November 8

Page Two

Our 20th century was supposed to be a time of hope and progress, but it has more often proved to be a time of disappointment. Most of today’s young people see no real hope for the future. Yet, some youths have a sure hope. Why? The following articles will explain

Hopes and Fears of Today’s Youth 3

A Sure Hope for the Present Generation 6

Hopes and Fears of Today’s Youth

“IF ONLY we knew what is ahead,” sighed an 18-year-old French girl, Valérie. Whether they share Valérie’s doubts or not, youths think about their future. They often try to imagine what work and family life will be like and what kind of world they will live in. People in the past have often fantasized about the future.

For example, would you have enjoyed a ride with Captain Nemo in his submarine, the Nautilus? Or what about orbiting the moon in a rocket? Such exciting prospects were already visualized toward the end of the last century. All you had to do was give free rein to your imagination and take a seat alongside the heroes of Jules Verne’s famous science-fiction novels. If you had lived then, you might well have wondered: ‘Will such things really be possible one day? Will I live to see them?’

These two dreams, born of that 19th-century French writer’s fertile imagination, have come true. Submarines now occupy an important place in the arsenals of the great powers. And our generation has seen men walk on the moon. However, even if those particular fantasies did become fact, the same cannot be said of many human forecasts.

Unfulfilled Expectations

A cure for cancer was expected for the 1960’s. In the 1950’s, the president of a large American automotive manufacturing company prophesied that by 1975 automobiles would be equipped with a long-distance teleguidance system. It was also predicted that deserts could be transformed by breeding microscopic algae “whose rapid reproduction . . . and exceptionally rich protein content (75%) would easily support increasing populations.”

There have been so many of such unfulfilled expectations that people today no longer blindly follow scientists’ predictions. André Fontaine, editor of the Paris daily Le Monde, recently pointed out: “Man’s faith in progress through science, already shaken by the end of the 1960’s, has continued to decline.”

The absence of the promised improved relations between nations and individuals has also been a letdown. At its close, World War I was termed “the war to end all wars.” It was believed that men, after all they had lived through, would never again engage in such slaughter. However, the relative postwar calm lasted only a few years; then all illusions were shattered by new conflicts, including, of course, the horrors of World War II.

What About the Future?

Do hopes today stand a better chance of fulfillment? How do youths the earth over view their future? Will the year 2000 dawn bright or dismal?

Branch offices of the Watch Tower Society around the world conducted interviews with youths. As you consider the comments of these youths, see if you do not have similar hopes and fears.

Nice Families and Good Jobs

Thomas, a young German, wants “a long life and good health.” “I want to get married and have a happy family,” says Mikiko, a teenage girl in Japan. These are examples of youths who would like life to be somewhat similar to that of their parents. Others would like to change a few things. Maristela, a Brazilian girl, says she would ‘carry on love in a different way from her parents,’ since she believes that marriage is not “what the church and society make it out to be.”

Job prospects occupy an important place in young minds. A Japanese youth named Kenji is 13 and would like “to work with cars somehow​—either in a car company or even in racing.” Seventeen-year-old Helmut from Germany has dreams of becoming a professional soccer player one day, whereas Kunle, a student from Lagos, is “aiming to be a successful computer technologist.”

Thierry, Bruno, and Mimoun, three teenagers from northern France, are worried about unemployment and want to get an advanced education in order to secure a steady job. An opinion poll taken in April 1985, and quoted by the French daily Le Figaro, revealed that fear of unemployment is almost universal. The newspaper reported: “Unemployment comes far ahead of other [short-term] preoccupations in all major countries, except Japan and, to a lesser degree, the United States.”

Technology​—Blessing or Curse?

Young people also try to imagine a world transformed by technology. “I think the world will then be a better place to live in,” states a young Nigerian. “Even in Third World countries like ours, most things will be computerized, and through computers and other electronic gadgets, the world will become a better place.”

A journalist working for the French magazine Le Nouvel Observateur has roughly the same vision of the near future: “Machines will run on their own. Magnetic cards will replace money. After making a choice from goods displayed on a television screen, shopping will be done by telephone. People will work at home on terminals connected up with data banks.”

Other youths, however, are not so sure that a world taken over by technology would be so marvelous. Gaby, a German girl of 13, is afraid that by the year 2000, there will be “houses everywhere, with no trees or flowers.” Susanne, from the same country, imagines people living under a glass dome to escape pollution.

For still others, such as Selcuk, a young German of Turkish origin, “a completely electronic world” will cause greater unemployment. “There are not many jobs around now,” he says, “but in the year 2000 . . . it won’t be people behind the counter but robots.” Sixteen-year-old Selma from Brazil even goes so far as to say: “Computers will take the place of God.”

Their Big Fears

Emmanuel, a young Nigerian, is alarmed at the rising insecurity, explaining: “In the past, whenever thieves wanted to break into a house, they would wait until the owner was away. Now it does not matter if the whole family is at home. The thieves knock on the door and demand that you give them your property. If such a thing has started occurring now, what will it be like in the future?” Emmanuel is not alone in his fears. A Canadian youth stated: “I think the world will have . . . more crime and vandalism, more people will have nervous breakdowns, kids will be less disciplined.”

However, one of the main concerns of youths today is the fear of war. This dread is reflected in a comment made by Folasade, a Nigerian girl: “Anything could happen at any time​—even a global war by the year 2000.” The situation is similar in the United States, according to the International Herald Tribune heading: “Many in College Expect Nuclear War.” In Canada literature critic Yolande Villemaire reports that youngsters “are sure they will die in a nuclear holocaust.”

Japanese youths, like 15-year-old Daisuke, express similar feelings: “By the time I’m 30 the Third World War, which will be a nuclear war, will have destroyed this planet. I have no goals in life and no worries!”

David, a French lad, came straight to the point: “Considering all the present conflicts, I don’t think it’s even worth talking about the year 2000.” Many in France share his view, for a recent opinion poll revealed that 74 percent of French youths consider that from now to the year 2000 the major threat to mankind is a third world war.

Any Hope for the Future?

With such dark perspectives, it is understandable that young people express uncertainty as to the future. Yet, there is a sure hope for the future. Would you like to learn about that hope? This is the subject of the following article.

[Pictures on page 4, 5]

Among the few of man’s forecasts that came true are those of Jules Verne. Depicted here is his moonship

[Credit Line]

NASA photo

A Sure Hope for the Present Generation

“If you could change the world, what would you do?” Some youngsters will answer like Swen, a German teenager who thinks it is “Utopian to dream of having complete power to change things.”

Others say what they would do if they had the ability to bring changes for the better. Their solutions to some of mankind’s problems often come very close to the ones put forward in the Bible.

What Youths Would Do What God Promises

Interesting Work for All

Seventeen-year-old Jacky, There will be satisfying work

from northern France, would for all, and men will enjoy

limit “technology by cutting the fruits of their labor.

down on robots in order to “They will certainly build

provide work for men.”a houses and have occupancy . . .

Susanne, a teenager from They will not build and

Hamburg, Federal Republic of someone else have occupancy;

Germany, would like to see a they will not plant and

world of just manual trades— someone else do the eating.

cobblers, builders, millers, . . . The work of their own

carpenters, and so forth. hands my chosen ones will use

to the full. They will not toil

for nothing, nor will they bring

to birth for disturbance.”

​—Isaiah 65:21-23.

Peace on Earth

Like many youngsters, Carla, “Come, you people, behold the

a girl of 14 from the Federal activities of Jehovah, how he

Republic of Germany, would has set astonishing events on

“do away with bombs and wars.” the earth. He is making wars

Jun, a young boy from to cease to the extremity

Japan, “would bring peace to of the earth.”​—Psalm 46:8, 9.

everyone.” And Delphine,

from France, would also “stop

wars all over the world.”

