Currently, 93 questions and answers are alphabetically arranged according to keywords.
These are actual questions posed to our movement over the years.
In the ideal world God hoped would come into existence after He’d created the first man and woman, children would have been regarded as a precious gift from God. Sex would have been viewed as something holy because through the sexual act man and woman would become God’s co-creators, creating new life. God created life originally, but gave us humans the ability to create life in the form of babies. In such a world, no one would want to terminate a pregnancy, except in the case of some serious danger to the mother’s health.
However, the world God had envisioned, never materialized, and instead an extremely different world – with plenty of evil – came into being. Even in the advanced societies of today, there is so much wickedness and immorality that many hesitate to set children into such a world. And when we see incredibly evil deeds like rape being used as weapon of war, then it is impossible to be absolutely against abortion.
An important thing to consider, however, in order to understand the current abortion debate, is today’s free sex culture. Abortion goes hand in hand with a free sex lifestyle. Advocates of free sex are also advocates of abortion. Children are most of the time not welcome into such a lifestyle and are seen as a problem. One of the characteristics of today’s free sex culture is an irresponsible lifestyle without obligations. Many have sex with people they are not even friends with, someone you meet by chance at a disco or in a bar. And if you become pregnant after such a relationship, you may always use emergency contraception or have an abortion. As long as we have such a culture, we’ll see many abortions.
The Family Federation obviously considers music and art in general to be something very important in life. Art is able to convey emotions that are difficult to express in any other way. Therefore, art has the ability to convey a message that may make a deep impression on us. Art is something spiritual and is meant to help us in our spiritual or inner development. Art may lift us over the hardships of everyday life and give us a feeling of something greater.
We are committed to creating a culture based on eternal values such as love, truth, goodness and peace. The most important thing in such a culture is to live for others, for one’s fellow human beings, both one’s loved ones and people generally in society. The culture we hope to create, is a culture based on individual maturity, marriage and family as well as a life in harmony with the surroundings.
We now live in an individualistic culture, characterized by selfishness, materialism and conflict. This is not how we want the world to be. But in order for it to get better, it is important that we learn to practice a selflessness where we not only take others into consideration, but actually do things for them.
We aim at developing a culture based on spiritual values and overcoming materialism. But there must of course be a balanced and harmonious relationship between the spiritual and the material aspects of life.
It is also important that the family is recognized as the most important social institution. Today, it is the individual which is at the center, the individual’s rights and demands. That is one of the reasons why there is so much divorce. If there is to be a better culture, the family must function well. Our experiences in the family we grow up in, are something we take with us for the rest of our lives. That’s why family is so important.
Everything in the culture that contributes to developing mature individuals and good families, is something good. Besides, everything in the culture that helps us to live in harmony with nature, is something good.
Our movement does not have a lot of rules for what kind of music and culture that ought to be promoted. We leave it to each individual. We emphasize freedom, that we freely choose what kind of life we live. This also applies to the kind of culture we surround ourselves with.
But it is of course important to make conscious choices and not just follow the current or prevailing culture, the popular culture. There is a lot in the culture around us that we’d better keep a good distance to. That is when you need to be aware of the choices you make. And that is where we believe our teachings may be of good help. Our teachings are not just a belief in something vague, but give clear insight into life’s big questions. That definitely helps you make the right choices in life.
The rule is to stay away from alcohol and other drugs. We look at drunkenness, wild parties and excesses as sin. Alcohol and other drugs often cause you to lose control as an individual and easily do things you regret later and wish you had never done. We recommend our members to avoid environments with drinking pressure, where it is normal to drink alcohol. And the harmful effects of drug abuse can be even worse.
It is not a certain atmosphere per se we in The Family Federation primarily seek to create. Our primary goal is to create a world of love. We seek to practice such a love whenever we meet. We seek to live a life based on a true love for our fellow human beings. And love creates the atmosphere.
It is of course easier said than done to create a world of love, but we aim for that goal. It is when people from very different backgrounds show a true love for each other, across religious, racial, cultural and national divides, that God can finally feel at home in the human world. And that is what God has always longed for, to live in the midst of us.
The Unification teachings represent a paradigm shift in religious / spiritual thinking. A paradigm shift is a systematic shift in the way of thinking that is of considerable size and scope. Father Moon uses the phrase “super-religion beyond religious barriers” about his teachings.
The peaceful world that we work to create, is a world based on mature individuals, who create good families, communities and nations. That was the kind of world God originally planned when He created. However, the first son and daughter of God failed to reach personal maturity and therefore also failed to create a harmonious family. All mankind is descended from the first man and woman (Adam and Eve). Because they were never able to realize God’s ideal of creation, and because they never attained the necessary maturity to become the True Parents of humanity, their descendants, i.e., all humankind, did not receive the necessary example of perfect individuals, ideal families, societies, and nations.
Adam should have become the True Father of mankind and Eve the True Mother. Instead, they became a false father and a false mother, creating an evil world full of false love, false life, and a false lineage.
For that reason, God, humankind’s heavenly Father / Mother, has worked non-stop to save us humans and restore His lost ideal of love. After thousands of years, God finally succeeded in creating the right circumstances for a child to be born who did not belong to the fallen lineage, and who was therefore free from original sin. That was Jesus. He was born of human parents, but God also played an immensely important role in his conception. Therefore, Jesus was “the second Adam”. Jesus was therefore a very special and unique child, different from all other children. He grew up and became a perfect man, with the messianic mission. He was a concrete example of a true individual and thus realized God’s ideal on the individual level.
However, because he did not receive the necessary support from his family, kindred and people, he was unable to resurrect a “second Eve”. Therefore, God’s ideal was not realized on the family level. Jesus had all the necessary qualities and qualifications to be the True Father of humankind, but under the prevailing circumstances, it was impossible for him to restore a woman, prepared by God, to be the True Mother of humankind. Jesus had instead to walk a path full of suffering. By sacrificing his life on the cross, after his resurrection he became the True Father of humanity spiritually. The Messiah no longer had a physical body and was therefore unable to establish the Kingdom of Heaven on earth. That is the Messiah’s original, primary task. Instead, Jesus founded the Christianity and was able to give those who believe in him, spiritual salvation. The mission of the Holy Spirit is to be the True Mother of humanity spiritually.
God’s ideal was therefore not established here on earth at Jesus’ time. Thus the Return of the Messiah became necessary. God had to work again to create the right conditions for the “third Adam” to be born, a man who is able to complete what Jesus began. The “third Adam” (Messiah’s second coming) must become a true example of a perfect individual and thus be qualified to become the True Father of mankind. He must restore a prepared woman to become True Mother. The task of the True Parents is to become a true married couple and form a family with God at the center, and also open the way for all people to be able to form families that are blessed by God. Such families must then lay a foundation for creating harmonious societies and nations. In that way, a world filled with peace and love will eventually be created. That will be the Kingdom of Heaven on earth.
We look at the Bible as a sacred book. However, a holy book is not the truth itself, but a textbook in the truth. There is a lot in the Bible that should definitely not be taken literally. The Bible is full of symbols and parables. The reason why Christianity is divided into so many different denominations is precisely that Scripture is interpreted in different ways. We do not view the Bible as a perfect representation of the truth. Had the Bible been that way, society with a predominantly Christian culture would probably have functioned far better. Of course, the same can be said of the individuals who lived in harmony with the Bible’s message, and Christian families.
The Unification Principles (The Divine Principle) describe the Bible as a ‘textbook teaching the truth’. The way that truth is revealed, depends on the historical context in which is it given. This is why the way God revealed himself to the people of Israel through the prophets changed. Jesus himself re-interpreted the teachings of Moses and prophets for his own time. In 1935 Jesus invited Sun Myung Moon to complete his mission – the messianic task to bring world peace. To do that Father Moon studied the Bible intensively to discover the truths contained there so he could express them in a way that speaks to the world today. This is why the Divine Principle describes itself as a ‘new expression of the truth.’ As well as that we believe he has revealed new insights and understandings never revealed before that are consistent with the teachings in the Bible, but expand and develop them to a new and deeper level. The Unification Principles (The Divine Principle) also reveal God’s providence over the last 2,000 years since the time of Jesus.
Activists who for various reasons oppose the Unification Church and other new religious movements, claim that such movements brainwash young people in order to gain more followers and exercise an extremely strong form of mental control over their members. However, serious scientific research has found that such ridiculous claims do not match reality at all. If it were true that new religious movements really have techniques that enable them to control the mind and will of people they come into contact with, then a very large percentage of the participants in the courses organized by such groups would have become members. The British sociologist Eileen Barker concluded in her book “The Making of a Moonie” after studying the Unification Church over several years, that this is not the case at all. Only a few percent decide to join, and of these, more than half leave the movement within a year.
We have very few religious ceremonies. The most important one is the blessing ceremony, where couples (usually together with many others) receive the Marriage Blessing.
