“As faith has led in the discovery of the principles and values of the vision of One Family Under God, family is where we translate them into relationships. The family is sacred – the most basic human social unit where life begins and is nurtured, and where we form our primary relationships that define how we relate to ourselves and the world.”

Dr. Junsook Moon
Global Peace Convention, 2023

In the face of rapid urbanization, globalization, and the disintegration of traditional structures, families continue to play a fundamental role in nurturing moral and social growth. The African Renaissance Initiative, unveiled during the Global Peace Leadership Conference (GPLC) in Nairobi in June 2024, envisions a future where Africa’s rich cultural heritage serves as the foundation to drive a spiritual renewal that can serve as a model for the world.

The Family Track at the conference underscored the crucial role that families play in fostering ethical leadership, social cohesion, and peace. Faith leaders were recognized as essential partners in supporting parents in their critical roles in values education. Acknowledging this critical function, Global Peace Women (GPW) worked in collaboration with Global Peace Foundation (GPF) Kenya and other partners to launch The Parents’ Guide to Values Education in the Home Curriculum. This initiative aims to tackle the pressing moral and ethical challenges that children face while growing up in vulnerable environments.

Rooted in the values of Ubuntu, the curriculum highlights principles such as respect, compassion, responsibility, and integrity, which are core to African identity and values. It emphasizes the family as the foundational unit of society, where faith, culture, and tradition merge to shape character and build resilience. The guide provides practical tools for parents, caregivers, and faith leaders to initiate values-based education at home, including activities designed to support children’s moral, emotional, and social development.

This groundbreaking manual has been refined through two extensive review workshops held in Nairobi, Kenya, in November 2024 and January 2025. These workshops brought together faith leaders from Christian, Muslim, and Hindu communities, along with other curriculum developers, all of whom shared a commitment to value education as a tool to strengthen Kenyan families.

The curriculum draws on the strength of faith communities to address modern parenting challenges, such as absent parents, digital distractions, and the diminishing of cultural traditions. Encouraging the active involvement of both parents and extended family members seeks to restore the bonds that form the foundation of healthy, values-based societies.

More than just a manual, this guidebook represents a movement—a united effort to equip future generations with the moral and ethical foundations necessary for Africa’s transformation. By fostering collaboration and shared values, this initiative ensures that children will grow into individuals who embrace the principles of Ubuntu: collective responsibility, mutual care, and a belief in a common destiny.

Through this journey, the home becomes more than just a living space; it transforms into a learning environment where parents and caregivers are the first educators. The lessons of character and leadership imparted within these homes will shape Africa’s leaders of tomorrow. With this curriculum, Africa moves closer to realizing its renaissance—a continent where heritage and hope come together to build a prosperous and ethical future.

The original post appears on Global Peace Foundation. Global Peace Foundation is an international non-sectarian, non-partisan, nonprofit organization, which promotes an innovative, values-based approach to peacebuilding, guided by the vision of One Family under God. GPF engages and organizes a global network of public and private-sector partners who develop community, national, and regional peacebuilding models as the foundation for ethical and cohesive societies. Dr. Hyun Jin Preston Moon is the founder and chairman of the Global Peace Foundation.

2023 Global Peace Leadership Conference Indo Pacific

Keynote Address

Welcome & Greetings

Distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen:

It is my great honor to be with you here in India, the cradle of an ancient spiritual civilization in the heart of Asia.

I want to thank my good friend Dr. Markandey Rai, chairman of GPF India, as well as our convening partners, the Indian Council for International Cooperation, Manav Rachna University, and Yuvsatta Youth for Peace, for organizing this important convening. So, give them all a round of applause.

I am also pleased to acknowledge the many important Indian spiritual teachers as well as key leaders from around the Indo-Pacific region, including Indonesia, the Republic of Korea, Mongolia and Africa. Please give them all a round of applause.

Your participation is very meaningful as this vast region will play a central role in determining the future direction of humanity and the prospects for peace and prosperity in this region.

State of the World Today

Ladies and gentlemen, the world is in crisis.

The rise of “Woke” politics is challenging the traditional Judeo-Christian values and classic liberal views of the West and its institutions from within. There is an alarming cacophony of conflicting ideas about society and the human condition, from the nature of the state to individual identity and gender relations. The result has been widespread political and social instability, uncertainty, and moral confusion.

The liberal ideals of western democracies rooted in individual freedoms and “inalienable” rights are being undermined for the sake of collective conformity with almost religious fervor. Although the end of the Cold War revealed the evils of socialism and communism, a new secular Marxist worldview is taking hold in the West, uprooting its values, norms, traditions and institutions.

This unfortunate reality is eroding the common ground upon which society can stand as both progressive and traditional sides become more polarized, creating an untenable situation. This “Woke” orthodoxy is not content just to undermine the traditional values upon which Western democracy stands, sowing discord within. It seeks to export its ideas to other cultures such as those of India, East Asia, and traditional African societies and twist their values into its own distorted image.

In the realm of geopolitics, we are witnessing the rise of assertive statist powers that are prepared to impose their will on their neighbors, reminiscent of the actions taken by totalitarian regimes of the last century that led to two World Wars and the Cold War. The invasion of Ukraine by Russia was a shock to most in the West that had become complacent about Putin’s ambition to restore the territorial influence of the former Soviet Union. Heading into the second year of the war, there seems to be no end in sight for the near term as Ukraine seeks to regain its lost territories and Russia fortifies its positions.

