Founding of the Citizens Federation for the Unification of the Fatherland

Following is the full content of the Founder's Address, given by Reverend Moon on May 15, 1987.

My Fellow Citizens!

We are gathered here today to mark the founding of the Citizens' Federation for the Unification of the Fatherland. The unification of our divided country has been our long-cherished hope and desire.

As Koreans, we are proud of our long history extending over 5,000 years and our rich cultural heritage exemplified by a unique language system and elaborate arts.

Korea is noted for its exceptional historical continuity and ethnic homogeneity. Koreans have long inhabited this beautiful land, forming a peace-loving community. Thus, from the beginning, we were destined to live in unity, not in separation.

Contrary to our destiny, we have now experienced 42 years of separation of our people and land. Our deep emotion and gratitude at the time of liberation in 1945 did not last long, and we fell into the tragic separation between the South and North.

Is this national tragedy to be further continued? Do we have to give up our hope for national reunification because the prospects still look dim and improbable?

My fellow citizens!

I declare with my full conviction that the time for the unification of our fatherland is at hand. We are gathered here today to facilitate its coming through founding the Citizens' Federation for the Unification of the Fatherland.

Now we should think for a moment how we were able to obtain our liberation in 1945. There were two cardinal factors. One was the sacrifice and dedication of those who gave their lives for the restoration of the lost independence; the other was the global situation at the time of the Japanese defeat at the end of World War II.

The unification of our fatherland must come from the same principles. The movement of international communism of the past 70 years is now coming to its final phase. The decline of the Soviet Union, and the countries under its domination, is apparent. They are no longer able to conceal their history of failure and deception. The fall of communism is, no doubt, linked to the fall of Kim Il Sung. This will serve as a factor for facilitating the reunification of our fatherland.

Under the circumstances, it is most appropriate for us to make a move to ignite the flame of the unification movement, elevating this movement to the level of faith in heaven.

The 38th Parallel as Value Perspective

The 38th parallel not only marks a physical division of blood ties but is also a boundary of conflicting thoughts and value perspectives. Because of the conflicting value perspectives, and despite the fact that we are all brethren descended from the same stock, we fought against each other during the Korean war, ignoring this blood relationship.

Confrontation of Theism and Atheism

What is the basic difference between such conflicting value perspectives? We find the difference in the confrontation between theism and atheism. The fundamental feature of communism is its denial of God. There is no absolute value in communism because it denies the idea of God and does not hold any criterion for good and evil. From this notion, we can easily derive the principle of the communist revolution that "The end justifies the means."

The communist theoreticians claim that communism is a science, denying God and all religions and denouncing mythology as superstition. Did science, in reality, wipe out all religions, mythology, and God from the world in the 20th century?

The answer is no. Rather, communism itself was branded by science as a 19th-century superstition. Science in the 20th century is serving as a witness to God by overthrowing the 19th-century view of the cosmos. The cosmos was viewed at that time as being composed of absolutely solid particles which could not be divided into smaller units. Based on this view, the communists expounded their fundamental philosophy of materialism, saying that the cosmos is essentially composed of material.

However, atomic physics in the 20th century has revealed clearly that material is intangible energy and that the two are compatible and interchangeable. Now scientists today are of the opinion that the emergence of the universe was not an accident which just resulted from the law of causality. The implication is that there was an action of the primary will. This primary cause in science is called "God" in religion.

The creator of this universe is a God of emotion, will and intellect. In His image we were created, and He finds delight in the flow of love to and from man. It thus follows that denying God is like denying the existence of our parents. A true and just value perspective emerges from affirmation of this notion of creation by God. The fall of communism is now apparent as science proves that it is a fabrication, verifying that communism, as a value perspective, is not only worthless but is destined to perish.

Fallacy of View of Man in Communism

In the communist view, man is treated simply as a mechanical system or as mere matter in motion, evolved from the apes. To the communists, labor is god, and man is merely an animal evolved to a higher stage. Man is deprived of his inherent freedom and creativity when he lives in a system based on the communist view of man.

In communist society, man is simply a tool for violence and revolution. Man is free only when he is placed in this category; otherwise he is worthless. This is why man is treated like a subhuman in communist society. The records show that over 150 million innocent people have been massacred in the past 70 years since the Russian Revolution.

The basic rights and integrity of man emanate from the status granted by God as His creature. Man is given divine nature and any harm done to him is therefore harm committed against God. Man's life is eternal as he was created in the image of God as an entity of eternal truth.

The unforgivable crime committed by communists is their denial of God. Denial of God led them to treat men as just an evolved animal in motion, denying man's inherent basic rights and freedom.

