Globalism And Things To Come

Globalism

By Dave Hunt

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.

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.