May 22

Page Two

Eavesdropping bugs are as difficult to detect as skin parasites. As tiny as a match head, they can be put in pens that write, disguised as aspirin tablets or as the olive in a martini, worn as an earring, or even embedded under the surface of the skin. They can pick up a whisper in a room and transmit the voice a quarter of a mile [.4 km] away.

And these bugs can be harder to exterminate than their pesky little namesakes!

Private! Keep Out! No Trespassing!

MAN goes to great lengths to protect his privacy. Some will build high walls around their domain to ensure their privacy. Others will situate their homes on mountaintops or in deep forests or miles off main roads in order to be left alone. City dwellers may rent apartments on the highest floors, have unlisted telephone numbers, and conceal identities by using aliases or by wearing disguises.

Privacy means different things to different people. A wife may wish time alone from her husband. Husbands, too, at times may insist on their own “time and space.” Even young children desire their privacy. Often a room of their own represents a haven of privacy.

There are those who would put a tap on your telephone and listen to your most private and intimate conversations in your home or office. Your every move can be monitored in locker rooms of schools, factories, and offices and recorded on videotape. By the use of laser beams aimed at the outside of your windowpanes, your conversations within can be picked up and recorded by eavesdroppers down the street. Computers are now being used to monitor your activities in the workplace. What you write on your office typewriter may now be read on a monitor miles away by those who would hold against you the things you write. Neither is the cover of darkness a guarantee of privacy. With cameras that function effectively in the dark, your every move can be tracked while you walk around outside at night. If you resent your spouse opening the mail addressed to you, what would be your reaction to those who would trespass on your privacy by reading your mail without opening it?

You may resent being asked to take a lie-detector test in order to secure employment. But a similar test may be given you across the desk by an interviewer​—without your being aware of it—​through the use of a voice analyzer, which supposedly can recognize if you are not telling the truth.

Businesses and giant corporations are losing top secrets through an invasion of privacy by unscrupulous competitors. As a result of high-tech surveillance systems developed in recent years, nations and world powers find it almost impossible not to have their national privacy invaded by other nations worlds away. Spy-in-the-sky satellites equipped with high-resolution cameras can photograph from outer space as small a thing as a baseball and can identify a man in a crowd merely by the shape of his beard.

It is obvious that man’s privacy, “the most comprehensive of rights and the right most valued by civilized men,” could rapidly be a freedom in jeopardy, as the next article will show.

Electronic Eavesdropping​—It Is So Easy!

WHEN is a bug not a bug? Today the world is rapidly becoming familiar with the term “bug.” The growing popularity of the term, however, is not an inordinate concern and interest in those pesky little insects that creep and crawl into our homes or onto our clothes. A dictionary of any ancient vintage may clearly define “bug” as one of these creatures. Only the newer dictionaries, however, may define “bug” as being an eavesdropping device, a tiny microphone “hidden to record conversation secretly.” Many of those who have been so infested have found extermination of them costly indeed.

The recent development and miniaturization of electronic components have made these eavesdropping bugs often as difficult to detect as skin parasites. As tiny as a match head, these devices can be put in pens that write, concealed in cigarettes and cigars, inserted in tiny holes in walls or ceilings, and even embedded under the surface of the skin. They have been disguised as an aspirin tablet or a martini olive. Others have been worn as earrings.

Behind light-switch plates, in telephones, and in the ground-wire openings of electric outlets are more likely places to hide these electronic eavesdroppers. These latter ones are called parasite bugs because they obtain their ability to transmit from electrical power rather than short-lived batteries. When telephones are bugged, they can be made to transmit voices whether the phone is in use or not. Thus the technology to invade your privacy by means of electronic surveillance has been developed and established. Where to hide such equipment depends merely on the wild imagination of the eavesdropper.

