"Clear Goal of Utopia"

I will conclude this brief survey of utopian thought with the greatest words ever spoken on utopia.  Rev. Moon is history's greatest champion of idealism.  In these excerpts from some of his speeches he gives some deep insights into what an ideal world is and how we are to build a utopia on earth.  These passages just scratch the surface of his thought, and I hope it inspires you to study him more.

The Historically Highest Career

Reverend Sun Myung Moon November 1, 1983

http://www.tparents.org/library/moon/talks/moon83/831101.htm

If there is a religion that God wants to see, it must have the clear purpose of fulfilling God's and humanity's desire. That religion alone will become the historically highest religion. We talk about a utopia or the ideal world, but what is it really? Can you remove love from the ideal world? Is it a place of 24-hour disco dancing? I want you to clearly understand the definition of the ideal world: it is the world in which people are intoxicated with true love and live in everlasting joy.

The two essential factors in such a utopia are men and women. What is Reverend Moon, then? He is the utopian pioneer and champion. Thus you must listen to me and follow my teaching in order to build a utopia. Starting from the top leaders, if you become the best followers then everybody will join together and do the same.

Religion is like a railroad track that can carry people on the way toward utopia. No matter what people may say about the Unification Church and Reverend Moon, it doesn't make any difference. The Unification Church has the clear goal of utopia centered upon God. The utopian religion is the Unification religion. Therefore, do you think you are in the right place? But perhaps you think, "Is this the utopian life? I don't get to eat the kinds of foods I like or do the things I enjoy, such as dancing"

What is the utopia for a true mother? It is when she is caring for her children, serving them meals and giving them their baths. While she is doing that, she doesn't have any time for herself, but that is her true utopia because she is expressing her love. In the utopia, everything is done because of love.

Don't ever think that utopia is something unreal or fantastic. Instead, we must convert the everyday things of life into the utopian way; you can only do that through love. I can promise you women that once you are elevated into the eternal world, you won't have to do such things as laundry or housework. Of course, things have to be done in spirit world but you can do them just by thinking. Suddenly, just by your thoughts, all your clothes will be cleaned and pressed. That's wonderful!

However, the qualification for that world can only be gained here on earth. You are entitled to that kind of power by practicing the love of God here. The Unification Church way of life is a basic training ground to entitle each of you to the eternal utopia in spirit world. Look at the way gears work: even though a gear may be small, when it meshes into another one it can turn a very large wheel, like the transmission in a car. The most important thing is that each gear meshes properly into the next.

You can be like a small wheel or gear that turns the huge wheel of spirit world simply by listening to and following my directions. Historically, Reverend Moon is the alpha-the first-in discovering as well as teaching this truth. Likewise, I am the first to practice this. The Unification Church is truly a historical religion and we are going to live the highest, most honorable career. That is the creation of the true utopian way of life.

The historically highest career is your goal; this is the whole purpose of your training in the Unification Church. If you were a student at Harvard University, you would have to be very faithful to your studies. If you wanted to get a Ph.D., you would have to gain the approval of your professors and exhibit mastery over your material. You would have to be able to present yourself properly.

At this time, you are in the position of applying for a Ph.D. course with the True Parents. Do you think you can just treat this half-heartedly or lightly? Could such an attitude possibly win you a Ph.D.? You must be fully aware that this is a fearful place, in a way. It is definitely a place of responsibility and the consequences can be very grave if you do not fulfill that responsibility. Thus I used the word "historical."

The Unification Church has the new terminology of "True Parents" No religion in history has ever spoken these words before. This terminology did not arise arbitrarily but rather it has a deep historical background. Furthermore the need for True Parents is completely logical and clear.

You encountered the True Parents during your lifetime. Do you think that is comparable to visiting Africa, for example, and suddenly discovering a diamond mine or a vein of gold? Discovering the True Parents is much greater; through them, you have discovered the universal "love mine" This is an incredible blessing. The True Parents have come only once to this earth and you have met them.

