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The Earth Charter and Utopia by David Herbertson, June 1, 2017
History (information from Wikipedia) The idea of the Earth Charter originated in 1987, by Maurice Strong and Mikhail Gorbachev as members of The Club of Rome, when the United Nations World Commission on Environment and Development called for a new charter to guide the transition to sustainable development. In 1992, the need for a charter was urged by then-Secretary General Boutros Boutros-Ghali at the Rio de Janeiro Earth Summit, but the time for such a declaration was not believed to be right. The Rio Declaration became the statement of the achievable consensus at that time. In 1994, Maurice Strong (Chairman of the Earth Summit) and Mikhail Gorbachev, working through organizations they each founded (the Earth Council and Green Cross International respectively), restarted the Earth Charter as a civil society initiative, with the help of the government of the Netherlands.[2] Strong died in November 2015.[2] "The Ark of Hope was created for a celebration of the Earth Charter held at Shelburne Farms, Vermont on September 9, 2001." [1] Drafting The drafting of the text was done during a six-year worldwide consultation process (1994–2000), overseen by the independent Earth Charter Commission, which was convened by Strong and Gorbachev with the purpose of developing a global consensus on values and principles for a sustainable future. The Commission continues to serve as the steward of the Earth Charter text. One of the principle creators of the Earth Charter was Steven Clark Rockefeller, who, among other things is professor emeritus of Religion at Middlebury College and an advisory trustee of the Rockefeller Brothers Fund. According to text with a 2001 interview with Rockefeller, he "chaired the Earth Charter international drafting committee. He is also a member of the Earth Charter Commission and Steering Committee..." The final text of the Earth Charter was approved at a meeting of the Earth Charter Commission at the UNESCO headquarters in Paris in March 2000. The official launch was on 29 June 2000 in a ceremony at The Peace Palace in The Hague, Netherlands. Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands attended the ceremony. Preamble "We stand at a critical moment in Earth's history, a time when humanity must choose its future. As the world becomes increasingly interdependent and fragile, the future at once holds great peril and great promise. To move forward we must recognize that in the midst of a magnificent diversity of cultures and life forms we are one human family and one Earth community with a common destiny. We must join together to bring forth a sustainable global society founded on respect for nature, universal human rights, economic justice, and a culture of peace. Towards this end, it is imperative that we, the peoples of Earth, declare our responsibility to one another, to the greater community of life, and to future generations." [4] Principles The four pillars and sixteen principles of the Earth Charter are:[4] I. Respect and Care for the Community of Life 1. Respect Earth and life in all its diversity. 2. Care for the community of life with understanding, compassion and love. 3. Build democratic societies that are just, participatory, sustainable and peaceful. 4. Secure Earth's bounty and beauty for present and future generations. II. Ecological Integrity 5. Protect and restore the integrity of Earth's ecological systems, with special concern for biological diversity and the natural processes that sustain life. 6. Prevent harm as the best method of environmental protection and, when knowledge is limited, apply a precautionary approach. 7. Adopt patterns of production, consumption and reproduction that safeguard Earth's regenerative capacities, human rights and community well-being. 8. Advance the study of ecological sustainability and promote the open exchange and wide application of the knowledge acquired. III. Social and Economic Justice 9. Eradicate poverty as an ethical, social and environmental imperative. 10. Ensure that economic activities and institutions at all levels promote human development in an equitable and sustainable manner. 11. Affirm gender equality and equity as prerequisites to sustainable development and ensure universal access to education, health care and economic opportunity. 12. Uphold the right of all, without discrimination, to a natural and social environment supportive of human dignity, bodily health and spiritual well-being, with special attention to the rights of indigenous peoples and minorities. IV. Democracy, Nonviolence, and Peace 13. Strengthen democratic institutions at all levels, and provide transparency and accountability in governance, inclusive participation in decision-making, and access to justice. 14. Integrate into formal education and lifelong learning the knowledge, values and skills needed for a sustainable way of life. 15. Treat all living beings with respect and consideration. 16. Promote a culture of tolerance, nonviolence and peace. Reaction The Charter has been formally endorsed by organizations representing millions of people, including the UNESCO,[5] over 250 universities around the world,[6] the World Conservation Union of IUCN, the Indian National Capital Territory of Delhi,[7] the 2001 U.S. Conference of Mayors,[8] and dozens of youth organizations.[9] Various religious groups from a wide range of religions support the Earth Charter. The Soka Gakkai International, representing more than 12 million Buddhists worldwide, has supported the Earth Charter since its inception.