April 22

Page Two

Over and over again generations have asked the questions, “Why does God permit wickedness? If he is all powerful and if he is love, why does he not stop it?” The questions are valid, but the answers involve more than most questioners realize

3 WHY DOES GOD PERMIT WICKEDNESS?

4 HE PERMITS IT, BUT WHO PRACTICES IT?

6 HE FORBIDS IT, YET GETS BLAMED FOR IT

7 HE COULD STOP IT, BUT WHAT IF HE DID?

8 WHILE IT CONTINUES, WHAT CAN IT TEACH US?

10 WHY HE PERMITS IT, HOW HE WILL STOP IT

Why Does God Permit Wickedness?

If he is all powerful, he could stop it. If he is love, why doesn’t he stop it?

This sounds very simple and straightforward to those who raise the question, Why does God permit wickedness?

But it is not all that simple. Are those who raise the question willing to accept the remedy? Wickedness does not create itself. Wickedness is an effect created by causes. What are the causes? If wickedness is to go, so must its causes.

Who or what causes wickedness? And who or what, therefore, must God eliminate to end his permission of wickedness, as these questioners apparently want him to do?

The matter is not so simple after all, is it? Other questions need our consideration: He permits wickedness, but who practices it? He could stop it, but what if he did? While it continues, what can it teach us? Finally, why does he permit it, and will he ever stop it?

The eight pages that follow probe these questions, their implications and their consequences, and the outcome.

He Permits It, But Who Practices It?

What is the wickedness that God permits and that people lament? That which results in human suffering.

WAR’S TOLL

Nations declare wars, slaughter soldiers, bomb cities, kill women and children, litter the earth with dead bodies. Pestilence flourishes. Scorched-earth policies are implemented. Famine follows. This generation has suffered two world wars. The first killed 10 million men, the second claimed 55 million lives. Bombs rained down on vast areas, and atomic bombs incinerated two large cities.

FAMINE’S COST

In 1979 some 50 million people in Third World nations starved to death. Some 25 million children under five in those nations die every year, and a thousand million people are chronically hungry. This wickedness is preventable, by man. The earth is capable of producing food far in excess of the needs of its inhabitants. Bringing the Ganges basin under cultivation, for example, would create a food production potential of 150 million tons, but it is not done because of the cost. Yet a tiny fraction of the $500 thousand million spent in 1980 on the world’s military budgets would finance it. What does this say about man’s priorities?

VANISHING FOREST

“In the time it takes to read this sentence, 8 acres of forests will disappear.” That is how “Newsweek” magazine introduced its article on vanishing forests. Since 1950 half of the world’s woodlands may have been lost. Twenty-five to 50 million acres are now disappearing yearly. In Africa five million acres are cut annually, 90 percent of these burned as fuel. The result? Spreading deserts and increasing famine. Bulldozer mentalities hungry for quick profits are ravaging the rain forests of the Amazon basin, with disastrous consequences. One ecologist says: “At the present rate, they could end up creating another Sahara.”

When man skins the forests off the earth, the topsoil is washed into the sea​—and it is the earth’s topsoil that grows the plants that feed the world. One example: In India 6,000 million tons of this precious resource, 10 tons for every person in the country, slips away downstream each year. It takes thousands of years for rock to be pulverized into soil, and centuries more for such soil to become enriched enough to support food crops. Dirt cheap? Not this dirt! It’s far more precious than gold. Less topsoil, less crops, more famine​—this is man’s doing, not God’s.

POLLUTION’S PLAGUES

Permitted by God but perpetrated by men is worldwide pollution of air, water and soil. This is wicked, if wickedness is measured by human suffering. Miscarriages, birth defects, diseases, deaths​—no one knows how many millions are victims. One flagrant example: an industrial community of 80,000 in Brazil where petrochemical centers are located. It is called a “valley of death.” Spewed daily into this city’s air and water are 1,000 tons of toxic gases, poisonous mists and venomous liquids. The rivers billow with suds, the fish are born blind and deformed, the atmosphere is heavy with industrial smoke. There are no insects or birds or butterflies whatsoever in the area, and when it rains the acids in it burn the skin. Thousands die.

As these horrors of human suffering continue to unfold, another kind of pollution becomes obvious, the pollution of mind and morals. Before men can deliberately and flagrantly pollute the earth and thereby destroy beauty, property, health and life, they must first be polluted inwardly​—mentally, morally and spiritually.

MAN AGAINST HIMSELF

But it is not only nations and industries and other powerful groups that inflict suffering upon millions of helpless victims but individuals victimize other individuals. Crime soars to new highs as people murder, rape, rob and assault other people.

Then there are those millions who victimize themselves. They overeat, get too fat and strain the heart; diet fanatically, get too thin and weaken resistance; refuse to exercise and become flabby; overindulge in alcoholic drinks and get cirrhosis of the liver; smoke tobacco and die of lung cancer; use marijuana and damage brain, heart, lungs and the reproductive and immunity systems; practice adultery and sodomy and contract venereal diseases; drive recklessly and injure or kill themselves and others; greedily pursue money and power, position and possessions, and in so doing create stress that causes ulcers and heart attacks​—each reader can continue the listing of preventable evils that people bring upon themselves.

MISUSED FREE WILL

God does not permit wickedness in the sense of issuing a permit to practice it; he does allow man to misuse his freedom of choice and cause it. Ecclesiastes 7:29 interestingly comments: “God made the race of men upright, but many a cunning wile have they contrived.”​—Moffatt’s translation.

He Forbids It, Yet Gets Blamed for It

IT IS people who wage war, maim and kill millions, cause famine and pestilence. It is people who pollute the environment, exploit and exhaust earth’s resources. They decimate wildlife and level forests as though they were harvesting wheat, and leave the denuded land to be eroded by rain and communities to be flooded. It is people who cause the spiraling crime rates, until many areas are not safe even in daytime. Millions turn to self-destructive conduct, take drug trips to escape their boring and miserable reality, and make bad matters worse.

The point is, it is people who do these calamitous things and it is people who have the power to stop them. Most of the suffering that people endure would be avoided if they heeded God’s commands. He forbids murder, stealing, fornication, sodomy, greed, gluttony, drunkenness and other acts of wrongdoing that work injury to people. He tells us to take care of the earth, the plants and the animals, to love our neighbor, to treat others as we would like to be treated.​—Gen. 1:28; 2:15; Matt. 22:39; 7:12.

Why Me?

Nevertheless, multitudes refuse to follow his counsel and follow their own ways instead, and when this leads to calamity they blame the one who warned them against their course in the first place. Then they bewail their plight and cry out, ‘Why me?’ They act as though divine providence had singled them out to be innocent victims. At Proverbs 19:3 the Bible points this out as a tendency of such ones. The New English Bible translates it: “A man’s own folly wrecks his life, and then he bears a grudge against the LORD.” The Revised Standard Version says: “When a man’s folly brings his way to ruin, his heart rages against the Lord.” Interestingly, such persons are quick to blame God for the bad, but when good happens to them they never ask ‘Why me?’ They only blame, they never thank.

Most of the wickedness man laments is that which people do to other people or to themselves. There is some suffering, however, that comes from natural disasters, such as earthquakes, hurricanes, tornadoes, prolonged drought and other such calamities. Even in these, damage can be held to a minimum by proper construction of homes and other buildings and by preserving natural forests that influence rainfall. And when damage does occur, individuals are not singled out as targets, but it is as Ecclesiastes 9:11 says: “The swift do not have the race, nor the mighty ones the battle, nor do the wise also have the food, nor do the understanding ones also have the riches, nor do even those having knowledge have the favor; because time and unforeseen occurrence befall them all.”

God forbids wickedness, but he permits it, even though he is all powerful and could stop it. Why, then, doesn’t he stop it?

He Could Stop It, But What If He Did?

DO THOSE who criticize God for permitting wickedness really want it stopped? Whose wickedness do they want stopped? Theirs, or only that of others? What if God stopped lung cancer by snatching the cigarettes from their fingers? Or cirrhosis of the liver by emptying their cocktail glasses into the sink? Or venereal diseases by separating fornicators? Is this acceptable to them, or would they scream in protest at this interference with their freedom of choice?