Although the sale and use of various types of electronic eavesdropping devices are prohibited by law in many states and countries, including the United States, they are readily available for those who would surreptitiously invade your privacy. They are easy to buy from a variety of shops, electronic stores, and mail-order houses. A simple bug the size of a postage stamp, one that operates on a standard nine-volt battery and that can transmit voices to a receiver 400 feet [120 m] away, retails for as little as $35.00 (U.S.). For about the same price, a Japanese company retails a more powerful transmitter that is the size of a fingernail and that has a broadcast range of a thousand feet [300 m].

Some of the devices, however, are not built by the manufacturers as bugs. For example, at a retail price of a mere $24.95, a nationwide electronic-store chain in the United States sells a wireless room-monitoring system for a child’s room. Just plug it into an electrical outlet, and sounds can be transmitted from one part of the house to the other. Others are simple wireless microphones smaller than a cigarette pack. These have legitimate uses, but in the wrong hands they can be reduced in size and concealed in a very tiny space.

Bugs are easy to buy, and they are almost as easy to build. With as few as nine tiny components, costing less than $10.00 (U.S.), a person with an elementary knowledge of electronics can build a wireless device that can pick up a whisper in a room and transmit the voice a fourth of a mile [.4 km] away.

The most prevalent means of eavesdropping is by the use of telephone wiretaps. The subject’s phone need not be seen for this to be accomplished. If, for example, the target’s phone was on the tenth floor of an office building or in an apartment, a wiretap may be placed on the subject’s phone from the phone’s trunk line in the basement. Voice-activated tape recorders placed by illegal wiretappers have been found under homes. When the phone is lifted for use, conversations are taped. Posing as a telephone repairman, a person often finds it easy to gain access to the victim’s phone line.

Under most circumstances and in many countries this form of eavesdropping is illegal. Yet, according to one expert whose business it is to find and remove bugs and phone taps, “Twenty-five percent of our testing results in identifying a wiretap.” Since bugging is considered widespread in the business world, executives of large corporations are cautioned by another expert, “Beware of any gifts that plug into the wall.” Your electric clock or radio could have a bug in it. It could take an expert with expensive equipment to find it. Why, though, this growing infestation of electronic bugs?

Is Your Privacy in Jeopardy?

IT CANNOT be known how the last half of this 20th century would have been affected had certain crucial events been known well in advance​—the attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941 by Japan; where Adolf Hitler would strike next in Europe; if Hitler had known that Britain, France, and the United States would enter the war; the intentions of Fidel Castro in Cuba after overthrowing its ruling power in 1959; the intentions of the rulers in northern Korea in June 1950 and those in North Vietnam in 1957, to name a few. Because these schemes were kept secret, the world was caught by surprise.

History has shown that nations do not like surprises from other nations. Since the electronic technology is now available to eavesdrop on the intentions of other powers and keep costly surprises to a minimum, a clandestine surveillance war is being waged by the majority of nations to spy on one another. It is reported that “53 lesser world governments” daily sweep their government offices with expensive detecting devices that can locate hidden listening bugs.

As far back as 1952, it was claimed that the American embassy in Moscow was being eavesdropped on by means of an unusual type of bug planted inside the American Seal located behind the ambassador’s desk. In 1985, U.S. officials reported that the Soviets had planted a large number of bugged typewriters in the U.S. embassy in Moscow.

The Russians, for their part, say that they have found many electronic bugs. These are said to include a brick wired with a transmitter, discovered at the Soviet embassy in Washington, D.C. Also, their UN representative claims that a socket for his master television antenna was bugged. So the spying continues on an international scale.

Spying in the Workplace

“One gets the feeling that it’s open season on human privacy,” lamented one lawyer. “What I see is a horror,” commented another. “We have become a nation of spies.” In truth, we have become a world of spies. The swift advance of communication technology​—computers, miniature radio transmitters, telephone linkage via microwave and satellites—​has contributed to making it so. The new technology has outpaced the laws protecting individual and corporate privacy.

