Nailing Down a Forked Tongue [Pt.4]
Explaining How and Why the World Economic Forum Promotes and Attacks Individualism
[Continued from Pt.3]
The Blessing and Curse of Religion, According to the WEF
The World Economic Forum’s attack on individualism can only go so far on its own. Persuasion to surrender one’s autonomy to the collective is met with resistance from those who, although not entirely hostile to collectivism, are principled thinkers and, therefore, principled actors. Individuals who are committed to their religion, for instance, create a problem for the WEF because their religious values may forbid them from overlooking doctrinal/ideological and ethical differences between themselves and others from another religion, or no religion at all. Thus, in order to bypass these ethical and doctrinal firewalls a common denominator between religious groups must be identified and exploited.
While there are many who think that religion plays a much less significant role today than it did 200 years ago, the WEF’s sustained interest in religion proves their belief entirely wrong. Over the past few years, the WEF has been keeping track of the percentage of religious people in the world,1 publishing articles encouraging non-religious organizations to assist one another in “tackling global challenges,”2 and actively encouraging religious groups to find common ground with one another in order to urge common religious people to follow COVID-193 guidelines and modify their lifestyles in light of the supposed problems posed by “climate change.”4
The WEF recognizes that religion can be either a blessing to their agenda or a curse. Consequently, they have spent a lot of time trying to convince religious groups to unite over broader issues that seem to cut across religious, ideological, and political divides. One of those issues, of course, is COVID-19, as mentioned above. Additionally, the WEF has suggested that “Faith can overcome religious nationalism,”5 which they portray as a life-threatening throwback to Nazi Germany. Who precisely is in the WEF’s sights? Most likely Hungarian Calvinist Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, an outspoken, fierce critic of the globalist agenda being pushed by the WEF and its cohorts.6 Additionally, here in America “Christian Nationalism” has been under attack by pundits and politicians who, under the influence of the WEF, are portraying it in much the same way.7 Religion, then, is a blessing for the WEF insofar as it can be used to disrupt existing societies, as well as reshape the thinking of large numbers of people in those societies to conform to the will of the WEF as they seek to fundamentally transform society.
As Mariah Levin writes —
Faith communities are extreme disruptors. The Protestant Reformation in 16th-century Europe was, itself, an incredible period of religious innovation – traditional preconceptions about God were swept away by new ideas based on individual access to the Divine, availability of information, and rejection of corruption. This movement spilled over into political and economic life, igniting the Thirty Years War that reshaped a modern Europe. Likewise, the movement to abolish slavery in the United States grew largely out of religious communities seeking to disrupt a practice they viewed as immoral and definitively evil. Their fervour and commitment eventually led to the establishment of political organizations that upended social and economic traditions and the unity of the country for a number of years. More recently, faith communities have assembled to fight xenophobia across South Africa, exploitative natural resource extraction in Latin America, and climate injustice at the 2014 UN General Assembly in New York and beyond. They have done so in ways that challenge the status quo and seek to change fundamentally traditional economic, social and political models.
These instances demonstrate the power of innovative beliefs to shift future economic, political and social landscapes. Beliefs, often tied to a faith tradition, can inspire prolonged action towards ideals and dogged pursuit of improved realities. They can also result in violence and unrest for many years or decades. Particularly as global demographics around religious affiliation alter, the significance that religion plays in shaping agendas and mobilizing action should not be overlooked.8
Thus, we see the WEF’s open identification of religion as a tool for social disruption and transformation, beginning with the ways in which people think. Given the sheer volume of religious people in the world, it stands to reason that the WEF would try to make its goals amenable to adherents of the world’s religions or else face severe backlash. And that is precisely what they are doing in the background.
Highjacking the Second Greatest Commandment
The WEF has done this by highjacking the second greatest commandment and putting it in the service of emotionally manipulative faith leaders. In their article “Love Your Neighbor: Islam, Judaism, and Christianity Come Together Over COVID-19,” Mohamed Elsanousi, Burton L. Visotzky Director, and Bob Roberts take “Love” to be an overarching principle and command for the three largest religions, providing a common guiding principle to which Christians, Jews, and Muslims can appeal. They write —
As some individuals may be wary of following the preventative messages pertaining to COVID-19 by government and international organizations, faith actors should utilize religious teachings to reiterate the importance of these measures for the safety of the community. The Abrahamic faiths all have teachings that profess the importance of taking action to assist others and save lives.
• The Bible encourages followers to “show me your faith apart from your works, and I will show you my faith by my works”.
• The Quran tells us: “If anyone saved a life it would be as if he saved the life of the whole humanity.”
• In Judaism, the preservation of human life takes precedence over all other commandments, as emphasized in the Talmud.
