Ladies and Gentlemen,

It is a great honor to participate in this important Conference today and to consider non-violence from the perspective of the Women's Federation for World Peace. It has special meaning to consider the topic of non-violence in this special era when the United Nations General Assembly has proclaimed the year 2000 "International Year for the Culture of Peace" and the co-founders of the Women's Federation for World Peace, the Reverend Sun Myung Moon and Dr. Hak Ja Han Moon have proclaimed this age the Age of Women.

The current recognition of this year as "International Year for the Culture of Peace" by the United Nations was partially the result of the efforts of a group of Nobel Peace Prize Laureates who made an appeal to world leaders and members of the General Assembly of the United Nations "For the Children of the World." They sought to contribute to reduce the suffering of children from "the effects and consequences of violence" on the streets, at school, at home, and in the community "by beginning to create, and build, a new Culture of Non-Violence."

They requested that the year 2000 be declared "Year of Education for Non-Violence", and that "non-violence be taught at every level in our societies during this decade." In response, taking an even more positive position, the United Nations General Assembly proclaimed the year 2000 "International Year of the Culture of Peace."

Let us consider for a moment the difference between "nonviolence" and "peace". "Nonviolence" is defined by Webster's Collegiate Dictionary as "abstention from violence as a matter of principle" and also as "nonviolent demonstrations for the purpose of securing political ends..." Whereas peace is defined as "a state of tranquility or quiet: as ... freedom from civil disturbance [or] a state of security or order within a community provided for by law or custom..." and as "freedom from disquieting or oppressing thoughts or emotions" or "harmony in personal relations...."

Upon considering both definitions, I felt that perhaps I understood why the General Assembly might have chosen to use the word "peace" instead of "nonviolence." In the history of the last century, the word "nonviolence" has become closely associated in people's minds with "nonviolent demonstrations for the purpose of securing political ends." Perhaps the representatives worried that if the word "nonviolence" were stressed worldwide, a tidal wave of demonstrations would wash over the world. There probably is no nation without a discontented minority, or a discontented group of some kind.

However, historically the concept and way of nonviolence originated far before its great twentieth century proponents, Mohandas Gandhi and Martin Luther King, Jr. Nonviolence to all living beings is an important part of the doctrine of Jainism, and it is central to Buddhism. Asoka, the most celebrated ruler of ancient India, who ruled from around 272 - 232 BC, took power by force but repented of the suffering he had caused. He became known for his benevolent rule and for making the Buddhist doctrine of nonviolence, ahimsa, the central dynamic of his prosperous empire.

Jesus' prayer on the cross, in which he requested that the people crucifying him be forgiven, is considered by many to be the ultimate example of positive nonviolence which laid the foundation for the spiritual salvation of humankind. His example began the tradition of Christian martyrdom. Jesus' Sermon on the Mount clearly advocates the way of nonviolence. Consequently, in the first three centuries AD, while persecuted by the Roman Empire, Christianity was an essentially non-violent movement. However, Christianity moved away from the absolute rejection of using force when the Church formed a relationship with the state of Rome. Later in the Christian tradition, the Anabaptists once again stressed nonviolence, and still later groups such as the Mennonite Church and the Quakers have continued to stress nonviolence and have adopted an absolute pacifism which rejects the taking of oaths and military service. This kind of absolute pacifism assumes that its followers will be able to maintain their moral courage when faced with force and that their aggressors will be changed when they receive only good in return. Currently, in the Christian tradition, Fr. Emmanual Charles McCarthy was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize in 1992 for having devoted his life to educating people about the essentially non-violent roots of Christianity and to advocating a return to the non-violent tradition of the early Christians as an incontestable choice.

