 |
By Berit Kjos ~ November 16, 2009 |
|
|
||
If you have read 1984 by George
Orwell, you probably remember Big Brother’s mind-changing creed:“War is PEACE. Freedom is
SLAVERY. Ignorance is STRENGTH.”[5]It illustrates the Soviet double-speak used
to confuse, transform, and
then unify a compliant mass of contented slaves. And now, seventy years after
its
publication,
Orwellian double-speak is spreading this confusion faster than ever. In this upside-down world, wrong seems right,
good is called evil, and lies are simply the new convenient truths. Since feelings count more than facts, illusion reigns, oppression spreads, Jihad is justified, and the Bible is banned!The true God behind our national Thanksgiving
celebrations doesn’t conform to America’s changing values. But other spiritual options are
filling the gaps as they sweep
across our land. Blinding eyes to His truth, they cloud history, and mock the faith that
built honesty, truth, and integrity into America’s foundation. Sad to
say, that foundation is now crumbling fast. As God warned us,
“…when you have eaten and are full, and have built beautiful
houses and dwell in them… [then] your heart is lifted up and you
forget the Lord your God. …you say in your heart, My power and
the might of my hand have gained me this wealth. …if you by any means
forget the Lord your God, and follow other gods…
you shall surely perish.” Deuteronomy 8:10-19
[See
Warnings]The rise of a global
spiritualityOn September 17, 1995, I
signed in at Mikhail Gorbachev’s well guarded State of the World Conference
as an official [amateur] reporter. I wanted a first-hand glimpse of the global
plans for the 21st Century — plans that would help build the foundation
for today’s rapid change.
This
was clearly a worldwide event. The former
head of the Soviet Union had gathered “nearly 500 senior states-people, political leaders, spiritual leaders, scientists,
intellectuals, business executives, artists and youth from 50
nations to begin a process of deliberation on the central question
of what priorities, values and actions should guide humanity
as it moves into the next phase of development.”[6]
As Gorbachev announced,
“From the outset I would like to suggest that we consider the
establishment of a global Brain Trust [forget representative
government] to focus on the present and future of our civilization
… this idea of a Brain Trust can only succeed if endorsed and actively
pursued by people who are widely respected as world leaders and global
citizens.”[7]The elite speakers and partners
in this venture included the elder president George Bush, Carnegie Chairman David Hamburg,
Ted Turner, Maurice Strong (the New Age chief of
the UN’s 1992 environmental conference in Rio de Janeiro), and Zbigniew Brzezinski,
who founded of the Trilateral
Commission with David Rockefeller. Thirteen years later, Brzezinski became a foreign policy adviser to Barack
Obama. [Longer
list of speakers here]An elegant Baha’i singer in a flowing white gown set
the spiritual tone with a prayer to her universal god: “O
faithful One… O helping one… Source of all being…” The music was her own,
she said — given by the unknowable, compassionate
god of Hinduism, Buddhism, Christianity, and other spiritual
avatars throughout time.
Her prayer-song fit the conference theme. As Mikhail Gorbachev
observed during a dialogue on a new form of democracy,“…there
was no trace of the futile debate about what is better,
capitalism
or socialism…. We should seek a
synthesis of ideas and values
that have proven their viability…”[7]That synthesis abolishes all
Biblical absolutes. Again and again, the
Communist leader and his hand-picked “council
of the wise” or “global
brain trust” told the assembly of more than 1000 guests
and participants that a new set of inclusive universal values must replace
the Judeo-Christian world view. Familiar terms must be redefined to fit the new global
perspective, while the old beliefs and political systems must be abandoned.Like many other speakers, New Age author Dr. Deepak Chopra
repeated the call for synthesis in his evening plenary speech. He challenged
his friendly listeners with this question:“Can you step out of the river of your own conditioning…? For only then is
there an opportunity to create… a new world. We cannot do it the way we have done it in the past.
It is time to change the whole paradigm through which we view
physical reality.”[7]Apparently, these esteemed visionaries had already made that paradigm shift.
