June 8

Why the Gasoline Shortage?

THE United States is running short of gasoline!

Such a statement sounded unrealistic a few months back. But not now. Some refineries have 20 percent lower reserves than normal for this time of year. Because of limited supplies some gasoline stations are padlocking their doors. Others open for only a few hours daily. Yes, the gasoline shortage is real.

What does this mean to you?

For one thing, it means that less gasoline, is available for the peak summer driving season. Also, Federal gasoline rationing may come. Even if government limitations do not materialize in some areas, dealers are already rationing.

Further, what gasoline is available is climbing higher in retail cost. The nationwide average price of regular gasoline in early spring was 37 cents per gallon. Experts predict prices of 55 cents per gallon in some places soon. And the retail price is expected to continue rising. Says the president of one oil company: “I’d be the most surprised guy around if I weren’t paying $1.25​—and soon.”

Americans have become accustomed to thinking that supplies of crude oil, from which gasoline is made, are unlimited. Any seeming ‘gasoline shortage’ in the past only temporarily raised prices. New oil reserves were quickly sucked into the market, and costs again stabilized.

But now the U.S. production reserves of crude oil are gone! And, as the chart with this article shows, the U.S., like some other leading industrial nations, consumes far more oil daily than it actually produces.

The crude-oil situation for U.S. gasoline was aggravated by last winter’s fuel-oil shortage. Oil that would have been refined into this summer’s gasoline was funneled into fuel-oil production. If, in turn, too much crude oil goes into gasoline production this summer, in a few months there could be a repeat performance of last winter’s fuel-oil crisis.

But, why, it might be asked, do not the United States oil companies just drill for more oil? They answer that costs now make drilling all but prohibitive. Oil is no longer in easily accessible places. Another thing: domestic oil brings a low price. This is hardly an incentive for the companies to carry on extensive drilling. For such reasons the U.S. has had to go outside its own borders and import oil.

Traditional U.S. suppliers, such as Canada and Venezuela, have been unable to cope with greater U.S. oil demands. The country has therefore turned to buying more and more oil from Middle East countries. But even this step has not solved the country’s immediate problems. Why?

Other nations are also demanding mid-East oil, driving up its cost. Too, in recent years political and economic events in the Middle East have triggered further steady increases in oil prices.

Thus crude oil is no longer as readily available as it was once for the U.S.; this has greatly contributed to the gasoline shortage. But, then, there are also the industry’s refinery problems.

The United States does not seem to have the refining capacity necessary to produce more gasoline even if an abundance of crude oil does become available. And oilmen say that they cannot afford to build the necessary new refineries; none are currently under construction.

They also point to one more factor limiting refinery construction. Says one Sun Oil Company spokesman: “Every time an oil company wants to build a new refinery, another environmental group objects to it.”

On the other hand, critics contend that the oil companies could refine more gasoline with their existing facilities. They accuse the companies of purposely ‘creating’ the oil and gasoline shortage to gain economic advantage and to silence environmentalists.

But the gasoline shortage is more than a problem brought on by international politics and big business. The public, too, must accept part of the blame for the current situation.

The public has, for one thing, insisted on buying more and bigger automobiles. Americans now have 85 million cars. Many late-model cars, with their big engines, get much less mileage to the gallon of gasoline than did earlier models. Knowing that gas was cheap, they have bought more and driven more.

The public can therefore do its part to case this summer’s gasoline shortage somewhat. What can you do?

When traveling on the highway, drive 50 miles per hour instead of 60; that requires about 10 percent less gasoline. Avoid quick, jerky starts. Do not let the engine idle too long. Keep your car in good shape: engine well tuned, tires properly inflated, and wheels aligned. Avoid, when possible, using power-consuming ‘extras’ like air conditioning.

Plan the use of your car, lining up several matters that can be cared for on one trip. When possible, use public transportation. Or, walk​—it can be good for you!

Such suggestions may or may not help to alleviate the gasoline shortage. But, whether they do or not, they can assist you personally to cope with a fuel-short summer.

[Graph on page 3]

(For fully formatted text, see publication)

DAILY OIL CONSUMPTION

DAILY OIL PRODUCTION

U.S.A.

Western Europe

Japan

0 5 10 15

(Millions of barrels)

Is There Life After Death?

“WHERE does the soul go immediately after death? We have lost a small son and we wonder.” These were the words distraught parents directed to one of America’s foremost clergymen. How did he answer? He wrote: “For me, the words of Jesus spoken to the repentant thief are significant​—‘This day thou shalt be with me in Paradise.’ I think of your child . . . as being with him.”

No doubt about it, this clergyman believes that life continues after death. This is also what the ancient Greeks and Romans believed. Thus Socrates stated, “All men’s souls are immortal.” Plato followed his teacher Socrates, and hence this belief about the soul is said to be a Platonic teaching.

Why did these men believe the way they did? One of their arguments was that the human mind was too wonderful to have the same destiny as the brute creation. They also claimed that to have death end all would be weighting matters in favor of the wicked. And the ancient Roman essayist and orator Cicero argued that he himself, even as other noble men, suffered and endured only because of hope of life after death. He therefore referred to the day of his death as the “glorious day” when he would leave this earth to associate with “the divine assembly of departed spirits.”

Early church “fathers” let themselves be influenced by this pagan Greek belief, and, as a result, it has become part of many creeds in Christendom. However, the reasons given by the Greeks for their belief show that they believed as they did, not because of observable facts, but only because that is the way they wanted it to be.

What Does the Bible Teach?

Is the idea that man has a soul separate and distinct from his body, and that it lives forever, taught in the Bible? No, it is not. Thus the New Catholic Encyclopedia (Vol. 13, p. 449), under the heading “Soul (in the Bible),” states: “There is no dichotomy [division] of body and soul in the O[Id] T[estament]. . . . The term nepes, though translated by our word soul, never means soul as distinct from the body.” Thus also the New American Bible (a Roman Catholic translation), in its Biblical Theology Terms, under the heading “Soul,” states: “In the New Testament to ‘save one’s soul’ (Mk 8:35) does not mean to save some ‘spiritual’ part of man, as opposed to his ‘body,’ (in the Platonic sense) but the whole person with emphasis on the fact that the person is living, desiring, . . . in addition to being concrete and physical.”

Similarly Dr. H. M. Orlinsky, one of America’s foremost Hebrew scholars, said regarding the use of the word “soul”: “The Hebrew word in question here is ‘nefesh.’ . . . The Bible does not say we have a soul. ‘Nefesh’ is the person himself.” That God’s Word does indeed take this position is seen from Genesis 2:7:a “Then the LORD God formed a man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life. Thus the man became a living creature [nephesh].” (Other translations read “soul” or “being.”) Since this is so, it follows that when the man dies the soul dies. And so we read: “The soul that sins shall die.”​—Ezek. 18:4, 20.

It is indeed of interest that in recent years one theologian after another has come out in support of this understanding. Professor Milton Gatch, in his book Death: Meaning and Mortality in Christian Thought and Contemporary Culture, states: “Not only do the biblical writers on the whole have no conception of a soul as a separable element of human existence, but also there is agreement that death is the . . . termination of existence and that there is no such thing as an individual afterlife.” Writing in the same vein is Professor O. Cullmann, a theologian of the Universities of Paris and Basel. In his book Immortality of the Soul or Resurrection of the Dead? he states: “No other publication of mine has provoked such enthusiasm or such violent hostility.” In this book he underscores the fact that man’s hope for the future lies not in his having an immortal soul but in a resurrection.

The Issue: Life or Death

When the Creator placed man in the garden of Eden he did not place before man the alternatives of life in happiness or life in torment but simply the alternatives of life or death: “On the day that you eat from [the forbidden fruit], you will certainly die.” (Gen. 2:17) Thus also Jehovah repeatedly placed before the people of Israel the same: “I offer you the choice of life or death.”​—Deut. 30:19.

According to the Greek idea, the wicked have immortality. But the Bible shows that life is a gift: “For sin pays a wage, and the wage is death, but God gives freely, and his gift is eternal life.” (Rom. 6:23) A gift is something that can be accepted or refused, rejected. Otherwise it cannot be said to be a gift. If those who refuse the gift of life everlasting are to be tormented forever, it can no longer be said that life is a gift, for one is given no choice. But God does give a choice. Anyone who refuses God’s gift of everlasting life simply chooses a state of nonexistence. Nonexistence was Adam’s choice, even as God told him, ‘dust to dust.’​—Gen. 3:19.

Objections Considered

Professor Cullmann stated that his book aroused “violent hostility” on the part of some. Yes, many professed Christians feel very strongly that man has an immortal soul. Like the clergyman that sought to bring solace to the grieving parents, they take Jesus’ words to the repentant thief to hold out such a hope: “I tell you this: today you shall be with me in Paradise.” (Luke 23:43) But does it?

Let us first note that, since the Bible does not contradict itself, there must be some misunderstanding. The fact is that Jesus himself did not go to Paradise on that day, for the Bible says that he went to Hades, the common grave of mankind, and was resurrected on the third day. (Acts 2:23-32, Revised Standard Version) Jesus himself stated that just as “Jonah was in the sea-monster’s belly for three days and three nights, . . . the Son of Man will be three days and three nights in the bowels of the earth.” (Matt. 12:40) That is why after his resurrection he said to Mary that he had not as yet ascended to heaven, to his God.​—John 20:17.

Then how are we to understand Jesus’ words? Not as if he had said, “Today you will be with me in Paradise,” but, rather, “Verily I say unto thee this day: With me shalt thou be in Paradise.” (Luke 23:43, Rotherham’s translation; see also New World Translation.) The solution lies in correct punctuation. Jesus was on that day telling the repentant evildoer that at some future time he would be in Paradise. That is in harmony with the rest of the Scriptures. But may one change the punctuation? Most certainly. Why? Because punctuation was unknown when the Bible was written, it being systematized first in the sixteenth century of our Common Era. So it is up to the Bible translator to supply the punctuation, and reason would indicate that any text that can be punctuated in more ways than one be punctuated so as to make the text in harmony with the rest of the Bible.

