November 22

Do You Believe Everything You Read?

“ALL I know is what I read in the papers.” That was the byword of the American cowboy philosopher and humorist Will Rogers.

How do you feel about it? Do you think it is wise to believe everything you read?

No doubt much of the public press tries to stay as close to the facts as possible. And one can learn a great deal of factual and valuable information from what is printed.

But it must be kept in mind that nearly all of this world’s publications are business enterprises. Thus some writers, editors and publishers may cater to certain interests, fearing to offend readers or advertisers. Or they may tend toward the sensational and bizarre to attract readers, even if it means distorting the truth.

Also, an item may be written in good faith; but where did the reporter get the information? What was his original source? Was it reliable, or was the information based on hearsay? And did either the source or the report reflect personal prejudices rather than unbiased facts?

Then there is the tendency on the part of many readers to believe what they want to believe instead of weighing the evidence. Thus, if facts are slanted, prejudiced, even wrong, those who prefer to believe that viewpoint may eagerly accept it. But do you think that is the wise and safe course, working for the person’s good?

On the other hand, a person may believe that a certain thing is right, and it may indeed be right. But if, to support that belief, he grasps hold of evidence that has a weak foundation and that later is discredited, the result could be a weakening of his confidence in something that may be actually true.

“Credibility Gap”

When something is credible, it is believable. In recent years, more and more people are aware of what is often called a “credibility gap” as to the information they are getting. They may read one thing, but later find out that this was not true at all. Thus, a “gap” exists between what was reported and what eventually turned out to be the truth.

A famous instance of this took place in 1960. The government of American president Dwight Eisenhower was caught in a flagrant falsehood about an American U-2 aircraft lost over the Soviet Union. Spokesmen for the administration claimed that the plane was a weather craft that had accidentally strayed over the Soviet Union.

However, it turned out that the plane was shot down deep inside Russia and the pilot captured. Administration officials then acknowledged that it was indeed a “spy plane,” and that such flights had been going on with their full knowledge for about four years. The claim that this was a strayed plane was exposed as a deliberate falsehood.

In the book Anything but the Truth, by William McGaffin and Erwin Knoll, it is stated: “J. R. Wiggins, the editor of the Washington Post, has observed that ‘a government that too readily rationalizes its right to lie in a crisis will never lack for either lies or crises.’”

Thus it is the course of wisdom to exercise care when reading about the political affairs of this world. But this care is also needed when reading about other things. This even includes claims that certain discoveries verify the Bible’s authenticity.

“Missing Day” Verified?

An example of this is the case of the “Missing Day.” Some months ago a Mr. Harold Hill of Baltimore, Maryland, circulated copies of a story that was then widely reprinted in newspapers throughout the United States.

Mr. Hill stated that at the Greenbelt, Maryland, space center scientists were checking by computer the position of the sun, moon and planets to determine where these bodies would be in the future. Scanning centuries back and forth, computer calculations reportedly revealed that in the past there was a 24-hour day missing. One of the scientists was said to have remembered the Bible account of Joshua, chapter 10, which says that the ‘sun stood still’ for about a whole day. The computer was allegedly put back to work and found the missing time of Joshua’s account to be 23 hours and 20 minutes.

However, the story continued, what of the other 40 minutes? The same scientist reportedly then remembered the Bible account of Second Kings, chapter 20, which tells that King Hezekiah was given a sign as proof that he would recover from illness. The sign was that the shadow of a sundial would go backward “ten degrees” (Authorized Version), which is 40 minutes of time. Hence, put together, the two Bible accounts make up the 24 hours, the “Missing Day” that the computer is said to have found.

Was this published report true? A letter of inquiry was sent to Mr. Hill asking for further details concerning his account. In his reply he stated: “I am sorry I have misplaced the documentation relative to the names and places connected with the ‘Missing Day’ account, but will be glad to forward it to you when I come across it.” That was many months ago. To this date no documentation has been forthcoming.

In addition, Awake! magazine sent a letter of inquiry to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s Goddard Space Flight Center at Greenbelt, Maryland. It asked officials there for verification of the story. Chief of the center’s Office of Public Affairs, Edward Mason, replied by letter: “We know nothing of Mr. Harold Hill and in no way can corroborate the ‘lost day’ reference in the article.” Mr. Mason added: “Although we make use of planetary positions as necessary in the determination of spacecraft orbits on our computers, I have not found that any ‘astronauts and space scientists at Greenbelt’ were involved in the ‘lost day’ story attributed to Mr. Hill.”

Does verification of this report of computer findings exist? It would be good not to say it does unless solid documentation comes along, particularly in view of the fact that Mr. Hill claims to have ‘personally seen the Lord Jesus Christ.’

Also, it must be regarded as very strange, to say the least, that an almost identical story is related in the book The Harmony of Science and Scripture by Harry Rimmer. But that book was first published in 1936! In a chapter entitled “Modern Science and the Long Day of Joshua” Rimmer refers to a book written in 1890 by a Professor C. A. Totten of Yale and claims that it “establishes the case beyond the shadow of a doubt.”

In Rimmer’s version of Totten’s account, it is an “accomplished astronomer” who is said to have discovered that the earth was 24 hours out of schedule. In trying to prove it, the astronomer reportedly found by his astronomical calculations that the time of the “Missing Day” was only 23 hours and 20 minutes long. But then Professor Totten reportedly called the astronomer’s attention to the fact that Joshua did not say it was an entire day, but “about” the space of a day. He then is said to have found that the account of King Hezekiah filled in the other 40 minutes.

These two accounts are almost identical. However, the modern one, of 1970, attributes the discovery to space scientists and computers at Greenbelt (who in turn deny it); the older account of 1936 attributes it to an “accomplished astronomer” mentioned in a book written by someone else in 1890!

However, the lack of verification for such claims does not alter the truthfulness of the Bible. The Bible is God’s Word. It speaks the truth, for God cannot lie. (2 Tim. 3:16, 17; John 17:17; Titus 1:2) Christians have an abundance of evidence showing that the Bible is what it claims to be, the Word of God. They do not need, nor would it be wise to try to build faith on anything that cannot be proved to have a solid foundation.

Noah’s Ark Found?

In the past year there has also been much publicity regarding an expedition sent to find Noah’s ark on Mt. Ararat. Much of this publicity centers around the claims of Fernand Navarra.

Science News of June 13, 1970, stated: “In 1955, Fernand Navarra, a French industrialist and amateur explorer, found on Mt. Ararat in eastern Turkey an estimated 50 tons of wood buried in the finger of a glacial ice pack. The site of the find is 14,000 feet high, several thousand feet above the tree line and over 300 miles from the nearest trees of any size. . . . Navarra has claimed that the artifact is a piece of the Biblical Ark of Noah.”

Some estimated that the wood was about 4,000 to 5,000 years old. However, other findings using radiocarbon measurement yielded more recent figures, although these could have been influenced by contamination of the wood with carbon-14 more recently formed in the upper atmosphere and brought down in rain and snow.

Then, in 1969, more wood was found near the 1955 site. Further excavation was to have taken place in the summer of 1970 under the direction of Search Foundation, Inc. However, Turkey barred the expedition from access to Mt. Ararat, citing “security reasons.” Attempts were made to reverse this decision.

This is not the first claim of a possible finding of the Ark. There have been many sensational reports in past centuries. Some claim to have seen a ship. Others, the prow of a ship. Another report says that an investigating team found and examined several rooms in a boatlike structure. But it was not possible to follow up on those claims and establish them beyond doubt.

About ten years ago, a shape was seen on Mt. Ararat that did look boatlike. Pictures of it were published in magazines. But investigators went to the spot and found that it was only an unusual earth formation. True, the current interest does not center on that place, but elsewhere on the mountain.

Yet, it would be wise to exercise caution. Even if the wood were pre-Flood, was the Ark the only hand-hewn structure of that time? Is it not possible that structures destroyed by the Flood could have had their remains carried by the floodwaters to different places, including Mt. Ararat? Is it not possible, too, that a wooden structure could have been built on Mt. Ararat long after the flood of Noah’s day?

Some may want to believe that what is up there is Noah’s ark and so may dogmatically claim that it is, before conclusive evidence is obtained. But what if later evidence proves that this was not the Ark? Will that weaken their belief in the Flood and in the Bible account of Noah’s ark? It would not be the first time that the faith of people had been damaged by believing evidence that was unfounded while the event itself was the truth.

Hence, until there is far more evidence than at present, it would not be the course of wisdom to pin one’s hopes on such a find to verify a Bible account. Really, Christians do not need it. They have the record of God’s own Word on the matter. He was an eyewitness to the entire event. So, too, we have the record of Noah, who was an eyewitness to it on earth. And we have the record that Jesus Christ himself accepted the global flood as historical fact.​—Gen. 6:1-8:22; Luke 17:26, 27.

Also, there are the flood accounts common to almost every race or culture. So widespread an account is not likely to have been coincidental. Too, it is a well-established fact that a sudden watery death, and in many cases a quick freezing, overtook millions of living things in the past. Remains of these have been found in enormous quantities in places such as Alaska and Siberia. Some animals were so quickly frozen that vegetation was still in their mouths and stomachs.

Yet, even if the remains of Noah’s ark were found and definitely identified, would critics be any more convinced about the Bible’s accuracy? Would they then put their trust in it and its Author? Well, have the Dead Sea Scrolls of Isaiah convinced critics to put any more faith in the Bible and its Author than they had before? No, instead they have spent years bickering about details of spelling, letter shapes, Essene doctrine, and so on. They have missed the real point regarding the preservation of God’s Word, and the putting of one’s trust in it and its Author.

