Today’s turbulence reminds me of the 1960s anti-war movement, which I experienced during my first year at the University of California, Santa Barbara. I quickly became disenchanted with what felt like hopeless solutions being offered by angry people. My question became: If every person’s worldview is equally valid — is there any hope for harmonious, peaceful solutions that could bring everyone together?
Eventually I became convinced that there is indeed a natural source of universal values that’s simple for everyone to understand. I realized that the source is the family, where we can all personally assimilate values like love, cooperative interdependence, selfless service — ultimately, shared prosperity.
Of course, no two families are alike. Furthermore, families in today’s world face any number of unexpected trials. Without exception, every family faces struggle, turmoil and heartbreak.
Yet it’s perfectly easy to understand the ideal of the responsible, loving family as the “school of love.” The family’s where I learned the physical, emotional, and spiritual values essential to social peace and prosperity.
What do you think are the underlying requirements key to sustainable peace? What would it take to meet those requirements?
Do you think there’s a way of achieving peace without shared universal values?
Given that so few experience an ideal family life, is it realistic to look to the family as the source of the experiences necessary to achieve that ideal societally?
If there are “universal values”, what are they? How should they be acquired and disseminated?
Please share your thoughts below
Maybe we need to get back to original true family values…. the ones ANYONE can employ…. atheist & Moonie both…
Thanks for everyone’s sharing. In reading each persons thoughts I realized no one (at least I did not see) mentioned the need to share or common faith in God. I agree the family is the key for building character and a loving personality. However, if we do not have something that can go beyond our national boundaries, some thing that binds us to a greater parent than our physical parents, how can we ever unite the world. One family under God is an important aspiration for the world to understand and never forget that we need to build a filial relationship to our heavenly parent, thus going beyond our sense of nationalism, our own race, our unique faith and to respect all people as children of God. We hope that soon all people will realize how God is yearning for us to end the fighting and destruction to not only… Read more »
If you employ true family values, that originate in the ideal of Parentism, then you have the value orientation that ANYONE can employ… the atheist, the Moonie, The Christian, the Hindu & Muslim… insisting on the God issue be embraced 1st is a loser notion…fit for dictators, not enlightened children of God… the ‘witness’ to God is the heart of attendance we bring to others, not the demand they align with our notion of God… when Jesus & TF BOTH taught the True Family Values as absolute…. they start with having the heart of a parent towards all & end with us serving our enemy the quality of forgiveness that encourages new life & repentance…. not subjugation.
Thank you, Gregg, for that added criteria for a healthy family. The ‘One Family Under God’ helps us to remember that our own family is founded upon the goodness and grace of God, and that we are all, as collective families, under that same one God who accepts and loves us all, thus we are also a global family under God.
Go stand in front of the mirror. You are looking at the starting point for world peace!
1.More than a beginning point to achieve World Peace, it is the progressive realization of a definite desire to achieve peace in the world. The aspiration for peace was a slow pace awareness, up until this era. Today, we can be all-knowing in a matter of seconds. 2.Today, the speed at which news travel, instantly creates a large spectrum of emotions and reactions. From individuals to the world level, conflicts subsist. Opinions become philosophies and turn into self-directed truth. 3.Family Values are the compass to rally all thoughts and ideas. In time, people will join and will come from all cardinal points of the earth. Changes are taking place at a fast speed, yet unseen from secular views. Mentalities are growing. We are moving from a tolerance mentality to a wishful one, but more so, the willingness to act for the practical realization of peace in the world. 4.Achieving World… Read more »
An interesting topic! “Family” is a force for good and for bad… For good because being part of a loving and nurturing family is highly correlated with one’s own future success and happiness. For bad because families sometimes exclude non-family members from their concerns — this becomes more and more apparent the richer or more socially and politically powerful the family is.
The first love is parent’s love. The chaos in the world was caused by the chaos in Adam’s family. Jesus came to find a bride and fulfill as the 2nd Adam. This is why Jesus promised that he would return. Finally, humankind has a model for us all to become our true selves and then true families. This family loves begins inside of each one of us as “filial love”. In the mid 70’s I went with the IOWC to Japan and Korea for one year. Rev. Moon told us, upon our arrival, “While in Asian I want you you learn “loyalty and filial piety” to your parents.” This is what humankind has been missing. We need to find gratitude toward our own parents and understand what they sacrificed in preparation to give us birth. Then we can understand our gratitude toward our Heavenly Parent who sacrificed His 120% for… Read more »
Peace starts with me. The Kingdom of Heaven is within you.
The path to peace starts with making peace within myself. Find those conflicts within our own character. Pray about them, and seek answers.
Then look at the conflicts outside of ourselves that involve us. Take responsibility for solving them. Again, pray about them, and seek answers.
Move on to the family, then the neighborhood, then the community. Going up a step at a time. Spread the peace within yourself all around. That Kingdom of Heaven within you.
The family is made up of individuals. Adam and Eve didn’t create an idea family owing to their immaturity as individuals. The prerequisite for imagining, educating and bring joy to today’s families implies focusing on the individual. Specialized and customized education in 1st Blessing principles will create a foundation for healthy and happy families in our future. Then the K of H within us will be exposed.
To me, the value of the family is in allowing us to love in various directions, and with various personalities. It’s typical in a family that someone’s expertise in a given area is noted–and relied upon–by others. Each person can self-develop, according to their interests and talents–and can benefit from others’ specialties. So, if Grandma makes the best bread, and Grandpa loves coaching baseball, and Mom loves reading and Pop loves tinkering with engines and Auntie can paint beautiful pictures and Uncle can get anything to grow…the child learns that we can be unique, diverse and part of a network that pools talents and celebrates accomplishment. That’s a huge foundation for being in society and recognizing the unique value of each individual, and build appreciative and mutually rewarding structures. One of the “truths” that you quickly realize about peace is that no society can build anything without it. War destroys… Read more »
If there are universal values, the Golden Rule has to be one of them, and probably the 10 commandments for starters. When I was growing up in the 50’s, we were taught these values in school and in our church as well as at home.
Ideally we are born into families that pass on the basic values of goodness, but beyond that, I believe we need to re-imagine the role of public education as the purveyor universal values of goodness as well as the 3 R’s. It would also be helpful if religious leaders played a more public role in defending traditional family values of goodness in the larger society.
So true, Jack. A century ago (or maybe more), The Bible and it’s values were the primary content of education. Now it is not allowed.
Character education should be at the center of school content.
I guess I’m really lucky. My sister and I are both in our 80’s but are close in heart and communicate often even though she is in California and I am here in New Jersey. We have always been close. When we were young people thought that we were twins.
I have 11 siblings. Some are married, some are single, some are divorced. Some are religious, some are not. Some are conservative, some are liberal. Some are artistic, some are not. Some are athletic, some are not. Some did well financially, some didn’t. One is a recovering alcoholic, another has Downes Syndrome. But we are family and that’s what keeps us in a mode of respect and understanding and we can still get together for the holidays, though not all of us share the same feelings about certain holidays.
Your family inheritance is why you are such a great person. Your personality was shaped in the family. God has Blessed you greatly, David.
David, if family is the school of love, you have earned a PHD!
Loving others as though they were our parent, sibling, or child, unites us all into a common family. That is why ‘Peace Starts with Me”.