Quote: Bailian and Godfrey from the film, The Kingdom of Heaven

Unlike his previous films, Ridley Scott's The Kingdom of Heaven has many quotes that suggest a thought on peace and harmony. 

"A better world than has ever been seen. A kingdom of conscience. A kingdom of heaven. There is peace between Christian and Muslim. We live together, or between Saladin and the king, we try. Did you think that lay at the end of a Crusade?"

It is slightly ironic that the speaker of this quote is a soldier and the picture of this character from the film includes himself holding a sword. Perhaps, this sword was used to protect the peace, so that nothing would break the pre-established peace. It may not be the optimal way, but the viewers are able to see in the film that this power was necessary so that he would be able to protect the peace from the threatening force. What is the most optimal method for peace to be achieved? Is it through force? The blood shed will bring more blood. However, achieving peace through persuasion and unification will not bring side effect. This is what HWPL believes in. Although HWPL is not capable of gathering firearms, they advocate harmony through talks and dialogue.

"What man is a man who does not make the world better?"

(Nemo vir est qui mundum non reddate meliorem)

This Latin phrase is said by Bailian of Ibelin, who is the son of Godfrey. Bailian is able to demonstrate this quote through the actions that he showed in the film. Despite his accomplishment, in the end of the film, he only responds by instroducing himself as a blacksmith to the question of the King of England, who was looking for Bailian, who was the last defender of Jerusalem. After the achievement of saving the people of Jerusalem and re-bringing some form of harmony between the Christians and the Muslim, he humbles himself only as a blacksmith. It is true that his achievement required many sacrifice, but in the bigger picture, he was able to save more lives and earned the respect of his adversaries. The quote below is the speech he gave to motivate the men, who chose to defend Jerusalem after their main army's defeat. It is important that we work to make this world better. People say success in life through a good occupation or wealth is valuable, but to him and to some of us today, making this world is even more valuable in building our identity as man, because it is the world that we live. We clean our house and take care of our house for guests and also because it is our responsibility. The world is our great home that we must take care of. This world however, is being destroyed through the conflict and disagreement. We must find agreement and create harmony to protect the world from being destroyed.

"It has fallen to us to defend Jerusalem, and we have made our preparations as well as they can be made. None of us took this city from Muslims. No Muslims of the great army now coming against us was born when this city was lost. We fight over an offense we did not give, against those who were not alive to be offended. What is Jerusalem? your holy places lie over the Jewish temple that the Romans pulled down. The Muslim places of worship lie over yours. Which is more holy? The Wall? The Mosque? The Sepulchre? Who has claim? No one has claim. All have claim. We defend this city, not to protect these stones, but the people living within these walls."

Film: The Kingdom of Heaven

The name "Jerusalem" means "The City of Peace". However, we are not able to see peace in Jerusalem. Instead we see conflict and division in Jerusalem. The film, "The Kingdom of Heaven" centers in Jerusalem. Balian, a blacksmith in France, follows his father's footsteps to travel to Jerusalem during the Crusades.

The City of Jerusalem in the beginning of the film, when it was reigned by King Baldwin IV, is shared by Jews, Christians, and Muslims. They are able to live in harmony because of the King and the Sultan. Some minor quarrels may happen, but these dispute eventually found justice according to agreement of these two parties. This somewhat peace between the Christians and the Muslim changes as the King dies and he is succeeded by a man, who is greedy for power and authority. Eventually Christians and Muslims face each other in the battle with each party firmly believing that God or Allah will bring victory to their side.

At that time, Jerusalem has many meanings to individuals. Many people traveled to Jerusalem with The Crusades to find a new life. However, they only found the same world in their Holy Land. This is no different than Jerusalem of today. In addition to the battle scenes, the film left its viewers with many different quotes that discussed one's being and his relation to God and the relationship between the two religions. The message that the film carried was deeper in comparison with other films produced by the director, Ridley Scott.

The protagonist of the film travels to Jerusalem and he struggles to find peace within himself through his reconciliation with God and his obligation to his duty in the setting, where religious harmony was at risk. As different characters starting with his father, the Muslim general that he spared, and the royalties shared their insights of faith and knowledge, we see the hero, who is reluctant to be treated as such, start to find his own place and destiny in the crisis between the two religions.