Another common objection raised as to the dead being actually dead, unconscious, is the account of the rich man and Lazarus. It tells that the rich man died and went to Hades and that in Hades he lifted up his eyes, being in torment. (Luke 16:19-31) Seemingly this teaches life after death, but is this account historical? Did it actually happen or is it merely an allegory? It was written that Jesus “never spoke to them without a parable.” (Matt. 13:34) As A New Testament Commentary (1969) well notes, to consider it historical “ignores the element of symbolism that is quite apparent in the story,” such as “Abraham’s bosom, the great Chasm fixed and this flame.” It is also significant that Jesus said nothing about the rich man as being wicked or the poor man as being good. Considered as a parable, it cannot be used to prove life after death.

Another objection raised is that repeatedly in the book of Revelation “souls” are seen, such as “those who had been slaughtered for God’s word for the testimony they bore.” (Rev. 6:9; 20:4) But here again, are we not dealing with symbolisms, with which the Book of Revelation is filled? Surely! (See, for example, Revelation 9:7-10; 12:3.) In view of what Leviticus 17:11 says about the life or soul as being in the blood, it is quite evident that John’s words here mean that he saw the blood of faithful Christians who had been slaughtered because of their faithfulness to God and his Word. And let it be noted that there is a reasonable explanation for every other objection supposedly based on the Bible, such as the fact that some appear to have been able to talk with the dead.

Communication with the Dead

A seeming case in point is the record of unfaithful King Saul when having a witch call forth the deceased prophet Samuel. True, the witch of Endor claimed to get in touch with the dead prophet Samuel, but did she actually do so? She could not have, for the dead are unconscious, asleep in the grave. (Ps. 146:3, 4; Eccl. 9:5, 10) Then whom did the witch see? She saw a demon impersonating the prophet Samuel. (1 Sam. 28:3-25) A demon?

Yes, for throughout the Scriptures we find mention of demons, that is, wicked spirit creatures or fallen angels. Where did these come from? Obviously God did not create them as such, for all his work is perfect and righteous. (Deut. 32:4) However, just as the Bible tells of an angel’s making himself Satan the Devil by his slanderous opposition to God, so it tells of other spirit creatures who joined him in his opposition to God for selfish reasons. This was in the time before the flood of Noah’s day when these angels materialized and came to earth to enjoy the pleasures of sex by taking wives for themselves of the daughters of men. (Gen. 6:1-6) Their hybrid offspring, part angelic and part human, proved to be giants, who contributed to the wickedness and violence of those pre-Flood days. When the Flood came, these hybrid offspring perished, whereas their angelic fathers, being spirits, could dematerialize and reenter the spirit world. There they are kept in darkness and in bondage to Satan the Devil. Jesus when on earth repeatedly clashed with these wicked ones.​—Luke 8:26-35; 1 Pet. 3:19, 20; 2 Pet. 2:4.

Hope Only in This Life?

Does this mean that man has no hope for the future, that death ends all? Such it will be for Adam and like willful sinners, for God did not hold out any hope for Adam when he sentenced him to return to the dust. Being a deliberate sinner, Adam justly deserved the penalty God pronounced upon him.​—Gen. 3:19.

But not all of Adam’s offspring are of the same mind as was Adam. Many of these do have a love of righteousness, and yet, seemingly, they are no better off than Adam. But not so; there will be a difference and that is because of God’s provision of a resurrection. God in his goodness provided that his Son should ransom humankind that had been sold, as it were, to sin and death by the disobedience of Adam. (Rom. 5:12) This Jesus did by coming to earth, being born as a human and then laying down his life for humankind. By thus purchasing the human race, Jesus opened the way for removal of the legal disability resting upon mankind and now he has the right to raise mankind from death.​—Matt. 20:28; 28:18.

So there is hope for humankind. Not in the Platonic immortality of the human soul belief, but through the resurrection of the dead, which both Jesus and his apostles believed and taught. In answering the Sadducees, who did not believe in a resurrection, Jesus said that God “is not God of the dead but of the living.” He foretold that “the time is coming when all who are in the grave shall hear his voice and come out.” (Matt. 22:31-33; John 5:28, 29) And his apostles, in particular the apostle Paul, time and again stressed the fact of the resurrection of the dead. Emphasizing the point that his hope was, not in man’s having an immortal soul, but in the resurrection, Paul wrote: “If it is for this life only that Christ has given us hope, we of all men are most to be pitied.” “If the dead are never raised to life, ‘let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.’”​—1 Cor. 15:19, 32; Acts 17:31, 32; 24:15.

The teaching that there is life after death because man has an immortal soul contradicts the plain statements of the Scriptures and poses many dilemmas. To mention but one: ‘What happens to the heathen when they die?’ If at death all go either to heaven or to hell, what about them? The Bible says that only those who believe on Jesus can get saved. (John 3:16; Acts 4:12) Will these heathen be tormented forever? The Bible tells us that God is just and loving. Such a destiny for the heathen would be neither. Some counter, ‘Oh, God will save them because of their ignorance, so long as they did the best they knew how!’ But if God will save the heathen because of or in spite of their ignorance, why not keep all humankind ignorant and so save all? There is neither reason nor scripture for such a conclusion. But the Bible hope for the heathen who never heard of Jesus is the resurrection, at which time the heathen will have an opportunity to choose life.​—Isa. 26:9.

So we see that man is not without hope. But that hope is not because man has an immortal soul but because of God’s loving and powerful provision of Christ’s ransom. By means of it future life is made possible by the resurrection of the dead under God’s kingdom.​—Matt. 6:9, 10.

[Footnotes]

The Fascinating Forest

HAVE you ever stood in a grove of young pines so thick that you could hardly see a distance of a hundred feet? What a treat that is! Overhead the wind sweeps through the pine needles, and suddenly you become aware that there is music in the air, music produced by the wind in the treetops.

Man admires trees for many reasons: for their beauty and graceful shapes, the spreading of their branches and the effects of the light and shadows created in the moving of their leaves. He is also impressed by their size. The massive trunks of some trees, set like huge boulders in the ground, and their mighty branches, some as big as trees themselves, thrill the imagination. It is true, a blue whale may measure 108 feet long, but did you know that there are a number of sequoia trees in California with trunks measuring a hundred feet in circumference and more? It would take eighteen men with their arms outstretched to encircle them. The sight of these trees fills the heart with wonderment and awe.

In the forest there are trees that are very light in weight, the wood of which is only two and three-quarters pounds per cubic foot, and other trees that are extremely heavy, weighing up to ninety-three pounds per cubic foot. Also in the forest are trees that grow fast, several feet in height a year. On the other hand, some grow less than an inch a year! This variety and change in the forest make it a fascination to man.

Man is also amazed by the versatility of the forest. More than 1,035 different species of trees thrive in the United States alone. From forests come trees that shelter homes, shade city streets and lend dignity to parks. Trees add grandeur and glory to the land. They furnish food and protective cover to wildlife, shade and firewood to campers and timber to a nation. Out of trees now come hundreds of products​—from paper to lacquers and from turpentine to quinine.

Forest Hospitality

Both man and wildlife are often drawn to the forest because of its hospitality. Trees provide shelter from the heat of the day and a covering from the exposure of the night. The forest is home for birds, insects and larger animals, such as deer, bear and bobcat. Orioles make nests that look like long pouches dangling from the branches of trees. Woodpeckers dig holes in the trunks of dead trees and make their homes inside. Trees are also homes for squirrels and other animals.

Even little children enjoy climbing trees and building ‘houses’ in them. In a large sequoia tree, where the entire center of the trunk was hollowed out by fire, children crawled through the tree’s doorway excitedly to explore the inside and to climb up and to peep through its window. “Boy, I’ve never been inside a tree before!” exclaimed a delighted youngster.

The hospitable forest serves man well. It protects, sustains and actually improves mankind’s supplies of available water. The floor of the forest soaks up water like a sponge, protecting the soil from erosion and filtering clear water into lakes and streams, in which fish, otter, ducks and other creatures live and play. The forest floor also feeds the underground reservoirs with water for future use.

In addition, trees purify man’s air. Within tiny leaf cells light from the sun combines with carbon dioxide taken from the air to form a simple sugar, later converted into other carbohydrates, including the cellulose of the wood itself. Trees also return to the atmosphere oxygen, which man breathes. That is one reason why air smells better in the forest, and why forests are vital to life on earth.

The Wonder of Trees

Trees are tall, majestic wonders. Some trees, like stately animals, inspire wonder simply by their grandeur. The giraffe, the world’s tallest living land animal, may stand eighteen and a half feet high. Yet redwoods in California measure well over 300 feet high! Imagine, living trees reaching thirty and more stories in the air!

The first limb of the General Grant tree in California is 130 feet above the ground and its mighty trunk has a circumference of 107 feet. The trunk of the General Sherman tree is over thirty-six feet in diameter at the base and tapers only slightly for half its 272-foot height. “Thirty-six feet!” people say to themselves as they circle the tree’s base like tiny ants. “Why, that’s wider than my house!” they may conclude. Three cars abreast could drive through it, for the trunk is as wide as many city streets. Engineers estimate that it contains 600,000 board feet of lumber, enough to build fifty, six-room houses! In the trunk alone there is enough lumber to fill 280 freight cars. These are wonders indeed!

