April 22

Page Two

When on trial before the Roman governor Pontius Pilate, Jesus Christ said: “My kingdom is no part of this world.”​—John 18:36.

Do clergymen have this viewpoint today? Is it possible in our time to be in the world and still be no part of it? What is religion’s role in modern politics?

It Is All Around Us!

“The words ‘religion’ and ‘politics’ were yoked in news stories throughout 1984 in all parts of the world. . . . Anglican bishop Desmond Tutu [was] a symbol of the clash between church and state over apartheid . . . In a benediction at [a political] convention, Jerry Falwell, fundamentalist leader of Moral Majority, referred to Reagan and Vice-Pres. George Bush as ‘God’s instruments in rebuilding America.’”​—1985 Britannica Book of the Year.

“From Poland to the Philippines . . . there are bishops and priests speaking out against the State in which they live. The Church is not just the place where God is worshipped, but where dissent is fomented.”​—Glasgow Herald, January 3, 1985.

HAVE you read such news reports? Likely so, for most of us have noted that religion and politics are often linked in the news. Do you feel that it is right for religion and politics to mix?

Some may say, ‘Religion and politics are subjects that I don’t talk about.’ Even if you feel that way, it is in your best interest that you be informed about what is happening regarding religion and politics and how this may come to affect your own life. Further, by referring to the Bible on this matter, you will find that God has things to say about religion’s mixing in politics and about where it is leading.

A Worldwide Mix

First it will be helpful to see just how widespread this mixing is. Note some recent reports.

◼ April 21, 1986: “In the Philippines the Catholic Church enjoys high prestige for helping topple ex-President Ferdinand Marcos. Anglican, Methodist and Catholic churches in South Africa have railed for years against the government’s apartheid policies. Catholic clergy in Latin America, under the banner of ‘liberation theology,’ are deeply involved in trying to oust regimes deemed oppressive to the poor.”

◼ Seoul, Republic of Korea, March 9, 1986: “The Roman Catholic primate of South Korea, Stephen Cardinal Kim Sou Hwan, gave his support today to opposition party demands for swift constitutional changes.”

◼ August 18, 1986: ‘The candidate is an ordained and militant Protestant minister, crusading to wrench his party from the clutches of the moderates he scorns. Who is this galvanizing and polarizing force in U.S. presidential politics? Ironically, the description applies equally well to two clergymen: Pat Robertson on the Republican right and Jesse Jackson on the Democratic left.’ ‘A fund-raising letter referring to the success [Robertson’s] delegate candidates were having began “The Christians have won! . . . What a breakthrough for the Kingdom!”’

◼ Brasília, Brazil, July 3, 1986: “The church has already emerged as the strongest critic of the new civilian Government . . . As a result, church-state relations are again in turmoil, with officials charging priests with radicalizing the situation in the countryside and some bishops accusing the Government of resorting to tactics of ‘persecution and defamation.’”

◼ September 25, 1984: “Iran’s Khomeini represents the forces of Shia Muslim fundamentalism and teaches that Islam should dictate politics, economics and military strategy.”

◼ April 7, 1985: “A majority of Anglicans think that the Church of England should keep out of politics, according to a Gallup Poll conducted exclusively for The Sunday Telegraph.”

◼ October 4, 1986: “Mexico’s Roman Catholic church is lining up behind the growing opposition to the country’s ruling [party]. The church made its boldest venture into politics in July . . . The bishops proposed to cancel Sunday masses in protest at the vote-rigging; but the Pope intervened.”

◼ Washington, D.C., U.S.A., July 6, 1986: “Christian evangelical leaders are using their money, spiritual convictions and millions of members to do battle in the secular arena​—and are playing an increasingly influential role in American politics.”

Why Is It Thus?

Yes, there is no denying that religion is very involved in politics. But what moves religious leaders to mix in political matters? Has God offered any judgment on this intermingling? Where is all of this heading, and how will you be affected?

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“Political involvement is implicit in the Christian Gospel, says [Peter-Hans Kolvenbach,] leader of the Society of Jesus, . . . which has in the past come under fire from the Vatican for mixing too much in political affairs.”​—The Toronto Star, May 31, 1986.

Why Do the Clergy Mix in Politics?

SINCE you are affected, you have good reason to ask, “Why?”

Understandably, no single motive applies to all the priests, ministers, and other religious leaders who have mixed in politics. Some have motivations that most people would condemn. Others may have admirable reasons, such as concern for the poor.

Your having insight into their motives will put you in a better position to consider God’s view of the matter and to appreciate what he says the future holds.

Position, Profit, and Politics

To understand one reason why clergymen mix in politics, let us consider some first-century religious leaders. These men, the high priest and members of the Pharisees and the Sadducees, made up the Jewish high court. Being upset over Jesus’ having resurrected Lazarus, they reasoned: “If we let [Jesus] alone this way, they will all put faith in him, and the Romans will come and take away both our place and our nation.”​—John 11:48.

“Our place and our nation.” Yes, they worried about their position, influence, and authority, with any nationalistic interests being secondary. (Matthew 23:2-8) By currying favor with politicians, some clergymen have gained a standing of importance. For many, this also has been the road to a life of luxury. In fact, the last book of the Bible depicts “a woman” called “Babylon the Great,” who was noted for “the power of her shameless luxury.” The Bible and history show that she symbolizes false religion earth wide.​—Revelation 17:1-5; 18:3.

Consider now evidence that this is why some clergymen mix in politics. The book Religion and Revolution tells us: “Between 1774 and 1790, 173 of the 192 French bishops belonged to the nobility. About one-half of the episcopate lived in Paris and enjoyed the splendor of the French capital. Cardinal Polignac died in 1741 without ever having visited the archdiocese to which he had been nominated fifteen years earlier. A growing spirit of laxness also afflicted the monasteries many of which were very rich.” The upper clergy lived in luxury, while many parish priests were in poverty.

Mexico provides another example. In 1810 village priest Miguel Hidalgo led a fight for independence from Spain. Professor Guenter Lewy explains: “The pope in Rome and practically the entire episcopate condemned [those Mexican] patriots. The hypocritical ease with which the upper clergy [later] turned into ardent supporters of independence . . . was all too apparent and helped create the image of the church as a special interest group that could not be trusted. . . . The church was rich in lands and buildings, estimated by some to include more than one-half the real property of the nation.”

Protestant, Catholic, Jewish, or of any other faith​—would not all of us agree that clergymen should not mix in politics to secure an exalted place? Yet, that is exactly what often happens.

From Nazi Germany to Today

The Nazi period offers more insight into religion’s mixing in politics. Many thinking people have wondered, ‘How did Catholic and Lutheran clergymen deal with Hitler and his brutal Nazis?’

Basically, it was by support or at least coexistence. Few religious voices rose in protest. Professor T. A. Gill writes about one exception. “[The theologian Dietrich] Bonhoeffer found out at last what his father and brothers had been telling him since he was fifteen: the church was not important enough anymore in the things that matter most to justify giving his life to it.” Wearied by the church’s support of Hitler or its passivity, Bonhoeffer joined a plot to kill Hitler. But Bonhoeffer was an exception.

Paul Johnson’s History of Christianity describes the norm: “Both churches, in the main, gave massive support to the regime. . . . Of 17,000 Evangelical pastors, there were never more than fifty serving long terms [for not supporting the Nazi regime] at any one time. Of the Catholics, one bishop was expelled from his diocese, and another got a short term for currency offences.” As to those who stuck to their principles, Johnson continues: “The bravest were the Jehovah’s Witnesses, who proclaimed their outright doctrinal opposition from the beginning and suffered accordingly. They refused any cooperation with the Nazi state.”

Since then, other clergymen have cooperated with brutal regimes so as to maintain their place of prominence, power, and wealth. An editorial in the National Catholic Reporter said: “The story of the Catholic church’s failings in Argentina is one of silence and complicity with a ruthless military regime, one of the worst in recent history. . . . Church prelates were thus in positions to speak out and make a difference, perhaps even strip the regime of its religious justification. Yet, almost to the last man, they said nothing. Some, including clerics in military uniform, endorsed the torture and killings.”​—April 12, 1985.

