June 8

What’s Happening on the Highways?

WITH the arrival of summer vacation, people in north Germany take to the autobahns and head for recreation areas in the south. Last July 31 this resulted in Germany’s worst traffic jam in history. Traffic heading toward Munich stretched bumper to bumper for over a hundred miles! And just that one day fifty people were killed and 180 were seriously injured on Germany’s superhighways.

In 1970 over 19,000 persons died and half a million were injured on roads in Germany. The annual traffic death toll is nearing 20,000 in Japan, with another million injured! In France over 15,000 were killed in auto accidents in 1970. And in the same year, 55,200 died and over five million were injured in the United States​—170,000 of whom were crippled for life.

Thus each year well over 100,000 persons are killed and more than six and a half million are injured on the highways​—in just four countries!

Such figures are staggering, almost too great to conceive. They mean that, in these four countries, every five minutes someone is killed in a traffic accident, and about every five seconds someone is injured. The dead, if laid head to toe, would stretch about 115 miles! And the injured would reach some 7,000 miles​—over a quarter of the way around the earth!

Slaughter on the highways often far outstrips that on the battlefield. During World War II the United States suffered 291,557 battle deaths. But from 1965 to 1970 about 320,000 Americans died in traffic accidents​—nearly 30,000 more deaths on the highways than during the worst war in human history! Each year more Americans die on the country’s highways than have been killed in battle in ten years of fighting in Vietnam.

Highway traffic also endangers life in another way, by producing fantastic volumes of air pollutants. Each year automobiles spew some 25 million tons of invisible carbon monoxide into the air in just ten city areas of the United States. This sickens people and slowly kills them. Dr. H. Richard Weinerman, professor of medicine and public health, called the automobile “Public Health Enemy No. 1” in the United States.

Some persons are even more outspoken about the automobile’s threat to man. “I once wrote that the invention of the automobile was one of the greatest disasters to have befallen mankind,” said British economist Ezra J. Mishan recently, but added: “I have had time since to reflect on this statement and to revise my judgment to the effect that the automobile is the greatest disaster to have befallen mankind.”

Yet the automobile is still considered by many the zenith in transportation. In fact, life-styles and communities have been so built around it that in some places there is no adequate alternative means of transportation. So, man has worked himself into a situation from which he finds it almost impossible to escape. Though the atmosphere, and man’s health, are being ruined by the pollution, the convenience of automobile transportation is given priority.

Actually, the commitment to automobile travel becomes greater each year. In 1940 the United States spent less than $1.8 thousand million on road construction, but by the end of the 1960’s some $11 thousand million was being spent yearly. And what about the future?

State highway commissioners want annual expenditures to be nearly doubled. In 1970 they proposed a fifteen-year road program that would cost $320 thousand million! This program would provide 53,000 miles of new highways, improve existing roads and replace thousands of bridges. Also, about $29 thousand million of the proposed sum would go for the completion of the 42,500-mile Interstate Highway System.

This highway system is eventually to connect most major cities, and make possible swift driving from coast to coast and border to border without a traffic light. When it was begun in 1956, it was called the greatest public-works project in history. The cost was estimated at $27 thousand million, and 1971 was set as the year for completion. However, the project is now only 75 percent complete, and it has been calculated that it will cost eventually about $70 thousand million.

It is almost unbelievable the rate at which road building is proceeding. Germany set the pattern for modern superhighways when, back in 1929, she began construction of her autobahns. By the outbreak of World War II she had completed a 1,260-mile network of these superhighways. Now, in the United States alone, the land paved over each year is greater than the entire state of Rhode Island! But how wise is that? Has man seriously considered how this affects the earth’s processes of air cleaning by means of vegetation?

Although it may not be apparent, some success has been realized in making highway travel safer. In the United States the death toll would be nearly three times as high as it is now if the rate of fatalities per mile traveled were the same as in 1934. The number of traffic deaths actually dropped by more than a thousand in a recent year​—from 56,400 in 1969 to 55,200 in 1970. Why?

A number of factors have apparently been responsible. Safer automobile construction is one​—steering columns that collapse in a crash, windshield glass that crumbles instead of shatters, and shoulder harnesses that have been required in all new cars since 1968. Also, improvements in highway construction, including grooved sections to jar awake sleepy drivers. This progress is commendable. But is it really the whole solution?

No; far-reaching changes are needed in man’s whole attitude toward life and his fellowman. You can improve your lot and that of people around you by showing keen concern for others when you are behind the wheel of a car. But, as for the ruining of the earth and the slaughter of human life as a result of what takes place on the highways​—it will take God’s new order really to correct it.

Why Must Even Youths Die?

“WHY did my baby die?” the young mother sobbed, grief-stricken at the death of her only child. “He had so many years ahead​—so much to live for.”

“Oh pity us!” cries the epitaph on the tombstone of a three-year-old child. British parents marked a grave with the words: “Two lovely babies lie buried here.”

Such parents are not alone in their sorrow. Their pain has been felt by many others. Usually it is a grief known only to a few close friends. At other times the world becomes aware of the loss.

Parents can easily imagine the grief of the families of seventy-one children who, in April 1970, perished when a landslide crushed a tuberculosis hospital at Plateau d’Assy, in the French Alps. They can also sense the sorrow of parents who, in September 1970, sent their joyful children to a festival in India’s South Mysore State, only to hear in horror that their boat had overturned.

In many nations mothers have seen their sons “give their lives” for political issues, or to maintain or extend national boundaries or influence. Student protests, now common throughout the world, have led to further sorrow, as at Kent State University and at Jackson State College in Mississippi in 1970.

Some youths bring on their own deaths​—through reckless driving, excesses with alcohol, or from acts that they or others perform under the influence of drugs. Others have their lives snuffed out at an early age by drowning, lightning, fires, storms, firearms, poisons, and so forth. But in each family the sorrow is gradually surmounted. The family adjusts to its loss, and life goes on.

Reason for Untimely Deaths

Yet, heartbroken parents, sorrowing over the loss of a child, often ask why their child was the one that had to die. Wives often raise similar questions at the loss of a loved husband: “Why my Bill? Why did he have to die? He never hurt anyone!”

Rarely do people die because they hurt someone. Instead, they die, at one age or another, because we all were born into a system in which eventually everyone dies. The only book that truly explains this situation is the oldest book in existence, the Holy Bible. Its writers were inspired by God, and so what they wrote merits our interest. One of those inspired penmen wrote almost three thousand years ago: “The living are conscious that they will die.”​—Eccl. 9:5.

Specific children (or adults) are not “chosen” for death. Often death results from chance​—from being in a particular place at a particular time. It has little to do with whether the person who died was good, young, talented, or had a particularly promising future before him. As wise King Solomon wrote in the inspired Scriptures: “I returned to see under the sun that the swift do not have the race, . . . nor do even those having knowledge have the favor; because time and unforeseen occurrence befall them all.”​—Eccl. 9:11.

A child can chase a ball into the street. If at that “time” no car is coming, nothing may happen. But if a speeding car is passing (the “occurrence” the child had not foreseen), the child may be injured or killed. He did not die because his death was “fated” or “foreordained.” No set time had been decided in advance. Rather, he died because he happened to be in the street when the car passed.

Condition of the Dead

This same Bible writer who wrote, “For the living are conscious that they will die,” continued that very sentence with a statement that surprises many persons. He said: “But as for the dead, they are conscious of nothing at all.”​—Eccl. 9:5, 10.

This idea surprises persons who have been taught in their churches that the dead not only are conscious, but are consciously suffering punishments or enjoying rewards. Who has not heard the idea that the dead are suffering in a hellfire or purgatory or are enjoying the blessings of heaven? Yet God’s Word, the Bible, says the dead “are conscious of nothing at all.”

Verify this for yourself. Get your own copy of the Bible, and read these words in the book of Ecclesiastes, chapter nine, verses five and ten.

How Long Should Man Live?

But why do men, who try so hard to hold onto life, die? Why does such a marvelous organism as the human body not continue to rebuild itself? Why does it finally wear out, and why do men make mistakes that cause accidents and bring death?

Logic indicates that man was made to live much longer than we live today.

Consider just the example that is offered by man’s marvelous brain. Your brain alone, according to biochemist Isaac Asimov (quoted in the New York Times Magazine, October 9, 1966), is “perfectly capable” of handling “any load of learning and memory which the human being is likely to put upon it​—and a billion times more than that quantity, too.”

Why were you given a brain that could serve a thousand million lifetimes? Such a brain was not needed for existence in prior generations, nor is its capacity being used in your short lifetime today. The evolution theory cannot explain how or why men would “evolve” such a tremendous brain​—a thousand million times beyond the creature’s needs. This brain must have been given to man with more than a short life-span in view.

It was.

In the Bible’s first book (Genesis, chapter one) the creation is recounted. It is presented in a simple and straightforward manner. During great creative epochs (called “days” in the account) various life-forms were created. Each reproduced after its own “kind,” producing descendants to live on after it had died. (Gen. 1:11, 12, 20-24) Then man was created.

Animals could move about, show affection or anger, band into herds, and exist on a far higher level than the plants had. Man, on the other hand, was far superior to the animals. He could progress, building on what he learned. He could convey thought through speech. He could distinguish between right and wrong. He had a moral sense, and was concerned about justice and rightness.

And, astoundingly, the Genesis account suggests that man was so different from the animals that he might not even die!

Animals were born and later died. But man was different. Nothing in the creation account said that man would die​—unless he disobeyed his Creator. To the first man God said that, in the day he disobeyed, he would “positively die.”​—Gen. 2:17.

