1. A critical analysis of the guiding principles of the UPF
Committee on Human Development
The UPF Standing Committee Human Development Program Prospectus is supposed to be
an exposition of the guiding principles, aims and projects of the educational branch of the
Universal Peace Foundation. In that document and in the published books Discovering the
Real Me these principles are articulated as follows:
The Department of Human Development Character Education Initiative is designed to
provide opportunities for participants to achieve three life goals:
1) to grow and become a person of mature character
2) to build healthy relationships and a loving family
3) to make a positive contribution to society
Later on in the document these are expanded:
Life Goals
Outer circle: grades K-6 Second Circle: grades 7& 8 Inner Circle: grades 9-12
Life Goal #1 Life Goal #2 Life Goal #3
“Person of Character” “Healthy Families” “Contribute to Society”
K-6: Becoming a good Loving my parents, siblings Loving my school
son/daughter friends; learning basic Transcending
responsibility at home excessive egoism
7-8: Respecting others Being a good friend Loving my community
Developing conscience Understanding sexuality Becoming a good citizen
and honesty Conflict resolution Becoming more responsible
9-12: Learning self-control Relationship skill building Loving my nation
Maintaining sexual Healthy friendships Developing leadership
purity Becoming global citizens

2. These 3 life goals are presumably supposed to correspond to the Three Blessings, one of the
core ideas of the Divine Principle and Unification Thought. But they don’t. And in not doing
so, they provide a false basis for theories of human development and education. Let me
explain.
In Unification Thought, Dr Lee outlined the three main attributes of the divine character:
1. Heart
2. Logos
3. Creativity
God desired to experience complete joy which could only happen through relationships of
love with other beings which were like himself. So God created human beings in his image
and likeness. In order to become ‘like God’, God gave Adam and Eve Three Blessings which
correspond to the 3 aspects of the divine character. By fulfilling the blessings people would
become like God, inheriting the divine character.
1. Be Fruitful – the ability to perfect our character. This involves achieving mind-body
unity so that God can be present in this unity. The most important aspect of this is to
develop a sensitivity to the heart of God. By fulfilling the 1st blessing a person would
become the incarnation of God, feeling how God feels, thinking as God thinks and
acting as God would act etc. Here we have the basis of human rights as each person is
a child of God, conscience, personal ethics etc.
2. Multiply – the ability to establish a perfect family. This is about establishing the 4
great realms of heart, 3 great kingships etc. and thus a lineage. These are relationships
based on love as delineated by the ethical norms appropriate for that relationship. The
expansion of Logos/Tao/Law/Li – is the realm of ethics and norms of behaviour and
of course justice. To inherit God’s logos one becomes a good child, spouse, parent, g-
parent, uncle, cousin, neighbour, pupil, teacher, employee, employer, politician, King,
etc. etc. and thus can relate appropriately to anyone. The family is expanded through
the levels of community, society, nation and world. In this people look for some
position or niche in which they can make some contribution to their world whether it
is as scout leader or foreign secretary. So here we find justice, morality, familial,
social, political and economic ethics etc. [This category is rather big and could be
divided in 2 or reschematised along Rev Ahn’s system]
3. Dominion – the right to have dominion. Through this we have the opportunity to
inherit God’s creativity through owning, caring for, manipulating and eventually
becoming one with physical things and thus become Lords of Creation and mediators
between the spiritual world and physical world. This is expressed not only in art but
also in gardening, farming, manufacturing, driving a car, riding a horse, decorating
one’s house, playing the piano, writing etc. etc. Through such activities people
struggle to have dominion over the physical reality by mastering particular skills.
Furthermore they strive to express or reveal themselves through such an activity and
create something which gives them joy to behold. This joy comes from the
relationship with the physical thing irrespective of whether it is done for someone else
or someone else will appreciate it. Through this a person comes to inherit God’s
creativity. Along with this comes the ethics of ownership, stewardship, environmental
ethics etc.