The film seems to question and show, "what can a man do in the midst of these conflict?". This question especially applies to the world that we live in today. The question is not limited to those in Jerusalem today, but to the people who live in the area where conflicts exist. We ask ourselves, "What can a man or a woman like me do against this mass conflict?" This was the same question that the Bishop of Jerusalem asked as he saw Bailian knighted each solider before the battle to defend Jerusalem against the Saracens.

"Who do you think you are? Will you alter the world? Does making a man a knight make him a better fighter?"

These men and soldiers of Jerusalem, who were considered as peasants with no influence, eventually succeeds defending Jerusalem and fulfilling their duty. They were ordinary men, who ended up defending the city because all the soldiers died in the initial battle with the Saracens. Most of us in the world are regular and ordinary citizens of the nation we live in. However, with the right heart, we are able to alter the world. It will make us a better fighter, an advocate for peace. One may say world peace is impossible, but it would only take one step away from being possible as each individual doubts its possibility. One of the quotes that Bailian's father, Godfrey talks about one's destiny.

"You are not what you were born, but what you have it in yourself to be."

Our destiny does not depend on where we are born into, but what we are able to bring out from ourselves. It depends on our ability to push our limit. This idea is exemplified by Chairman Man Hee Lee, who has been working as a peace advocate internationally. He is the example of what a single man can do in the midst of multiple conflicts in the world. I hope that the world will start to recognize the effort of Chairman Man Hee Lee and HWPL and join to cooperate and fulfill world peace together.

Film: The Front Line

The war film, "The Front Line" is based during the Korean War. (In Korean, the title is loosely translated to "The Battle of Highland".) It is starred by famous lead and supporting actors of South Korea and it captures the disastrous nature of war and the unfortunate fate between the South and North Korean soldiers at last minute of the Korean War before the Armistice Agreement.

The film begins with one officer named Eun-Pyo, who is transferred to a company with the nickname, "alligator". This company has fought and won many battles, especially in the dispute over one hill called "Aerok" Hill (also known as K-Hill). He is sent to investigate a case, in which a letter of a North Korean solider was sent from the Alligator Company to his mother, who lives in South Korea, and this may be the case that there might be a spy in the company. The plot continues as Eun-Pyo seeks the answer behind this strange incident and his reconciliation with a friend thought to be dead, Soo-Hyuk.

The Aerok Hill is captured repeatedly by both sides and it is an important hill in the negotiation between the two Koreas, as it would bring more lands to the owning side. This causes continuous change in its owner as each side attempts to capture the hill. At the end of the film, the Armistice Agreement is negotiated, but there are gap hours before the agreement becomes official.

The last scenes of the film depict the unfortunate fate of the reluctant soldiers, who have to fight for a land that has been covered by the corpse of their fallen comrades. What is the meaning of this hill to each of the individual soldiers? Yes, it may be important to the officials, when drawing the boundary in the peninsula, but to the soldiers, the hill represents the death and life to these soldiers, because the hill may become their grave or successful capture of the hill would extend their life. I do not think that the hill was looked a territory to them. This is why, few of the soldiers decided to hide and leave their belongings, because in the end they would return to the exact hill. The repeated captures in the end become pointless and meaningless as soldiers would have to die for a hill that they would later lose.

At the very last battle before the agreement becomes official, the soldiers of each side sing together a song to show their reluctant heart to fight. The fight between these two sides shows us a message. We fight today and we have fought in the past. These conflicts were small and big, but it was always the same argument and mostly for the same reason. It is the same hill that is needed to be overcome. It is in some way pointless to fight over. What is the better solution? What is the purpose of having a boundary, when we all live in the same world, when we breath the same air? We are in the frontline of the hill that we must overcome. It no longer talks about a boundary against each other, but a boundary of war that we must overcome to achieve peace.

Pope Francis' visit to the United States

After visiting Cuba, Pope Francis visited United States to meeting with President Obama and on September 25th, Pope Francis spoke at the UN General Assembly. The pope, who has been receiving a great attention from the world for his messages, spoke about international conflict and war. As the fifth pope to visit the United Nation, I hope that the visit of Pope Francis will alert the international community of the importance of world peace. As conflicts and threats are increasing at this time such as the Civil War in Syria, it is imperative that leaders such as Pope Francis, current presidents, and leaders of UN to take action to solve for world peace.