My sermon is not being given just to the people here at Belvedere today. Rather, it is a historical declaration that people of the future will be eternally grateful for. Intellectual people, philosophers and so forth will be so grateful for this truth. Right now my words are being recorded, and in the future my voice will be listened to by millions of people and scholars. These statements will be studied and pored over by people who stay up all night long because they are so eager to understand them.

Meanwhile, some of you are sitting here with bored faces. History will listen to this message very differently. This type of message is so valuable, you should feel that you are sitting on a razor's edge-if you nod off even slightly you can be cut in two. People in the future will fight for the ability to hear this extraordinary message.

These words should not be weighed and dissected by your critical minds. There have been many cases of discourtesy to this greatest message of all, and they have come from within our own movement. Think of yourself: how much have you felt love and respect for the True Parents? The love of True Parents is not any type of love that you have ever known before; it cannot come within your grasp. You must become fundamentally changed, newly-awakened men and women.

Many of you intermingle freely with the secular world and bring your mistaken and confused minds to Belvedere on Sunday mornings to listen to me. That is totally unacceptable. Do you think this seat in Belvedere can be compared to a place at the White House or the Versailles Palace?

... Utopian love must be tested in hell; that is why you must suffer. From the very bottom of hell you must rise up into heaven.

God has been harboring His ideal of love which has not been fulfilled so far. The Unification Church is the only hope of God for the fulfillment of His ideal. We are in the process of doing that. Without going through this process, that ideal cannot be fulfilled. No matter how difficult it becomes, you must clench your teeth and go forward.

I want you to understand, therefore, that the Unification Church is the historically highest religion, and the way you are living is the historically highest career. My teaching is always directed toward achieving this goal-that every one of you can fulfill this historically highest career and achieve God's ideal of love. Do you understand?

That is our goal and our path. Sometimes you get tired and you feel weak. That is the point of your showdown and that is where many people crumble. You have to go down below that point and rebound; that is how you reach true love. From that most desperately suffering point, if you still love God and yearn for the True Parents, you will rebound. God is not at the highest places; He is at the lowest places in the bottom of hell. Thus you must go down there, too. The deeper into suffering you descend, the greater the amount of universal love you will find and be embraced by.

Immediately after the Washington Monument rally, instead of deciding to take it easy, I declared that our next goal was Moscow. That is a most difficult and far away goal. Do you think I will stop after the Moscow rally? After that, I will organize a rally in hell, in order to liberate it. Do you think that will be easy? If you get so tired and discouraged in your activities in America, how can you win the battle in Moscow or the communist countries? It is not easy to liberate Hell, either.

You must become people of the greatest strength and pride because you are the soldiers and pioneers for the true utopian world. Remember that it will not be easy; tackle it because you know it will be difficult.

We are not doing this for any sort of power, money, or wisdom, but we are doing it for the sake of the love of God. Do you understand? Because of that love, you can persevere. God wants you to fulfill the utopia that Satan and the satanic nature will not be able to even approach.

The Unification Church is an easy place to enter, but becoming a true Unification Church member is not an easy task. To reach down to the essence of this church is very difficult. This is the toughest training course anywhere. It is where we are separating ourselves from Satan. Knowing this fact, can you complain?

I know some of you have physical difficulties, such as wives who are getting older and children who have many different needs. Those daily concerns are a reality. However, at this time there is only one way to go. The road to utopia is the way which is more public. That is exactly what I have been doing; I am doing what I am preaching.

Certainly you want to enjoy your family life, but the most important thing is that we have not yet established our heavenly nation and thus we have no sovereignty. We are still in the wilderness and are on the front line of battle. Do you understand? We must create our country.

We are marching on the road of the historically highest career. You must not pull yourself away from this main road. Certainly, you have the right to go away; you can do that. But later your children and your grandchildren will see you and know that you betrayed the True Parents. Your very tombstone will weep for that.

Become the champions who are determined not to leave behind any shame for history to record. Be proud and fit to charge bravely forward into the enemy camp, winning God's victory. We suffer now, but the reward of suffering will be great. We may see greater suffering in the future, but there is even greater love ahead of us.

