Principle View of Situation in Yugoslavia

by William S. Stoertz

April 2, 1999

Moscow, Russia

The crisis in Yugoslavia comes up at the very end of the twentieth

century and the 2000 year period since Jesus Christ's advent upon the

earth.

God's original plan was to establish the Kingdom of Heaven on earth at

the time of Jesus Christ; however, he was crucified.

That plan was to unify various aspects and to establish the perfect

model on every level. Jesus was to unify the mind and body, the husband and

wife, the parents and children, the religion and the state, Hebraism and

Hellenism, west and east, rich and poor. Also Jesus came as the perfect

human being on earth, and furthermore to establish the ideal family, the

model community, the ideal society, God's nation, to unify the Roman

Empire, and build the Kingdom of Heaven upon the whole earth.

However, because of the crucifixion, all of these things were lost,

and only the spiritual side was emphasized, or resurrected, at the cost of

denying the flesh, the physical side. So the world remained under the realm

of sin, while the spiritual world was the realm of the saints, Jesus Christ

and the Holy Spirit.

Jesus Christ promised his return at the end of the age, upon the

condition that we prepare the foundation, by keeping his commandments,

uniting together as one, and witnessing to the ends of the earth.

At the Second Coming Christ promised that we would see His Bride, and

that those who would be worthy could participate in the Marriage of the

Lamb. In the first place, this is the Wedding of True Parents which took

place in April 1960, and in the broader sense the Bride is all those who

love the Lord, and they will receive the Blessing -- the First

Resurrection.

Then the Second Resurrection in the Bible refers to the resurrection

or liberation of those righteous and holy people who passed away into

spirit world. Now the realm of resurrection is extended by True Parents,

Heung Jin Nim and Daemonim to all those in heaven and earth.

The Book of Revelations in the Bible speaks of unprecedented

catastrophes and judgment. This is because Satan's dominion and the satanic

ways of life must come to an end before the heavenly kingdom can be

established. Of course, people resist giving up their bad habits and fallen

ways.

Jesus Christ's ministry was preceded by three great temptations. At

the end of the age, when Christ returns, there are three great world wars.

The First and Second World War we know; and then there is the "Third World

War", which started with the Cold War, the confrontation between

God-centered democracy and God-denying communism.

If Satan could have been judged and separated with the collapse of

communism, then the Third World War could be said to be ended. However,

during the next ten years from 1990 until 2000, Satan continued to rampage,

ravaging the world even worse than ever before -- through immorality,

mafia, materialism, racism, nationalism, religious fanaticism, etc.

Thus, the purpose of the Three World Wars, to judge and destroy the

evil sovereignty, was not completed; therefore, another world war, as the

conclusion of the Third World War (the Cold War) must come up, in order to

restore the Three World Wars by indemnity.

In the Divine Principle, it says that the Third World War need not be

an external conflict waged by arms; it can be a totally ideological

confrontation, which for the most part the battle between Communism and the

Free World was. But, if that fails, there may be an external war too. In

any case, the final resolution must unite the hearts and original minds of

all mankind: it must be a complete, final resolution on the worldwide

level.

The Cold War was primarily waged between the East Bloc countries

behind the Iron Curtain, and the Free World -- mostly Western Europe and

America. NATO was at the center of the West bloc, and the USA was at the

center of NATO. So, this final conflict in Yugoslavia which comes up to

restore the failure of the Three World Wars, involves the same countries,

and also has very much the character, spirit, and language of the Cold War.

It is like a continuation, revival, or conclusion of the Cold War.

Why Yugoslavia? Because it is a country containing the condensation of

the problems of the world: racial disharmony between nationalities and

religions, and the point of confrontation between East and West. It is a

front-line situation in some ways similar to North and South Korea.

Also the historical background of Yugoslavia plays a big part. At the

time of Jesus, he would have ministered to the Slavic peoples, who were

courageous but pagan at that time. Then they would have become citizens of

the kingdom of heaven. Instead, Jesus was crucified. St. Paul went to

evangelize to the Slavs around Macedonia, and almost a thousand years later

the Orthodox missionaries Cyril and Methodius conducted a successful

mission to the Slavs starting from Bulgaria. It was said the Slavic tribes

in the Balkan peninsula were a thorn in the side to the Romans, and were

never conquered by them. Around the 14th century, the Turks invaded and

settled large areas of the Balkans, and the Muslim religion is still found

there today. Because of the Turkish conquest at Kosovo in 1389, Serbs still

hold a lingering resentment today.

