Sun Myung Moon
June 16, 1996
Inaugural Convention of the Federation of Island Nations for World Peace
Keio Plaza InterContinental Hotel, Tokyo, Japan
(Given on True Father’s behalf)
Photo date and location unknown
Honorable guests from around the world, ladies and gentlemen who are gathered here to attend this global convention of the Federation of Island Nations for World Peace:
I am aware of your daily efforts toward the realization of world peace, for which I am sincerely grateful. I realize that this gathering presents the opportunity to further mobilize our intellect and deepen our friendship and understanding so that we can have the coming twenty-first century as a brilliant era of peace. For me there can be no greater joy than sharing our responsibility and mission, and making an unwavering determination among ourselves for the realization of world peace through this convention.
Allow me to begin, first of all, with my explanation of the history and background with which I have come to propose before you the establishment of an unfamiliar organization named the Federation of Island Nations for World Peace. When we look at the stream of development of civilization in human history, the ancient civilizations, which emerged in river valleys, passed to the Mediterranean Sea, including Greece, Rome and the Iberian Peninsula. Then civilization developed through the European continent, including Germany and France, and bore fruit as a Judeo-Christian culture in the form of the Atlantic civilization centered on Great Britain, an island nation. Afterward, civilization passed westward through the American continent, and presently we have the era of the Pacific Ocean centered on Japan, an island nation. This represents expansion of the Judeo-Christian civilization into Asia.
When we recognize this kind of movement of civilizations in light of God’s providence, we can see that the island nation that has been placed in the center of heavenly fortune today is none other than Japan. At the conclusion of the twentieth century, Japan has come to stand in the limelight of human history in God’s providence. Therefore, Japan’s current prosperity cannot be explained without considering her relationship to the Judeo-Christian providence of God. If Japan has a role in God’s plan, we need to pay attention to the providential mission Japan bears, because the purpose of God’s providence is the realization of world peace. World peace is the very hope for all humankind.
General characteristics of island nations
There can be no better hope for human society than if the island nations around the world get together here and commit themselves to a federation of nations for the creation of world peace. It is with this expectation and ideals that I established the Federation of Island Nations. I cannot but hope that world peace will be realized as the island nations all over the world inherit the heavenly fortune that God gave Japan, and form a group of nations dedicating their collective will to the pursuit of world peace.
What are the characteristics of island nations? The earth’s surface consists of land and ocean. Science today explains that the birth of the first life form took place in the realm of water, namely the ocean. This tells us that the ocean plays the role of mother who conceives and nurtures life. In this way, if the ocean can be regarded as symbolizing femininity, then the land may be considered as symbolizing masculinity.
Therefore, it can be said that island nations located in the ocean symbolize woman, and that continental nations and peninsular nations symbolize man. From a spiritual perspective, one might say that island nations have certain characteristics of woman, such as objectivity, dependability, nurturing, endurance and receptivity. On the other hand, continental nations may be seen as masculine, possessing such attributes as subjectivity, creativity and physical abundance.
Following this comparison, the role an island nation may be described as identical to that of women in human society. Women get married and are traditionally expected to wholeheartedly love and serve their husbands. Women shine and blossom by means of building dynamic relationships of love with their spouse and giving birth to children. As mothers, women have the important responsibility of nourishing children, bringing them up and educating them to be wholesome and virtuous. We can say that island nations have similar roles to play.
History and the heart of God
Looking at the history of God’s providence of restoration, or salvation, we see the existence of central nations and a central religion that take responsibility for God’s providence. For example, in the Old Testament Age, Judaism and the Israelites took responsibility for God’s providence of salvation. In the New Testament Age, the bearer of the responsibility was Christianity, centered on Christians in the Western world. The core of Judeo-Christian teachings, which have been guiding the present civilization, is as follows: First, there is a God, a Creator. Second, the first human ancestors fell from grace by committing sin, and the Messiah is needed for the salvation from sin. Third, the sinful history of humankind will inevitably come to an end and the kingdom of God on earth will be built. Based on such a view of the providence of salvation, or restoration, the history of the people in the Old Testament Age unfolded based on the expectation of the coming of the Savior. Likewise, in the New Testament Age, the history of the Christians advanced centered on the hope and faith that the returning Lord would come to liquidate their sins and build the kingdom of God on earth.
