August 8

Page Two

Crime​—who is not affected by it in one way or another? It presents a direct or an indirect threat in the lives of most people of the world. But why is crime so prevalent? What motivates the criminal? When are the seeds for the criminal mind first planted? Is there any effective solution to crime? Our opening series examines these questions

Is Crime a Real Threat to You? 3

Does Crime Pay? 4

What Makes a Criminal? 7

Crime​—Is There a Solution? 10

Is Crime a Real Threat to You?

Have you ever been mugged, or do you know someone who has?

Are you afraid to go out on the streets once the sun has set? Or if you do, do you take precautions?

Do you avoid taking the subway or public transport at certain times of the day? If you have young children, do you warn them about talking to strangers?

Are you worried that your children might be attacked at school?

Do you have more than one lock on your door? Do you have a burglar alarm or a special locking device on your car? Do you lock your bicycle if you park it out on the street?

If you answered yes to any of these questions, then you perceive crime as a real threat to you.

IN RECENT years people have become more aware of crime. Why? Because it has affected their neighborhood, their friends, their family, themselves. As The New York Times headlined it, “Fear of Crime Is Now Woven Into the Fabric of City Lives.” The article went on to say: “For New York City residents, wealthy as well as poor, crime is no longer something that happens to other people. It pervades the city, and it has forced changes​—some subtle, some dramatic—​in the way people live their lives.” And that applies not only to New York but to many other cities around the world.

Crime​—A World “Growth Industry”

INDIA: Crime is by no means just an American problem. It is a world plague. For example, the magazine India Today spoke of the northern state of Bihar as a “Kidnappers’ Kingdom.” Said a brother of one kidnapping victim: “There is total terror. We have stopped coming out of our houses after sundown. We live under constant fear.” Another press headline was, “Organized Crime a Growth Industry in India.”

ITALY: Italy has its crime problems too​—and not just with the Mafia. There is also “the Camorra, a criminal empire founded over a century ago along the lines of the Sicilian Mafia, a state within a state,” according to The Washington Post. This criminal society “is believed to have been responsible for nearly 1,000 murders over the past three years,” says the same source.

JAPAN: Crime is a cause for concern in Japanese society. One paper recently reported that Japan has 2,330 crime groups known to the police, with a total of nearly 100,000 gangsters.

CHINA: The government has taken drastic measures in an effort to cut back on its own “mounting crime problem,” according to the Far Eastern Economic Review. Murderers and rapists are sometimes executed publicly, and other criminals are paraded through the streets with placards hanging from their necks announcing their names and their crimes.

BRAZIL: A poll taken in São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro indicates that 65 percent of the population deliberately avoid areas known to be dangerous; 85 percent no longer wear jewels or carry valuables when they leave home. Over 90 percent of those polled believe they could be attacked at any time.

NIGERIA: Crime is also a part of life in African countries. Writing in the New Nigerian, correspondent A. Adamu explained: “Burglary, armed-robbery, arson, murder and mayhem, the hideous cruelty with which these are carried out in this country today leave one dumb-struck and at a loss for how best to describe the state of terror and frenzy crime has created on the popular mind.”

The truth is, fear of crime stalks most major cities. This widespread perception of crime inhibits the law-abiding segment of society. And people are tired of being intimidated and of having inadequate protection. So when a citizen strikes back against the criminals, he receives an initial ground swell of sympathy.

But why do so many people turn to crime? Could it be that, contrary to the old saying, crime does indeed pay?

Does Crime Pay?

“Nobody goes out and commits a crime because they are hungry today,” stated New York’s Mayor Koch. “So why do people overwhelmingly commit crimes?” He continued: “Because you have better odds of not getting caught than you do at the race track. If you have 500,000 or more felonies committed, only 100,000 of them end in arrests and only 2 percent go to jail. Those are . . . good odds.”

OF COURSE, the opinion of Mayor Koch is only one aspect of a very complex problem​—the causes of crime. Nevertheless, it is a valid point. If the criminal class in any country believe that there is little possibility of being caught, they are likely to continue in their lucrative career.

Often the basic motivation for crime is the desire for money. Stolen property is quickly turned into cash. And what is one of the biggest single cash movers in the world today? Here is a clue: “If there were one corporation marketing cocaine today in the United States, its $30 billion [$30,000 million] annual revenues would place it seventh among the Fortune 500 corporations.” (The New York Times) And that represents only one drug​—cocaine! If we could combine all the money moved in all drug trading worldwide, the figure would be mind boggling. Crime and drugs are paying fat dividends to people all over the world. Drug millionaires are building expensive villas and luxury homes for themselves. For them, crime does pay. But how do they get away with it?

Why Does Crime Thrive?

Among the various reasons that crime thrives, one is fundamental​—a flaw in the judiciary system of many countries. What is it? The Bible states: “It is because sentence upon a wicked act is not promptly carried out that men do evil so boldly.” (Ecclesiastes 8:11, The New English Bible) That ancient maxim is perhaps even more valid today, when in many parts of the world the slow legal process favors the criminal. One California lawyer stated: “One of the best defences is delay.” Memories dim and sometimes motivation to prosecute diminishes because of all the trouble caused to the victims.​—See page 6, “The Criminal Injustice System.”

For many, crime is paying off​—handsomely. And who pays the price? The general public does, especially the lower income levels of society who are the least protected. U.S. Senator D’Amato stated in a letter to fellow New Yorkers that there was a “small dent in the crime rate.” But he added: “We still dead bolt our doors. We still live in fear of going out at night, even to the grocery store or church or temple. When we do go out, we make sure to walk where there are plenty of people and, more and more, we make sure to carry some ‘mugging money.’ There are so many things to worry about now, things we never used to fear. Sometimes we are so afraid that we become prisoners, while those who should be locked up go free.”

But why do some turn to crime as a way of life? Are poverty, hunger, and unemployment the basic reasons?

[Box on page 6]

The Criminal Injustice System

The following comparison of the effects of a crime on a criminal and on his victim are based on a chart published in The Daily Oklahoman and prepared by Oklahoma’s attorney general, Mike Turpin.

THE CRIMINAL

Has a choice​—to commit crime or not.

Arrest

1. Must be informed of his rights.

3. Is provided with a lawyer if unable to afford one.

4. May be released on bail or own recognizance.

Pretrial

1. Is provided food and accommodation.

2. Books, TV, and recreation available.

Trial

1. Is provided with state-appointed attorney.

2. Can plea bargain to obtain lesser sentence.

3. Can delay the trial and change its venue.

Sentencing

1. May not go to prison​—there are numerous alternatives.

Sentence

1. If sent to prison, has free food and accommodation again.

3. Can improve education and develop job skills.

4. Numerous rehabilitation programs available.

5. With good conduct and work, can get early release.

After Release

1. Aid programs and loans available.

End Result

Large proportion return to a life of crime.

THE VICTIM

Has no choice​—involuntary victim of crime.

Arrest

2. Is responsible for replacing own property losses.

3. Is responsible for economic problems resulting from crime.

4. Loses time in cooperating with law-enforcement agencies.

5. Is generally not informed of progress of case.

Pretrial

2. Is still kept in the dark on case progress.

Trial

1. Again must arrange for and pay for transport and parking.

2. Must pay baby-sitter or other home costs.

5. Has no right of appeal, even if criminal is released.

Sentencing

1. Has no say in decision, pleas, or sentencing.

2. Is often not even called for the sentencing.

After Release

1. Is often dissatisfied with criminal “justice” system.

2. Is in fear of released criminal(s) and retaliation.

3. Trauma may continue for rest of his/​her life.

End Result

[Picture on page 5]

Drugs​—one of the biggest single cash movers in the world today

What Makes a Criminal?

“I BELIEVED that criminal behavior was a symptom of buried conflicts that had resulted from early traumas and deprivation . . . I thought that people who turned to crime were victims of a psychological disorder, an oppressive social environment, or both. . . . I saw crime as being almost a normal, if not excusable, reaction to the grinding poverty, instability, and despair that pervaded their lives.” (Inside the Criminal Mind) (Italics ours.) That was the view of psychiatrist Stanton Samenow before he started to interview hundreds of criminals.

