April 22

Crime Affects You

AN ELDERLY man stepped from the elevator of his building on Avenue D in New York city. Suddenly, from behind, a youth grabbed his throat and threatened: “Give me your money or I’ll kill you.” Jerking forward, the man broke free. As he screamed, the mugger fled.

It was a frightening experience. And this was the sixth time that the man had been mugged in four years! Other experiences had been more frightening, as when he was knocked down and viciously beaten, and when a revolver was held to his head. In many areas these crimes are common.

Are you afraid when you venture from your home alone? Millions are. United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim warned: “The streets are no longer safe after dark.”

Even in smaller towns muggings, rapes and murders are occurring, scaring citizens. A middle-aged couple in a nice part of the desert resort of Palm Springs, California, noted: “We no longer feel safe out walking alone after dark.”

A prosecutor in Santa Monica, a relatively small middle- to upper-class California community, routinely asked a jury how many of them had been mugged or burglarized. Eight of the twelve had!

But even if you personally have not been hurt or robbed, you are affected. For has not crime caused you to worry about the safety of your family? Are you not concerned about what is happening in the schools? Are you aware of illegal use of drugs in your area? Do you worry that your car may be damaged or stolen when you park it? Or, if you travel by plane, are you concerned that it may be hijacked? And what about the security of your home and other possessions?

The Philadelphia Inquirer Magazine noted: “City dwellers are digging in, those who can afford to, making fortresses of their homes.” Crime has even spread to areas once viewed as secure.

One visitor to the beautiful American Virgin Islands observed that there is one prevailing topic of conversation​—the latest crime. “Some of the stories may be exaggerated,” he acknowledged, “but the fear is pervasive and palpable, the mentality of siege akin to that of many big-city dwellers in the U.S.”

A twenty-year resident of the island of St. Thomas laments: “I won’t even drive home alone at night. I can’t leave the island without someone backing a truck up to my house and filling it up. We’ve all been robbed several times.”

But you may still think, ‘Crime does not affect me, at least not much.’ Yet it does. Aside from the constant threat to your safety and possessions, there are other ways that you are affected.

For example, consider skyrocketing prices that affect your pocketbook. Norman Jaspan, head of a New York consulting firm, explains that some retailers add 15 percent to the price of certain manufactured goods to offset what is stolen by employees. That means you pay $11.50 for an item, instead of $10.00, because of employee theft.

As a consumer, you pay, too, for merchandise stolen by other “shoppers.” A Macy’s department store official explained: “The shoplifter who picks our pocket picks yours as well.”

Also, as crime increases, so does the expense for larger police forces and penal and court systems. Law-enforcement costs, according to one survey, amount to $8,600,000,000 a year in the United States alone! You, as a taxpayer, pay for this.

Then there are the polluted lakes, streams and oceans, or the smog-filled air you breathe. Surely you are affected by them, perhaps critically so. Criminal negligence by large industries and city governments often is the cause of pollution.

But you may say, ‘Is not crime decreasing? Do not statistics show this? Even the United States attorney general recently said that his country is “moving from a crime increase to an actual crime decrease.”’ Is this really so?

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Do you feel safe out walking alone after dark?

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You Pay the Higher Price Because of Crime

Some retailers add 15 percent to price of products to cover their losses from employee theft

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You are affected by polluted waters, which are often the result of criminal negligence by large industries and city governments

Is Crime Really Increasing?

WHAT do you think? Is crime decreasing, as some have claimed? Then what about this recent statement by Los Angeles, California, Police Chief E. M. Davis:

“Ten years ago, the criminals were locked up behind bars and the people were pursuing happiness on the streets.

“Today, the people are locked up in their homes and offices, and the criminals are pursuing happiness on the streets.”

That seems to conflict with the view that crime is decreasing, does it not? So, which is it​—Is crime increasing or decreasing? Consider:

It is true that in a particular country, for occasional short periods of time, crime may not rise as much as it did in a similar short period. However, that does not mean that it is decreasing in the overall picture. R. Egan comments in the National Observer: “One radio announcer on a Washington, D.C., station announced with what seemed like awe that ‘crime in 1971 rose only 7 per cent.’ Only. . . . The point to remember is that the crime rate is still climbing.”

In 1971 there were nearly six million major crimes reported throughout the United States; there were less than two million in 1960. In the decade of the sixties the population rose 13 percent, while murder increased 70 percent, rape 113 percent and robbery 212 percent. Juvenile delinquency rose 148 percent in the same period. But those figures tell only part of the story!

Most crimes are never solved. The odds against catching the average burglar “are no better than 50 to 1,” according to a Harvard law professor. R. M. Cipes raises a pertinent question in His book The Crime War:

“If many criminals are not caught, why assume that these we do catch are the most dangerous? In one sense the probability goes the other way: the most intelligent and devious offenders may be the ones most likely to avoid detection.”

Further, many crimes are never reported. Back in 1967 the U.S. President’s Crime Commission reported that three to ten times as much crime occurs as is actually reported to the police. But what is the crime picture in the rest of the world?

Crime’s International Rise

✔ “Brazil . . . ,” we read, “seemed engulfed in a wave of violence and crime.”

✔ West Germany reports: Crimes involving narcotics increased between 1969 and 1970 by no less than 238 percent.

✔ Denmark’s crime increased by 99 percent in the decade of the sixties.

✔Western Australia’s Sunday Times reported, in August 1972: “The incidence of violent crime in Western Australia has almost doubled in the past 12 months. And there is no apparent ready-made reason for the ‘incredible’ increase.” And from the other side of that continent, the Melbourne Herald observes: “Crimes of violence [since 1960] by Victorians under 21 rose . . . 187.9 percent. The number of Victorians under 21 increased . . . in the same period . . . 29.6 percent.”

✔ “In Africa and Latin America,” says the U.N. report Crime Prevention and Control, “the same kind of picture can be drawn . . . During the 1960s, crime [in one African country] has more than doubled, some types of serious crime have apparently trebled, and, as stated in its Development Plan, ‘this problem is far more likely to grow than diminish.’”

✔ Japan’s crime rate seems small compared to Western nations. But, in referring to recent crimes, Tokyo’s Daily Yomiuri said: “They are appalling and yet they are indicative of the serious disruptions that have occurred in relationships within Japanese society.”

✔ Israel, the New York Times reports, has had a 35-percent overall increase in crime in the last five years; burglaries are up 200 percent.

✔ In Communist China’s Kwangtung Province discontent among the young has reportedly led to “an upsurge of crime in Canton,” including gang fights.

It is not surprising that after analyzing the international crime picture U.N. Secretary-General K. Waldheim concluded:

“Despite material progress, human life has never had a greater sense of insecurity than it is experiencing today. . . . Thus, there is widespread and mounting evidence of a crime crisis of considerable proportions.”

Yes, these reports show crime is increasing.

Greater Fear of Crime

But crime increase can be detected from more than statistics. As Secretary-General Waldheim also observes: “Like poverty, ignorance and malnutrition, [crime] is more felt than registered.”

In other words, people are afraid. “Fear, which America’s ghettos and even some middle-class neighborhoods have known for years, is now jangling nerves on . . . the ‘good’ blocks of the Upper West Side” of New York city, says the National Observer.

The current fear of crime is understandable, for not only is it increasing, but it is also intensifying, hardening. “The big change over ten years ago,” says San Francisco Police Lieutenant W. Koenig, “continues to be in viciousness.” Concurs British Foreign Secretary Sir Alec Douglas-Home: “This senseless violence against innocent people is a terrible feature of the times in which we live.”

Fear is not just for lives but also for property. Crime victims know that all too often unnecessary destruction accompanies robberies. Official theft-loss figures often do not include the cost of damage to the victim’s property. Needless destruction of files and records has put companies out of business. Criminals sometimes wantonly burn homes or businesses after burglarizing them.

Much crime is centered in large cities. In Washington, D.C., congressmen, Pentagon officials, even President Nixon’s own press and personal secretaries have been robbed. With humor betraying some truth, a Washington-based writer says: “There is reason to believe the U.S. Government would like to fold up the Capitol, the White House and the Lincoln Memorial and move to Easton,” Pennsylvania, in the suburbs.