Here in Asia, China has made it clear that it is prepared to violate Taiwanese sovereignty, even by force, under its “One China” policy. That is why so many experts are concerned by the war in Ukraine since many believe that Chinese authorities are studying that conflict and its implications for their invasion of Taiwan. The US has preempted that concern by showing its commitment to the island’s defense through the well-publicized visit of the former Speaker Nancy Pelosi last year and the recent meeting with the current Speaker McCarthy and Taiwanese president Tsai Ing-wen.

The threat to Taiwan and China’s intent on controlling the South China Sea, the world’s most vibrant trade route, through the creation of military island bases has raised alarm among all its neighbors in the Pacific. These provocative moves have led the US and its allies to join in a variety of new organizations. The Quad treaty of the US, Australia, India and Japan, advanced by the late Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, was considered the “Asian NATO” in response to the rising threat of China. The Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity of 2022 represented fourteen regional nations with a combined economic output of 40% of the world’s GDP as a counter to China’s efforts to economically influence the region.

These developments and President Xi Jinping’s recent visit to Russia and the Middle East are beginning to solidify the emerging lines between the free world and the world under Chinese influence.

The Rise of the Indo-Pacific and the Need for Guiding Spiritual Principles

Ladies and gentlemen, the tides of history are shifting from the Atlantic sphere to the Indo-Pacific. 

In this geopolitical environment, any nation that cherishes the ideals of fundamental freedom and human rights would clearly be wise to align with the US and its democratic allies. For the threat that China poses is the rise of totalitarian statist regimes that challenges the ideal of liberty. It is important to note that, although China has adopted some aspects of a market system, it never relinquished its one-party communist rule or the Maoist revolution; and it never embraced democracy nor the ideals of liberty that form the foundation of the free world.

Given this threat to liberty, the confusion being spread by the “Woke” Left in all western democracies is even more alarming. At no time in human history should the West be clearer about its core values and whence its freedom and rights derive. Many of the activists living in the West, however, take them for granted, failing to recognize the hard-won religious and philosophical milestones, rooted in the Judeo-Christian ethic, that gave birth to them.

The formation of the United States of America in 1776, through its Declaration of Independence from the British empire, planted the seeds of those ideals with its pregnant second sentence: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”

The foundational premise in those immortal words is that human freedom and rights come from the transcendent power of God, our Creator, and not any human authority or institution; and that they are “unalienable.” In our current global circumstances, there is an urgent need to clarify and uplift that time-honored universal spiritual principle. It is important that we understand which ideas will lead to a peaceful, harmonious future and which will dissolve social bonds, leading to chaos and anarchy.

What is important to note is that all democracies are not truly free, as was the case in ancient Greece and even the Roman Empire; nor are they immune from the tyranny of mob-rule. Such spiritual principles provide the much-needed compass to navigate through rapidly changing norms and guide humanity toward God’s original ideal, which I believe, is rooted first and foremost in families centered on the original, creative love of God. We do not have to look far to find evidence of these universal principles. 

We can find them in the great faith traditions that have preserved, taught, and practiced those time-honored traditions that point to the innate value of human life and the proper order in human relationships, especially in the family, as well as to virtues by which to live. Throughout history, God has inspired the founding of various faith and wisdom traditions to elevate human consciousness and cultivate ethical civilizations. 

It should be people of faith who lead the world to peace. I believe the vision that can unite and inspire humanity to transcend all the walls of division is none other than “One Family under God.” All faiths should cooperate and adopt this vision to build a world free of conflict, reflecting the highest spiritual ideals, rooted in universal principles and values that reflect God’s truth, righteousness, goodness and love for all humanity.

Only then will we be able to harness the power of faith to transform the world and build true everlasting peace and harmony for all. We can no longer afford to proclaim that we are all “One Family” while continuing to live in our separate boxes.

The Non-Violence Paradigm and its Korean and Indian Roots 

Ladies and gentlemen, my homeland of Korea and India share a special relationship in history that will have important implications for this century.

There is a historic connection between our two countries that goes back two millennia. In the first century CE an Indian princess, known here I believe as Suriratna, sailed to Korea, married King Suro and became the queen known to us Koreans as Heo Hwang-ok. There are memorials to her in both our countries. That marriage alliance tied our ancient civilizations and made clear that there were significant connections between our two countries at that time and ever since.

In the last century, the Korean Sam Il independence movement, launched in 1919 while the Paris Peace Conference was being held after World War I, influenced Indian independence by introducing the platform of mass non-violent protest rooted in universal spiritual truths. Two million Koreans on the peninsula, ten percent of the population, engaged in peaceful protest over two months, making it the largest demonstration of non-violent resistance up until that time.

It was in 1920 that Ghandhi then formulated satyagraha or “truth force” that became the governing philosophy behind the Indian non-violence movement. In 1929, Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore, a leading thought leader of Indian independence, met with Korean students in Japan and was deeply moved by the undying aspirations of the Korean people. He immortalized those aspirations in a famous quatrain called “Lamp in the East” describing Korea as one of the ancient sources of light in Asia, waiting to be relit “for the illumination of the East.”

The main impetus for independence movements in both Korea and India in the early 20th century relied on their own ancient spiritual traditions. In the case of Korea, it was motivated by Hongik Ingan that mandated the Korean people to “live for the benefit of all humanity;” and for India, it was vasudaiva kutumbakam that proclaimed that “The World is One Family.” As a result, both movements were not driven simply by resentment toward the colonial power. Certainly, they wanted to be free of foreign rule, but each had a greater vision of a peaceful and harmonious coexistence with their oppressors as well as their neighbors after independence.

Later, this approach became the inspiration for Martin Luther King Jr and the American Civil Rights movement. Dr. King applied the spiritual principle of non-violence to prick the conscience of a nation. He looked to America’s founding creed of equality to hold the nation to account for its moral failure in its treatment of black Americans. His historic “I Have a Dream” speech did not simply condemn the injustice but called all people to renew their commitment to those founding ideals.

