The welfare of its citizens should be the chief concern of the government. The scriptures affirm that a ruler should put the people’s needs ahead of his own.
This is signified by his titles: the prophets of Israel called their rulers “shepherds,” Jesus called rulers of the Kingdom “servants,” and Chinese tradition regarded the emperor as “the father and mother of the people.”
A leader can show consideration to his followers by personal kindness, forgiving their mistakes, and believing the best about them even when he knows they are likely to fall short. He can demonstrate solidarity with their difficulties by forgoing the pomp and ostentation of high office and living simply as one of the people.
Moreover, scriptures encourage benevolent government policies, including reducing taxes in times of economic recession, investing in the people to create jobs, empowering them to have ownership over their work, and providing for the welfare of the poor and destitute. (See also Chapter 20: Economic Justice)
The precepts of governance that make for a benevolent rule are universal, which is why scriptures written in ancient times, when all governments were monarchies, remain relevant today.
Nevertheless, this section also includes some texts on democracy, because in modern times a government “of the people and by the people” has proven to be the surest way to have a government “for the people.”
Yet democracy has also produced its share of monstrosities; the French Revolution is but one example. More than just free elections and a representative government, the animating spirit behind democracy can make all the difference between the blessings of liberty and totalitarian terror.
Hence in the Western experience, democracies built upon Christian values have done better than those based on materialism. Yet even American democracy with its emphasis on individual freedom, is deficient in many ways, according to Father Moon. A better underpinning for democracy, he declares, is the spirit of true love.
Sun Myung Moon
Servant Leadership
In the happiness of his subjects lies a king’s happiness; in their welfare his welfare; whatever pleases him he shall not consider as good, but whatever pleases his subjects he shall consider as good. Kautilya, Artha-shastra 1.19 (Hinduism)
When loss is above and gain below, the people’s joy is boundless. When those above exhibit no pride to the ones below them, their virtue is brightly illumined. I Ching 42 (Confucianism)
Desiring to rule over the people, One must, in one’s words, humble oneself before them; And, desiring to lead the people, One must, in one’s person, follow behind them. Therefore the sage takes his place over the people yet is no burden; Takes his place ahead of the people yet causes no obstruction. That is why the empire supports him joyfully and never tires of doing so. Tao Te Ching 66 (Taoism)
Governing a large state is like boiling a small fish. Tao Te Ching 60 (Taoism)
Lay no burden on the public which the majority cannot bear. Talmud, Baba Batra 60b (Judaism) To demand much from oneself and little from others is the way for a ruler to banish discontent. Analects 15.14 (Confucianism)
The man of perfect virtue, wishing to be established himself, seeks also to establish others; wishing to be enlarged himself, he seeks also to enlarge others. Analects 6.28 (Confucianism)
The highest duty of a ruler is to protect his subjects; the ruler who enjoys the rewards of his position is bound to that duty. Laws of Manu 7.144 (Hinduism)
The Caliph is a shepherd over the people and shall be questioned about his subjects. Hadith of Bukhari and Muslim (Islam)
Jesus said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great men exercise authority over them. It shall not be so among you; but whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be your slave; even as the Son of man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” Matthew 20.25-28
Public men are proud to be the servants of the State and would be ashamed to be its masters. Sir Winston Churchill
It was by the mercy of God that you were lenient with them (O Muhammad), for if you had been stern and hard-hearted, they would have deserted you. So pardon them and ask forgiveness for them and consult with them about the conduct of affairs. Qur’an 3.159
Moses son of Imran said, “My Lord, who is the greatest of Thy servants in Thy estimation?” and received the reply, “The one who forgives when he is in a position of power.” Hadith of Baihaqi (Islam)
Guardianship is not to give an order but to give oneself. Nyika Proverb (African Traditional Religion)
Sun Myung Moon
Teachings of Sun Myung Moon
If you want to rule others, first be ruled by them. (Way of God’s Will 1.3)
Leaders are people who let others use them, yet they do not perish. Come, let yourself be used by all the people of the world for the sake of God. Then they will come under your influence. (Way of God’s Will 1.3)
The leader who commands his followers when they are not willing to obey will perish. (Way of God’s Will 1.3)
If you want to become someone of high status, you should be able to take good care of the people under you. (34:250, September 13, 1970)
A sovereign should become one with his people. He should think that all that he owns is not for himself, but for his country. If that happens, the country will prosper. (30:88, March 17, 1970)
The larger-minded person can embrace and manage smaller-minded people. Can you be a person of such breadth of character that people of every nationality will admire you and want you to lead them? (102:139, December 10, 1978)
We should live for the sake of others. A leader who lives a self-centered life invites discontent and leads others to disobey the heavenly way. Living for the sake of others is the way to resemble God.
