- The Middles East & Global Wars
- Christianity and Scientific Revolution
- Enlightenment and Freedom
- Islamic Response & Development
- Nationalist Empires and World War I
- The Jews and World War II
- Human Rights and Globalization
- Religion & Civilization
- Collective Cleansing
- Global Healing
- Reflection: Evolution & Transformation
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The Middle East and Global Tension
This chapter highlighted worldviews and wars from the mid-1600s until the start of the 21st century that had affected the balance of power among the religions and countries. It assumed that the wars released deep seated energies rooted from racial and cultural divides in Mesopotamia, the cradle of civilization.[1] Mythically, the divides started with the Babel Tower, when “gods” confused the “one language” of and scattered the people (Genesis 11:1-9). “For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God; for the creation was subjected to futility, not of its own will but by the will of him who subjected it in hope…the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to decay and obtain the glorious liberty of the children of God” (Romans 8: 16-21). The Middle East, where Asia, Africa and Europe meet, consists of nineteen (19) countries. [2] It is predominantly Muslim, except for Jewish Israel and a large number of Christians in Egypt, Ethiopia, Lebanon and Syria. In the 1950s-1980s, it was the arena of the USSR, the US, and European countries. At the start of the 21st century, it remained the setting for a potential global war.
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Table I: Conflicts in the Middle East
- The global war against terrorism, sparked by the 9/11 suicidal plane crashes into the Twin Towers by the Muslim extremist group Al Qaeda
- The conflict between Jewish Israel and the Muslim-Arab world, along with the quest of Palestinians to get back their land
- The internal conflicts between the two major branches of Islam – the Sunni and Shi’a, which included the Iranian revolution, Iraqi invasions and the wars in Afghanistan
- The restiveness of ethnic minorities, e.g., the Sudanese, Kurds, and Berbers
- The joint US-Australian-British forces attack on Iraq, which released the country from a despotic ruler, but gave rise to rebel groups and further tension between Christianity & Islam
- The modern militant pirates from Somalia, using sophisticated weaponry ___________________________________________________________
The Renaissance paved the way for Humanism, the emphasis of life in this world rather than on the next. In particular, the stress on inductive reasoning by British Francis Bacon (1561-1626) and French Rene Descartes (1595-1626) commenced a new era. After 1650, the Scientific Revolution was advanced by scientists. They organized groups, such as the Royal Society of London and France’s Academy of Science. "Deism," as expounded by Voltaire (1694-1788) was the norm. It held that God created the universe to operate by natural laws and did not interfere with its daily workings. Religion was not a matter of faith, but of understanding. Miracles, superstitions, prejudices and ignorance have no place. The search for natural laws was pre-eminent. Biblical text must have proofs.[3]
The Church abandoned the view that the world was flat after Magellan circumnavigated the globe in 1521. Likewise, it accepted that the planets travel around the sun after Isaac Newton’s (1642-1727) Law of Gravity affirmed Galileo in 1665.[4] Its greatest challenge, however, came from Charles Darwin (1809-1882). Darwin’s work, On the Origin of the Species (1859) held that the human species was the result of a long process of evolution from simple life-forms; it contradicted the Genesis creation story that God directly created Adam (man). In 1859, a great debate ensued between marine biologist Thomas Henry Huxley and Samuel Wilberforce, Bishop of Oxford and a natural scientist. It ended in a charge of heresy hurled by Wilberforce. But the debate was a landslide victory for Huxley and Darwin’s theory.[5] Since then, new discoveries eroded the creation theory and superseded Darwin’s “classical monkey theory.” [6]
The “seven days” Creation was also confronted.[7] Old Stone Age art in ancient caves of Altamira, Spain (1869) and in France shocked people out of their previous notions.[8] In 1863-1872, French Abbe Bourgeois, a priest-anthropologist apparently uncovered ancient tools near the village of Thenay, dated in the Tertiary Period (600 million-600,000 years ago). It contradicted his faith. In his defense, he quoted the Abbe Le Hir: “There is no such thing as Biblical chronology. It is the business of science to establish the date upon which man first appeared on earth.”[9]
In 1946, theologian Heinrich Schneider wrote in The Church, the Bible and the Theory of Evolution: “the Church need not be supposed to await the answers to the… question of the theory of evolution from Divine revelation, nor, consequently from the Bible. She awaits it from scientific investigation.” Schneider quoted the 1941 avowal of Pope Pius XII: “We can only leave to the future the answer to the question whether science may one day be able to record its definite and final findings concerning the highly important subject.”[10] The tide had turned; theologians had to argue biblical (and koranic) truths based on science. Meanwhile, new technologies (such as new crops and breeding techniques; use of iron for manufacturing, steam engine for trains and ships; the telegraph and telephone) ushered in the Agricultural and Industrial Revolutions.