Man is also impressed by the ages of trees. Turtles may live for 180 or 200 years, but trees live for thousands of years. “I feel so . . . infinitesimal,” murmured a young woman as she gazed upward at the giant sequoias. “I feel like a youngster,” replied a white-haired grandmother with a twinkle. When a woman was told that the General Sherman tree was believed to be about 3,500 years old, she wept. “I’m sorry,” she said, “but when you think about all the things that tree has known and faced . . .” She never finished the sentence​—the impact of the ages seemed too much for her. Visitors to the giant sequoias in California often walk among these monarchs with mixed emotions: awe, wonder and disbelief.

A Sense of Gratitude

One feels profoundly thankful for all one’s senses when walking through a forest. Light streams through high branches and turns the ridged and twisted bark into Gothic-like carvings. Among the trees an awareness of quietude slips into one’s soul, and happiness is awakened by the surrounding beauty. At the edge of the forest the meadows appear like jewel boxes of wild flowers. From the banks of meadow streams one may perchance catch sight of a trout. A flick of a bushy tail reveals a squirrel that scolds trespassers. Lively chipmunks scurry about for food while inquisitive robins and noisy blue jays stand guard. How the heart rejoices at the sight of these forest creatures!

Daylight hours are one thrilling revelation after another. In the early morning a delegation of deer may trot slowly by. Soon camping sites are filled with the fragrance of wood smoke, and the morning mist diffusing the sunbeams bears the aroma of frying bacon and bubbling coffee.

But perhaps the most beautiful are the sunset hours. The long light rays redden the trunks of trees until they glow in the dark spaces of the groves. The evening light purples the carpet of blooming lupines. Dark shadows lean across the forest. A hawk glides noiselessly overhead. A deer appears quietly on the scene unannounced and modestly blends in with the surroundings. Birds begin to sing their evening songs.

Forest’s Inspirational Value

Those who appreciate God’s creation, no doubt, will always treasure the forest for its beauty and solitude, for its inspirational and spiritual value. Away from the hustle and bustle of city life, a walk through the woods, among plants and wild flowers, can be restoring indeed. How rewarding a picnic beside a clear lake or stream after wading or swimming in the cool, pure waters! What fun it is to hike or to go horseback riding in the woods! The cookouts, the camp-outs, the smell of camp fires, the thrill of seeing fish splash about in tree-shaded streams or to hear mocking birds trill are inspirational moments, memories never to be forgotten.

By and large, there is silence in the deep forests broken occasionally by a bird call, a mood that has cast deep impressions on men in all ages. Forests are discreet retreats where suffering appears to ease somewhat, where joy seems more intimate and where meditation seems to flow as easily as do streams. When one is alone deep in the forest there is solitude. There is peace. God’s handiwork is near. There are no screaming sirens, no nerve-racking sounds to rattle the mind, just the soothing rhythms of the trees. The rustle of the leaves, the trickle of brooks and streams are musical notes that cause the heart to rejoice.

Only a loving God could make so rewarding a gift, and so the Bible states: “Jehovah God made to grow out of the ground every tree desirable to one’s sight and good for food.” (Gen. 2:9) After spending time in the forest keeping company with the animals or with a burning log, after breathing in the forest’s rich air and experiencing its peace, one’s conviction is renewed that only God can make a tree.

Baobab​—Remarkable Tree of Africa

● Native to Africa is one of the strangest and fattest trees on earth​—the baobab. It looks like a gigantic carrot planted upside down. Its trunk may reach fifty or more feet in diameter. Thus, sometimes African families move into the spacious hollow trunks or hew out huts in the living tree. Despite its human occupants, the baobab keeps on living, being almost indestructible.

The baobab’s fruit, which dangles from the tree like a hanging lantern at the end of a ropy stem, is called “monkey bread.” Baboons delight in feasting on these tasty fruits. The pulp has a pleasant flavor, and many persons use it as food or to flavor cool drinks. The seeds are hard and do not easily germinate, but after passing through the alimentary tract of a baboon, where they are softened by gastric juices, the seeds grow readily into more of these remarkable trees.

Hawaii’s Musical Mirror

By “Awake!” correspondent in Hawaii

JUST close your eyes and listen to the lovely strains of a Hawaiian song and your mind may envision South Sea Islands in an azure-blue sea, swaying palm trees, white coral beaches, pounding surf and gentle Polynesian people. But to the native Hawaiian, the mental reflection goes much deeper. His music is a mirror of his islands’ history.

The ancient Hawaiian “sang” or chanted when he had something to say that he felt could not be expressed in any other adequate way. He chanted his prayers, as well as serenades to his beloved and lullabies to his children. There were chants about the valiant ones, the tragedies of war and even prophecies. In fact, for almost every daily occasion there was a chant. Through such musical recitation, history and other important matters were committed to memory and passed down from generation to generation. Hawaiian chiefs kept special singers to chant their names and proclaim their line of descent.

How did this ancient music sound? Not at all like the modern music of Hawaii. To the Occidental ear it would be rather monotonous due to its limited tonal range​—often of only two or three tones.

The Hawaiian used the word mele, which literally meant “poetry,” when he spoke of chants. But through foreign influence and association, mele has come to be synonymous with “song.” Thus Hawaiian songs, as was characteristic of the ancient poetry, use highly figurative language. For example, songs seeming to describe such things as flowers or places may be, in reality, references to persons and emotions.

Types of Chants

These chants or poems have been divided into two general classifications: “mele oli” (unaccompanied chants) and “mele hula” (those accompanied with rhythm).

The unaccompanied chants consisted of ballads, prayers, prophecies, dirges and secular songs of lesser importance. This type of chanting required deep chest quality, natural vocal ability and excellent breath control to sustain the unusually long phrases. The pitch was maintained on a general level except at natural breathing places, and a slight trill usually came at the end of a phrase. The “mele oli,” or unaccompanied chant, is seldom heard today; it is a dying art known only to a few.

The “mele hula,” on the other hand, was characterized by a strong rhythmic swing. Sometimes the performer would use just his body and his hands as he acted out a poem. At other times he would use a variety of rhythm instruments too. This chant accompanied with rhythm was the forerunner of the modern hula.

The ancient hula was considered such a refined art that there were many taboos in connection with it to guard it against desecration. Those expecting to become a member of the hula guild lived at a hula school under strict regulations, enduring rigorous training until their graduation into the guild.

Ancient Musical Instruments

Some of the musical instruments of ancient Hawaii are still in use today. There was only one major stringed instrument​—the “ukeke”—​but it came in two styles.

The long ukeke was a flat strip of flexible wood mounted with two coco-fiber strings, with pegs to wind them up to the proper tones, at the interval of a second or a fourth. The other style had a third string tuned to a third. Both types of instruments were used by bringing the top strings against the mouth and singing or humming against the instruments, while at the same time working the fingers on the strings.

One of the strangest instruments of the ancient orchestra was the nose flute. It was made of a joint of bamboo with a nosehole on one side, and two finger holes at the end on the other side. Another strange woodwind resembled a primitive ocarina. It was made of a gourd pierced with three holes; one to put against the nose to blow and the others to be stopped up with the fingers.

The percussion section shone with variety! There were all sorts of drums made of coconut shells, wood and calabashes. They usually were covered at the ends with tightly drawn sharkskin. Outstanding among these was a ‘pahu’ drum, which was introduced from Tahiti during the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. It was made from a hollowed coconut or breadfruit log. The lower portion was beautifully carved, and the upper cavity was covered over with sharkskin. This drum is still used today along with the small coconut drum.

But how did this unique chanted poetry and dancing with its limited tonal range become the melodious, lilting music of today’s Hawaii?

Influence of Foreign Music

The transition from the old music to the new followed on the heels of the first visit to these islands by Europeans in 1778. In a short time men from whaling ships and missionary groups made great inroads on Hawaiian culture. Visiting sailors had a musical repertoire as varied as their nationalities, and the music-loving Hawaiians quickly adopted the songs, making them their own. Many South Seas favorites of today came from the basic tunes of these early visitors.

Also, these early visitors adapted many of the old Hawaiian chants. For example, one of the all-time Hawaiian favorites, Hole Waimea, is an old mele set to modern music. There is also the hauntingly beautiful refrain Waipio, named after a lovely valley, but originally a very old chant.

In the 1820’s the missionaries began forming an alphabet for the unwritten Hawaiian language. Soon they introduced the eight-tone scale and began teaching hymns and simple folk songs to their eager students. Even though harmony was unknown in old Hawaii, it was learned quickly and well. Hawaiians are extremely skilled in the tenor part, which is regarded by many composers as the most difficult to perform.

In the nineteenth century the young German musician Henry Berger came to Hawaii at the invitation of Kamehameha V, becoming the court musician and music teacher of the members of the royal family. He organized the now world-famous Royal Hawaiian Band, which, until this day, regularly meets incoming passenger liners with Hawaiian song and dance on the pier. It also bids the passengers “Aloha,” meaning farewell, welcome, or love, on their departure.

During and after the days of Berger’s influence a tremendous treasure of song literature grew up that was truly Hawaiian music as it is known today. Several of the monarchs of Berger’s day showed great musical talent, among them the last reigning monarch of Hawaii, Queen Lilioukalani. The most loved and best-known song of Hawaii, Aloha Oe, was composed by her.

The music for the song was inspired by an old ballad. But the nostalgic lyrics came to Lilioukalani after witnessing a touching farewell scene between a young officer in the king’s army and a native girl at Maunawili ranch in Waimanalo, Oahu, in 1878. She transcribed the whole song to musical score herself. Berger arranged it and under his baton the Royal Hawaiian Band played it in San Francisco in 1883. It gained popularity immediately.

Modern Instruments and Popularity

By the latter half of the nineteenth century Hawaiians had already become exceptionally fond of the guitar. In 1886, it was reported: “They play it as a solo instrument with a tenderness, a softness, which speaks well for the delicacy of their feelings.” Also, the four-stringed miniature guitar, the ukulele, was taken to the Hawaiian heart from a Portuguese immigrant who brought it to these shores in 1879.

