Hyo Jin Moon

 

Family Values

 

Tarrytown, New York

August 13, 2006

Edited Transcript by Joe Kinney

 

Good morning.

Everything is kind of chaotic isn't it?  There are no overnight solutions.  I want to talk about something that we can focus on.  What do you think is Democracy's problem?

Democracy gives us more options and choices that we can make, and it guarantees you the least amount of obstruction from authorities. That's pretty much the attraction that Democracy has.  I think that the main problem in dealing with democratic society is that we fail to recognize a reality that is not in just democracy alone, but is in any kind of society whether it is a theocracy or a dictatorship.

There is a certain structure where the individual can belong; no man is an island, right? So you can group together in certain packs loosely based on relationships or your occupation, or some common interest, but it's likely based on occupation.

Especially in Democratic society you will belong to some form of tribe or another based on your occupation. Even within a so called "corporate family" setting there are labor and management interests or tribal relationships.  Just to sustain your livelihood you are involved in these tribal relationships and that is a source of conflict because of self-interest. You may have a kind of hostile rivalry at times.

Because business is essentially competitive you are going to have the kind of situation where there is some form of rivalry and rivalry becomes tribal rivalry. Any kind of larger conflict in our society begins with this kind of tribal rivalry. This is because self-interest is at the center of this relationship.

So, in Democratic society to avoid the emphasis being on these tribal type rivalries based on self-interest we have to shift the interest to something else. That is to shift the interest from individual value to family value. This is the key to changing or restoring democracy. It has to be done through that kind of orientation.

When you set the premise on family rather than individual values that is the only realistic way in which you can actually transform democracy. You can start with the protection of children's rights and values.

You can emphasize this more and more, even in politics: family values and the protection of children's rights. There are so many crazy people and so many dangers out there that threaten children. That is something that everyone can relate to and something that inevitably will lead to a greater awareness of family life and values.

That's something that we can do successfully, because ultimately we must make these kinds of family values clear. That standard has to be articulated clearly otherwise we can't really transform democracy and we can never change the situation of this hostile environment.

Why? Because if we don't take the focus and emphasis off the individual you can never address the reason which creates the conflict to begin with which is self-interest. Only then can we actually expect to do something.

Father wants us to move this nation from selfishness to unselfishness right? How are we going to go about achieving that? How is this actually doable? How can we actually do that with our lives? Well, we can try, but we have to have some form of direction. The basic guiding principle is to put greater emphasis on family values. We can start with things that everybody can relate to.

If you have a family there is a tremendous threat to your children, whether they are at home surfing the internet or when the walk out the door onto the street. Why? Because there is no absolute value put on family values.

(In the US Constitution or Law) There is an absolute value placed on individual rights and individual existence, but there is no absolute value placed on the family rights or existence. We can substantially restore American society when we can bring the acceptance of an absolute standard of family values and make it accepted and implemented.

If you do this there will be no room for those crazy people who use God's name to blow you up. Their excuse is that this is an immoral country and that the culture is corrupt and it is destroying the value of our future, which are our children. If you think about this it does, in a way, make sense but killing people is not the way to go about making changes in society.

Killing people is wrong, but there are people who are trying to kill in God's name everyday and it's going to be like this for a while longer. But how are we going to stop this? The first thing is to have an absolute sense of Family values and that the first thing is that we are going to protect the family.

It's not going to start at the maximum. We can start at something just above the level of individual values and develop this over time into a substantial solution. You can't expect a Band-aid or overnight solution, because society doesn't change that way. Even you don't change that way.

What's missing is family values and based on understanding what is missing we can do something about it and change the world. And then it's possible (to build the kingdom). I believe that we have to put that kind of value into the (law) book sometime for the sake of America, and for the sake of democratic nations all around the world.

Only then can you guarantee the basic microcosm of society itself. If you are a hypocrite to yourself you will still be a hypocrite so we still need to address our own self-interest and find out why those things are the way they are and change them.

I want to encourage young people to go into creative areas like medicine and all kinds of engineering, something creative. Be a preacher too! That's creative (laughter) it's a pain in the butt, but it's creative.

I feel the natural change can also come about based on what Father's teaching and the blessing and through children like you, the 2nd generation. When you actually venture into it, going through all those "trials" is going to make the difference.  It's not about being pretentious; you are what you are; you are going to shine. Only you can answer to yourselves and I hope that I turn out to be right.

We have put a great deal of emphasis on the Blessing and we have to create great models in every area so that all those tribal realities in a democratic society can be changed by the example of your living model.  That's the way to do it. That's the only way to do it realistically speaking. It's going to take some time. It's not going to happen over night and the key is in your hand, especially you young people.

Your parents have sacrificed for you to be here and to rear you as best as they can to send you off to society to have a greater understanding so you can become what you want to be so you can find your calling and make the difference later.  To transform society we need some sense of permanence and that is through your (inheritance of the mission)

Okay?  Well it was short! (Laughter)  But that all I had to say today.  I'll see you 2 weeks from now, okay? Not next week but the week after.

Okay?