The modern association of non-violence with civil disobedience has its roots in Henry David Thoreau's famous essay "Civil Disobedience". Supporters of woman suffrage and prohibition applied his tenets. Mohandas Gandhi acknowledged having been influenced by Thoreau's essay, Leo Tolstoy, and Jesus Christ as well as by Jainism and the nonviolence (ahimsa) of Buddhism. But he felt a need for the more active term Satyagraha which is Sanskrit for "Truth and firmness", for his work. Through his active nonviolence he was instrumental in gaining the independence of India from British rule. Later in the United States Martin Luther King, Jr. adopted Gandhi's method of nonviolent action and brought about radical changes in civil rights legislation in the United States. And in many African nations, the black majorities adopted activities similar to Gandhi's to regain the sovereignty of their nations. It is through such movements that the word "nonviolence" became associated with civil disobedience or non-violent demonstrations.

Perhaps it is important to note for a moment that all of the individuals associated with non-violence, even those other than the founders of great religions like Jesus and Buddha, are remembered with respect and love. As a point of reference, perhaps we should compare those feelings of love with the feelings generated by people famous for their use of force in history such as Lenin, Stalin, Mao, and Hitler. Our innermost consciences and original minds respond positively to those who kept and brought peace, and are our minds are repelled by those who sought to use force in history. This same dynamic can of course be experienced in our personal lives. Those who were nonviolent while in power prospered, and those who were struck but remained nonviolent, later attained victories which have lasted and grown in scale.

This dynamic fits completely with one of the teachings of the co-founder of the Women's Federation. Reverend Sun Myung Moon teaches that in any situation the aggressor is on the side of evil and eventually must change or perish, and the one who is attacked yet remains nonviolent will be blessed by God. He has submitted that the very course of the providence of restoration has gone forward by central figures receiving things back through God's blessing after being struck by the side of evil. All the historical examples of nonviolence bear out the universal application of that principle in their individual specific situations.

Then at this point in history, as inheritors of the tradition of nonviolence, what are the members of the Women's Federation to do? The members of the Women's Federation are being called to attempt a whole new level of endeavor: not only that of nonviolence, which has been able to change the very destiny of nations, but rather the active pursuit of peace through true love.

However, rather than mainly calling women to the streets to demonstrate, the first focus of the Women's Federation is the family.

In her address on August 23, 1992, on "The Central Role of Women in the Ideal World", co-founder of WFWP, Mrs. Hak Ja Han Moon made the following intriguing point:

Today, more than five billion people are alive on this earth, but when you think about it, there are only two people: man and woman--that is, husband and wife. A great many people are living side by side in our world, giving rise to all sorts of relationships and problems. Essentially, however, all these problems can be traced directly or indirectly to the man-woman relationship and the various issues associated with that relationship. Thus, it becomes important for us to examine the life of our original ancestors, that is, the first man and the first woman established on earth by God at the time of His creation, and try to discover the heavenly path that was intended for them to follow.

The central teaching behind the Women's Federation for World Peace stresses the central importance of the family, defined as a husband, a wife and their children who are centered on God. That teaching, called The Divine Principle, points out that in the creation story of The Bible, God first created all the things of creation, and then the first man, Adam, and the first woman, Eve. They should have united with God in true love as individuals, thereby becoming true individuals; and then, centered on God, they should have united and given birth to children through true love, thereby becoming true parents and forming a true family. That true family should have multiplied out to a true tribe, a true people, a true nation and a true world, which should have been a peaceful, joyful world full of true love. I think this is the dream we all have deep in our heart.

However, according to the creation story, the first woman was tempted by the serpent, which symbolizes the Archangel Lucifer who became Satan through the fall, and she fell. She then tempted Adam, and he fell. Accordingly, their relationship as husband and wife did not begin centered on God. In fact, their relationship caused them to hide themselves from Him. In view of their separation from God, they became false people who were not one with the love of God, and when they later had children, they became false parents and created a false family. Their first son, Cain, murdered their second son, Abel, committing the first blatant act of violence in human or Biblical history.

As that family multiplied, all its problems multiplied along with it and have been handed down and multiplied until today, such as: the separation from God, the temptation of the daughter by someone who should have been her caretaker, the destruction of the true relationship of the couple, and the consequent multiplication of children who commit crimes and sin. All the problems now evident in humankind can be traced back to the breakdown of this first family.