Prior to the blessing, the couples participate in a holy wine ceremony. Drinking this holy wine symbolizes that original sin has been forgiven. Original sin is the root of all other sin. Therefore, we cannot fully get rid of other sins until we have had the original sin removed. The original sin is a sin that even Jesus could not take away. It came into the world through Adam and Eve, who became the fallen, false parents of mankind. The original sin can therefore only be removed when we humans get True Parents, a married couple who realize God’s true love ideal.
Instead of baptism, we have a special dedication ceremony, which takes place on the eighth day after birth. The main content of this ceremony is the prayer of the parents. They pray for the baby and pray that God may protect the child throughout his / her life, especially when growing up, so that the child may grow up to be a true son or daughter of God and fulfill the purpose God created human beings for. The parents solemnly promise during this ceremony to do your best to fulfill their responsibility for the child to receive a religious / moral upbringing and learn about God and his ideal for humanity.
We also have a funeral ceremony. However, we do not see physical death as the end of life. After living here on earth, we go to the spiritual world. Life therefore continues automatically after death. Under normal circumstances, we do not view a funeral as a sad experience. For us, the funeral marks the beginning of one’s life in the spiritual world.
Especially for those who helped God make this world a better place, physical death should be something we are not sad about. Death is something similar to your birth. When you are born, you come out of the womb. When you die, you also enter a new and different world. The nine months in the mother’s womb are a preparation for your physical life. Your life here on earth is a preparation for your eternal life in the spirit world.
The Family Federation teaches that all religions have a lot in common with each other, e.g. many of their fundamental values.
We believe that God is the source of all religions. Many of the differences between religions are cultural and have arisen because the different religions evolved under very different historical circumstances. Nevertheless, there are sometimes large differences in certain areas, and that easily leads to misunderstandings and conflicts. That is why we need dialogue and cooperation. That way, we may get to know each other and each other’s views better.
Our movement has been known as one of the world’s largest sponsors of interfaith and ecumenical conferences. We look at the religious world as a family, where Christianity and other religions are like older siblings of our movement, which is like their younger brother.
We believe that all religions must work together to achieve a better world. God is not primarily concerned with what religion we belong to, but how much we love our fellow human beings in a selfless way.
The Family Federation is primarily a spiritual / religious movement, but when it comes to militantly anti-religious ideologies, we’re forced to take a stance. There are things in our society that a religious / spiritual movement cannot close its eyes to.
Our movement thus took a clear anti-communist stance throughout the Cold War. This was not done for political reasons, but because we view any totalitarian system, be it communism, fascism or extreme forms of nationalism, as something evil.
God created us to be free people in a free world. Communism is not just a totalitarian system, but represents in addition a materialism that denies God and the human spirit and is militantly opposed to religion. Communism is the very antithesis of the ideals we promote. Just look at the Orwellian Big-Brother state the Chinese communist party has developed, with millions of Uyghurs being locked up and brainwashed in so-called “re-education” camps.
One doesn’t have to be political to point out the evils of Communism. Religion is meant to promote goodness and oppose evil forces. Therefore, it is clearly the moral duty of religious believers to be against totalitarian and evil systems like Communism, Fascism, militant Islamism, extreme forms of liberalism and nationalism. All such ideologies attack and seek to control religion and human spirituality.
That’s in a nutshell why the Family Federation for purely spiritual reasons, and not political ones, is opposed to totalitarian Communism.
Jesus giving his life on the cross was, according to The Family Federation, an extremely important condition for God to be able to save all humankind. God sacrificed His only begotten Son to save everyone else. If Jesus had not given his life, it would have been impossible for God to save us.
Nevertheless, the crucifixion must be seen in a larger context. We must understand what the real and ultimate purpose of God’s work of salvation is. It is to create the Kingdom of Heaven here on the earth and in heaven. The crucifixion did not bring the Kingdom of Heaven! Although Jesus preached about such a kingdom while he was here on the earth, the Kingdom of Heaven could not be established under the prevailing conditions 2,000 years ago. Jesus was not received by those who should have accepted and supported him. On the contrary, they allowed him to be killed. But by giving his own life, he opened the way to spiritual salvation for all who believe in him. That became the very foundation of the Christian church and God’s work of salvation for the last two thousand years. On that basis, the Second Coming became possible now in our day, so that the real goal of God’s work of salvation, the Kingdom of Heaven, may now be realized here on the earth. Jesus longed to establish the Kingdom of Heaven while he walked around here on the earth, but unfortunately his dreams did not come true because he had to give his life on a cross.
Sun Myung Moon’s family converted to the Presbyterian denomination of Christianity when he was nine, and he regularly attended church and became a Sunday school teacher. When he was 15, he had a deep encounter with the risen Christ. Jesus commissioned him to continue and complete the messianic mission he had been unable to complete in his lifetime due to the crucifixion. So Father Moon had a deep relationship of love and respect for Jesus.
When after many years of searching, Father Moon had discovered what later became known as the Unification Principles (The Divine Principle), he started teaching it to fellow Christians. Some responded favourably, while others rejected his interpretation of the Bible.
He realised that one of the problems preventing God’s providence to establish the Kingdom of Heaven on earth, was the division within Christianity. So after realising his message was not going to be accepted by traditional denominations, he and some fellow Christians established The Holy Spirit Association for the Unification of World Christianity, commonly called the Unification Church.
Especially during his early public ministry from the 1950s to 1970s, Father Moon deeply imbued his sermons with references to the Bible. “The Exposition of the Divine Principle” outlines the Family Federation’s basic beliefs partially in the style of a Bible commentary and is structured along systematic theological categories. Three entire chapters are devoted to the life and mission of Jesus. Therefore, the teachings of the Family Federation have a lot in common with Christianity and uphold the belief in the messianic role of Jesus of Nazareth.
So we are Christians in that we believe in Jesus, but what we believe about Jesus, is in parts different to other Christians. Father and Mother Moon teach for instance that Jesus should have married.
The Family Federation uses meeting rooms for our services and meetings. Here in Norway we have no church buildings, while in South Korea we have churches in every city. In most countries, we rent meeting rooms. In addition, we hold smaller meetings in people’s homes.
We have many special concepts, such as “The four position foundation”, which we see as the very key to understanding what the meaning of life really is. For the individual, the four positions in such a foundation are: God, mind, body, and mature individual. In order to become a mature individual and realize the purpose of life, it is first necessary to have a relationship with God, secondly that we have a mind that is able to control the body. Then personal development may take place, so that the mind is strengthened and we become stronger connected to God, the source of love. In this way, you may become an individual able to create good relationships, a good marriage, a good family and a good society. We have a large number of other special concepts as well, which you will not find in other religions, and you can read about them in our introduction to the Unification Principles (Divine Principle).
First, we in the Family Federation do not see ourselves as a traditional religion. Most religions have a lot of regulations, rules and rituals. For us, though, the most important is to realize what we regard as the real purpose of all religions, namely to create a world of peace, freedom and love. Such a world can only be achieved if we manage to create peace, freedom and love in each single family. That is why our family life is extremely important to us. The family is the institution where God planned for each individual to learn and experience the most basic forms of love.
We also believe that sin and evil entered the world when the first humans abused their private parts, i.e. had forbidden sexual relations. We therefore place emphasis on refraining from sex before marriage and being faithful to the partner we are marrying. We do our best to stay away from things like casual sex, flirting, pornography and masturbation.
Another important part of our teachings, is to live for others. The individual lives for the family, the family for the society. Our country is meant to serve the world. It is important to live for something higher than oneself or one’s own family. Our spirit is created to realize a higher purpose in life, not be formed by a self-absorbed and materialistic way of life.
In addition, we recommend our members to pray every morning and evening as a minimum, as well as to read from Holy scriptures every day.
There are a lot of such special features in the teachings of the Family Federation. Some of them are:
It is up to each individual member of the Family Federation how much he or she wants to be involved and participate in activities. Generally,
The Family Federation uses posters and large photos. We have for instance a picture of Father and Mother Moon at the front of the room. On the rostrum we use the movement’s symbol or logo. In some meetings, we also use a banner with the theme of the meeting written in large letters, and roll-ups that convey a message. We often use flowers near the rostrum. At Sunday services and other meetings, we usually use a screen for displaying a powerpoint presentation.
We have no rules for decorating meeting rooms. It is left up to the creativity of members / organizers.
The Family Federation has remained one faith. In the past, there have been some tiny splinter groups formed by members who left Father and Mother Moon’s organization. Such groups never attracted many followers, though, and remained within a limited geographical area.
It is important here to understand that each individual member may have a slightly different opinion about certain things. After all, we are all different from each other. Therefore, members tend to vote on different political parties and have different views on complex issues like abortion.
We are stewards, not owners of this planet. This summarizes Father and Mother Moon’s understanding of our responsibility to take care of the environment so that all current and future generations can live in it freely.