Had the first man and woman continued obedient to God, they would not have died. They would have multiplied till the earth was filled. (Gen. 1:28) Their bodies would have continued to rebuild themselves, and men and women could have made use of their brains that are capable of a thousand million times the learning load that is likely to be put on them today.

Death Enters

But this is not the way it happened. The first couple did disobey. They lost out on eternal life for themselves, and so could not pass on such a prospect to their children. The Christian apostle Paul recognized this as being, not myth, but actual fact. He wrote: “Through one man [Adam] sin entered into the world and death through sin.”​—Rom. 5:12.

Sin has been passed from generation to generation, and men die. So, the apostle continued: “And thus death spread to all men because they had all sinned.” (Rom. 5:12) Some die as children, others die in old age from illness, or as a result of accidents.

Other persons, because of the activities in which they engage, hasten their death. Fast and reckless drivers risk their own and other persons’ lives. Cigarette smokers risk dying from agonizing lung cancer. Today’s selfish system of things has goaded men into political, nationalistic or even commercial practices that have cost many lives. Yet the Scriptures hold hope even for those who have died.

A Thrilling Resurrection!

The Bible teaches that Jesus’ ransom sacrifice opened the way for a magnificent hope for mankind. By laying down his human life, Jesus was offering as a sacrifice the exact equivalent of what Adam had lost​—perfect human life on earth. He paid a “ransom” for dying mankind. Now the prospect of eternal life was again open. Thus it was proper for the apostle Peter to call Jesus God’s “Chief Agent of life.” (Acts 3:15) It is by means of this One that God will raise the dead to life in a thrilling resurrection. Concerning this, the Christian apostle Paul said: “There is going to be a resurrection of both the righteous and the unrighteous.”​—Acts 24:15.

But when dead ones come back in the resurrection, how long will they live? That depends on the course of action they take and whether they are obedient to God’s “Chief Agent of life,” Jesus. By exercising faith and obedience such ones can keep on living forever.

Even now there are persons who are exercising faith in God’s Son, and they have a wonderful hope ahead of them, even as Jesus said: “God loved the world so much that he gave his only-begotten Son, in order that everyone exercising faith in him might not be destroyed but have everlasting life.”​—John 3:16.

Many persons can quote that Bible passage, but few have thought about what it actually says. It does not say that Jesus gave his life that people might “become angels” or so that “all good people might go to heaven.” It says he did so that they might have “everlasting life.”

Righteous New Conditions

This everlasting life will be possible in God’s righteous new system of things, after the “great tribulation,” during which the earth will be wiped clean of its present wicked system. (Matt. 24:21) This righteous new system, now near at hand, is one for which all Christians have prayed. They have asked God to intervene in earth’s affairs, and to make a drastic change in the way things are done.

Perhaps you say: “I have never prayed for that.”

But almost everyone who claims to be Christian has prayed for it. Stop a moment and think of how you learned to say the model prayer that Jesus gave​—perhaps you call it the “Lord’s Prayer,” or the “Our Father.” After asking for God’s name to be sanctified, you may have prayed: “Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.”​—Matt. 6:10, Douay translation.

Few persons have realized what a change it will make for that prayer to be answered​—for God’s will to be done throughout the earth the way it is done in heaven. In fact, it will require that God replace this present system of things, with its wars, corruption and greed. In its place will be a new system that will assure the conditions of peace and life that God originally created in Eden. Into such new conditions, now near at hand, the earthly resurrection will occur.

This helps us to understand the promise made at Revelation 21:2-4 of magnificent blessings that will come down out of heaven from God. What changes will those blessings bring as respects earth? Listen to what a loud voice from God’s heavenly throne told the apostle John: “And [God] will wipe out every tear from their eyes, and death will be no more, neither will mourning nor outcry nor pain be anymore. The former things have passed away.”

As if this astounding restoration of everlasting life on earth would be too magnificent for men to believe, the apostle John records the special assurance that was given from heaven itself. He writes: “And the One seated on the throne said: ‘Look! I am making all things new.’ Also, he says: ‘Write, because these words are faithful and true.’”​—Rev. 21:5.

The Coming “Great Tribulation”

But will you benefit from the grand hope that the Bible offers of everlasting life in righteous new conditions? That is something for you to consider seriously, because we are living at the time when Almighty God will soon bring an end to this system of things in the “great tribulation.”

Failure on the part of the larger portion of earth’s inhabitants to heed the divine warning given in the Scriptures will cause many to lose their lives. Earth’s Creator will not forever tolerate the wanton violation of his laws, so evident today. God’s prophet Jeremiah wrote: “And those slain by Jehovah will certainly come to be in that day from one end of the earth clear to the other end of the earth.” (Jer. 25:33) The Scriptures indicate that those slain by Jehovah will not come back in the resurrection, but will “undergo the judicial punishment of everlasting destruction.”​—2 Thess. 1:7-9.

Parents who fail to choose a godly course will be responsible for the loss of, not only their own lives, but also those of their infant offspring in this coming “great tribulation” that will cleanse the earth of present troublemakers, and will see the establishment of a new order, with righteousness and peace.

Though at present people, young and old, die because of the sin inherited from Adam, it is possible to benefit from Christ’s ransom, and to conform to God’s instructions. We can take a course of obedience that will permit us either to survive through the coming “great tribulation” or to be resurrected afterward, into a righteous and cleansed earth, now near at hand. What a blessing to be on hand when dead loved ones, perhaps your children, return from the dead! Great will be the joy. What a marvelous hope the Bible gives to those who have lost their loved ones!

The Rhinoceros​—Victim of Man’s Superstition

By “Awake!” correspondent in South Africa

THE massive horn on the nose of the rhino looks dangerous. Oddly enough that very horn has brought danger to the rhino. He has been hunted ruthlessly for this horn to gratify a superstition found in many Eastern lands. Yes, magical properties are attributed to the rhino horn, and a small piece of the horn can command a high price.

The Magical Horn

When licensed hunters shoot rhino, the horns generally become government property and are sold at auction. In East Africa the Kenya government holds a yearly auction of rhino horn, and traders from Eastern countries buy up the horn for export. In 1964 the price paid at that auction was $7 (USA) per pound, but in 1970 the price rose to $20 per pound; on that occasion some 1,100 pounds were purchased.

These prices are small, however, compared with those paid on the black market. Poachers are encouraged by the high returns to slaughter far more rhino than are killed by any other means. In India even higher prices are paid, $150 per pound in 1961 and $240 in 1969!

What are the qualities attributed to rhino horn that prompt men to pay such high prices for it? Some consider it to have medicinal properties, relieving rheumatic and other pains. Some believe that a horn placed beneath the bed of a pregnant woman will relieve labor. And an owner of a horn may rent it out for this purpose on many occasions at about $50 each time.

Also drinking cups are made out of rhino horns and these are reputed to be able to neutralize or reveal the existence of poison. Some think that poison in the drink will cause the cup to crack or the potion to froth.

It seems that the practice of making “poison-proof” drinking cups from rhino horns began about the late fourth century C.E. At that time it was believed that the mythical unicorn could detect poison with its horn. Naturally, people were anxious to obtain such horns, and the demand was satisfied by selling rhino horns as genuine unicorn horns.

The particular demand, however, for rhino horn arises because of its reputed quality as an aphrodisiac, something to restore the waning sexual power in man. The rhino may copulate over a period of several hours, and so it has been suggested that this has inspired men to try to gain some of this power by eating the horn. Is the horn of the rhinoceros able to produce sexual virility, or is it merely superstition, without any basis in fact?

Fact or Fiction?

The search for an aphrodisiac has continued over many centuries, and all sorts of animal parts have been used by various peoples, including a variety of horns. Today men are in a position to make a scientific analysis of rhino horn and thus determine whether there is any basis in fact for the claims.

Horns similar to rhino horns do grow on other animals, even sometimes on man, but in such cases they are pathological growths and often harmful. We can hardly imagine that benefits can accrue from eating a tumor or growth found on the body of another person or animal. However, Jeremiah Diale, a Basuto from South Africa, accumulated some wealth by selling chips from such a horn that grew from his forehead. He traveled through India in 1923 and pieces of his “horn” were eagerly sought after. Sometime later, however, he died of cancer.

The claim has been made that the rhino horn is able to stimulate sexual powers because it acts as an irritant when eaten. The horn is said to be composed of agglutinated hair and, when powdered, it contains minute particles that are said to be sharp-edged. It is suggested that these particles, when swallowed, pass through the digestive tract into the bladder and, on discharge, set up an irritation in the urethra. In actual fact, however, this cannot be so. For no solid particles are able to pass through the digestive tract into the bladder. Only dissolved substances can do this, and so it is not possible for an irritation to be set up in this way. In addition the horn is really composed of skin cells, and these do not break down into sharp-edged pieces.

Another suggestion is that the horn contains some chemical constituent that reacts upon the body in some way. Is it possible, for example, that sex hormones such as testosterone are contained in the horn substance and that these are released into the system of the person taking it?

To settle this question, Dr. Werner T. Schaurte of the Rhino Research Foundation in Germany had exhaustive tests made. The Institute for Animal Physiology of the University of Munich carried out a steroid hormone analysis of the horn. No traces of hormones were found. The results of the tests were conclusive in establishing that there is no scientific evidence for accepting the story that rhino horn is an aphrodisiac.

Man’s preoccupation with matters of sex has led him into many foolish and degrading practices. Reflection on the subject, however, should serve to show the fallacy of trying to transfer a quality of an animal to a human by eating or wearing a certain part of the animal. Man cannot fly by eating bird feathers or remain indefinitely underwater by rubbing fish scales upon his nose, and neither can he restore waning sexual vigor by swallowing the powdered horn of a rhino.

