Globalism – A New Faith?

By: Carl Teichrib; ©2004

Carl Teichrib interrupts his series to bring you portions of a speech given at the Solid Ground Seminar, February, 2005. As our society embraces new global norms such as world law, collective security, and international economic structures, Biblical Christianity finds itself confronted with the religious and philosophical foundations of this developing “new world civilization.”

Globalism: A New Faith?

[Note: The following text is a portion of the speech notes used by Carl Teichrib at the Solid Ground Seminar, February, 2005.]

As our society embraces new global norms such as world law, collective security, and international economic structures, Biblical Christianity finds itself confronted with the religious and philosophical foundations of this developing “new world civilization.”^[1] Couched in terms of “religious tolerance” and “plural­ism,” this synthetic blending of religious experiences and “global ethics” seems destined to change the way society views spirituality, traditional values, and the fundamental tenants of Christianity. And while spiritual adventurers and members of Eastern religions may view the creation of a new global faith as a positive development, it is diametrically opposed to foundational Christianity and the Biblical world-view.

Unfortunately, religious pluralism—“interfaithism” as it is called in global gover­nance circles— is steadily pulling at Christianity to enter the fold. But what does this mean to those who adhere to the claim of Jesus Christ in John 14:6—an exclusive claim of salvation? How does the interfaith movement perceive itself, its role as a cultural change agent, and its place in the larger context of globaliza­tion? What does interfaithism bring to the table?

According to the global interfaith movement—a movement that transcends traditional and contemporary political boundaries, economic theories, and philo­sophical foundations—fundamental beliefs that claim religious exclusivity are a danger to the establishment of world peace and justice. Hence, interfaithism plays itself out in a number of social change venues, and the fundamental basis of biblical Christianity simply don’t fit into this global vision.

Find below a brief summary of the various areas of impact that the interfaith movement hinges upon.

Religion under Interfaithism

• Exclusive claims to truth, salvation, and God are taboo.
• All religions are welcome as all religions carry the same fundamental truths. However, this only applies as long as the various religions agree to these terms. Hence, any claim to the contrary is deemed to be a form of big­otry.

• Each religion and/or spiritual philosophy is an extension of the Divine plan. All religions are but diverse paths to the same mountain-top called “God.” Unity in diversity becomes the new benchmark.
• Jesus Christ become a “good teacher” and a spiritual reformer, if no more. Buddha, Jesus Christ, Mohammad, Zoroaster, Moses, Vishnu, Quetzalcoatl, and even Lucifer are all divine manifestations and ultimately express the same teachings as each other. This form of thinking represents the systematic deg­radation of the work and person of Jesus Christ.
• Interfaithism ultimately and logically directs man to accept and cultivate the belief that he is divine, and that the Kingdom of God resides within (this teaching also claims that heaven and hell are our own making). And the Big Lie of Genesis chapter 3 becomes nothing more than an allegory on intellec­tual realization and human development.^[2]

Morality under Interfaithism

• Traditional moral absolutes are viewed as archaic. Instead, alternative family structures (including same-sex relationships and unions), population control programs (mass abortion is one aspect^[3]), and planetary loyalties are deemed appropriate and necessary.
• Biblical definitions of “sin” are considered counter-productive. The defini­tion of sin as it is traditionally accepted is considered an act of bigotry. “Sin,” redefined to fit within a global context, points towards environmental issues, cultural tolerance, and integrated social change – anything that stands in the way of these new norms becomes “sin.”
• Expressions of religious truth, such as Biblical exclusiveness and sin definitions, becomes legally recognized as hate crimes.

Education under Interfaithism

• Tolerance and diversity is heavily promoted, including experiential teach­ing, cultural awareness, and spiritual relativity.
• Strong emphasis is placed on environmental loyalties, Earth-centered values, and nature-based religions. These are taught as vital components in changing the way society operates on all levels.^[4]
• New philosophies of citizenship are encouraged, both in regards to na­tional identities and family structures. Global citizenship supplants any compet­ing allegiances.
• General education is no longer concerned with teaching basic and funda­mental concepts. Mathematics, language arts, history, and geography become conduits to teach global ideals. Education becomes a tool for massive and irrevocable social change.^[5]

Politics under Interfaithism

• National politics becomes subject to international law.
• Concepts of global governance are advocated, including world taxation regimes (their words, not mine), central economic and environmental manage­ment under an international authority, an empowered collective security com­ponent, and the creation and operation of a world parliamentary structure.^[6]
• Loyalties are re-directed to planetary issues. Earth comes first; “Today, in human society, we can perhaps hope to survive in all our prized diversity provided we can achieve an ultimate loyalty to our single, beautiful, and vulner­able planet Earth.”^[7]

The following section contains a large number of social change and interfaith quotes. Each of these evidences (and many, many more could have been added) demonstrate the philosophical approaches of the spiritual/mind-change components of globalization.

