May 22

Page Two

Excitement over sports is a worldwide phenomenon. Too often violence takes over and winning becomes everything. As fans become jaded, more and more violence is needed to keep excitement at a high pitch. Why this trend? Can sports benefit you?

Sports​—Why Do They Excite Us? 3

Why the Violence In Sports? 4

Sports and the Family​—A Balanced View 9

Sports​—Why Do They Excite Us?

Sports​—Why the Increasing Violence?

IT WAS 10:38 a.m. on October 25, 1981. Over fourteen thousand people in running gear were lined up at the Staten Island end of the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge, New York. Suddenly, a cannon shot broke the air and two rivers of humanity began to flow side by side across the bridge. What was the occasion that drew such a massive participation? The 1981 New York Marathon.

It was estimated that some two million people watched the race along the 26-mile (42-km) route and millions more by television. Athletes from 57 countries took part. New York city really got involved and millions of New Yorkers and others got excited.

Excitement over sports is a worldwide phenomenon. For example, recent news reports spoke of growing sports enthusiasm in China. The New York Times (Nov. 18, 1981) reported: “Tens of thousands of Chinese converged on that [Peking’s] vast downtown area last night for boisterous celebrations . . . The euphoria was over the Chinese women’s volleyball team, which defeated the United States . . . and Japan . . . to win its first world title.” Even the normally placid Chinese got excited about sports. Volleyball became front-page news in the Peking press.

Another outstanding case of sports-generated excitement is the 1982 World Cup soccer finals to be played between 24 qualifying nations in Spain during the dates of June 13 to July 11, 1982. Over the last two years more than a hundred countries have competed for the privilege of being among the last 24 qualifying teams. Hundreds of millions of supporters worldwide follow these soccer games with avid interest. In Lagos, Nigeria, a large crowd packed the stadium eight hours before the kickoff between Nigeria and Algeria. Likewise crowds of Chinese fans celebrated China’s soccer success in defeating Kuwait in a qualifying match for the World Cup series.

No doubt about it, sports attract and excite the masses. But why?

One underlying factor in modern life is the humdrum existence that millions are forced to lead in our computer-controlled society. As a consequence many want to break out of the treadmill routine by entering the exciting world of sports fantasy. For the minority, fulfillment comes as a participant. For the majority, it comes as a spectator. But they all want excitement, and that results from uncertainty. In sports uncertainty is the key​—who will win? Thus the crowds flock to sports events or stay glued to the TV.

But are sports beneficial or harmful? Can they benefit you, whether as a participant or as a spectator? What about sports at school, high school, university and professional levels? Why has sports violence increased? Why has it spilled over onto the grandstands of stadiums?

Why the Violence in Sports?

Sports​—Why the Increasing Violence?

BELOW are just a few of the headlines that have appeared on sports and editorial pages of different nations in recent years. Sports have become identified with violence, both on and off the field of play. But why?

Has Violence Increased?

Stanley Cheren, associate professor of psychiatry at the Boston University School of Medicine, recently wrote: “As the population becomes more experienced with violence, the need for more extreme violence to satisfy the wish for violent stimulation grows. . . . People will pay fortunes to see other people get hurt. . . . It escalates as people become jaded. In the 1930’s, people were shocked to see, on the screen, James Cagney slap a woman. Now that is nothing; far more serious acts of violence are demanded for excitement. . . . So, in spite of the fact that fighters have been getting killed in the ring, the fans wanted more action. . . . In our jadedness, we have pushed to the point that we allow our athletes to risk death.”

Let us illustrate this with a popular sport in North America, football (not to be confused with soccer). American football has always been recognized as a physical contact sport, after the style of British rugby, but even more so. However, in recent times more violent play has become the norm. The protective equipment often becomes offensive armor. For example, players use the rock-hard plastic safety helmets to convert their heads into punishing missiles.

The violence of the game is epitomized by the following comments of professional footballer Jack Tatum (Oakland Raiders) in his recent book They Call Me Assassin.

“Professional football is vicious and brutal; there’s not much time for sentiment.”

“I never make a tackle just to bring someone down. I want to punish the man I’m going after and I want him to know that it’s going to hurt every time he comes my way.”

“I’ve used the word ‘kill,’ and when I’m hitting someone I really am trying to kill, but not like forever. I mean I’m trying to kill the play or the pass, but not the man . . . the structure of football is based on punishing your opponent.”

“I like to believe that my best hits border on felonious assault, but at the same time everything I do is by the rule book.”

Tatum’s last comment is significant. It was “by the rule book” that one tackle of his permanently paralyzed a man. What would be felonious assault anywhere else is legitimate on the playing field. Little wonder that one sports writer said: “With the uniform comes protection from the laws.”

Tatum’s remarks do not reflect the attitude of just one particular player. Commented George Perles, assistant head coach of the Pittsburgh Steelers (U.S. Football): “[Football] is a very, very violent life, mean, tough, brutal, masculine.” Writer William B. Furlong stated in an article for the New York Times Magazine: “Life in the Pit, as the center of the [scrimmage] line is called, has always been violent, as violent at times as a knife fight in a dark room . . . [it] often includes punching, cursing, gouging, kicking.”

Jerry Kramer, offensive lineman for the Green Bay Packers football team, wrote in his book Instant Replay: “I started off the day determined to get mean and serious for the game. It’s something that can’t be done just on Saturday and Sunday [before the game]. It has to be done starting Monday or Tuesday [a week before the game] . . . You work up an anger, then a hatred, and the feeling gets stronger and stronger until, on Sunday, you’ve got your emotions so high you’re ready to explode. . . . When I want to hate an individual, I make it a point not to look at the other team before the game . . . I feel if I don’t see him, I can hate him a little more.”

This same violent spirit is being manifested more and more in soccer. Heitor Amorim, former goalkeeper for the São Paulo Corinthians soccer team, Brazil, comments: “I left soccer in 1970 and at that time it was in a phase of transition. It was changing from a game of skill to one of force. Art and skill began to give way to violence. I believe that if Pelé [perhaps the greatest soccer player ever] were playing today he would not be able to pull off 50% of the marvellous plays he did in the 60’s. Violence would thwart him. And the fans would go along with it. They seem to love violence.”

Even in those sports that were once considered the essence of fair play and gentlemanly conduct, such as tennis and cricket, violence has crept in​—both verbal and physical. Tennis was once the game of well-mannered people who had learned to practice sportsmanship. During the last decade that philosophy has evaporated in a series of tirades, tantrums and obscenities from some of the leading professionals.

Are Schools Affected?

With such violence at the professional level of sport, is it any wonder that similar attitudes have crept down to college and high school levels? Marvin Vickers, a stocky 24-year-old from New Jersey, played football for his high school in North Brunswick and received offers to play at university level. What does he say about violence in school sports? “The coaches taught us to play dirty. For example, if we knew that an opponent had hurt his ribs then the order was ‘Pound his injured ribs!’ In fact, if we didn’t pull out injured two or three of their guys, it wasn’t really a game.”

Even at high school level hatred and violence are instilled in the youngsters. Wrote university and high school instructor Fred F. Paulenich: “Youngsters are taught to hurt, to cheat, to victimize for the god Victory. Coaches show high school and college teams violent films to psyche them for opponents.”

Dave Schultz, Canadian ice-hockey player, famous for his brawling style of play, recently said: “I do apologize to the young players who saw my style or play and used it as a model. . . . I played that way because everyone​—coaches, fans, media—​seemed to expect it from me.”

That last comment leads us logically to the next question.

Why Has Violence Increased?

“Coaches, fans, media.” These have become major factors in sports violence. Between them they make the law of supply and demand function. The fans want action and excitement. That is the demand. The coaches are often employed by business tycoons who want their franchises to flourish financially. That means keep the fans happy. So the coaches are driven to satisfy the public demand. On the sidelines, the media, especially television, join in, alternately exalting and condemning the violence.

Some years ago Vince Lombardi, professional coach for the Green Bay Packers U.S. football team, expressed his sports philosophy in the following now-hackneyed phrase: “Winning isn’t everything; it’s the only thing.” He certainly did not originate the idea. He just synthesized in a few words the prevailing mentality in professional sports.

