in order to embrace its destiny it must recover the true family that God desires by practicing true love. True love, true life and true lineage each are essential; however among them true lineage is particularly important, as it transcends the life span of a single person and connects one generation to the next.
You representatives of youth, who have gathered here transcending nations and religions, are the most important participants in this festival. What you possess is truly essential for the creation of a new world of the true love culture of heart. God desires to be with you because you have qualities that are closest to God's nature, such as vision, passion, innocence, righteousness and bravery. You must utilize your openmindedness and go beyond the barriers of exclusivity, enmity and conflict to build a firm foundation for religious harmony.
Throughout my life, I have always practiced and taught the breaking down of barriers. We need to go beyond the differences of race, religion and nationality, and live together in harmony. We are all members of one world family under God. This cannot be a mere slogan or rhetoric. We need to live this way. God's greatest hope is in young university students. We have to transcend any limitation of race, language, religion, country or culture.
Respect the preciousness of your reproductive organ
I would like to present you a truly valuable lesson today. Youth in particular need to clearly understand the value of their reproductive organs and treat them as precious. In their original purity, these are organs of love are the center and origin of love, life and lineage. The consummation of love, as well as the conception of new life, is possible only by means of the reproductive organs. Without using them properly, parents cannot pass down their lineage to the next generation. For this reason, the reproductive organ is the most important part of the human body. Unfortunately, in contemporary society there are far too many instances when they are misused.
The current social and cultural environment is beset by the worldwide trend, particularly through movies, music, journalism and the Internet, to mislead people to misuse their reproductive organs. The tide of free sex is ruining countries and breaking apart families; it particularly impacting vulnerable young people. This is a tragic reality. It is time for religious leaders and other leaders of conscience to raise their voices loudly in support of morality.
We have to invest ourselves fully in order to recover the preciousness of the family and establish a proper standard of ethics for love relationships between men and women. Here lies the reason for the marriage Blessing ceremony of true love through True Parents, and why a pure love youth movement that transcends nations and religions needs to spread everywhere. For this reason, the Inter-religious and International Holy Blessing Ceremony held on July 13 of this year was so significant.
I have been encouraging people to participate in marriage Blessings that transcend nationality, race, culture and religion. I have also been promoting international marriage Blessings between peoples of nations that were formerly enemies, especially between Koreans and Japanese, white and black Americans, Christians and Muslims, and Israelis and Palestinians. If these efforts become popular, imagine how much it will shorten the path towards world peace. By loving our enemies in this way, we demonstrate leadership in the world while tearing down the walls in our minds and becoming God's dedicated ambassadors for peace who offer true love.
The United Nations ignores the importance of religion and spirituality
Respected world leaders, we have long spoken of the United Nations as essential for peace. The UN's growth from 51 member states to its current 191 during the past 58 years shows that the conditions and environment within the organization have changed dramatically. The UN accomplished much; however now it faces many challenges both from within and from the outside. There are many limitations and critical issues, such as special privileges within the Security Council, unequal representation between powerful and weak countries, rights to enforce compulsory sanctions and budgetary issues.
Most seriously, the United Nations has ignored the importance of spirituality and religion in its activities, and hence it has become like a body without a conscience. In our pluralistic world the United Nations has become like a body without a head, unable to effectively handle world problems. It has lost any impartiality in analyzing world issues and favors one side over another. If the UN continues down this path, it will not fulfill its founding purposes, and far from developing further, it may well face a crisis that could threaten its existence.
For the past thirty years, I have watched the United Nations with hope and concern to see whether it would become an organization for true world peace. During the past four years I have taken every opportunity to call for the renewal of the UN. My plan for its renewal is to establish an inter-religious council as a high-ranking body within its structure. The representatives of the Philippines and the United States, with the support of several other countries, are going to submit a proposal based on my plan for the renewal of the United Nations at the 58th General Assembly in September. I am confident that many countries will cooperate so that the United Nations can become a dynamic organization focused on God to bring about true peace.
In the spirit world, the five great saints, Moses, Confucius, Buddha, Jesus, and Muhammad, and various other leaders, have resolved to cooperate. Delegates of the inter-religious council, selected within the United Nations, will have the opportunity to accomplish the ideals of the founders of their religions. To do so, they will need character and wisdom that exemplifies true love. For this purpose, the religions themselves need to walk steadfastly on the path of altruism. If religions cannot do this, the inter-religious council will have no value. Today's world needs religious leaders who practice true love by going beyond denominationalism, extremism and the self-interest of their own religious group.
Toward realizing a world based on the culture of heart
The following events make up this cultural festival: the international and inter-religious marriage Blessing ceremony, The Inter-religious Youth Sports Festival, The International Peace Conference, the World Collegiate Association for the Research of Principles Convention, and Service for Peace. Each serves the cause of world peace. I have also built a worldwide foundation in the areas of education and the arts. The Sun Moon Peace King Cup, which had its grand opening on the fifteenth of this month with famous soccer clubs from around the world, also aims to build a peaceful world based on the culture of heart. During the next few days, under the watchful eyes of the spirit world and broadcast throughout this earthly world, we will reveal to the world our vision for peace, our resolve and our leadership. I am confident that we will inspire, create a common bond and plant a message of hope in the hearts of all people.
I pray that God's blessing be with you, your families and the world.