Research Report

interfaithism as politics, and the salvation of the earth

By Carl Teichrib

Carl attended the Parliament of the World’s Religions in Toronto, ON, from November 1-7, 2018. Approximately 8,000 religious leaders, social activists, UN advisors, and government representatives also attended. Below is a selective timeline of Carl’s observations (all quotes come from his notes), including some of his photos.

For an in-depth examination of the interfaith agenda and its connection to world government aspirations, see Carl’s book, Game of Gods.

November 1:

The first day of the Parliament of the Worlds Religions began with an Indigenous Opening Ceremony in the afternoon. A sacred fire had earlier been lit, and despite the cold rain that pelted Toronto during the week, this flame was kept alive for the duration of the seven-day event. At the ceremony, indigenous leaders called on the spirits of their ancestors, reminding us that our loyalty and duty must be to Mother Earth. It was explained that the indigenous worldview was re-emerging as a guiding light, and that this “collective primal” spirituality will heal our planet, thus saving us in the process.

The Parliament’s Opening Plenary took place later that day. Provincial and federal politicians gave speeches, event leaders excitedly talked about the power of interfaithism, and a special video message from the Dalai Lama brought words of encouragement and a call to action; we had gathered as global change agents. Another speaker invoked: “May the promise of the oneness of humanity guide this Parliament.”

Jim Wallis of Sojourners also gave an opening address, and as the Parliament coincided with the US midterm elections, his talk was laced with political vitriol,

“The [US] midterm election is nothing less than a referendum on white nationalism in the United States. Let’s be clear: the attempted murder of our administration’s critics, two black Americans killed in a grocery store after an attack on a black church failed, and the massacres of Jews at their temple, where all carried out by people with an ideology… the ideology is white supremacy. Nationalism is the greatest threat of terror in America. Let’s be clear: Without Presidential rhetoric in the last two weeks, with its anti-immigrant/refugee venom, the Jews gone today might still be with their families… Let’s put it this way: Abraham Lincoln once said that our leaders should appeal to our better angels. Now we have a President who is appealing to our worst demons, and the demons are right below the surface. The battle now for people of faith is between angels and demons.”

Wallis rhetorically asked why President Trump’s evangelical advisors were not speaking in favor of the immigrant caravan.

“It’s because, sometimes, religious leaders make tradeoffs with political power,” Wallis said. “And the evangelical advisors to Donald Trump have made a tradeoff, and they have traded off Jesus.”

November 2:

This morning’s Plenary on Indigenous spirituality focused on the superiority of the native-spiritual worldview. One presenter explained how the Great Spirit was closer to Indigenous people because their ways are honoring to the Earth: “There is no greater intelligence than Indigenous intelligence.”

Afterwards I attended the Future of Religion workshop. Four points emerged from the discussions:

1. We have reached the end of separating faiths; unity and oneness must now frame our religious beliefs and actions. Exclusive spiritual truth claims are anathema.
2. The emerging global spirituality includes the unification of religions and secularism, the mystical and material.
3. Humanity is moving from Me to We; the experience of group consciousness and group emotions, holistic identity, collective models, and planetary community.
4. The only viable, future religion is spirituality itself; our shared inner experiences will demonstrate that we are ultimately inseparable.

Later I listened to a panel on Religions and the Work of the United Nations. Essentially, religions and the interfaith community have to deepen their involvement with governments. What will be the focal point that binds faith groups to the UN? The Sustainable Development Goals.

We were also reminded that nationalism and President Trump are hindrances, representing a return to the fascism of the 1930s. In other words, it was explained, we have “progressive religions” and “the other kind… [those] authoritarian, patriarchal religions [that] give legitimacy to authoritarian and patriarchal governments.”

That evening, Victor Kazanjian, Executive Director of United Religions Initiative, boldly proclaimed,

“There is no place for exclusivism in religion or in our politics or in our world. It has arguably been the single greatest source of suffering throughout history. Religious exclusivism – the belief that my truth is the only truth – violates the core spiritual tenants of all religions. The claim of exclusive knowledge of the truth is, in a religious sense, idolatry; in a political sense, extremism; and in a psychological sense, narcissism.”

President Trump, “white nationalism,” and exclusive religious truths were all lumped together as threatening human progress.