God’s heart and God’s circumstances lie in the background of the providence of restoration. It follows that in order to fully understand God’s providence we must have eyes that can penetrate the signs manifested through the ages.
When World War II came to an end, Christianity worldwide was at an extremely important point in the history of God’s providence of salvation. Christian nations such as Great Britain, the United States and France were in the central positions of the providence at that time. In World Wars I and II, the three major Christian nations of Great Britain, the United States and France fought for democracy as the center of the allied nations.
It was God’s desire to see these three major Christian nations join their forces to practice God’s love in the service of humankind with a sacrificial and serving spirit to actualize world peace, without lapsing into nationalistic ideas centered on their countries. The end of World War II in 1945 saw the opportunity of providing lasting peace for humankind through the establishment of the United Nations. However, the historical reality was not the realization of world peace but the expansion of communism and the numerous conflicts that have come with it, as well as the spiritual decline and moral degradation of Christian nations. Humankind, which has endured the Cold War between the United States and the former Soviet Union for more than forty years, is passing through a spiritual wilderness, which continues until the present.
World peace is rooted in true love
For my part, I have traveled the world to reveal God’s ideals and His providence in order to actualize the vision of world peace on the basis of God’s original plan. To this end, I have established many international organizations, but the path is long and there remains enormous work for all of us to do. What is the providence of God? It goes without saying that God’s providence of creation is to realize a peaceful world. In such a world, there are no divisions or conflicts. It is a world filled with unity, harmony and joy. The greatest and the quickest means to this end is through true love. True love is the basis of unity and the origin of joy and happiness. That is why I would say that the prerequisite of peace is true love.
Then where does God’s true love originate? The settlement place of true love is the family. If Adam and Eve had perfected themselves and established an ideal family through their marriage centered on God, true love would have been initiated there. The family of true love would have become the basis for true global peace. The reason humankind is still unable to achieve true peace is because people are ignorant of true love. Why? The answer, as mentioned in the Bible, is that humankind has separated from God. Since the Fall of the first human ancestors, Adam and Eve, who established the first family without God’s blessing, peace has been absent from this world. Instead, divisions, conflicts and struggles have come to rule this world. The struggle between mind and body in the individual, the conflicts between husband and wife at the family level, and the struggles between societies are accepted as normal. It is my conviction that all human problems are caused by the fundamental loss of true love. The Fall of humankind meant the loss of true love. Consequently, Jesus came as the king of true love in order to restore the love Adam and Eve lost. By the same token, the Lord of the Second Advent is coming in order to restore true love. That is the logical conclusion seen from the view of the providence of salvation.
Women’s crucial role in world peace
My life until today and my quest for world peace have been concentrated on the point of how humankind can restore true love. When we look at the moral degradation of the world, we can think of how great God’s sorrow must be. Watching this world decline breaks my heart and brings tears to my eyes. The harm of immorality and adultery, as in the days of Sodom and Gomorrah, injures our youth as they tragically fall into the false enticements of so-called “free” sex. The greatest sorrow of God is to see humankind going down this path of irresponsible destruction. However, I am happy to announce there is much hope. This optimism comes from a new and liberated role of women. Women are actively working around the world to save civilization from destruction. In particular, Japanese women are playing an important role. They are active in one hundred sixty nations practicing the spirit of “living for the sake of the world.” This fills me with great joy. Women can save the world at this time of crisis. It is time for us to stand up, respect and recognize the power of women.
Delegates and honorable guests, I would like to state once again my essential thesis. You represent, for the most part, island and oceanic nations. Island nations have in common the characteristics of women and mothers. Therefore, they need to unite their forces and cooperate so that they can fulfill the mother’s mission in front of humankind. Based on these reasons, I proposed and founded the Federation of Island Nations for World Peace.