Civil Rights, Social Justice

As mentioned earlier, however, some religious leaders are highly admired for their active role in politics for other reasons.

An example from the United States is the Baptist minister Martin Luther King, Jr., a civil-rights leader in a long crusade against racial discrimination. Other clergymen have been in the forefront of struggles for the rights of women and certain minorities. Priests and ministers have turned politically active in support of causes such as voting rights, equal pay for equal work, and fair employment opportunities. Most recently, a “theology of liberation” has been promoted to ease the suffering of the poor, such as by distributing land to the impoverished.

How do you feel about religious leaders’ involving themselves in politics in order to promote social action or “secular humanism,” as such issues are sometimes labeled? Even some clerics are uncomfortable with what they see happening. Keith Gephart, a fundamentalist clergyman, commented: “When I was growing up, I always heard that churches should stay out of politics. Now it seems almost a sin not to get involved.” A newspaper writer on religious issues noted: “Beginning in the early 1970s, fundamentalist Christians have gradually come to believe that political activism is a duty.”

Even if the causes seem meritorious, consider how far such steps are taking the clergy, and see if you approve.

What Is Liberation Theology Doing?

Gustavo Gutiérrez, a Catholic priest in Peru, is widely credited with developing “liberation theology” in response to the plight of the poor. This trend is widespread among the clergy in Latin America and elsewhere. England’s Manchester Guardian Weekly reported that the Bishop of Durham attacked the government’s political philosophy and thus urged “advancing the cause of a ‘liberation theology.’”

Is such a theology just an emphasis on concern for the poor, as urged in the Bible? Hardly. According to the Guardian, the bishop admits that “British liberation theology will take some of the diagnoses of Marxism very seriously.” This involves interpreting the class struggle of the poor by using Marxist reasoning. With what consequences?

The National Catholic Reporter (July 4, 1986) carried the headline “Brazil’s Land Fight Pits Church Against State.” A fact underlying this conflict is that just a small number of “large landowners control 83 percent of the land.” Clergy-led rallies and marches are part of the “land fight.” And “fight” is a fitting word. The article said that “218 people were killed in more than 700 land conflicts last year, including Father Josimo Tavares, a Brazilian priest and land-reform leader, who was assassinated June 11.”

Liberation theology is gaining popularity. A New York Times editorial acknowledged that the official Vatican position is that clerics should not be involved in partisan politics, but it further said that the Vatican “also embraces liberation theology’s fundamental principle: that the Christian Gospel justifies the struggles of the poor for political freedom and control over their lives.”

In a similar vein is the charge that Maryknoll, a Catholic missionary order, has been “spreading the gospel of liberation theology and socialist politics.” A 1985 study, The Revolution Lobby, charged: “Maryknoll has successfully brought the Marxist-Leninist message of violent revolution into public acceptance precisely because it has been allowed to operate as an arm of the Catholic Church. Its message has reached not only the average churchgoer, but leading American policymakers, as well.”

Does God Approve?

Clearly, all around the globe today religion is mixing in politics, and there are various reasons for this. How, though, does God feel about it? The Bible shows that soon he is going to manifest his position plainly. How will you and your loved ones be affected? And what bearing should that have on your present attitude and actions?

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“The Catholic church in Germany was German to the core, and like the Protestant church upheld the state and its authority.”​—The German Churches Under Hitler.

“The Russian Orthodox Church yesterday threw its weight fully behind Mr Gorbachev’s disarmament proposals . . . It described [them] as ‘perfectly consistent with the Christian approach.’”​—The Guardian (London), April 9, 1986.

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Martin Luther King, Jr., was prominent among religious leaders crusading against racial discrimination

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UPI/​Bettmann Newsphotos

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Poverty and injustice have given rise to liberation theology

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J. Viscarrs/​WHO

Religion in Politics​—Is This God’s Will?

“JUDAS the Galilean rose in the days of the registration, and he drew off people after him. And yet that man perished, and all those who were obeying him were scattered abroad.” (Acts 5:37) Here we have another Bible example of religion’s mixing in politics.

Shortly before Jesus’ birth, this Judas ‘enlisted the aid of Saddok, a Pharisee, and threw himself into the cause of rebellion.’ Though Judas was “a rabbi with a sect of his own,” he “tried to stir the natives to revolt, saying that they would be cowards if they submitted to paying taxes to the Romans.”​—Josephus’ The Jewish War.

Would Jesus Do It?

Soon after Jesus’ baptism, the Devil attempted to involve him politically. Satan offered him “all the kingdoms of the world and their glory.” Christ did not deny that the Devil had authority over the governments. Rather, Jesus rejected this political opportunity, though he could have reasoned that with political power he would be able to do good for the people.​—Matthew 4:8-10.

Later the people saw Jesus’ ability to provide food. They evidently reasoned, ‘If Jesus was in the government, he would be able to solve our economic problems.’ Note what developed. “Jesus, knowing they were about to come and seize him to make him king, withdrew.” (John 6:10-15) Yes, Jesus refused to become embroiled in politics, despite his qualifications.

Still later, some politically attuned Jews tried to trap Jesus over a political issue: taxes. Were Roman taxes too high? If a Jew paid the tax, would he thus endorse using taxes to support Rome’s wars? We can learn something from how Jesus responded: “Pay back Caesar’s things to Caesar, but God’s things to God.” (Mark 12:13-17) In contrast, 225 Roman Catholic bishops in the United States voted last November to adopt a 115-page economic statement that said, in part: “The tax system should be reformed to reduce the burden on the poor. . . . Those with relatively greater financial resources should pay a higher rate of taxation.”

Think what we may about our taxes, Jesus remained neutral as to the politics of taxes. His disciples, such as the apostle Paul, did likewise. (Romans 13:1-7) Even on a hot social issue such as slavery, they were neutral. You can imagine how easy it would have been for a Christian, moved by kindness, to rail against slavery, even as clergymen now take sides on legalized abortion, apartheid, women’s rights, and so on. But true Christians remained neutral!

Oxford professor E. P. Sanders writes: “It is now virtually universally recognized that there is not a shred of evidence which would allow us to think that Jesus had military/​political ambitions, and the same applies to the disciples.”

Executing God’s Judgment

As we saw earlier, many Jewish leaders felt that it was in their best interests to be involved with the Roman rulers, doing so even over the trial and execution of Jesus the Messiah. (Matthew 27:1, 2, 15-31) Revelation portrays religion’s influencing and using the political element as being like a ‘woman sitting upon a wild beast.’ Does that not suggest to you how God views this mixing by the clergy?​—Revelation 17:1-5.

Here is how even some human observers are judging the matter:

Malachi Martin, a Vatican scholar, saw that clerics “who take up political and social causes are failing in their No. 1 role: to be representatives of Jesus Christ.” He said: “Bishops, for example, do not have a mandate to write about economics or tell the president to not send missiles to Europe.”

But what will happen when politicians and the people tire of the clergy’s meddling? Last year the journal Liberty discussed how Emperor Constantine in the fourth century ‘mixed politics and religion, creating a “church-state” beast.’ It said about the situation today: “Just as in Constantine’s day, the church is using the state to achieve its own ends.”​—Italics ours.

God’s Word makes clear what the outcome will be. The time is coming when the political element will turn on and devastate the world empire of false religion, which has long used politics to its own ends. Revelation 19:2 says that this will be an expression of God’s judgment.

Can You Be Neutral?

You personally cannot stop religious leaders from meddling in politics. But individually you can strive to match the Bible’s description of a true worshiper. Jesus said about his disciples: “They are no part of the world, just as I am no part of the world.” Thereafter he told governor Pilate: “My kingdom is no part of this world. If my kingdom were part of this world, my attendants would have fought that I should not be delivered up to the Jews.”​—John 17:16; 18:36.