Enlightenment and Freedom
With the Scientific Revolution in the mid-17th century, the belief in the right of a people to choose their rulers and to revolt against injustice was pushed. Before then, most European countries were monarchies, which their rulers justified as a “divine right.”[11] John Locke (1632-1704) an early thinker who influenced the others, stated that people are born with equal rights to life, liberty and property; governments must protect these rights. The “Enlightenment” beliefs were spread through the writings of a group of philosophes (French for philosophers) centered in France (see Table 12-1). They were also gathered by Denis Didorot (1713-1784) and published in his famous Encyclopedia in Paris. The Encyclopedia consisted of 28 volumes and took 21 years (1751-72) to finish. It was a compendium of the scientific, historical and cultural knowledge of the Enlightenment.[12]
The ideas of the Enlightenment provided a new perspective which profoundly influenced European monarchs and the colonies during the 18th century. The 1776 American Declaration of Independence clearly expressed them: “We hold these truths to be self evident, that all men are created equal; that they are endowed by the creator with certain unalienable (and transferable) rights; that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. That to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just power from the consent of the governed...” In 1789, the French Revolution ended with the Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Citizen. The enlightenment beliefs influenced the abolition of slavery, serfdom and feudalism; the promotion of equality among citizens (women suffrage) and worker rights; and, the independence of colonies in South America, Africa and Asia from their colonial lords.
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Table II: Philosophers of the Enlightenment Period (17th-18th century)
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Name/Nationality/Work/Ideas
1. John Locke (English)- Second Treatise on Civil Government, 1690
- People’s rights to life, liberty, and prosperity
- Social contract between ruler and citizens
- Citizen’s right to revolt and form better government
- Right to freedom of thought and speech
- Abolishment of religious and political persecutions
- “Man was born free but is now…in chains.”
- Intuition as guide to unite and control possessed powers
- Social contract for all to abide by
- Child-centered education
- Government power should be divided among executive, legislative and judicial branches to avoid absolute power
- Restriction on commerce and industry were against the laws of nature; economic liberty
- “Laissez-faire,” let things alone
6. Marquis de Condorcet (French) - Sketch for a Historical Picture of the Progress of the Human Mind, 1795
- War and prejudice would disappear in the face of reason
- Importance of education and free exchange of ideas
- Republican form of government and guided economy
- Emancipation of women
- Human and natural resources, not money are the foundations of a nation's wealth
- Promotion of economic liberty
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The Islamic world responded differently to the Enlightenment movement. Some rejected change; others adapted. Among the most influential Islamic reformers was Arabian Muhammad ibn Abdul-Wahab (1703-92). He believed that Muslims betrayed Allah by failing to live according to the sacred Islamic Law. He wanted Muslims to return to a simpler, purer form of Islam.[13] The Wahhabis did not recognize the Ottoman sultan as the universal leader of Islam. Ibn Saud, following the Wahhabi tenet, led a rebellion against the Ottoman Turks and established a Wahhabi state. In the early 1800s, the Saudi state controlled Mecca and Medina and promoted the doctrine. The members of the royal family of Saudi Arabia today are descendants of the Wahhabi reformers and sustained the tradition of a conservative and fundamentalist approach to Islam.
In Afghanistan, Al-Afghani (1839-1897), claiming descent from the Prophet, advocated a pan-Islamism that persuaded all Muslims to understand and practice Islam correctly.[14] He believed that the divine truth of Islam is in accord with reason and natural law and man’s use of reason will not yield contradictions to Islamic teachings. Accordingly, “religion in general, and Islam specifically sapped the will and restricted reason, and progress was only possible by abandoning it or at least by making a sharp separation between religion and secular life.”[15] He urged Muslims to use their reason to liberate the mind from illusions and superstitions and develop all its capabilities. He also advocated responsible activity, alluding to Surah 13:11: “Verily, never will God change the condition of a people until they change it themselves.” Man is responsible to God for his willful acts and responsible for his and his society’s welfare.
