When most people hear the phrase, "New World Order," I would venture to guess they immediately think of crazy conspiracy theories that have no factual basis dressed up with wild accusations which come from the fertile imaginations of hippies, crackpots, and the just plain insane. But former President George H. W. Bush brought the reality of this concept into public view when he mentioned it in a speech to a joint session of Congress on September 11, 1990. He said,
“A new partnership of nations has begun. We stand today at a unique and extraordinary moment. The crisis in the Persian Gulf, as grave as it is, offers a rare opportunity to move toward an historic period of cooperation. Out of these troubled times, our fifth objective -- a New World Order -- can emerge: a new era -- freer from the threat of terror, stronger in the pursuit of justice, and more secure in the quest for peace. An era in which the nations of the world, East and West, North and South, can prosper and live in harmony. A hundred generations have searched for this elusive path to peace, while a thousand wars raged across the span of human endeavor. Today that new world is struggling to be born, a world quite different from the one we've known..."1
He mentioned it again at the UN on October 1 and at other times. In his state of the union address on January 29, 1991, he said,
"What is at stake is more than one small country; it is a big idea: a new world order, where diverse nations are drawn together in common cause to achieve the universal aspirations of mankind -- peace and security, freedom, and the rule of law...We will succeed in the Gulf. And when we do, the world community will have sent an enduring warning to any dictator or despot, present or future, who contemplates outlaw aggression. The world can, therefore, seize this opportunity to fulfill the long-held promise of a new world order, where brutality will go unrewarded and aggression will meet collective resistance."2
He also said that this New World Order was a "long dreamed-of vision we’ve all worked toward for so long."3 But doesn't this all sound good? "Pursuit of justice"; "quest for peace"; "prosper and live in harmony." These all sound nice, don't they? Who is against peace? But we must remember that Jesus Christ said, "Suppose ye that I am come to give peace on earth? I tell you, Nay; but rather division" (Luke 12:51). This is because the world is at odds with the message of the cross. Those who reject God's plan of redemption naturally oppose those who accept it just as Cain killed Abel, and Esau sought to kill Jacob. Of course there will be complete and total peace one day when He returns and overthrows the kingdoms of this world and takes His place on David's throne. But for the time being, He offers a special peace, "the peace of God, which passeth all understanding" (Phil. 4:7), the fact that while we were enemies of God, "we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son" (Rom. 5:10) and "[t]herefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ" (Rom. 5:1). And this peace with God compels believers to "[f]ollow peace with all men" (Heb. 12:14) and "[i]f it be possible, as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men" (Rom. 12:18).
The problem with what Pres. Bush said is that it centers around a peaceful world absent of any mention of God's idea of peace. It offers the promise of a better world on our own terms instead of on God's terms. And his idea of "peace and security" brings to mind Paul's warning about the Day of the Lord:
1 Thessalonians 5:2-3 For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night. (3) For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape.
But am I being too hard on him? Doesn't he mean well? And just what is really meant by "new world order?" Later we'll take a look at others who have used this phrase or described the idea. For now here is one last example from Pres. Bush.
"We have before us the opportunity to forge for ourselves and for future generations a new world order -- a world where the rule of law, not the law of the jungle, governs the conduct of nations. When we are successful, and we will be, we have a real chance at this New World Order, an order in which a credible United Nations can use its peacekeeping role to fulfill the promise and vision of the United Nations’ founders.”4
Now ask yourself if the pursuit of this new world order based on the "vision of the United Nations' founders" is really in our best interest. What was their vision? And was it original to the UN founders, or does it have a much earlier origin?
1. "Address Before a Joint Session of the Congress on the Persian Gulf Crisis and the Federal Budget Deficit," September 11, 1990, http://bushlibrary.tamu.edu/research/public_papers.php?id=2217&year=1990&month=9
2. "PRESIDENT GEORGE H.W. BUSH'S ADDRESS BEFORE A JOINT SESSION OF THE CONGRESS ON THE STATE OF THE UNION," January 29, 1991, http://www.c-span.org/Transcripts/SOTU-1991-0129.aspx
3. "Open Letter to College Students on the Persian Gulf Crisis," January 9, 1991, http://bushlibrary.tamu.edu/research/public_papers.php?id=2608&year=1991&month=01
4. "Address to the Nation Announcing Allied Military Action in the Persian Gulf," January 16, 1990, http://bushlibrary.tamu.edu/research/public_papers.php?id=2625&year=1991&month=01
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