But before we examine the claims and positions of the interfaith movement, it’s imperative that we set a Biblical foundation concerning the person of God and the redemptive work of Jesus Christ.

Note: many within the interfaith movement find the following verses to be offensive.

The Biblical Christian Position

Before Me there was no God formed, Nor shall there be after Me. I, even I, am the LORD, And besides Me there is no savior. — Isaiah 43:10b­11.

I am the First and I am the Last; Besides Me there is no God… Is there a God besides Me? Indeed there is no other Rock; I know not one. — Isaiah 44:6b, 8b.

Look to Me, and be saved, All you ends of the earth! For I am God, and there is no other. — Isaiah 45:22.

Jesus answered him, “The first of all the commandments is: ‘Hear, O Israel, the LORD our God, the LORD is one. And you shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ This is the first commandment…” — Mark 12:29.

[Jesus speaking] For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. — John 3:16-19.

[Jesus speaking] Most assuredly, I say to you, he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life. — John 5:24.

[Jesus speaking] I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture. — John 10:9.

Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” — John 14:6.

…let it be known to you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead…This is the ‘stone which was rejected by you builders, which has become the chief cornerstone.’ Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved. — Acts 4:10-12.

Then He who sat on the throne said, “Behold, I make all things new.” And He said to me, “Write, for these words are true and faithful.” And He said to me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. I will give of the fountain of the waters of life freely to him who thirst…” — Revelation 21:5-6.

The following evidentiary quotes on social change and interfaithism represents only a fraction of the material available. However, this brief listing should suffice in highlighting some of the key positions taken by those who advocate a trans­formed world civilization.

The Social Change Position

Arguments and evidences for global mind change.

Fifty years is ample time in which to change a world and its people almost beyond recognition. All that is required for the task are a sound knowledge of social engineering, a clear sight of the intended goal—and power. — Arthur C. Clarke, Childhood’s End, p. 69. [Clarke is an eminent scientist and author]

The breakdown of society today is like the decay of an old wall. It will continue to decay until it is checked by the world builders.

Social reconstruction today does not mean the rebuilding of civil society. It means the development of a world community. — Scott Nearing, United World, pp. 39-40. [Nearing was a leading political activist for socialism in America during the early-to-mid part of last century]

Human engineers are at work in a variety of fields. They are increasing the capacity of a relatively small number of people to control, modify, manipulate, reshape the lives of a great number of other people…Control is being achieved over human actions, moods, wishes, thoughts. — Vance Packard, The People Shapers, p. 3. [Internationally recognized author and investigator]

We must pass from a human-centred to an earth-centred sense of reality and value. We now recognize the larger earth community, and not the human community, as normative as regards reality and value. — “Transformative Education and Environmental Action in the Ecozoic Era,” Empowerment for Sustainable Development, pp. 102-103.

A world society cannot be haphazard. Since there are no precedents, it cannot be traditional at this stage in its development. It can only be deliberative and experimental, planned and built up with particular objectives and with the aid of all available knowledge concerning the principles of social organization. Social engineering is a new science. — Scott Nearing, United World, p. 221.

Interfaith Positions on a New World Religion

Special Note: Quotes from esoteric material, particularly from Masonic sources, are used to demonstrate the deeper philosophical foundations for interfaithism. Within esoteric contexts, interfaithism is often referred to as “univer­salism.”

…after intra-Protestant and intra-Christian ecumenism we have irrevocably reached the third ecumenical dimension, ecumenism of the world religions! — Hans Kung [Catholic theologian and major leader in the global ethics movement], in the Forward to Willard G. Oxtoby’s book, The Meaning of Other Faiths, p. 10.

The true Mason is not creed-bound. He realizes with the divine illumination of his lodge that as a Mason his religion must be universal: Christ, Buddha or Mohammed, the name means little, for he recognizes only the light and not the bearer. He worships at every shrine, bows before every altar, whether in temple, mosque or cathedral, realizing with his truer understanding the oneness of all spiritual truth. — Manly P. Hall, The Lost Keys of Freemasonry, p. 65. [Hall was one of the most influential esoteric and Masonic philosophers of the last century].

