Churches duped by green extremists

By Henry Lamb
web posted April 1, 2002

In a March 26, story by John Fialka, the <i>Wall Street
Journal</i> reported that churches in 21 states were mounting an
all-out attack against the Bush administration's proposal to open
the Arctic Natural Wildlife Refuge to oil exploration.  This
campaign is coordinated by the National Religious Partnership
for the Environment.

Few, if any, of the churches realize that the NRPE is the
outgrowth of deep ecologists who believe the Bible is obsolete,
that the earth, <i>gaia</i>, is the giver of life, that human beings
are but individual cells in the gaia organism, and that the United
Nations is the evolving  "brain" of gaia.

Paul Gorman, director of the NRPE, was director of the Temple
of Understanding, housed at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine
in New York.  He organized a "Joint Appeal," consisting of 22
scientists and 100 religious leaders that became the NRPE.
Mikhail Gorbachev hosted a conference for the group in
Moscow, where James Lovelock, author of <i>The Ages of
Gaia</i>, was the featured speaker.  Dr. Robert Muller, thirty-
year deputy Secretary General of the U.N., and Thomas Berry,
served on the Temple's board of directors.

Writing for <i>World Goodwill</i>, in October, 1989, Robert
Muller said:
<ul>
"We are part and parcel of a living planetary organism. Each of
us is a cell, a perceptive nervous unit of the Earth.  You as
cosmic and earth cells, are part of a vast biological and
evolutionary phenomenon....  We have now a world brain which
determines what can be dangerous or mortal for the planet: the
United Nations and its agencies, and innumberable (sic) groups
and networks around the world, are part of the brain."
</ul>

Muller readily admits that his beliefs are based largely on the
writings of Alice Baily, who founded the Lucifer Publishing
Company, and whose works are said to be transmitted by an
"ascended master," called Djwhal Khul.

Thomas Berry's belief system, called "Cosmolatry," is even more
bizarre.  In his <i> Dream of the Earth</i>, he says:
<ul> 

"This re-enchantment with the earth as a living reality is the
condition for our rescue of the earth from the impending
destruction that we are imposing upon it. To carry this out
effectively, we must now, in a sense, reinvent the human as
species within the community of life species. Our sense of reality
and of value must consciously shift from an anthropocentric to a
biocentric norm of reference."
</ul>
Berry compares man's belief that God created the earth, to the
ancient belief that the sun revolved around the earth.  He says
both beliefs are wrong, and the truth is only now being
discovered through what he calls "enlightenment."

Senators Al Gore, Timothy Wirth, and James Jeffords were
instrumental in the creation of the NRPE.  They arranged
Congressional breakfasts with NRPE leaders, helped with
funding, and Al Gore delivered a sermon at the Cathedral of St.
John the Divine, which is reported in Cathedral literature this
way:
<ul>
"I saw children lying in the laps of large dogs and a boy bringing
his stuffed animals to be blessed. I saw the not-yet famous
elephant and camel march up the aisle; a lawyer who scoops the
poop and enjoys being clown-for-a-day; a priest who finds
himself covered with wriggling ferrets; a man and a woman who
meet when  their leashes become enmeshed; a volunteer
gardener marching to the altar with a bowl full of compost and
worms; a sermon by Al Gore, in which he called on the
congregants to recognize that `God is not separate from the
Earth.'"
</ul>

The NRPE avoids telling the participating churches the true
nature of their agenda.  Instead, they are exploiting the churches,
converting them into lobbying machines for their extremist
policies.

Mikhail Gorbachev, and the U.N.'s Maurice Strong have
promoted the Earth Charter, which is expected to replace the
Ten Commandments as the basis for social and religious
organization.  The Earth Charter has been placed in an Ark, and
is being ceremoniously conveyed to Johannesburg, South Africa
for adoption by the World Summit on Sustainable Development
next August.

Churches that promote the NRPE are promoting a new,
biocentric, Godless, global religion.  Most of them have no idea.
______________________

A thorough, well-documented report on the NRPE was
published by the Environmental Conservation Organization in
1996, and republished by the Chair of Free Enterprise at the
University of Texas. <i><a href="http:
//eco.freedom.org/reports/ggreligion.htm">The Rise of Global
Green Religion</a></i> , and <a href="http:
//www.eco.freedom.org/reports/ggpp.html">the 2001
update</a> are available to ECO members.

Henry Lamb is the executive vice president of the Environmental
Conservation Organization, and chairman of Sovereignty
International.

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