A United World

John, a young Canadian, “And to him [Jesus] there were

“would bring the world together given rulership and dignity

into a single community.” and kingdom, that the peoples,

Mikiko, a young girl from national groups and languages

Japan, explains how she thinks should all serve even him.”

unity could be obtained: “I “Many nations will certainly go

would make a land where only and say: ‘Come, you people,

good people live.” And and let us go up to the

Milton, from Brazil, gives mountain of Jehovah . . . and

further ideas: “I would he will instruct us about his

like to see a united world, ways, and we will walk in his

with one government and one paths.’”​—Daniel 7:14;

religion.” Micah 4:2.

As the preceding comparisons have shown, the future that God promises is just what many young people desire. This future will come to be a reality, for the psalmist, speaking to Jehovah, gives the assurance: “You are opening your hand and satisfying the desire of every living thing.” (Psalm 145:16) But when will these promises be fulfilled? Let’s see how some other youngsters answer.

The Time for a Change Is Near!

Carole, from France, has a “marvelous hope” and foresees, for the near future, “something marvelous​—not at all like the world we live in.” Samuel, a 15-year-old youth from the same country, also believes in a complete change: “For the year 2000, I visualize a world transformed into a beautiful paradise! But I don’t think that either the present world or its rulers will live to see that day. . . . We are living in the last days of the system of things.” Ruth, a German girl of 16, also expresses her confidence in these changes: “I know I’m not smart enough to change the world and make things run right. Only Jehovah, our Creator, can and will do that soon.”

But why are the last youngsters interviewed so sure of beneficial changes in the near future? Simply because they have come to know about God’s promises through his Word, the Bible. As Jehovah’s Witnesses, they are confident of something better​—a world of justice and peace where, according to God’s promise, even illness and death will be no more.​—2 Peter 3:13; Revelation 21:3, 4.

A close examination of Bible prophecies showed these young Witnesses that we are now living in a privileged period of history, for the time has come for God to intervene in human affairs and rid the entire earth of unrighteousness. The Scriptures call this short period preceding God’s intervention “the time of the end” and specify that it will not last longer than a “generation.” It would also be distinguished by wars, earthquakes, epidemics, fear, and rising insecurity​—all of which have marked the world since 1914. Since the “generation” of 1914 is now well advanced in years, God’s promise is really up-to-date news for young people today.​—Daniel 12:4; Matthew 24:3, 7-14, 34.

Preparing Your Future

What, then, should be our attitude toward the future? A choice is offered to everyone. A French journalist put it this way: “There are two ways of showing an interest in the future: One is by trying to visualize it, like someone in a train watching the countryside go by; the other is by preparing for it.” Which do you prefer?

Rather than living in dread of a dark future, you may wish to investigate the beliefs of the young Witnesses to find out if there is a solid basis for their hope. Why not begin a study of God’s Word together with one of Jehovah’s Witnesses? Instead of waiting passively for the future, you will learn to prepare for it. The marvelous hope of the future can be yours.

[Box on page 8]

Is Tomorrow Like Today?

When imagining the future, people often tend to think of it as a prolonging of their present way of life. The famous American physicist Robert Oppenheimer, one of the fathers of the atom bomb, explained why he thought the future cannot be foreseen in that way: “There is a complementary danger in foreseeing the future and trying to foretell it. We are often convinced that yesterday’s surprises will determine what happens tomorrow. . . . But for good or for bad, tomorrow is novelty. It is the novelty of chance, things that come together in a way one cannot predict. . . . What makes tomorrow is that it cannot be foretold today; it is not implied by today.”

Since man cannot of his own ability peer into the future, he needs to consult a Being of superior intelligence. The Bible describes God as having the necessary capacity in these words: “I am . . . the One telling from the beginning the finale, and from long ago the things that have not been done.” So it is to him alone that man can turn to find out what the future holds.​—Isaiah 46:9, 10

Abortion​—Whose Rights Are Involved?

MEDICAL doctors P. M. A. Nicholls and Carlos del Campo of Halifax, Nova Scotia, wrote a revealing letter to the Canadian Medical Association Journal on the matter of whose rights are involved in abortion. They noted first that others have said that “the decision whether to have an abortion rests primarily with the woman,” and that “many women seeking an abortion and most proabortion groups believe that the woman has the right to decide the fate of her own ‘body’ and that abortion is permissible on these grounds.” However, the following observations these doctors made give a person reason to pause and consider.

“Although it should be obvious to all physicians, the following is not usually considered and should be stressed. Following fertilization the haploid cells fuse into a diploid cell. From this point onward the fetus exists as an entity genetically distinct from the mother; that is, it contains unique, organized chromosomal information. Irrefutable proof of this lies in the fact that were it not for the placental barrier acute rejection would occur.

“How is it, then, that we treat abortion as we do the removal of an appendix, a gallbladder or some other organ? (Of course, we are aware of the greater psychologic consequences of abortion.) Ironically, it is much easier to have an obstetrician remove a viable fetus than to have a surgeon agree to remove a healthy gallbladder. Yet, unlike the fetus, that organ is undoubtedly a part of the patient. Can we accept the common proabortion ‘my body’ attitude and agree that the decision to terminate fetal life rests between a woman and her physician? Again, if we examine this logically it is not, in fact, the woman’s body at issue but an undeniably separate life with an independent genetic code.”

In conclusion these doctors cautioned: “When confronted with this issue it is easier to disregard what we know to be true for the sake of convenience or ‘compassion.’ Nevertheless, it is the duty of every physician to avoid succumbing to or hiding behind the opinion and beliefs of an increasingly permissive society.”

[Picture Credit Line on page 9]

S. J. Allen/​Int’l Stock Photo Ltd.

Young People Ask . . .

How Can I Have a Good Time?

“BEING young is probably the most stressful time of your life.” So said the authors of Teenage Stress. Naturally, then, youths do not want to be working or studying all the time. They need an occasional outlet, a good time. Even Jesus Christ acknowledged the need to “rest up a bit” occasionally.​—Mark 6:31.

Unfortunately, young people do not always use good judgment when it comes to recreation. Far too often what starts out as a good time ends up in heartbreak. For example, one young girl tells of a teen gathering she attended: “The music on the stereo was terrific, great dancing, neat refreshments and plenty of laughs. Someone brought pot. Then came the booze. That’s when everything started to go haywire.” Sexual immorality resulted. Confessed the girl: “I have been miserable and depressed ever since.”

More typical, though, are the teenagers whose ideas of “fun” amount to a colossal waste of time. In the United States, for example, shopping malls have become virtual convention sites where idle youths spend hours doing nothing but ‘hanging out.’

The Need for Caution

‘Partying’ or ‘hanging out’ may have a certain appeal. But the fact that something is enjoyable does not mean it is wholesome; nor does it mean that it will help you develop a balanced, Christian personality. The apostle Paul warned Christians: “Beware, brothers, . . . for fear any one of you should become hardened by the deceptive power of sin.” (Hebrews 3:12, 13) Enjoyable things can often be deceptive in that they rob us of time and moral values.

Do you remember, for example, the Bible account of 24,000 Israelites who met with destruction? Beautiful Moabite and Midianite women invited them to a feast. Perhaps the Israelites reasoned: ‘Surely we are entitled to some relaxation after all these years in the wilderness. Just sharing a little food and wine won’t hurt.’ But it did hurt, bringing death to 24,000 who got involved in immoral sexual relations and idolatry!​—Numbers 25:1-9.

Would it not be equally dangerous​—not to mention time consuming—​to ‘party’ or ‘hang out’ with schoolmates who are not Christians? (Galatians 5:21; 1 Corinthians 7:29) Remember, what is immoral to Christians is often a way of life to others! The same would hold true of associating with wicked people by means of immoral music, suggestive dances, or books and movies that feature violence and sexual immorality.​—1 Corinthians 15:33.