On the other hand, getting to know the rhino in his own home and appreciating the part that is played by such creatures in the balance of life has real therapeutic value in stripping off the cares and frustrations of modern living.

Meet the Rhino at Home

The hook-lipped or long-lipped rhino lives on leaves and young shoots of bush-like trees. To get its dinner it often uses its front horn (sometimes as long as three and a half feet) to uproot and overturn bushes and small trees. Let us observe a rhino feeding from the acacia thorn tree. Notice the way his hooked lip reachesaround the twigs to strip them of leaves. It acts almost like a finger. Certainly his mouth was made ideally for feeding in that manner.

That bird sitting on the rhino’s back is an oxpecker, and it feeds upon the parasites found on the skin and in the ears of its host. These alert birds fly off making a loud noise at the appearance of danger, so sounding a warning to the rhino.

While the rhino’s sense of smell is acute and his hearing is good, he has difficulty in distinguishing a man beyond about twenty-five yards. And if he catches sight of movement at that range, he will feel too close to danger for comfort and he may charge. Rather than this rhino being a bad-tempered animal, some naturalists say that it is more likely fear that motivates the attack and that the charge is actually defensive rather than aggressive.

Nevertheless, three thousand pounds of rhino, galvanized into action, charging at twenty-five to thirty-five miles per hour makes a formidable foe. A locomotive was once derailed by one of these huge rhino. But notice how content he is to browse. He is happy to be left alone. Well, let us do just that and see if we can find his cousin, the square-lipped rhino.

This rhino, the largest of all rhinoceroses, can weigh up to four tons. He is a grazer, feeding upon grass. But look there. Now you can see why he is called “square-lipped.” His mouth is flat and about ten inches wide so he finds it easy to feed on grass. A record horn for this rhino measured sixty-two inches. Fortunately he is quite docile and will usually run off if he finds we are near. His reaction to danger, then, is generally different from that shown by the hook-lipped rhino.

But now he is heading for a wallow. Apart from giving relief from heat, the mud serves another purpose. A coating of mud will cause the ticks, small blood-eating parasites, to loosen their hold on the rhino’s skin. The rhino then rubs them off along with the mud, against a stone or tree stump. The wallow, in turn, becomes deeper and deeper as the rhino uses it, and it eventually becomes a semi-permanent waterhole, providing water in the dry season for many other animals.

The bull rhino seeks to establish a territory of his own, an area of perhaps 500 acres. He has various ways of marking this territory as his, and he will defend it against challengers. One way he marks his territory is by finding a small bush; then, holding each back leg stiff in turn, he will drag them over the bush, breaking it down. After this he urinates in a fine spray so that the whole bush is scented. Now any visiting rhino that comes upon such a bush will know immediately that he is in someone’s territory. But how will the bull know who has visited his territory?

It is the practice of the bull to establish middens or heaps of dung. Any visiting rhino will use the middens and so leave evidence of his presence. The territorial bull makes his round of the middens, from the scent gaining knowledge as to who has visited his territory; whether they were cows or bulls, neighbors or strangers. The dung in the midden is scattered by a kicking action of the back legs on the part of the territory owner so that the visitor’s slate is wiped clean before the next round of inspection.

Many, indeed, are the interesting features of these huge horned animals, now declining in numbers. Surely their lives should mean more than the inflated value of their horns. What a pity that man, activated by superstition, fails to see the true value of this earth and the wonderful creatures upon it.

From Pagan Rome to Christendom

OF ANCIENT world empires none had more glory and power than Rome. At its peak it reached from Spain on the west to the Persian Gulf on the east, and from Egypt on the south to Britain on the north. Yet in time it declined and fell. Out of its ruins came Christendom.

Ancient Roman history may well be divided into three periods: the monarchy, from 753 to 509 B.C.E.; the so-called republic, from 509 to 27 B.C.E., and the empire, from 27 B.C.E. to 476 C.E.

From Romulus to Julius Caesar

According to Roman tradition, the first king of Rome was Romulus who began to rule in 753 B.C.E. After Romulus six more kings are said to have ruled. Then, in 509 B.C.E., the Romans overthrew their Etruscan king, an outsider, and established a so-called republic.

Once Rome had become strong enough to ward off enemy attacks its rulers engaged in wars of expansion. By 133 B.C.E. Rome had subdued Greece, Macedonia, Carthage (in North Africa) and the province of Asia.

Later Julius Caesar rose to power through the liberal use of his wealth, by his great military exploits abroad and through defeating rivals at home. He was the last strong man in the republic and wielded authority from 49 to 44 B.C.E.

From Augustus to Claudius

Julius Caesar was assassinated by suspicious and envious nobles. His death led to further wars of rivalry. The eventual victor was Octavian, the great-nephew and adopted son of Julius. In 30 B.C.E. Octavian subjugated Egypt. This marked the beginning of Rome as the sixth world power of Bible history. Secular historians, however, generally count the beginning of Rome as an empire from the year 27 B.C.E. In that year Octavian received the title “Caesar Augustus,” Augustus meaning “exalted, sacred.” Augustus ruled for some forty years, from 27 B.C.E. to 14 C.E. He was in power when King Herod ruled Palestine for Rome and Jesus was born in the Judean town of Bethlehem.​—Matt. 2:1; Luke 2:1.

Augustus was followed by his adopted son, Tiberius Caesar, who ruled from 14 to 37 C.E. This period of rule included the three and a half years of Jesus’ earthly ministry. (Luke 3:1, 23) At that time the governor Pontius Pilate represented Rome in Judea (and Samaria) and the tetrarch Herod Antipas represented Rome in Galilee and Perea. During the closing years of Tiberius’ reign true Christianity began to be spread throughout the Roman Empire by believing Jews and Jewish proselytes returning to their homes from the feast of Pentecost at Jerusalem in 33 C.E.​—Acts 2:5-11, 41, 42.

Tiberius adopted as his son Gaius, nicknamed Caligula. This adopted son became mad and was murdered by his palace guard after reigning four years. Succeeding him was Claudius (41-54 C.E.). He is mentioned at Acts 18:1, 2 as issuing a decree expelling the Jews from Rome. His fourth wife, Agrippina, who was also his niece, prevailed upon Claudius to name her son by a previous marriage as his heir instead of his own son Britannicus. She later poisoned Claudius, bringing her young son Nero to the throne.

From Nero to Trajan

Nero ruled from 54 to 68 C.E. While today there is some doubt that he set fire to Rome, he did use that conflagration as an excuse to persecute Christians. One of the methods reportedly used by Nero was to wrap Christians in garments covered with pitch, fasten them to poles and then set them afire to light up his gardens during the evening festivities. Quite likely the apostle Paul met martyrdom during Nero’s reign, about 66 C.E. That year also saw the fanatical Sicarii wipe out the Roman garrison on the Masada. This started the war between the Jews and the Romans, which was to end seven years later on the same spot.

The next three emperors (Galba, Otho, Vitellius) ruled six months, three months and about a year respectively, each in turn meeting a violent death. After these came Vespasian, who ruled for ten years, from 69 to 79 C.E. He had replaced Gallus as the leader of the Roman legions fighting against the Jews. When he was chosen as emperor he left his natural son Titus in charge. Vespasian was succeeded by Titus as emperor. During his two-year reign (79-81 C.E.) the famed Colosseum was completed. Mount Vesuvius also erupted at that time, destroying Pompeii as well as other cities.

Domitian, the brother of Titus, repeatedly plotted against him. It may well be that he caused the death of Titus. Domitian then ruled from 81 to 96 C.E., and revived the official persecution of Christians. He is said to have been the first emperor to command that during his own lifetime he be worshiped as Dominus et Deus (Lord and God). According to tradition, toward the end of Domitian’s reign the apostle John was banished to the Isle of Patmos, John there receiving the Revelation.

Domitian was followed by Nerva, who ruled but a year and a half. He was one of the better emperors of Rome and incurred the hostility of many because of his just policies. He repealed the law Domitian had enacted against the Christians. But, because of the animosity of the pagan religionists to the Christian evangel, this did not in itself cause all persecution of Christians to cease. Then, too, Christians were unpopular because they were so different. They refused to worship the emperor, to mix in politics, and to go to war. Their way of life and their evangelizing zeal caused them to be viewed as opponents of Judaism and a threat to all who profited from pagan religions.​—Acts 8:1; 9:1, 2; 12:1-5; 18:12-17; 19:23-41.

Trajan (98-117 C.E.), who followed Nerva, continued Nerva’s wise and just policies, and so did his successor Hadrian (117-138 C.E.). Hadrian is reported to have been one of the most able emperors Rome ever had. He instituted an apparently just system of taxation and greatly ameliorated the lot of slaves. He issued an edict forbidding Roman officials to pay any attention to the public denunciations directed against Christians. This edict stated it to be his pleasure that no Christians should be put to death except such as had been legitimately accused and convicted of some crime.

It is noteworthy that the Roman emperors who ruled best also were generally the most tolerant of Christians.

The Persecutors Marcus Aurelius and Diocletian

The following reign, that of Antoninus Pius (138-161 C.E.), the adopted son of Hadrian, quite likely was the most peaceful of all. Marcus Aurelius ruled next (161 to 180 C.E.).a During this period, the second century C.E., Rome saw its greatest expansion​—covering an area of three and a half million square miles and boasting a population of some 55 million people. However, Aurelius’ rule was marred by floods, fires, earthquakes, plagues of insects, insurrections, wars of conquest and persecution of Christians. Soldiers returning from his military campaigns brought with them a deadly plague that killed many throughout the empire.

Marcus Aurelius was an ardent religionist. When passing through Greece he had himself initiated in the Eleusinian mysteries. At the age of eight he was a Salian priest. In the last reliefs of his triumphs he was still shown as a priest at the sacrificial altar. Considering his religious fervor, one can appreciate why he was a persecutor of Christians throughout his reign.

