New World Order: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly
A commentary by Don Hooser
Good News magazine writer, Bellingham, Washington
Confusion and controversy are intensifying regarding a future "New
World Order," commonly abbreviated as NWO. What does it mean? Would
it be good or bad for the world?
Let's first acknowledge an implied difference between a new
world order and the "New World Order."
Hopes for a new world order
During the past century, many world leaders and others have expressed
their desire and hope for a better world with peaceful relations among
all the nations, and some have used the phrase a new world order.
For example, Woodrow Wilson and Winston Churchill spoke of their desires
for a new world order following World War I and World War II, respectively.
The popular usage of the phrase escalated when President George H.W.
Bush expressed in a half dozen speeches his hope for a new world order.
In his March 6, 1991, address to Congress, he said, "Now, we can
see a new world coming into view. A world in which there is the very
real prospect of a new world order... A world where the United
Nations, freed from cold war stalemate, is poised to fulfill the historic
vision of its founders."
Some were alarmed by President Bush's use of the term, but it
was largely seen in the context of the fall of the Berlin Wall and the
end of the cold war. Now, however, it seems many more Americans have
become quite alarmed after numerous remarks by President Barack Obama
indicating his desire to see a powerful "international order" to
solve the world's problems.
Influence of books on popular thought
British writer and futurist H.G.
Wells published a nonfiction book in 1940 titled The
New World Order. The book addressed the ideal of a world
without war in which law and order emanated from a world-governing body
and collectivist economy.
Other books have taken a negative view. Consider two popular dystopian
novels where a society promoted by the rulers as a utopia becomes,
in reality, a nightmare.
Brave New World is a 1932 novel by Aldous
Huxley about life in London in A.D. 2540. It describes a totalitarian
state in which everyone is kept preoccupied and "happy" by
hypnotic recordings, propaganda, disinformation, materialistic consumption,
promiscuous sex and drugs.
Nineteen Eighty-Four is a 1949 novel by George
Orwell picturing a world of pervasive government surveillance (by "Big
Brother") and incessant public mind
control.
American televangelist Pat
Robertson in his 1991 book The
New World Order popularized the NWO theory that rich and
powerful people, banks, secret and semisecret societies, and other
groups conspire together to form the shadow government that controls
world events from behind the scenes, steering us constantly and covertly
in the direction of world government under the Antichrist.
Many other books and booklets about an NWO have been marketed as well.
Fears of the New World Order
Until about 1990, most people ignored the warnings of conspiracy theorists
about a coming NWO. But in addition to the other influences, the Internet
has given a powerful worldwide voice to all the conspiracy theorists
and subcultures.
And globalization is proceeding at an astonishing pace, having major
impacts on the nations and peoples of the world—impacts good and
bad.
Would a New World Order be good or bad? An NWO implies that all nations
surrender their sovereignty to a world-ruling government. For nearly
a century, the world has depended on the protection and leadership provided
by a strong, independent United States of America. Considering the corruption
that absolute power seems to always bring, a powerful world government
ruled by human beings would be a catastrophe for the United States and
all the world.
But that doesn't mean we need to research all the different conspiracy
theories out there. The real and important truth about the past, present
and future of the world is in the Bible!
The real conspiracy and the real solution
The power of human conspiracies is usually overemphasized. But throughout
history, there has been one superpowerful conspiracy by Satan the devil, "who
deceives the whole world" (Revelation 12:9).
Will an NWO happen? In a sense, the answer is that the world is going
to experience two! First, there will be a New World Order that
will be bad and ugly—a dystopia. Satan will mastermind the formation
of an international government and religious system referred to in the
Bible as "the beast" and "Babylon the great" (Revelation
17:5-7, 13). They will dominate "all the nations" and "the
kings of the earth" and "the merchants of the earth" (Revelation
18:1-4).
But Jesus Christ, the "King of Kings," will destroy that
order (disorder!) and will replace it with a worldwide utopia—the
glorious Kingdom of God (Revelation 19:11-16). He loves His human creation
and has our best interests at heart. His government will never be corrupted
but will produce a world where disease will be replaced with health,
hunger will be banished by abundance and everyone will be able to achieve
his or her full potential.
For more about what the Bible says about what's coming immediately
ahead of us and the good news on beyond, see "The
New World Disorder: Where Is It Taking Us?" and The
Gospel of the Kingdom. Turn to the pages of your Bible to understand
Christ's coming new world order that will be good and
beautiful in every sense!
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