But why is winning so important? The above-quoted news report supplies the answer: “Universities [in the U.S.A.] make multi-million dollar investments in their Division I athletic programs (much of it for scholarshipped athletes) for many reasons, not the least of which is the potential for huge profits from successful football and basketball teams.”

Big business and profits are the key. Sports generate money as never before. The fight between Sugar Ray Leonard and Thomas Hearn in September, 1981, “was the richest single sporting event in history with an expected total gross of $37 million.” Recently, eight U.S. baseball players signed contracts “that average from $500,000 a year to $926,000 a year.” Fernando Valenzuela, the famous Mexican pitcher for the Los Angeles Dodgers, is reported to have earned from $300,000 to $500,000 in one season just from endorsements of products. According to the Argentine daily La Nacion, the Boca Juniors soccer club deposited the equivalent of $1 million as “payment of the first quota for the definite purchase of Diego Armando Maradona,” one of Argentina’s star soccer players. From Australia it is reported: “Now the sky’s the limit and football is big business, with each of the 12 Victorian Football League clubs having an annual turnover of about $1 million [Australian dollars].”

What is the end result of big business involvement in sports? Increased violence. Why? Because sports now require vast incomes from its spectators and television channels. That means the consumer has to be converted into a sports addict in order to guarantee a constant vast inflow of cash. How is that accomplished? By supplying what the customer demands​—excitement. And excitement usually means violence. Thus the self-sustaining cycle is established. The coaches have to teach and demand violence because the fans (abbreviation for “fanatics”) want it. And the business moguls want their profits. And the media, to boost their own sales, alternate between adulation and accusation. Caught in the middle of this vicious circle are the players who have to come up with the goods​—action, excitement and violence.

Why Spectator Violence?

Today’s exorbitant sports wages and prizes have spawned a secondary motivator of violence. How so? The spectator pays a high price to watch highly paid professionals. As a result he demands perfection all the time. No allowance is made for failure or for an off day. This process is aptly explained by Professor John Cheffers of Boston University: “There is an essential diminution [lessening] of respect for players who are considered by the sports fans to be overpaid, sometimes cantankerous, certainly spoiled. Consequently, the setting up of professional sports people as performing seals, expected to be perfect at each attempt, dehumanizes them and renders them as merchandise in the eyes of management and spectator.”

What is the logical consequence of this process? Spectator violence. But why should that be? Well, what do you do if you buy a defective product in a supermarket? You complain to the manager or the manufacturer and expect redress. And how do you complain in a sports stadium if the performance is not up to par? Since there is no official channel for redress, the disappointed fan irrupts in spontaneous violence. Over the last two decades spectator violence has been boosted by two more factors​—drugs and drink. Many fans arrive at sports stadiums already drunk or drugged, or are well on the way, and are equipped with further supplies of beer and marijuana to sustain them through the game. As the match progresses crowds become mobs, inhibitions disappear, and “Mindless Violence” is the next day’s headline.

Spectator violence has reached such levels in Europe that many countries do not want certain fans at their matches. “Fans of England, don’t come back!” was the message from Basel, Switzerland, after England supporters went on the rampage in that sedate Swiss city. People in downtown Barcelona, Spain, shudder when they think of the Glasgow Rangers fans that sowed panic in their streets in 1972. The fact that the situation is worsening is attested to by one embarrassed England supporter who said: “I’ve been travelling to our games abroad for 13 years and watched it getting worse and worse. Now yobs [hooligans] from areas like Chelsea, West Ham and Manchester are coming just for the aggro [aggression, aggravation]. They don’t even watch the matches.”

Is There a Solution?

Violence in sports, both on and off the field, is now a world plague. All kinds of patchwork solutions are being suggested and tried. In many stadiums around the world the fans are now fenced in behind a moat, like wild animals at a zoo. In some stadiums fans of opposing teams are restricted to different spectator areas. Police and riot squads are reinforced. Some authorities have suggested severe laws and penalties for violent players and onlookers. Sportsmen have even advocated banning certain violent actions in some sports, such as ice hockey. “But the team owners, fearful of what impact this might have on ticket sales, never acted upon it.”

Obviously, sportsmanship and fair play cannot be legislated into people’s hearts and minds. They have to be taught as an integral part of a balanced approach to life. But is that possible? If so, how could it benefit you and your children? What can be done to make sports a healthy fun activity rather than a do-or-die ordeal?

[Picture on page 4]

[Pictures on page 5]

THIS resulted in THIS

Sports and the Family​—A Balanced View

Sports​—Why the Increasing Violence?

“THIS woman came running over, shouting obscenities. I backed off. She kicked me and scratched me.” Answer from the other party: “I went out there and this woman threw a punch at me and I kicked at her and we both missed. I’m sorry I missed. I’d have done it again.”

Now, what was that all about? Was it a female wrestling match? No, it was two Canadian mothers brawling at a soccer tournament for their 10-year-old sons.

Perhaps it illustrates one of the problems that some children have in sports​—their parents. As one mother wrote about her child’s participation in Little League baseball: “We presented it to our boys as a treat, a privilege . . . And it was we who got carried away by it. We imposed our own competitive feelings on those poor kids, and the next thing we knew, they were playing baseball not to please themselves but to keep us smiling.”

In Australia “children as young as five and six are being forced into a highly stressful, competitive sporting atmosphere, despite the official position in many organisations​—rugby, soccer and cricket, that they should not begin before 10 or 12.” Dr. W. W. Ewens in New South Wales said that the evidence was “reasonably conclusive that physiologically, psychologically and sociologically, young children were not equipped to handle a major sport.”

Then why do parents and coaches put so much pressure on the kids? “Parents step over the line when they overidentify with their children, or try to live through them,” said Dr. Leonard Reich, a New York child psychologist. “For some parents it represents a chance to return to the days of their youth.” The only problem is that they tend to apply adult criteria to their children’s games. The result is that fun, fun, fun gives way to win! win! win!

Balanced Involvement

Obviously, parents should take an interest in their children’s recreation, but their involvement should be balanced and constructive. As ice-hockey star Bobby Orr explained: “My father never pushed me to play. I played hockey because I loved to play.” New York athletics coach Vincent Chiapetta said regarding his attitude toward his son: “Although I was in athletics I did not try to force my boy into running. . . . I attended his games because he was my child and my responsibility. But when I saw the coach putting pressure on the kids I told him I was withdrawing my son. I let him know that as far as I am concerned winning is not the only thing. After all, a game is just a game.”

And what do youngsters think when Mom and Dad join in with the kids in some informal outdoor game? Rick Rittenbach, one of six children, recalls: “Being six kids we would often get a game of softball going, or volleyball. And I know we all got a kick out of it when Mom and Dad joined in. And they obviously enjoyed it too. I am sure that it was one of the many factors that helped to keep us united as a family.”

Sports participation can be a tonic for everybody, regardless of age. But children, especially, view recreation as a highlight and when it is allied to a good relationship with the parents the benefits multiply. Then you have a happy, healthy, united family. But what is the key to the situation? Balance. Recreation or sports should be a pastime, not a deadly competition or a divisive battleground.

Bodily Training​—Useful?

Does the Bible offer any practical guidance in the field of sports?

In the first place, let us note the Bible’s valuable basic counsel: “Let your reasonableness become known to all men.” (Philippians 4:5) This immediately indicates a balanced view on all matters. For example, the apostle Paul, in the athletics-oriented Greek world of his day, wrote to a young Christian: “Train yourself spiritually. Physical exercises are useful enough, but the usefulness of spirituality is unlimited.” (1 Timothy 4:7, 8, The Jerusalem Bible) Another translation renders it: “The training of the body does bring limited benefit.”​—The New English Bible.

If, then, the benefit is limited, is it wise to make sports a full-time dedication? Are the true values of life based on sports? And what if the sport contravenes basic Christian principles, such as ‘love your neighbor as yourself’ or ‘do to others as you would have them do to you’? What if extracurricular sports activity means unnecessary association with persons who do not share Christian principles? Will that undermine spirituality? Does not First Corinthians 15:33 answer Yes?​—“Do not be misled. Bad associations spoil useful habits.”