Aurelius was also a man of military prowess. He himself led his soldiers into battle, years at a time.

His “Meditations” were supposed to have been a guide for his son Commodus. But Commodus, who ruled from 180 to 192 C.E., turned out to be one of the sorriest of all Roman emperors. He was contemptuous, tyrannical, bloodthirsty, extravagant and so vain in his physical prowess that he commanded that he be worshiped as the Roman Hercules. Several of his intended victims, however, made sure that he died first.

With Commodus the Roman Empire entered its period of decline. His assassination did not end bad government but was followed by a century of anarchy and confusion. During one sixty-seven-year period, of twenty-nine emperors and claimants to the throne, all but four died by violence. Also during these years Christians were bitterly persecuted by Decius (249-251 C.E.) and Valerian (253-260 C.E.). These persecutions ended with the death of the emperors that instituted them.

Diocletian (284-305 C.E.) made a desperate attempt to restore the empire to its former glory and power by despotic means. He wore a royal diadem and borrowed from the East elaborate court ceremonies to give him a mysterious sanctity in the eyes of the people. Toward the end of his reign he began the terrible persecutions of Christians that lasted for some ten years (303-313 C.E.), the persecutions being continued by his successors.

Constantine Makes Roman Empire “Christian”

For some twenty years thereafter, rivals of Diocletian waded through seas of blood in their battles for supremacy. Finally in 324 C.E., Constantine “the Great,” upon becoming undisputed ruler, set about to reunite the empire. (Diocletian had divided it, he ruling the East, and Maximian the West.) To achieve his ends, Constantine gave “‘barbarian’ kings to the beasts, along with their followers by the thousand,” and found reason to kill one of his wives and one of his sons.

According to a myth or legend, Constantine, while engaged in one of his wars for supremacy, had a vision or dream in which he saw the sign of a cross with the words, “by this sign thou shalt conquer.” This is said to have inspired him to success. He moved the capital of the Empire from Rome to Byzantium and renamed it Constantinople (City of Constantine). He professed conversion to Christianity but was baptized only when on his deathbed.

The so-called “Edict of Milan,” by which Constantine and his coruler Licinius were supposed to have granted Christians freedom of religion, was nothing more than a letter which Licinius addressed “to some government official in the East, commanding him to see that the edict of Galerius was carried out in a thorough manner.” Galerius had been the one to influence Diocletian to persecute the Christians. Just before his death, however, Galerius saw either the injustice or the futility of it all and he (Galerius) issued the edict granting freedom of religion.

Disappointed that professed Christians were divided doctrinally, Constantine convened the Council of Nicaea with the hope of unifying them. He himself presided. Noting that the majority favored the doctrine of the Trinity, as expounded by Athanasius, he ruled it to be the law of the Empire. Constantine then banished Arius and those who believed as he did. (Arius held that Jesus Christ was no part of a coequal trinity but had been created by God and was subordinate to Him.)

Constantine made Roman Catholicism the religion of the Roman Empire and persecuted those who disagreed with it. Says Jesuit theologian McKenzie in his book The Roman Catholic Church (1969), “I understand Roman Catholicism to begin with the conversion of Constantine.” The Church, instead of being persecuted, became the persecutor. Concerning this a modern historian writes:

“The fourth century was a period of astounding growth of the Christian Church. The century opened with the persecution of the Christians, still a small minority of the population, by a pagan emperor. At its close, Christianity was the sole official religion of the empire, . . . protected by a Christian emperor who issued persecuting laws against . . . all who departed in any way from the accepted doctrines of the state church.

“But this rapid growth was not all pure gain to the church. The influx of great numbers of the indifferent or self-seeking inevitably lowered the general average of morality and religious zeal in the church, while at the same time introducing non-Christian elements into its doctrine and practice.”​—A Survey of European Civilization, Ferguson & Bruun.

After Constantine to the End of the Empire

After the death of Constantine in 337 C.E., there followed a period of much internal strife as the Roman Empire continued to decline. Roman emperor Julian (361-363 C.E.) turned against the religion that had been forced upon him and sought to reestablish paganism as the state religion. Before his death he had to admit his failure. But, as far as his principles were concerned, they appear to have been superior to those of many who professed to be Christian emperors. During the rule of Emperor Theodosius (379-395 C.E.) Roman Catholicism was made the state religion and all others were outlawed.

As secular administrations grew weaker due to moral decay and “barbarian” invasions, the Roman bishops kept exercising more and more power. Thus after Alaric, the Gothic king, sacked Rome in 410 C.E., Innocent I, bishop of Rome, took the lead in the reconstruction of the city. At the same time he insisted that all Western bishops recognize him as head in matters of worship.

Leo I went even further in this direction. He might be said to have been the first real pope, for Emperor Valentinian III conferred upon him jurisdiction over all bishops in the Western Empire.

In 476 C.E., King Odoacer (Odovakar), a general of German descent, deposed the Roman emperor Romulus Augustulus and left the throne vacant. Thus after five hundred years the ancient Roman Empire came to an end; that is, as far as its Western wing or segment was concerned.

Rome was the most powerful of the ancient world empires. It was also the most widespread. In the Bible it is pictured as a “beast, fearsome and terrible and unusually strong. And it had teeth of iron, big ones.” (Dan. 7:4-14; 2:36-44) Why, then, did it weaken and fall? One historian described its decline as “the greatest problem in history.”

The decline and fall of Rome, however, presents no problem to persons familiar with Bible principles. Jesus said that a “house divided against itself will not stand.” (Matt. 12:25) Certainly divisiveness and internal conflicts hastened the decline and fall of that empire. The Bible also says that “whatever a man is sowing, this he will also reap.”​—Gal. 6:7.

To quote N. F. Cantor’s Medieval History: “There were some very ugly sides to the life of the Roman world, which classicists usually prefer to ignore: an enormous slave population, vast urban slums and terrible poverty, the widespread practice of homosexuality.” To these must also be added gross licentiousness and avarice; voluptuous feasting, wanton cruelty, revolting religious practices and glaring political corruption. Is it any wonder, then, that Rome came to its end?

[Footnotes]

A Methodist Minister Observes

AMONG the crowd of 1,649 attending an assembly of Jehovah’s witnesses in Taylor, Texas, during January 1971, was a minister from the local Methodist church. In addition to hearing the public Bible lecture, the clergyman had an opportunity to observe the conduct and conversation of the Witnesses from the eighteen congregations in attendance. In his church newsletter the following week the Methodist minister made these observations about the Witness assembly:

“Much prayer and many conversations dealt with subjects in the word of God; with things which never grow old! The Name Jehovah was held in deep respect and honor. Odd people, these witnesses of Jehovah! They stand for something. They have very definite disciplines. They study the Word of God with system and regularity. They keep their kids busy with things that matter. There is a lightness and joy about them which is most attractive and wholesome. There is a seriousness about them which commands attention and respect. They know what they believe! They know in Whom they have believed! And when they have a gathering they have trouble finding a place large enough to meet in. Other religious meetings dealing with eternally irrelevant things have problems finding places small enough to meet in! Do you suppose we sophisticated religionists could learn some valuable lessons from these people? Or is it that we think we have already achieved that which we are capable of achieving?”

Physical Fitness​—Is It Worth the Effort?

IT WAS a Saturday luncheon. Everyone had just stood up. Suddenly a man slumped against the person beside him. He was helped to his seat. But the heart attack killed him almost instantly. He was only thirty-four years old, but somewhat overweight.

It would be sad enough if this were only an isolated incident. But every day heart attacks are striking many persons in their thirties, forties and fifties​—killing or crippling them. It is an epidemic! The New York Times Encyclopedic Almanac 1970 says: “We are in a new age of pandemics [widespread epidemics], since nearly half of the men of the Western countries (and an increasing proportion of the women) are dying of a single ailment​—cardiovascular disease or, more specifically, coronary [heart] catastrophe.”

Why is it particularly in Western countries, where there is material prosperity, that this ailment is common? And why has it become an epidemic in this generation? The consensus of medical experts is that there are a number of contributing factors, each of which adversely affects physical fitness.

What Is Physical Fitness?

According to one doctor, adequate fitness allows a person to carry out his daily activities without interference of fatigue. Also, a fit person has enough physical reserve to meet unexpected emergencies safely, and possesses sufficient energy to enjoy leisure time.

So it might be said that one who is physically fit is able to tolerate stress. The stress may be from a hard day at the office or from doing housework, from a near-accident, a run to catch a bus, and so forth. These things place extra demands on the body; more oxygen must be delivered to the muscles, and extra waste products carried away. This requires increased output of the heart and faster circulation.

But what if one is not fit? Then physical functions do not respond adequately. This can be dangerous. Often one hears about individuals who collapse in a situation of stress. For example, each winter many persons topple over when shoveling snow from their walks. Their hearts and circulatory systems are not sufficiently fit to supply the increased volume of blood, and so fail.

Surely physical fitness is desirable. Not only can it make one a safer person​—able to cope with stressful situations without dangerous effects—​but it can improve personal effectiveness in every field. A fit person feels better, looks better, has greater energy, and therefore enjoys life more.

Thus you may conclude that physical fitness is worth the effort. But what effort is advisable? What factors adversely affect fitness, and thus contribute to coronary catastrophe?

Major Enemies of Fitness

One factor is obesity, and a high saturated-fat diet. When rich foods are consumed in abundance, body fat accumulates​—half of the adults in the United States are overweight. But much more serious are the unseen fatty deposits, particularly those that build up in the walls of the heart’s coronary arteries. Blockage of a vital artery often leads to a fatal heart attack.

