by Rev. Young Hwi Kim
Chapter 32
February 17, 1985
We usually want to know whether someone is a good person or not when we meet them. This cannot be determined by external examination only though. People often conceal their true nature, projecting a false image. Thus when you have known someone only a short while, you don't really know him. In Korea we have a saying: you must travel with someone for a week before you really know him. This doesn't mean today's method of traveling. This is a very old proverb, from the days when one traveled on foot or on horseback and stayed in the same room with others. You ate together, you slept together, in fact you did everything together; your character was exposed 24 hours a day. When traveling together under such circumstances, you quickly get to know your traveling companions, discovering what kind of character they have and how high their ideals are. By sharing our life together we can understand each other; we can know whether a person is good or bad.
So when we want to understand someone we not only examine his external appearance, but his way of life as well. By observing his actions we can determine whether he is good or bad. We can compare ideologies in a similar way. There are many different ideologies and moral standards. Scholars claim that it is impossible to determine which is right and which is wrong. They say that each individual is free to determine his own standard of morality and no one can say whether his choice was good or bad, right or wrong. If we accept this premise, however, there can be no universal standard of goodness or morality. How can we determine which ideology and which standard of morality is good and which is not? We must decide based on the result. In this way we can determine whether an ideology or moral conviction is right or wrong. Of course, the motivation is also important. When determining someone's guilt or innocence in a court of law, the judge not only considers the person's action, but his motivation as well. Nevertheless even if someone had a good motivation, if he commits a crime, he must be punished. So actually the results are more important than the motivation.
There are two conflicting societies in the world. One is communist, the other is democratic. We could also describe them as the closed or controlled society and the open or free society. We can thus divide the world into two camps. The controlled societies are a result of Communism and the free world is free, there is very little control. Which system is right? Many young people believe in Communism because it promises many good things. They want to establish an ideal world, and believe they can do so through Communism. This is why they participate in Communist activities. But can Communism really bring about the ideal world? We know the reality of the Communist world. But even without such evidence we can deduce what kind of world will result from their ideology by studying it. Even without experiencing life under Communism we can foretell the outcome of such an ideology.
When one person rules for a long time, he can easily lose his original motivation. Although he may have good intentions in the beginning, after many years he may become corrupt as a result of his power and be influenced by the people around him to favor one particular section of society. This is the reality of dictatorships everywhere. This is why elections are held every four to six years in the West; to prevent such things from happening. When we examine the Communist world, however, we note that a single political party has ruled the Soviet Union since 1917. There has been no change; the Communist Party has been in control for almost seventy years.
Communist societies are closed, there is no freedom of speech. People cannot find out what is going on in the government or the nation because the truth is kept from them; all information is controlled. Even in free countries where everything is open, if one party is in power for many years it may become corrupt. But in a closed society like the Soviet Union where everything is secret, one party has been in power for more than sixty years, so all kinds of corruption has taken place.
Kim Il Sung has been in power in North Korea for more than forty years. There is no freedom of speech, no freedom of worship, no freedom of assembly, nothing! They cannot discover the truth; one man controls everything. All kinds of corruption can take place in such a situation. How can we expect the ideal to be realized under such circumstances? It is impossible. If Communists believed in God it would be better, but they don't. Kim Il Sung has taken the position of God in North Korea. Those who believe in God know they cannot hide anything from Him, so they must be honest in front of God. But those who don't believe in God can do anything they want. How can we expect fairness and goodness to exist in such a world? We cannot!
We can see what kind of society will develop where people don't believe in God and one party remains in power for many years. The results have shown our assumptions to be true. A new ruling class has developed in Communist nations; the nation is run for the benefit of these people. They say that they want a classless society, but in reality a class society has been established. We cannot establish the ideal world under such a system. They deny God and say that man is only an extension of material. If this is so then man is just like the animals. They also say that since animals have no conscience, there is no reason man should have a conscience either. This is the logic they use to deny man's reason and conscience, concluding that man is just another animal and nothing more. If this were true though, then man's behavior should be guided solely by his instinct, but they guide their lives according to their ideology. This contradicts their own theory. Animals have no ideology; they eat, sleep and mate, that's all; they have no goals or ideals etc.
Communists talk about freedom and brotherhood all the time, but only in order to deceive people. Despite the authorities' speeches about equality, people are divided into two classes: the ruling class and the general public. Communists believe that any action is justifiable in order to achieve their goal; the end justifies the means. They feel no pangs of conscience; every kind of deceit and trickery is acceptable. How can we expect to find fairness, freedom and righteousness in a land where man's conscience isn't even recognized? Freedom, equality and fairness cannot exist in the Communist world. The only equality we can find there is the equality of animals, no more. Instinct governs the animal world. Animals don't think of others, they put themselves first. Consequently in a materialistic society everybody wants to be first. The Communist authorities know this, so they control everyone very strictly. They control everyone, because if the people are given freedom they will just kill each other, as their theory suggests. Just as we would confine a wild animal in a cage, they want to keep people in a cage. They exercise strict control over the population; controlling everything.
