Ted Turner Attacks Christianity at U.N. 'Peace Summit'
Any pretense that the "World Peace Summit" is anything other than a cover for a left-leaning agenda was stripped away as American media mogul Ted Turner addressed nearly 1,000 hooting delegates Tuesday in the U.N. General Assembly Hall.
New Age billionaire Maurice Strong introduced Turner by saying he had done more for peace, the environment and the United Nations than any other person. Turner bounded toward the podium as the cheering crowd seemed to welcome a conquering hero.
Immediately Turner denounced his own childhood Christian faith. The crowd’s laughter turned to approving whoops as Turner explained he turned away from Christianity when he discovered "it was intolerant because it taught we were the only ones going to heaven. That confused the devil out of me since that would have left heaven a very empty place."
Turner’s meandering, off-the-cuff speech praised "indigenous" religious faiths and then wandered through a paean to the things all humans have in common "culture, language, love of birds, butterflies, wives and flowers." In his spiritual search Turner realized that there was one God and multiple ways he manifests himself and that it makes little difference which one is chosen. This approach is precisely what evangelical Christians fear about the World Peace Summit.
Among a small group of conservative Christians monitoring the event, Darren Logan, foreign policy analyst for the Washington-based Family Research Council, called Turner’s speech "the most blasphemous thing I have ever heard in my life."
Logan said Turner advanced the notion of "reductionism," which suggests that all religions are essentially the same. "Turner believes true tolerance means doing away with the uniqueness of all faiths and marginalizing all faiths that profess an exclusive component, like Christianity and Islam," said Logan.
Contrasted with the enthusiastic reception for Turner’s left-leaning remarks, the delegates gave an icy reception to the Patriarch of Ethiopia, who urged protection for unborn children. The same reaction greeted the assistant secretary general of the Muslim World Congress when he urged delegates to recognize only marriage between "a man and a woman" and denounced all "abnormal sexual activities."
Minutes later a Buddhist "master" received a standing ovation when he condemned all attempts at religious conversion, something at the heart of Islam and Christianity.
As it is, the summit is taking place under a cloud for excluding the Dalai Lama under pressure from the government of China; and evangelical Christians have pointed out that only one representative from their ranks, the Rev. Billy Graham’s daughter, has appeared at the podium.
The reaction of the delegates fuels the growing suspicion that the permanent advisory to be established here will simply rubberstamp the agenda of Ted Turner, Maurice Strong and other powerful leftists working within the U.N. system.
http://www.newsmax.com/articles/?a 00/8/29/192330
Note by DITC: It is interesting to note that, though
Anne Graham Lotz was a speaker at this event, it was the Patriarch of Ethiopia
and the secretary general of the Muslim World Congress who stood against
the reductionism proposed by Ted Turner. Where are the evangelical
Christians during all this hoopla? Next time send someone like Dave
Hunt to represent us!