I received an invitation today

[shance]

from an organization called the "United Religions Initiative".

They are hosting a gala in San Francisco to honor George P. Schultz, former Secretary of State under President Ronald Reagan (1982-89), and as Secretary of the Treasury (1972-74) and Secretary of Labor (1969-70) under President Richard M. Nixon.

Schultz is former President and current Board member of the Bechtel Group, Inc.., and former Chairman of the Committee for the Liberation of Iraq. In these roles he has been both an outspoken proponent of the Iraq invasion, and a hefty beneficiary of the reconstruction process.

What I found most interesting in the invitation was what the proceeds would be going to....."proceeds will benefit URI's work for peace, justice, and healing, which is carried out by nearly 400 interfaith Cooperation Circles in 66 countries.

And they are honoring Mr. "outspoken proponent" of the Iraqi invasion and former Bechtel president George P. Schultz??

What is wrong with this picture?


So I did a little research and found this from the August Review. However, am interested to know if anyone has heard more about this apparent religious "non-profit"?



UNITED RELIGIONS INITIATIVE AND THE QUEST FOR WORLD RELIGION

URI was founded in 1993 by William Swing, Bishop of the Episcopal Church Diocese of California, as an Interfaith organization that seeks to bind religions of the world into one common organization.

The concept of interfaith organizations is nothing new, but few have made much headway in this conflict-ridden world.

By contrast, URI has grown at a spectacular rate, up to 100% per year.

In his newly released book, False Dawn, Lee Penn writes

"In 2002, New Age author Neale Donald Walsch said that the URI is 'more global in scope, and more universal in reach' than other interfaith organizations, adding that 'I am not sure that any other interfaith organization casts that wide a net.'"21

The people (and the organizations they represent) who have drawn close to URI is striking; to name a few, World Economic Forum, Earth Charter movement, Ted Turner, Ford Foundation, Dee Hock (inventor of the VISA credit card, founder and former CEO of VISA International), Maurice Strong (Canadian billionaire), Bill Gates (Microsoft founder), among others.

The URI is also closely allied with the United Nations. At least two URI summit conferences have been held at Stanford University. Carnegie-Melon University in Pittsburgh hosted the 2000 conference.

In 2000, URI co-sponsored the World Millennium Peace Summit of Religious and Spiritual Leaders, held at the United Nations in New York City. The Secretary-General of the meeting was Bawa Jain. After the conference, Jain was interviewed by James Harder of Insight On The News as saying,

"What we need to engage in is an education factor of the different religious traditions and the different theologies and philosophies and practices. That would give us a better understanding, and then I think the claims of absolute truth - we will recognize there is not just one claim of absolute truth, but there is truth in every tradition. That is happening more and more when you have gatherings such as these." 22

The religions represented at the summit included Hinduism, Buddhism, Zoroastrianism, Confucianism, Ba'hai, Christianity, Indigenous, Judaism, Shinto, Jainism, Sikhism, Islam and Taoism, among others. Note the heavy representation of eastern religions.

Ted Turner, who gave a keynote address at the Summit, denounced his childhood Christian faith because "it was intolerant because it taught we were the only ones going to heaven."

What does URI have to do with anything other than religion? Its preamble statement declares,

We unite in responsible cooperative action to bring the wisdom and values of our religions, spiritual expressions and indigenous traditions to bear on the economic, environmental, political and social challenges facing our Earth community. 23

The United Religions Initiative is certainly not the exclusive effort of the global elite, but it is perhaps the best example of the character and nature of what they are attempting to achieve.

THE EARTH CHARTER INITIATIVE


The Earth Charter was created in 1994 by Maurice Strong and Mikhail Gorbachev. Some view Earth Charter as being a prototype constitution for the New World Order. Although closely associated with the United Nations, Earth Charter indoctrination is meant to take place through education and religion, which is one reason that it is strongly supported by URI.

NOTE: Much could be said about the Marxist-like doctrine of Earth Charter, URI, and others, but the purpose of this newsletter is to answer the question, "Do the global elite promote a religion that is complimentary and integral in purpose to their New World Economic Order and the World Governance?" So, we must leave the nature of that religion for another issue.

The principal spokesman for Earth Charter, and its U.S. Chairman and Commissioner, is little known Steven C. Rockefeller, son of the late Nelson A. Rockefeller.

Steven Rockefeller is the religious link to the New World Order being promoted by organizations like the Trilateral Commission. This Rockefeller received his Master of Divinity from the very liberal Union Theological Seminary in New York City, and his Ph.D. in the philosophy of religion from Columbia University, also very liberal. He is Professor emeritus of Religion at Middlebury College in Vermont, and also served as Dean of the College. Most importantly to this discussion, he was Chairman of the Earth Charter International Drafting Committee.

Steven Rockefeller is also chairman of the Rockefeller Brothers Fund (RBF). David Rockefeller, his uncle, is also a director of RBF.

