April 8

I Was an Atheist

I STILL remember that day in the early nineteen-forties when I was just five years old. All the children and their parents in my hometown in central Sweden were invited to a Sunday-school feast. The children were asked to contribute to the program with some form of religious entertainment. Since I played the accordion, when it was my turn I struck up a popular waltz. My audience was not very enthusiastic. Afterward I was told that it was a sin to play such music and that I should feel ashamed.

Many times in my early childhood I was told that it was a sin to do certain things, but nobody told me why. Thus blind fear of God rather than love for him began to fill my heart. This fear made me shun religion, even though religious teaching was a prominent part of regular schooling. During my first years at school the so-called Bible lessons were more like imaginative tales. It was interesting to hear about the miracles of Jesus and his disciples, but I was never convinced that those things really happened.

Time for confirmation came when I was fourteen. It was my first close contact with a State Church priest. The only memory I have of him is that he was irritated, nervous and a chain smoker. Preparation for confirmation was more a matter of routine than an opportunity to establish faith in God and the Bible. On the day of confirmation I was far more excited at being a possessor of a new camera and a new suit than at being a partaker of the Holy Communion.

Belief in God Completely Dissolved

The following years at a senior high school did not strengthen my belief in God. The religious lessons were given by a priest who openly confessed that he did not believe all parts of the Bible, including the creation account. He said that the Bible was written by men, and therefore it should be read with a critical attitude, as one would read any other book. I found the evolution theory taught in biology lessons an acceptable alternative to the Bible’s account of creation. I learned in the study of modern history about the efforts of professed Christian nations to destroy one another. These things influenced me toward an atheistic attitude.

More faith-ruining experiences were to come. After graduating from senior high school, I was called up for military service. The army chaplain explained that war was a necessary evil. He said that a soldier was a servant of God because Jesus said that those who took the sword would perish by the sword, and there must be somebody to wield that other sword. He stressed that war was instituted by God as a means to realize the true religion. I thought: If Christianity is no better than that, I can do without

So that boy who had a disappointing experience at Sunday school grew up to become a young man fully convinced that religion is a fraud, and that modern science eliminates the need for God. I had experienced what many others have, and reacted much the same way as they do. I raised my forefinger and asked, “How could there be an Almighty, all-bountiful God up there when we have so much corruption and wickedness down here?” To me there was only one answer to that question: There is no God!

Marriage and Outlook on Life

This atheistic outlook naturally marked my manner of living. I married a girl with about the same attitude. Since the path from mother’s womb to the grave is so short, we reasoned, “Why not try to get as much as possible out of life while we are still young and vigorous!”

We did not look upon marriage as a very serious institution. We thought that morality must be a personal matter. The two of us could have fun together, but also apart whenever we liked. We thought we were really free. Our whole outlook on life was materialistic, and even my profession was of a materialistic kind. I was a systems analyst at a computer center in Stockholm. We assisted big companies to plan for future financial advancements.

An Unexpected Visitor

Then one spring day in 1963 someone rang our doorbell. I opened the door. A neatly dressed young man modestly introduced himself as a minister, one of Jehovah’s witnesses making calls to stimulate faith in God. My first thought was: “Poor fanatic, you’ve come to the wrong place.” But there was something about him that kept me from closing the door. He did not look like a fanatic. He appeared so normal, so natural, so relaxed. “All right,” I thought, “let me at least show this poor fellow that he has got hold of the wrong end of the stick.”

So I let him in. With my wife listening from the bedroom, I began to vent my indignation concerning God and religion. “How is it possible to believe in God when scientific research and logical reasoning cannot verify him?” I asked. I told him that most of the faith I had met in religion had been a desperate faith, a hypocritical faith, or a faith against better judgment. I showed him that Christianity must have failed, for it had not been able to stop corruption, wars and violence any more than paganism had.

I went on like that for quite a while, and when I thought that he had enough to consider me a “hopeless case” and prefer to leave, he just calmly nodded. He told me that he could well understand my opinion and that it was shared by many persons nowadays. That took some of the sting out of my argument, and I could see that this was not the first time he had run into a discussion of this type. So with a mixture of curiosity and skepticism I let him speak.

Christendom Not the Same as Christianity

He told me that we first had to distinguish between true and false worship before we could judge the matter. He said that even if so-called Christianity proved to be false and unreliable, it did not mean that there is no true and reliable Christianity. “There is a great difference between Christendom and Christianity,” he said. “Christianity cannot be condemned by what Christendom says or does.”

Pointing to the distinction between Christendom and true Christianity, he observed: “It is true that Christendom has suppressed people, but not Christianity; that Christendom has waged war, but not Christianity; that Christendom has failed to stop the moral breakdown, but not Christianity. The Bible does not support Christendom. On the contrary, it prophetically condemns Christendom.

“Just consider how Christendom has misrepresented the Lord’s Prayer,” he continued. “She has prayed: ‘Our Father which art in heaven,’ but she has not practiced interracial brotherhood. She has prayed for God’s name to be sanctified, but she has not even acknowledged that God has a name. She has prayed for God’s kingdom to come, but she has patriotically supported her own kingdoms. She has prayed for God’s will to be done on earth as in heaven, but she has sought to carry on her own worldly policy. She has prayed for her daily bread, but how willing has she been to share her abundance of ‘bread’ with starving people? She has asked God to forgive her her debts and sins, but how ready has she been to forgive and forget in her own conflicts with others?”

I certainly noticed that this young man was not smoothing things over, shutting his eyes to facts or twisting things like most other religious persons with whom I had discussed this matter. To be honest, I had to agree on these points as they well reflected my own experiences. But I wasn’t going to become a believer that easily. The mere failure of Christendom did not prove anything about the existence of God. So I raised the question: “How is it possible for modern man to believe in God when scientific research and logical reasoning cannot verify him?”

“That question I would like to take up with you next week,” he said.

His Second Visit

I had nearly forgotten about the whole thing when the Witness called back. With my wife again listening from the bedroom, the discussion began. At the outset I declared my belief in evolution, and I felt backed up by the whole scientific world. However, it seemed as though he had given this considerable thought, for he said that it was important to make some distinctions as far as science is concerned.

“On the one hand,” he said, “there is the science that discovers, observes and describes facts about nature. Such science does not in any way conflict with belief in God as creation’s great Originator. On the other hand, there is the so-called science that interprets and tries to explain the origin of things by means of hypotheses and theories. Such science often denies a Divine Originator. A true Christian believes in exact science, which discovers, observes and describes facts, but he cannot unhesitantly take a hypothesis or a theory for granted, let alone build his outlook on life upon it.”

I had to admit that I had not considered evolution as only a theory, which, of course, it is. But I still felt that it must be a rather probable theory, and I told him so.

Chance or Creation

The Witness then made me agree that if we excluded an Intelligent Originator behind creation, we would have to rely upon chance as the guiding factor in creation. “How probable is chance?” he asked.

“Well, there is something called calculus of probability to solve that problem, “I replied, feeling more on my home ground.

“Yes, and let us take an example of such a calculation,” he said. He picked up a magazine from his briefcase, and read: “Another scientist computed the probability of a single protein molecule (one of the molecules essential for life) arising out of chance. As stated in the book Human Destiny, it would take 10 to the 243d power [1 followed by 243 zeros] billions of years for this to happen! Since scientists estimate the age of the earth to be a few billion years, there would not have been enough time for this to occur!”

He paused to let this sink in thoroughly, and then read on: “The same scientist says: ‘One molecule is of no use. Hundreds of millions of identical ones are necessary . . . If the probability of appearance of a living cell could be expressed mathematically the preceding figures would seem negligible.’”

“If that is so, “I said, “how do you explain that so many scientists believe in evolution?”

“You certainly use the right word when you say they believe in it, because they cannot prove it,” he replied.

“But their belief must be better founded than your belief in God,” I protested.

“Imagine,” he said, “that the most skilled scientist in the world could handle molecules like a bricklayer handles bricks, and that he only had a pile of protein molecules to work with. Do you believe that he could build a cell of hundreds of millions of such molecules? Could he make it live, grow, propagate and leave to its offspring its own, and only its own, characteristics? You know that he couldn’t.

“But, according to atheistic belief, that which not even the most skilled human intelligence can achieve, occurred by mere chance. How well founded is such a belief? The only conclusion is that those who believe in it must have an extreme desire to believe in one direction, and to refuse to believe in another direction.”

When the young Witness left that night, I did not know what position I would take in the coming discussion. Anyhow, he left the Awake! of April 22, 1963, that he had quoted from, and I decided to read it to see what deficiencies it might contain. However, as I read I became more and more impressed by the logical reasoning in the material, and it really made me do some rethinking.

Man​—Wonderfully Made

Our discussions went on week after week. I can still remember when we discussed how wonderfully man is made. It was indeed sobering to consider our human body of billions of living cells constructed in such a fantastic way to cooperate harmoniously in all its parts. And to think, too, of its ability to love, rejoice, think, discover, remember, reproduce and to express its inmost thoughts and feelings by means of the spoken and written word, smiles and tears, song and music and spontaneous or carefully planned actions.

This discussion made me realize what a tremendously vast gulf there is between unconscious life and conscious life, not to mention between a protein molecule and man. It finally created in me a desire to have someone to admire and thank for all this, someone higher than merely what can be seen around us.