Is it possible in our time to be in the world, living on the globe as a legal citizen of some nation, and still be “no part of the world,” to be neutral? The modern history of Jehovah’s Witnesses answers yes. They have complied with the Biblical obligation to be law-abiding citizens, yet neutral as to political and military activities of the many nations in which they live.

The book The Shaping of American Religion said: “While refusing to salute the flag or to participate in the pointless wars between doomed nations, they are in other respects law-abiding citizens. Few other groups have so neatly solved the problem of remaining ‘in’ secular society without also being ‘of’ it.” This has been true earth wide and in many political climates. Even in the face of intense pressure to abandon their neutrality, the Witnesses have given their allegiance first to God’s Kingdom.

Historian Brian Dunn writes: “The Jehovah’s Witnesses were incompatible with Nazism . . . Most important of the Nazi objections to the sect was the Witnesses’ attitude toward the state and their political neutrality. . . . This meant that no believer could bear arms, vote, hold office, take part in public festivals, or make any sign of allegiance.”​—The Churches’ Response to the Holocaust (1986).

Such neutrality continues. We read in The Modern Encyclopedia of Russian and Soviet History, volume 15: “Hitler passionately loathed the Jehovists and imprisoned perhaps 10,000 of them . . . The psychologically impervious Witnesses withstood German concentration camps better than most . . . The Soviet government has never permitted the Jehovah’s Witnesses a legal existence, because it sees in the movement, even more than in other religious persuasions, an ideology that radically undermines its adherents’ loyalty to the state. . . . They take no part in elections; they refuse to serve in the armed forces; they limit their exposure to official media to the absolute minimum.”

The book Christian Religion in the Soviet Union (1978) adds: “Soviet Witnesses resist demands for participation in military service, elections, and all other political” activities, which are expected of citizens.

So it is possible to imitate Jesus’ neutrality as to the political and military activities of the Roman and Jewish governments. Doing this today will be a protection when God executes his adverse judgment against religion’s mixing in politics.

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“It’s time to get politics out of the pulpit and the pulpit out of politics. Religious officials have every right to whatever secular views they hold. [But] the pulpit is misused when it is used for secular causes.”​—U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Langhorne Motley, June 1985.

Finding the Right Army

IT WAS 1944, during the second world war. As a German held prisoner by the Allies, my desire to escape grew until it became an obsession. Nothing else mattered. That is why 13 fellow prisoners and I leapt from a speeding train near the border of Spanish Morocco.

Amazingly, apart from severe bruising, we all survived. However, our freedom was short lived. Four days later we were captured by mounted Arabian desert police. But the desire for freedom still burned strong. It would take more than a bruised body, the humiliation of recapture, and harsh punishment to quench it.

Months passed, and we were prisoners in Casablanca. Another escape plan. This time we painstakingly dug a 65-foot (20 m) tunnel. It took three months of backbreaking toil, but finally the night for escape arrived. Again, we all made it!

There was another tantalizingly brief period of freedom, but we were captured a few days later. This time our punishment was isolation in a special prison with increased hard labor for one month. Afterward we were released to the regular prison camp.

I was only 19, and those experiences left a lasting impression. At the time I was sure I was in the right army, which made all the efforts seem worth while.

Early Training

I was born in September 1925, near Bremen, northern Germany. My father was an expert soccer player, swimmer, and ice skater, so I grew up with a keen interest in sports. But I also loved reading. My parents went to church only at Christmas, to attend a funeral, or on some other special occasion. When I did go to church, I was surprised to see how many people slept through much of the pastor’s sermon.

As I grew older, I read adventure stories and was fascinated to learn about other countries. I remember reading a book about the Torres Strait​—a large stretch of sea between Papua New Guinea and Australia. This distant, intriguing part of the earth fascinated me, and I had vague hopes that one day I might visit this remote area.

We had an encyclopedia, and in this I read about the world’s many religions and all their different gods. I wondered at times whether among all of these there was really a true God. Through the mail, Father regularly received a paper called Der Stürmer. I was intrigued by the unusual name Jehovah used frequently in its quotations from the Bible. Father explained that this was the name of the God of the Jews. I had read of many ancient gods, like Odin, Thor, and Frigga, as well as the Hindu gods Siva, Vishnu, and Brahma, but I had not come across the name Jehovah before.

First Taste of Army Life

Growing up under Nazi rule, I became a part of the Hitler Youth movement. By 1939 World War II had begun, and although I was only 14, I was trained for warfare. In time, air raids became a way of life. Once, I was suddenly awakened when a firebomb crashed through our roof, landing next to my bed. I extinguished it with sandbags and that way saved our house.

In 1943 I joined the paratroopers and was sent to France for training. After basic training I was sent to the front lines at Nettuno and Anzio in Italy. My leg was pierced by a bullet, and I was hospitalized for six weeks at Bologna. I returned to active service and not long afterward was taken prisoner near Siena, Italy.

It was while being taken by train to French Morocco that my 13 companions and I made our first escape bid. After recapture we were taken to a prisoner-of-war camp in the High Atlas mountains near the Sahara Desert. There I learned how to make bricks from clay and straw mixed with water. Later we were transferred to a Casablanca prison. It was from there that we made our second escape bid by digging the tunnel.

The French Foreign Legion

Although the war ended in 1945, we were kept as prisoners in Morocco. In 1947 we were taken to France, where I remained a prisoner until 1948. My first work after release was to cut timber in the Pyrenees. But then, in 1950, I joined the French Foreign Legion to fight against communism. First I was sent to Sidi-bel-Abbès in Algeria and later to Philippeville to be a paratrooper in the French army.

Next I was sent to fight in Indochina. There I was wounded in an ambush from which only two of us escaped alive. This time I was hospitalized in Hanoi for six weeks. After recovering, I was again sent back to fight in the jungle and the rice fields. Altogether, I notched 20 jumps as a paratrooper.

Eventually I became so sick with jaundice that the army medicos despaired of my life. I recovered but was pronounced unfit for active duty. Yet I could not get an honorable discharge. Fortunately, I was due for a lengthy furlough, so I requested a return to North Africa.

While there, I planned for another escape but this time alone. I realized that for about every 100 who escaped, 99 were caught again. So my planning was meticulous. I managed to get to Port Lyautey and board a German passenger liner. Once on the high seas and headed for Germany, I was safe.

Back in Germany, I was happily united with my family after being away for ten years. An old school friend arranged for me to join the German unit of the British army, making it the third army I had been in. I earned good money but was growing increasingly tired of army life.

A New Life in a New Land

The opportunity to migrate to Canada or Australia came my way. I chose Australia, and in June 1955 I arrived in Sydney, the capital city of New South Wales. I learned that employment was available on a large hydroelectric irrigation scheme in the Snowy Mountains, about 300 miles (480 km) southwest of Sydney. I knew this would be rugged work, but the pay was good, and I heard there were many Germans and other European migrants working on the project.

Since the war I had not thought much about religion. From what I had seen during the war, I was disillusioned with it. I had never heard of Jehovah’s Witnesses, but a workmate who said he was a Witness often spoke to me about a remedy for world conditions, and what he said made a lot of sense. However, soon afterward he returned to Sydney, and I lost contact with him.

About this time I met and married Christa. I told my wife about things the Witness had told me, and she, too, liked what she heard. So on a visit to Sydney, I contacted him again. Although he also was German, he could read and speak English fluently and gave us a book in English, From Paradise Lost to Paradise Regained. As both Christa and I were still learning English, we could not understand all that the book said, though we understood a lot from the pictures.

When the Witness told us that the book was also available in German, one rainy weekend we hurried out to the Watch Tower Society’s Australia branch office at Strathfield. There we obtained the book in German, and I read it through in one night. We went back to attend a meeting at the Strathfield Kingdom Hall. Everybody was so friendly, and it seemed to us a true friendliness, not a made-up one. We left that meeting loaded down with a stack of Watchtower and Awake! magazines as well as some other books in the German language.

I Proceed With Caution

Although what we were learning sounded wonderful, I was cautious about committing myself in any way. This was partly because of my mother’s experience with organized religion. In 1936 she resigned from the Lutheran Church because she was disappointed with things she had heard and seen being practiced. Yet she did not lose her faith in God and would sometimes talk to me about it.

