Can Christians, Muslims, Jews or Buddhists worship side by side without judgment, prejudice or conflict?
The Temple to be erected in Korea with the representative statues of 4 major religions is to house beyond 21000 people. The project organizers claim the funds will come from different religious and social foundations not only Unification Church. Main goal is to reconcile divided religions and help solve conflicts.
In his resent memoirs “Peace loving global citizen” Rev.Moon says “It will not be easy to tear down the religious walls that have stood for thousands of years, but these walls must come down if we are to advance into a world of peace.”
It is common knowledge that religions could not sit and worship God together; even Christian denominations divided and fought each other. So far believers flocked each to their own church or mosque. And religious leaders have sent anathemas to dissenters.
But Unification Church claims denominationalism is not the purpose of religion nor God’s desire. We live in new age…
“Build the temple and tear down the walls”
“Peace will never come to this earth unless we first tear down the walls between religions I have called on people until my voice is hoarse to transcend their religious factions and even their religions. They have fallen into a selfish thought process that puts their religion or faction first. They are oblivious to the fact that the world has changed and a new era of selflessness has dawned” says Sun Myung Moon.
Religion is not the end
He goes on to explain that religion is not the main goal. But PEACE is. That is the goal of the Temple, too. To bring religious people together to cooperate for peace and remove age long walls created by ethnicity and religions
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Hyung Jin Moon, youngest son and heir of the now aging contradictory religious leader, has travelled and collected the soil from the revered sites of major religions. He explains: “There are no Buddhist temples where Jesus is worshipped; and there are no churches whose congregations worship Buddha. Here at the Peace Temple, we honor the four great saints and we inherit their teachings and devotion”
Rev.Moon criticizes religions for insisting each on its path of salvation and thus creating divisions which are hard to overcome.
But there is solution. If people recognize God’s original desire for love and peace, a way can be found to work hard together for peace, reconciliation, and coexistence.
3 steps for peace in the world
No peace is to be seen without transforming religious attitudes, Rev.Moon insists.
Religious people must change their attitude towards other believers! It cannot stay as now. And three steps must be followed:
-First, respect the traditions of other religions and do everything you can to prevent conflict and discord among religions.
-Second, all religious communities should cooperate with each other to serve the world.
-Third, the leaders of all religions should work together to develop a structure that will let us accomplish our mutual mission of establishing world peace.
Other voices for peace
Here is what Sohanlal Jain Gandhi from India talks about Rev.Moon’s initiatives for peace.“The Assembly of the World’s Religions has strengthened my belief that a sincere endeavor can cleanse "religion" of violence and hatred and bring together, on a common platform, a galaxy of the world's religious leaders of diverse faiths and cultures. It is bound to pave the way for ushering in a nonviolent, harmonious world order”
See also:
The Temple for World Peace and UnityReverend Moon's Work
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