In an effort to explain why a person becomes a criminal, psychiatrists and other experts have put forward a variety of reasons​—unemployment, poor education, harsh family background, nutritional imbalance, and psychological pressures, among others. While these factors can be an influence, another fact cannot be ignored​—millions of people endure these circumstances daily without turning to crime as a solution.

Criminals​—Victims or Victimizers?

After lengthy investigation, Dr. Samenow adopted a different approach. He writes: “The essence of this approach is that criminals choose to commit crimes. Crime resides within the person and is ‘caused’ by the way he thinks, not by his environment.” (Italics ours.) “Criminals cause crime​—not bad neighborhoods, inadequate parents, television, school, drugs, or unemployment.”

This led him to change his viewpoint of the criminal mind. He continues: “From regarding criminals as victims we saw that instead they were victimizers who had freely chosen their way of life.” Therefore, he infers, instead of spoon-feeding excuses to the criminal for his conduct, we should make him conscious of his own responsibility.​—See page 9, “Profile of a Hardened Criminal.”

Judge Lois Forer of Pennsylvania, who advocates a change in the U.S. sentencing system, writes, “My conclusions are based on the belief that every human being is responsible for his acts.”​—Criminals and Victims, page 14.

Why Choose Wrong in the First Place?

Regarding this question, Dr. Samenow arrives at a simple conclusion: “Behavior is largely a product of thinking. Everything we do is preceded, accompanied, and followed by thinking.” Therefore, how can criminal behavior be altered? He answers: “The criminal must learn to identify and then abandon thinking patterns that have guided his behavior for years.” (Italics ours.) This simple conclusion accords with the Bible’s teaching.

For example, the Bible writer James explained: “Each one is tried by being drawn out and enticed by his own desire. Then the desire, when it has become fertile, gives birth to sin.” (James 1:14, 15) In other words, the way we act depends on how we think. A wrong desire is the result of the thought process. A sin or a crime is the outcome of an incorrect desire and a bad choice.

Paul directs attention to the thought process as fundamental to a change of personality by referring to “the force actuating your mind.” (Ephesians 4:23) The Jerusalem Bible renders that passage: “Your mind must be renewed by a spiritual revolution.” Likewise today, there has to be a radical change in thinking, since “crimes result from the way a person thinks.”​—Inside the Criminal Mind.

This still leaves the question, How did the criminal acquire his antisocial thinking patterns in the first place?

When the Seeds Are Sown

“Train up a boy according to the way for him; even when he grows old he will not turn aside from it.” (Proverbs 22:6) This Bible maxim goes to the heart of the matter. The key is to ‘train the boy,’ not the young man, but earlier​—the boy. Why is it necessary to start when the child is so young? Because thought and behavior patterns are established in infancy and childhood.

True, some negative traits are built in at birth because we are all born imperfect. (Romans 5:12) As the Bible says: “Foolishness is tied up with the heart of a boy.” However, that scripture adds: “The rod of discipline is what will remove it far from him.”​—Proverbs 22:15.

Many criminals try to justify their conduct by harking back to childhood influences, blaming their parents, teachers, and others. Dr. Samenow draws a different conclusion: “Criminals claim they were rejected by parents, neighbors, schools, and employers, but rarely does a criminal say why he was rejected. Even as a young child, he was sneaky and defiant, and the older he grew, the more he lied to his parents, stole and destroyed their property, and threatened them. He made life at home unbearable . . . It was the criminal who rejected his parents rather than vice versa.”​—See page 8, “Profile of a Budding Career Criminal.”

Yes, the seeds of criminal behavior are often sown in childhood and sometimes are unwittingly nurtured by overindulgent parents. Dr. Patterson, psychologist at the Oregon Social Learning Center, believes that “most delinquency may well develop due to ineffective parenting skills.” He refers to parents “who are unable to maintain clear rules, monitor compliance and handle even minor violations with nonphysical punishment.”

Dr. Samenow concludes: “The criminal child’s departure from parental and societal expectations involves more than isolated acts. Beginning as early as during the preschool years, patterns evolve that become part of a criminal life style.” (Italics ours.) As a consequence, some psychologists are now turning their attention to the field of crime prevention in childhood by offering help to those parents and children who have a potential delinquency problem.

Crime, its causes and possible solutions, is a complex subject. Would increased employment and an improved environment change the picture for some? Are more and bigger prisons the answer? Would more police on the beat cut down crime? In fact, is there any practical solution to crime at all in our present human society?

[Box/​Pictures on page 8]

Profile of a Budding Career Criminal

As a child, the criminal is a being with an iron will, expecting others to indulge his every whim. He takes risks, becomes embroiled in difficulties, and then demands to be bailed out and forgiven.

The parents become the first in the criminal’s long string of victims.

The child constructs an increasingly impenetrable barrier to communication. He lives a life that he wants to hide from his parents. What he does he considers none of their business.

The delinquent lies so often and so long that his lying appears to be compulsive. Yet the lying is totally under his control.

The child has contempt not only for his parents’ advice and authority but for the way they live, no matter what their social and economic circumstances. To him, having a good time is what life is all about.

When there are other children in the family, they are victimized by their delinquent sibling, who bullies them, helps himself to their belongings, and blames them when any discipline is about to be meted out.

The delinquent chooses to associate with risk-taking youngsters who are doing what is forbidden.

The delinquent refuses to subordinate himself to anyone else’s authority. He chooses instead to engage in something more exciting, often illicit.

The parents of these children often do not know where their offspring are, not because of negligence but because of the youngster’s ingenuity in concealing his activities.

The delinquent takes but rarely gives. He does not know what friendship is because trust, loyalty, and sharing are incompatible with his way of life.

Part of the delinquent youngster’s social scene is alcohol use, which begins even before adolescence.

The criminal rejects school long before it rejects him. He exploits the school, using it as an arena for crime or else as a cover for it.

What others consider getting into trouble, he perceives as a boost to his self-image.

(Please note that one or two of these factors alone may not indicate that a child is a budding career criminal. But where many are combined, there is a basis for concern.)

[Box on page 9]

Profile of a Hardened Criminal

Criminals are at heart antiwork.

The criminal’s most pressing business is crime, not a regular job.

He is positive that his expertise and unique talents distinguish him from the common herd.

He values people only if they bend to his will. Even his appraisal of his mother vacillates from saintly to satanic, depending on how readily she does his bidding.

A criminal does not regard himself as obligated to anyone and rarely justifies his actions to himself.

His pride is such that he adamantly refuses to acknowledge his own fallibility.

The criminal does not want his conduct questioned by other family members.

The criminal knows right from wrong. When it suits him, he is law-abiding.

As with everything else, the criminal exploits religion to serve his own purposes.

The criminal carefully tailors his story to provide what he hopes will be a convincing account of why he did what he did.

The criminal does not regard the victim as a victim at all. He himself is the victim for having been caught.

(The profiles on pages 8 and 9 are based on Inside the Criminal Mind.)

Crime​—Is There a Solution?

SINCE crime affects all of us, directly or indirectly, the question remains, Is there a solution? Judge Richard Neely of the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals suggests: “Getting at the root causes of crime implies a reordering of society of a magnitude that few are willing to undertake.” (Italics ours.) He argues that “there is neither the scientific knowledge nor the political will to eliminate the root causes of crime.”

Why would that be? He reasons that the people most affected by crime, those who “live in ghettos or declining working-class neighborhoods,” are the ones with the least direct political power. Judge Neely states: “Crime victims, it should be noted, are not an organized interest group.” Therefore they have little or no political influence. Those with political power live mainly outside the sphere of common criminal activities​—they do not use public transport or live in slum dwellings. And in some cases, he argues, increased law enforcement would endanger their own white-collar crime. This is basically true for most parts of the world. Thus the lower-income masses are more often the victims of crime and political hypocrisy.

But another vital factor impedes progress in the fight against crime​—human nature itself. “Lust, avarice, aggression, and self-aggrandizement are inherently part of the makeup of people,” says Judge Neely. That fact has been evident ever since Cain murdered his brother Abel.​—Genesis 4:3-11.