The Portuguese called the ukulele the “cavaquinhos,” which meant “small piece of wood.” But because of the bouncing way in which it was played, the imaginative Hawaiians soon changed its name to “ukulele,” meaning “jumping flea.” Though originally thought to be just an accompaniment instrument, today there are a number of real virtuosos who play the ukulele as a solo instrument, mastering everything with it from a hula to the classics. It is so well loved in Hawaii that it is common to see schoolchildren playing a ukulele as they walk along the street.

But there is one instrument that was purely a product of Hawaiian ingenuity​—the steel guitar. In the 1890’s a student of Kamehameha School, Joseph Kekuku, while playing an old guitar, pressed the back of a comb down on the strings as he plucked them and heard for the first time the indescribably beautiful steel guitar tone that has been identified as Hawaii’s own sound ever since.

The popularity of Hawaiian music began sweeping the world during World War I. Phonograph recordings are one of Hawaii’s best advertisements. For who has not heard recordings of the plaintive Hawaiian classics, Na Lei O Hawaii, Blue Hawaii, Little Grass Shack, Sweet Leilani, or the very beautiful Hawaiian Wedding Song?

Through the years the history of Hawaiians​—their deeds, love of creation, and emotions—​has survived for the whole world to enjoy. Music reminiscent of a bygone era keeps winging its way down to us, leaving a reflection that will be constantly renewed each time music from Hawaii is heard.

Blood Transfusions or Seawater

IN THE March 1970 issue of the magazine Let’s Live, appears an article by Dr. Giovanni Boni and Dr. Pierre Lafarge, in which they speak of “the uniqueness of the relationship between a body and its own blood.” Then the doctors state that there has been a long process of brainwashing to induce people to believe that they can “safely ignore this unique relationship and to believe that a blood transfusion from another person is at all possible.”

After admitting that medical literature “fully agrees on the dangers of blood transfusions,” the doctors say: “One cannot but ask oneself how it could be that a practice so dangerous, irrational and ‘primitive’ is still continued today, and is, in a way, enforced.” They ask: “Why take useless chances when an alternative is available?” What is the alternative that they recommend?

They go on to say: “This alternative consists of performing transfusions with a fluid which is absolutely harmless, is perfectly accepted by the body, easy to procure and easy to store, and which is as alive as the blood that runs in our veins. We are talking of ‘sea water.’” They explain this as being natural seawater specially collected and processed. “In France it is used quite extensively (even in Army hospitals) and, is called Plasma de Quinton.”

Relating an experiment performed by R. Quinton in the laboratories of a noted French physiologist, the doctors report: A dog “was bled ‘white’ through the femoral artery; that is the bleeding was continued until it stopped spontaneously.” Immediately “sea water” was injected into the dog. Though the animal was extremely weak and unable to move, twenty-one hours later “the dog was running around.” After about a week the animal was ‘exceedingly active and vivacious,’ as a matter of fact, much more so than before the experience.” Five years later the dog was very much alive.

The doctors prefer the processed natural seawater to an artificial saline solution. They believe there is an element of difference between the two that “escapes our system of measurement.” They point out that the composition of blood “is amazingly similar to that of ‘sea water.’” Obviously there are alternatives to dangerous blood transfusion.

Blood Transfusions​—a Biological “Sin”

Dr. Charles P. Bailey is one of America’s leading open-heart surgeons and is connected with the St. Barnabas Hospital in New York city. He was awarded a gold medal by the American Medical Association in the summer of 1971 for his rebuilding a heart valve with tissue from the thigh of the patient.

In an interview with a member of the Awake! staff, Dr. Bailey made the following interesting observations:

“Blood is a liquid organ. When it is blood from another person, its administration involves the many problems of biological rejection, which have in the long run defeated the transplanting of the heart and other organs.

“Since the blood cells are normally destroyed in sixty days and the liquid content ‘turnover’ is even more rapid, a blood transfusion is a temporary or a transient transplant of a liquid organ. Indeed, this is undoubtedly the reason for its general acceptance at a time when organ transplantation is considered experimental.

“However, we must still consider that administration of a blood transfusion is to some degree a biological ‘sin.’ In common practice the risk of hepatitis following a single blood transfusion is greater than 5 percent, which figure is establishable. With multiple transfusions it is correspondingly greater. Damages of incompatibility and kidney damage from transfusions, though much reduced, can never be abolished, no matter how carefully the blood is ‘matched.’ There are other risks, including the transmission of diseases such as syphilis, malaria and certain blood parasites, which are not entirely preventable by our current methods of screening.

“For these reasons and others related to our specific problems, we at St. Barnabas use as little blood replacement as possible in performing open- and closed-heart surgery. By the use of an extremely careful hemostatic technique and the use of plasmic expanders it is nearly always possible to ‘carry’ a cooperative patient through these procedures without resorting to blood.”

Incidentally, Dr. Bailey has found that Jehovah’s witnesses as patients respond well to these surgical therapeutic measures.

What Canada’s Official Records Now Reveal

CANADA is considered to be one of the freest lands in the world. Its civil liberties are protected by law, and its form of government is democratic.

Canada has long had such a reputation among the nations of the world. But what is not as well known is how both government officials and ordinary citizens have had to struggle at times to keep it that way.

On two occasions in the past, there were controversies raised over the issue of religious freedom. This involved the right of Jehovah’s witnesses to carry on their peaceful work as Christian ministers. The settling of this issue has resulted in some fine constitutional decisions by the Supreme Court of Canada. These have made an important contribution toward protecting the freedoms that Canadians now enjoy.

But who was responsible for challenging the rights that are today treasured as part of Canada’s freedoms? From what source did the pressures come to try to deny these Christians their freedoms?

The two occasions were in 1918 and 1940, during times of war. But since that is past history, why does the matter arise now, in 1973? Because recently the official records of the Canadian government have been opened for public inspection at the Public Archives Library in the capital city, Ottawa. Now, the real story of why religious freedom was challenged is available for the first time from the government’s own files!

Suppression Demanded by Clergy

The first act of suppression against Jehovah’s witnesses (then called International Bible Students) came toward the end of World War I, in 1918.

At that time, the Canada Gazette, an official journal of the government, carried an order outlawing certain publications of Jehovah’s witnesses. These were the book The Finished Mystery, and certain issues of The Bible Students Monthly. The mere possession of this literature could bring a fine of $5,000 and imprisonment for five years!

When it was suggested that the clergy had triggered this censorship order, this was denied. However, the recent opening of the official archives reveals that at that very time, Chief Censor Col. Ernest Chambers had in his file a letter from the First Congregational Church in Vancouver, British Columbia. The author of the letter was the church’s minister, “Rev.” A. E. Cooke. Clergyman Cooke had written the following to the censor:

“I have been instructed by the General Ministerial Association of Vancouver to bring to your attention a matter which seems to us to be of considerable public importance at this time. As you are aware the followers of the late ‘Pastor’ Russell . . . call themselves ‘International Bible Students’ . . .

“Would it not also be well to prohibit the propagandist literature of this body which is published in the United States and sent to Canada for distribution by these people?”

The chief censor, Col. Chambers, wrote back. In his letter, which was marked “Confidential,” he said to clergyman Cooke:

“Reverend and Dear Sir: . . . your communication conveying as it did the views of such an influential body as The General Ministerial Association of Vancouver, proved very useful in securing action in this very important matter. . . .

“I consider that the bitter attacks in these publications upon the Churches of all denominations, without distinction, are noteworthy, even if the statements embodied in these attacks cannot be described as ‘militarily objectionable.’”

Thus, these confidential documents of the past, now finally opened to public examination, reveal that the clergy did indeed trigger the 1918 action against this minority of truly serious Christians. Jehovah’s witnesses were denied freedoms because they dared, as did Jesus Christ, to speak the Word of God without fear, exposing the hypocrisy of the clergy.

But why were the churches so fearful of what Jehovah’s witnesses said about them?

Churches Abandon Christ

They had abandoned their duty to preach the Word of God and follow the Prince of Peace, Jesus Christ. Instead, the clergy in all lands had ‘turned to the all-out service of the god of war. They had tried to paint World War I as a “holy” war instead of what it was, a brutal struggle for world political domination.

The warmongering attitude of the clergy made many thoughtful persons sick at heart. They realized that promoting war was not the proper function of those claiming to represent the Prince of Peace. In October 1914, after the war’s outbreak, Rabbi Wise of New York made this comment on the course that the churches had taken:

“The failure of the churches and synagogues to maintain leadership over the people was the cause of the present war. They have enthroned a war devil in place of God. They are satisfied to be a mere item of social organization and to defend their countries and rulers, just or unjust.”

A well-known Canadian who objected to what the churches were doing was J. S. Woodsworth. He was an ordained Methodist minister, and later became a Member of Parliament. In a letter to his wife, Lucy, published in his biography later, he told of attending a Sunday evening church service in Montreal in October 1915:

“In the evening I went to St. James Methodist Church to a recruiting meeting. Really, Lucy, if I weren’t on principle opposed to spectacular methods, I would have gotten up and denounced the whole performance as a perversion​—a damnable perversion, if you like—​of the teachings of Jesus, and a profanation of the day and the house set apart for Divine Worship. . . .

“The climax was reached when the pastor in an impassioned appeal stated that if any young man could go [to war] and did not go he was neither a Christian nor a patriot. No! The climax was the announcement that recruiting sergeants were stationed at the doors of the church and that any man of spirit​—any lover of his country—​any follower of Jesus​—should make his decision then and there!”