For example, by installing additional computer software on an already existing computer system, employers can now monitor practically every move a user of video-display terminals makes​—secretaries, airline reservation clerks, postal workers, and those who work at grocery checkout counters. The list is endless. Experts estimate that more than 13 million Americans alone who work on such terminals are monitored, and the number is growing. By the year 2000, they speculate, there will be 30 million to 40 million video-display terminal users, and as many as 50 to 75 percent of them will be monitored. As the system becomes more sophisticated, says the magazine U.S.News & World Report, “even engineers, accountants and doctors are expected to face electronic scrutiny.”

Already there is deep resentment between management and labor over the loss of personal privacy due to this electronic eavesdropping. One manufacturer of the software that makes this surveillance possible says: “It permits total surveillance of all users, all of the time.” Reports coming out of the workplace indicate that the boast is not an idle one. “I can’t even go to the bathroom without being watched,” complained one telephone operator. Said a director of a national association of workingwomen, “Many employer practices are an outrageous invasion of privacy.” “You’re a nervous wreck. The stress is incredible,” said another enraged worker. “It’s a very oppressive way to work. To be plugged into that boob tube and not be able to move gets under your skin sometimes,” adds another. Is it any wonder when the “boob tube” you have been working with turns on you, berating you with the flashing words, “You’re not working as fast as the person next to you.” Is privacy in the workplace slipping through labor’s fingers?

Corporate Spying

All is not serene with corporate management either. One tiny miniature microphone concealed in its office or conference room can mean the difference between millions of dollars coming in their tills or perhaps massive layoffs. When a major defense contractor lost a two-hundred-million-dollar contract to a rival firm by just a few thousand dollars, a debugging team was called in. A sweep revealed a planted microphone concealed in the ceiling of the conference room. Every word was picked up by a tape recorder in the men’s room down the hall.

In the corporate world, electronic spying has become so prevalent that it has been estimated that 100,000 bugs have been planted in the last five years by rival companies to eavesdrop on everything from contract bids, trade secrets, and new products to secret labor negotiations. It is reported that “hundreds of Fortune 500 companies” daily sweep their offices and conference rooms with spy-detecting equipment. “I think there is a real paranoia in corporations today,” observed the vice president of a large New York debugging firm, “a feeling that there’s no place that’s safe.”

Are you, as a private citizen with little to do with the corporate world or government, likely to have your privacy invaded by some form of surveillance system? Here are some facts to consider. Reports indicate that seven out of ten instances where illegal wiretaps were discovered involved private parties. Prevalent among these were situations within families, usually marital discord. Many times, private investigators were hired to gather evidence of adultery, proof of being an unfit parent, or some evidence of betrayal. According to one report, “Eighty per cent of the devices that telephone companies discover each year are in residences.”

Then, too, one writer said you may be eavesdropped on by a telephone company itself, and he characterized telephone companies as “the biggest offenders of telephone privacy.” Said one former CIA analyst: “Telephone cops, during the only five-year period for which statistics are available, listened in without a single warrant on 1.8 million telephone conversations, ostensibly for the purpose of catching toll cheats.” These eavesdroppers, he notes, had a close relationship with local, state, and federal police officers with whom they sometimes exchanged information.

There are also the law-enforcement agencies themselves. Either with or without a warrant, your phone may be tapped. It was discovered that police in one U.S. city had illegally wiretapped more than 3,000 people in just a few years. There have been similar accusations of illegal wiretapping by police in many other cities. Said one writer, “It wasn’t just bigshots or radicals or crooks who were tapped, but ordinary people.” It was lamented that even the Lutheran Church was among those wiretapped. Other churches have also come under electronic scrutiny.

Finally, one sociology professor made this far-reaching observation: “With a different government and a more intolerant public, the same [eavesdropping] devices could easily be used against those of the ‘wrong’ political ideology, ethnic groups, religious minorities, or those with lifestyles that offend the majority.”