However, the factor of evil in human nature is a problem that modern psychology refuses to face. In an interview with Awake!, Dr. Samenow stated: “By and large, an awful lot of people in the mental-health field really have not confronted the problem of evil.”

However, many criminals do not want to cast aside their ‘lust, avarice, and aggression.’ Therefore they refuse to respond to therapy and to rehabilitation programs. In California, for example, the prisoners have fought any therapy approach. “The prisoners’ argument is that therapy is an illusion because of insufficient scientific knowledge about rehabilitation . . . Regardless of why they stop [being criminals], the argument goes, it will not have been a result of any prison therapy.” They argue that “the object of prison is punishment, short and sweet. Accordingly, they want every convict to know exactly how long he must serve when he enters the joint so that he will not need to play the Kafkaesque [irrational] rehabilitation game.”​—Why Courts Don’t Work, Judge R. Neely.

Can a Criminal Change?

Yet some criminals have been willing to cooperate in reform programs. In the program of Drs. Yochelson and Samenow, a drastic approach was used. They report: “We make it clear that from our point of view nothing of the criminal’s way of life is to be preserved. Putting on new clothes over old and stained ones is not enough; the old clothes must be regarded as contaminated and diseased and then discarded and destroyed. The criminal must eliminate his old patterns and become responsible in every way.”

Similarly, in the Bible the apostle Paul counseled: “Strip off the old personality with its practices, and clothe yourselves with the new personality, which through accurate knowledge is being made new according to the image of the One who created it.”​—Colossians 3:9, 10.

The fact that changes can be made is evidenced by Paul’s own comment after listing the types of persons who will not inherit God’s Kingdom​—fornicators, thieves, extortioners, and others. He says: “Yet that is what some of you were. But you have been washed clean . . . in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ and with the spirit of our God.” (1 Corinthians 6:9-11) Today there are nearly three million active Jehovah’s Witnesses, most of whom have had to make changes in their way of thinking. Some led a criminal life until they made the change.

One case is that of a former diamond thief whose story appeared in the Awake! issue of October 8, 1983. He was a career criminal in London, England. When he eventually accepted a study of the Bible and put on “the new personality,” he gave himself up to the police and confessed his crimes. After serving a five-year prison sentence, he came out to live a reformed life. Was it easy for him? He answers:

“The change in my outlook on life was not easy to make. Apart from fighting, the hardest physical work I had ever done was washing my car. Now I had to settle down to working eight hours a day . . . I had never bothered about routine in my life. Now an orderly way of life was important. I had always proudly scorned discipline of any kind. Now it was necessary to accept the fact that my way might not always be right.”​—Compare with “Profile of a Hardened Criminal,” page 9.

But he made the changes. Was it worth the effort? “I do not pretend that it has been easy,” he answered. “But certainly it has been worthwhile.”

But why should anyone want to change his life to conform to Bible principles? Because there is a strong motivation​—the opportunity for everlasting life on a paradise earth. That is the promise that Jesus made to the criminal who was dying by his side when He said: “Truly I tell you today, You will be with me in Paradise.” (Luke 23:43) Of course, the evildoer could not remain in the earthly Paradise as a criminal but only as a repentant, changed person.

But no matter how successful a reform program might be, the old adage is still true: “You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make it drink.” The majority of career criminals are not interested in change. Then is there no answer at all to the world crime problem? There is a solution​—a drastic one.

How Crime Will End

The Bible indicated that a time would come when there would be an increase of calamities upon the human race. In such, Jesus included an “increasing of lawlessness.” (Matthew 24:12) The apostle Paul prophesied that “in the last days critical times hard to deal with will be here. For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, . . . disobedient to parents, . . . disloyal, having no natural affection, . . . without self-control, fierce, without love of goodness.”​—2 Timothy 3:1-5.

While mankind has always been afflicted with crime and evil to a greater or lesser degree, it is since the crucial date of 1914 that Bible prophecies relating to the end of the world’s corrupt system of things have come to remarkable fulfillment. (Compare Matthew 24, Luke 21, Mark 13, and Revelation 6:1-8.) Therefore, the time is near for God’s righteous Kingdom government to enter into action against his enemies on earth. These include criminals who deliberately choose crime as a way of life, for “unrighteous persons will not inherit God’s kingdom.”​—1 Corinthians 6:9.

So if a person is not willing to change, what is the alternative? The Bible answers: “Evildoers themselves will be cut off . . . Just a little while longer, and the wicked one will be no more.” Yes, soon the earth will be cleansed of all criminal elements​—whether religious, political, or social. God’s cleansing war of Armageddon will leave alive on earth only “those hoping in Jehovah . . . the ones that will possess the earth. . . . And they will indeed find their exquisite delight in the abundance of peace.”​—Psalm 37:9-11; Revelation 16:14, 16.

This is the only way, for as the Bible states: “Though the wicked one should be shown favor, he simply will not learn righteousness. In the land of straightforwardness he will act unjustly.” (Isaiah 26:10) God’s “new heavens and a new earth” in which “righteousness is to dwell” is the only viable answer to mankind’s problems of crime and sin​—and in that system only those who choose righteousness will dwell.​—2 Peter 3:13.

[Blurb on page 10]

“Getting at the root causes of crime implies a reordering of society of a magnitude that few are willing to undertake”

[Blurb on page 11]

“An awful lot of people in the mental-health field really have not confronted the problem of evil”

[Blurb on page 11]

‘Nothing of the criminal’s way of life is to be preserved. He must eliminate his old patterns and become responsible in every way’

Tiny Seeds, Giant Trees

The largest (but not the tallest) trees in the world are the giant sequoias. Older sequoia trees average about 250 feeta in height. The largest of these, the General Sherman, the General Grant, and the Boole Tree are located in or near Sequoia and Kings Canyon national parks in California, U.S.A. They are from 27 to over 30 feet thick at 4 feet above the ground.

Also remarkable is this fact, as noted by the publication Discovering Sierra Trees, by Stephen F. Arno: The trunk of the General Sherman is still 17 feet in diameter at a point 120 feet above ground! This tree is 272 feet tall, and its first large branch is so high up that it could stretch out over a 12-story office building. This branch is 7 feet thick and 125 feet long.

Yet the seed of the sequoia is so tiny that it requires 91,000 to make a pound! Compare that to the modest Digger pine that might reach a height of only 60 feet and a diameter of 2 feet and yet it takes only 750 of its seeds to make a pound.

[Footnotes]

I Lived for Music

MY EARLIEST memories of music go back to my grandmother. Every Sunday the whole family would come together at her house for dinner. Music was playing throughout the day. There were Irish folk songs, light opera, the music of Broadway plays, and other music.

When I was about eight years old, I took guitar lessons. But because I lacked interest, the lessons soon stopped. Yet, during those times, when I heard a neighborhood band practicing, it sent tingles through me.

In the next few years, I began to take an interest in pop music, along with rock. As with others of my generation, the radio was always on. Then I began to take guitar lessons again and was soon playing in local bands. We began playing regularly at dances in the local parish. Meanwhile, I had switched over to bass guitar and was soon buying all the equipment that goes along with it.

During that same time, something else developed in me. I began to see the hypocrisy in the church, as we were dealing with the local parish priest who hired us for the dances. Little did I know that this would later deeply affect my life.

The Environment

During those years of playing rock ’n’ roll, we traveled quite a bit. Many bars and dance halls in and out of the New York City area kept us busy for quite a few years, but the environment was not healthful. There was much immorality, a free flow of drugs, and a very depressing atmosphere.

We had developed a small following made up of junkies and acidheads (heroin addicts and LSD users). It didn’t matter to us what they were. They liked our music and we liked their support. I remember one night when a particular fellow ran out of the club yelling his head off. He had been tripping on LSD and was watching us get totally involved, mentally and physically, with our music. It all proved to be too much for him!

Although we were getting recognition and were starting to do concerts, I began to get sick of the whole thing. I became very dissatisfied with the musicianship. And the bad habits I was surrounded by began to affect me, leading to my taking drugs. Because of all of this, my life became increasingly sad and depressing. So I began searching for what I felt would be a better type of music. That’s when I discovered classical music.