Similarly, in South Africa, Nelson Mandela adopted the principles of non-violence rooted in universal truths while he was in prison for his attempt to violently overthrow the apartheid government. There in prison, he learned to forgive his oppressors and later worked with then President de Klerk, in the early 1990s upon his release, to dismantle the system of segregation. He became the first president of a multi-racial South Africa in 1994 and played a central role in reconciliation between the races, being globally recognized for his work and statesmanship. 

Due to our two countries’ important legacy in shaping the most significant movements for freedom, equality and human rights of the 20^th century, I believe that our destinies, those of Korea and India, are intertwined. We have an even greater role to play in this century, as the world stands on the precipice of war and chaos. Our unique spiritual heritage and history of non-violence place us in a unique position to champion peace in the Indo-Pacific region, here in the southern heart of Asia and the pan-Pacific rim to the east, and eventually the world. 

Let me share something else that our two nations have in common. Korea is a 5,000-year-old civilization. Yet, throughout our entire history, we never invaded any of our neighbors. We were attacked and invaded over 900 times throughout the course of our history, but we never attacked our neighbors. But, because of the spiritual principles of Hongik Ingan, we internalized that suffering to be able to love humanity because of the providential mandate in our founding to live for the benefit of mankind.  That is the power of spiritual principles, our unique spiritual heritage. Let us never forget that.

The Korean Dream and Launching of a New Era

Ladies and gentlemen, before we can open a new chapter in the story of this region, we must bring a close to the last vestige of the 20th century’s tragic legacies of colonialism and Cold War geopolitics that remain on the Korean peninsula.

It is deeply ironic that the nation which initiated the paradigm of non-violent mass protest rooted in universal truths remains divided to this day, unable to realize the aspirations of the Sam-Il movement from more than a century ago, when every other colonized people, as well as nations in the Soviet sphere of influence, were eventually able to achieve national sovereignty and unification. Thus, Korean reunification is of utmost importance in setting a new precedent for peace in Asia and the world.

I have developed a new vision for unification called the Korean Dream. Unlike past efforts, it draws upon the ancient Korean philosophical ideal of Hongik Ingan, which precedes the current ideological division by millennia, to tackle the present challenge. It was the impetus behind the high moral ideals of the independence movement and gave all Koreans a sense of providential purpose to create a model nation that could “benefit all mankind.” It challenges the divided peninsula to discard the foreign construct of division and recognize its common identity and destiny.

In order to do this, I plan on relaunching the paradigm of the Sam-Il movement to bring about unification. To that end, I have created Action for Korea United (AKU), a coalition of civil society activists, organizations, NGOs and associations that represents millions of South Koreans. To date, we have more than a thousand partners united in the largest grassroots movement for unification in the history of the two Koreas.

We plan to hold peace rallies in the South that will climax in 2025 with a massive event for unification that will highlight the 80th anniversary of Korean independence from Japanese rule. Dreamers are the ones who change the world. Imagine if tens of millions of Koreans on the peninsula and the diaspora as well as supporters from around the world gathered their collective voices to demand the peaceful unification of Korea. Surely, the metaphysical and physical wall that divides the peninsula will fall and a new era will dawn for the Korean people, the Indo-Pacific and the world.

I hope and trust that the spiritual and thought leaders here will recognize the moment and give your support for the Korean Dream. The rising prominence of India in this region is evidenced by its role in hosting the upcoming G-20 meeting, drawing upon the rich heritage of Indian spirituality to create the theme of “One Earth, One Family, One Future.”  It is also noteworthy that India is convening the “C-20” of civil society counterparts to G20, giving substance to spiritual principles and values by promoting the essential value of service and the ethos of one family.

This is highly significant because of the clear recognition that politics, economics, and technology alone are inadequate to resolve the many challenges facing the world today. These challenges arise, at root, from a clash of fundamental worldviews that can only be effectively addressed by drawing on deep and ancient spiritual traditions and the universal truths they embody.

What is most important is that we recognize the universal principles that are manifested in these traditions. We are all essentially connected in the one human family, and we are one family because of our shared origin in the Creator God. Our inherent value and fundamental rights are endowed to us by God.  To encapsulate these truths in a way that all can easily grasp, I have long advocated a simple yet profound vision statement – One Family under God.

A Call to Action and New Delhi Declaration

Today, young leaders, spiritual leaders, scholars, and others from civil societies across the Indo-Pacific region have taken ownership over the vision of One Family under God.

You have concluded important discussions on its implementation in areas related to youth, education, values-based peacebuilding, and the environment. I look forward to the New Delhi Declaration you are issuing today that will outline specific initiatives that will give substance to the noble theme of this GPLC Indo-Pacific.

Today, I am announcing that the Global Peace Foundation and its partners will establish the Indo-Pacific Leadership Forum to further implement this movement fostering one global family, guided by traditions and values shared across all the cultures gathered here.  I have asked Dr. Markandey Rai to organize and lead this initiative and invite your contributions from across the nations of the Indo-Pacific.

The Leadership Forum will work in this region in a similar way to the Latin American Presidential Mission that I founded. Through it, public-minded former presidents work for the benefit of Latin America through promoting peace, cooperation among countries and spiritual and material development of the people.

I hope that each one of you will become peacebuilders in your respective spheres of influence and join with us in the great movement for global peace.

Let us all commit to become the moral and innovative leaders who invest our passion, energy and talent to serve the greatest good -for the benefit of all humanity, that together, step by step, we can finally realize the greatest dream of all, the dream of One Family under God!

Thank you, and may God bless you and your families.

