CE writes: "You have had a couple of shows on the subject of new age religion and on socialism and it's deceptiveness.  Are you aware of Agenda 21, the Green Cross organization, the Earth Charter religion ( based on Gaia)? This is all tied together to the One World movement. It is in the schools as being nice to everyone and the environment. It is in federal, state and county laws. It is on TV and in politics. It is everywhere but it all sounds nice and friendly. Who can be against taking care of the environment and each other? Aren't we called to do that as Catholics? It all sounds ok but it is all aimed at moving us and our children and youth to accepting the new world order which is beyond communism. . . "  CE continues: "And oddly there is nothing being taught about or against this in the Catholic Church except in the most general way. It is so general that I did not make the connection till just recently. It needs to be stated more clearly, loudly and frequently. It needs to be spotlighted so parents can look for it and we can all protect ourselves. It needs to be spelled out in our parishes and weekly bulletin inserts. It is everywhere and in everything. And it all sounds benign." I wholeheartedly agree that the prevailing "green agenda" and its accompanying socialism and eco-spirituality is far more threatening to our way of life than most people realize. Because I would need a book to write about each of the programs you mention, I will provide a synopsis of them here with links for readers to learn more. AGENDA 21 This is a 40-chapter document that lays out a global plan to change the way we eat, live, learn and communicate because we need to "save the earth." It was created by the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Division for Sustainable Development, as a sustainability agenda which some experts say is "an amalgamation of socialism and extreme environmentalism brushed with anti-American, anti-capitalist overtones." The purpose behind Agenda 21 was described by Maurice Strong, who served as Secretary-general of the 1992 United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) in Rio de Janeiro said, "...[C]urrent lifestyles and consumption patterns of the affluent middle class - involving high meat consumption and large amounts of frozen and convenience foods, use of fossil fuels, appliances, home and workplace air-conditioning, and suburban housing are not sustainable. A shift is necessary which will require a vast strengthening of the multilateral system, including the United Nations." In other words, writes Joyce Morrison of Concerned Women for America in Missouri, this global plan "is for us to live on the level of third world nations. That means no box mixes or microwave meals, limited use of fuel of any kind, no air-conditioning and very little meat." Agenda 21 calls for an almost total elimination of private land ownership (except for the elite few, of course) with all of us living in high rise apartment buildings. Public transporation would replace all cars. Say goodbye to air conditioning, microwaves, and more than the acceptable number of children because these all increase your carbon footprint.   As draconian as it all sounds (and is)  the U.S. and dozens of other countries actually signed onto this document in 1992. In fact, the U.S. is considered to be a world leader in its implementation, thanks to the creation of the "President’s Council on Sustainable Development" by President Clinton.  "People in the United States may not know about Agenda 21 and the President’s Council on Sustainable Development, but people around the world do," Morrison writes. "They know that Chicago has one of the greatest numbers of activities existing at the local, neighborhood and/or microregional level. They also know that the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) monitors and promotes activities in this field through their Office for Sustainable Ecosystem and Communities." As Morrison points out, anyone can read about Agenda 21 online. It's no secret.  The web is full of examples of how it is being fulfilled through local planning boards in cities throughout the country - probably right in your own backyard. "The so-called agenda is grant driven to your city council or county board in terms of sustainable, visioning, partners, tourism and stakeholders, along with consensus and other terms with the intent to make you believe we are running out of all our resources and we must do our part and 'save for tomorrow'," Morrison explains. The scary part is that there are actually sections in the document that explain why planners should use some other name - such as "Smart Growth" - to avoid protests by certain segments of the population. Here's how the document describes these segments:  "Participating in a UN-advocated planning process would very likely bring out many of the conspiracy-fixated groups and individuals in our society such as the National Rifle Association, citizen militias and some members of Congress. This segment of our society who fear 'one-world government' and a UN invasion of the United States through which our individual freedom would be stripped away would actively work to defeat any elected official who joined 'the conspiracy' by undertaking LA21. So, we call our process something else, such as comprehensive planning, growth management, or smart growth." An article about this on the American Thinker (AT) website gave an example of how Smart Growth was being implement on a local level in Carroll County, Maryland where a plan called "Pathways" was drafted by the County Planning Department. If enacted, it proposed a "breathtaking reshuffling of land rights" such as stripping land from farmers and using it for the building of government-sponsored "inclusive housing units" to ensure "healthier, balanced neighborhoods." Thankfully, some local politicians spoke up about it. According to AT, Richard Rothschild, a local political candidate, said "Smart growth is not science; it is political dogma combined with an insidious dose of social engineering. Smart growth is a wedding wherein zoning code is married with government-sponsored housing initiatives to accomplish government's goal of social re-engineering. It urbanizes rural towns with high-density development, and