We see in the world today the confrontation of these two conflicting value systems not only on the Korean peninsula but in many other regions. Unless this confrontation is resolved on a worldwide basis, our hope for Korean unification remains only an illusion. It is therefore essential to resolve world problems if we are to resolve the issue of Korean unification, and vice versa.

Godism for Resolving Value Conflicts

Godism is the proposition that I have expounding for resolving the conflicting value systems in the world today. Godism is Unification Thought. Godism aims to clarify the existence of God and basic God-given human rights. Godism is instrumental and indispensable if we are to free the communist world from its distorted vision and the Euro-American world from its secular humanism and decadent materialism. Our movement for unification must be grounded on this system of Unification Thought, which provides us with a reformulation of the value system.

Free Unification as Just Unification

In the confrontation between conflicting value perspectives, our primary goal must be to pursue free unification grounded on the principles of freedom and democracy. No other forms of unification comply with these principles, as freedom is valued as a sacred and inalienable right endowed by God. We share this right with our brethren in North Korea even though they have been deprived of this right for over 40 years.

We must learn from the experience of Vietnam. It is entirely wrong to consider that Vietnam is now unified. On the contrary, I tell you that Vietnam has been placed in servitude under the Soviet Union. Millions of Vietnamese were purged, and numerous boat people are floating on the high seas at the risk of their lives. Vietnam now ranks as one of the poorest nations in the world, with its per-capita income at less than $100 US. Truthfully speaking, no one could say that Vietnam has been unified.

Our brethren in North Korea thirst for liberation, and this can only be accomplished by means of our movement on a global scale. We must strive on behalf of our brethren in North Korea who have thirsted after freedom and happiness under the darkness of communist rule.

North Korea's Unification Stratagem

The North Korean regime has been propagating its unification tactics and strategy, declaring that South Korea must be liberated from the rule of American imperialists and that the people of the South must eventually be united under the Juche (self-reliance) ideology of Kim Il Sung. The obvious result of such a strategy is that the people of the South will be subjugated under the rule of Kim Il Sung and his son under the banner of unification.

For the past 40 years, the North Korean regime has been pushing desperately for unification under the guise of various "peace offensives." Despite this constant pressure from the North and the threat of armed invasion, South Korea has achieved remarkable economic growth and a prominent status in the international community.

South Korea now outranks the North by a ratio of 5.5 to 1 in terms of the gross national product, and is ranked 20th in the world in terms of GNP and 12th in terms of trade volume at the end of 1985. South Korea now looks set to be placed in a far superior position to the North in economic and military strength following the Seoul Olympics in 1988. Kim Il Sung might then in desperation seek to achieve unification by armed aggression before he dies. No one can deny Kim Il Sung might take such a risk. He might even harass the Olympics by a limited military assault. In this light, the next one or two years are very crucial for our achievement of unification. Thus reviewed, our gathering today for the founding of the Citizens' Federation for the Unification of the Fatherland is of high significance in the history of our nation.

Reformulation of Value System and Thought Armament

What is to be done? The task of the Citizens Federation for the Unification of the Fatherland is not simple or easy. In the first place, we must formulate a new value system appropriate for the reconciliation and unity of our people. Our thought must be armed with this value system.

The free world is now exposing its main weakness, its lack of guiding thought. This vacuum was created by material affluence and a confused value system, and resulted in secular humanism. Aiming at this weak point, the communist world continues to expand its hegemony.

The Third World War must be a war of ideas. The defeat of communism is not possible by military means alone. Thought armament is mandatory in order to win over communism. Only Godism can accomplish this task. There is no alternative.

The Citizen's Federation for the Unification of the Fatherland must be the advance guard in this movement to arm the thought of our people. Godism is strong and resourceful enough that not only can it liberate our brethren in the North but also all people suffering under the yoke of communist rule. The movement of Godism is warning of the dangers, and it is motivating people toward a spiritual awakening from the indulgence, immorality, and corruption rampant in the affluent free world.

I sponsored the first mass meeting for Godism in 1976. This historic event was held in Washington DC, the capital of the United States. I openly declared then that the next site of our Godism meeting would be Moscow for sure. I am convinced that Godism can free the Soviet Union from communism. So I ask, what is causing the delay in the decline of communism? Communism's end is delayed because we cannot show an alternative to communism, because we have failed to arm ourselves with a strong thought.

I strongly urge that we initiate this new movement in Korea and expand it to an international level. We need to be armed with Godism or we cannot overcome communism or Kim Il Sung's so-called Juche ideology.

The Movement of Godism

I call our Godism movement the "Head-wing" movement in contrast to the left- and right-wing movements. The true peace of the world can only be preserved by the thought system of the head wing, as the conventional left- and right-wing thoughts are all ego-centered or power-oriented. Ego-centeredness breeds conflicts of interest, making the preservation of peace or unification less and less feasible.