We have taken the approach that there is a common vision that motivates and animates all of humanity. That vision is ‘One Family under God.’ […] A common thread exists in all of the faith traditions that articulates and identifies universal principles and values as the guiding compass of our daily lives. In other words, faith traditions of people of faith have more in common than they do differences. [W]e should come together on a common ground to deal with a common issue of our common humanity, and that is to build ‘One Family under God.’

Dr. Hyun Jin Preston Moon
Global Peace Convention 2013
Abuja, Nigeria

Agreements about fundamental principles across faiths can help create healthy families and communities. In addition, through a commitment to working together for a common cause, religions can influence people to live moral and productive lives.

Interfaith Young Leadership Retreat in 2014

What does this kind of interfaith cooperation look like? We can look at the current peacebuilding model in Nigeria as one example. The Global Peace Foundation Nigeria (GPFN) has been working since the launch of its “One Family Under God” Campaign in 2013 to build peace and facilitate cooperation between groups of different tribal and religious backgrounds. This is done through building common ground between other groups based on a shared vision of a world of peace and prosperity as “One Family Under God.”

In this, a critical component has been the direct and indirect participation of the religious leaders of each community. Throughout this ongoing campaign, religious leaders have played a significant role in building trust and strengthening relationships between groups. This is significant because conflicts tend to break out between groups divided along ethnoreligious lines in many locations across Nigeria.

Sheik Hailru Abdullahi Maraya and Rev. John Joseph Hayab hosting a joint meeting with local leaders of Goska, Dangoma, Bakin Kogi and Ambam

In 2017, a time of immense tension between two different ethnoreligious groups in Southern Kaduna, GPFN facilitated the formation of a Southern Kaduna Peace and Reconciliation Committee comprised of top traditional, religious leaders, women leaders, and youth leaders of the different groups. This was a direct outgroup of intense interventions and mediation sessions between the groups in conflict.

Most significant was the participation of two religious leaders, Sheik Hailru Abdullahi Maraya and Rev. John Joseph Hayab. Despite being of different religious backgrounds, these two figures from different religious and ethnic backgrounds had long modeled the ideal of “One Family Under God” in their respectful and warm relationship. Dubbed the “Kaduna Twins,” their participation grew into leading in the peace efforts. Mediation was a vital component of bringing a peaceful resolution to what had previously been a violent conflict.

By drawing on both Christian and Muslim concepts and language around important universal principles and shared values, the Kaduna Twins could transcend what had often become a barrier to peace in the region. Here, rather than having religious differences as a basis for division, the ideals and principles that each religion had long taught were highlighted in relevant ways that served the cause of peace. This helped open up essential conversations for the communities to move forward and out of open conflict.

Today, the Kaduna Twins continue their important work with local communities in Nigeria. To learn more, go to the Global Peace Foundation website at www.globalpeace.org.

The understanding that fundamental rights and freedoms are endowed to every human being by the Creator has endured. Just as Lincoln hearkened to the powerful assertions in the Declaration of Independence, so too did Martin Luther King Jr. a century later during the height of the Civil Rights movement in his “I Have a Dream” speech at the Lincoln Memorial.  They recognized the self-evident truth of God’s sovereignty as the source of all fundamental rights and freedoms; that regardless of human failures and contradictions in America’s history, surely, that idea will eventually prevail.

Dr. Hyun Jin Preston Moon
Global Peace Convention 2021

In 1630, a group of very determined people decided to move to the “New World” of the North American continent in search of a place to self-consciously build a “city upon a hill.” These famous lines from a sermon in 1630 by John Winthrop have since shaped American self-understanding. The idea originally came from Jesus’ Sermon on a Mount, encouraging followers to see themselves as models for others. And even before its official founding in 1776, this ideal that has shaped America in different ways through the years.

The American experiment started in the Old World, with a group dubbed the “Puritans” struggled with the local British government for their right to believe and worship as they saw fit. When they could no longer do so, they fled to the more religiously tolerant Netherlands, only to feel that the overly permissive social climate was detrimental to their spiritual lives.

For example, some scholars suggest that the first Puritan colony’s rules for self-governance, the Mayflower Compact, “undoubtedly played a role in future colonists seeking permanent independence from British rule and shaping the nation that eventually became the United States of America.”

The text from the Mayflower Compact underscores how central God was in the establishment of those first colonies:

Having undertaken, for the Glory of God, and advancements of the Christian faith, and the honor of our King and Country, a voyage to plant the first colony in the Northern parts of Virginia; do by these presents, solemnly and mutually, in the presence of God, and one another; covenant and combine ourselves together into a civil body politic…

Later, the American Revolutionary War was fought against the British colonizers with the understanding that it was their God-given right to challenge the authorities at the time. The seminal U.S. Declaration of Independence laid out the case for their separation from the British Crown in the idea that “all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” The basis of these “Rights” was laid squarely in the idea of a transcendent Creator. Because these rights are endowed by the Creator there was no institution that could take them away.

All men, as created beings, all were afforded “separate and equal station.” In short, no man had the right to rule over another except by the freely given consent of the governed.

This understanding that fundamental rights and freedoms are endowed to every human being by the Creator continued to guide and shape American political life throughout history. For example, on his way to the capital as the newly elected U.S. President, Abraham Lincoln stated that “I have never had a feeling politically that did not spring from the sentiments embodied in the Declaration of Independence.” Even while he wished to avoid war and bloodshed, Lincoln felt it was his duty to protect the ideals of the Declaration, not only for the current generation of Americans but for “the world, for all future time.” He expressed his understanding that America existed not just for its own sake but as a model for the world and all future generations.