All by Yourself

Following the Bible does limit what you can do for recreation. But this does not mean that life has to become a drab, all-work existence. Mary, for example, is a young Christian. She does not associate with youths who would attempt to lure her into wrongdoing. How does she have a good time? “I play the piano and the violin, and I spend some time practicing them.” Another teenage girl, named Melissa, similarly says: “I sometimes spend time writing stories or poetry for my own enjoyment.”

No, you don’t have to be at a party or even surrounded by companions in order to have fun. You can learn to use time productively by developing skills such as reading, carpentry, or playing a musical instrument.

Doing Things as a Family

Granted, you don’t want to be alone all the time. But finding company does not always mean seeking out peers. A survey of American youths revealed that teenagers “enjoy occasional family outings and activities.” Doing things together as a family not only is fun but can enhance family unity.

This means more than simply watching TV together. Says Dr. Anthony Pietropinto: “The problem with television-viewing is that, while it may be done in the company of others, it is basically a solitary activity. . . . Yet, pastimes such as indoor games, backyard sports, cooking treats, crafts projects, and reading aloud certainly offer greater opportunities for communication, cooperation, and intellectual stimulation than does the modern family’s passive preoccupation with television.”

John, a father of seven, recalls: “We always did things and went places as an entire family. Occasionally we went on weekend camping trips or went bowling. We visited local parks and museums. But we also enjoyed recreation at home, playing various games, such as volleyball and badminton. Even cleaning the yard or painting the house could be fun when it was done as a family.”

If your family is not already doing such things together, take the initiative and suggest it to your parents. Try coming up with some interesting and exciting ideas for family outings or projects.

Christian Gatherings

From time to time, though, it is also enjoyable to get together with friends. Why not ask your parents to help you plan such a gathering? You can arrange for a variety of activities, such as board games and group singing. If some of your friends have musical talents, perhaps they can be coaxed into performing a bit. Good food also adds to an occasion, but it does not have to be fancy or expensive. Sometimes guests can bring different food items.

Is there a park or an outdoor area nearby that allows for activities such as swimming and ball games? Why not have an occasional picnic? Again, families can share in bringing food so that no one is burdened financially.

Moderation is the key. Music does not need to be at ear-splitting levels to be enjoyed; nor does dancing have to be vulgar or sensual to be fun. Then there is the problem of games getting too competitive. Reports one Christian parent: “Some youths at times argue, almost to the point of fighting.” Follow the Bible’s advice to avoid ‘competing with one another.’​—Galatians 5:26.

Whom should you invite? The Bible says, “Have love for the whole association of brothers.” (1 Peter 2:17) Why, then, limit your gatherings to peers? “Widen out” in your associations. (2 Corinthians 6:13) One parent observed: “The elderly, though often not able to participate in some of the activities, enjoy coming and watching the goings-on.” The presence of adults often helps prevent things from getting out of hand. It is not possible, though, to invite “the whole association” to any one gathering. And problems can develop when gatherings are large and uncontrollable. Keep your gatherings small and avoid difficulties.

Christian gatherings also present the opportunity to build one another up spiritually. True, some youths feel that adding spirituality to a gathering takes the fun out of it. “When we have a gathering,” bemoaned one Christian boy, “it’s, ‘Sit down, get your Bible out, and play Bible games.’” However, the psalmist said: “Happy is the man . . . [whose] delight is in the law of Jehovah.” (Psalm 1:1, 2) Therefore, discussions​—or even games—​that center around the Bible can add to the enjoyment of the occasion.a

Another idea is to have several relate how they became Christians. Or add a dose of warmth and laughter by inviting some to tell humorous anecdotes. Often these teach valuable lessons.

The Best Times

But while gatherings and outings have their place, your best times will be in connection with Jehovah’s worship. Centuries ago, God arranged for the Israelites to go up to Jerusalem for the annual Festival of Booths. God commanded: “You must rejoice before Jehovah your God.” (Leviticus 23:40) Jehovah’s Witnesses today likewise hold conventions. For many Christian youths, such events are the most enjoyable times of the whole year!

But as an article in ’Teen magazine put it: “Life can’t always be jam-packed full of action and excitement​—and you’d probably be exhausted if it were!” Besides, there is “plenty to do in the work of the Lord.” (1 Corinthians 15:58; Matthew 24:14) But when you from time to time feel the need for some recreation, enjoy it in a balanced, wholesome way.

[Footnotes]

[Picture on page 11]

Christian gatherings can be truly enjoyable when various activities are planned and different age-groups are represented

When Trees “Talk”

THE African antelope called kudu, with its magnificent spiral horns, is a stately looking beast. Conservationists were therefore alarmed when large numbers of kudu began dying of starvation in small South African reserves. The deaths seemed inexplicable, for the reserves had plenty of trees for the animals to nibble on. However, after much investigation, an amazing explanation has emerged: The trees have been “talking” to one another!

Nonsense? Well, reports South African Panorama: “Trees have a secret weapon against kudu and other leaf eaters . . . When a kudu grazes from a tree, the leaves are stimulated to produce a form of tannin known as Tannin K.” Kudu cannot properly digest these leaves and soon stop eating. “But can’t they simply move on to another tree?” you ask. Here is where tree “talk” comes in.

Professor van Hoven claims in Custos magazine that “it was recently proved beyond doubt that when a plant’s leaves are injured, aromatic compounds are released into the air to which other plants of the same species are sensitive.” In effect, the trees warn their neighbors that hungry browsers are in the area. And how do these neighbors respond? By likewise producing harmful tannin in their leaves. After all, survival is at stake! “Plants which lacked this ability to defend themselves . . . inevitably became extinct as time progressed,” speculates Professor van Hoven. So within a relatively short time after a kudu begins nibbling, one species of tree after another might be ‘shutting down’ its food supply. In fact, it appears to take up to a few days before the leaves of an injured tree return to normal.

The trees’ natural protective mechanism is a real problem when the kudu are kept in small reserves. Researchers soon noted that the death rate of kudu in the smaller reserves was six times higher than in the large ones. Why? Overstocking of kudu. Says Professor van Hoven: “Our advice to game farmers . . . is to keep no more than three to four kudu per 100 hectares [250 a.] . . . If there are more kudu fenced in, it is advisable to provide them with food supplements in winter.”

Of course, it will be necessary to duplicate the laboratory findings under natural conditions before it is known for sure how many trees really “talk” and to what extent. Nevertheless, even these preliminary results point to design in the living creation and the awesome intelligence of the God who made all things.

World Cup Soccer​—Just a Sport?

“A 63-year-old Uruguayan temporarily stopped selling food in the streets of Carmelo to hitchhike 6,200 miles [10,000 km] for almost a year to be near his country’s football team.”​—El Universal, Mexican daily.

This soccer fan was one of the hundreds of thousands who attended the 1986 World Soccer Cup Finals in Mexico.

IN VIEW of today’s worldwide soccer fever, the above account is not unusual. According to one report, the average working Mexican would have to spend four months of his wages to attend just the opening game. Yet, thousands did just that. Little wonder that one soccer fan, upon arriving at Mexico City’s Aztec Stadium, suffered a heart attack​—he had lost his game tickets! But let the statistics tell the story of soccer’s popularity.

The 52 games were played in 12 stadiums located in nine different Mexican cities. The 1986 World Cup constituted the most watched event in history. Some two billion soccer fans around the world followed the live television broadcast of the inaugural contest on May 31. Nearly three billion viewed the final contest between Germany and Argentina on June 29. The combined audience for the 52 games was calculated at about ten billion television viewers​—about twice the present world population!

Since people in many lands prefer watching soccer above almost everything else, some politicians carefully avoided scheduling rallies or appearances during game times. And when Iraq beat Syria to qualify for the World Cup, soldiers at the front in Iraq’s five-year-old war with Iran fired their weapons in celebration, lighting the sky with tracer bullets. Yes, soccer is taken seriously by billions today. Says Rogerio Achilles, sportscaster for a São Paulo radio station: “Soccer is more than a sport, it’s the people’s religion.” But why is it so popular?

