Why Unification Thought is More Urgently Needed for Thought and Life than Ever
By David Carlson
“I wish to emphasize the urgent need for the worldview of Unification Thought. While much of this chapter is philosophical, this vision is meant to be lived to create a peaceful world. We do not live in a neutral environment; we are in the midst of an intense ‘culture war’ and face tangible global threats. In this climate, Unification Thought is more than a philosophy—it is a necessity. I appeal to leaders, scholars, and people of goodwill across all sectors to study this vision. I believe it alone holds the potential to resolve our current conflicts, clarify essential values, and realize the world of peace for which we have all longed.”
Part 5 (Read Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4)
14. The Attack on Christianity and Christian Values
America has always been a “Christian” nation, but lately Christianity is under intense attack. David Limbaugh, in his book, Persecution, documents the many ways in which Christianity is presently under legal attack in the court system of justice.[1] On the other hand, God forbid if anyone criticizes Islam in any fashion, or makes negative comments about its founder, Muhammed. The propaganda arm of “Stealth Jihad”[2] has done its work well. Anyone with the slightest hint of anti-Islamic feeling is immediately branded as being “intolerant,” and there are seemingly spontaneous riots in major Islamic cultures around the world. “Intolerance” is a catchword from liberalism. Other catchwords include “progressive” and “multi-culturalism.” There is even legislation now seeking to make any kind of anti-Islamic statement a crime. This is the work of the propaganda machine of radical Islamic Jihad. Michelle Gabriel calls it “the pc propaganda machine……of the Islamofascism movement” which seeks to “demonize anyone who dares to criticize Islam.”[3]
Perhaps this is an appropriate place to mention that one of former President Obama’s advisory panel members for the Department of Homeland Security, Mr. Mohamed Elibiary, has recently posted on his very public website, the “R4BIA” (a salute with four fingers up), which is a recognized sign of the radical Muslim Brotherhood. Dr. Abdullah Nasif, also, has well-known connections with the radical Islamic community.
Michelle Malkin documents in considerable detail in her book, Culture of Corruption,[4] the extent of the lack of decency and integrity one finds today in the present administration in Washington, DC. Some news items, from the conservative side, even claim that there are up to 70 communists (and they are identified) presently serving in the American Congress and Senate. These are yet more indications that cultural demonization, including radical Islamic Jihad, are filtering pervasively throughout the culture, and social and governmental institutions of the United States. “Progressive surrender” does not seem to be such a far-fetched notion anymore. We are seeing it right before our eyes.
In the educational sphere, it is just as alarming. Schools are encouraged to teach evolution as if it were scientific truth (although it remains only a “theory,” like any scientific theory), but it is frowned upon if one attempts to even discuss “intelligent design.”[5] God forbid if anyone dares to speak the name of God, or even mentions “intelligent design.” You could lose your job. A student who carries a Bible to school, or even wears a T-shirt with some Biblical statement on it is liable to face reprimand, if not expulsion (because of “intolerance”; it might offend the sensibility of someone). The guest speaker in an elementary school classroom may be a lesbian who talks about different sexual positions, or a homosexual man who demonstrates how one is to correctly put on a condom. A grade-school student was put on detention for simply carrying a key chain with a small metal “gun” the size of an American quarter on it. This surely borders on the ridiculous. Of course, transgenderism is an acceptable topic in some cases, and anyone who criticizes it is labelled as intolerant.
In the political sphere, the demonic influence in culture is nearly overwhelming. I have already mentioned the individuals appointed to high levels of government by the Obama administration. Michelle Malkin documents in some detail the “Culture of Corruption” of the government in her book, as mentioned. True or not, in October, 2013, according to news on the “web,” a “communist” named Bill de Blasio (whose daughter confessed to being a drug abuser) was elected as the mayor of New York City, succeeding Michael Bloomberg. Furthermore, the “scandals” which kept emerging from the previous administration were very worrisome. There came Benghazi, NSA (National Security Administration), DOJ (Department of Justice), Fast and Furious, and the IRS (Internal Revenue Service), just to mention a few. A former Presidential Security guard has also revealed that the scandals which occurred were simply “unbelievable,” meaning that what was really happening was much more than we read about, and if we really knew the extent of the misbehavior we would be shocked. There was even talk of impeachment against Obama, as well as against Eric Holder. Pretty clearly, there seems to have been problems.