In understanding how these teachings emphasize the importance of taking action, communities can be encouraged to follow government-implemented measures and practice social distancing in order to protect themselves.9
This idea is also emphasized in an article by Augusto Zampini Daviesargue, Amy Goldman, and François Bonnici who argue that one value that should guide conversations about “rebuilding” the world after COVID-19
…is love – a word that makes many political and business leaders strangely uncomfortable. In this context, love is much deeper and broader than a romantic sentiment. It is a courageous acknowledgment of interdependence, even obligation, to one another as fellow human beings. That’s why Pope Francis has identified civic and political life as among the highest possible expressions of love.10
Additionally, the ethic of “empathy”/“[religious] love” is consistently presented by the WEF as that universal principle which will facilitate the bringing about of “social justice,” including “economic inclusivity.”11
We see, then, that the WEF is attacking individualism not merely in the political and economic realms, but especially in the religious realm. It is in using the concept of love to push along its anti-capitalist, anti-individualist, and pro-socialist worldview. By redefining love as “interdependence/obligation to one another as fellow human beings,” a definition that fits right at home with the communitarianism that stains every page of Carl R. Trueman’s book The Rise and Triumph of the Modern Self,12 and which can also be found in Rosaria Butterfield’s book The Gospel Comes With a HouseKey, the WEF is seeking to exploit the consciences of religious people.
Have They Succeeded?
The question of whether or not they have accomplished their task is easy to answer. Given the popularity of Rosaria Butterfield’s book The Gospel Comes With a HouseKey — a book rife with postmodern and feminist theology overtones and allusions, and which is based on a social justice friendly redefinition of “hospitality” — and given of Carl R. Trueman’s book The Rise and Triumph of the Modern Self — a book whose main opponents (e.g. individualism and capitalism), anthropology (e.g. man is a dialectical/dialogical social construct), and values (e.g. communitarian ethics) are shared in common with the WEF — it seems clear to me that the WEF has infiltrated our evangelical and Reformed ranks.
The current widespread promotion of social justice/social gospel values among evangelical and Reformed christian churches, colleges, seminaries, and publishing houses is even more evidence of this being the case.13 This should give us more reason to be concerned with men — regardless of their ecclesiastical associations — who attack the philosophical pillars of Western Civilization, pillars which have been derived largely, if not entirely, from the Christian worldview — viz. life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
—h.
See “Does Faith Matter? Leaders on the Role of Faith in Society,” World Economic Forum, July 2014, https://www3.weforum.org/docs/GAC/2014/WEF_GAC_RoleFaith_DoesFaithMatter_Report_2014.pdf.
See “Why Care about Faith?,” World Economic Forum, Sept. 2014, https://www3.weforum.org/docs/GAC/2014/WEF_GAC_RoleFaith_WhyCareAboutFaith_Report_2014.pdf.
See Mohamed Elsanousi, Burton L. Visotzky, & Bob Roberts. “Love your neighbour: Islam, Judaism and Christianity come together over COVID-19,” World Economic Forum, April 9, 2020, https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2020/04/religions-covid-19-coronavirus-collaboration/.
See “The Role of Faith in Systemic Global Challenges,” World Economic Forum, June 2016, https://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_GAC16_Role_of_Faith_in_Systemic_Global_Challenges.pdf.
See Seiple, Chris. “Faith can overcome religious nationalism. Here’s how,” World Economic Forum, April 18, 2018, https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2018/04/faith-can-overcome-religious-nationalism-heres-how/.
See Fung, Kathering. “Viktor Orbán Gets CPAC Standing Ovation for Telling Globalists ‘Go to Hell,’” Newsweek, Aug 4, 2022, https://www.newsweek.com/viktor-orban-cpac-standing-ovation-globalists-go-hell-texas-1731042.
See Burnett, John. “Christian nationalism is still thriving — and is a force for returning Trump to power,” NPR, Jan 23, 2022, https://www.npr.org/2022/01/14/1073215412/christian-nationalism-donald-trump.
“Why faith communities are essential disruptors,” World Economic Forum, Aug 21, 2015, https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2015/08/faith-communities-essential-disruptors/. (emphasis added)
“COVID-19 shows the need for radical change. Here's how faith leaders can help rebuild a better post-pandemic world,” World Economic Forum, May 15, 2020, https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2020/05/covid-19-coronavirus-pandemic-faith-radical-change-social-entrepreneurs-vulnerable-populations/. (emphasis added)
See Brian J. Grim, Linda Woodhead. “Can religion make economic growth more fair?”, World Economic Forum, Dec 2, 2015, https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2015/12/can-religion-make-economic-growth-more-fair/.
This is significant seeing as one of Klaus Schwab’s main influences was, in fact, a social gospel, liberation theology priest. See “DAVOS in the Catacombs: Klaus Schwab’s Secret Vatican Connection,” The Remnant Video,