November 3:

I attended the Women’s Plenary in the morning. There, Rabbi Miriam Margles spoke of the “holy oneness of being,” and that we are rooted in a collective intelligence. Wiccan priestess, Phyllis Curott, explained how the Parliament has advanced the role of women in the interfaith movement, aligning this development to the many aspects of the goddess.

That day I spent some time taking pictures of the Red Tent Temple, the womb of the Parliament, a dedicated space to acknowledge and celebrate the divine flow of the sacred feminine. I also attended a workshop on reclaiming Indigenous-European Pagan religions. Here, we were told, the Christian empire was responsible for destroying the Pagan past, and that Church persecution caused Pagans to go underground, becoming an “invisible spiritual movement.” Now that Christianity is losing its cultural hold, a Pagan resurrection was taking place.

Much of my time, that day, was also spent in the Exhibition Hall, talking to people from other religions and worldviews. The World Constitution and Parliament Association had a booth, as did the Theosophical Society. Various Muslim groups, other world faiths, and a plethora of obscure belief systems – like Cao Dai and Aumism – had a presence in the Exhibition Hall. Interfaith agencies such as the United Religions Initiative were present as well.

And here I must disclose that I was not alone. Eleven other evangelical Christians attended the Parliament. We came for research purposes, and to do more – to engage in outreach – sharing the exclusive salvation message of Jesus Christ with those who would listen. And yes, there were many interesting conversations!

November 4:

As I have a research interest in the intersection of global governance and interfaithism, I made sure to attend the workshop titled, The United Nations: A Catalyst for Interfaith Action. Three individuals on the panel were officials with the United Religions Initiative, another was the chairperson for the International Day of Yoga Committee at the UN, and the other was a Senior Advisor with the United Nations Population Fund.  

Where can the interfaith community and the UN dovetail? How can each build the other up?    

The UN Sustainable Development Goals, it was acknowledged, acts as the bridge. Essentially, the SDGs become the focal point for practical action and advocacy within the interfaith community. In turn, interfaith groups bring social and spiritual legitimacy to the work of the United Nations. Together they produce the needed “coding narratives,” that is, those social messages necessary to guide the international agenda of progressivism. 

Another panel attended was on the role and ongoing influence of the Earth Charter, a global document created as an ethical framework to bind humanity to the Earth. Here, Mary Evelyn Tucker described the Charter’s fundamental message as being: Ecology must be primary, humanity secondary. In this context, religions must be restructured to ensure Earth loyalties and Earth service – in essence, to create a Green New Spiritual Deal.

November 5:

The morning’s Plenary on Justice started with a diatribe on the core problem of white, Euro-centric Christianity. The feeling was that it was not ultimately about ethnicity or skin color, but the political and economic models associated with the historic Christian worldview. Civil rights leader, James Lawson, charged that America and the free-market are great evils that must be overcome. What we need to do in creating a culture of Justice is this: Engage in a revolution of love, bringing power to the people, even if this means civil disobedience.

During the lunch hour I found myself seated next to a gentleman with the title “Reverend” on his name-tag. I asked which religion he was representing: Wicca. He asked about my faith. “Christian,” I replied, explaining that I was evangelical with my hope in Jesus Christ.

For the next 45 minutes we had a serious yet respectful conversation, including a substantial discussion on the big question: Is reality One or Two? One being the notion that everything shares the same essence; God, Humanity and Nature are essentially the same – this is the argument of Oneness, which assumes the problem described in Romans 1, that we believe the lie and worship the creation and not the Creator. Two says something else, that God is separate and distinct from creation. In other words, reality is comprised of God who is Holy and exalted, and then everything else – reality is grounded in otherness.

Or as Christian theologian Dr. Peter Jones describes it, “If God and nature make up reality, then all is two, and everything is either Creator or creature. On the other hand, if the universe is all there is, then all is one.”            

There we were, a Wiccan and a Christian at the Parliament, unpacking the fundamental and irrevocable difference between our beliefs – a primary distinction that, in and of itself, points to the reality of otherness. It was a good and frank conversation. 

In the afternoon I spent much of my time in the Exhibition Hall, picking up literature and visiting with representatives of many spiritual paths. Later in the day I sat through a panel discussion on nuclear weapons.