Pursuing a Music Career

As I began listening to classical music, I discovered a different world. In the past, we had always had the greatest respect for a jazz musician who could improvise well, but here, with classical music, was someone who could also put his improvisations down on paper. At the same time, he coordinated it with a symphony orchestra. That was a real musician!

Now I wanted to pursue this kind of music. So I entered a state college and began to study music. My instrument was the double bass. I was learning to sight-sing, sing in a chorus, study harmony, and develop basic piano techniques. I felt that I was finally starting to learn something. For the next few years, I continued this routine.

Then I made another decision. I was making progress, true, but I felt that I could do better. So I decided to try to enter a conservatory. But I was very aware that much was lacking in my musical background. I had started late. In this field of music, those who make a career of it are generally “spoon-fed” on it from childhood. So I increased my practice time to four hours a day.

I auditioned and was accepted into the Manhattan School of Music in New York. I felt that now I could truly develop as a musician. I increased my practice time to six hours a day. It was routine for the night watchman to come around and tell me to pack things up because he was locking up for the night. Then came the subway ride home, and the next day the whole routine started again.

As the year progressed, I felt that I was learning much. But I decided to transfer from the Manhattan School of Music to Juilliard School, also in New York City. This was a more prestigious school, although the atmosphere there was more competitive. So the following summer I auditioned and was accepted. But about this time something else happened in another sphere of my life.

Something Lacking

You see, during all those years, I was taking drugs. However, the problem was that the drug trips became less and less satisfying. It got to the point where the only thing that had true meaning in my life was my music.

I had also become a loner and would literally only eat, sleep, and go to school. And I was worrying more and more. Old friends would come over to the house, and I couldn’t even communicate with them. I could no longer relate to people.

What could I do? I was pursuing what I had wanted, but deep inside I felt that something was lacking. I began to investigate Eastern religions for direction and peace of mind. I was searching for what I called truth, but there was so much hypocrisy, and so many people didn’t care one bit about truth. So I didn’t want to have anything to do with them or anyone else.

My life became increasingly melancholy. Then one night, after staying up half the night to practice, I felt that I was on the verge of a breakdown. That is when I prayed to God, whoever or wherever he might be, asking him to help me.

Finding What I Really Wanted

Some time previously, two friends of mine had come in contact with Jehovah’s Witnesses. My friends began speaking to me about what they were learning, but I wanted absolutely nothing to do with it! When I met one of Jehovah’s Witnesses, he talked to me about the Bible and showed me literature explaining the Bible. But I looked down on it, as if it were not worth reading.

One evening, a few weeks after I had prayed for God’s help, I was returning home from school at about eleven, and Tom, the Witness who had been talking to me, picked me up in his taxicab. He again started to talk to me about the Bible, but I bitterly resisted him. Yet, inside I knew that what he was saying was true! I asked many difficult questions, but he calmly and accurately answered me. For five hours we drove around and continued to talk!

As we talked, the turmoil that I had experienced the past few years began to leave me. I really began to understand what Tom had been trying to tell me all those months. Now, that may sound like a very emotional experience, but it wasn’t really. It was simply a matter of understanding truth for what it was. What Tom had said made real sense. For example, I recognized, as he pointed out, that mankind has failed in every way to solve its basic problems. No political, economic, or religious system of this world has led to the peace, happiness, health, and life that mankind so desperately needs. Only the government that Jesus taught about could do this.​—Jeremiah 10:23; Matthew 6:9, 10.

Also, the Bible’s view of how God deals with humans was very uplifting. He does not look at what a person is on the outside and he does not favor one nationality above another. What counts is what is in a person’s mind and heart.​—Acts 10:34, 35.

The dignity that I began to find in the Witnesses also impressed me very much. So I started to attend the meetings at one of their Kingdom Halls. There, everyone was clean-cut and polite. I quickly saw the need to clean up my life and stop taking drugs. I was only too glad to do this, as my former way of life had proved to be so unsatisfactory!

Music No Longer ‘Number One’

After the summer-vacation period, I returned to school for another semester. But I felt very differently about things now. The desire to develop as a musician was not as strong as it had once been. I now knew that there was much more to life and that music could no longer be ‘number one.’

One day at the Kingdom Hall, I saw Tom with an application form in his hand. It was for entering the full-time ministry. His joy helped me to know what I really wanted in my life. I, too, wanted to serve Jehovah full time, telling others the marvelous things I had learned about his purpose to bring this unsatisfactory world to an end and to replace it with a paradisaic new system.​—Psalm 37:10, 11, 29; Luke 23:43.

I also remember clearly my father’s reaction to my decision. He pounded on the table and sternly told me that I would be put out of the house if I left school. But leave I did. Two months later I was baptized to symbolize my dedication to God, and soon thereafter I entered the full-time ministry. Eventually, after a few years, my father lovingly invited me to return home, seeing that I was not going to waver in my determination to serve Jehovah.

Then a new privilege opened up to me. In 1979 I applied and was accepted to serve at the headquarters of Jehovah’s Witnesses in New York, called Bethel (“house of God”). That was truly one of the happiest experiences of my life. I had admired those faithful men and women, several thousand of them, who worked there. Now I was privileged to serve alongside them. Many of them could have chosen well-paying careers in this world but had decided instead to stay in the full-time service of the Creator.

Oh, by no means is Bethel service an easy life! But I never expected it to be. A considerable degree of self-sacrifice is involved. There is much important work to be done, and we need to apply ourselves diligently.

Bethel service has taught me that true happiness doesn’t come from fulfilling personal desires. It comes from serving the Creator, who knows exactly what we need in order to have true happiness. I still practice my music but only for a small fraction of the time I previously devoted to it. Also, at times I play for friends and even have the privilege of playing with a Witness orchestra. This keeps me in touch with music all I want.

Keeping Music in Its Place

What advice can I give to a young person who loves music? Well, remember that music is a very jealous Muse (one of the imagined daughters of the pagan god Zeus). A career in it demands exclusive devotion. In this it competes with our Creator and the doing of his will. Music can be almost like a disease. It is very easy to become overly involved in it. I have seen musicians who began studying the Bible but gave it up because it infringed on their music. What a foolish trade-off, when serving God can bring not only peace and contentment now but eternal life on a paradise earth in the near future!

Frankly, I’ve come to look upon musical institutions as modern-day temples of worship that require people to devote their entire lives to music. But that is making a god out of it, and surely this does not have the Creator’s approval. True, music is a gift from Jehovah, but it must be kept in its place.

Also, keep in mind that the kind of music we play or listen to does affect us, for good or for bad. So we have to be very discriminating. Music should be wholesome and upbuilding, but today much of it debases, both by its spirit and by its words. If you want to learn the fundamentals of music, you can do no better than use the songbook published by Jehovah’s Witnesses. That contains fine music and has all the basics and essentials of harmony.

God has given us a marvelous gift in music. The inner joy that one can receive from performing a work well and having an audience respond appreciatively is rewarding. But to be enjoyed properly, it must be kept in its place​—behind the worship of our Grand Creator, Jehovah.​—As told by William Mullane.

[Blurb on page 14]

I began searching for what I felt would be a better type of music

[Blurb on page 15]

Old friends would come over to the house, and I couldn’t even communicate with them

[Blurb on page 17]

The dignity that I began to find in the Witnesses also impressed me very much

[Picture on page 16]

I still enjoy playing for my friends and at times have the privilege of playing with a Witness orchestra

Young People Ask . . .

Why Read the Bible?

‘A mere carpenter, Jesus of Nazareth, shook the world with his message!’ exclaimed the professor. No, he was not teaching the Bible but was comparing it with a literary work named Don Quixote. Aaron (20 years old), however, listened intently. For this professor, though not religious, valued the Bible as literature​—as he said, a book that ‘every educated man and woman ought to have read.’

COULD the Bible really educate a person? And what was so earthshaking about a carpenter’s message? Aaron wanted to know, so he decided to read the Bible.

George (12 years old) came across a Bible quotation: “Remember, now, your Grand Creator in the days of your young manhood.” (Ecclesiastes 12:1) So he asked himself: ‘How can I remember the Creator if I do not know him in the first place?’ He, too, began to see a need to read the Bible.