Maybe they are unanimous in favoring God’s knocking the guns from the hands of robbers. But what about their white-collar and blue-collar crime, which involves far greater sums of money? Would they favor God’s depositing them in the boss’ office with their loot in their hands? Is it all stealing that they want stopped, or just certain kinds?

Would they rejoice if God closed down the factories that flagrantly pollute and cause sickness and death, if it included the factory where they work and get a paycheck? They lament the wickedness of war, but would they approve the end of armament industries that would ruin the economy? And what if God divided their food with the hungry and their wealth with the poor?

How far, really, do they want God to go in ending wickedness? Maybe it is not wickedness, after all, that they want eliminated. Maybe it is only the elimination of the penalties for wickedness, the consequences of it. Is it sexual promiscuity without venereal disease that they want? Heavy drinking without liver trouble? Tobacco smoking without lung cancer? Marijuana highs without brain damage? Do they want to sow evil without reaping its harvest? It does not work that way​—no more than apples can be plucked from weeds, or grapes gathered from thistles.

When True Feelings Surface

The willingness to do wickedly, if the penalties can be avoided, is shown when disasters strain police action and stealing can be done with impunity. Floods or fires that cause residential areas to be evacuated, or power outages that plunge cities into darkness, bring out the looters, and homes and stores are stripped of valuables. It is as the Bible says: “Because sentence against a bad work has not been executed speedily, that is why the heart of the sons of men has become fully set in them to do bad.”​—Eccl. 8:11.

Men have tried to stop some evil by laws, courts, prisons and rehabilitation, but they admit failure. Much evil, however, is practiced and there is no desire on the part of many people to halt it. But they criticize God for permitting it, and if he stopped it they would decry his interference with their freedom to practice it. Either way, they berate God.

Nevertheless, in all of this Jehovah God’s purpose is being served, as lovers of righteousness will come to realize.

While It Continues, What Can It Teach Us?

SOW AND REAP

Sow wheat seed and you get wheat. Sow rye and rye comes up. Sow barley and you harvest barley. Logical. No one expects anything different. Yet, when it comes to conduct, many think they can sow evil and reap good. Not true, as Galatians 6:7 indicates: “Do not be misled: God is not one to be mocked. For whatever a man is sowing, this he will also reap.” Much time may pass between the sowing and the reaping, but the day of reaping will come. It’s a lesson for us to learn.

EXPERIENCE CAN TEACH

Jehovah allowed his Son Jesus to suffer at the hands of wicked men and learn from it: “Although he was a Son, he learned obedience from the things he suffered.” It also prepared him to be a high priest able to “sympathize with our weaknesses.” (Heb. 4:15; 5:8) The enduring of wickedness strengthens integrity, obedience to God, and helps us to be sympathetic with others who suffer, as it did for Jesus. Often parents today let their children learn by hard experiences, allow them to suffer the consequences of their folly, knowing they will learn some things in no other way. Jehovah’s permission of wickedness can teach us valuable lessons.

APPRECIATION ENHANCED

Many of our blessings we take for granted. The energy and health of youth is relished without thought, until advancing age robs us of them. Good eyes, sharp ears, good food, warm clothes, comfortable homes​—these blessings and others are taken for granted by those accustomed to them. But go blind or deaf, be cold or hungry, have a leg amputated, lose a loved one in death​—then you will appreciate as never before what you had and have lost. Blindfold yourself for a week, or for just one day, and you will realize what your eyes mean to you. Experiencing wickedness may rob us of some of our blessings, but it can teach us appreciation of what we have.

WISDOM’S WAY

Millions today do not appreciate the guidelines God has given us. That is, not until they have ignored them and reaped the consequences. How much better to have heeded them in the first place and avoided the suffering! We do not have to learn by bitter experience: “The reminder of Jehovah is trustworthy, making the inexperienced one wise.” (Ps. 19:7) By observing the hard experiences of others, inexperienced ones can learn: “By the laying of a fine on the ridiculer the inexperienced becomes wise.” He does not have to suffer the hardship himself: “Shrewd is the one that has seen the calamity and proceeds to conceal himself.” (Prov. 21:11; 22:3) Seeing the consequences of wickedness can teach us to avoid it.

THE HARD WAY

Because Jehovah’s nation of ancient Israel would not accept his guidelines, they learned their value the hard way​—by suffering the consequences: “With trouble he proceeded to subdue their heart . . . Those who were foolish . . . due to their errors, finally caused themselves affliction.” (Ps. 107:11-17) “Your badness should correct you,” Jehovah told them, “and your own acts of unfaithfulness should reprove you. Know, then, and see that your leaving Jehovah your God is something bad and bitter.” (Jer. 2:19) Many incorrigible ones, however, refuse to learn from correction: “Even if you should pound the foolish one fine with a pestle in a mortar, in among cracked grain, his foolishness will not depart from him.”​—Prov. 27:22.

HOW MUCH SUFFERING?

There is much suffering now by innocent victims. Many are disturbed by this, but it should teach us that evil systems make millions suffer. However, we should not make the suffering worse than it is to an individual. People speak of the appalling sum of human misery, but this should be remembered: a thousand people may have headaches, yet no individual suffers the pain of a thousand headaches. No one suffers more than one headache; each suffers only one one-thousandth of the total. Also, wickedness has been permitted for 6,000 years, but no one person has suffered 6,000 years of it. Each endures it for only one lifetime. That is more than enough.

REMEDY BEYOND MAN

The important thing: learn the lesson continuing wickedness teaches. When we sow wickedness we will reap it. When nations do, millions suffer. In 6,000 years men have tried many forms of government; not one has brought peace and happiness. Over and over it has been proved: “It does not belong to man who is walking even to direct his step.” (Jer. 10:23) Politicians, militarists, financiers, clergymen​—all have failed humanity. Do not these millenniums of harvesting wickedness teach us the need to sow differently, and tell us that more than man’s efforts are needed?

Why He Permits It, How He Will Stop It

LONG ago a blameless and upright man underwent an ordeal he did not understand​—loss of property and family, and painful disease. He doubtless felt like many today who, when afflicted, cry out, ‘Why me?’ He blamed God, declaring: “Almighty God has shot me with arrows, and their poison spreads through my body. . . . If only he would go ahead and kill me!” Later he cried out: “Take pity on me! The hand of God has struck me down.”​—Job 6:4, 9; 19:21, Today’s English Version.

Faithful Job blamed God. A look into the courts of heaven, however, reveals the culprit. Before an assembly of angels Jehovah called Job to Satan’s attention, saying, “He worships me and is careful not to do anything evil.” Satan snapped back: “Would Job worship you if he got nothing out of it? You have always protected him.” He then added: “But now suppose you take away everything he has​—he will curse you to your face!” Also, “Suppose you hurt his body​—he will curse you to your face!” This indicates that Satan had previously challenged that God could not have on earth persons who would remain faithful under test. In this instance, Satan claimed he had not been given the opportunity to test Job. So Jehovah said: “All right, he is in your power, but you are not to kill him.”​—Job 1:6-11; 2:1-6, TEV.

So it was Satan that afflicted Job, by Jehovah’s permission. Job did not understand this and blamed God, but, nonetheless, kept integrity to him and proved Satan’s challenge false. (Job 2:7; 27:5; 31:6) Faithful persons down through time to our day have done likewise. (Heb. 11:1-39; Rev. 7:9, 10; 14:1, 4) Now, in these last days, the troubles intensify. Revelation 12:12 tells why: “Woe for the earth and for the sea, because the Devil has come down to you, having great anger, knowing he has a short period of time.” It is only Jehovah who can stop this invisible source of wickedness, and he will soon do so.​—John 12:31; Rev. 20:1-3.

But what about the wickedness and suffering caused by human societies​—corrupt politics, greedy commercialism, warmongering militarism? And incorrigible individuals that prey on others​—how will their wrongdoing be halted? Sincere persons hating this wickedness have tried to stop it by laws, courts, prisons and rehabilitation programs​—but with no success.

Face the Facts!