Crime Grows in Suburbia

Yes, a move to the suburbs for safety has become popular. It may provide some temporary relief from certain crimes. But is that the real way to avoid the effects of the crime increase? A U.S. News & World Report article observes:

“In once-tranquil neighborhoods of suburbia, serious crimes are increasing rapidly in number, year by year. Rural areas, too, are being hit hard.”

Unquestionably, figures show that crime is increasing world wide. However, suppose momentarily we put aside the foregoing reports that clearly show crime’s increase. Even then you can see evidence of crime’s increase. Where?

Business Seeks Protection

When you go into a local store, have you noticed more ‘security devices’ and guards protecting merchants against shoplifting? Maybe you have seen mirrors, television cameras or ‘shoplifter beware’ signs.

A chain of thirteen department stores in an American city says it spends about one million dollars a year on security, up over 50 percent since 1969. Macy’s in New York city recently redesigned seven floors of their main building to thwart shoplifters and installed $300,000 worth of electronic equipment. In major American cities some stores use a special price tag. Unless it is removed by the check-counter clerk, it sets off an automatic alarm as the shoplifter leaves the store.

Even in the suburbs shop owners admit they devote 30 or 40 percent of their time to “being a policeman rather than a merchant.” To provide nighttime protection for their premises, some stores employ light beams, pressure-sensitive carpets and even invisible sound-wave devices.

Meanwhile, bus drivers in some areas no longer carry money; passengers must have exact change for rides. Taxicabs have bulletproof partitions separating the driver from passengers; fare money is kept in tamper-proof cash boxes.

Some banks, to cut down on the current rash of robberies, now use “television tellers.” The teller’s picture appears on a television screen, but business is transacted with the public by means of a pneumatic tube. To protect themselves from bad checks, merchants take pictures of persons cashing checks and even fingerprint them.

Frankly, do not the defensive measures businessmen are taking, only a few of which we have mentioned, reveal to you that crime is indeed increasing? But what is being done to homes is no less convincing.

Home Security Intensifies

Home security in America is now a $75-million-a-year industry. Guard dogs and home burglar-alarms enjoy record sales. Burglary insurance, when available, is extremely high in cost. “Insurance companies,” says the Springfield (Massachusetts) Daily News, “feel they cannot absorb the losses that have soared with the advent of drug abuse.”

Local citizens are voluntarily paying large sums for intense street lighting. ‘Block associations’ and even vigilante groups are forming for community protection from burglars and rapists. Automobiles are supplied with steering-wheel locks in an attempt to reduce auto thefts. Regardless of statistics​—do not these precautions indicate to you that crime is increasing?

Police Improvements

The police are using more sophisticated equipment and methods to fight crime. Computers tie in large police networks. Scores of special devices have been invented to handle mobs. Sensitive chemical analysis equipment can detect one teaspoon of LSD in 132 million gallons of water. Some wiretapping is now legal in the U.S. In major cities helicopters are used by officers to spot criminals.

You, too, have no doubt observed changes in police techniques to aid them in their crime fighting. Yet EVEN WITH better trained and more heavily armed policemen, special defensive precautions by businessmen and citizens, CRIME CONTINUES TO RISE!

An editorial in The Wall Street Journal summarizes:

“For perhaps the first time in memory, almost no responsible person any longer insists that the growing crime rate is a statistical illusion . . . And the very first step toward solving any deep-rooted social problem is agreeing that a problem truly exists.

However, solving the crime problem also requires knowing why the problem exists. Why is crime increasing so rapidly?

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CRIME INCREASE

in the United States 1960-1970

POPULATION

13%

MURDER

70%

RAPE

113%

ROBBERY

212%

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Businesses install improved security methods; still CRIME CONTINUES TO RISE!

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Guard dogs are in demand to fight home burglary

What Is Behind the Crime Crisis?

PEOPLE ordinarily think of crime as being committed by violent “criminals.” True, hardened criminals cause some of the crime. But the crime problem is much more than that.

Police Commissioner P. V. Murphy of New York city says: “Crime is woven into the fabric of our society.” And a former U.S. attorney general, R. Clark, notes: “Crime reflects more than the character of the pitiful few who commit it. It reflects the character of the entire society.”

These men, like others, say the entire system is crime ridden. But, how can it be said that crime is ‘woven into the fabric of society’? Let us see.

Slums and Drugs

One major thread in the ‘fabric of society’ closely identified with crime is the central city slum. As huge urban areas have grown up, millions of deprived persons have been pushed into rat-infested “ghettos.” They often lack even basic utilities, like water and heat. Lack of education, sickness, disease and crime have always thrived there.

But in recent decades television has made ghetto dwellers more keenly aware of the ‘outside world’s’ prosperity. The unskilled poor people do not share this affluence. Crime increases as many of them become frustrated and hardened. They turn to drugs. Much crime today is drug related, since to sustain his habit an addict may need fifty dollars a day. He gets this by mugging or by stealing and selling merchandise worth several times that amount. For safety, people with money have moved from the crime-plagued cities to the suburbs. Addicts follow the money; thus crime and drugs spread to the suburbs.

However, not all crime can be blamed on poverty and drugs.

Injustice and Hypocrisy

Affluent, even wealthy, young people have seen the injustice accorded the socially oppressed. They have stirred up unrest and revolutionary action, hoping to win guarantees of ‘civil rights’ for all. How this movement has affected crime is shown by E. Smith in the New York Times Magazine:

“There were those who warned us a decade ago that even as we overlooked law-breaking by civil-rights advocates, however worthy that cause, and however unjust the laws, we were creating a climate in which others could say, ‘They get away with it, why can’t we?’”

This writer says that this kind of law-breaking has contributed to weaving crime into society. But other reasons for disenchantment with modern life foment crime.

Political nations have fought wars, indiscriminately bombing, maiming and killing thousands of innocent victims in this century. The clergy bless the weapons and armies that kill. People​—especially the youth—​find it impossible to overlook these hypocritical political and religious “crimes.” Laws of the state are thus disregarded. Biblical morality, falsely represented by the clergy, is spurned.

Big business, also, is often labeled “criminal.” American consumer-advocates tell of adulterated foods sold in markets and of lifesaving devices that corporations have refused to install. One consumer expert writes in America, Inc.: “The law is much more comfortable sentencing a telephone coin box thief to five years than sentencing a billion-dollar price-fixing executive to six weeks in jail.”

M. Mintz and J. S. Cohen, authors of America, Inc., survey some of these apparent irregularities and ask:

“Is it to be doubted that one of the roots of alienation and unrest is the multiple standards of justice, one for blue collars, another for white collars, still another for youths with long hair, and yet one more for corporations?”

Yes, ‘corporate criminality’ has become an excuse others to engage in criminal practices, further weaving crime into society. A young woman who stole from unguarded purses and coats at a party reasoned: ‘My pickings were peanuts compared to your average embezzler, not to mention the Mafia, or major business corporations.’

People who think this way do not steal simply for lack of money. Rather, they often believe that stealing from ‘the system’ is right and even necessary in itself! Fear of imprisonment will not necessarily alter their course. “Punishment is no deterrent,” an item in the Saturday Review observes, “in a society that large numbers of its members see as being fundamentally and deliberately unjust.”

Many of the complaints leveled against the modern commercial system without a doubt are justified. But is this the only real reason members of the ‘counter culture’ have for their own crimes? No. There must be deeper reasons. How do we know?

If ‘the system’ is entirely to blame for their stealing and immorality​—why do they steal from one another? When three Free Stores were opened for Yippies in New York’s Lower East Side, everything was stolen, including counters and window panes! Demonstrators at rallies report losing sleeping bags, backpacks and even tents​—to whom? Apparently other demonstrators!

Also, recently, while a prominent spokesman of the ‘counter culture’ was on trial in Chicago someone broke into his New York apartment and stole a color TV. Was that justified? “That,” he declared, “was banditry.” Harvard sociologist S. M. Lipset correctly notes: “Stealing is stealing, even if you call it revolution.”

