4. Living by the Standard of Equality

World Scripture

You shall have one law for the sojourner and for the native; for I am the Lord your God.
Leviticus 24.21-23

When a stranger sojourns with you in your land, you shall not do him wrong. The stranger who sojourns with you shall be to you as the native among you, and you shall love him as yourself; for you were strangers in the land of Egypt.
Leviticus 19.33-34

Once a prince attacked a shepherd, slapping him on his face. When the shepherd complained to Umar bin al-Khattab, Umar’s judgment was that he should slap the prince back in the same way. The prince said, “How he can slap me while I am a prince and he is just a commoner?” Umar replied, “In Islam you are both equal.”
Muhammad Ahmad al-Maula,²⁶ Arab Stories 126.2 (Islam)

If the brahmin, kshatriya, etc. initiated into my holy order of equality still subscribe to castes and exult therein, they behave like unregenerate beings.
Sutrakritanga 1.13.10-11 (Jainism)

For the white to lord it over the black, the Arab over the non-Arab, the rich over the poor, the strong over the weak or men over women is out of place and wrong.
Hadith of Ibn Majah (Islam)

Slaves, be obedient to those who are your earthly masters, with fear and trembling, in singleness of heart, as to Christ; not in the way of eye-service, as men-pleasers, but as servants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart, rendering service with a good will as to the Lord and not to men, knowing that whatever good any one does, he will receive the same again from the Lord, whether he is a slave or free. Masters, do the same to them, and forbear threatening, knowing that he who is both their Master and yours is in heaven, and that there is no partiality with him.
Ephesians 6.5-9

The Merciful demands that your servant be your equal. You should not eat white bread, and he black bread; you should not drink old wine, and he new wine; you should not sleep on a feather bed and he on straw. Hence it was said, “Whoever acquires a Hebrew slave acquires a master.”
Talmud, Kiddushin 20a (Judaism)

Please reflect that the man you call your slave was born of the same seed, has the same good sky above him, breathes as you do, lives as you do, dies as you do! You may see him free, he may see you a slave—the odds are level.
Seneca, Moral Epistles 47 (Hellenism)

Nearly eighty years ago we began by declaring, “All men are created equal”; but now from that beginning we have run down to the other declaration that for some men to enslave others is a “sacred right of self-government.” These principles cannot stand together. They are as opposite as God and mammon, and whoever holds to the one must despise the other.
Abraham Lincoln²⁷

Teachings of Sun Myung Moon

Do not violate human rights by discriminating in hiring, promoting and firing your personnel. Whether a woman or man, black or white, everyone is equal. One must not discriminate, for to do so would violate their human rights.
(342:298, January 13, 2001)

In the world of love there is no discrimination between above and below.
(Way of God’s Will 1.8)

In the world of true love… everyone has the right to equal position, equal participation, and equal inheritance.
(294:65, June 11, 1998)

When everyone lives for the sake of others centered on love, equality emerges among their relations.
(107:152, April 20, 1980)

Racial discrimination, religious struggle, and selfish nationalism give rise to situations resulting in the violation of human rights. The age when people could be ruled by force has passed. The twenty-first century is an age when people live together, transcending races, nations, and religions. This means that the age of ruling through true love has begun.
(369:221, February 24, 2002)

The strategy for creating a realm of equality—as there has never been one—is to sacrifice ourselves for others, wish them good fortune, win the hearts of those who strike you, and give them in return blessing equal to your own. This is the way to open the perfect realm of equality.
(56:335, May 18, 1972)

The way to create equality between the upper class and the lower class is for upper class people to embrace lower class people and elevate them toward the upper class. This can only happen if there is a center of absolute value. That is God’s love.
God’s love embraces people of high class and low class alike. It is never one-directional or one-sided. Its energy flows in spherical motion, moving freely from the top to the bottom. All welcome it wherever it appears.
God’s love holds absolute value, whenever and wherever. In God’s love we feel happy, satisfied and secure. Although you may be a poor working man, you are totally free to love those in high places. Although you are accustomed to life in the highest position, you can freely love the people at the bottom. People dwelling in God’s love are welcome wherever they go.
(115:172-73, November 10, 1981)

Just because you are a white person, you should not say, “I only like whites. When it comes to the elderly, I will care for white seniors, but not blacks and Asians. I will care for those who are neat and well-dressed, but not those who are unkempt and wearing rags.” No, you should love them all as you would love your own grandparents in your home.
(130:274, February 5, 1984)

Wherever I go, when I am assigning people to a mission, I do not discriminate against blacks or those who did not complete college. If you possess true love and practice love for the sake of others, then you will uphold human rights correctly. This is the mainstream. The creation of heaven and earth began from this point. I cannot forgive the act of diluting and squandering this main current of my teaching…
You should not neglect your younger brother merely because he is handicapped. You should not disregard in-laws or relatives. The world tends to treat everyone with disrespect, doesn’t it? If you who graduated from a university disrespect those who only completed high school, you are violating their human rights.
(342:298, January 13, 2001)

The day before yesterday I took a group of about twenty people to a seafood restaurant… When we were about to place our order, the waiter told us that we all had to wear ties to be seated, and he offered to lend us all ties. But the thing displeased me; I said, “No thank you,” and walked out of the restaurant with my group. The restaurant staff saw me as I was driven away in a fancy car. They must have wondered, “Why does a rich person like him object to wearing a tie?” They probably realized they had missed a great opportunity, but I will not visit that place again. They should not discriminate against people for not wearing ties. Even if they offer to make an exception for me, I will not give them my business. If they treat me like that, how will they treat black people? I want to stand up for you, because I know you are going through hardships.
(God’s Will and the World, May 1, 1977)²⁸

The democratic world will never enjoy true equality until true love is engrafted to it. With true love, men and women can be equal, and all people can be free. With true love, we can establish democracy in the true sense.
(230:87-88, April 26, 1992)

In the future, the five races will become one. Love is one. Although people differ according to whether they come from the East, West, North or South, and according to their different social ranks, the axle on which they turn is one. The flowers that bloom from the heart of red, passionate love are varieties of the same flower—the flower of God’s love… Hence, these days many people believe that it is okay to marry interracially.
(101:74-75, October 28, 1978)