Celebrating Science: A ‘Tool of Love Over All Things’
Founders, Rev. and Dr. Moon, and Chairs at the 14th ICUS in Houston in 1985
“Once in a while you hear religious people devalue science as having nothing to do with God, and secular people devalue religion as having no practical use,” wrote True Mother in her bestselling memoir, Mother of Peace (2020).
“Both sides separate God and science. Both are in error. God wants us to develop science and technology as tools with which we can exercise the dominion of love over all things. And that is God’s great blessing. We must love nature with the same heart as God, and cultivate it for the benefit of humanity. This is God-centered science and technology.”
On November 26, 1972, True Parents launched the first International Conference on the Unity of the Sciences (ICUS). There were just 20 scientists, gathered at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in New York City under the program theme, “The Moral Orientation of the Sciences.” True Father talked about unity of the sciences as a tendency for uniting the world, saying, “the purpose of science is to realize people's dreams.”
Still, he said despite the great strides made by science, these advances could not always be immediately used to better the lives of all people because of national and racial barriers. True Parents aimed to change this. “Science belongs to all humanity and must not be monopolized by any particular nation or bloc,” said True Father in his inaugural speech.
The following year, in Tokyo, the second ICUS drew five Nobel Prize laureates — attracting much attention. By 1981, the 10th ICUS in Seoul had swelled to 808 scholars from about 100 nations, making it the leading global forum of its kind.
“For years, the ICUS forums led to countless scientific collaborations and new friendships,” recalled True Mother in her memoir. “We proposed the free and generous exchange of technology among nations, something that had never been imagined in history. Our view is that because science and technology are revealed and given by God, they are the common wealth of all humanity.”
“We emphasized that no country should monopolize these common assets,” she continued. “We wanted developed countries to globalize the cutting edge standards of science and technology by sharing their tools and methods with developing nations.”
ICUS now celebrates 49 years since its inception, going strong as it continues to bring together distinguished figures at the forefront of science and related industries to address a range of challenges facing the global community.
“I renewed ICUS in 2017,” said True Mother after its providential hiatus in 2000. Sponsored by the new Hyo Jeong International Foundation for the Unity of the Sciences (HJIFUS), the conference would tap “hundreds of participants who are devoted to pioneering new paradigms for scientific research,” she said.
In April, the 27th ICUS convened virtually, focusing on innovations to ease environmental stressors. Some 71 scholars from 13 countries weighed in on finding the most promising scientific solutions to environmental problems on a global scale.
Dr. Hak Ja Han Moon at the 24th ICUS in Seoul in 2018 (Photo credit HJIFUS)
“The interconnectivity of the world’s populations means communication and rapid responses are essential,” said Professor Christian Happi, a featured ICUS speaker who teaches at the African Center of Excellence for Genomics of Infectious Diseases at Redeemer's University in Nigeria.
This year’s experts examined three key areas of current environmental impact: ways in which denuded forests can be recovered and desert lands can be transformed back into fertile lands; the role of environmental health in recent viral outbreaks, including the COVID-19 pandemic, and a range of solutions to combat these and new outbreaks; and addressing “negative emission technologies” (NETs) that remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, as well as new ways to store energy for wider use in electric vehicles.
Today as we celebrate the long-standing achievements of ICUS — a conference which also inspired the first International Conference on Science and God (ICSG) in 2020 — let’s remember the vision and fortitude of True Parents who championed that science and technology are a gift from God that belongs to all humanity.
“ICUS gathers scientists, engineers and inventors to harmonize the technologies and tools in our hands with the ecology of the natural world, as well as our original human nature created by God for the purpose of realizing authentic human happiness and lasting peace,” True Mother wrote. “But to solve the many problems facing our world, whether they are religious or scientific, first we must know correctly about God, who is the origin of the universe, and about True Parents. Then we will be able to find the solutions.”
You can learn more about the legacy of ICUS here.