15. The “Kingdom of Evil” Is Still with Us, More Alive, Aggressive, and Dynamic Than Ever
Lest one think that all these cultural dimensions are random, and not connected, perhaps part of a poor family up bringing, or economic difficulty, or something, I feel it must be stated that they are all part of a deliberate program designed to bring down and destroy the Western world and its values. This same demonic spirit is seeking to block, stop, hinder, confuse, and destroy any effort whatsoever, made by anyone whatsoever, which or who is striving to make progress towards the realization of God’s will.[6]
The animating force behind this cultural onslaught is Satan, or “Lucifer,” as Ann Coulter has noted,[7] and this organized effort to infiltrate and corrupt from within has been given the label of “cultural demonization.” There is a demonic force behind the phenomenon of cultural demonization which continues to inspire, stimulate, catalyze and direct, through the medium of countless numbers of individuals (dupes and fellow travelers). It is that same demonic force (Satan) that animated the monstrous human beings who committed great evils throughout human history, and which animated Marx and Lenin to give birth to communism, and which animates “radical Islamic Jihadists,” and which animates the various “liberal “[8] causes in today’s world.
Behind all of this, and embracing all of this, is a very real kingdom of evil, inspired and conducted by Satan and other demonic forces, working to destroy everything good and true and beautiful. It has created a kingdom of evil, in total opposition to God, and it is actively changing the world, just as Karl Marx stated. America is going through enormous changes right now; the America that exists now is not the same America that I grew up in. The world is experiencing major economic changes as well. To be fair, it must be pointed out that since we are living in the Last Days,[9] change must occur and can be expected. But this change ought[10] to be such as to lead progressively to the realization of good, healthy families, viable and prosperous societies, and good harmonious nations and a peaceful world, all based on true love. Instead, many changes are of a very destructive nature. What can be done? Fortunately, we now have the worldview of Unification Thought.
16. The Essential Role of Unification Thought
Clearly we do not live in a neutral world. There are demonic forces virtually everywhere, as has been noted above, seeking to inundate everyone and everything. The important question, then, is this: Is there any force capable not only of competing with such a kingdom of evil, but actually defeating it? Often people, especially in the Christian world, think that is the role of the church, that is, the Christian church.
However, which church can compete with these evil forces? Their different rituals, theologies, etc. have divided and weakened them. Some churches have come to the point now where they ordain homosexual clergy and officiate over gay marriages. The Roman Catholic pedophile priests have caused disturbing, uncomfortable news. The irony here is that perhaps some of these individuals are themselves socialists, or Marxists, or communists who have deliberately infiltrated the churches so as to destroy those churches, and Christianity, from within. If this seems like an extreme idea, let me point out that many years ago, at Belvedere in New York, I was present in the congregation when Rev. Moon warned us that there were communists even in the Unification Church, and that they would work, from within, to bring the Unification Church down. More recently, it was interesting in that he stated that the Washington Times newspaper was taken from him “by communist hands,”[11] and the fact that the newspaper was returned to his hands was little short of a miracle. This is not to say that any of the individuals around Rev. Moon are/were “communist,” but that there is a communist influence, perhaps working at 3-4 levels removed, and that influence is making itself felt.
Aside from the churches, with their spiritual and theological particularities, politicians, economists, scientists, and professors alike cannot compete with the demonic forces operating in our societies. This is unfortunate, since these are “rational” scholars. They do not necessarily have religious and theological biases. Here, however, it is their own intellect that works against them. Many modern people tend to dismiss or “brush off” such “outdated” and “old-fashioned” notions as “Satan” or “evil spirits,” etc., as mere superstition and fantasy. Richard Dawkins (The God Delusion) is a notable example. One might recall that “enlightened” scholars of the Renaissance dismissed notions of “God” as being superstitious and outdated. The same trend can be found today. Oftentimes, nevertheless, these cultural elites are themselves dupes and fellow travelers, as Fred Schwartz would label them. That is to say, many politicians, economists, scientists, and professors are “in the service” of these forces, in much the same way as Marx, Lenin, Hitler, Kinsey, Hefner, and others were. The sad part is that they may not even realize that they are playing along, as it were. As intellectuals they would not think of “lowering themselves” to even entertain such fanatically religious ideas. They are “rationalists” or “scholars,” not fanaticists. This is uncomfortably close to the attitude held by those of the Renaissance and Enlightenment. Where are the Schleiermachers when you need them? Friedrich Schleiermacher wrote a book (1899): On Religion: Speeches to its Cultured Despisers, which put religion in a completely different light than it had ever been expressed, and electrified, in a good way, the “elitist” community of his time. Actually, Unification Thought will hopefully play the same role, and will have the same effect in the future.
