Authors
1. If human beings had not fallen, they would have ushered in the ideal spring garden. In that ideal spring garden, they would have grown up to be people with whom God would have lived while rejoicing.
Having reached maturity, they would have created a God-centered new culture and new world on this earth. And at the center of the world and culture that they created, they would have lived in peace and happiness.
Just as all things revolve following the four seasons – spring, summer, autumn, and winter – in the world they created, which would have continued forevermore, each human life would have passed through stages corresponding to the four seasons.
Instead of this, human beings fell. As a result, they were unable to see the beginning of joy. It was to have come when they welcomed the one day of glory into the world. That would have been the time of formation when human beings could have rejoiced. (49-319, 1971.10.24)
2. God desires to see His purpose fulfilled through human beings. That purpose is only one, the one world of creation. The conclusion is plain from both sides. Human beings need to pursue that world and God also needs to realize that world.
Throughout history, both God and human beings have been pursuing that one world, the world of one culture and one sovereignty, the one world of peace and unity. We have to pursue that world, for it is a condition necessary to the life of all humanity as well as to each individual. (72-115, 1974.05.26)
3. The World Culture and Sports Festival is a history-shaping event. It exalts the true values that make for human happiness and promotes the culture of heart for all humanity. Its founding purpose is to present a new, peaceful world culture in which God, humankind, and all things can be in harmony.
People from all walks of life the world over, including scholars, religious leaders, journalists, public servants, and youth leaders, will gather in one place for the festival. There, as citizens of the global village and members of one global family, they will pool their wisdom and experience, and celebrate life harmonizing with all humankind. (234-226, 1992.08.20)
4. It is part of the original human nature to both pursue and express beauty. Human beings embody! God's ideal of creation. Their internal world manifests the three faculties of emotion, intellect, and will, and the physical body acts in response to the commands of the mind.
As a result, human beings continually pursue beauty, truth, and love, which they express through art, science, and religion. In the end, the universe and all things in it are but external forms expressing the internal nature of God, the Creator, in various substantial embodiments. (316-069, 2000.02.09)
5. The ultimate goal of artists, and those who work with the arts, is to reach the world of God's heart. God, the Creator, wants to feel boundless joy through all the different things He created with His own hands, one by one, as works of art.
God's heart is such that He wants to give again after He has given. After doing things for others, he would like to do more for them, and even after investing unconditionally, He would like to forget what He has done. That heart is the basis of the world of true love.
God's ideal of creation for the created world arose from that heart. The starting point of art is the desire to represent that heart. Accordingly, in the world of art, there are no national boundaries. The purpose of art is not to serve as a tool of an ideology or an agenda.
Its fundamental principles are harmony and unity. Divisiveness and conflict are fruits of fallen nature. Therefore, the world of art demonstrates universal characteristics in all directions, bringing the East to understand the West and the West to accept the East. (316-070, 2000.02.09)
6. To usher in the age of peace, we cannot exclude the roles of the arts and sports. With this in mind, it is wonderful that we have achieved world-class standards in those fields.
First, it was in the soccer world. Next it was in the world of art and culture, where our ballet company is almost as well-known as the Bolshoi Ballet. In the future, when we enter a world of freedom and peace that is free from war, sports, and the arts will be necessary. (412-036, 2003.07.14)
7. I have a plan to inspire the public through the arts. Dance is a vehicle by which women are moved, and sports are a vehicle by which to inspire men. I have a dream to elevate these two vehicles to the highest global standard.
Sports and the arts have the power to move the public instantly. In them lies enthusiasm and vitality. Once we link this enthusiasm and vitality with the spirit of the Unification Church, God will surpass Satan's world.
How much has God toiled to surpass Satan's world, while harboring bitter sorrow in His heart? He suffered because we human beings were unable to climb over that wall. However, once the age comes when we can climb over that wall, we will be unstoppable. (237-323, 1992.11.18)
8. We need to renew the worlds of sports and the arts. Ballet is the greatest of all dance forms from the West, but its value has not been appreciated enough. I intend to elevate it to a new level. The same goes for sports.
The arts and sports need a philosophy behind them. Ballet is like gymnastics regarding the splendid technique it requires. Yet in addition to technique, it should have a noble spirit.
Then its attractive power will draw in even those people who had no interest in it. In the contemporary world of the arts, however, that noble spirit is moribund. The world of sports also requires a spirit of complete dedication. (237-324, 1992.11.18)
9. Societies originally promoted sports to maintain physical health and public safety. Today, sports are spreading worldwide, bringing pleasure to billions of people and enriching their lives. Therefore, from various angles, we need to find ways to contribute to peace for all people through sports. (381-128, 2002.06.12)
10. I plan to bring sports and the arts together. I am trying to integrate dance and music with exercise. I want to create something that is not simply an exercise, like gymnastics, but dance-gymnastics combined with music.
Furthermore, I am planning to transform even something like karate into an art. I do such exercises every day; they are exercises that integrate sports and art. In them, God's spirit is reflected. (295-165, 1998.08.19)
11. People may wonder why Rev. Moon, a religious leader, takes an interest in sports, soccer in particular. Sports will be necessary in the future, to enhance the vigor of young people in cultural festivals or cultural Olympics.
The flourishing or perishing of a nation depends on the vigor of its young people. No matter how knowledgeable, brilliant, or handsome a person may be, it is all for naught if he or she lacks vigor. A nation that has young people of high spirit and increasing vigor will flourish. Therefore, this philosophy is crucial.