…the Christian and the Jew, the Mohammedan and the Brahmin, are permitted to unite around our common altar, and Masonry becomes, in practice as well as in theory, universal. The truth is, that Masonry is undoubtedly a religious institutions – its religion being of that universal kind in which all men agree… — Albert Mackey [eminent Masonic philosopher and historian, A Text Book on Masonic Jurisprudence, p .95.

In all times, throughout human history, man has been searching for God, and the various Religions of the world are God’s answer to the search, made through men in whom more of Himself was manifest than is the case in ordinary people. These men are variously called Prophets, Rshis, Divine Men, Sons of God, and they may be thought of as composing one great Spiritual Brotherhood of God-inspired men, the Guardians and Teachers of Humanity. We should think of all of Them with reverence and admiration, whatever may be the particular religion to which we belong, for every one of Them brought the same Divine message to the world, taught the same fundamental spiritual truths, proclaimed the same changeless moral law, and lived a noble and inspiring life. — Annie Besant [Theosophical leader], The Universal Text Book of Religion and Morals, p. 1.

…eventually a new world religion will be inaugurated which will be a fusion and synthesis of the approach of the East and the approach of the West. The Christ will bring together, not simply Christianity and Buddhism, but the concept of God transcendent… — Benjamin Crème [channeling Maitreya the Christ], The Reappearance of the Christ and the Masters of Wisdom, p. 88.

The ultimate objective is a fellowship of religions, and the gradual appearance of a world-faith, which in its broader concepts will be able to encompass all humanity. — John Davis and Naomi Rice [Davis is the director of Coptic Fellowship International], Messiah and the Second Coming, p. 111.

…the interfaith vision is in tune with the character of the emerging post-modern global society. Indeed it offers the hope of a world civilization based on spiritual values, whereas the fundamentalist approach is likely only to lead to confrontation and conflict. — Marcus Braybrooke [President, World Congress of Faiths], Faith and Interfaith in a Global Age, p. 51.

A wholistic, one-world view is emerging from space travel and other miracles of modern technology and from communication. A consciousness is also emerging from a growing awareness in the West of the wisdom of the Eastern world-view. Buddhism, Hinduism, Taoism and Shinto, while they differ in many respects, portray the world as a multi­dimensional, organically interrelated eco-system of which man is one of many inter-dependent parts. Perhaps we can learn through them to see the world whole, as it really is, and together—West and East—begin to build the foundations of a new world order.

The most urgent item on the planetary agenda is to set the limits of freedom and order in supra-national, global affairs. A constitution for the world is needed which combines the achievements of both hemispheres: that is, constitutional limitations and a bill of rights from the West and a spacious world-view from the East. — Lucile Green [Green was a major figure in the Global People’s Assembly movement], Journey to a Governed World, pp. 34-35.

The world’s major religions in the end all want the same thing, even though they were born in different places and circumstances on this planet. What the world needs today is a convergence of the different religions in the search for and definition of the cosmic or divine laws which ought to regulate our behavior on this planet. — Robert Muller [Former United Nations Under-Secretary-General], New Genesis: Shaping a Global Spirituality, p. 126.

Notes

1. ↑ See Mikhail Gorbachev’s book, The Search for a New Beginning: Developing a New Civilization.
2. ↑ See Buck, Mystic Masonry. See also Briceno and Pitt, New Ideas in Environmental Education.
3. ↑ Former UN Assistant-Secretary-General Robert Muller boasted that his long-standing policies on population control prevented the births of 2.2 billion children. For more information on this statement, see Gary Kah’s book The New World Religion, pp. 184-190. Or contact Carl Teichrib, who attended the Global Citizenship 2000 Youth Congress where Muller made this powerful statement.
4. ↑ See The Environmental Handbook: Prepared for the First National Environmental Teach-In.
5. ↑ See Robert Muller’s New Genesis. See also Singh and Titi’s Empowerment for Sustainable Development.
6. ↑ See Teichrib’s The Power Puzzle. See also, The Commission on Global Governance, Our Global Neighborhood, and Bom’s The Coming Century of Commonism: The Beauty and the Beast of Global Governance.
7. ↑ Ward and Dubos, Only One Earth [an unofficial report commissioned by the Secretary-General of the UN Conference on the Human Environment—Maurice Strong], p. 220.