If you are among those who treasure your privacy, who like to be left alone, enjoy it now. There are many who believe it is an endangered freedom.

[Picture on page 7]

Her computer screen says, “You are not doing as much as your fellow workers”

[Picture on page 8]

Boardroom meetings are sometimes bugged

Children Flying Solo

“It’s a sad commentary on the times,” remarked an airlines spokesman. He was referring to the record number of children flying alone all over the United States with only their dolls, toys, or pet hamsters as traveling companions.

Most youngsters are shuttling between parents separated by divorce or jobs. “I’ve been flying alone since I was 5,” said one poised 12-year-old. Not all children, however, relish flying solo. Some find it a frightening experience.

For the most part, airline staff say children are a pleasure. They are more agreeable and don’t have much carry-on baggage. “They follow directions,” said one passenger-service supervisor. “If we could get our adults to act like them we’d be O.K.”

Will Greed Destroy the Insurance Industry?

A LITTLE girl, just two years old, is suffering from seizures. She is rushed to the hospital. But the hospital turns her away. So does the next one she is taken to, and the next. There are no doctors in the emergency rooms. They say they simply can’t afford to practice there. In fact, literally thousands have left the medical fields recently. Businesses of all kinds, too, have been forced to close down. Town boards have resigned. Cities have closed their parks. Why?

The answer: insurance crisis. The United States is still reeling from a three-year crisis of skyrocketing insurance rates. Were you affected? At the least, the crisis struck you financially. You no doubt paid more for medical care and all kinds of goods and services, even higher municipal taxes.

Why the crisis? Well, to answer, let us first take a brief look at what insurance is. Ideally, it is a way to protect an individual from a heavy financial loss by spreading that loss evenly among the many who pay premiums. One type that has become increasingly important is called liability insurance. It protects you when the law deems you responsible for damage to people or property. Doctors, lawyers, businesses of all kinds, and even townships and cities can hardly function without a liability policy.

Vital as it is, though, several years ago liability insurance started to run dry in the United States. Insurance companies suddenly raised liability premiums by leaps and bounds, commonly doubling, quadrupling, even increasing them by tenfold! Often they simply cancelled policies outright.

Is the problem limited to the United States? No; insurance, it seems, has become a delicately balanced international network. American insurance companies are themselves insured by reinsurance companies, most of which are based in Europe. Many of them have collapsed or withdrawn because of the crisis. In fact, foreign economists have been known to liken the influence of the U.S. economy to the predicament of being stuck in a rowboat with an elephant. You may not depend on the elephant for survival, but you are certainly affected by his every move! So wherever you live, the insurance crisis has reached you.

What Caused the Crisis?

Not surprisingly, there is considerable disagreement over this question. There are two main camps of opinion. On the one hand are the insurance companies and many of their customers; on the other, lawyers, labor unions, and consumer-advocate groups.

The insurance industry says that it has become the victim of an America gone litigation-crazy. Judges and juries have become notorious for granting huge damage awards to plaintiffs. The powerful smell of money in the air has triggered an avalanche of lawsuits, with insurance companies left to pay the bill. In the above panel are some of the popular stories they tell to illustrate.

Critics of the courts feel that such cases reveal basic faults in the system. Manufacturers, for instance, don’t see why they should be held liable for accidents that occur because their product is worn out or misused. European manufacturers especially take a dim view of American lawsuits. In Europe, a plaintiff who loses his case is often forced to pay his own and his opponent’s court costs. Europeans thus hesitate to sue.

Insurers especially bewail the concept of “joint and several liability,” or the “deep-pockets” theory. If several defendants are named in a lawsuit, the court can force the one with the most money to pay for all the damages, even if he bore the least blame. The “deep pocket” usually means his insurance company.

According to the insurers’ side, the only real winners in the litigation explosion are the lawyers. Their contingency fees may earn them up to half of their client’s award, so they are driven to sue for huge sums. Insurance companies also feel that Americans today are unrealistic, expecting a totally risk-free environment or else ample financial compensation whenever it proves otherwise.

