False Dawn: The United Religions Initiative, Globalism, and the Quest for a One-World Religion [Paperback]

Lee Penn (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 15, 2005

The interfaith movement, which began with the 1893 World¿s Parliament of Religions in Chicago, has grown worldwide. Although this movement has been largely unknown to the public, it now provides a spiritual face for globalization, the economic and political forces leading us all from nationalism to ¿One World¿. The most ambitious organization in today¿s interfaith movement is the United Religions Initiative (URI), founded by William Swing, the Episcopal Bishop of California. Investigative reporter Lee Penn, a Catholic ex-Marxist, exhaustively documents the history and beliefs of the URI and its New Age and globalist allies, the vested interests that support these movements, and the direction they appear to be taking. The interfaith movement is no longer merely the province of a coterie of little-heeded religious idealists with grandiose visions. The URI¿s proponents have ranged from billionaire George Soros to President George W. Bush, from the far-right Rev. Sun Myung Moon to the liberal Catholic theologian Hans Küng, and from the Dalai Lama to the leaders of government-approved Protestant churches in the People¿s Republic of China. The interfaith movement, including the URI, is being promoted by globalist and New Age reformers who favor erosion of national sovereignty, marginalization of traditional religions, establishment of ¿global governance¿, and creation of a new, Earth-based ¿global spirituality¿¿in effect, a one-world religion. Therefore, the URI and the interfaith movement are poised to become the spiritual foundation of the New World Order: the ¿new civilization¿ now proposed by Mikhail Gorbachev, the last leader of the Soviet Union. In The Reign of Quantity and the Signs of the Times, French metaphysician René Guénon spoke of the ¿anti-tradition¿ (the forces of materialism and secular humanism) finally giving way to the ¿counter-tradition¿ (the satanic inversion of true spirituality), leading to the regime of Antichrist. The ¿anti-tradition¿ weakens and dissolves traditional spiritualities, after which the ¿counter-tradition¿ sets up a counterfeit in their place. Since Guénon¿s time, as is well known, anti-traditional forces have greatly advanced worldwide. It is less well-known that counter-traditional movements have also made great strides, and now stand closer to the centers of global political and religious power than ever before. The ¿counter-tradition¿ is making inroads on the political and cultural Right, as much as it is doing on the Left. False Dawn painstakingly documents these trends, and speculates on their future development. In so doing, the author takes investigative reporting to the threshold of prophecy, and gives us a stunningly plausible picture of the global religious landscape of the 21st century. This extraordinary project is the literary equivalent of turning over a flat rock. There is much to be seen and learned here¿all of it unsettling, disquieting, occasionally downright scary. ¿William Murchison, Radford Distinguished Professor, Baylor University When a bishop of a Christian church happily worships alongside a Wiccan invoking other gods, something has gone horribly wrong. In False Dawn, Lee Penn has produced a comprehensive and critical history of the United Religions Initiative. This book sounds a clear warning: Anyone who makes theological truth subservient to utopianism denigrates all religions. ¿Douglas LeBlanc, Editor, GetReligion.org

Editorial Reviews

Review

. . .the literary equivalent of turning over a flat rock. There is much to be seen and learned here. . . -- William Murchison, Radford Distinguished Professor, Baylor University

This book sounds a clear warning: Anyone who makes theological truth subservient to utopianism denigrates all religions. -- Douglas LeBlanc, Editor, GetReligion.org