Would critics of the global flood even “be persuaded if someone [say Noah himself] rises from the dead” and leads them to the Ark? (Luke 16:31) It is not likely. Jesus raised persons from the dead and that did not convince his critics. Why, when Jesus resurrected a man named Lazarus, the religious critics wanted to put Jesus to death! And not only that, but they “took counsel to kill Lazarus also”!​—John 11:45-53; 12:9-11.

No, it is not the facts about the Bible’s truthfulness that are missing. These are in abundance and solidly testify to the Bible’s being the Word of God. What is missing where critics are concerned is the right heart condition. They do not want to believe. Nor do they want to subject themselves to Jehovah God’s arrangements or moral laws.

Closing Eyes at Baptism?

Another example of how misleading and downright false an item can be was an article reported by the Associated Press from Mufulira, Zambia.

The Associated Press dispatch said: “Members of the Watchtower sect are supposed to keep their eyes tightly closed when co-religionists undergo their baptismal rites. Fortunately, someone had his eyes open when Davison Kapysa was dipped in the Kafue River in the presence of 200 Watchtower members. A crocodile grabbed Kapysa’s leg but the solitary peeper gave the alarm before the reptile could drag its victim off.”

From this report, an uninformed reader could conclude that when Jehovah’s witnesses are present at a baptism, they must close their eyes when someone is being baptized. Yet, if the Associated Press had checked with any representative of Jehovah’s witnesses it would have found the information in error, for the truth is exactly to the contrary. Jehovah’s witnesses who are present at baptisms are there to be observers and eyewitnesses. They could hardly be that if they kept their eyes closed when others were being baptized!

Weigh What You Read

With so much propaganda in the world today, it is good to exercise caution. When reading about important matters, analyze the available facts. Ask yourself, Is there a solid foundation for what is being said, or is it merely hearsay? Is the source reliable? If the evidence is flimsy, wait for further verification.

Another consideration: who is more likely to print the truth​—those devoted to the God of truth, Jehovah, and not doing their work for commercial profit? or those who seek to make a profit, who have advertisers and other vested interests with which they must be concerned? The answer is obvious.

[Picture on page 4]

Have scientists really confirmed a Bible account by means of a computer?

[Picture on page 5]

Has a part of Noah’s ark been found?

Fish as Food

● Fish flesh is rich in the proteins, fats, minerals and vitamins that man needs. The annual catch of the world fisheries is about 100,000,000,000 pounds. Oils from fish livers supply a large part of the vitamins man uses, especially of vitamin A and vitamin D.

The Tongue​—Amazing in Design

A LITTLE piece of muscle is all it is. But what an amazing design! For the tongue can form all the sounds spoken in the hundreds of languages known to man. It is also a taster supreme, being able to differentiate between sweet and sour, hot and cold, salty and bitter in a way that brings delight to men everywhere. In fact, without it you would find it very difficult even to eat.

Yes, this amazingly versatile organ is also designed to move food around effortlessly, placing and holding it between the teeth for proper chewing and then moving it to the back of the throat to be swallowed.

If you enjoyed your food today, if the flavor made your mouth water, the tongue played a big part in your enjoyment. The tongue helps to mix saliva with the food we are enjoying, thus sparing us the possibility of stomach trouble later. It can even tell us if the food is good or bad by our sense of taste, which is located chiefly in the tongue. That is why you will see a cook tasting what is being cooked, to see if it is just right or if a little more seasoning needs to be added. Just a sip will tell the story.

Complicated Design

Though the human tongue seems to be a rather simple piece of muscle, a closer study of it shows that it is really a rather complicated organ designed with great intelligence. It has muscles that run in different directions, and this accounts for its being exceptionally movable and pliant. Some run lengthwise, others crosswise, some vertically. This makes it possible to shorten or lengthen the tongue, make it rise or descend, turn its tip in different directions or narrow it and turn the edges upward. It is this versatility that makes it possible to move food around in the mouth, pushing it between the teeth or even finding and holding a bit of grit that might not have been noticed in the salad.

In addition to the tongue’s being covered with mucous membrane, on its surface can be found four kinds of little protrusions called papillae. For example, one kind are made up of little cone-shaped projections that cover the whole surface as well as the borders and tip of the tongue. It is these that make the tongue in the cat family so rasplike that they can easily scrape bones clean of all flesh.

Next, there is another kind that are about the size of the head of a pin. They resemble a miniature toadstool, from which they got their name (fungiform). Located mostly at the tip and sides of the tongue, they are pink in color and usually contain special taste buds.

Another kind number just seven to ten in all and are arranged across the back of the tongue, being surrounded by taste buds. They can be seen with the naked eye.

Finally, scientists speak of a fourth kind that can be found on the sides of the tongue and in the folds of the mucous membrane at the back of the tongue.

A simple piece of muscle? Far from it. The tongue is of intricate design and of great value to its owner. Besides being so sensitive to taste and heat, the tongue is more sensitive to touch than any other part of the body.

Variety of Amazing Designs

In the animal realm a wide variety of amazing designs can be found. For example, consider the forked tongue of the snake. Some persons believe that a poisonous snake bites with its flicking tongue, thereby pouring poison into its victim, but such is not the case. It uses its teeth for that purpose. Besides being forked, the tongue of a snake is narrow and very sensitive. The snake will put it out of its mouth from time to time to feel the air. Then when it touches the sense cavities or so-called Jacobson’s organ in the roof of its mouth with the tip of its tongue, the scent molecules from the air, which have stuck to the tongue, give it a sense of smell. A tongue for smelling? Yes, the snakes have it. They even have a sheath into which the tongue may be withdrawn so that it will not become damaged when not in use.

The chameleon has a specialized, telescopic tongue that is exceptionally long for its size. Patiently and slowly this little creature will approach its potential meal until it has come close enough. Then, fast as lightning, it shoots its tongue out and the insect taste-treat is stuck to it. Rather similarly, most frogs have a long, protruding tongue that they use like a flyswatter to catch insects.

Ant bears or anteaters are champions when it comes to a fast draw with the tongue. When they tear open a termite nest with their powerful claws, then, so quickly that it can hardly be seen, their tongue starts to work. Their nose is long, and the tongue comes out of the mouth like a shot from a blowgun. It is long, fast-moving, and covered with a sticky substance. So, all the anteater has to do is draw its tongue back into its mouth and the termites that have stuck to it are drawn in for a tasty meal. Similarly the Asiatic pangolin, a type of scaly anteater, has a long, wormlike tongue used to capture ants for dinner.

Birds also have remarkably designed tongues. For example, the woodpecker has a tongue with a barbed and slimy tip ideally suited for snaring and withdrawing grubs from decaying trees. Then there is the beautiful little hummingbird that uses its amazing tongue like a drinking straw! For its drinks of nectar it flies from flower to flower. Though a very small bird, some species measuring only two and a half to three inches from the tip of the bill to the tip of the tail, it is heavy enough so that frail flowers cannot hold its weight. So it hovers close by the flower, using its long, slender tongue to draw out the sweet liquid by the suction method.

The bloodsucking lamprey, an eellike fish that lives on the Mediterranean and North Atlantic coasts, has a remarkable tongue. It is a strong muscle covered with horny membrane. This the lamprey uses like a suction pump to anchor itself to rocks or attach itself to other fish to suck nourishment from them.

Vegetation eaters like the giraffe also have marvelously designed tongues. The tongue of the giraffe may be as long as twenty inches and can quickly curl around and tear off leafy material for consumption.

The prize for the biggest tongue of all must go to the whale. It has been reported that the tongue of a one-hundred-foot blue whale can weigh 6,600 pounds. In fact, the tongue of one eighty-nine-foot-long blue whale, when weighed with its roots, was about as heavy as an average-size elephant. Imagine the strength it takes to move a tongue like that!

But besides tongues for hunting, sucking, scraping and tearing, what about their use for cleaning and first aid? Do not forget the domestic cat and how enjoyably it washes itself every day with its tongue, just as most animals do. And do not cats, dogs and other animals carefully bathe and cleanse a wound with their tongues? Or if you lose a tooth, do you not find your tongue taking much interest in the matter, carefully and tenderly probing the area?

Tongue Care and Usage

Such a remarkable and necessary organ certainly deserves our attentive care, because even this resilient member of our body can be abused. Interestingly, the Encyclopædia Britannica says that chronic inflammation of the tongue may be caused by the irritation of decayed teeth or an ill-fitted plate of artificial teeth, or by excessive smoking. Since such chronic inflammation may lead to cancer, it states: “The treatment demands the removal of every source of irritation . . . Smoking must be absolutely and entirely given up . . . and everything else which is likely to be a cause of irritation must be avoided.”

Good it is, too, to avoid irritation caused by the improper use of the tongue in speech. Screaming, angry and abusive speech irritate others and bring no benefit to anyone. “Death and life are in the power of the tongue,” the inspired proverb tells us. (Prov. 18:21) A person can train his tongue to speak what is good and to help others, but first he must train his mind in harmony with the wisdom from the great Designer of the tongue, Jehovah God. Then our tongues can be used for promoting peace and happiness among our families and friends, all to the praise of the Creator, whose wisdom can be seen in the tongue’s amazing design.