Roughly a century later, Martin Luther King Jr. saw himself furthering “God’s will” to ensure that America lived up to its promises. In his “I Have a Dream” speech at the Lincoln Memorial, he proclaimed, “I have a dream that one day this nation will rise and live out the true meaning of its creed: We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.”

Both Lincoln and King recognized the self-evident truth of God’s sovereignty as the source of all fundamental rights and freedoms; that regardless of human failures and contradictions in America’s history, surely, that idea will eventually prevail. Both men worked to further this dream, giving up their lives in that process.

All this has led to what people have dubbed “American exceptionalism,” and whatever the case, America, unlike most nations in the world, was founded on the ideal of building a model of what a nation could and should be.

Today, we can honor the sacrifices of the people who came before us by advancing and even expanding that same dream for America into in one which the whole world could – together – live in peace and harmony as One Family Under God.

Freedom of religion is an absolute necessity in ensuring true liberty. The world’s religions have a vital role to play in bringing about this transformation of consciousness.
– Dr. Hyun Jin Preston Moon, Global Peace Convention 2021

In our modern world, we have become so accustomed to religious freedom to the point that we often forget why it is so essential to peace and human flourishing. Thankfully, America was – by design – a society that allowed people of different religions to believe and practice their faith without interference from the government.

The American Founding Fathers understood that this was a dangerous experiment. Yet, they intentionally chose to protect religious freedom as an integral part of the design of the new nation. Essentially, they institutionalized what had already happened in the early colonial days and made a governmental structure that allowed communities to choose their religious faith and practices. The confidence to do this was primarily rooted in an enormous faith in God, the Creator, and His design of the universe.

Rather than restricting religious beliefs and forcing citizens to believe in one religion, the United States chartered a new course in human history. Dr. Hyun Jin Preston Moon writes in Korean Dream that the Declaration of Independence “advocated the theory of natural rights: the notion that fundamental human rights and freedoms are bestowed, not by the state or monarch, but directly to the people by the Creator, and the purpose of government was to ensure the protection of those rights. Thus, each person has intrinsic value that comes from the Creator and is the basis for the essential dignity of each person and the rights that such dignity naturally entails. It was truly a birth of an enlightened concept of liberty and human rights that pointed the way forward to our modern concept of universal human rights and freedoms.”

Religion has long been one of the reasons for much of the conflict in the world – but through its nearly 250 years, America has modeled not only the feasibility but the desirability of religious freedom. In America, the idea of “One Nation Under God” led to greater peace and material prosperity as individuals were given the ability to live out their faith and their dreams. In the Foreword to the Korean Dream book, Dr. Edwin J. Feulner notes that the “bedrock of a successful civil society is belief in a divine being and that this belief forms the basis for principled human interaction.”

The religious diversity and the competition for believers in this new religious “marketplace” enriched the nation as each religious community sought, as part of their faith and practice, to better society around them. They did this by serving the less fortunate by building shelters, soup kitchens, and hospitals, educating the next generation through building schools and universities, and engaging in simple acts of service to aid whoever needed it most.

As opposed to European society of the time, the exceptional nature of this is captured in the writings of a French political scientist and writer, Alexis de Tocqueville, who marveled at the productivity and bustling voluntary associations of every need or interest. The social engagement of the faithful – of whatever religious tradition – was the external expression of spiritual principles. For example, loving God and neighbor and living a life rooted in truth and righteousness ultimately led to the Abolitionist and Civil Rights movements.

Today, the challenge looks different, but the call to create a better world for future generations based on universal principles and shared values remains the same. Dr. Hyun Jin Preston Moon, in his Global Peace Convention keynote speech on August 15, 2021, called on the faithful to lead this charge:

Just as it was people of faith that engendered the American experiment, it should be the faithful that leads the world to peace by advocating the vision of One Family under God. All religions should cooperate to build a world free of conflict, reflecting the highest spiritual ideals, rooted in universal principles and values that reflect God’s truth, righteousness, goodness, and love for all humanity. Only then could we harness the power of faith to truly transform the world and build true everlasting peace and harmony for all.

How will you take up this call in your community?

…beyond these many differences, we are one family who shares the same origin in the Creator God. The vision of One Family under God can unite us since it shows the pathway to true global unity in diversity. – Dr. Hyun Jin Preston Moon (Global Peace Convention, August 15, 2021)

Every year, American families in the United States gather to celebrate Thanksgiving on the third Thursday of November.

A tradition that dates back far before the nation’s founding in 1776, the Thanksgiving story is about a Native American tribe, and a group of new settlers named the Puritans. The Puritans journeyed to the Americas in 1620 from Europe. They risked their lives on a perilous trip across the Atlantic Ocean in pursuit of a dream to establish a polity that allowed them to live out their faith and build a model for the rest of the world.

The Puritans were clear that their journey was about much more than fortune. John Winthrop, a leader in the new society in 1631, declared, “Others may come to the New World for wealth and furs […] We have another goal, another end. We have entered into an explicit covenant with God to be His people in this New World.” Their intent to build a society as a “City on a Hill” has since left an indelible mark on the American psyche.

Moreover, the Thanksgiving story is not just about the Puritans. It is about two very different groups of people who could transcend their differences and work together for a greater purpose. Today, it’s easy to forget how astonishing this story was. To those involved, the story is a miraculous one that demonstrated God’s guiding hand. 

In their first year, without the help of the Native Americans, the Puritan settlers barely survived the harsh New England winter. What turned everything around was the Native American named Squanto, who played a pivotal role.  In his youth, Squanto had been kidnapped and taken to Spain. It was there that he was later evangelized and educated by monks. He also learned English, which was essential to his later role in brokering peace between the Mayflower community and the local Wampanoag tribe. Somehow, despite his experience of being sold into slavery to Europeans, Squanto aided the Puritans in their most dire time of need. Their cooperation came to the story of the first Thanksgiving, a celebration and thanksgiving to God for His many gifts and blessings.