Further, the largeness of ‘the system’ is used as an excuse for major crimes. Consider the logic of a New Jersey auto thief:

“What I do is good for everybody. First of all, I create work. I hire men to deliver the cars, work on the numbers, paint them, give them paper, maybe drive them out of state, find customers. That’s good for the economy. Then I’m helping working people to get what they could never afford otherwise. A fellow wants a Cadillac but he can’t afford it; his wife wants it but she knows he can’t afford it. So I get this fellow a nice car at a price he can afford; maybe I save him as much as $2,000. Now he’s happy. But so is the guy who lost his car. He gets a nice new Cadillac from the insurance company​—without the dents and scratches we had to take out. The Cadillac company​—they’re happy too because they sell another Cadillac.

“The only people who don’t do so good is the insurance company. But they’re so big that nobody cares personally. They got a budget for this sort of thing anyway. So here I am, a guy without an education, sending both my kids to college, giving my family a good home, making other people happy. Come on now​—who am I really hurting?”

But there are other factors that are frequently mentioned.

Trained for Violence

The availability of guns in many parts of the modern world, while not causing crime, does contribute to it. Some handguns, so-called “Saturday night specials,” sell new in the United States for fifteen dollars. Detroit, Michigan, police estimate that there are a half-million handguns circulating in just that city. Some have argued that men would fight even without guns. Detroit Police Sergeant F. Williams admits that that is true, but adds: “The other guy might end up with a busted lip, but he’d still be alive.”

Further, it must be remembered that modern society world wide includes thousands of young men who as soldiers have had weapons usage woven into their view of life. Crime and criminal elements are romanticized on television. Israel’s huge increase in violent crime in recent years is attributed to the “steady stream of American crime shows in their living rooms.”

The Criminal Justice System

Paradoxically, the very institutions used to fight crime are also among those frequently blamed for boosting its rise. The courts, for instance, are accused of “coddling” criminals. But the courts complain of being understaffed. Courts do not write laws, but merely carry out those made by legislative bodies.

Judges point to the failure of the prison systems, calling them ‘revolving doors.’ A ‘soft’ criminal goes to prison, learns brutal methods and comes out to commit a more sadistic crime. Notes Washington, D.C., Judge C. W. Halleck: “All we do when we put people in jail is to make them worse than they were before they went in. . . . no thinking judge can conceivably believe that long jail sentences are going to do anything to stop crime . . . The court process is just one small part of the whole picture.”

But other people ask: ‘Why don’t the police “crack down” on criminals?’ The police, too, are restricted. For instance, in the U.S. the Fourth Amendment forbids a policeman to make an unreasonable search or seizure. If you live in the United States, would you want that law repealed so that a policeman could invade your home any time he wished? As matters now stand, the courts and prisons cannot handle the criminals the police are sending them. How would they cope with even heavier loads in a ‘crackdown’?

Matters other than ‘catching criminals’ also receive high priority among police activities; they search for missing children, recover stolen property, make sure businesses are properly licensed and provide emergency medical assistance. There are disputes among neighbors, common drunks and traffic violators to be dealt with.

Too, changes in the economic situation have affected all kinds of employment, including police work. In the 1930’s there were 17,000 New York city policemen; now there are over 30,000. A big increase? No! Due to a shorter work week, increased vacation time and overtime pay requirements, it now takes five men to do the work three or four did in the 1930’s. New York Police Captain V. Rohe concludes: “There are no more men on the street today than there were then, despite the fact society has become more complex.”

Yes, crime is so ‘woven into the fabric of society’ that the criminal justice system composed of police, courts and prisons can do just so much; each “is just one small part of the whole picture.”

The Individual’s Role

Each of the factors discussed so far helps us to understand why crime is increasing. It is largely inherent in the system, ‘woven into society.’ But it must be borne in mind that in the last analysis, it is individuals who commit crimes.

In a word, the problem is largely a moral one. Jewish philosopher Will Herberg observed some time back:

“The moral crisis of our time consists primarily not in the widespread violation of accepted moral standards​—when has any age been free of that?​—but in the repudiation of those very moral standards themselves.”

Crime is part of the result of ‘the repudiation of moral standards.’

What policeman, court or lawmaking body can completely prevent a person from doing wrong if he really wishes to do wrong? Crime in America remarks: “Bankers rarely rob banks. . . . The poor do not fix prices. . . . But among those capable of crime each finds his own way.”

That “each finds his own way” is also made abundantly clear by acting FBI Director P. Gray:

“Officeholders who occasionally compromise principle or a public trust in exchange for girls and favors, businessmen who pad their expense accounts and deflate their income-tax returns, would be stunned if anyone said they were not responsible and law-abiding citizens. . . .

“The workingman who patronizes after-hours bars and neighborhood bookmakers, those who buy merchandise at prices and under circumstances that clearly suggest it is stolen, contribute to the survival of crime in our society​—though they would be aghast at being called criminals.”

‘Each found his own way’ to commit crimes when the police went on strike in Montreal, Canada, in 1969. An observer remembers:

“I don’t mean hoodlums and habitual lawbreakers, I mean just plain people committed offenses they would not dream of trying if there was a policeman standing on the corner. I saw cars driven through red lights. Drivers shot up the wrong side of the street because they realized no one would catch them.”

There are, indeed, as we have seen, numerous causes behind the current crime crisis. But there are others that you may not be aware of, causes peculiar to our time. The Bible explains these.

Fundamental Causes

Shortly before his death Jesus Christ gave a “sign” to mark the “conclusion of the system of things.” His words, taken with Revelation chapter six, predict global war, famine and pestilence within the space of one “generation.” We have been in the “conclusion of the system of things” since 1914.

However, at the same time, Jesus also predicted, “because of the increasing of lawlessness the love of the greater number will cool off.” Jesus knew what man’s inborn sinfulness and heart attitude would lead to by this time​—excessive “lawlessness.” Crime, which seems to permeate every fiber of modern society, causes many to harden. Love for God and his high moral standard cools. Further “lawlessness” results.​—Matt. 24:3-12, 34; 2 Tim. 3:1-5.

Since the Bible has accurately predicted what we see today, we can trust what it says about yet one more cause behind today’s crime rise. That other element is an invisible spirit person​—Satan the Devil. The Bible foretold that Satan would be ousted from heaven at this time. With what result? “Woe for the earth and for the sea, because the Devil has come down to you, having great anger, knowing he has a short period of time.” With his days numbered, he further aggravates today’s lawless spirit.​—Rev. 12:12.

But how can one protect oneself from crime at this time before the “system of things” ends?

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Religious hypocrisy moves many to ignore Bible morality

[Picture on page 11]

Overloaded courts send criminals to crowded prisons. There they often learn to be worse criminals

[Picture on page 12]

Most People Obey Laws If A Policeman Is Watching​—But—​Do You Obey As Readily If A Policeman Is Not Around?

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CRIMINALS MAY STEAL, BUT DO YOU BUY WHAT THEY STEAL?

Protect Yourself from Crime

SOME major causes of crime are outside our control. For instance, we individually cannot change this whole lawless system of things and make it right. Nor can we get at the Devil.

Nevertheless, we ourselves can avoid a criminal life. Further, there are steps we can take to reduce the possibility of our being harmed by crime. Here a principle in the Bible proves valuable. It says:

“A sensible man foresees danger, and hides from it;

But the simple pass on, and are punished.”

​—Prov. 22:3, An American Translation.

Notice, first of all, that it says the sensible one “foresees danger.” He is alert wherever he is to what is going on around him.

Do you see the “danger” from crime facing you? The type of threat varies from place to place. Thus criminal acts on the streets of a large city ghetto are different from those at a suburban market employing dishonest clerks.

Your home may be in an area relatively free from burglars, but the persons you let into it for appliance repairs or as domestic help may bring crime, ranging from shoddy workmanship and petty thievery to rape. ‘Foreseeing danger,’ being alert, is the first step toward averting its adverse effects.

Having once spotted danger, however, the sensible person is not hesitant to ‘hide’ from it. He does not foolishly pretend to be afraid of nothing. It is not cowardice to avert danger, even fleeing if necessary; the Bible calls this course “sensible.”