A Changed Way of Life

After some time I agreed to study the Bible with the Witness. This, opened up new fields of evidence for the existence of God. The historical accuracy of the Bible, its harmony, its elevated style, the fulfillment of its prophecies and God’s purpose for man and the earth​—all this made a deep impression upon me as time passed.

My wife, who so often had eavesdropped in the bedroom, soon began to take part in the study. After a few months we began to attend the meetings at the Kingdom Hall of Jehovah’s Witnesses. The time also came when we attended one of their assemblies. Here we met a group of Christians forming a great family of many nationalities, of all ages, of different professions and social backgrounds, but free from dissensions and antagonism. The faith and activity they have in common unite them in a fellowship of which we could hardly have dreamed.

We began to find new meaning in life, increasing its value to us. A wonderful future opened up. Our newfound faith made us dependent upon God, instead of upon ourselves. This dependence became a corrective in our lives, and this has been a real blessing. It has helped us to become mentally and, as a result, physically clean. Our marriage has become more stable, more important to us. We have established full confidence in each other, and feel much better equipped to bring up our little son. Having made over our thinking, and dedicating our lives to Jehovah God, we feel a closeness to God as a real Person.

This is no sentimental idealization built on a desperate faith or a hypocritical faith or a faith against better judgment. It is a reality built on a balanced, genuine and well-founded belief in God. That is why I now can say: I was an atheist, but I will never be one again.​—Contributed.

[Box on page 5]

CHRISTENDOM HAS—

□ Suppressed people and waged war.

□ Failed to stop her own moral breakdown.

□ Not practiced interracial brotherhood.

□ Prayed for God’s kingdom, and for His will to be done, but has advocated her own worldly policy.

☞ Does this prove that Christianity has failed? No! Christendom and Christianity are not the same.

[Picture on page 6]

How “probable” is it that a single protein molecule would arise by chance? A scientist estimated that it would take 10²⁴³ (1 followed by 243 zeros) billions of years for it to happen. The earth has not been here that long

Earthquake Strikes Los Angeles

THE bed lurched forward, jolting us awake. The noise was as if thousands of tiny hammers were beating on the backs of all the walls and the ceiling. I bounded out of bed and headed for the children’s room. My wife said: “Earthquake!”

The beds had moved out from the wall. A few things had fallen. But we had no damage. Others had not fared so well!

The first early-morning radio reports said the damage was minor. The reporters did not yet know that two hospitals had collapsed, that scores of persons had been killed and that thousands of homes were damaged. Telephones in the disaster area no longer worked, and there was no immediate way of getting the word out.

Then, reports began to come in from the communities of Sylmar and San Fernando, in the northern part of the great city of Los Angeles. They were terrifying.

Three buildings at the San Fernando Veterans Hospital (some twenty-five miles northwest of central Los Angeles) had crashed into rubble, claiming forty-six lives. A mile to the west, the new Olive View Hospital had broken apart under the wrenching force of the quake. Astoundingly, only three persons died in its collapse.

More than half the inside wall was shaken from the huge Van Norman Dam, in the foothills north of the heavily populated San Fernando Valley. Another shock could have sent 3,600,000,000 gallons of water cascading onto homes below. Police cars with loudspeakers ordered the evacuation of a twelve-square-mile area, and a thousand policemen patrolled the area to prevent looting of the 22,000 empty houses. It took three and a half days to get the water down to a safe level so that the 80,000 evacuees could return.

Emptying the water, repairing the 1,100-foot-dam and refilling the lakes could take three years.

Meanwhile, a life-and-death struggle was under way at the Veterans Hospital. Since telephone communications had been destroyed, it was about an hour and twenty minutes before authorities were aware of the catastrophe here. Deputy fire chief Kenneth Long flew over in a helicopter, saw the wreckage and the injured lying on blankets on the hospital grounds and radioed for rescue squads.

Using bare hands, jackhammers, torches and cranes, crews delicately carved the wreckage into small chunks and lifted them away, to find survivors underneath. By nightfall twenty-six persons had been saved, and sixteen dead counted.

Arc lights were set up so the search could go on. The next day, Wednesday, the grim task continued. Then, Thursday afternoon, two and a half days after the quake, a hand waved from underneath a pile of rubble. Frank Carbonara, sixty-eight, had spent fifty-eight hours under a concrete slab, listening helplessly as rescuers worked above him.

His injuries? Merely a broken hand!

Extent of the Damage

The quake’s first shock had occurred about 6 a.m., Tuesday, February 9. It was followed by another at 6:01, then by four more so close together that most people probably thought they were one long quake. The series lasted five minutes and eleven seconds. In the next thirteen days two hundred aftershocks rolled through the Los Angeles area. These could continue for months.

The quake occurred in the maze of faults, or earth cracks, at the base of the San Gabriel Mountains. Geologists say the mountains rose four feet and pushed out three or four feet over the valley floor. Several thousand landslides occurred in these mountains, which rise like a wall behind the heavily populated San Fernando Valley.

Days after the quake, many city dwellers, accustomed to having water, telephones, sewage and piped-in gas for heating and cooking, had little or none of these. They waited for new gas lines to be installed and carried bottles of water from trucks stationed throughout the area at crossroads and shopping centers. And people talked to their friends about how good it was to be invited for a hot shower at someone’s home outside the area.

Thirty-five schools reported “major structural damage,” and parts of eleven would have to be torn down for “safety and security reasons.”

Broken gas lines touched off hundreds of fires. The city’s oldest residence, the Avila Adobe, which had survived quakes for a century and a half, was severely damaged. A hundred thousand volumes were thrown from the shelves of the central library.

Twelve bridges crashed onto multilane superhighways (the famed Los Angeles “freeways”). A concrete overpass smashed down onto a pickup truck, crushing its two occupants.

One of the epicenters of a “supplemental” quake is believed to have been a mile below ground, under the highway interchange between the Golden State and the Foothill freeways. This destroyed five of the interchange’s ten bridges and severely damaged the other five.

The earthquake shattered the Sylmar end of the “intertie,” the world’s longest direct-current electrical line. This line shunts up to 800,000 volts of electrical power 846 miles between California and Oregon, sending electricity north for winter heating, and south for summer air conditioning. Estimates were that it might take up to eighteen months to restore this service, and that the destruction could mean “historic energy problems at both ends of the intertie.”

The Concern Grows

Southern California is a relatively new built-up area. People have moved here from all parts of the United States, leaving family and friends “back East,” as southern Californians call the areas from which they came.

Relatives from “back East,” and Californians trying to contact them, flooded the telephones with such a monumental communications jam that these services were swamped for days. On the day of the quake more than 5.2 million long-distance phone calls were made out of the city’s central area alone. Uncounted other persons tried to call but could not do so. For many residents, it was two or three days before they could get a phone line to tell their families that Los Angeles had not really slipped into the sea, and that they were fine.

Tall Buildings

Until just over a decade ago buildings were restricted to a height of thirteen stories in this earthquake-prone area. Now tall buildings, up to forty-three stories high, are scattered throughout this sprawling city. These new high-rise apartment and office buildings rode out the quake very well, generally suffering only minor damage. Occidental Center’s thirty-two-story tower had only two broken windows, while 169 buildings, most of them two- or three-story masonry structures, were damaged in or near the downtown area.

At Pacoima Dam, north of San Fernando, the force of the earthquake’s thrust was recorded at 50 percent of gravity, which is said to have been the strongest horizontal thrust of an earthquake ever recorded anywhere in the world. This would be the equivalent of a 5,000-ton push against a 10,000-ton building.

In the new Century City complex of tall buildings, just west of Beverly Hills, the force was 17 percent of gravity, equivalent to a 1,700-ton push against a 10,000-ton building. The Century City buildings suffered only, minor cracks to partitions inside. Dr. George Housner, chief of seismic research at the California Institute of Technology, said: “The engineering that has gone into recent buildings has really paid off.”

What It Was Like

Hardest hit were the communities of Sylmar and San Fernando, in the northern part of the San Fernando Valley.

“How far do they say you were from the center of the quake?” I asked Russell Burke, whose house in Sylmar looked as if a mighty hand had pushed it over. “As far as I’m concerned,” he said, “it was right here!”

You see newspaper pictures of earthquake damage and assume it affected a house or two. But it is a sobering thing to drive over cracks in the pavement, for block after block, realizing that these were caused by the earth’s upheaving. Roofs sagged. Walls fell. Chimneys were torn from houses and thrown out across yards, leaving gaping holes where they once had been part of the wall.

People whose homes were dangerously damaged spent the next few nights sleeping in their yards, under tents or simply on mattresses under the stars. They cooked in fireplaces and on camp stoves.

The quake struck before sunrise. “Everything in the house was down on the floor,” was a common expression. People climbed out of their darkened houses over dressers, bookcases, lamp fixtures and broken mirrors. Grant Sad, in Sylmar, thought his house had been hit by an airplane. He said: “There was no rumbling, no rushing, just one big explosion of sound.”

Patricia Helzer said the noise was so great that it drowned out the sound of everything that broke in the house. “I never heard a dish break,” she said, “but I ended up with only two cups and two bowls left.” Outside, she could see the earth still rolling. There are ridges in her lawn six to eight inches high, and they were not there before.

Ray Spendley, who lives in one of the canyons above San Fernando, says he could see the hills swaying. When the rumbling stopped, Roy Fizer said he began to hear explosions. “A man yelled that we were being bombed.” But the explosions were from broken gas mains. “In front of my house there were two holes, approximately ten feet across,” he said. “You could drop an automobile in them easily.”