While sports as a recreation do bring “limited benefit,” one has to be conscious of possible dangers when they are taken too seriously. The Bible supplies a guideline in this respect: “Let us not become egotistical, stirring up competition with one another, envying one another.” (Galatians 5:26) Our previous article showed how increased competition can lead to violence. An excessively competitive spirit cancels out much of the pleasure of the game since the final goal, a win, becomes the only meaningful thing.

Other translations of that text say: “We must have no desire for empty prestige.” (Barclay) “Then we won’t need to look for honors and popularity.” (The Living Bible) Young people are drawn on by the fantasy of sports success. They dream of being the star, the winner, out there in the middle. For the vast majority that is an impossible dream. For the “favored” few the price is high, often terribly high. Darryl Stingley, ex-U.S. footballer knows that only too well. As a result of one deadly tackle in August 1978 he has since been paralyzed from the neck down.

Heitor Amorim, Brazilian soccer star, puts the subject in focus, saying: “You should never forget that it is an insignificant few who become stars and attain all the honors that go with success. For each one that makes the big time there are thousands who suffer in frustration. They dropped out from their studies, failed at sport and then were left​—with what? The cold shoulder. Nobody wants to know a loser today.”

So then, in essence, what is the best counsel to follow regarding sports? We will let ex-Australian football player Peter Hanning (professional from 1964-75 for Swan Districts) answer that question: “My advice to young people is, Enjoy your physical exercise. Sports are a recreation that will keep you healthy and happy as a pastime. But professional sport is a different tale. It requires an all-excluding total commitment, a complete dedication. And the price you pay is high​—all relationships, whether to people or to God, have to suffer. You become part of a self-contained world of adulation, immorality, envy, pride and avarice. And you run the constant risk of being the victim of a disabling injury. Or, perhaps even worse for anyone with a conscience, of severely injuring someone else. My personal injury list ran to a broken arm, nose (four times), and cheekbone, knee cartilage removed, back injury and concussion twice. And compared to some, I got off fairly lightly!”

So while it is true that “the glory of young men is their strength” (Proverbs 20:29, NE), it must also be remembered that life’s relationships are not based on strength but on wisdom. So enjoy your sports in a balanced way. Let them distract you, but never obsess you. Let them renew you, but never possess you.

[Picture on page 11]

“Bodily training is beneficial for a little.”​—1 Timothy 4:8

Does Astrology Rule Your Life?

By “Awake!” correspondent in India

“Daily Guide for September 1981”

“1. Tues. Good for patients to take first bath after recovery from illness.

“2. Wed. Good for testing instruments.

“3. Thurs. Good for buying cows and dogs, for ploughing the garden, for driving new vehicles, for taking medicines, for wearing new clothes, for appointing staff, for digging wells.”

THUS a popular Indian astrology magazine begins its monthly astral guidance.

Throughout the world much popular literature features charts on astrology, offering millions of readers advice and direction in their daily lives. And many do avidly consult the charts! But is it really true that the planets and stars influence people’s lives?

Characteristics and Origin of Astrology

Astrology has come to our advanced 20th century out of a dimly distant and superstitious past. It has come from a time when the ancients believed that the planets were gods, and that these orbiting deities held religious sway over the daily affairs and decisions of the masses. In those days constellations were consulted at births, at marriages and on every occasion of family distress and success.

The overwhelming majority in India today still believe that the stars and planets rule their entire lives. Many believe that some planets are male, others are female, and still others are bisexual.

Indian astrologers divide a zone of the starry heavens into the 12 signs of the zodiac of 30 degrees each. Each sign is subdivided into two equal parts of 15 degrees, thus making 24 divisions in the heavens. Each division is called an hora, the Greek word for hour. These horas, astrologers say, are ruled alternatively by the sun and the moon, with the order of control changing, depending on whether the zodiacal sign is odd or even. Since the sun is male his influence is masculine and cruel, and because the moon is female her control is feminine and mild.

A noted Indian astrologer said recently: “Parasara is no doubt acclaimed as the father of astrology in this present wicked era.” Who was Parasara? One authority states: “PARASARA. Name of an ancient Indian astronomer, the author of the Parasaratantra. He is said to have received instruction in astronomy from the Moon, and then imparted it to the Yavanas (Greeks).”

Do you believe that the moon can impart instruction to humans on earth? Or perhaps you believe that Western astrology is different. Note what the Encyclopædia Britannica says about the origin of Western and Indian astrology:

“Greek astrology was transmitted to India in the 2nd and 3rd centuries AD by means of several Sanskrit translations. . . . The techniques of Indian astrology are thus not surprisingly similar to those of its Hellenistic counterpart. . . . Recently, in the West, however, astrology has regained a large popular following, though there does not seem to have been any effort made to reestablish a firm theoretical basis for it. Both Indian and Western astrology were influenced by Greek astrology. Evidently, the Indians did with the Greek zodiac what the Romans did with the Babylonian. On the origin of the zodiac, a modern history states:

“The Chaldeans made great progress in the study of astronomy through an effort to discover the future in the stars. This art we call ‘astrology.’ . . . The groups of stars which now bear the name ‘Twelve Signs of the Zodiac’ were mapped out for the first time, and the planets Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn were known. . . . We refer to these planets by their Roman names, but the Romans had adopted the Babylonian terms and simply translated them into their equivalents in Rome. Thus the planet of Ishtar, the goddess of love, became Venus, and that of the god Marduk was changed to Jupiter.”

Therefore, when charts of astrology in popular publications are respected, or esteemed of any value, is it not, in effect, a respect and esteem for the old gods of Babylon? Would you want superstitious gods to rule your life?

Other peoples in ancient times worshiped the stars and looked to them for guidance, but not the people of God, for they were commanded: “Do not be tempted to worship and serve what you see in the sky​—the sun, the moon, and the stars.” The Babylonians were denounced for their harsh treatment of Jehovah’s people, but the advice they received from their astrologers would be of no benefit to them: “You are powerless in spite of the advice you get. Let your astrologers come forward and save you​—those people who study the stars, who map out the zones of the heavens and tell you from month to month what is going to happen to you. They will be like bits of straw, and a fire will burn them up! They will not even be able to save themselves.”​—Deuteronomy 4:19; Isaiah 47:13, 14, Today’s English Version.

Origin and Purpose of Heavenly Bodies

Outlining the origin and purpose of the stars and planets, the Bible says: “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. And God went on to say: ‘Let luminaries come to be in the expanse of the heavens to make a division between the day and the night; and they must serve as signs and for seasons and for days and years.’ And God proceeded to make the two great luminaries, the greater luminary for dominating the day and the lesser luminary for dominating the night, and also the stars.”​—Genesis 1:1, 14, 16.

Thus the sun is to dominate the day, the moon the night, but neither is to dominate or rule over humans! Rather, they are to serve man’s interests.

A Drug Smuggler’s Search for Contentment

I SET out on my six-hour journey through the rugged Latin-American countryside. The early morning sun gave promise of another hot day. Even so, the 20-kg backpack caused me little discomfort.a I had done this many times before. Trailing behind me were my 18 cargadores (packmen), each with his own valuable load. What was so valuable? Coca leaves, to make cocaine.

As I pushed my way through thick foliage I reflected on my skill as a smuggler. Suddenly my reverie was shattered by gunfire! The fear flashed through my mind, “Trapped by the border police!” However, I made my escape. Others in my group did not fare so well. Three were caught and could expect prison terms, a fourth was wounded and later died.

Why would I endanger my life smuggling narcotics? To escape poverty. I was one of 12 children born to a humble carpenter. By the time I was six my father’s health had deteriorated due to the burden of providing for so many children. Economically, we went from little to less.

Four years later I was working in the fields near our home. The pay was minimal and the days endless. I lost count of the times mother attended to my bruised knees and cut hands. How I longed for a good life, to be happy and free of need!

The chance came when I turned 16. My brother-in-law ran drugs across the border, and he asked me to work with him. I grew dizzy with visions of the possibilities. “A great hiker like me,” I thought, “could make a fortune.”