There is great abundance in nature. It is only human greed that reduces and destroys that abundance. We are the ones creating famines and poverty through our selfish behaviour.
Nature provides not only every raw material for our needs but also the environment for every breath of life. To sustain our life on this planet, it is of the utmost importance to end our abuse of it and to treat it with respect, gratitude, moderation, and the mind to multiply our resources to benefit all.
Considering the ocean an important resource for the future of humanity, Father and Mother Moon fostered technologies for managing aquatic resources and ocean-related industries. Father Moon was a champion fisherman. He involved his followers in ocean activities and started fisheries with a mind to food security and providing protein in the longer term.
According to the Family Federation, evil does not come from God, who is 100 % good. Evil came into the world because of the rebellion of Lucifer, the archangel, against God. He seduced the first woman sexually, so that she did not become a good and true mother of mankind, but an evil or “false” mother. Then she seduced the first man, so that he became the evil or “false” father of the human race. They both inherited the evil nature from Lucifer. Evil nature was then inherited by every generation born here on earth.
The first without such an evil nature was Jesus. However, he was killed before he could create a good world. However, there must be a final showdown between good and evil. That will happen in the so-called last days, the end times, when the Messiah comes again. He is the one who shows humanity how to completely defeat evil.
The battle between good and evil has unfolded at all times. Little by little after the Fall, the world became completely evil, as described in the account of Noah in the Bible. God had to painstakingly build a foundation for goodness here on earth. He started from one individual and then expanded the good foundation from there, mainly based on religion and conscientious people.
The most difficult question regarding evil, has been why God has not intervened and abolished evil. The reason is simply that he gave man stewardship of the world. Therefore, it is the responsibility of us human beings to create a good world. God assists and guides us, but ultimately it is we humans who must do the work.
Absolutely! Ethical ideals are a very important part of the Family Federation. Our very goal is to create a world based on ethical ideals. In our teachings, we explain how God created man and the whole universe to realize his ideal of love. God is our Heavenly Father / Mother and created us humans as the highest of all created beings, and as His/Her children, in order for Him/Her to have a deep love relationship with us.
In order for this ideal to be realized, God wanted us all to grow to perfection. That can only happen when we put spiritual values above the material. Perfection / maturity means becoming people who have a deep relationship with God’s heart, and who are able to love their fellow human beings 100%, in a selfless and unconditional way. Becoming such people therefore, means that God’s ideal is realized on the individual level. This is therefore an ethical ideal that God wants us all to realize, an absolute ideal.
Central to our movement’s teachings, is the ideal of marriage. Originally, when God created the first humans, God planned that those who realize God’s ideal on an individual level, would then enter into a marriage that He/She could bless. Such a marriage is an eternal relationship, not only for our earthly life, but also for our eternal life in heaven.
In order to realize the ideal of marriage, it is absolutely necessary to live for one’s spouse, to be faithful to and invest 100 % in him / her. The attitude necessary to create a harmonious marriage, is to want to make one’s spouse happy, not to put one’s own happiness first. The greatest joy is to make others happy.
The family ideal is, of course, closely related to the ideal of marriage. We see the family as an extremely important part of God’s ideal. The individual’s happiness depends on good experiences within the family. The family is the fundamental unit where we may experience all of life’s four basic forms of love, namely children’s love for their parents, sibling’s love, marital love and parental love. If our families function well, so can our communities. If we grow up with positive experiences of love within the family, we will also be able to create positive and deep relationships with our fellow human beings elsewhere in the society / world.
Another important ethical ideal for us, has to do with the relationship with our surroundings. God’s ideal is that we humans should show love and care for our surroundings and create a world where humans and nature / surroundings are in total harmony with each other.
To say that the members of the Family Federation are being exploited, is a myth frequently told by anti-religion activists, militant atheists, those suffering from a phobia against everything new in religion, or persons making money on being against certain religious groups. Such persons tend to accuse new religious movements of the same things that Jews, Catholics, Mormons, Seventh-day Adventists, etc. have been accused of up through the ages.
99% of the members of our movement have their own homes, their own jobs and families. They are usually sensible and independent people. To say that such people are being exploited by the movement, is a completely wild claim, which has no basis in reality.
Since Father Moon died on 3rd September 2012, his wife Hak Ja Han, Mother Moon, has been the supreme leader.
Originally, if the first two people had not fallen, humankind would never have needed a Messiah. According to Father and Mother Moon, the task of the Messiah is the same as the task of the original Adam. He, along with Eve, should have created a world based on “true love, true life, and a true lineage”.
Jesus was killed before he could complete this task. The “Marriage of the Lamb” could not be celebrated 2,000 years ago. It has, however, been successfully held now, in our time, by Father and Mother Moon. Therefore, the most important part of Adam and Eve’s original task has already been fulfilled. The “Marriage of the Lamb” also means that mankind has been given True Parents. Therefore, a world based on God’s “true love, true life, and true lineage” has begun to take shape. There is no need for a new Messiah now. The most important part of the task has been achieved. The foundation has been laid.
Yes. The Family Federation does not have any specific rules here. But most of us try to eat healthy foods.
The material and scientific development will probably only continue, but The Family Federation also believes that humankind will experience a spiritual or inner development. Humankind is going to base life not only on physical reality, but also spiritual reality. God, and what he wants of us humans, will play a greater role in many people’s lives. This means that people will have clear ideals to live by. The family is coming back decisively as the most important institution in our lives.
Also eternal life will come to play a more significant role. In this area there will be a revolution. More and more people will understand that life only continues after death. People will adjust their lives accordingly, i.e. we will be less concerned with a materialistic lifestyle. We will also realize that what counts in eternity, is that we have cared for others and lived for others in our earthly life. Therefore, there will be much less individualism and selfishness in the future.
1920: Born after World War I into a Korea suffering and struggling under Japanese occupation.
1935: Easter 1935, had a mystical life-changing encounter with Jesus Christ, who commissioned him to a great mission and taught him personally.
1940s: In his student years, found crystal clear answers to the mysteries of religion and life’s big questions.
Tortured for his involvement in underground Korean independence movement.
1945: After World War II and Korean independence, began to share his profound insights with key persons and movements God led him to. Met with misunderstanding in South Korea. Walked to North Korea and built his own movement there. Soon arrested and tortured by Communist regime. In 1948 sentenced to 5 years in concentration camp.
1950s: Miraculously saved from certain death by UN forces. Came as penniless refugee to the South.
Rapid growth of his movement after Korean War in 1953, officially registered in Seoul 1954.
Against all odds, with handful of followers, built what within 25 years became a global movement.
1960s: Holy Marriage to Hak Ja Han in 1960. Began holding larger and larger Marriage Blessing events, first for his followers and from 1992 for people of all faiths and nations.
1970s: Preached throughout the USA. His rallies filled big stadiums; the largest in Washington attracted 300.000. In South Korea he gathered 1.2 million in 1975. Established schools, newspapers, a hospital, humanitarian aid organisations, shipbuilding facilities, businesses. Started annual conferences for hundreds of eminent scientists, media people and academics. Blessed the marriage of several thousand couples.
1980s: More newspapers established, including The Washington Times. Organised large interreligious conferences. Formed organisations exposing weakness of atheistic materialism. Predicted the imminent collapse of Communism in 1985. Large weddings held for 15,000 couples.
1990s: Personal meetings with top leaders of the Communist world – President Mikhail Gorbachev in Moscow and Chairman Kim II-sung in Pyongyang. 7 years later, built car factory in North Korea. Launched global educational, interfaith and peace initiatives: Family Federation for World Peace and Unification, Women’s Federation for World Peace. Millions of couples receive marriage blessing.
Published World Scripture – A Comparative Anthology of Sacred Texts.
2000s: Major efforts for peace in the Middle East. Launched the Universal Peace Federation.
120-nation speaking tour at the age of 85. Received many honorary doctorates.
Autobiography As a Peace Loving Global Citizen published 2009. Became bestseller in South Korea.
2010s: Died at age of 92 in 2012. Mother Moon continued to expand the activities throughout the world. Large religious groups with millions of followers started to embrace the teachings.
There can be many things that obstruct or harm human freedom. It is e.g. still many despots around the world. Individualism and selfishness also destroy our freedom. We are created to live for others and be socially involved. Living for others is one of the most important spiritual laws in the universe. If you live for yourself all the time, you eventually become unhappy and unfree.
There are also many negative forces in society that appeal to our innate search for freedom, but which can easily make us highly unfree, e.g. a culture dominated by alcohol and partying, drugs and free sex. You may so easily become a slave to such things. You may think you are free to try everything and go completely unbridled, and believe that is what total freedom is all about. But that is a total misunderstanding of freedom. You must constantly take responsibility for yourself and not become dependent on a destructive lifestyle. A lack of understanding of the spiritual and physical laws of the universe, makes us unfree. Selfishness and individualism make us unfree.
