What is God’s strategy or gam plan? A person can only be restored if he or she is struck as much as he or she is worth. This is heaven’s providence. In order to regain a family, heaven needs to be struck in the family’s stead for how much value that family carries. In this way, a family can be brought back. Therefore, in order to regain and establish a nation of people, God must be struck with the amount of value they carry. Then, a nation of people can be restored and established.
Feb. 1, 1959
Since former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was felled by a bullet, the media’s focus has completely shifted to bashing our organization (the former Unification Church) without verifying or clarifying the motives of the suspect or his background.
The media is now completely played by lawyers and commentators, who are backed by communist ideology which denies God and the spirit world, as well as by those who appear under the mask of human rights groups.
The media has been pressing the prime minister with questions on the connection between the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and a “socially problematic group,” and he bowed to the pressure as he said, “I frankly apologize.” Furthermore, the secretary general of the LDP even went so far as to say, “If there are members of the LDP who cannot protect us, we cannot operate in the same party,” forcing the LDP to part ways with our organization and affiliates.
In response, neutral pundits concerned about the media’s radicalizing of the issue, have argued that this is religious discrimination against our group and a foolish act that disrespects religious freedom. These pundits have even derided it as a modern-day “witch hunt.”
Our organization (in Japan) began in 1958 from the efforts of a single missionary where the seeds of God’s words and a precious, spiritual life were sown, and we have reaped a lot of fruit until today.
Based on the vision of “the individual for the family, family for the nation, nation for the world…” many of our senior members have risked their lives for the salvation of our country, Japan.
Rev. Sun Myung Moon repeatedly warned us that “if you cannot love your country, how can you love the world?”
Communist ideology has invaded Japan after going through two world wars. When our country was about to fall prey to communism, Rev. Moon launched a friendly group, the International Federation for Victory over Communism, which called out the errors of communist ideology everywhere in Japan, and it has been fighting head-on against the Japanese Communist Party.
We are proud of the senior members who shed blood and risked their lives to fight for freedom and democracy, and we take pride in them as heroes who saved our country of Japan. Even now, we are convinced that to love and defend our country is to love and live for the world.
However, the media has now declared us to be an antisocial organization and a cult. They are attempting to “completely cut us off,” not just our organization but also cut social ties with all affiliated organizations. This is truly a modern-day witch hunt.
Since 2009, we have made significant changes, breaking away from the mistakes of excessive donation activities by members of the congregation as well as ambiguous witnessing methods, and we have seriously taken into account employer liability pointed out in civil court rulings. Although still in developing stages, we are establishing a headquarters for church reform, where we will continue to promote further reforms in our approach to donations, as well as organizational and cultural reforms.
The opening words (in my speech today) were from Rev. Moon. We are a group of people of faith, and we are moving forward daily to fulfill our responsibility as Abel in God’s providence of salvation. In order for Abel to fulfill his mission, he is asked, above all, to “love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.” (Matthew 22:37). In addition, we must “love our neighbors” and be connected to our Heavenly Parent (God).
We must know that no matter how strong Satan’s power may be, in striking goodness, he cannot strike the seed of that goodness down to its core, nor eliminate it. Not only must we stand in the position to sacrifice our lives, even to death for goodness, but we must know that if there is a loyal person who grasps “goodness” and collapses, goodness will be multiplied many times over through that one person who collapsed. This is an ironclad principle.
Oct. 1, 1958
God the Parent is now embracing the Heavenly Japan with sorrow. He will never let us go from His bosom. He will never give up. Parents will never give up on their children’s lives. Therefore, we, too, will never give up on Japan.
The more you are persecuted, the more your faith and patriotism will burn up inside of you. The more we are persecuted, the more (people of) faith come together.
In the storm of persecution, unless we—who stand at the center—do not crumble, the persecutors will crumble in the end. That is the tradition of restoration and the principle of love that True Parents have shown us throughout their lives.