3. These three blessings are of course related to the fundamental philosophical categories:
1. A person’s relationship with the divine
2. A person’s relationship with other human beings
3. A person’s relationship with the natural/physical world
Education then should enable people to fulfill these three blessings or goals as explained in
the Unification Thought Theory of Education.
So, the third UPF category is wrong. Contribution to society is a natural extension of the
second blessing and has always been presented as such in DP texts. The UPF theory of
education is different to the UT theory of education.
By ignoring the third blessing UPF completely ignores an important dimension of what it is
to be human and ignores the aspirations and goals of ordinary people.
I am not giving much space here to show what goals would flow from the 3 blessings
framework. They would look something like this as a bare bones simplification:
1. to experience joy through growing and becoming a mature person of integrity
2. to find happiness in love through having a family, friends and finding a place in society
where they can ‘make a difference’
3. to be a creative owner and have a harmonious relationship with the physical world
These fit with the goals of children who I see everyday in my classroom. I have not
developed them in detail here as that is not the purpose of this writing.
So education should contain the following elements:
1. a spiritual and moral element
2. a social element
3. a practical and vocational element
These universal truths are the basis of all balanced pedagogy. If UPF bases its educational
work on a distorted pedagogy it either won’t be successful or will be doing the world a dis-
service.
I have recently discovered that this same deviant version of the Principle is to be found in the
powerpoint presentations for Ambassadors for Peace. It is also to be found in the IEF
powerpoint presentations developed in NY and now used around the world. It is also to be
found in the IEF book Educating for Character – a book widely praised by educators which
means that we have now injected false ideas into the world of character education.
William Haines

4. Some comments on the UPF textbooks Discovering the Real
Me
The books are published by the International and Inter-religious Foundation for
World Peace. Yet they are neither international nor religious let alone inter-religious
in content.
Book 1
Book 1 is based solely on Aesop's fables. These are all from Greece - no
international content there. Furthermore Greece is the home of Hellenism so as one
might expect the spiritual and moral content of Aesop's fables is of a very superficial
nature. A balanced education should include Hebraic and Hellenistic content. This
book is completely unbalanced and dare I say it 'not fit for purpose'.
I would have used stories but would have drawn on traditional stories from many
countries and religions. Religious traditions particularly have a wealth of stories that
foster a child's spiritual and moral development in a non-dogmatic, non-theological
way. Each country and religion has its strengths and weaknesses. So one would
choose the best from each so as to produce a well rounded textbook. The best way
to promote respect for another religion or culture or nation is to provide the
opportunity for someone to encounter something good or beauty from that place
which will awaken feelings of awe, wonder and respect for that place. At the same
time it would foster the virtues that that place is best known for thus providing a
‘universal’ education.
Book 2
Book 2 is based on Grimm's fairy tales. Grimm's stories are excellent but again just
using them is unbalanced. They come from Germany and are an expression of
German culture (with its strengths and weaknesses) and one of the chiefs ways
through which it is transmitted. Coming from one country and filtered through the
Grimm brothers minds they are naturally parochial. If one looks at English, Russian
or Korean fairy tales one finds different motifs and values reflecting different national
cultures. Again each has its strengths and weaknesses and a balanced book would
include a selection of the best.
I did a study of such stories while I was in Russia in preparation to produce that kind
of textbook. I would have used a selection of age appropriate stories from a variety
of countries and religions for the reasons given above.
Book 3
Book 3 is based on a selection of stories written by the authors. These stories have
little depth and are of poor literary quality. They are very didactic and preachy
leaving little space for the spiritual and moral imagination to develop. They all come
from the same source. A single source can never be sufficient for a person's
education.
I would have chosen stories from good literature again from a variety of countries
and religions which are of proven value. At this age stories alone are insufficient and
other material should be included as well.
None of the books that textbooks I have seen that UPF publishes have a spiritual
dimension. None of them mention God or awaken one's sense of awe or wonder.
Why our textbooks should be conforming to a desiccated secular model is beyond
my comprehension. They are certainly not an expression of Unification philosophy.

5. William Haines