We are for full equality and women’s liberation. God created man in his image, as man and woman. God must therefore necessarily have both male and female aspects, and consequently not only be our Heavenly Father, but also our Heavenly Mother. Since the masculine and the feminine are two complementary aspects of God, man and woman also complement each other, and need each other. They have the same value.
There is, of course, a difference between man and woman, not only physically, but also spiritually / mentally. Yet both are equally valuable.
Gender equality does not mean that women should be as similar as possible to men, as some feminists seem to believe. There is only full equality when everyone understands the value of both the masculine and the feminine, and allows both of these aspects of humanity to be freely expressed in society.
God is the Creator, who created everything to realize his ideal. Central to God’s ideal are mature men and women, harmonious marriages and families with God at the center, and a humanity that lives in harmony with nature.
God is not only masculine, but also feminine. In God, the masculine and the feminine are in harmony with each other.
The essence of God is his heart. God also has feelings, intellect, and will. He / she created us humans for us to exist in a love relationship with him / her. The relationship between God and human beings is a parent-child relationship. God wants us humans, his / her children, to understand him / her. Our teachings provide a thorough explanation of God’s nature and His / Her deep heart.
We see God as the Creator of the universe. The essence of God is his heart and mind, while his energy represents his outer aspect. Since heart is central to God, he longs for a heart relationship with us, that is, a love relationship. Emotions, intellect, and will are important qualities of God’s mind. He created us humans in His image, with these qualities. To develop a relationship with God therefore, means to come to feel some of the things God feels, think along similar paths to God, and develop a will to do some of the things that God likes to see done.
God does not live for himself. He exists for others. Therefore, it is an important principle for us not to live for ourselves, but to live for our fellow human beings.
God is the source of unity. And it is when we ourselves attain unity in our own life, that we become one with God. God can become one with those who become one with each other. It is when mind and body become one, that we may feel God. When man and woman become one, they may feel God. When we are in harmony with nature, we may feel God.
The relationship between God and humans is like a parent-child relationship. God is like our Father / Mother, and we are meant to be his / her children.
History has a beginning. According to modern science, the universe is about 14 billion years old. That indicates that the history of the universe began a long time ago. Humankind’s history also has a beginning. It began with the first two humans, the first two homo sapiens. We all come from them. They may have lived as far back as a million years ago. That means human history also began much further back than the Bible says.
History has a purpose, which is the creation of God’s original ideal. This ideal was never realized at the dawn of time because of the fall of the first human beings. Instead, an evil world came into being. However, God has worked up through history to create the conditions that one day His ideal will become reality. Therefore, God has been an active participant in history through people he has called in different cultures and different time periods.
If human beings respond to God’s call, then history will develop towards its ultimate goal, the realization of God’s ideal. It is in other words not God alone who creates progress. He needs us humans. Only when we fulfill our part of the responsibility, does history develop in the right direction.
Because we humans so often have failed to fulfill our share of responsibility for God’s work of salvation, evil history has been prolonged unceasingly.
Humankind had a golden opportunity in Jesus’ day to lay the foundation that would end the evil world, but failed, as so often before to do its part. But in our time, we humans get another chance to put an end to all evil and begin a new history, characterized by goodness, love, freedom and peace. But for that to happen, not just a few key people must respond to God, but we must all fulfill our share of responsibility.
It is probably best to leave homosexuality to the gays and let them figure out life’s big questions for themselves. And they have the freedom to do what they want with their lives. You choose the lifestyle you want. It is not our task to moralize to homosexuals. We preach the ideal of marriage and families blessed by God. That is our task.
The Family Federation sees families based on marriage between a man and a woman as part of God’s ideal for humanity. God created us to live in families and experience the different forms of love within the family, i.e. children’s love, sibling’s love, marital love and parental love. Children have the right to grow up in families where they may experience both father’s and mother’s love, and have siblings. Only healthy marriages between man and woman can create such families. Therefore, according to the Bible, God saw that it was not good for man to be alone and created him a partner, woman. Man represents yang and woman yin. The entire existence of the universe is based on harmony between yang and yin. Even among the smallest particles, atoms and molecules, you find plus (yang) and minus (yin) in harmony with each other. In the plant and animal kingdoms too, there is a natural harmony between male and female. We humans are created to live in harmony with the rest of the universe. It is only when man and woman are united, that we may experience such a harmony that even God may be present.
We think you miss out on many of life’s joys as a homosexual, e.g. marital love and parental love. We see these as the deepest and most intimate forms of love.
According to the Family Federation, human beings, both man and woman, were created by God to realize God’s ideal. The ideal for us humans is to first become mature men and women not only physically, but of far greater significance, also spiritually. God created us as social beings. Therefore, the individual maturity, as the world religions mention, is not the highest goal in life. We are created to create harmonious marriages and families. Such families are the very foundation of harmonious societies, nations, and a world of peace.
Man is primarily a spiritual being. We are a spirit and have a body. Our physical body is something we have for a certain number of years in the physical part of our life. The purpose of our physical body is to make our spirit perfect, based on the life we live. Our spirit is in fact largely shaped by our actions.
However, because evil and sin entered the world, God’s ideal for humanity was never realized. We became sinful people in a sinful world. Everyone, to a greater or lesser degree, bear traces of sin and the fallen human nature. That is why we humans need salvation.
According to astrophysics, the universe will never end. That means that history also will never end. When the Bible uses the phrase “the last days” or “the end times”, it only means that the evil world will end and that we will enter a good age, where there will be no more war, injustice, famine, oppression, drug problems, etc. But history itself will never end.
Yes. The Holy Ghost has performed a very important task the last 2,000 years. For us humans to be born again, the resurrected Jesus, as the spiritual Father of mankind, was not enough. Someone in addition had to take the position of the spiritual Mother. That was the Holy Spirit. A birth presupposes a father and a mother. The same goes for rebirth. That is why Jesus and the Holy Spirit have worked together to give us humans new life.
The Family Federation originates in the Far East. Its teachings contain distinct elements of Oriental philosophy, and regard yin and yang as a universal feature of our physical and spiritual reality. Even God has yin and yang characteristics. In fact, everything in the created universe has distinct yin and yang features precisely because everything is created by God.
Such a yin and yang principle is even mirrored in many same-sex relationships, with a rather more active yang part and a rather more passive yin part. But such relationships lack the dynamism of yin and yang relationships in their God-created original form. Compared to a regular man-woman marriage, a same-sex relationship becomes quite sterile or static. An ordinary marriage, on the other hand, is meant to be dynamic in the sense that it results in becoming a complete family, with grandparents, parents, children, grandchildren, etc. Marital love between a man and a woman signifies that one also gets to experience parental love. Because of marital love, a family comes into being, with several forms of love: children’s love, sibling’s love, marital love, and parental love. In that sense, gay cohabitation may be regarded pretty much as a dead end, leading nowhere.
We advise our gay members not to live out their same-sex attraction.
You get a positive outlook on life, and respect for all religions, races, nationalities and cultures. The Family Federation teaches that all people are brothers and sisters, and that God is the Father / Mother of all people.
Our goal is the creation of the Kingdom of Heaven on earth. There, each individual person not only realizes true love for one’s loved ones and in one’s own family, but also creates a world where everyone, regardless of race, religion and nationality, can live together in peace and harmony.
The goal is not only to become a better person who achieves inner peace, as the various world religions teach, but also to expand this inner peace to our families, societies, nations and the world. Inner peace is just the beginning. Based on peace and love in our families, there can also be peace and love in our society.
You learn that you may contribute to creating a harmonious world, by starting with yourself and your loved ones.
You get a concrete hope that the world will get better, and that your contribution may make it better faster. We have concrete solutions to the world’s problems. There is no problem that is too big to solve.
You get crystal clear answers to life’s fundamental questions, for example: What is the meaning of life? What is the nature of life after death? What is good and evil? Where does evil come from? How can we describe God? In addition, Father Moon’s teachings provide a very deep and clear explanation of Jesus, the Second Coming, the Fall, moral values, marriage, family, the “last days”, predestination, resurrection, and a whole host of other topics.
And these answers are not merely a theory. You feel that they are part of a larger whole, a doctrine it is truly possible to practice, that gives life purpose and meaning.
In today’s society, it is absolutely necessary with new views / ideas / movements. Traditional religion has not been able to solve society’s fundamental problems, nor will it ever be. Nor are our politicians capable of creating world peace.
The teachings of the Family Federation ─ formerly the Unification Church ─ are based on the family ideal. We firmly believe that the solution to many of society’s problems lies in the family. If we can create harmonious marriages and families, so that everyone has deep and solid experiences with the different forms of love, children’s love, sibling’s love, marital love and parental love, this will have a great impact on society as well.