Woodsworth said to his wife in conclusion: “I felt like doing something desperate​—forswearing church attendance—​repudiating my connection with the Church.” Later, in 1918, he did just that! He resigned from the church, declaring:

“For me, the teachings and spirit of Jesus are absolutely irreconcilable with the advocacy of war. . . . The churches have been turned into very effective recruiting agencies. A minister’s success appears to be judged by the number of recruits in his church rather than by the number of converts.”

When World War I ended, the same Methodist Church (by then known as the United Church) publicly confessed that its wartime course had been unchristian! In February 1924, its official journal, The Christian Guardian, stated:

“There is surely not an intelligent, civilized man left in all the world who thinks that there is any virtue or goodness or saving grace in war. And most of us have been driven far beyond that negative position to the very positive and inescapable belief that war is, for our day and time, a hideous, utterly unchristian, unforgivable crime.

“And in so far as we did not quite feel that way about it just a few short years ago, some of us​—many of us—​are ready to acknowledge our fault in truest humility, and seek pardon for our ignorance and our lack of the Spirit of our Master.”

The Position of Jehovah’s Witnesses

However, what position had Jehovah’s witnesses taken on this issue? Not after the war was over, when a profession of peace would be easy, but at a time when it took courage to speak out, Jehovah’s witnesses publicly made known the truth about the matter.

For example, note what The Bible Students Monthly, published by Jehovah’s witnesses, had said in September of 1917:

“The clergy have stood by the kings and said, in substance, ‘Push on your work of destruction; God is with you, and we will pray His blessings upon your army.’ In Germany the Clergy pray God that He will bless their armies and enable them to destroy the English; in Great Britain the Clergy pray God for a blessing upon the British armies, that they may be enabled to wipe the Germans off the face of the earth. Which class of the clergy does He hear? . . .

“The Scriptures point out that both the kings and the clergy are responsible for this war, but that the clergy are even more reprehensible, because it was their duty to know God’s Plan and to tell it to the people. But they have refused to learn it and failed to tell it to others.”

It was this course of Jehovah’s witnesses, who outspokenly made known the truth, that was intolerable to the clergy. So they attempted to stamp out the truth. But did they succeed?

CANADA’S CLERGY FAIL TO HALT SPREAD OF TRUTH

The attempt by Canada’s clergy to sweep back the flow of truth was as futile as trying to sweep back the surging ocean. True, they found it easy to get certain literature of Jehovah’s witnesses outlawed. But trying to prevent the spread of truth was another matter.

For one thing, the publicity given this controversy in the Canadian press helped to spread the message, instead of hindering it. The press censor for the western part of Canada, J. F. B. Livesay, wrote concerning the ban:

“This propaganda is getting today more advertising free in Canadian daily papers than could be achieved by the most lavish outpouring of money in the advertising columns.”

Also, a western newspaper, The Chinook, remarked editorially about the ban on the book The Finished Mystery:

“When the Canadian government put the ban on this book, it did a great deal to advertise it, and arouse the curiosity of the people as to its contents. As a result of the government’s actions, thousands of extra copies of the book will likely get into circulation and hundreds of new converts may be made for the International Bible Students. . . .

“The regular ministers called down all manner of condemnation on the head of Russell [first president of the Watch Tower Society] and the result was that inquisitive church members secured some of the Russell literature, liked it, and joined the movement. Now that the Canadian Government is getting after the Russellites, you may look out for a rapid spread of the movement.”

Other Publications Produced

Also, while some publications of the Witnesses had been outlawed, this did not prevent them from producing others. One proposed publication entitled “The Morning Messenger” was submitted for approval to the government’s western press censor in Winnipeg, J. F. B. Livesay. He approved it, since it dealt with purely religious topics.

This publication was then printed and sent to different centers throughout Canada. On June 10, 1918, it was given a quick, massive distribution by Jehovah’s witnesses in each city, all on the same day.

While this publication did not discuss matters pertaining to the government, it was critical of the churches. As expected, the clergy reacted violently.

But why had Mr. Livesay approved The Morning Messenger? He explained this in a letter he wrote to the chief censor:

“I read the thing through very carefully . . . and as it had no bearing . . . on the prosecution of the war, I could not see that it could be prohibited on the ground that it was an attack on religion, that not being, to my idea, the business of the Press Censorship.”

The chief censor, Col. Chambers, himself said: “As to the matter itself, it is true, there is nothing anti-British, anti-Ally or Pacifist in it.”

Hence, the government files now open to the public in Ottawa make it abundantly clear that the religious publications in question were not “the business of the Press Censorship.” It is also clear that the chief censor had departed from the proper business of his office because of the interference of the clergy in government.

Prosecutions Fail

Trying to stop the flow of truth proved very frustrating to the clergy. When efforts were made to prosecute the Witnesses for having banned literature in their possession, the chief censor often could not get the courts to take him seriously! He reported his problems to the Canadian secretary of state:

“Many of these individuals are peaceable people living clean lives and generally with good reputations for honesty, etc., in the communities in which they live. . . .

“The action of some magistrates in Manitoba in so lightly dismissing clear cases against these people has, according to the statements made to me by military officials, made something of a laughing-stock of the war censorship.”

Imagine trying to jail “peaceable people living clean lives . . . with good reputations for honesty”! What guilt the clergy have for pressuring an official to brand decent, honorable Christians as criminals and for trying to send them to prison! King Solomon of ancient times, an administrator of great ability, had a word for the clergy. He said:

“Anyone pronouncing the wicked one righteous and anyone pronouncing the righteous one wicked​—even both of them are something detestable to Jehovah.”​—Prov. 17:15.

The official records of Canada also reveal that the plot by the clergy against the Witnesses did not stop with censorship and prosecution. A spy was also sent to their religious services. Her name was Mrs. Jeckel. What did she find? Some deep conspiracy to overthrow the government? The report of her spying at the Christian services of these true believers states this:

“I hear they have planned something to take place at Easter, they speak of this in their meetings, but I have not been able to catch on to what it is, for, at their meetings they speak in symbolic language.”

Even children know that in the churches of Christendom ‘something is planned to take place at Easter.’ While Jehovah’s witnesses do not hold an Easter celebration, they do commemorate the death of Jesus Christ, using the emblems of bread and wine, the “symbolic language” representing the body and blood of Christ. What kind of mentality would try to make a sinister plot out of such a universally recognized and Biblical practice?

A Christian Reply

While all the pressures were being applied against Jehovah’s witnesses, representations were made from their headquarters located in Brooklyn, New York. An open letter was sent to the Canadian secretary of state. This letter, also in the official archives, said in part:

“You are too busy in your official affairs at this time to give these publications careful reading and you have depended upon someone else to advise you as to their contents. Whether you know it or not, a certain class of clergymen of Canada are the men who are conducting this campaign of slander and libel against the above publications. . . .

“When Jesus was unjustly condemned before Pilate, that ruler did not believe Jesus guilty, but was influenced in his action of condemning him by the clergy of that day. History is in a measure repeating itself. . . .

“The great majority of the clergy, imbued with the desire for popularity and approval amongst men, seemingly have entirely neglected the duties of the high office which they assume. Instead of aiding in the work of properly enlightening the people concerning the teachings of the Bible they are binding more fetters upon mankind and further keeping them in ignorance.”

Another letter was written from the headquarters of Jehovah’s witnesses a few weeks later. This one was sent to the chief censor. It pointed out to him the injustice of condemning publications without observing the elementary right of a hearing for the accused. The letter stated:

“In fairness, before a publication devoted entirely to discussion of Bible questions is placed under the ban the parties responsible for its circulation should have notice and a hearing, and be permitted to bring to the attention of Government officials the real motive back of it.”

This letter demonstrated the true Christian attitude of total confidence in the Great Judge, Jehovah God, for it also said:

“Humbly we bring the message which the Lord has provided in His Word, and call the people’s attention to it; and if those in authority see fit to exclude it from the people, they must bear the responsibility, and this responsibility is to God, not to man. And God, in His perfect wisdom, will deal with them in His own good way.”

Christians Victorious

History shows how the issue was finally resolved. After the war ended in November of 1918, the ban against these Christians was lifted, to the dismay of the clergy. Their meddling in government affairs was overruled by officials of the Canadian government who valued freedom and conscientiously worked to preserve it for all Canadians, including religious minorities.

The view of Jehovah’s witnesses that “God, in His perfect wisdom, will deal with them in His own good way” was amply justified. With renewed freedom to preach, the work of Jehovah’s witnesses spread rapidly in Canada after that time. Their firm stand for Bible principles became a byword in the land, gaining the respect of many thoughtful citizens, including government officials. Their public ministry announcing the kingdom of God as man’s only hope brought huge blessings and resulted in many other Canadians joining them in their work.

This spiritual prosperity and activity began to be noted in contrast to the condition of the clergy and the churches. The churches again looked for a means to have the Witnesses suppressed. The archives in Ottawa lay bare their role. Just what took place then?

JEHOVAH’S WITNESSES BANNED

The summer of 1940 was a dark time for the Western nations supporting the Allied cause in World War II. Hitler’s armies had overrun most of Europe. France fell in a matter of weeks.

The collapse of Allied power in Europe sent shock waves across Canada. Excitement, fear, and suspicion gripped the people.

In this atmosphere of tension Canadian Minister of Justice Ernest Lapointe, a Roman Catholic from Quebec City, rose in the House of Commons on July 4, 1940, to announce:

“I desire to lay on the table of the house an order-in-council declaring illegal the organization known as Jehovah’s Witnesses.”

Wave of Persecution Begins

The ban immediately triggered a wave of persecution against these innocent Christians. The very next day the Mounted Police began raiding their private homes and halls. Jehovah’s witnesses were arrested and imprisoned for merely having in their possession Bible literature that had been part of their personal libraries for many years!