Kelvin (21 years old) is one of Jehovah’s Witnesses and regularly engages in door-to-door preaching. He enjoys telling others what he has learned about the Bible. He found, though, that some of the people he meets have already read parts of the Bible. And because Kelvin wants to have intelligent conversations with them, he prepares himself by diligent Bible study. In his words, “You have to read your Bible to know what they are talking about.”

Aaron, George, and Kelvin became serious students of the Bible. But what about you? Shouldn’t you, too, read the Bible? Like many young people, you might respond:

‘Isn’t the Bible Boring?’

Some feel that way. But really, they do not know what they are missing. The Bible is God’s revelation to man. It tells us how we got here and where we are going. How can that be boring?

True, some parts seem to move more quickly than others. David (19 years old) observes: “In the Bible books of Numbers and Deuteronomy, there are some events, but mostly there are laws and the reasons for the laws. It’s not that these are boring, but in Joshua, the following book, there are more events; you get into the scenes. From Joshua on, it really picks up.” As David progresses in his reading, however, his opinion of the so-called slow parts of the Bible will likely change. Why? Consider your own experience.

Have you ever watched a movie that you first saw when you were much younger? At that time, you probably didn’t understand much of it, and as a result, few scenes seemed exciting. But now that you have grown older, you can understand much more. The story takes on more meaning, and the scenes move faster. Something similar takes place as you grow in understanding of the world’s best-seller. (Hebrews 5:14) Each time you read it, those laws and the reasons for the laws take on greater meaning. You gain an appreciation for details.

But why are details so important? Well, consider a radio sportscaster. His job is to make a ball game real to his audience. And how does he do that? He gives many details​—how the ball is hit, the distance, the play, scores, statistics, stories about the players. Is that boring? Of course not! Likewise, the Bible is rich in details​—genealogies, figures, measurements, laws. How these details make the accounts live!

Further, these laws reveal God’s personality. At Exodus 22:21, 22 and Leviticus 19:32, for instance, God commands fair treatment for widows, fatherless boys, and elderly people. Yes, Jehovah wants everybody to be treated with respect, regardless of sex or age. Doesn’t that make you want to know him better? This is the way that a young woman named Georgie feels. Regarding her Bible reading, she says: “It brings you closer to Jehovah.”

You, too, can discover that God’s Word is “alive and exerts power.” (Hebrews 4:12) How so?

The Bible Is Alive!

“Reading the Bible is different from picking up a newspaper or a magazine,” observes Marvin (19 years old). “Your thoughts have to be channeled into what you are reading. Your mind can’t just stray and drift as you turn the pages. Reading the Bible takes concerted effort. I try to picture the setting and put myself there when I read about the parting of the Red Sea or the heavens opening up and Jehovah speaking.”

You can do this! When you read the account of Daniel in the lion’s pit, put yourself there! Imagine being alone and unarmed in a pit of hungry lions! (Daniel 6:16-23) Or what about the account of Queen Esther? Her people are about to become victims of mass murder. What a desperate situation! To save them she must employ a series of maneuvers that will put her own life at risk and bring her face-to-face with the enemy. Can you feel the tension?​—Esther 3:6–5:4; 2:10; 8:3-6.

There is something else you can do to make the Bible more exciting and mentally stimulating. As you read, notice how the different parts of the Bible connect. For example, what do the accounts of Daniel and Esther have in common? Both prove the truthfulness of Psalm 34:7: “The angel of Jehovah is camping all around those fearing him, and he rescues them.”

Another theme that connects different parts of the Bible is God’s Kingdom. Daniel 2:44 says: “The God of heaven will set up a kingdom.” But what will this Kingdom do? From the beginning to the end, the Bible shows that Jehovah will use this Kingdom​—his government—​to bring about permanent peace. “He is making wars to cease to the extremity of the earth,” says Psalm 46:9. And by means of the Kingdom, “he will wipe out every tear from their eyes, and death will be no more, neither will mourning nor outcry nor pain be anymore.”​—Revelation 21:4.

Everything ties together. God’s government will put an end to sickness, suffering, and even death. Injustice will be a thing of the past. Everybody will be treated with fairness and respect. No wonder that Jesus said to pray, “Let your kingdom come”! (Matthew 6:10) That Kingdom message shook the world back then and is shaking it right now! Isn’t it therefore worth your while to investigate this life-giving message? You can, by reading the Bible!

‘But How Can I Get It Read?’

If you are in school, you may feel that you are too busy with your homework. But is it really so hard to do your homework and read the Bible? Not for Richard (17 years old): “In the afternoons when I have homework, I get to it and finish it. In our house there is no TV during the week.” If you do likewise, you may be surprised to see how much time you have left for Bible reading. Why, if you read just 15 minutes a day, you may finish the entire Bible in about a year!

It Can Help You Right Now!

You are growing up in times that are truly “hard to deal with.” (2 Timothy 3:1) However, the Bible is helping these young people to cope:

“Sometimes I get depressed over how the world is. I look up scriptures such as Revelation 21:4, and it gives me something to hope for.”​—Prentice.

“Reading the Bible is very beneficial, especially when I have a problem. Often, there is a character in the Bible who had that same problem, and that helps me to deal with it.”​—Myrtie.

“I see myself growing through reading the Bible.”​—Theresa.

You, too, can see yourself grow. Experience the satisfaction of starting something worth while, sticking to it, and finishing it. Even more rewarding is coming to know the Grand Creator. (Ecclesiastes 12:1) In time, you will want to use the Bible to help others. Truly, reading the Bible is one of the most worthwhile projects you can undertake!

[Blurb on page 20]

“Reading the Bible is very beneficial, especially when I have a problem”

[Pictures on page 19]

Try to picture the events as you read

Crossword Puzzle

Clues Across

2. One of the 12 apostles, thought to be Nathanael (Luke 6:13, 14)

9. Along with Aaron, he supported Moses’ hands until Jehovah gave Israel the victory over the Amalekites (Exodus 17:8-13)

10. King Hezekiah’s mother (2 Kings 18:1, 2)

11. Abbreviation indicating book or scroll

12. Rejoice (Romans 5:2, 3)

13. Affirmative (James 5:12)

14. A type of tree not found in the Bible

15. Do not severely criticize an ----- man (1 Timothy 5:1)

17. Mordecai ordered that the 14th and 15th days of this Jewish month be celebrated (Esther 9:20-22)

19. Herod, his brother Philip, and Lysanias held this position (Luke 3:1)

21. A Levite who assisted Ezra in “explaining the law to the people” (Nehemiah 8:7, 8)

22. This Benjamite and his brother Baanah murdered Saul’s son Ish-bosheth, hoping to win David’s favor (2 Samuel 4:2, 5-12)

23. Present capital of Egypt

24. Fast forward motion (Isaiah 33:4)

25. A professional mourner

26. The sword used by Ehud to kill fat King Eglon had two (Judges 3:15-25)

27. Ardent support or interest (Romans 10:2)

29. Wander (Proverbs 19:27)

31. He was listed as “a priest of David” among David’s leading officers (2 Samuel 20:26)

32. Used by ancient laundrymen (Malachi 3:2)

34. A descendant of Saul’s son Jonathan (1 Chronicles 8:33-37)

35. Insane (John 10:20)

36. Most common title in the Bible (Daniel 11:36-39)

37. Perceive (Matthew 16:9)

38. In Jesus’ illustration of the vineyard, the cultivators schemed to kill the owner’s son for this (Matthew 21:33-41)

Clues Down

1. In the Bible, these relate the history of Israel from David’s last days until Jehoiachin’s release from prison in Babylon [4 words]