It is not easy to love one's enemy; that enemy will not love you back. But you can love him on the basis of this understanding. Love the enemy nation for the same reason. Until you do, you cannot march into the heavenly utopia.

You must steadfastly declare the name of Reverend Moon, no matter how much rejection or opposition you encounter. None of you leaders must have any hesitation about telling everyone that you are witnessing for Reverend Moon's cause; you have nothing to be ashamed of. When you teach the Divine Principle, you must declare that it is the word and message given by Reverend Moon. Tell them that it is not your own theories or someone else's, but that Reverend Moon brought this message of salvation for the world. When you declare that and then teach, spirit world will move.

The True Parents are the center of love, and therefore the utopian world must be centered upon the ideal of the True Parents. Unless you introduce the True Parents to the world, how can the world find love? Say, "I am proud to be a Moonie, a disciple of Reverend Moon!" Anyone who hesitates to make this declaration to the people he meets, or who covers up the author of the Divine Principle, is not worthy to witness. Before you write anything for the people to read, write, "I'm a Moonie and I'm proud of it"

Challenge the people to tell you everything bad that they have heard about the Moonies and then show them the truth; give them something good for every point. Within one hour, you can demolish their opposition. Never be cowards! God would like to proclaim the name of Reverend Moon to the world, so why do you hesitate? There is no valid reason. We need to create a special Moonie flag that we can wave, saying, "We are proud to be Moonies"

We are not going to be mistreated forever. To fulfill the goal of utopia, the way of the Principle is the only way to go. Have pride and strength; know your honorable position in the world. If you do that, no matter where you go, you will not be destroyed. But those people who have hesitation in their hearts will not last very long.

We are living the historically highest career and our goal is the heavenly utopia. Let us march forward together. God bless you!

Rev. Moon constantly speaks of the ideal world.  Here is an excerpt from one of those speeches.  This is from a speech he gave at his seminary: Eighteenth Commencement Address, June 26, 1994, Unification Theological Seminary, Barrytown, New York. You can read many of his speeches at www.tparents.org.  You can read following speech in it entirety at
http://www.tparents.org/library/moon/talks/moon94/sm940626.htm  In this excerpt he is saying that Christianity cannot build the ideal world because it cannot create ideal families.  The future utopia is a world of ideal families.

Create Your Ideal Family to Save the World

by Reverend Sun Myung Moon

If the family has a high moral standard, the world will be an ideal world. This is the reason why I am saying: Create an exemplary family in order to solve the problems of the world.

But did Christianity create exemplary families which helped to build an ideal world? No. Look at the present situation of Christendom. Doesn't it have a lot of serious problems yet to be resolved? Even after the demise of Communism, it seems that those problems are becoming more and more serious. Newspapers are full of articles on the immoral conduct of clergy as well as on premarital and extramarital affairs and homosexual marriages in Christian society. It seems that Christianity is totally incapable of handling these problems, in spite of Jesus Christ's original moral teachings 2,000 years ago. Although there are numerous Christian evangelists today, their messages usually promote selfish and materialistic desires, thus being unable to serve the whole purpose of saving the nation and the world.
 
 

The Ideal World For God And Man

February 13, 1972 Probable Location: San Francisco, California

http://www.tparents.org/library/moon/talks/moon72/sm720213.htm

I am going to speak on the topic, "Ideal World for God and Man" or "United World for God and Man."

All people are longing for the ideal world, a world of peace and unity. However, if we stand still and, stay where we are such a world will not come about. It is not just people of our day who dream of the ideal world. In the past, our ancestors too dreamed of it but were unable to realize that world. I believe this ideal world must come, to mankind. We must make it come to mankind.

If God exists He wouldn't permit such a world of chaos to continue eternally. He has to work to realize His ideal on earth. Here we find the meeting point of God and man. Man wants to realize the ideal world and God wants to bring the ideal world to man.

As we can see there are many nations in the world today; many tribes, many families, many individuals. Among these there should be one nation which dedicates itself to working for this ideal -- a world of unity and peace.