Beyond the first Thanksgiving, the Wampanoag tribe and the Puritans built a peaceful partnership that lasted 50 years. 

That first Thanksgiving and its inclusion as part of the American legacy set a global precedent for a nation. Being of a different race, different history, religion, etc., need not divide. Instead, when God is at the center, superficial differences melt away. Moreover, the understanding of a deep interconnectedness in God creates room for cooperation and collaboration.

As we gather with our family and friends this Thanksgiving, let us remember again the miracle of that first Thanksgiving story and the many lessons that it holds for us today.

The following are a compilation of excerpts from speeches from 2008 and 2012:

I believe that America’s true strength lies in its moral authority as a nation rooted in spiritual principles and values, which has championed human rights and freedoms at home and abroad. This is a nation with the aspiration to become “one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.”

It was this vision that inspired millions from all corners of the world regardless of race, ethnicity, nationality and religion to make the long and perilous journey to a new nation filled with hope and opportunity. In order for the United States to exercise genuine global leadership in today’s more complex and fragmenting world, it must rekindle that position of true servant leadership, offering its inclusive national promise to the world.

Now more than ever, the United States must look to its unique founding ideals as the basis for a new Renaissance in the 21st century rooted in universally accepted aspirations, principles and values. Just as the European Renaissance gave rise to the Reformation and the Enlightenment and, thereby laid the groundwork for our modern world, a new global movement for change needs to arise, anchored in the past but bringing a fresh, new vision for the future.

In the course of the last century, the United States has been the catalyst for positive global change, challenging European colonial imperialism, and creating international assemblies to foster peace through dialogue and reason. The League of Nations after the First World War, and the United Nations after the Second World War, were created as a result.

We owe a great debt to the brave and selfless young men and women who were willing to pay any price for the American dream and its founding principles.

During the Cold War era, American leadership, and faith in human rights and fundamental freedoms, paved the way for the eventual collapse of totalitarian, communist regimes around the world. The historical role of the United States in shaping, and then leading, the world to where we are today, is undisputed.

The question then is: what should be America’s role going forward, as we look to this new century and the challenges that it brings.

The 73rd UN General Assembly unanimously adopted resolution A/RES/73/329 declaring April 5th the International Day of Conscience. The resolution, sponsored by the Kingdom of Bahrain, called on members states of the United Nations to build a “Culture of Peace with Love and Conscience.”  The resolution was inspired by Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights which states, “all human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights, are endowed with reason and conscience, and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.”

International Day of Conscience recognizes the importance of people of conscience, from all nations and societies, working together to secure a culture of peace based upon “a set of values, attitudes, and behaviors inspired by the principles of freedom, justice, democracy, human rights, tolerance, and solidarity.”

Since its founding, the United States has recognized the importance of people of conscience and the contributions of faith communities in American public life. People often quote John Adams, one of the foremost Founding Fathers of the United States, who said, “Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.”

American history reveals that significant periods of spiritual renewal – across faiths – have often been followed by transformative social and economic development. These developments have gone on to improve countless lives and have even inspired global change.

Recognizing the vital role of people of faith and conscience, Dr. Hyun Jin Preston Moon has long worked to bring together spiritual leaders to lead in an awakening towards a shared dream of peace. “Engaging, organizing and mobilizing people of faith and conscience in grassroots initiatives that put our principles into action is a timely and essential undertaking,” he said in 2012, at an inter-religious conference held in Atlanta, Georgia.

Dr. Moon encouraged the building of “a dynamic civic square” with people from all the different faith communities. He emphasized that engagement should be based on a consensus around shared, spiritual values, and a “robust and diverse expression of religious freedom”. It was the combination of these things that would create “a rich environment for the fruits of liberty to flourish”, as it had so often happened throughout American history.

It was also then that Dr. Moon called on leaders from different faiths and backgrounds to come together to renew America in its promise:

“America is to be a place where people of all races and backgrounds can discover the deeper basis of human value that under God all have been endowed equally with the same essential rights. America is meant to be a living demonstration that all people of the world are to be one family under God.”

His words remain relevant for a world filled with division. Today, faith leaders can transcend differences and come together based on a shared vision of peace so that blessings can be shared not just in one nation, but with all the brother and sister nations around the world.

On this day celebrating the International Day of Conscience, let us, as people of faith and conscience, lead in the renewal of our nation, whether it be the United States or any other. In doing so, we become those that can usher in a world of peace and prosperity for all.

Read the full text of Dr. Moon’s speech at the Atlanta Conference here.

“The global pandemic is disrupting not only the social and working lives of individuals and communities but also relationships between nations. Governments are stretched to meet their domestic challenges. Vulnerabilities in the global economy and supply chain have been exposed. There will likely be significant political as well as economic ramifications forcing re-evaluations of old models, while at the same time opening up new opportunities.” —Dr. Hyun Jin P. Moon (International Forum on One Korea, August 2020)

The Global Peace Foundation has been at the forefront of developing a platform to advance a comprehensive approach to Korean reunification. Its work is largely based on a framework presented in Dr. Hyun Jin Moon’s national bestselling book, Korean Dream: A Vision for a Unified Korea. Based on the ideals, shared values, and history of the Korean people, the framework presents a vision of a free and principled unified Korea that advances regional peace and security, honor human rights, and promotes shared prosperity.

The 2020 International Forum on One Korea virtual forums, co-costed by partners like the One Korea Foundation, Blue Banner, Action for Korea United, and Alliance for Korea United – USA, has a dialogue on a broad range of issues, from denuclearization, human rights, regional relations, and citizen engagement.

