Is the URI a world without Christianity and Islam?

If you aren't familiar with the United Religions Initiative (URI), I'd encourage everyone to check it out. When US residents start seeing their commercials on TV and Hulu, I'm sure more topics will be opened up here at ATS--if not its own dedicated forum. My question to ATS is what would the world be like without Christianity or Islam? Many of the freedoms used by religious fanatics, such as freedom of speech and assembly are being challenged by major reformations in martial law.

The general consensus in the United Nations is that the URI plays a fundamental role in satisfying its objective, to bring world peace through stabilizing the global economy by minimizing fanatical social influences that would disrupt that. That is why the number of URI sponsored organizations is growing so rapidly around the world. You can't deny the cash flow that's moving this forward!


source

Why should you concern yourself with the URI, especially if you aren't religiously inclined? It is very clear that there is a lot of confusion in the response to the religious rhetoric in mainstream media. Let's face it, unless you're a veteran or live in the Middle East most people weren't aware of Islam's political influence until after the Twin Towers both toppled to the grown on 9/11.

I'm not just picking on Islamic groups that participate in Jihad. Twenty years ago it was in bad taste to mention any controversy concerning the Roman Catholic Church. Now many Christians are confused by accounts of drugs, child molestation, slave trafficking and organ harvesting rings associated with Catholic organizations. These stories aren't just hitting the news, they are entering local and national court systems!

We are seeing a build up of this rhetoric in the mainstream for the sole purpose of introducing the URI as a solution. The URI's main concern is that most religious organizations that don't support their initiative are considered fanatical.

Let's look at URI's purpose as stated on their website:

The purpose of the United Religions Initiative is to promote enduring, daily interfaith cooperation, to end religiously motivated violence and to create cultures of peace, justice and healing for the Earth and all living beings.

I recently watched a video today that I'd encourage anyone to watch. Even those that practice Islam may not be familiar with their own history:


source

Even if a practicing Islam doesn't practice Jihad, Jihad is still a fundamental part of Islamic worship--which is converting the kafirs, or unbelievers. Muhammad rivals Alexander the Great as establishing one of the most influential empires in history through war and economic conquest. A war that is still being waged today.

9:5 When the sacred months are passed, kill the kafirs wherever you find them. Take them as captives, besiege them, and lie in wait for them with every kind of ambush. If they submit to Islam, observe prayer, and pay the poor tax, then let them go their way. Allah is gracious and merciful.

So my question is valid. What would the world be like without Christianity and Islam? What the URI is offering is an interfaith movement that is strictly sponsored and regulated by participating UN governments.

CodeRed3D
What the URI is offering is an interfaith movement that is strictly sponsored and regulated by participating UN governments.

And that right there is why I will never have anything to do with it.

We'd go back to being neanderthals. I don't think abolishing religion is a cure-all solution. Religion is the proverbial crawling between sitting in your own waste and walking to the toilet. I'm not sure if anyone will understand what I'm trying to say...religion is a waystation between stations. A chance for psychological and emotional evolution to catch up. A chance to bring the picture into sharper focus before we take the next leap. It is just as necessary as it is temporary.

If done correctly, humanity would be ushered into an era of unprecedented growth and prosperity. If done incorrectly, we could be sent right back to the Dark Ages. Seeing as how our national leaders are in charge of this initiative, and given their track record I'd say we'd head towards the second option before even being able to think about heading towards first option. Why? Because once religion is gone, the people in charge will just find some other reason to abuse and oppress the people.

Sounds lovely! A one world religion! The chess board is out and the pieces are in place. People will love it!

You can count me out.

"God" needs to get off of the money, out of politics, and out of the lives of everyone who want nothing to do with any gods, especially if it's a reanimated blood soaked corpse on a stick.

Should anyone desire to patronize the faith of their death gods, or whatever mythology they subscribe to, that's all fine and wonderful and good, so long as they keep such deeply personal things in the bedroom, in their home, or at their church, mosque, synagogue, temple, whatever.

The only people that want to hear about your religion, whatever that religion is, regardless of what it is, are the people that already have it, and those actively seeking something all their own who will ASK for it.

The world would be a much better place were people to divorce themselves from these primitive mythologies, superstitions, dogmas, and beliefs in invisible people in the sky.

Keep it at home, fine, but toting it around in public is just obscene.



In other words, I whole heartedly support any initiative to separate 'church' and state, as well as 'church' and the rest of polite society that wants nothing to do with it.

reply to post by AliceBleachWhite


This is the exact opposite. It is the wholesale integration of organized spirituality into society as a means of rebuilding our lost connections and forgotten virtues. A much more passive and gentle version of what the Romans did. More to the point, management of such a reform would be just as exclusive as it was then.

reply to post by CodeRed3D


I don't like Christianity but Christians have the right to talk about their beliefs just like everyone else.


You can't talk about the bible and all of its bigotry, discrimination and sexism but you CAN talk about lovey dovey New Age?