It has been proven that many social problems have their cause in broken homes or homes / families that do not function well – problems such as drug abuse, alcoholism, juvenile delinquency, etc. For this reason, we need a new understanding of, as well as new solutions for, marriage and family. This is an area we indeed feel we have much to offer.
For example, is spouses not being faithful to each other, one of the main reasons why many marriages break up. We place great emphasis on showing how the very purpose of life is to create healthy and harmonious families. For us, not being faithful to one’s spouse represents a great personal defeat, a declaration of personal bankruptcy, which we by all means should avoid. This is just one of the areas we believe the Unification Movement has a lot to contribute with. We feel that society needs our views and our movement.
When religion uses the term “Judgment Day”, it generally refers to a time when good and evil will be separated. Then we shall see clearly what is evil, and what is good. God and the good forces work to end the evil world so that we may enter an age of goodness, where there will be no more war, injustice, famine, oppression, drug problems, etc.
During his lifetime, Father Moon (1920-2012) was the global leader and as well leader of several projects of the Unification Movement. But he most often consulted with a council of elders as well as his own wife.
After his death, Mother Moon, Hak Ja Han, is the top leader. Under her, there is a leader for each of the various movements that make up the Unification Movement. Each such leader also has a board with whom he/she consults.
The movement also has continental leaders. Under them, there are regional leaders of a group of countries. Under them again national leaders and local leaders. At each of these levels, the leader consults a board of elected members.
This is another wild claim without basis in reality. If you want to resign from the movement, just send it a letter or a message. That’s it. As said, most of the members of the Family Federation have their own homes, their own jobs and families. They are usually sensible and independent people. If such people want to leave the movement, it is a simple matter for them.
A better future for humanity and peace in the world depend entirely on a global renewal of the family, the basic building block of our societies. The family plays a vital role in shaping the children, the future generations. And the key to creating healthy families is the married couple.
From physics, we know that two points are not enough to make something balance. In the same way, husband and wife are not enough either. A third point is necessary to create a balanced and lasting relationship. A married couple needs a common spiritual center. The ultimate center of a love relationship is the very source of true love, God! That is why a slogan for the mass weddings have been “Families with God at the centre”.
According to Genesis, God made man in His image, as man and woman. Thus, it takes a man and a woman to fully express God’s spirit. It’s through the harmonious couple that the spirit of God may be present in our families.
God is our Parent (Father/Mother). And it is through being good parents to our children, we may begin to feel God’s parental love for humankind.
Such a renewal of the family is something that neither governments nor religious communities can achieve. That is why God has called Father and Mother Moon to hold large ceremonies so that as many as possible may receive the Blessing of God upon their marriage. Since their own marriage in 1960, Father and Mother Moon have blessed millions of couples The ceremonies are open to people of all races, nationalities and religions. When millions of men and women begin to do their best to realize God’s ideal of love in their marriages and families, this will eventually change the world.
In his lifetime, Father Moon was known as the world’s biggest matchmaker. He personally suggested to men and women who would be a good marriage partner for them.
Since he left this world in 2012, most of the second generation young participants in the large weddings have found their own partner in cooperation with their parents. Those who are not born into the faith, may apply to be introduced to a potential spouse by the Family Federation. Many of the participants in today’s large wedding ceremonies are couples who are already married in their own religion or civilly. For such couples, the Blessing of marriage represents a renewal of their marriage vows and a renewed determination to create a marriage/ family with God at the centre.
Worldwide, we have about two million members. South Korea and Japan are the leading nations, but several other nations, especially in the Far East and Africa have seen a rapid increase in numbers joining. In some countries, whole churches have joined or work closely together with the Family Federation. For number of members in your own country, please contact your national branch.
Membership is open to anyone, young and old, men and women. It is easy to become a member of the Family Federation, but the necessary steps may vary slightly from country to country. So we advise you to contact your national or local branch. In some countries, all it takes is to fill in an online registration form. In other countries, you may first have to attend a short seminar, where key points of the teaching and movement are explained.
The requirements are simply to believe in and agree to the values of the Family Federation. Members are very free in terms of how much they want to contribute to the movement’s work.
We believe it is very important to work for peace in the Middle East. One of the reasons why it is so difficult to achieve peace there, is that the problems have so deep roots and go so far back. It is not just a matter of negotiating peace, as is the case in many parts of the world today.
The enmity is deeply embedded in the culture on both sides. And religion and ethnicity seem to be inextricably linked to culture. On both sides, there are strong forces that describe the other party in a strongly derogatory way. And such forces are given plenty of space in the media, on television and in religious congregations. Ordinary people easily get indoctrinated into believing that the other party represents something that does not deserve the right to life, and which one must fight.
It goes without saying that under such circumstances, it is difficult to achieve peace. On both sides, a lot of work is needed to change the way the other side is perceived.
The Family Federation teaches that we human beings were originally created to be able to communicate with God and the spirit world already during our earthly life. But because evil took over the world, we lost such an ability and became mainly concerned with the material world and survival.
Little by little throughout history, there has been a development based on religion. Man began to understand that in addition to physical reality, there is a spiritual reality, a spiritual dimension, which is our eternal home. That is where we all end up, or at least are meant to end up after death. Unfortunately, some spirits remain here on earth as earthbound spirits because they have not developed sufficiently.
Therefore, it is of course important to prepare for life in the eternal world. It is not enough to meditate and have spiritual or mystic experiences. The atmosphere of the hereafter is meant to consist of love. Without having developed your love, you are therefore like a fish on dry land when you one day leave this world.
The most important principle you should follow, is to live for others, i.e. your fellow human beings, and serve and help others. Such a lifestyle should ideally become part of your personality, so that you are more concerned with others than yourself. If we develop a self-absorbed spirit in our earthly life, we will not get along very well with others in the eternal world we come to.
Therefore, it is important that spiritual values get a central place in your life. Positive spiritual or mystic experiences may be of great help and motivate you to go forward. But the most important thing is not to seek such experiences the whole time, but to live for your fellow human beings.
We gain new members in different ways, e.g. through various forms of evangelism. Such activities will vary from country to country. In some nations, the focus has been on inviting newcomers to small groups where holy scriptures or the Unification Principles (The Divine Principle) are being read and discussed. In other countries, information stands are being held in busy streets or other places. Some members are actively using social media to get in touch with interested persons. Events with presentations on life’s big questions are being organized. Most countries hold Sunday service on a weekly basis. Also, Zoom-meetings are common.
Members of the Family Federation do quite a lot of things together besides the regular meetings. Many go out together or visit each other. And it seems that the young ones also do a lot together, going to the cinema, going hiking, on boat trips, organizing computer meetings, celebrating birthdays, etc.
There are many benefits of becoming a member.
First, you may become a better person. You learn to respect yourself and realize your potential. You gain a better self-understanding. You get a 100 percent positive goal in your life.
Second, you will learn how to develop better and more meaningful relationships with friends, your loved ones and your fellow human beings in general.
Third, you learn to deeply respect your surroundings and to treat everything and everyone with the respect they deserve. God loves all creation and all people. Step by step you learn to familiarize yourself with God’s feelings toward the created things and your fellow human beings.
To rescind your membership of the Family Federation, all that is required is to send a written notice to your local or national branch. As soon as we receive your notice, your name will be struck from our register.
The members of the Family Federation like most people, have their own political opinions, and some members are also politically active. But our movement is first and foremost a religious / spiritual movement and has no political doctrine. However, there are things in our society that a religious / spiritual movement cannot close its eyes to.
Our movement thus took a clear anti-communist stance throughout the Cold War. This was not done for political reasons, but because we view any totalitarian system, be it communism, fascism or extreme forms of nationalism, as something evil. God created us to be free people in a free world. Communism is not just a totalitarian system, but represents in addition a materialism that denies God and the human spirit and is militantly opposed to religion. Communism is the very antithesis of the ideals we promote.
Today, there are many threats to a world based on values such as freedom, love, truth, unity, creativity, equality and justice. One big problem we face today, is a materialistic culture based on free sex, which represents forces that have a most destructive effect on the family, the most important institution in our society. We believe that values that can strengthen the family, should be given a central position in society.
Today, the individual, and his / her rights, are at the center. The family, on the other hand, is the key to solving many of our social problems. Well-functioning families create communities free from alcoholism, drug abuse, crime and divorce, societies where everyone can feel at home.
We are opposed to any attempt to undermine the family’s central place, and are strongly against anything that exposes our children to unethical and immoral ideas. One of the worst attacks on family values today comes from the entertainment industry and the media. They often preach a message based on free sex. Sex is often used to promote purely commercial interests. We believe that sex is a part of marriage. Young people clearly benefit from abstaining from sex until they are married. In marriage, faithfulness to your spouse is the only recommendable option. Unfaithful spouses almost inevitably lead to divorce or dysfunctional homes.
