CHAPTER THREE

SPIRIT OF COMMUNITY

The Third Blessing is a dominion of love where everyone lives as one huge family. A family takes care of the weak. A family is sensitive to the individual. The UC needs to create deep love between the members as friends who will die for each other. This will only happen when members live close together in trinities and groups of trinities. UC members in America haven't lived in trinities because there was no stability. Everything was so mobile no one could get roots and form a community. We have been like gypsies camped outside town. Now it's time to go into Canaan and build a stronger community than others. It's time to sink roots, instead of pulling them up. One of the curses of the UC and 20th century America has been it mobility. The good side was that travel can help a person to not get provincial and open up to other types of people. The negatives far outweigh the positives in losing extended families and communities. For most people the grass wasn't greener on the other hill. Robert Nisbet in Twilight of Authority says that America gave up its focus on local community and even disparaged it in the 1920s. This is the trend I have written of in my books that show how America threw out so many good things from the Victorians. Nisbet says, "World War I is, I think, the sharp dividing line. Afterward interest in local community did not attain its earlier intensity, flavor, and eloquence. The influence of Woodrow Wilson and his New Freedom in this country and of Lenin in European radical thought had a great deal to do with turning revolutionary and progressive thought away from its concern with locality or, for that matter, any of the smaller unities. The nation, the centralized nation freed of local community became the symbol of reaction, dullness, mediocrity, and oppression of mind. Sinclair Lewis's Main Street, Babbitt, and other novels were only the most popular of a literature in the 1920's that satirized, caricatured, and pilloried the village or small town. And such rendering of local roots was in keeping with the increasing nationalism to be seen in the social sciences, in education, and in government policy from World War I on."

One of the great losses of the migration to the city was loss of love for nature. Many people take care of their yard and do some gardening, but people need more than that to nurture their spirit. Stressful two week vacations to national parks is not enough. The UC should live in communities that have some acreage for adults to walk. The Victorians would go on walks. Children need to run. And dogs need space too. We need to get back to the rhythm of small communities where people know and care for each other. Some of my greatest memories are time I spent on my grandparent's farm eating an organic juicy peach right off the tree, gathering eggs, riding a horse, playing in the barn, hunting for squirrels and rabbits as I walked along a stream. It is magic to wake up to the sights and sounds of nature and a loving community.

MULTIPLES OF 10

Let's play with numbers. If every UC family had an average of ten children by themselves or by adopting, and each of those children had 10 children, there would be 100 grandchildren. The next generation would be 1000, then 10,000, then 100,000 then one million. Within a few generations one couple could have a large city of just their descendants. If every UC couple had more than 10 children, and I assume many would want to adopt from third world countries, just think of the joy it would bring to God to save those children and to see His family become the most powerful and exciting group on earth.

ECOLOGY

The UC needs to start building cities with lots of green space that supply most of the food locally. This will end the terrible erosion and use of chemicals that agribusiness uses because it thinks it has to use to make a profit. Planned communities are more ecological. Fallen man is so inefficient. They should have dry toilets that convert human waste to compost. This compost will not be used in gardens because it may have deadly germs. It will be disposed of in a safe place in the acreage of the community. Also, John Stossel of ABC News had an interesting segment about how dangerous organic food can be because farmers and gardeners often use manure to fertilize the plants. Some people have died eating organic food because it has deadly toxins like e-coli. It makes sense that manure should never be used on plants that are for human consumption. Human compost from dry toilets and manure should be used for such things as flowers or buried in ground away from land used for farming.

M. Scott Peck said, "In and through community lies the salvation of the world." More and more people are beginning to realize that life is better in a community. There are more and more books on the subject. Carolyn Shaffer writes in Creating Community Anywhere: "Only two or three generations ago, community was a fact of life for most people. Neighbors left their doors open, helped each other build things, and kept an eye out for one another's well-being. In 1930, less than eight percent of American households consisted of a single person, and many families occupied the same house for generations."

