Pyeong Hwa Gyeong (083) BOOK 5. Absolute Values and a New World Order CHAPTER 17. True Knowledge, True Family and World Peace
4. Expectations of the Professors World Peace Academy
Professor Gerholm, I would like to thank you sincerely for the efforts you have devoted to the twentieth International Conference on the Unity of the Sciences. You have worked together with ICUS since its founding days and have come to represent the highest level of the ICUS vision.
For this conference we have assembled experts from around the world to discuss the latest research in genetics, the biological sciences and the issue of human aging. These areas of research have opened new possibilities for humankind, but they are accompanied by new moral and social challenges. I will be praying that the ICUS conference discussions will be fruitful and will have a positive impact on our world.
The Professors World Peace Academy was established in 1973 to serve the academic community in the quest for world peace. In particular, PWPA has tried to create opportunities on university campuses for active research and concrete activities for the sake of world peace. The accumulated problems of the world are waiting for the guidance of conscientious scholars.
Professors not only teach theory but also instill character and values in students. As academics have an important influence on the character formation and development of their students, they need to actively guide and help them onto the path of goodness.
Through PWPA, my wife and I have established the World University Federation for the purpose of educating the young people of the world to become excellent leaders of a future society that reconciles nation with nation and religion with religion.
I believe this vision can be realized centered on Sun Moon University in Korea and the University of Bridgeport in the United States, under the discerning guidance of President Se-won Yoon and President Richard L. Rubenstein respectively.
Through the activities of the World University Federation, students from around the globe will have access to the teachings of the world’s preeminent scholars, and professors will be able to guide many students—beyond nationality—to make a greater contribution to the future of humanity.
While professors have a great deal of influence on young people, students are influenced even more by their parents. It is the family that exerts the most influence on the formation of an individual’s character.
In life, the family is the most important school of love. Through education in love and spiritual sensitivity, which only parents can accomplish, a child develops his capacity of heart. This is the cornerstone of the formation of the child’s personality. Moreover, the family is the school for the education of children in virtue.
The heavenly way is for people to receive academic education, physical education and technical education on the foundation of having received education in heart and virtue.
Even though parents may not be aware that they are true teachers, children naturally learn from and resemble their parents. The role of parents is that important. Children’s loving personalities and spirituality develop as they emulate the true love and loving lifestyle of their parents.
Throughout the world today, the family is changing. The traditional family is being challenged from all sides. With the acceleration of industrialization and modernization, the value perspective of humankind is being eroded and standards of ethics and morality are being shaken.
Furthermore, individualism, hedonism and materialism are destroying human character. Free sex and immorality are being promoted and the family is being corrupted. |