November 6:

Countering War, Hate and Violence was the message of the morning Plenary. The Baha’i representative spoke about the oneness of humanity, saying that if we don’t embrace this unity, then circumstances will force us to do so. “We are nobody’s saviors except our own,” he told the audience. 

Mahatma Gandhi’s grandson, Arun Gandhi, levelled his vitriol against President Trump. Humanity is now being ruled by fear, he said, thus we must get rid of distinctions. 

Shanta Premawardhana from the National Council of Churches started his speech by bashing Trump, then talked about how “Christian supremacy” fuels white supremacy. Our real problem, he explained, is “received theology.” Required is a bottom-up theology that denies exclusivity and binary identities.

Swami Agnivesh told us, “We the people of the world need to unite and demand a world government, and a world parliament based on an Earth Constitution.” 

That afternoon I attended a panel titled Interfaith Engagement: Past, Present, Future. Speakers included personalities from the Temple of Understanding, the Islamic Society of North America, the Parliament’s board of trustees, Religions For Peace, and the United Religions Initiative. Each representative added his or her own perspective on the interfaith movement. What was particularly interesting was the question of evangelical Christians. It was noted that the bulk of evangelicals, a large body of believers, still remains outside the interfaith fold. Important questions hung in the air: How can roads be constructed into the evangelical community? Can interfaithism make room for those who are critical of its aims and goals? Who do we, as inter-spiritual leaders, want at the table?

At the same time I was attending this discussion, some of my research partners were in a workshop specifically wrestling with the evangelical problem. Suggestions were made regarding how to break down the walls surrounding evangelical Christianity,

1. When making contact with an evangelical church, do not approach the lead pastor. Spend time, rather, building relationships with the associate pastor or youth leader.
2. Couch the interfaith agenda within the acceptable language of community development, social justice, and acts of compassion.
3. Leverage Bible verses in a way that appeals to a wider sense of love and acceptance.
4. Have the younger/junior pastor meet his equivalent from one other faith only. Do not bring more religions into the mix until a bridge between the two faith leaders has been solidified. This is best accomplished by having them jointly participate in community projects.

November 7:

The Closing Ceremony included the Mayor of Toronto, who explained that the Parliament was really a public-private partnership with the city. The former Premier of Ontario, Bob Rae, inspired the audience by saying that change is not an option – it is the only way forward. Sustainable development, Rae explained, must be integrated into everything. There is an agenda, the former Premier told us, “an agenda for change, an agenda for action.” 

Larry Greenfield, the Executive Director of the Parliament, focused on the salvation of the Earth. Religions of the world need to come together to end free-market capitalism, stand against dominating powers, and be subversive. We need to recover the power of civil disobedience, and work for the salvation of the planet; for when we save the Earth, we save ourselves.

Closing Thoughts:

I’ve attended a range of events during the past 25 years: World government meetings, interfaith conferences, Pagan gatherings, and transhumanist forums. Some of these research ventures are laid out in my book, Game of Gods. And I’ve heard disapproving talk levelled at evangelical Christians, and to those who support national sovereignty and free enterprise. This Parliament, however, took the cake – anger, vitriol, and venom poured from the gathering. 

One example: A progressive female Baptist minister, utilizing the Buddhist sand mandala technique, created an art piece showing the Hindu goddess of death and destruction, Kali, as an expression of her anger regarding the recent confirmation of Supreme Court Justice, Brett Kavanaugh. In this mandala an outraged Kali is holding Kavanaugh’s severed head, and a string of bloody heads – those who confirmed Kavanaugh – are tied around Kali’s waist. Then, at the end of the week, the minister along with a diverse group of religious progressives celebrated with a dance-invocation to Kali before symbolically destroyed the art piece.

Ironically, the 2018 Parliament theme was the power of love and inclusion. Obviously this is only the case if you agree with the globalist-leftist-interfaith narrative. 

Remember this: Events such as the Parliament set the social message and tone, particularly for academia and the international community. Watch as the cultural language changes, once again, toward disparaging evangelical Christians and conservatives. A new label is being applied; you are no longer a fundamentalists or extremists – now you are a supremacist. 

It’s not hard to see where this takes us.