By Tony Scazzero and Jeanne Carroll
The current patriarchal culture as seen in many societies has been perceived by some as the unseen cause of many problems in the world. Societies that have a strong masculine culture are suffering the effects of the imbalance of masculinity and femininity. Although there have been political, military and economic solutions aimed at the problem, has anyone declared that gender imbalance may be the cause as well as the solution to the current crisis?
The empowering of women is a revolutionary idea that has not gotten much traction in many cultures. Paradoxically, true brotherly love is absent when there are no mothers, aunts, daughters and sisters involved. Can a solution to today’s problems be traced back to a gender imbalance that has its cause in the misunderstanding of God’s original design for masculinity and femininity?
While everyone naturally has a mother and a father on earth, not everyone realizes they have a mother and father in heaven. Although the Principle of Creation clearly explains the duality of God, it doesn’t seem to take this concept to the next natural step, which is how to relate to both Heavenly Mother and Heavenly Father in a creative and profoundly personal relationship.
It is apparent that God has been eternally multitasking in many areas and in many ways revealing Divine Masculinity more obviously than Divine Femininity. This viewpoint, however, hasn’t been fully appreciated or acknowledged throughout much world history, hence, we see human history as a story of suffering and domination which primarily is a more masculine, patriarchal direction.
The Divine Principle does not present gender balance when it relates Adam’s, Noah’s, Abraham’s, Moses’, and Jesus’ course, with little or no mention of their wives or family. Most of the Providence has to do with the central figures who were all men and/or their sons who were in the position of Cain and Abel. It is seldom mentioned that Eve, the mother of both Cain and Abel must have borne unknown sorrow seeing the suffering her children shouldered. Imagine her anguish when their trials eventually led to the violent death of her own cherished son. If Noah’s, Abraham’s, Isaac’s, Jacob’s, and Moses’ wives had an influence or even something to say about the Providence, it was hardly mentioned in the Bible or the Divine Principle. Yet their influence could have changed history for the better if they were not treated as chattel or second class citizens.
Moreover, the Divine Principle does not discuss Mother God, the feminine aspect of the Godhead. If other churches and Eastern religions recognize the existence of a Goddess or Mother God, why is the Unification Church only now offering theological affirmation regarding the real identity and manifestation of Heavenly Mother? Could it be that surrounded by a patriarchal culture outside and inside the church, She hadn’t been allowed to be readily accepted or recognized? Although True Father often said we are in the age of women, there was little discernible gender balance actually practiced in the church hierarchy.
With True Mother now at the head of the church, there is a unique opportunity to perceive more of the nurturing, patient and life-giving feminine perspective of our Heavenly Parent then in the past. In February 2013, she addressed the issue of gender balance directly when she declared that God should be henceforth addressed as Heavenly Parent.
Our church is currently suffering from a combination of disunity, distrust and disenchantment. It seems policies and decisions have been made with little consultation with members, especially the female members of the church, let alone the feminine side of God. If there is a solution and we cannot figure it out, since God is omniscient, maybe it is time to ask for spiritual guidance. Although members have left the Unification Church due to perceived hypocrisy, it is not clear that God has.
Maybe it is time to turn our hearts and ears to heaven and listen to what Mother God has to say. Father God has been doing a great job with structure, guidance and commandments but it is time to give the serenity, nurturing and empathy of Mother God a chance. If we men, and especially women, can begin to imagine the voice inside of them as Mother God, maybe we can find a way forward. After all, God is the Creator, and with feminine and masculine balance in all that we do, humanity can be very creative too.
A conference on “Ontology and the Heavenly Parent” was held in Barrytown, NY, on November 1-3, 2013.
Women’s rights have been slowly gaining ground over the last 100 years and are now picking up steam rapidly. Behind the scenes of history we know God has been working as seen in the parallel periods of history. God has not stopped working in individual’s lives, let alone in our nation’s history. There is an outpouring of feminine ideas both outside and inside the Unification Church, of which the recent Ontology Conference in Barrytown is an example. The unending problems of war, poverty, crime, disease among other issues are preventing the establishment of the Kingdom of Heaven on earth.
If a computer could find a way out of our predicaments, paradise would be getting closer, not farther away. Maybe it is time to give women a chance to come up with better solutions. The world is now waiting for women of feminine genius to restore the cosmic balance which was significantly harmed by a masculine patriarchy. As long as the relation between the sexes is out of balance, there can be no peaceful world order. Many spiritual women understand the cosmic balance innately reflects the Godhead of Mother and Father God.
The rise in this feminine perspective is leading us to the age of women where motherhood will be the new standard for every component of life. There is a flood of information being expounded on how the Divine Feminine was manifested throughout history and in diverse cultures. As a result, women, as well as men, are being inspired to rethink past paradigms and traditions so there is more gender balance in the world. Could it be that Mother God is working behind the scenes to get civilization back in balance? Could the next spiritual awakening be led by Mother God Herself? If there is a feminine spiritual tsunami coming, then we should all get to higher ground.♦
Tony Scazzero lives with his wife, Virginia, in Lanham, Maryland. They have five children and are dedicated to building God’s ideal. He earned a B.S. in Social Science from the University of Bridgeport, and is the author of All About the Spirit World and Who Is Mother God?
Jeanne Carroll (UTS Class of 1987) lives with her husband, Jerome, in Dover, NJ. She earned a B.A. in Elementary Education, and served as a missionary in Ukraine. She is the founder of New Hope School in Clifton, NJ, and currently serves as the Commission for the Status of Women (NGO-CSW) representative for WFWP International at the United Nations.