Studies show that African Bantu and other peoples who eat a diet limited in rich foods have few if any fatty deposits in the walls of coronary arteries, and thus little heart disease. Yet arterial deposits have become commonplace in persons in prosperous countries. Significantly, during World War II when the diet of peoples in Scandinavian countries was restricted in calories and fat, the incidence of heart trouble dropped dramatically.

Watching one’s diet, therefore, is apparently essential to physical fitness, and reduces chances of heart attack. Remember, visible fat likely means that inside the body fatty deposits are accumulating in arteries, dangerously narrowing them. So avoid excess weight! It may be advisable, too, to limit or exclude the eating of foods deep-fried in animal fat, as well as to utilize as a generous source of nutrition vegetables, fruits, melons and cereals.

Another factor contributing to reduced fitness is believed to be today’s high-speed, tension-producing way of life. Previous generations did not live at the accelerated pace at which people do today, with the sense of time urgency, the tremendous competitiveness, and the latent hostility. Although the effects of this are difficult to measure, some experts believe it is a primary factor in the horrendous increase of coronary heart disease. Cardiologist Meyer Friedman explains:

“What I am saying​—and we have much data to support it—​is that whenever a man struggles too incessantly to accomplish too many things in too little a space of time, thus engendering in himself a sense of time urgency, or whenever a man struggles too competitively with other individuals, this struggle markedly accentuates the course of coronary heart disease. . . . the biochemical forces generated by this internal unrest are quite capable in themselves of bringing on the [catastrophe of] cardiac arrest.”

Racing a car engine constantly at top speed will shorten its life. In effect, that is what millions of men are doing to themselves​—frantically striving to get ahead, to get a better position, to do more than the other fellow—​only to suffer an abrupt breakdown. Surely it is not worth it! Obtaining many material things is not necessary for real happiness.​—1 Tim. 6:8-10.

A Common Foe of Fitness

Now we come to an especially common foe of fitness​—the modern sedentary life-style. This is believed to be a main contributing factor in the avalanche of cardiovascular disease. The aim today is seemingly to remove any need for exerting a muscle.

Cars have replaced legs as the principal means of transportation, and even arms are spared by power steering and electrical windows. In office buildings workers are carried from one floor to another by elevators. At home electrically driven brushes shine shoes and brush teeth. Lawns are cut with self-propelled lawn mowers. And TV channels are changed from one’s seat with remote control channel changers.

Emphasis on the ‘easy life’ has all but eliminated physical exertion. The fact is, the hardest daily work many office workers do is to take a shower and dress! But does such lack of exercise really precipitate heart attacks?

Yes, evidence reveals that sedentary persons are more prone to heart attacks than are persons who are active.

For example, one study found that London bus conductors who constantly walked back and forth and up and down stairs of double-decked buses had a heart attack rate half that of bus drivers. Also, a study of monastery residents, where diet and environment were the same, revealed that field workers had fewer heart attacks than monks with sedentary occupations.

Authorities nearly unanimously agree that exercise is vital to healthful life. Director of Cardiovascular Research at the University of Vermont, Dr. Wilhelm Raab, put it pointedly: “Lack of exercise is the major cause of coronary heart disease.”

But why is this said? Why do we need exercise to live?

The Heart’s Capability

Our body is composed of more than 600 muscles, the heart being the most remarkable of them. It normally beats around seventy times a minute, or some 100,000 times a day. During this time it pumps over seven tons of blood through the body’s more than 60,000 miles of blood vessels. Yet at that rate the heart is not working hard. It is capable of much greater effort.

For example, when it is called upon during exercise the heart of a physically fit person can double the amount of blood pumped with each beat or stroke. And it can greatly speed up its rate, pumping effectively while beating 180 times a minute. Thus the heart is capable of increasing its output over fivefold, pumping some twenty-eight quarts a minute to feed nourishment to the body’s muscles. And the hearts of endurance-athletes possess an even greater capability!

Surely having such a remarkable capacity for work, the heart of a sedentary person must suffer from lack of exertion. Doctor M. F. Gram of the University of Texas Southwestern Medical School observes: “To deprive this remarkable organ of maximum function over long periods of time is an invitation to disaster. It is much akin to putting an arm in a sling; the muscles wither and atrophy and soon the arm is capable of performing but a fraction of the work for which it was originally intended. Then, when suddenly called upon for sudden strenuous exertion, it is unable to rise to the occasion. Commonly, in the case of the untrained heart, this results in a heart attack.”

Needs of the Heart

The heart muscle needs a constant and large amount of blood to nourish it, requiring 1/20 of the body’s blood supply even though it represents only 1/200 of the body weight. The heart does not get this blood directly from its own receiving and ejecting chambers, but obtains it through the two coronary arteries. These major arteries encircle the heart, and branch into many smaller and smaller arteries that extend over and dip into the heart muscle. The oxygen and other nutrients provided by these arteries are vitally important, for these are the arteries directly involved in heart attacks.

The Value of Regular Exercise

What occurs when a person is sedentary? The arteries supplying blood to muscles become narrower in size, and many small vessels even disappear. Thus the blood to muscles, and hence oxygen, is less. The body’s total blood volume is even reduced. If there is an emergency, perhaps a sudden stress or a “clogged” coronary artery, then what? The circulatory system may not be able to provide the heart sufficient oxygen, causing a heart attack.

On the other hand, what happens when a person is regularly active? During vigorous physical activity blood flow through skeletal muscles increases about tenfold and oxygen consumption of these muscles may increase a hundredfold. Thus regular exercise causes a person’s arteries to become larger, so they can carry more blood. Also, more blood vessels open up in muscle tissue, providing new routes for delivering more oxygen. Particularly in the heart muscle is this an advantage, for then even if one artery becomes “clogged,” blood supplied by auxiliary routes may be sufficient to keep the heart muscle from starving for oxygen and stopping.

Regular physical activity, too, strengthens the pumping action of the heart. So fewer strokes are necessary to accomplish the same results, allowing a conditioned heart to rest more. Sedentary persons, who have heart rates of eighty or more beats per minute, may significantly reduce this rate and permit their hearts to rest more by regular exercise.

But the special benefit of physical activity is that the strengthened heart operates more efficiently under stress. This is easily demonstrated. For example, in one test a group of white-collar workers were given a twenty-minute period of exercise. Their heart rates on the average speeded up to 170 beats per minute, about as high as is safe for unconditioned men. However, after engaging in this exercise period daily for eighty-four days, the average heart rate of the men speeded up only to 142 beats per minute. Their hearts were doing the same amount of work with less effort. Fitness had been improved. This meant that stress could be tolerated more effectively and with less danger of heart failure.

Making the Effort

Man’s body clearly was designed to be exercised. However, in seeking to satisfy that need, it is wise to be moderate, avoiding undue emphasis on bodily training, to the neglect of one’s spirituality.​—Titus 2:2; 1 Tim. 4:8.

The sensation of fatigue commonly felt by sedentary workers is often related to a lack of exercise. If a person would engage in physical activity it would help to energize him and overcome his tiredness. Making a regular habit of walking is a fine way to begin. Why not walk instead of taking the car on short trips? Said one doctor: “Vigorous walking, if practiced from youth on, would in itself drastically reduce the disability and early deaths due to coronary heart disease.”

Other physical activity is also good. Swimming, bicycling, washing the car, gardening, mowing the lawn​—any form of activity that requires vigorous physical movement will be beneficial to sedentary workers if it is done regularly. Using the stairs rather than the elevator is a fine way to improve physical fitness.

However, there is a need of caution: Beware of exercising too vigorously at the outset, before your circulatory system has been upgraded by regular activity. Gradually increase the amount of exercise, and avoid the tendency to try to do too much at one time. This will allow the heart and blood vessels to be progressively strengthened, and not harmed.

Physical fitness is worth the effort. The question is, Are you willing to make that effort?

What Is Happening to Brazil’s Indians?

By “Awake!” correspondent in Brazil

THE opening up of Brazil’s vast interior by a network of highways has moved the Indian population into the limelight. Living deep in the jungles, most of the surviving Indians have, somehow, managed to escape much contact with civilization.

However, present government policy is designed to integrate them into the Brazilian commonwealth. Efforts are being made to attract the tribes to nearby reservations. It is hoped that the new highways will aid in the program of integration. The workers on the new highways are accompanied by special groups whose job is to befriend the Indians and to try to avert clashes.

Among Brazil’s Indians are four main linguistic groups: Tupi, Aruak, Karib and Je. As to their languages, Egon Schaden, noted Brazilian anthropologist, says that they are in general rather complicated and serve to express every human thought.

But what is happening to Brazil’s Indians?

On the Brink of Extinction

“The frightening speed at which our indigenous populations disappear,” warned the daily O Estado de São Paulo, “should weigh on the conscience of our generation.” Little more than fifty years ago the Indian population was calculated to be one million. The government agency FUNAI (Fundação Nacional do Índio, or National Foundation of the Indian) sets the present number at 100,000 to 120,000. Other sources suggest a figure as low as 50,000.

Of nearly five hundred tribes or groups in the year 1500 C.E., there have survived perhaps one hundred and forty-three. Of these, fifty-seven are on the brink of extinction. In the last fifty years alone, eighty-seven tribes died off.

Illustrating the dramatic decline are the Xetas, in the State of Rio Grande do Sul. They are now made up of just four men and two barren women. The Akuawaasurini, on the Tocantins River, are down to thirty-four.

Why the decline? Some have left their tribes and married into the rural population. But the reductions in numbers are mainly due to contact with civilized man and his illnesses, which have played havoc among the Indians. Tuberculosis, scarlet fever, poliomyelitis, measles and influenza have all taken their toll.