People have the right to have their hateful beliefs if they want as long as no one is forced into it.

They want to get rid of all negativity - disagreement.

I hadn't heard of the URI before. I'm reading up on it now and it doesn't profess to be a religion in and of itself or a movement to abolish Christianity, Islam, or any other religious/spiritual tradition. From their Principles:

The URI is a bridge-building organization, not a religion.
We respect the sacred wisdom of each religion, spiritual expression and indigenous tradition.
We respect the differences among religions, spiritual expressions and indigenous traditions.
We encourage our members to deepen their roots in their own tradition.
[...]
Members of the URI shall not be coerced to participate in any ritual or be proselytized.

Sounds pretty inoffensive to me. According to some Christian sources I'm coming across, though, it's actually a tool of the Antichrist and part of a nefarious world domination scheme, interfaith cooperation is bad, and anything that references "uniting" (unless the reference is to "uniting under Christ" or similar) is pure evil, so who knows.

reply to post by opopanax


Anyone who is familiar with the human race knows how easily even the most harmless of causes may go awry in our hands.

AfterInfinity
reply to post by opopanax

 

Anyone who is familiar with the human race knows how easily even the most harmless of causes may go awry in our hands.

Oh, certainly. Keeping human nature in mind, I also think the chance of achieving anything close to universal interfaith cooperation and harmony is incredibly slim.

Seeing that atheism killed more people in a couple of generations than all the history of the world's religions combined I'd say we'd be in a pretty bad place. Militant atheism, was the religion of revolutionary France, the soviet Union, Maoist China, Vietnam Cambodia, the shining path in Peru etc.

Those guys killed easily over 100 million people in a very very short time. Without christianity you would not even have the concept of charity or helping the unfortunate, whom in many pagan religions were felt to have deserved their fate and therefore were undeserving of pity. There would be no mercy hospitals, aid to the poor etc. etc.

So even without christianity we'd be in a bad place.

SevenThunders
Seeing that atheism killed more people in a couple of generations than all the history of the world's religions combined I'd say we'd be in a pretty bad place. Militant atheism, was the religion of revolutionary France, the soviet Union, Maoist China, Vietnam Cambodia, the shining path in Peru etc.

Those guys killed easily over 100 million people in a very very short time. Without christianity you would not even have the concept of charity or helping the unfortunate, whom in many pagan religions were felt to have deserved their fate and therefore were undeserving of pity. There would be no mercy hospitals, aid to the poor etc. etc.

So even without christianity we'd be in a bad place.

Would you argue that all of this killing was done specifically because of atheism, or, perhaps, were other political factors involved?

Do you really believe that the entire concept of helping those in need is attributable to the Christian religion?

reply to post by SevenThunders


Another liar for jesus. Buddhism teaches compassion and charity.

And there are atheist organizations that gives to the poor.

I am deeply aware that all of life is infused by a religious dimension: healthy religion, sick religion, anti-religion, indifferent religion. Further I believe that more and more frequently religion is being subordinated to the political designs of people who are bringing great harm to tribes, nations, the environment, and the global economy, and placing the world in under an elevated nuclear threat.

www . URI . org 9/11 at 10, URI at 11

This is the best example I could find of what they stand for.
He uses the phrase "society is stalemated by religious differences"
twice.



The author is Bishop Swing, president of the URI.


According to his bio, the UN "asked" him to "an interfaith service honoring the 50th anniversary of the signing of the UN Charter" back in 93 and that is when he had the vision of URI.




Here he is in his own words.

=========================================

So...
What do I think?

On a psychological level I would hazard the
criticism that he still believes in poster boards,
and collages'




That the hubble telescope is some magical device.

=========================================

my two cents
Mike

AliceBleachWhite
"God" needs to get off of the money, out of politics, and out of the lives of everyone who want nothing to do with any gods, especially if it's a reanimated blood soaked corpse on a stick.

Should anyone desire to patronize the faith of their death gods, or whatever mythology they subscribe to, that's all fine and wonderful and good, so long as they keep such deeply personal things in the bedroom, in their home, or at their church, mosque, synagogue, temple, whatever.

The only people that want to hear about your religion, whatever that religion is, regardless of what it is, are the people that already have it, and those actively seeking something all their own who will ASK for it.

The world would be a much better place were people to divorce themselves from these primitive mythologies, superstitions, dogmas, and beliefs in invisible people in the sky.

Keep it at home, fine, but toting it around in public is just obscene.

I agree. I have several friends of different Christian sects who keep their religion as private as they do their bedroom kinks, which is how it SHOULD be. If one wants to think their religion is the be all, end all to life for themselves, they can go for it so long as they're not imposing on others. Treat your belief system as something highly private and cherished, not a commodity to shove at others. What I have a problem with is the effective pimping of it by patrons, imposing while unwanted.