By experience I soon learned the ropes. Some friends and I began to forge a number of routes through the heavily wooded hills. We selected various key points to cross the river that formed the border. This would confuse the patrolling guards, since we would not always cross at the same place. Usually our timing coincided with the arrival of the prearranged truck. But even here the danger of discovery was ever present. Three times I narrowly escaped capture.

At the outset of my career of drug smuggling I came to know a young woman and soon we were living together. Although I had a certain affection for her, I never considered being tied down by a legal marriage. Even after two children were born to us, my attitude remained unchanged. She worried constantly about my health and safety.

Shamefully, I can recall a number of times when I would come home in a condition anything but sober and spark a controversy that would lead to blows. How egotistical I had become! I was blinded by my mania to become rich.

In those years a 20-kg bundle of coca leaves brought the equivalent of $125 (U.S.) on the foreign market. A laborer in my village made only $1 (U.S.) a day, while I squandered thousands of pesos on lavish meals and women companions. It made me feel important, but was I truly content?

During those turbulent days I answered the sound of clapping hands (the equivalent of ringing a doorbell in other countries). A foreign visitor stood at my front gate. After a short discussion he left me an issue of Awake! magazine. Throughout the following months I would return home from my trips to find that more issues had appeared. I ignored them for a time, until I came across one that I just could not put down. I must find the gringo with Awake!

The search didn’t take long. Rolf Grankvist, one of Jehovah’s Witnesses, had started a Bible study with two of my brothers, and I lost no time in inviting myself to the next session. Various subjects were discussed from the Bible. I found the consideration refreshing and inquired about a personal Bible study in my home for my family.

Another Witness, a local baker, was sent. Naturally, my first question was about trafficking in contraband coca. “What does the Bible say about that?” I queried. Kindly, but firmly, he outlined the reasons why this would not be acceptable to God. Among the scriptures used was 1 John 4:20 (‘he who does not love his brother, whom he sees, cannot be loving God, whom he cannot see’). The message was clear: it would be hypocritical to say one loves God while working to do injury to one’s fellowman.

This set me to wondering. My activity was certainly unacceptable to God, but why hadn’t my priest told me this? He knew that I and others were smuggling narcotics.

I faced the realities. My health was worsening, my family relationship was poor, and I lacked contentment. I asked myself frankly, “Can you really make the break?” I had recently become more deeply involved, having made arrangements to process the coca into cocaine. But I drew strength from my decision to serve Jehovah, and told my partners I was quitting. They were dumbfounded and angry. But I held firmly to my decision​—no more trafficking in drugs!

As my knowledge increased I sensed that the problems that had entangled my life were coming unknotted. I read Hebrews 13:4: “Let marriage be honorable among all, and the marriage bed be without defilement, for God will judge fornicators and adulterers.” So I took steps to legalize our common-law relationship. I studied the chapter on “Building a Happy Family Life” in the book The Truth That Leads to Eternal Life. Application of that material increased the respect my wife and I showed for each other, and our sons thrived on the more peaceful and loving atmosphere in our home. Hebrews 10:25 counseled about “not forsaking the gathering of ourselves together.” Complying with that admonition contributed to our family’s spirituality. In January of 1976 I dedicated my life to Jehovah.

The preaching activity swelled the ranks of Jehovah’s Witnesses. The local priest, who had never denounced the smuggling of drugs, now became incensed by the Witnesses’ teaching the people the good news of God’s kingdom. Each Sunday on his radio program he railed against the Witnesses. His efforts backfired. The attention he thus drew to our work contributed toward the 200-percent increase we enjoyed over the next four years.

Due to the growing bond of affection between my wife and me, and knowing that I had cut all ties to drug trafficking, much curiosity was stirred up among my relatives. At first some watched, anticipating an early reversal of these reforms. As we continued to make progress in living by Bible principles, however, curiosity turned to interest. How happy it made us to see two of my brothers and their wives become Jehovah’s Witnesses! I also have had the added joy of serving as an overseer in our local congregation.

Not long ago I was able to review the many twists and turns my life has taken. Memories of my past coursed through my mind as I struggled over the difficult terrain, a well-laden packhorse by my side. Closely behind me were my two companions encouraging their pack animals along as well. Had the desire for fast money by smuggling overtaken me again? Far from it. Those loads on the pack animals contained not a single coca leaf! Rather, my companions and I were carrying Bibles and Bible study aids earmarked for the farmers living deep in the hill country.​—Contributed.

[Footnotes]

[Blurb on page 14]

The fear flashed through my mind, “Trapped by the border police!”

[Blurb on page 15]

Hypocritical to say that one loves God while working to do injury to one’s fellowman

[Blurb on page 16]

I held firmly to my decision​—no more trafficking in drugs!

[Picture on page 15]

From smuggling coca leaves to transporting Bible literature

[Pictures on page 16]

Smuggling this . . . or preaching this?

Coca leaves

Young People Ask . . .

Can I Really Find Love at First Sight?

DAVID could not take his eyes off Janet. They had just met for the first time at a party. He was attracted to her shapely figure and the way her hair tumbled over her eye when she laughed. Janet was enchanted by his deep brown eyes and his witty conversation. They both felt that this was the start of something big.

During the next three weeks David and Janet were inseparable. They talked for hours and discovered countless common interests. Both said that they had never been this close to anyone else. However, one night Janet received an emotionally devastating phone call from a previous male companion. So she called David for comfort. But David, feeling threatened and confused, responded coldly. Janet felt rejected. What they had considered love at first sight​—a love believed strong enough to last forever—​died that night.

The ending of this experience contrasts greatly with what most persons see through today’s entertainment and advertising media. A dazzling picture is painted of men and women who, after a glance, a look, “fall madly in love” and remain that way for a lifetime. As a young person you may ask: Is this how love starts? Can lasting love really be found at first sight?

Certainly, physical attraction is a factor in drawing two persons together. It usually is the first thing you notice. “You must realize that it is hard to ‘see’ a person’s personality,” said 21-year-old Guy.

But what is it that one “loves” when the relationship is but a few hours or days old? Is it not the mental image you have of that person? Really, you don’t know much about that person’s thoughts, hopes, fears, plans, habits, skills or abilities. Basically, you’ve only met the outer shell, not “the secret person of the heart.”​—1 Peter 3:4.

However, the outward appearance does have a powerful effect!

The Face Versus the Person

In many countries the faces of handsome men and glamorous women beam from movie and TV screens, as well as adorn newspaper ads, magazine covers and billboards. So quite likely the daydreams of young people are going to involve the physical qualities of handsomeness and beauty. With the overemphasis on The Face, the underlying personality could easily be overlooked.

One research study found that there was a tendency to associate (in one’s own imagination) certain positive personality traits with a physically attractive person. The report in Psychology Today says: “We found that students thought good-looking persons were generally more sensitive, kind, interesting, strong, poised, modest, sociable, outgoing and exciting than less-attractive persons.”

Yet surely you know some physically attractive persons who are anything but kind, modest or sensitive. Outward appearances can be deceiving. It is true as the Bible says: “Charm may be false, and prettiness may be vain.” The glittering wrappings of a gift tell you nothing of what’s inside. In fact, the most elegant wrappings may cover a useless gift.​—Proverbs 31:30.

The Bible compares the physical beauty of some women to a gold nose ring. “As a gold nose ring in the snout of a pig, so is a woman [or a man] that is pretty but that is turning away from sensibleness.” (Proverbs 11:22) Nose rings were popular during Bible times and, in some lands, still are today. Customarily, these were worn through the right nostril and were exquisite, often made of solid gold, upon which precious jewels or corals were strung. Because of its location it usually is the first piece of jewelry you would notice when greeting the wearer.

However, if a person was pretty without having “sensibleness,” it was like taking that beautiful nose ring and putting it in the snout of a pig. If you kept your eye only on that glittering nose ring, what a rude awakening to find that its possessor was a pig! So, too, would it not be better to find out whether the person you are physically attracted to has “sensibleness,” or ‘sound intellectual judgment and discernment’? “You’ve got to take time,” urged 20-year-old Sandra. “A person just doesn’t hand out to you his personality by simply saying: ‘This is what I am. Now you know all about me.’ It just doesn’t work that way. It takes time.”