The Egyptian Muhammad Abduh (1849-1905), a student of Al-Afgahani, affirmed the finality of Islam as faith and ideology, in his Risalat at-Tawid (“Message of Unity”). A rational understanding of Islamic tenets should facilitate, rather oppose developmental changes. Rashid Rida (1865-1935), Abduh’s follower and heir, asked: “Why are Muslim countries backward?” Accordingly, Muslims have lost the truth of their religion, which had been encouraged by bad political leaders. He acknowledged the value of technical skills based on moral habits and intellectual principles. Islamic ummah was the heart of the world’s civilization. If Islamic teachings are properly understood and obeyed, they will lead to success in this world and in the next. Defensive jihad is lawful; it is justified when the peaceful spread of Islam is threatened or curtailed.[16]
Hassa al-Banna (1906-1949) and Sayyid Qutb (1906-1965) who founded the Ikhwan ul-Muslimmeen (Muslim Brotherhood) in Egypt (1928) and Abul ala-Maududi (1904-1979) who founded the Jamaat ul-Islamiya in Pakistan (1950s) propagated a militant version of Afgani. They saw the need for re-education. Their works led to radical Muslim movements, like the Al Qaida (a revival of the medieval Ishmaeli Assassin).[17]
In contrast, Yusuf Al-Qaradawi emphasized moderation and balance. He cited Surah 1-Al-Fatihah (“The Opening”) on the Sirat ul-Mustaqeem (“Straight Path”), which advocates correctness and rectitude; and the ummah wasat, which prescribes moderation.[18] “Thus we have made you an ummah justly balanced (Ummah Wasat) that you may be witness over the nations” (Surah 2:143). The Tablighi Jamaat, started (in 1926) by Maulana Muhammad Ilyas (1885-1944) in Pakistan, is an annual congregation of some one million Muslims from 90 countries (second only to the haj pilgrimage); it stressed Islamic piety over the worldly quest for political power and governance.[19]
Nationalistic Empires and WWI
Between 1850 and 1914, liberalism and nationalism arose. Liberalism established and protected individual political and civil liberties. Nationalism prompted peoples (such as Italians and Germans) who share a common history, culture and language to unite. Before then, the French Empire had just collapsed, while Eastern Europe was ruled by three empires – the Ottoman, Russian and Austrian empires. For the Italians (except for Sardinia and mainland areas), their northern territories were ruled by the Austrian empire, the southern part (Naples and Sicily) were under the French Bourbon dynasty, while the pope governed the territories around Rome. After internal revolutions against the Austrians and the Bourbons, the Italians were united in 1860, under King Victor Emmanuel of Sardinia. This was reminiscent of the Roman Empire (31 BC-476 AD).
In 1871, the allied German states (except Austria) met at Versailles to federate as a new German empire centered in Berlin, Prussia.[20] It was called the Second Reich (German for empire); for Germans, the First Reich was the Holy Roman Empire (962-1806). Wilhelm I of Prussia became the first emperor (1871-1888); Otto von Bismarck was appointed the chancellor (1871-1890). Austria, a Germanic state, did not join because it did not want to loose its empire. But in 1879, it signed an agreement with the German emperor. Italy also signed an agreement in 1882, making a Triple Alliance. To preserve the balance of power, France, Britain and Russia also formed the Triple Détente. In 1888, Wilhelm II succeeded his grandfather as emperor. In 1890, he forced Bismarck to resign, but won popular support with liberal policies. By 1900, Germany was the leading industrial nation. Meanwhile nationalist movements broke out among the Balkan groups (Serbs, Czech, and Romanians) either against the Austrian or Ottoman empires.
In 1914, the Archduke and heir to the throne of Austria, Franz Ferdinand and his wife were assassinated by a Serbian nationalist in Sarajevo, Bosnia. Austria declared war on Serbia; Germany supported its kin. Russia also helped Serbia, its Slavic friend. Germany declared war on Russia and France; Britain also declared war against Austria and Germany, because the latter violated Belgian neutrality. Soon, World War I (WWI) reached global dimensions; Japan and Montenegro joined the Triple Détente, called the “Allies.” By 1917, Italy, Greece, Portugal, Rumania and the US also joined the Allies. On the other hand, the Ottoman Empire sided with Germany and Austria-Hungary, called the “Central Powers.” Its Arab territories, Arabia, Palestine and Syria, fought for independence with the help of the British and French. Australia, New Zealand and Japan attacked the German colonies in the Pacific. British, French, Portuguese and Belgians captured German colonies in Africa, except German East Africa. The war ended in November 11, 1918. It left 9.1 million soldiers and sailors killed in action; 7.4 million prisoners or missing in action, and an undetermined number of civilian casualties and displaced persons. In 1918-1919, a great influenza epidemic left 21-27 million deaths.
The Jews and WWII
Events before WWI brewed deep sentiments among Jews. The outburst of hatred after the 1894 Dreyfus Affair inspired Theodor Herlz to launch the Zionist movement in 1897, which sought to create an independent Jewish state.[21] In 1900 -1914, persecutions in Russia caused 1.5 million Jews to migrate to the US. After WWI, Jewish-Russian Chaim Weizmann (1874-1952), the Zionist president, worked out Great Britain’s 1917 Balfour Declaration for a Jewish state in Palestine and encouraged Jewish migration.
