Posted on 04/21/2002 1:32:57 AM PDT by JohnHuang2
Sanibel, Fla., was one of the first U.S. cities to endorse the Earth Charter nearly a year ago as a part of Earth Day celebrations. It was also the first U.S. city to withdraw its endorsement.
This controversial document, promoted by Mikhail Gorbachev and Maurice Strong for a decade, is seen by many to be an effort to create a new "16 Commandments" to serve as the foundation for a new global religion.
Sanibel citizens were not happy about the endorsement. Forty-two citizens and five former mayors signed an open letter, published in a local newspaper, demanding that the endorsement be rescinded. Council chambers were packed when three of the five council members voted to rescind the endorsement. The three members who voted to rescind admitted they had not read the document before voting to endorse it.
Francis Bailey, speaking against the Earth Charter, said, "You've got a smokescreen up here," referring to the charter's emphasis on the environment. "Everyone loves motherhood and apple pie, but what you've got here is abortion and rotten apples."
In an effort to counter the influence of the Earth Charter, the Acton Institute led in the development of the Cornwall Declaration on Environmental Stewardship, which sets forth a different set of principles for protecting the environment, endorsed by many scholars and religious leaders.
The Earth Charter campaign is led by the Earth Council, a non-government organization in Costa Rica established by Maurice Strong shortly after the 1992 Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro. The charter has been endorsed by both extremist and mainstream organizations.
The 16 principles advanced by the charter begin with the rejection of the historic belief that humans are created in the image of God and are assigned to be stewards over all other creatures.
This first principle, after years of recrafting the language, advances the biocentric view that all creatures have equal intrinsic value; humans have no higher value than bugs or beetles or the AIDS virus.
The language of the document is syrupy – almost goo. A casual reading would likely not discover the basis for the concern of Sanibel's citizens. A careful reading, however, reveals the entire agenda of global governance: wealth redistribution, population control and managed societies to "protect" resources for future generations.
For example, consider this principle:
What's wrong with this rather bland statement? Who defines those plans and regulations that are to be adopted? Who defines "rehabilitation" and the extent to which it is required before development? Certainly not the people who are governed by them.
Implied, but not expressed, throughout the document is the existence of a central authority to draft the plans and regulations that are to be "adopted." The United Nations labyrinth of treaties provides both the plans and the regulations.
Nowhere in the document is there an appreciation for individual freedom and individual achievement. Everywhere in the document, freedom is limited by responsibilities, which others define, to advance what they define to be the "common good."
The document calls for the elimination of "genetically modified" organisms – a direct threat to the world's food supply.
It calls for the adoption of "patterns of production and consumption" that are "sustainable." Maurice Strong announced in Rio that "use of fossil fuels, appliances, home and workplace air-conditioning, and suburban housing – are not sustainable."
The document says it is necessary to:
Who does the guaranteeing and the allocating? The United Nations, of course. Who pays for the water, food, shelter? The United Nations is a full-fledged subscriber to the socialist philosophy "from each according to ability, to each according to need."
With the power of the new International Criminal Court and the longed-for global taxing authority, the United Nations will be able to take wealth from those who have produced it, and re-distribute it to those who have not.
Those who have endorsed the Earth Charter have endorsed the principles of global socialism, administered by the United Nations.
Citizen members of those towns and organizations that have endorsed this document might want to follow the example of the citizens of Sanibel – and demand that the endorsements be rescinded.
So when the darkness seems to thicken and gather all around us in this world, let us encourage each other with these words of hope!
I wish I were dead.
God Bless and remember to smile :-)
Standard procedure for American politicians
Right on Buddy. We're on the same page. Too bad so many lack a sense of logic.
Nam Vet
Nam Vet
These folks are all connected at the hip with the rummies that were defending the Palestinians today.
Morality (the common good)... will be enforced!
maybe some day I can have my own JBT to guarantee my freedom.
ya'll hang on, the funs just starting .....
Welcome to the brave new world of the Third Way, also known as New Democratic, New Labor, the New Middle and more. Meet some of the people who will make define what and how much we can eat, where we may live, how we may get from point A to point B, how much disposable income we may be alloted, etc. Meet:
Bill Clinton, chairman of the Democratic Leadership Council (DLC), Al Gore (of course), Tony Blair,
"...the one American who has done more to get this conversation underway than any other, the First Lady of the United States, Hillary Rodham Clinton."
Clinton aide Sidney Blumenthal and Wim Kok, P.M., the Netherlands. Al From, 1999 president of the DLC.
Gerhard Schroeder, Germany. Italian Prime Minister Massimo D'Alema.
(All from 1999): Congressman Cal Dooley, Secretary of Transportation Rodney Slater; Secretary of the Army Luis Caldera; Lt. Governor Kathleen Kennedy Townsend, former Governor and Democratic Party Chairman Roy Romer; Mayor Wellington Webb of Denver; and Commissioner Michael Thurman.
There are many more. Type "third way" into Google and be afraid. Be very afraid.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.