Frank Nitti said: “There was a shock, and our property buckled. The lot is narrower than it was before.”

Personal Attention

Overseers of congregations of Jehovah’s witnesses made house-to-house checks of every Witness family. Ralph Allen even checked on all the families with whom members of his congregation conducted home Bible studies​—a fact that surprised and elated many of them.

About half the Sepulveda congregation’s members lived in the area that had to evacuate below the Van Norman Dam. By noon its overseer had accounted for 90 percent of the congregation​—all who had not already gone to relatives’ homes. The morning after the quake, a group gathered for their regular door-to-door Bible teaching activity. This congregation of 147 persons had an attendance of 190 at their midweek Service Meeting, and 241 attended the following Sunday.

“You can point out to people,” one of Jehovah’s witnesses said, “that the increase of ‘earthquakes in one place after another’ was part of the great sign that Jesus Christ gave in Matthew 24 to mark the rapidly approaching end of this present system. But earthquakes here and now seem to be an entirely different matter!”

How to Survive

A quake strikes suddenly. Before you can flee, it is usually over. Do not panic. Stay clear of anything that could fall. In a house head for an inside doorway (a doorframe is much less apt to fall than is a room’s ceiling), or get under a table. Stay away from windows and outside walls. If outside, get away from windows, masonry, walls or chimneys. In tall buildings, get under a desk.

When the quake subsides, check for injured persons and for fires. Verify the gas, and close main valves if necessary. Wear shoes​—remember that broken glass is likely to be anywhere.

This was not the “great” quake that experts have been predicting for California. The notorious San Andreas Fault, where a steady buildup of strain has long been under way, was not involved in the February trembler.

As earthquakes go, this was not a particularly severe one​—it just happened in a developed area. It was nothing like the 1970 earthquake that killed 50,000 persons in Peru, nor the one in Iran in 1968 that killed 11,000. But it was serious to those who were caught in it, and it was a catastrophe to those who lost lives and homes.​—Contributed.

What Makes a Nation “Civilized”?

◆ In his book The Grand Alliance Sir Winston Churchill wrote about the rise of Japan after she defeated Russia in 1905. He observed: “It was with amazement that the world saw in 1905 the defeat of Czarist Russia, not only on the sea, but by great armies transported to the mainland and winning enormous battles in Manchuria. Japan now took her place among the Great Powers. The Japanese were themselves astonished at the respect with which they were viewed.” And what did the Japanese think of this?

Churchill quotes them as saying: “When we sent you the beautiful products of our ancient arts and culture you despised and laughed at us; but since we have got a first-class Navy and Army with good weapons we are regarded as a highly civilised nation.”

Changing Attitudes Toward Work

HAVE you noticed that the attitude of workers has been changing? Perhaps you have observed it in many salespeople, especially in large-city stores, where service often leaves much to be desired. It is likely you have received defective merchandise, or you may even have accepted shoddy goods at times simply because you knew it would take too long for the company to make a replacement.

In many fields of commerce, there are people who want to get paid but who do not want to do the work or do it well. There is more and more carelessness and the attitude of “taking it easy” on the job.

Particularly since World War II have workers made greater demands for more money and other benefits, but, in the view of many persons, the quality of their work has often appeared less and less satisfactory.

Employers today say that many workers simply do not want to put in a good day’s work. For example, the Watch Tower Society, when endeavoring to purchase certain merchandise on occasions, has been told that it is not certain when it would be available, ‘since it all depends on whether the men feel like working.’

The attitude of many workers is often one of indifference. Said one employer: “When I went into business for myself, there were times when I found it necessary to call the labor union for help. You know, I got about one good worker out of ten hired. The men really did not want to work. I was fortunate if I could get fifteen minutes’ work out of every hour from them. If you got rid of them, they didn’t mind. They would collect unemployment insurance or they would say, ‘The heck with you. We’ve got the union behind us.’”

In a similar vein a general construction contractor from Kentucky comments on work attitudes today: “Many workers today are interested mostly in two things: quitting time and payday. They are not interested in the company or what the company is trying to do.”

This employer also commented on a trend among many young persons to want a prominent position quickly but without putting forth all the effort that is required to become a craftsman. “We have to stay right with many of these young workers and show them everything or else it won’t be done right. In times past a boy would work along with his father. Four or five years of such training and he knew how to use his head and his hands. But it isn’t that way so much anymore. The young man is generally looking for an easy way out. But there are no easy ways to acquire skills or to train the body and mind to do things.”

After reflecting on what he had just said, he continued: “Today, I’d rather hire a man forty or over. The old-timers are very difficult to replace.”

Others have also observed that among many youthful workers today there is the belief that ‘work is necessary but not desirable.’ This may be because so many youths are pleasure oriented. They are not only recreation minded, and so inclined to indulge in horseplay, but also easily distracted by those around them; hence the need for someone to supervise them. Many have good intentions, but they have not developed good work habits, so as to produce steadily throughout the day.

Changing Attitudes Toward Honesty

There are changing attitudes not only toward industriousness and craftsmanship, but also regarding honesty. Many workers steal by reporting work time when they were not even on the job. For example, when a communications system breaks down, it is necessary for an emergency crew of troubleshooters to examine the lines, locate the trouble and clear it up. This work is usually done without a supervisor. So when the trouble is corrected, it is up to the repairmen to record their quitting time. It has been observed that for many workers it is standard procedure to post more hours on the time sheet than have actually been consumed on the job.

Many workers have no qualms about stealing time and other things from their employer. “Stealing is so common,” an employer said, “that it is taken for granted.” A leather goods manufacturer appeared to accept thievery as a fact of life: “Whatever workers can put in their pockets they take,” he said rather indifferently. “They figure that the company owes it to them. They don’t really think it’s stealing, or that it’s wrong to steal.”

A welder remarked that if his equipment was not chained down for the night or locked behind doors, most likely it would be stolen before the morning. One employer revealed that for twenty years he could not leave his plant and take a vacation because there was no one he could trust with the merchandise. It was only after hiring someone who lives by Bible principles, one of Jehovah’s witnesses, that he took his first vacation.

Employer Responsibility

Why the changing attitudes toward work? It is easy enough to put the blame on the workers, but the facts show that management has often contributed to these attitudes. For example, sometimes there is pressure from men higher up for workers to slow down. A girl who worked in a bookbindery at piece rates found she was disobeying orders when she worked at her normal speed. Her foreman made her doctor up her production record to match the others in the department. The surplus was entered on the next day’s record, which forced her into a slower pace the next day.

On the other hand, sometimes a company is overly concerned with production, to the detriment of work habits. “A lot of companies these days don’t care what a job looks like as long as it is passable,” one company man admitted. “What they want is production.” This may give rise to quick but sloppy work, which often has to be done over.

Sometimes there is a “don’t care” attitude among the management, and this can lead only to bad work habits. “Take my job,” said an electrician. “The starting time is 8 o’clock, but men don’t start coming to work until 8:30 or 9 o’clock, yet the company doesn’t say anything. If the company doesn’t care, then why should the men care?”

A similar indifferent attitude is often reflected toward stealing. A contractor stated that ‘there are companies that don’t mind the stealing. They figure that they hired the man for a lower salary, so if he steals, his lower salary more than makes up for the loss.’

But there is more to the changing work attitudes than a failure among some employers to encourage the right attitudes.

Pressures from a Deteriorating System

With so many workers not wanting to put in a good day’s work, there is pressure on others to conform to the prevailing attitude. For example, a young college man spent a five-week period on his first cooperative job. One day he told his school personnel department director his experience. He began by saying: “Aren’t students expected to give their best day’s work to their employer?”

“Why do you ask?” queried the director.

“Well, on my job I started out to do my best. Pretty soon one of the fellows told me not to work so fast. I didn’t pay any attention to him; then others got after me, and finally the foreman spoke to me about it.”

“Did you slow down then?” asked the director.

“Yes. I saw I was getting unpopular with the other workers, but it bothered me not to try to do my best.”

This, of course, is not an isolated incident. It has happened many times. A zealous worker went to work in the automatic screw-machine department of a large manufacturing plant. He found the work easy, so he enjoyed working quite fast. Only a few days had passed when one of the older bur grinders approached him and said: “Take it easy, buddy, there’s no hurry. Slow up a bit. Take my advice; it’s healthier.”

Workers in many fields have experienced the same pressures. Many have thus done less than what they would normally do. Men who enjoyed working and who could not resist doing more were found hiding finished products under their work benches, afraid to turn them in. Workmen were seen standing around by the hour because the day’s “limit” had been reached. Researchers have found, however, that many working people despise the whole business of what they call “goldbricking,” “taking it easy.”

Another reason for changed attitudes toward work is the trend toward super “growth” corporations, where workers feel trapped by giantism. Many youths complain that working for them is an unrewarding, frustrating experience. The much-needed sense of personal achievement often is not felt.

One employer in the electrical business who has noted these changed attitudes among workers simply said: “Maybe it’s the system.” True enough, the whole system of things gives evidence of deteriorating, and there is a widespread moral breakdown. In fact, the Holy Bible, when speaking of the “last days,” foretold that throughout the realm of professed Christians the time would come when ‘men would be lovers of money, self-assuming, haughty, unthankful, disloyal, not open to any agreement, headstrong, puffed up with pride.’ (2 Tim. 3:1-5) Such qualities do not contribute toward better work attitudes.