On November 20, 2020, experts addressed the dynamic relations between U.S., China, and South Korea, “Free and Unified Korea: Challenges and Opportunities amid the Dynamic U.S.-China Relations.” The open dialogue presented divergent assessments of the roles of the United States and China in resolving the global security threats posed by the North Korean regime during a virtual forum,

Convened by the Global Peace Foundation, Action for Korea United, and the One Korea Foundation, the forum addressed the outsized roles of China and the United States in regard to North Korea’s nuclear program, advancing economic development, and securing human rights on the Korean peninsula.

The following article from Global Peace Foundation summarizes highlights from that discussion.

‘Maximum Pressure’ U.S. Policy

U.S. analysts Joseph Bosco, former China Country Director in the Office of the U.S. Secretary of Defense (top), and Doug Bandow, Senior Fellow at the Cato Institute.

Addressing the forum from Washington, Joseph Bosco, a national security consultant and former China Country Director in the Office of the U.S. Secretary of Defense, said North Korea’s growing nuclear weapons program has bedeviled U.S. administrations for decades. “Bilateral negotiations, multilateral negotiations, agreed frameworks, six-party talks, imposition of sanctions, lifting of sanctions, threats, offers of economic incentives—all foundered in frustration and futility.”

Bosco said that the “maximum pressure” campaign initiated by the Trump administration, comprised of stepped-up international sanctions, the threat of military attack, and exposure of human rights atrocities, and the prospect of regime change in North Korea persuaded Kim Jong Un to rethink North Korea’s provocative behavior. Yet just as Trump and Kim agreed to meet in the first-ever U.S.-DPRK summit in Singapore, Chinese President Xi summoned Kim to Beijing for a series of meetings, after which the North Korean position and rhetoric hardened. The follow-up Hanoi summit in February 2019 foundered without even a joint statement. 

China and Xi’s intervention scuttled the opportunity for progress, Bosco said, adding that China had been involved in North Korea’s initial efforts to obtain nuclear materials. The North’s nuclear program provided a “distraction” that enabled China to play the role of the “essential partner” in restraining North Korea, which it had no real intention of doing.

Bosco said it was time to return to a maximum pressure campaign, with additional sanctions on China. “The world needs to realize that if the actions don’t change, regimes need to change.”

Cato Institute analyst Doug Bandow said that the objective of a unified Korea began in 1945, with North Korea leader Kim Il Sung seeking to unify the peninsula “on his own terms” through military force. Yet Kim Jong Un is different from father and grandfather, he said, with a greater concern for economic development. 

“A major concern is a new cold war between the U.S. and China,” Bandow said. “Diplomatic contact is not a reward [for good behavior] but a necessary condition of engagement. If we want China’s help with North Korea, we must convince them it is in their interests and think of ways that would assuage their concerns. It is in all of our interests to have a peaceful, prosperous united Korea.”

Multilateral Approaches

Dr. Huiyao Wang, founder and President of the Center for China and Globalization (top), and Dr. Feng Zhu, Dean of the Institute of International Studies at Nanjing University.

Two analysts from China, Dr. Huiyao Wang, founder and President of the Center for China and Globalization; and Dr. Feng Zhu, Professor of International Relations and Dean of the Institute of International Studies at Nanjing University, argued that China’s national interests were fundamentally aligned with a peaceful Korean peninsula, and that peaceful unification would benefit China and open the region to expanded prosperity.

Wang said that the incoming Biden administration could provide a new opportunity for a multilateral approach. “It is time to revitalize dialog between the U.S. and China, build mutual trust, find consensus and work toward a coordinated approach,” Wang said. Noting that China has had a lot of economic collaboration with North Korea and South Korea, he said that “economic integration is very important so that ‘mutually assured dependency’’ can replace ‘mutually assured destruction.’”

Dr. Zhu said there were lessons from the history of China and Korea. “Every time Korea unifies and is strong it is an addition to China’s national security.” He particularly noted Chinese paramount leader Deng Xiaoping’s decision to normalize relations with South Korea and Kim Il Sung’s attempts to block this effort. But Deng was consistent, Zhu said and knew that it would help China to integrate economically and socially into the world community.

Deng also tried to urge North Korea to follow China’s path, which unfortunately was rejected by Kim Il Sung. “Over time, the model of openness and reform proposed by Deng became very important as an easy, workable, peaceful approach for the two Koreas to become reunified. 

Zhu harshly criticized American attitudes toward North Korea, its “stubbornness” and “attitude of supremacy in world affairs,” citing the George W. Bush administration’s labeling of the DPRK as a member of the Axis of Evil as an “unbelievably tactless and wrongful handling of the DPRK.”

During the Six-Party Talks, China and South Korea also cooperated well but the talks foundered. The reason is simple, he said: A conservative government came to power in South Korea that was wholly aligned with the United States. The third generation of the DPRK government reacted by taking steps that could ensure its survival. 

China also supported the 2017 Security Council sanctions to impose fresh sanctions on the DPRK over its nuclear test, Zhu said. The Security Council resolution called for a peaceful settlement through diplomatic and political means, supported the resumption of six-party talks, and stressed measures to de-escalate tension on the peninsula as reported by Xinhua News Agency, the official state-run press agency of the People’s Republic of China.

Alignment and Priorities: Korean Perspectives

Dr. Tae-Hwan Kwak, former President of the Korea Institute for National Unification (top), and Dr. Ki-Young Sung, Senior Research Fellow at the Institute for National Security Strategy.

Presenting a viewpoint from Korea, Dr. Tae-Hwan Kwak, Visiting Chair-Professor at Kyungnam University and former President of the Korea Institute for National Unification, defined three key issues, the end of war declaration at the 2018 Summit, North Korea’s weapons program, and South Korean foreign policy. 