An Escape From Reality

Like drugs and alcohol, sports have been used as ‘an escape from reality.’ Mexican psychoanalyst Armando Barriguete referred to Mexico’s current difficult economic situation and said that, to the Mexican people, the World Cup games served as ‘an escape from the problems at hand.’ Mexico City’s daily El Universal claims that ‘commercial and government television have tried to convince the people that the victory of eleven energetic youths​—Mexico’s soccer team—​is national vengeance against so much calamity that has befallen us.’ Thus the World Cup championship is said to have ‘elevated the morale of a people stricken in its pride and its hopes.’ Yes, for many people, soccer is much more than a sport​—it is their weekly dose of dreams and illusions.

Although it may provide temporary excitement, soccer​—just like drugs and alcohol—​cannot provide lasting peace of mind. But does it, as some claim, engender international unity?

United by a Ball?

Sports events are sometimes used as a tool to promote political ends and ideals. How was this done during the 1986 World Cup Finals?

Mexico’s president, Miguel de la Madrid, joined with the United Nations to “launch a message of peace to all the world.” The official emblem for the 1986 World Cup Finals was two hemispheres with a soccer ball between them. Accordingly, Rafael del Castillo, president of the Mexican Football Federation, stated: “Our nation, through its Mexico-86 motto, dreams and wishes for a world united by a ball.” But Mexico was not alone in its wishful thinking. Note what others stated:

Argentina’s president, Raúl Alfonsín, considered the World Soccer Championship to be “the symbol of a search that should make us feel the need of working toward fellowship, peace, [and] universal justice.”

João Havelange, president of FIFA (Fédération Internationale de Football Association), soccer’s organizing committee, in his inaugural speech emphasized the “spirit of fellowship and understanding, all to serve the ideal of peace.”

In a message to the participants in the XIII World Cup Finals, the secretary-general of the United Nations, Javier Pérez de Cuéllar, said: “In a world in which a wild armaments race and conditions of injustice, hunger and need coexist, you . . . are called upon to remind your leaders constantly of the imperative need for cooperation in order to achieve peace.”

Even Pope John Paul II said that he hoped that the World Cup games would favor ‘peaceful relationships and cooperation among the nations and promote social values, such as understanding, loyalty, team spirit, universal fraternity, and​—most of all—​world peace.’

True, many nations were united by satellite television for a short time as they watched the World Cup Finals. But although united in cheering and excitement, they were divided by their nationalism and the intense competition. So were the peoples of the world really being ‘united by a ball’?

A Dream Come True?

Referring to the social importance of soccer, French philosopher Albert Camus once stated: “I owe to football [soccer] the truest concepts I know about morals and men’s obligations.” Although positive expressions such as “football’s universal family,” “fair play,” and the “sports spirit” were used during the World Cup Finals, did the soccer matches live up to those expectations? Can soccer, or any other sport for that matter, really bring peace, unity, and good morals?

Sports editor Pedro Escartín, commenting on the game between Mexico and Paraguay, said: “When the football field is converted into a madhouse of violence, of antifootball, of carrying out the objectionable guideline that ‘the ball passes but not the man,’ then to think that one man alone, without the collaboration of players and managers, could convert the atmosphere of violence into a show of sportsmanship and good manners, is asking too much.” He added: “In a game where 77 fouls are committed, I ask myself if football can be positive.” Fortunately, not all the games were as violent as that one.

Sometimes during training sessions, doors were shut, even to journalists. Why so? Teams feared that spies from other teams would try to infiltrate with the press and the public in an attempt to discover some of their game tactics. According to Mexico City’s daily Excelsior, “the participating teams in the World Cup Finals, it seems, have become paranoid about the possible presence of their rivals’ spies. . . . The number of accusations of espionage from the different delegations could fill a spy novel by John Le Carré.” This hardly exemplified a uniting atmosphere of peace.

In another commentary, the same daily cited the pope’s words: “Sport is not enough . . . It frequently turns into excessive competitiveness, rivalry, aggressiveness, brutality, disloyalty, industrialization, and commercialization.” This spirit is communicated to the crowd in whose faces “can be read the aggressiveness, the anguish, the anger, the fury, the sadness, and often a delirious and hysterical joy.” These factors, together with blind nationalism, have often led to violence and bloodbaths. And soccer violence is no rare occurrence.

To avoid such problems during the 1986 World Cup Finals, strict security measures were taken. Some 50,000 men​—police and soldiers—​were mobilized to keep order. Special bomb squads were on hand in case of terrorist attack. There were four highly trained brigades of antiterrorist commandos on duty at strategic points. Fifteen Special Branch policemen from England’s Scotland Yard were on hand to protect the English team. Umbrellas and other “dangerous” objects that could have been used in an outbreak of violence were confiscated as the public entered the stadiums. Drinks were even served without ice cubes. Why so? The cubes could have been used as projectiles!

If professional sports cannot establish peace and harmony on or off the field, how can they be a lasting influence toward world peace?

Another question is, How should sincere Christians view professional sports? Do these present any threats to Christian integrity?

How Do Sports Affect You?

Because of the exercise involved, playing games, such as soccer, can be of value. But as with any other recreational activity, balance is needed. How much time and energy do you devote to playing or even to watching sports, whether live or on TV? Does that recreation interfere with more important Christian activities, such as meetings, personal study, and the ministry? (Philippians 1:10) The Bible counsels: “Physical exercises are useful enough, but the usefulness of spirituality is unlimited, since it holds out the reward of life here and now and of the future life as well.”​—1 Timothy 4:8, The Jerusalem Bible.

The apostle Paul also counsels us: “Let us not become egotistical, stirring up competition with one another, envying one another.” (Galatians 5:26) While there is nothing necessarily wrong with Christians’ engaging in sports activities in moderation, we should guard against the competitive win-at-all-costs spirit so evident in professional sports. Fierce competition can lead to violence.​—Philippians 4:5.

Quoting the writer Rudyard Kipling, the president of the Mexican Football Federation, Rafael del Castillo, urged the World Cup players to “fill the precious minutes with sixty seconds of fierce fight.” Quite a contrast to the counsel given by the apostle Peter to “seek peace and pursue it.”​—1 Peter 3:11.

Another danger associated with professional sports is nationalism and patriotic pride. If Christ Jesus were on earth today, for which nation or city do you think he would root? Israel? Italy? Jerusalem? Rome? Or none at all? Should Christians stand divided on activities as transitory as sports and recreation? (1 Corinthians 1:10-13) Rather, true Christians should be “full of . . . good fruits,” “peaceable,” “not making partial distinctions,” for “the fruit of righteousness has its seed sown under peaceful conditions for those who are making peace.”​—James 3:17, 18.

Therefore, a conscientious Christian will not allow himself to be sucked into a fanatical attitude toward soccer or any other sport. After all, it is just a sport, a game. A mild or passing interest may be harmless. As a recreation in moderation it may be beneficial. But the more important spiritual interests in life are of permanent value.​—Matthew 6:33; 1 Corinthians 15:33.

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The 52 games had a total audience of some ten billion television viewers​—twice the human population!

[Blurb on page 16]

“Soccer is more than a sport, it’s the people’s religion”

[Blurb on page 17]

“Fill the precious minutes with sixty seconds of fierce fight”

[Picture on page 14]

Argentina displays the World Cup after victory

[Credit Line]

Reuters/​Bettmann Newsphotos

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Avoiding a tackle in the World Cup Finals

[Credit Line]

Reuters/​Bettmann Newsphotos

Copying the Firefly​—“No Easy Task”

The humble firefly produces “cold light” through a very efficient process of oxidation. Two scientists in the Netherlands have successfully developed a chemical compound that produces light in a similar way after it is dissolved in a liquid.