Protecting Your Home

Are you “sensible” as regards your home? To believe that the police will always be able to ward off disaster is unwise. A former burglar writes:

“There are many ways to protect your home, but one notion has consistently proven wrong:

“As long as you rely on the conviction that the arm of the law is mightier than the crowbars of thieves, you cannot stop a burglar.”

Why is it that the police cannot always protect your property? One patrolman admits:

“Let’s be honest. There are just so many [burglaries] being committed these days and there are so many other more important things to watch for that burglaries are now handled on the same level of priority that we used to assign to noise complaints.”

Protection, therefore, largely lies in prevention, ‘foreseeing danger.’ Can your home be made safer? Here are a few suggestions that some have found valuable.

Use good locks. In many suburban and rural areas life is more carefree and not so defensive as in the cities. Almost inadvertently owners leave doors and windows unlocked. Valuable jewelry, tools, televisions, stereos and small appliances are unprotected. Further, only good locks are likely to thwart an intent thief. One manufacturer asserts that the average skilled burglar can pick more than 98 percent of the 500,000,000 locks in Manhattan alone.

If you leave home, keep a few lights burning. Some persons install an automatic timer to turn lights, radio and television on and off automatically, giving strangers the impression the house is occupied. Shine strong lights into your yard, since criminals prefer darkness. Burglar alarms and loud-mouthed dogs may frighten intruders away in your absence. If you will be away for long, perhaps the best protection is to tell a trusted neighbor or friend. He can watch your home and avoid letting papers and mail accumulate​—a sure sign that the occupants are gone.

‘Foresee Danger’ on the Street

Be sensible, too, when you are away from home. Many victims actually contribute to crime against themselves. How?

By where they go, for one thing. If a person is mugged on a dark city street, why was he there? Was it to engage in illegal gambling, to look for drugs or a prostitute? A policeman in Washington points to this often overlooked aspect of the crime problem: “We feel most of the people who get robbed are guys from the suburbs looking for a little action.” Pure motives can be a protection!

How you dress can also get you into trouble. Why wear your finest, most expensive clothing if you will be in an area where crime occurs? Why deck yourself publicly in beautiful jewelry? If you wish to wear jewelry, why not at least wait until you get to your destination to put it on? While coming and going, it is wise to conceal jewelry on your person, not in a purse or wallet.

Style of dress can also contribute to rape. As to women being raped in a large city, one detective says: “If you ask me, they invite it. They wear those see-through blouses and skimpy skirts.” An airline stewardess who keeps an apartment in New York city implied that clothing contributes to assault when she said: ‘“You can’t even wear hot pants here, because men try to rape you.” Modest apparel is becoming to a lady; in today’s sex-mad world it is also “sensible.”

If circumstances compel you to be in an unsafe area, stay alert, ‘foreseeing danger.’ Walk and act with purpose, as if someone is waiting for you. Avoid walking alone, especially at night. Stay in well-lighted areas if possible. Do not walk near buildings, but next to the curb. If you see someone suspicious ahead or apparently following you, cross to the other side of the street. If he follows, step out into the street. If ever danger is imminent, call for help.

It is best for a woman not to carry a purse; if she must, do not let it dangle at arm’s length. Some men carry two wallets, one with their valuables, the other with “mugger money,” a few dollars for a possible assailant. It is wise always to have money with you should you be threatened. Addicts have been known to kill in anger when persons did not have money.

Protecting Yourself When Attacked

If, despite your alertness, you should be attacked and your money demanded, what will you do? Are money and jewelry worth more than your life? Many believe that it is the wisest thing to give the thief what he demands. Carrying a weapon will only enrage an assailant and possibly bring harm to you. Operation On Guard, published by the Los Angeles, California, district attorney’s office, advises:

“Every law enforcement agency is in agreement that it is best not to carry any weapon. The carrying of many types of weapons on your person or in your car could make you criminally liable under the deadly weapons control law. A weapon in the hands of a victim can too easily be taken away and used to render severe injury or death upon the victim. The criminal is usually only interested in escape. If you attack with a weapon you put him on the defensive and he may feel he must kill to escape. It is strongly urged that you carry no type of weapon, tear gas, gun, vegetable knife, hat pin, etc.”

This does not mean that a woman should give in to a sexual assault. In that case, her virginity or virtue and bodily cleanness are involved. What is the best thing she can do if attacked?

“If a woman is attacked while she walks along the street,” a Toronto Star article quotes Deputy Police Chief Bernard Simmonds as saying, “the best thing she can do is cry out loudly for help.”

Yes, scream! This is wise advice and stands in contrast with the growing number who encourage women passively to allow themselves to be raped, or to bargain with the rapist for their lives. But, if a woman allows a man to rape her, how does she know that he will not kill her afterward?

Interestingly, in God’s law to Israel the primary distinction between rape and consent was whether a woman screamed for help. In modern cities onlookers have been known to watch as a woman was raped, assuming she was consenting to an act of exhibitionism since she did not scream or otherwise resist her attacker.​—Read the Biblical law at Deuteronomy 22:23-29

So there is protection in following the Bible’s proverb of ‘foreseeing danger.’ Stay alert. Sensibly ‘hide,’ that is, act to avert possible financial or bodily harm to yourself and family.

At the same time, however, realize that crime will no doubt continue to rise. While precaution is in order, do not be so paralyzed with fear that you fail to carry out the necessary activities of life. Know, too, that the final, sure answer to the crime problem is rapidly approaching!

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The way you dress can actually contribute to criminal assault!

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Is a few dollars worth more than your life? You show how you feel by what you do when threatened with robbery

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If a woman is sexually attacked, the best thing she can do is SCREAM!

Other Ways You Can Protect Yourself

Protect Your Car:

● Try not to park on dark or deserted streets.

● Take your keys out of the ignition and make sure the doors are locked when you leave your car.

● Lock any packages in the trunk or take them with you.

Protect Yourself from Pickpockets:

● Do not display large sums of money in public.

● Men​—in large crowds it is best for you not to keep your wallet in a hip pocket, even if it is buttoned. If you are jostled while in a crowd, make sure your wallet is yet in place.

● Women​—do not lay your handbag on a counter or floor or in a shopping cart while making purchases. Do not leave your purse on a seat in a public place of assembly. When carrying a load of packages, keep your purse next to your body.

● Beware particularly of strangers who try to put their hands on you. Some may claim that they want to assist you in some way; others may describe their own ailments by touching your body. Such persons may be pickpockets cleverly trying to remove your money.

The Sure Answer to the Crime Problem

WILL humans always live like prisoners in their own homes? Will they fear every time they go outside alone? No! There is a sure answer to the crime problem, and it will be realized very soon.

The answer is not the adoption of an oppressive police state. Nor is it any other proposal for reforming the present system of things. It is becoming obvious that any such reformation is futile, since crime is, indeed, woven into the very fabric of society.

What, then, is the answer?

The Answer Foretold

Jesus Christ pointed to the answer when he foretold the end of this system of things. He said: “There will be great tribulation such as has not occurred since the world’s beginning until now, no, nor will occur again.” (Matt. 24:21) This “great tribulation” will wipe out this entire lawless society, but not all mankind. Thus the tribulation is directly linked with the sure answer to the crime problem.

That sure answer is God’s kingdom. This kingdom is a real government, with a heavenly king and with earthly subjects. Jesus’ earthly life as a grown man was devoted to declaring that government as the only solution to man’s problems. (Luke 4:43; 8:1) How it will eliminate crime is clearly shown in the Bible. Foretelling the very days in which we live, Daniel 2:44 says:

“In the days of those kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be brought to ruin. And the kingdom itself will not be passed on to any other people. It will crush and put an end to all these kingdoms, and it itself will stand to times indefinite.”

Yes, God’s heavenly kingdom or government will completely destroy earth’s present governments, with all their crime and corruption. This will, indeed, be a “great tribulation” for all who are alienated from God.