The best way of controlling man is to control his food. If you control the food, you control the animal as well. Many animals are trained for circus performances. They are trained by controlling their food. When they obey the trainer, they receive some special treat as a reward. The animals learn this and are trained gradually. The Communists use the same method with people. People know that if they follow the directions of the party they will receive some privileges. This is how they are controlled. So they have to follow the directions of the party in order to get food. Their very survival is at stake, so they obey. This is how the Communists control people. It's obvious that the ideal world cannot come about in this way. Now we can see the importance of recognizing God. God should have a central position in our lives, then we can develop our conscience and ability to reason, which can direct us in all that we do.
One important aspect of man's life is to help others. You also benefit from helping others. Whenever you receive something you automatically want to give something in return. This is an important principle in man's life. We call this give and take action. As a child you received much love and care from your parents, so now you want to do something for them; you want to return their love. When you receive a lot from someone you want to return a lot. It is more than just appreciation, you want to reciprocate. This is an important aspect of man's life. We couldn't create the ideal world without it. When parents give much love and care to their child, the child is indebted to them. Of course he cannot do so much when he is young, but when he grows up he wants to give something back. He wants to make them happy because he loves them. Imagine what life would be like if we didn't have this attitude. God loves mankind so much, but if we don't have the desire to return His love, we cannot have give and take with Him. Parents invest all their love in their children, but if the children don' respond or have any desire to return this love, the relationship will be one sided and won't last long. But when we have this desire to reciprocate, the relationship can be maintained and strengthened. We can become one. This desire to reciprocate is very important in life.
We always remain a child in the eyes of our parents. Even when a man is 40, 50 or even 60 years old he is still his parents' little boy, because they are still concerned about him, just as they were when he was a small child. If he doesn't come home on time, they may worry, just as they did when he was young. I know of one case where the son was already a grandfather, but his mother still called him "my little son". Children remain children, whether they are young or old. We should try to maintain the same feeling for our parents. No matter how old we are, our parents are our parents. If we maintain this attitude our relationship will be closer. So even if you obtain a powerful position when you grow up, you must always respect and love your parents. The parent-child relationship is eternal. So is our relationship to God. Whether we are young or old, or have an important position or not, shouldn't change our relationship with God; we will always be children in His eyes.
Love is more powerful than life, it is the source of life itself. Your life came about through your parents' love. Love should be greater than life; this is why you can sacrifice your life for your love. What would happen if life were greater than love? If someone could sacrifice his love for the sake of his life, there would be no more love. We need a love-centered world. Otherwise we cannot have an ideal world. Love doesn't exist in the animal world, only in the human world and particularly in the parent-child relationship. God and man should have a parent-child relationship. When we acknowledge this we can find true love. If we deny God, however, we cannot have an ideal world because there will be no true love.
Even in the free world there are people who deny the existence of God. Many problems arise as a result of this. When is someone bad? When he violates heavenly law, taking drugs for example or indulging in homosexual behavior or free sex. These things are obviously wrong. You can only do such things if you deny God. Evil originated as a result of denying God. To realize the ideal world we must eliminate all evil and there is no way to eliminate evil without introducing God into peoples' lives, so we can conclude that the ideal can only come about through a relationship with God. Thus even without experiencing life in the Communist world, we can deduce that Communism can never establish the ideal.
Some scholars claim that we cannot determine what is good and what is bad. This is not true. We can predict the result of a certain ideology and thus determine its value. When we see the results of an ideology we can easily pass the right judgment. Our members should be able to do this. When we see something we have to be able to determine whether it is right or wrong. We shouldn't be indifferent like so many people. When we can differentiate right from wrong we will be able to follow the right direction, the right way of life. If we are uncertain, it will be very difficult to follow the direction God desires.
As I said before, we don't want to hide ourselves, but be free and open, especially as individuals. When we are open hearted we can easily accept good advice from others. Everybody needs support, no one is perfect in every way. We need advice in order to improve ourselves, so we should be open to advice from others, then we can become better people.
Let us pray:
Our loving Heavenly Father, we came here this morning to greet you and to receive your love and your words. Father, you created us as your children, therefore you want to love us, giving us ever more of your love. We must return our love to you. You want to receive our love so you can give us more of yours; after receiving our love you want to give us even greater love. This is why you ask us to love you. Father, many people couldn't understand this until now. We have to love you in order to receive more love from you.
Without your love we cannot experience true happiness nor the ideal. We know this. You want to give us your love so we can experience true happiness, therefore we must be able to receive your love and return our love to you. When we have give and take of love we can experience true happiness and enjoy life in the Kingdom of Heaven on earth and in the spirit world; we can live together with you for eternity. Father, this is your ideal. You don't want to be separated from your loving children, but want to live together with them for eternity. We also want to live together with you for eternity. This is the foundation to realize your ideal here on earth. Father, our True Parents came to introduce this idea to us. We have learned much from them about you and your love. We want to become like our True Parents by following their example. Our Father is now in Danbury, suffering for us and all of humanity. We hope that the day will soon come when the world will recognize our Father and Mother and accept them as their True Parents. Today is Sunday; we want to do something for you today. We ask for your guidance in our everyday life. We want to walk with you and work to bring many people back to you, making this your ideal world.
We pray all this in the name of our True Parents. Amen.