An ideology must exist to usher in a world of unity. Lacking this, the ideal cannot be realized.

Where then does God start to fulfill His ideal.

He must begin this gigantic work with one individual, through man. Man must be the starting point to establish His ideal. We know that man was created by God. Since God is Absolute, creation -- man -- must also be absolute. But we find in man two conflicting natures battling one another. Yet, among all these people God must find one man whom He can lead to realize the ideal family, ideal nation, and idea world. In such a situation that man's purpose in life, his central aim should be set upon family. Family's central point should be set upon tribe. Tribe must work to establish nation. And nation must emphasize the building of a higher world, a better world. The ideal world is for everybody. But to bring this, upon the earth God began to work from the individual level -- with man.

...

For this I want to start a movement to awaken all Christians of America. To do this I am going to mobilize many mobile teams in the US. I expect many American Christians to resist our movement. Besides this many authorities may be quite critical of our movement. But this reawakening movement is so urgently necessary for America we have to do it. Our teaching raises and builds individuals who can serve the whole world going beyond their individual interests, family interests, and even their national consciousness. We do not want to do this to increase our membership. Our spirit is to work for America and for the world. I think this is the only way that America can survive.

To bring about the ideal world for God and man we must build such people who can sacrifice themselves for the cause of the world. Through these people the ideal world can become a reality.

Ideal Family And Ideal World

http://www.tparents.org/library/moon/talks/moon82/820606.htm

Reverend Sun Myung Moon June 6, 1982

What kind of families are we striving for within the Unification Church? Certainly, we are striving for ideal families but what is the definition of that ideal? Is the marriage of a white man with a white woman necessarily the most ideal way? Actually, the most ideal way would be for a beautiful white American to go to Africa and find his or her spouse there. Such a bringing together of contrasts would be closest to the ideal.

True love

The family is basically comprised of true love- unique, eternal, unchanging love. There is an Oriental story about love and the different qualities of a man's and woman's love. A couple had a baby but the baby died; so the mother wept for many days, day in and day out. The father, however, didn't show his grief so much; he ate his meals and continued to function. The wife, however, could not even eat; she became angry at the man and said, "Are you made of stone? How can you not have any emotion at such a time?" Then the husband, rather than saying anything, just vomited blood. He was suffering inside to such a degree, but on the outside he never showed it to anyone.

This story illustrates that women are not really more sensitive to love than men. What if both men and women expressed their feelings in the same way, with both of them weeping or laughing very strongly? That would not be so good for the stability of the family. God figured all these things out. Men and women are essentially the same, yet very different in expression; they are so different sometimes, they irritate each other. However, that is the way of harmony. Within love, these two different natures are bound to be harmonious.

On the horizontal plane, the man is in the plus position and the woman in the minus. Even though he is an individual, the man represents all other men in the world; the woman can appreciate all men through her husband. The same is true for the man. Therefore, a man and woman are not constantly competing with each other; instead, they only seek to make total oneness with each other and encompass the world with their love.

The man and woman together represent all mankind; within the family, all elements are represented. Women tend to be more realistic while men are more idealistic. Women usually want to keep their men close to them and do not normally like to have them far away. However, for the sake of his high ideals a man may decide to go away from his family for even a few years, but this is not because he doesn't love them. A woman can normally never do such a thing; only a man.

Only because of the striving nature of men has mankind achieved what it has so far. Men are made that way; they are designed to reach out for things which they cannot see with their eyes but can only imagine. A man naturally seeks after his dream, his ideal, while women are more concerned with the here and now rather than the future, intangible realm. Isn't this true? This is why we say that man is symbolized by heaven and woman by earth.

What is the will of the universe? Basically, the universe desires the harmony of true love. When a man and woman are dwelling together in harmony, they represent all of mankind, also heaven and earth. When they are dwelling in this way, they have achieved the realm of the ideal.

Marriage is the means by which God can bring heaven and earth and all of mankind into focal unity. Such unity is not merely conceptual; it is within people, so it is entirely real. Men and women yearn for each other continuously, even in spite of themselves, to fulfill this cosmic will. Within the focal point of the family, people eat, sleep and go about their daily lives. When the family dwells at the focal point of God's love, that is the ideal family.