Do not conclude, however, that such a world destruction is too harsh a measure for God to take. As we have seen, this system of things is irreformable; it is permeated with crime. Its ruler is Satan the Devil, “who is misleading the entire inhabited earth.” (Rev. 12:9; 2 Cor. 4:4) Mankind cannot get rid of him; only God can. Thus Jesus taught us to pray for God’s kingdom to come so that it might crush Satan and his crime-infested system out of existence.​—Matt. 6:9, 10.

But when will this occur?

How Near?

Jesus also answered this question. As noted in a previous article, he gave a “sign” that would mark the “conclusion of the system of things,” or the “last days.” Included in the “sign” would be such world woes as global wars, famines, pestilences, earthquakes and the increasing of lawlessness, to be followed by the “great tribulation” itself. Then Jesus said: “Truly I say to you that this generation will by no means pass away until all these things occur.”​—Matt. 24:3-34; 2 Tim. 3:1-5.

What did Jesus mean by that? Evidently this: That the generation that saw the beginning of world woes with the outbreak of global war in the year 1914 would also see the destruction of Satan’s entire earthly system of things. Some persons who were alive in 1914 would still be alive when the “great tribulation” strikes.

Think about those persons who, in 1914, were old enough to see with understanding the beginning of the fulfillment of the “sign.” They are not young anymore. That generation is well along toward its complete passing away. Yet it will not pass away until it sees God’s kingdom wipe out this wicked system of things.

Very near, then, is the answer to the crime problem! It will be realized within a very short time, before “this generation” passes away. What a marvelous relief it will be when this corrupt system is gone!

But who will be left to enjoy the crime-free world? What assurance is there that crime will not crop up again? What will life be like then?

A Crime-Free World

The Bible explains who will survive this world’s end, when it says: “Furthermore, the world is passing away and so is its desire, but he that does the will of God remains forever.” (1 John 2:17) Thus, only those who now learn what is God’s will and then do it will survive the “great tribulation” into the crime-free world to follow.

But there will also be others who gain life then, for the Bible promises: “There is going to be a resurrection of both the righteous and the unrighteous.” (Acts 24:15) Eventually there will be thousands of millions of persons who will be brought back from the dead to live in God’s crime-free world.

‘Who are these unrighteous ones?’ you may ask. ‘Why will they be resurrected?’

We have God’s assurance that his new system will be righteous. After describing the destruction of this present system of things, the Bible says that it will be replaced with a new one in which “righteousness is to dwell.” (2 Pet. 3:13) Unrighteous persons will not be permitted to corrupt that new system! But what will prevent them from doing so?

At its start, righteous persons will be the only inhabitants of God’s new system, for only those doing the will of God will survive the “great tribulation.” Unrighteous ones will later be resurrected, likely only a relatively few at a time so that they will always be in the small minority. After their resurrection they will be individually instructed regarding God’s will. At that time the Bible principle will apply: “Righteousness is what the inhabitants of the productive land will certainly learn.”​—Isa. 26:9.

‘But surely,’ you may object, ‘not all the resurrected ones will respond to that instruction. Some will remain unrighteous. What will prevent them from corrupting that new system of things?’

Almighty God Jehovah will see to it that they do not. If all efforts fail to help persons to reform, then they will not be permitted to remain. God will see to it that they are destroyed. All who are resurrected will simply have to abide by God’s righteous standards if they are to live in his new system.

A Marvelous New System

How fine it will be to live on earth under that righteous new administration! The sure promise of the Bible will then be realized earth wide: “The meek ones themselves will possess the earth, and they will indeed find their exquisite delight in the abundance of peace.”​—Ps. 37:11.

Think of it! No more will there be fear of crime or calamity. You will be able to walk on any street or through any park without fear of muggers or rapists. You will be able to leave your doors unlocked and possessions unguarded with the assurance that they will not be stolen or damaged. There will be no need of policemen, jails, handcuffs, safes, locks, keys, burglar alarms, hidden electronic listening devices or concealed television cameras. In God’s new system the deterrent to crime will be love for God and genuine concern for the welfare of fellow humans.

Motivated by such love, there will be no more “white collar” crime either, including embezzling, giving or taking of bribes, misappropriation of funds or other such forms of dishonesty. Nor will there be any industries that, to increase their profits, poison the air people have to breathe, or pollute the water they drink. In God’s new system there will be a fulfillment of the words of God’s prophet: “They will not do any harm or cause any ruin in all my holy mountain; because the earth will certainly be filled with the knowledge of Jehovah as the waters are covering the very sea.”​—Isa. 11:9.

Surely to enjoy a lifetime of seventy or eighty years in such a marvelous crime-free world would be a pleasure. Yet, with sickness and disease to endure and finally death to face, the pleasure at best would be fleeting. But Jehovah God will not permit this. He will completely satisfy mankind’s desires. The Bible assures: “The blessing of Jehovah​—that is what makes rich, and he adds no pain with it.”​—Prov. 10:22.

This blessing of God will eventually include the elimination of all suffering due to poor health. Cancer, heart trouble and all other diseases that cause humans pain and unhappiness will simply not exist in God’s new system. The Creator’s sure promise is: “No resident will say: ‘I am sick.’”​—Isa. 33:24.

The Creator’s blessing will even include the elimination of death! Citizens of God’s crime-free world will live forever! How this will come about is explained this way in the last part of the Bible: “The tent of God is with mankind, and he will reside with them, and they will be his peoples. And God himself will be with them. And he 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.”​—Rev. 21:3, 4.

Would you not like to live forever in perfect health in such a marvelous crime-free world? This can be your certain prospect! But there are things that you must do if you are to enjoy these blessings under the righteous rule of God’s kingdom.

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God’s kingdom will clean from the earth all lawlessness forever; righteousness will prevail eternally

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1914

ONE GENERATION

Increase of lawlessness.

Nation against nation.

Love of greater number cooling off.

Anguish of nations, not knowing the way out.

Critical times.

Disobedience to parents.

Not open to any agreement.

Men without self-control.

“LAST DAYS”

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Billions will be resurrected to life in God’s crime-free world

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Grand blessings are in store for citizens of God’s new order. The Bible assurance is: “God . . . will wipe out every tear from their eyes, and death will be no more, neither will mourning nor outcry nor pain be anymore.”​—Rev. 21:3, 4.

Living for a Crime-Free World

DO YOU doubt that a crime-free world is really possible? Many persons do. Yet there is sound basis for believing that this earth will be the home of an entire world of law-abiding people.

‘What is that basis?’ you may ask.

Well, consider: If one large group of people can now live essentially free of crime, does that not prove that a whole world of people could? Could not people everywhere, given similar guidance and training, eventually live completely honest and law-abiding lives?

‘That seems reasonable,’ you may agree. ‘But where is there today such a miniature crime-free society?’

A Law-abiding People

A truly law-abiding society now exists world wide. In 1969 a resident of Seattle, Washington, was astounded when coming in contact with it. Writing in the Seattle Times, July 18, 1969, this person said:

“Recently I attended a session of a Jehovah’s Witnesses convention at Vancouver, B.C.

“Imagine, if you can, 40,000 visitors in a city and all of them in the habit of being law-abiding citizens because they want to be. I saw no drunkenness, no walking on private lawns, no illegal parking, no traffic offenses and heard no profanity on the part of the visitors.

“And imagine! No littering! I walked the length and breadth of Empire Stadium and saw no paper on the grounds while tens of thousands of people ate and drank from paper plates and cups.

“I saw tens of thousands of people get up from their seats in the stadium at the noon lunch recess and reserve their same seats for the afternoon session by leaving on them their tape recorders, binoculars, umbrellas, purses, sweaters and cameras and walk away to be absent about 90 minutes with no worry or concern about theft.

“I am not a Jehovah’s Witness. . . . But I do feel very strongly that by their high standards of morality, courtesy and honesty they bring nothing but good to any city they select for a convention.”

Persons, accustomed to today’s crime-infested world, may find it hard to believe that such law-abiding people really do exist. Yet they do! After a similar experience with the Witnesses, a North Carolina doctor was moved to write his local newspaper, saying, in part:

“These days when all we hear or see are news items about rioting, looting and hate propaganda it is time to console ourselves . . . I am referring particularly to the recent convocation of Jehovah’s Witnesses that came to Asheville for a week early this month. . . .

