Sun Myung Moon
November 30, 1997
Third World Culture and Sports Festival Hanmadang Games
Walter E. Washington Convention Center, Washington, DC, USA
Photo date and location unknown
Most esteemed Mayor Marion Barry and Mrs. Barry, distinguished guests from home and abroad, members of the World Collegiate Association for the Research of Principles participating in the Sports Festival, ladies and gentlemen:
I am greatly pleased this morning to meet such vibrant and spirited young people from various nations around the world here at the Convention Center, situated in the heart of this global city, Washington, DC In particular, I would like to take this opportunity to express my deepest gratitude to Mayor Barry and the citizens of Washington, DC, for playing host to this year's World Culture and Sports Festival and for providing every convenience during this event.
The World Culture and Sports Festival is a festival of true love
Since the entire world is paying close attention to you young people who are gathered here today, I hope you will take this event as an opportunity to determine yourselves to take responsibility for the world.
Upon completion of the 1988 Seoul Olympics, I officially announced the vision for the World Culture and Sports Festival in my fatherland of Korea. In many respects, the Seoul Olympics held at that time was a turning point in modern history. This was because the 1980 Moscow Olympics and the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics were partially boycotted due to the Cold War, so the Seoul Olympics was the first reunion of all nations in the world, who came together once again as one great family.
As I witnessed the youths of the communist realm in the East and the democratic world in the West competing together and competing harmoniously in Seoul, I foresaw that the barriers separating the democratic world and the communist world would soon dissolve. And I came to believe that all future competitions need to take a step beyond the Olympic Games, which deal only with athletic excellence, and focus on the shaping of well-rounded people who can strive together to enhance their cultural life, morality and spirit. Furthermore, I emphasized that the nucleus of such a multi-dimensional competition must be the marriage Blessing ceremony, which creates true families that can realize true love at the center of the mind and body.
Therefore, the World Culture and Sports Festival is a festival of true love. There are events where people unite their minds in harmony in a cultural festival of the intellect, bringing together from around the world the greatest leaders from all fields, including academia, politics, religion, the media and art, to dialogue with one another. It is also a sports festival where athletes from around the world compete in a display of their physical talents for the sake of promoting global solidarity.
In a word, the World Culture and Sports Festival is the very place where we seek the harmonious development of the human mind and body. It is where we pool the wisdom of the leaders of all fields from around the world to design a world of peace, and where we look for ways to create the new culture of the twenty-first century, with true love as our main axis.
A movement for pure love based on the principles of absolute sex
The first and second World Culture and Sports Festivals were held in Korea in 1992 and 1995. Today we are engaged in the final event of the third World Culture and Sports Festival, being held in Washington, DC, the capital city of the world.
On this day, what I would like to ask of you, the young people who are destined to shoulder the future of humanity, is to participate in the pure love movement that emphasizes absolute sex. During the period of this competition, you paraded through the heart of Washington, DC, calling out for absolute, pure love. This parade was indeed one of the most unique and worthwhile scenes I've witnessed in our time.
In today's world, things have degenerated to the point where even discussing the value or importance of the term "pure love" is deemed outmoded. Yet it is the absence of pure love that is the fundamental cause for the breakdown of families that is darkening the future of humanity.
The reason people throughout history emphasized pure love and treasured it is because pure love directly connects to the dignity of life. The heart that respects pure love is the heart that values life. It is the heart that esteems one's own tribe and all humanity. Furthermore, the heart that respects pure love is closest to the heart, that can meet with God.
Although the United States is a powerful nation, in reality you cannot deny that it is not at all powerful when it comes to this issue of pure love. Moreover, if Washington, DC, wishes to maintain its reputation as the capital city of the world, above all else it needs to become the leading city in this matter of pure love. The day Washington, DC, becomes the holy city of pure and true love will be the day when the entire world will respect and love the United States.
Establishing a youth movement for pure love
Innumerable heroes and sages in human history, including our first ancestors Adam and Eve, were unable to overcome one critical issue, this very issue of pure love. Today's problem is that no one can take responsibility for this matter of pure love -- not the family, schools, churches, or even the government.
I have been teaching that belief in absolute sex is the best method of keeping one's purity. This means that once you have formed a bond of love with your spouse, it is eternal, and it is an absolute love relationship that can never change no matter the circumstances. This is because a husband and wife come together centering on God's love, which is eternal and absolute. This is not something that is emphasized only to men, and neither is it applicable only to women. It is the heavenly way that is the same for both men and women; both need to uphold it absolutely.
On the other hand, free sex is an evil trend, which we need to completely remove from this planet. The behaviors that derive from the free sex culture include such things as drug abuse, violence and promiscuous homosexuality. By fostering these, free sex, along with the tragic problem of AIDS, is driving humanity to destruction.
As can be seen, the purpose of the World Culture and Sports Festival is to inculcate maturity on the part of individuals, who can go on to form and strengthen true families that are the basis of true love. The meaning of pure love, then, is all the more special and important to you who have been taking part in this festival. This pure love movement you are carrying forward, once established throughout the world, will be the most important pillar of the true family movement.
That is why we need to establish the pure love movement as a new youth culture in various parts of the world. Over the past year, 3.6 million couples and then 36 million couples made the resolution to uphold pure love and absolute sex at the marriage Blessing ceremony held in this festival. With this joyful festival of dancing, singing and sports behind you, you can now propagate the message of pure love and true love on college campuses and in every corner of the world.
The true family movement is a peace movement
There is a Korean proverb to the effect, "The voice of the people is the voice of God." 36 million couples have set out with the resolution to form true families centered on the true love of God; this means that God is surely with them.
Therefore, this true family movement is none other than a peace movement bringing God to this earth. Its next milestone will be the Blessing of 360 million couples. The best way to prepare humanity to enter the new millennium is to successfully hold this upcoming marriage Blessing ceremony of 360 million couples.
I hope that those of you who took part in this festival will return to your countries, carry out the pure love movement even more actively, and give it your wholehearted support so that the ideal of true families can be established on earth.
I also anticipate that today's sports event will provide an opportunity for you to fire up your energies and cultivate close friendships. I would consider this a most successful conclusion to this year's festival. May the blessings of God be with you, your families and your future.
Thank you.