The Battle of the Brick Barrel

● Do you have days when everything seems to go wrong? Well, when you read what happened some years ago to a man in Barbados perhaps your problems will not seem so bad after all. His letter to his employers explained what happened when he went to repair a building damaged by a hurricane:

“I rigged up a beam with a pulley at the top of the building and hoisted up a couple of barrels full of bricks. When I had fixed the building, there was a lot of bricks left over. I hoisted the barrel back up again and secured the line at the bottom, and then went up and filled the barrel with extra bricks. Then I went to the bottom and cast off the line. Unfortunately, the barrel of bricks was heavier than I was and before I knew what was happening the barrel started down, jerking me off the ground. I decided to hang on and halfway up I met the barrel coming down and received a severe blow on the shoulder. I then continued to the top, banging my head against the beam and getting my finger jammed in the pulley. When the barrel hit the ground it bursted its bottom, allowing all the bricks to spill out. I was now heavier than the barrel and so started down again at high speed. Halfway down, I met the barrel coming up and received severe injuries to my shins. When I hit the ground I landed on the bricks, getting several painful cuts from the sharp edges. At this point I must have lost my presence of mind, because I let go the line. The barrel then came down giving me another heavy blow on the head and putting me in the hospital. I respectfully request sick leave.”

Ever Tasted Bird’s-Nest Soup?

By “Awake!” correspondent in Singapore

WHAT? Real bird’s-nest soup? Yes, made from a bird’s nest, just as anyone familiar with Chinese cuisine will tell you. This light, clear soup with delicate flavor is made from the edible nest of a swiftlet.

This bird measures some four and a half to five and a half inches from beak to tail. It is fast-flying, for the most part collecting its food while on the wing. It is sooty brown in color, frequents tropical coastlands and may be found as far north as South Vietnam and as far south as the Queensland coast of Australia.

The swiftlet actually weaves its nest with strands of its own coagulated saliva. The nest is glued to the roof or wall of some almost inaccessible cave. Harvesting of the nests is done early in the breeding season. First, all the old nests are swept off the cave walls or roof. Borneo natives will climb vertical bamboo poles to heights of a hundred feet or more, and with other balancing poles knock down the nests. As soon as new nests are constructed they are harvested, and this will be repeated several times. But finally the nests are left alone so that the birds may breed in peace.

The next step is to break the nests in pieces, dry them in the sun and ship them to towns and cities where native Chinese enjoy them in their homes or proudly introduce them to foreign guests in their restaurants.

Chinese appreciation of the bird’s nest goes deeper than mere taste buds. One well schooled in the traditions will tell you that there is medicinal value in this dish. True, medical science has given no official confirmation of the claim, but chemical analysis reveals that the gelatinous nest consists mainly of protein, with some carbohydrates and usable amounts of calcium, iron and thiamine.

Upper- and middle-class people can usually afford this soup whenever they are in the mood for it. In Western cities, of course, the cost will be quite high, but in Asian cities it is less expensive, even being sold at roadside stalls.

Perhaps the most adventurous way to experience it is to prepare it in one’s own kitchen. Here in Kuala Lumpur, as in most Southeast Asian cities, the bird’s nest is sold mainly in Chinese herbal medicine shops. As we enter one of these, the salesman politely inquires what we want.

“Yin woh,” we answer in Cantonese.

“Ah,” the salesman exclaims, assuming the air of an expert. “Let me recommend the best.” He takes out his goods and continues: “This is Pah Sai yin, the most popular variety among connoisseurs.”

“What makes it the best?”

“Because you can cook it for a whole day and the little strands will hold their shape. This type is from Borneo, and I can guarantee you will not be disappointed in it.”

It appears that the nests are available in various qualities, priced all the way from 24 Malay dollars per tahil (1-1/3 oz.) down to 7.50 Malay dollars for the local nests from Pulau Tioman. We do notice that the local variety is in loose strands, not at all like the tight spoon shape of the imported variety.

After some bargaining and consequent reduction in price, we speed home with our purchase. Overnight the nest is soaked in water. Then the first job in the morning is to settle down to picking away patiently in order to clean the bird’s down, feathers and other impurities from the softened, expanded nest.

An obliging Chinese neighbor informs us: “Just add enough water to the cleaned nest to attain the desired consistency, enough rock sugar for the right degree of sweetness. Then cook for two hours in a double boiler.”

Pressed for another savory recipe, she goes on: “A simple way is to cook the nest with some chicken and ham, both shredded, and the appropriate amount of water. Double boil for three hours. And to dress up the dish one can do a fu-yong, that is, stir a beaten egg into the soup just before lifting it from the stove.”

“When I got married over forty years ago,” she reminisced, “I had to serve tea to all the elder in-laws. And, since our families were well-to-do, the ‘tea’ we used was sweet bird’s-nest soup.”

Parental Decision Vindicated

By “Awake!” correspondent in Canada

THE above headlines flashed to the world the dramatic story of a mother’s courageous battle to protect her baby from a risky and unnecessary operation.

The scene: a hospital in Kingston, Ontario, Canada. The time: 1:30 a.m., April 2, 1970. A doctor was getting ready to force a blood transfusion on a newborn baby girl. The mother, Mrs. Lynn DeWaal, one of Jehovah’s witnesses, pleaded with the physician to use the alternate, safe, light treatment, phototherapy. He angrily refused. Courageously the mother with the help of her family took the baby out of the hospital, though two doctors tried by force to detain them.

Many people have had occasion to change doctors or hospitals. Usually no one is much concerned. This time a real furore broke loose. The story blazed across Canada, the United States, to Central America, Britain and Europe. Newspapers, radio and television played up the drama. Headlines screamed about the baby being “snatched,” about “abduction.” Doctors made dire predictions. A minister of the provincial government announced that charges had been laid against the mother; later he said no charges had been laid. The police got out a search warrant. The Children’s Aid Society asked for a custody order; the judge refused to proceed without proper notice, and the Crown Attorney admitted that the mother had a right to remove the child.

And what was behind all the excitement? A baby girl, Eunice Devina DeWaal, who came into the world in the early morning of April 1, at St. Francis General Hospital, Smiths Falls, Ontario. She weighed 8 pounds 5 ounces. Later in the day she developed signs of blood incompatibility, which one of the doctors described as a “mild case.”

Mrs. DeWaal was obliged to leave the hospital at 6 p.m. the same day the baby was born in order to attend court to get a divorce from her husband who had left her. The hospital staff assured her that the child would be there when she returned. When she got back two hours later, the baby was gone. Upon inquiry she found out that the infant had been taken by the Children’s Aid Society to the Kingston General Hospital some sixty miles away. The young mother drove to Kingston accompanied by her parents and brothers. There she found that the baby had been placed without her consent in the hands of Dr. D. G. Delahaye, who had been prominent in several cases of trying to force blood transfusions on children of Jehovah’s witnesses.

Mrs. DeWaal discussed with Dr. Delahaye the condition of her baby, Eunice Devina. He reported that her bilirubin count had gone up to 18 milligrams per 100 milliliters. Since the baby was strong and active, this count alone was hardly an indication for exchange transfusion. Delahaye’s attitude left no room for discussion: “I am going to give that child a blood transfusion if I have to go to jail for it,” he declared. He was asked to consider the less-risky treatment of phototherapy, but this he flatly refused.

In face of such a difference of opinion, who should decide: the mother? or the doctor? Doctors can be right, also they can be wrong! Whose baby is it? Who will lose most by a wrong decision​—the mother or the doctor? Who will be most deeply concerned to choose that which will be for the child’s welfare?

There are times, too, when medical decisions are made without the coolness and caution one expects from professional men. The Journal of the Canadian Medical Association carried an article admitting: “So often in the case of the Jehovah’s Witness the surgical team becomes emotional, confused and irrational . . . a great deal of intolerance exists toward members of the Jehovah’s Witness order.” Is a doctor who is ‘emotional and irrational’ likely to make the best decision for a child?

Medical Considerations

What are the determinative medical considerations that should have weighed in deciding on treatment for the DeWaal baby? Did her condition call for exchange transfusion or the alternative of phototherapy?

Professor Hans Keitel, a senior pediatrician at Jefferson Medical Centre and editor of the respected journal Pediatric Clinics of North America, analyzed the factors a physician should consider when faced with a baby who has a high bilirubin count. Under the heading “Failing to appreciate fully the risks of exchange transfusion” he admonished:

“The routine performance of an exchange if the bilirubin level rises to or approaches 20 mg. per 100 ml. in the first week of life is most unfortunate. [The bilirubin count of the DeWaal baby was at 18.] We must have the fortitude to tell parents the whole truth and to inform them of the uncertainties and the risks. Many believe it is far better to have a live child who has only a small chance of brain damage (if the bilirubin level does not rise over 25 mg. per 100 ml. for less than a day in the first week of life) than to risk the chances of a fatality.” (1965, Vol. 12, p. 210)

Mrs. DeWaal was one of those who wanted a “live child” and saw no need to risk an exchange transfusion (which could be fatal) when the bilirubin count was well below the recommended level of 25 milligrams per 100 milliliters.

While the risks of exchange transfusion are high, the phototherapy treatment (exposure to bright light or sunlight) requested by the mother comes well recommended in medical literature. It was described by Dr. J. A. Lucey in the medical journal Pediatrics, Volume 41, 1968, as “simple, inexpensive and safe.”

In insisting on the more dangerous procedure, was Dr. Delahaye being reasonable, or was this a sample of the ‘emotional and irrational’ behavior described in the Canadian Medical Association Journal?

Departure

Since the doctor declined to consider the wishes of the mother, it was decided to go elsewhere for treatment. Mrs. DeWaal was holding her baby. One of her companions said, “Come on, we’re getting out of here.” Dr. Delahaye grabbed the man’s jacket and replied, “Oh, no, you’re not!” A scuffle ensued. Two female members of the staff tried to wrestle the baby away from her mother, foolishly endangering the child and badly bruising the mother’s arm.