CONCLUSIONS
The global elite have a religious agenda.
It is funded by the same people & organizations who fund global political and economic policies.
It is specific in its beliefs and methodologies of envelopment.
It is unquestionably set against Biblical Christianity and Bible-believing Christians because the Bible makes specific claim to exclusivity regarding entrance into Heaven, for instance, John 14:6 states, "I am the way, the truth, and the light: no man comes to the Father except through Me."
ENDNOTES
Protagoras, Protagoras IV, 51.
J.J. Rousseau, Emile.
---, Du Contrat Social.
Paul Edwards, Encyclopedia of Philosophy.
Ibid.,
Both of these Manifestos are available from Prometheus Books, 923 Kensington Avenue, Buffalo, New York 14215.
John Dewey et al, Humanist Manifesto I and II, p. 14-16.
Ibid., p. 17, 18.
Ibid., p. 21-23.
Corliss Lamont, The Philosophy of Humanism, p. 281.
Ibid., p. 282, 283.
Ibid., p. 257, 258.
Ibid.
Zbigniew Brzezinski, Between Two Ages: America's Role in the Technetronic Era, p.259.
Report of Financing Granted to Aspen Institute, National Endowment for the Humanities, 14th report (1979).
The Aspen Institute: a Brief Overview, Aspen Institute.
Eric Gelman, The Great American Salon, Newsweek XCVI (July 14, 1980), p. 66.
Aspen Institute, Op. Cit.
Edmund Burke, Letter to William Smith, January 9, 1795.
Letter From the President, http://www.aspeninstitute.org/index.asp?i=53
Lee Penn, False Dawn, p. 43
James Harder, U.N. Faithful Eye Global Religion ;
http://www.insightmag.com/media/paper441/news/2000/10/02/World/Religion.U.n.Faithful.Eye.Global.Religion-213309.shtml
United Religions Initiative, About URI; http://www.uri.org/About_URI.html

[truedelphi]

1. Thanks for posting.

You are right to be dubious about some of these "wide umbrella" organizations.

It is hard to fathom how one can have an event that is for George Schultz on the one hand, and peace and love and understanding on the other hand.

[shance]

2. I guess they bank that people don't really care, which may in part be true.

I used to blindly assume all non-profits must be all doing something good.

What I've learned has come close to being the opposite of that theory, especially the bigger and more nationalized/corporatized it is.

Like the saying goes, the devil's truly is in the details.

[CoffeeCat]

3. I get confused when....

...trying to sort out the activities of the elite .1000 percent of the population that
thinks it's really running the world.

I'm sorry I probably don't have anything more substantive to add to this discussion, but I
do remember Bush Jr talking about the goings on before he ran for President. His daddy
actually brought him in front of Schultz, to discuss the possibility. I remember Jr
saying that Schultz asked him lots of questions.

I came away from that account--with the sense that there is a very high-level, power
gang who operates behind the curtain--pulling the strings and orchestrating reality
for all of us. It seemed that Junior was the affable poodle who could be electable
and malleable enough to follow their orders. It's total crazymaking.

(Does anyone have any Advil?)

I'm not sure if this makes any sense, but it's what I gleaned from reading about
Schultz.

You asked "What is wrong with this picture?" Your post makes me want to sit down
and research all of this. Yes, something is really bizarre. The Committee to Liberate
Iraq...obviously that's an offshoot of PNAC? I'm unclear how "new age" thinking and
any kind of spirituality jives with the murdering, the profiteering from war and
the abysmal fallout from war that orphans children and causes untold suffering.

(Does anyone have any Zanax?)

Tying religion into all of this, is profoundly hypocritical. However, it does not
surprise me. These people are horrendously dysfunctional. Most are probably
psychopaths and sociopaths. Many psychopathic personalities use religion as part
of their denial system. It also enables them to disguise their crimes. Why...if
you're invading Iraq in the name of religion...then it must be ok, right?

This stuff really knots up my synapses.

(Does anyone have any crack?)

I'll be interested to hear what others have to say.

[shance]

4. What an inciteful response TS. Doesn't sound like your confused to me at all.

It is all so crazy isn't it?

I do wonder a lot how we got to this place.

And yet, with the current "emperor has no clothes" mentality that most Americans have been conditioned to believe about those exceedingly rich individuals whom many (if not most) have stolen their wealth and power from others much less powerful and/or vulnerable, well here we are!

I just recently read some articles/interviews by a man named John Judge. Very enlightening and interesting. He pulls no punches about how the overall system appears to be rigged in favor of a select few who have no concept of the word "share".

It seems to me that non-profits have become the latest "thing" in screwing the tax payers and citizens at large. We can look at the Red Cross (during New Orleans), Unicef and the United Way.

Where is all the money going and into who's pockets?

[shance]

5. kick

n/t

[truedelphi]

6. Gave this a K & recommend n/t

[shance]

7. Thanks TD -

think I'll give a morning kick myself.