"Today, almost a quarter of U.S. households consist of people living alone. Doors, literally and figuratively, are closed and locked to keep out crime and strangers. Americans move so frequently that direct mail marketers consider a two-year-old mailing list hopelessly out of date; more than thirty percent of the addresses will have changed in that time. More and more women, who used to be the caretakers of community while the men pursued opportunities in the larger world, now find it necessary to work outside the home as well. Neither women nor men feel they have much time to maintain the ties of mutual support. It is commonplace for families as well as singles to have little or no contact with others who live only a door or two away."

"Earlier generations relied upon family and community for different functions than people do today. Not that many decades ago, relatives and neighbors helped each other give birth at homes and eventually die there. They nursed one another to health, took in orphaned children of brothers and sisters who died young, and gave up personal ambitions to carry on the family business or to care for an aging parent. Today, institutions and professionals have taken over many of these roles. People go to hospitals, schools, and nursing homes to receive health care and education."

George Will wrote, "Clearly this nation, though steeped in the severe individualism of the frontier notion of freedom, has a yearning for the community feeling that comes from collective undertakings...The question is whether any enterprise other than war can tap that yearning." Father's war against Satan and his dream of the whole world being blessed and living in condominiums will accomplish this.

Robert Nisbet wrote, "The towering moral problem of the age [is] the problem of community lost and community regained." Walt Whitman wrote:

 I dream'd in a dream I saw
a city
invincible to the attacks
of the whole rest of the
earth.
I dream'd that was the new city
of Friends.

 Community Spirit

Shaffer writes how businesses are seeing that they need a community spirit: "At the Quaker Oats pet food plant in Topeka, one production worker's performance deteriorated until he finally made a serious mistake that would have caused some companies to fire him. Instead, three fellow members of his work team began counseling and working with him on a weekly basis until his performance was up to par."

"The founder of Harbor Sweets, a Massachusetts candy company, insists that his diverse work force operates on total trust, with no time clocks, no efficiency measures, and no secrets. Productivity is high because, he says, 'love is good business.'"

"I know this is going to sound sort of hokey, but I work here because of the family feeling.' says a manager at Levi Strauss & Company in San Francisco. After twenty-two years with the company, he cannot imagine leaving."

Tom Peters says, "Those few American corporations that manage to convey a genuine sense of community and belonging to their employees are thriving as a consequence." Max DePree says, "In most vital organizations, there is a common bond of interdependence, mutual interest, interlocking contributions, and simple joy." Shaffer writes, "The ultimate employee-based structure is the employee-owned company, in which people are literally invested in the firm. More than 11,000 American firms have some sort of employee stock ownership plan (ESOP), and many also involve employees in running the organization."

Government, businesses, churches and all organizations have a hierarchy. God's way is to diffuse power, not centralize it. If organizations from the family level to huge corporations and governments do not empower those at the bottom, they will fail. The ultimate example is the former Soviet Union and today's North Korea. They are examples of people who can't even feed themselves, let alone compete with their neighbors. Men in leadership positions such as husbands, CEOs or the President of the United States should not be dictatorial, but raise others to be leaders, to allow for mistakes, to encourage creativity, to be friends with their coworkers. Father says that when children grow up they are friends to their parents. Elders must be respected but elders must also respect those under them. True leaders raise people to take their position so they can go on to other things. Leaders have to make final decisions sometimes, but they do so after listening respectfully to others. Mainly, he delegates power and is a teacher and coach. The majority doesn't necessarily rule, but they must feel they are listened to and respected. The focus is on getting the job done, not titles. Warren Bennis writes, "An organization should, by definition, function organically, which means that its purposes should determine its structure, rather than the other way around, and that it should function as a community rather than a hierarchy, and offer autonomy to its members, along with tests, opportunities, and rewards, because ultimately an organization is merely the means, not the end."

The primary community is the family. Parents are supposed to be living with their adult children as extended families. We need to return to the way our ancestors lived. And we need to go forward by living with others of the same faith in privately owned homes and condominiums as Father commands us. The way Americans live now is ridiculous and tragic. In Cohousing the authors write, "In previous centuries, households were made up of at least six people. In addition to having many children, families often shared their homes with boarders, relatives, or servants. Relatives usually lived nearby. These large households provided both children and adults with a diverse intergenerational network of relationships in the home. The idea that the nuclear family should live on its own without the support and assistance of the extended family or surrounding community is relatively new, even in the United States."

