The Moral Foundations of Society

A good society is built on spiritual and moral foundations. In this technological and materialistic age, Father Moon joins many contemporary spiritual leaders in warning us that the steady decline of morality and spiritual values poses a looming threat to social peace.

Among these neglected foundations are, first, morality and virtue, which form people into upright citizens; second, education, especially character education, which can give young people a sense of purpose and direction and empower them to shun the hedonistic lifestyle of sex and drugs; and third, religion.

With its message of peace and conciliation, religion can tame the raging battles and self-aggrandizing attitudes of partisan politicians, and by calling on God, religion can procure divine blessings for the nation. In particular, America’s Founding Fathers were explicit about the role of morality and religion in securing the nation’s liberties and preserving its prosperity.

During Father Moon’s long ministry in the United States, he frequently spoke out, calling for America to return to God and honor His will.

The Foundation of Morality

The earth is upheld by the veracity of those who have subdued their passions and, following righteous practices, are never contaminated by desire, covetousness, and wrath. Vishnu Purana 3.12 (Hinduism)

No individual is lost and no nation is refused prosperity and success if the foundations of their thoughts and actions rest upon piety and godliness and upon truth and justice. Nahjul Balagha, Khutba 21 (Shiite Islam)

The world stands upon three things: upon the Law, upon worship, and upon showing kindness. Mishnah, Avot 1.2 (Judaism)

When people submit to force, they do so not willingly but because they are not strong enough. When people submit to the transforming influence of morality, they do so sincerely, with admiration in their hearts. Mencius II.A.3 (Confucianism)

We have no government armed with power capable of contending with human passions unbridled by morality and religion. Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other. John Adams

Of all the dispositions and habits which lead to political prosperity, religion and morality are indispensable supports. In vain would that man claim the tribute of patriotism who should labor to subvert these great pillars of human happiness, these firmest props of the duties of men and citizens. George Washington, Farewell Address

When personal life is cultivated, the family will be regulated; when the family is regulated, the state will be in order; when the state is in order, there will be peace throughout the world. From the Son of Heaven down to the common people, all must regard cultivation of the personal life as the root or foundation. There is never a case when the root is in disorder and yet the branches are in order. The Great Learning (Confucianism)

Let there arise out of you a group of people, inviting to all that is good, enjoining what is right and forbidding what is wrong; they are the ones to attain happiness and prosperity. Qur’an 3.104

In The Book of Songs it is said, He makes no show of his moral worth, Yet all the princes follow in his steps. Hence the moral man, by living a life of simple truth and earnestness alone, can help to bring peace and order in the world. Doctrine of the Mean 33 (Confucianism)

Where, after all, do universal rights begin? In small places, close to home—so close and so small they cannot be seen on any maps of the world. Yet they are the world of the individual persons, the neighborhoods, the school or college, the factory, farm or office. Such are the places where every man, woman, and child seeks equal justice, equal opportunity, and equal dignity without discrimination. Unless their rights have meaning there, they have little meaning anywhere. Without concerned citizen action to uphold them close to home, we shall look in vain for progress in the larger world. Eleanor Roosevelt

Teachings of Sun Myung Moon
The Bible teaches about the nine fruits of the Holy Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, benevolence, goodness, loyalty, gentleness, and self-control. (Gal. 5:22-23)

These nine fruits of the Spirit are the standards of the nation that God proposes and intends to establish. They comprise society’s way of life. (4:112, March 16, 1958)

Good citizenship does not appear automatically, but arises out of a person’s character and family. It flows from character, heart and education through family life. These are the bases for noble deeds by which people can advance to positions of responsibility and enhance their country’s prestige.

Build these foundations and become someone your country needs. If you do not build them, you may end up becoming a corrupt official. (34:19, August 29, 1970)

Peace and happiness depend on people’s moral and spiritual development. This is because a nation, even the world, is only as peaceful as the individuals and families that comprise it. Science and technology can be used for good—for the improvement of human life—when they are utilized by good people.