The Unification Church is the name that was first given to our movement by others in the 1950s, but which we eventually also began to use ourselves. In 1997, Sun Myung Moon declared that the time for the Unification Church was over. It had played its part. His original intention was never to establish a church. In that same year, Father and Mother Moon founded the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification, which took over many of the tasks of the Unification Church, with a pronounced goal of creating a world of peace and unity based on well-functioning families.
The Unification Movement is the name used for all the different projects and organizations that Father and Mother Moon initiated, an umbrella organization in other words. The Family Federation is just one of the organizations within the Unification Movement.
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How the movement is organized in each nation, may to some extent vary from country to country. Generally, the Family Federation has a board of members, who make the most important decisions. The national leader of the movement must present all important issues to the board and consult with them before any major decision is made. In many countries, there is a youth leader / committee, an outreach leader /committee, a finance committee and other committees / departments according to the situation in that particular nation. In addition, there will in many countries be local leaders of cities.
The Family Federation teaches that all religions have a lot in common, e.g. the fundamental values they preach. We believe that God is the source of all religions. Many of the differences between religions are cultural and have arisen because the different religions evolved under very different historical circumstances. Nevertheless, there are sometimes large differences in certain fields, which easily lead to misunderstandings and conflicts. That is why we need dialogue and cooperation. That way, we can get to know each other and each other’s views better. Our movement is one of the world’s largest sponsors of interfaith and ecumenical conferences. We look at the religious world as a family, where Christianity and other religions are like older siblings in relation to our movement, which is like their younger brother. We believe that all religions must work together to achieve a better world. God is not primarily concerned with what religion we belong to, but how much we love our fellow human beings in a selfless way.
The Unification Church is the name that was first given to our movement by others in the 1950s, but which we eventually also began to use ourselves. In 1997, Sun Myung Moon declared that the time for the Unification Church was over. It had played its part. His original intention was never to establish a church. In that same year, Father and Mother Moon founded the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification, which took over many of the tasks of the Unification Church, with a pronounced goal of creating a world of peace and unity based on well-functioning families.
The Unification Movement is the name used for all the different projects and organizations that Father and Mother Moon initiated, an umbrella organization in other words. The Family Federation is just one of the organizations within the Unification Movement.
In some countries, the Family Federation has pastors, who is the spiritual leader of a congregation of believers. In some countries the person with such a responsibility, may just be called a leader – a national leader, a city leader, etc. Such a position may be held by men and women. Normally, such positions should not be held for more than eight years. Most persons taking on such leadership, will be married.
The members of the Family Federation like most people, have their own political opinions, and some members are also politically active. But our movement is first and foremost a religious / spiritual movement and has no political doctrine. However, there are things in our society that a religious / spiritual movement cannot close its eyes to.
Our movement thus took a clear anti-communist stance throughout the Cold War. This was not done for political reasons, but because we view any totalitarian system, be it communism, fascism or extreme forms of nationalism, as something evil. God created us to be free people in a free world. Communism is not just a totalitarian system, but represents in addition a materialism that denies God and the human spirit and is militantly opposed to religion. Communism is the very antithesis of the ideals we promote.
Today, there are many threats to a world based on values such as freedom, love, truth, unity, creativity, equality and justice. One big problem we face today, is a materialistic culture based on free sex, which represents forces that have a most destructive effect on the family, the most important institution in our society. We believe that values that can strengthen the family, should be given a central position in society.
Today, the individual, and his / her rights, are at the center. The family, on the other hand, is the key to solving many of our social problems. Well-functioning families create communities free from alcoholism, drug abuse, crime and divorce, societies where everyone can feel at home.
We are opposed to any attempt to undermine the family’s central place, and are strongly against anything that exposes our children to unethical and immoral ideas. One of the worst attacks on family values today comes from the entertainment industry and the media. They often preach a message based on free sex. Sex is often used to promote purely commercial interests. We believe that sex is a part of marriage. Young people clearly benefit from abstaining from sex until they are married. In marriage, faithfulness to your spouse is the only recommendable option. Unfaithful spouses almost inevitably lead to divorce or dysfunctional homes.
When the members of the general public understand what the goals the Family Federation works to achieve, and how we practice our teachings, our activities are as a rule perceived positively. Those who come into personal contact with our projects or our members, are usually pleasantly surprised or curious to find out more.
There are those who do not understand and who are not interested in finding out what we stand for, who may be negative and skeptical. But most of them are regardless negative to any religion or any denomination that is different from their own. Many people suffer from a fear of the unknown. This is something the media knows how to exploit in their description of new religious movements. Most people really know very little about what we stand for.
The Family Federation believes that we live in both a physical and a spiritual reality. Through our five physical senses we perceive the physical world. But we also have five latent spiritual senses, which are activated when we die. But some people have the ability to see, hear and feel the spiritual dimension already here in physical life.
Both physical and spiritual reality are extremely important. Spiritual reality is important because it is where we spend eternity. But physical reality is also important because life on earth is a preparation for the eternal world.
For our perception of reality, our understanding of it is central. Therefore, we must acquire knowledge, both about the physical world (through science) and about the spiritual dimension (through religion).
But not only knowledge is important. What kind of environment we spend our time in is at least as important. We are incredibly much influenced by friends, media, movies, etc.
In many environments you only see one side of reality, e.g. among materialists and humanists. On the other hand, among some religious people, there may be a lack of appreciation of physical life. The two worlds have a close relationship with each other. Everything we do here has consequences there.
We may pray anywhere, but many prefer to pray in a place with a good atmosphere, e.g. a part of a room at home specifically set aside for prayer. We may pray at any time.
We pray to God. You may pray alone or with others. The most important thing is to have a serious, honest and sincere attitude. And your prayers work the best when you believe that they will work. At the same time, we recommend that you yourself do your best to achieve what you ask for.
Do not pray just for yourself, but for something greater than yourself. Pray for others.
Prayer gives strength.
You may light a candle when you pray. In the Family Federation, many let a holy candle burn during prayers. A holy candle is an ordinary wax candle that has been sanctified through a special prayer.
We gain new members in different ways, e.g. through various forms of evangelism. Such activities will vary from country to country. In some nations, the focus has been on inviting newcomers to small groups where holy scriptures or the Unification Principles (The Divine Principle) are being read and discussed. In other countries, information stands are being held in busy streets or other places. Some members are actively using social media to get in touch with interested persons. Events with presentations on life’s big questions are being organized. Most countries hold Sunday service on a weekly basis. Also, Zoom-meetings are common.
How the Family Federation is registered in each nation, will vary according to national legislation and traditions. We recommend that you contact your national chapter to find out about the situation in your particular country.
Yes, the Family Federation certainly believes in the resurrection, but not in the “resurrection of the flesh”, in the sense that Jesus rose again physically. If he had done that, he would have continued to live here in the physical world. Jesus rose again spiritually. His spiritual self (inner self) continued to live, even though his physical body was dead. After the resurrection, Jesus lived in the spirit world. He has revealed himself to people here on Earth, as he did to the disciples after the resurrection on Easter Sunday.
It is quite possible for people in the physical world to see those who are in the spirit world, as Jesus, Peter, Jacob and John saw Moses and Elijah in Mark 9:2-4. A medium for instance is a human being with such gifts. But we all have the potential to see spiritually.
Jesus entered the room where the disciples were gathered, even though the doors were locked (John 20:26). He could only do so because he no longer had a physical body. The doubting Thomas would not believe in the risen Jesus until he could touch the nail mark in Jesus’ hands and stick his hand into Jesus’ side. But the Saviour manifested his spiritual body, a substantial energy body, to Thomas and the disciples and allowed Thomas to touch and feel the nail marks, which also appeared on Christ’s spiritual body.
Those who are in the spirit world, may for short periods manifest themselves to people here in the physical world. It was not a ghost that appeared to the disciples. It really was Jesus. They recognized him because the spirit self is very similar to the physical self.
Some. One of the most important according to the Family Federation is not to have sex before marriage. When you are married, you should only have sex with your spouse. We view sex as something sacred, belonging to marriage.
Other rules to live by are to stay away from alcohol and drugs as well as pornography. Masturbation is also not recommended. Masturbation only has to do with satisfying oneself. The main aspect of sex should be to satisfy your partner. This is the principle of living for others applied in the sexual field.
Another rule is that one should learn to live for others and serve them.
We do not have a lot of rules for our everyday life. The most important thing in life is love. Anything that helps to realize what we call “God’s three great blessings to humanity” is good. What prevents us from realizing them is evil. The blessings are 1) Individual maturity. 2) Marriage and family with God as the center. 3) Man’s stewardship of the environment, both physically and spiritually.
The Family Federation is not so different from country to country. Our ideals are universal. It can of course vary a bit how the movement is run in different countries, depending on how the members think it’s best to proceed.