Let's grow geometrically

I think that every blessed couple should have at least twelve children. Many women may not want to physically have that many and some may want to but can't. Therefore, each couple should save some of the millions of street kids around the world by bringing them into their homes. We should begin the process of settling down and making roots. Let's say each family had an average of six boys and six girls. Most, if not all the boys, should stay together. Their wives form a school to homeschool the children. If each of the six boys has twelve children then there will be 72 children. The boys build businesses and attract others to live in their community. Pretty soon there would be enough to have a city. With so many people in a few generations they would have their own hospital and theme park. There would be farms to feed everyone and food left over to give to the poor. These communities will inspire the world. Since most of the girls will follow their husbands, they will encourage them to build similar communities. Her six brothers will give money and visit her where she lives to help build a community around her family.

It should be an exception to the rule that boys leave their parents and go live somewhere else. Just think how much less tragedy there would have been in human history if men had lived as trinities. Millions of men have had to fight wars, millions have had to leave to pursue some dream, millions have got sick and countless millions have died leaving women alone to fend for themselves. Recently I watched a video series on the pioneers who came on the Oregon Trail. The suffering of mankind has been indescribable. In one scene the narrator read a passage of a diary of a woman who told of how a few men, including her husband, had gone out to hunt for some animal for supper, and one of the men had an accident and died. When she was told this the woman described in her diary the grief, suffering and terror this woman went through and how terrifying her life had become as she had to go on with her children in the brutal trail that lay ahead. What if there were a trinity? She would have had two men to take care of her.

Sometimes I watch shows of charitable organizations that ask you for twenty dollars a month to care for a child in a third world country. I'll never forget one in particular. The famous TV star, Alex Trebek, was in Bogota, Columbia. In one scene he was surrounded by a dozen boys. It was at night. He said these boys are street kids who have nothing. He then shined a light on a bunch of boys, many just 6 or 7 years old who were all asleep and huddled together. He said he had a coat on and he still felt chilled. The children were in thin rags. You can't help but cry. Let's get these kids into our homes and be their parents. Let's get our kids to do the same. We should work with governments to make it easier to get these kids adopted by families around the world. I met a man recently who was in the navy and he saw in Korea an orphanage run by Catholic nuns. Outside the house there was a small fence going clear around the house. During the night people would give their babies away by putting them in this area. In the morning the nuns would come out and gather up the babies and take them in. Let's get those babies into our homes.

The UC is living as isolated nuclear families in single family dwellings. Before, they lived in communes. Neither one is God's architecture. Formation stage was communes; growth stage is individual homes; completion stage is living together in communities. Stephen Covey in 7 Habits of Highly Effective People divides people's growth into three stages: dependent (to me this would be living in communes), independent (isolated nuclear families), and interdependent (communities).

TRINITIES

Father says we cannot grow alone. He has always lived with others in a community. He said, "You cannot go the way of faith alone. You need a like-minded friend in faith. More than three people should be one. That's why a trinity is needed." He explains that God teaches us through others, "God cannot teach human beings directly when they make mistakes. He cannot teach us vertically. But if three people become one, when one makes a mistake and the other two don't, he can instruct the mistaken one about what he did wrong."

Satan isolates people, like he did Eve, and then overpowers them. The 19th century often lived as extended families and in small communities. When the pioneers went west they went as a group of wagon trains. The twentieth century is isolated nuclear families that are as vulnerable as a single wagon crossing hostile Indian territory. It was better a hundred years ago when there were extended families so men could talk over decisions with fathers, brothers, cousins, etc. Many women hate patriarchy today because their husband is alone and makes a lot of mistakes. They don't read any instruction manuals for marriage. The culture overwhelms them with temptations of women who are everywhere, especially at work. He is tempted by Satan's lie of instant gratification with greasy, artery blocking fast food and car dealer's ads for loans and so-called conservative bankers who flood the mails with credit cards. Everything is so impersonal. Investments are mutual funds that are so impersonal they don't mean anything. The warm neighborhood spirit of small town barn-raisings and quilting bees is gone. Thousands of people came to the UC in the 70s and left because they felt alone. The UC needs to create an atmosphere of friendship.