The whole system of things is involved, then, and the various attitudes of carelessness, dishonesty, indifference, unreliability, lack of cooperation, and so forth, are a manifestation of “the spirit of the world” and the qualities of “the ruler of this world,” whom the Bible identifies as none other than Satan the Devil.​—1 Cor. 2:12; John 12:31; 14:30; 16:11; Rev. 12:9.

Benefits from Right Attitudes

Though attitudes toward work are changing, you do not need to go along with “the spirit of the world” and be influenced by it. You can cultivate good attitudes of industriousness, cheerfulness, friendliness and cooperation; with such qualities you make your work more enjoyable and you gain greater satisfaction.

Yes, with good attitudes toward your work, you find real pleasure in accomplishment. God’s Word the Holy Bible says that man should “rejoice in his works.” (Eccl. 3:13, 22) To rejoice in your work, you need to do it well. In fact, no matter what your job may be, you can strive to give it the mark of craftsmanship, of excellence. The craftsman is one who does well whatever he has to do. He finds delight in being able to do his job well.

For example, a carpenter who builds well can always point to his work with pride. In his accomplishment he feels a sense of worth. His family can also rejoice with him. A housewife, too, who applies herself, delights to show others the works of her hands; she develops wholesome attitudes toward all her work in the home. (Prov. 31:27, 28, 31) Even little children are elated over the good work they do. In fact, every good worker is. For who is there that truly takes pleasure in sloppy work?​—Eccl. 2:24.

Another benefit from good work attitudes is that your skills and services are more likely to be in demand, even when there is unemployment, as prevails in a number of lands today. Here is what one employer whose business is noted for the high quality of its personnel said:

“We’re far more interested in a man’s attitude than we are in his experience. If a person has the right attitude, you can be reasonably sure that he’ll continue to learn, grow and develop. Furthermore, he’ll always be the kind of person we enjoy working with. If a person doesn’t have a good attitude, we don’t want him​—regardless of his experience or ability. Sooner or later a sour attitude always means trouble.”

Good work attitudes may thus help one have employment whereas the person with poor work attitudes may find himself out of work. Since many firms today operate with very little margin of profit, poor work attitudes among employees may contribute to a company’s going bankrupt. For a number of reasons, then, the person with poor work attitudes may find himself without a job. How accurate is the Bible principle: “Whatever a man is sowing, this he will also reap.”​—Gal. 6:7.

How are your work attitudes? If you wish to improve them, you can take to heart the good counsel of the Christian apostle Paul, who said: “Whatever you are doing, work at it whole-souled as to Jehovah, and not to men, for you know that it is from Jehovah you will receive the due reward.” (Col. 3:23, 24) This Scriptural counsel helps Christians to attain the highest incentive in working. With such an attitude the worker will not steal his employer’s goods, nor will he steal his employer’s time by bad work habits.​—Eph. 4:28.

The changing attitudes toward work should alert us all to be on the watch to resist “the spirit of the world.” For we are faced with a system of things that is in decay, and which will soon be replaced by God’s righteous new order. (2 Pet. 3:13) Meantime, good work attitudes will bring you joy and deep personal satisfaction.

Drugs: How Dangerous Really Are They?

WHEN four students at Kent State University in Ohio were killed by National Guard troops in May of 1970, an entire nation was aroused. Yet, that very weekend seventeen youngsters are said to have died from drug abuse in New York city alone.

The war in Vietnam has killed over 44,000 Americans. This has outraged many and caused tremendous civil strife. Yet, in that same period of time over 140,000 Americans are said to have died from drug-related causes.

Why no similar outburst of rage over drug deaths? One reason is that many youths, and adults too, now believe that drug use is not necessarily harmful or wrong. They say that not everyone who takes them is seriously harmed or killed. That is true. But this is also true: in most localities drug abuse kills and cripples far more people than bullets do!

What Is Happening

What is happening in regard to drugs has experts shaking their heads in disbelief. Why? Because of the fantastic increase in the number of people taking drugs. The word most often used to describe the situation is epidemic.

In Sweden during the 1960’s the number of new drug addicts doubled every two and a half years. In some recent years it doubled every twelve months! In the United States drug use has advanced like a tidal wave. Some estimates are that twenty million or more persons now have used drugs, with the rate of increase 7 percent every month! John Ingersoll, director of the Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs, declared that it has “exploded into a problem of frightening proportions . . . mounting at a startling rate.”

Young and old, rich and poor, black and white are involved. Not long ago arrests included sons of the following: the late Senator Robert Kennedy; his brother-in-law Sargent Shriver; California Assembly Speaker Unruh; and New Jersey’s Governor Cahill.

New York’s Chamber of Commerce reported that drug abuse in the business world increased to a “startling extent” and has become an “ominously growing problem.” In Vietnam it has also reached “epidemic proportions” among troops according to eyewitnesses. It is even becoming fashionable among adults to pass around marijuana at parties as casually as they would cigarettes.

In many colleges the student who has not tried at least one drug is the exception. But no longer is drug taking confined to college. It is advancing like a forest fire into high schools, and now even into elementary grades. Edward Kelley, director of the Bureau of Drug Abuse Control’s New York field office, said: “Frankly, students are in such a mood today that they will smoke, eat, inhale or inject anything that will give them a thrill.”

Is all this drug use just a passing fad? Note the following:

“If you think the problem with heroin is serious now, you wait, because at the rate we’re going now, within a couple of years every high school and every college in the Country will be inundated by heroin.”​—Dr. D. A. Louria, president, New York State Council on Drug Addiction.

“The use of illegal drugs is too entrenched on campus to be a mere fad. Most psychiatrists who have examined the individual motivations of students experimenting with drugs offer telling reasons why the problem can only increase.”​—The Poisoned Ivy, by William Surface.

This agrees with Bible prophecy. Calling our times the “last days,” God’s Word foretold that people would be “lovers of themselves,” “without self-control,” “lovers of pleasures.”​—2 Tim. 3:1-5.

However, some contend that even if drug taking is growing, it is not all that bad. They say that using drugs, especially the ‘milder’ ones, is not harmful, and point to marijuana as an example.

Marijuana Harmless?

Marijuana is made from the leaves of the Cannabis sativa plant, rolled in thin paper, and smoked. Many claim that marijuana smoking is harmless. But that is what was once said about cigarette smoking. Now we know that cigarettes are killers.

Marijuana is classified as a ‘mild’ hallucinogen (a mind-affecting drug). It can cause a form of intoxication. And that is exactly why most people smoke it. They want to get ‘high,’ to ‘feel good.’ The very fact that a person feels ‘high’ shows his mind is being affected.

At first, smoking marijuana may not produce any pronounced effect. This often encourages persons to continue. They feel that the harmful effects have been exaggerated. But continued use can result in accumulated effects. Additional use may tip the balance toward marijuana intoxication. Stronger quality marijuana does it faster.

Marijuana intoxication includes some loss of coordination of the body. The pulse rate increases. There may be an abnormal lowering of body temperature. There is inflammation of the mucous membranes and bronchial tubes. When larger or stronger doses are used, vivid hallucinations can occur.

In tests of automobile drivers under the influence of marijuana many distortions were recorded. Some thought they were on a roller coaster. But the road was flat. One driver thought he was upside down. He also said that there seemed to be a pillow between his foot and the brake pedal. Some drivers said they had driven for a half hour. The actual time was only about three minutes. Their judgment was impaired no matter what they thought.

David Archibald, executive director of the Addiction Research Foundation of Ontario, said:

“There is no doubt about it that if 100 people use marijuana, some will suffer harmful effects. A certain proportion will get into fairly serious trouble as a result of using this drug . . . . If they are emotionally upset, marijuana will accentuate the inclination that the user has to depression and may produce depression. If an individual has a tendency to be manic [mad], marijuana may accentuate this tendency and produce a manic reaction.”

Where It Can Lead

A marijuana smoker will find it much easier to take ‘hard’ drugs than the nonsmoker. He comes into a circle of associates who use drugs and who are exposed to drug sellers. Through this association he is often influenced to experiment with stronger drugs.

In the past few years, what was once about 50,000 marijuana smokers in the United States has become about 15 to 20 million who use or have tried it. And the relatively few who took stronger drugs have become several million. The history of most users of strong drugs shows that they began by smoking marijuana. Thus Mr. Ingersoll says: “It seems reasonable to assume that if many individuals did not get involved with marijuana, they would never get around to using the more potent and dangerous drugs.”

During a school discussion, a young student said to a former ‘hard’ drug addict: “We feel we can stay with marijuana. We feel we don’t have to go on to the hard stuff. What do you say to that?” The ex-addict, a seventeen-year-old and one of twelve ex-addicts on the program, replied: “But that’s what we all thought. All of us. And you know what happened? We all got hooked, that’s what. We could stop. But we didn’t. And you won’t, so don’t you start!”

Tragedy of Strong Drug Use

Stronger drugs include LSD (lysergic acid diethylamide), narcotics such as heroin, chemical stimulants known as amphetamines, and relaxing agents known as barbiturates. New varieties appear each year.

A pinpoint of LSD will take a person on a hallucinatory ‘trip’ that may last eight to sixteen hours. There is distortion of time, depth, vision, color and sound. The ability to make sensible judgments is severely impaired. Days, or even months, after the last dose hallucinations can occur.

An overweight man on LSD took a knife and began slicing fat from his body. He bled to death. Another man stabbed his mother-in-law 105 times. Later he did not remember that he had committed this murder. Others have been committed to mental institutions. A two-and-a-half-year-old boy accidentally took one of his mother’s LSD tablets. He was rushed to the hospital in critical condition. Many have injured themselves and others in various ways.

