Religious cults and sects - United Religions Initiative

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About the United Religions Initiative

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United Religions Initiative

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The stated purpose of the United Religious Initiative is "to promoting enduring, daily interfaith cooperation, ending religiously motivated violence and creating cultures of peace, justice and healing for the Earth and all living beings." URI, the brainchild of Episcopal Bishop William Swing of San Francisco, and patterned after the United Nations, envisions "a world where the values and teachings of the great wisdom traditions guide people's service, where people respect one another's beliefs, and where the resourcefulness and passion of people working together bring healing and a more hopeful future to the Earth community."

Through its uncritical acceptance of the claims and practices of all religions, URI's interfaith approach promotes religious pluralism. URI's charter expressly forbids proselytizing (evangelism) among URI's members.

Along the way, a few organized religions have endorsed the effort, but the Roman Catholic authority, the fundamentalist Southern Baptists, and even Episcopalian leadership -- some have called Swing a "heretic" -- have not given the initiative their blessings.

Religions summit focuses on ending violence worldwide, Post-Gazette, June 26, 2000

URI condones and cooperates with the Interfaith Center of New York & Temple of Understanding, and the Council for a Parliament of World Religions.

While some of URI's objectives may be worthwhile, its attempts at creating religious unity through compromise cannot be endorsed by Christians.

- Articles -

The case against the United Religions Initiative

by Lee Penn. This is the introduction to his proposed book about the United Religions Initiative (URI) and the New Age movement. Portions of his article have been published in the New Oxford Review and the Journal of the Spiritual Counterfeits Project. See also this collection of Lee Penn's articles about URI.

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» Database of archived news items
(Includes items added between Oct. 25, 1999 and Jan. 31, 2002. See about this database)

Older item: (Apr. 10, 1999) Uniting different religions for a common good

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The United Religions Initiative

Lee Penn's collection of articles about URI. Portions have been published in New Oxford Review and in the Journal of the Spiritual Counterfeits Project

United Religions Initiative

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