Throughout history, saints and great teachers have devoted themselves to guiding families, societies, and nations toward a peaceful and happy world. To take on the challenges of the twenty-first century, humanity needs true parents, true teachers and true owners who can raise leaders of mature morality and spirituality. (271:74, August 22, 1995)

An ideal society is characterized by universally shared values. This means that everyone practices true love, observing universal ethics and morality. All members of society pursue a life of goodness and righteousness. To establish that ideal, we aim to build a society rooted in moral principles, whereby all people live moral lives in keeping with the absolute value of God’s true love.

An ideal world presupposes ideal families and mature individuals. An ideal family requires the harmony of ideal parents, an ideal husband and wife, and ideal sons and daughters in true love. An individual can be called mature when his or her mind and body function in harmony through true love.

When people at that level of maturity practice goodness and righteousness in their family, they create the foundation for true love. When they practice it in society, which is the extension of the family, they build the world of supreme love, the world that operates in accordance with the Way of Heaven. This indeed is the ideal world. (271:78, August 22, 1995)

The Foundation of Education

Rabbi Assi and Rabbi Ammi, on an educational inspection tour, came to a town and asked for its guardians. The councilmen appeared, but the rabbis said, “These are not guardians, but wreckers of a town! The guardians are the teachers of the young and instructors of the old, as is written: ‘Except the Lord keep the city, the watchman wakes but in vain’ [Psalm 127.1].” Lamentations Rabbah (Judaism)

When Confucius was going to Wei, Jan Ch’iu drove him. The Master said, “What a dense population!” Jan Ch’iu said, “When the people have multiplied, what next should be done for them?” The Master said, “Enrich them.” Jan Ch’iu said, “When one has enriched them, what next should be done for them?” The Master said, “Instruct them.” Analects 13.9 (Confucianism)

The source and root of all the evils which affect individuals, people and nations with a kind of poison, and confuse the minds of many, is this: ignorance of the truth and not only ignorance but, at times a contempt for, and a deliberate turning away from it. It is therefore necessary to confront evil and erroneous writing with what is right and sound: against broadcasts, motion pictures, and television shows which incite to error or the attractions of vice, must be projected those which uphold truth and strive to preserve wholesome morality. Pope John XXIII, Ad Petri Cathedram (Christianity)

Teachings of Sun Myung Moon
Democracy has produced secular humanism, which is expelling God from society. Secular humanism is driving out the morality and justice taught by the saints and holy men and is spurring on the trend towards free sex.

Humanity is altogether unaware that it is diving headlong into the abyss… We have the mission of preventing this tragedy. (193:306, October 8, 1989)

This world stands at a crossroads leading either to the kingdom of Heaven or the kingdom of hell. Which way it goes depends chiefly on whether it protects family values—the ethical norms that preserve the purity of the family.

Is there any nation on earth that has solved humanity’s common plight: corruption of youth and their continual abuse of drugs, family breakdown and skyrocketing divorce, the AIDS epidemic, sexual crimes, and political oppression?

Conventional education, even religious teachings, cannot meet the challenge. What meaning is it for a society to enjoy economic prosperity and political freedom when its families suffer in agony, with no solution in sight?

Therefore, people have come to the point where they are seeking educational material and methods to protect and promote family values. Promoting family values is the fundamental issue in this age after the end of the Cold War. (288:140, November 26, 1997)

The Foundation of God and Religion

Unless the Lord watches over the city, the watchman stays awake in vain. Psalm 127.1

Every assembly that is for the sake of Heaven will in the end be established, and every assembly which is not for the sake of Heaven will in the end not be established. Mishnah, Avot 4.14 (Judaism)

God who gave us life, gave us liberty. And can the liberties of a nation be thought secure when we have removed their only firm basis, a conviction in the minds of the people that these liberties are of the gift of God? That they are not to be violated but with His wrath? Indeed, I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just; that His justice cannot sleep forever. Thomas Jefferson