Two years ago an investigation into the decline was made. It pointed out that white man’s greed is also a major cause. For example, O Estado reported that the Federal Government discovered illegal confiscation and sale of Indian lands. Deeds were illegally issued to cattle breeders and landowners that resulted in the ousting of the Indians. Despite intervention by the Federal Government to return the lands to their rightful owners, this latest report gives but ten years of survival for some Brazilian Indians.

Efforts at Integration

Previous efforts to integrate the Indians have brought this result: Only about 15 percent of the classified tribes are integrated. Many other tribes have contact with civilization in varying degrees. But the tribes that are isolated come to 49 percent.

Obviously much needs to be done, if the Indians are to be fully integrated. Something to help in this regard is the proposed Statute of the Indian, drafted in October 1970, awaiting approval. It is to protect the Indian from incursions and attract him into the mainstream of the nation. Therein are outlined some basic rights, such as the Indian being considered as a citizen.

What is the prospect for integration of Brazil’s dwindling Indian population? According to Humberto Costa Ferreira, the odds seem to be against substantial success. He writes: “If in 471 years . . . neither Portuguese, Jesuits, pioneers, emperors nor our presidents were successful in integrating the Indian, it seems surprisingly naive to have the goal of civilizing them in a matter of some months.” He also points out disadvantages of integration. For example, “civilized” tribes-people soon acquire the vices of “civilization”: drunkenness, prostitution, laziness, leading to destruction of the tribal structure.

What some Indians think about the matter of integration was seen at the opening ceremonies of the highway that will cross the Xingu National Park. Some Tchucarramãe Indians listened to the Minister of the Interior hailing the road as a milestone in the integration of the national territory. But they opined that the road would change their way of life and so they preferred to move downriver, far away from civilization.

Some former nomadic tribes, it is true, have settled in certain areas, where they live on fishing, tend plots of land, grow corn and manioc, make bows and arrows and necklaces of fruit stones for tourists. They eke out a meager existence.

But other groups show no interest in adapting to modern life. Said A Fôlha de São Paulo: “Many still live in the Stone Age.” Some use only bow and arrows, stone weapons and knives, and crude earthenware. They walk about naked, and paint their bodies for celebrations and feast days. Others, such as the Botocudos, deform the skin of lips and ears with disks. The Erigpactsá admit to eating human flesh, and the Purukotó eat their dead. Obviously efforts at integration will run into problems.

Moral and Religious Views

Among the problems that confront integration are many of the Indian moral and religious views. Among many tribes, for instance, there are polygamy, ancestor worship, animism and various practices of spiritism or demonism. The witch doctor or pajé is priest, doctor and counselor for a tribe.

As to moral habits, O Glôbo commented about the tribes of the central and northern regions: “The Indian is in general promiscuous.” Among the Kaiapós and others, a couple are considered really married only when the woman bears a child. If, one year after marriage, she still has no child, the couple are obliged by tribal law to separate. It may be, however, that the husband is sterile. So arrangements are made whereby the wife can have sex relations with other men. If the woman gets pregnant, she may stay with her husband. Children born with physical defects, children of unmarried mothers, and twins, are usually killed. Abortion is practiced too.

However, as integration efforts proceed, will Christendom’s civilization, which also suffers from immorality and promiscuity, really be able to help the Indians to better moral habits?

As to religion, one explorer declared that most Indians do not conceive of the existence of one almighty Creator. They are mainly concerned with where they get their food. Yet they believe in the existence of a great number of supernatural spirits, some good, others bad. The witch doctor claims powers to appease these spirits.

Much indeed needs to be done to help the Indians to overcome false religious views and unscriptural moral habits. Can integration with Christendom’s civilization really help them in this regard? What have been the results thus far?

Christendom’s Missionary Activity

Various authorities have commented on the results of Christendom’s missions among the Indians. Says W. Hohenthal in his Notes on the Shucuru Indians: “The modern Shucuru are nominally Catholics, but they have only superficial knowledge of the faith.” Similarly, ethnologist Darcy Ribeiro writes that the efforts of the Catholic and Protestant missions “never really resulted in true conversion . . . They retained, side by side with some Christian allegories, their essential tribal beliefs.”

In a lecture at an anthropological convention, L. B. Horta Barbosa commented on the efforts of the Jesuits: “History has no record of the name of one Brazilian tribe that embraced the Catholic faith and by means of it came into the bosom of civilization.”

Nowadays the government agency FUNAI does not permit new missions to work just anywhere among the Indians. In the Xingu National Park, for instance, only students, researchers and, in small numbers, journalists are admitted. Neither Brazilian nor foreign missionaries are allowed to enter.

Preaching the Good News of God’s Kingdom

Full-time ministers of Jehovah’s Christian witnesses have conducted home Bible studies with civilized Indians in Macapá, near the equator, and in other areas. Some Guarani Indians, living in civilization, are dedicated Christian witnesses of Jehovah. In Autazes, Amazonas, several civilized Indians have accepted the Bible’s truth and have made true Christianity their way of life.

Formerly, these Indians belonged to Christendom’s religions, but that had not changed their basic moral habits. For example, they did not take seriously the need for honesty and morality, as the Bible requires. “But now that they study the Bible,” a Witness was told by the mayor, “you can leave everything by the riverside; nobody steals anymore.” Further, those that once lived in “consensual marriage” are now legally married. Bible truth has really changed their moral and religious habits and brought them into conformity with the high standards that the true God Jehovah requires.

In their preaching work, Jehovah’s witnesses have also tried to get in touch with tribesmen in the jungles. And the good news of God’s kingdom is reaching into the interior of the country, as some of those Indians who have learned God’s truth visit their tribes. So it is hoped that more may break loose from their superstitions and accept the Bible’s truth that leads to eternal life in God’s righteous new order.

‘Out of the Mouths of Children’

WHEN Jesus Christ rode into Jerusalem in the spring of 33 C.E. to present himself as king, boys at the temple cried out: “Save, we pray, the Son of David!” In thus acknowledging Jesus’ kingship, these boys were praising Jehovah, the One who had designated him as king. (Matt. 21:15, 16) Similarly, children among Jehovah’s Christian witnesses today have, by their words and actions, brought praise to their Creator.

A five-year-old in Japan was faithfully taught by her mother about God’s purposes. But her father, who is not one of Jehovah’s witnesses, sent his daughter to a Buddhist kindergarten. Here this little girl refused to adore the Buddha as she entered the gate, and did not worship the idol. The teacher scolded her severely and also tried to stop her from offering thanks to Jehovah before her lunch each day. Finally the teacher tried to force her to take part in the Buddhist Tanabata Festival, but to no avail. So she asked: ‘Is it because your mother told you not to do it?’ The five-year-old replied: ‘No, I won’t do it because it is not pleasing to Jehovah God.’ What a fine expression from a little tot!

Of her persecution from fellow students, an eight-year-old girl from Bolivia states: ‘One day during classes my school companions decided to force me to go with them to the local Catholic church to see how pretty it is with all its images and decorations. I told them that even if the church is beautifully decorated with images, it isn’t worth anything. The images have eyes but can’t see, feet but can’t walk, ears but can’t hear and a mouth but can’t speak. My classmates threatened me, saying: “When we die, we are going to pull on your feet so that you will fall for what you are saying.” I told them that I was not afraid, since the Bible says that when a person dies he returns to the dust and knows nothing.

‘When class was over, they began to hit me and knock me down and, when I would stand up, they would trip me. They dragged me to the church door. I was scared and prayed to Jehovah. They grabbed me by the hair, dragged me into the church and then said: “Now you are going to look at our images and do what we do.” At this moment a stranger came in. My classmates fled, but not before I was able to stand up and call out that I was still one of Jehovah’s witnesses and always will be.’

What enabled this girl to withstand such pressure from her classmates? She herself explained that it was the regular weekly family Bible study conducted by her parents that strengthened her faith.

That children can be instrumental in aiding others to come to an accurate knowledge of Bible truth is illustrated in the case of a little Canadian girl. Her mother began to study the Bible with Jehovah’s witnesses and was encouraged to study with her five-year-old daughter, using the publication From Paradise Lost to Paradise Regained. This little girl then began to talk to her baby-sitter about what she was learning. For example, she told her, ‘We always pray before meals.’ So the baby-sitter started to pray to the Virgin Mary. But the five-year-old interrupted her, saying that she and her mother prayed only to Jehovah. After lunch she insisted that the baby-sitter read to her from the Paradise book. The more she read, the more interested the teen-age baby-sitter became. Finally she began to question the little girl’s mother. Thereafter the baby-sitter spoke to one of her girl friends and she, in turn, talked to her family. This brought about amazing results. Within one year, not only did the five-year-old’s mother become a baptized Witness of Jehovah, but, additionally, four other persons took this step in service of God.

Small children are also sharing in the public proclamation of the Bible’s message. In South Africa four-year-old James accompanies his mother in the door-to-door ministry. In introducing him, she says: “As Jehovah’s witnesses, we teach our children the Bible and also train them to speak to others. Would you like to hear what he has to say?” So far everyone has been willing to listen to him as he proceeds, either in English or Afrikaans: “My name is James, I’m doing a Bible work, telling the people the good news of the Kingdom.” He then shows them the first picture in the book The Truth That Leads to Eternal Life, giving a brief explanation.

Truly children are never too young to learn about the Bible and to praise Jehovah. How fine it is, therefore, for parents to be diligent in giving their children the best of instruction from God’s Word!

