Preface

On September 12, 2005, Reverend Sun Myung Moon announced the founding of a new global alliance of religious, academic, political and civic leaders, and organizations joined together to promote peace. In an address to governmental, religious, cultural, education and civil society representatives, Reverend Moon called for a shared commitment to cooperation and good governance under the banner of the Universal Peace Federation.

He noted that the United Nations, in its 60-year history, has made important contributions for peace. Nevertheless, he noted, there is a broad consensus, both inside and outside the organization, that the U.N. has yet to discover the way to fulfill its founding purposes. Reverend Moon therefore declared this new global alliance:

I declare today before all humanity the founding of a new international organization, the Universal Peace Federation.

Its mission is to renew the existing United Nations and provide a new level of leadership as an "Abel-type" United Nations, that is, a United Nations whose efforts for peace are offered to Heaven, investing itself ceaselessly in living for the sake of others. To commemorate this day in its fullness, I am declaring a message from God to humanity in this age. It is entitled, "God_s Ideal Family -- the Model for World Peace."

Reverend Moon then delivered a message that emphatically placed the hope of peace within the realm of the human heart and the family. Fundamentally, Reverend Moon considers the obstacles to peace to be internal or spiritual. While the most obvious barriers to peace include war, exploitation and economic disparity, these are external expressions of our attitudes and beliefs about each other and about the nature of human life. Prejudice, hatred, selfishness and indifference originate in the human heart and so their solution must also involve the human heart and soul.

For the past five decades, Reverend Moon has contributed his energy, his insight and his resources to the quest for world peace. He has founded and supported organizations and conferences that engage the worlds of religion, politics, academia, science, media and economics in the search for solutions to the world_s great problems.

The newly founded Universal Peace Federation is guided by a vision of humanity as one global family under God, called to live in accordance with core, universal principles. It is a vision that is inspired by a belief that, as instructed by the teachings of the great religions, we derive our existence from a common origin and we share a common purpose and destiny. That destiny is peace.

In this series, we present Reverend Moon_s teaching and activities in relation to the moral transformation that he believes will result in world peace. The volumes in the series are as follows:

Volume One: The Life And Teaching Of Reverend Sun Myung Moon

The first volume provides an account of Reverend Moon_s remarkable life and an outline of the Divine Principle as a foundation for the rest of the series.

Volume Two: The Ideal Family As The School Of Love And The Foundation Of The Ideal Society

The second volume presents a picture of the ideal. It focuses on the role of the ideal family in shaping the character of the mature individual. This volume does not deal with the reality of our world but instead describes what should be in the ideal society.

Volume Three: True Love In A False World

Volume three presents the reality of the world, pointing out that creating world peace is a spiritual battle.

This volume presents the idea of the transforming power of love. Parental, sacrificial love is described as being the key to transforming the world.

Volume Four: Marriage, The Blessing And World Peace

Volume four takes up the theme of Reverend Moon_s teaching on marriage, family and world peace. In this volume, we focus on the Blessing, the marriage ceremony by which Reverend and Mrs. Moon seek to erase the tensions between the different races, faiths and nationalities.

This volume differs from volume two in that here we are discussing the Blessing as a vehicle of restoration; a way of resolving differences and bringing peace to the world, whereas volume two presented the ideal family.

Volume Five: Education For A Culture Of Peace

Education is a key concern for Reverend Moon. According to his view of education, the current emphasis on academic excellence and technical mastery should be balanced with the need to educate our children to become people of good moral character, relating harmoniously with others and contributing to the society as a whole.

Volume Six: Resolving Conflict

In volume six we consider the quest for world peace in a broader sense by looking at Reverend Moon_s teaching on the causes and resolution of conflict. Here we present all of the many organizations through which Reverend and Mrs. Moon have sought to resolve the tensions between the people of the world.

Volume Seven: The World Religions And Peace

The final volume presents Reverend Moon_s views on the responsibility and role of the world religions in ensuring moral education and world peace. We present Reverend Moon_s viewpoint on the role of religion at the United Nations, and the need for cooperation and unity among the religions of the world as a major step toward world peace.

Through the content of these presentations, audiences all over the world have discovered a profound understanding of the path to lasting peace. I hope that you too will find in these pages the inspiration to make your own contribution to a culture of peace.

Dr. Joon Ho Seu
President
IEF International