This hard fact emerges: To end wars, end warmongers. To end famine, end profiteers. To end pollution, end polluters. To end crime, end criminals and the conditions that spawn them. To end the immoralities that destroy families and breed disease, end the practicers of immorality. Six thousand years of reformers, social workers, politicians, policemen, peace organizations​—all have failed. If the wicked refuse to reform, what solution is there but their removal? Can you safely have chickens with foxes in the hen house, or sheep with wolves in the flock? No more than you can have peace on earth with evildoers infesting it. God’s permission of wickedness will end by his removal of Satan and all others who insist on practicing it. The time allowed for Satan to prove his challenge is fast running out.​—Ex. 9:16.

Actually, the trouble had its beginning with the first human pair. Jehovah God created the earth, put man in charge of it, told him to care for it and the plants and animals on it. Adam and Eve were given the divine guidelines​—obey and live, disobey and die. Satan disputed this. Adam and Eve were free moral agents, could choose as they wished, and they followed Satan’s lead. Mankind has been misusing its freedom of choice ever since.

Freedom of Choice Today

The results of this misuse are apparent in the wickedness that surrounds us even now. By their own choice men have sown evil and reaped suffering. Have they learned the lessons of their miserable history? Have they observed the failure of all kinds of human governments, and realized the need for God’s kingdom under Christ? Have they noted the disastrous reaping of greedy men and nations that have polluted the earth and soaked its soil with innocent blood? Have they learned by bitter experience that in choosing materialism, immorality, crime and selfish ego trips millions have used their freedom of choice unwisely and have brought down upon their heads untold suffering and agony?

Has God’s permission of wickedness taught them to use their free will to choose Jehovah’s guidelines, to treat others as they want others to treat them, to love their neighbor as themselves, to keep integrity to God and gain his approval? The world’s condition answers, No! Has experiencing 6,000 years of war, famine, disease and death put many of the human race in a position to appreciate all the more the blessings available in a paradise earth under God’s kingdom? Hopefully so, for such blessings are God’s promise to obedient mankind. It is recorded at 2 Peter 3:13: “There are new heavens and a new earth that we are awaiting according to his promise, and in these righteousness is to dwell.”

God takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked; rather, he desires all to repent, and mercifully he will accomplish his original purpose in creating the earth. He “did not create it simply for nothing”; he “formed it even to be inhabited” by people who of their own free will choose peace and tranquillity. He is not oblivious to those who are “sighing and groaning over all the detestable things that are being done.” He knows that “all creation keeps on groaning together and being in pain together until now.”​—Isa. 45:18; Ezek. 9:4; 18:23; Rom. 2:4; 8:22; 2 Pet. 3:9.

And God will bring relief. He will answer their yearnings. He will fulfill his promise to sweep the earth clean of wickedness so that the meek and peaceful ones of mankind may have their heart’s desire:

“Just a little while longer, and the wicked one will be no more; and you will certainly give attention to his place, and he will not be. But the meek ones themselves will possess the earth, and they will indeed find their exquisite delight in the abundance of peace. The righteous themselves will possess the earth, and they will reside forever upon it.”​—Ps. 37:10, 11, 29.

Microwaves​—How Dangerous Are They?

IT HAS long been known that just as microwaves in an oven can cook beef, they can also cook human tissue. This will occur if exposure is at high enough intensities, for a long enough period of time, and at certain particularly penetrating frequencies.

For example, the lens of the eye is particularly sensitive to heat because it lacks an efficient circulatory system to cool it. Excessive heat from microwaves can therefore cook the lens protein of the eye in the same way it coagulates egg white.

Also especially sensitive to thermal damage from high levels of microwaves are the stomach, intestines and bladder. This is true, too, of the testes, since sperm can be formed only at temperatures lower than that of the body itself. High doses of microwaves can lead to death, painful burns, blindness, sterility and gastrointestinal problems.

Measuring Microwaves

Scientists measure microwaves according to their power densities, that is, the amount of energy flowing each second through a measure of space. Western scientists believed that serious injuries due to heating could be caused only at power densities of 100 milliwatts (100,000 microwatts) per square centimeter or higher. It was theorized that one tenth of that figure, or 10 milliwatts (10,000 microwatts) per square centimeter, should be a safe figure. Thus a recommended occupational safety standard of 10,000 microwatts per square centimeter was adopted in the United States in the mid-1950’s. With slight modifications the standard was also accepted by Canada, the United Kingdom, the Federal Republic of Germany, the Netherlands, France and Sweden.

In 1971, the standard for allowable leakage from microwave ovens in the United States was set by law at 1,000 microwatts per square centimeter at a distance of five centimeters (2 inches) at the time of sale of the oven, and 5,000 microwatts per square centimeter during the life of the product. These standards were based on the belief that the only danger from microwave exposure was at high intensities that could cause overheating.

Research from the Soviet Union

While Western scientists studied the heating effects of high-intensity levels of microwaves, Russian and Eastern European countries began reporting on the cumulative effects of chronic exposure to low levels of microwaves, levels considered safe in the West. The Soviet Union in particular pioneered research in this area, beginning to study the question in the 1930’s.

The Soviet researchers found that microwaves not only could cause damage due to overheating but could also result in effects that could not be explained by heating alone. And these effects could be seen at exposure levels at and below 10,000 microwatts per square centimeter, the recommended occupational safety standard in the U.S. The Soviets concluded that the Western safety standard, which was based solely on considerations of heating effects, was too high for safety, away too high.

Thus the Soviet Union, as well as other European countries, established strict guidelines for the protection of microwave workers. For example, the Soviet on-the-job standard is 10 microwatts for an eight-hour day, or up to 100 microwatts for two hours, whereas the U.S. standard permits exposure to 10,000 microwatts! Russian workers are required to wear protective goggles any time they are temporarily exposed to a microwave radiation level of 1,000 microwatts per square centimeter, the level routinely allowed to leak from U.S. microwave ovens. And in Poland pregnant women are not allowed to be occupationally exposed to microwaves because of fear of birth defects.

For years, research studies from these countries have shown functional changes in the nervous, cardiovascular and blood systems of people due to exposure to very low levels of microwave radiation. They call it “microwave sickness,” which they accept as a distinct clinical entity. The symptoms of this sickness can include headaches, eye pain, irritability, dizziness, anxiety, emotional instability, disturbed sleep, fatigue, depression, forgetfulness, decreased efficiency, loss of appetite, an inability to concentrate, cardiovascular changes such as slowed or irregular heartbeat, hair loss, changes in blood pressure, enlargement of the thyroid gland, depressed endocrine function, increased susceptibility to infectious disease, palpitations, breathlessness and tremors in the arms and legs.

Animal experiments with low levels of microwaves confirm potential hazards. These studies have found that exposure to low levels of microwaves decreased physical endurance and retarded weight gain, resulted in altered blood pressure and heart rates, altered immune reactions, reduced secretion of gastric juices, and caused fetal deaths and serious birth defects.

Western Countries Reexamining Standards

These reports generally were discounted in the West until the mid-1970’s. At that time the United States began a systematic effort to duplicate the Soviet and Eastern European experiments to determine whether their 10,000-microwatt safety standard was reasonable or not and to see if they could find the same low-level effects their Eastern counterparts said they had found.

While not all the research is completed, enough corroboration has now been reported to cause a serious questioning of the safety of Western standards. A number of countries, such as Sweden, have recently stiffened their standards, and others are considering following suit. The U.S. is expected to issue tougher standards soon.

The New York Times of February 26, 1980, carried the heading “Microwave Threat Stalls Trade Center TV Tower.” The article illustrated the controversy over microwave safety standards, observing:

“The concern is for the 1.5 million people who visit the observation deck on the second tower . . . and for the office workers who would occupy its top nine floors . . .

“The Port Authority’s task has been complicated by the division within the scientific community over what constitutes an acceptable level of microwave transmissions. As a result, no Federal or city standards have yet been set for such cases.

“Tests in recent weeks have shown that the top floors would be subject to more than 360 microwatts​—or 360 millionths of a watt—​of microwave pressure per square centimeter . . . A diplomatic furor of sorts resulted two years ago when American Embassy personnel in Moscow protested that Soviet eavesdropping equipment had been subjecting them to up to 18 microwatts.

“The Occupational Safety and Health Administration has recommended that industrial workers be exposed to no more than 10,000 microwatts, but several Federal agencies are studying the issue and both Government and private scientists expect the standards, especially for exposure by the public, will be set much lower.”