The conference left little doubt that
the chosen speakers and enthusiastic audience viewed
reality from a decidedly evolutionary/universalist perspective — the kind
that popular author Dan Brown promoted through his latest book on the
philosophy behind Freemasonry and the mystical Noetic Sciences.The spiritual leaders addressing the Forum taught
either
pantheism (“God” in all),
universalism (all paths lead to the same ultimate reality), or
monism (all is one) as the world’s new spiritual foundation. Among them were
New Age educator Willis Harman, Esalen
co-founder Michael Murphy, Sonia Gandhi, and revered representatives of Vietnamese, Mongolian, and Cambodian Buddhism. Their
input during panel discussion and roundtable sessions left no
doubt that Biblical Christianity was marked for decay.Astronomer Carl Sagan showed us pictures of
our tiny blue planet in the midst of a vast galaxy in an infinite universe — then scolded those
who still viewed minuscule individuals as significant pieces of the
cosmic puzzle.Had they forgotten the horrors of
collectivism — and the environmental devastation — spawned by the Communist ideology that Gorbachev never renounced?
Murder, mysticism and immorality
Sam Keen, author of
Fire in the Belly, gave the closing plenary
message:“…there was very strong
agreement that religious institutions have to take primary
responsibility for the population explosion….
Cut the population by 90 percent and there aren’t
enough people left to do a great deal of ecological damage.”[7]
The applause was deafening!
Kill millions of people? How? What happened to
love, compassion, and concern for the poor? These leaders had called for
poverty programs, gun control, and global financial redistribution as if
they wanted to save lives. Were these schemes simply a stepping stone toward
global control? Did no one care about the individual lives behind the
faceless masses?As in the former Soviet Union, an ordinary
person’s life becomes worthless in this pragmatic context for global management!
The illusive “common good” becomes little more than an Orwellian
phrase that limits personal rights and freedom — but promotes unrestrained
immorality. Notice the way Keen rationalizes his values in these quotes from
“Hymns to an Unknown God”:“Imagination allows us to sample in fantasy what is
inexpedient or demonic to act out.
Dionysus, the [Greek] god of excess and ecstasy [same as the Roman god
Bacchus], rules supreme in dreamland…. An
amoral
imagination provides us with the experience in dreamtime of living ‘beyond good and evil’ that is necessary for the
development of Compassion.”[8]That’s what
mysticism is all about! Experience — the spiritual experience of an unknown
god! A deceptive journey into the realm of demons where lies and
licentiousness reign! Perhaps he doesn’t realize that such
captivating immoral “ideals” have
eroded freedom and destroyed lives since the beginning of time.
It’s not surprising
that Biblical (“fundamental”) Christianity has aroused such hatred. God’s Truth
— in
contrast to amoral, feel-good myths — is full of warnings that we ignore at our
peril. For example,“And GOD saw that the wickedness of man
was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the
thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.”
Genesis 6:5
The
spreading darkness
I didn’t want to read The Lost Symbol, Dan
Brown’s latest book. But
after prayer and some questions from our visitors, I read the first section and last 100 pages.
The fact that “Freemasons
hail Dan Brown’s latest novel“[9]
— and that the current
CEO of the Institute of Noetic Sciences has warmly welcomed it [10]
— made it more relevant.
They apparently appreciate Brown’s promotions of their mystical beliefs.
The following dialogue from the book takes place during an
exploration of the Masonic signs, symbols, and secrets hidden in the
Washington Monument, an Egyptian
obelisk. Robert Langdon is the friendly
protagonist in the book. Peter Solomon is his older friend and mentor, a
respected professor, a
33rd degree Mason and the
Supreme Worshipful Master. By giving him a pleasant personality, Brown
veiled some of the
book’s darkness behind a screen of geniality.Notice how God’s Word is twisted into a mystical icon of all
religions.
Robert, the Bible does not talk openly
for the same reason the Ancient Mystery Schools were kept hidden…. for
the same reason the neophytes had to be initiated before learning the
secret teachings of the ages…. The Ancient Mysteries and the Bible are
the same thing.’…Peter, the Bible and the Ancient
Mysteries are total opposites. The mysteries are all about the god
within you. . . man as god. The Bible is all about the God above
you…’Yes! Exactly! … The moment mankind
separated himself from God, the true meaning of the Word was lost. The
voices of the ancient masters have now been drowned out, lost in the
chaotic din of self-proclaimed practitioners [probably pointing to
Christians] shouting that they alone
understand the Word….’Weve lost
the Word, and yet
its true meaning is still within reach…. It exists in all
the enduring texts, from the Bible to the Bhagavad-Gita to the Koran and beyond.
All of these texts are revered upon the altars of Freemasonry because
Masons understand what the world seems to have forgotten… that
each of these texts, in its own way, is quietly whispering the exact
same message.’
