The Law of Turning
Unification Thoughts, March 2025
There’s been so much happening in America since the end of last year that I’d been wondering for quite a while now how to make sense of it from the point of view of Godism. And then, early one morning, it came to me: the Unification Thought Theory of History! Specifically, the section on “Changes in History”.
I remember that it impressed me because of its very clear and concise summary of the way God actually works in history. As a person who’d become a bit skeptical in college, I related a little better to philosophy than to doctrine. I’m not proud of it, but that was/is my reality. So I found that section in the Theory of History relatable and persuasive.
The most succinct summary of this law is that God restores fallen history by turning it towards the direction of goodness. Before that becomes necessary however, societies develop via the original Law of Give and Receive (between subject and object). But when complacency and corruption set in and a society declines, it is time for course-correction. The original law is then suspended and the Law of Turning is enacted, with two—or if necessary, with three—processes.
First, by the Law of Separation, God calls an Abel figure out from the prevailing society who opposes its failings and its central person.
Second, this new Abel figure attracts adherents, forms an opposition and the Law of Repulsion (subject vs. subject) plays out. If the Abel-side prevails—ideally through dialog (i.e., non-violent) means—history turns in the desired direction of restoration.
The optional third process is engaged when the evil side holds the position of power. In that case, the leaders on the Abel-side would endure suffering according to the Law of Indemnity. There are numerous religious examples; Jesus and Gandhi are but two. For just one secular example, consider the situations of England and the United States at the start of WW2: they were both unprepared and so their populations had to sacrifice and work 24/7 to produce the arms they needed to catch up and turn the tide of the war. As these examples demonstrate, the results of such conditions may take some time to appear, but they eventually bring about the submission of the evil side. History can then turn further towards restoration.
The conclusion of this sequence of turns in world events would be the end of fallen history and its restoration. The much simplified figure from the New Essentials of Unification Thought is here:
*In history, there are of course many more than four turnings.
I suspect that for experts in The Principle, this explanation of historical change could be dismissed as a restatement of the obvious. But for me, it fulfilled one of Unification Thought’s purposes: to make The Principle clearer. If not for Unification Thought, I’d not have been able to fully accept The Principle—and especially its critical conclusion of when, how and where.
Of note, there’s a small, indirect acknowledgement that armed conflict has sometimes been a necessary last resort. It’s in the last paragraph of that section, which reads:
Restoration is achieved through the struggle between good and evil, but this does not necessarily refer to military conflict involving armed forces. If the evil side obediently surrenders to the good side, then it is possible for peaceful social change to be accomplished.
- New Essentials of Unification Thought, IV. Changes in History, p.366
Clearly, diplomacy and negotiation are the optimal ways to resolve differences between peoples and nations. If those fail however and the Abel-side is attacked, then armed resistance has its place. The obvious examples of this in The Principle are last century’s horrific World Wars. Unfortunately, the desperate diplomatic efforts to avoid both wars ended in failure.
And though it’s not explicitly mentioned, it’s clearly advantageous if the Abel-side is martially formidable. That reality can effectively discourage violent attack and thus actually encourage the resolution of differences through diplomacy and negotiation. (On a personal note, it was this idea that helped me understand why Abonim originally hoped that UTS grads would have black belts.)
Mercifully, this less-than-ideal need for martial strength isn’t supposed to last forever. The Theory of History concludes with this visionary passage of hope:
In fact, the final struggle for putting an end to the struggle between good and evil, namely, the struggle through which the Messiah completely subjugates Satan, will be carried out peacefully, even if it is called a “struggle.”… In this way, history has been changing, following the two directions of development and restoration. Development will continue forever, whereas restoration will come to an end when the original ideal world is finally restored, after which the ideal world of peace and true love will continue forever.
- New Essentials of Unification Thought, IV. Changes in History, p.366
I earnestly hope that, as current events play out, we will be able to keep in mind this perspective. History has not always conformed to the outcomes or timelines we prefer, but the ways of Heaven don’t always do that. Many incidents in the Bible, as well as chapters in The Principle, show this. But in the longer term, with hindsight, it can become more apparent that the laws of Heaven were at work after all.