In the USA, of course, the activities have been on a completely different level compared to smaller nations. There have been far more activities, with far more involvement. In a large country like the United States, we naturally have several seminars and training programs for members and people who want to become members. You have in-depth seminars of 7 days or 21 days, or you can join a fundraising team or evangelisation team. It is a fairly intense life, but can give the individual a solid foundation of experience and an extremely valuable religious training. Most people who join such intense programs participate the most for one or two years. It is not the intention to live like that for many years. The real purpose of life has to do with one’s family. This is where the most important part of our salvation lies, namely in the love we have for our spouse and our children.
It is not easy to give a general answer here. Each member of the Family Federation experiences the faith in their own unique way. You will not find two identical people, and therefore no two identical lives of faith either. This is a great aspect of humanity: Each person is a completely unique individual. That way, life doesn’t get boring.
But of course, there are also experiences which many members of Father and Mother Moon’s movement share in common. Many members have had an experience of “rebirth”, of becoming a better person. Such an experience is closely connected with having made a deliberate choice in joining, having taken the step and joined a movement that works to create a better and peaceful world. To create such a world many members have changed their lifestyle and begun thinking more about others than oneself, and started doing things for others. Something many members of the Family Federation share, is the experience of having found a higher purpose in life and living a meaningful life.
Also, most members have in common the feeling of us all being part of a large global family of “brothers and sisters”, all with the same God and the same ideals. Most members also share the feeling of living in a special time, when God works to realize His original ideal, creating the world He wanted to see at the dawn of human history. Finally, such a world can be achieved.
We have very few religious rites. The most important ceremony in our movement is the blessing ceremony, where couples (usually together with many others) receive the Marriage Blessing.
Prior to the blessing, the couples participate in a holy wine ceremony. Drinking this holy wine symbolizes that original sin has been forgiven. Original sin is the root of all other sin. Therefore, we cannot fully get rid of other sins until we have had the original sin removed. The original sin is a sin that even Jesus could not take away. It came into the world through Adam and Eve, who became the fallen, false parents of mankind. The original sin can therefore only be removed when we humans get True Parents, a married couple who realize God’s true love ideal.
Instead of baptism, we have a special dedication ceremony, which takes place on the eighth day after birth. The main content of this ceremony is the prayer of the parents. They pray for the baby and pray that God may protect the child throughout his / her life, especially when growing up, so that the child may grow up to be a true son or daughter of God and fulfill the purpose God created human beings for. The parents solemnly promise during this ceremony to do your best to fulfill their responsibility for the child to receive a religious / moral upbringing and learn about God and his ideal for humanity.
We also have a funeral ceremony. However, we do not see physical death as the end of life. After living here on earth, we go to the spiritual world. Life therefore continues automatically after death. Under normal circumstances, we do not view a funeral as a sad experience. For us, the funeral marks the beginning of one’s life in the spiritual world.
Especially for those who helped God make this world a better place, physical death should be something we are not sad about. Death is something similar to your birth. When you are born, you come out of the womb. When you die, you also enter a new and different world. The nine months in the mother’s womb are a preparation for your physical life. Your life here on earth is a preparation for your eternal life in the spirit world.
The most important thing for us in The Family Federation, is that each person makes it his/her goal to become a holy person, son or daughter of God. Becoming a child of God, is not something that was reserved only for Jesus. God wants us all to realize the purpose He has created us for, the real purpose of our lives. Our goal is not to create a religious world with a lot of sacred objects / symbols.
However, we have a number of holy items, which are important in the process of salvation. In the big wedding ceremonies which we have become known for, holy wine is used. When the bride and groom drink it, it symbolizes that the original sin, the root of all sin and evil, has been removed. It is the very key to overcoming all other sins, such as personal sin. For it is not enough to have our sins forgiven by God. We must also stop sinning. Getting the original sin removed, is the first step in a long process of cleansing, which aims at becoming a true son or daughter of God.
Otherwise we also use holy salt. This is only used to bless objects, e.g. one’s house. Before we move in, we sprinkle holy salt in each room, which represents symbolic purification on the spiritual plane. We believe that our surroundings have a great impact on our inner life.
The passing of Sun Myung Moon does not affect our salvation. We see salvation as a lifelong process. It simply means becoming the person God wants us to be, and that takes time and is something you have to work on.
The concept of salvation of The Family Federation is quite different from the Christian one. We believe that being saved means doing your best to create God’s original ideal of creation, that you are not saved until you learn to live in harmony with yourself, your loved ones, your community and your surroundings.
Our concept of salvation is therefore not just about an individual salvation. We believe that an individual cannot realize his/her potential alone. That is why the family is so important. There, we may experience four stages of love: children’s love, sibling’s love, marital love and parental love. All these forms of love are experienced the deepest and most intimately within a harmonious family. Therefore, our concept of salvation includes the creation of families. Therefore, our mass weddings are held. They represent a part of our salvation, i.e. through a marriage blessed by God, we may be able to work towards the ideal that families with God as the center represents.
But we live in a society as well. Therefore, it is important that we not only care about our own family, but also our fellow human beings in the society around us.
It is also important that we care about God, that we help God create a better world more in line with God’s ideal of creation, that is, as God wanted the world to be originally. And there we may all contribute and do our part. God alone cannot create a good world. We humans play an important role and are called to do our part to save the world. In that sense, we are all meant to be little saviors in a way.
Although we are sometimes called a sect, it is actually a term that does not fit well with the Family Federation. Our goal is not to create a new church, or a new religion. Our goal is to create a world family, where people from all religions can live together in harmony, as brothers and sisters, and where the one God, who created heaven and earth, is the heavenly Father / Mother of all humankind. God is not only interested in saving a small sect. He will save all mankind, regardless of religious affiliation, from all suffering and evil.
It has never been the goal of Father and Mother Moon to establish a religious organization. The goal is much bigger than that and is simply to create a world where there is peace, freedom, love and happiness for everyone.
We see sexual morality as something that is crucial to becoming a happy person and having harmonious relationships with those closest to you, especially your spouse. Extramarital and premarital sex become only a disruptive element in the individual’s mental development and in the development of an intimate relationship with one’s spouse. Marriage is not primarily a physical relationship between two people. The most important thing is the invisible inner bonds that are formed between the two. As we are eternal beings, a wonderful marital relationship continues in the world we come to when life on earth comes to an end. Therefore, it is extremely important to avoid all kinds of affairs that may ruin the love in an intimate marital relationship. And infidelity is the main reason why marriages break up.
We in the Family Federation believe it is best for the children to have both a father and a mother. To develop a healthy personality, children ideally need both father’s love and mother’s love. But of course, there are situations where one of the parents dies. It is a great challenge and extremely difficult for the surviving parent to be both father and mother. Of course, there are many a single parent who makes an admirable effort to raise their children without the help and support of a partner.
Of course, many have become single parents due to divorce. This is a big problem today. The most affected are often the children, even though they are not to blame for the parents’ divorce. The love between mother and father is the very root the children come from (was conceived by). When this love is destroyed, it is like the deepest foundation of life itself disappears.
One possible solution to the enormous problem divorce represents, is that young people, before entering into marriage, receive training in creating lasting relationships and taking responsibility for such relationships and the children they give birth to.
Let me also add that God did not create us to live only as individuals. On the contrary, he wanted us to experience a harmonious family life and the joys that come with it. Of course, one of the problems facing humanity, is that there has never been an example of harmonious marriage and family. Even Jesus was killed before he could restore a woman so that she could become the “Lamb’s Bride”. Therefore, Jesus could not demonstrate a perfect marriage, that could show the way for all humankind. The Savior Himself remained an individual who has only been able to provide an individual salvation for other individuals. Therefore, the Christian world is characterized by a widespread individualism, which creates major social problems.
You need spiritual insight because you are essentially a spirit. You only have the body for a certain number of years and lose it when you die. But your spirit, your soul, your inner self, lives on. Spiritual insight helps you adjust to spiritual reality and your eternal home there.
The logo of the Family Federation represents both visually and symbolically the ideal “true families with God as the center” and the philosophy behind such an ideal.
It was Sun Myung Moon himself who designed all the fundamental components of the logo. In addition, he oversaw the entire design process, even how the components were arranged. He indicated how everything should be in the logo, from – to take a few examples – the concept “three generations living together”, to the size and shape of the sun’s rays.
In the logo, the sun shines brightly in the sky (symbolizing God, our Heavenly Father / Mother). Just below the sun come grandfather (left) and grandmother (right), below them father (centre right) and mother (centre left) and below them again a son (right) and a daughter (left). Hand in hand, three generations form a circle, where true love in the form of a heart occupies the central position. Around all this, two arrows – an expression of a give-and-take relationship – form a circular frame.
