1. Unity as God’s People and God’s Family

World Scripture

Hold fast, all together, to God’s rope, and be not divided among yourselves. Remember with gratitude God’s favor on you, for you were enemies and He joined your hearts in love, so that by His grace you became brethren. You were on the brink of the fiery Pit, and He saved you from it. Thus does God make His signs clear to you, that you may be guided.
Let there arise out of you one community, inviting to all that is good, enjoining what is right, and forbidding what is wrong: those will be prosperous. Be not like those who are divided amongst themselves and fall into disputations after receiving clear signs: for them is a dreadful penalty.⁵⁵
Qur’an 3.103-5

Behold, how good and pleasant it is when brothers dwell in unity!
Psalm 133.1

The believers indeed are brothers; so set things right between your two brothers, and fear God; haply so you will find mercy.
Qur’an 49.10

And the Lord called his people Zion, because they were of one heart and one mind, and dwelt in righteousness; and there was no poor among them.
Pearl of Great Price, Moses 7.18 (Latter-day Saints)

I do not pray for these only, but also for those who believe in me through their word, that they may all be one; even as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that thou hast sent me.
John 17.20-22

Meet together, speak together,
let your minds be of one accord,
as the gods of old, being of one mind,
accepted their share of the sacrifice.
May your counsel be common, your assembly common,
common the mind, and the thoughts of these united.
A common purpose do I lay before you,
and worship with your common oblation.
Let your aims be common,
and your hearts of one accord,
and all of you be of one mind,
so you may live well together.
Rig Veda 10.191.2-4 (Hinduism)

There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.
Galatians 3.28

Our Essence is not bound to any place;
The vigor of our wine is not contained
In any bowl; Chinese and Indian
Alike the shard that constitutes our jar,
Turkish and Syrian alike the clay
Forming our body; neither is our heart
Of India, or Syria, or Rum,
Nor any fatherland do we profess Except Islam.
Muhammad Iqbal, The Mysteries of Selflessness (Islam)

All humans are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly. I can never be what I ought to be until you are what you ought to be, and you can never be what you ought to be until I am what I ought to be.
Martin Luther King, Jr (Christianity)

Teachings of Sun Myung Moon

God’s greatest desire is that all humankind, all five colors, would wish to unite and live together with God eternally.
(93:15-16, May 8, 1977)

More than outward agreement, the important thing is to achieve inward unity, unity of heart.
(60:34, August 1, 1972)

To accomplish the gigantic task of unification, we need to find a gigantic power. This is none other than the power of supreme love, love that does not become the circumstantial victim of society. Supreme love transcends every national, racial, and cultural barrier. Ordinary human love is limited; down through history it has shown itself unable to overcome these barriers. Therefore, we must center on the love and heart of God… People from the East and West rejoice to meet here today because around that axis, the heart of God is linking us together as one.
(God’s Will and the World, September 11, 1977)

In the future, four families will live together sharing the same house. I would like to build condominiums where a Korean family, a Japanese family, an American family and a German family would live together in the same apartment, sharing one living room and one dining room. They would become as one family. This oneness is the way to build the Kingdom of Heaven.
(131:244, May 4, 1984)

Imagine two enemy families who have cursed each other throughout their lives, people who would never dream of living together. What would happen if these families joined together by wedding their children in a Holy Marriage Blessing? A son from one family and a daughter from the other family become husband and wife, love each other and build a happy home. Would the parents in each family curse their own children? When their son loves this beautiful daughter of a hated enemy, and she as their daughter-inlaw gives birth to Heaven’s grandchildren as pure and clear as crystal, the grandparents would smile with pleasure. In time the two lineages that were once soaked with enmity will be transformed.
What method other than cross-cultural marriage will empower Whites and Blacks, Jews and Muslims, Orientals and Westerners, and people of all races to live as one human family? The ideal family is the model for living together in peace. The ideal family is the nest where we live and learn to become one. There we have the foundation of love and respect between parents and children, shared trust and love between husband and wife, and mutual support among siblings. For this fundamental reason, you should receive the Holy Marriage Blessing from the True Parents and establish Heaven’s tradition of ideal families, even if it means risking your very life.
(September 21, 2005)