The Reunification of Korea and World Peace

by Rev. Sun Myung Moon

3 Democracy and Communism

3.1 How are democracy and communism different?

Democracy and communism are in opposition to each other. The democratic world is seeking heaven and the communist world the reverse. Whereas the communist world is going after material things, the democratic world is centered primarily on the opposite. While the democratic system is centered on the individual, the communist one is focussed on the collective, the party. Whereas the democratic world is centered on freedom, love and peace, the communist world is centered on threats, the gun and the sword, and is ruled by force. The two worlds are diametrically opposed. (107-210, 1980.05.01)

The democratic world is centered on heart. Also, people in that sphere discuss peace. However, the ideology of communism by its very dialectic promotes fighting and struggle. It holds that the process of fighting and struggle is a primary factor in development. There can be no peace within its sphere. The two ideologies are so different. (047-113, 1971.08.22)

The democratic world has been tying the Communist party with the knot of brotherhood and the organization within which they have been doing so is the United Nations. Article One of the United Nations Charter concerns peace. It puts forward peace as its very raison d'etre. (050-156, 1971.11.06)

I think that there can have been no one in history who has not wished for a unified world of peace. We are aware that the world is now divided into two after going through a historical process. Looking at these two spheres of democracy and communism into which the world is divided, we come to ask whether an ideal unified world will come about through the democratic sphere or the communist one. Here, we must face the reality that we are living in an era in which human beings are more inclined to fall into despair than to have hope. (054-110, 1972.03.21)

Today's world is one in which the struggle is centered on the physical body and material things. No matter how developed economics, science or philosophy may be, they cannot in themselves bring peace to humanity. They are inadequate. Until such time as an ideology or heavenly movement capable of re-establishing the distinction between body and material on the one hand and the world of mind and spirit on the other, appears in the historic era of the last days, this world will continue to go to ruin. We are now confronting a final historical era in which God must at all costs determine a single focal point. From what perspective are we who are living in this age going to resolve and clear up these many problems? This process has been unfolding on a worldwide level and has manifested in two main competing worldviews - the materialistic and the idealistic. One has materialized in the land of South Korea. (113-280, 1981.05.10)

How do you find today's world? The world is divided between the Communist bloc and the democratic world, between Cain and Abel. It is divided that way the world over. Cain and Abel brought about unhappiness because they fought right after the Fall. In cleansing the blood lineage of that historic sorrow, the kingdom of heavenly peace cannot settle on earth so long as the Cain-type communist world and the Abel-type democratic world are divided and locked in combat with each other. Parents of peace cannot settle on earth. Therefore, a unified world sovereignty of parents will come to dwell on earth only when the communist world and the democratic world, which are like Cain and Abel, become united. Accordingly, the present era is the worldwide era of the last days. (056-353, 1972.05.18)

Coexistence, so far, has been coexistence in circumstances where a fight to deny the other has been continuing. Coexistence in a state of non-combat has not been possible. It has not been possible for there to be coexistence in such a way that each maintains peace and likes the other. From this perspective, we have to solve the struggle between the idealistic view of history and the materialistic view of history at its roots. From what position are we going to bring goodness to solve this matter? First, we have to firmly establish the basic standard and then we can deal with the matter centered on that standard. (037-120, 1970.12.23)

Today what counts anywhere in the world is whether mind predominates or material, or body, predominates. We have to realize that this confuses the field of thought in these last days. Mind is on the side of heart and body on the side of material and the two fight all the time. Is such a person at peace? We have to be aware that the world has created a state of confusion in this whirlpool. (119-104, 1982.07.04)

According to the Principle, I have to stand on the foundation of having united the democratic world that is on the side of Abel and the communist world that is on the side of Cain. Therefore, the two entities must be united. The world is separated into the democratic world (mind) and the communist world (body). I cannot open the door of world peace without standing on the foundation of gathering these two together. This is the principle. This is connected from the body of an individual all the way up to the family, the society, the nation and the world. (120-202, 1982.10.16)

Were there one or two origins of the universe? That is the question. If everything did not start from one point, but from two, and humanity is following these two conflicting lines, there cannot be such things as peace, happiness or freedom in the world.

What we call freedom unfolds in an environment centered completely on one master. What we call happiness or peace comes into being in an environment centered on one master and cannot exist where two masters are fighting. Can a family where parents fight each other be happy? Can people who belong to that family be happy? No, children who belong to that family cannot be happy. According to the logic of communism, the world will become the world utopia that communists desire by going through a process of fighting. This is absolute. Therefore, the order of the party has to be regarded as being more absolute than any other order. That would be fine if it were on the side of goodness where it could bring about freedom, happiness and peace. When we look into the intrinsic content of communism, however, it has content that is beyond belief. In other words, communists don't discriminate between means and ends in attaining their purpose. They turn against even their own parents, country or comrades if they get in their way. Thus, communism with its seventy-year history is shown to be a problem for the world as a whole. (135-269. 1985.12.15)

What is it that the communist world is seeking? It is a world of peace that is being brought about as the result of fighting. That world of peace is different from the peace the democratic world is talking about today. The communist world eliminates everything that runs counter to the communist thought. In other words, they are talking about a world peace that is created by cutting out such reactionary elements. It is different. Today, the Soviet Union is proclaiming peace, but the peace they are talking about is a state in which everything centers around Marxist-Leninism and every reactionary element which may be against that is disposed of and there is no opposition. Peace in the democratic world involves a concept of left and right being united together. It is fundamentally different. The democratic world holds that a state in which left and right work together harmoniously and thus have good interactions is one of peace. There is no concept there of anyone having to be eradicated. It has a comprehensive and ideological concept, but not a destructive one of eradication. People like us are thus fighting on the forefront as worldwide standard-bearers since this communism is an ideology that is unacceptable to humanity. In communism, people say that even love, family and parents are prime movers in exploitation. For example, from the communist perspective, children see their parents as exploitative beings making use of them for their own interests. In such a system there cannot be talk of love or truth. (168-164, 1987.09.20)

The peace contemplated by democracy these days is one that harmonizes, irrespective of height and direction. For example, people on a high social level can reach down and give a hand to those lower down the social ladder by helping them. People on the left can cooperate with people on the right and people on the right can cooperate with people on the left, thus coming into harmony. If an entity is large, it can give out part of its bulk to benefit an entity smaller than itself and thus achieve harmony. However, you should realize that that is not the peace strategy of communism. The respective concepts are very different. Gorbachev is currently making a peace offensive, but he is making that initiative on the basis that the world is already established within the communist system. He will get rid of anything that is contrary to that system by any means, fair or foul. (177-013, 1988.05.15)

We cannot put the world to rights in the future by means of war. Peace, harmony and mutual exchange are what will work. Money cannot do that. There is nothing better than sports. The next best thing is cultural activity. It is a matter of education, of giving scholarships and engaging in sports. After all, didn't China open up through table tennis? (175-336, 1988.05.01)

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