As HWPL and Chairman Lee travels around the world and host dialogues to promote world peace, more people are recognizing and accepting the importance of world peace. I hope that the renowned political and religious leaders will support and lead the hopes of these people, so that world peace can be possible.

In his speech, Pope Francis talked about the constant effort to avoid war between nations and people. He mentioned the restless dedication of negotiation to reenact a law to prevent these conflicts. At the visit to the White House, the Pope supported President Obama's policy on environment. In his speech, he spent majority of his time also on environmental issues. He said, "Earth is the fruit of love from the Creator and mankind do not have the authority to ruin the environment."

This is true. Both war and environmental issues, such as pollution, will ruin the earth that the Creator created. We are not the Creator of this world, we only dwell in the world because it was given to us by the Creator. However, if we do not respect the world that we live in, what would the Creator think of us? It is rude to misbehave in someone's house or misplace their things, then how should we treat the world? The basic manner applies not only to a friend's house, but to this world.

WARP of 1st Commemoration

Finally, it is this week. The WARP of 1st Commemoration begins in few days. After the WARP Summit last year, HWPL has continued its effort to create harmony in the world. They have established WARP Offices and invited religious leaders of the community to participate in a discussion to compare their religion and reach to an agreement. Each peace dialogues ended with signing the peace agreement. Although it is a small act of signing a paper, its symbolism is enormous as this agreement is signed by many other religious leaders. These agreements will gather to create a larger unity in the world. The WARP of 1st Commemoration will become another giant step towards achieving the dream that we have longed for.

[Live coverage of WARP 1st Commemoration Broadcasting time]

■ September 18, 2015 ; 10:00~12:30 / 16:00~19:00

■ September 19, 2015 ; 9:00~12:00

■ Broadcasting link ☞ https://goo.gl/MDGjE2

1st Annual Commemoration of WARP Summit - What kind of a world do you want?

It has been one year since the first WARP Summit, where we were able to see the first step towards achieving world peace. It was where we were able to confirm that there is still hope for a peaceful world.

After one year since the Summit, we now celebrate the first commemoration. It is the opportunity what kind of improvements were made after the Summit last year. For the past year, after the WARP Summit, HWPL worked with many different religions to establish WARP Offices around the world. Although wars have happened because ideological differences, most wars that we see today are based on religious differences. The song "World" by Five For Fighting asks their listeners, what kind of world do they want? The participants of WARP Summit wish for a world of peace. This is why even with differences in background they gathered in South Korea last year and also this year to find a solution to create peace in between different groups and in the world.

I am excited to see the result of the first commemoration. The progress that the HWPL has made this year will also reflect through the results that we see next year. I do not believe that peace will be achieved in one day, but it is a continuous effort that requires the dedication of many people. It is to first identity that ultimate problem that causes war and to walk in harmony with others.

What kind of world do you want? ... Let's start at the start, build a master piece. ... History starts now

The First Annual Commemoration of the WARP Summit will start in 18 September 2015 at 10:00 AM (Local Time). There will be a live broadcast of the event. If you are interested please visit -- http://goo.gl/mIt1D6

Civil War in Syria

Few days ago, there was a report about a Hungarian camerawoman, who tripped the running refugees in Hungary. The past five years in Syria were spent on the civil year. Based on the research of International Amnesty and UNHCR, out of the total population of 23 million, 12 million people of Syria have been refugees.

The Civil War in Syria arose from a protest in 15 March 2011,because of an arrest of few teenage students, who wrote "The people want the fall of the regime" using a graffiti. The tension between the protesters and the government grew worse, when the government started open fire on the protesters.

The protesters, who originally used peaceful demonstration, started to use weapons and formed a resistance group called Free Syrian Army (FSA). The 12 million refugees of Syria were forced to leave their home to take refugee in other nations such as Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan, and Egypt. The borderline nations, who did not have enough resources for the countless numbers of refugees closed their borders.

With the Civil War, the ISIS, who slowly increased their powers, took over the northern and eastern Syria. This increased the tension in Syria bigger. The Civil War that began with a non-violence protest resulted into a war that lost its reason. With the intervention of ISIS, the European Union and the United States are planning to resolved the problem.

What would the refugees of Syria want the most? To stop the war and to return to their war. 

