Let's take a perspective from the Christian belief system and specifically look at how things might play out in the future between humanity and the leaders who will fill the worlds -a- stage.
The bible tells us that the false prophet will undertake the ideological and religious brainwashing of humanity on behalf of the Antichrist. He will emerge from almost anywhere and he will gain full control over the people within a short space of time. The religions of the world will then be exploited to make their followers subservient to the Antichrist and also to worship him. Revelation 13:14-18 clearly states that the false prophet will deceive the world into worshipping the beast and receiving his mark and number on their right hands and foreheads. This means that the world will be united in the political, religious and economic spheres under the leadership of the Antichrist.
(BTW - It is my personal opinion that the mark of the beast will actually be, Money. Though today we see money scattered in the form of bills, checks, credit cards, money orders, coin, etc these will all combine into a single system, most likely a chip. This chip will contain your health vitals, medical, insurance, legal records and be the means by which you purchase things. Accepting this chip will be your acceptance of the Mark. Perhaps only very minor evidence still exists of this fact. It can be found within an ancient measuring system that has long since disappeared. WIthin this ancient measuring system the amount 666 was equivalant to roughly one troy ounce of gold. And where we see the evidence of this measuring system is on sterling silver, where 999 shows up as a flipped 666, and instead of it refering to a weight amount it is based upon purity. This is potentially the very last of any known existing references to defining what the mark of the beast is. But please believe me, the mark of the beast is MONEY)
The way of thinking that will be fundamental to the world empire of the Antichrist is monism, which means everything is one. This unified ideal has two perspectivegh roads though; the horizontal, (human dimension) and the vertical, (cosmic dimension):
Let's look at how each might play out:
UNITED WORLD
In the horizontal perspective unity must first be established in the world by building bridges and eradicating boundaries in all spheres of life. Social unity must be realised with a view to establishing an integrated society of planetary citizens who are non-sexist, non-racial, multi-religious, and multi-cultural. A process of internationalisation must also occur politically and economically which will lead to the founding of a world government and a global monetary system. The ecumenical movement must promote religious unity in the world. These building-blocks of the new world order are regarded as critically important for the achieving of harmony and peace, and consequently also for the emergence of the long-expected Utopia on earth.
The Antichrist needs a unitary ideology and reforms of this nature if he is to appear on the scene as a political world leader, a universal religious messiah, and head of a world economy. The more nationalistic and religious divisions there are, the less his chances are of establishing a united, international order under his control. However, the New Age Movement, the new world order, the ecumenical movement, and the globalisation of industry, business and finance, are working hard to promote a spirit of globalism and mutual acceptance for him. They will pursue these aims with much greater dedication after the false prophet has appeared.
COSMIC UNITY
The second perspective is that of cosmic unity. For humanity to further development to higher levels of divinity contact must be made with spiritual entities and forces in the cosmos. People must be taught how to contact spirit-guides and masters of wisdom in cosmic spheres. The objective is that all people should be assisted by higher beings to realise their full potential, and to make progress on the spiritual evolutionary ladder from the level of homo sapiens to that of homo universalis (the universal man), also referred to as homo novus (the new man). The entire human family must also be collectively assisted to make the transition to the age of Aquarius. This has passed as we have been in the age of Aquarius for three years now. Apart from spiritism and other techniques, transcendental meditation is regarded as a highly effective method of achieving an alternative state of consciousness and of becoming one with the cosmic world.
The false prophet will be highly exalted in the hierarchy of cosmic masters of wisdom. He will occupy the second place after the Antichrist, and be able to perform amazing signs and wonders. He will even make fire come down from heaven and, according to Revelation 13:14, this sign will deceive the nations into worshipping the Antichrist.
The false prophet will apply the ideology of "everything is one" to its fullest extent. This means that there is no counter-reality of a devil and a hell, that all religions are one, and that there is only one universal messiah – the Antichrist. Lucifer (Satan) will, therefore, be worshipped as an angel of light in the place of God. The only negative element in this ideology of unity will be those people who refuse to unconditionally accept and implement this ideology. They will be not only evangelical Christians but due to the interenet access to so much knowledge they will be people from all beliefs and all walks of life.
It is obvious that most religious world-views are diametrically opposed to the monistic philosophy of the Antichrist. The Bible does not teach us monism – everything is one, but dualism – everything is two.
The real question then becomes, "To what will the majority of the people choose?" Cosmic Unity? Or a United World? And does this heavily slanted story from the Christians really have to play out the way its been written? Must it all be so negative? By the book? Or could the poeple of this world somehow pleasantly surprise that story with the worlds majority starting to do what is right? Could we derail the looming despair the bible so clearly suggests is on the way? I believe we can derail the negatives of the story from happening, in fact I know we can. Do you?