This compound may work fine as emergency lighting when applied as “light stick,” states Kuzien, the quarterly magazine of the University of Nijmegen in the Netherlands. The new chemical compound is stored in a glass tube that is packed in a plastic container filled with water and an organic solvent. When the glass tube is broken, a chemical reaction takes place between the compound and the oxygen in the water, and​—there is light. However, the magazine modestly acknowledges: “Despite the good step forward, it remains a challenge for the chemists to make their system every bit as efficient as that of the humble firefly. There is every indication that this is no easy task.”

Understanding the Stutterer’s Challenge

It was the family tradition on very hot days to stop at the local ice-cream parlor. Carl’s favorite was a butter-pecan ice-cream cone. ‘In my clammy fist, I clutched the smooth, thick nickel my father had given me. My heart pounded and I could feel the sweat starting to stream down the sides of my face. I wanted desperately to ask Dad to order my cone, but by now I had learned what he would say. He had said it often enough in the past: “You want the cone so badly, you order it yourself.” How I hated him for that. Didn’t he know how much it hurt me? I stood quietly trembling in front of that high, shiny chrome counter. On the tip of my toes, I was just able to reach the top to pass on my sweaty nickel to the high school boy with the grinning, pockmarked face.

‘“What flavor, kid?”

‘“I want bab . . . give me bbbaa . . . the ba ba ba. . . . ”

‘My lips clamped shut and I continued to struggle in silence. I could see the kid look over my head to my father. It was that look that all people who stutter recognize so well. The look that said, “Can you help? This kid seems to be having a fit and he’s making me nervous.” Of course, this increased my struggle until I was filled with rage, embarrassed, and gasping for oxygen. Finally, “butter-pecan,” spurted out. I ached all over, but the deed was done.’​—The Best of Letting Go, Newsletter, San Francisco, California, U.S.A.

IF YOU had been standing there watching as young Carl ordered that cone, how would you have reacted? Dr. Oliver Bloodstein, who has studied the problem of stuttering for the past 37 years, makes the interesting observation that “unless they have a special reason to, nonstutterers rarely understand how frightening and frustrating stuttering is.” Yes, for many stutterers speech is an albatross, defined in Webster’s Ninth New Collegiate Dictionary as “something that causes persistent deep concern or anxiety.”

On the other hand, are you a fluent speaker? If so, you may find this anxiety a difficult thing to understand. Why? Because speech is not something most of us worry about. When we are hungry, we go into a restaurant and order a meal. If we want to buy a gift, we simply ask a salesclerk for help. When our telephone rings, we don’t hesitate to answer it. But for those individuals who stutter, everyday occurrences like these can become a living nightmare.

‘But is the problem really so serious?’ you may ask. Well, have you ever wondered what life might be like for someone who stutters? To understand his plight better and to gain more fellow feeling, come and share that inner world​—his feelings.

The Inner World

Joe: “I don’t call stuttering a speech impediment; I call it a life impediment. It impedes us from functioning in a normal way. It impedes our educational aspirations, our vocational ambitions, and our social interactions. I know people who haven’t gotten married . . . they have no friends. They stay away, they’re alienated, they’re ostracized.”

Donna: ‘I have been stuttering since I was about nine years old. When I was 27 years old, it was so severe that I never answered the telephone at home. I’m scared to death because you are going to ask me what my name is, and I am going to have to tell you, and saying “Donna” is very hard for me. In two years I’ve used different names 122 times.’

Anonymous: ‘The best way I can tell you how my stuttering covers my life is by writing some of what happened today. I was OK until I had breakfast because I didn’t talk. Then I went down to the corner drugstore because I had overslept, or rather I just lay there in bed, dreading the day. I wanted coffee and rolls, but I ordered milk and oatmeal because I knew I’d stutter hard on those other words, and I didn’t want the woman who waited on me to feel sorry for me. I hate oatmeal.

‘In class the instructor called on me, and although I knew the answer, I played dumb and shook my head no, and then felt like a dog. After class I hurried away up to the library, got a book, and pretended to study hard when anyone I knew passed by.

‘I’m broke and wrote a letter to my dad asking for money. I wanted to put a special-delivery stamp on it, but remembered the last time I tried to buy one at the post office, and the sp-sp-sp-sp-sp-sp just kept going forever, and the clerk got impatient, and the people in line behind me too, and, well, I couldn’t face it, so I got a regular stamp out of the machine and mailed it. Got 30 cents left to eat on.’

W. J.: “I am a stutterer. I am not like other people. I must think differently, act differently, live differently​—because I stutter. Like other stutterers, like other exiles, I have known all my life a great sorrow and a great hope together, and they have made me the kind of person I am. An awkward tongue has molded my life.”

Anonymous: “I was working as a fireman on a locomotive in a switch yard. One day we were using a stretch of the main line to switch some cars. We didn’t know of any train due on that line for another half hour. I looked out to check something and suddenly saw a freight bearing right down on us. My engineer was busy inside the cab. I tried to tell him, but I couldn’t say a word. I couldn’t even stutter before it was too late. The freight wasn’t going very fast, but both locomotives were wrecked. Nobody was killed, but my partner lost a leg. I’ve never forgiven myself. If only I could have warned him.”

Five people. Their thoughts and experiences give us a little insight, at least, into the frustration, anxiety, and humiliation that stutterers may face every day of their lives. Now multiply these experiences by an estimated 15 million lives. Do you better appreciate why stuttering can be a genuine albatross?

If you have a friend who stutters, why not ask him how he feels about the matter? It may surprise you to learn what courage and determination are needed even on a day-to-day basis.

Extend Fellow Feeling

Since it is often the nature of this disorder to affect its victims profoundly​—psychologically and emotionally—​how should you deal with such ones? Should you feel sorry for them, handling them with kid gloves, as it were? Should you treat them differently? Awake! asked these very questions of several people who are, or have been, plagued with this disorder. Here are some of their comments.

PLEASE DON’T MAKE FUN OF US. Twenty-nine-year-old Frank has had a stuttering problem since he was ten. “I want people to understand that those who stutter still have feelings and emotions and should be treated as individuals and not be made fun of,” he says. “Stutterers have a problem, that’s all. Everybody has a problem with something, and stuttering just happens to be mine.” A well-known newspaper columnist once made the statement that because stuttering isn’t life threatening, it seems to be the only handicap that is openly ridiculed. Robert admits that, yes, friends will lightheartedly tease him about the way he speaks. “It doesn’t bother me,” he says with a smile, “because I know it’s all in good fun.” Of course, everyone is different, and some who stutter may not mind being teased a little. But would you not agree that the wiser course is to extend fellow feeling, treating those who stutter as you would like to be treated under the same circumstances?

PLEASE DON’T PITY US. While a stutterer certainly will appreciate an understanding soul, he will resent pity. “We don’t want people to feel sorry for us, but we do need their patience,” says Carol, who stuttered for some 25 years. “And I don’t want people to be sorry for me as a stutterer,” adds Kate, who is now in her 60’s. “I want them to look at me as an individual and to realize that there are worse problems around than stuttering. Stuttering is just a minor imperfection.”

PLEASE DON’T THINK THAT WE’RE STUPID OR NEUROTIC. “I wish people wouldn’t try to read, or to look too deeply, into it and psychoanalyze,” says Robert. “And don’t be afraid of us,” says Carol. “We’re not ‘contagious.’ Mothers don’t have to shield their children from us. I wish people would look at stutterers with dignity and respect. We are as intelligent as anyone else. We just can’t say what we want to, that’s all. And all the actions, motions, contortions​—they’re just part of the effort to get the word out.”

‘It’s good to know how stutterers feel,’ you may say, ‘and this should help me in the future. But I wonder: How do they manage to cope?’ This is a good question and one that certainly deserves consideration.

