Contributed by Mia Taguchi, CARP Las Vegas
Rev.. Sun Myung Moon (L) and Dr. Hak Ja Han Moon (R), also known as Father and Mother Moon, met with Kim Il Sung (middle), then leader of North Korea, in 1992. Despite the repeated attempts on their lives by North Korea and the time he spent in a concentration camp in North Korea, Father and Mother Moon embraced Kim Il Sung as an older brother, melting his heart to be open to a peaceful future. Mia Taguchi explores Father and Mother Moon’s principle of peace below.
In CARP, I often find myself in the position to ask people, “what do you do to make a better world?” The overwhelming majority would respond with a version of “be kind to one another.” It’s an answer that seems impossible to deny. In a world with so much conflict and turmoil, who wouldn’t want more kindness?
Yet, when you look at the state of the world—and even just this country—kindness just doesn’t seem that simple; Countries are ridden with hatred and inequality. War remains a horrible reality for many people. Injustice can be found anywhere. It’s hard not to feel like kindness is so much easier said than done.
These days in America especially, racial and gender-related issues are being brought back to the forefront of American media; in the last few years alone, the #MeToo Movement and the Black Lives Matter Movement have grown exponentially. It’s forced many of us to look within ourselves and ask, is America as free and equal as people claim it to be?
We cannot deny that there has been historical progress over the years. America has changed dramatically since the Civil Rights Movement and the Women’s Suffrage Movement first took place. Collectively, our attitudes towards race and gender have progressed. We are learning to see people as people, and, as a result, we are becoming kinder as a society.
However, despite all these things, why is it that these problems still seem to be so prevalent in our country? How is it that America is still fighting the battle of equality? If kindness is all it takes, what are we doing wrong?
Some may argue that these activist movements are unnecessary. They point to the statistics of police brutality and claim that the Black Lives Matter Movement is fighting a battle that doesn’t exist. They point to the statistics of sexual harassment cases and claim that there really aren’t that many men who commit such crimes anyway, so there shouldn’t be such a big deal about it. After all, “facts don’t care about feelings.”
On the other hand, experiences with racism and sexism have left a deep wound in many people’s hearts, one that has yet to be healed. For some, it’s driven them to justify outbursts of anger and destruction. The demand for racial and gender equality becoming one that is inescapable.
Anger and retaliation is not the right solution to these injustices, but throwing out statistics and facts will also not ease the suffering that is experienced by many.
Because while facts may not care about feelings, humans do. In reality, humans care so much about feelings that in the face of intense emotions, most people overlook logic entirely. Anger and pain are difficult to reason with. We have all been hurt to the degree of wanting to retaliate in some way or another. We may not have all acted out on that desire, but it’s no doubt that feelings of being hurt are not easy to overcome.
Co-founder of CARP, Dr. Hak Ja Han Moon, affectionately known as Mother Moon, writes in her recently published memoir about a time her husband, Rev. Sun Myung Moon, saved the life of a man who once tortured him to the brink of death. The man he saved was a former Japanese prison guard who worked at the time of Japanese occupation in Korea. When Korea was finally liberated, the prison guard was unable to go back to Japan and went into hiding. Some Koreans went looking for him with the intent of killing him, but Father Moon found out hours before he was killed and managed to save his life.
In sharing this story, Mother Moon goes on to say,
“The capacity to forgive your enemy and save his or her life does not appear overnight. It requires that we eliminate the resentment and anger in our hearts and see the countenance of God in the face of our enemy. Father Moon could do so because he did not think of [the Japanese prison guard] as his enemy. Even while being tortured, he prayed for him and forgave him.”
Mother and Father Moon speak a lot about the idea of “peace starts with me.” Just as people talk of being kind to one another, they shed light on a world of peace that begins with each individual taking responsibility over their own actions and attitudes.
But I believe they are asking us to take a step above that too. I believe that the message of “peace starts with me” that Mother and Father Moon speak about goes beyond just being kind to one another. They are asking us to create a culture of love that is deeper. One that is reflective of God’s unchanging and forgiving love. It’s the kind of love that says, “can you pray for even those who have hurt you?” And, “can you pray for even those who have hurt the ones you love?”
Being kind to people who have done no harm to us is easy. However, it’s in the moment that we decide to love despite the difficulties that arise, where peace is truly created.
A world of peace doesn’t just come about by a simple act of kindness. It takes sincere effort from every single individual to be kind, regardless of what we may face. It requires that we pray for the heart of God towards each individual we meet, and the ability to act according to that heart.
Feelings are not easy to overcome, but they don’t excuse us from acting out on those feelings. Statistics may show us that certain experiences of racism and sexism are rare, but that doesn’t excuse us from seeking to understand a person’s experience. We, as sons and daughters of God and brothers and sisters to one another, uphold the responsibility to have compassion for those who have been hurt by others—historically speaking too.
In all that is going on in the world, Father and Mother Moon ask us to find the perspective of God that will allow us to love greater than we have ever loved before.
Throughout both of their lives, they exemplify this deeper love that is rooted in God’s love for the world. Time and again, they prove that world peace is possible, as long as we are committed to putting in the work to make it happen.
And so, amidst the turmoil within America and the world, I hope you can join me in asking ourselves, “what is God’s perspective in all of this?” Pray for a heart of love that will allow you to forgive people who have hurt you. Pray for a love that will allow others to forgive one another. Make that extra step in your own life to give and serve someone you may have difficult feelings for.
I also hope you can join me in studying the lives of Mother and Father Moon, who have shown what it means to love one another as brothers and sisters under one God. Read Father Moon’s autobiography. Read Mother Moon’s memoir. Dive into the stories that reveal a heart that can change the world.
While “being kind to one another” is not wrong in the pursuit for world peace, it also isn’t the full picture. There is more to kindness than what is often understood by the world. Kindness towards each person needs to be cultivated by a deeper love for one another. When we can do that, then world peace will truly come about.
Discover and submit more Principled Perspectives at carplife.org/research.