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The following is taken from Gary Kah's book entitled "The New World Religion", page 216-221:


United Religions

The Assembly of Religious and Spiritual Leaders introduced another initiative with far-reaching implications. The Assembly -- following Muller's lead (New Age proponent and former UN Secretary) -- called for the creation of an international religious authority aimed at unifying all of the world's "faiths" and spiritual "traditions". This proposal, being coordinated through Muller and the U.N., is moving forward under the "United Religions Initiative".

Bringing all of the world's religions into cooperation with the United Nations has been Robert Muller's top priority for many years . . . Although Muller's vision is currently still at the conceptual stage (I believe this book was written in 1998 with 4th printing in 2001), preliminary meetings are already being held . . . Working closely with Muller on this daring initiative is Rev. William Swing of Grace Episcopal Cathedral in San Francisco . . . Rev. Swing has become the initiative's figurehead and spokesperson. Swing, who is the residing Episcopal bishop of the Diocese of California, apparently was considered to be the most politically correct Protestant candidate to work with the Vatican, the Gorbachev Foundation, and the United Nations in shepherding this initiative into finalization . . .

An Unholy Alliance

. . . As suggested by Swing, the United Religions Organization is intended to be a religion what the United Nations has become to global politics, unifying the world's religions as the U.N. is unifying the world's nations. In a press release dated June 23, 1997, Bishop Swing confirmed these plans: . . .

Toward this end, proponents of the UR Initiative, operating under the framework of the Global Ethic (interfaith document drafted by Catholic theologian Hans Kung, who declares in his book "Global Responsibility: In Search of a New World Ethic" (1991), that participation in this new "ethic" (religion) will not be optional . . . The Global Ethic is emerging as a companion to The Earth Charter and is expected to be to religion what The Charter is to international politics . . . The World Core Curriculum is intended to accommodate both decrees by promoting their ideas through public education, under the auspices of UNESCO) are preparing a detained United Religions Charter outlining the world's religious future. In a recent interview, Bishop Swing revealed his timetable for the drafting and implementation of this charter: "We want to get the first draft at the end of the 1998 meeting at Stanford. Then in 1999 we want to have the charter finished. And we want to, in the year 2000, have it signed by 60 million people of the world".

United Religions is officially scheduled to begin functioning as an organization on June 26, 2000. Significantly, its headquarters will be in San Francisco, at the Presidio -- along with the Gorbachev Foundation. The organization is slated to be fully operational by no later than 2005 . . .

Soon after that meeting, Bishop Swing embarked on an ambitious worldwide campaign to promote the United Religions Initiative. He summarizes his adventure:

In February of 1996, I started a long trek around the world . . . Mother Theresa and . . . Dalai Lama in Dharmsala . . . meet with numerous Muslim religious leaders, ambassadors, writers, politicians, and Supreme Court justices.

In Egypt, I met with . . .

[color=red]In Jerusalem, I met with Rabbi Mordechai Peron and numerous other rabbis and religious leaders. In Amman, Jordan, with representatives at the only Muslim Interfaith Institute in the world, that of the Crown Prince of Jordan . . . In Instanbul . . . In Geneva with the World Council of Churches . . . In Tubingen, with The Rev. Hans Kung. In Rome, with Archbishop Fitzgerald, Cardinal Arinze, and Pope John Paul II. And in England with the Archbishop of Canterbury and Sir Sigmund Sternberg.[/color]

Swing's ideas wee warmly received, and he was encouraged to continue.

A Vatican Connection

Upon returning from his mission, Swing focused his energies on hosting a Global Interfaith Summit in June 1996. The summit's purpose was to further the UR Initiative and determine how to deal with expected resistance. The conference, held in San Francisco, was co-sponsored by the Gorbachev Foundation and the World Conference on Religion and Peace (WCRP), an organization with strong Catholic representation . . . it is a mayor player in the global interfaith community.

[color=red]The World Conference on Religion and Peace started in 1970, with Angelo Fernandes, the Catholic archbishop of New Delhi, India, serving as its first head. As a United Nations non-governmental organization (NGO), the WCRP works closely with the U.N. and its various agencies. Among its plans is an international center for conflict resolution, funded by the Rockefeller Foundation . . .

The first session of the WCRP's sixth General Assembly in 1994 was hosted by the Vatican. Speakers included . . . Roger Cardinal Etchegaray (chief organizer of the Pope's 1986 Assisi interfaith meeting) . . .[/color]

To the surprise of some Catholics, meetings such as these are now regularly condoned and sponsored by the Vatican . . .

Bishop Swing appears to be fully aware of his endeavor's spiritual significance. He asserts, "Interfaith work ultimately becomes dangerous because it threatens every authority: sacred writing, ecclesiastical structures, ethnic purity". This threat pertains particularly to Bible-believing Christians who are unwilling to compromise their sacred beliefs. More than confident of success, Swing states, "The clear fact is that we are on the threshold of global interfaith living. Nothing will stop this or hold it back".

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Originally posted by SoftTouch:
Chief Rabbi Asks Dalai Lama to Help Set up Religious UN in Jerusalem


Israel's Ashkenazi chief rabbi, Yonah Metzger, meeting with the Dalai Lama, a Buddhist monk who is the leader of Tibet, suggested that representatives of the world's religions establish a United Nations in Jerusalem, representing religions instead of nations, like the UN currently based in New York.

"Instead of planning for nuclear war and buying tanks and fighter jets, it will invest in peace," Metzger said. He later reported that the Tibetan leader was very excited about the idea and offered to help advance it.

Also at the meeting was Chief Sephardic Rabbi Shlomo Amar, Rabbi David Rosen of the American Jewish Committee (who is on good terms with the Roman Catholic Church), Rabbi Menachem Froman of Tekoa, kadis (Ethiopian rabbis)and various Islamic sheikhs.

http://www.israelnationalnews.com/news.php3?id=98813

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