When you inherit God’s true love and practice it to love your family, society, nation, and world, you are living in accordance with the basic order of the universe.
Only through practicing true love can you become a true person of perfected character, and hence become a true parent, true teacher, and true owner.
You become a peacemaker. When you live your life for the sake of others, you are headed towards the first gate of peace. (356:276, October 20, 2001)
A self-centered person cannot be a leader. It doesn’t matter that he has a college degree or even that he is a professor. Rather, a leader needs to have a mind to live for the sake of the whole and be equipped in all areas.
A person with such qualifications will climb to the top. At election time, people will not vote for a candidate whom they perceive as self-centered. They will choose the candidate who lives for the sake of the whole, who will benefit them.
This formula for leadership has been constant throughout history. Be a wise leader who embraces his people twice after chastising them once. Let them feel, “He scolded us for our own good”; otherwise, they will scorn you and oppose you, and in the end Satan will invade (54:207, March 24, 1972)
When a person whom you work with for the first time makes a mistake, remember how little you have given him and invested in him. Then despite his mistake, you can forgive him.
As the leader, greet him with a delightful heart before you expect him to do so to you. If you expect him to greet you with a bright face when you yourself do not, then you are a thief. (81:305, December 29, 1975)
If one of your people does something wrong, do not take action against him right away. Even if he did something very wrong, try to find a way to have him do something good to improve the situation.
Although that small good condition is far outweighed by the evil he did earlier, on account of it you can have room to reserve judgment until you can deal properly and comprehensively with the situation. (72:313, July 14, 1974)
A responsible person even when he knows the truth lets himself be deceived. (324:202, June 24, 2000)
Use clear judgment in handling affairs in your daily life. Then your heart should follow. To be clear about affairs means to act in accordance with reason. You should never act on a matter when you are confused or uncertain about it. Analyze well how to handle relationships with those above you and below you, on your right and on your left, in front of you and behind you.
Once that is clear, you can cultivate affectionate feelings to embrace them all. The cloth of affection can wrap up everyone: grandfathers, grandmothers, babies, everyone.
The cloth of intellect is one-sided, while the cloth of affection is all-embracing. Look at me: I love even 80-year-old grandmothers, and they flock to my place.
Grandmothers and tiny infants all rejoice to be wrapped in the cloth of love. They hug each other, the infants resting in the old ladies’ arms, never wanting to leave.
With the cloth of love you can create that kind of place. (81:328, December 29, 1975)
Sun Myung Moon
Consideration for the Poor
The government is the guardian of those who have no guardian. Hadith (Islam) All those who are weary, disabled, crippled and infirm, who are orphan, childless, widowers, and widows are my brothers who totter and falter with no one to turn to. When the gentleman rules the government, he must support such people. Chu Hsi (Confucianism)
If the chief has many breasts they are sucked by the people. Akan Proverb (African Traditional Religion)
When there is a question of defending the rights of individuals, the poor and the helpless have a claim to special consideration. Those of the richer class have many ways of shielding themselves, and stand less in need of help from the State; whereas those who are badly off have no resources of their own to fall back upon, and must chiefly depend upon the assistance of the State. And it stands to reason that wage-earners, who are undoubtedly among the weak and necessitous, should be specially cared for and protected by the Government. Pope Leo XIII, Rerum Novarum (Christianity)
Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, The wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door! Emma Lazarus
Emperor Nintoku climbed up a high mountain and, viewing the lands of the four quarters, said, “There is no smoke rising from fireplaces in the land. The entire land is impoverished. For a period of three years the people are released from all taxes and conscription.” For this reason, the palace became dilapidated; although the rain leaked in everywhere, no repairs were made. The dripping rain was caught in vessels, and the inhabitants moved around to places where it did not leak.
Later, when he viewed the land again, the entire land was filled with smoke.