The logo of the Family Federation expresses that the foundation of a true universe is a true family with God and true love as the center. In other words, the real meaning of Father Moon’s concepts “the four great realms of heart” and “the three great kingdoms” is clarified by the figure where three generations become one with each other based on true love under the sun, which symbolizes God. The meaning of the circle surrounding such a true family is heaven and earth (the great macrocosm) eternally united and in harmony with each other based on a true family.
First of all, the sacred texts of the various religions are also sacred to us. But we also have our own sacred texts. The first one is called the “Divine Principle” or “Unificaton Principles”. This is a revelation our founder, Sun Myung Moon, received over a nine-year period from 1935, when Jesus revealed himself to him for the first time.
Another sacred text of ours, is Cheon Seong Gyeong (Holy Scriptures of the Kingdom of Heaven). This is a collection of excerpts from Sun Myung Moon’s speeches. There are two editions, a 2005 version and a 2013 version. In the latter, there are also excerpts from some of the speeches of Mother Moon, Hak Ja Han.
In addition, the Peace Messages are a sacred text. These are public speeches about peace that Sun Myung Moon and Hak Ja Han gave from 2005 to 2007.
The concept of salvation of The Family Federation is quite different from the Christian concept. We believe that saving the world means realizing God’s original ideal of creation. The world is not saved until all people live in harmony with themselves, their loved ones, their society and their surroundings. Nor is our concept of salvation just about an individual salvation. We believe that someone cannot realize his/her potential alone. We must experience four stages of love: children’s love, sibling’s love, marital love, and parental love. All these forms of love are experienced the deepest and most intimately within a harmonious family. Therefore, our concept of salvation includes the creation of families. Therefore, the mass weddings are held. They represent part of our salvation, that is, through a marriage blessed by God, we become able to work toward the ideal that families with God at their center represent.
Although the word “sect” originally simply meant an offshoot of a larger religious, philosophical or political group, today the word is often used in a derogatory way, in order to depict a group in a bad light.
Some religious, political or philosophical groups are closed and see themselves as the only chosen ones. This is a negative feature, although they may well have positive characteristics otherwise. The Family Federation believes that all religions and faith communities must work together to create a better world. This is not something that one religion or one faith community can accomplish. We need each other.
Believing that only one’s own group has the truth, is another negative trait. God has inspired several religions. We all have parts of a greater truth. Most religions also share common ideals and universal truths.
According to the Family Federation, each individual has great value, as a unique and eternal human being. Each individual is created to be the son or daughter of God.
It is of course possible to experience God and his love as an individual, but some forms of love are not possible to experience as an individual. God is the God of love, and it is therefore important that we experience as much of the love God planned we should experience, as possible. God created us to receive love from our parents as children, siblings’ love, marital love, and parental love. It is only the latter two forms of love that we are meant to experience as fully mature individuals. It is in these forms of love that we are meant to become one with God.
God did not create us to live only as individuals. On the contrary, he wanted us to experience a harmonious family life and the joys that go with it. Of course, one of the problems facing humanity, is that there has never been an example of harmonious marriage and family. Even Jesus was killed before he could restore a woman qualified to become the “Bride of the Lamb”. Therefore, Jesus could not show a perfect marriage that could show the way for all mankind. The Savior Himself remained an individual who has only been able to provide an individual salvation for other individuals. Therefore, the Christian world is characterized by a widespread individualism, which creates major social problems.
In other words, we learn that one cannot fully realize one’s potential until one enters into an eternal union as man and woman. Throughout the universe, you will find a harmony between yang and yin. Man is created to experience a similar harmony, namely in the relationship between man (yang) and woman (yin).
Usually a spirit of love for one another. Members of the Family Federation generally tries to convey its message with love and in a sincere way. Father and Mother Moon themselves talk a lot about true love and living for others. We try as best we can to practice such an ideal, not only every Sunday, or when we have meetings, but in our everyday life.
At the meetings, the actual message that is preached or read is very important. Therefore, persons giving a speech or reading a message, should be someone who themselves practice love for their fellow human beings.
At the meetings, we emphasize creating a spirit where everyone feels at home. The Sunday service consists of a number of songs, prayer, a speech and announcements. The speech is the most important part. Whether people are inspired or not, depends mostly on the speaker, how inspired he or she is. It is therefore important to have a new message each time, and not repeat oneself every week. But it is also important to choose songs with a positive message, which are uplifting and stimulating. The social part of the meetings is also important for each individual, that you may talk freely together and exchange experiences with each other.
At the youth meetings, we place more emphasis on activities together. We leave large parts of the meetings to the teenagers themselves, in a free atmosphere.
The Family Federation has local congregations / chapters /communities. A pastor / community leader, together with his wife, leads the community of believers. All important decisions must be submitted to a board, which consists of elected members from the community. We also have a finance committee, which must approve the accounts and budget as well as major impending expenses.
The faith community normally gather on Sunday morning for worship. We also have different holidays we celebrate together. In addition, we have meetings for couples, meetings and seminars for youth and Sunday school. We also have a women’s group.
Sun Myung Moon was called by Jesus and God to take on the messianic task that Jesus could not complete 2,000 years ago. The messianic task is, among other things, to create a true married couple. Therefore, the so-called “Marriage of the Lamb” (as it is called in the Bible) must take place. Jesus should have done this in his time. The Messiah and his bride then become True Parents and start the first true family.
According to the Family Federation, God originally wanted Adam and Eve to become the True Parents of mankind. However, because of the Fall, God’s ideal for us humans was not realized. Jesus came as the second “Adam”, and realized God’s ideal on the individual level, as a true son of God. But he was to expand the ideal to the marital and family level. However, he was crucified before reaching that point. In order for this ideal to be realized now in our time, God called Sun Myung Moon. Already as a child he showed unusual abilities. Eventually he discovered the deepest principles of the universe. He understood that in order to create the Kingdom of Heaven on earth and realize God’s ideal globally, the third “Adam” was not enough, the position he had inherited from Jesus, the second “Adam”. The third “Eve” was also needed. Because the first two humans, Adam and Eve, had become the “false” parents of the human race, God had to begin anew by establishing True Parents, that is, a man and a woman who live according to God’s principles and invest themselves 100 % to realize God’s ideal. God guided Father Moon to Hak Ja Han, a prepared young woman. In order to take the position of the True Mother of humankind, she had to fulfill many conditions and walk an extremely difficult path. She succeeded, however, so that the ideal of True Parents was realized.
According to the Family Federation, the love of God is 100 % selfless. God exists for others. He created us humans to live in a love relationship to him. In other words, God longs for a deep love relationship with each of us.
Because of the Fall, God never experienced such a loving relationship with humanity. The first man and woman never reached the required maturity for such a relationship. They were in a unique position as the parents of all humankind, and all human beings descended from them. Their relationship was not based on a mature, selfless love where God was at the center. Because of that, they created a world based on an immature, selfish and false love. “False” is used here in the sense of a love that has nothing to do with God, the source of true love.
That a family is based on the true love of God, means that husband and wife strive to love each other in a selfless way, where they fully invest in each other. The purpose of true love is to make the other happy, not to satisfy oneself. A prerequisite for true marital love is to be faithful to one’s partner. In a family based on true love, parents invest fully in their children. The parents live for the children and want the children to be better than their mum and dad. True love for children also means taking responsibility for them.
The Unification Church was founded as “Holy Spirit Association for the Unification of World Christianity”. The goal was neither to establish a church nor a religion. The Unification Church is a name given by others. Father Moon did not like the Korean word for “church”. The first members were refugees from North Korea and others guided spiritually to Father Moon. Christianity was strongest in the north. Pyongyang was called the Jerusalem of the East.
There are three main parts. 1. The ideal God wanted to realize when he created the universe and man. 2. How the ideal was destroyed, evil entered the world, and people fell to a low spiritual level, where they were manipulated and dominated by evil forces. 3. The long way back to the ideal. How God has worked to restore the lost ideal, and the role human beings, especially key people, have played in that process. The Unification Principles describe that process right up to the present day.
Unification is a key value for us. We strive for unification on all levels – unification of mind and body, unification of the spiritual and the material, unification of husband and wife, parents and children, of religion and science, God and man, life and doctrine, unification in the family, society, nation and the world.
War and weapons used against humans are extremely destructive. We strongly oppose it. The only form of war that may be acceptable, is a defensive warfare, when one’s nation is being attacked by an enemy force.
We are for full equality and women’s liberation. God created man in his image, as man and woman. God must therefore necessarily have both male and female aspects, and consequently not only be our Heavenly Father, but also our Heavenly Mother. Since the masculine and the feminine are two complementary aspects of God, man and woman also complement each other, and need each other. They have the same value.
There is, of course, a difference between man and woman, not only physically, but also spiritually / mentally. Yet both are equally valuable.
Gender equality does not mean that women should be as similar as possible to men, as some feminists seem to believe. There is only full equality when everyone understands the value of both the masculine and the feminine, and allows both these aspects of humanity to be freely expressed in society.