Heroin, derived from opium, is one of the most addictive and destructive of drugs. Its use gives one a ‘high,’ a carefree self-confidence, a feeling of well-being. But as use continues, more and more is needed to reach that point. True physical addiction sets in.

The heroin addict is often undernourished because he does not feel hungry. He may pay so much for his drug that he cannot afford decent food. Indeed, he usually has to steal to support his expensive habit. In his undernourished state he is likely to contract infection. Also, using unsterilized injection techniques, he may get hepatitis, fatal blood poisoning, and abscesses of the liver, brain and lungs. One addict admitted: “Our life is such that jail is a place to get healthy.”

Heroin users live under the constant threat of death from an overdose or from regular use. In fact, New York city reports that heroin addiction now is by far the leading cause of death between the ages of fourteen and thirty-five.

A well-meaning, but naive, girl asked a former drug addict: “But didn’t your drug experience expand some of your consciousness?” He answered: “You’d think I would have learned something constructive in those years​—but all I can think of is tragedy.”

It is estimated that at present about 90 percent of those treated for ‘hard’ drug addiction eventually revert to drugs. No, there is no guarantee of a medical cure. The truth is that physical and mental shipwreck, even death, are far more likely guarantees.

The “Best Sellers”

THE term “best seller” denotes a book that is being bought by the public in unusually large numbers. Strictly speaking, there is only one all-time best seller. That is the Holy Bible, which has been sold in thousands of millions of copies and translated, in whole or in part, into over 1,400 languages. Any other book is only a “good seller” by comparison.

Best-seller lists today are usually divided into two categories: fiction and non fiction. How do books get on these lists?

Do bookstores report the exact number of each title of a book they sell? No, that would be too time-consuming. The vice-president of one of the largest bookstore chains in the United States speaks of the reports as conveying a ‘feeling.’ He writes:

“Bookstore reports of best sellers are made up of intuition, a ‘feel,’ hope, love and, alas, the need or desire to get a book moving that hasn’t yet moved but is expected to. . . . The list is full of surprises to booksellers themselves. How odd to find on the list books your store has not sold a copy of all week, or some negligible number. The list never says how many a title has sold​—18,000 countrywide last week, 23,000 countrywide this week. Publishers aren’t giving out that kind of information. . . .

“What’s really interesting about the list is what’s not there . . . Stores automatically report novels and general nonfiction. . . . But there is a whole world of self-help books or ‘tool’ books that never make the best seller lists and should.” (The Writer, January 1968) Thus books such as cookbooks might sell large numbers and still not make a weekly nonfiction best-seller list. Bibles and textbooks are also usually omitted from the lists. Yet when an important new translation of the Bible is published, it may become a best seller and appear on the lists.

The publishing of books in paperback editions at lower prices has greatly increased the sale of many books. Thus a fiction book may sell only a few hundred thousand copies in its hardbound edition but millions of copies in the paperback edition. Especially have mystery books and those featuring sex and sadism found a fertile market in paperbacks.

More books have been published during this twentieth century than ever before. If we consider, then, all books that have been written during this century, whether fiction or nonfiction, what books have the greatest distribution? There are problems in compiling an exact list, say of the world’s ten best sellers, since some religious publications have had wide distribution, but figures are not available. Further, distribution figures are not readily available for “best-selling” books in Communist lands. But if you take a look at the Guinness Book of World Records, you will find that Peyton Place is listed as the best-selling fiction book, with a sale of 9,915,785 copies by the end of 1965 (most of them in paperback edition). As for nonfiction, the above authority lists the top best seller as being The Common Sense Book of Baby and Child Care, with total sales of over 22,000,000. It is now believed that the figure has risen to 23,000,000.

However, there is a book with a much larger distribution. Since June 1968, the Bible handbook The Truth That Leads to Eternal Life has reached a distribution figure of 35,000,000, in sixty-seven languages.

The chart on the preceding page shows a list of the ten top best sellers among nonfiction books. Six of them are books based on the Bible and distributed by Jehovah’s witnesses.

Since the Holy Bible is the world’s all-time best seller, it seems most appropriate that the foremost best seller on the accompanying list is a book that explains what the Bible is all about. It is encouraging to lovers of God’s Word to see books that underscore Jehovah’s kingdom as mankind’s only hope receiving the widest distribution among all books.

[Chart on page 19]

(For fully formatted text, see publication)

THE WORLD’S BEST SELLERSa

Publication Languages Quantity

1. The Truth That Leads to 67 35,000,000

Eternal Life (1968)

2. The Common Sense Book 23,000,000

of Baby and Child

Care (1946)

3. Le Nouveau Petit Larousse 20,000,000

Illustré (1906)

4. “Let God Be True” 54 19,246,710

(1946)

5. Better Homes and Gardens 14,800,000

Cook Book (1930)

6. From Paradise Lost to 59 13,097,668

Paradise Regained (1958)

7. Did Man Get Here by 11 11,580,153

Evolution or by Creation?

(1967)

8. Is the Bible Really the 18 11,079,468

Word of God? (1969)

9. Pocket Atlas (1917) 11,000,000

10. “Things in Which It Is 34 9,984,234

Impossible for God

to Lie” (1965)

[Footnotes]

Christian Togetherness in Brazil

By “Awake!” correspondent in Brazil

BRAZIL recently had powerful evidence of Christian togetherness amid a world that is increasingly fragmented. This was the recent series of eighteen “Men of Goodwill” Assemblies of Jehovah’s Witnesses in that vast land. The news media took notice of this outstanding Christian togetherness, some of the news items being headlined as follows:

“Jehovah’s Witnesses Are Unitedly Proclaiming: God Is Not Dead.” (Última Hora, December 17, 1970) “Jehovah’s Witnesses Back Up a Practical Christianity.” (Diário de Notícias, December 18, 1970) “To Learn What God Thinks About the Modern World Turn to Jehovah’s Witnesses.”​—Tribuna da Imprensa, November 30, 1970.

So impressed with this example of Christian togetherness was the director of one TV station in Belém, Pará, that his interview regarding the assembly was extended from fifteen minutes to almost one hour.

If you had the opportunity to attend such assemblies for about fifty years, you would certainly appreciate their help in cultivating Christian togetherness. One such Witness, who attended the first assembly in Brazil in 1922, at Rio de Janeiro, was truly delighted to see the number of conventioners increase from dozens back then to 120,950 this year, the total number of those who heard the public talk at these eighteen assemblies. With the peak number of Witnesses in Brazil at 64,199, this meant practically one newly interested person for every Witness present.

Togetherness Despite Vast Distances

Brazil’s immense distances, diversified latitudes and longitudes only served to enhance the togetherness of these Christian witnesses. Thus while two of the assemblies were held close to the equator, at Belém, Pará and at Manaus, Amazonas, another five convened near the tropic of Capricorn, at São Paulo, São Caetano do Sul, Rio de Janeiro, Niterói and Londrina. Farther south, the convention at Pôrto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul, met at about 30° of latitude south.

As far as longitudes were concerned, the Recife, Pernambuco, assembly was held at about 34° west of Greenwich, while the assembly at Rio Branco, Acre, deep in the Amazon jungle, met at twice this longitude, some 67° west of Greenwich. But regardless of the distances, messages and telegrams received at these conventions from far and near indicated that others were thinking of them and praying in their behalf.

Jehovah’s witnesses are interested in helping people of all kinds to come together in united worship as God’s “men of goodwill.” Thus, while the Rio Branco assembly was held at this small city of 80,000, others convened in cities with about a million persons, such as Fortaleza, Salvador, Belo Horizonte and Pôrto Alegre. The exploding population of São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, having more than 6 and 4.5 million inhabitants respectively, with all the accompanying problems of the “urban civilization,” did serve to stress the close Christian fellowship of the Witnesses at their assemblies.

Efforts to Meet Together

For the majority of Witnesses, attending one of these assemblies required much advance planning. One Witness from the Cariacica congregation in Espírito Santo State, ingeniously bought two piglets several months before the Niterói assembly, fed them well and sold them just before traveling time. The proceeds helped to defray her expenses. Another Witness eighty-five years of age, from Carpina, Pernambuco, and almost blind, had enough spiritual vision to travel over sixty miles to the assembly in Recife. She did not hesitate for a moment to sell fruits from her orchard in the public streets. When her unbelieving relatives saw her determination to attend the assembly, they helped her financially.

Another Witness present at the Recife assembly made it through “cigarette money.” No, he did not start selling cigarettes. He just quit buying them. When he decided to get baptized, he gave up the habit. His savings​—$88 in less than one year—​provided more than enough to pay for his fare and meals.

In order to attend the Blumenau assembly, a couple with six children sold their means of living​—a popcorn cart. They were sure that Jehovah would provide them with another means of living, since they were trying to seek his kingdom first.​—Matt. 6:31-33.

Three full-time ministers in the second northernmost assignment in Brazil, at Macapá, Amapá territory, were short of cash and did not want to miss the Belém assembly. So they went to the governor of the territory himself and applied for a free ticket as evangelizers. This was granted them. It meant traveling two full days and nights in the hold of a cargo ship. It was hard, but the joys of the assembly more than surpassed all difficulties.