How Some Have Coped

To help answer this question, some among Jehovah’s Witnesses were consulted because theirs is an especially challenging situation. For example, at a weekly meeting, the Theocratic Ministry School, Witnesses are trained to speak before large audiences. Some who stutter are enrolled in this school. Also, each Witness publicly proclaims the good news of God’s Kingdom, doing so most often from house to house. Obviously, a lot of communication under difficult circumstances is required. How do they do it? Two things help: remembering the examples of others and prayer.

Kate always keeps the example of Moses before her. You see, Moses is commonly thought to have had some sort of speech impediment. When commissioned by Jehovah God to lead the Israelites out of Egypt, Moses replied: “But I am not a fluent speaker, . . . for I am slow of mouth and slow of tongue.” (Exodus 4:10) So Jehovah lovingly provided him Aaron, his brother, as spokesman. Yet this arrangement was not to last. Later, we find recorded in the book of Deuteronomy the stirring discourses that Moses delivered to the Israelites. Aaron was not needed then! Knowing that Moses eventually gained the victory over his particular speech difficulty has proved to be a great source of encouragement for Kate.

Robert is an elder in his congregation. “I always pray before I get up to give a talk,” he says. Does it help? “Yes. It has a real calming effect.” Mae is in her 50’s and has been stuttering for the past 11 years. She says that she used to go from door to door but only as an observer. One day, she happened to work with a Witness who kindly asked her: “What’s the sense of being out in service if you’re not going to speak to people?” He was right. So she asked what she could do to help herself. His advice? Pray. For several years Mae was able to be a pioneer minister and devoted at least 90 hours each month to telling people about God’s Kingdom. “Even if I should stutter when talking to someone at the door,” she says, “I quickly say a little prayer. I recover and get comfortable again.”

Putting the Albatross to Flight

Are you especially close to someone who stutters? Do you feel as does this young woman, who said of her friend: “He is a beautiful, warm, caring person. He has so much to give, but no way to express himself”? If you feel that way, then you, too, yearn for a cure as much as he does.

If you could say to a stutterer: ‘Just do this or that. It works every time!’ it would be wonderful indeed. But it isn’t true. Stuttering is such a complex disorder, and every stutterer is an individual having individual needs. Therefore, what might help one person bring his stuttering under control will not give another the same result. Does this mean, then, that a stutterer is condemned to a life with very little hope?a

Robert, Mae, and Kate would warmly assure you that there will be a cure​—and soon. They would gladly share with you their hope in God’s promise that the tongue of the speechless one will cry out. They would tell you about the man that Jesus cured of a speech impediment. Or they would explain that the time is soon to come when Jesus Christ, as glorified King of God’s Kingdom, will turn his attention to the earth. And when he does, he will do for many exactly what he did for that man so many years ago. Yes, theirs is the confidence that Jehovah, “the God of all comfort,” together with his Son, Jesus Christ, will delight in putting this albatross to flight forever.​—2 Corinthians 1:3, 4.

There is no doubt, then, that the future will be well cared for. But what about now? Robert, Mae, Kate, and others like them, are trying hard to live with their problem as graciously as possible. Will the burden of responsibility be theirs alone to carry? We hope not. We can help them by giving them our respect. We can always be kind and understanding and patient. We can listen to what they are saying. Yes, the ease with which they accept their problem will often depend upon our willingness to understand the stutterer’s albatross.

[Footnotes]

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“I wish people would look at stutterers with dignity and respect”

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“Listeners help stutterers best when they respond to what the stutterer is saying rather than to how the person is saying it.”​—Dr. Oliver Bloodstein, speech pathologist

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“Speech Is Silver, Silence Is Golden”

This old proverb is said to be of Oriental origin. The Hebrew equivalent is: “If a word be worth one shekel, silence is worth two.”​—Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable

A wise man of ancient times expressed it concisely: “For everything its season, and for every activity under heaven its time: . . . a time for silence and a time for speech.”​—Ecclesiastes 3:1, 7, The New English Bible

[Picture on page 21]

Have you ever wondered what life might be like for someone who stutters?

Awake! Asks a Speech Pathologist

Awake! interviewed Dr. Oliver Bloodstein, a noted authority on the problem of stuttering. Presented below are some of the questions discussed during the interview.

How long have you been in this field, Dr. Bloodstein?

Thirty-seven years.

Can a person become a stutterer by being around people who stutter?

That’s an important question because many people assume that’s true. As far as we know, there is no danger. Stuttering is not learned by imitation.

Are stutterers emotionally maladjusted?

There is a kind of public stereotype about stutterers​—that they tend to be withdrawn, loners, introverted, nervous, tense—​which is really not borne out by research on the personalities of stutterers.

It was once a widely held belief that all stutterers are neurotic, but speech pathology has moved away from that theory. The reason is that in the 1930’s, ’40’s, and ’50’s, there was a great outpouring of research on stutterers’ personalities. In the main, it seemed to show that most stutterers were well within the normal range on tests of emotional adjustment; nor was any particular personality type found to be associated with stuttering.

Are stutterers just as intelligent as nonstutterers?

Oh, yes! In fact, there were many studies that found that stutterers in college were many IQ points higher than nonstutterers.

Do any recover from stuttering?

There is a definite tendency for stuttering to disappear sometime between early childhood and adulthood. The best evidence we have is that perhaps as many as 80 percent of children who ever stutter stop before adulthood.

Does this mean that if a child has a stuttering problem, his parents need not concern themselves about it?

We usually say that in early childhood the chances of the child’s recovering after a fairly short time are very good. But we can’t predict at present which child will recover and which child won’t. So our policy is: If a parent is concerned, bring the child to a therapist; have the child examined and see if he can be helped. As far as we know, the younger the stuttering child, the greater the chances of recovery. If stuttering persists, the chances get slimmer and slimmer that the child will recover without help.

What therapies are being used today?

There are two aspects of therapy. One is to teach stutterers to be less fearful, more objective about their problem, and the other is to work directly on the stuttering behavior.

Now there are two very broadly different ways of working on stuttering behavior directly. One way, the much more common way since as far back as the 19th century, has been to teach the stutterer to talk differently. We know that as soon as stutterers adopt any manner of speech that’s unaccustomed​—whether they talk in singsong, a monotone, slowly, or they alter their breathing—​it usually results in immediate fluency. So it has been very tempting to use that in therapy, and this is, in fact, the most commonly used method today. There are some drawbacks to it though. The most serious one is that there is a very high rate of relapse after a matter of months. Some stutterers are helped permanently, but in a very large proportion, there is a relapse. Also, it forces the stutterer to have to monitor his speech constantly and often results in an unnatural kind of speech.

You said that there are two ways of working on the stuttering behavior directly. What is the other one?

The other philosophy is not to teach stutterers to talk differently but to teach them to stutter differently. This may sound strange, but there was a movement that began in the 1930’s and that is still influential. It said to the stutterer: Don’t use tricks to avoid stuttering by talking in strange ways, like in a singsong or in a drone. But, rather, modify the stuttering reactions by doing them in a less abnormal way, in a more relaxed way, in a way that resembles normal disfluency. We all have breaks in our speech, you see.

This is a more gradual method. But it, too, has its disadvantages. The major one is that the stutterer rarely attains completely fluent speech. Using this method, we’re more likely to be able to help the stutterer to reduce the severity of the stuttering than to eliminate it.

What I’m really saying to you is that there are no ways of treating stuttering today that are ideal. But many stutterers can be helped a great deal.

Does it help to tell a stutterer to slow down or to take a deep breath?

