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H.J. Moon: A New Vision of Peace in Japan
Written by Dr. Hyun Jin Moon, Chairman, Global Peace Festival
Saturday, November 15, 2008
Global Peace Festival
Tokyo, Japan, November 15, 2008
Honored guests from around the world, Ladies and Gentlemen. Welcome to the Global Peace Festival in beautiful Tokyo, Japan!
Over the past two weeks, the eyes of the world have been focused on the results of the presidential elections in the United States, hoping to witness history in the making. “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. In this time where hope and expectation are mixed with uncertainty, the Global Peace Festivals are providing a new vision and direction for a fast-growing international movement of peace.
The Impact of GPF
- At the Global Peace Festival in Paraguay, we helped smooth the first peaceful and democratic transfer of power between civilian governments in that South American nation.
- In Kenya, Prime Minister Raila Odinga said that our efforts played an important role in ending violence after disputed elections had rival tribes at the brink of civil war.
- The President of Mongolia, the leader of the People’s Revolutionary Party, told us that the vision of the Global Peace Festival was absolutely needed for the spiritual life and development of his country as it recovered from post-election violence.
- In Mindanao, Philippines, where religious strife has been the most intense, we managed to bring Christians and Muslims together through the Global Peace Festival. The Governor of Mindanao said that this effort represented the best hope for reconciling long-standing conflicts.
- In Malaysia, a Muslim nation with several prominent minorities, the Honorable Mahathir Mohammed, Prime Minister for 22 years, said the leaders of Islam and all religions must make a new commitment to work together. Tens of thousands came out to pledge that Malaysia would become the Southeast Asia capital for peace.
Just a few days ago in Korea, where religious conflict has recently emerged as yet another obstacle to reunification, we challenged religious leaders to move beyond narrow sectarian thinking in order to bring the last divided nation on earth together as one.
Without peace and unity on the Korean peninsula, there can be no lasting security for Japan. Therefore, Japan, with Korea, must champion a new vision of peace for Northeast Asia and all the nations of the Pacific Rim.
The need for a new vision
To articulate a meaningful vision for peace, we need to admit that we have to be bold and break new ground if we are to go beyond the failures of our past. 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.
Dealing with only the symptoms of global crisis and ignoring the root cause just will not work.
Conflict begins when we fail to follow the dictates of our conscience and fail to recognize our common heritage in God. That is why even the grand vision behind the League of Nations, and later the United Nations was unable to prevent the 20th century from becoming the bloodiest era in human history.
When we consider the number of wars and conflicts that plague humanity, it is clear that the world needs a new vision for the 21st century. Unlike the secular thinking of our past, this should be a spiritual vision, rooted in time-enduring values, principles, and aspirations. That vision is “One Family under God!”
The one who has taken on the mantle to champion this vision around the world is none other than my father, the Reverend Dr. Sun Myung Moon. He has devoted his entire life and resources to the fulfillment of that dream. To my father, the dream of building “One Family under God” is not the dream of just one man, one woman, or one family but the dream that belongs to all humanity and, most of all, to God.
The True Family Model for Peace
Why is the family the cornerstone of peace?
First and foremost, the family is universal. Regardless of race, ethnicity, nationality and religion we are all members of families. Secondly, the family represents the most intimate of human relationships. We use familial terms to describe the closeness of any relationship saying, “that person is like my father, like my mother, my brother, my sister, my son and like my daughter.” The family is the school of love where we can learn to love humanity in all its richness and diversity.
In particular, Japan’s desire to create harmony in the family, the community, and the nation through a common spiritual tradition and social etiquette has been one of the most notable and beautiful traditions of Japan. Today, however, the tragic breakdown of so many Japanese families is a worrying trend in Japanese society. Marriage and family are the fundamental building blocks of any society, but Japan, like Korea and the United States, is in danger of losing this valuable institution.
Interfaith Efforts for Peace
Globalization is rapidly changing Japanese society. Many new ethnic groups are making their home here in Japan. There are already more than two million foreign residents, and the number is growing all the time. These new citizens are introducing new religious and cultural traditions.
Therefore, Japan must champion interfaith, intercultural, inter-ethnic cooperation and bring these diverse groups into harmonious coexistence.
