Culture

Re-inventing the World - Part 2

The Tangled Web of Global Control

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Berit Kjos
Kjos Ministries
July 16, 2001

» Read Re-inventing the World, Part 1 «

Laura's fourth-grade teacher was reading a new book called The Giver to her class. The story seemed sort of spooky, but most of her classmates at Adams Elementary School in Davenport, Iowa, liked it. After all, it had won the 1994 Newbery Medal--and was dedicated to "all the children to whom we entrust our future."^[1] Therefore it had to be good--didn't it?

The book told about a special community where every child felt safe, ate plenty of food and took pills to control pain and population growth. Newborns were placed in Nurturing Centers where older children helped care for them during their volunteer hours. To free the productive population from stress, handicapped babies and the elderly were "released" to go to a mystical "Elsewhere."

Each group of children learned to follow age-appropriate rules, succeed in their education plan, serve their community and share their feelings with their designated family. No one could escape the watchful eye of the collective. Peace had replaced privacy.

Laura didn't know that the scary fantasy reflects a growing reality. Around the world, people are being squeezed into a new social mold. With promptings from teachers, peers, Hollywood and the media, a new generation has embraced politically correct attitudes that exclude Biblical truth. And vast governmental networks have been designed to hold both individuals and communities accountable to international standards for social equality, consumption, "mental health" (global understanding, multicultural values, adaptability, compliance...) and communal oneness.

During the 1996 UN Conference on Human Settlements in Istanbul, I attended a day-long "Dialogue" on Solidarity. The panelists included some of the world's most influential political and spiritual leaders. Federico Mayor, then Director General of UNESCO, summarized their vision:

"Citizenship for the next century is learning to live together. The 21st Century city will be a city of social solidarity.... We have to redefine the words... [and write a new] social contract."

"Cities are the vectors of social change and transformation," added Dr. Ismail Serageldin, Vice President of The World Bank. "Let's just make sure that social change and transformation are going in the right direction."

Their new "social contract" demands new sets of words and meanings. Carried by global information networks to people everywhere, transformational terms are taking root in the public consciousness and changing our thinking. You may know them already -- words such as stakeholder, partnerships, facilitator, assessments, win-win, empathy, synergy, consensus, continual or managed change.... They permeate government agencies, schools and churches as well as corporations. Sounding harmless (though a bit confusing), their growing familiarity weakens resistance to the new social structures designed to monitor every family in the global community. ^[2]

Management guru, Peter E. Drucker helps lead the way. "All institutions, including governments, churches, universities, and so on, will become more interdependent, more market- and customer-driven," he writes. Looking at this revolution from a corporate -- not a Christian -- perspective, he describes today's "fast-growing pastoral churches" as the "most significant social development in this country." ^[3]

Uncompromising Christians won't fit these systems. Their quest for vocational success will be blocked by various gatekeepers such as guidance counselors, universities, workforce boards and literacy centers. These guardians of the new solidarity will assess attitudes, measure and monitor compliance, then shut the doors of opportunity to dissenters who hamper the new consensus.

Unless Christians awaken to this relentless transformation, our children will be trapped in its controlling web. Some of the oppressive government regulations that Laura was forced to imagine are already coloring her real world. To resist this transformation, we must be alert to its three inseparable parts:

A mind-changing group PROCESS that bans Biblical absolutes and conforms participants to an ever-changing consensus.

An international web of NETWORKS and SYSTEMS (or organizations) that manage the global transformation. (The faith-based partnerships that tie churches and charities to evolving government regulations fit the global structure well.)

A set of international STANDARDS that holds everyone accountable to the aims and regulations established by the new managers.

To fight this erosion of American freedom, we need to remember that the forces arrayed against us are far greater than our human efforts. Only God can bring victory. Let us turn to Him, listen to His instructions, and follow His plan. The Old Testament king, Jehoshophat, said it well:

"O our God, will You not judge them? For we have no power against this great multitude that is coming against us; nor do we know what to do, but our eyes are upon You." (2 Chronicles 20:12)

Together, the people prayed, followed God's instructions, and won the war in a mighty demonstration of God's power and faithfulness.

Next: Part 3 - "Molding Minds through Group Consensus"