Therefore, realizing that the people were now rich, he reinstated taxes and conscription. For this reason, the common people flourished and did not suffer from his conscription. Thus his reign is praised as being the reign of a saintly ruler. Kojiki 110 (Shinto)
Ho, shepherds of Israel, who have been feeding yourselves! Shouldn't shepherds feed the sheep? You eat the fat, you clothe yourselves with the wool, you slaughter the fatlings; but you do not feed the sheep. The weak you have not strengthened, the sick you have not healed, the crippled you have not bound up, the strayed you have not brought back, the lost you have not sought, and with force and harshness you have ruled them. So they were scattered, because there was no shepherd; and they became food for all the wild beasts… Therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the Lord: Thus says the Lord God, “Behold, I am against the shepherds; and I will require my sheep at their hand, and put a stop to their feeding the sheep; no longer shall the shepherds feed themselves. I will rescue my sheep from their mouths, that they may not be food for them.” Ezekiel 34.2-10
If you take away from the midst of you the yoke, the pointing of the finger, and speaking wickedness, if you pour yourself out for the hungry and satisfy the desire of the afflicted, then shall your light rise in the darkness and your gloom be as the noonday. Isaiah 58.9-10
Give the king thy justice, O God, and thy righteousness to the royal son! May he judge thy people with righteousness, and thy poor with justice… For he delivers the needy when he calls, the poor and him who has no helper. He has pity on the weak and the needy, and saves the lives of the needy. From oppression and violence he redeems their life; and precious is their blood in his sight. Psalm 72
Sun Myung Moon
Teachings of Sun Myung Moon
A leader who, when he sees miserable people living on the street, feels shocked and finds himself sobbing, unable to control his body as he grabs on to a utility pole for balance—such a leader will naturally develop. (160:197, May 12, 1969)
Rather than building a lavish presidential palace, the president would do better if he lived in a flimsy mud hut that will hardly last until the end of his term before it must be torn down, and instead invested the nation’s revenues for the next generation. His country would prosper, and he would be known as a leader who lives for his people. And yet, God lives for the sake of humankind even more than that. (382:149-50, June 21, 2002)
Living for the self ends with oneself, but living for others continues forever. Therefore, for goodness to continue, you should live for your counterpart, the greater whole. This is particularly the case when you are in a position of leadership.
Hence, anyone who aspires to become a world-level figure should live for the sake of the world. If he practices this, he may even become a world leader. On the other hand, a world leader who tramples upon those beneath him cannot remain. A world leader should be a leader who lights up the world. (57:63, May 28, 1972)
In the future, politics will be mainly a matter of good management. There will be no place for politicians to manipulate policies for unrighteous ends, as all people follow the Principle way and live for the sake of peace.
The government will provide an exemplary model of management that serves to benefit the entire people. The function of government will be to help people with economic difficulties and provide a way for everyone to eat and live. People will be categorized into three levels according to their standard of living—top, middle and bottom—and the average standard of living will be determined.
Then the government will set up an administrative mechanism to equalize people’s living standards to the middle level… This administrative mechanism will incorporate the ethics of a single household planning the family budget, in which everyone takes responsibility for each other.
Family members who are spending too much try to lower their expenses, while those in need receive more, in order that everyone in the family is at an equal level in the middle. Likewise, in society, those who are blessed with more will contribute to lift up others. (324:253-54, June 24, 2000)
Today, the industrialized North must reach out to help liberate the South from pervasive impoverishment. The developed nations must lend a helping hand to the support the development of the developing countries and the new democracies.
Each nation’s attitude must be changed from a selfish one to an unselfish one. That in itself will be a revolution.
