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Rev. Sun Myung Moon

As a Peace-loving Global Citizen is the autobiography of Rev. Sun Myung Moon, the founder of the Unification Movement. It was published in 2009 in both Korean and English by Gimm-Young Publishers of Seoul, South Korea. The book was released in South Korea on March 9, 2009 and debuted at #3 on the Businesss bestseller's list. It has ranked in various bestseller lists since then and was ranked 15th on the General bestseller's list as of October 14, 2009.

Cultural Projects Express God’s Creativity

       The most important person on the team is the manager, who watches over the entire team from the sidelines. The manager doesn’t run or score goals, but his power is greater than that of all the players put
together. Similar to a manager who sees things that the players cannot see and gives signals, God sees things that we cannot see and gives us signs. If the players follow the manager’s signs well, they will almost always win. But if the manager sends signs and foolish players either don’t understand them or ignore them and play according to their own thinking, the team can only lose.

       Soccer is a sport where competition takes place and someone wins or loses, but it also has the potential for significantly influencing countries and increasing their cooperation toward peace. I was told that twice as many people watched the World Cup as watched the Olympics. This provides an idea of how many people around the world love soccer. Therefore, just like the Olympics, it has the power to become a force for harmony between countries, races, religions, and cultures. I see soccer and peace among countries as potentially powerful partners.

       Pelé, who was appointed as Brazil’s Extraordinary Minister for Sport in 1995, once visited Korea and spent time in the Hannam Dong neighborhood of Seoul. People remember him as the greatest soccer player in the world, but the Pelé I met was a peace activist. He wanted to bring world peace through soccer. When I met him, he laughed as he told me the story of a game in Africa. He said, “I once played in Gabon in Africa, but the country was at war then. How do you think we were able play in a place where bombs were exploding all around? Thankfully, there was a ceasefire during the time that we played. That’s when I realized deeply that football was more than just a sport where we kick a ball around. Football is a means shared by all people in the world for creating world peace. After that, I decided that I had to carry out a movement for world peace through football.”

       I was so impressed with Pelé in that moment that I firmly grasped his hand. We live in a competitive society where there is a great deal of stress. Stress creates tension in our lives and takes away our peace of mind. When stress accumulates, people can become irritated and sometimes fight each other. Sports and the arts are examples of things that help us to lower our levels of stress. These things help us to vent our pent-up urges and bring humanity together. The reason for my devotion to soccer teams, symphony orchestras, and ballet companies is that these activities are a means to bring world peace. Pelé understands this kind of thinking.