Peters voice welled with emotion. Know ye not that
ye
are gods?…“Peter lowered his voice to a whisper.
‘The Buddha said,
You are God yourself.
Jesus… even
promised us, The works I do, you can do . . . and greater. [See truth here:
His strength in my
weakness] Even the first
antipopeHippolytus of Romequoted the same message, first uttered
by the gnostic teacher Monoimus: Abandon the search for God. . . instead, take
yourself as the starting place.’…’A wise man once told me,’ Peter said, his voice
faint now, ‘the only difference between you and God is that you have
forgotten you are divine.’[11]
This deception is the
fulfillment of the serpent’s promise in Genesis 3: “You will be like God.”
That has been the driving force
within occult orders through the
ages. Now it’s coming out into the open.One of the first public celebrities to
proclaim this arrogant lie was New Age movie star Shirley MacLaine. “I am God,”
she shouted to the world back in the 1980s.
I met her at the end of Gorbachev’s conference.
She happened to walk by, and I asked her what she thought of the conference.“It was good. It helped raise
consciousness,” she answered.“But wouldn’t it have raised more
consciousness if one of the meals had just been rice instead of gourmet
meats and elegant desserts?” I asked. After all, some speakers had emphasized
global equality and concern for the poor.She frowned. “People paid a lot of money
to come here,” she answered. “They deserved good food.”As George Orwell pointed out, some people in socialist collectives are
meant to be
“more equal than others!” In
a totalitarian system, all the
thanks must go to the state and/or its elite rulers — “equal”
or not!
All the more, we will thank our God!
Both socialism and idolatry have a way of building a sense of
entitlement: “I deserve it.” But with God, it’s different!
We don’t deserve any of His wonderful gifts! Yet His
undeserved grace is available for all who will
trust and follow Him!He has given us a mission to
this fast changing world of idols and illusions: to share His love! We may
feel inadequate, but He will enable us.
For when we are weak, He gives us
strength! When all
looks dark, He is our
Light! When the world brings despair, He remains our unfailing
Hope!“Now thanks be to
God who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and through us diffuses the
fragrance of His knowledge in every place. For we are to God the fragrance of
Christ among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing. To the
one we are the aroma of death leading to death, and to the other the aroma of
life leading to life. And who is sufficient for these things?” 2 Corinthians
2:14-16God is! Nothing is impossible
with Him! He is our
Shepherd, our
Savior, our Wisdom, and our
Way!
“What a Friend we have in Jesus!”
[Hymn
words & melody]
See also
The Freemasons,
Mysticism & Global Mind Change
Training children to thank a goddess and
The Revolutionary Roots of the UN
Endnotes:1.
Al Gore, Earth in
the Balance; Ecology and the Human Spirit (Houghton Mifflin, 1992), p. 265.
See
Al Gore’s Vision of Global Salvation.2.
Cathleen Falsani, Interview with State Sen. Barack Obama,
March 27, 2004.
http://blog.beliefnet.com/stevenwaldman/2008/11/obamas-interview-with-cathleen.html.
SeePurging the Memory
of Our Christian Roots at
www.crossroad.to/articles2/009/memory.htm3.
“Heresy in high places” at
http://www.crossroad.to/articles2/2003/heresy.htm4.
Dan Brown, The Lost Symbol ( Doubleday, 2009), p. 492.
5.George
Orwell’s 1984 at
www.crossroad.to/Excerpts/books/transformation/orwell.htm
6. Jim Garrison, President of the Gorbachev Foundation,
Gorbachev’s Plan For A United
World at
www.crossroad.to/text/articles/gorb10-95.html
7. Mikhail Gorbachev’s State of the World Conference, September 17-21, 1995.
8. Sam Keen, Hymns to an
Unknown God: Awakening the
Spirit in Everyday Life (Bantam Book, 1994), pp.164, 82.
9.
Freemasons hail Dan Brown’s latest novel,
www.reuters.com/article/entertainmentNews/idUSTRE58E1V220090915
10. Dr. Marilyn Mandala Schlitz,CEO of the Institute of Noetic Sciences,
www.noetic.org/emails/ishift/articles/Leading_Authority_on_Noetic_Sciences_Hails_Dan_Brown.pdf
11. Dan Brown, The Lost Symbol ( Doubleday, 2009), pp. 491-492.