As we see, there are great tragedies that are happening around the world. Even though the world is seeing its greatest technology and culture in its some parts, other parts of the world are suffering from civil wars and religious conflicts that lost its meaning. It seems like it is continued just because of hatred and vengeance. Will the intervention of the superpowers solve this problem? Will physical power solve war, as it would create more deaths? I believe that a conflict can be solved starting with showing sympathy and compassion to one another. This is the first step of creating a world of peace.

As we are approaching the First Annual Commemoration of WARP Summit, it is an opportunity to re experience the importance of world peace. The works of HWPL is not about gaining power or fame, but to create a world, where conflict does not exist anymore. It is to help those who are suffering from conflicts and wars to return their home. I hope that through this WARP Summit, these international conflicts will be revisited and that the Civil War in Syria will be resolved peacefully.

HWPL, Declaration of World Peace

As emissaries of World Peace; as people who are working towards the restoration of humanity through a new and heavenly culture, we declare the following.

We call on the heads of state of every country to sign an international agreement - a commitment to bringing all wars to an end. We ask them to do this from a spirit of a deep-seated love for the people of their country.

We call on all youth to unite in an effort to stop wars and pursue the restoration of peace by agreeing not fight one another.

The only way to stop the fighting and pointless, tragic deaths, is to stop fighting. Nobody can sk fro anything greater than this, and know that your efforts - the efforts of the young people of the world today in pursuit of peace - will remain as never fading light of life for all future generations.

Further we call on every person, every man, woman, and child in the world, to pick up the mantle of peace. In whatever way you can, we ask that you work to further the cause of world peace and restoration, making it a reality in your direct environments.

Lastly, we call on the media to report responsibly and promote a message of peace to the world.

Poem: Peace by Rupert Brooke

Peace
Now, God be thanked Who has matched us with His hour,
And caught our youth, and wakened us from sleeping,
With hand made sure, clear eye, and sharpened power,
To turn, as swimmers into cleanness leaping,
Glad from a world grown old and cold and weary,
Leave the sick hearts that honour could not move,
And half-men, and their dirty songs and dreary,
And all the little emptiness of love!

Oh! We, who have known shame, we have found release there,
Where there's no ill, no grief, but sleep has mending,
Naught broken save this body, lost but breath;
Nothing to shake the laughing heart's long peace there
But only agony, and that has ending;
And the worst friend and enemy is but Death.

The 3rd G.O.D Awards in New York

Last month in New York, a ceremony was held to celebrate the achievements of the people around the world in humanity. The "We Care for Humanity's 3rd Global Official of Dignity Awards" was hosted by Jacob Wheelr, Denise Cook, "The Oracle" and Princess Maria Amor. Many royalties and representatives from the business and academic and government official participated in this event. Among the recipient was Chairman Man Hee Lee and Chairwoman Nam Hee Kim, who received the Noble Man of the Year and the Noble Woman of the Year respectively. Although the Chairman was not able to participate in the event, it was a special moment, where the peace movement gained recognition. At the same time it was the event to witness how people worked to make the world a better place. Although we do not have the power to create, we have the power to work with one another to make this world a better world.

Poem: Here dead we lie

Recently, I took an interest in the poems of the First World War, because these poems captures the emotions and the thoughts of the soldiers. Through many speeches and messages, I have heard the horrific memories of Chairman Man Hee Lee in his participation of the Korean War. I wanted to compare his messages with the literature that expresses the emotions of the author in the quickest way. Some wrote about their assault against their enemies, but some talked about the tragedy from the battle.

After a short research, I was able to find out that A. E. Housman, the British author of the poem "Here dead we lie", actually did not participated in the First World War. However, by reading his poem, I was able to find connection with the agony that the Chairman described, when he saw countless numbers of war happening around the world. The poem only contains two whole sentences, but through these well-phrased sentences the author, an academic who never went to war, shares his point of view of the war with his readers. I wonder what experience motivated him to write this poem, even though he never experienced war. It is interesting how one is able to depict the tragedy in the war without participating.