The article went on to mention a scientist who recommended that maximum public exposure be reduced below 100 microwatts, and another who recommended it be set below 50 microwatts.

Several American laboratories have reported effects on people of low-level exposure to microwaves. Some of their findings, along with other information on the effects of exposure to microwaves, are presented on the opposite page under the heading “What Scientists Are Finding.” The items bear careful examination.

What Does It All Mean?

There is considerable controversy as to how these experimental results should be interpreted. However, one thing is now sure: there is a nonthermal effect from microwaves on both animals and man at levels that at one time were considered insignificant in Western countries. Of concern is the fact that these are levels that a substantial fraction of the world’s population may already be exposed to every day.

The controversy arises from the question of the degree of danger that this nonthermal effect represents. Some scientists point out that there is a great difference between a biological effect and a biological hazard. That is, low levels of microwaves can be seen to have an effect on both animals and man; for example, in a reduction in the ability to perform tasks. But how serious is this effect?

“No one,” a U.S. government spokesman has pointed out, “should expose himself to any unneeded radiation. The problem is that so much of the radiation people are exposed to​—microwave ovens, television transmitters, and what have you—​are all devices that are doing very useful things that people want to do and want done for them.”

Yet are the risks of longtime exposure to low levels of microwaves really dangerous? Russian and Eastern European scientists who have studied this question considerably longer than Western scientists are already of the opinion that the effects of low-level exposure to microwaves are cumulative. Furthermore, they believe these effects may not be reversible if exposure persists longer than two to six years.

Now there are also American scientists who are very concerned about the potential hazards of microwaves. “The population risk is not really known,” admits a U.S. government report on microwaves. “It may be special groups; it may well be the entire population.” The American scientist who first proposed 10,000 microwatts as a safe occupational standard in the 1950’s has since admitted that it “badly needs refinement,” having been “crudely set.”

Dr. Milton M. Zaret, a professor of ophthalmology at the New York University Bellevue Medical Center, who has long been a student of the biological effects of microwaves, warns: “The dangers cannot be overstated because most non-ionizing radiational injuries occur covertly, usually do not become manifest until after latent periods of years, and when they do become manifest, the effects are seldom recognized.”

So what are safe levels of exposure to microwaves? “I have no idea what a safe level is,” Zaret himself admits. “I don’t think anyone in the world knows what a safe level is.”

Wisely, then, care should be exercised when a person is near sources of microwave emissions, a matter that a future issue of Awake! will consider further.

[Box on page 15]

WHAT SCIENTISTS ARE FINDING

● The U.S. Navy states that “exposure of Naval personnel to microwave radiation is an acute problem” and that “even low doses are likely to reduce the efficiency of personnel in vital duty positions.”

● In one U.S. Navy study, the human volunteers showed a significant decline in their ability to perform simple addition, when exposed to low levels of microwaves.

● Rats in one study were trained to push levers to get food. After six months of training, they were able to push the levers correctly 80 percent of the time. They were then exposed to microwaves at 5,000, 10,000 and 15,000 microwatts per square centimeter for 30 minutes. Their ability to push the levers successfully was reduced to below 50 percent. When the microwave exposure ended, they could again complete the lever test at their former efficiency.

● Johns Hopkins University in the U.S. has researched the question as to whether there is a link between microwave radiation and cancer in man. There are some who believe that it could turn out to be so. Dr. James M. Sontag of the National Cancer Institute at Bethesda, Maryland, says: “I wouldn’t scoff at the possibility. It’s true that microwaves are non-ionizing and therefore supposedly not carcinogenic. But ultraviolet light is also non-ionizing and it can cause cancer,” he points out. “That’s the way people get skin cancer.”

● Professor Carpenter of Tufts University wrote: “We have clearly demonstrated a cumulative harmful effect of microwave radiation on the eye, so that single exposures to radiation which are not of themselves harmful may become truly hazardous if they are repeated sufficiently often.”

● A number of veterans of the U.S. armed forces have filed disability claims, alleging that they suffered cataracts and other lens defects as a result of chronic exposure to low-level microwaves (from 1,000 to 10,000 microwatts per square centimeter) while in the service. Some of the claims were rejected, but several have been settled in favor of the veterans.

● “At the New York ‘Times,’ two copy editors working with VDT’s​—Video Display Terminals—​have developed cataracts at remarkably early ages (29 and 35),” reports “New Times” of March 6, 1978.

● Nonionizing radiation exposure has been shown to alter brain electrical activity.

● In a U.S. Navy experiment using human volunteers, blood-serum triglyceride levels rose to abnormally high levels in 9 out of 10 volunteers following one day of exposure to an extremely low-frequency magnetic field.

● A bulletin issued by the U.S. Air Force states that “epigastric distress and/​or nausea may occasionally occur at as low as five to ten milliwatts per square centimetre.”

[Picture on page 13]

The 351.5-foot TV tower atop the World Trade Center​—a microwave danger?

Killer Whales Not All That Bad

By A Staff Writer

My research gave me a terrifying picture of Orcinus Orca, the killer whale. Then I met him in person at San Diego’s Sea World and found him not bad at all!

“THE appetite of a hog, the cruelty of a wolf, the courage of a bulldog, and the most terrible jaws afloat.” That is how one reference work described killer whales. Up to 35 feeta in length, some weigh 18,000 pounds.b Some 50 teeth the size of a man’s thumb line their jaws and interlock like the teeth of a steel trap. They hunt in packs and attack and devour huge whales 20 times their size. Dolphins and seals are swallowed whole. In one stomach there were the remains of 13 dolphins and 14 seals; in another 32 full-grown seals. Also on their menu: many kinds of fish, squid, sea birds, sea otter, sometimes sharks and occasionally octopus. When they see birds or seals on an ice floe, they dive deep and charge upward, crashing into and breaking ice three or four feet thick and spilling their victims into the sea.

No one preys on the killer whale. It does not know what fear is. Formidable, fearsome monsters​—that’s the picture my research gave me.

Then I went to San Diego’s Sea World to meet these ferocious killers, and I found them to be overgrown pussycats. I leaned over the side of their pool and one called Kandu rose up out of the water and into my arms for a hug. When my wife leaned over, Kandu kissed her on the cheek. Well, John Spafford, head trainer of the killer whales they have, would say it differently: “Kandu touched her cheek with her tongue.” And, of course, he would be right. In our interview he repeatedly stressed the danger of being anthropomorphic, that is, “ascribing human characteristics to nonhuman things.”

Upon our arrival at Sea World, we were received by public relations representative Diane Taramasco. She escorted us to Shamu Stadium, where John Spafford and the other three trainers were working with Kandu to get her to perfect the backflip she was doing when she shot up out of the water. It was the opportune time for my first question:

“How do you teach them these tricks, if that’s the right term?”

“We call them behaviors,” John explained. “These are adaptations of their natural behaviors, so we call them behaviors. Training comes in two steps. The first is letting the newcomer become accustomed to his environment​—how to use his echolocation in an oceanarium instead of an open ocean, how to cooperate with the other animals in our four connecting pools, learning to eat the fresh frozen fish given them instead of catching live prey on their own, and so forth. This takes several months, even a year, but by now we have an alert, interested animal ready to interact with the trainers. So at this point we work with him for, oh, a year and a half to train him in the behaviors we have in a show.”

“Do you vary the training according to the personality of the individual whales?” I asked.

“Definitely. We don’t work with killer whales; we work with personalities. Each whale indicates its own interests, the things it enjoys doing most. And we don’t set deadlines. We let each animal say how fast and how far it wants to go.”

“Specifically, how do you get them to do some of these amazing tricks . . . excuse me, behaviors?”

“You’re learning,” he smiled. “The training itself is pretty basic. I hate to say this but it’s true: It’s not much more complicated than training your dog. We use what we call reinforcements. At first it’s food. They do something you like, you give them a fish. We start with food. Later on, there are other reinforcements​—touching, rubdowns, the whistle and games.