Then when I joined the army in 1943, we all had to go to church and listen to a priest give a talk. He assured us that if we were killed in battle, we would go to heaven immediately to be united with all the heroes of times past. Later, in the trenches and foxholes, I noted that many soldiers wore crosses for protection. My companion was wearing one when he was hit and killed right next to me. After recovering from horror, my first thought was: ‘What did the cross do for him?’

I was astonished when I saw English prisoners of war also wearing crosses. I thought: ‘If this is Christianity, then no Christian religion for me.’ Why, men professing to be Christians were on both sides​—killing one another!

The next time I saw the priest, I asked him about this. He said that when a war is on, you must fight for your country, but when the war is over, all should go back to their own churches. This was enough for me! ‘There is something terribly wrong,’ I reasoned. I could now understand why Mother resigned from the church.

So I was understandably cautious. Yet I soon became convinced that the Bible’s message of truth was different. The hypocrisy of organized religion was not what the Bible taught. Now I could see why there was such confusion and turmoil on the earth. And I was delighted to learn at last who Jehovah is. He is the true God of all, not of the Jews only as my father had said.

Also, I learned where Christ Jesus fitted in. He is Jehovah’s dear Son, and Jehovah sent him to earth to show us what to do and to provide a ransom so that we can gain everlasting life. I found out that God’s Kingdom will make the earth a paradise and, what is more, that it will last forever.

The Right Army at Last!

We soon realized that to attend Christian meetings regularly, our weekend camping trips would have to stop, or at least be curtailed. Another problem I had was heavy smoking. For 16 years I had smoked 40 to 60 cigarettes a day, as well as an occasional cigar and a pipe. When it was pointed out to me that such defilement of the human body displeases God, I gave up the filthy habit in one day.

In February 1963 Christa and I symbolized by water baptism our dedication to Jehovah. Soon afterward we began the full-time ministry as pioneers, and in January 1965 we were appointed special pioneers. Now I was a soldier in Jehovah’s Christian “army.”

In 1967 we went to Papua New Guinea, serving first in Port Moresby and later at Poppendetta. We returned to Australia for a short time and then in 1970 went back to Papua New Guinea, where we served until September 1981. In one of our assignments, we helped build two Kingdom Halls and assisted many to learn Bible truths. We traveled by canoe to most places​—using outboard motors. In three and a half years, 29 persons that we helped were baptized.

Both of us contracted cerebral malaria. I was unconscious for 48 hours and was not expected to live. Finally, in 1981, we decided to return to Australia, where we continued as special pioneers in Brisbane and later in Cairns, northern Queensland. Our present assignment is on Thursday Island, in the Torres Strait, just off the northernmost tip of mainland Australia. It is that faraway place I had read about when just a lad, not really believing that I would ever get there.

Looking back over our 23 years of pioneering, we have no regrets about enlisting in this “army.” Our hearts rejoice that we have been able to help about 60 people dedicate their lives to Jehovah God. We find much happiness in our full-time preaching service and always encourage others to take up this blessed work.

I constantly thank Jehovah that, after serving in three national armies, with plenty of disappointments and several near-deaths, I was able to enlist in his victorious army as a soldier of Christ Jesus. (2 Timothy 2:3) Yes, I finally found the right army and pray that I may continue serving as a faithful warrior forever.​—As told by Siegmar Soostmeyer.

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I was suddenly awakened when a firebomb crashed through our roof

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Men professing to be Christians were on both sides​—killing one another!

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When I served in the French Foreign Legion

The World Since 1914

Part 4​—1940-1943 Nations in Anguish, Driven by Fear

HIS words were enough to evoke fear in the bravest of persons. “I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears and sweat,” newly appointed prime minister Winston Churchill told members of the British House of Commons. Stressing the seriousness of the situation, he declared: “Victory at all costs, victory in spite of all terror, victory however long and hard the road may be; for without victory there is no survival.”

Yes, on that day, May 13, 1940, the British had every reason to be fearful. During the next six months, the German Luftwaffe, in preparation for an invasion, would send hundreds of its planes to rain down tons of bombs upon both military and nonmilitary targets. This later became known as the Battle of Britain, and it was designed to break Britain’s air power and to destroy the morale of its people. But for the Luftwaffe the battle went badly. Hitler hesitated, and in October​—at least for the moment—​invasion plans were canceled.

Freedom From Fear?

In the United States, sympathy for the British continued to grow, eroding the official American policy of neutrality. Making his intentions clear, President Roosevelt said in 1940: “We have furnished the British great material support and we will furnish far more in the future.”

On January 6, 1941, he went one step further. In an address to Congress, he spoke of what he called Four Freedoms. To help achieve one of them​—freedom from fear—​he proposed a global “reduction of armaments to such a point and in such a thorough fashion that no nation will be in a position to commit an act of physical aggression against any neighbor​—anywhere in the world.” This, in reality, was an indirect declaration of war on the policies and goals of the Axis powers.

Two months later the U.S. Congress authorized a program known as lend-lease. This allowed the president to supply war materials, such as tanks and airplanes, as well as food and services, to any nation the defense of which he felt vital to U.S. interests.a Despite lingering domestic opposition, it was obvious that the United States was getting more and more involved in Europe’s war.

Meanwhile, encouraged by the success of its European allies, Japan felt it could now move into Southeast Asia without excessive fear of British or Dutch interference. When it invaded Indochina in September 1940, Washington protested sharply. And when Japan moved into the southern part of the country, action followed. Japanese assets under United States control were frozen, and an embargo was placed upon oil shipments to Japan. With their vital interests threatened, the Japanese now felt compelled to eliminate the danger of any further United States intervention.

Military leaders argued that U.S. retaliatory capabilities could be measurably reduced by winning a decisive victory over U.S. naval forces, which exceeded those of Japan in strength by some 30 percent. Then by capturing American, British, and Dutch territories, Japan would have land bases from which to defend itself should it later be counterattacked. The start, it was decided, was to be made at Wai Momi.

This means “pearl waters,” and it is what Hawaiians once called the Pearl River estuary because of the pearl oysters that once grew there. It is located a few miles west of downtown Honolulu. But on Sunday morning, December 7, 1941, the waters of Wai Momi were not filled with pearls but with the sunken carcasses of wrecked ships and the mangled bodies of their crews. Japanese warplanes attacking the main Pacific U.S. naval base located there inflicted severe losses.

The Pearl Harbor attack practically neutralized American naval forces in the Pacific, except for the aircraft carriers. Within hours, other U.S. air bases were bombed, and this left over 50 percent of the Far East U.S. Army aircraft in shambles. Three days later, Japan invaded the Philippines, captured Manila less than a month later, and took control of all the Philippine Islands by the middle of May. Quickly, one after the other, Hong Kong, Burma, Java, Singapore, Thailand, Indochina, British Malaya, Sumatra, Borneo, parts of New Guinea, Netherlands East Indies, as well as scores of Pacific islands, fell into Japanese hands. The Asiatic blitzkrieg was not one whit behind its European counterpart.

As 1942 drew to a close, freedom from fear was hardly descriptive of the world situation. More accurate were Jesus’ prophetic words: “On the earth anguish of nations, . . . while men become faint out of fear and expectation of the things coming upon the inhabited earth.”​—Luke 21:25, 26.

German Lightning Fizzles

Meanwhile, Germany and Italy were expanding their control over the Balkans. Hitler sent his troops goose-stepping into Yugoslavia and Greece on April 6, 1941. In less than two weeks, Yugoslavia fell, followed before the middle of May by Greece.

Hitler’s next move was motivated by several desires. He was possibly still intent upon influencing England into suing for peace. He also wanted to take pressure off the Japanese, who were fighting the Soviets in China, so that they in turn could keep the Americans at bay. Thus Hitler readied his troops for a thrust against the Soviet Union, his ally in the Polish campaign.

