To Go Against Conscience Is Neither Right nor Safe

Cheon Seong Gyeong 2281

    If the invisible end of the needle is God, the visible end is our human ancestors. God is the vertical Parent. We might think it wonderful if God could have sons and daughters in the spirit world, but reproduction does not occur there.
    Why did God create the horizontal parents in the form of Adam and Eve? They were created as the production plant to multiply the citizens of His kingdom. Since there is only one focal point on the vertical, reproduction cannot take place. What would happen if reproduction were carried out at the very center? All that was created up to that point would have to be pushed out. Therefore, reproduction is impossible on the vertical for there is only one point. (214-204, 1991.2.2)

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    Try conveying the Word till after midnight and until you hear the crow of the first rooster. How mysterious it is! Try conveying the Word as you listen to the barking of dogs in the neighborhood in the quiet, tranquil night. You will feel as if you have broken through on a new path of life in search of the bright sunlight; you will feel like the captain of a ship who determines anew to find the lighthouse. You will experience a sense of valor, pride, and majesty as if you were alone in this world filled entirely with mysteries of all kinds.
    In order to have that bond of heart, you should give guidance during the nighttime. It is necessary to conduct such activities during the night or at dawn. (29-196, 1970.2.28)

Prophets and Messengers

FOR AS LONG AS THE KINGDOMS OF THIS WORLD have fallen short of the standards of God’s kingdom, God has raised up prophets and messengers to represent Heaven’s righteousness and call worldly leaders to account. These men and women put their lives at risk to speak out for justice and proclaim a higher vision of community. They stepped forward believing that they could prick the consciences of the powerful, that they might listen and turn away from evil, that their nation might avoid disaster.
The role of prophet is not limited to those rare founders of religion who were especially chosen to bring God’s revelation into the world, though some like Muhammad are called such. People taking up the prophetic mantle include saints and righteous people of every age and in every culture, who dared to remind the rulers of their day of truths that were first revealed long ago. Often they must recast Heaven’s message into contemporary terms. In their number we include Socrates and Mencius, and if space permitted we would add modern figures such as St. Francis of Assisi, Martin Luther, Nichiren, Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King, Jr., to name but a few. In that sense, Father Moon has been called a prophet, and some of his prophecies are included here.
The prophets spoke challenging words that made powerful people uncomfortable; therefore they were persecuted, ridiculed and put to death. Some, like Nathan and Mencius, sought to protect themselves by couching the truth in parables in order to catch the ruler’s conscience. But most were unable to keep in their ruler’s good graces. The prophet Jeremiah, for example, was jailed several times. He revealed his inner struggle as he proceeded on his dangerous course.
An attribute of prophecy is the ability to predict the future. Yet prophets are no mere fortunetellers. Their gift gives them confidence to speak with authority on affairs of state. The prophet’s predictions are accurate because of his or her close relationship with God, in whose hand lies the destinies of the nations.

1. The Mission of a Prophet

Every nation has its messenger. Once their messenger comes, judgment will be passed upon them in all fairness and they will not be wronged. They will say, “When will this promise be, if you have been telling the truth?” Say, “I possess no harm nor any advantage by myself, except concerning whatever God may wish. Every nation has a term; whenever their term comes, they will not postpone it for an hour nor advance it.” Qur’an 10.47-49 | Continue reading “To Go Against Conscience Is Neither Right nor Safe”

The Just Man Is a Law Unto Himself

Cheon Seong Gyeong 2282

My possessions do not belong to me. I think of them as belonging to humanity as the original base for the condition determining ownership in oneness with God’s love; they are free from the invasion of the Fall and Satan’s realm of accusation. They were inherited through an Abel-type love on God’s side and ultimately will come under God’s ownership through the True Parents on earth. Hence, if the Unification Church buys something, it should not be resold, until after establishing that the True Parents themselves have cast it away. Once I have bought something, I would never resell it even if I were reduced to a beggar’s status. Those who sell our possessions behind my back in disregard of this understanding will all be caught in the end and suffer the consequences.

