Globalism | thebereancall.org

Globalism

October 1, 1990
Hunt, Dave

The union of Western Europe to be realized in 1992 will be an enormous step toward uniting the entire world. Already plans are being made for Eastern Europe, including Russia, to join. This gigantic European community will have such overwhelming economic and military power that the earth's remaining nations will have little choice except to join it in some yet-to-be-defined alliance. Rather than "iron-fisted" (that characteristic of Antichrist will come out later), the new world order will begin as a voluntary association for mutual benefit as indicated by the "miry clay mixed with iron" in the feet and toes of Daniel's image. The ten toes, rather than meaning that the revived Roman Empire will be composed of ten nations in Western Europe, will more likely be fulfilled with the division of the entire world into ten regions.

The very thought of globalism used to evoke in the Christian the horrifying image of the Antichrist, who, according to the Bible, will be the leader of the coming world government and religion prophesied in Scripture. Yet the argument is very persuasive that the establishment of a world government is the only way to prevent ecological collapse as well as to end the prospect of future war. Consequently, "one-worldism" has been promoted for years throughout America, especially in the public schools. As the National Education Association has said,

It is with...sobering awareness that we set about to change the course of American education for the 21st century by embracing the ideals of global community, the equality and interdependence of all peoples and nations, and education as a tool to bring about world peace.1

An integral part of the new global education is, as Allan Bloom warns in The Closing of the American Mind, "to force students to recognize that there are other ways of thinking...[in order] to establish a world community...devoid of prejudice."2 Bloom's use of "prejudice" is tongue-in-cheek, for in the new world community there are no moral absolutes and it is therefore "prejudice" to suggest that one point of view might be right and another wrong. There must be absolutely no absolutes, for such dogmatism would destroy global unity. As Newsweek said regarding public education:

By the 1970s the mere mention of words like "right" and "wrong" was enough to make teachers squirm; certainty was out, moral relativism was in...[especially] in a popular program called "values clarification."3

The recent Vision 2000 Final Report of Longview, WA's School District recommends that schools help students adapt to "changes in social norms and traditional value structures" by taking "greater responsibility for teaching...[ethical and moral] values which have historically been provided by the family." Explains Lynda Falkenstein of the Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory:

Black-and-white answers probably never really existed, but the time is long past when even the myth can endure. Competent world citizens must act in the large zone of grays where absolutes are absent. 4

In Learning for Tomorrow: The Role of the Future in Education, Wendell Bell makes it clear that the "demise of superstition and cultural 'absolutes'" is necessary in order to "unshackle humankind" for the new world of the future.5 To create the new-world citizen it is necessary to remove all "prejudice" against the beliefs which others may hold. In the new world of tolerance which Gorbachev and Pope John Paul II intend to create, every religion will be tolerated—except fundamentalist Christianity, which claims that Jesus Christ is the only Savior and that those who reject Him are eternally lost. While promoting ecumenism with all the world's religions, the Pope at the same time warns Catholics "not to be seduced by Protestant fundamentalist sects...."6

Gorbachev and the Pope both recognize that evangelical Christianity is the enemy of the new "freedom of conscience" they now promote. Gorbachev's advocacy of "spiritual values" must be taken in the context of his warnings against "outmoded dogmas," by which he does not mean only political ones. In an obvious affront to the One who is the Alpha and Omega (Rev:1:8), he stated at his June 1990 reunion with Ronald Reagan in San Francisco (where tolerance has borne such a deadly fruit as AIDS), "Everything must change. Tolerance is the alpha and omega of a new world order."7

Church leaders, both Protestant and Catholic, are jumping on the "one world" bandwagon, which can only be held together by tolerance for all beliefs. As early as 1970 the Lutheran Church in America adopted an official statement titled "World Community - Ethical Imperatives in an age of interdependence." Under the heading "Toward a Global Civil Order," it advocated the establishment of "world and regional institutions" to implement a new world order. It declared that "a church body has the God-given responsibility of generating support for...a world community." The National Conference of Catholic Bishops similarly expressed its support for globalism in a recent Pastoral Letter:

...we are now entering an era of new global interdependence requiring global systems of governance to manage the resulting conflicts...these growing tensions cannot be remedied by a single nation-state approach. They shall require the concerted effort of the whole world community.

The establishment of a politically and religiously united and thus, presumably, peaceful and prosperous world being pursued by Gorbachev, the Pope, the Dalai Lama and other world leaders makes good sense if one knows nothing of Bible prophecy. The "miry clay" of democracy emerging out of communist dictatorships to form the new international socialism adds an element of persuasion that plays an important part in the deception.

Yet the Bible declares that no one but the coming Antichrist can rule over such a world—and that he will be the worshiped head of its humanistic universal religion. Those who attempt to establish a peace that is not based upon submission to Christ as Lord are necessarily working to install the Antichrist's world government, whether they realize it or not. The final paragraph of the 1933 Humanist Manifesto I declares,

Though we consider the religious forms and ideas of our fathers no longer adequate, the quest for the good life is still the central task for mankind. Man is at last becoming aware that he alone is responsible for the realization of the world of his dreams, that he has within himself the power for its achievement. He must set intelligence and will to the task.