Wait to See the ‘Person of the Heart’

One couple felt that they did not have to wait. “I just fell in love, fast and deep,” explained 20-year-old Jill. “When it hits, it hits real hard.” After a whirlwind romance of two months, they were married. But then the ‘secret person’ of each one’s heart began to emerge.

Jill, who was an affectionate blond with pale-blue eyes, began to display some of her insecurity and self-centeredness. Her handsome husband, after seeing his life’s dreams “go down the drain” because of his family responsibilities, lost his romantic charm and became selfish. After being married for about two years, Jill finally one day screamed that her husband was “cheap,” “lazy” and a “flop” as a husband. Rick responded by striking her in the face with his fist. In tears, Jill dashed out of their house​—and out of their marriage.

Of course, following Bible counsel about how marriage mates should treat each other would have helped them. (Ephesians 5:22-33) But how much easier their adjustment in marriage would have been had they become better acquainted! By taking time they would have got a better glimpse of each other’s real personality and seen how each one would react under stress. Their love would not have been of an “image,” but of a real personality​—one with both flaws and strengths. Yet to learn all of this would have taken time, time that they failed to give to their premarriage relationship.

Wise indeed are those young persons who recognize that real love does not happen overnight. For instance, one young woman corresponded through the mail with a young man she met at a religious convention. “In one of his letters he said that he ‘loved me,’” reported Barbara. “I was dumbfounded. I only saw him once. We didn’t know anything really important about each other. How in the world could he say that he loved me? I think at that point I grew up a little bit. I then realized that there is more to love than just outward appearance and being physically attracted to a person.” Have you ‘grown up’ to realize this also?

Barbara eventually did meet a man that she grew to love. “At first I was not overly attracted to Stephen physically,” revealed Barbara. “But as I got to know him better, things changed. I saw Stephen’s concern for other people and how he always put the interests of others before himself. These were the qualities I knew would make a good husband. I was drawn to him and began to love him.” Their relationship led to a good marriage. Yes, lasting happiness can come to those couples who develop real love and avoid the snare of thinking that genuine love comes at first sight.

[Pictures on page 18]

Even though a nose ring is a thing of beauty, when it is attached to the nose of a pig such beauty fades. The same is true of a beautiful person who turns away from sensibleness. It takes time to determine whether the beauty is only skin-deep

[Picture on page 19]

Is it love at first sight or only infatuation?

Help for Animals Abused by Man

By a staff writer

SOME of the animals are former pets. Others were abused, orphaned or injured. Still others were confiscated by local, state or federal authorities. Not all are native to the United States; many are exotic animals in need. Some have been declawed, defanged, neutered or crippled by malnutrition or by the cruelty of former owners. All of them have found help at Wildlife Waystation. Its boast is: “Wildlife Waystation has never turned away an animal in need!”

My visit there last August convinced me the boast is true.

After a photographer and I had driven several miles up Little Tujunga canyon in the San Gabriel Mountains north of Los Angeles, we arrived at this 160-acre animal compound. We were welcomed by a tanned and healthy young woman​—Martine Colette, founder and president of this nonprofit, tax-exempt animal facility. (Visitors are received by appointment only.) With friendliness, competence and articulateness, she conducted our tour of Wildlife Waystation.

“This is Cowboy,” Martine said, as we stopped at the first cage. In it was a beautiful big mountain lion.

“This animal was six months old when he was found in a pet store, malnourished and with bad teeth​—fortunately, they were his baby teeth. He’s now in perfect condition, mentally well disposed.”

“But that name, Cowboy?” I faltered.

She laughed. “When he was small I let him loose with the horses. He loved to chase them. The horses didn’t mind then​—they wouldn’t care for it now.”

Sheena’s Sad Story

No light-heartedness later when we were looking at another mountain lion.

“Here’s a sad story,” Martine began. “The man had an elegant apartment​—Louis XVI reproduction furniture, chandeliers, white silk couches, antiques. He visualized another piece of ‘furniture’​—an elegant animal walking through all this opulence. He bought a mountain lion cub. He did not, however, understand the mountain lion. The cub started to do the things that such babies will do. So he removed her claws. She grew older, but she still did not behave according to his specifications. Her canine teeth were the next to go. That wasn’t enough, so all her teeth were pulled. He still was not satisfied, so she’s here.”

Martine leaned close to the cage and said softly, “Hi, Sheena.” The big cat looked at her forlornly, but with urging Sheena opened her mouth wide. All gums, not a tooth in her head. A pan of a mushlike mixture was near her. “We prepare her food special,” Martine explained.

As we left Sheena, Martine volunteered: “A few people can care for wild animal pets. Most people who have them fail them. Not through deliberate cruelty, but through ignorance, or lack of care, or ego trips, whatever.”

“Many people,” I said, “are drawn to these magnificent big cats, yearn to have them as pets to fondle. I understand the feeling. I share it. But lions are not poodles. They’re designed for jungles, not living rooms. Some, like the man who ruined Sheena, want to feed their ego, use the animal to project a macho image.”

We visited the wolves.

“This pair came from a zoo. That one is from an animal compound whose owner was killed. This one we found chained in someone’s yard up north.” As Martine talked she interrupted herself to call out greetings to individual wolves and getting responses from them.

“Wolves are so misunderstood. People who have them do all the wrong things, transgress against the animal’s social behavior, come between it and its food, or between it and its mate. It reacts, it bites someone.” After a pause she continues: “I feel sorrow for the wolves. They’re very exuberant, they’re runners, they eat up the miles. These 40-foot runs are nothing for them. Hopefully, our next project will be to put them into an acre enclosure.”

Nasty Hates Us

At the next cage I saw a Chinese leopard. “It’s the biggest of the leopards,” Martine said. “We have to do dental work on this one.” She called out, “Hi, Nasty! Hi, Son!” The leopard’s response was to open his mouth wide and blow at her. “His name is Dynasty,” she explained, “but we call him Nasty for short.”

“Does he live up to his nickname?” I asked.

“Absolutely!”

“He’s blowing at us again.”

“Dynasty does not believe in people at all. He was in a zoo, then in a kind of safari park, then to us. Hopefully, after getting his teeth fixed, we can place him in a zoo.” As we left, Nasty gave us a parting blast.

“This is George the Jaguar,” Martine said. “You don’t see jaguars worked in circuses, unless they’re young. Old ones are unpredictable. No,” she corrected herself, “they are predictable. They will eat you.”

“That’s predictable enough for me.” To the jaguar I said: “Whatever else you are, George, you are certainly beautiful, a Gorgeous George!”

“Look at that face! Look at that face!” Martine cooed as we stood gazing at a big Siberian tiger. It was a strikingly beautiful face. “This doctor always wanted a tiger,” she explained. “It was his fantasy from the time he was a little boy. He bought this one as a cub for $3,000. By the time it was four months old, the good doctor spent most of his time on the kitchen floor. In play the baby bowled him over constantly. Fortunately, he was a sane man, not an egotistical individual, and he realized, ‘If at four months he splatters me all over the place, what will he do when he’s grown?’ The good doctor sent him to us.”

“Reesha, Reesha,” she called out softly to the tiger, and the great yellow eyes gazed steadily at her out of that incredibly beautiful face. Martine’s devotion to her charges is unmistakable. She slipped her hand through the fence. With a big pink tongue Reesha washed it for her.

“How old is Reesha?” I asked.

“He’s just a baby​—three years old.”

“And how much does he weigh?”

“Now, about 550 pounds, later, 750.”

Farther along I admired a big maned lion. The photographer started to take his picture. He rose majestically and walked away. “He doesn’t want his picture taken. The king is telling you your audience is over,” Martine said.

Sad Story, Happy Ending

Next we visited a beautiful lioness. “Here’s a sad story with a happy ending,” Martine said. “As a cub she was kept in a tiny cage with a small male. Either through starvation or disease, the male died, and she, to appease her hunger, was cannibalizing him. When the owner saw this he chastised her with a piece of pipe. She charged, and he knocked out all her teeth. When she came here at six months of age she had no fur from the ears down, because nobody had cleaned her cage, and urine and fecal burns had removed her hair. She hated people with a passion. Come near her and she would try to kill you. Now she’s relaxed and healthy, claws and teeth intact​—it was her baby teeth that were knocked out.”

