Midwives of a Common God
The Myriad Friends of the United Religions Initiative
by Lee Penn
San Francisco’s Episcopal Bishop William E. Swing expects “tens of thousands of leaders of the world’s religions, spiritualities, and indigenous traditions”1 to attend the signing of the United Religions Initiative (URI) Charter in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on June 26, 2000. The URI also expects United Nations (UN) Secretary-General Kofi Annan and the Dalai Lama to attend.2
Bishop Swing founded the United Religions Initiative in 1995. The URI intends to become “a permanent assembly, with the stature and visibility of the United Nations”3 encompassing “all religions, spiritual expressions, and indigenous traditions.”4
While the URI actually may not see its “tens of thousands” show up in Pittsburgh in June, it has been highly successful in extending its reach in only five years and is growing steadily. So far, URI activities have occurred in 58 countries on all continents, and in 33 states in the United States.5 The URI claims that one million people participated in its three-day global “religious cease-fire” from December 31, 1999, to January 2, 20006—a millennial bash dedicated to the propositions that good intentions are the road to peace, and that all religions really intend the same thing.
Birthing & Funding the “New Hope”
The leaders of the URI hope to assist in creating an earthly utopia. The proposed URI charter says that the organization’s purpose is “to promote enduring, daily interfaith cooperation” and to “end religiously motivated violence.” The URI also plans to “create cultures of peace, justice and healing for the Earth and all living beings.”7 Bishop Swing told the 1997 URI summit conference: “If you have come here because a spirit of colossal energy is being born in the loins of earth, then come here and be a midwife. Assist, in awe, at the birth of new hope.” This “new hope”8 will have the Earth, not the Church or the Virgin Mary, as its mother. In a sermon given during the 1999 Parliament of World Religions, Bishop Swing said, “What a time to wait on God. . . . for the coming new light among religions, spiritual expressions, and indigenous traditions.”9 This “new light” will not be the light of Christ.
As a parallel effort with the URI, Bishop Swing has formed the Inter-Religious Friendship Group (IRFG). Other leaders of the IRFG are the Dalai Lama and Richard Blum, a wealthy San Francisco investment banker—and the husband of United States Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-CA).10 The founders of the IRFG say that their goal is to “create a confidential and relatively unstructured forum where the leaders of the world’s religions can have regular conversations with one another.”11
The IRFG has met three times, most recently in November 1999 at the Carter Center in Atlanta, Georgia. The Reverend Dr. Gary Gunderson, director of the Carter Center’s Interfaith Health Program,12 says that the URI “is one of the most promising global initiatives,” a “long term alignment that will bear fruit for decades.”13 He said, “While not a formal member of the URI, President Carter stressed how much the Center valued the role of religious leaders in conflict situations. . . . He asked the group to request his involvement in the future as specific interventions or projects crystallize.”14 Thus, President Carter may become an open ally of the URI.
The URI has recently acquired substantial funding. In October 1999, Bishop Swing announced that the URI had received a $1.7 million grant from a Pittsburgh-area foundation, and that the URI will move its headquarters there from San Francisco.15 Swing noted that many people have not wanted to cooperate with the URI because the current San Francisco location carries “negative connotations.”16 A source in close contact with the ECUSA hierarchy indicates that “the move is being sponsored by some foundations with deep pockets and a strong liberal agenda that includes putting pressure on the Episcopal diocesan structure”; one of these foundations is the Hillman Foundation, associated with a wealthy, nationally prominent liberal Republican family and with Calvary Church, “one of the few remaining liberal parishes in Pittsburgh.”17
The Pittsburgh URI coordinator is a UN employee, Karen Plavan; she is also associated with the Pittsburgh Leadership Foundation.18 The URI has applied for UN recognition as a nongovernmental organization,19 showing that it seeks a UN seal of approval.
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