Problems to Overcome

Because the work of Jehovah’s witnesses has grown so much in Brazil in such a short time, there was sometimes a lack of equipment. But the happy Witnesses have learned to be thankful for anything they may get and inventively apply the famous Brazilian jeitinho (way to do things) to make things move forward. To prepare the 100,000 meals, served at about thirty cents each, at the eighteen assemblies, the Witnesses used equipment ranging from huge gas stoves, made by the Witnesses themselves, to charcoal and kerosine burners. But the meals were generally excellent. One could eat chicken stew, mashed potatoes, spaghetti, turkey, beef, tomato and other salads, meat balls, and of course, the much-appreciated beans and rice. Entire families enjoyed Christian togetherness at these meals.

Sometimes problems were solved by the cooperation of local authorities. For example, at the Salvador assembly, some eighty buses changed their route each night so as to take the conventioners back home.

But not everything went easy. A few days before the Salvador assembly was due to begin, a notice was received that the permit to use a large gymnasium was canceled. Two other places were offered, both unsuitable for the convention. The Witnesses tried to appeal, going as far as the governor of the State. His busy schedule would not allow him to see the Witnesses. Deciding they must speak to him, they sent back a message that they would be waiting to see him whenever convenient. When the message got to him, it was something like this: ‘The Witnesses are in a strike mood outside your office!’ Of course, nothing could be farther from the truth, but finally an interview was arranged and the Cattle Exposition Grounds was granted.

Having less than forty-eight hours, hundreds of Witnesses went to work like ants. This prompted the administrator of the grounds to say: “Just look! . . . We are delivering this place dirty and full of trash; you shall see how clean it will be when we get it back. I feel sorry for these nice people.” But, right on time, the assembly started, and the Witnesses thanked Jehovah for that assembly place, decorating it with flowering trees to give it a real tropical touch.

Helping Others Toward Togetherness

As elsewhere, the Witnesses in Brazil make efforts to teach interested persons, not only God’s Word, but also, when necessary, how to read and write. Thus they can benefit more directly from God’s Word and learn God’s way to Christian togetherness. It was in November 1956 that the Witnesses began a reading and writing program that has resulted in almost 5,900 persons’ learning how to read and write. In just the last two years, some 1,000 were helped. The Watch Tower Society established a well-prepared program, using reading aids provided by the government. However, the time came for the Witnesses to have their own reading aid, and the conventioners rejoiced when the publication Learn to Read and Write was released in Portuguese. Some 100,000 copies of it have been received in Brazil, and they are being put to good use.

The government of Brazil is undertaking a tremendous effort to teach millions to read and write. The hard work done by the Witnesses during all these years, and the willingness they show to teach thousands more in the near future are very much appreciated by the Secretaries of Education. For instance, when the Witnesses visited the Secretary of Education and Culture of the State of Rio Grande do Sul, he said: “Jehovah’s witnesses are the first ones to offer their help. We can say this is a pioneer attitude.” The Secretary of Education of the States of Rio de Janeiro, when located at Niterói, said that if all religions would follow “this beautiful campaign of Jehovah’s witnesses, soon there will be no illiteracy in our country.”

Religious illiteracy or illiteracy regarding God’s Word the Bible is a great problem in Brazil, as well as in other parts of the world. Thus through the assemblies and by over 1,160 congregations of Witnesses in Brazil, besides the 150 isolated groups, these Christian witnesses are helping others to learn God’s Word, which alone points the way to true unity.

Others Want Christian Togetherness

Telling the people of Brazil about God’s kingdom is a very enjoyable experience, and people are taking to the message of Bible truth in earnest, showing their desire for Christian togetherness. For example, in the 1970 service year 8,501 new Witnesses were baptized, averaging some twenty-three every day of the year. Now, at these eighteen assemblies alone, 3,036 new ministers symbolized their dedication to God through water baptism. It was not unusual to see from ten to fifteen persons from a single congregation getting baptized.

Sometimes the seed of Bible truth takes years to sprout. One man baptized at Juiz de Fora first heard about God’s truth in 1928. Then soon thereafter, he lost contact with the Witnesses, got separated from his legal wife and two children and started a consensual arrangement with another woman. Then in 1968, he again heard the Bible’s truths and began to adjust his life according to God’s commandments. When presented with the opportunity to return to his legal wife, he did so and she accepted him. Now, at seventy-two, he symbolized his dedication, and his legal wife, seventy years old, was right with him at the assembly.

In Goiânia, a girl eleven years old was among the seventy-seven baptized. She suffered much persecution at school from a Protestant teacher who believed in evolution. She even had to transfer to another school, where her merits were recognized by her being moved one school year ahead. This girl shows keen understanding for her age, and each week she helps an entire family by conducting a Bible study.

Among the fifty-seven baptized at the Curitiba assembly was a young man in his twenties, a professional soccer player. Besides playing soccer, he was also a promising engineering student. When he learned God’s truth, he turned down lucrative offers and said, in explaining his final decision: “Time is short, and I want to make the best possible use of it: to serve Jehovah, our Creator.” He was baptized at the assembly held at the stadium of the same club for which he played.

So the message of God’s kingdom is reaching people of all walks of life. At the São Caetano do Sul assembly, for example, among the 279 baptized were a former presbyter of a Pentecostal church; a man who, for the previous forty-four years, was a spirit medium; a former Baptist preacher; former Adventists, voodooists, and so forth.

Most certainly these “Men of Goodwill” Assemblies reflected the Christian togetherness of Jehovah’s witnesses. And, as never before, outsiders could notice this, with many of them also desiring to have the unity and love that come from serving the true God, Jehovah, as his “men of goodwill.”

[Picture on page 22]

Conventioners at Salvador assembly examine new reading aid in the Portuguese language

Getting Married​—Hong Kong Style

By “Awake!” correspondent in Hong Kong

HONG KONG weddings include many traditions handed down in China. But families observe different traditions depending on the province of China they are from. Also, Western influence has brought changes. So weddings vary, and no one can say dogmatically the exact norm for a Hong Kong wedding. Yet there are certain marriage customs taken for granted here that persons from other places may consider quite strange.

It has long been the Chinese custom for a boy’s parents to contact a girl’s parents by means of a mediator to arrange a marriage, doing so before the young couple have ever met. Today, however, courting in Hong Kong is usually done Western style. In fact, dating now begins in the teens, even though the majority of marriages are contracted by couples in their mid- or late twenties.

Setting the Date

When a couple who are courting decide to get married, usually the boy goes to the girl’s parents about the matter. Sometimes the boy’s parents, or in some rare cases a mediator known by both families, will intercede for the boy. At this contact between the two families the wedding details, dowry and other requirements are discussed. In these considerations the girl’s parents have the primary say.

When it comes to selecting a date for the wedding, parents may consult a fortune-teller who may pick a “lucky day.” Or the “lucky day” may be arrived at by looking in the Chinese almanac. This is basically a book of astrology listing each day of the year and what should or should not be done on that day. “Good luck” is considered very important by both non-Christians and even members of Christendom’s religions in Hong Kong. Every avenue possible is explored to bring “good luck.”

The 1969-70 Chinese lunar year, the “year of the chicken,” was considered a “lucky year” to get married because there were two spring festivals. Thus, there was a huge waiting list of couples to have their marriage registered that year. But the 1970-71 lunar year, the “year of the dog,” is called a blind year since there are no spring festivals. So it is considered a “bad year” for marriages.

Christian witnesses of Jehovah God know, however, that the Bible strictly forbids anything connected with astrology, fortune-telling or the false gods of “Good Luck” and “Destiny.” (Deut. 18:10-12; Isa. 65:11, 12) So they determine their wedding date upon its convenience to themselves and their families and friends. And rather than look to any god of “Good Luck,” they look to their Creator Jehovah God for blessings and a happy future.

Dowry

Once the wedding date is set, the bargaining starts on what might be called the bride price or dowry. The bride price was paid by God’s servants in Bible times, and so in itself is not a custom objectionable to Christians. If it is the first and oldest daughter to be married, the price for her will probably be more than it would be for, say, the fourth daughter.

The dowry usually is a set amount of money paid directly to the girl’s parents, or for a restaurant wedding feast. The girl’s parents customarily stipulate the number of tables as well as what some of the feast courses must include, such as mushrooms, chicken and abalone.

A table at a wedding feast seats twelve. The girl’s parents, for example, may require payment for twenty or more tables at a cost of $35 to $70 per table, depending on the menu and the restaurant. But this is only for the relatives and friends of the girl’s family. The boy’s family may have an equal number of tables.

Yet this is only part of the dowry payment. The bride’s family may also require that a certain number of catties (pounds) of wedding cake be delivered on a “lucky day” before the wedding for distribution to friends and relatives.

The family may also want one or more whole roast pigs to be sent to them on the third day following the wedding. In ancient China the roast pig was sent on the third day after the wedding as evidence that the boy found the girl to be a virgin. The third-day custom is not always adhered to nowadays, and in this increasingly immoral world, neither does the pig necessarily indicate virginity. Now the pork may be sent on the first day after the wedding, or even be included on the feast menu.

None of the requested dowry surprises the boy. He has expected to pay a price. But he does not give in too easily. There is bargaining over the number of tables, the catties of cake and roast pork, and so forth. If there is a mediator, then the mediator does the bargaining.

Usually the bargaining ends in an amicable settlement, with compromises on both sides. Sometimes, however, breaches in the relationship occur, even resulting in the calling off of the wedding. Or the in-laws may have separate feasts. Of course, the boy’s parents are concerned about the money involved, since they often help their son to pay the dowry, and sometimes assume all the cost. Some parents feel that if they pay for the wedding, the children have the responsibility to care for them in their later years.