Life on the Lagoon

AS TOLD TO “AWAKE!” CORRESPONDENT IN GHANA

I SOMETIMES stand on the old bridge at night, watching the Ebrié fishermen slip away in their tree canoes for a night’s fishing. As I see them paddle off under the bridge and disappear into the night, I occasionally wish for the chance to go with them and spend a night on the lagoon once more. For I, too, am an Ebrié and the lagoon was once my whole life.

I now live in Abidjan, Ivory Coast, a bustling and prosperous city. However, I often long to be free of the dirt and noise and cement walls of the city and out in my pirogue once more, gliding between the rushes at the lagoon’s edge.

Many exquisite nights I spent with my father on the water. The lagoon, fringed by sand and sea on the one hand and the green jungle on the other, was peaceful, with no sound but water lapping and the occasional call of a fellow fisher. Sometimes a full moon would seem to turn everything to silver: silver droplets of water shining on silver nets, silver fish, and across the black waters of the lagoon the moonlight would make a silver alley for our boat.

Different Fishing Methods

We had many different ways of catching fish. My father and I would generally leave as darkness fell. Some kilometers from the village we would set the nets. We would retire a short distance and wait for ten minutes or so. Then we would start to beat the water with our paddles, and the fish, frightened from their holes, would swim into the nets. One or two times would generally bring in enough food for the family for that day.

The cast net is very popular. It is circular and weighted with pieces of lead or small rocks around the edges. After having spread manioc crumbs, our usual bait, on the water and marked the spot with poles thrust into the sandy bottom of the lagoon, we would retire for a short time and then slip back to cast the net over the area where the carp had gathered to the bait.

Throwing this large net while standing upright in a small pirogue is an art. Many a novice spends much of his time down among the fish, instead of catching them. But to hear the net go whistling out over the water and to watch the beautiful curve as it falls around the fish is exciting.

The villagers often go out in groups of ten or twenty since they can then use the larger nets and take the really big fish, some up to a hundred pounds in weight.

When there is fishing by hand in the mangrove swamps, many villagers participate. Leaving their boats some twenty meters from the designated spot, they swim swiftly toward the mangroves, simultaneously throwing up handfuls of mud from the bottom. The carp, unable to swim through the muddied waters, are trapped in the holes between the mangrove roots, and the fishermen can take them with their bare hands. It is a bit nerve-racking though, sticking one’s hand into that dark hole, hoping that it is just a carp that will be found!

Banishing Fear from Lagoon Legends

Though nowadays I would rejoice in the peaceful evenings in the silence and darkness of the lagoon, I must confess that many times when I was out with my father I was afraid. In the mangrove swamps, for example, I was often frightened because we believed some of these places to be the haunt of strange monsters, capable of changing themselves into a crocodile or a big fish, lying there in wait for the unwary fisherman.

Another legend concerns Akou, thought to be a huge fire genie, covered with long hair from head to foot. I was taught that if I heard a strange whistling at midday or at midnight it was supposed to mean the approach of Akou, and I would have to jump on a piece of wood to protect myself.

All these stories were frightening for a young lad. But some time ago I learned the truth from the Bible about such tales, and now I can laugh at the fears I once had. Now I know that any strange whistling at midnight is likely to be some late night reveler returning, who has consumed more than his share of bangui, our local palm wine. And in the event that the local sorcerers and village seers have endeavored to contact the wicked spirits, I know that being a servant of Jehovah will protect me.​—Ps. 23:4; Jas. 4:7.

Although I miss the simple life of the village, I have much for which to be thankful. I have been freed from many enslaving superstitions and am able to use my time more profitably. Here in Abidjan I was contacted with the Bible’s message of truth, and here are many people who have yet to learn its comforting truths, so I am happy to stay and help them. However, the life of a fisherman is in many ways a happy one, so who knows? Perhaps one day I will have a boat again and can go and search for my daily food as before. Until then I am content with the view from the bridge.

Religious Support of War

◆ In the book War, Communism and World Religions, Dr. Charles S. Braden wrote: “All during World War I, the churches dutifully supported it, sold bonds, recruited soldiers, right in the church, and generally blessed it. There were a few who went to prison as conscientious objectors, but only a few, and they got little sympathy generally from the churches.”

Being removed from that time by half a century, some might question whether clergymen actually took such an unchristian view. But the book Thoughts in War-Time quotes an essay by Canon B. H. Streeter, published during World War I. In the essay, “War, This War and the Sermon on the Mount,” the clergyman concluded:

“If the soldier is convinced that with the cause for which he is fighting is involved the welfare of humanity as a whole, including, therefore, in the long run that of Germany also, he can not only shoot the German in the trenches opposite without any feeling of personal dislike, but he can do so for the love of man. . . . The soldier is before all things a man who is ready to die for his country; and readiness to die for others is essentially a Christian thing.”

How do you think such bloodguilty religious leaders stand before “the One decreed by God to be judge of the living and the dead”?​—Acts 10:42.

“Your Word Is Truth”

How Spirits Influence Mankind

A YOUNG husband, a member of a family of spiritists in New York city, was led to the roof of his four-story apartment building by spirit voices. There they urged that he throw himself down to the street. This he did, leaving behind a young widow and children. The spiritist’s family told the young widow that her husband was now sad and lonely and crying; so she was thinking of also committing suicide in order to be with him. However, she changed her mind when she learned from one of Jehovah’s witnesses the truth about spirit voices.

Just what is the truth about these wicked spirits?

The only place we can get a reliable answer to that question is in the Bible. It makes clear that wicked invisible intelligent spirits truly do exist. One of these, Satan the Devil, tempted Jesus the Son of God. That there are many others besides him is apparent from the fact that Satan is called “Beelzebub, the ruler of the demons” and that he “and his angels” battled with Michael and his angels.​—Matt. 4:1-10; 12:24-27; Rev. 12:7-9.

Did God create the Devil and his demons? No, for all God’s work is perfect. (Deut. 32:4) The truth of the matter is that one of God’s perfect spirit creatures allowed pride and ambition to make him a rebel and an opposer of God, for which reason the Bible refers to him as “the great dragon . . . the original serpent, the one called Devil and Satan.”​—1 Tim. 3:6; Rev. 12:9.

Other angels joined Satan in his rebellion, thereby making themselves demons, something that the Bible shows occurred before the flood of Noah’s day. Certain angels left their heavenly estate, taking human forms so as to be able to enjoy the pleasures of cohabiting with human women. These demons and their offspring were responsible for the wickedness and violence that marked the antediluvian world.​—Gen. 6:1-5; 1 Pet. 3:19, 20; 2 Pet. 2:4.

What we are particularly interested in is how these wicked spirits have influenced mankind. One way has been by taking possession of humans, of which many examples are given in the Christian Greek Scriptures. They have caused persons to become blind, dumb, to have convulsions, act insane and to possess superhuman strength.​—Matt. 9:32; 12:22; Luke 8:26-35; 9:38-42; Acts 19:16.

Another way in which they influence humans is by inducing them to take a selfish and wicked course of action. This is what the Devil did in the first place with Eve. (Gen. 3:1-5) Thus also we read that “Satan entered into Judas,” influencing Judas to betray his Master, Jesus. (Luke 22:3) Likewise Satan influenced Ananias and his wife to pursue a hypocritical course.​—Acts 5:3-9.

In Okinawa, in recent times, a very sick woman went to a spirit medium, known in that land as a Uta, for help. She was told by the Uta that her dead ancestors a few generations back had caused her sickness by bringing a curse upon her. To amend this curse the woman was commanded to bring offerings and money to the Uta, the spirit medium. She did this conscientiously for two years, but instead of her health’s improving it got worse. Then one day she came in touch with Jehovah’s witnesses, who showed her the truth from God’s Word. Today she worships only Jehovah as God, and her health is such that she can preach full time.

A Senegalese professional dancer who was involved in spiritism visited a sorcerer almost daily. When first she began to study the Bible with one of Jehovah’s witnesses she avoided looking directly into the eyes of her Christian teacher and would always mechanically read the answers from the book. Clearly there was something inhibiting her as she was a well-educated woman. One week a remarkable and almost unbelievable change came over her. She began answering the questions spontaneously and to the point, manifesting joy and enthusiasm. What brought about the change? She explained:

“After prayer and serious meditation I made my decision to break away from spiritism for good. I threw out all the fetishes, lotions and charms and so cleaned my home of demon influence. And for the first time in my life I feel free, yes, free, happy and secure.”

There are still other ways in which demons today are influencing humans. Judging by the mess the world is in, there can be little doubt that unseen forces are frustrating the noble efforts of well-meaning men to improve matters. This is exactly what the Bible states is the case. Thus we read that Satan the Devil is the one that “now operates in the sons of disobedience,” that “the whole world is lying in the power of the wicked one,” Satan the Devil, and that he is “misleading the entire inhabited earth,” having great wrath.​—Eph. 2:2; 1 John 5:19; Rev. 12:9.

Because of this ability of Satan and his demons to influence humans, Christians are warned: “Put on the complete suit of armor from God that you may be able to stand firm against the machinations of the Devil; because we have a wrestling, not against blood and flesh, but against . . . the world rulers of this darkness, against the wicked spirit forces.”​—Eph. 6:11, 12.

But what about good angelic spirits? Do these also influence humans? Yes, they do, and that for good, even as the Bible indicates. Concerning the help that these give God’s Christian servants the inspired apostle Paul stated: “Are they not all spirits for public service, sent forth to minister for those who are going to inherit salvation?”​—Heb. 1:14; Ps. 34:7.

