Youth and Students for Peace

A global family of young people building a culture of peace with true love

Introduction

It was not long ago that the world took marriage and family for granted. Of course
one marries and has children. Of course parents are responsible to raise their
children. Of course parents help their children get married. Of course, the community
celebrates the exclusive union between a man and woman. Of course it is “’til death
do us part.”

All religions have taught these values and, of course, they were part of our culture.

Today, however, it seems we are casting these practices aside. The consequence is
serious and rapid social decline. Dr. Thomas Lickona, one of America’s leading
developmental psychologists and character educators, called it “cultural suicide.”1
We, the authors of Four Family Loves, agree.

Some try to downplay the decline. We face it head-on. Some celebrate the abolition
of standards as newfound “freedom.” We question it as self-indulgence. Many think
there’s nothing to be done about it. We find solutions.

The Four Family Loves is based on the teaching of the founders of the sponsoring
organizations, the Rev. Dr. Sun Myung Moon (1920-2012) and his wife Dr. Hak Ja
Han Moon. They honor and respect all faith traditions. Building on the world’s shared
religious heritage, they have provided the clearest and most powerful rationale to
explain the importance of marriage and family. It starts by examining the benefits of
these institutions to the individual, then naturally expands to demonstrate how
marriage and family help the society, nation and world. In fact, they are
irreplaceable.

The government is in a parental position to the nation. It documents the problem but
cannot turn back the rising tide of out-of-wedlock pregnancies, abortions, drug
abuse, suicides, gangs, violence and corruption.

Governments are trying to solve these problems but by nature are incapable of
reforming marriage and family life. They need help from a united religious sector.
This educational program serves as a cross-religious platform that partners with
governments to release the power of the real solution: youth, students, men and
women authentically committed to purity, marriage and family.

We resonate with Rev. Moon’s statement that, “The most serious social problems
are youth problems and family breakdown.”2 Social science research backs this up. It
turns out that the universal moral rule that sex belongs within the bond of marriage, a
precept found in the scriptures of all religions, is correct.

1 Foreword by Dr. Thomas Lickona in “Cultivating Heart and Character: Educating for Life’s Most Essential
Goals,” Joon Ho Sook, Tony Devine and Andrew Wilson; publisher The International Educational Foundation,
2001, pg. xvii.
2
Cheon Seong Gyeong (Third Printing), The Family Federation for World Peace and Unification, 307-176,1998
11 08, Chapter 2, Book 4, pg. 418.

1
The Four Family Loves curriculum provides parents, educators and youth workable,
proven and practical strategies for creating successful marriages and family
relationships. Our consortium of pro-marriage interfaith peace organizations is
collaborating fully with the governments in many nations, including: Korea, Thailand,
Cambodia, Nepal, the Philippines and the list is growing. It has been successfully
applied in Buddhist, Hindu, Muslim, Christian and even former communist countries.
This is nothing less than a 21st century moral awakening. It is changing lives and
bringing hope to students and teachers alike. It is a renaissance of marriage and
family values that is urgently needed.

The Four Family Loves is built around the normative relationships learned in a
traditional two-parent family, namely: children’s love, sibling love, conjugal love and
parental love. The curriculum shows the social problems that arise when each of
these loves is compromised. As a result, the renewal of these four loves naturally
ameliorates social problems, for example:

Children’s Love
Children find their original identity, ultimate value and purpose of life in
relationship with their own parents and God. This is called filial piety. When
children’s love is distorted or absent it leads to alienation, loneliness, a feeling
of insignificance and indifference. Tremendous benefits come when children
honor and respect their parents and Creator.

Sibling Love:
Authentic love among siblings resolves conflict by recognizing and
acknowledging publicly the good in others and owning up to the weaknesses
in ourselves. Sibling rivalry, on the other hand, accuses others’ mistakes and
ignores any good it sees. True sibling love allows us to develop self-control,
most centrally, sexual abstinence, which is the best preparation for a fulfilling
lifelong marriage.

Conjugal Love:
Sexual love is sacred and exciting; it is also consecrated in marriage and is
meant to bind a husband and wife together in the image of God. Sexual
engagement outside of marriage is destructive, not only for individuals but for
families, societies and nations. The extreme sexualization of love leads to the
glamorization of pornography, cohabitation and adultery. And along with this,
sexual diseases proliferate. The solution is to uplift and empower husband-
wife love and build a culture that honors marriage.

Parental Love:
This curriculum presents a new model of leadership—the selfless,
unconditional giving heart of a true parent. In the absence of parental love,
positions of authority lead to exploitation. Self-centered power, wealth or fame
subvert true leadership. A true leader is a true parent.

Importantly, this curriculum is user-friendly. It was designed for teachers to “plug and
play.” The teacher’s kit contains twelve lessons, each of which has 1) an image file
(a Power Point document) and 2) a content file (a Word document). The content file
provides the teaching narrative that accompanies each slide in the image file.

2
Class preparation is simple and cost-effective:

1. Print the Power Point image file using the “three slides per page” format.
Automatically lines for notes associated with each slide will be printed. Staple
those pages together and you have a student workbook.
2. Print the Word document file. Staple it together and you have the teacher’s
manual.
3. Project the Power Point images on a screen and read the text in the teacher’s
manual that matches the image on the screen. With practice, educators gain
more confidence and can add insights of their own.
4. Each session has one to three student activities, usually at the end. The
importance of these are equal to that of the educational content. Teachers
can add more activities.

We invite curriculum writers and teachers to substitute idioms, images and historical
examples that fit their culture. This curriculum has been translated into French for its
debut at the Africa Summit 2018 in Dakar, Senegal. This conference, in January, is
co-hosted by the Government of Senegal and the Universal Peace Federation.
Invited guests include Heads of State/Government, Ministers of Education, religious
leaders and traditional rulers along with leaders of civil society. In all, 1,200 guests
from 60 nations will attend.

Four Family Loves was written by Dr. Robert Kittel, Director of Youth and Students
for Peace, with assistance from Dr. Tyler Hendricks. It is endorsed by the Women’s
Federation for World Peace, an NGO with General Consultative Status at the United
Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC); the Universal Peace Federation,
an NGO with ECOSOC Special Consultative Status; the Family Federation for World
Peace and Unification (FFWPU); and Youth and Students for Peace (YSP).
Ministries of Education, NGOs and FBOs everywhere are welcome to use it. We ask
only the courtesy of a letter of acknowledgment sent to us at
“ys4peace@gmail.com.” We believe its employment as a public and private school
curriculum will lead individuals, families and nations to prosperity, peace and
happiness.

This we offer in gratitude and respect to Father and Mother Moon and their lifelong
quest for world peace.

Robert Kittel and Tyler Hendricks, co-authors.

Patrick Martin-Prével, head of translation and editing.

January 1, 2018

PUBLISHER’S NOTE TO PRESENTERS:

This curriculum is an exposition of the main themes of a true love character education
program. It is a blueprint for subjects and positions educators could use in presenting these
themes in a way appropriate to the target age group.