Karl Marx (1818-1883), a descendant of rabbis on both his mother and father’s side, developed a philosophy that promised an earthly utopia, in contrast to the Christian after-life salvation.[22] In his “historical materialism,” Marx showed that there was always a struggle between the ruling and subject classes, the have and have-nots. He predicted that when the forces of production cannot be utilized fully because of capitalistic private ownership, then the working class will come to power. Eventually, socialist states will emerge, where everyone was equal to one another, with property owned collectively by the people and managed by the state. Socialism will lead to Communism, a utopia. After the 1905 Russian uprising that overtook the Czar of Russia; in 1917, the Russian empire became the socialist Soviet Union under Vladimir Lenin (1870-1924). Most Eastern Europe and some Asian and South American countries followed suit.
After WWI, Europe saw the rise of fascist (dictatorial) regimes as a response to post-war unrests. Fascism held that the state and its citizens form a single body or corporation and opposed socialism, which divided nations along class lines. In 1922, Benito Mussolini (1879-1953) became the dictator of Italy; he dreamt of reestablishing the Roman Empire and expanding to the Mediterranean and Africa. In 1924, after Lenin died, Joseph Stalin (1879-1953) became the dictator of the Soviet Union; he wanted to expand through “communism.” In 1933, Adolf Hitler (1889-1945) and his Nazis controlled Germany; he established the Third Reich, on the premise of “Aryan superiority.” He was convinced that in WWI, Germany had been back-stabbed by Jews and Marxists; he wanted to eliminate both. Italy and Germany formed the Axis alliance; with Japan they signed an Anti-Comintern Pact to prevent the spread of Communism.
The German attack on Poland in 1939 sparked WWII; Japan’s attacked on the US installation in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii in 1941 pushed the US to join WWII.[23] The Axis powers contended with the Allied forces. Nazis killed 6 million Jews in the holocaust. Jewish-German scientist Albert Einstein (1879-1955) rose to the occasion. Harassed by German and Russian anti-Semitism, he joined Zionism; then migrated to the US. Fearing German technology, he urged the US to use the atomic bomb with caution. In June 1944, the Allied defeated the Axis forces. In August 1945, the US dropped atomic bombs on two Japanese cities, ending the war that claimed 60 million lives.
Among other post-war developments, the UN voted in November 1947 to partition Palestine for the Jews; the State of Israel was proclaimed on May 14, 1948, with Weizmann as its first president. In 1952, Einstein refused an offer for the presidency; he was quoted: “Equations are more important…politics is for the present, but an equation is something for eternity.” [24] In 1964, the Palestinian Arabs, driven out from their homeland by what they claimed was an illegitimate Israel state, formed the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO).
Human Rights and Globalization
Just after WWII, in October 24, 1945, the UN Charter was signed, emphasizing the world’s commitment to freedom. In 1948, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights ushered in a new era, with the world’s nations taking on human rights as a collective goal. They agreed to secure the freedom and well being of people everywhere.
Table III - The Basic Freedoms
- Freedom from discrimination, by gender, race, ethnicity, national origin or religion
- Freedom from want, to enjoy a decent standard of living
- Freedom to develop and realize one’s human potential
- Freedom from fear, threat to personal security, torture, arbitrary arrest and other violent acts
- Freedom from injustice and inequality (the rule of law)
- Freedom of thought and speech and from associations
- Freedom for decent work, without exploitation
In 1991, the Soviet Union was abolished and most (11 of 15) of the independent republics that emerged united in a loosely knit confederation called the “Commonwealth of Independent States.” Most of Eastern European nations also dismantled communism in favor of western-style democracy.[25] With the end of the cold war, transitions to democracy brought advances in human rights. However, the new democracies did not end discrimination for women and minorities; they also remained threatened by ethnic conflict, rising poverty and growing inequality. Nonetheless, at the beginning of the 21st century, some three-fourth of the world’s population lived under democracies, with majority living in relative freedom. There had been progress in eliminating discrimination by race, religion and gender and in advocating the right to education and health.[26]
Globalization, according the UN Development Programme-Human Development Report 1999 (UNDP-HDR 1999), may be characterized as shrinking space, shrinking time and disappearing borders.[27] It may be described along four major aspects: new tools, new markets, new rules, and new actors. The new tools are internet links, cellular phones, and media networks. The global market included global brands (of multinational corporations). The new rules involved multilateral agreements on trade, services and intellectual property. The new actors included the World Trade Organization (WTO) defining trade relations; multinational corporations with more economic powers than many states; the network of civil society organizations (CBOs) advocating social transformation; and regional alliances, such as the European Union (EU), Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) and Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC).[28]
The HDR 1999 cautioned: technology and wealth are still controlled by the rich countries in a great divide. On one hand, the top five countries, which have 30 percent of the world’s population, have 50 percent of the world’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP). On the other hand, the 77 developing or transition countries, with 76 percent of the world’s population, only have 16.9 percent of the GDP. Poverty affects one-fourth of the people in the developing world. Inequalities are increasing not only financially, but also in social services and productive resources. Poverty and inequality disempowered people; they are vulnerable to discrimination and violations of their other rights.