If the boy adheres strictly to certain traditions, he may have to pay for new clothes for all members of the bride’s family. He may also pay for the wedding dress, which is frequently the traditional Western white. The bride may change outfits several times on the wedding day. Included among these outfits is the Chinese Kwa Kwan. This traditional dress, consisting of a coat and long skirt, costs from $200 to $1,200. Most couples rent it for $15 to $120 a day.

“Well, don’t the girl’s parents have to pay anything?” you may ask. Yes, they customarily do. After bargaining in connection with the wedding is over, there is frequently a discussion regarding what the girl’s parents are going to give the newlyweds. Sometimes it is furniture for the new home, except the wedding bed, which only the boy is to buy. If the girl’s parents are well-to-do, they may provide an apartment with the rent paid for one year, or, in some cases, paid in full.

Wedding Day

Finally the wedding day arrives! The groom first goes to get his bride. When he arrives, friends and members of the family may not let him in unless he first pays “luck money.” This money, placed in red packets, is given to the one who opens the door or to everyone in the house. It is only after payment that the groom may receive his bride. True Christians do not participate in any of such practices that involve “luck,” and generally explain this in advance to those connected with the wedding.

Next, the wedding party may head to the marriage registry for the ceremony. In Hong Kong, couples can only be legally registered as married at one of the government registry offices, or by going to one of the few large churches authorized for this purpose. The couple must apply well in advance to have the ceremony performed at the registry office on the date and time they wish. So there are no late brides here, or they miss their turn!

Christian witnesses of Jehovah readily comply with this marriage registry law, as they know that only such legally registered marriages are approved by God. In addition to the legal ceremony they usually arrange for a Christian minister to give a Bible-based talk on marriage and its accompanying responsibilities. This is done either at the marriage registry or before the wedding feast.

Some people in Hong Kong, however, may want to be married on a “lucky day,” but find they are too late to get their marriage registered on that day. So they have a customary Chinese wedding, and then, in the meantime, live together before having their marriage registered. But since these couples are not really legally married, their living together is not proper Scripturally.

After the wedding, Chinese religion requires that the bride return home dressed in the Kwa Kwan and kowtow or bow before the altar of the gods of kitchen, heaven, earth or any other gods worshiped by the family. Then she must kowtow to any dead ancestors represented by a plaque, altar or pictures on the wall. Finally, she kowtows to members of the family, and ceremonially serves them tea. Worshipers of the God of the Holy Bible, of course, do not share in this custom, since it is condemned in God’s Word as idolatry.​—Ex. 20:3-5.

Wedding Feast

The feast consists of ten courses or more and is generally held late at night. Relatives and friends prefer it late, for it gives them a chance to go to the restaurant early in the afternoon and gamble until it is time to eat, which is around 10 p.m. Of course, Christian couples do not allow gambling at their wedding feast, since gambling is not approved in the Bible.

The couple usually receive gifts of money and of other kinds before, during and after the wedding. This helps to cover expenses. But Hong Kong weddings, as you can see, often are expensive. So the newlyweds may only break even, or perhaps be saddled with a debt. To pay for their wedding some couples have had to cancel honeymoon vacations abroad and other plans.

Christians, while not objecting to marriage customs that are not disapproved by God, try to use good judgment so as not to incur debts that would interfere with their service to God. Thus their weddings​—Hong Kong style—​are happy, memorable occasions, as weddings everywhere should be.

“Your Word Is Truth”

Paul’s Voyage to Rome

THE Christian apostle Paul had been held prisoner two years in the seaport city of Caesarea. Now, at his own request, he was being taken to Rome to appear before Caesar. Paul and other prisoners were in the charge of an army officer named Julius. Luke, who recorded the account of the voyage, accompanied Paul.a

Boarding a boat, they proceeded north along the coast. The next day they landed at Sidon. Putting out to sea again, the boat sailed past the northeastern tip of the island of Cyprus, and then along the Asia Minor coasts of Cilicia and Pamphylia. Progress was slower here, but finally the busy port of Myra was reached. At Myra, Julius was able to secure passage for his party on another boat. It apparently belonged to the grain fleet that regularly traveled between Alexandria, Egypt, and Rome.

From Myra, hugging the coastline of Asia Minor, the large boat slowly worked its way along against the wind. Thus it took “quite a number of days” to get from Myra to Cnidus, a coastal city north of the island of Rhodes. From Cnidus the boat would have to face the open sea if the decision was to travel west past the southern tip of Greece and on to Rome. But apparently strong winds dictated against such a decision. Instead the boat ran south toward the island of Crete.

Reaching Salmone on the east coast off Crete, the boat worked its way around the island to Fair Havens. Because of the delays due to the wind, “atonement day had already passed by.” This meant that it was probably October by now. Further navigation at this time of the year would be hazardous. But because the harbor of Fair Havens was inconvenient for wintering, the decision was made to try to reach Phoenix, another harbor some forty miles farther along the Cretan coast.

Storm and Shipwreck

The crew’s confidence in this decision increased when a gentle south wind sprang up. But then a furious east-northeast wind suddenly burst upon the boat, seizing it and driving it along! The shelter of the small island of Cauda offered the briefest respite from the gale. During it the skiff being towed behind was quickly hauled aboard, and available ropes and cables were used to undergird the boat to keep it from splitting apart.

What terrorized the crew was that the gale was blowing them toward the Syrtis quicksands on the coast of Libya, North Africa. The crew worked furiously to turn the boat and hence avoid shipwreck. The boat was also lightened by throwing cargo overboard. Seaman Edwin Smith commented concerning this critical part of the voyage in the March 1947 issue of The Rudder:

“In this instance they would lay the ship to on the starboard tack, that is, with the right-hand side facing the wind. She would thus be pointing about north, or away from the African coast and the Syrtis; and any headway she might make while hove-to would be carrying her on her course towards Italy, while her broadside motion (drift) would be, generally speaking, to the westward.

“On the following day when the gale continued unabated they lightened the ship. Every step hitherto taken indicates skillful seamanship, and so here, for all works on seamanship recommend this as one. of the things which should be done.” The measures taken turned the boat on a westerly course, avoiding shipwreck on the dangerous African coast.

Neither sun nor stars appeared for many days as the boat was driven along westward. Hope for survival was all but abandoned. But, then, at midnight on the fourteenth day after leaving Crete, some of the crew began to suspect that they were drawing near to land. Depth soundings confirmed this. The four anchors were thrown out, and the boat slowly stopped.

Finally dawn came. The crew cut away the anchors, unlashed the steering oars, hoisted the foresail and headed for the beach. But the ship ran aground and began to break up in the thundering surf. At the command of Julius, all jumped into the sea and made it safely to land, some swimming and others clinging to anything available from the ship.

The island was identified as Malta. Here they wintered, and when it became safe in the spring for travel, they continued the voyage on another Alexandrian boat. In time, the boat passed by the southeastern point of Sicily, putting in at Syracuse for three days. It then proceeded on to Rhegium on the “toe” of Italy, and from there made it to Puteoli. Here the party disembarked and completed the last lap of the journey overland to Rome.

A Reliable Account

This Bible account underlines the limitations imposed on ships in the first century​—their need to find safe harbors, to use natural advantages offered by coastlines, and to avoid the open sea at certain times of the year. The sails, anchors, steering oars, and the skiff towed at the stern all agree with the descriptions of boats of the time. The undergirding and the lightening of the boat were methods resorted to in just such circumstances.

Reference to the grain boat from Alexandria agrees with the situation in the Roman world at the time. There was such a fleet in the Imperial service then, and an army officer became senior in command, as the Bible account shows.

The account vividly highlights the problems of a ship in working to windward, and the type of wind prevailing at the time of year in that part of the world. With a leading westerly wind, the some seventy miles from Caesarea to Sidon took about a day, but with a favorable south wind a fast passage of about a day was possible from Rhegium to Puteoli, a distance of about 200 miles.

Also, the accuracy of the boat’s course toward the Syrtis sandbanks occasioned by the wind blowing off the mountains of Crete is noteworthy. The subsequent alteration of course possible in such a wind could bring the boat precisely to Malta.

Seaman Edwin Smith was moved to conclude his comments on the voyage: “We have seen in our examination that every statement as to the movements of this ship, from the time when she left Fair Havens until she was beached at Malta, as set forth by St. Luke has been verified by external and independent evidence of the most exact and satisfying nature . . . All of which goes to show that Luke actually made the voyage as described, and has moreover shown himself to be a man whose observations and statements may be taken as reliable and trustworthy in the highest degree.”

Invariably it is the case that the more closely Bible accounts are examined, the greater becomes one’s appreciation of their reliability and trustworthiness. The account of Paul’s voyage to Rome is just another example of the Bible’s accuracy.

[Footnotes]

Watching the World

Assemblies in Spain

◆ For the first time in history Jehovah’s witnesses were permitted to hold assemblies in Spain. One was held on February 5 in Madrid and another one day later in Barcelona. The president of the Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society, who was visiting Spain at the time, spoke at both assemblies. The press in Madrid gave a detailed and generous coverage of the assembly there. The fine cooperation of government officials that made the assemblies possible was greatly appreciated by the Witnesses. 14,569 were in attendance at the two assemblies.

Employees Steal More

◆ It is estimated that during 1971 organized crime will cost American industry $500 million. Many people who deplore such criminal activity are actually contributing to an even greater crime figure. They are employees who steal cash and merchandise from their employers. It is estimated that during 1971 American industry will lose more than $4,000 million due to such thefts.

