Got this email and thought I would share it with those who respect Dr. Andrew Wilson. His work with our True Parents and our educational outreach and internal development of members is second to none. Email was sent to Scott Simonds
Dear Scott, I resonate with your critique of the concepts behind the freedom society. In a sermon I delivered at the Red Hook Church on November 24, I laid out what I believe to be a Principled vision for government, based upon Father's teachings. The sermon was not recorded and I don't have a transcript. It was titled "Harmony in the Family, Harmony in the Nation"
Its main points were these:
1. Father's teaching of Three Subject Thought: True Parents, True Teachers and True Kings, places government (kingship) in a single line with parenthood. The love and respect between children and parents is naturally extended to the love and respect between citizens and their government, and all this is modeled on God, who is our True Parent and True King.
2. Therefore, it is a grave error to characterize CIG government as the
Archangel. It is not Parentism; it is closer to Americanism, the sort of
thinking that in 1776 led us to separate from King George III and to regard the essence of government as tyranny. It is true that fallen kings are archangelic, and that is why democracy arose. But the CIG ideal is for governments and leaders to manifest their original nature in the image of God, who is our Parent and King.
3. Government should command our loyalty, even willingness to go to war to defend it. But who wants to be loyal to an archangel? That would be reversal of dominion. Human beings are higher than archangels; if government is archangelic, they won't want to defend it. Such a denigration of government becomes the root of anarchy.
4. Good parents want their children to be free. They want them to spread their wings and fly, and they certainly don't want them to stay at home and be dependent. There's Father's saying that parents do not total up the costs of food and diapers and present their children with a bill. Likewise, government as parent will encourage entrepreneurship and be careful not to overtax its citizens.
5. The biblical functions of government are defense and welfare for the
poor. Read Psalm 72. The Bible recognizes that not all people benefit from freedom the same amount, and those who are disadvantaged: widows, orphans, the disabled, the sick and the elderly, may need a safety net.
6. Father takes both sides of the issue. He has spoken against welfare and the culture of dependency. He also has spoken favorably about a government system for the redistribution of wealth. This is consistent with the heart of a parent, who first wants their children to be successful, but also will not hesitate to support a child in trouble. This is the principle of interdependence, mutual prosperity and universally shared values that the Principle speaks about. We should value freedom and creativity, but prosperity needs to be shared.
7. In the DP there is the image of the society and its institutions like a
human body. Authority of government and guidance to government flows from the people through the political parties, which should be centered on God. This vision places a high value on government as the "organs" (legislative, executive and judicial) to keep society running smoothly. But the guidance is not top-down, but rather comes through the people. This is why Father started the Family Party in Korea, and also why he has been consistently reaching out to Christianity, which holds the spiritual loyalty of the American people.
8. We should put away the concepts of Cain and Abel, which existed only during fallen history and should not exist where Parents are established. Parents create harmony among siblings, elder and younger. But if we continue to characterize political parties as Cain and Abel, we will have continual fighting, because then one side (Cain) must surrender to the other side (Abel). Good government does not work like that.
In good government there is compromise and give-and-take for the mutual benefit of the nation. The only time one should possibly view a party as Cain is if it wants to kill and destroy, like the Communists. But such Cold War rhetoric is a wild exaggeration in this day and age.
9. Instead, let's use the original polarity of creation to characterize the political parties--as male and female. The republicans are male, the democrats are female. Fathers and mothers have different approaches to raising children, and they try to find balance. Too much mothering is a bad thing, leading to dependency, but too much fathering is also not healthy, leading to excessive competition and strife. Looking at the parties in this way, we can see value in both sides and try to find balance.
10: In CIG, everything should center on Shimjung. We should be seeking to build a political society where shimjung, which includes compassion, gratitude, generosity, solidarity, listening to the views of others, and living for the sake of others, becomes the governing principle. Archangels have a deficit in the shimjung department. Rather, shimjung is best centered on Parents, and on government that strives for the ideal of Parentism. These were the main points of my sermon.
I hope some of these ideas will be helpful to you as seek to better elucidate what is meant by the freedom society.
Aju,
Andrew Wilson