We must divide all the children of Adam into two classes; the first belong to the kingdom of God, the second to the kingdom of the world… The one to produce piety, the other to bring about external peace and prevent evil deeds; neither is sufficient in the world without the other. Martin Luther, Secular Authority (Christianity)

This erring race of human beings always dreams of perfecting its environment by the machinery of government and society, but it is only by the perfection of the soul within that the outer environment can be perfected. “What thou art within, that outside thee thou shalt enjoy”; no machinery can rescue you from the law of your being. Sri Aurobindo (Hinduism)

The fundamental basis of this nation’s laws was given to Moses on the Mount. The fundamental basis of our Bill of Rights comes from the teachings we get from Exodus and Saint Matthew, from Isaiah and Saint Paul. I don’t think we emphasize that enough these days. If we don’t have a proper fundamental moral background, we will finally end up with a totalitarian government which does not believe in rights for anybody except the State! Harry S. Truman

To exclude the Church, founded by God Himself, from life, from laws, from the education of youth, from domestic society, is a grave and fatal error. A state from which religion is banished can never be well regulated. Pope Leo XIII, Immortale Dei (Christianity)

Teachings of Sun Myung Moon
This land can revive only if people appear who will open their eyes anew and look towards Heaven. That, we believe, is the purpose of this movement. Therefore, we earnestly pray we may become the people who can take responsibility for the world’s revival.3 (5:278, February 15, 1959)

It will be difficult to preserve social prosperity and maintain a peaceful order in the world as long as political sovereignty operates apart from moral and spiritual values. (359:143, November 6, 2001)

God blesses those nations that lift up religious values to lead politics, just as each citizen strives for oneness between his or her mind and body. Only by doing so will nations come to practice the principle of living for the sake of others. Yet politicians still look only to the earth, blind to Heaven’s authority.

Communist leaders tried for seventy years to establish prosperity without God, and now their nations are bankrupt. Likewise, the West is plagued by recession, crime, and social decay; its problems will not be solved until its leaders open their eyes and discover their true cause. (234:225, August 20, 1992)

There have been many dictators in history. Many politicians have taken advantage of their position to benefit themselves and their family, and some have even attempted to control the world, all to satisfy selfish desires so huge as to exceed what their tribe or nation could give them.

Nations have traditionally led their people with political power. They defined what was good for their people as political strength. They used their power to conquer the weak, add to their territory and expand the scope of their control. On the other hand, the central theme of religions down through history is philanthropy. Religions are, broadly speaking, on the side of God.

Therefore they teach such virtues as love, benevolence, righteousness, and goodness. Their purpose is not self-aggrandizement. Rather, religions invest all their efforts for of others and strive for the welfare of the world. They work to transform this evil world into Heaven’s world by promoting a spirit of reconciliation. (213:7, January 13, 1991)

We should recognize that our present crisis stems from our neglect or denial of God. Communism failed because it denied the existence of God. America, likewise, will suffer greatly if she does not reclaim her spiritual heritage. Even Christianity, when it loses sight of God, will be powerless to stop the world’s decline.

Diverse fields such as philosophy, economics, politics, and the arts can attain their true potential for human betterment only when they realize their purpose in the light of God. Thus, the key to solving today’s problems is to find God. Only a comprehensive understanding of God’s Will and providence can illuminate the solution to the crisis we are facing today. (262:234-35, July 26, 1994)

Now the time has come for America to awaken once again. It is time to develop a new movement of nation-building by seeking for God-centered true parents, true families, true nations and a true world. God is about to leave America, and only sincere efforts to attend to God will keep Him from departing.

God prepared for six thousand years before He settled on America. He does not really want to leave America; where else would he go? When America properly attends to God, all its problems—family breakdown, corrupt ethics, immorality among youth, and racial conflict—will be solved of their own accord.

America is the land where all five races should be living together in harmony. It is supposed to be the model for the Kingdom of God on earth. (True Family and World Peace, January 22, 2000)