Still holding the baby, Mrs. DeWaal with the assistance of her brother got to the elevator (it was the seventh floor). As the descent was made, the alarm bells began ringing. How would she get past the guard on the main floor? As she stepped out of the elevator, the guard, excited by the bells, jumped into the same elevator to rush up to the seventh floor. Mother and baby slipped unhindered into a waiting car. Meanwhile Dr. Delahaye was striving to detain the men who were with Mrs. DeWaal, even struggling with them down the stairs and out onto the sidewalk to prevent them from getting into a second car that was waiting.

One might expect the warden of a penitentiary physically to restrain inmates from leaving, but this place was a hospital! The doctor was adding a new chapter to the record of medical decorum.

Official Reaction

Now what would the authorities do?

Newspapers spoke of the baby as being abducted; the police were instructed to hunt for her. Questions were raised in the provincial legislature. John Yaremko, Minister of Social and Family Services, announced that a charge had been laid against the mother. An official in Mr. Yaremko’s department immediately denied that a charge had been laid. A warrant was issued to search the mother’s home; then the Crown Attorney ordered it canceled.

The Children’s Aid Society applied for wardship and complained when the judge would not make the order. Judge Garvin, being a man who believes in law, wanted to give the parents a fair hearing and refused to be stampeded. He recalled that the Supreme Court of Ontario had said in an earlier case of Jehovah’s witnesses that they were entitled to notice and a trial. Showing his due respect for the Supreme Court, he refused to act till proper procedures were put before him.

The Crown Attorney, C. J. Newton, commended the actions of Dr. Ashwell at Smiths Falls but also admitted: “The mother had an equal right to remove the child from the hospital.”

Faced with these crosscurrents of opinion, the Globe and Mail (Toronto) remarked: “Confusion clouded legal issues yesterday in the disappearance of a three-day-old baby.”

There was no need for confusion. The mother was within her rights. It was her child. People have a right to hire and fire doctors. This is basic in the doctor-patient relationship, and reasonable doctors are glad to respect it. Mutual trust is the basis of the relationship; official coercion has no place in it.

Similarly with hospitals. A hospital is not a prison. A patient, or parent of an infant patient, does not need the permission of the “warden” (doctor) in order to leave the hospital. In fact, some hospitals have been obliged to pay damages for interfering with patients who desired to leave.

Medical Exaggeration

It is customary in these cases for doctors to issue ominous threats that the child will either die or suffer brain damage without a transfusion.

What they fail to reveal to the public is that there is a standard pattern of retardation after transfusion, quite apart from the large number of fatalities (some estimate as high as 10 percent) from the exchange.

Medical World News, January 16, 1970, stated under the heading “Hazards of Exchange Transfusions”: “Infants who start life with erythroblastosis severe enough to require exchange transfusion never quite catch up with their unaffected peers.” Dr. Edward Schlesinger reported on tests given to children who had received exchange transfusion: “The greatest number of poor scores on both tests was concentrated in the group of children who had erythroblastosis fetalis treated by exchange transfusion.”

In the light of these adverse results the article said further: “Exchange transfusions seem to be on their way out as far as pediatricians are concerned.”

Dr. Ashwell, who had delivered the baby, issued the standard exaggerated threats. “The chances of this little girl living or not suffering irreparable brain damage are about the same as me winning the Irish Sweepstakes today,” he told The Telegram. This sweeping statement, however, developed something of a credibility gap when Ashwell was quoted further: “Quite honestly, I can’t simply describe the disease to you because I have only a slight grasp of it myself.”

Meanwhile, what did happen to Eunice Devina? The innocent focal point of so much controversy was taken by her mother to the home of some friends in another municipality. There she was given phototherapy treatment by a nurse of wide experience in the field. After five days under blue light, she made a complete recovery.

A doctor who examined her found that she was “active, developing well, and there is no evidence of abnormality.” At time of writing she is at home with her mother, happy, intelligent and normal in every way.

Dr. Delahaye seemed most unhappy about the case. In addition to the usual threats about the health of the child he accused the Children’s Aid Society of “laxity” in not trying to locate the baby; he accused the Supreme Court of Ontario of “ducking the issue.”

In an interview with The Telegram on April 3, he recounted another case involving a child of Jehovah’s witnesses, “suffering from leukemia. Before the doctor gave a transfusion its parents came to Kingston Hospital and took the child. Toronto doctors decided to abide by the wishes of the parents against a transfusion and ironically,” said Dr. Delahaye, “the child survived.”

Ironically, so did the DeWaal baby. Ironically, so has every other infant of Jehovah’s witnesses that has been removed from a hospital to avoid exchange transfusion. Not so ironically, six children of Jehovah’s witnesses in Canada have been taken from their parents, given forced blood transfusions and brought back dead.

On June 3, the mother, child and her legal counsel, appeared on television in Ottawa to explain what had happened and why. Though Dr. Delahaye had earlier announced concerning the baby that there is “a good chance it is dead,” Eunice Devina made it loud and clear that she was very much alive. Later the program was shown across Canada.

In view of the events of this case, one is reminded of law professor Howard Oleck’s commentary in Medical World News (Dec. 5, 1969) advising that medical relationships would improve “if physicians generally would stop acting as though they are somehow the anointed ones of God.”

Many good doctors do act with respect for parents, and this is to be commended. Such doctors are glad to have the balancing influence of parental decisions; it makes for good teamwork and a mutually beneficial relationship.

That parental decisions are not to be lightly cast aside becomes clear from the events herein related. Eunice Devina has been protected by a parent who felt obliged to disagree with a doctor. By her normal development, vigorous growth and contentment her mother’s decision has been vindicated.

The Fifth Lutheran General Assembly

By “Awake!” correspondent in France

THE Lutheran World Federation held its Fifth General Assembly from July 14 to 24 in Évian, a French spa on the shores of Lake Geneva. The meeting was attended by 210 delegates representing many of the various Lutheran churches throughout the world. One hundred and twelve came from European countries, 33 from North America, 27 from Africa, 27 from Asia and 11 from Latin America. These official delegates were accompanied by 131 advisers and observers.

Lutheranism is said to be the “oldest and the largest of non-Roman Catholic, non-Orthodox” religions of Christendom, its world membership being estimated at between seventy and eighty million, most of whom live in Germany, Scandinavia and the United States of America. The Lutheran World Federation represents about two thirds of the Lutheran churches, in about forty countries.

The Federation’s assembly in Évian got off to a bad start. First East Germany refused permission for the meetings to be held in Weimar. Then Pôrto Alegre, Brazil, was chosen, but for political reasons it was finally decided that it would be inopportune to convene in that country, so at the last minute arrangements were made for the assembly to be held in France. This, however, displeased the Brazilian Church, which refused to send a delegation, sending merely two observers.

Thus, from the very outset, the assembly was troubled with signs of discontent and disunity. While Frederick A. Schiotz, American president of the Lutheran World Federation, was making his opening speech, some forty young delegates wearing black armbands stood up and silently protested. After the meeting they explained their demonstration, stating: “The decision to hold the assembly in Evian rather than in Brazil was made by the leaders of the European and American [Lutheran] churches, without consulting the representatives of the underdeveloped countries.” Showing the extent to which the Lutheran churches were divided over this issue, the Paris daily Le Monde commented in a front-page article: “If the assembly had been held in Brazil, there would have been a large number of absentees. For example, the German and Scandinavian delegations would most likely have abstained from attending.”​—July 16, 1970.

The assembly’s theme was “Sent into the world.” The principal subjects on the agenda were the following: obstacles to spreading the gospel; ecumenism and the problem of unity; participation and joint responsibility in modern society; peace and hunger in the world.

“Dissatisfaction and a Bad Conscience”

As the eleven days of the assembly passed by, the feeling of frustration and discontent grew among the delegates, particularly the younger ones. This feeling was reflected by the headlines of the news reports on the conference. Here are a few taken from two reliable French newspapers: “After Various Tribulations the Fifth Assembly of the Lutheran World Federation Opened Yesterday in Evian” (Le Figaro, July 15); “Young Delegates Challenge the Policy of the Lutheran World Federation” (Le Monde, July 16); “Delegates at the Lutheran Federation Assembly Worried by Ecumenical Problems” (Le Figaro, July 17); “Young Lutheran Delegates Demonstrate Passively in Front of Convention Palace in Evian” (Le Figaro, July 18/19); “Church Delegates Considered Unrepresentative at Lutheran World Assembly” (Le Monde, July 22); “Lutherans Try to Overcome Their Reserve on Political and Social Problems.”​—Le Monde, July 26/27.

Toward the end of the assembly André Appel, French general-secretary of the Lutheran World Federation, listed the following unsolved problems: (1) the question of what has been called “the vertical dimension” of the gospel (relations between man and God); (2) the part the church should play in politics, particularly the universal church reduced to silence by conflicting national interests and differences of opinion; (3) the extent to which the church can and should manifest solidarity with those who are suffering (fighting for liberation, revolutions); (4) the definition of the Lutheran World Federation as a church community.

Pastor Marc Lienhard, of the Lutheran Institute for Ecumenical Research in Strasbourg, France, stated bluntly that the assembly risked looking like “a theater of ecclesiastical puppets whose strings are pulled simply by their will to survive.”

Le Monde made this comment: “Dissatisfaction and a bad conscience​—such are the dominant feelings of the some two hundred and fifty delegates taking part in the Lutheran World Federation Assembly being held in Evian.” During a press conference, a spokesman for the young delegates states: “We expect nothing whatsoever to come out of this assembly.”

Nonetheless, the assembly’s secretariat turned out reams of memorandums and reports. One delegate remarked: “The four evangelists required just a few pages to write down the message preached by Jesus during the three years of his public life, whereas the deliberations in Evian have filled tens of thousands of mimeographed pages.”