Cheon Seong Gyeong 494

What this means is that through such hope, we can make a new resolution. When a mother feels sorry that she cannot give enough, if her child hugs her, saying, “Mommy!” will it just be a physical hug? How grateful she will be! It is a chance to shed tears of mutual comfort looking to the future. It is not an occasion for despair, but a place of explosive growth where they can take the hope of tomorrow as stimulation for the present, make a joint resolution together, and encourage each other. Therefore, such an experience is not a miserable one. Only within such a realm of love can we find the stimulation to look to the future and sing praise for its value within the realm of reality. Hence, we come to the conclusion that there is no misfortune for those who live within that realm of love. (36-290, 1970.12.13)

Society

Law and Punishments

4. The End of the Law

He who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the law. The commandments, “You shall not commit adultery, You shall not kill, You shall not steal, You shall not covet,” and any other commandment, are summed up in this sentence, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.
    Romans 13.8-10 Continue reading “The Just Man Is a Law Unto Himself”

I Envision the Day When All Nations Are United Under a World Governmen

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    Forty years after the founding of the Unification Church, the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification was established representing completely restored families. Individuals in the restored families have united their minds and bodies centering on the original mind. Husbands and wives are united and parents and children are united. These families must learn the Family Pledge by heart.
    You cannot recite the Family Pledge when your minds and bodies are in conflict or when husbands and wives are fighting. You cannot recite it without having any children. The unity of mind and body, husband and wife, and parents and children, should be centered on God’s love. This is the place where true harmonious families can enter the heavenly kingdom. Only those who are united in true love can recite the Family Pledge, which has appeared for the first time in history. (264-339, 1994.11.20)

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As viewed from God’s original ideal of creation, the eldest son should come from God’s side and, of course, the second son should also come from God’s side. Due to the Fall, the position of the first son was taken by Satan, and the position of the second son went to God. This has to be made right. Thus, when we consider the story of Esau and Jacob in the Bible, Jacob united with his mother and received her help. He gave Esau the pottage of lentils and bread in exchange for the birthright of the firstborn son. Until today, we could not understand why Bible history is the way it is. With the appearance of the Unification Church, its meaning was clarified for the first time. (134-304, 1985.8.16)

Society

Law and Punishments

3. Just and Merciful Punishments

Teachings of True Father Sun Myung Moon

When the state executes someone who committed a capital crime, it is not thereby guilty of the crime of killing a human being. Why not? The government carried out the execution under public statutes enacted for the benefit of society. Being sanctioned by laws that were enacted to benefit the nation and the world, the execution may be justified. (88:298, October 3, 1976)

I envision the day when all nations are united under a world government like the United Nations and agree on a world standard of law. A person who commits a crime will receive swift punishment; he or she will be sent away to a facility near the North Pole or the South Pole. There convicts are quarantined like patients with leprosy or SARS and provided with food to last only one year. In that hellish environment they are trained to survive; and through suffering hardships they are educated in the heavenly way. That education elevates their character and restores them to people who will abide by the law for the rest of their lives.19 (May 17, 2003)

The American legal system has a provision for criminals to be pardoned. How about in the ideal universal legal system: can a convicted criminal receive pardon? Yes it is possible, but to be entitled to receive it, he should sacrifice and serve. In that case the law shows mercy, and the person can make a new start down the path of a reformed life. (105:92, September 30, 1979)