“To enlarge on the training process: I’ve said that basically it’s not much more complicated than training your dog, the use of reinforcements, and so forth. But there is this difference that complicates matters. You can take hold of your dog, put him in a sitting position, speak sharply and hold him up again if he comes down. The whale, however, is out in the water and you are on land. He’s too big for you to manipulate manually. You can’t scold him, dominate him. He must do things naturally, and when it’s something you want to use in a show, you reinforce that behavior. The real challenge with whales is to make things interesting, stimulating and exciting. He must be having fun.”

Previously I had seen a whale show in the morning, then saw it again in the afternoon, and the show was not the same. The trainer said they had to vary the performances or the whales would become bored. John enlarged on this.

“If we use a set sequence at every show the whales know what’s coming next, anticipate it and do it on their own routinely. The quality of behaviors would decline without the trainers’ constant input and reinforcement. But more than that, the whales would become bored. These are very intelligent animals and their interest must remain high for them to cooperate with you. So we don’t get them in a rut, but change the sequence, change the trainers around, change the physical environment, keep things different to keep them thinking, on their toes, watching for what’s coming next. There are a dozen techniques we use to create a stimulating environment so they don’t get bored.”

“Before you mentioned the whistle as a reinforcement. How does that work?” I asked.

“Let’s go over here where Mike is working with a young three-year-old female. This is day-one training. Mike has the whistle in his mouth and wants her to come to be touched. The only reinforcement she knows at this time is the fish, and Mike is trying to create new types of reinforcement​—the touching, the games, other interesting things. When she comes for touching and gets the fish, Mike will blow the whistle. Soon she will learn that when the whistle blows she will get the fish. Eventually she will recognize that the whistle says she has performed well and may expect a reinforcement. Later the whistle itself becomes a reinforcement.

“Remember when you came in we were working with Kandu on a backflip. She wasn’t bringing her flukes up at the right moment, and her approach route was not right. We didn’t use the whistle. We sent her back without any reinforcement and tapped the target. She still approached wrong, but did bring her flukes up. When she did, we blew the whistle and reinforced her. Later when she gets the route right also, at that instant we will blow the whistle for that. The whistle is an invaluable tool. With it we can reinforce the specific part of a behavior we approve.”

John explained other techniques to us. There’s a speaker in the water that transmits different signals to the whales. One beep means to make a raspberry sound, more beeps may mean to do some jumps, another series may mean come here, and so forth. A young whale may know that the tap on a target means to do a certain behavior, but the trainer wants it done merely by pointing. So the point precedes the tap, and soon the whale is doing the behavior on the point alone, without the tap. One three-year-old would eat fish but not squid. She repeatedly spit out the squid and opened her mouth for fish. She got no fish. Then one time she swallowed the squid, and immediately got her fish! She learned she must eat squid as well as fish. It reminded me of a parent making his child eat the spinach before getting the ice cream.

“John,” I asked, “how long have you been working here?”

“Six years.”

“Diane explained that beginners start out cutting fish. Did you do that?”

“Basically, yes. It’s not glamorous, but it’s part of the job. We do what’s necessary to keep the animals healthy.”

“Do you take their temperatures?”

“Thermometers can be used, but this other method is also effective. We put our hand over their blowholes and can feel the warmth of their breath on our skin.”

“Do you call in a doctor at times?”

“We have a doctor and two vets.”

Namu, the big male, interrupted by leaping out of the water and sliding up on the pool decking and raising his tail. “That’s what we call a slide-out,” John explained.

I had read that in the wild they slide up onto ice floes to get at seals. “How much does Namu eat?”

“He’ll get 200 pounds of squid, mackerel and herring today. He’s 22 feet long, weighs 9,000 pounds, and is only two thirds grown.”

“Is there a difference between training killer whales and training dolphins?”

“Killer whales are easier. They are totally without fear and approach you immediately, whereas the dolphins are cautious at first. Also, dolphins have more social problems, interacting with one another, yakking and fussing with one another. Their attention span is shorter. The killer whale is the most intelligent animal in the ocean. Some who have worked with both killer whales and chimpanzees rate the whales as more intelligent. This is in relation to each one’s environment; that is, killer whales are more intelligent in their environment than chimpanzees are in their own environment, in our opinion.”

“I’ve read that a seven-ton elephant had a brain of 12 pounds, whereas a young one-ton killer whale had a brain of 14 pounds,” I commented.

“We used to have Kandu spend about 20 seconds with a person from the audience,” John said. “Then we would put this person and two others on platforms, and Kandu would pick out the one she had met nine times out of ten. I challenge a person to be with one killer whale for 20 seconds, then pick that whale out from two others.”

“Don’t ask me! They all look alike to me,” I cried. “You previously mentioned games. Please enlarge on that.”

“We try to make their performances like games, to keep them interested. Then they invent their own. Here’s an example. We have electronic buzzers underwater that we use as signals. The whales play with them, roughly at times; so we take them out at the end of the performances. The whales make a game of it. A diver goes down for the buzzer and a whale covers it with his body. The diver pretends to be doing something else and the whale swims away, but watches like a hawk. The diver makes a move toward the buzzer and the whale is over it in a flash, ahead of him. It’s a game they both enjoy.”

“Any additional general information, John?”

“Well, let’s see. We think they have no sense of smell, maybe taste, a highly developed sense of touch, no vocal cords, but sounds are made through their blowholes and they hear by receiving vibrations with their lower jaw and ears. Highly developed echolocation​—in some shows the whale will find a small plastic ring floating in the water and return it to us while he has on eyecups blocking his vision. Tremendous power. Shamu, after a very short run, shoots his whole body clear out of the water to hit a ball suspended 24 feet in the air.”

My research had revealed this power. They can leap 40 feet through the air, and the National Geographic had a picture showing a whale, with a blow of his tail flukes, hurling a sea lion weighing hundreds of pounds about 30 feet into the air. They can dive over 1,000 feet deep.

“Do you get attached to them, John? Think about them when you’re away?”

“Definitely. All the time. I miss them when I’m on vacation. We feel intensely about our whales and respect them as such. We don’t try to present them as having human traits. We don’t dress them up in hats. They’re whales, they’re wonderful. Let’s present them as whales.”

Killer whales are wonderful. They do kill to eat, to live. But remember, their victims do the same thing. None of them are vegetarians either! When their appetites are satisfied, they are like overgrown pussycats. In the show a seven-year-old girl rubbed the tongue in one of those great mouths, to its owner’s delight. And our delight was complete, with Sea World, with our reception, and especially with Kandu when she let us hug her and when she​—excuse me, John, I must say it—​when she gave us a kiss.

I LEFT SEA WORLD in a reflective mood. The psalmist’s words came to mind: “How many your works are, O Jehovah! All of them in wisdom you have made. The earth is full of your productions. As for this sea so great and wide, there there are moving things without number, living creatures, small as well as great.” (Ps. 104:24, 25) From microscopic plankton to mammoth whales​—without number!

Man, I reflected, was first put in the garden of Eden “to cultivate it and guard it,” and relative to animals the commission was given: “I am putting you in charge of the fish, the birds, and all the wild animals.” (Gen. 2:15; 1:28 Today’s English Version) What a trust! What a wonderful work assignment from our Creator! To care for the earth, its plants and animals​—not just puppies and kittens but all creatures, “small as well as great.” Even those awesome yet spectacularly beautiful killer whales!

This and more went through my mind as I reflected on the marvels in store for obedient mankind in a cleansed paradise earth under God’s kingdom, a “new heavens and a new earth that we are awaiting according to his promise, and in these righteousness is to dwell.”​—2 Pet. 3:13; Isa. 45:18; Eccl. 1:4.

[Footnotes]

[Blurb on page 18]

She must eat the squid to get the fish, like a parent making his child eat the spinach to get the ice cream

[Blurb on page 19]

“The killer whale is the most intelligent animal in the ocean”

[Blurb on page 20]

“We try to make their performances like games, to keep them interested”

[Full-page picture on page 17]

Shoplifting​—Petty Offense or Serious Crime?

IN A large department store in the southeastern United States, a stooped, silver-haired man stands in the stationery aisle nervously fondling a packaged pen-and-pencil set. Anxiously he looks up and down the aisle. Slowly his frail body does a half turn and his eyes scan the area behind him. His right hand drops to his side and in one flawless flick of a finger the tiny narrow box disappears up his coat sleeve. Walking slowly away he casually drops his hand into his coat pocket and the pen-and-pencil set finds a new resting place. Before the aged man can reach the exit door, however, a firm hand has taken him in tow and they disappear behind closed doors.