By now we were in the center of the sprawling compound. “How many animals do you have here?” I asked.

“I really don’t know. I don’t want to count. If I did I might decide I couldn’t afford to feed them. You’ve been seeing the big stuff, but we have dozens of raccoons, baby foxes, baby coyotes. And who knows how many birds.”

“You don’t stop at anything, do you?”

“No, we’re not just with the big stuff. It’s very visible and dramatic, but the bulk of our work is with the little stuff.”

The Unpredictable Bears

The next feature, however, was very big stuff​—a huge Kodiak brown bear slumped against the bars of his cage.

“This is Chow. His trainer was feeding him fish one day, and Chow took the fish and the trainer’s leg. Understandably, the trainer lost interest in Chow, so Chow landed with us. In my opinion,” Martine volunteered, “of all the carnivores, bears are the most unpredictable. Their eye expression never changes. The big cats, wolves and others give a warning. Their eye expressions and body language change. With bears, nothing changes, not the eyes, not the body​—unless, of course, he’s charging. He walks in to take a fish, but he may wallop you instead.”

“Do any of your workers go in with Chow?”

“Absolutely not.”

“He looks docile.”

“Maybe he is, maybe he isn’t. Who can tell? He’d make a good poker player. We do have bears we go in with, the black bears. We take them swimming in our pond, if they want to go.”

“If they want to go?” I queried.

“That may sound funny, but some caged animals never want to leave their cages. It’s their territory and they won’t leave it. It’s their ‘home sweet home.’

“Over here there are several black bears. See that one with the ear tag? It’s a federal tag. She was a state bear in one of the parks. Her mother, apparently, was fed out of cars. When her mother had her, she was shown how to get goodies out of cars, how to put her claws in the grooves around a car door and rip the door off. Or any other part of the car she could rip open. She had been taught that inside every car there were goodies. Then she had babies​—see those two young males? They are hers​—and she taught them what her Mom taught her: find a car, rip it open, get the goodies that are inside.

“But park rangers frown on this. They trap such bears and haul them off to the back country, hoping they will not return. But most of them do, and think nothing of traveling 50 to 100 miles to get back to the cars and the goodies. Then it’s destroy the bears, or find another home for them. Most of the time it’s destroy the bears. But this mother, Honeybear, was a favorite. The rangers knew her mother, had seen her as a tiny cub and watched her grow up. She was special, so she and her babies ended up here. Feeding the park bears,” Martine concluded, “may seem like a good turn, but it’s a bad one for the bears.”

Monkey See, Monkey Do

We climbed a slope to the monkey cages perched on a hillside.

“The old saying, ‘Monkey see, monkey do,’ isn’t just idle talk. Monkeys must observe other monkeys to become monkeys. Much of what they do, from gathering food to sleeping habits, to sexual behavior, to relationships within the troop​—it’s all observed and learned. Look around. We have pairs of monkeys everywhere, but you don’t see one baby. None of them are capable of normal reproduction, because they have never seen it.

At this point Martine stopped to instruct some workers.

“How many do you have working here?” I asked.

“Right now, 10. They volunteer their time and work for room and board.

“Over here,” she continued, “is a monkey that was completely naked when brought to us. It had sat in a small cage, and the lady that owned her spent most of her time sitting alongside. She sat and ate, and handed food to her monkey, who sat and ate. For eight years they sat and ate. The lady weighed about 300 pounds, and the monkey weighed 50. The monkey was also bored, so when she was not eating she picked the hair off her entire body. She’s been with us four years, and most of her hair is back.”

Looking across the way I saw some construction work in progress. “What’s that to be?”

“A hospital. When it’s done all veterinary work can be done here.”

“Are you a vet?”

“No. My mother felt it was not a nice profession for delicate young ladies. She had hopes that I would grow up to be such a young lady. Her hopes failed miserably, but I was an obedient girl and would not disobey what my mother said. And she said that no way would I be a vet. So I became what I am today, whatever that is.”

By now our tour was over, and Martine invited us to her and her husband’s home, located on the compound. She served us cold drinks​—a refreshing treat on this warm August afternoon.

An Exchange of Views

“Were you interested in animals from childhood?” I asked her.

“Yes, from early childhood. My father was in the diplomatic corps and we moved often. I was tutored, so I had few playmates. I turned to animals for companionship.

“In this operation here, people look at certain animals whose rehabilitation seems impossible, or small ones that to them are insignificant, and they ask, ‘Why are you keeping these? They’ll never be accepted by a zoo. Save the expense of their care. Euthanize them. And this ’possum, it’s not an endangered species, why waste money on it?’ Viewed in a businesslike way, they are right.

“Today so much is equated with dollars and cents. However, Wildlife Waystation is not set up to make money. It’s unique. It’s a charity, run solely on voluntary contributions. And in turn, it is charitable with lives. Now, where do you draw the line? Why is this leopard more important than that ’possum, or that sparrow less important than the ’possum?”

“The argument to save money sounds logical,” I said, “but it’s from the head, not the heart. Jehovah God himself, however, takes note even of the sparrow’s fall. His law to Israel safeguarded mother birds. It required consideration for the ox and the ass. Hunting for sport was typified by the condemned Nimrod. To hunt for food was allowed, but the blood was to be poured out on the ground out of respect for life. And one of the Proverbs says, ‘A good man takes care of his animals, but wicked men are cruel to theirs.’ (Pr 12:10a) So often ‘practical’ people concentrate on the material, to the neglect of the spiritual. When you callous the spirit you lose the richness of life. The spiritual, in the final analysis, is more practical than the material.”

She thought for a while, then observed: “Obviously, you grasp the essence of this place. You understand what I’m trying to do.” She paused, then continued: “I think it’s imperative for people to have contact with animals that are wild, and places that are wild. I think it’s good for the human spirit. When I become incensed about those who kill wild things for sport or trophies, people will say to me, ‘What do I care if there are no mountain lions? I’ve never seen one in my life, and it’s nothing to me if there’s not a mountain lion left!’ But the day that these wild things and places are gone, they are gone forever, and we have lost a precious heritage.”

“Martine,” I said, “why do people want to feed the park bears, even though it’s not good for the bears? Why do they want these wild things as pets, when it almost invariably turns out bad for the animals? People don’t want to injure them, they want to relate to them. Zoos provide proper food that visitors can feed the animals, because they know people crave to do this. Why? It’s the way we are made.”

“I do not belong to your religion,” Martine responded, “nor do I belong to any religion. I have seen too many conflicting things throughout the world for me to accept orthodox religion. I believe in the earth and the sky, and that Somebody up there is running things. Even in our operation here I feel that. We need something, we don’t have it, and no money to get it with. At the crucial time someone comes along with it and asks, ‘Can you use this?’ And I answer, ‘Can a duck use webbed feet?’”

The End of All Abuse

“Well, as you know, Martine, Jehovah’s Witnesses are a Bible-oriented group,” I said. “We believe that God created us with this desire to relate to animals. When he made man he said to him, at Genesis 1:28: ‘Your descendants will live all over the earth and bring it under their control. I am putting you in charge of the fish, the birds, and all the wild animals.’ Man is now failing miserably to meet this charge. Instead, he has polluted the earth and destroyed many animal species and endangered many more. God will stop this, saying at Revelation 11:18: ‘The time has come to destroy those who destroy the earth!’”

On this note our visit to Wildlife Waystation ended. As the photographer and I drove away we reflected on all that we had seen and heard.

We were saddened by the animals that had been so abused by man. We were impressed with the people at Wildlife Waystation who worked so hard to help them. As commendable as it is, it is still only a drop in the bucket when viewed on a global scale. How delightful it will be when Jehovah acts to eliminate, earth wide, the abuse of animals and also of people who suffer under this present system of things! Many persons will then enjoy the paradise earth that Jehovah has purposed for appreciative humankind, for those who will carry out his charge to care for its plants and animals and who will love their neighbors as themselves.​—Isaiah 11:6-9; 45:18; Psalm 37:11, 28, 29; Proverbs 2:21, 22; Matthew 22:34-40.