At one point, a group of young delegates demonstrated in front of the assembly hall, tearing up assembly reports and throwing them into wastepaper baskets, stating: “We would do better to confess our inability to express ourselves clearly, rather than saying so many empty words.” Reporting on the same incidents, Le Monde added: “Make no mistake! These demonstrators in Evian are not revolutionaries. Several of them are clergymen’s sons and theology students.”​—July 22.

Summing up the results of the Fifth Lutheran General Assembly, Le Figaro wrote: “The long report resulting from the deliberations of the assembly and of the subcommittees emphasizes above all the differences that exist between the various Lutheran Churches . . . and expresses the hope that a better dialogue between them will result in a common union based on one baptism, one Communion and one set of Holy Scriptures.”​—July 24.

The report also recommended that the dialogue should be extended to include the Reformed (Calvinistic) churches, the Roman Catholic Church, the Anglican Communion and the Orthodox churches. More active exchanges with the World Council of Churches were proposed. Finally, the report insisted on the need to increase contacts with the Methodists, the Baptists, the Pentecostals and even atheists, with a view to better mutual understanding!

“Will History Give Us Enough Time?”

Speaking in Évian of the need for seeking reconciliation within Christendom, and particularly between the Roman Catholic and the Lutheran churches, Doctor Kent S. Knutson, president of the Wartburg Theological Seminary in Dubuque, Iowa, asked: “Will History give us enough time?”

Evidently Knutson senses that time is running out for Christendom. He is right. Contemporary history confronted with Bible prophecy shows this to be so. The churches of Christendom will have to move fast if they hope to unite before history​—God-directed history—​catches up with them. But there are few signs of any real will to overcome the barriers dividing the churches one from another and within themselves.

Speaking at the Fifth Lutheran General Assembly, Cardinal Willebrands listed the obstacles to unity between the Lutheran and Roman Catholic churches, mentioning the priesthood, papal authority, the infallibility of the pope, the position of the Virgin Mary, etc. He admitted that on some of these issues “the opposing views have become even more marked.”

As to the hope of unity among the Protestant churches, Doctor Tödt, professor of theology at Heidelberg University, Germany, stated in Évian: “Among the members of the World Council of Churches a backward movement can also be felt. Disappointed at the results obtained during the first ten years, many of these churches are returning to their local or regional isolation.”

The Lutheran Church is itself deeply divided. As shown by this Fifth General Assembly, the churches grouped within the Lutheran World Federation are far from united. Moreover, some twenty million Lutherans belong to Lutheran churches that refuse to join the World Federation. It is reported that “in Sweden there is even a Lutheran Church that practices intercommunion with the Church of England but refuses to do so with the other Lutheran Churches.”​—Le Monde, July 26/27.

“Is Christ divided?” (1 Cor. 1:13, Authorized Version) Certainly not! Then if you belong to a divided church that is a part of divided Christendom, is it not high time you sought Christ’s true congregation elsewhere? ‘Will History give you enough time’ to do so?

An Appeal to Sincere Lutherans

Yes! But there is no time to lose! So what should you do? Seek true Christianity “based on . . . one set of Holy Scriptures.” Paradoxically enough, Cardinal Willebrands paid the following tribute to Luther in Évian: “Luther did something remarkable for his day in making the Bible the departure point for Christian theology and life.” And in its article on Lutheranism, the Encyclopædia Britannica (1965, Vol. 14, p. 447) states: “The formal principle of Lutheran theology is its insistence that the canonical Scriptures are the only source and norm of Christian faith and practice.”

Yet in July 1965, when Roman Catholic and Lutheran scholars met in Baltimore, they said in a joint statement: “We confess in common the Nicene Faith.” But the Nicene Creed expounds the enigmatic dogma of the trinity, which is nowhere to be found in the Bible. Even a Lutheran theologian, Professor N. Leroy Norquist, admitted: “The doctrine of the Trinity cannot be ‘puzzled out.’ . . . The men who framed it designed it as a tool to be used against heretics . . . in such a way that they could finally say, ‘Unless you believe this you’re not a true believer.’” (The Lutheran, June 15, 1960, pages 11, 12) So which do you believe, the Nicene Creed or the Bible? The choice is inevitable.

Another basic creed of the Lutheran churches is the Augsburg Confession. This profession of faith asserts that “ungodly men and the devils He [Christ] shall condemn to be tormented without end.” Yet the canonical Scriptures state: “The wages of sin is death.” (Rom. 6:23, Authorized Version) Do you believe in the Augsburg Confession or in the Bible? You must choose, and time is running out!

The year 1970 happens to be the 450th anniversary of the publication of Luther’s early reform treatise entitled “Address to the German Nobility, The Babylonic Captivity of the Church”​—meaning the Roman Catholic Church. Unfortunately, having abandoned “its insistence that the canonical Scriptures are the only source and norm of Christian faith and practice,” the Lutheran churches show that they are a part of the world empire of Babylonish religions, prophetically called “Babylon the Great.” Current events and Bible prophecy show that this world empire of false religion is fast nearing its end. History will not give it time to unite for survival. Babylon must go! But you need not be destroyed with her. The Bible says: “Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues.”​—Rev. 17:1-5; 18:1-5, AV.

Accept help! Write the publishers of this magazine for a free six-month course of home Bible study. Jehovah’s witnesses are already helping hundreds of thousands of people to build their faith on the Holy Scriptures as “the only source and norm of Christian faith and practice.”

Why the Moon Shines

● No doubt at night you have seen signs that reflect light. This is possible because the letters on these signs are coated with a layer of tiny glass beads a fraction of a millimeter in diameter. Then they are covered with plastic. When an automobile’s headlights shine on them they reflect the light.

Recent scientific research has revealed that man was not the first to use this type of light reflector. Evidence on the surface of the moon shows that the one who first utilized this reflective principle was the Creator of the universe.

Scientists, examining moon material brought back to earth by the astronauts, have found that as much as 50 percent of the moon’s “soil” is made up of glass. This glass is in different shapes. Some of it is perfectly round, elliptical, teardrop-shaped, or dumbbell-shaped. Also the glass ranges in size from tiny specks up to beads a millimeter (about 1/25 inch) in size.

The surfaces of these glass beads are very smooth. When a light is shined on them they are extremely lustrous. Dr. Wernher von Braun, prominent in United States spaceflight programs, wrote of them as “glistening in sunlight like light-reflecting glass beads in a highway sign.” While most of this glass is colorless, some of it is brown, yellow, red or green.

Even the moon’s rocks show that they were made to reflect light, for they are pitted with small glass-lined hollows. Some of them are covered with spattered drops of glass and appear as if they were glazed.

Further, in their moon walk, at the bottom of small craters the astronauts found glinting spangles in the form of glazed spots resembling splashes of molten solder. These were on rocks and on the soil.

How marvelously accurate is the statement at Genesis 1:16 in the Holy Bible where the moon is described as being a “luminary for dominating the night”!

Living with Typhoons

By “Awake!” correspondent in the Philippines

CONVENED in Quezon City, Philippine Republic, during December 1969, a group of international experts had some vital business to which to attend. Peoples of the whole Pacific area were keenly interested. The subject of discussion was not political. No, for this was the second annual meeting of the Typhoon Committee of the World Meteorological Organization and United Nations Economic Commission for Asia and the Far East.

As a subject of discussion, typhoons are of more than just curious interest to the populations of the Western Pacific. In fact, many of those people have experienced the fury of a typhoon. They have seen roofs of homes carried away. They have seen entire homes smashed as though made of paper and matchsticks. They have known the terror of muddy water swirling around their homes​—water that fell in sheets during the course of the storm. They have cowered and waited helplessly as one-hundred-mile-per-hour winds lashed at the whole countryside.

So it is not surprising that the week-long deliberations of this commission were attended by delegates from Taiwan, Hong Kong, Korea, Laos, Vietnam, Thailand and the Philippines. Also represented by observers were such other interested countries as Australia, France, the Netherlands, Russia, Britain and the United States. All were anxious to see what might be done to restrain this capricious giant, the typhoon, when it goes on the rampage.

Some Typhoon Facts

What is a typhoon? The word describes a weather phenomenon in which the wind blows around a low pressure area. In the same family with typhoons are whirlwinds, tornadoes and waterspouts. But the typhoon is the largest of them all in breadth, in height and in wind velocity. Indeed, when the wind speed is in excess of seventy-five miles per hour, that is a typhoon. Similar storms are called “hurricanes” in the Caribbean area and the eastern part of the United States.

When one considers the tremendous energy that is released by a typhoon, one cannot help wondering where it all comes from. The answer is that it comes from water vapor. But how? Just think of it in this way: Much heat is required completely to evaporate a kettle of water on a stove. All that heat is then locked, so to speak, in the water vapor. The energy absorbed during the process of evaporation could now be released if we caused the same amount of water vapor to condense back into the liquid state.

By this same process, in an average-size typhoon, there is the equivalent of 40,000 hydrogen bombs in energy. This helps us to see that for a typhoon to maintain its intensity there must be a continuous water supply. And it explains why, when passing over land, the typhoon tends to speed up and lose strength, but when it is over water it will slow down and increase in intensity.

What are the conditions that spawn typhoons? Up to this time scientists have been unable to come up with the complete answer. Some of the contributing factors, however, are known. Here are three of them: (1) A warm ocean surface with a sea temperature of at least 26° Celsius (79° F.); (2) a thick layer of moist air that extends to a height of two miles or more; and (3) sufficient latitude, since tropical storms cannot form at the equator, and seldom form within five degrees of the equator. The main area for formation of typhoons that affect Southeast Asia is the region south of Guam but north of the equator in the Pacific Ocean. A second area is the China Sea.