Only Godism Can Unify Materialism, Atheism and Secular Humanism

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    I declared the fundamental principle for unification more than forty years ago, initiated an ideological movement centered on Godism both domestically and overseas, and laid the international groundwork for unification in the four great powers surrounding the Korean peninsula. Millions of members in Korea, Japan, and the United States have worked through the International Federation for Victory over Communism (IFVOC) and CAUSA to lay nongovernmental foundations in each of these countries. Over the years, leaders of many countries and the philosophical world have recognized Godism as the only philosophy capable not only of unifying materialism and atheism, its diametrical opposites, but also of liberating secular humanism.
    My patriotic compatriots burning with hope for the reunification of our country!
    Let us together establish our view of value on the basis of the Godism of true love and totally rally together in arming our citizens with this ideology. Let us make Korean reunification a matter of faith for ourselves, the Korean people, and world peace. Let us stand and answer the calling of this age, history, and of Heaven to become leaders and people of righteousness standing at the forefront of the movement for the unification of North and South Korea. In particular, as history went awry at the beginning due to Eve’s error, so in the Last Days women with their motherly love need to take the lead in overcoming conflict and strife in the age of division and create a new history of reconciliation and unity.

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Even though the ideal and love are more precious than life to human beings, the people of today believe that such things come from themselves. This misunderstanding must be cleared up. Where do love and the ideal come from? They come from one’s reciprocal partner. That being the case, a law of living for the sake of others needed to be established. Since God, who is the King of wisdom, anticipated the present consequences, He could not help but establish such a law. (73-326, 1974.8.10)

Society

Law and Punishments

3. Just and Merciful Punishments

Human punishment is execrable even when just.
    Pope Sixtus (Christianity)

A sovereign should not inflict excessive punishment.
    Matsya Purana 220.10 (Hinduism) Continue reading “Only Godism Can Unify Materialism, Atheism and Secular Humanism”

He Who Loves Father or Mother more than Me is not Worthy of Me

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Who unifies the spirit world and physical world? People. So we strive to advance the unification. We must progress daily and cannot retreat. Strive to advance. When you live in this world, instead of living only in one region, you should create many relationships and move in such a way that you can influence the whole. As the four seasons of spring, summer, autumn and winter change and as north, south, east and west rotate, you also should not stay just in one country. Once national borders are gone and the world is unified in this way, you should live going around the world as you please. When you go to a place you should not inflict loss on the people there. You should strive to advance. You should not live playing around. (266-150, 1994.12.22)

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    How much must you love me? We are returning to the fundamental question. You should not love while having traces of love of the satanic world on you, while being stained by that love. You must be above that love. What does that mean? You must love me more than you love your mother, father, wife and children who were born in the satanic world, more than you love anybody else.
    That is why it is written in the Bible, “He who loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; and he who loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.” (Matt.10:37) Jesus made such a conclusion. He said later, “If any man would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.” (Matt. 16:24) He went on to say that we must take up the cross and follow him. He told us to take the cross. Since we have to overcome the power that pulls us in the opposite direction, it is called a cross. We must shed bitter tears. (178-97, 1988.6.1)

Society

Law and Punishments

2. The Administration of Justice

Teachings of True Father Sun Myung Moon

A nation’s laws impose punishment on criminals for the purpose of setting the indemnity conditions necessary for maintaining order in society. (Exposition of the Divine Principle, Restoration 1.1)

I cannot bend the law even for True Mother. The law rules her, as it rules me. (180:115, August 7, 1988)

You cannot have freedom without principle or law; you cannot have freedom without order… When there is no law and order, freedom brings only destruction. When you violate the law of a nation, you have to go to prison.
    Yet if America is really a free country, why does it need prisons? Shouldn’t we just close them down and let everyone do whatever they want? Shouldn’t people be free to do whatever they want, even run down the street stark naked? Today in America people do that, even practice prostitution and homosexuality, and they regard it as their right to be free. Can we dispense with prison? Well then, should John Hinckley be able to get away with shooting President Reagan and insist that he not be arrested?
    Certainly we need to incarcerate those who do not abide by the nation’s laws. Even in the spirit world there are prisons for those who do not abide by the laws of the spirit world. Schools need a room for detention, and families need a punishing spot. (112:73-74, April 1, 1981)

If a prosecutor or malicious person obtains the execution of an innocent man for personal motives, then according to the heavenly law he himself shall be sentenced to death. The person who was killed unfairly shall receive a reward, while the person who caused his death shall be punished. (93:111, May 21, 1977)