Can the abused earth, its animals and its peoples, use that promised paradise? To borrow Martine’s colorful answer, “Can a duck use webbed feet?”

[Footnotes]

[Picture on page 20]

Martine and friend

[Pictures on page 21]

Sheena

Dynasty

[Picture on page 22]

Reesha

[Picture on page 23]

Honeybear

[Picture on page 24]

The Sad Monkeys

Gilead Missionary School​—How Different?

THE Watchtower Bible School of Gilead, located in Brooklyn, New York, is neither a university nor a seminary. Yet it is an institution of higher learning, in fact of the highest learning. Why? Because its five-month study course is founded on the Bible, the inspired Word of God.

March 7, 1982, saw the graduation of its 72nd class of trained missionaries before a capacity audience of 2,044 at the Jehovah’s Witnesses Assembly Hall in Queens, New York.

Interestingly 11 of the graduates had previous experience at American and Canadian universities and colleges before becoming Witnesses. How do they compare Gilead School to their experience at university?

Ken Merritt, who has an honors degree in economics, said: “At university, generally speaking, you are just a number, not a person. The main objective is to get a degree and then a good job. In contrast, this intensive Bible study course has involved us as persons and affected our personality. The instructors and lecturers, although insisting on quality of work, have taught us with a spirit of Christian love.”

Gary Gontero, who studied at Kent State University, confirmed this opinion, adding: “The curriculum was excellent. It gave us a deep overall view of the Bible. It was a complete course of missionary preparation by reviewing the outstanding characters throughout the Bible. We had to measure ourselves against them and that helped us to see where to improve in facets of our Christian personality.”

Robert Landis, for ten years a full-time pioneer minister in Northern Ireland, had previously attended four different U.S. universities as a student of psychology. He comments: “Each university followed a different school of thought in psychology so that it was difficult to arrive at definite conclusions on human motivation and behavior. Our study of the Bible at Gilead School has given us a much clearer insight even in those fields. The application of Christian principles is also positive psychology. We have been equipped and trained to educate others in the way of life that the Bible offers.”

The 42 graduates, who were mainly from the United States, with a few from Canada, Cyprus, Austria and Ireland, have been assigned to missionary work in 18 different countries. Half the class are going to eight Spanish-speaking countries of Central and South America where there is a great response to the message of Jehovah’s kingdom by Christ. Eight others are being sent to the African countries of Senegal, Ivory Coast, Sierra Leone and Zaire. The remainder are going to Europe, Asia and the islands of the Caribbean and the Pacific. Most will learn a new language when they arrive at their adopted homeland.

In his talk to the graduates 88-year-old F. W. Franz, president of the Watch Tower Society, urged them to “carry on as men,” regardless of their sex, by being courageous in their missionary field.​—1 Corinthians 16:13; see also Revised Standard Version.

[Picture on page 27]

Watchtower Bible School of Gilead​—72nd Class, March 1982

In the list below, rows are numbered from front to back and names are listed from left to right in each row.

(1) Gossland, P.; Weygand, D.; Gontero, G.; Lung, A.; Roman, E.; Cardamone, D.; Dobbins, P.; Emmanuel, O. (2) Arnold, C.; Roberds, A.; Morrisey, B.; Peterson, J.; Landis, P.; Sedlack, C.; Williams, J.; Powell, P. (3) Rittenbach, J.; Rittenbach, R.; Miller, D.; Pilon, D.; Tockner, R.; Emmanuel, D.; Smith, T.; Rittenbach, B. (4) Morrisey, F.; Lung, D.; Dobbins, D.; Gontero, G.; Roberds, T.; Cardamone, D.; Fry, D.; Weygand, G. (5) Miller, R.; Peterson, E.; Crysler, D.; Powell, J.; Merritt, K.; Sedlack, E.; Landis, R.; Gossland, J.; Arnold, G.

From Our Readers

How to Get Some Sleep

Thank you for your article on how to get some sleep. I was one of those persons who just couldn’t fall asleep, and it happened every night! I always thought about going to see a doctor, but I dread the sleeping pills that they sometimes give their patients. But here was an article that was exactly what I needed. Since following the counsel I sleep at set times and after a good warm bath I fall asleep right away. It’s really unbelievable how such simple advice keeps me in better health.

A. N., Canada

The Art of Conversation

Thank you very much for the article on developing the art of conversation. I am shy and too concerned about how I sound to others and how they will take what I say. This article has helped me to understand why I have this problem and how to overcome it.

L. B., Louisiana

Thanks for the article “But What Do I Say?” I needed it. Sometimes we don’t want to face up to certain problems we have with ourselves. The article has helped me to face up to the problem I have sometimes when talking to people.

Anonymous, Maryland

Oats and Cholesterol

I recently had an opportunity to read one of your magazines. Many of the articles were interesting. However, I was quite concerned about your article relating to a researcher in Kentucky on his work with oats and cholesterol level. The article stated that the researcher had lowered cholesterol levels with oats. Merely eating oats is not enough. Many changes must be made in a person’s life-style before cholesterol levels are lowered! The best information you can give your readers is to follow the seven U.S. dietary guidelines established by the Department of Agriculture and Health and Human Services. These are: (1) Eat a Variety of Foods; (2) Maintain Ideal Weight; (3) Avoid Too Much Fat, Saturated Fat and Cholesterol; (4) Eat Foods with Adequate Starch and Fiber; (5) Avoid Too Much Sugar; (6) Avoid Too Much Sodium; (7) If You Drink Alcohol, Do So in Moderation.

E. B., Health Educator

Actually our reference was not an article, otherwise we would have given a more comprehensive treatment of the subject. It was merely a news item in our “Watching the World” feature. We thought it well to draw attention to the fact that it had been demonstrated that oats are a food that can lower blood cholesterol. We agree that one’s entire life-style is involved in this matter.​—ED.

Keeping Homes Clean

Thank you for the precious cartoon in the article “We Keep Our Homes Clean Despite the Neighborhood!” The message comes alive especially for young minds. It helps me to impress on my three-year-old boy the importance of keeping our home “happy,” not “sad” or “sick.” He’s learning to bring in his playthings and tidy up his toys.

J. P., Canada

Watching the World

Smiting Smoking

● The United States surgeon general, C. Everett Koop, has now proclaimed smoking to be “the most important health issue of our time.” At a press conference called to release a new report on smoking, he also stressed: “Cigarette smoking is clearly identified as the chief preventable cause of death in our society.” Almost a third of all cancer deaths were said to be the result of smoking. Though the Tobacco Institute countered that “the question is still open” as to whether smoking causes cancer, Dr. Koop insisted that “the evidence is strong and scientific and we stand by it.”

The surgeon general’s report cited the longest list yet of cancers related to smoking, mentioning stomach cancer for the first time. Some other major items in the report were: (1) smoking is responsible for 85 percent of all lung-cancer deaths, (2) three times as many pack-or-more-a-day smokers die of cancer as do nonsmokers, (3) 95 percent of people who quit smoking did so unaided by special programs, and (4) the “cold turkey” method (sudden complete abstention) was found to be more effective than gradual withdrawal.

Third World Cancer

● Cancer is commonly thought to be a disease of the industrialized nations. But, according to the UN’s World Health Organization (WHO), of the estimated thirty-seven million cases of the disease worldwide, more than half are to be found among the less-developed (third world) nations. The magazine World Health reports that three common cancers​—mouth, cervix and liver—​chiefly affect the developing world, with each claiming a million victims annually. And, according to an expert group’s report, lung cancer will rapidly become a major health problem for these nations, “unless the current increases in the sale of manufactured cigarettes are slowed or reversed.” Similarly, World Health says: “Mouth cancer, a significant problem among populations on the Indian sub-continent, is also avoidable​—through education programmes to discourage chewing of betel nut, and to encourage oral hygiene.”