Encouraged by previous successes, Hitler’s generals felt that if they invaded in June, European Russia and the Ukraine could be theirs before the onset of winter. So on June 22, 1941, they struck. They moved with lightning speed from victory to victory. On two occasions they encircled large groups of Soviet troops and took over half a million prisoners each time. Leningrad seemed ready to fall, and by early December, German troops were pushing into the outskirts of Moscow.

Winter, however, was near, and for once Hitler’s troops were behind schedule. Leningrad and Moscow held firm. Soviet troops, now recovered from their initial shock and better equipped for winter warfare than their German counterparts, brought the German juggernaut to a halt. In fact, they even forced it into retreat.

The next summer the Germans rebounded. Their all-out attack on Stalingrad (now Volgograd), however, led to their undoing. Early in 1943 the Soviets surrounded tens of thousands of troops poised to take the city and forced them into surrendering. John Pimlott, senior lecturer at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, comments: “It was a stunning blow to German morale and the turning point in the war on the Eastern Front. Before Stalingrad the Russians had enjoyed no unqualified victories; after it they were to suffer few defeats.”

By the end of 1943, nearly two thirds of the vast territory seized by the Germans in the preceding two years had been recaptured. German lightning had fizzled.

“Monty” Chases the “Desert Fox”

In 1912 Cyrenaica and Tripolitania (now part of the North African country of Libya) were ceded to Italy. The some 300,000 Italian soldiers stationed there at the end of 1940 posed a severe threat to the much smaller garrison of British troops in Egypt guarding the approaches to the strategic Suez Canal. To ward off this danger, the British decided to strike first. They achieved one of the first decisive Allied victories, taking tens of thousands of prisoners and sending the Italians into full-scale retreat. The victory might have been even greater had not Greece just at that time accepted the offer of British help in its unsuccessful struggle against the invading Axis powers. For the moment, the North African campaign was put on hold. This allowed the Axis powers time to reorganize.

German troops under the command of Erwin Rommel, who later became known as the Desert Fox, succeeded in turning the tide of battle and in making substantial gains. His greatest success came in 1942, when at the beginning of July his troops advanced to Alamein, within 60 miles (100 km) of Alexandria. Africa’s blitzkrieg was now poised to capture Egypt and to gain control of the Suez Canal. But after British troops, under the leadership of General Bernard Law Montgomery, launched an infantry attack on October 23, Rommel was forced into a gradual withdrawal that soon turned into a rout. Then in November 1942 the Allies successfully landed in Morocco and Algeria. By the following May, Axis troops, now caught between enemy forces advancing from east and west, had lost their bid to control North Africa.

Hopscotching Across the South Pacific

In the spring of 1942 Japan could boast of an empire grown to its greatest extent. But the Allied plan was to recover this territory from the Japanese, to hopscotch its troops across the Pacific from island to island until they finally reached the Japanese mainland. A long series of ferocious naval battles followed. Little-known Pacific islands like Saipan, Guadalcanal, Iwo Jima, and Okinawa were invaded at horrendous cost to both sides. Childhood daydreams of island paradises gave way to the stark reality and nightmare of mutilated corpses on bloody beaches. Defeat was bitter, but even victory was tinged with fear, the fear of what was yet to come.

Plans for the Future

Even in the midst of war, plans were already being made for peace. By mid-1942, for example, over 30 U.S. government agencies were said to be engaged in postwar planning​—not entirely without fear or apprehension, however. As Churchill so pertinently remarked: “The problems of victory are more agreeable than those of defeat, but they are no less difficult.”

No doubt one of the most difficult of these problems of victory would be the finding of a replacement for the defunct League of Nations. Even though some people may have been doubtful, Jehovah’s Witnesses were certain that such a replacement would be found. In a discourse delivered at their 1942 convention in Cleveland, Ohio, the speaker said: “Before Armageddon comes, the Scriptures show, a peace must come. . . . Those of a democratic mind hope for a United States of the world, a ‘family of nations,’ a ‘world association’ based on the United Nations.” Referring to the prophecy of Revelation 17:8, he stated unequivocally: “The association of worldly nations will rise again.”

But would it bring a lasting peace? “God’s definite answer is, No!” replied the speaker. Even so, despite its temporary nature, the coming period of peace would be most welcome. With no fear of the future, Jehovah’s Witnesses began making plans to expand their preaching work once the war was over. In 1942 they established a missionary school to train Christian ministers for service in other lands. The following year a program for training public speakers was introduced to make possible an expanded public-meeting campaign.

As 1943 closed, the nations were still in anguish, still driven by fear. But people on both sides of the conflict, weary of war, were beginning to look forward to the promised relief that the postwar world offered. Would it bring the “freedom from fear” about which Roosevelt spoke? On the contrary, global fear would shortly spiral to new levels! And the main culprit, ironically enough, would be the very instrument hailed by some as a godsend in finally bringing to an end the agonizing years of war. Read “World War II​—Its Fierce and Fiery End” in our next issue.

[Footnotes]

[Box on page 19]

Other Items That Made the News

First mass gassings in Auschwitz concentration camp

1942​—Bombay, India, hit by cyclone and flood; 40,000 deaths

1943​—Turkish earthquake kills 1,800 persons

Over one million die in famine in Bengal

[Diagram/​Map on page 18]

(For fully formatted text, see publication)

The extent of Japan’s conquests by 1942

Attu

Agattu

Kiska

China

Manchuria

Korea

Japan

Burma

Thailand

French Indochina

Malaya

Sumatra

Borneo

Java

Netherlands New Guinea

North-East New Guinea

Australia

Gilbert Islands

Marshall Islands

Wake

Formosa

Philippines

Pacific Ocean

[Pictures on page 17]

Nations in the throes of war

[Credit Line]

U.S. Army photos

Japan’s Magazine Production Gets ‘In-Line’

PRINT, package, and ship 3.5 million copies of the Watchtower and Awake! magazines each month: That is one of the jobs the Japan branch of the Watch Tower Society must perform in order to meet the needs of Jehovah’s Witnesses in doing their preaching work in Japan and a number of other countries in the Far East. Obviously, efficiency is the key.

To meet this need, the Witnesses in Japan designed and, for the most part, built a conveyor system that eliminates most of the time-consuming and labor-intensive tasks, such as having to stack and unstack the magazines at various stages of the production process.

To start with, the only equipment available commercially was the rotary press, with its stacking attachment, and the three-knife trimmer that cuts the magazines to size. The Witnesses went to work and came up with a system linking these two units and other custom-made devices, so that it is possible to print, stack, trim, and package the magazines in one operation.

A Run-Through of the System

Looking at the pictures in the proper sequence will give you a good idea of how the ‘in-line’ system works. To begin with, paper from two rolls enters the rotary press (picture A) at speeds of up to 25 feet (8 m) per second. Out of the other end of the press (B) come two continuous streams of beautiful four-color magazines, about a thousand copies a minute. The roller conveyors send the magazines to the stacking machine (C), which sorts them into fluffy piles of 50 magazines each.

The stacks of magazines are then sent to the hydraulic pressing unit (D), which applies up to 50 tons of pressure for two seconds to each stack to squeeze out the air between the pages. This step alone eliminates all the work involved in having to take the magazines off the conveyors, stack them on pallets under pressure overnight, and then reload or feed them to the trimmer in bundles of 50, one bundle at a time by hand.

After being pressed, the two streams of magazines are merged into one and then sent on to the trimmer (E), which cuts the magazines to size. The conveyor belt takes the magazines, now nicely trimmed and compacted, to the custom-made packing station (F), where they are put into cartons, which are sealed and then labeled by computer, ready to be wheeled right onto trucks waiting in the truck docks.

Efficient Use of Resources

Is all this elaborate equipment really necessary? “If we were to handle the present work load under the former arrangement,” said Yasuyuki, the overseer of the entire operation, “we would need to add at least ten workers to the crew. And that is if we could find the space to store all those magazines in the process.” With this ‘in-line’ system, 11 operators working as a team can process 54,000 magazines an hour. It is easy to see why Witnesses at the branch are overjoyed that Japan’s magazine production got ‘in-line.’