2. Indicates food in Jesus’ model prayer (Matthew 6:11)

3. Pirate (Proverbs 6:11)

4. Jesus was born in this state (Luke 1:31, 35)

5. God does not tell them (Numbers 23:19)

6. A structure built by Solomon (1 Kings 9:15, 24)

7. Jehovah turned it into blood as a lesson to Pharaoh (Exodus 7:17, 20)

8. What Zacchaeus climbed to get a better look at Jesus [2 words] (Luke 19:2-4)

16. A follower of the Greek philosophy that pleasure was the sole or chief aim in life. (Acts 17:18)

17. Jonathan employed three as a sign for David (1 Samuel 20:17-22)

18. Of long existence (Daniel 7:9)

19. Jacob’s preferred wife (Genesis 29:28, 30)

20. What Christians would be doing if they did not copy God’s example in 5-Down (Colossians 3:9)

27. He was in charge of David’s wine supplies (1 Chronicles 27:27, 31)

28. He deserted Saul’s army and became a chief in David’s (1 Chronicles 12:20, 21)

29. Frequently mentioned with Tyre in prophecy (Joel 3:4)

30. Resurrect (Matthew 10:8)

32. Den (Nahum 2:11)

33. To give off (Exodus 34:29, 30)

CROSSWORD SOLUTIONS PAGE 24

Answers Across

2. BARTHOLOMEW

9. HUR

10. ABI

11. VOL

12. EXULT

13. YES

14. ELM

15. OLDER

17. ADAR

19. RULER

21. KELITA

22. RECHAB

23. CAIRO

24. ONRUSH

25. WEEPER

26. EDGES

27. ZEAL

29. STRAY

31. IRA

32. LYE

34. BINEA

35. MAD

36. GOD

37. SEE

38. INHERITANCE

Answers Down

1. THE BOOKS OF KINGS

2. BREAD

3. ROVER

4. HOLY

5. LIES

6. MOUND

7. WATER

8. FIGMULBERRY TREE

16. EPICURE

17. ARROWS

18. ANCIENT

19. RACHEL

20. LYING

27. ZABDI

28. ADNAH

29. SIDON

30. RAISE

32. LAIR

33. EMIT

The Bible’s Viewpoint . . .

Lotteries​—Who Wins?

“IF YOU want to win you’ve got to play.” “Two jackpots for the price of 1.” “More blast for a buck than ever before!” The tension and thrills build up. Spurred on by these slogans, men, women, and even youths, everywhere dig deep into their pockets and purses. Even wedding receptions are interrupted for it. You are witnessing the lottery stampede!

Finally, the “lucky number” is announced. Elation for the chosen few. Thousands, perhaps millions, of dollars are instantly theirs. Winning a million-dollar lottery, boasts one winner, is “‘just the frosting on the cake’ of a fulfilling life.” Says another, “It is so relaxing to know that you are never going to be short of money anymore.” But for the vast majority​—the losers—​life’s activities lapse back to their normal pace.

Has the lure of the lottery attracted you? How can you and your future be affected by it? Who really wins?

Moving to Easy Street?

Lotteries can stir up in the hearts of players the desire to be rich. However, the Bible states that this “love of money is a root of all sorts of injurious things, and by reaching out for this love some have . . . stabbed themselves all over with many pains.” Lotteries are no exception.​—1 Timothy 6:9, 10.

The players can become gambling addicts. Dr. John Watt, medical director of Homewood Sanitarium in Guelph, Canada, says that an individual can become a ‘compulsive lottery player, just as a person can become an alcoholic,’ in an attempt to escape reality. He calls it lotteryitis.

And when one wins, new problems crop up. “I thought I’d be on easy street the rest of my life,” says Erika, a million-dollar lottery winner. But after two divorces and the constant demands of the taxman, she laments: “If I had known what was going to happen, I’d have torn up that ticket.” Others comment that winning ‘the lottery was the beginning of a life plagued with sickness, fear, and finally hatred.’ “All the fanfare of winning was replaced by heavy weights on my shoulders.” “I do not trust people anymore​—that is what winning the lottery did to me.” For lottery winners, officials are even suggesting hiring a bodyguard and a business manager to protect their “prizes and themselves.” Yes, even winners can be losers.

Higher Stakes

Some, including prominent religious leaders, argue that playing the lottery is all right as long as it is legal. Yet, the fact that the lottery is legal in some countries does not make it right. To illustrate: If your local government were to legalize prostitution, would that make it proper? Not according to the Bible. (1 Corinthians 6:9, 10) A person desiring to please God is concerned principally with what His Word, the Bible, indicates. Likely that is your main concern too. But does the Bible have anything to say about the lottery?

Not directly, but since the lottery’s prime lure is love of money, it is rooted in greed. Greed produces only bad fruits. The Bible counsels us not to cultivate greed in our hearts. (1 John 2:15, 16) “Let . . . greediness not even be mentioned among you.”​—Ephesians 5:3.

Love of lotteries is based on selfishness. Does not each participant seek his own advantage, that of winning what his neighbor has paid out? The Bible, however, urges each one to “keep seeking, not his own advantage, but that of the other person.” Thus, would it not be wrong to draw pleasure and profit from other people’s losses?​—1 Corinthians 10:24; Proverbs 17:5.

The lottery can also become a poor man’s trap, taking from him the very thing he or his family needs​—money. The odds are mountainous against an individual’s winning. Authorities say that you are more likely to be struck by lightning than to win a lottery. And according to the Lightning Protection Institute, the odds against lightning’s striking anyone are a million to one. Therefore, the odds against winning a big take may be several million to one!

But there is still further reason for concern. Lottery players count on luck and not skill, on intuition and not logic. As a result, many are inclined to be superstitious. What could this lead to? The Bible speaks of those who are “setting in order a table for the god of Good Luck.” Idolatry is the name for it. Therefore, not only are the odds against them as far as winning the lottery itself, but it may be the first step toward idolatry, which would set them at odds with Jehovah God.​—Isaiah 65:11-14.

Better Than a Good Gamble

The Bible reminds us that there is “more happiness in giving than there is in receiving.” Certainly, the lottery frenzy does not promote the spirit of unselfish giving, which is truly rewarding.​—Acts 20:35.

True happiness can be found if we rest our hope “not on uncertain riches, but on God, who furnishes us all things richly for our enjoyment; to work at good, to be rich in fine works, . . . ready to share.” Thus, we can safely treasure up for ourselves “a fine foundation for the future” and “get a firm hold on the real life.”​—1 Timothy 6:17-19.

In this way, you can be a guaranteed winner. And it will not be a matter of chance or holding a “lucky number.” Rather, as Jesus Christ clearly stated, you must ‘take in knowledge of the only true God’ and of his purposes. Then, act on it. Live in harmony with his Word. Your future depends on it, “for he gives us the victory.” The reward is more valuable than some lottery jackpot. It is “everlasting life”!​—John 17:3; 1 Corinthians 15:57.

[Blurb on page 22]

Even winners can be losers

[Blurb on page 23]

You are more likely to be struck by lightning than to win a lottery

Parenthood Redefined?

CAN parenthood be redefined? Yes, suggests the title of an article in The New York Times: “New Reproduction Techniques Redefine Parenthood.” At one time there was only one way to have a baby, but modern technology has added variations that raise disturbing problems.

What are the “new reproduction techniques”? Five mentioned by the newspaper are: (1) Artificial insemination of the wife (either by the husband’s seed or by a donor’s). (2) Embryo transfer. If the woman cannot produce viable eggs, another woman can be inseminated with the husband’s sperm. The fertilized egg can then be extracted from the female donor and implanted in the wife’s uterus. (3) In vitro fertilization. The wife’s egg is extracted and fertilized in the laboratory by the husband’s sperm, then implanted in the wife. (4) Surrogate mother. If the wife is unable to go through a pregnancy, another woman can be artificially inseminated with the husband’s sperm and have the baby for them. (5) Frozen materials. Sperm, eggs, and embryos can all be frozen and stored for use in one of the ways outlined above.

These new ways of having babies are designed to help couples when either the man or the woman is infertile. The legal problems raised by such techniques were discussed at a conference in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The conference discussed such questions as, What is the status of an embryo in the laboratory before it is implanted? What should be done with frozen embryos if the couple that produced them both die? It was also noted that “nothing in the law [of the United States] at present bars the opening of ‘frozen embryo stores,’ where genetic materials would be sold commercially.”

The controversial arrangement of surrogate motherhood raised especially difficult questions. Is a surrogate mother, who is paid to produce the unborn child, selling her baby? If neither the couple nor the surrogate mother wants the child​—perhaps because it is born with a handicap—​who is responsible for it? What if a surrogate mother wants to keep the baby after it is born? What rights do the couple who initiated the arrangement have?