(237-317, 1992.11.18)
12. The World Culture and Sports Festival is not just for sports. It also includes culture. It will be a great meeting, where men and women of all callings and religions can demonstrate their talent.
Consider how wonderful it would be to participate in this event. Every soul must create unity between yin and yang, centering on loving others. How awesome it is to hold an event that promotes this harmony! (276-118, 1996.02.11)
13. Since religion is the center of culture, the Assembly of the World's Religions and the Inter-Religious Federation for World Peace will stand at the center of the World Culture and Sports Festival. The ideals, wisdom, and values of religion should be embedded in this world's education, academics, arts, sports, media, politics, and economy, and become their standard.
The World Culture and Sports Festival is a history-shaping event. It advances the culture of the human spirit and exalts the true values that make for human happiness. It promotes a new worldwide culture of peace, in which God, human beings, and all things are in harmony. (234-269, 1992.08.26)
14. Sports fans participate in a world of emotions that transcends national boundaries. If the Ilhwa Cheonma Football Club was chosen as the team to represent Asia, it would become the focus of Asia. If it went to South America and swept all the teams on that continent, the team would rivet the attention of all soccer players and fans across the world.
Everyone would welcome this soccer team and relate to it independent of religious considerations. Everyone knows that when it comes to soccer, South America has the best teams.
Therefore, if the Ilhwa soccer team can attain a standard higher than South America's teams, the world will naturally pay attention. People will follow this Ilhwa team, and in a short time of ninety minutes, billions of people will applaud and cheer for it. This sort of thing can only happen in sports.
(276-138, 1996.02.18)
15. Why did I make a soccer team, and why am I taking an interest in sports? Sports are instrumental in promoting harmony and peace. When a famous soccer team plays, the entire world watches. Boxing requires only one player, but soccer requires eleven players. A soccer team needs to play in harmony.
First, the players need to unite and harmonize with one another. When a soccer team attains peace and harmony, free from conflict, the crowd can find even more enjoyment in setting aside their mundane existence and watching them play. Right there, unity is created between the players and the crowd.
The soccer team itself symbolizes harmony and unity, namely, total oneness. That is what we need in our families, societies, nations, and heaven and earth. Peace is needed everywhere. To bring about peace, we require unity. Without unity, we will never attain peace. (276-112, 1996.02.11)
16. As early as the 1960s, I founded the Little Angels to exalt Korea's beautiful performing arts across the world. On that foundation, I established the Sun-Hwa Arts School with the founding philosophy, “Love God, Love Your Nation, and Love Humankind.”
I also founded the Universal Ballet in Korea and the Kirov Ballet Academy in Washington, D.C., and revived the New York City Symphony in New York.
(316-070, 2000.02.09)
17. Look at how the entertainment world spearheads the destruction of true love. Consider the singers and athletes in that world. Even in the luminous world of the Olympics, athletes are involved in fall activities that contradict the spirit of the Olympics, such as taking drugs.
Intending to put an end to this in the field of performing arts, I founded the Little Angels and the Universal Ballet to represent something opposite. I created a school for the arts that includes the dramatic arts and even sports and martial arts. They center on original love, which is needed to turn around the entertainment world. (299-055, 1999.02.03)
18. In the 1960s, it became my dream to introduce Korean culture to other countries. At that time, I founded the Little Angels, a Korean children's dance troupe. Since then, the Little Angels have performed in more than sixty countries.
Their performances have been broadcast on television more than three hundred times. I formed this dance troupe of children because, in my opinion, children can express the world of the heart better than anyone else.
On seeing those children dance, even the coldest person removes his or her mask of formality and experiences purity and love. It puts that person in touch with the essential pursuits of all human beings. (193-323, 1989.10.10)
World peace through the media
19. The media wield overwhelming influence and power in society, to such an extent that, after the executive, judiciary, and legislature, they are called the Fourth Estate. I believe that the media should use their immense power for good, and should contribute to world peace.
Respected journalists, before you are professionals, you are essentially children of God. You are champions of peace who are called to the special mission of building an ethical world, the world of true peace that God desires.
The World Media Association is an open forum in which journalists such as you can discuss issues freely, with the ultimate goal of realizing an ethical world. At this point, as the people of the world head toward the ultimate world of true peace in God's providence, God is calling the media to carry out an important mission for the realization of world peace.
They should join forces with others who are yearning for peace and contribute their immense power of influence. They must play a leading role in making humanity one great family in the age of the global village, to realize the ideal of true world peace and ethics. Please advance bravely and boldly for the sake of this cause. (234-235, 1992.08.22)
20. The media have an educational function. They must take responsibility for society from a moral standpoint and thereby develop the nation. To achieve this, journalists should have personal integrity.
I am fighting against the media of the United States, which dances to the tune of corrupt ideologies and beliefs. How have the media treated me? They have considered me to be their punching bag. And yet, I did not utter even a word against them.
One can manifest real capability even without speaking words. No one has yet adequately defined the role of the media. No one has stated standards for media professionals, who will weave the record of history. That is why I am continually holding media conferences.
I created the World Media Association to awaken journalists and all media professionals to their responsibility, and I have been working along these lines to this day.
I am calling journalists and all media professionals to be responsible. As representatives of the media, you should go forward with conviction. You should stake your life as you shoulder this responsibility. (179-181, 1988.08.12)
Sun Myung Moon