However, since today it is not God’s will for spirits to communicate directly with humans, much less to impersonate dead ancestors, their manner of influencing humans takes a measure of faith to appreciate. For example, time and again lovers of truth have had their prayers to God for help to understand his Word answered in a matter of minutes, hours or a few days by one of his Christian witnesses calling upon them. And, in turn, these Witnesses would note that there was something unusual about their happening to call at a certain home, that something seemed to impel them to do so when they had not planned to. The Bible, at Revelation 14:9-11, Matthew 25:31, 32 and elsewhere, shows that the angels definitely have a hand in this work of spreading the good news. Such angelic influence, however, does not operate apart from God’s Word, his holy spirit and the human channel that he is using.​—Matt. 24:45-47.

Yes, there is sound basis for accepting the Bible’s testimony regarding how spirits, both good and bad, can and do influence humankind. How important, therefore, for all who want to do what is right, to be on guard against wicked spirits and to leave themselves open to the influence of good spirits by prayer, by study of God’s Word and by association with God’s people.

Watching the World

Live ‘Prehistoric’ Fish Caught

◆ A fish that scientists had found in fossil form and thought to be millions of years old is not extinct as they imagined. It is the coelacanth. A live one was recently caught in the Indian Ocean, where it was found at a great depth. Contradicting the theory of evolution, this live fish is the same as the fossilized ones. It did not undergo the imaginary changes that evolutionists claim the passing of millions of years are supposed to have brought upon living things.

Iran Earthquake

◆ Fifty-eight villages were leveled by an earthquake in Iran on April 10. By the next day 1,000 tremors had been felt over a radius of 250 miles. The total number of persons who died in the ruins is still not definitely known.

New German Bible

◆ The German newspaper Lokal-Anzeiger Winterhude of March 16, 1972, reported the long-awaited release of the New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures in German. Regarding the translation it observed: “When it comes to the New World Translation, its faithful adherence to the text of the original languages and its consistent renderings alone will deeply impress the reader.” More than half a million copies of the New World Translation in German have been produced and are ready for distribution. During the month of June a special effort will be made by Jehovah’s witnesses to bring it to the people of the German Federal Republic and West Berlin.

Approving of Immorality

◆ At a conference of Quakers in Oxford, England, Quaker delegates voted in favor of allowing children of 14 to experience sex relations, including homosexual acts. One delegate observed, according to the London Sunday Mirror of April 16, 1972, “The law is out of touch with reality on the age of consent​—certainly in regard to homosexuality.” How different this religious view is from the high moral standard found in the Bible!

Radical Italian Priests

◆ The Vatican is disturbed over a new radical group of Italian priests. The group has 53 pastors, 32 curates and 6 theologians as well as some former priests and some laymen. The group called for “priestly involvement in all the struggles of the people against the dominant classes.” It accused the Roman Catholic Church of acting only to defend the status quo and of being the ally of “the oppressive forces of capitalism.”

No Shortage of Money

◆ People all over the United States regularly receive appeals for contributions to the Catholic-operated “Boys Town.” According to Newsweek magazine of April 10, 1972, “Boys Town has more money than it knows what to do with.” Its investments alone yield $8.1 million annually. Its annual fund-raising letters bring in an additional $17.7 million. It also obtains from State and Federal sources $200,000 yearly. There are only 700 boys in “Boys Town,” and the peak was only 900. According to Time magazine, “Boys Town” has a portfolio of stocks and bonds “worth at least $200 million.”

Too Many Dogs

◆ It has been estimated that there are more than 15 million homeless dogs in the United States. The rate at which they are multiplying is presenting a serious population problem. Regarding it Science Digest of May 1972 observed: “We can assume that half the abandoned dogs are female and that each female, under normal circumstances, is capable of whelping two litters of pups a year. We can also expect an average of five puppies per litter to be raised to the independent state. Now we arrive at a staggering figure: just one [female dog] can be responsible for 5,290 additional dogs over a five year period. . . . The Hindu is criticized for allowing his sacred cow to roam and breed at will in a protein-starved country, where its controlled use could save millions of lives. We suffer an embarrassment of pets without using religion as an excuse.”

Delinquent Girls

◆ Girls in the age bracket of 10 to 17 have been involved in delinquency at an increasing rate since 1969. According to a government crime report, delinquency among these girls rose twice as fast from 1969 to 1970 as crime involving boys. Court cases involving girls showed an increase of 7 percent in suburbs, 11 percent in the cities and 20 percent in the rural areas.

Youth Suicides

◆ A growing number of young people, fascinated with the thought of death or simply disillusioned with life, are committing suicide. Doctors estimate that 15,000 college students attempt suicide every year. During the past 10 years the suicide rate among young men under 20 in the Los Angeles area has risen from 3 to 10 per 100,000. The suicide rate of girls between the ages of 20 and 29, in that area, went from 6 to 26 per 100,000. The executive director of the Los Angeles Suicide Prevention Center observed that he had “never known a generation as interested in death as an experience . . . to them it’s a new phenomenon.”

Vitamin E Experiment

◆ The Soviet Academy of Medical Sciences’ nutrition institute performed an experiment for three weeks on 34 cyclists and 37 skiers, ages 18 to 25. They found that the level of vitamin E fell during the training period, but among those receiving supplementary vitamin E the level remained normal. Among such ones performance capacity was improved in comparison with the control group that did not receive supplementary vitamin E.

Smoking and Amputations

◆ It was reported in the New York Times that the editors of the British Medical Journal observed that, of all the men who go to clinics for the treatment of circulatory ailments, 95 percent are smokers. They told doctors to advise patients with arteriosclerosis to stop smoking. They observed that, of 520 patients treated for arterial occlusion (a form of arteriosclerosis) and who had it for more than 5 years, those who quit smoking did not require any amputations of toes or legs. But 11 percent of those who continued to smoke required an amputation.

Open-Heart Surgery Without Blood

◆ Recently The American Journal of Cardiology contained an article about open-heart surgery on Jehovah’s witnesses who refuse blood transfusions for religious reasons. The doctors writing the article said that by using a bloodless prime technique “we performed during an 8-year period 42 open heart operations for acquired heart disease in a consecutive series of 40 patients who were Jehovah’s Witnesses. Three patients (7 percent) died, and only 1 death was caused by anemia. . . . We believe that our experience demonstrates the feasibility of open heart surgery in Jehovah’s Witnesses and, moreover, indicates that blood transfusion can and should be used sparingly to reduce morbidity and mortality in all patients.” It went on to point out the higher mortality rate when large volumes of blood are used: “At some medical centers where large volumes of blood are used to prime the bypass units, the incidence of hepatitis has been as high as 51 percent. In 1 series of patients who underwent open heart operations requiring blood transfusions, mortality from serum hepatitis alone was 11.2 percent.”

Spare Facial Parts

◆ People whose faces have been deformed by radical surgery, injury or birth defects may find a partial remedy in plastic facial parts. These are molded in a realistic fashion and have a skinlike texture. They can be stained to match the skin coloration of a patient. The parts are held on by an adhesive that permits the patient to swim, take showers and use makeup, and yet they can be removed by the patient when necessary.

Nurses Balking

◆ Since liberal abortion laws have been passed in various American states, many nurses find it very difficult to be involved. Mrs. Cynthia Kinsella, director of nurses at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York, said: “Nurses in delivery rooms had been accustomed to every conceivable effort to save babies, even those of one to three pounds, and they found that [now] sometimes they were ‘salting out’ [aborting] bigger babies than those they had worked to save.” Some nurses refused to work in “pregnancy interruption” services.

Transplant Problems

◆ Abnormally high cancer rates and incidences of psychological depression are reported in patients who received organ transplants. Science Digest reveals that the cancer rate for transplant patients was more than 100 times higher than the national average.

Unnecessary Surgery

◆ “There are incredible amounts of unnecessary surgery going on, and that can’t be tolerated,” stated Dr. John H. Knowles, former general director of Massachusetts General Hospital. Independent studies would seem to verify his contention. At five hospitals where observations were made for several years, operations not justified by tissue damage ranged from 12 percent of the total in one hospital to 40 percent in another. Unnecessary surgery on the uterus ranged up to 60 percent in one. In 35 Los Angeles and vicinity hospitals, an estimated 28 percent of the hysterectomies performed were deemed ‘probably not justified,’ and 12 percent were classified as ‘definitely not justified.’ In 19 Michigan hospitals, of all appendectomies performed there was an absence of disease in from 6.4 percent of the cases in one hospital to 52.1 percent in another.

Role of Tonsils and Adenoids

◆ The precise function of tonsils and adenoids has long been a mystery to the medical profession. In times past doctors have considered them unnecessary and have removed them from young children on the slightest excuse. It is estimated that surgeons still remove tonsils from about two million Americans each year. But more light is being shed on the role of these two glands. Researchers find that they contain cells that play important roles in fighting common infections. Now British radiologists say that tonsils and adenoids serve multiple purposes and may play a key role in helping some children and adults to talk and swallow. Removal in some cases can lead to speech impediments, they suggest.

Poor Nutrition Among Youths

◆ Much poor nutrition exists among America’s youths. The reason given by nutritionist Mary Goodwin of the Montgomery County Health Department in suburban Washington, D.C., is the busy life-style that exists in many families and too much reliance on foods that are convenient instead of healthful. She stated that teenagers eat “from vending machines, at ball parks and movies and are offered nothing but junk food with no nutrition. Foods which were considered special treats or celebration foods are displacing the mainstay of our diets. Snacking has become a way of life.” She cited evidence that using drugs affects food intake and appetite, and that the drug user often satisfies his hunger with snack foods instead of foods that are nutritious.

Endangered Species

◆ According to the International Union for the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources, there are 817 varieties of birds and mammals now facing extinction. Reasons given were indiscriminate killing by man, the rapid growth of industry, spreading cities, the development of once-wild areas, and the use of chemical pesticides. A species is regarded as endangered when more die than are reproduced.

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