The rhyming scheme of the poem is ABCD EBFD and the poem is written in quatrain, in which each stanza contains four lines. In the first stanza, the author uses first person plural to represent the soldiers (the speaker) as a whole about their death. In one perspective, it seems that the speaker is slightly ashamed to be alive. And he did not wish to shame the land that we born into. It sounded like he is rather happy to accept his death. It is definitely heroic to die for one's nation. This is truly a great honor. However, what purpose did they serve? The First World War only started because of greed. Wars are fought by young men, who have a future ahead of them. They may participate in wars for many reason. Regardless of these reasons, they have to sacrifice their lives. It seems like a regret of the choice that they made. We need to still leave a space to question, was their sacrifice necessary? This is what the speaker questions in the second stanza. However, to support their nation's interest, they participated in the war to defend their nations.

The second stanza also begins with the pride in their sacrifice for their country and the patriotism that they showed. Ironically, the poem ends "But the young men think it is and we were young." The young men may think that their sacrifice is a glorious deed. There may be nothing important in life. However, after many years, when the young men grow to older men, they would look back to regret that decision. Youth is when action comes first before thinking. There is more in life. The young men, at the time, may have thought it would be cowardly to run away from their military duty as soldiers, but the older generation looked at something greater. It was not only the pride and the honor of that short period, but it was life as a whole. In their moment of reflection of their last years, one may think about many different things. Did war bring happiness through the pride and honor that he received? The answer may vary depending on the individual, but from the author's perspective, there was too much to lose for the heroic struggle.

What can we learn from their experience? One may ask, perhaps it was the experience of war that led them to reflect back about their experience. There could have been a different ending if one actually did not participate in the war and choose to live. We were able to see the emotions and the thoughts of our veterans through their memoirs and writing. However, were we able to see writings of those who chose not to participate in the war? Not exactly, because wars were consistent in life. In did not allow the opportunity to not participate in wars. I hope that with Heavenly Culture, World Peace, Restoration Life and Chairman Man Hee Lee, we will become that first generation that decided to not participate in war. Maybe 50 years later, we will see a poem, "Here we are alive:"

Here dead we lie by A. E. Housman

Here dead we lie

Because we did not choose

To live and shame the land

From which we sprung

Life, to be sure,

Is nothing much to lose

But young men think it is,

And we were young

Poem: In Flanders Field

The poem, "In Flanders Field" was written by John McCrae, who a Canadian physician Major John McCrae, who participated in the First World War. The major, who survived the Second Battle of Ypres in the Flanders region of Belgium (1915). After witnessing the death of his comrades and friend, Alexis Helmer, he began the poem by describing the poppies that quickly grew around the grave (crosses) of those who died.

The poem is about the tragedy caused by the battle and also war. The only things that are left in the field of the battle are the guns, which were used by the soldiers. The songs of the larks in the sky are only heard by the guns on earth. What could be the representation of the the larks in the sky against the guns on earth? The birds of the heaven sing the song and just as the dove represents peace, perhaps these larks were singing their message of peace, however, its songs were not heard because of the loud noises created by the guns. Likewise it is the will of the heaven and the Creator to see peace on the earth that he created. However, the efforts of the Creator and the will of heaven was only covered in the past history of the mankind with wars and conflicts. No messages of peace were heard and even if it did, it was not heard clearly and disappeared quickly. However, the world seems to change its attention towards Heavenly Culture, World Peace, Restoration of Light (HWPL), an organization that is working towards peace so that the will of the heaven may be heard.

The men who fought in the battle were alive and each had family and friends, who they loved and who loved them back. However, they all lie together. It does not matter which side they belong. The numbers of the casualties only matter to decide the result of the war. However, they all return back to the earth as dust together. It does not change the fact for the both sides that the war took them away from their loved ones. I am not sure what the author meant, when he says "The torch; be yours to hold it high", however I hope that this bond and the faith created between those who are dead and those who are alive will serve a legacy that goes toward harmony. I hope that the torch is not a representation of destruction, but a symbol of harmony and goodwill as it is in the Olympic Games. The torch is carried throughout the world and is delivered to the location, where the games are hosted. Just as this, I hope that the torch marks the beginning of unity so that the souls of those who died in every war including the Second Battle of Ypres in the Flanders Field are able to rest and sleep peacefully.

In Flanders Field

In Flanders fields the poppies blow

Between the crosses, row on row,

That mark our place; and in the sky

The larks, still bravely singing, fly

Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago

We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,

Loved and were loved, and now we lie

In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:

To you from failing hands we throw

The torch; be yours to hold it high.

If ye break faith with us who die

We shall not sleep, though poppies grow

In Flanders fields.