[Pictures on page 20, 21]

A. Rotary press

B. Magazines from press

C. Conveyor to stacker

D. Hydraulic pressing unit

E. Trimmer

F. Packing station

Young People Ask . . .

Why Do I Lose My Temper?

“When I’m angry, I’m furious, and you wouldn’t want to get near me. . . . I turn red in the face . . . Sometimes I just yell.”​—11-year-old Evan.

YOUR sister ruins your favorite blouse. Your teacher gives you an unfair mark on a test. Just when you need it the most, your hair dryer refuses to work. For many youths, any such intrusions, injustices, and inconveniences can trigger great feelings of anger.

An article in Health magazine by Dr. Georgia Witkin-Lanoil explains: “As the brain reacts to an infuriating event, the autonomic nervous system is aroused. Adrenaline, released from the adrenal glands, begins to pour into the bloodstream, increasing heart rate and respiration, and stimulating the release of stored sugars for energy.”

With what results? “Actions we take under the influence of our own adrenaline,” continues Dr. Witkin-Lanoil, “are often overreactions. We scream, hurl hateful semi-truths, hit, damage, destroy or leave the scene in a huff.” An article in ’Teen magazine similarly observed that anger “can make you say things you didn’t mean, lose your friends​—and even physically ache inside.”

Did you ever lose your temper? If so, you are not alone. Like most of us, you no doubt felt quite foolish afterward and wondered, ‘Why did I do that?’ Yes, why is it so difficult for some to control their temper? Is it worth the effort to try to do so?

Why We Get Angry

Part of the reason we are capable of feeling angry from time to time is that we are made “in God’s image.” (Genesis 1:27) God himself can get angry! For example, the apostle Paul said: “For God’s wrath is being revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who are suppressing the truth in an unrighteous way.”​—Romans 1:18.

Note, though, that Jehovah God’s wrath results from a love for righteousness and justice. God’s wrath is not a matter of his simply ‘losing his temper.’ He controls his anger and expresses it in a righteous way. Thus, when he brought destruction on a wicked world by a global flood, he did not lose control of the situation. Rather, he kept “Noah . . . safe with seven others.” (2 Peter 2:5) Jehovah can therefore be described as “a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abundant in loving-kindness and truth.”​—Exodus 34:6.

Because God created humans in his image, we have a built-in sense of justice. So when faced with unfair treatment or injustice, we may quite naturally feel anger rise within us. This happened to a number of godly people in Bible times.

For example, Moses, leader of the Israelite nation, became angry when several men led a rebellion against him. (Numbers 16:1, 15) And even Jesus Christ expressed anger! When he observed that men were carrying on commercial business in God’s temple of worship, he indignantly commanded: “Take these things away from here! Stop making the house of my Father a house of merchandise!” (John 2:13-16) Righteous anger is thus quite appropriate for a Christian.

Unfortunately, most of our anger is not righteously motivated. This is because, as the Bible says, we “are all under sin.” Therefore it continues: “There is not a righteous man, not even one.” (Romans 3:9, 10) So, then, our own imperfections​—and the failings of others—​are potent sources of frustration. “Sometimes people get on your nerves too much,” says young Stephanie.

But we are often angry without just cause! Unlike Jehovah who sees everything, we have a limited view of any matter. (Hebrews 4:12, 13) For example, the wise man Solomon observed that “a word causing pain makes anger to come up.” (Proverbs 15:1) Sometimes, though, “a word” is spoken in innocence, or is just a poorly timed joke or a playful bit of teasing. Not realizing this, we bristle.

Finally, there is the fact that temperaments vary, and some of us appear to be more prone to anger than others. And as a youth, you are just beginning to learn to control all the new desires and urges that puberty brings. You may feel unsure of yourself, overly sensitive to criticism. Until you gain some mastery over your feelings, you are vulnerable to provocation​—especially from within the family circle. “I lose my temper with my sister,” confesses 15-year-old Lorie. “She knows how to provoke me by saying something stupid or by correcting everything I say.” Tensions can similarly flare up between you and your parents.

Really, though, just about anything can make you angry if you let it. The question is, How do you handle those feelings of anger?

Anger Let Loose

The book Reaching Your Teenager observed that “many people don’t know how to express anger sensibly.” Some throw childish tantrums. Some become violent, either verbally or physically. Others are outwardly calm but inwardly seething. As one young woman said: “When I get angry I don’t yell, I become cold and untalkative.” Still others get behind the wheel of their car and take out their anger in the way they drive.

Anger let on the loose, however, is rarely constructive. Professor Gary Schwartz of Yale University claims that rage ‘produces effects on the heart more severe and long lasting than any other feeling, even fear.’ Dr. Redford B. Williams, Jr., of Duke University said: “Several studies now suggest that an awful lot of premature mortality may be associated with hostility.” Surely it cannot be healthy to establish a pattern of ‘blowing your stack’ at every provocation. “A calm heart is the life of the fleshly organism,” said an ancient proverb.​—Proverbs 14:30.

Further, unbridled anger usually makes a bad situation worse. Recall the Bible’s account of two brothers named Simeon and Levi whose sister was sexually violated. Understandably, they were quite angered when they heard about it! But how did they express their anger? The Bible says that they maneuvered events so that they could mercilessly murder the young man responsible for the rape​—along with the males of his family and his fellow townsmen!​—Genesis, chapter 34.

Years later on his deathbed, their father Jacob would recall this violent incident. Did he commend them for their wrathful vengeance? On the contrary, he cursed their anger because “it is cruel, and their fury, because it acts harshly.” (Genesis 49:7) Yes, what they had done in losing their temper was worse than the provocation that stirred them up in the first place! They had accomplished nothing constructive and had ruined their reputation.

No wonder, then, that the proverb says: “He that is quick to anger will commit foolishness.” (Proverbs 14:17) Rarely can one in a provoked state think or act rationally. Rarely will an infuriated one seek to find a Christian means of righting a wrong. The words of the Bible writer James thus ring true: “Man’s wrath does not work out God’s righteousness.” (James 1:20) Temper tantrums, hurling insults, and sulking are counterproductive.

True, letting loose with a volley of words at someone who has wronged you may feel good at the time. But you usually come to regret the outburst​—especially when that someone is an employer, teacher, or parent! (Compare Ecclesiastes 10:4.) Proverbs 29:11 therefore says: “All his spirit is what a stupid one lets out [by losing his temper], but he that is wise keeps it calm to the last.”

But how can you do that? A future article will discuss this.

[Blurb on page 22]

Our own imperfections​—and the failings of others—​are potent sources of frustration

[Picture on page 23]

Is it worth losing your temper over?

Almonds​—The Nutty Fruit

FROM my vantage point high on a hill, I see a series of white islands scattered throughout the blue-green valley below. A closer look reveals that what seems from a distance to be fields of white popcorn balls are, in reality, thousands of individual trees, each full of white blooms with delicate pink centers that fill the air with their heady fragrance. These delights that thrill my senses best describe an almond orchard in full bloom during early spring.

I have enjoyed this breathtaking sight since childhood because I was raised on an almond orchard in a small California town. My family earned its livelihood from growing and harvesting these delicious fruits.

“Fruits?” you ask. “Isn’t an almond a nut?” Well, yes and no. Although commonly considered a nut, the almond is, curiously enough, a fruit. It is part of the family from which other stone-fruit trees derive their origin, namely the rose family. Stone fruits include peaches, apricots, and plums. Next time you have a peach pit in your hand, notice how closely in size and shape it resembles an almond shell. Crack both open and you will find that the kernels are similar too. However, only almonds should be eaten, since eating the kernels of fruits like peaches can make you sick.

Almonds in History

The roots of almond history extend far back to Asia Minor and the Mediterranean region. In fact, long before the time of Christ, Middle Easterners were using almonds as a regular feature of their diet, and for good reason.