Now you know what is the ideal family. The father is there representing heaven, the mother represents earth and then the children represent all mankind. Also, the family represents the sovereign nation. The father is like the "president" of the family; that means he must take responsibility for upholding all the laws and orderliness of the family. He must be the one ultimately to distinguish between what is right and wrong within that family. If the father is in the position like a judge, then the mother's position is like that of a lawyer. The position of prosecutor is filled by the law itself We know that it is necessary to uphold the laws of a country; likewise, within each family there should be laws which are upheld and enforced by the father. That is one of the father's responsibilities. There is a great distance today between this original standard and the reality of today's families. Young people in many families deny that they need the guidance of their parents. What those children are actually saying is, "I don't care about the past or the future; I only care about now." That is animalistic. The grandparents are the generation of the past, the parents are the generation of the present, and the children are the generation of the future. Thus past, present and future must be united and harmonious for the betterment of mankind.

The nation is basically a collection of families in which all the generations are included. Each extended family symbolizes one small country. You must make your family one which is loved and approved of by all those around you-your parents must approve and your children must appreciate it. That is when the man actually becomes the "president" of his family, which is a micro-country.

The president of any nation must meet this qualification.

All of this training must begin in the family. There is a family president, then a nation's president, then a world's

Today many people in America think that Reverend Moon is somehow "enslaving" young people by requiring them to work hard every day. However, I am giving you training for your survival in the future-you are learning to become people of larger and larger heart and capabilities.

The very basic building block of the ideal universe is the true parental heart, which is found first within the ideal family.

Textbook for World Peace

 by Rev. & Mrs. Sun Myung Moon

The Way to World Peace

"we are called to this sacred mission -- the building of world peace. Our noble march shall begin today toward that glorious future. Let us build a true world of peace together with God."

 Chapter 7 - Leaders Building a World of Peace

This address was given on August 24, 1992, to the assembled leaders attending the     World Culture and Sports Festival Seoul, Korea.

During the mid-1930s, when I was sixteen years old and the Korean peninsula was under the forced occupation of Japan, I received a special mission from Heaven through Jesus. I am seventy-two now, and in the intervening years there has not been even a single second when I did not think of God's will and His commands.

I lived my boyhood and youth under the colonial rule of imperial Japan. So I know only too well the excruciating pain and tragic circumstances suffered by the weaker and smaller nations of the world. Because I possess a certain degree of discernment into God's heart, it was with unspeakable pain and sorrow that I witnessed, first, the cruelty of the more powerful nation as it plundered the weaker nation of Korea and, later, the terrible carnage of the Second World War.

Then immediately following World War II, in a development that compounded our already difficult situation, the Korean peninsula was divided between north and south. In 1950, the Korean War broke out and Koreans found themselves in a fratricidal conflict. Various countries of the world on the left and right chose to support one or the other of the opposing sides. I witnessed this tragic history directly, and I know from my heart of hearts how much pain and sorrow has been brought to God and humanity by the loss of a world of peace.

How do you imagine God has felt since the time of creation as He had to watch while time and time again brothers set themselves against each other, with Cain, the older brother, taking the life of Abel, the younger? All wars since the beginning of human history have been, in their essence, struggles among brothers. The Bible teaches us this through its record of the murder of Abel by Cain in the family of Adam. Why do such conflicts among brothers occur over and over on the levels of family, tribe, society, nation and world?

Original Sin

The reason lies in the sin committed by Adam and Eve, the parents of Cain and Abel. Adam and Eve were the original ancestors of humankind, placed in a position to represent all the men and women who would come after them. As such, they should have brought God's ideal of creation into reality. By breaking God's commandment, however, they forfeited their position as the true parents of goodness for all of humanity who would be born after them. Instead, they became fallen parents of evil. It is this evil that is the original sin, the fundamental root of all crime and unhappiness in human society.