Twenty-three minutes later two preteenage girls leisurely examine sweaters on display under a large sign, BACK TO SCHOOL WEAR. One sweater has obviously caught their fancy. Each takes a turn holding it up to their small frame for size. They caress the soft fabric. They look at the price tag. The cost is high. They pool their thoughts, and out of this comes giggling, laughter and a decision. The absence of a salesperson is noted. One girl quickly lifts her skirt, ties the sweater around her waist in awkward fashion and allows her skirt to fall in place again. Before they can reach the front door an alarm sounds and, as if by some prearranged scheme, a detective from security has the nervous and bewildered girls in custody. They, too, disappear behind closed doors.

At almost the same time a girl in her early 20’s, carrying a wrapped package, is carefully examining an electric clock radio. She runs her fingers over the highly polished case. A splendid item for any feminine boudoir. With clock in hand, she casually walks down the aisle a few feet and when she reappears the clock radio is gone. It had disappeared into a false bottom in the wrapped package! There is a scuffle at the front door. The girl breaks for a waiting car. Two detectives nab her and the driver. The four disappear behind the closed doors.

Big-Time Crime

The accounts you have just read are true. Shoplifters all! It is estimated that one out of three small businesses that are forced to declare bankruptcy do so as the direct result of shoplifting. It is the largest single monetary crime in the nation.

In 1978 bank robbers in the United States scooped up from banks’ tills and vaults a staggering $25 million dollars in cash and negotiable securities. In 1977 the estimated losses from shoplifting were set at approximately $8 thousand million​—$20 million dollars a day. Experts could see that figure skyrocketing to an excess of $10 thousand million for the year 1979.

Two thirds of all shoplifters apprehended in most states are under the age of 21. Youths, however, do not have a monopoly on shoplifting. The aged man mentioned at the beginning of this article was 90 years old. On the other hand, the two small girls were ages 10 and 11. In fact, according to some experts, the fifth grade spawns the earliest ages for beginning shoplifters.

Very often where two are involved, as in the case of the two small girls mentioned above, shoplifting is done on a dare. With others it may be a requirement to join a club, or results from peer pressure, or is a bid for attention. It is reported that very few shoplift because they really need the item but are unable to pay the price.

These are the amateurs. They are of all ages, from all walks of life, and they steal for many different reasons. Their numbers are many in comparison with the professionals. They are devastating to the vulnerable merchant.

The professional shoplifter is just that. He “earns” his livelihood by converting his thefts into cash. Consequently, the things he steals are more expensive than those lifted by the amateur. Many professionals will take orders for television sets, radios, men’s suits, shoes​—the list is endless. Ah, if those fitting-room walls could only talk!

When a security officer for a store apprehends a professional he considers this a bonus. But it is with the professional that the security agent must be alert. Very often the thief will carry a weapon and, as a last resort, he will use it. When apprehended the professional shoplifter can be dangerous.

Get-Tough Policy

In order to stem the tide of shoplifting, the majority of stores throughout the United States are now implementing a get-tough policy. Millions of dollars have been spent on sophisticated electronic surveillance equipment. The 90-year-old man apprehended for lifting the pen-and-pencil set was watched on camera and then by means of two-way radio the nearest store detective was directed to him. Similarly, the woman with the clock radio was caught. In the case of the two small girls with the sweater, a very small electronic tab concealed on the garment, to be taken off by the salesperson at the time the item is purchased, gave off a small alarm when it passed through a electronic eye.

Many stores have started special programs of training employees in spotting and detecting basic shoplifter’s mannerisms and techniques. Some stores have even hired actors to pose as shoplifters to stage arrests so onlookers can see that the store is carrying out a get-tough policy. The shoplifter also has the innocent looking “shopper,” one of a number of store detectives very often pushing a cart, to contend with.

When the 90-year-old man was taken to the store’s security office he was first searched to see if he was carrying a weapon. Then he was read his rights, not a requirement, however. Because it was determined that this was his first offense, and due to his advanced age, he was asked to sign a confession of his guilt and was ordered never to come into the store again. The two small girls, ages 10 and 11, had the trauma not only of being apprehended in the store before onlookers, but of having their parents come to the store and “bail” them out with the warning of what would happen if they were caught again. Hopefully this will suffice in teaching the girls that shoplifting is a serious crime.

In the case of the young woman, however, they were not so merciful. A search of the car yielded several hundred dollars in stolen merchandise lifted from that store and others in the city. She was part of a small band filling “orders” for stolen items. She and her driver companion face prosecution as three-time offenders.

What a Parent Can Do

Are you a concerned parent? Tell your children that shoplifting is a serious crime. Merchants are taking strong action against shoplifters regardless of the value of the item stolen, or of sex, age, race or social standing. Explain that a criminal conviction for shoplifting means a police record that can keep them from getting a job, winning scholarships or even borrowing money. It can affect anything that requires a routine check of their past.

What would the girl who would bring home the shoplifted sweater have told her parents? That it was a garment swap with her friend? This can be the “perfect” alibi to the unsuspecting parent. Would you hesitate to ask where unfamiliar clothes or accessories came from if you knew your child had spent more than his or her allowance? If your child always had a habit of “finding” things, would you look into it? Bringing home bargains that are too good to be true might test your good sense of value, or the $40 skirt marked down to $5 may cause you to wonder about the spiraling economy. A favorite raincoat or an overly large handbag that only ‘goes shopping’ may be a warning signal. Do not be afraid to ask why. It is better that the parent ask than store security personnel.

A year-old law in Oregon allows stores to send letters to shoplifters demanding return of the merchandise stolen, plus the price of the items, plus a fine. A refusal to pay ends up in small claims court. Most offenders pay. If the offender is a juvenile, the parents are held responsible. Some are indignant. One wrote to a store: “You will be happy to know that the child who did the shoplifting is now gagged and bound with rope in our basement since this is the only way a person is positive they have complete control over their children.” However, other parents are appreciative, thanking the stores for making them aware of the problem and letting the children pay off the fines through newspaper routes and their allowances.

Encourage your child to resist those dares and pressures from so-called friends. Yielding to them can only lead to severe consequences. This old world and its greed are rapidly passing away. Encourage your child to shun the taking of things that belong to someone else, a practice that is so much a part of this world. ‘Thieves will not inherit God’s kingdom.’ (1 Cor. 6:10) Instill in him hatred for what is bad and a love for what is good, and he will have possessions beyond belief in Jehovah God’s righteous new order so near at hand.​—Prov. 8:13.

Do You Forgive Others as You Want to Be Forgiven?

The story was told of a slave who owed his master 60 million denarii and could not pay. (Matt. 18:23-35) The master ordered him, his family and his possessions to be sold to pay the debt. The slave fell down and pleaded with his master . . .

“Be patient with me and I will pay back everything to you.”

So his master pitied him and canceled his huge debt.

He then went to a fellow slave who owed him only 100 denarii.

“Pay back whatever you owe.”

“Be patient with me and I will pay you back.”

But the one who had been forgiven so much refused to forgive his fellow slave so little, and had him thrown into prison.

The other slaves who had seen this reported it to the master.

The master, furious, ordered the unforgiving slave to appear . . .

“I canceled all that debt for you . . . Ought you not, in turn, to have had mercy on your fellow slave?”

The master then had that wicked slave thrown into jail.

LESSON FOR US TODAY: The master forgave one slave what to us might be around $12 million (U.S.), but then this slave would not forgive his fellow slave something like $20! Similarly, we sin against God thousands of times, often not even being aware of our trespasses. (Ps. 19:12) Yet, when we ask for his forgiveness, he forgives us. (1 John 1:9) But how many times does a particular person sin against us? Two or three times? If Jehovah forgives us thousands of times, can’t we forgive our brother a few times? Keep in mind that we are taught to pray that God will “forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.” (Matt. 6:12)

What Did That Dream Mean?

By “Awake!” correspondent in Brazil

‘GLANCING over my shoulder I could see a huge, hideous creature galloping to overtake me. Unarmed, and practically naked, I tried to run. My feet seemed glued to the ground! One more look behind me and . . . Then I saw this fire engine racing down the street, its bell clanging. And I woke up in a cold sweat, to hear my alarm ringing!’

