unity. Parents should expect to hear about these themes from their children as April 22 approaches.

Leaving energy conservation aside, I would like to discuss the global unity theme. Among many activities planned around this theme, there will be an "International Earth Flag Campaign." Children everywhere will be taught the Earth Day theme song, "The Time Has Come," as well as The Earth Pledge:

The Earth Pledge

I pledge to protect the Earth,

And to respect the web of life upon it,

and to honor the dignity,

Of every member of our global family.

One planet, One people, One world, in harmony,

With peace, justice, and freedom for all.

That "One World" phrase has been around for a long time. It has had a particular meaning to those who have used it at least as far back as the days of Wendell Wilkie, who wrote a book of that title. That meaning is nothing less than the establishment of a worldwide super-government to rule over the formerly independent nation states. "Well," you might protest, "that is just two words strung together. Different people could mean different things by that phrase. How is the Earth Pledge connected to the kooky ideas of Wendell Wilkie and his ilk?"

Good question. The answer is that many of the promoters of Earth Day, from the original observance in 1970 to the twenty fifth anniversary this year, have been part of the One World clique. Earth Day USA literature identifies an organization called One World Inc. as the originator of the Earth Pledge itself. One of the three founding board members of Earth Day USA, Claes Nobel, is chairman of something called United Earth. Earth Day founder Gaylord Nelson was a signer of the infamous "Declaration of Interdependence," which symbolized the globalists' repudiation of national sovereignty.

Literature promoting the original Earth Day reveals a lot about the thinking of those who founded, nurtured, and in many cases still run the Earth Day organizations. One article by John Fischer, in The Environmental Handbook, encouraged people to ask the following questions: "Are nation-states actually feasible, now that they have power to destroy each other in a single afternoon?...What price would most people be willing to pay for a more durable kind of human organization ( more taxes, giving up national flags, perhaps the sacrifice of some of our hard-won liberties?" Saturday Review editor Norman Cousins's 1970 Earth Day message said that "Humanity needs a world order. The fully sovereign nation is incapable of dealing with the poisoning of the environment," and that "management of the planet...requires world government."

Besides its world government orientation, the Earth Day literature of 1970 was chock full of ideas that would be repulsive to most of the people who innocently observe Earth Day each spring. For example, to control population, one petition in the Handbook demanded that "therefore, at least 10 percent of the defense budget must be allocated to birth control and abortion in the US and abroad." Another sugges- tion was to "Outlaw the sale of reciprocating internal combustion engines by 1975." Denis Hayes, still prominent in this year's Earth Day movement, advocated "pulling the US off of oil, coal and nuclear energy in the course of the next 25 or 30 years." Garrett Hardin stated in the Handbook that "We must admit that our legal system of private proper- ty plus inheritance is unjust..." Finally, we have Rennie Davis's speech in the book Earth Day ( The Beginning: "Earth Day is for the sons and daughters of the American Revolution who are going to tear this capitalism down and set us free."

Many of our children's teachers will be using in their classrooms materials provided by Earth Day USA and related globalist organizations. The Earth Pledge will be among the materials offered to teachers. Do parents and teachers really want our children and students exposed to anything that comes from such sources? Sure, the wording of the Earth Pledge is ambiguous compared to the sentiments expressed by Earth Day's originators back in 1970 (no doubt intentionally so). Most of those who use it will do so entirely innocent- ly. But why should we and our children get involved with a pledge of such scandalous heritage? As for me and my family, we will continue to pledge our allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the Republic for which it stands...

Dave Neuendorf

Please feel free to respond to my columns via email to me or letters to the editor of the Aurora Journal-Press at Register Publications, 126 W. High St., Lawrenceburg, IN 47025.

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