“During the convention several thousand of the visiting Witnesses were milling about the two buildings attending the lectures, song sessions and devotional periods. Never was there a policeman in sight. There were no raucous noises, no disturbances and no altercations. . . . The order was perfect.”​—Asheville “Citizen,” July 26, 1967.

Nor is it just in the United States that such observations are made regarding Jehovah’s witnesses. The same things are noted about them around the world. In an article appearing in the London Daily Telegraph, October 26, 1972, reporter Bryan Wilson wrote:

“Jehovah’s Witnesses have shown themselves, through Africa, to be decent, orderly citizens living up to a high moral code. They are hardworking, sober (although not absolutely teetotal) people, who maintain exemplary family discipline. The promiscuity and polygamy characteristic of African society is simply inconceivable among Witnesses. The sect inculcates habits of thrift, punctuality, honesty and obedience.”

Since over one and a half million Witnesses earth wide are now almost totally crime free, does this not prove that a whole world of people could also be? Indeed it does! And soon, after God brings an end to this crime-infested system of things, all persons on earth will be honest and law abiding. Jehovah’s witnesses are living for that crime-free world. They seek to do God’s will now, even as everyone will do it then.

What about yourself? Will you live for God’s crime-free world by doing his will now? It will mean real blessings to you if you do.

Security and Peace

You will enjoy the blessing now of having friends that you can really trust. At the Kingdom Hall, where Jehovah’s witnesses regularly meet for study of God’s purposes, a genuine feeling of security and peace exists. Persons there do not try to get the better of others, or in any way harm them. But, rather, they earnestly seek to apply such Bible counsel as: “Love one another intensely from the heart.” “Put away all badness and all deceitfulness and hypocrisy and envies.”​—1 Pet. 1:22; 2:1.

Truly it is fine to have the friendship of such persons! You can feel comfortable and safe with them, because the doing of God’s will is the motivating force in their lives. Thus when a Philadelphia woman left two handbags of jewels in the taxicab of Witness W. Dixon recently, it never crossed his mind to keep them.

“The jewels weren’t worth anything to me because they weren’t mine,” Dixon explained to a New York News reporter. He watched the lost-and-found notices, and when he spotted an ad placed by Mrs. Byrde Tuckerman describing the jewels, he contacted her, and the jewels were returned.​—New York Sunday News, November 26, 1972.

Conforming to God’s Will

True, it may involve quite a change in your life to conform to God’s will. But all who live for God’s new system must make changes. This is because the whole attitude and thinking of this old system are based on selfishness. Thus the Bible urges: “Quit being fashioned after this system of things, but be transformed by making your mind over, that you may prove to yourselves the good and acceptable and perfect will of God.”​—Rom. 12:2.

You can make that transformation, just as many others have done. In the first century, fornicators, homosexuals, drunkards, extortioners and other lawless persons quit such practices to become servants of God. (1 Cor. 6:9-11) Some persons today also have made really radical changes to conform to God’s will.

For example, a few years ago a young couple from England, who had been thieves, started studying the Bible with Jehovah’s witnesses. As they learned that it is God’s purpose to bring an end to this crime-filled system and replace it with a new one, they desired to dedicate their lives to God. So they took steps to settle their debt with the law. The newspaper, The Mercury, of June 15, 1967, explained under the headline “Why a Housewife Confessed”:

“The police couldn’t catch housewife C— M—. She had committed four crimes but changed her job and her address so often that she couldn’t be traced.

“Then Mrs. M— started reading the Bible . . . and later walked into a police station where she confessed to the four offences.

“With her husband, she had decided to become a Jehovah’s Witness. And Mrs. M—, a mother of two young children, felt that the only way to ‘wipe the slate clean’ was to go to the police.

“‘She came purely voluntarily,’ a police officer told Greenwich Court.’”

In another issue, The Mercury told about the woman’s husband. Under the headline “The ‘Converted’ Raider Confesses All His Crimes,” the newspaper reported:

“A man went to the police and confessed to thefts amounting to thousands of pounds, because he wanted to be a Jehovah’s Witness. . . .

“Two years ago M— started studying the Bible. Last year he wanted to be baptised into the Jehovah’s Witness faith . . .

“M—’s wife said: ‘There has been a tremendous change in my husband during the last two years. His Bible studies have brought a great change to his life.’”

So changes can be made​—even radical ones. And all who would live for God’s crime-free world must make them.

The Changes Required

Do not conclude, however, that simply avoiding obvious violations of God’s law, such as stealing, lying and fornication, are the only changes required. More is involved to conform to God’s will. The Bible shows this by telling us: “Become imitators of God, as beloved children, and go on walking in love.”​—Eph. 5:1.

So, then, to live for God’s crime-free world means imitating God’s blameless course of conduct. We must not only refrain from any conduct that is wrong in God’s eyes, but also conform our personality to His loving, merciful personality. This is admittedly not easy to do. Nor will we accomplish the required changes overnight. Continual effort over a period of time is needed to bring our lives into harmony with God’s thinking and conduct.

But think how grand it is when a whole society of people endeavor to copy the love, mercy, kindness and other grand qualities of God! Truly there is pleasantness in their association. Do you want that for yourself and your loved ones? Then, if you have not done so already, begin now to live for God’s crime-free world.

The first step necessary is to take in knowledge of Jehovah God and his Son Jesus Christ, who so perfectly imitated his Father while on earth. The Bible shows the necessity of this, saying: “This means everlasting life, their taking in knowledge of you, the only true God, and of the one whom you sent forth, Jesus Christ.”​—John 17:3.

Jehovah’s witnesses will be happy to help you to take in this life-giving knowledge. Simply ask them and they will, free of charge, conduct a Bible study with you and your family in your own home. Accept this invitation. Associate with Jehovah’s witnesses, and see for yourself that God’s promises of a crime-free world have a sound basis.

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The London “Daily Telegraph” says that African Jehovah’s witnesses are noted for their “honesty and obedience”

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Among Jehovah’s witnesses you can have a genuine feeling of security and peace, for each one seeks to apply the Bible counsel: “Love one another intensely from the heart.”​—1 Pet. 1:22

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Bible study shows willing individuals how to transform their lives to a crime-free course

Criminals and Drug Users Reformed

THAT Jehovah’s witnesses have been doing a great deal to help persons to curb and stamp out crime in their lives is well attested to. Recently a United Methodist minister, Dean M. Kelly, noted that, while the traditional churches have been ineffectual in doing this, Jehovah’s witnesses are “redeeming criminals and drug addicts in our society.”

That this is true is evident from the many experiences of former criminals who have changed their lives as a result of their Bible study and association with Jehovah’s witnesses. Just last summer at the “Divine Rulership” District Assemblies of Jehovah’s Witnesses the following experiences were related.

● A youth in Detroit, Michigan, had become deeply involved in drugs. He even sold them at school and in the neighborhood, and he was an experienced thief, having learned to pick locks at an early age. Working as part of a group, he would steal bicycles and change them so that they could not be traced. He was also a leader in rebellious youth movements, influencing changes in clothing styles at school.

Then his mother started to study the Bible with Jehovah’s witnesses. He also agreed to study, as he put it, “strictly for kicks, for something to do, for something different.” In the course of the study, articles from the Watch Tower publications on drug abuse were considered. And about this time he had a particularly bad “trip” on drugs, which caused him to do some serious thinking.

In time he started to attend congregational meetings. He stopped taking drugs. His long hair and “way out” clothes disappeared. At the “Divine Rulership” Assembly in Toledo he was baptized. Now he hopes to spend his full time in teaching others the Bible truths that influenced the dramatic change in his own life.

● Habitual drug use often begins in a seemingly rather innocent way. A Mansfield, Ohio, youth started taking prescription cough syrup. But from this he went on to marijuana, “speed” and LSD. For about four years he was on drugs, and lived a debauched life of carousing and fornication. During this time he married, held wild drug parties in the home, and even became a drug pusher.