Need for Improved Warning Systems

One of the main considerations at this meeting of the Typhoon Committee was how to improve warning systems so that people would have ample time to protect themselves and their property. When you consider the vast expanse of ocean that constitutes the main spawning region of typhoons, it is easy to understand how great is the difficulty of establishing weather stations. As of now, forecasters are relying on radar reports, satellite pictures, and charts of previous weather patterns in order to locate the buildup of storms.

As these buildups are located, aircraft are sent out to check on their progress and to plot their positions. Barometric pressures are recorded, as well as wind speed and other factors that may help in determining the life, speed, course and distance of the storm. On the basis of these reports maps are made and warnings prepared for distribution to the public through the news media.

It can be seen that the greater the number of weather stations spread throughout the spawning area or adjoining it, the more accurate forecasts will be. During the past year additional facilities have been put into operation through the cooperation of the Typhoon Commission in Taiwan, Hong Kong and Korea. Efforts are being made to establish better communications between the various countries involved, so that better warnings might be given.

Weather ships, too, are being considered. Both Russia and the United States have shown interest in establishing an ocean weather ship in the Pacific near Guam. Its purpose would be to locate potential storms and record weather facts in the area. Being right on the spot, such a floating weather installation could observe the earliest indications of a dangerous storm.

Efforts to Lessen Damage

Various experiments have been tried in an effort to lessen the damage from typhoons. Since the typhoon’s source of energy is its water vapor, then condensing the vapor back to water should release the energy and cause the typhoon to dissipate its strength before it can reach land. This is why so much attention is being given to seeding the clouds with chemicals with the, idea of forcing them to release the water while still out at sea. Though not much has been accomplished as yet, it is hoped that this method may yet be developed to the point of success.

A great deal of the damage from typhoons comes from the formidable flooding that results from its heavy rains on land. Dams and levees are being planned and built with a view to control of excess water. Projects are currently under way in the Tansui River basin in Taiwan, and in the low-lying Pampanga River area of the Philippines.

Of course, it is now recognized that a major cause of the flooding has been man’s misuse of the land. Indiscriminate logging has denuded the country of a natural preventive of flooding. The heavy rainfall from typhoons is truly beneficial if the land is able to absorb it. However, when forests are removed and the land is cultivated without regard to soil conservation, much of the rain just runs off the surface, often producing serious erosion. Laws are being sought to control logging operations, and farmers are being encouraged to plant cover crops and practice contour farming.

What You Can Do

Even though considerable advance warning is even now given of approaching typhoons, many tend to ignore or treat lightly the seriousness of the warning. Perhaps they have survived previous storms and feel that there is not the need to worry. Or it may be that the passage of time since that last typhoon has blunted the sharpness of their sense of great danger. Theirs is a very unwise course. The best course is to prepare for the worst, heed the storm warnings of the weather bureau, and become familiar with the meanings of the public storm signals in whatever form they are given. Be conversant with practical precautionary measures, and do not fail to follow them through as the typhoon approaches.

It helps to be able to recognize the signs that mark the typhoon’s approach​—characteristics of the wind and the waves, their behavior in general. Generally typhoons move in a northwesterly direction in Southeast Asia.

Refuse to be unduly alarmed by rumors. However, pay close attention to weather bulletins as provided by radio, television or newspaper. If warned to evacuate a dangerous area, do so without delay. If you feel justified in staying in your home, be sure to take account of all your needs. Remember, power may be cut off temporarily. Water supply may be halted or contaminated. Thus you will want to have foods that require little or no cooking, and you will definitely need to have a store of good drinkable water. Other emergency equipment should be checked to make sure you know where it is and that it is in usable order.

Usually well-built homes are thought to be quite secure. However, it is wise not to be too confident. In winds of up to two hundred miles per hour they may not be safe, especially if located near the coast or in an unsheltered place. Some questions to consider in advance are: Are there heavy branches or trees that might fall on the home? Is the roof secure? To what extent is flooding going to present a danger?

In much of Southeast Asia the homes are not solidly built. Bamboo, leaves and wood products are the building materials. When a typhoon warning is posted, what can be done? To give the structure strength, poles are put up at angles against the house and dug into the ground. Guy wires are also tied from the house to the ground. Since the wind reverses itself during the passing of a typhoon, poles and wires are used on all sides of the dwelling. Thus, no matter which way the building is subject to stress, there is something to offset it.

The effect of a typhoon on one’s means of livelihood also needs to be taken into account. In many areas of Southeast Asia and the Pacific islands coconut trees are the principal source of income. Though not usually uprooted, these trees sustain considerable damage from the typhoon, largely through damage to the leaves. It seems that the leaves draw up the moisture to feed the fruit and they contain the chlorophyll so essential for converting sunlight into plant food. Even if the tree continues to bear fruit following the big storm, it is more than likely that the coconuts will be empty, and thus of no commercial value.

It does not seem that anything can be done to prevent typhoons, but some suggestions on how to offset some of the economic loss might be considered. Farmers are encouraged, for example, to plant legume crops such as peanuts, or mangoes and bananas, in among the coconut trees. In many instances where this suggestion has been followed farmers have not only gained a second source of income, but the yield of the coconut trees has increased by as much as 69 percent. And if the coconut trees do happen to suffer from storm damage, these secondary crops grow much faster so that the farmer is not left without any income or food source.

Rice is another major crop in this region. However, because of repeated typhoons some areas are useless when it comes to producing successful rice crops. One of these is Batanes province in the far north of the Philippine Islands. Instead, root crops are planted, crops not so severely affected as rice, crops of camote or sweet potato perhaps. This could be an extra crop in many other areas where typhoon losses are usually high.

Typhoon Benefits

In view of what has been said here about the perils of the typhoon, it would not be surprising if people got the impression that typhoons have no redeeming features. Yet that would not be the truth of the matter. Typhoons produce a great deal of good too. For example, through their agency millions of gallons of salt water are desalinated and distributed widely over the parched land. For man to desalinate such vast quantities would take much expensive installation and many years.

Is it possible that there are other benefits bestowed on man and his home by the powerful winds of the typhoon? Here, too, man just does not have all the answers. In his ignorance man suffers the harmful effects of the typhoon and that is what looms large in his mind. His study of all its benefits to man, to the air we breathe and to the soil from which our sustenance comes is still in the elementary stage.

We can be sure that in the coming new system of things our Creator, Jehovah God, will not permit the ruin and devastation and loss of human life now connected with typhoons. He will bring to pass in a literal way his own generous promise of good to obedient creatures of earth, recorded at Ezekiel 34:27: “The tree of the field must give its fruitage, and the land itself will give its yield, and they will actually prove to be on their soil in security.” Instead of living precariously with typhoons, there will be confidence in the preventive and protective power of the Maker of the wind, the ocean and all things.

If Only Lighthouses Could Talk

DOUBTLESS you have seen us stand sentinel on rocky coastlines around the world. It may have been in Canada, the United States, the windswept Cape of Good Hope, the scattered islands of the seven seas, or perhaps near the beckoning, sun-drenched beaches of Portugal, where I happen to be located. On a sunny day you can see me towering 177 feet above sea level on Europe’s westernmost point. I am a lighthouse.

My flashing light is a welcome sight to those on the dark, storm-tossed sea. Even the plaintive sound of my foghorn is comforting when I signal to the ears of those who cannot see. But have you ever wondered how we lighthouses came to be, and when? How do you think we arrived at our present vital status on the sea-lanes of the world?

Some Lighthouse History

One of my ancestors was numbered among the seven wonders of the ancient world. Around 280 B.C.E. Ptolemy II built a massive 400-foot tower on the island of Pharos, just off Alexandria, Egypt. Atop the tower a wood fire was kept blazing for the safe guidance of Mediterranean shipping. The Pharos of Alexandria, that ancient lighthouse, took its name from the island, and marked the birth of pharology, the science of lighthouse design and engineering. This ancient history also is reflected in the Portuguese word for lighthouse, namely, farois.

It was during the sixteenth century, however, when men began to open up trade routes, that we really became popular. One of the most ancient of my still-existing fellow lighthouses is to be found on the northwest coast of Spain at Corunha. It was reconstructed about 1634 C.E., and contains part of the tower built during the reign of the Roman Emperor Trajan (98-117 C.E.). That was but one of a goodly number that the Romans built around Europe’s coasts. After the conquest of Britain, for example, they built lighthouses at points now identified as Dover and Boulogne. My first American relative was established on Little Brewster Island, near Boston, Massachusetts, in the year 1716.

Tremendous strides have been made in pharology in the meantime. The many stages we have been through can be marked by the materials used for lighting. Starting with a wood-fire beacon, we have since then utilized coal, candles, oil lamps, petroleum and electricity. Today, radio beacons and atomic power are in use.

Location of Lighthouses

People often wonder what determines the location of a lighthouse. Some are relatively close to sea level, while others tower exaltedly over their surroundings like missiles ready for launching into outer space. There are several factors to be considered, not least of which is the immediate danger to be guarded against, such as perilous shoals or jagged coastline. Then, there is the general lay of the surrounding land. Quite vital, too, is the range to be covered by our light.

On the Tagus River, for example, lighthouses are not of great height because the range to be covered is only a short distance. My height, on the other hand, allows my light to be seen thirty to thirty-four miles out at sea on a clear night. It is true my tower is only twenty-two feet high, but it stands on solid rock 155 feet above the changing shades of blue and green in the water below.

The geographical range of a light depends on two things: its height and the height of the observer above sea level. For example, on a clear day let us imagine someone on the deck of a ship fifteen feet above the water surface. At that height the horizon is 4.44 miles distant. The horizon range of a light 120 feet above sea level is 12.56 miles. Thus if we add the two together we have the geographical range of the light, namely, seventeen sea miles.