So the present "ethnic cleansing" in Yugoslavia is seen by Serbs as

retaking the area that was once rightfully theirs. From the vertical

dimension of history and the spiritual world, we can imagine that many

resentments coming from these past events have been waiting, unresolved,

affecting generation after generation, and are flaring up now, at the close

of the age.

On the worldwide level, the conflict in Serbia should be a final

showdown to bring about a resolution of worldwide problems, immediately

prior to the establishment of the universal Kingdom of Heaven.

What kind of resolution should that be? Not only by arms, but by true

restoration of heart -- the heart to respect, love, and embrace one another

-- the great powers of the East bloc and the West, the great religions of

Christianity and Islam, as well as the lesser divisions of Orthodox,

Catholic and Protestant. We have to resolve out of a situation of

impossible tension and war into a great relief of freedom, peace and joy.

All the parties have to be fairly understood and respected by each other.

If we would divide up the various sides into "Abel" and "Cain", we

could say that one side had a sense of providential "right", or "human

right", but another side had the weight of heart, or loyalty and

friendship, on its side. But the issue is not simply one of Abel and Cain,

but the "Headwing" solution -- who can take the parental heart to embrace

both sides, over and above the issues and the resentments, from the

position of God's Heart. Then the ultimate solution must come back to True

Parents.

This world could not accept True Parents properly because there was

not enough "Foundation to Receive the Messiah". Such a foundation may be

laid once the two relative sides can truly unite and embrace (and forgive)

one another.

In other words, this war in Yugoslavia is the concluding effort of

heaven and earth to make possible a good world, the ideal world of peace

and prosperity, once we can go over this conflict and these hatreds, these

iniquities, on the part of all of us.

Originally, the United Nations should mediate and govern conflicts in

this modern era. The UN represents the hope and ideal of a unified world

"government". The individual nations should submit their will and

intentions to the UN, rather than promoting and defending only their own

interests. Thus, now is the age of the world (humankind), more than the

nation.

In this sense, a city like Moscow or Ekaterinburg, which can feel

pride as a city, would be favored, rather than a nation feeling pride as a

nation -- because the nation then tends to stand in the way, blocking the

world development. For example, many citizens in Moscow love Mayor Luzhkov

and feel pride in their city, and the city is becoming brighter,

friendlier, and cleaner.

In its involvement with Yugoslavia, NATO and America should not act in

their own name, but should refer everything to the United Nations

ultimately. The present actions are in fact illegal from the viewpoint of

existing international law. If they become actions only for the sake of

America and the western alliance, then they are truly wrong. However, in

fact, the policies regarding the Balkans were already set up by the UN, and

even date back to the end of the First World War -- recognition of the

right to independence of each linguistic and ethnic group. So NATO and the

USA are in fact attempting to uphold, enforce or implement that right,

already agreed by the UN.

The problem has been that the United Nations has no muscle or power to

enforce its own policies, nor could it agree when the question came to a

decision to act. Therefore NATO and the USA felt it necessary to take

action into their own hands. The right or wrong of this will be judged in

the future.

The United Nations or some form of world-level government must become

stronger, and capable of managing world affairs in its own right. Toward

that end, NATO, the USA, and other world military, political and economic

powers would do best to submit their own authority and legitimacy. Then the

UN will be in the position to govern on the world level.

At the same time, the UN has the obvious weakness of a lack of guiding

ideology or moral principle. The present "human rights" principle is thus

far the strongest and most universal yet, which almost everybody can agree on.

Our Family Federation for World Peace and Unification International is now

trying to work with the United Nations to establish this kind of moral

prerogative, which can gain the conscientious support not only of

governments, but also religious bodies as well, for the greater good.

 


Return to front page

Would you like to send William Stoertz your comments ?