Group wants united religion

By Jon Dougherty

Representatives of all religious faiths from some 50 countries have
held regular meetings since 1995 for the purpose of creating one global
religion, according to a United Religions Initiative.

According to the group’s draft
charte
r, the
effort is “the result of a growing global conversation about the
creation of the United Religions — a daily forum for cooperation and
peacemaking among religions and spiritual communities.”

During their four-year history, URI has sponsored numerous global
events, six regional conferences and three global summits in San
Francisco from 1996 to 1998.

Citing “forces in our world today that are calling for and supporting
the creation of a United Religions,” the group is busy exploring a
purpose, foundational values, principles, actions and organization
structure URI may eventually adopt.

However, critics of the initiative question the rationale for the
adoption of such a globalized religion and question what “entity” —
taken from Christianity or another faith — the religion will choose to
sanctify. Based on URI’s published statements, that entity appears to be
focused more on earthly “spirits” than on God or Jesus Christ.

For example, according to a published summary of URI’s goals and
projects, the group believes that “all living beings are both sacred and
connected,” and “recent human activities, which have taken place in
aggressive opposition to nature, have resulted in an ecological
crisis.” The alleged crisis, URI said, includes “deforestation, the
loss of wild lands, overpopulation, the loss of productive agricultural
lands, degradation of the resources of the water planet, dependence on
non-renewable energy sources, and extinction of species.” The group,
however, cites no specific studies or evidence to substantiate their
claims.

Christianity, on the other hand, teaches believers that Man has
“dominion over the earth” and does not “share” it with animals.
Christians also believe in one Supreme Being, not a series of “gods”
that preside over specific earthly functions.

Furthermore, among URI’s “actionable ideas” are several statements
indicating the group is largely concerned about issues involving
primarily “children and women,” which critics say is biased and
exclusionary against men. And, they added, such inclinations do not
measure up to normal religious standards of unity.

For example, signatories to the URI document must agree to “…
express our gravest concerns about the worldwide brutalities against
children and women, including physical, mental, and sexual violence and
rape as it occurs all over the world. We earnestly appeal that all
religious, spiritual and ethical movements and individuals take all
possible steps to end this violence against children and women.”

Bill Rankin, a spokesman for URI, told WorldNetDaily that as a
Christian he understood how other Christians might misunderstand the
focus of his group. However, he said, “that’s not what we’re about.”

“URI is interested in unity,” he said, “and in finding the common
ground that exists in all of the world’s religions. We don’t intend to
make any one of them preeminent.”

Rankin denied URI was working to create a so-called “one world
religion.” In a published statement, URI said the group’s members only
seek “to bring people of different religions and spiritual traditions
together in ways that respect and celebrate their uniqueness. The
‘united’ part of the URI is not a blending of religions but a unity of
purpose: to work cooperatively for the good of all people.”

“URI believes people don’t have to agree on theology in order to work
together to make the world a better place,” Rankin said.

One of the main goals of the group is to put an end to multi-ethnic,
multi-religious violence which, he said, “has sparked some pretty
terrible violence in the world, especially in the 20th century.”

“We want to create an environment where people of all religious
groups can come together in one place and work out their differences,”
said Rankin. “We don’t think these differences always have to lead to
violence.”

He told WorldNetDaily that URI “is not funded by one or two religious
organizations, and we don’t want that.” He said URI believes
individuals, rather than organized religious groups, should provide
funding so “everyone will be comfortable with us and can feel like they
have an equal say in what we’re trying to do.”

Regarding the ecological perspectives of URI, Rankin said to his
knowledge “that issue comes from what most people around the world are
saying, that they’d like to focus on saving the ecology and preserving
natural resources as a goal.”

“I think that’s different from what you’ve called ‘earth worship,'”
he added.

A spokesperson at the Family Research Council offered no comment on
URI, but said FRC would examine the issue and analyze URI’s intentions.
The Christian Coalition did not return phone calls seeking comments.

Jon Dougherty

Jon E. Dougherty is a Missouri-based political science major, author, writer and columnist. Follow him on Twitter. Read more of Jon Dougherty's articles here.