By Judi McLeod
Thursday, January 4, 2007
First pit stop for rookie UN Chief Ban Ki-Moon on his first day on the job: the Meditation Room.
That's where Ban headed right after the welcoming applause accorded him by dozens of UN staffers.
Perhaps Wayne Madsen was right when he mused, "Some informed UN sources are concerned that Moon lists his religious affiliation as "non-denominational Christian," a code word often used by the "Moonies" for the Unification Church."
Self-proclaimed messiah Rev. Sun Myung Moon, a South Korean billionaire who served time in a U.S. prison for tax evasion, leads the Unification Church.
Evasive is the adjective that best describes how Ban answered a pointed question from a Financial Times reporter at an October press conference about whether or not he believed in God.
"Now, as Secretary-General, it will not be appropriate at this time to talk about my own belief in any particular religion or god. So maybe we will have some other time to talk about personal matters. Thank you," Ban replied.
The bizarre brainchild of the late Dag Hammarskjld, the UN Meditation Room is built in the shape of a truncated pyramid. In the center is an altar made out of magnetite, the largest natural piece of magnetite ever mined. For meditation purposes it is probably the most ideal spot on the planet, since the magnetite altar has its foundation straight down, built into the bedrock of the land below; tapping into the energies of the earth itself. The mysterious mural also helps the worshippers tune into esoteric energies, and helps facilitate a state of altered consciousness. (United Nations Watch).
No self-respecting Christian would come to pray at the Meditation Room whose custodian is the Lucis Trust, formerly known as the Lucifer Publishing Co.
The room was a favorite haunt of former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, who was married to his Swedish wife there.
On September 12, 2001 when many people were locked in shock and grief from the events of the day before, Annan was saying a prayer at UN headquarters for the Meditation Room.
"Next week, we shall commemorate the fortieth anniversary of the death of Dag Hammarskjld, a man of great wisdom and spirituality, who gave his life in the service of the United Nations. So it may be appropriate if I remind you of his words which are posted outside the Meditation Room in the Visitors' Lobby.
"He wrote that, because "people of many faiths" would meet in that room, it was not possible to use any of "the symbols to which we are accustomed in our meditation". But "there are simple things which speak to us all in the same language"."
After describing some of those things, which are in the Meditation Room, Annan went on to explain that the altar is empty"not because there is no God, not because it is an altar to an unknown God, but because it is dedicated to the God whom man worships under many names and in many forms".
"I think those words capture the secular spirit of the United Nations. It is not anti-religious. Quite the opposite. It needs the support of all religions.
"It needs all your prayers, just as it needs all your support in other, more practical ways."
Ban certainly got the message.
And the symbolic rush to the Meditation Room on his first day in office is not the only testament of his allegiance to the outgoing Annan.
Ban, the former foreign minister of South Korea named Mexican Alicia BarcenaKofi Annan's former chief of staffto the key post of administration and management, a job previously held by American Christopher Burnham.
Indeed, the administration and management job traditionally has gone to an American.
Putting someone other than an American at the office's helm would be perceived in many quarters as a slap at the United States for its push for UN reform, which has met stubborn resistance from the so-called G-77 group of developing nations, who are allied on the reform issue with China, a UN official told Fox News.
The appointment of Barcena comes with an ominous hint of how Ban will lead the scandal-plagued United Nations.
"Barcena's career has focused not on management expertise but on public policies for sustainable development and the linkages between environment, economy and social issues. According to the United Nations, she focused her work on financing for sustainable development." (Fox News).
"Barcena was the founding director of the Earth Council in Costa Rica and served as director-general of the National Institute of Fisheries and the first vice minister of ecology while working for the government of Mexico. She also taught and researched on natural sciences.
"Barcena also is a onetime protege of Maurice Strong, the former special adviser to Annan who resigned his last UN post after it was revealed he had received about $1 million for a family-owned firm that originally came from Saddam Hussein and had ties to the Oil-for-Food scandal. She also has ties to outgoing Deputy Secretary-General Mark Malloch Brown."
Will Ban Ki-Moon's UN leadership differ from that of Kofi Annan's?
Don't bet the family farm on it.
Canada Free Press founding editor Most recent by Judi McLeod is an award-winning journalist with 30 years experience in the print media. Her work has appeared on Newsmax.com, Drudge Report, Foxnews.com, Glenn Beck. Judi can be reached at: judi@canadafreepress.com
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