Does that dream sound familiar to you? Perhaps so, for it contains the essential elements of common dreams: an unpleasant experience, unusual dress, a rapid change of scene, inability to run, with part of the action stimulated by a sound in the bedroom. Happily, we wake up in time to escape!

But what does the dream mean? Why do we dream? Are some dreams prophetic?

Interest in Dreams Not New

Interest in dreams is about as old as mankind. The first dream recorded in the Bible was had by Abimelech about 1900 B.C.E. (Gen. 20:3) Several dreams of divine origin experienced by the Hebrew patriarchs are also recorded therein. Concerning dreams among pagan nations, we read: “Babylonians had such trust in dreams that on the eve of important decisions they slept in temples, hoping for counsel.” The Greeks and Romans did likewise. Egyptians prepared elaborate books for dream interpretation. In medieval Europe and even 60 years ago in Moslem society, important matters of state were decided on the basis of dreams. Is there reason to believe that those dreams were of divine origin and, hence, the decisions made were on a solid basis? How about the interpreting of dreams today?

Sigmund Freud called dreams “the royal road to the unconscious” and attempted to interpret them on the basis of our repressed desires, especially the strong sex drive. However, the past few decades have witnessed much study of dreams in scientific centers, and the consensus is that Freud’s interpretation of dreams was overly simplified.

Study of Sleep and Dreams

Using electronic gadgetry of the space age, researchers have studied changes in brain waves and the activity in certain brain cells during the dreaming process. Science is still a long way from a comprehensive understanding of dreams, but some conclusions are now quite universally accepted. For example, it has been shown that everyone dreams, even those who vigorously deny it. Infants spend up to 70 percent of their sleeping time in the dream state, whereas adults spend only about 24 percent. Cats and many other mammals show brain activity during sleep, and it is believed that they also dream. Surely the sleeping dog is dreaming when it whines and barks as its paws twitch.

Experiments on human subjects indicate that sleep can be divided into stages. Beginning with a light sleep, we gradually pass through progressively deeper sleep until we reach the profound Stage IV. Then, after a lighter stage, we enter the REM (Rapid Eye Movement) sleep. As its name indicates, this stage is accompanied by darting movements of the eyes, as though the eyes were following rapid movements on a screen. Even though the eyes are closed, this movement is clearly visible to an observer. (European researchers call this stage “paradoxical sleep,” since a study of the brain waves reveals that the brain is functioning as if the body were awake.) REM sleep is generally a period of dreaming.

In this research the procedure is for the observer to awaken the sleeper when the period of REM sleep ends and have him relate his dream. It is found that it usually takes about 90 minutes for the sleeper to pass through all the stages of sleep, from Stage I through the REM period, after which the cycle begins again. One writer said: “The nightly pattern is as regular as the motions of the planetary bodies.” The initial period of REM sleep lasts for only five to ten minutes, but this gradually lengthens until the final period, which lasts about 50 minutes. In a normal night’s sleep, there is a total of 90 to 120 minutes of REM sleep, or dreaming. So you generally have a total of dreaming time equal to that of an ordinary movie. Not a bad way to pass the night, you say?

Unhappily, dreams have a habit of slipping away from us soon after we wake up, and we remember just the last one, if any. So we cannot tell anyone much about that full-length nocturnal movie! It is as recorded in the Bible book of Job: “Like a dream he [the wicked apostate] will fly off, and they will not find him.” (Job 20:8) For this reason, researchers will awaken the dreamer when the rapid movements of the eyeballs stop.

Why We Dream

Research indicates that some dreams are a product of our daily activities, sensations and thoughts. In What Your Dreams Mean, Ann Faraday states that “the majority of dreams in some way reflect what has preoccupied our minds during the previous day or two.” On the other hand, shell-shocked soldiers are often troubled for years by terrifying nightmares after their return from war.

Interestingly, some experiments show that “all of us seem to need our dreams, and the younger we are, the more necessary they appear to be. . . . By using drugs that selectively eliminate only REM sleep, researchers have proven that adults can survive long stretches without their dreams. At the same time, though, these dream-starved persons undergo subtle personality changes: They become increasingly abrasive and anxious, often unable to concentrate as well.” Confirming that dreams do play an essential part in our lives, another researcher stated: “REM periods (and hence dreams) are there for a reason, or reasons, and judging by the degree to which the body is involved, almost certainly an important one.”

Interpretation of Dreams

In view of all the factors involved in dreaming, it becomes increasingly clear why it is unwise to attach special significance to our dreams. Since everyone dreams nearly every night, should we feel that our dreams are unusual and have a special meaning? In one book, entitled “Sleep,” the writers declared: “The analysis of literally truckloads of dream stories, and the use of laboratory methods lend no hope that there will ever be a quick formula for understanding dreams.”

It is true that there are many who would interpret your dreams for you, but the differences of opinion among them are one of the strongest arguments against trying to attach certain meanings to your dreams. Dr. Rosalind Cartwright declared: “Probably the most impressive thing we’re finding out is the huge range of individual differences [among dream interpreters].” She also wrote: “Many psychotherapists still insist that they know the correct interpretation of your dream . . . apparently quite oblivious to the fact that their colleagues, on the basis of the same dream, may see quite different things for you.”

Rather than attempt to interpret dreams for others, the tendency among some investigators today is to teach persons how to interpret their own dreams. Since each person is acquainted with his own experiences and problems, it is felt that he is in the best position to deduce the meaning of his dreams. But have you ever tried to figure out what a surrealistic painter had in mind when he painted a certain picture? How many persons in a group would give the same meaning? That is just how varied dream interpretation can be, according to Dr. Calvin Hall.

One reason for this is, of course, that dream interpreters of different cultures give an entirely different meaning to symbols seen in a dream. For example, the Greeks believed that a snake seen in a dream meant disease, whereas the Egyptians felt it to be a beneficent sign of a settled dispute. So it is wise not to take too seriously any natural dreams you may have. But you can enjoy them. As one writer put it, dreams frequently are so funny that “I often wonder that people don’t wake themselves up laughing”!

On the other hand, if your sleep is often disturbed by nightmares, rather than looking for any meaning in them, it might be better to look for possible causes of them in your way of life. How true what the Bible says: “For because of abundance of occupation there are dreams”!​—Eccl. 5:7.

Dreams of Divine Origin

Those who search for meaning in their dreams often point to divinely inspired dreams recorded in the Bible and ask, ‘Could not some dreams today also be inspired of God?’ It is true that in Bible times God did use dreams to communicate with his servants, as in the well-known dream of Joseph when he was warned to flee to Egypt with his wife, Mary, and their child, Jesus. God also sent dreams to men not devoted to him, as when he gave the prophetic dreams to Egypt’s Pharaoh announcing seven years of famine in the land.​—Matt. 2:13; Gen. 41:1-7.

All such divinely sent dreams were given so as to protect or guide God’s servants, or to influence the successful outworking of his will and purpose. However, the apostle Paul wrote: “God, who long ago spoke on many occasions and in many ways [including dreams] to our forefathers by means of the prophets, has at the end of these days spoken to us by means of a Son.” (Heb. 1:1, 2) We have in the Bible a record of what God ‘spoke to us by his Son.’ So there is no need for Jehovah God to use dreams to speak to us.

Therefore, if you are wondering what the future has in store for you, or if you are searching for a solution to your problems, you can find the answer, not in an interpretation of your dreams, but in God’s Word, the Bible.

Watching the World

Adventist Controversy Sharpens

◆ “Plagiarism by foundress rocks Adventist Church,” declared a headline in the Atlanta Journal and Constitution. The controversy centers around recent findings regarding the writings of the Church’s main founder, Mrs. Ellen G. White. She had claimed that her writings, from 1844 to 1915, were based on the many visions she had in which God’s voice supposedly instructed her on everything from Bible doctrine to matters of diet and dress. However, Adventist scholars have discovered that in her writings she had copied various other sources “more extensively than we had previously believed.” Desmond Ford, who was recently stripped of his ministerial credentials by the Church for challenging Mrs. White’s writings, said: “Her teachings have been misused as a basis for doctrine, almost as a substitute for the Bible.”