Truly difficult moral and legal questions arise when, as Dr. George J. Annas reported, the increase in sex without procreation in our time has come full circle with the advent of reproduction without sex.

You, Too, Can Learn Calligraphy!

IN Asia, calligraphy is considered a major art form. In Western culture it is an art for everyone. But just what is calligraphy? Derived from the Greek words for “beautiful” (ka·losʹ) and “writing” (gra·pheʹ), calligraphy is the art of fine handwriting.

In times past, those skilled in calligraphy held formal rank and were even allowed to propose laws. Killing a scribe carried the same penalty as killing the king or a bishop. That’s quite a position in society!

However, in this electronic age of typesetting, word processing, and typewriters, what value does calligraphy have?

Modern Calligraphy

A handwritten letter has a personal touch that no machine can give. But what is the use if the handwriting is illegible or difficult to decipher?

That is why, while very young, most of us were taught our first style of calligraphy with the letters separated. Based on roman capitals, its simplicity is ideal for the coordination of the young arm, hand, and eye. This first-learned style makes few demands, and it is easy to read. About a year or two later, we were introduced to cursive (flowing) handwriting when we were taught to join the letters.

From there we developed our own style of handwriting. Although we, perhaps, were taught well, how many of us feel that our handwriting qualifies as calligraphy, or fine handwriting? Our modern hustle and bustle may not give us the time or the circumstances to produce handwriting that we could consider a piece of art.

However, just as with any other craft, with a little know-how, time, and practice we can produce handwritten work that is beautiful and that brings us much satisfaction. Perhaps more importantly, it brings pleasure to the reader.

What Materials Do You Need?

One advantage of calligraphy as a hobby is its low cost. Basically, you need a pen, a pencil, an eraser, ink, paper, and a ruler. Of course, expensive pens can be purchased, but calligraphy does not need to be expensive.

The Pen: The calligraphy pen is specially designed with a broad tip that, depending on the angle at which it is held, can produce a thick or a thin line. Pens come in all sizes and styles. You can purchase nibs that fit into a penholder and that have a reservoir that holds the ink and controls the flow. However, these pens need to be dipped into ink. Fountain pens hold the ink inside the pen by means of a rubber capsule. Cartridge pens use disposable ink cartridges.

The Ink: A black, waterproof ink is best, although inks come in a variety of colors. Because of its clogging nature, waterproof ink should not be used in fountain pens. Thus when using washable ink, a fixative needs to be applied to protect the finished work from moisture.

The Paper: The secret here is to have smooth paper of good quality. Also, be sure to use the correct side of the paper​—the smoother side. The paper should be thin enough so that guidelines will show through when lined paper is placed underneath. Parchment-finish paper, which has a mottled surface, adds a nice touch.

The Eraser: This is used to remove pencil guidelines drawn for alignment. A soft eraser, such as an art gum eraser, will clean the paper without destroying the paper finish.

Learning the Technique

Almost time to get started! But first make sure that you are comfortably seated at a solid work surface with good lighting. Pick up the pen. Do you notice that the tip is flat at the end? Now turn the pen so that the flat part of the tip is at a 45-degree angle to the guideline. Hold the pen firmly, but at the same time keep your hand relaxed. Draw a vertical stroke downward.

Next, with the pen still at 45 degrees, draw a diagonal stroke downward. Do you see the difference in the thickness of the lines? By holding the pen consistently at this angle, any stroke will achieve the thin and the thick lines that produce the beauty of calligraphy.

After holding the pen at 45 degrees is mastered, it is a matter of reproducing the individual letters according to their correct height. A rule of thumb is: Each lowercase letter should be the height of five widths of the tip of the pen; capital letters are seven and a half pen widths.

To start drawing the letters, place a sheet of lined paper under your semitransparent writing paper. You will now be able to see the lines through the paper. This will enable you to draw a straight line. First, following the example given here, carefully practice the alphabet, noticing the direction of each stroke. Then put the letters together to produce words.

Once you have achieved fluency, you will find the uses of calligraphy to be endless: wedding invitations, announcements, public notices, greeting cards, labels, and poems. Even your name will have added beauty when written in calligraphy.

As you practice your newfound art, you will appreciate that the beautiful hand of calligraphy is indeed for everyone.

[Box on page 26]

Ancient Copyists

Egyptian scribes were intelligent, well educated, but considered of lower class.

Babylonian scribes were professional people. They were a necessity of life, since the law required all business transactions to be in writing. In addition to legal documents, scribes were responsible for temple records.

Hebrew scribes were public notaries, recording various transactions, even divorce documents. Their price was open for bargain.

Copyists of the Bible were meticulous about their work. They counted not only the words but also the letters. To write a word from memory was considered a gross sin.

The handiwork of copyists fell into two categories:

(1) Functional​—practical, legible, although not necessarily beautiful.

(2) Decorative​—orderly formed letters, sometimes ornately decorated with embossed gold, at times inlaid with precious gems.

[Diagram on page 26]

(For fully formatted text, see publication)

45⁰

From Our Readers

Child Molesting

I think your articles on “Child Molesting” (January 22, 1985) do much more damage than good. You say that parents should tell their children about “wrong places” on their body where strangers should not touch them. I think this will give the children a totally unnatural concept of their own body. Will they not be unhappy and hung up about sexuality when they grow up? Children know by instinct what is wrong and don’t have to be told.

S. Aa. N., Denmark

If children are told in a proper way that certain parts of their body are private and not for other people to touch, this need not give them an unnatural concept of their own body. It need not hinder a healthful view of their sexuality as such develops, but it could protect the child from being molested. It is molesting, not proper instruction, that gives sexual hang-ups. Giving proper instruction to children in this way is recommended by almost all authorities on the subject of child molesting.​—ED.

Thank you very much for the article on child molesting. It was truly a wonderful discussion, straightforward and honest. As a victim of this selfish crime, I was tormented with many feelings. These articles helped me to cope. I’m so glad that you stressed the need to help children see that no one has a right to touch them improperly. This could have saved me from the terrible ordeal I experienced. Your article has helped my husband and me to discuss this thoroughly with our children.

T. C., Ohio

I’m 13 and a girl. I have been molested for many years. I want to thank you for your issue on child molesting. It helped me to tell my parents. Now the molesting has been stopped. Your article saved my life because I almost killed myself. I did not know what to do. I was so frightened.

H. H., Tennessee

Finding Happiness

In your issue of March 22, 1985, you show a picture of genuine pleasures (page 8). Included is a picture of a man teaching a boy to fish. Is there a difference between fishing for sport and fishing for pleasure?

W. H., Alabama

We surely did not intend to encourage fishing for mere sport. We visualized that the boy’s grandfather had for many years caught fish for the family table. Now he is teaching his grandchild the skill of baiting the hook, fishing, and likely how to clean the fish. Both grandfather and grandson are finding pleasure in this simple experience they are sharing, down by the water under the shade of a tree on a warm summer day. We do not see illustrated that the man is teaching the boy the thrill of the hunt and the fight, and pride in the catch and in the eventual trophy, which would be involved in sportfishing.​—ED.

Thank you so much for the issue “Happiness​—What It Takes to Find It.” (March 22, 1985) It has that special depth of understanding that singles out an article as truly unique. Happiness is definitely measured by the will to communicate and share. This article will surely help us all to look for opportunities to give and share our time with one another.

S. N., England

Watching the World

Failing Marks for UN

“Forty years after it was established, the United Nations gets far less than a passing grade on its efforts to resolve world conflicts,” reports The Toronto Star. A Gallup poll of over 20,000 people in 17 noncommunist nations revealed that only about a third of the people thought that the UN was doing well “in trying to solve the problems it has had to face.”

Disappointment has also been voiced by those responsible for the organization. “Like so many disappointed parents,” states The New York Times, “many of the participants at a two-day conference on the ‘United Nations at 40’ expressed disillusionment, anger and resentment that the child they had conceived did not turn out the way they wanted.” The conference, held at New York University, brought together a number of veteran UN observers, law professors, and former ambassadors​—including the only surviving American signer of the UN charter. The UN was criticized as being little more than “a debating forum.”