Religion and Civilization
In September 11, 1893, the first World Parliament of Religions was convened in Chicago; a historical landmark gathering of the religious world, with Christians, Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists, Shinto’s, Confucians, Parsees, Taoists, Jains and those of ethnic faiths speaking to 150,000 participants. With the vision of genuine pluralism, Swami Vivekananda (1863–1902) summed up the goal: a termination of sectarianism, bigotry, and fanaticism.[29] However, the goal faded with the rise of fundamentalism in the 1900s and their rejection of other faiths. In 1993, the World Parliament of Religions convened again. The participants presented the challenges of the 21st century to the UN: “To release a new spiritual force transcending religions, cultural and national boundaries, into a new consciousness of the oneness of the human community and so putting into effect a spiritual dynamic toward the solution of the world’s problems.” [30]
In the 1979 World Council of Churches [31] Conference on Faith, Science and the Future, C.T. Kurien gave his view on the “limits to growth:” “It is a small affluent minority of the world’s population that whips up a hysteria about the finite resources of the world and pleads for a conservationist ethics in the interest of those yet to be born; it is the same group that makes an organized effort to prevent those who happen to be outside the gates of their affluence from coming to have even a tolerable level of living. It does not call for a divine’s insight to see what the real intentions are.” [32]
In August 2002, leaders of indigenous peoples (IPs) all over the world met in Kimberly, South Africa for the Indigenous Peoples’ International Summit on Sustainable Development. They represented the vulnerable aborigines of their respective countries displaced by the colonial powers and vested economic interest groups. In the opening statement of a Dialogue Paper by Indigenous Peoples, Chief Oren Lyons (of the Onondaga Nation and the Haudenosaunee Confederacy in the US), stressed that they (the IPs) “came to seek justice on our homelands…to appeal to the world…to support our efforts to seek equitable solutions to discrimination, exploitation, racism, ethnocide and genocide of Indigenous Nations and Peoples.” They also spoke: “on behalf of the natural world being plundered by governments and corporations” which are “our relations.” The “United Nations, should be working with us and not against us…as long as you make war against Etenoha (Mother Earth), there can never be peace.” [33]
In 2004, the UN General Assembly approved a resolution to institutionalize the “Dialogue of Civilizations and Cultures” through an Inter-Faith Council (IFC) in the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), the Third Committee of the General Assembly. It called for a regular forum for the major religions to coalesce into a spiritual force for peace and unity. The IFC followed the 2002 resolution creating a UN-ECOSOC Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues and the declaration of 2002 as the year of the “Dialogue of Civilizations.” The concept evolved from the notion of Professor Samuel Huntington of Harvard who predicted that the conflicts in the 21st century would be fought on the fault-lines of civilization and religion.[34] In 2008, the UN General Assembly declared 2011-2020 as the Decade on Interfaith Dialogue and Cooperation for Peace.
Collective Cleansing
Ken Cousens gave an interesting analysis of World War II. According to him, the war was really against the projection of the embodiment of a collective evil (of humanity) in its attempts to control the world, i.e., the pride in one’s superiority as a race or culture. The collective battle with “evil” was a fight against the primal level of humanity, i.e., all of the suppressed fury of the gap between negative perception and that part which is whole and divine. The Germans were masters of the mind, with their precision in technology and science; the Italians (from whom the Renaissance originated) embodied the emotion, with their passions for beauty and artistry; the Japanese were masters of the physical, in their ability to operate as an integrated social system.[35]
World War II unleashed a collective cleansing process. The deep sub-strata in the unconscious layers of humanity’s collective psyche had to be opened, to be purified. An axis is the pole around which a physical body rotates. The enemy concept kept one attached to and polarized with that which is opposed. The defeat of the axis powers symbolized the transmutation of mankind’s collective unconscious towards wholeness and unity. It allowed the realization that the opposing poles are in fact two sides of the human race. The genocide of Jews and the defeat of the Axis powers was a humbling experience for the “chosen people,” the Jews, the German-Aryans, Shinto–Japanese and the Christians (which Rome symbolized); they had to give way to the rest of humanity.
I suppose, the healing process may apply to the war against global terrorism and the Mid-East crises among Jews, Muslims and Christians. The core of the wars is oil, the life-blood of the industrial world. With the Mid-East having 60 percent of the world’s oil reserves, most Arab countries joined the rank of the affluent and influential countries. The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), organized in 1960 had influenced the world economy. The 1969 Libyan revolution and the 1990 attack of Iraq on Kuwait had caused world economies to plummet. The 2003 attack on Iraq by a joint US-British-Australian force was not only a war for human rights; it was insurance for oil. The same process may apply to the conflicts between communism (North Korea and the Peoples Republic of China) and the democracies. The ultimate healing will involve the collision of separateness (stubborn pride) and inclusiveness (openness).