Nigerian Church “Ferment”

● Ray Ekpu, editor of the Sunday Times of Lagos, commented on recent squabbling over leadership and other problems in a number of Nigerian churches: “One must say, generally, churches are in a state of ferment in this country now. You can find a church or more in virtually every street; and churches are pervaded by a new wave of moral turpitude. . . . Satan appears to be the only one on duty in our churches and nation; a moment when the devil appears to be building its chapel in many churches; a moment when many Christians are attempting to create Christianity in their own twisted image . . .

“When Jesus drove the gamblers and extortionists away from the church saying that his Father’s house was the house of prayer, little did he know that they would resurface in Nigeria. Thus the church in Nigeria is the greatest money-spinning industry, which is why so many churches are mushrooming all over the place, and so many battles are fought for their leadership. The church is supposed to be a source of redemption for sinners, and if the church is more sinning than sinned against, who will redeem the church?”

Missionaries’ “Track Record”

● How are Christendom’s missionary efforts viewed in many parts of the less developed world? One example comes from Zimbabwe, where deputy mayor Mabassa Chipandambira of Gwelo addressed a conference of Churches of Christ, declaring that the “track record of Christian missionaries in Zimbabwe is not all that impressive and clean.” The official, a Catholic lay preacher, explained that Christendom’s missionaries came “with a pious face, wielding a large Bible in one hand and the colonialist’s political propaganda pamphlet in the other” and thus “played the dirty and nauseating role of paving the way for colonialism and imperialism.”

Pesticides for Dinner

● India’s people are consuming dangerous amounts of pesticides in “virtually everything that is consumed: cereals, pulses, flour, oil, vegetables, fruits, milk, butter, eggs, fish and meat,” reports The Hindu of India. Additionally, “studies at the Indian Toxicological Research Centre (ITRC) in Lucknow have revealed the presence of DDT residues not only in circulating blood but also in breast milk of mothers and in cord blood collected after child birth, suggesting the passage of DDT to the foetus.” The ITRC analyzed food products from various parts of India and found pesticide residues in most of them. “Most alarming is the situation with milk and milk products,” observes The Hindu. “In 90 per cent of the samples the amount of DDT exceeded the tolerance limits set by the World Health Organisation.”

Nuclear Misgivings

● Hyman G. Rickover, often called the “father of America’s nuclear navy,” recently retired. During a final speech in Congress, the long-time military man recommended the abolishment of the Department of Defense and warned that nuclear war is probable. “I think we’ll probably destroy ourselves,” he stated. “I’m not proud of the part I played.”

Taste for Poison

● A bacterium has been developed that eats Agent Orange, the infamous herbicide used to defoliate parts of Vietnam. Microbiologist Ananda Chakrabarty of the University of Illinois Medical School asserted that even at very high levels, “this bacterium removes 98 percent of [the main toxic chemical in Agent Orange] in a week.” To produce the new strain of bacterium that can break down such synthetic poisons, scientists gradually modified the diet of a common soil bacterium until its descendants were able to live on the poisonous chemical alone. Strains of bacteria that have a taste for other toxic chemicals are in the works.

TV “Sheepshearers”

● When the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) recently held public hearings on licensing of all-religious TV and radio stations, they heard an earful about American TV evangelists. One witness “spieled off horror stories of heavenly huckstering,” reported the Toronto Star, and also advised the Commission not to “let Yankee-style evangelists set up here to use the gadgetry of the electronic age to ‘fleece’ vulnerable old folks.” The witness explained that, after being stationed in the Middle East for two years, he had returned to find his aging mother flooded by mail “from Oral Roberts, It Is Written, Albert Slaughter, and even Billy Graham.” Declaring that “Rex Humbard’s the worst,” he charged: “All of them wanted her money.” He related a number of computerized schemes that these TV preachers used to pry money out of his mother, after which an Ottawa lawyer spoke. The lawyer called the tactics of American evangelists “unconscionable, bordering on fraud​—certainly they’re emotional fraud.”

Japanese and Alcohol

● Japanese doctors recently have discovered what may be the reason why Japanese people seem unusually sensitive to alcohol. Explains Professor Takemitsu Itsumi of Tokyo University: “Compared to the United States and Europe, there are relatively few alcoholics in Japan. And yet we have many more drunks here than probably anywhere else in the world.” He said the reason for this “boils down to a difference in body chemistry that makes the average Japanese highly sensitive to small amounts of liquor in any form.” According to the Asahi Evening News, researchers at nearby Tsukuba University found that “Japanese are not endowed with two special enzymes which enable the western body to break down alcohol into other chemicals which are then absorbed quickly into the system​—thus enabling a much larger amount of alcohol to be consumed and processed in any given period.”

Cold Spot

● The world’s tiniest refrigerator reportedly has been built by a physicist at California’s Stanford University. The little gas unit​—as small as a microscope slide—​is designed to cool heat buildup in computer microcircuits. It was made in the same way as tiny computer chips. “First you draw a picture of the gas lines, the capillaries, the boiler and the other parts,” explains physicist William A. Little. The picture photographically is transferred to a thin piece of glass, “creating a refrigerator ‘print’ on the glass,” which is then etched along the picture lines to form shallow channels. These grooves form “tubes” when another piece of glass is bonded to the etched piece. “And when the gas expands in those tubes, it cools,” says Little. According to Science Digest, “Little’s fridge goes down to –310 degrees Fahrenheit [–190° C], near the temperature of liquid nitrogen.”

“Gay Cancer”

● The headline “Gay Cancer​—an Epidemic Among City’s Homosexuals” recently appeared in New York’s Brooklyn Paper. “There is no question that it is an epidemic,” declared Professor Alvin Friedman-Kien of New York University Medical Center when discussing the current prevalence of formerly rare Kaposi’s Sarcoma (K.S.) among homosexuals. “I can’t think of a time when cancer has occurred as an epidemic in such proportions in the history of mankind.”

Why primarily among homosexuals? The newspaper notes that Dr. Friedman-Kien’s data on the victims revealed “a history of using multiple, recreational drugs such as amyl or butyl nitrate, cocaine, amphetamines or marijuana. In addition, they had a history of multiple sexual partners and the frequency of sexual relations was very great.” Medical authorities believe that such contacts open homosexuals to attack from many types of disease at once and may affect their body’s immunity. The doctor advised reevaluation of the modern promiscuous life-style. He declared: “The whole sexual revolution . . . may be the same cause of K.S. because of the loosening and changing of sexual morals in our society.”

Talking Back

● “Oh, shut up!” shouted a Connecticut man jokingly at a box that had just told him, in a feminine voice, the price of his food purchases. The voice boxes​—attached to digital cash registers—​are being tested at a number of American supermarkets to determine customer response. By means of a small computer, the devices translate cash-register price information into a voice, using a tiny prerecorded sound tape. Many customers like to check each price for accuracy as it is entered, especially from the new fast-operating automatic scanning registers. Computer chips for French, Spanish and German also are said to be available.

Many Now Living Will Never Die

This is no wild assertion. There are sound reasons to believe it.

The Watchtower and Awake! magazines regularly point to these Bible-based reasons. Send only $7.00 (U.S.) and you will receive both magazines (four copies a month) for one year, postpaid.

Please send a year’s subscription for The Watchtower and Awake!; I enclose $7 (U.S.).

A Bible for Only $3

The New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures, the complete Bible, is printed in clear, legible type. It makes the Bible come alive in easy-to-understand modern-day language. Yet it faithfully adheres to the original-language Bible text.

It has over 1,400 pages and a hard cover. Complete with concordance, appendix and maps, it is available in seven languages​—Dutch, English, French, German, Italian, Portuguese and Spanish.

Other Bibles available for just $3:

The Kingdom Interlinear Translation of the Greek Scriptures. A word-for-word translation of the Greek text. Hard bound, 1,184 pages, with footnotes and appendix. In English only.

American Standard Version. It has valuable footnotes, a ninety-five-page cyclopedic concordance and four maps. Bound in light-brown leatherette. In English only.

Please send me, postpaid, the following Bible(s) that I have checked. I enclose $‐‐‐‐‐ (U.S.):

New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures

□ Dutch

□ English

□ French

□ German

□ Italian

□ Portuguese

□ Spanish

□ American Standard Version

□ Kingdom Interlinear Translation