From the Publisher

False Dawn may be the most important book you read this year. Everyone, whether you consider yourself liberal or conservative, secular or devout, should heed its warning. At a time when many of the religions are at war with each other, a simple notion is gaining popularity: that what humankind needs to save itself is a single über-religion and global governance that will being humanity together in life-saving global harmony. To understand why the idea of a one-world religion is such a bad idea, it may help to first understand why it can sound so good. Many supporters of a "one-world religion" have aims that, in fact, appear to be both visionary and vitally necessary. Throughout history, there have been endless divisive, bloodthirsty edicts from rabbis, Popes, ministers, and imams – demands for life-or-death allegiance to Yahweh, Christ, or Allah. Now, our world is armed to the teeth, and members of all the great religions have access to nuclear weapons – weapons that we can use to act out the Apocalypse ourselves. There are teenaged Saudi fundamentalists who would happily immolate themselves to truck-nuke the White House, in order to avenge the Crusades. As some people see these dangers, they are creating a movement to unite the nations and the religions of the world, establishing a religious and political form of Esperanto in the hope for peace. In False Dawn, Lee Penn reveals the history of this movement and its key contemporary champions – among whom are Mikhail Gorbachev and global power broker George Soros. (Strange bedfellows, indeed: Gorbachev, who seemingly fell on his sword to save Western civilization – and now wants to remake the world as a Green, and Soros, the tycoon who tanked the British pound and the Southeast Asian stock markets.) He also explains in chilling detail why the development of a "one-world religion" would be a disaster for us all. I first became aware of False Dawn after reading Lee Penn’s stories about the threat of a "one-world religion," articles that he had written for New Oxford Review, Touchstone Magazine, and the Journal of the Spiritual Counterfeits Project. I had known Lee for many years as a very perceptive and fair-minded scholar of religious issues, as someone who was suspicious of easy answers and who was not afraid to take unpopular stands. When I first read his accounts of the new world religion and its architects, Lee was helping me research a book, soon to be published by Grove-Atlantic, that traced mankind’s concepts of immortality and the hereafter. During our collaboration, he reminded me that typically faiths that were meant to serve God end up serving men – after the original beliefs are corrupted by the very leaders who had vowed to protect them. A one-world religion is only the latest, and certainly the greatest, example of this corruption of faith. In the new global village of Gorbachev and Soros, there would be only one chapel – an "interfaith temple" where worshippers would take spiritual direction from a new, alloyed sacred text. Such a "Scripture" would, presumably, combine all the best aspects of the Torah, the Bible, the Koran, and the wisdom of the East. In the broadest sense, False Dawn speaks to the worst aspect of the communications age: the destruction of all cultures through homogenization. We live in a time that may soon see kids in Modesto, California and kids in Calcutta, India all wearing the same clothes, playing the same sports, watching the same movies, and even using the same slang. In this same vein, we can see a world approaching in which these children all come together to worship some great amalgamated "savior." Notwithstanding the tortuous compromises of faith that would be required, the idea that one could create a single, superior global spirituality makes no more sense than the notion of making a "perfect automobile" by combining the best parts from a Mercedes, a Cadillac, a Ferrari, and a Rolls-Royce. In either case, the result would be a jalopy that goes nowhere. However, to understand why so many powerful world leaders, from the political left and right alike, feel that a one-world religion is a world-saving panacea, you will have to take up False Dawn. Lee Penn explains how a religion meant to satisfy everyone will be doomed to satisfy no one; he also suggests some vital solutions.

Mark Christensen

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Product Details

• Paperback: 508 pages
• Publisher: Sophia Perennis (February 15, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 159731000X
• ISBN-13: 978-1597310000
• Product Dimensions: 9.6 x 7.4 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #865,704 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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29 of 31 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Must Read, July 31, 2005

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Elizabeth Martin (Glen Burnie, MD USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: False Dawn: The United Religions Initiative, Globalism, and the Quest for a One-World Religion (Paperback)

Thought provoking and deeply researched, False Dawn is a chilling look at our future if the Gadarine rush toward globalism is not averted. Opening with a lengthy explanation of the United Religions Initiative, Lee Penn then discusses and documents the horrifying implications of the New Age movement and the totalitarian intentions of its political allies and adherents. The Forward states, "Everyone, whether you consider yourself liberal or conservative, secular or devout, should heed its warning." This reader wholeheartedly agrees.

19 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars False Dawn -- An indispensable addition to your study library, April 4, 2006

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Constance E. Cumbey (Bloomfield Hills, MI United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: False Dawn: The United Religions Initiative, Globalism, and the Quest for a One-World Religion (Paperback)

Lee Penn has followed a significant networking "religious" member of the New Age community. He has painstakingly with great and verifiable detail followed up on what I like to call "the hidden dangers" of the New Age religious rainbow. That alleged rainbow is a 'dawn" of false and soon to be dashed utopian politico/spiritual "spiritual/messianic" hopes. United Religions is not the only religious front in the syncretistic battle to marginalize and ultimately eliminate followers of orthodox religious tenets. However, as Lee Penn so ably shows, it is politically powerful, very well funded and well-focused on its disturbing agenda. In addition to being highly readable, FALSE DAWN is indispensable as a reference. If you have limited library dollars to spend to ascertain the New Age religious landscape, this book will give the most bang for the buck. I heartily both Lee Penn for his painstaking research and his book as its fruit. It belongs on the shelf of every library and definitely of every truthseeker in this disturbing religious arena.