Because men lead, Father says men especially must be united: "Especially the three men should be united, spiritually and physically." They must be so close and pure that each one would take care of the other family if one should die: "When one husband dies, the trinity should be responsible for the household of his family. From now on, we are to manage three households together; we are not to live alone. ... Consider Father's words as life itself. Be absolutely obedient. ... The trinity should feel the same even if they exchange their babies. If you feel troubled about this, you will fail. Don't worry if a husband of one family in the trinity dies. In that case, the remaining two families should be responsible." This is Completed Testament Age living. This is Father's new paradigm for the family. We're not eliminating patriarchy, but making it work perfectly. Satan cannot dominate a man and make him evil or incompetent in this ultimate insurance plan. Now men rely on distant, impersonal life insurance companies to protect their families, but God's way is personal, intimate and safe.

Children need other men nearby to see different aspects of God's masculinity and to see femininity in other women. If someone gets sick then there are others to help. In the Christian men's organization, Promise Keepers, a man wrote these similar thoughts in their magazine: "Too many men today are trying to go it alone in terms of their marriage and family life, their personal life, their work and their spiritual commitments. They are trying to scale mountains of Himalayan proportions solely on the strength of rugged independence. It won't work." He gives an analogy of a group of men scaling a mountain: "If a guy is linked to another guy above him, and that man in turn is linked to other men farther up the cliff, then together they have safety, stability and strength. If a man slips and begins to fall, 15 or 20 climbers absorb the impact and pull him back from disaster. But imagine a man climbing alone, with no support system. He may achieve great heights. But one wrong move, and he can fall thousands of feet to his death, without so much as anyone hearing his cry. That's why Scripture says, 'Two are better than one because they have a good return for their labor. For if either of them falls, the one will lift up his companion. But woe to the one who falls when there is not another to lift him up' (Eccl.4:9-10)." There is strength in numbers.

The following is from a seminar I attended on leadership in effective organizations:

Lessons from Geese

 1. As each bird flaps its wings, it creates an uplift for others behind it. There is 71% more flying range in a v-formation than flying alone.

 LESSON: People who share a common direction and sense of common purpose can get there quicker.

 2. Whenever a goose flies out of formation it quickly feels the drag and tries to get back into position.

LESSON: It's harder to do something alone than together.

3. When the lead goose gets tired, it rotates into the formation and another goose flies at the head.

LESSON: Shared leadership and interdependence gives us each a chance to lead as well as opportunities to rest.

4. The geese in formation honk from behind to encourage those up front to keep up their speed.

LESSON: We need to make sure our honking is encouraging and not discouraging.

5. When a goose gets sick or wounded and falls, two geese fall out and stay with it until it revives or dies. Then they catch up or join another flock.

LESSON: Stand by your colleagues in difficult times as well as in good.

Father says women must overcome their selfish desire to live away from others: "Women are capricious, aren't they? ... Women want to live only with their spouses, right? Unless we destroy this standard, world unity is impossible. You have to understand this point. ... The three wives of a trinity should be one, so Father disciplines you right now to become one." Father goes on to say that 12 families should live together, then 1,200. We are to "live in the same village." There's a saying, "It takes a village to raise a child." Father says there must not be any fighting. If there is then "a tribal conference should be held to punish the ones who fight."

The subtitle of this book is In God's ideal world families will live in democratic, capitalist, tight-knit, loving, cohousing villages centered on traditional family values. I hope I've got you excited about cohousing communities. Now I'm hoping I will excite you about what I feel are the values people will live by in the future utopian communities and nations.

NO FORCE

I want to make it crystal clear that I am not advocating the use of force to coerce people to act as I think they should. The means to the end of building an Ideal World must be god-centered. God is not into initiating violence. Satan is into physical coercion. Steve Hassan started his crusade against Rev. Moon's movement by using violence in deprogramming. My wife was the first member to go through their brutal kidnapping and incarceration. Ted Patrick tied her to a chair and slapped her across the face when her mother was out of the room. Her mother pulled her hair and screamed at her to change her religious beliefs. Rev. Moon has never kidnapped anyone or locked anyone in a room with boarded windows until they agreed with him.