A handful of plain almonds provides not only a tasty snack but a healthful one. Almonds contain important nutrients, as well as significant amounts of essential vitamins and minerals. This could explain why almonds were so highly valued as a regular feature in the Middle Easterner’s diet, and why as Islam expanded its boundaries during the Middle Ages, the cultivation of almonds followed.

Muslim plantings flourished in Spain and then later in the New World through the colonial expansion of California’s Spanish missions. Now, 200 years later, almonds are California’s largest tree crop, and the state itself is one of the world’s leading almond producers.

Use of the Smudge Pots

During the bloom period, the almond-flower buds are in danger of injury if exposed to subfreezing temperatures too long. In the past, to prevent injury to these delicate buds, smudge pots were used to provide protection against frost. These oil-burning pots were placed along the tree rows at regular intervals. Although the tiny almond buds benefited greatly from the blanket of grimy, black smoke that was produced, the local inhabitants did not!

Imagine going to bed clean and waking up in the morning with your face covered with a sooty film that penetrated your nostrils and even found its way under your fingernails! No closed windows and doors or abundance of soap and water could keep us clean during the battle of the smudge pots versus the frost.

Happily, however, things have changed. Some orchards still use smudge pots, but other methods are now used successfully, to the delight of residents within the almond-growing community.

The Clattering Almond Hail

The method of harvesting almonds has also changed over the years. Hired laborers, toting large rubber mallets, used to climb agilely into trees and hit the branches, causing the almonds to tumble in a clattering hail onto canvas sheets stretched below. The sheets were then dragged by horse or tractor to the next tree and the process repeated. When the sheets were too heavy to pull, the almonds were bagged in gunnysacks and hauled off to the huller to be cleaned.

Today, in contrast, machines are used to shake the trees, gather up the almonds, and even separate the debris of dirt and hulls from the fruit. My father was one of the earliest designers of a machine that utilized a blast of air to separate much of the debris from the almond fruit itself.

Later, the almonds literally flow through the processing plant automatically. There they are cracked, cleaned, graded by size, sorted by an electric eye, and given a final inspection.

What next happens to some almonds is most exciting and appetizing. Imagine, a plain almond suddenly becoming flavored with hickory smoke, garlic or onion, or sugarcoated, salted, roasted, or creamed into almond butter​—to name just a few of the many tasty changes designed to tantalize our taste buds. And let’s not forget all the delicious candy bars, bakery goods, and ice creams flavored with whole or crushed almonds!

Growing up around almond orchards proved extremely pleasant and memorable for me. You might think that I would come to know all there is to know about that nutty fruit. Not quite. My appreciation for the almond increased dramatically after I began studying the Bible. “The Bible?” you ask. Yes, through my studies, I have discovered that the almond tree played a significant role in God’s dealings with his people.

Almonds in the Bible?

Did you know that the Hebrew word for almond tree literally means “the waker,” or “awakening one”? This is fitting when we remember that in the Palestine area the almond tree is among the first of all fruit-bearing trees to bloom, as early as January or the beginning of February. It also helps explain what God meant when he referred to the “offshoot of an almond tree.” (Jeremiah 1:11, 12) In other words, Jehovah God is “keeping awake” concerning his promises in order to carry them out.

Another example of the use of the almond tree in the Bible is the stirring account of the Israelites’ challenge of Aaron’s authority as God’s anointed high priest. To settle the issue, God directed the chieftain of each of the 12 tribes of Israel to bring his commander’s rod forward and deposit it before the sacred ark of the testimony. Aaron’s rod, made from an almond branch, was put alongside the other 12. The next day brought the results​—God’s stamp of approval upon Aaron. His rod budded overnight; it was “bringing forth buds and blossoming flowers and was bearing ripe almonds.” Instead of the natural sequence of bud, bloom, and then fruit, all three stages happened at once. Quite a miracle!​—Numbers 17:1-11.

The almond was also an esteemed delicacy to the Israelites. To illustrate, when the ancient patriarch Jacob wanted to win favor with the king of Egypt, he sent gifts including a quantity of almonds as one of “the finest products of the land.” (Genesis 43:11) In addition, the dainty almond blossom was used as a pattern for the cups on the branches of the sacred tabernacle lampstand.​—Exodus 25:33, 34.

Without a doubt, these Biblical references to almonds have enabled me to appreciate more fully one more of the many marvelous creations that God has made for man’s unending pleasure.

Often, when I gaze across the valley at the beautiful panorama of almond orchards in full bloom, I think of these words written so many centuries ago: “Praise Jehovah from the earth, . . . you mountains and all you hills, you fruit trees and all you cedars.” (Psalm 148:7-9)​—Contributed.

[Box on page 26]

Almonds​—Tiny Bundles of Concentrated Energy

Almonds pack a lot of nutrition in a small, portable bundle. They consist of important nutrients found in all four of the basic four food groups​—protein, fruits and vegetables, dairy products, and grains. Let’s take a closer look at their nutritional makeup.a

◻ CARBOHYDRATE: Almonds are a useful source of complex carbohydrates. Carbohydrates are your body’s main source of energy. One ounce of almonds, about 20-25 kernels, equals 170 calories.b

◻ FAT: Among plants used for food, almonds are one of the richest sources of fats. And almonds contain no cholesterol. Fat is an important energy source; it is your body’s most efficient form of stored fuel. About half an almond’s weight is vegetable oil​—a highly unsaturated fat.

◻ FIBER: One ounce of almonds provides your body with about 10 percent of its daily fiber need. That’s more fiber than is contained in two slices of whole-wheat bread.

◻ MINERALS: Almonds supply a high amount of the essential minerals phosphorus, copper, and magnesium. Minerals are needed by your body for growth and proper maintenance. One ounce of almonds has the same amount of calcium as 2.3 ounces of milk and has the same amount of iron as 1.3 ounces of beefsteak or lean pork.

◻ PROTEIN: Almonds are a good source of vegetable protein. Proteins are necessary for your body’s growth and maintenance. One ounce of almonds supplies 10 percent of the U.S. RDA (Recommended Daily Allowance) of protein.

◻ VITAMINS: Almonds are a fine source of riboflavin (vitamin B₂) and vitamin E. Vitamins are essential for your good health. One ounce of almonds contains the amount of vitamin E (35 percent of the U.S. RDA) found in 7 ounces of wheat germ or from 18 to 20 ounces of liver.

[Footnotes]

From Our Readers

Hope for the Mentally Ill

I am writing to express my gratitude for your articles on “Hope for the Mentally Ill.” (September 8, 1986) I am now being treated for mental illness. I have had problems for many years, but not knowing what to do, I just kept putting up with it. Then this past September my mind got particularly bad. I went to the hospital for an examination and was given medicine. My condition has improved considerably. I am happy you made the point that the medicines are not addictive and that those who take medication are not weak. I wish that the shame associated with accepting treatment could be done away with.

T. K., Japan

Nationalism

I cannot understand your constant criticism of nationalism when you try to maintain a nonpolitical stance. Religion, history, and a sense of nationality are the guiding tenets of human destiny. Many people maintain that Christ in his time on earth was a Jewish nationalist opposed to Roman rule.

J. M., Scotland

Regarding nationalism, British historian Arnold Toynbee said: “It is a state of mind in which we give our paramount political loyalty to one fraction of the human race . . . whatever consequences this may entail for the foreign majority of the human race.” Author Ivo Duchacek observed: “Nationalism divides humanity into mutually intolerant units.” Former UN Secretary-General U Thant observed: “So many of the problems that we face today are due to, or the result of, false attitudes . . . Among these is the concept of narrow nationalism​—‘my country, right or wrong.’” The renowned Argentinean writer Jorge Luis Borges stated that nationalism “is the arch-villain of all the evils. It divides people, it destroys the good side of human nature, it leads to inequality in the distribution of wealth.” As for Jesus Christ, his position was clearly expressed at John 18:33, 36 in his answer to Pilate’s question: “Are you the king of the Jews?” Jesus stated: “My kingdom is no part of this world.”​—ED.