Now in this era, all those difficulties must be restored at all levels. The Women's Federation looks at history and life as the effort to bring these basic relationships back to their original, true positions. The suffering of women and all humankind throughout history has been due to the breakdown of these true relationships. The proclamation of the present age as the age of women indicates that we are entering a new age when the true value and dignity of women and the family shall be recognized.

In her speech given at the opening of the Women's Federation for World Peace World Convention held August 24-27, 1992, Dr. Hak Ja Han Moon stated the following about the direction of the work of the Women's Federation:

Until now, in history the role of men has been emphasized. The institutions of society and the world have been centered on men. Unfortunately, we cannot help but conclude that the reality of the world led by men has been, in short, a history of conflict and sin.... Because most of human history has been filled with war, revolution, fighting, oppression, domination, conflict and violence, the masculine logic of power made sense and the masculine ideologies dominated. The present age is different.

The history of today is calling for peace, reconciliation, compassion, love, service and sacrifice. It is an age in which the present problems cannot be solved by the masculine logic of power. ...This is the age when the present problems must be solved by the more feminine logic of love. ...

In the era of women which has arrived, we must spread, to the whole world, a model movement of the realization of true love .... The Women's Federation for World Peace is not a movement for women alone. It must bear the fruit of ideal families through a movement of true love for our husbands and children.

Ideal families realized like this will join together and create the ideal nation and world. That is the reason the Women's Federation for World Peace must develop into the Family Federation for World Peace. For that reason, women must take a leading role in politics, economics, culture, and each area of society to realize world peace.

Thus the Women's Federation for World Peace begins the process which leads to world peace on the individual and family levels. Our work is to create the families which should have existed from the beginning of time. The many international blessings of marriage carried out throughout the world seek to establish this ideal of true love by going beyond race, nationality, and creed.

In my own marriage with a very traditional Korean man, I have experienced over and over again that nothing works other than attempts to truly love. Attempts to force lead only to conflict, and responding to force with force escalates conflict. On the other hand, sincere, giving love disarms and unites beyond cultural differences.

As women of the Women's Federation for World Peace we are called upon to express true love which is absolute, unique, unchanging and unconditional to our spouses and children. This true love is a love which lives for the other and is capable of sacrificing for the other. Through this kind of love, we must win the hearts of our spouses and children, and then with their support go out as families to the world and work in conjunction with other groups worldwide to educate all the people of the world in true love. Through the history of the nonviolent movements, we have seen empires and nations transformed through nonviolence. Surely then, we as women can change ourselves and our families through the infinite power of true love.

Here in Korea, The Women's Federation for World Peace seeks to carry out active educational and support programs to empower women to carry out this momentous task. The Women's Federation in Korea maintains a phone counseling line and personal counseling service and trains counselors. It actively carries out workshops and seminars to train women in the ideals and techniques of marriage relationships and parent-child relationships. It creates sisterhood relationships with North Korean refugees and local WFWP chapters to help them adjust to life in Korea, and it is active in creating sisterhood relationships throughout the worldwide membership. It sends clothing, and educational materials and toys for children worldwide. It meets with other women's groups to work for solutions to the starvation in North Korea and to find a way to unification.

Throughout the world, the WFWP chapters are working in their own practical environments to accomplish the goal of becoming true women who create true families through true love. Women's Federation members are called upon to have an attitude which feels that wherever a problem exists, it exists because "I" have not dealt with it; "I" have not helped; "I" have not taught the people involved the ideal of the true family. Accordingly, the Women's Federation members seek to support the family worldwide by having women take active roles in political, economic, social and cultural life, and by being committed to service and by addressing the problems of starvation, mistreatment, and illiteracy worldwide.

Let us tighten and strengthen our worldwide sisterhood of the Women's Federation for World Peace and join hands with many other groups through which we can empower the women of every nation to live in joy with true love for the sake of their children and spouses. Then our peaceful families will create peaceful societies, peaceful nations, and a peaceful, joyful world of true love where the word "violence" no longer exists.

Thank you very much.

May God bless you and your families in your search for true love and peace!

 Download entire page and pages related to it in ZIP format
Table of Contents
Copyright Information
Tparents Home