He gave a speech on his 80th birthday in Washington D.C. in front of many distinguished quests such as Sir Edward Heath, the former Prime Minister of England. He said he has given over 10,000 speeches in the last 50 years. He has never advocated the use of violence. In the case of the division between North and South Korea he said, "Where should we begin the process of unification? Where should we start in order to achieve North-South unification? What is the first step? Do we begin by using our fists or physical force? If we subjugate the other side with force, then eventually they will develop a force stronger than ours and the conflict will begin all over again. We cannot achieve unification by this method. The way to unification will open when each of us has the heart to say, "Even though I live in the South, I truly want to live in harmony with those people in the North. I truly want to become one with them."

He has repeatedly said that members must always use persuasion, not force. Yet, Steve Hassan keeps proclaiming hysterically that Unificationists are dangerous. The communities Rev. Moon wants to build are not like the militia communities that stockpile guns. UC communities are peaceful. Another fear Hassan tries to instill Americans with is that UC communities will end up like Jonestown with Moon commanding his brainwashed, unthinking, blind faith zealots to kill their parents and then kill themselves. This is ludicrous because the teachings of Rev. Moon are against murder and suicide. Hassan insists he was told by a members or members that he had to have the commitment to kill his parents if asked by Moon. There is so much fear and anxiety about the idea of Moon communities that we must be careful to not reenact Waco where anti new religious movement crusaders like Hassan help inspire the killing of innocent people, as were those in Waco. Jesus and countless others have been attacked by mobs led by the likes of Hassan. Moon communities must do PR to educate others that they are good and patriotic people.

Marriage

The second blessing is to have god-centered marriages and families. In my book The Cultural War Since 1848 I give the basic true family values everyone must live by to achieve families that will, as Rev. Moon says, "amaze" people. I've already mentioned my book Freedom Works. It is the blueprint for the third blessing.

My other books elaborate on these topics. The book 1620: The Pilgrims and the New Pilgrims tells the story of of how God worked with the Pilgrims and the lessons we can learn from them. Clear Goal for Utopia is the history of utopian communities that always failed because they were socialist. In contrast, Unificationist communities will pioneer the first successful religious communities that will sweep the earth because they will be based on democracy and private property. At his speech on his 80th birthday he once again spoke of God's dream of a "utopia of true love": "If a loving husband and wife unite as one, who will dare try to tear them apart and defile their relationship? A world made of the harmonious family, harmonious people, harmonious government, harmonious world, harmonious Heaven and Earth, harmonious true human love and God united as one -- isn't this world the utopia of true love? In such a world, there will be no possibility of discord. Love will be the life element for all people, in the same way that plants receive life elements by absorbing the rays of the sun. Our fervent desire is to build a Kingdom of Heaven on Earth and in Heaven, where we can resonate with true love eternally. ... centering on God's ideal ... This is, without a doubt, the way that the utopia of true love that God has desired can be built on this Earth."

A leader in the UC (or Family Federation for World Peace and Unification) in Washington D.C. gave a sermon about community. He means well, but his vision is very small. It never occurs to members to live together because they only know the socialism of the hurtful communes they suffered in the UC in the 1960s and 1970s. With cohousing they can now sell what few church buildings they have and come together everyday instead of an hour on Sunday.

Henri Schauffler's vision

 Henri Schauffler said in his sermon titled "Seek First the Kingdom of Heaven" on March 26, 1999 at the "Washington DC Family Church" (http://www.unification.net/ucdc/ucdc20000326.html)

I applaud any attempt at people trying to get together to help each other, but Schauffler's vision is not the "zenith." Cohousing is the "zenith." Members in Washington D.C. need to go visit a cohousing community and get the information they need to build one there for their 300 members. I have given some resources in this book on community. Our communities should show mankind for the first time that it is possible for people to live in tight-knit religious communities that do not violate any of the common sense laws of universe God has made us to live by.

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