Water Shortage

Please forward 200 copies of your issue “Are We Running Out of Water?” (November 22, 1986) How timely this material on water is, and how vital! Thank you for being Awake! to this most dangerous situation.

W. J. K., United States

Simple Ulcer Remedy?

I used the water treatment remedy from page 31 of your September 22, 1983, issue. I had been on Tagamet for months without being able to clear up a stomach problem or sufficiently reduce pain. I stopped the medication and drank a full 16 ounces of water at the times mentioned in your item and also any other time I had pain. When I drank the water, the pain was gone in ten minutes. In a short time I no longer needed antacids, and in a couple of months I no longer needed to follow this treatment. I could hardly believe that such a simple remedy that didn’t cost a penny worked!

C. G., United States

The item referred to was a report on a guest editorial by Dr. F. Batmanghelidj appearing in the June 1983 issue of the “Journal of Clinical Gastroenterology.” “Awake!” does not recommend one form of treatment above another but publishes items like this only as information for our readers. We are not encouraging all ulcer patients to abandon their prescribed medicine for this simple ulcer remedy, but we are happy to observe that some have benefited from the information.​—ED.

Watching the World

1986​—Year of Peace?

Last year was proclaimed by the United Nations as an International Year of Peace. Yet, in 1986 there were more armed conflicts worldwide than at any time since World War II. This conclusion was reached by a university team in Hamburg that has registered post-1945 wars and their causes. According to the German newspaper Schwäbische Zeitung, the researchers counted 37 wars during 1986​—some of which have been raging for 20 years.

Cold News

You only “catch” a cold virus once. After that you are immune to it. But there are some 200 viruses that can cause the common cold. That is why, by age 60, most people get only one cold a year, if any, while children have from six to eight a year. How are cold viruses spread? Rarely through the air by a cough or a sneeze, doctors say. Touching is now thought to be the principal means of transmission. The sufferer touches his nose and spreads the germs with his hands to any object he touches. “They can survive for several hours on the hands, on hard surfaces and in cloth handkerchiefs,” says Dr. Sheldon L. Spector, a clinical professor of medicine at U.C.L.A. “Healthy people pick up a virus with their hands and infect themselves by touching their noses and eyes.” Frequent hand washing and use of disinfectants is seen as the best way to prevent spreading or catching a cold.

Programmed for Siestas?

Man is said to possess a kind of internal clock that keeps track of his sleeping capacity, reports El Universal, a Mexico newspaper. The researchers, Juergen Zullev and Scot Campbell of the Max Planck Psychiatric Institute in Munich, Germany, claim that the human is physiologically programmed for three daily siestas in addition to his normal nighttime sleep period. However, according to the study, man has suppressed his need for siestas through work and coffee drinking.

New Marian Year

A special year dedicated to the Virgin Mary has been declared by Pope John Paul II. It will begin in June and is the first Marian year to be celebrated by Catholics since 1953-54. That year was declared to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Immaculate Conception dogma, which asserts that Mary was born free of inherited sin. The new Marian year, the pope said, will be celebrated in preparation “for the third millennium of the Christian age.” He concluded his homily by saying: “May 1987 be a year in which humanity finally puts aside the divisions of the past, a year in which, in development and solidarity, each heart seeks peace.”

Religious Reawakening

Is religion making a comeback in the United States? Yes, says U.S.News & World Report. “The God-is-dead philosophy is itself dead,” the magazine notes. “Science hasn’t provided all of life’s answers.” Religiously inclined individuals are now said to feel confident about expressing their beliefs. Parents, looking for stable values they feel the church supplies, are giving their children religious education. Even many prominent political figures have openly pronounced religion to be a significant force in their lives. Polls show that religion is gaining in importance in society. “The practice of religion is respectable once more,” states theologian Martin Marty. But he adds: “There are also good reasons to fear religion: People kill in the name of God, or by passage of laws they coerce minority disbelievers or ‘other-believers.’”

Twisted Values

While 800 million people in the developing world “live in absolute poverty and deprivation,” says The Courier, “more than $1.5 million per minute” is being used worldwide on military expenditures. The UNESCO publication further states: “For every soldier the average world military expenditure is $20,000. For every school-age child the average public education expenditure is $380. For every 100,000 people in the world there are 556 soldiers, but only 85 doctors. Just one fifth of annual arms expenditures could abolish world hunger by the year 2000.”

Sleepy Pilots

In spite of safety rules, “commercial airline pilots . . . sometimes . . . fall asleep while flying planes on long overnight trips,” reports The Mexico City News. “Occasionally, everyone in the cockpit nods off at the same time while the plane flies on automatic pilot,” claims one researcher. Dr. Martin C. Moore-Ede, an expert on work scheduling and sleep, blames the problem on “boredom and erratic schedules that force pilots to work odd hours without time for their bodies to adjust.” Moore-Ede based his conclusions on a study conducted for one airline as well as interviews with cockpit crews. In one transcontinental flight to Los Angeles, the plane flew 100 miles (160 km) out over the Pacific Ocean before ground crews roused the sleeping crew by triggering chimes in the cockpit. “When you are in the cabin and your head is rolling over and you can’t stay awake,” says Dr. Moore-Ede, “just remember that the guy up front is human, too.”

“Light” Snack

A three-foot-long (1 m) snake was brought to the University of Florida’s veterinary hospital for diagnosis. An X ray of the serpent revealed that it had swallowed two 15-watt light bulbs. An unusual diet for a snake, you say? Not if they had been hen’s eggs, claim the vets, who believe that this is what the snake may have thought the bulbs were. Whatever the reason for its change of diet, the bulbs have been surgically removed, reports New Scientist. Elliot Jacobson, the veterinarian who performed the operation, hoped that the snake would recover fully to be returned to the wild.

Disposable Telephones

Telephones can ease your stay in a hospital or make it worse. The reason is that telephones can harbor many types of bacteria and are difficult to disinfect. In the United States some two million patients a year become infected while they are in the hospital​—many through use of the telephone. A study by the CDC (Centers for Disease Control) in Atlanta shows that from 20,000 to 30,000 of them will die. Now, as a preventive measure, some hospitals give their patients sanitized, prepackaged, plastic phones that they can either dispose of or take home after the hospital stay. The disposable phones cost from $5 to $15 each and are guaranteed for a year. Use of them has also helped the hospitals to cut down on stolen or damaged phones.

Witnesses Exempted

Any who can prove “a serious and credible membership to the religious association of Jehovah’s Witnesses” will be exempted from military service. This is the decision rendered by the Federal Administration Tribunal of Berlin, says the German newspaper Tagesspiegel. According to the opinion of the judges, confession of the Witnesses’ religious doctrine will now be accepted as valid proof of conscientious objection to military service.

Hotel Rooms for Nonsmokers

Restaurants and airlines are no longer alone in offering customers accommodations for nonsmokers. “Belatedly, hotels too are capitalizing on the anti-smoking fervor sweeping the U.S.,” says The Wall Street Journal. Starting with just a few rooms sanitized and set aside for customers who hated the lingering cigar and cigarette odors, some chains now allocate up to 15 percent of their rooms as no-smoking rooms and are beginning to promote the service. Not only has it proved to be extremely popular with customers but it also benefits the hotels, as it takes 26 percent less time to clean the smoke-free rooms.

Eyes in the Sky

THE collision of birds with commercial airliners has been not only costly to airlines but dangerous as well. In an effort to reduce the number of such midair collisions, Japan’s All-Nippon Airways has discovered a novel way to frighten away birds flying perilously close to their planes. How?

By painting menacing-looking eyes on the engine intakes of its jet aircraft, notes International Wildlife magazine. The article explains that the airline painted eyes on 26 of its large-body aircraft and left the remaining aircraft unpainted. At the conclusion of the one-year experiment, an average of only one bird had hit each of the engines painted with the menacing-looking eyes. In contrast, an average of nine birds had struck the unpainted jet engines.

The damage during the one-year test period was estimated to be $720,000, down from $910,000. Because of the success of the experiment, All-Nippon Airways plans to have the eyes painted on all its large-body aircraft.

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