Painting of wave (above), titled “Adrenaline,” by Stephen.
Applied Unificationism 
Most important to note is what values do women cherish and what values do men cherish. Women care about balance (which finds its essence in the dual characteristics of God) and men have pursued structures (which finds its essence in the four position foundation). The dual characteristics of God were not affected by the fall, but the foundation for God to exist in substance was lost to Satan (a masculine figure). Until that is completely restored in all its dimensions by the total surrender of Satan, emphasis on the duality of God can only be exercised by those who have entered into God’s dominion. True Father couldn’t talk of this as it wasn’t time. Restoration cannot be achieved through campaigns but by self-realization.
I can explain more….
Yes, self-realization and transcendence of the mind’s negative attachments are key points.
Meditation and deep prayer are processes toward these goals.
This is what Father meant by asking all of us to “reach high noon settlement…with no shadows.” We are now in an era of restoration where Blessed Couples can attain this level of awareness and transcendence. Especially through the conditions of prayer and HDH as Father told us, we are able to access God’s clear presence and dominion as Father explained. HDH is a protection against “Satan,” as Father instructed us.
Additionally, Father made all the conditions and proclamations already. As early as ICUS 1992, Father proclaimed the “Double Messiah” and restoration of the “House of Unification being ushered in by women (mothers).” This was also the event in which True Mother gave her first inaugural address as President of the Women’s Federation for World Peace.
Then, in 2006, Father proclaimed this time as the Pacific Era of Women in Leadership (Peace Speeches). In his peace speech, he said that this is the time when all of our “talents” and gifts can be used for God in the Completed Testament Era.
In his East Garden speeches which were completed in 2010, Father told us that he was “not a chauvinist” and that “he needed women in leadership.” He also expressed this in his last meeting with seminarians (1998) where he said that “God needs leaders and they can be both men and women.”
At East Garden (2007), Father revealed about the Creation event that Adam and Eve were created “as twins, like two peas in a pod” and that each were “the substantial body of God” and both were “equidistant in the Godhead” [and in the four position foundation]. Both Adam and Eve had the ability to see the Divine Principle and the creation as the “harmony of opposites.” Therefore, as he asked one male leader in the front row at East Garden, “Would you kill [probably meaning ignore or invalidate] your sister?”
Dr. Sang H. Lee of Unification Thought also told us in 1989 that the Completed Testament Era was the time of the balance of both women and men in leadership for educational institutions and projects.
One only needs to Google to verify the countless references of male and female equality. Each time I heard the words, my heart quickened. I thought, “Ah! Finally the reason for my birth as a woman will reach its fulfillment.” But what happened? Where was the great change that I felt should have followed such profound words from my Father in ’89, ’92, ’98….?
I do not assume to point the finger at anyone in or out of the church, up or down the theological hierarchy, but the fact remains, women are not on equal footing with men. As a result, the concept of God as Heavenly Mother tends to be skewed and, “Oh, is it really necessary to pray that way?” Who told the stories of history in the endless volumes of sacred texts? Where were the voices of the mothers, daughters, and sisters? They are there, some may say, but they are told with the tongues, emotions and intellect of men who authored the sacred texts, so therefore are imprecise.
How was God’s Femininity acknowledged in the Garden of Eden? Is there any inkling of Heavenly Mother’s desperation as she saw her children tread too close to danger? Did Heavenly Mother really turn her back on her suffering children? Is it possible for any Mother to shut off her love for her child even though they disobey her? Was the heart of Eve consoled as she buried her son? How could Heavenly Mother not reach out to her daughter? Is there a religion that implies such angst?
All through history we see the course of violence and dominance sully the cultures that Providence has sought to embrace. It is not evident that Heavenly Mother is acknowledged and even more rarely consulted in any of the central world religions. Our Heavenly Mother has been manacled through our lack of acknowledgement. How can Heavenly Mother comfort the women that have been forced into loveless marriages, her little girls that are forced to marry in their prepubescent innocence, to the victims of rape or to those who are the unseen spoils of war? Without an understanding of a Feminine aspect of God, the wretched situation of women throughout history is viewed simply as unfortunate. Who had the choice to be born male or female?
I contend that Heavenly Mother needs to be acknowledged, respected and consulted in order to heal the historical hearts of all women. Healing needs to take place in order for a healthy and vibrant relationship to blossom between our Heavenly Parent and all of us. Sincere and honest prayer to our Heavenly Mother can impassion and inspire those of us that seek to act as God’s instruments.
Women do indeed hold up Half the Sky. Therefore, our God must be the Heavenly Parent of all, male and female, not just on paper but in practice.
We should remember what True Father taught us. The most important problem we need to solve is the lack of mind/body unity of the individual. To become a true (God-centered) person we need to become one with the Vertical Parent. That goes for both men and women. If we do not, then the problems will continue, no matter who is in charge. He said the second most important problem to solve is the disunity between husband and wife. That said, neither men nor women will solve any problems for the world if they are not true (God-centered) individuals and become a true God-centered couple. Until that is completed, there will always be problems between leaders and followers, men and women, husbands and wives, no matter who is in charge. Solving the problem of our individual and historical fallen nature should be number one on the list. True Father has taught us how to do that in his teaching materials. You will find it if you look for it. May God, our Heavenly Parent, bless us all, and may God guide us to save America. We have enough to worry and argue about.