Nations can do this when their leaders think of themselves in the role of parents. From that perspective, nations will regard each other as brother and sister nations. Then a fresh new vision will emerge and new opportunities will open up before of us. (219:120, August 28, 1991)
Sun Myung Moon
Democracy
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
That to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed. U.S. Declaration of Independence
I know no safe depository of the ultimate powers of society but the people themselves; and if we think them not enlightened enough to exercise their control with a wholesome discretion, the remedy is not to take it from them, but to inform their discretion by education. Thomas Jefferson
The ruler who submits to democratic ideals, his rule is lasting. Adi Granth, Maru, M.1 (Sikhism)
I sought for the greatness and genius of America in her commodious harbors and her ample rivers—and it was not there, in her fertile fields and trackless forests—and it was not there, in her rich mines and vast world commerce—and it was not there, in her democratic Congress and her matchless Constitution—and it was not there. Not until I went to the churches of America and heard her pulpits aflame with righteousness did I understand the secret of her genius and power. America is great because she is good, and if America ever ceases to be good, America will cease to be great. Alexis de Tocqueville, Democracy in America
Few things help an individual more than to place responsibility on him, and to let him know that you trust him. Booker T. Washington
The king’s country, Sire, is harassed and harried. There are dacoits abroad who pillage the villages and townships and who make the roads unsafe. Were the king, so long as that is so, to levy a fresh tax, verily his majesty would be acting wrongly. Perchance his majesty might think, “I’ll soon put a stop to these scoundrels’ game by punishments and banishment, fines and bonds and death!” But their license cannot be satisfactorily put a stop to by such a course. The remnant left unpunished would still go on harassing the realm. Now there is one method to adopt to put a thorough end to this disorder. Whosoever there be in the king’s realm who devote themselves to keeping cattle and the farm, to them let his majesty give food and seed corn. Whosoever there be in the king’s realm who devote themselves to trade, to them let his majesty give capital. Whosoever there be in the king’s realm who devote themselves to government service, to them let his majesty give wages and food. Then those men, following each his own business, will no longer harass the realm; the king’s revenue will go up; the country will be quiet and at peace; and the populace, pleased with one another and happy, dancing their children in their arms, will dwell with open doors. Digha Nikaya 1.135: Kutadanta Sutta (Buddhism)
Sun Myung Moon
Teachings of Sun Myung Moon
In these last days of human history, heavenly law has descended upon the earth in the name of democracy, bringing an end to the long phase of history in which people sought to obtain happiness by seizing property, land and people. (Exposition of the Divine Principle, Eschatology 2.3)
At the time of Jesus, people’s lives were as insignificant as flies to the people in power. The system of laws into which Jesus was born was just like a world without laws. If the administrators or persons of power wanted to have him killed, it could be done as easily as killing a fly.
Jesus’ proclamation of a fundamental human revolution could not be permitted or accepted under the system of that society. We can say that the fact that Jesus was nailed to the cross was an almost unavoidable occurrence under the system of those days. God, who knows this so well, knows that one of the most necessary things for the days of the second advent of the Messiah is a system of laws in which a person cannot be killed just because it is someone else’s will.
The system that God prepared for the last two thousand years is democracy.
Democracy is the system that respects human rights. Democracy is the system in which a minority group can survive in the midst of a majority group. Democracy is the system that guarantees freedom of speech, freedom of association, freedom of the press, and freedom of assembly.
If we consider the Constitution of America, which can be regarded as the representative nation of democracy, the most absolute freedom among all freedoms is the freedom of religion.
It is stated in the Constitution that the American Congress and Government shall not make any laws which can restrict religions. (October 19, 1978)
The French Revolution established democracy with the proclamation of the Declaration of the Rights of Man. Nonetheless, the democracy born out of the French Revolution was a Cain-type democracy.
Although it destroyed absolutism, the leading thinkers behind the French Revolution were Enlightenment figures such as Denis Diderot (1713-1784) and Jean Le Rond D’Alembert (1717-1783), who adhered to atheism or materialism. Furthermore, despite its ideals of individual freedom and equality, the actual course of French democracy in the years of the revolution and afterward tended toward totalitarianism.
From their very origins, the democracies which emerged in England and the United States were different from the democracy born out of the French Revolution…
The English and American democracies were founded by sincere Christians, the fruits of the Abel-type view of life, and were born out of their victorious fight with absolutism to win religious freedom. Hence, these are Abel-type democracies. (Exposition of the Divine Principle, Preparation 3.1)
Democracy is the ideology of brotherhood. It promotes equality by upholding freedom. But is freedom alone enough to secure happiness? No. To secure happiness, love must be the highest value. (201:73, March 1, 1990)
If democracy were to use love as its basis, then the world would become one. That kind of democracy could become a world-level democracy. Even communism, if it were centered on true love, could also make one world. Where there is love, the word “purge” cannot exist. (90:311-12, January 15, 1977)
While much in America seems attractive, if you dig deeper, you will find some disagreeable aspects. There is always a taint of racism. People live as isolated individuals and have not become as one community. The law is not always in agreement with human rights. (90:304, January 15, 1977)
If a Black person wanted to run for the presidency, would white Americans support him? What do you think? Would they elect a capable black candidate?
As long as blacks and whites are fighting over their rights, are there truly human rights? The democratic world is a world of individualism.
It takes no account of relationships, such as husband and wife. Each individual is his or her own center. Yet in reality, people cannot exist without relationships. Everything exists in the context of relationships.
A society that valued relationships above all else would encourage everyone to make relationships with their counterparts, for that is the very nucleus from which the world will become one.
First, families become one; then they build relationships with their neighbors and unify their neighborhood. Based upon this principle, people would assemble themselves into a single structure, connecting everyone throughout the world. (228:8, March 1, 1992)
Sun Myung Moon