The original sin of the first human ancestors was that Adam and Eve broke God's commandment and engaged in an illicit sexual relationship. In this way, they formed a blood relationship with the devil, and became fallen false parents, passing on false love, false life and a false lineage to the entire human race. There is only one way for humanity to escape this world of evil and struggle, and that is to be reunited with their true parents and be reborn through them. Only when this is accomplished can the true way to cast off original sin be revealed.

After I received my calling at the age of sixteen, I spent the years searching for the answer to precisely this problem of how to bring salvation to humankind. The result of that lonely search for truth is the new expression of God's truth that we refer to today as the Unification Principle, Godism and Headwing philosophy. On Aug. 15, 1945, the day Korea was liberated from imperial Japan, I began proclaiming this truth on the earth. Because I have proclaimed these teachings, I have had to undergo tremendous persecution and attack.

Think for a moment about the fact that I have been imprisoned as many as six times in my life. This alone is enough to tell you how harsh the attacks against me have been. The First World Culture and Sports Festival, being held during this forty-seventh year since I began proclaiming the Divine Principle, is a holy celebration. It is an occasion to let the entire world see, and to offer to God, the harvest reaped from the seeds I have sown and nurtured for the liberation of God and humanity and for the realization of a world of peace. Everything I have striven to achieve during my life has been for the purpose of confirming the fact that all people in the world are brothers and sisters before God, our common Parent. Our common ties as members of the global family centered on God transcend our differences based on race, nationality and international boundaries.

Organizations

The primary institution in which my teachings are being practiced is the Holy Spirit Association for the Unification of World Christianity, that is, the Unification Church. There is now no country in the world where the Unification Church does not exist. The Unification Church has put its roots down in all races, nationalities and countries. The International Marriage Blessing of 30,000 couples will be held tomorrow in Seoul's Olympic Main Stadium is certain to be a testimony to the fact that humanity is one great family centered on God.

With the Unification Church as the root organization, I have founded many other organizations for projects in a wide variety of fields. These organizations are for the purpose of building a world of peace in which we, the human family, centered on God, can rejoice in our freedom, ideals and happiness. For the World Culture and Sports Festival, I have gathered the most prominent of these organizations here in Seoul. During the festival, a new unified structure will be founded to facilitate stronger mutual ties and closer cooperation among these organizations.

The International Conference on the Unity of the Sciences, the Professors World Peace Academy, the World Media Conference, the Summit Council for World Peace, the Assembly of the World's Religions, the Inter-Religious Federation for World Peace, the Women's Federation for World Peace, the international performing arts groups and International CARP will meet during this time of the International Marriage Blessing and provide forums for us to enlighten our intellects and reaffirm our determination in devoting ourselves to the cause of building a world of peace.

The International Marriage Blessing of the Unification Church, which I will be conferring during this time, is the blessing of resurrection. Through this ceremony, humanity is able to cut itself clear from original sin and recover true love, true life and true lineage of God. It is within the context of this ceremony that we can give birth to peace that enables us to realize the ideal of the great brotherhood of humanity which transcends race, nationality and international boundaries.

As the founder of these organizations and groups, I wish to reaffirm here this evening that their purpose is to bring about world peace, according to the ideal of God and humanity. They are not created for the benefit of any particular group or political faction. They do not serve the narrow interests of any particular nation or state. Rather, they exist to bring happiness, peace and freedom to God, the Creator of the universe, and to all humanity.

Family Salvation

Our movement, thus, must bring salvation to all families, all nations, all states and, finally, to the entire world. It must be a family- saving, nation-saving, world-saving movement.

Our families are being destroyed by the debasement of sexual ethics through illicit relationships and decadent lifestyles. Every nation is suffering the agony of the destruction of its moral standards and the accompanying increase in crime. There is no solution in sight to the conflicts between political factions. Poverty and ignorance continue to plague us. There is no sign that we may be nearing solutions to the world's international border disputes, to the attitudes of prejudice between religious groups, or to the conflicts between the various races and ethnic groups. World peace is under constant threat from the selfish actions of the world's countries and peoples.