It’s hard to answer a question like this flatly because people differ so much. I was taught to believe that it was a very bad thing to advise parents to say these things to children. And from my own personal experience I believe that parents can easily make the problem worse by saying such things. We’ve seen cases in which the child was advised to take a deep breath, and the next day the child turned up not only stuttering but gasping for breath. Yet, it’s not that simple, because I’m sure there are any number of children who have been helped to overcome their stuttering by things that their parents have said in an effort to help them. So it’s a very individual thing. But as a parent, I would be very careful to not continually urge a child to speak slowly, take a deep breath, think before he speaks, or the like.

Is there anything a stutterer can do to help himself?

I think the single most important thing for a stutterer to learn is how to handle speaking situations, as far as possible, as a stutterer. And by that I mean that a stutterer should stop hiding his stuttering, should learn to make casual comments to other people about his stuttering, and should not try to pass himself off as a normal speaker, with all the pressure on him that this usually entails. He should make sure that everybody who is acquainted with him knows that he stutters, that it can be a subject of conversation, and that they don’t have to be embarrassed when it comes up.

He might even learn, if possible, to joke about stuttering. Stutterers find it so hard to see any humor in stuttering, but I knew a stutterer who, whenever he got blocked, would say: “There will be a brief intermission between words,” and this relieved the tension. Or on other occasions he would say: “There will be a brief delay in transmission due to technical operating difficulties.”

What can a listener do to help someone who stutters?

Most stutterers resent it when a listener sharply looks away from them when they start to stutter. Also, listeners help stutterers best when they respond to what the stutterer is saying rather than to how the person is saying it. And that means that listeners would do well to refrain from helping stutterers with words or from saying to the stutterer, “Take it easy.”

The Bible’s Viewpoint

Must All Taxes Be Paid?

‘YOUR sons he will take to do his plowing and reap his harvest; and your daughters he will take for cooks and bakers. And your fields and your vineyards and your olive groves, the best ones, he will take and actually give to his servants. And your menservants and your maidservants and your best herds he will take to use them for his work; and you yourselves will become his servants.’

The above was stated by Jehovah God some 3,000 years ago through his servant Samuel. The description is not that of some uniquely brutal tyrant. Samuel told the people: “This will become the rightful due of the king that will reign over you.”​—1 Samuel 8:10-17.

The Israelites soon learned the truthfulness of those words and in so doing joined the masses of humanity who all have, to a greater or lesser extent, felt the burden of supporting their government. We today experience the foregoing in the form of a variety of taxes.

Although taxes existed in the ancient world, they did not play as major a role in the support of government and control of the economy as they do today. Nevertheless, people chafed under their presence. The Jews in Jesus’ day apparently resented the head tax imposed by imperial Rome, and yet Jesus explained that they should pay to the government what it had a right to collect, in this case taxes.​—Luke 20:19-25.

Is the situation any different today for Christians? Would the fact that some taxes appear to be inequitable, excessive, counterproductive, or in some other way inappropriate, exempt Christians from paying these? Or if one could point to some use of tax money by the government that was contrary to Bible principles, would Christians have the option to refrain from paying a portion of their taxes?

What if the Tax Seems Unfair?

To get God’s view, let’s reason on a principle enunciated by Jesus in his Sermon on the Mount. At Matthew 5:41 he says: “If someone under authority impresses you into service for a mile, go with him two miles.”

A representative of the Roman government, while on an official mission, had the authority to impress into servitude any individual whose service could expedite the successful completion of the task at hand. He also had the right to commandeer any privately owned vehicle and put it to similar use. This arrangement could easily result in inconvenience or hardship to anyone who happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Did you notice, though, that Jesus did not say that his followers should comply only if they felt the demand was fair and if it did not inconvenience them too much? Rather, he told them to do all they could to assist, even beyond what was required if possible.

Would Jesus’ words mean that we should determine our tax liability and then pay double? No. Rather, we should go out of our way to do what is required of us instead of looking for excuses to shirk our responsibility. This includes efforts to determine what is rightfully due the government and then paying it.

Some businessmen feel that if they paid all taxes that the law required, they could not operate their business profitably. Whether valid or not, this feeling underscores the need to familiarize yourself thoroughly with all tax obligations before embarking on any business venture. This would be in harmony with Jesus’ advice: “For example, who of you that wants to build a tower does not first sit down and calculate the expense, to see if he has enough to complete it? Otherwise he might lay its foundation but not be able to finish it.”​—Luke 14:28, 29.

Suppose Taxes Support Unchristian Ventures?

Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr., said: “Taxes are what we pay for civilized society.” Similarly, the apostle Paul says that one reason we pay taxes is to finance public service performed by governments in our behalf. (Romans 13:4-6) Could certain conduct on the part of governments nullify this obligation?

To answer this, we might draw a parallel with the conduct of the Creator himself in paying a debt to a secular government for services rendered. Righteous indignation prompted Jehovah to decree the destruction of the ancient city of Tyre. In the accomplishment of this deed, God used the military might of Babylon under their emperor Nebuchadnezzar. Although Babylon was victorious, the engagement was costly. Jehovah thus felt that they should be paid for services rendered. His words appear at Ezekiel 29:18, 19: “Son of man, Nebuchadrezzar himself, the king of Babylon, made his military force perform a great service against Tyre. . . . But as for wages, there proved to be none for him and his military force from Tyre for the service that he had performed against her. Therefore this is what the Sovereign Lord Jehovah has said, ‘Here I am giving to Nebuchadrezzar the king of Babylon the land of Egypt, and he must carry off its wealth and make a big spoil of it and do a great deal of plundering of it; and it must become wages for his military force.’”

Bible students know that Nebuchadnezzar was a haughty, self-centered, pagan monarch. Babylon and its armies were known for their harsh treatment of captives. Jehovah did not approve of such conduct, yet to him a debt was a debt, and he paid in full.

Christians, then, must feel obliged to pay all legally tendered taxes regardless of the use to which the money is put. Thus the plain command at Romans 13:7 is adhered to: “Render to all their dues, to him who calls for the tax, the tax; to him who calls for the tribute, the tribute.”

At the same time, true Christians earnestly support a heavenly government of God’s making. This Kingdom arrangement will soon govern earth’s affairs in a manner far exceeding the capabilities of all human governments and provide benefits surpassing the fondest dreams of its subjects.​—Matthew 6:10, 33.

[Blurb on page 26]

“Pay back Caesar’s things to Caesar.”​—Luke 20:25

[Blurb on page 27]

“Render to all their dues, to him who calls for the tax, the tax; to him who calls for the tribute, the tribute.”​—Romans 13:7

From Our Readers

On Tipping

I was deeply disturbed by your articles on tipping. (June 22, 1986) I have always felt that tipping was an option if a customer felt that the service was exceptional. To feel it is demanded makes me never want to eat out again. The prices in the menu should include the services of the server.

J. C., United States

One may feel that restaurant prices and prices for other services should include the full labor cost of the personnel rendering the service, but this is generally not done. Waiters and waitresses in restaurants, and many rendering other forms of service, depend on tips as part of their wages, and they are often taxed for tips whether received or not. Anyone receiving a form of service should naturally expect to pay for such service, whether the amount is charged in a bill or customarily paid as a separate tip.​—ED.

Thank you for your articles on tipping. The articles helped me to appreciate the reasons as well as the importance of doing so, not only in this country but in other countries as well. Those articles have changed my view on tipping.

E. B. M., United States

Inviting Rape?

In “Watching the World” (July 22, 1986) you referred to a judge who sentenced a rapist to probation because he considered his raping a girl a “normal reaction” to her suggestive dress and actions. Maybe the judge did not reason that murder is a normal reaction for the one being raped, and would he be so lenient if the woman being raped would kill the rapist?

E. B., United States

The item in “Watching the World” suggested that women invite rape and that you agree with that. To say that women invite rape through dress and actions is like saying that a person made someone so mad that he had to murder him. Obviously that is ridiculous!