A global initiative to get along is good in theory, but until the drive to convert or destroy is completely removed from all religions, it's never going to work. "Save ALL the heathens!" is as much a general mantra as "Kill ALL the disbelievers!" is an extremist one, and the religiously promised "reward" for plowing forth is too enticing for most to refuse.

Nyiah

I agree. I have several friends of different Christian sects who keep their religion as private as they do their bedroom kinks, which is how it SHOULD be. If one wants to think their religion is the be all, end all to life for themselves, they can go for it so long as they're not imposing on others. Treat your belief system as something highly private and cherished, not a commodity to shove at others. What I have a problem with is the effective pimping of it by patrons, imposing while unwanted.

A global initiative to get along is good in theory, but until the drive to convert or destroy is completely removed from all religions, it's never going to work. "Save ALL the heathens!" is as much a general mantra as "Kill ALL the disbelievers!" is an extremist one, and the religiously promised "reward" for plowing forth is too enticing for most to refuse.

z

While I would never say I forcefully shove my belief system down someones throat...I do tend to like to share. Is this a problem?

We share our beliefs everyday. This is normal practice for intellectual societies such as ours. Don't get me wrong...I don't go out and say "hey here let me tell you about Jesus..." I think that's the wrong approach...But I will ASK someone if they know Jesus the Christ...Again, I'm not standing on the corner saying "HEY DO YOU KNWO JESUS!? WHAT ABOUT YOU...YOU KNOW JESUS!?" That's not it at all....It's more about very subtly putting it out there and then LETTING PEOPLE RESPOND. Maybe I'll go to the mall with some tract cards concerning the faith and set them on a table near the rest area....That for me is a great way to go about it.. It gets the information out there...You don't have to be IN-YOUR-FACE-JESUS-THIS-JESUS-THAT and people that are WILLING to respond have the opportunity to do so....

The Christian faith is not about keeping it private....It's something we WANT TO SHARE...If you love someone you want to see them succeed...You want to help them....

My mom...when I was younger I had the flu, pneumonia, and strep throat quite frequently....well my mother like any good mother cared for me. She wanted to help me. She wanted to see me get better. She did everything she could to help me but you know...If I didn't want to eat the chicken noodle soup she didn't pour it down my throat. She offered it to me and said "This will help."

So no...I don't believe in keeping it "private"....but I also think there is a right way and wrong way to go about it.....

A2D

It sounds like unitology

WOW, I'm really surprised how civil this topic has been. Thanks!

I'm also surprised not to see anyone practicing Islam say anything in defense or tell me I didn't have the facts strait.

opopanax
I hadn't heard of the URI before. I'm reading up on it now and it doesn't profess to be a religion in and of itself or a movement to abolish Christianity, Islam, or any other religious/spiritual tradition.

Many of the comments presented can be summed up in your observation, opopanax. One thing I'd like to point out though is that many revere their allegiance to their God before an allegiance to any form of government. An example of that is Sharia, an "infallible law of God" that would supersede any laws of Man. This includes "Military jurisprudence" where Jihad is justified when killing a kafir who refuses conversion as referenced in 9:5 of the Koran.

Catholicism also doesn't harmonize with the principles of the URI because they revere the Pope as "infallible", or god-like. This is why for so many years, many heinous crimes have been overlooked at the order of the Pope. All is forgiven right?

Like it or not though, it doesn't take an UN sponsored organization like the URI to bring about changes in the general attitude of the population in regards to crime, violence and economic sabotage (i.e. the Twin Towers). The general consensus of the population is changing and many are in favor of suppressing parts of religion where it interferes with the rights of others. Government therefore establishes a supremacy over their gods as the authority and as the representative of the people.

This rhetoric is loud and clear in main stream media. It is no wonder Tony Blair made his comment that "how religious faith develops will have a profound impact" during the onset of the invasion of Iraq. No one had the courage to say that the Twin Towers were downed by "Islam". Instead they had to have a specific group (Al Qaeda) or patsy (Bin laden) in order not to start a religious war on an international scale -- instead it was "extremism". This maintains the validity of Sharia throughout the military campaign while companies like Haliburton made billions. Like it or not, that's the simple truth of the coverup of 9/11.

The reason religion is not being blamed here is because the US and UK can't afford the riots on the home front. Secondly, there is no intelligent way to mitigate "religious persecution" without having blanket laws that affect everyone - such as in the case where France did in banning face coverings.

Most importantly there isn't any money to be made when a Nation is divided against itself due to religious intolerance. However, there will come a time where government will start running away with the cash pulled in by religion as times get tougher economically. This is the next logical step that can not be contested ethically.

celticdog
It sounds like unitology

That's epic, LOL! Video games are extremely effective teaching tools...

Sometimes you just know what you need to look for, for example before ancient Babylon fell if you knew what to look for, you would know the city was being prepped for an unusual stealth attack by the Medes and Persians. One sign this was happening was when they diverted the waters of the river that ran through the city so soldiers could attack from the river. The URI is just one group doing the prepping for the event via the UN.