gerrymanders population centers through the use of housing initiatives that enable people with weak patterns of personal financial responsibility to acquire homes in higher-income areas. This has the effect of shifting the voting patterns of rural municipalities from Right to Left." You can read more about Agenda 21 here THE EARTH CHARTER The Earth Charter was written by the same crowd that brought us Agenda 21 and is another example of environmental extremism on steroids, but this one has a much more overt spiritual agenda. According to its own website, the Earth Charter is a "declaration of fundamental ethical principles for building a just, sustainable and peaceful global society in the 21st century. It seeks to inspire in all people a new sense of global interdependence and shared responsibility for the well-being of the whole human family, the greater community of life, and future generations." It seeks to achieve these laudable goals by establishing "sustainable ways of living" that will eradicate poverty and see to equitable economic development (read "redistribution of wealth"), protect the environment, and bring about respect for human rights, democracy and peace. Couched in the usual "who could find anything wrong with this" banalities, what is hidden behind the rhetoric are supporters who believe religions are the main obstacle to peaceful coexistence and sustainable living. However, they don't want to do away with these religions; they want to create a new one.  This was revealed during a 2002 United Nations meeting at which religious and spiritual leaders were called upon to move "from an exclusive preoccupation with Divine-human relations and human-human relations to renew human - Earth relations."  "In other words, Earth worship should replace any belief in a divine being," explains Contender Ministries' Jennifer Rast. " . . . They envision for the religions of the world 'a major transformation from their theological and anthropological phase to their ecological and cosmological phase.'  Following one of the major themes of the New Age Movement, humanity is spiritually evolving from being worshipers of God to being gods ourselves." A core belief among those who are pushing for a global earth-centered religion is that the earth is a self-regulating, self-sustaining entity which is in a state of continuous adjustment to the environment. Known as the Gaia hypothesis, the theory was first articulated by a British atmospheric chemist named James Lovelock. He came up with the theory while attempting to answer the question of whether life existed on Mars and somehow arrived at the conclusion that all living things on Earth - from whales to viruses, oaks to algae -  comprise a single living entity that is endowed with its own faculties and powers. In other words, the earth is a being that has a life of its own, a life comprised of the "energies" of all its components.   Believe it or not, the Gaia Hypothesis is not at all new, but is based on the worship of an ancient Greek god named Gaia – or Mother Earth – which has been repackaged with scientific-sounding language to suit the modern tastes of the New Age and Neopagan environmental movements. Although the Gaia hypothesis may seem wacky to many, its adherents have managed to project their theories onto the world stage in frightening ways. According to Samantha Smith and her book, Goddess Earth, Exposing the Pagan Agenda in the Environmental Movement, “Gaia worship is at the very heart of today's environmental policy. The Endangered Species Act, the United Nation's Biodiversity Treaty and the Presidents Council on Sustainable Development are all offspring of the Gaia hypothesis of saving ‘Mother Earth.'" To read this radical document for yourself, go to The Earth Charter.   Here's an excerpt from Lee Penn's book False Dawn about how the environmental and other movements (United Religious Initiative, Globalism, etc.) fit into the overall quest for One World Order. GREEN CROSS INTERNATIONAL This organization was formed by former Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev with the intention of doing for the environment what the Red Cross does for people in crisis. This organization would have the same medical emergency response model as the Red Cross and be used to respond to ecological crises and to expedite solutions to environmental problems. It was officially launched in Kyoto in 1993. To give you some idea of the radical aims of this organization, see all of the above, because the same players who are involved in Agenda 21 and The Earth Charter are active in Green Cross. In conclusion, we all need to be aware of the fact that the environmental movement, while it embraces many good causes that we as Christians must embrace, such as concern and care for the earth, it is infused with a godless ideology that it seeks to impose on the masses. What makes it so dangerous is that the movers and shakers in this movement are very powerful and influential people. Here's a "short list" to give you some idea of who these people are: Al Gore (former VP and Nobel Prize Winner); Maurice Strong, former Head of the UN Environment Program; Mikhail Gorbachev, former Soviet President; Javier Solana, Secretary General of the Council of the European Union; Kofi Anan, former Secretary General of the United Nations; David Rockefeller, former Chairman of Chase Manhattan Bank and executive of the World Economic Forum; former presidents Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton; Bill Gates, founder of Microsoft; Ted Turner, media mogul; George Soros; Tony Blair, former UK Prime Minister. I highly recommend the book by Lee Penn mentioned earlier in this blog as a great place to start in familiarizing yourself with the quest for One World Government and One World Religion, and how integral a role the New Age plays in this global power grab. See my booklet on Eco Spirituality in the Learn to Discern series for a more indepth view of this subject. Click on "New Age Resources" on the navigation bar above for more information. See my booklet on Eco Spirituality in the Learn to Discern series for a more indepth view of this subject. Click on "New Age Resources" on the navigation bar above for more information. Send your New Age question to newage@womenofgrace.com