Bob McCarty Writes

“The chief task of our time is to build a global society where people of all persuasions can live together in peace and harmony,” said religious scholar Karen Armstrong, quoted in an AFP report published Friday.

Based on Armstrong’s comment above, I’m inclined to wonder whether the project in which she is involved is really focused upon establishment of One World Religion.

The religious harmony effort, according to the news report, is being pushed by the folks behind TED — that’s an acronym for a group that brings together people from the worlds of Technology, Entertainment and Design for those of you outside the know.  They recently launched a web site for the project — dubbed the “Charter for Compassion” — which reveals that people of all nations, all faiths, all backgrounds, are invited to contribute:

By recognizing that the Golden Rule is fundamental to all world religions, the Charter for Compassion can inspire people to think differently about religion. This Charter is being created in a collaborative project by people from all over the world. It will be completed in 2009. Use this site to offer language you’d like to see included. Or inspire others by sharing your own story of compassion.

Aside from the obvious theological differences between major faiths on planet earth, the effort appears to constitute a rather simplistic attempt by members of the interfaith crowd to convince people from myriad faith backgrounds to accept the “Golden Rule” as a substitute for the major tenets of their religious belief systems so that all can live together in so-called “religious harmony.”

A look at the group’s Council of Sages reveals not a single evangelical Christian among the eight “sages” named to date.  This is, of course, because evangelical Christians are not willing to accept any such compromises and, as a result, will not participate in such an effort.

One must wonder also whether the many Muslim individuals and groups who serve as members of the council and/or as partners will be willing to accept such compromises.  I suspect they won’t.  That’s when they can turn to the UN Alliance of Civilizations — a group partner — to moderate any matters of discord.

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UPDATE 11/15/08 4:45 p.m. CDT: I just read a new Israeli National News article, Saudi Interfaith Parley a Front for Global Law Against Blasphemy, that cites an earlier Christian Science Monitor article that calls into question Saudi King Abdullah’s motives for initiating a special session of the General Assembly to advance interfaith dialogue.  Both articles point to the likelihood that the Saudi king is quietly enlisting the leaders’ support for a global law to punish blasphemy.  If the campaign succeeds, CSM reports, states that presume to speak in the name of religion will be able to crush religious freedom not only in their own country, but abroad. Scary stuff.

Hat tip: Drudge Report

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Editor’s Note: It seems a loosely-knit, end-of-days theme has developed on this blog in recent days as I’ve published one post about “something monumentally large afoot” and another that asked the question, ‘”Is Barack Obama the Anti-Christ?” While such a theme was not planned, I find it of great eternal interest and hope you do as well.