Then one day a Witness called on his wife and started a Bible study with her. He was asked to sit in, and he did. But his purpose was to show up and confuse the woman conducting the study, rather than to learn anything.

In time, however, he began to see that he was not leading a useful life. He saw some of his friends, and even his own nephew, go downhill because of their use of drugs. So he started to study the Bible in earnest and to attend the congregation meetings. He reformed his life, and both he and his wife were baptized by Jehovah’s witnesses at the Toledo assembly this past summer.

● The use of drugs can have fearful effects upon a person. A Madison, Wisconsin, youth in his early twenties learned this firsthand. He had become disgusted with this system of things, and so turned to drugs, starting with marijuana and progressing to a number of harder drugs such as LSD. He got to the point where he would hallucinate without taking drugs.

“I could be sitting in a classroom listening to a lecture,” he explained. “Suddenly I would have a hallucination, and then I would come back out of it again. It became very difficult to distinguish between reality and my visionary experiences, and I got into a very confused state of mind.”

His use of drugs resulted in strife with his parents, so he left home and began to travel. His travels eventually took him to Spain, where he met a Spanish missionary of Jehovah’s witnesses who spoke English. For two weeks he studied the Bible with the missionary and even attended congregation meetings, though unable to understand what was being said because he was not familiar with Spanish. He was eager to learn more, and so decided to go to England where he could attend the meetings and understand what was said.

Unable to gain entrance into England temporarily, he spent several weeks in France. “While there,” he explained, “I spent seven or eight hours a day reading and rereading a book that I got from the Witnesses along with the Bible.”

Finally he got into England, where he toured the Bethel home and factory of Jehovah’s witnesses. What he saw and heard, along with the hospitality that he received, greatly impressed him. He rushed back to Madison, Wisconsin, where he immediately contacted the presiding overseer of the local congregation of Jehovah’s witnesses. A Bible study was arranged with him and, nine months later, he was baptized at the “Divine Rulership” Assembly in Madison. Having completely changed his life, he is eagerly looking forward to sharing in the full-time preaching work as soon as circumstances will allow for it.

● Former drug users who become Jehovah’s witnesses often are successful in helping other drug addicts to reform. This is true of a young man who, years ago, had a successful rock ’n’ roll band in South Carolina. After this group broke up, and while he was in Hollywood fulfilling a recording contract, he and his wife started studying the Bible with Jehovah’s witnesses. Both of them recognized that what they were learning was the truth.

As a result, this man turned down attractive employment opportunities, including jobs with famous “rock” groups, in order to be in better position to grow spiritually. His friends in South Carolina were shocked when they heard about this. They were also shocked to learn that he had shaved off his beard. He explains what happened when one of them visited him in California:

“As soon as he entered the door he asked me where he could get the best ‘dope’ in Los Angeles, and where he could find some ‘chicks.’ I told him: ‘I don’t know.’ This was another shock to him . . .

“We started a Bible study with his wife and others, and he would sit on the couch and smirk and go outside and smoke marijuana. But after a few days we would look over and catch him listening a little. Then he read the ‘Awake!’ on the subject, ‘Why the Hippie Movement?’ This started him to asking questions. He then read the Hebrew Scriptures and the book ‘“Then Is Finished the Mystery of God”’ within about a two-week period. He immediately changed his attitude, started attending meetings, eventually shaved, and cut his hair.

“After they attended their first meeting his wife asked me if I had called up all the Witnesses and told them to be especially nice to those ‘freaks’ that I was bringing to the Kingdom Hall. Her husband was dressed in blue jeans with holes in them, a dirty T-shirt; he had an Indian band around his head, beads around his neck and he was barefoot. I told her, ‘Of course not; that is the way Jehovah’s witnesses treat all people, no matter what they look like.’ She was fed up with false religion, and immediately recognized that Jehovah’s witnesses were God’s people and that they had the truth.”

In a short time these reformed hippies and drug users were baptized by Jehovah’s witnesses. During the past year they studied with a number of others with whom they had worked in their rock ’n’ roll band. Several of these persons were baptized at the “Divine Rulership” Assembly last summer in Columbia, South Carolina, and others with whom they are studying are looking forward to becoming Jehovah’s witnesses.

Many persons have turned to crime and the use of drugs because they are disgusted with this corrupt, hypocritical system of things. Religions that support this world, therefore, are abhorrent to such persons. But when they are shown from the Bible how God views this system​—that He, too, abhors it and purposes to destroy it and usher in a righteous new system of things—​they often reform their lives to please this grand God, Jehovah.​—2 Pet. 3:5-7, 13.

Getting Away from It All?

HOW often we hear people speak about ‘getting away from it all.’ Disgusted with the problems and troubles of life or distressed over the materialism and pressures of today’s society, they wish they could ‘get away from it all’ by going to some isolated place. Perhaps you, too, have thought wishfully of such a course. But is that really the solution?

A young man in California in the early 1960’s became disillusioned with the normal goals and pursuits of the materialistic people around him. He started to live a “hippie” way of life, studied various Eastern religions and even attended Communist youth meetings trying to find some meaning to life. He turned to all sorts of drugs and to alcohol, seeking an escape, but without satisfaction.

Recently at a convention of Jehovah’s witnesses he explained what happened after he had turned to drugs and drink. He said that finally he and his wife came to their senses enough to realize that this was no way of life. “So we stopped taking drugs and moved to Maine hoping for a clean start,” he now says. He wanted to live in an area that was sparsely populated. “I built a house in the woods, raised a garden, attempting to live off the land, thereby becoming free from the world. Even though I lived in the backwoods, seldom seeing anyone else, I soon realized that there was no escape.” Why was that?

Before long, men with powerful machines began to tear up the beautiful woods near his home in order to build a large housing development, a shopping center and a naval base. Further, he says: “The radio news kept reminding me that all over the world people were suffering from starvation, being massacred in war. It seemed futile, no hope at all. I began drinking very heavily again and had resigned myself to death. In fact, I was drunk almost every day.”

Though ‘getting away from it all’ was not the answer, an answer was to be found. He goes on to explain: “Shortly thereafter a minister of Jehovah’s witnesses called at my home. A Bible study was begun with me. For the first time I could see that there was a hope. I quit smoking and drinking and spent time reading the Bible and publications of the Watch Tower Society. It sounded so good that I started telling others about my newfound hope.” And this hope was not mere imagination. It was well founded on the reliable Word of God, which explains the present problems confronting mankind and shows how God is shortly going to solve these problems.

So if you have the feeling that you would like to ‘get away from it all,’ do not think in terms of isolating yourself in the backwoods somewhere. Rather, accept the opportunity to learn the purposes of God as outlined in the Bible and gain the solid hope that Jehovah holds out for mankind. True, this will not magically cause your problems to disappear, any more than it did with this man. But, as he did, you can gain the strength to face them and solve them with divine guidance from the Scriptures. And likely you too will be able to say as he does now: “At last happiness is really mine, and peace of mind.”

Watching the World

The “Global Crisis”

◆ Is the overall worldwide environment improving? Not according to an article in a recent issue of BioScience: “The impact of the environmental crisis . . . varies from culture to culture, nation to nation, place to place; but together these impacts sum to a global crisis. Symptoms, both ecological and social, are apparent in almost every country on earth: air and water pollution, chemical pollution of food chains, decay of cities, chronic food shortages and starvation, increasing drug abuses and alcoholism, rising rates of juvenile delinquency, crime and suicide, and a sense of hopelessness that transcends national borders and political systems. However, the enormous dimensions of the environmental crisis . . . make it difficult for us to perceive the nature of the problem and its causes, not to mention solutions.”

Clergy View of Abortion

◆ Some religious leaders have reacted favorably to the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision legalizing abortion. Metropolitan Church News, published by the New York City Council of Churches, says: “The news of the Supreme Court’s decision favoring women’s rights to determine whether or not to have an abortion was received with deep appreciation by the officers and staff of the Council.” It also declared: “We do not hold with those who regard abortion as murder.” An article in the Baptist Bible Tribune observes: “Dr. W. A. Criswell . . . former president of the Southern Baptist Convention, expressed satisfaction with the ruling.”