11 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Dangers of the United Religions Initiative., February 24, 2008

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New Age of Barbarism "zosimos" (EVROPA.) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: False Dawn: The United Religions Initiative, Globalism, and the Quest for a One-World Religion (Paperback)

_False Dawn: The United Religions Initiative, Globalism, and the Quest for a One-World Religion_, published in 2004 by Sophia Perennis, by journalist Lee Penn is an exposee of the United Religions Initiative (URI) and the hidden dangers that lurk within it. Lee Penn is an Eastern Catholic writer who has focused on the dangers of the New Age movement and globalism. This book unveils the various schemes behind the URI and the goal of creating a one-world religion. Further, this book shows precisely how such schemes seek to undermine traditional religious belief. The author maintains that dangers lurk on all sides from both the left and right wings and that together these seek to create a false utopia. Behind much of the rhetoric that promotes globalism and religious tolerance such as that put forth by the URI is this utopian scheme.

The book begins with the author's Introduction, answering questions from a skeptic, showing the urgency of the situation and the need to consider the dangers posed by the URI. The author explains the role of the URI in the quest to achieve a one-world religion, as well as noting various organizations, individuals (in particular mentioning the role of the Episcopal bishop William Swing), and New Age philosophies in motivating the emergence of the URI. The author maintains that behind the New Age movement lie such individuals as Helena Petrovna Blavatsky (founder of the Theosophical Society), Alice A. Bailey, and the Jesuit priest Teilhard de Chardin. Modern day individuals promoting the New Age worldview include Robert Muller, Barbara Marx Hubbard, and Neale Donald Walsh. Prominent leaders and billionaire elites involved in promoting the URI include Mikhail Gorbachev, Maurice Strong, George Soros, and Ted Turner. The author then traces out the history and development of the URI, emphasizing the role of the Episcopal bishop William Swing in fathering this movement. In particular, the author shows how individuals from various faith traditions have joined up with the URI, which includes representatives from a diverse array of the world's religious traditions. The author also examines the role of such obscure figures and movements as Theosophy, the Unification Church, Huston Smith (who promoted the use of entheogens - hallucinogenic substances), renegade Catholic theologian Hans Kung, former Catholic priest Matthew Fox, and various agendas that conflict with traditional Christian morality. The author also explains the role of various wealthy individuals and powerful movers and shakers on the world political scene in promoting such an organization. All of these forces come together in their desire to promote "religious tolerance"; however, their real goal appears to be to create a one-world global religion and to destroy the traditional religious traditions. The author also explains how the various New Age philosophies underlying the URI are fundamentally incompatible with Christian belief and that further often promote a morality that is highly incompatible with anything Christian. Examples of such repulsive moral standards include the promotion of abortion and euthanasia by New Age advocates in the URI. The author then explains how the URI has sought out various globalist allies and seeks to become an organization like the United Nations. In particular, the author notes the irony of ultra-rich billionaires advocating environmental standards and birth control. The author concludes with a section which considers both the "anti-tradition" and the "counter-tradition" as they appear in the New Age philosophies underlying the URI. The author notes that dangers abound from all directions. In particular, the author considers some left wing dangers followed by some right wing responses which are equally problematic. At root behind many of these responses is the notion of a false utopia, a doctrine which is fundamentally incompatible with traditional Christian belief.

This book offers a good source of information on the URI and the globalist agenda lurking behind it. The author thoroughly examines the New Age philosophies advocated by the URI and shows how such philosophies are fundamentally at odds with traditional religious belief. As such, this book is highly important for what it has to say about the coming push towards globalism and the quest to create a one-world religion through a false ecumenism.