[10] The Unitarian Universalist Association of Congregations representing over 1000 Unitarian Universalist congregations in the United States supports the measure.[11] The official body of the Baha'iFaith religion reacted by saying "While not officially endorsing the Earth Charter, the Baha'i International Community considers the effort toward drafting it and activities in support of its essential objectives to be highly commendable, and it will continue to participate in related activities, such as conferences, forums and the like."[12] The World Pantheist Movement, which supports a naturalistic view of religion, endorses the plan.[13] The Leadership Conference of Women Religious, a Catholic organization in the United States approved the measure in 2004.[14] The Diocese of Newark (New Jersey), an Episcopalian Christian organization, recently endorsed the Earth Charter.[15] The words always sound so nice but when you read closely you will find that the ideas and views expressed resemble people like Darwin, Roseau, Carl Sagan, Huxley, and a host of other people such as Maurice Strong and Michael Gorbachev that deny God and the sinfulness of our human nature. For over 60 years the United Nations has spent multi billions of dollars (mostly America’s) on endless projects that were supposed to bring peace and hope to the poor and hopeless. What kind of track record do they have? Now they say in this new Earth Charter that the answer is to give them more money and more power and legal authority over all mankind and they will solve our problems. They demand ultimate total control over mankind. My Bible tells me in Galatians 5:1 “It was for freedom that Christ set us free; therefore, keep standing firm and do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery.” In article 16 Item F – which “Promotes a culture of tolerance, non-violence and peace” they said, “Recognize that peace is the wholeness created by right relationships with oneself, other persons, other cultures, other life, earth, and the larger whole of which we all are part.” First, I believe that individual peace only comes when a person recognizes the sinful nature within their hearts and comes into a right relationship with Jesus Christ through repentance. There is no peace without this change. But after this change all the other relationships will strengthen and become healthy and proper. Christians do not need the dictatorial powers of the UN to know how to treat others and to be good stewards of our environment. This Charter and most environmentalists speak of earth like it is a spiritual being, which is sacred and demands our reverence. This is the language of the Naturalists and the Carl Sagan’s and Darwinists that deny the supernatural creation of earth and mankind by God. We have been taught the lie of evolution so fully in our nation and around the world that it is now known as “Scientific Fact” instead of atheistic theory to most people. Our children are brainwashed by an educational system that does not allow teachers to even mention that we are created by God. As I read the Earth Charter I found words that sound good on paper but little to support the Christian values that are found in God’s Word. Instead it is filled with Darwinism, naturalism and a postmodern worldview that man and technology can solve our problems and create all these good qualities in mankind. As I shared earlier my brother was Maurice Strong’s assistant and spent most of his life going around the world promoting the UN agenda. I had many discussions and disagreements with my older brother who passed away several years ago with ALS (Lou Gehrig Disease). Let me enter several quotes from Maurice Strong and you will be able to understand why we cannot agree in any way with the Earth Charter being promoted around the world. “It is simply not feasible for sovereignty to be exercised unilaterally by individual nation states, however powerful. It is a principle which will yield only slowly and reluctantly to the imperatives of Global Environmental Cooperation.” Maurice Strong “Isn’t the only hope for the planet that the industrialized civilizations collapse? Isn’t it our responsibility to bring that about?” Maurice Strong Ronald Reagan is quoted as saying “Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn’t pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on to them to do the same, or one day we will spend our sunset years telling our children and our children’s children what it was once like in the United States where men were free.” God’s word tells me that this new world order will be the climax to the end times and the way things are going it is getting close. The Bible tells us to keep watch and to know the signs of the times. We have no need to worry or fret about these events and the collapse of our culture or nation. We don’t need to trust the United Nations crowd for our protection. Our hope and protection comes from God and in the end “Our Team Wins”. No matter what difficulties we may face in the upcoming days as we live in this God-despising and truth-hating world, our Lord is yet faithful and will preserve His own and keep us from falling. Jude 1:24 Mathew 6:34 “So do not worry about tomorrow; for tomorrow will care for itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.” More articles and bio for David Herbertson... Related  A Special Invitation to You 
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My brother Dr. Gary Herbertson was deeply involved and motivated in the promotion of the Earth Charter.