Stolen Museum Art

◆ John D. Cooney, international authority and curator of ancient art at the Cleveland Museum, one of the world’s leading art institutions, confesses that “95 per cent of ancient art material in this country has been smuggled in.” He further reveals: “Unless you’re naïve or not very bright, you’d have to know that much ancient art here is stolen.” As for the illegal entry of art objects in the United States, he observed: “Even if I know it’s hot, I can’t be concerned about that. If the museums in this country began to send back all the smuggled material to their countries of origin, the museum walls would be bare.”

Guns in School

◆ Public school officials across the United States say they are worried about the increase in the number of students carrying guns in corridors, classrooms and school yards. Last year Los Angeles’ schools had sixty gun incidents. New York, Detroit, Atlanta, Kansas City and other cities report a rise in student gun episodes. “We have a problem and it is increasing,” said Everett Copeland, Kansas City schools’ security manager. “Kids carry guns for different reasons. Some say they have been threatened. Some involve extortion attempts. Some kids just say it’s a status symbol.” James Kelly, director of school security seminars for the International Association of Chiefs of Police, declared: “There is no question about the increase. There are thousands of cheap guns on the streets. The kids pick them up with ease. These kids have definitely moved out of the zip-gun stage.” As to where youths are getting the idea of carrying weapons, Van Turner, deputy administrator for school safety in New York city, answers: “You have kids who see guns at home, who see people carrying guns all the time, and those kids are going to carry guns too.”

French Clergy Crisis

◆ The Roman Catholic priesthood in France is in a critical state. According to a report presented to the annual assembly of the French Bishops’ Conference in Lourdes, the major seminaries had 5,729 students in 1963. By 1971 that number had dwindled 47 percent, to 2,840. During those eight years, seminary enrollments of new students fell 61 percent, to 354. The number of priests ordained yearly dropped from 573 to 237. Deaths exceeded ordinations by 465 in 1970, and, in addition, 200 priests quit. The bishop of Bordeaux, commenting on the clergy crisis, said: “It is the very concept of the priesthood that is in question.”

Responsibility for Bloodshed

◆ An article by writer John Wainwright in The Northern Echo, a newspaper published in England, accuses the clergy of the bloodshed in Ireland. He declares: “Let every clergyman in Northern Ireland understand one thing​—let him understand it finally and unequivocally—​that, in the final analysis, he (personally) is responsible for every last drop of innocent blood spilled in this disgusting, sectarian-triggered lash-up. Not the troops​—not the politicians—​not even the IRA or the UDA​—but . . . the guy sporting the dog-collar. Because, if he’d done his job well enough​—if he’d preached a little more love, a little more toleration and a lot less bigotry—​people might have listened . . . and this little lot might not have happened!”

High Food Cost

◆ Right now food prices are sky-rocketing all over the world. Numerous economic and agricultural factors are the primary reasons for the increase. But an Associated Press analysis of the subject reveals one more cause: “There is the consumer. He makes demands on the market his grandfather would have laughed at. But flaked mashed potatoes, pre-mixed brownies, glazed and colored cereals, frozen vegetables seasoned and buttered ready to cook, all sell, and sell well. Everytime the American consumer asks someone else to do what he could very well do for himself, it costs.”

Earth Is Man’s Home

◆ V. Sevastyanov, the Russian pilot-cosmonaut, recently commented in the magazine Yunost on his flight in Soyuz-9. He discusses the effects of weightlessness and then concludes: “Man really is a son of the earth! He keenly feels the absence of terrestrial ties. His memory always returns to them, and the longer the flight the more sharply he feels the need to reproduce them, at least mentally. The cosmonaut’s terrestrial ties become painfully precious to him . . . Our blue planet is amazingly beautiful but it is also strikingly small.” Says Sevastyanov: “I remember how enraptured I was by the singing of birds when I first heard them after the flight” in Soyuz-9.

Fibers in the Optic Nerve

◆ A team of medical researchers at the University of Chicago and the Argonne National Laboratory used a computerized image processor to count the number of fibers in a human optic nerve. They reported 1,200,000 individual nerve fibers. About 500 photo-micrographs of the nerve’s cross section were scanned. One doctor calls the section of the optic nerve carrying images from the middle of the retina the “busiest” part of the eye, having the most densely packed fibers.

Fire Threat

◆ University of California professor of forestry, Harold Biswell, warns that the hills east of San Francisco Bay may suddenly burst into one of the United States’ worst fire disasters. The area contains two million eucalyptus trees killed by a cold wave in December 1972. The trees’ bark, dead leaves and seed capsules burn even when wet. The trees have natural oils that, if ignited, burn furiously. Their trunks could turn into 200-foot torches and generate a hundred-mile-per-hour fire storm. Many persons could be killed. Compounding the problem is the fact that the trees’ wood gets very hard four months after death. It may take two or three changes of chain saw to cut one down. This makes it impractical to cut the trees for firewood, but they are good for pulp.

Crime Decreasing?

◆ Recently, certain government and police officials have claimed that crime is decreasing. However, The Wall Street Journal, in an editorial, commented about “cities where citizens, suffering from a siege mentality, are afraid to venture out even during the day.” It declared that “despite recent political oratory and beefed-up police forces, muggings, often brutal muggings, are everyday occurrences in large U.S. cities. And shootings of robbery victims are not all that unusual. The unhappy fact is that society has failed to convince criminals that crime does not pay. Indeed, several scholars . . . have come up with preliminary conclusions that much crime can be explained by the simple fact that crime does indeed pay. It pays because the average criminal no longer fears being punished even if he is caught. Overworked police forces, crowded court calendars, misplaced social concern and a penologist reaction against imprisonment on grounds that it fails to rehabilitate, have given criminals the edge​—and given society the short end of the stick.”

Pornography and Crime

◆ Sweden’s Premier Olof Palme has endorsed a campaign against pornography in his country. His government is losing money because pornographers evade taxes. And sexual vice has caused a sharp increase in violent crimes. Denmark, France, Great Britain, West Germany, Yugoslavia and Italy are cracking down on sex exploitation. Drug trafficking and crime are sweeping through every Western European nation at an alarming rate.

Crime Detection by Blood

◆ The blood of each person is so distinctive that it is now being used to identify lawbreakers. An officer at the laboratory in England where blood-detecting equipment is set up observed that it is “theoretically possible to reduce suspicion to one person on earth.” Bloodstains can be broken down from their major groups into subsystems, which, after careful analysis, can reveal the owner. Criminals who leave traces of their blood at the scene of a crime, as well as hit-and-run drivers with the blood of victims splattered on their cars, can be more easily apprehended. This technique is considered a big breakthrough in crime fighting.

Scientific Languages

◆ German was for a long time the language used in scientific communication. At the turn of the century it began to be replaced by English. German now is third. Russian is second.

Effect of College

◆ Some 25,000 students attending 217 U.S. colleges were sent questionnaires. Their answers revealed the effects of higher education on their thinking. College changed their behavior and self-concept. Most obvious were the changes in connection with increased drinking, smoking, irregular sleeping habits, political activity and a very notable drop in their commitment to religion.

Homosexuals Spread VD

◆ Venereal disease is soaring across Canada. In Hamilton and Wentworth counties in Ontario possibly one third of the infectious syphilis is spread by male homosexuals. A Toronto doctor in a VD testing program reported how quickly the disease spreads among promiscuous homosexuals: “Some of these men had seven or eight contacts in one night. There was some incredible promiscuity, and it wasn’t confined to people in one section of society. There were clergymen, accountants, lawyers, dentists, doctors, working men.”

Frozen Sperm Loses Fertility

◆ Storing frozen sperm for a long time can cause it to lose much of its fertility, according to two researchers at the University of Texas. The practice of freezing sperm was popularized by the increase in the number of men undergoing sterilization. Before being sterilized, many of these men had semen samples stored in a commercial sperm bank. Then if in the future they wanted children, their frozen sperm could be used to impregnate their wives by artificial insemination. This report reveals that there could be a loss of 50 to 60 percent of original motility (ability to move). Only motile sperm cells can reach the egg to fertilize it.

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