Costly Cremation

The body of Queen Rambhai Bharni of Thailand was cremated last April​—almost a full year after she died. The elaborate ceremony, replete with trumpeters, drummers, and conch blowers in regal dress, cost over $1 million (U.S.) and took more than six months to prepare. At the end, jewels valued at a quarter of a million dollars were placed in the urn along with the queen’s ashes. Her husband, King Prajadhipok, was the last absolute monarch of Thailand.

Genetic “Fingerprint”

“Scientists have discovered the genetic equivalent of the fingerprint,” reports The Globe and Mail of Toronto, Canada, “so that a single human cell could verify the attacker in a rape case, the father in a paternity suit and the identity of a body.” The telltale identifier is a “seemingly useless segment” of DNA called an intron, copies of which are found throughout human chromosomes. The chance of two different individuals having the same pattern of these copies in a strand of their DNA is one out of ten billion-billion. Researchers from the University of Leicester made the discovery.

Population Problem

Kenya’s growth rate, at 4 percent, is the world’s highest and will probably increase to 4.5 percent by the end of the century. “In a nation where only a fifth of the land is cultivable,” states The Sunday Star of Toronto, Canada, “most families produce twice as many children as the average for the rest of the Third World​—and they show no signs of slowing down.” Efforts to curb the growth have not succeeded, partly because of the high adult illiteracy rate and a drop in the infant mortality rate. Additionally, large families have traditionally been considered necessary to maintain income, and birth control is viewed as leading to small tribes that would fall under the control of larger ones. According to a study, half the population of Kenya already live in poverty.

For Good and for Bad

Electric power derived from nuclear sources is on the increase, reports the International Atomic Energy Agency. A total of 344 atomic reactors​—33 more than the previous year—​were in operation at the end of 1984, producing electricity for 26 countries. France, at 58.7 percent, was the highest user, followed by Belgium, Finland, and Sweden. The United States gets 13.5 percent of its electricity from nuclear power, says the agency. It estimates 9 percent for the Soviet Union.

A growing number of nations are also accelerating their efforts to achieve nuclear-weapon capability. “The Carnegie Endowment for International Peace . . . lists eight nations that have taken ‘important steps’ since 1983 toward becoming members in good standing of the nuclear club,” states Science Digest magazine. The nations mentioned are: South Africa, Pakistan, India, Israel, Iraq, Libya, Argentina, and Brazil.

Bible for Aboriginals

Australian aborigines will soon have parts of the Bible available in one of their many languages, according to The Courier Mail of Brisbane. Kriol, spoken by the largest group of aboriginals, was selected as the most suitable language. The work was ten years in preparation. Called Holi Baibul, it contains the books of Genesis and Ruth, plus selected parts of Judges, the four Gospels, Philemon, and Revelation.

Time Accuracy

For the 11th time since 1972, an extra second was added to the atomic clocks used as the standard for timekeeping by the U.S. government. In case you did not notice, the extra second was slipped in between the end of June 30 and the beginning of July 1. The reason, says the Naval Observatory in Washington, D.C., is that solar time, based on the earth’s rate of rotation, is not as accurate as the atomic clocks, based on the resonant frequency of the cesium atom. While the earth’s rotation “is uniform to within a one-thousandth of a second a day,” states The New York Times, the atomic-clock system “is accurate to within a billionth of a second per day.”

Beer and Baseball

A number of major-league teams have put restrictions on drinking alcoholic beverages during baseball games. Why? “Because of rising concern about fans who get into fights, shout obscenities or throw beach balls and bottles onto the fields,” reports The New York Times. In Detroit’s Tiger Stadium, only low-alcohol beer is served. In New York’s Yankee Stadium, beer is sold only until the seventh inning. In Comiskey Park in Chicago, printed messages on beer cups warn fans not to overindulge. In Atlanta, certain sections close to the playing field are off limits to drinkers. Says Rick Cerrone, an aide to the baseball commissioner: “In this day of people fearing episodes in ballparks, we want them to know it’s not a place to go to get drunk or be rowdy.”

Polluted Air

Thousands of tons of toxic materials​—including cancer-causing agents—​are being released into the air by chemical companies, according to a recent U.S. Congressional survey. The levels were found to be much higher and more widespread than previously suspected. “Almost every chemical plant we received information about is releasing staggeringly high rates of hazardous chemicals, even in routine releases,” said Henry A. Waxman, chairman of the House Subcommittee on Health and the Environment. National standards for airborne pollutants exist for only five toxic substances: asbestos, benzene, beryllium, mercury, and vinyl chloride. Standards for other substances are left to each city or state, and they vary widely​—sometimes by a factor of ten.

Looting the Past

Worldwide looting of historical sites “is reaching unprecedented proportions,” says U.S.News & World Report. “Authorities fear that vandalism will soon strip all known archaeological sites in the Americas and around the world.” With large sums of money to be made from wealthy collectors, thieves have plundered Aztec and Mayan tombs, American Indian burial sites, and sunken ships​—often leaving the sites in ruins and making academic study of them impossible. “Many place blame for looting on the pop-culture portrayals of archaeology in such recent films as ‘Raiders of the Lost Ark’ and ‘Romancing the Stone,’” says the magazine.

Cancer Threat

“A child born in the US in 1985 has more than one in three chances of eventually developing invasive cancer,” states Ca-A Cancer Journal for Clinicians published by the ACS (American Cancer Society). According to the ACS, for males born in 1985, the chances of dying from cancer are almost one in four. For females, the chances are one in five. The apparent rise in the probability of dying from cancer is due, in part, to the fact that people live longer, since other causes of death, such as cardiovascular diseases, have been decreasing. This circumstance, in turn, gives more people more time to be exposed to cancer risks, says the ACS. On a more positive side, a recent ACS report shows “five-year survival rates of virtually 50 percent for newly diagnosed cancer patients.”

Runner-Up

“A Gallup survey recently ranked Brazil as the second most violent country in the world, behind Colombia,” states The Wall Street Journal. “In the past five years, the survey found, 34% of Brazil’s families experienced some kind of crime. The comparable figure for the U.S. was 13%.” So much crime occurs, says the report, “that news of violence just doesn’t generate much excitement anymore.” Gun sales and bodyguard services have flourished. Police in São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro have advised nighttime drivers not even to stop for traffic lights, lest they be robbed. Most robberies are attributed to youths of poor families who, according to one priest, feel “thoroughly justified in taking from the rich” and “don’t even confess stealing as a sin.”

No-Excuse Sunday

In an effort to get people to church one Sunday, the Bethlehem United Methodist Church tried to cover all excuses that people come up with. As reported in The Lufkin Daily News of Texas, there were beds for those who feel that Sunday is their only day to sleep, a TV for those who don’t want to miss a favorite program, and hard hats for those who say that “the roof would fall in if I came to church.” Blankets and fans were provided for those who feel the building is either too hot or too cold, name tags for those who don’t know anyone, sports equipment for those who play on Sunday, and clothes for those with nothing to wear. Among a number of other things provided were both straight and easy chairs, a pickup and delivery service, and scorecards “to keep track of all the hypocrites present.”

Should You Turn the Other Cheek?

Is this practical to do in our day? Should you teach your children to do it?

Learn the real meaning of this advice in the book Listening to the Great Teacher. It contains sensible information on human relations that you will want your children to have.

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“An Answer to My Prayers”

That is what an appreciative reader said regarding the publication You Can Live Forever in Paradise on Earth:

“It is simple enough for the children to grasp the truth and intelligent enough for the parents to make their decision. It is concise and to the point. It does not beat around the bush! It expresses the ‘Truth’ as it truthfully is. It fills in all the fine points necessary for reaching the hearts of honest-hearted individuals. . . . Thank you for this ‘red bombshell’ that explodes with life-sustaining truths!”

You, too, will be excited when you open this easy-to-read book designed for Bible study. In its 256 pages, which are the same size as this magazine but with larger type, it contains some 150 beautiful illustrations. These serve as excellent teaching aids that help impress important points on the mind of the reader. Receive your copy by filling in and mailing the accompanying coupon.

Please send, postpaid, the 256-page, hardcover book You Can Live Forever in Paradise on Earth. I enclose $2.50 (U.S.).