Looking back on human history, women have played a vital role in both a positive and negative sense. According to the Bible, human history began with the tragic incident known as the Fall of Adam and Eve. It is a matter of fact that we must all shoulder the responsibility for this act and resolve this issue. However, when we look at the passage in the Bible that Eve was the first to fall and begin the history of sin, we can see that the providence requires that an age must come in human history in which women will lead the way to redeem the Fall of Eve. We can see that the ideological trends in the twentieth century, such as the movement of women seeking true liberation, indicate that women are standing up for world peace.
The era of women and the era of the island nations
Because I know that such is the providence of God, in April 1992, my wife and I founded the Women’s Federation for World Peace. This movement of the Women’s Federation for World Peace will develop into the movement of the Family Federation for World Peace in the near future, in which all people may participate. By establishing true love in the family it seeks to construct an ideal world, the kingdom of heaven on earth. The age of women is the worldwide trend of the 1990s and into the twenty-first century. We may say that love and cooperation, and the spirit of resolution and harmony will fulfill a historical contribution toward world peace.
This worldwide age of women means that the age of island nations will bear the characteristics of women. In this way, the age of women and the age of island nations are intimately linked together. The time when women stand up for world peace is the time when island nations must also stand up for worldwide cooperation. Now is the opportunity for island and oceanic nations to fulfill their glorious and historic mission of realizing world peace. Is there a mission of greater glory than this?
Let us look back on the history of humankind in which women played central roles. There were courageous women who established testimonies based on an unbreakable faith in God. Without the perseverance of Abraham’s wife, Sarah, Isaac’s wife, Rebekah, or Jacob’s wife, Rachel, there would have been no history of the Israelites. Tamar, relying only on her absolute faith, risked her life to establish the lineage, recorded in the Old Testament, from which the Messiah later appeared. Like Tamar, Mary, the mother of Jesus, also showed her absolute faith before Heaven in order to give birth to God’s sacred lineage.
The Fall of Eve brought about spiritual death to humankind. Millions suffered under false love, false life and false lineage. The path that Mary and Tamar took was to redeem the Fall of Eve in an attempt to bring about true love, life and lineage. At the tender age of sixteen Joan of Arc saved her country of France from a defeat that was considered inevitable. A sixteen-year-old maiden was able to exert the power that saved an entire nation.
The island nations and world peace
By looking at these few examples, we can see the mark of greatness throughout history in the dedication of these women of determined faith. When the Federation of Island Nations ignites and spreads through the virtues of service and dedication exemplified by these women, the light of hope will burn brightly before the future of humankind. Island nations must inevitably seek the continent. This is based on the same principle that a woman seeks a loving relationship with a man. This might be considered a condition for the survival of island nations. Thus, the various activities for world peace carried out in island nations must inevitably produce a good influence on continental countries. In this way, when the positive effects of the efforts of island nations for the realization of world peace are spread to the continental realm, world peace will take a major step closer toward realization. We strongly desire that the age of the twenty-first century will become a new millennium, which is the brilliant dawn of the kingdom of heaven on earth long awaited by humankind.
I am convinced that the Federation of Island Nations will fulfill a crucial role for peace and harmony alongside associations such as the Federation for World Peace, the Inter-Religious Federation for World Peace, the Women’s Federation for World Peace, the Youth Federation for World Peace and the Student Federation for World Peace. Ultimately, all these organizations will bear fruit as the Family Federation for World Peace. This is because the final base for peace is the family and there is no way to establish global unity other than through rebuilding the family institution.
By thoroughly carrying out the education of youth based on an ideal that transcends race, nationality and religion, the Family Federation for World Peace will be able to perfect an ideal family and attain the historic feat of a one-world family in which people from all corners of the world enjoy true and lasting peace. Your Federation of Island Nations will inevitably make the greatest contribution toward the highest objective of the Family Federation for World Peace.
I would like to conclude my message with gratitude toward everyone for the fact that the dream of a oneworld family based on the true love of God is approaching realization through the Federation of Island Nations for World Peace.
May God guide and bless you, your nations and your families.
Thank you very much for your attention.