Global Healing
The Earth itself is reacting to the destruction of the world’s ecosystem and natural habitat, like the cataclysmic plagues after great wars and genocides (such as the “Justinian” Bubonic Plague in the 4th century, the Black Death in the 14th century, and the influenza epidemic after World War I). The HIV-AIDS in the 1960s had reached epidemic proportions, with some 50 million (or 8 percent of the world population) infected in 2005 and already, nearly 20 million deaths reported. Moreover, natural disasters, such as volcanic eruptions, earthquakes, tsunamis and cyclones had hit various parts of the world, resulting in the death of millions. I suppose these natural disasters, plus the threat to the ozone layer (a potential Greenhouse Ice Age), were effects of human’s insensitivity to nature itself, through the excessive use of nuclear weapons (more in terms of the tests), destruction of ecosystems, and release of pollutants.
In 1987, the UN World Commission on Environment and Development (UNCED) called for a creation of a charter to set the fundamental principles for sustainable development. On November 1992, a document entitled World’s Scientists Warning to Humanity began: “Human beings and the natural world are on a collision course. Human activities inflicted harsh and often irreversible damage on the environment or on critical resources. If not checked, many of our current practices put a serious risk the future that we wish for human society and the plant and animal kingdom, and may so alter the living world that it will be unable to sustain life in the manner that we know.” [36] The 1992 Rio Earth Summit launched Agenda 21 and the UN Council for Sustainable Development (UNCSD) to oversee its progress. In March 2000, a final version of the Earth Charter was approved at the UNESCO Headquarters in Paris. It was launched in The Hague on June 2000, as an ethical foundation for the global society: to help build a world based on respect for nature, universal human rights, economic justice and a culture of peace. In the 2002 World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD) held in Johannesburg, South Africa, the leaders committed to a Plan of Implementation. [37]
Today’s economy had been anchored on non-renewable energy source, such as oil, coal, minerals and gems, and radioactive elements. This had led to the hording of the world’s energy resources by the world’s elites and conflicts over territories; aside from the resultant pollutions. Nonetheless, scientists had been preparing alternatives to non-renewable energy, such as solar, water, wind and earth power. Perhaps, the shift to natural laws and renewable (“free”) energy sources will save the world and open the “light-gate” for the equitable sharing of the world’s resources.[41]
Reflection: Evolution and Transformation
Humanity is evolving and the world is transforming, not based on the dogma of organized religions, but on deeper laws (spiritual truths) and realms uncovered by scientists. Jesus declared: “Is it not written in your law, ‘I said you are gods’?” (John 10: 34; Psalm 82: 6). “Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being changed into his likeness from one degree of glory to another; for this comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit” (2 Corinthian 3: 17-18). “You will do well to pay attention… until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your heart” (2 Peter 20). ). Jesus is “the bright morning star” (Revelation 22: 16). Human consciousness is opening up for the “Son” to shine though. How? The Bible stressed “wisdom” and “intuition” as tools for unification and transfiguration (like Jesus). Jesus emphasized Love. Muhammad emphasized submission (being “Muslim”) to one God, compassion and peace. “So if the Son makes you free, you will be free’” (John 8: 34–38; 1 John 3: 8).
In Luke 21: 25-28: “And there will be signs in sun and moon and stars, and upon the earth distress of nations in perplexity at the roaring of the sea and waves, men fainting with fear and with foreboding of what is coming to the world; for the powers of the heavens will be shaken. And then they will see the Son of man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. Now, when these things begin to take place, look up and raise your heads, because your redemption is…near.” In Romans 8: 16-21: “For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God; for the creation was subjected to futility, not of its own will but by the will of him who subjected it in hope…the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to decay and obtain the glorious liberty of the children of God.” In Surah 82:17-19: "And what will explain to thee what the Day of Judgment is?...(It will be) the Day when no soul shall have power (to do) aught for another: For the command, that Day, will be (wholly) with Allah."
“Whoever seeks to gain his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life will preserve it” (Luke 17: 33-35). “Enlightenment” implies a transformation to a universe of unknown dimensions; from mere pro-creation to expressing human creativity in new functions. “And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband; and…a great voice saying, ‘Behold the dwelling of god is with men. He will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and god himself will be with them; he will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning nor crying nor pain…for the former things have passed away.’” (Revelation 21: 3-4) “The kingdom of God is not coming within signs to be observed… for… (it) … is within you” (Luke 17:20-21). Jerusalem (Daru‘s-Salam) is not a physical place, but a spiritual realm of peace among the sons of God. “And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached throughout the whole world, as a testimony to all nations; and then the end will come” (Matthew 25: 14).