In an astonishing partnership, "Christian" leaders have joined with humanist politicians and other world religions in the task of achieving world peace through human effort. We have reported upon some of these ecumenical world conferences in the past. Humanist Manifesto II goes on to affirm, "We can discover no divine purpose or providence for the human species....No deity will save us; we must save ourselves."8 It would seem that the world's religious leaders also deny that any deity will save us. Certainly the biblical prophecies that Jesus Christ must reign over planet earth have no place in ecumenical religious peace conferences.

Evangelicals, too, are joining forces with cultists such as the Mormons, the Unification Church, and Catholics in pursuing such commendable goals as peace, ecology, opposition to abortion and pornography. Referring to a two-day strategy conference against pornography held in the Reagan White House, one leader stated enthusiastically, "Never before have we seen Catholic, Protestant, Jewish, Greek Orthodox and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints leaders come together in such agreement and cooperation on an issue."9 The most highly respected Christian psychologist and authority on the family, who attended this conference and in whose magazine it was favorably reported, declared,

There was a tremendous spirit of love and respect among those gathered. [It was] a very emotional meeting.... [Since then] there has been great comraderie among the top leaders of virtually all religious groups in the United States.10

Cooperation among all religions is essential in establishing the new world order. The Humanist Manifesto acknowledges that humanism is a religion, a belief that cannot be proved by science, but which provides a "faith" upon which one's life may be anchored when all else seems to fail. Gorbachev recognizes the need for this kind of religious faith. In the interest of tolerance it may be called by any name.

Truth is not the issue. Gorbachev realizes that the Soviet people must have something to believe in beyond their dismal circumstances. Such a "faith" is essential to carry them through the extremely difficult transition from Marxism to some form of democracy and market economy in the days ahead—hence the new push for "freedom of conscience." Of course, a great deal of capitalist financing will be required as well and the Western powers dare not be ungenerous lest perestroika fail.

The months ahead will be a crucial time of transition for the entire world. The already over-extended West will have to share its wealth not only with the failed economies of communism but with the other underdeveloped countries as well. Organizations such as the Club of Rome have been planning for this eventuality for decades. They long ago recognized that religion of any kind, even benign cults, must be encouraged during the transition stage—for the admirable purpose, of course, of rescuing planet earth ecologically and ending the threat of war.

In contrast, the Bible declares that there will be no real peace until God's Messiah reigns in person upon this earth. It also warns that when mankind thinks it has finally established global peace, the worst destruction in human history will be imminent. Thus, for those who believe the Bible, indications that the world seems to be uniting for peace politically and religiously should not arouse feelings of earthly security, but rather an assurance of the soon return of Christ to take His own to heaven.

Astonishing events continue to take place in Eastern Europe. The most incredible are yet to follow. Human history as we have known it is racing to its climax. Current developments can only be correctly understood in the context of the long-standing cosmic struggle between God and Satan. The world is being prepared for the appearance of Antichrist and for the awesome moment when Christ, in a face-to-face confrontation "shall destroy [him] with the brightness of his [Second] coming" (2 Thes:2:8).

All of mankind is required to choose the side upon which they will stand in that final conflict. That choice will determine the winners and the losers—for eternity. The day is fast coming when "the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels, in flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ" (2 Thes:1:7-8). It will be too late to change sides then.

Until that time the victory over Satan is won only by those willing to "deny self, take up the cross and follow Him." Yet this is the one belief that will not be tolerated by the "unprejudiced" global citizens of the new united world. The martyrs who remain faithful to Christ unto death, refusing to compromise the truth in order to promote false "global peace," will be the eternal victors. Of them it is said:

And they overcame him [Satan] by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death (Rev:12:11).

True Christians must, like their Lord, walk the path of suffering and rejection as those who have accepted His death on the cross as their very own. They recognize, in contrast to the humanistic pride that prevails, that we cannot save this world ourselves, but we do need Christ to save us. Heaven, not a new world order, is their hope. That faith brings them into conflict with the growing movement toward ecumenical religious unity and global citizenship. Christ made it very clear:

If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you.

Remember the word that I said unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you....(Jn:15:19-20).

So it was with the Christians at the beginning of the church, and so it must be at the end as His return approaches. Like Paul, each of us must glory in the fact that through Christ "the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world" (Gal:6:14). We have no more to do with the world system than would a corpse just taken down from a cross. This truth is all the more important as the religious deception prophesied for the "last days" accelerates.  TBC

Endnotes

  1. From the Summary Report of the National Education Association Bicentennial Program.
  2. Allan Bloom, The Closing of the American Mind (Simon and Schuster, 1987), 36.
  3. Newsweek (Oct. 13, 1986), 92.
  4. Lynda Carl Falkenstein, Global Education: State of the Art Research Summary Report (Northwest Regional Educational Lab., 1983), 14, distributed by U.S. Dept. of Education, NIE, Education Resources Information Center, Washington, D.C. 20208. As cited by Eric Buehrer in The New Age Masquerade: The Hidden Agenda in Your Child's Classroom (Wolgemuth & Hyatt, Publishers, Inc., 1990), 42.
  5. Cited by Eric Buehrer, op. cit., 43.
  6. Seattle Times (May 8, 1990).
  7. Orange County Register (June 6, 1990); article begins on p. 1.
  8. Humanist Manifestos I and II, ed. Paul Kurtz (Prometheus Books, 1973), 16.
  9. Dr. Jerry Kirk, Religious Alliance Against Pornography (RAAP) chairman, quoted in Focus On the Family (Jan. 1987), 7.
  10. James Dobson, Focus On the Family (Jan. 1987), 7.

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