Watchman Newsletter

U.N. rights body ditches religious ‘defamation’ idea

One News Now (Link) - AP (March 27, 2011)

The United Nations’ top human rights body has replaced its traditional condemnation of religious “defamation” with a resolution supporting an individual right to freedom of belief. The unanimous vote Thursday by the U.N. Human Rights Council was welcomed by free speech advocates.

Previous resolutions backed largely by Muslim countries sought to criminalize any criticism of religion that believers found offensive.

The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom says the new resolution “properly focuses on protecting individuals from discrimination or violence, instead of protecting religions from criticism.”

The nonbinding vote calls on countries to guarantee people’s right to have or adopt a religion or belief of their choice. †

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What?!! An apparent step in the right direction? Something fishy is going on here.

Glenn Beck’s New Book Reveals He Embraces New Age Theology, Is a Knowledgeable Mormon, and a Universalist

Bible Prophecy Blog (Link) - Brannon Howse (January 12, 2011)

A note from the editor of Prophecy News Watch - I happen to like Glenn Beck and enjoy his program. That being said, one must be able to distinguish between his conservative views and his religious views. Christians need to be careful that they don’t allow truth mixed with error to persuade them to adopt views that contradict the Bible. At risk of offending many who enjoy Glenn, I hope you will allow this article to sober you to keeping a balanced perspective when listening to or watching Glenn.

In August of 2010, I predicted on my national radio program that it was only a matter of time before Glenn Beck would release a distinctively religious book that would promote his New Age Mormonism and universalism. I sensed that Glenn was setting himself up to be the politically conservative alternative to Oprah.

Many self-professing Christians cannot see what Beck is up to but there are those in the unsaved world that seem to be exhibiting more worldview understanding than some in the Christian community. The Business Insider published an article on January 4, 2011 entitled, Glenn Beck’s New Year’s Plan Sounds A Lot Like Oprah’s New Network.

Last week (second week of January 2011) Beck released his latest book entitled The Seven Wonders That Will Change Your Life. The book is co-authored by psychiatrist Dr. Keith Ablow.

Beck’s new book is nothing less than the promotion of universalism, postmodernism, and pagan spirituality, also known as the New Age Movement.

U.N. Anti-Blasphemy Proposal Meets Firm Resistance

The Christian Post (Link) - Ethan Cole (November 20, 2010)

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, and Open Doors are just some of the people and groups that have publicly denounced the proposed U.N. anti-blasphemy resolution that is expected to be voted on next week.

The Organization of the Islamic Conference, which sponsored the draft resolution, recently changed the term from “defamation of religions” to “vilification of religions.” But USCIRF chair Leonard Leo said the change is minor and “a distinction without a difference.”

“Having lost support on this issue over the past few years, the OIC is now trying to fool delegations into believing that the resolution has improved when it has not,” said Leo in a statement Thursday. “It … still erroneously conflates blasphemy or criticism of religious ideas with incitement to acts of discrimination or violence against individuals.”

Critics of the resolution compare it to a global anti-blasphemy law. They point to countries like Pakistan, where a Christian woman was recently given the death sentence for alleged blasphemy against the Muslim Prophet Muhammad, as example of how such laws are regularly grossly abused to target religious minorities.

Interfaith movement brings world closer to global religious system

Examiner (Link) - Nicole Horrelt (September 21, 2010)

During the last days prior to the return of Jesus Christ, one of the many signs heralding His return will be a global apostasy (2 Thessalonians 2:3) coinciding with a global cry for peace.(1 Thessalonians 5:3) Globalized communications of our day facilitate the rise and speed of this falling away from the faith, and have also been prophesied since the Bible foretells the world will see certain events come to pass. (Revelation 11:9-10; 17:8)

With nuclear, biological, and chemical weapons technology, terrorist threats, combined with several nations increasingly more hungry for power and domination than for true peace, the capability of mankind destroying all life on earth today, is real. Over 2000 years ago, Jesus predicted this capability for world destruction at a time when only spears and swords were the weapons used. (Matthew 24:21-22)

All these factors and more, play into the role of fulfilling the prophecy found in Revelation chapter 13, the time coming when the Antichrist , or ‘false messiah’ forms his one world religion (Revelation 13:12)

To get to the point of global worship of the Antichrist who will rule the world temporarily during the tribulation prior to the return of Jesus Christ, the true Messiah, there must (logically) be a global ‘conditioning’ or preparation, and this begins with apostasy, or the ‘falling away’ from the true faith in Jesus Christ in much of the Christian world. This is happening right now and increasingly so, with the global cry for peace. Jesus Christ is denied as being the ‘only way, truth, and life’ (John 14:6) and in many churches, this truth is excluded (subtly in many cases with a weak gospel) in the name of ‘peace and tolerance.’ How can this happen? What is the motive or inspiration? This is an examination of only a few factors working together to bring about this change.