To Be Seen and Heard

Since lives depend on our light, everything is done to keep it shining. Almost everything it takes to keep my light burning is provided in duplicate, and some items in triplicate. I have six generators, two of which are thirty horsepower. In addition to my use of batteries, I have another system based on petroleum.

My light is produced by a 3,000-watt bulb fixed centrally inside a five-foot-diameter, dioptric prism lens shaped somewhat like a barrel. That means it is the kind of prism lens that assists vision by refracting and localizing light. This lens is six feet high. Part of the lens is blacked out by a screen, so that the light is hidden for several seconds each time the lens revolves. In this way I produce four consecutive flashes of white light, each of three seconds’ duration, followed by six and a half seconds of darkness.

Some twenty principal lights cover coastline of Portugal, and each of them has its own distinctive personality. Experienced seagoers know our differing light frequencies by memory, and are able to tell immediately where they are located upon seeing the pattern of our flashes. For those of less experience or poorer memory, our codes are listed in the shipping manuals and charts.

Light is not our only gift to seagoers. When fog or other weather conditions obscure our powerful lights, we still have sound to offer. Landlubbers may not appreciate the monotonous boom of our foghorns, but it is sweet music to those enveloped in the eerie fog over a pitch-black sea. Then it is that another facet of my personality shows. I give three blasts of four seconds’ duration each, and then remain quiet for seventeen seconds. These blasts will pierce the stillness of a foggy night to a distance of seventeen miles.

Being a modern lighthouse perched on a strategic point of land, I have still another way to give ‘light’ to those in danger. I use radio beacons. Each of us lighthouses has his own radio or Morse code to identify who and where he is. My radio signals can be picked up by radio-equipped vessels up to a distance of fifty-four miles. By taking a reading or comparison with any other signal they can determine, within half a mile or so, exactly where they are. I send out my code every twenty seconds. When bad weather requires it, I beam out my much-appreciated signal every five seconds.

Our Devoted Personnel

Not many of us lighthouses can do everything for ourselves. Indeed, we appreciate the men who care for us and keep us ever ready to perform our lifesaving service. They have fine opportunities to see the beauty of God’s handiwork in the setting of a crimson sun over a silent, still sea or the power of the waves as they pound relentlessly at the rock-girt shore. It is said that to adapt to the loneliness and routine of a lighthouse keeper’s life one must be born to it or have ‘sailor’s blood’ in his veins. Is that true? No, because lighthouse keepers live under a wide variety of conditions.

Much depends on the location of the lighthouse. Here on Cape Rock we are only one hour’s drive from Lisbon. Thus the nine men who care for me are by no means isolated. However, there are many keepers whose only contact with the world is once a month or even less often when the supply ship makes its regular visit. The work of older, isolated lighthouses is now being done by fully automatic equipment that is operated by remote control from the mainland.

And the life of a lighthouse keeper is by no means dull. During the day, observations are made at regular intervals that contribute toward giving meteorological service. Information on the condition of the sea, the wind strength and direction, the barometric pressure and cloud conditions is gathered regularly so as to provide for weather forecasting. Aviation, too, benefits from our service, for I send out a light signal that serves as an indication to air pilots that they are now approaching the European continent.

Before concluding I must remind you that I am also a tourist attraction. So next time you would like to do something different, something educational, why not pay me a visit? Perhaps you cannot come to Portugal, but if you live near the coast, there should be one of my relatives close by. I am sure that you and your family would enjoy learning more about our family of lighthouses firsthand, and you would certainly get pleasure out of the wild, natural beauty that usually surrounds a lighthouse. You will find that the men who man us are a happy, friendly lot, and they will gladly tell you some more about the valuable services I perform, things that I would like to tell you myself​—if only lighthouses could talk!

Witnesses’ Bible Literature Impressed Him

● A retired college professor in Japan is employed by a large clothing company to teach the Bible and its morals to its employees. A missionary of Jehovah’s witnesses called on him, and he confessed to the missionary that those interested in the Bible often asked him questions that were hard to answer. The book The Truth That Leads to Eternal Life was offered to him and he readily accepted it.

When the missionary called on him again he said: “I’d like to have five more copies of that book. I read it in bed the night I got it. I have never read a book that outlines the important points of the Bible and explains them understandably, as this book does. This is just what I need for some who are asking questions.”

Being a Greek scholar, he showed great interest in the Watchtower article on The Kingdom Interlinear Translation of the Greek Scriptures. So impressed was he that he remarked, “The Watchtower really is taking the deep knowledge of the Bible to the common people, isn’t it? That’s where the churches have failed!”

“Your Word Is Truth”

“You Must Not Steal”

“RISING Wave of Shoplifting​—and No End in Sight.” So read the title of a feature article appearing in U.S. News & World Report, March 2, 1970. It told that this type of stealing had tripled in a decade, “making it one of the fastest-growing types of all thefts.” “Just a fraction of all shoplifting incidents are actually reported to the police,” it went on to say, and thousands of millions of dollars in money and goods are stolen annually.

This report also told that in one store where 175 customers were put under surveillance, one out of nine stole something. A survey of 1,000 high-school students in Delaware revealed that 50 percent admitted to stealing at least once. A West Coast merchant was quoted as saying that, according to lie-detector operators, “75 percent of all employees steal everything from money to merchandise. It’s like a big iceberg​—we see only the tip.”

Stealing is a type of selfishness that takes on many forms, shoplifting and employee theft being but two of them. People steal from insurance companies by making out false or exaggerated claims of losses. Citizens steal from their government by tax evasion, by smuggling goods into their country without paying duty and by getting undeserved unemployment benefits. Some cashiers at grocery check-out points have been known to defraud customers in various ways.

Today thieves in broad daylight rob people in the street in many cities, such as New York. Thus while a group of people were waiting in line to take a tour of a printing plant, a car drove up, one man got out, snatched a purse from one of the women standing in line, jumped back into the car and was driven off in a matter of seconds. Even on busy subway platforms a thief will approach a stranger, show him a knife in the palm of his hand, relieve him of his wallet and then wave him a cheery good-bye!

Why is there so much stealing today? The Bible foretold this increase as well as the reason for it. In brief, it shows that Satan the Devil and his demons have been cast down to the earth where they in great rage are doing all they can to debauch the human race, for they know their time is short.​—Matt. 24:12; 2 Tim. 3:1-5; Rev. 12:7-12.

Among the causes that might be mentioned for widespread stealing today are drug addiction and gambling. Then again, some steal because they are too lazy to work, even as there are women who carry on shoplifting for “kicks,” for the excitement of doing something unlawful and getting away with it. Lack of proper parental training no doubt also accounts for much theft by youths.

Those who steal often try to explain away or rationalize their actions. Many feel that it is all right to steal from big stores or corporations, but it still is theft. Others justify stealing because of poverty or other social injustices, but two wrongs do not make a right. Others, again, justify their thefts because they may not be large. But God’s Word says: “The person unrighteous in what is least is unrighteous also in much.”​—Luke 16:10.

In view of the propensity of fallen mankind to take things that belong to others, how wise is the eighth of the Ten Commandments, which reads: “You must not steal.” (Ex. 20:15) While this law was given to the sons of Israel, the Christian Greek Scriptures likewise plainly forbid stealing. Typical is the command recorded by the apostle Paul: “Let the stealer steal no more, but rather let him do hard work, doing with his hands what is good work, that he may have something to distribute to someone in need.” How much better to be giving to needy persons than to be stealing!​—Eph. 4:28.

The first human to steal, it might be said, was Eve. Seeing that the forbidden fruit in Eden “was good for food and that it was something to be longed for,” she yielded to the temptation and began eating of it. Then she induced her husband to join her in her theft. What a price they paid!​—Gen. 3:1-24.

Another thief who came to a bad end was the Israelite Achan, who stole some of the things dedicated to Jehovah when Jericho was taken by Israel. He also paid for his theft with his life. And there was the betrayer Judas Iscariot. He is stigmatized as a thief by the apostle John, who wrote: “He was a thief and had the money box and used to carry off the monies put in it.” He ended up a suicide.​—Josh. 7:1-26; John 12:6; Matt. 27:5.

How can a person fight the tendency to take unlawfully what belongs to others? By telling himself all the reasons why he should not do so. First of all, the fear of Jehovah God should keep one from stealing, because stealing incurs God’s displeasure, and is it sensible to risk that? “We are not stronger than [God] is, are we?” Yes, “the fear of Jehovah means the hating of bad,” and stealing certainly is bad.​—1 Cor. 10:22; Prov. 8:13.

Secondly, a person should shun stealing because it results in a bad conscience. Better to do without certain things than acquire them at the cost of losing a good conscience. Christians are commanded to hold a good conscience: “Hold a good conscience, so that in the particular in which you are spoken against they may get ashamed who are speaking slightingly of your good conduct.”​—1 Pet. 3:16.

Further, stealing makes for bad relations with the one from whom a person has stolen something. One just cannot steal from another and remain friendly at heart toward that one. And then there is always the fear or likelihood of getting caught. As the apostle Peter also warns: “Let none of you suffer as a . . . thief.”​—1 Pet. 4:15.

In fact, reason alone should tell one that stealing is wrong. Just as one would not want another to take from oneself what one had lawfully obtained, so one should not want to take from another what that one has lawfully acquired. The Golden Rule makes sense: “Just as you want men to do to you, do the same way to them.”​—Luke 6:31.

A great help is contentment. He who appreciates that “there is great gain in godliness with contentment” will not be tempted to steal. And it must be admitted that an aid in combating the tendency to steal is staying as far as possible away from opportunities to steal.​—1 Tim. 6:6-8, Revised Standard Version.

