Chambumo Gyeong - 507. The forty-day workshop for Muslims
At the Second Assembly of the Worlds Religions that opened in San Francisco on August 16, 1990, True Parents proposed the establishment of the Interreligious Leadership Seminars as an education project that would internally bind together the worlds faiths. Connected to that, the following year a 40-day workshop was held for 40 Muslim leaders from Syria at the New Yorker Hotel in New York City from December 2, 1991 until January 10, 1992. True Parents implored the attending leaders to strive to resolve the long-standing impediments among Judaism, Christianity and Islam and take the lead in realizing peace in the Middle East.
The Middle East Peace Initiative (MEPI) brought thousands of Christian ministers and faith leaders from the United States to the Middle East. They began as efforts for interfaith reconciliation between Christians and Jews, and developed into efforts to reconcile Jews and Palestinians, including peace marches in Jerusalem proclaiming peace among the Abrahamic faiths.
On December 22, 2003, in accordance with True Parents' guidance, thousands of people, including religious leaders from around the world, gathered and held historic events for peace in Israel and Palestine. This laid the foundation for True Parents to later conduct the Ceremony for Total Unity, which created a victorious realm in which the First, Second, Third and Fourth Israels can be united.
1 Before creating the Unification Church in 1954,1 taught that communism could not last more than 73 years. Communist expansionism is no longer an issue. Now we have to shift our focus to the issue of religious conflicts. For 50 years I have talked about who is going to stop the fighting between Judaism, Christianity and Islam. My preparations for resolving this conflict began five decades ago. In the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus says, "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God." Since the beginning of history, there has been only one person who tried to reconcile religions and who devoted himself to this work despite persecution from individuals, families, religions and nations. That person is me. But I was not alone. Together with God, (225-019, 1992/01/01)
1 have been laying the foundation to unite the religious world. This is not just a theory or classroom exercise. It is happening in the real world, in history. (225-019, 1992/01/01)
2 In an announcement at the second Assembly of the World's Religions in San Francisco, the participants agreed to cooperate in uniting their educational efforts. This was to be for the purpose of developing internal unity, and I stepped up to take the lead. All present, by raising their hands, pledged to participate. As we have pledged, so must we carry it out.
The first phase was education of Muslims from Syria. They are now receiving training in New York City at a 40-day workshop that began December 2. In the 1,500-year history of Islam, this is unprecedented. Middle East leaders representing Muslim countries are connecting for educational purposes with the Unification Church, which the world has opposed. The participants call me "Father Moon." I did not suggest this; they came up with it on their own.
These Muslim leaders are better than the members of the Unification Church. I told those who are attending the workshop, "Now that you have received this education, you know that doctrine is not an issue. The Will is the issue, so if you have found illumination in the Unification teachings and want to become my student, you are welcome." (210-206, 1990/12/23)
3 I am a person who knows history very well. Islam and Christianity have been enemies since the Crusades. Now, however, it is time to resolve this. Why did Syrian Muslim leaders receive education in the Unification Principle? If they had not received it, the world as we know it would have come to an end. Now Iraq has invaded Kuwait, and if Muslims centering on Iraq join together to fight Christians, it will lead to a world war, a religious war. My life mission has been dedicated to preventing this. Goaded by the Iraq issue, if Muslims say, "Christianity is our enemy. Let us avenge what we have suffered from the 12th-century Crusades until today," the Muslim world will unite and fight. The Syrian Muslim leaders are receiving Principle education at this time just when explosive world circumstances are intersecting dangerously. This education will inspire great work encouraging peace to take root. (210-129, 1990/12/17)
4 The center of Christianity is not Israel but the United States. Thus for 33 years I have been carrying out activities focusing on America. We are now entering the 34th year. We should prepare for a moment of massive transformation, the same as the moment when the 33-year-old Jesus should have come to rule the world as a royal personage from his 34th to 40th years.
We understand the significance of this time in the providence, so we are working based on the Peace UN. Islam, Christianity and Judaism descended from one man, Abraham, and tragedy emerged from the death of one man, Jesus. The original plan was that Jesus become the king of Israel, but he could not achieve this because he was killed. As a result the worlds of spirit and flesh separated. Gods Will to build a global, peaceful royal power in the flesh on earth still awaits fulfillment when Jesus returns. Clearly nothing can be accomplished on earth if the Lord returns on the clouds.
We have to know all about this, and we need to pay indemnity and resolve all the failures surrounding the time of Jesus. We resolve bitter pain by restoration through indemnity. To advance this task, 3,000 people from the Unification Church came to Israel from the north, south, east and west. Their outreach work brought many people to the peace march for Gaza and Israel on December 22,2003. It was a remarkable event to attend. It was difficult to secure 3,000 plane tickets for our members at the end of the year. It was miraculous. It is hard to move even three people at that time of year, but 3,000 came. (431-039, 2004/01/11)
5 The establishment of the foundation of the Third Israel, where God and Adam's nation become one and settle horizontally and vertically, has failed. Therefore, we must unite North and South Korea in order to establish the combined positions of the First Israel, the Second Israel, America, and the Third Israel, Korea. If we succeed, the arena of conflict will naturally transform into a foundation for peace.
Since I know that this will be the result, I called for a peace conference in Gaza and gathered people from Judaism, Christianity and Islam. What relationship do Judaism, Christianity, and Islam have with me? From the perspective of Gods Will I am an ancestor who is joined with them in one bloodline, and I have a responsibility for them. I am doing this reconciliation work to indemnify failures related to Adam, Eve and Jesus, and to establish the condition for people to enter the sovereignty of the kingdom of heaven.
After the Second World War, if we cast the United States, Great Britain and France as one family, Great Britain was Eve, the US was Abel, and France was the restored archangel, all of whom defeated the side of Satan, represented by Japan, Germany and Italy. Based on this, they should have established the kingdom of peace centering on Korea. They failed in this, but we have restored their failure by paying indemnity and have redeemed God's lack of success in fighting with Satan in ^hat historical age, setting up a new era of victorious dominion.
Jesus should have become the King of Peace in Gaza, yet could not accomplish that. Since that time, no one could build the foundation of the First, Second and Third Israels. By building and connecting these foundations for the first time, the Lord at the Second Advent comes to stand in the position of True Parents. (429-016, 2003/12/23) |