Today, many great minds agree that the greatest threat to global peace and development is religious narrow-mindedness. This week at the United Nations, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, US President George Bush, and other international leaders are meeting in a high-level session to discuss the urgency of a new interfaith effort to create peace.
If Japan is to contribute to the peace process, leadership in these interfaith efforts will be important.
Promoting genuine interfaith understanding is an important goal of the Global Peace Festival. Through the Universal Peace Federation's work in the Middle East, Christians, Muslims, and Jews are rediscovering their common heritage in Abraham. They are realizing that they have more in common than the issues that currently divide them, and are brothers and sisters of faith longing equally for peace and reconciliation.
We have discovered that relations between faith traditions are not about mere toleration of one another's prayers and rituals. A true interfaith experience is a celebration of the core principles that bind all people together as one family.
Before we call ourselves Christian, Buddhist, or Shinto, or see ourselves as black, white, or yellow, or identify ourselves as Japanese, Korean, or American, we are the sons and daughters of God and members of His eternal family.
Japan and the Culture of Service
Building a culture of service is another core goal of the Global Peace Festival and a vital step for peace. We are creating a new spirit of volunteerism and peaceful cooperation around the world, and changing nations with the exciting vision of living for the sake of others.
- In Paraguay, more than 10,000 high school and college students spent weeks cleaning almost every park in the capital city of Asunción.
- At the Global Peace Festival in Washington, DC, we worked to feed the hungry and less fortunate in America’s capital.
- In Kenya more than 70,000 volunteers helped clean the polluted banks of the Nairobi River, known as the “dirtiest river in Africa.”
- In Mongolia, volunteers from Service for Peace and a dozen other agencies are working all over the country in the spirit of living for the sake of others.
- In Malaysia, high school and college students started the “Power of 10 cents anti-poverty drive” in support of the UN Millennium Development Goals.
- In Albania, thousands have joined the “One Student One Tree” project to reverse decades of environmental neglect.
- In Japan, we have been working on a million-family volunteer campaign to substantiate the culture of service through the philosophy of “living for the sake of others.”
To everyone who has joined us, I’d like to say a heartfelt ‘Thank You!’ Arigato gozai masu.
In Korea, we are working to create sister relationships between North and South Korean cities through a grassroots service movement.
Since more than 600,000 North and South Koreans live in Japan, this country can play a vital role in this work by bringing these two divided communities together. This will greatly support the peace process of your closest neighbors.
I want to applaud this nation for its commitment to foreign aid and its service to the world. Japan is recognized as one of the top contributors in official development aid and has remained a strong international player in environmental issues. I encourage Japan to build on these governmental efforts and create a grassroots movement to spread a national culture of service.
Taking this one step further, I’d like to see Japan’s community and volunteer partners joining with those of other countries to establish a Global Peace Corps. Imagine if young people from enemy nations worked side by side in service. Any initial misunderstandings and hatred would fade away as they sweat, cry and laugh together with a common purpose and cause.
Call to Action
As we gather here for the Global Peace Festival in Japan, we must revive this nation’s proud traditions and expand her dreams of peace onto a global stage through the universal vision of “One Family under God.” This should be the clarion call of our age!
As my father said in a recent Peace Message, the time has come “to tear down the man-made walls of race, culture, religion and country, and establish the peaceful, ideal world of God’s cherished desire.”
The power of one human family united can quell the turmoil of conflict throughout the world. It can end the strife and poverty of Africa, the conflict in the Middle East, and the final remnant of the Cold War on the Korean Peninsula.
Japan has become a world leader in economics, technology, and science. Japan must now develop its moral and spiritual leadership to the same degree. As the world enters a new Pacific Rim Era, Japan must rise up to champion the dream of “One Family under God.”
As global citizens, let us make a solemn pledge to dream the greatest dream of all, to lead the world to peace through the vision of “One Family under God.”
Then, as surely as light overcomes the darkness, an era of peace and prosperity will emerge from the depths of distrust and hatred both here in Japan and in the far corners of our world.
Together, we can dare to dream the greatest dream of all!
Let us own the dream to create “One Family under God.” May God bless you and your family, and may God bless this great nation of Japan! Thank you very much!