J. D., United States

We most certainly do not agree that rape is a normal reaction to a woman’s suggestive conduct, any more than any other act of violence is a normal reaction to a situation. Neither do we agree that the argument that a woman by her dress or actions “invited rape” should ever be allowed as a defense for the rapist. But we do believe that modest dress, speech, and actions on the part of a woman may often serve as a protection to her. A man who continually flourishes a large roll of $20 bills will draw the attention of muggers, and a man who stirs up anger will reap violence. Also, a woman who draws undue attention to herself by her suggestive dress, speech, or actions may be more likely to become a victim of sexual violence than one who dresses and acts modestly.​—ED.

Reading Romance Novels

I have benefited greatly from the article “Are Romance Novels Harmless Reading?” (November 8, 1983) I was a romance novel “addict” from the age of 13. I am now 21. When your article first came out, I finished the novel I was reading and decided (reluctantly) it would be my last. Then a few months ago I got hooked again. I could feel I was being influenced by what I was feeding my mind upon. Meditating on your article again, I have now kicked the habit (right in the middle of a novel) and am getting rid of all the novels in the house.

J. G., South Africa

Watching the World

Decision Upheld

The Council of the Supreme Court of Appeal in Turkey has rendered its final decision regarding the standing of Jehovah’s Witnesses in that country. Issued on May 26, the binding decision upholds the Supreme Court’s ruling of June 19, 1985, that the Witnesses had not overstepped the boundary of religious freedom guaranteed by the Turkish Constitution. This new ruling acquits the 23 Witnesses who had been unjustly sentenced to jail in 1984, when they were charged with violating article 163 of the penal code, which forbids religious activity aimed at changing the governmental order of the land. The decision holds that Jehovah’s Witnesses are not guilty of violating the law and acknowledges them as a religious group.

Success in Fighting River Blindness

It is “the largest and most successful health program in sub-Saharan Africa,” says the World Bank publication Finance & Development of efforts to control river blindness. The project, begun in 1974, attempted to break the breeding cycle of blackflies, which lay their eggs in fast-flowing rivers. The biting females transmit a parasitic worm that eventually reproduces into millions of other worms that spread throughout the body. When these reach and burrow into the eyes, they cause blindness. Now, after over ten years of spraying larvicide, transmission of the disease in the project area​—some 500,000 square miles (1.3 million sq km) in the countries of Benin, Togo, Burkina Faso, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Mali, and Niger—​is said to have been halted, with no new cases reported in recent years. The cost? About $1 per person for the 16 million people benefited. The program will now expand to other areas of West Africa.

Heavy Problem

Fatness is a result of “gluttony, not thyroids,” claims Dr. Guillermo Ruiz, endocrinologist at the La Raza Medical Center in Mexico City. Although fat can also be hyperplastic (greater amount of adipose tissue) or prepubertal (before puberty), he says that studies reveal that fat is not caused by disorders in the thyroids but by “the lack of will to eat less” and “can start from the earliest years in life when a mother excessively feeds her child.” Since obesity is linked with disorders causing heart disease, Dr. Ruiz points to a proper diet and exercise as the solution. At the same time, he warns the gorditos (chubbies) to beware of poisoning because of abuse of diet pills.

Locust Threat

The arrival of rain after years of drought has brought another problem to the African continent: locusts. Since the start of the rains last year, certain grasshoppers and migratory locusts have been breeding in catastrophic proportions. According to the French newspaper Le Monde, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization has reported that, for the first time in over 50 years, “a large part of the African continent and several Near Eastern countries are threatened by four different species of locusts at the same time.” Mentioned among the main countries affected are Sudan, northern Ethiopia and Uganda, northwest Kenya, Tanzania, Zambia, Malawi, and Mozambique.

“Religious Impostors”

Thus reads a bold headline in The Winnipeg Sun of Canada. “A growing number of hospital patients afraid of catching AIDS or developing other blood related problems are posing as Jehovah’s Witnesses,” states the article. “Church elders have discovered more than a dozen impostors while doing their hospital rounds.” One woman said she pretended to be a Witness so that she would not have to fight with the doctors over the treatment. “The reason I refuse blood is not religious,” she said. “When you take someone else’s blood there’s no guarantee that you’ll be any healthier. It could make you sick or even dead.” One impostor was discovered by a chaplain who saw the man sitting in bed smoking a cigar. The man sheepishly admitted that he wasn’t a Witness. “I just don’t want a blood transfusion,” he said. “I’m a doctor.”

Insufficient Payment

“How much is a life worth?” asks U.S.News & World Report. “In the U.S. today, the answer is seven years. That’s the median time convicted murderers spend behind bars, according to the Bureau of Justice Statistics.” Many don’t stay in jail even that long. According to a survey of 30 states, one out of every seven prisoners given a life sentence serves three years or less.

Baby School

In Japan babies are going to school. Asahi Evening News reports that at nurseries run by the EDA (Early Development Association), 18-month-old tots are trained to sit still at desks and to obey rules. Babies sing and clap along with their mothers, as well as attend classes where they listen to English. EDA says that their schools are not geared to producing fast-learning “super-kids” but, rather, are instructing mothers in how to teach their own children. How are things working out? The mother of a three-year-old who attends both an EDA nursery school and a cram school complained: “Mamie is tired and not happy. I didn’t want to put her through cramming but a neighbor told me she had trouble getting her toddler into a good school because she spent all last summer at the pool.”

Early Jerusalem’s Grandeur

Just how large a city was ancient Jerusalem in the “First Temple era”? “For years Bible scholars . . . have been arguing about whether Jerusalem was really a grand city, or just a forgotten little town whose reputation was built up through the ages,” says Gabriel Barkay, a Tel Aviv University archaeologist. “Now we know that it was a major city. This is critical also because a city that was the scene of the growth of monotheism and classical prophecy, a city said to be the only place you could worship God, had to have this importance reflected in its physical size.” Leading to this conclusion was the discovery by Barkay of an unmolested burial vault containing some one thousand objects in a hillside along the western slope of the Valley of Hinnom. According to The New York Times, the find proves not only that the “size of [the] early city was as grand as its historical reputation” but also “that parts of what came to be known as the Old Testament were familiar to the residents of the Judean Monarchy 2,600 years ago.”

Plastic Killing Sea Life

Plastic trash in the sea “is taking a heavy toll on marine life, particularly on seals, sea lions, turtles and seabirds,” states Time magazine. The plastic flotsam comes from trash discarded by ships, boaters, and beach goers, lost or discarded fishing gear left by commercial fishermen, and sewage discharged into the sea. “Almost without exception, surveys show plastic to account for over one-half the man-made products on the ocean surface,” says fishery biologist Al Pruter. Thousands of seals die each year after getting caught in netting that either exhausts them or restricts their ability to catch food. Leatherback turtles mistake floating plastic bags for jellyfish​—a favorite food. Over 42 species of seabirds are known to ingest plastic. Some have been strangled by the plastic yokes from six-packs. The swallowed items cause ulcers or death by obstruction of the digestive tract. Efforts to reduce the plastic pollution have so far been unsuccessful.

Heat From Earth’s Interior

An experimental project succeeded in tapping enough usable heat from two and a half miles (4 km) under the ground to provide power for a town of 2,000 people, report scientists at the Los Alamos National Laboratory and the U.S. Department of Energy. The technology extracts heat from underground rocks by pumping water down one well and back up another where the heated water emerges as steam. The steam can then be used to spin turbines for generating electricity. What makes this source of energy different from conventional geothermal energy systems is that hot dry rock technology, as the method is called, does not rely on natural underground water reservoirs to produce geysers or hot springs. Rather, it mines virtually unlimited heat from the naturally hot rocks of earth’s interior. Scientists from Britain, Japan, and Europe hope that hot rock heat systems will be an alternative to nuclear energy and fossil fuels.

How Could All the Animals Fit Into Noah’s Ark?

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