Years ago I read the memoirs of Petro Grigorenko, who was a Soviet Major General who later became a dissident. As he ended his book he made some very insightful things:
“In my long life, I have seen two social structures. I have seen and lived in socialism as it is described by Fyodor Dostoyevsky, Yavengeny Zamyaltin, and George Orwell. And then I saw another society. It did not call itself socialist, but it set as its purpose the achievement of material prosperity. In this it was successful, but the society soon fell into a state of spiritual decline. Matherial abundance cannot be the end of human activity. The purpose of life is something else. What? I don’t know. But it can be sought in many places, right now in the struggle to preserve nature, to save it from the pollutants we produce so casually.” (Emphasis added)
I had not thought about these comments in years, but as I watched the spectacle at Copenhagen, and as I watch the irrational fanaticism of those who believe in global warming, I am reminded of them and I think his words were prophetic.
A new world religion is being born before our eyes. From an anthropological, historical, sociological, and theological perspective, is fascinating to watch the evolution of this new faith system. I refer to it as a “world religion” because, like Christianity, it is a supra-cultural religion. As such, it is a serious rival to Christianity which was the world’s only supra-cultural religion.
By the time Grigorenko wrote his memoirs Greenism was already a growing movement. Like so many destructive trends it began in the 60s when my generation, the baby boomers, began to feel its emptiness. One of the great poets of my generation, Paul Simon, wrote of this time in his song, America:
“Kathy, I’m lost,” I said, though I knew she was sleeping. ‘I’m empty and aching and I don’t know why.”
This song, which accurately summarizes of the angst of my generation, also explains the spiritual search that characterized the counter-cultural revolution.
I look at the 60s as a major turning point in American history. It was the beginning of an era – I refer to it as the Era of Emptiness — in which a generation, painfully aware of its emptiness, began to look for something, anything, to fill the void. It gave birth to a subsequent generation, generation X, a generation more lost than itself. After all, their empty parents could hardly give direction when they were lost themselves. Generation X begat generation Y, a generation more lost, empty and aching than their parents or grandparents; and for growing multitudes in all three generations, the green movement in general, and the global warming crusade in particular, has become a religion.
The Bible teaches us that the last days would see the rise of a great political leader, the Antichrist, and a great religious leader, the false prophet. The false prophet will be the leader of a one-world religion that will culminate in the worship of the Antichrist.
The preachers of my childhood believed it would be the Roman Catholic Church, and they railed against the World Council of Churches and others who led what was known as, The Ecumenical Movement. I rejected these theories decades ago.
I do not see the one world religion coming from either Rome or the insipid Christian left. One of the reasons I dismiss this theory is that I cannot imagine the other great world religions — Islam, Buddhism, and Hinduism — uniting under the banner of the Vatican or liberal Christianity. But I am beginning to think that the emerging green religion could erect a tabernacle in which all of the world’s religions could set up their altars.
Liberal Christianity is already worshipping the goddess. The Roman Catholic Church is also buying into green theology. The pantheism of the new religion is a natural fit for the religions of the east; and many evangelicals, particularly young evangelicals, are believing the lie too.
I am not ready to say that the emerging green religion is THE one-world religion the Bible speaks of. But it certainly bears watching, and it is time that those with discernment renounce it and warn the faithful against this latest manifestation of the human race’s habit of suppressing the truth in unrighteousness and worshiping and serving the creature rather than the Creator.
If the one world religion turns out to be “green” or “mother earth” that makes Al Gore the false prophet in spades!
I find this most interesting as he has drawn a large following whilst being a bore and a total charlatan. God help us!
By: Somecandor on December 23, 2009
at 9:04 pm
Good post,
“Thus saith the Goracle, you shalt all ride bikes, whilst I travel by private jet”.
On a more serious note, maybe we are just being “eisogetical”, but I also look right to the sixties and modern liberalism, and the Green movement, for the seeds of the coming one world religion and government. They think that if only they could eliminate religion and enlighten people to their way of thinking they will have global unity and utopianism. Its all about an inclusive utopian paradise were everyone thinks the same and worships the creation.
By: Cupofwrath.com on December 24, 2009
at 12:10 am
Cupofwrath; Amen, my brother. We may disagree for a moment, but it seems we come together again quickly.
Some Candor; As I said in a previous thread, Gore has all of the characteristics of a false prophet. This may be an slight overstatement because, as far as I know, he has been faithful to Tipper. But other than that one redeeming virtue he is a dead ringer for the sort of wolf in sheep clothing Jesus warned us about. But remember, Jesus said that the last days would witness multiple false prophets and antichrists before THE false prophet and THE Antichrist appears. Throughout the age there have been many. There will no doubt be many more, even if the time is short.
By: markcarlton on December 24, 2009
at 2:58 am
Reverend Carlton
At the personal level there are any number of persons who seem prepared to put persons or things above God.The Bible warns that this is ‘idolatry’.You will recall that the OT continuously warned the nation of Israel about engaging in political,social and spiritual idolatry.The matter seems quite clear,taken from the Biblical perspective,as relates to the idolatry of persons.
At the social,collective level,the identification of what exactly is idolatry does not seem to be such a clear-cut matter.You seem to identify Greenism as one new idolatry.I have no doubt there indeed are people within the GW movement who put the GW movement ahead of God.
On the other hand I can only assign the charge that GW is ushering in a one world government,to wild speculation.Do you remember the campaign for nuclear disarmament in the 60s and 70s?Many,like you now do,thought that the Anti-Christ would emerge from this movement.Alas,rumors to that effect were wildly exaggerated.
As the Bible assures us,although there will be some signs of the end times,the actual time of the Lord’s return is known only to God(within the Trinity),and was even unknown to Christ the man.
Tunji
By: tunji on December 26, 2009
at 12:48 pm
Reverend
I meant to say in my last post ‘Jesus the man’,and not ‘Christ the man’.
Tunji
By: tunji on December 26, 2009
at 3:48 pm
I will agree that the idea that Greenism will usher in a one government is specualation, but I don’t think it is wild speculation since that was what the organizers of Copenhagen hoped to achieve. If you listened to Lord Monckton, as I did, and looked up the “treaty,” as I did, you know that he was not overstating things when he exposed the globalist agenda behind the Copenhagen conference. I don’t disagree with you last two paragraphs, that’s why I was careful to qualify my opinion by saying that I can not say the Greenism is THE one world religion of the last days. But, more than any other “ism” out there it fits the bill, and certainly, it is a belief system with the ability to include all other religions. I note, that Mr. Gore and others even have their own eschatology…but the signs they point to are not coming to pass.
By: markcarlton on December 27, 2009
at 4:49 pm