Former Adventist minister Walter Rea, who also was ousted after finding extensive evidence of her plagiarism, declared: “She copied and borrowed for almost everything. Some of this was known before, but not the immense extent of it. What we’ve now discovered magnifies it tremendously, much of it at the very heart of her theology.” He noted that a “shocking amount” of the plagiarism is being concealed from lay members of the Church, adding: “This [concealment] is more damaging than simply telling the truth. It’s not going to go away. It’s going to get worse.”

Save Your Wife​—Don’t Smoke

◆ Results of Japanese research indicate that nonsmoking wives exposed to their husbands’ cigarette smoke developed lung cancer at a much higher rate than did those whose husbands did not smoke. Death rates from lung cancer were twice as high for nonsmoking wives of husbands who were heavy smokers. Where the wives also smoke, the incidence of lung cancer and diseases such as emphysema, bronchitis, heart trouble and pregnancy complications increases.

War Madness

◆ According to “World Military and Social Expenditures,” an annual survey by various groups, the nations spent more than $500 billion (U.S.) last year on armaments. The two superpowers, the United States and the Soviet Union, already have about 50,000 nuclear weapons between them, enough to destroy the world many times over. Yet together they spend over $700 million a day to build up their arsenals.

‘Bad Guys Winning’

◆ “The brutal truth about crime in New York is that the police, the courts, and the prison system have given up,” claims New York magazine. It says that New York “is now an open city for criminals. There is no sustained, realistic enforcement of law left. The sheer number of crimes committed has overwhelmed a police department whose manpower has been cut by close to one-third since 1970. Criminals abound, and there are simply not enough cops to catch them, not enough prosecutors to charge them, not enough courtrooms in which to try them, and not enough jails to hold them.”

Statistics would seem to bear out these contentions. Murders jumped from 390 in 1960 to 1,787 in 1980. They increased 60 percent in the last decade, while the city’s population declined by one million. New York city now leads the nation in the number of violent street crimes and muggings, with 82,572 a year​—226 a day. And more than 500 burglaries are committed daily.

The magazine adds: “Increasingly, radio cars are so overcommitted responding to shootings, stabbings, and armed robberies that victims and potential witnesses of other violence simply get tired of waiting and go home.” Appalling as the crime statistics are, it is pointed out that many more crimes are committed, but many victims feel it is pointless to report them.

Well-behaved Children

◆ Writing from Peking, a New York Times correspondent reported: “American visitors to China are continually impressed, indeed often amazed, by the almost universal good behavior of Chinese children. They are quiet, obedient, quick to follow their teachers’ instructions, and they seldom exhibit the boisterous aggressiveness or selfishness of American children. Nor do visitors often find the typical signs of anxiety and tension that many American children show. The Chinese children do not cry, whine, throw tantrums or suck their thumbs.”

How do the Chinese get their children to be so submissive? It is thought that this stems from the sense of closeness parents develop with their children. Also, the generally crowded living conditions make the child less independent. And early school training inculcates in them a greater tendency toward conformity and acceptance of authority. American psychologists who have visited China feel that parents and teachers tend to be warm, kind and attentive, but they train the young to be part of the group rather than just to act for their own benefit.

Reducing Heart Attacks

◆ Heart attacks kill more men in the Western world than all forms of cancer combined. The Lancet, a British publication, says that men who engage in vigorous exercise obtain significant protection against coronary heart disease. Over an eight-year period, men who exercised were found to have less than half as many heart attacks as did those who did not exercise. Also confirmed were other studies that show heart disease increasing with age, smoking and obesity. Just how does the exercise help? New Scientist comments: “As yet, there are few direct clues as to the mechanism of the protective effect. The current view is that peaks of high-intensity exercise may help to prevent the build up of obstructions in the vital coronary blood vessels or to increase the release into the blood stream of beneficial high-density lipoproteins.”

Vitamins, Minerals for Retarded

◆ Medical Tribune reports that in controlled experiments at Norfolk, Virginia, a team led by a research professor of psychology concluded that mentally retarded children made dramatic improvements in IQ, growth and vision after receiving a special supplement of vitamins and minerals for eight months. For example, one five-year-old child who formerly could say only single words such as “mama” was able to read a first-grade primer and recite from memory. Two children were transferred from programs for the mentally retarded to regular school grades. Of particular interest, says Medical Tribune, were the Down’s syndrome children whose physical appearance improved notably during the study. Favorable personality changes also took place. An unexpected result in four epileptic children was that not one of them had a seizure during the trial period. Further studies on the value of nutrition for such children are planned.

Credit Card Frauds

◆ A recent fradulent practice is for telephone solicitors to call people and offer them “vacation bargains” or various other products and services at low prices. The callers then agree to charge the items, and they ask the customer for his or her credit card number and expiration date. They then use this information, along with the name and address of the victim, to order products and services for themselves.

Childbirth Chair

◆ About 3,500 years ago, Israelite women used a “stool for childbirth.” (Ex. 1:16) For thousands of years, such stools or chairs were used when giving birth on the premise that women were intended to give birth sitting or squatting and not lying down. But in 1738 a French obstetrician proposed having women recline for delivery, and that system has been used in the West since then. However, the birthstool is making a comeback. It has been introduced at 150 hospitals in the United States. More doctors now recognize that delivering a baby in a position that makes use of gravity aids both the mother and the baby. The modern chair resembles a Danish molded chair set on a pedestal. A motor elevates, lowers and tilts the seat.

Dr. Warner Nash, of New York’s Lenox Hill hospital, stated: “Women naturally choose the vertical position, because that’s the way the expulsive forces of nature work. The sitting position is more comfortable, easier and faster. We have found that it shortens the second stage of labor​—the delivery of the baby after the cervix is fully dilated—​by 50 percent. Two-thirds of the women who have used it have pushed for less than 25 minutes, and most of the others for less than 45 compared to the hour or hour and a half it usually takes for a first birth.”

Japan’s Rising Delinquency

◆ Long noted for their disciplined society and low crime rate, Japanese authorities have expressed deep concern over the huge increase in juvenile offenders. Last year the number of young people who got into difficulty with the law reached 143,000, a record high over the past decade. For example, shoplifting offenses by minors jumped 30 percent over the previous year. Sexual offenses increased 74 percent. An editorial in the Daily Yomiuri commented: “Our social environment has spawned new types of crimes which are increasing. For example, 18,552 people were arrested for drug offenses last year and this is 11 times the number booked in 1970. . . . It is alarming that armed robbery, murder and arson committed by boys aged 14 or 15 showed conspicuous rises.” The newspaper cited the need to “keep our cities from turning into jungles like Western cities.”

Mother’s Milk Better

◆ Research at the Department of Biochemistry and Medicine at the University School of Medicine in Nashville, Tennessee, found that human milk induces cells to make new genetic material (DNA) and to divide. However, milk substitutes tested had no effect at all on DNA synthesis.

Mechanical Bull Dangers

◆ In the United States, devices known as mechanical bulls have recently become more popular. The idea is to simulate a bucking bull ride as seen at rodeos. However, the mechanical bulls have begun to generate lawsuits from riders injured in falls. A Florida woman filed a $2-million lawsuit because she broke a vertebra in her neck when she fell from one of the devices. A Colorado man suffered a similar injury. Many others have suffered bruises and cuts.

Getting Second Opinion

◆ An eight-year study, headed by Dr. Eugene McCarthy of the New York Hospital-Cornell Medical Center, revealed that when patients were required to get a second opinion regarding proposed surgery, one third of them were advised that surgery was not necessary. As a result, four out of five of these patients decided against the surgery first recommended by another doctor. McCarthy said that many of these candidates “would have represented needless surgery” had the original advice been taken. A Congressional study three years ago estimated that 2,400,000 Americans underwent unnecessary surgery each year at a cost of $4 billion and 11,900 lives lost.

However, this does not mean that getting a second opinion results in fewer overall cases of surgery. For example, in one Blue Cross survey, some 70 percent of the second opinions urged patients to go ahead with the surgery recommended by the first physician. Without that second opinion, many patients had been ignoring or rejecting the first doctor’s advice. Hopefully, the value of getting a second opinion lies in determining more carefully whether surgery is really needed.

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