The New World Religion – Part 9
| By: Gary Kah; ©1999 |
| Gary Kah’s article presents more reasons why Christians should be very concerned about the United Religions Initiative and like programs aimed at uniting all the world’s religions. |
Contents
The New World Religion – Part 9 – Building a Spiritual Consensus
In last month’s article we examined the far-reaching implications of the United Religions Initiative (URI). This initiative was first introduced by Robert Muller, former UN Assistant Secretary-General, at the 1993 Parliament of the World’s Religions. The proposal calls for the creation of an international authority dedicated to unifying the world’s religions. From the start, the United Nations has played a strategic role in this endeavor. In fact, Bishop William Swing, the URI’s chief spokesperson, was the individual chosen by the UN to organize its fiftieth anniversary worship service. This interfaith celebration (held in 1995) would help trigger the sequence of events to follow.
After receiving the call from the UN, Swing set out to organize the UN’s anniversary service as planned. The UN had told him that “they would bring 183 ambassadors of the world to Grace Cathedral,” and asked him “to bring representatives of the great religions of the world.” According to the San Francisco Chronicle, during the service “prayers, chants and incantations were offered to a dozen deities.” Children from around the world mingled over thirty “sacred waters [in a] great bowl of unity.” This ritual was performed to the accompaniment of music from the earth-worshipping Missa Gaia. This pagan setting would become the platform for Swing to formally present his plan for United Religions.
Soon after that meeting, Bishop Swing embarked on an ambitious worldwide campaign to promote the United Religions Initiative. He summarizes his adventure:
- In February of 1996, I started a long trek around the world starting in India with the Mar Thoma in Kerala, the Shankara-charya of Kancheepuram in Madras, Mother Theresa and Dr. Karan Singh in Calcutta, Metropolitan Bishop Vaulos Mar Gregorios, and numerous Baha’i, Sikh, Jain, Moslem, Zoroastrian leaders, and Archbishop Angelo Fernandez in Delhi and the Dalai Lama in Dharamsala…I was able to meet with numerous Muslim religious leaders, ambassadors, writers, politicians, and Supreme Court justices.
- In Egypt, I met with the Orthodox Coptic Pope, Shenouda III, and with Dr. Mohammed Syed Tantawi who, at the time, was the Grand Mufti but has since been elevated to office of Sheik of Alazhar.
- In Jerusalem, I met with Rabbi Mordechai Peron and numerous other rabbis and religious leaders. In Amman, Jordan, with representatives at the only Muslim Interfaith Institute in the world, that of the Crown Prince of Jordan. In Istanbul with the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew. In Geneva with the World Council of Churches. In Tubingen, with The Rev. Dr. Hans Küng. In Rome, with Archbishop Fitzgerald, Cardinal Arinze, and Pope John Paul II. And in England with the Archbishop of Canterbury and Sir Sigmund Sternberg.
Swing’s ideas were warmly received, and he was encouraged to continue.
A Vatican Connection
Upon returning from his mission, Swing focused his energies on hosting a GlobalInterfaith Summit. The summit’s purpose was to further the UR Initiative and determine how to deal with expected resistance. The conference, held in San Francisco, was co-sponsored by the Gorbachev Foundation and the World Conference on Religion and Peace (WCRP), an organization with strong Catholic representation. While a growing number of people have become familiar with the activities of the Gorbachev Foundation, the UN, and Robert Muller, very few individuals are even aware of the WCRP’s existence. Yet it is a major player in the global interfaith community.
The World Conference on Religion and Peace started in 1970, with Angelo Fernandes, the Catholic Archbishop of New Delhi, India, serving as its first head. As a United Nations non-governmental organization, the WCRP works closely with the UN and its various agencies. Among its plans is an international center for conflict resolution, funded by the Rockefeller Foundation.
The first session of the WCRP’s sixth General Assembly in 1994 was hosted by the Vatican. Speakers included Hans Küng, Milan’s Cardinal Martini, the president of the Rockefeller Foundation, and Roger Cardinal Etchegaray (chief organizer of the Pope’s 1986 Assisi interfaith meeting). Defend Life reported:
- According to Inside the Vatican, the Pope listened to Koranic verses and Jewish, as well as Shinto, Buddhist and Hindu invocations for peace. The conference’s final declaration affirmed “the sacredness of the earth and our unity with it.”
To the surprise of some Catholics, meetings such as these are now regularly condoned and sponsored by the Vatican. Swing points out, “The Vatican has been actively engaged in this work [interfaith work] for 30 years…” This statement confirms the role of Vatican II—thirty years earlier—in launching Catholicism’s public interfaith efforts.
Bishop Swing appears to be fully aware of his endeavor’s spiritual significance. He asserts, “Interfaith work ultimately becomes dangerous because it threatens every authority: sacred writing, ecclesiastical structures, ethnic purity.” This threat pertains particularly to Bible-believing Christians who are unwilling to compromise their sacred beliefs. More than confident of success, Swing states, “The clear fact is that we are on the threshold of global interfaith living. Nothing will stop this or hold it back.”
While Swing may be correct in his assumption about the rise of the New Religious Order, he apparently does not understand that this interfaith civilization will ultimately fail. The New Age/one-world agenda is working against the truth of God and is therefore destined for His wrath and judgment. Scripture makes it clear that when Jesus Christ returns He will put all things in order, removing Satan’s darkness and rewarding God’s faithful.
Behold, I am coming soon! My reward is with me, and I will give to everyone according to what he has done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End.–Revelation 22:12,13
For complete documentation and more information on this vital subject, you are encouraged to obtain Gary Kah’s eye-opening new book The New World Religion (330 pages, including over 50 exhibits and 350 footnotes). Visit Gary Kah’s website at www.garykah.org