The end of war declaration would open door to denuclearization, Kwak said, but President Trump remained indifferent, preferring a peace declaration and visible progress in denuclearization to an end of war declaration, which would demand the removal of U.S. troops.  Second, North Korea is in an economic crisis due to international sanctions and the COVID pandemic, Kwak said. Its weapons program cannot coexist with economic prosperity. The third issue is South Korean policy and a new, NATO-like South Asia security network to balance growing Chinese influence that includes India, Australia, and other regional nations.

China’s role in resolving the Korea issue is as vital as that of the U.S., Kwak said. South Korea needs to practice balanced diplomacy, with due recognition of the complexities and national interests of both.

Dr. Ki-Young Sung, a Senior Research Fellow at the Institute for National Security Strategy, said that governments need to acknowledge that all policy approaches have failed, both maximum pressure and maximum engagement.  U.S.- China relations are going to be decisive, he said, while noting areas of common ground including climate change, cybersecurity, and denuclearization. 

“The Korea issue needs to be included with these common issues,” Sung said, including the human rights of the North Korean people. “Few are talking about freedom, freedom from hunger and starvation, giving equal attention to humanitarian issues.” 

Sung urged a balance between incentives and coercive measures and a multilateral framework, particularly to internationalize perception of North Korea’s record of human rights violations.

International Responses

Clockwise from top left: John Everard, Vladimir Ivanov, Hyun Seung Lee and Jagannath P. Panda.

Following the presentations, experts from the UK, India, Russia, and North Korea presented responses. Former UK Ambassador to the DPRK John Everard said that the “hard fact is unification is not fervent wish,” with more enthusiasm in the North than in the South. He said the pandemic has had a shocking impact in the North, which is in need of massive aid, and many observers question if Kim has complete control.

 Dr. Jagannath P. Panda, Centre Coordinator at the Manohar Parrikar Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses in New Delhi, asked whether the entire peace process would depend on dialogue only among the critical actors.

“Japan, Russia, China, and South Korea would like to see ‘non-critical’ participation, including India, Australia and Canada, at some stage to take part in and influence the peace process.” 

“The road to unification must be a stable process, which has existed – if fragile – since the Korean War,” said Dr. Vladimir Ivanov, Senior Associate and Director of Mosco Office, EastWest Institute. “The Trump administration has been not consistent and tried to dismantle existing arrangements.”

Citing the example of relations between the U.S. and USSR, Ivanov said arms control agreements were sustained by the international community and in fact remained in force with Soviet collapse. It is important to think about how to shift from carrot and stick to a more sophisticated arms control policy that reduces factors that present risk, he said.

Finally, Mr. Hyun Seung Lee, a North Korean defector and consultant specializing in North Korea affairs, said there may be at least one common purpose shared by the U.S. and China: “the opening up of North Korea.” China has called for North Korea to reform for more than three decades, he said, and North Korea’s current and past leaders have said that they would, “but they have not kept their promise because they firmly believe that they cannot maintain the regime if North Korea reformed.” 

“I strongly believe that the Chinese leadership should join forces with the United States to make Kim Jong Un accept reform and openness, applying maximum pressure instead of calling for reform with nice words.”

The original post appears on Global Peace Foundation. Global Peace Foundation is an international non-sectarian, non-partisan, nonprofit organization, which promotes an innovative, values-based approach to peacebuilding, guided by the vision of One Family under God.  GPF engages and organizes a global network of public and private-sector partners who develop community, national, and regional peace building models as the foundation for ethical and cohesive societies. Dr. Hyun Jin Preston Moon is founder and chairman of the Global Peace Foundation.

It is said that the battleground was still dark with the blood of the 15,000 – soldiers from both sides – on that crisp autumn day in November 1863, when Lincoln delivered a speech to consecrate the dead.

In his short speech, he emphasized the phrase that changed the world in 1776: “all men are created equal.” To the crowds in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania Lincoln declared:

Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.

He was referring to the lines written eighty-seven years prior by the then-33-year-old, red-headed Virginian, Thomas Jefferson. In many ways, Lincoln’s recitation of the phrase would further immortalize the lines written by Jefferson in the America creed:

We hold these truths to be self-evident; that all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

Jefferson managed to capture in a few lines the sentiment that had been growing out of the political, religious, and economic upheaval that had started in Europe. It was a period of absolute monarchs and a ruthless race between nation-states for wealth.

In this landscape, Jefferson expressed a revolutionary sentiment: every person is valuable, and is granted rights by a Creator, and thereby ought to be treated with dignity. He presented a concept of liberty that broke the mold of the day, placing liberty in the hands of the Creator, transcending every man-made institution. It was an argument that all governments are beholden to these principles and allowed to govern only through the “consent of the governed.”

Jefferson and the other 55 signers of the Declaration of Independence were under no illusion that the great experiment they had embarked on would be easy, or even successful. They were keenly aware of the shortcomings of humanity and asserted that it would take an active civil society that engaged the people in constant moral and educational improvement that would sustain the new nation and enable it to grow into a nation that could bring these principles to life.

Lincoln understood this too. He would bring liberty one step further to reach “all men” during his presidency, in a difficult step that was hard-won and required the sacrifice of many. Lincoln honored these sacrifices, declaring:

We here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain—that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom—and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.

Today, we must remember this history and strive to make it our own. The American ideals and values of a society that guarantees the human rights and freedoms endowed to all of us by the Creator must be studied, discussed, and shared to continue on into the next generation.

Let us be part of this great tradition by remembering and teaching about the words, sacrifices, and examples of those who came before us.