In some areas, the persecution turned into a veritable witch hunt. A meeting for celebrating the Lord’s Supper (what the churches call “holy communion”) was broken up in Quebec City. Children were expelled from school and taken away from their God-fearing parents. Many Witnesses were prosecuted and jailed.

But in all this persecution, these Christians were not charged with any wrongdoing. They were penalized merely for being Jehovah’s witnesses!

John Diefenbaker, a Member of Parliament from Saskatchewan, brought this to the attention of the House of Commons, saying:

“I believe there have been some five hundred prosecutions of Jehovah’s Witnesses, none of which had to do with subversive activities, the entire offence being that of belonging to an organization banned under the defence of Canada regulations.”

The ban aroused much bitter criticism on the part of the public. It was obvious to many Canadian citizens, including high government officials, that the vicious campaign against these humble Christians was totally unjust. Angus MacInnis, Member of Parliament from Vancouver, told the House:

“I wish to say with all the earnestness I possess that the prosecution and persecution of Jehovah’s Witnesses under the defence of Canada regulations is a standing disgrace to this country, to the Department of Justice and to the Canadian people.

“I have in my files a letter reporting an incident that happened in Montreal at a religious meeting where these people gathered for the purpose of performing the rite of holy communion. The place was raided by ten members of the mounted police. . . .

“Suppose such a thing had happened when the Roman Catholic church was holding a celebration on the streets of Ottawa not so long ago. How we would make the [heavens] ring with protests!

“Any right that is granted to any one religious organization in the country must be granted to all; otherwise we have no religious freedom in Canada. I do not know; I cannot understand, why there should be this continual persecution of Jehovah’s Witnesses.”

Another Member of Parliament, Mr. A. W. Neill from British Columbia, also spoke from his own knowledge of Jehovah’s witnesses:

“I know a number of these people, I live not far from them, and I have never known of any disloyalty among them, nor do I know anyone else who had any charge of that kind to make against Jehovah’s Witnesses. They happen to have peculiar religious beliefs with which I do not agree, but that does not make them harmful or subversive. . . .

“So far as my considerable knowledge of these people goes, I can say that there are a number of them in the district I represent and that they are decent, respectable people. Whatever their religious beliefs may be, that is beside the point.”

Despite the efforts to stamp out Jehovah’s Witnesses, they continued to carry out their God-given ministry. Deprived of Bible literature, they preached from house to house using the Bible, reading scriptures to comfort people with the grand hope of God’s new order. They continued to hold meetings, but in private homes instead of public halls.

Also, despite the oppression, arrests and abuse, many thoughtful people throughout Canada were able to see past the sham of opposition. They saw that here were faithful Christians standing strong for God’s laws. As a result, the number of Jehovah’s witnesses in Canada increased more rapidly than before!

Government Committee Speaks Out

The ban had been imposed by the Roman Catholic Minister of Justice, Lapointe, in a most arbitrary manner. The Witnesses were not given any notice, hearing or opportunity to defend themselves.

Lapointe acted as prosecutor, judge and jury. Although a committee of Members of Parliament had been appointed to recommend changes in the Defence of Canada Regulations, Lapointe bypassed the committee and caused the ban to be imposed on July 4, 1940.

But in 1942 a Select Committee of the House of Commons held hearings to review what was being done under the Defence of Canada Regulations. After a fair hearing, the Committee on July 23, 1942, unanimously recommended lifting the ban. Here are some comments of the Committee as taken directly from the official debates of the Canadian House of Commons:

“No evidence was put before the committee by the Department of Justice which indicated that at any time Jehovah’s Witnesses should have been declared an illegal organization.”

“It is a disgrace to the Dominion of Canada that people should be prosecuted for their religious convictions in the way in which these poor people have been prosecuted.”

Delay Increases Anger

The unanimous recommendation was made to the Canadian government in July 1942. But the minister of justice ignored it!

True, the department by this time had a new minister of justice, Louis S. St. Laurent. He had entered the department earlier, in December of 1941. But St. Laurent was also a Roman Catholic, from Quebec City. And he adamantly refused to lift the ban!

The members of the Select Committee whose recommendations were being ignored were incensed. They were loud in their protests when the subject came up again for debate in the House. The official record carries the following statement by Member of Parliament Angus MacInnis:

“This fact still remains; that is, that no evidence has been placed before this committee that would justify the declaring of the Jehovah’s Witnesses an illegal organization. In my opinion it is clear, pure religious prejudice that is maintaining the ban.”

Mr. Victor Quelch, a Member of Parliament from Acadia, added his observations:

“It does make one wonder whether the action against Jehovah’s Witnesses is largely on account of their attitude toward the Roman Catholics, instead of their attitude of a subversive nature. . . .

“That question is being asked all over this country. I am asked it from one end of Canada to the other.”

These comments were getting close to the truth. And soon a ground swell of accusations formed. These accusations were to the effect that Jehovah’s witnesses were being persecuted at the demand of the Roman Catholic Church.

The mask was wearing thin. But the Church could not afford to have its political meddling come out in the open. So Minister of Justice St. Laurent felt that he had to move to cover over the matter. Thus, on October 14, 1943, at the height of World War II, the ban was lifted!

Such a reversal of position at that crucial period in history was truly astonishing. It was really an admission that there were no grounds at all for measures that had been taken against the Witnesses.

But would the lifting of the ban hide the truth of what really went on behind the scenes? No, it would not.

Now, the opening of Canada’s official archives reveals what really happened. And what was the real reason for all the persecution?

THE REAL REASON COMES TO LIGHT

What was the real reason for the persecution of Jehovah’s witnesses in Canada during World War II? What was actually going on in the background? Why had both ministers of justice maneuvered the government into such an embarrassing position?

It will be recalled that both of these ministers of justice, Ernest Lapointe and Louis St. Laurent, were Roman Catholics who came from the city of Quebec. And a well-known Canadian author, Hugh MacLennan, remarked of power in Quebec:

“The true power was not in the legislative assembly but the Catholic church.”

The man who could really dictate policy was Roman Catholic Cardinal Rodrigue Villeneuve. When Ernest Lapointe became Canadian minister of justice, knowledgeable people recognized that he was primarily the representative of the Catholic Church.

Government Archives Reveal Truth

The government archives, now made public, reveal the truth. They show that before the war even started, Lapointe was being peppered with demands from Catholic organizations to stop Jehovah’s witnesses. The war provided a convenient camouflage behind which the minister of justice hoped to conceal the intrigues of the Roman Catholic Church.

The key point was reached when the following letter, in French, was sent from the cardinal’s palace to the private secretary of Lapointe. It was written on June 27, 1940, by Paul Bernier, chancellor of the archdiocese of Quebec:

“Dear Sir:

“His Eminence the Cardinal would be happy if you would draw the attention of the Right Honorable Mr. Ernest Lapointe, Minister of Justice, to the enclosed leading editorial of Quebec, concerning the publications of the Watch Tower or Jehovah’s Witnesses.

“Certain books and pamphlets again recently addressed through the mail, and in particular the periodical Consolation, are all that which is the most demoralizing and most destructive of the spiritual strength of the country.

“Thanking you in advance, dear Sir, for your kind attention to this letter, I remain

Yours very truly,

Paul Bernier, Chancellor”

The “leading editorial” that the cardinal’s office enclosed with their letter was from the newspaper L’Action Catholique. This paper was the official voice of the Quebec hierarchy. The editorial stated:

“A lot is being said about sabotage.

“With good reason a careful watch is kept on those who could blow up ships under construction, explosive works, etc., etc. But there are still more dangerous agents of sabotage; those are people who prepare the mind and heart for subversive activity by sowing revolutionary ideas and kindling feelings of revolt.

“Among these public enemies, there are none more hypocritical and more harmful than Jehovah’s Witnesses and their agents.

“Any time of day, in one parish or another, in country or in town, this dangerous sect gives out its poisonous booklets . . .

“Whatever the case, we declare with no hesitation that the authorities should be doing more to protect the public in this domain.”

This editorial, and the accompanying letter sent to Lapointe’s private secretary, were in reality a demand from the cardinal that Lapointe have Jehovah’s witnesses declared illegal. Lapointe knew that his power depended on the cardinal. He was therefore quick to respond.

Quick Answer

The next item in this drama of secrecy and intrigue is the following letter sent to the cardinal’s palace one week later, on July 4, 1940. It was from the private secretary of the minister of justice, Lapointe. Addressed to the chancellor, Paul Bernier, it said:

“Mr. Chancellor:

“Upon receipt of your letter of June 27, I look it upon myself to fulfill His Eminence the Cardinal’s desire to direct the attention of the Minister to your representations as well as to the editorial published by L’Action Catholique with regard to the Watch Tower, Jehovah’s Witnesses and Consolation.

“Mr. Lapointe gave me permission to let you know by telephone the confidential information that the said organization of Jehovah’s Witnesses would be declared illegal as of today, with the request that His Eminence, the Cardinal, be informed of this.

“This letter is to confirm that which I just told you over the telephone.

“I understand that His Eminence the Cardinal will be duly informed of the departmental order regarding Jehovah’s Witnesses.

“Please accept, Mr. Chancellor, my expression of thanks and my warmest regards.”

The letter was signed by Lapointe’s private secretary. So from the time of the cardinal’s demand, it had taken just seven days to get the ban on Jehovah’s witnesses imposed!

Thus, from the government’s own official records, the truth is now revealed. The ban against Jehovah’s witnesses was engineered directly from the palace of the Roman Catholic cardinal in Quebec City.

What a shameful record the clergy built up in this matter! There were false accusations from religious enemies, secret files, hidden influence, no opportunity to reply, and arbitrary decrees designed to destroy freedom of worship to God. Those were all the hateful and evil practices of the ill-famed Inquisition used in modern times by the Roman Catholic Hierarchy in Canada to damage innocent people who dared to proclaim the truths of God’s Word!