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Bibliography
[1] Biblically, the races stemmed from the sons of Noah – Sem, Japheth and Ham. The Mid-East descendants of Sem (Semites): the Assyrians and Hebrews (tribe of Eber, 4th generation from Sem). Japheth’s descendants were Aryans: the Indo-European, such as Greeks; the Irano-Aryans in Persia; and the Turks. The Hamites included the Egyptians, Canaanites, Philistines, Amorites (Babylonians), Sabeans (Yemenites), Cushites or Nubians (Sudanese), and the African people.
[2] The Middle East may be clustered into four: in the (a) Arabian Peninsula are Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and Oman. The (b) Fertile Crescent includes Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq and Israel. The (c) Northern Tier includes Turkey and Iran; while (d) Northeast Africa is composed of Egypt, Sudan, Eritrea, Somalia and Ethiopia. Sometimes, it is expanded to include the North African Muslim countries of Algeria, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco, Western Sahara and Tunisia; the Asian-Muslim countries Afghanistan and Pakistan; and, the European Greece and Cyprus.
[3] Ross Dunn, Senior Author, et al., Links Across Time and Space, A World History, McDougal, Little & Company, Illinois, 1990, p. 517
[4] The Church held that everything revolves around earth. In 1571, German Johannes Kepler and Danish Tycho Brahe improved on the findings of Copernicus (1473-1545): the planets travel in an elliptical path around the sun. In 1609, Italian astronomer Galileo (1546-1642), used the telescope to affirm Copernicus’ view; the inquisition was forced on Galileo; he was made to retract.
[5] H. Wendt, In Search of Adam, trans. from German by J. Cleugh, Riverside Press Cambridge, 1956, p. 268
[6] Ibid, pp. 433-470. In 1865, Johann Mendel, a monk, uncovered the “laws of heredity.” In 1886, Hugo de Vries, Amsterdam Botany professor, held that “mutations,” abrupt alterations of heredity dispositions, were the chief causes of formation of species. Among the theories: (a) “Separate Development Theory” of Max Westenhofer, evolution of animals happened side by side; (b) “Prototype Theory” of Edgar Dacque and Theosophist Helena Blavatsky, an undifferentiated prototype first appeared, which carried the image of the future man. In the course of evolution the undifferentiated type gave birth to all the other creatures, until man was reached; (c) “Man as descent from giants,” by Franz Weidenreich, citing the biblical passage and discoveries of giant human fossils, humans descended from Nefilims (giants).
[7] In Charles Berlitz, (Mysteries of Forgotten Worlds, p.17), the most popular version came from Archbishop James Ussher in 1630 AD, who set the time of creation in 4004 BC. His view was cited in earlier copies of the King James Version of the Bible.
[8] Wendt, 343; Berlitz, Atlantis, the Eight Continent, p. 35; Jean-Philippe Rigaud, Lascaux Cave, Art Treasures from the Ice Age, National Geographic, October 1988, pp. 482-499. Among others, in caves at San Michel d’Arudy and Lamarche, France, representations on bone and stone showed horses wearing bridle, implying that horses were domesticated about 25,000 years ago. Cave paintings discovered in Lascaux, Montignac, Dordogne, France, dated c. 20,000-15,000 BC, made the caves famous as the Sistine Chapel of pre-history; the paint materials involved a complicated chemical process.
[9] Wendt, p. 345
[10] Ibid
[11] Gregorio Zaide, World History, Rex Book Store, Manila, Philippines, 1965, P. 477. In his book, Politics Drawn from Scriptures, Bishop Bosuet (1627-1704) of France asserted that kings derive their power from God and rule by divine right; people who oppose them commit sacrilege.
[12] The Encyclopedia was the precursor of modern Encyclopedias, such as Grolier and the internet Encarta.
[13] Dunn, p. 554-8
[14] Mehol Sadain, An International Perspective on the Philosophy of Islamic Fundamentalism, Foreign Service Institute, Metro Manila, Philippines,1997, p. 14
[15] Albert Hournani, Arabic Thought in the Liberal Age: 1798-1939, Cambridge U. Press, England, p. 120
[16] Op cit, p. 15
[17] Ibid, pp. 17-18. Some writers call Afghani and Abduh as the modern reformers of Islam; in contrast Banna and Qutb are Muslim militants. The 1957 massacre of 23 Ikhwan members in prison convinced Qutb that the Egyptian regime was un-Islamic and must be overthrown. He pushed the idea of Al-Hakimmiyah (or the rule) of God to replace regimes of al-jahiliyyah; it was caught on among younger radical groups like the Al-Jihad and the Al-Takfir wa al-Hijrah, and today’s Muslim extremist groups. While Osama bin Laden was credited with the 9/11 2001Twin Towers attacks, Ayman al-Zawahiri, a former Egyptian doctor was believed to be the operational leader of the al-Qaida network.