To Be Continued …
[1] David Limbaugh, Persecution, Washington DC: Regnery Publishing, Inc., 2003.
[2] Stealth Jihad is the title and is appropriately titled. Islamic Jihad is attempting to infiltrate itself quietly, or “stealthily” into virtually every aspect of American culture, society, and government in a stealth (ie silent, unobtrusive, quiet and unnoticed} manner. Compare the so-called “stealth bomber” which America has created, and which can avoid detection by any radar system.
[3] Gabriel, They Must Be Stopped, 214-15.
[4] Michelle Malkin, Culture of Corruption: Obama and His Team of Tax Cheats, Crooks, and Cronies, Washington, DC: Regnery Publishing, Inc. 2009. This is an incredible book to read. Far beyond the copious examples of corruption Malkin does describe in her book, the entire culture of the political establishment in Washington, D.C. has seemingly become a culture of corruption.
[5] For a broad, well-researched, and scholarly/scientific elaboration on the controversy surrounding Darwin, evolutionary biology, and design theory, see Jonathan Wells, Icons of Evolution: Science or Myth ?, Washington, DC: Regnery Publishing, Inc., 2000; Jonathan Wells, The Politically Incorrect Guide to Darwinism and Intelligent Design, Washington, DC: Regnery Publishing, 2006; Ann Coulter, Godless: The Church of Liberalism, New York: Crown Books, 2006, esp. pp 198-281; and David A Carlson, The Dawning of a New Culture, CheongShim: GST University Press, 2008, pp 90-114.
[6] For this reason the Family Pledge recited by members of the Unification Movement exhorts us to seek, to establish, to represent, to build, to strive, to embody, and to perfect the Kingdom of God, which is based on the ideal, God-centered family. It will not come on its own accord; rather, we must actively participate together in building such a family and world.
[7] Coulter, Demonic, 287-295.
[8] I use the term “liberal” here not to direct attention to any specific movement or school of thought in our modern times, but as a more generic term, a label with which to identify any thought, movement or individual working in an antithetical way to the providence of God as it is being played out in our modern times. In the use of this term, I am, to a large extent, drawing upon the tradition as it is eloquently expressed in the works of Ann Coulter, who writes about the “church of liberalism” and who in her book, Demonic, describes the way in which the “liberal mob is endangering America.” Taking this generic sense, one might say, to be blunt, and taking after a passage in the Divine Principle, that “Heaven” is of God, and “liberalism” is of the world, that is, of the demonic spirit.
[9] HSA-UWC, Exposition, 84-95. The “last days” is a time of turmoil when changes take place socially, politically, economically, etc. Change must take place throughout the world in order to transform the world as it is presently into the world God originally designed. These changes are catalyzed by the Messiah, and have the objective of lifting up all good things, and transforming even “evil” things into good things.
[10] I say “ought” to be such, since it is us who should be doing it! The world is going through enormous, even unprecedented changes right now and, as this paper indicates, these changes are deliberate. To counter the changes towards evil, we “good” people, with our “good” intentions need to come to have influence, and guide these changes in the right direction. Reference the comments made in Unification Thought (Essentials, 387-390) where the direction of historical change can be changed to the “good” side if directed by good leaders who are able to win over evil influences. In the absence of such good people and good influences, history will continue to advance in an “evil” direction.
[11] Please understand clearly that in my saying this I am not pointing any fingers, and certainly not indicating any individuals, but in a very general sense, it would not be surprising that there may have been some such influence along the way.