Religious Journals in Trouble

◆ The year 1970 proved to be an especially difficult year for most religious journals. Regarding this The Christian Century stated: “The year 1970 was an apocalyptic time for many journals. In the United States, Britain and Canada a large number of them simply died.” There was a drastic drop in circulation and advertising income accompanied by inflationary rises in the cost of production and materials. In contrast to these collapsing religious journals, the Watchtower magazine continued its steady growth in circulation. It began 1970 with a circulation of 6 million, concluded the year with a circulation of 6,750,000 and has now passed the 7,000,000 mark.

Diet and Multiple Sclerosis

◆ According to a Danish researcher, a diet high in unsaturated fats can help build up protection for the central nervous system against multiple sclerosis. The doctor stated: “If the child is breast fed and later his fat intake favors the polyunsaturated fats from fish and vegetable oils rather than the saturated animal fats, he will develop a myelin sheath strong enough to withstand an attack of whatever causes multiple sclerosis.” He also observed that the development of this sheath is complete by the time a child is fifteen or sixteen.

Laymen Abandoned

◆ A report on a two-year study of the views of church laymen was presented to the National Council of Churches in the United States. The report observed that church “membership is decreasing, clergymen are leaving, financial support has been declining,” and this during a time of population increase. It also observed that laymen are given little help by the churches to live their faith in the secular institutions where they earn a livelihood. It said: “At this point, we believe, the church has abandoned them.”

Women Warned on Mercury

◆ Pregnant women were warned by Dr. Hollis Ingraham, New York State Health Commissioner, against eating tuna and swordfish. Both of these fish have proved to have relatively high levels of mercury. He said: “Evidence indicates that methyl mercury​—which can cause some form of brain damage when concentrated in sufficiently large levels tends to become concentrated in a fetus.” In view of this, fish containing amounts of mercury that are not considered harmful to adults and children could be dangerous to an unborn fetus.

Loss of Clergymen

◆ In the past twenty-five years the Congregational churches in Wales have seen their number of clergymen decline from 420 to 264. There are now 332 of such churches without a minister.

Blood Contamination by Plastic

◆ It is the contention of Dr. Robert J. Rubin, associate professor of environmental medicine at the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health in the United States, that plastic bags and tubing contaminate blood. Chemicals in the plastic migrate to the blood, and when the blood enters a person it can cause a condition called “shock lung,” which is an impeding of the circulation of the blood in the lungs. The condition can be fatal.

Church-approved Abortions

◆ The twenty-fourth general council of the United Church of Canada declared that abortion is “morally justifiable under certain medical, social and economic circumstances.” It called upon the Canadian government to remove abortion from the Criminal Code. The Lutheran Church in America has taken a somewhat similar position by declaring: “On the basis of the evangelical ethic, a woman or couple may decide responsibly to seek an abortion.” These views are not in harmony with the Scriptural command to respect human life.

Respect Religion of Patients

◆ An editorial appearing in Texas Medicine, of December 1970, urged physicians to respect the religious beliefs of their patients. It stated: “It is the faith of the patient that we doctors need to understand and respect. Whether our own religious belief is strong or nonexistent, it is a human conviction which we have no right to impose on any other person​—especially when he is ill and frightened.” The doctor writing the editorial also observed: “I am a Presbyterian, but when I treat an illness that affects the body, mind, and spirit of the person in my care, it is what he believes that is important.”

Bible Neglected

◆ Although the Bible is the best seller, the reading of it is being neglected by the churches. On this point James D. Smart, a professor at New York’s Union Theological Seminary observed: “The Bible is in a very bad way in the church. . . . In a century during which biblical scholarship has made tremendous advances in America, with literature on the Bible expanding enormously and a number of the new highly readable translations becoming ‘best sellers,’ there has been an increasing frustration of preachers with the Scriptures as a basis for sermons, a steady decline in the educational use of the Bible in the church, and a mounting ignorance of the contents of the Bible among members of the church.”

Rising Divorce Rate

◆ During the nineteen-sixties the divorce rate in the United States climbed sharply. In 1960 there were 35 divorced persons for every 1,000 married couples. In 1970 the rate was 47 divorced persons for each 1,000 married couples, an increase of 33 percent.

Dwindling Number of Priests

◆ A recent report from the Vatican revealed that there were 1,476 fewer priests in 1970 than in 1968. Even more significant is the 12.5-percent drop in ordinations to the priesthood. This trend is causing serious trouble for the Catholic Church.

Rising Suicide Rate

◆ During the ten-year period from 1955 to 1965 the suicide rate in Australia rose from 13.1 per 100,000 men to 18.5. The rate for women went from 3.4 to 10.8. This gives Australia one of the highest suicide rates in the world. In France it is 15.3 per 100,000 people, and 10.8 in the United States. More than half of the French suicides are in the age bracket of seventeen to twenty-five. The principal reasons for suicides were given by the Australian newspaper the Sunday Mail as “social isolation, unemployment, financial incompetence, alcoholism and drug dependence, or the loss of a loved one through death or desertion.”

Lesson Taught by Rolls-Royce

◆ The British Prime Minister feels that the bankruptcy of Rolls-Royce has taught the world an important economic lesson. He said: “Management must rid itself of the illusion that it can go on indefinitely running a business in conditions that don’t pay. Unions must rid themselves of the illusion that they can go on indefinitely demanding higher wages without any concern for the effect on the firm or the industry, and without any regard to the prices its customers will have to pay. Governments must rid themselves of the illusion that you can find the way to prosperity by pouring out the taxpayers’ money in perpetual subsidies for uneconomic ventures. All of us must rid ourselves of the illusion that we can buy our way out of the problems of today by mortgaging the future. It seems the easy way out​—but we know now it is the fatal way.”

New Money for British

◆ On February 15, 1971, the British began using a new decimal currency. This climaxed a 300-year effort to change to this type of currency. The old currency of pounds, shillings and pence was one of the most complicated in the world, as any visitor to Great Britain can testify. Now the currency has been simplified by dividing the pound into 100 pence. The change also involves reducing by more than half the average weight of British coins, which had been considerable. A certain amount of confusion is expected during the 18-month transitional period when both currencies will be accepted in some places.

Crisis for Ethiopian Church

◆ According to the New York Times of February 17, 1971, the Ethiopian Orthodox Church “is in a period of crisis.” It is losing much of its influence. This is especially so among educated urban young people. Because it owned a third of all property in Ethiopia during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries and later parceled it out to priests, a great amount of land is in the hands of priests. Because the priests are permitted to marry they have been able to pass the land on to their sons, and if the sons become priests, as one in seventy Ethiopians do, the land remains tax free.

Radioactive Dating Unreliable

◆ By measuring the amount of radioactive carbon in archaeological findings scientists have felt that they could determine the age of these things with fair accuracy. This method of dating relies on the assumption that radioactive carbon in the atmosphere remains constant. But now there is evidence that it does not. A study of radioactivity of wines, whiskeys and seeds has indicated that the radioactive carbon in the atmosphere varies in amount according to the sun’s cycle of activity. When there is an increase of activity in the sun the solar winds increase, which causes the mixing of the earth’s atmosphere to increase, and this in turn causes more radioactive carbon to enter the lower atmosphere. Thus plants will absorb more of it during these periods. This will give a false reading to the age of archaeological artifacts of wood, cloth and other things that absorb radioactive carbon.

Drunk Drivers, Beware

◆ Although drunk drivers in the United States cause 25,000 highway deaths and 800,000 nonfatal auto accidents every year, the police have had little success in reducing their number. Revoking the driving licenses of drunks has not worked, because they just keep on driving. Fines do not discourage them either. In Chicago a judge decided to automatically sentence every convicted drunken driver to at least seven days in jail. Some have been given as much as six months. During a trial period of two weeks when the judge was doing this, traffic fatalities in Chicago plunged 65 percent, and injuries dropped 50 percent.

Economic Woes

◆ The United States is not the only country that has been having economic woes. Deficits experienced by British companies during 1970 were twice as great as in 1969. Approximately 250,000 to 300,000 jobs were eliminated in Britain. In the Netherlands many small businesses are going out of business, selling out or merging. Nearly 600 companies in Italy are in financial difficulty. In West Germany 47,000 workers were on short time during December, which is unusual for that country. Even in prosperous Japan business failures rose in 1970. A Japanese executive observed that Japan will, in the future, most likely have to face the economic problems that are now troubling Europe and the United States. The economic prospects for the months ahead in many countries are not good.

Life Everlasting​—in Freedom of the Sons of God.

What are the truths that Jehovah’s witnesses teach people? Many of them are explained in the book Life Everlasting​—in Freedom of the Sons of God.

Learn how mankind became enslaved to death and how they will be set free. Learn how you can get eternal life. Examine evidence showing that this will take place soon.

Please send me the 416-page book Life Everlasting​—in Freedom of the Sons of God, for which I am enclosing 50c. Send also the free booklet “This Good News of the Kingdom” which goes to those ordering the book.

Every Family Needs a Bible Study. Does Yours Have One?

What does the future hold for you? How can you protect your loved ones from today’s moral breakdown? Only God’s Word, the Bible, gives the truthful answers that will fill you with hope.

The answers to these questions are available now.

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To arrange for such personal aid from a qualified instructor for one hour each week, simply contact Jehovah’s witnesses in your area, or fill out and mail the coupon below.

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