[18] Yusuf Al-Qaradawi, Islamic Awakening Between Rejection and Extremism, American Trust Pub & International Institute of Islamic Thought, USA (undated), p. 67, cited in Sadain, p. 91-92
[19] Sadain, pp. 50-51
[20] The Germanic States included Prussia, Luxemburg, Bavaria, Saxony, Hesse, Hanover, the southern parts of Denmark and the northern parts of France.
[21] Grolier Encyclopedia, Vol. 6, “Dreyfus Affair,” p. 241; Vol. 20, “Zion” and “Zionism,” p. 117. In 1894, Capt. Alfred Dreyfus (1859-1935) a Jewish officer in the French army was accused as a German spy, court-martialed and imprisoned. However, secrets continued to be passed on and another French officer was implicated. In 1898, the document used against Dreyfus was proven a forgery. In 1906, he was vindicated and readmitted in the army. The outrage highlighted French anti-Semitism and discredited the Catholic Church and the monarchy; it led to a secular state. Zion is both a biblical designation for Jerusalem and a fortified “City of David” (2 Samuel 5:6-9). It also denoted the Temple of Jerusalem and the “heavenly city.” Earlier attempts at a separate state dated back to the 6th century BC Diaspora.
[22] Grolier Encyclopedia, Vol. 12, “Karl Marx,” p. 151. Marx’s father was a Jew who had converted to Christianity partly to preserve his job in Prussia. Marx was baptized in the Evangelical church.
[23] Japan also believed that its emperor have a divine mandate; following its attack of Manchuria in 1931 and of northern China in 1937, it launched its “Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere.”
[24] Stephen Hawking, A Brief History of Time, Bantam Books, New York, 1989, p. 188
[25] As in old feudalism, the “elite” of the Soviet Union was accorded special privileges denied to the masses, which led to its downfall. The remaining communist countries had to adapt to globalization.
[26] UNDP, Human Development Report 2000, Human Rights and Human Development; the election of Black-American Barak Obama as President of the United States in 2008 marked the progress made in the Negroes’ struggle for racial equality; his ancestors come from Ethiopia.
[27] UNDP, Human Development Report 1999, Globalization with a Human Face
[28] Starting with 6 members, the EU grew to 25 along with a landmark constitution in 2004. Great Britain’s Tony Blair remarked: “A new Europe is taking shape…of nations cooperating with each other, not a … superstate.” (Philippine Daily Inquirer, “EU Leaders Adopt Historic Charter,” June 20, 2004, p. A-9)
[29] Joan Price, “Religion Without Walls,” condensed in Theosophical Digest, 2nd Q 2002, p. 49
[30] Marilyn Ferguson, The Aquarian Conspiracy, Personal and Social Transformation in the 1980s, J.P. Tacher, Inc., Los Angeles, CA, 1987, p. 369
[31] Grolier Encyclopedia, Vol. 20, World Council of Churches, p. 5. The WCC is a fellowship of Protestant and Orthodox churches in more than 100 countries, inaugurated in the 1948 Amsterdam Conference. Its purpose is Christian unity and a concerted effort to relate Christianity to social and world problems.
[32] C.T. Kurien, “A Just, Participatory and Sustainable Society: A Third World Perspective,” paper presented in the WCC Conference on Faith, Science and the Future, held in Boston, Mass., July 12 - 24, 1979, quoted in Jeremy Rifkin, Entropy, A New World View, Bantam New Age Books, NY, 1981, p. 191
[33] Speech lifted from the UN Working Group on Indigenous Populations Meeting in Geneva 1997. The Dialogue paper was an annex in TEBTEBBA Foundation, Indigenous Peoples and the World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD), Baguio City, Philippines, 2003.
[34] Blas Ople, “Horizons,” in the Philippine Daily Bulletin, May 12, 2003
[35] Ken Cousens, Doorway to Alcyone, An Introduction to Whole System Energetics, Capstone Publishing, Colorado, 1998, p.52
[36] Druvalo Melchisedek, Ancient Secret of the Flower of Life, pp. 67-68
[37] Paper on The Earth Charter, Values and Principles for a Sustainable Future, 2002
[38] Discovery Magazine, January 2002, p. 20
[39] Nature, Feb. 15, 2001 and Science, Feb. 16, 2001
[40] Discover Magazine, Jan 2002, p. 61. It is half of Pluto, at 500-600 miles diameter. In Greek mythology, Persephone (Kore) was abducted by Hades (Pluto). In 2006, Pluto became a planetoid, like Persephone.
[41] Serbian scientist Nikolai Tesla (1856-1943) came out with his Magnifying Transmitter and Wireless System that provided almost limitless “free energy,” like a wireless and battery-less radio and light bulb. However, they were suppressed because they will make the plugged industry obsolete, i.e., the energy from the dams and nuclear plants. It was not good business for the ruling elite. (Marc J Seifer, Wizard, The Life and Times of Nikolai Tesla: Biography of a Genius, 1996)