What Can Be Learned?

All the foregoing information, now revealed from Canada’s own archives, shows how persecution of completely innocent people can occur. No government that is conscious of its basic duty to do justice would want to be responsible for such wrongdoing under the cloak of law. Injustice toward a minority brings both law and government into disrepute.

It is to the credit of public-spirited men in Parliament that they realized the error and checked the abuse of official power. The firmness of those who spoke out for justice is to be commended. Regrettably, it came too late to prevent many of the shameful injustices that resulted from the ban.

These events point up the fact that it is not the function of human government to choose between religions. Faith cannot be legislated or decreed. Thus, when public officials are pressured to interfere with freedom of worship, they should exercise restraint. They should adopt the spirit of the philosophic Mr. Justice Holmes, who said, “The best test of truth is the power of the thought to get itself accepted in the competition of the market.”

That is similar to the wisdom contained in the counsel of a much earlier judge, Gamaliel, who sat to hear charges against the apostles of Jesus Christ. Gamaliel said to associate members of the court:

“Do not meddle with these men, but let them alone; (because, if this scheme or this work is from men, it will be overthrown; but if it is from God, you will not be able to overthrow them;) otherwise, you may perhaps be found fighters actually against God.”​—Acts 5:38, 39.

And that is just what has happened in Canada​—church leaders have indeed fought against a work commissioned by God and, hence, against God. Any who fight against God must lose. Proof of this can be seen in the fact that today the churches in Canada, especially the Roman Catholic Church, are in a state of swift decline. Priests, nuns, ministers, seminary students and common people alike are quitting the churches in huge numbers. Time and again church leaders howl and cry over the deterioration taking place. They express deep concern that the churches, and clergy, may before long become extinct.

The question confronting many Canadians now is this: Are they going to continue to support these religions and thus endorse their crimes against freedom, yes, against people who are seeking to do the will of God? Large numbers of people want to be free from such guilt.

Today the work of Jehovah’s witnesses in Canada prospers as never before! Never have they had so many people joining with them at their meetings. Why? Because they have become well known as the people who really study and teach what is in the Bible and sincerely apply its principles in their lives.

More than Just a Song

“I HAVE written a song about it!” Those were surprising words to a minister of Jehovah’s witnesses in New Jersey as she was calling on people at their homes and sharing with them a message about the Bible.

As an introduction to her brief sermon, she had asked a young man whether he had ever wondered why there is so much confusion today about religion. His reply was: “I have not only wondered about it, I have written a song about it! Would you like to hear it?” Without waiting for a reply, he got his guitar and proceeded to sing the song he had written about the hypocrisy he had seen in religion. Afterward, the minister spoke with him about the Bible and left some Christian literature for him to read.

Later she called back at the home and met his wife, whose outlook was quite another thing. The wife was not interested in anybody’s religion. She had been raised a Roman Catholic but was disgusted, feeling that one religion was just as big a hoax as the next one. While still a teen-ager, she had experimented with marijuana and heroin. But in time she married, and she and her husband saw the futility of the “hippie movement,” realizing that the “hippies” had no solution to offer for the problems of this generation.

Following a number of Bible discussions, this young couple agreed to have a free study of the Bible in their home each week. Before long, they wanted to study with Jehovah’s witnesses at least twice a week, finding great joy in the sure hope for the future held out in God’s Word. They began to see the vast difference between the religious hypocrisy they had once sung about and the true form of worship taught in the Bible. Quickly they disposed of their books on occult teachings and even threw away the supply of marijuana that was buried in a jar in their backyard.

After regularly attending the meetings of Jehovah’s witnesses at the Kingdom Hall for some time, they expressed the desire to share in the house-to-house ministry along with the Witnesses. But they still had some changes to make, for their dress hardly reflected the clean modesty of Christian ministers.

They were willing to make the needed changes. The minister who studied the Bible with them writes: “I’ll never forget the morning I picked him up for his first day in the field ministry. I had never seen him in a shirt, tie, suit coat and regular shoes. But more than that, neither had his wife. She exclaimed: ‘I didn’t think he could look so good dressed up like this.’” She was delighted with the progress she, her husband and children had made in the five months since they were contacted by the minister of Jehovah’s witnesses.

Now these two young people are doing something much more worth while than merely singing songs about the hypocrisy in religion. They are helping their neighbors to know and practice true religion, which meets God’s approval.

What Is the Bible’s View?

The Ouija Board​—Harmless Entertainment?

“EXPLORE the mysteries of mental telepathy and the subconscious with this time tested favorite. The Ouija talking board is a great mystery, and we do not claim that at all times and under all circumstances it will work equally well, but we do claim that with reasonable patience and judgment it will satisfy your greatest expectations.” Thus read advertisements for the Ouija talking board.

It is claimed that its history goes back as far as 540 B.C.E, and that the Greek philosopher Pythagoras used it. On the other hand, the Knoxville News-Sentinel once quoted Canadian author Allen Spraggett as saying in his book Probing the Unexplained: “Anyone who has sat around that infernal instrument of divination, the Ouija board, knows what a dud the ritual usually turns out to be.”

The Ouija talking board usually is about two feet long and one and a half feet wide and one-fourth inch thick. Variously arranged on it are the words “Yes,” “No,” “Ouija,” “Mystifying Oracle” and “Good Bye.” Also on it appear the letters of the alphabet in two parallel arcs and the numerals from 1 to 0 in a straight line. Included is a heart-shaped little board resting on three pegs, toward the point of which is a circular glass.

Inasmuch as the Ouija board is manufactured by makers of games, and sold in the toy and game sections of department stores, one might well conclude that it is simply an innocent game. But not so! Thus not long ago a London medium who runs a center for healing and meditation asked the Southeast London and Kentish Mercury to publish a warning against the use of the Ouija board. He said that in just a few months he had received scores of calls for help by distressed parents or by young persons because of the way they had been affected from playing with the Ouija talking board. He appealed: “Please leave them alone, they can cause irreparable brain damage. . . . If only people would realise how dangerous it is to dabble in this.” He also stated that playing with the Ouija board can cause a deep and worsening depression and can open the way to “evil spirit entities.” He told of persons being troubled by spirits that claim to be people who once lived; that one girl was plagued by a spirit who claimed she was that of a young girl who recently committed suicide.

In the United States both spiritualists and astrologers have spoken out against toying with the Ouija board. They call it “harmful and fraudulent,” causing people to become emotionally upset even to the point of becoming insane. According to one of these, the Ouija board is “the first step into the demon world​—and don’t think demons do not exist.”​—The Oregon Journal, December 12, 1968.

Underscoring the aspect of fraud is the report that appeared in the New York Times, March 3, 1970: “A $59,285 Request by a Ouija Board Ruled Fraud Here.” The article went on to tell how an heiress had been led by a supposed friend to believe that her Ouija board had instructed her to give that amount to a certain “good angel.” The jury took forty minutes to bring in the guilty verdict; the judge said that it should have taken only three minutes!

On rare occasions the answers that the Ouija board gives seem to lend credence to the claim that spirits of dead persons are indeed communicating with the living by means of it. But how could that be in view of the plain teaching of the Bible, the Word of God, regarding the dead. It says: “The living are conscious that they will die; but as for the dead, they are conscious of nothing at all.”​—Eccl. 9:5, 10; Ps. 146:4.

Since the dead cease to exist, who are the spirits that impersonate dead ones, and at times amaze people with their knowledge of certain facts? They are invisible wicked spirits who originally were created as good spirits or angels, even as was Satan the Devil. In the days before the Deluge these left their heavenly estate in order to enjoy the pleasures of sex, as the Bible tells us at Genesis 6:2: “The sons of the true God began to notice the daughters of men, that they were good-looking; and they went taking wives for themselves, namely, all whom they chose.” That these were not human sons of God is clear from the reference to them by the disciple Jude: “The angels that did not keep their original position but forsook their own proper dwelling place [God] has reserved with eternal bonds under dense darkness for the judgment of the great day.”​—Jude 6.

Concerning them, the apostle Peter wrote in a similar vein: “Certainly . . . God did not hold back from punishing the angels that sinned, but, by throwing them into Tartarus, delivered them to pits of dense darkness to be reserved for judgment; . . . but kept Noah, a preacher of righteousness, safe with seven others when he brought a deluge upon a world of ungodly people.” Yes, these angels had materialized to enjoy the pleasures of sex. When the Flood came they had to dematerialize, and while they might have wanted to go back to their former positions in heaven, they had forfeited that privilege by their sensuous, selfish course of action and so God did not permit them to do so but restrained them in the spirit realm in a state of mental darkness.— 2 Pet. 2:4, 5.

The Israelites were repeatedly warned not to have anything to do with demons or with those who claimed to get in touch with the dead. (Deut. 18:10-12; Isa. 8:19, 20) Jesus and his apostles recognized who these spirits were that took possession of people, and they were able to order them to release their victims.​—Matt. 8:28-34; Acts 16:16-18.

In view of these facts, what is the wise, safe course to pursue? That of not having anything to do with any “Mystifying Oracle” nor with any spirit mediums, and that for more than one good reason:

To begin with, all these wicked spirits are frauds, for they pose as the spirits of humans who have died, which they are not. That of itself should keep us from wanting to have anything to do with them. More than that, by playing with the Ouija board one is opening oneself to, yes, inviting the influence of the demons and risking coming under their control. We have seen how disastrous this can be.

And, most importantly, the Bible plainly forbids Christians to have anything to do with demons: “I do not want you to become sharers with the demons. You cannot be drinking the cup of Jehovah and the cup of demons; you cannot be partaking of ‘the table of Jehovah’ and the table of demons. Or ‘are we inciting Jehovah to jealousy’? We are not stronger than he is, are we?” We cannot consort with God’s enemies without becoming his enemy!​—1 Cor. 10:20-22.