In summing up, it might well be said that the two great commandments, to ‘love Jehovah God with all one’s heart, soul, mind and strength, and to love one’s neighbor as oneself,’ will keep one from stealing. No question about it, “Love does not work evil to one’s neighbor.”​—Mark 12:29-31; Rom. 13:10.

Even as with other vices with which the fallen human race is afflicted, stealing can be overcome. The apostle Paul tells of certain ones in the Corinthian congregation who overcame this vice. It can be done and it is being done also today.

Watching the World

Shrinking Churches

◆ The Anglican Church in Montreal, Canada, is planning to condense the work of five downtown churches into possibly one church. The reason given was plummeting membership, the same problem that is confronting almost every denomination.

Teaching by TV

◆ In Brazil 80,000 people in the northeastern region are being educated by television. There are almost a thousand centers for receiving televised programs of high-school instruction for the benefit of persons who failed to finish their schooling. The classes last for forty minutes, five days a week. Only one out of every thousand students who enter high school in the region actually completes his schooling and graduates.

Priests Oppose Celibacy

◆ At a conference held in the Netherlands, the European Priests Assembly, consisting of Roman Catholic priests, voted overwhelmingly on October 3 in favor of ending compulsory celibacy. Of course, their vote does not govern the church. The week-long congress was attended by 200 participants from 32 countries.

Death Sprays

◆ For a growing number of asthma victims the pressurized drug sprays they use for relief of their symptoms have proved to be death sprays because of the aerosol propellants in the containers. These propellants are potentially toxic to the heart. When they enter the air passages along with the drugs for asthma they can be picked up by the blood and carried to the heart. These propellants have induced abnormal heart conditions when used on rats and mice. An increase in the deaths of asthma victims is being attributed to them by two doctors at the University of Illinois Hospital.

Detergent Safety Questioned

◆ Great cleaning power is claimed for enzyme detergents, but their safety is questioned by three New York physicians at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine. In experiments with forty-six hamsters they found that eight died when the enzymes were either inhaled or injected. They died from massive lung hemorrhage, and a number of those that recovered suffered weight loss, bloody nasal discharge, coughing and difficult breathing. Though the enzymes were used in concentrations much heavier than found in detergents, the fact that they can cause these reactions is reason enough, these scientists think, to question their safety.

Priest Condones Stealing

◆ A Roman Catholic priest, David Shanahan, stated in South Africa that he had told his parishioners that they could steal without moral guilt if it was impossible under an unjust system to get a job paying enough money to feed their families. He also was reported by the Daily Mail of August 22, 1970, a Johannesburg newspaper, as saying: “I told my parishioners that in the eyes of the church they were not morally bound to obey unjust laws, and that they were not morally wrong if they told a lie to avoid any penalty under an unjust law.”

Ruining the Environment

◆ Man’s pollution of his environment is ruining the oceans. The well-known underwater explorer Jacques Yves Cousteau observed: “The oceans are in danger of dying. The pollution is general.” This is also true in the Baltic Sea. The polluting of it by the nations bordering it is disrupting marine life. Chemicals from farmlands, detergents and organic wastes from sewers pour into it and accumulate in the deeper reaches of the Sea, poisoning the fish.

Brain Surgery Without Blood

◆ A California girl of 17 was critically injured when she was thrown from a horse. Her head was impaled on a five-inch spike sticking out of a pole lying on the ground. It penetrated three and a half inches into the brain. A number of neurosurgeons were contacted, but they refused to operate unless given permission to give the girl a blood transfusion. Since this was against the religious beliefs of the girl and her parents, they could not consent to the transfusions. Finally they located a surgeon who was willing to do the operation without requiring blood. Two operations were performed successfully under these conditions. The first removed hair and pieces of bone that were within the brain tissues. The second removed contaminated bone around the injury and covered it with a metal plate. Though some surgeons were willing to let the girl die rather than make an effort to operate on her while respecting her religious conscience, this surgeon was willing to try, and he succeeded.

Plants Killed by Rock Music

◆ In a series of carefully controlled experiments at Temple Buell College in Denver, it was found that plants exposed to long sessions of rock music leaned away from the loudspeaker, collapsed and died. In an experiment that lasted one month, semiclassical music was played through one speaker at a group of plants and rock music through another speaker at another group of plants. Volume of the sound and the growing conditions were the same. The only difference was the type of music. Those subjected to semiclassical music leaned toward the loudspeaker and flourished. Those subjected to rock music leaned away and died. If this is the effect of rock music on plants, what is it on people?

This Violent Age

◆ Violence seems to have become the way of life for this modern generation. Commenting on it, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram of August 30, 1970, said: “Are violence and terror becoming a way of life in much of the world? There has been something akin to an epidemic of bombing, political kidnaping and murder, urban and rural guerrilla warfare, torture killing, organized terror, sabotage, killing and maiming of innocents. Added to this are street wars, looting, rioting, near anarchy, senseless cruelty and general noise and confusion. . . . A Japanese housewife perhaps brought it all into focus. She bemoaned the fact that most people don’t care a whit about the violence unless it happens to them personally, and commented: ‘People are no longer shocked by violence. Human life seems to be worthless. People don’t think twice if a man dies violently, even in his own town.’”

Salt Water for Cholera

◆ When a person contracts cholera he suffers a rapid loss of body fluid, more than a quart an hour. This can kill him in a short while. An effective and simple treatment, doctors have found, is to replace the lost fluid by drinking large quantities of a salty water solution made of common table salt with some dextrose added. When this treatment was used on 300 patients in India, some with severe cholera, their condition of dehydration was corrected within six hours.

Ban on Astrologers Urged

◆ Professor Gilles Beaudet, an astrophysicist in the University of Montreal, has prepared a legal brief, with the support of the science faculty at the university, demanding that astrologers not be allowed to broadcast over Canadian radio and television. According to the Toronto Daily Star, the brief contends that “‘psychological harm’ can come from astrological predictions and that studies throughout the world indicate that predictions based on astrology are false as often as not.”

Dieting Can Be Harmful

◆ Dieting by a woman to limit her weight gain to only ten to fourteen pounds during pregnancy can be harmful to the developing baby. This is the view of the National Research Council’s special Committee on Maternal Nutrition. This American committee recommends an average weight gain of twenty-four pounds for the good of the child. Dr. Robert E. Shank, one of the physicians on the committee, observed: “The current obstetric practice in the U.S. that tends to restrict normal weight gains is not justified. Weight reduction programs and severe calorie restrictions should not be undertaken during pregnancy not even for obese women because of the possibility of adverse effects on the fetus’ weight and neurological development.” This practice is especially harmful for underweight women and for teenage mothers who are still growing.

Abortion Deaths

◆ From the time that the abortion reform law went into effect in New York state on July 1 until September 4, eight women died as a result of having an abortion, and almost one hundred more incurred serious complications such as perforated uteri, hemorrhages and infections. An incomplete tally showed that death certificates for 13,471 fetuses were filed by abortion-performing physicians. If that many death certificates were filed in one state for children one year older than these, would not people be horrified?

Warning Against Aspirin

◆ In a report appearing in the Journal of the American Medical Association, two doctors warned that aspirin should not be taken by pregnant women who are approaching the time of birth. Babies born of women who have taken aspirin at this time are more likely, they said, to develop bleeding problems than those born of women who do not take it.

Forbidding to Marry

◆ In Turin, Italy, a Roman Catholic priest decided to get married and persuaded another priest to perform the marriage ceremony for him. For getting married the priest was excommunicated by Cardinal Michele Pellegrino and the priest who performed the wedding was dismissed. The Bible foretold that persons who would “depart from the faith” would be the ones “forbidding to marry.”​—1 Tim. 4:1, 3, Catholic Douay Version.

Antibiotics Spur Diseases

◆ Heavy reliance on antibiotics has caused a slackening in personal hygiene in many hospitals and thus spurred diseases. Dr. Thomas Nealson, director of surgery at New York’s St. Vincent’s Hospital and Medical Center, said: “When antibiotics came out, nearly every surgical patient was given the new drugs to help combat infection. Yet we found we still had problems with patients developing postoperative illness.” This was due to staff members not being as careful as they should in washing their hands when handling patients. Their reliance on antibiotics is hardly a wise substitute for cleanliness.

Women Church Leaders

◆ On October 12, the sixty-third triennial convention of the Episcopal Church in the United States agreed to allow women to become fully accredited members of the convention’s House of Deputies. The general convention of this church is a body that consists of the House of Deputies and the House of Bishops. The passing of church legislation requires the approval of both houses. Thus the Episcopal Church has given women part in the policy-making process of the church at the national level. How different this is from the Scriptural instruction that a woman is not to exercise authority over a man in the congregation.​—1 Tim. 2:11, 12.

Sugar and Heart Trouble

◆ According to Dr. Harding LeRiche of the University of Toronto, there is evidence that cane sugar is a contributing cause of heart ailments. He observed that Canadians eat 1000 pounds of sugar per person a year, ten times as much as people ate 160 years ago. He believes this is a contributing cause in the rise of heart disease in North America. It is his view that cane sugar is involved with the cause of diabetes, and there is, he says, “evidence that there is a relationship between the early development of heart disease and diabetes.”

Is the Bible a Great Mystery to You?

For many persons the Bible is a great mystery. They feel it is too deep for them, too difficult to understand. But the Word of God does not need to be a mystery to you, not with the excellent Bible handbook that is new available. It is entitled “The Truth That Leads to Eternal Life.” Here is a book that will open up the meaning of the Holy Scriptures to your satisfaction!

A copy of this 192-page Bible study aid will be sent to you for only 25c. Do not hesitate to send for it.

Enclosed is 25c. Please send me a copy of the enlightening book The Truth That Leads to Eternal Life.

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