3. “Connected Being Consciousness” and Democracy

Every person exists as a connected being in social life; so, everyone is both subject and object at the same time. In other words, every person is a being of both subject and object positions, or a being with a dual position. This fact can be summed up by the phrase, every person is in a “connected being position.” The connected being position possesses dual purposes, namely the purpose for the whole and the purpose for the individual. For example, in a working place, a person is in the subject position to his or her subordinates while, at the same time, in the object position to his or her superiors. Though someone may be in the highest possible position, that person still is in the object position to God. Therefore, in a strict sense, everyone is always a connected being. The mental attitude that a connected being should take is that of possessing both object consciousness and subject consciousness: this is called “connected being consciousness.”

As mentioned earlier, every person first stands in an object position, and then stands in a subject position. Therefore, in the connected being consciousness, priority should be given to one’s object consciousness. In other words, subject consciousness should be established only on the basis of object consciousness. This is what was originally intended. In fallen persons, however, when one stands in a subject position, he or she easily forgets the importance of object consciousness and, instead, gives priority solely to subject consciousness.

Dictators are typical examples of this tendency. They consider themselves supreme, and then seek to do everything according to their own will. In contrast, in the original society, leaders would be very conscious that they are always in an object position before God―even if they might be occupying the highest social position―and so would never lose their humble attitude. Next, let us give some consideration to the connected being consciousness in a democracy. The fundamental principles of democracy are majority rule and the equality of rights. These principles are based on natural rights, as proposed by John Locke (1632-1704). Contrary to Thomas Hobbes (1588-1679), whose view was that the natural state of human beings is “the war of all against all” (bellum omnium contra omnes), Locke argued that, since natural law exists in the natural state, people are free and equal by nature. He held that in the natural state people have natural rights, i.e., the power to preserve one’s life, liberty and estate. ⁵ The concept of natural law, upon which the concept of natural rights is established, originated from the Stoics in the ancient Greek period. One’s natural rights, under natural law, became the model for the establishment of the principles of modern democracy. Needless to say, natural rights here refers to those of the individual.

The theory of the equality of rights was originally derived from the Christian concept of “equality before God.” In other words, the equality of the rights of people is given by God, not by the state. The theory of the equality of rights is also the foundation upon which modern democracy was established. Equality before God refers to the “equality of all people as objects before God, the Subject.” Therefore, the theory of the equality of all people was originally based on object consciousness and, therefore, a consciousness of order.

Thus, democracy originally arose based on object consciousness. Yet, as it developed, the consciousness of God gradually faded in peoples’ minds and, with an excessive emphasis on individual rights, object consciousness gradually disappeared. Today, people are mostly interested in subject consciousness alone. As a result, human relations have generally developed among those with a strong sense of subject consciousness; in other words, relationships between subject and subject. This is an age in which any sense of order has largely been lost. A relationship between subject and subject is essentially that of mutual repulsion.

For a time, after its beginning, democracy achieved a comparatively sound development. The reason for this is that people maintained an object consciousness before God, in virtue of their Christian spirit. As time passed, however, Christianity gradually became more secularized, influenced by scientific developments and materialistic ideas, and lost its ability to guide the human spirit. In addition, along with the rapid industrialization of society, value perspectives were gradually shaken.

Along with these changes in the social environment, the foundation for the equality of rights was transformed from that of “equality before God” into that of “equality before the law.” As a result, the repulsive action between subject and subject, which has its seeds in democracy, surfaced, and various kinds of social confusion appeared. As stated above, the relationship between subject and subject is that of conflict. An example, from the natural world, is the repulsive action between positive electrical charges.

Therefore, equality of rights inevitably gives rise to conflicts, unless there is a buffering agent, like Christian love. Such disharmonies as conflicts, clashes, wars, and hatred occur in all parts of the world today. These are all manifestations of the repulsive action between subject and subject. In other words, democracy, which claims an equality of rights, was imbued with elements of conflict from its very beginning. Consequently, the repulsive action was destined to surface eventually. Today, this latent conflict has fully surfaced: Murder, burglary, arson, terrorism, destruction, narcotics, injustice, corruption, deterioration of sexual morality, increase in divorce, collapse of the family, the AIDS epidemic, and sexual crimes are spreading to every democratic society. These are all phenomena arising from the collapse of values caused by the repulsive actions within democracy.

The key to solving this problem of the collapse of values in democratic societies lies in reviving a sense of object consciousness. In order to do so, we need to bring a sense of God, the true subject of humankind, back into peoples’ daily experience. We must also return to the original spirit with which modern democracy started, namely, the idea that all people are equal before God. To achieve these objectives, the first and most important step is to provide reasonable proof for the existence of God, so that people in our contemporary age can believe in and embrace Him. If people come to genuinely believe in and embrace God, they will naturally come to respect their superiors in society as well. Also, those in superior positions will come to guide their subordinates with love. The government will love its people, and the people will become loyal to their government. When democracy, which has lost God, returns to being a democracy truly centered on God, the ills of today’s democratic society will be fundamentally resolved. Unification Thought refers to God-centered democracy as “Fraternalism centered on the Heavenly Father,” or simply “Heavenly Fatherism,” or “Fraternalism.” There can be no brothers and sisters without parents, nor parents without children (i.e., brothers and sisters).

Finally, let me explain about human dominion over all things. As His third blessing God ordered human beings to dominate all things. Therefore, if human beings had not fallen but had perfected themselves, they would have stood in the position of the rulers of all things. Dominion over all things, here, does not simply mean that human beings, as the lords of creation, dominate other things of creation. All human economic and technological activities, including primary, secondary, and tertiary industries belong to this dominion over all things. If so, then what should be the mental attitude of human beings who are enjoying dominion over all things? They should have a heart of love for all things, and take care of all things with warm care and concern; in other words, they should deal with, and manage, all things with love. This kind of dominion is in accordance with the Way of Heaven: if there is love, then all things will be very happy to receive the dominion of human beings.