So is the Ouija talking board harmless entertainment? Those enlightened by the Bible answer, “By no means!”2

Watching the World

More Arrests in Turkey

◆ According to a communiqué issued in Turkey, another group of eleven of Jehovah’s witnesses were arrested April 8, 1973, in Ankara while assembled for a meeting. However, the facts are that the eleven witnesses were not assembled when arrested. It was 11 p.m. They were in different apartments and houses. One elderly woman was already in bed. Other persons who were merely on the street happened to be recognized as Witnesses by a police officer, who then took them along to the station. “Because of making Christian propaganda with the aim to break up the unity of the nation,” the communiqué asserts, the eleven Witnesses were charged with violation of the criminal law.

Food Prices Still Go Up

◆ Almost daily new factors drive U.S. food prices higher. Unseasonal snowstorms, rains and floods have wiped out about one billion dollars’ worth of crops and livestock. In Iowa alone more than $18 million worth of cattle, hogs, sheep and turkeys perished in the state’s worst April snowstorm. Georgia appears to have lost half of its $18 million peach crop; Indiana and southern Illinois will suffer, it is feared, at least 75 percent peach losses. Michigan’s sour cherry crop is expected to be off 70 percent due to cold. Texas onions have been badly damaged, driving costs to record levels; Idaho potato prices are up 50 percent over a year ago. In late April the Food and Drug Administration banned the cattle-fattening hormone DES, a move certain to raise meat prices further. Government grain reserves are due to be gone by July 1; poor spring and fall harvests could jack up prices again. Some people are coping with the situation illegally. Cattle rustling is now considered the nation’s number one rural problem. Elk and deer poaching have increased over 100 percent in some parts of the country.

Vatican-China Dialogue?

◆ The Vatican has made what amounts to public overtures for “dialogue” with the Communists of Red China. The church’s missionary bulletin, International Fides Correspondence, notes that “China’s opening to the world should pave the way for contacts with the Holy See.” The bulletin asserts that Maoist doctrine “contains some directives that are in keeping with the great moral principles of the millenary Chinese civilization and find authentic and complete expression in modern social Christian teaching.”

Morality and the Confessional

◆ Two Italian journalists have written Sex and the Confessions. Their controversial book is based on 112 tape recordings they made while pretending to ‘confess’ their sins in Catholic churches in Italy. One priest in Milan is reported to have said regarding premarital sex relations: “I can’t advise you, but if you think it is right and honest you can continue . . . if your fiancée agrees and she too does not see anything wrong with it, I shall give you absolution.” Some churchmen have been critical of the book. However, a member of the board of publishers says the authors “have neither spied on souls nor offended the sentiments of real sinners because situations were hypothetical.”

Why College Enrollment Drops

◆ Enrollment in major U.S. four-year, state-supported colleges is dropping. By this spring applications for the fall semester were over 4 percent lower than at the same time in 1972. Why the drop? One reason is money. Middle-income families cannot afford the increasing tuitions. The colleges themselves are in financial trouble. A new report by the Carnegie Commission on Higher Education says that financially they are “living on borrowed time.” Changing attitudes toward education are a major reason for the decline in applications. More than two thirds of college seniors recently interviewed agree: “Much of what is taught at colleges is irrelevant to what is going on in the outside world.” Many youngsters are turning to vocational and technical skills. Some believe that colleges actually help produce society’s problems. P. Lesley, speaking to the Public Relations Society of America, observed: “Colleges offer degrees as freedom from routine roles and marks of leadership. Yet only a few find they can attain their dreamed-of influence, and disillusion sets in. Those who have been led to expect great things then seek to justify themselves. They have the time, the inclination and the opportunity to attack the structure that does not recognize their superiority.”

This Is “Liberation”?

◆ Has the modern sexual revolution really “liberated” women? Psychotherapist Catherine Hahner of New York thinks not. “We now feel not only that we cannot be afraid to make love with men​—but that we must. Our glorious sex revolution has turned us into worse slaves than we were a hundred years ago. Now, instead of being the sexual property of one man, we‘re the sexual property of every man!”

Effects of Gonorrhea

◆ Over two and a half million cases of gonorrhea were reported in the U.S. last year; it is the nation’s most common reportable disease. One result expected from the current epidemic is a corresponding increase in gonorrheal infection of the eyes of newborn babies, leading to blindness. Unlike syphilis, there is no easy, reliable blood test to detect gonorrhea carriers. So an infected pregnant woman may unknowingly present a danger to her child. In Current Medical Dialog two doctors at Baltimore’s Mercy Hospital say: “We are in the midst of a gonorrhea epidemic which seems uncontrollable by currently available techniques . . . At present we are losing the battle against gonorrhea and the future holds little hope for victory using traditional methods.”

Religion in Rhodesia

◆ “Once, religion in Rhodesia was the picture of robust health,” says the Rhodesia Herald. And now? “Many Africans cling to their traditional beliefs, and many more are Christian only in name. Europeans are, on paper, devoutly religious. More than 80 per cent of the European population is officially classed as Christian. Europeans are, in fact, indifferently religious. Less than 15 per cent go to church regularly. . . . The trend of diminishing congregations is reflected in the slackening rate of church-building in Salisbury​—another symptom of religious inertia.” The newspaper quotes an Anglican priest as asking: “Where are the heathen? Most of them now claim they are Christians.”

Church Influence Falls

◆ Not only is church membership declining, but at the same time church influence is waning. Professor of theology S. Calian, at the University of Dubuque, knows that church spokesmen “have all but been silenced: “Who is it in our society that makes significant and prophetic statements about the epic events of our times? Astronauts, artists, novelists, newscasters, politicians, but for the most part certainly not ministers. . . . Harried, tired, and ill-prepared; they have become an inarticulate voice in a world seeking purpose and hope.” Not surprisingly, W. L. Edelen, Jr., minister at the First Congregational Church in Tacoma, Washington, admits: “The church today is often barely different from Rotary, Sertoma, Kiwanis, Model Cities, Lions, and NAACP, the AMA, ADA, and almost indistinguishable from an average business corporation or political machine.”

Pornography​—How Harmless?

◆ Many people attempt to minimize the effects of pornography. But if it really is harmless, then the simple question in the British Medical Journal is appropriate: “Those hearty spirits who deny that pornography has any effect whatever on the minds of its readers and viewers will usually admit that it should be kept away from children. Why?” The Journal further says: “Among the more harmful myths of our time are, firstly, that drugs such as cannabis and LSD expand the mind, and, secondly, that pornography extends man’s freedom. Both offer debased substitutes for the real thing.”

Intense Athletic Training

◆ The long-term effects on the body of extreme athletic training are not clearly known. What about short-term effects? A recent article in Medical World News considers the work of noted swimming coach Dr. J. E. Counsilman: “There has, however, been one common short-term effect of the stress [his students] undergo during competitive years: They are especially prone to develop allergies and infections such as the common cold, ‘strep throat,’ and mononucleosis, he says. Indeed numerous studies indicate that strenuous training in any sport doesn’t enhance resistance to infectious disease but rather tends to increase susceptibilities to inflammation and infection, particularly by viruses.”

Churches Continue Decline

◆ Religion continues to lose members in the United States. The 1973 edition of the Yearbook of American and Canadian Churches, edited by the National Council of Churches, shows that in 1971 most major “liberal” churches reported new losses. Interestingly, the “conservative” churches also showed either losses or smaller gains than in the past. Over all, religious growth was the lowest in over a century. The proportion of Americans associated with a church or synagogue dropped from 63.2 percent (in 1970) to 62.4 percent (in 1971). Population in the same period increased about one percent. Outstanding among those gaining in numbers in 1971 were Jehovah’s witnesses, who advanced over 7 percent. Comments C. H. Jacquet, Jr., editor of the yearbook: “The answer to growth seems to be militancy in going out and saying what’s on your mind.”

Bishops Take Loyalty Oath

◆ Czechoslovakia’s four new bishops have taken an oath of loyalty to the State. The oath was administered by Slovak Premier Peter Colotka while he was in Prague. The four new bishops were recently installed by a representative of the Vatican, following an agreement with Czechoslovakia.

Anshan Believed Found

◆ Archaeologists believe they have unearthed a portion of Anshan, capital of the ancient Elamites. The Elamites are referred to a number of times in the Bible. The suggested site, Tal-I Malyun, a large mound about twenty-five miles north of Shiraz, is in the mountains of southwestern Iran. Documents found in the mound refer to Anshan by name.

God, Money and Sports

◆ Professional sports are increasingly religious. Garry Wills observes in the Easton (Pennsylvania) Express: “Sports is big business, and symbolic politics. On the principle that the shadier the activity, the more it needs diversionary benediction, God arrived on the gridiron just in time. . . . Only God can explain and condone a war; so warrior call on him with special fervor. So, in their way, do quarterbacks. . . . We have made the Marketplace our God. He is Moloch, and we sacrifice men to him. This makes the injuries of Sunday afternoon [football games] sacramental.”

Mixed-up Animals

◆ “Mental illness” among domestic animals is said to be increasing. Animal Cavalcade, official journal of the Animal Health Foundation, quotes one veterinarian as saying: “‘I’m seeing more neurotic animals with psychosomatic illnesses than I ever did when I started my practice more than twenty years ago. Hardly a week goes by that I don’t see several mentally disturbed dogs. Not dangerous or vicious, mind you, just all mixed up.’ Veterinarians all over the world report the same thing.” The magazine says that pets confined to apartments and backyards are subjected to unnatural tensions. It further asserts that many pets reflect the anxieties and frustrations of their masters.

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