Altruism emanates only from God's providence of love, as God is the essence of love. Just as the head controls the whole human body and its functions, so Godism, the head-wing thought, is superior to right- or left-wing thought. The right and left arms are parts of the whole body, but without the head in the center, the whole configuration becomes void of function and thus meaningless.

With Godism as the head-wing thought, we look forward to moving toward the goal of achieving the unification of our fatherland. Our aim is not to invade the North or to indoctrinate the South but to bring a symbiosis grounded on the value system armed with the thought of head wing.

Unification as a Faith Movement

We need to develop passion for unification as only passion can make you practice what you believe. This passion for unification must be elevated to the level of a faith movement. I believe God will help us when we are all united in this movement and furthermore when we pledge our dedication and sacrifice.

Without sacrifice on our part, our passion for unification is a mere illusion. As one project of the Citizen's Federation for the Unification of the Fatherland, I am currently planning to build a House of Prayer for Unification and a center for unification training near the 38th parallel. We can then project our heated, passionate desire for unification north of the 38th parallel.

Building Up Our Vigor

We should be ever more vigorous in our movement for unification. Vigor and resourcefulness are mandatory in order for us to destroy the blockade built by Kim Il Sung, which keeps North Korea as one of the most primitive and closed societies under the name of Kim's Juche thought. Kim must be overwhelmed by our thought system, induced to surrender and geared to our proposal for unification.

As noted, reformulation of a new value system and arming ourselves with Godism are prerequisites for our movement for unification. In addition, we must point out the importance of our national strength and status in the international community as an advanced democratic nation.

True democracy is the way to win over dictatorship and personality cults. We find in Abraham Lincoln's speech the eternal truth "... that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth." The democratization of our nation is, therefore, the topmost priority.

Gaining International Support for the Unification Movement

Finally, we should take initiative in promoting and facilitating international support for our unification movement. We have to win support from our allies such as the United States and the neighboring superpowers such as China and Japan.

We should even seek a way to convince the Soviet Union to render its support for unification by persuading the North that it can no longer remain closed.

Hopefully, we should be able to cause the regime in the North to denounce communism under the pressure of democratic development in the South and to become a willing partner in the unification of our fatherland. Kim Il Sung might quickly crumble once this process begins.

As you are all well aware, I have been promoting a movement of media and thought in the free world. My headquarters are in the United States. The Washington Times and a number of other press organs are in operation in various places in the world, providing education to those who are engaged in press work. International organizations for intellectuals and professors, for students, for war veterans, and a movement for unity in South America are operating under my guidance. In addition, an interdenominational religious movement is also in operation with my personal involvement and support.

I have been doing my utmost to exert influence in the United States and Japan while establishing bases for operation in countries in Europe and South America and even exerting influence in China for the benefit of facilitating international support for the unification of Korea.

As you know well, Korea's geopolitical situation is delicate. The interests of the four superpowers the United States, Japan, China and the Soviet Union all converge on the Korean peninsula. We must consider these four superpowers in order to gain support for our movement for our movement for unification.

I have already achieved substantial success in this endeavor. On the basis of this success, we are now opening a new chapter in this movement. Such a movement cannot and should not be carried out single-handedly. Needless to repeat, international cooperation and support are mandatory. The Citizen's Federation for the Unification of the Fatherland is therefore expected to develop into an Asian federation and eventually into a world federation for the ultimate success of the movement. This is the long cherished hope of all mankind as well as that of God.

My fellow citizens! It is now our obligation to take on the task of the movement for unification, and it is of national as well as international significance. Men and women of devotion and dedication are called for this historic task and assignment. You are gathered here today, called to this task, to take part in the founding of the Citizen's Federation for the Unification of the Fatherland.

The founding father of our nation, Tangun, under the golden adage of "Worship of heaven and love of man," built the foundation for the first community in this land. The essence of Godism evolved from this spirit of establishing human value. Godism thus originated from our land.

I have already pointed out that Korea's problems are a smaller version of the world's problems, and the solution of the world's problems is essentially linked with Korea's problems. In a sense, the implication is that Korea can provide a solution for the world's problems. This is very true, for Godism is not only the solution for the unification of Korea, but it also serves as a means for freeing all people from communism and from secular humanism.

My patriotic fellow citizens!

Let us march forward in the movement for unification, armed with Godism, the new value system, and the new thought of the head-wing.

With our strenuous faith, we should now solemnly declare that we accept this calling to become the advance guard of the movement for unification.

In closing my founding address, I pray that God may abundantly bless you and your families!

Thank you.