Environmental pollution also is destroying our planet to the degree that we are approaching a serious crisis for the future of humankind. We may all find ourselves on a common path of destruction, unless we are able to resolve the crisis we face through a love which transcends all national boundaries and ethnic differences and encompasses all the world's people. Let me emphasize again: any successful resolution of this crisis must be based on an effort to build a unified world through a movement of true love rooted in the Divine Principle, or Godism.

In early July, I spoke in five cities around Korea at rallies held by the Women's Federation for World Peace. There, I declared that my wife, WFWP President Hak Ja Han Moon, and I are the True Parents of all humanity. I declared that we are the Savior, the Lord of the Second Advent, the Messiah.

That is the reason it was necessary that I, as the Messiah, make my declaration to women leaders gathered around President Hak Ja Han Moon, my wife, who stands in the position of perfected Eve. This declaration is an exhortation and notice to all who follow my teachings to join Mrs. Moon and me in our attendance to God on the path of sacrifice and service for the salvation of this world.

If you will embrace my proposal and join me in this task, then our efforts are certain to bring the world of peace which is the object of God's desire to all of humanity within the remaining eight years of the twentieth century. We who are gathered here this evening will be the leaders in opening the gates to a world of peace in the coming twenty-first century.

Paul Greene is a graduate from the church's seminary.  He writes that after so many years many members of the UC seem to have lost the fire in the belly to build the kingdom.  It is a marathan race and few can keep up with the passion of Rev. Moon for the mission.  I hope that what I write in this book will reignite the UC to start building ideal communities.  Only then will people start joining.  When the movement starts growing, there will be even greater passion.  The movement is dead in America and has been dead so long because they do not have a practical plan to build the ideal world.  They are stuck in the suburbs with no policy statements on everything from diet to politics.  The abstract statements of Rev. Moon are the greatest words ever spoken.  Their is nothing more imspirational than his call to build the ideal world.  It is the member's job to be messiah's also and make his words a reality.  The church doesn't know how.  I do.  The plan is in this book.  The sooner this church gets out of its rut, the sooner we can start living in exciting communities where people can see true love and not just read about it from Rev. Moon.

I'll end with Paul Greene's statement.  It sounds depressing, but I find it hopeful because it means there are some people who are not dead to the vision.

Idealism

Paul Greene - January 20, 1999

I think most westerners joined and received so much inspiration from the sense of idealism we used to have in the Unification Church.

"Wow; becoming perfect people"; "having perfect families"; "save the world"; it was such an exciting time to join the Unification Church; it was that sense of "crusading" that gave you the energy to continue in spite of so much opposition and negativity that we were facing.

But I feel little sense of idealism in the Unification Church anymore; it's more likely to be a depressing mandate along the lines of "do this or 'pay the price/go to hell' if you don't". The mantra is not "save the world" anymore, it's "sacrifice, sacrifice, sacrifice; then go out and sacrifice some more"; you almost have to have masochistic tendencies to continue in the Unification Church anymore.

The loss of idealism in the Unification Church used to depress me, but then my realistic mind provided a counterweight to it all; our idealism was based on a belief that the "ideal world" was going to just sweep the earth within a short number of years and all this restoration nonsense would be quickly finished; but, if we'd stopped to think about it, could we really expect to change the course of thousands and thousands of years of history in just 5 or 10 years?

My conclusion is that we have to find a way to keep the idealistic fires (at least) smoldering and keeping one eye towards the ideal world to come (some day, but probably not in our lifetimes), but we still have to dig down deep in our guts and find the energy to keep putting one foot in front of the other and moving forward in spite of the drudgery and misery that we often have to face in day to day life.

"Life is a paradox; then you die." (new variation on an old expression)

Note from author

If you are a follower of Rev. Moon, please do as I write in the following chapters of this book.  If you are not a follower please study Rev. Moon's teachings and speeches.  You can still read this book, but it would probably be easier to understand if you first read the Divine Principle.  You can read my version of Rev. Moon's basic theology at my website www.DivinePrinciple.com.