Lawyers Disagree

Many lawyers, lawyers’ associations, and labor unions disagree vehemently with this view. They charge that the litigation explosion doesn’t exist. The extravagant awards so widely reported in the news are frequently pared way down in appeals courts. Some complain, too, that the insurance companies rely too heavily on anecdotes such as those on page 11 for evidence or, worse still, on telling the stories in incomplete form.

Consider, for example, the last of the lawsuits in the panel “Frivolous Lawsuits?” The events as related are true enough, but they don’t tell the whole story. It is often omitted, for instance, that the skylight was painted over and quite indistinguishable from the roof at night and that someone had recently died in a similar accident at a nearby school. The accused school knew of the danger and was planning to change the skylight. Further, the burglar might more accurately be described as a prankster. He was a recent graduate of the high school and was trying to move the floodlight to illuminate a basketball court.

Critics charge that the insurance industry brought the crisis on itself. How? They lowered their rates drastically and even accepted bad risks in the late 1970’s, just to attract more premium dollars to invest at the high interest rates available then. But when the interest rates fell, insurers found themselves in trouble. They responded with huge rate hikes.

Attorneys further point to the $6.5 million advertising campaign mounted by insurers to denounce the litigation explosion, charging that it was just a ploy, first, to shift blame for high rates off insurers and, second, to fuel the drive for tort reform, the making of changes in the civil courts. Critics allege that the industry is only pushing for such reform so that it will not have to pay so much money to injured people.

In short, lawyers accuse insurers of greed.

Who Is Right?

No doubt there is some element of truth to both sides. Insurers readily admit that their investment policies of the past decade did indeed cause some of the current crisis. Still, they insist that rate hikes are their only means of survival in the current litigious atmosphere.

What about this litigation explosion? Does it exist or not? While both sides expertly hurl statistics at each other to make their points, the truth seems to lie somewhere between them. It seems fairly undeniable that Americans are the most litigious people in the world. In 1984, one out of every 17 Americans filed a lawsuit! Americans sue some 20 times more frequently than the Japanese. In fact, whereas Japan has one lawyer for every 15,000 people, the United States has one for every 375. Still, insurance companies do at times inflate the picture. For example, they report jury damage awards in terms of the average award size. Just one very large jury award will distort such a figure.

The only point both sides can agree on seems to be that human greed lies at the root of the problem. But as Time magazine asks, “Ah, but whose greed?” Lawyers denounce the greed of the insurance industry. Insurers denounce the greed of lawyers and a society using the court system as a lottery. To some degree, they both seem to have a pretty good case. This hardly seems surprising; after all, our modern society has become saturated with greed. It has grown to fit a famous Biblical description of our times.​—2 Timothy 3:1-5.

Is There a Solution?

When it comes to solving the crisis, debate escalates to a fever pitch. The insurers’ side has pushed for reform in court law. The lawyers’ side has called for more regulation of the insurance industry by the government. Both sides have pressured state governments to promote their views.

So far, many states have enacted reforms, limiting jury awards and lawyers’ contingency fees and restricting the “deep-pockets” theory. Some states have tried to impose stricter regulations on insurance rates but without much success. Lawyers claim that the reforms only close the courts to the poor and injured, while protecting the insurance industry.

Have these measures helped? On February 9, 1987, The New York Times reported that the liability crisis had eased at last. However, many experts were skeptical of this “recovery.” “Absolute rubbish!” decried one Lloyd’s broker. A Swiss reinsurer noted: “The liability crisis is not yet cured, because the Americans are trying to approach it pricewise. The problem is deeper. It’s not just financial . . . but social.”

How true. And yet, just how much social change can we expect human agencies to bring about? The chairman of Lloyd’s of London himself blames insurers for “misleading people into believing that insurance can supply what in fact insurance cannot, that is to say, a cure for all humanity’s problems.” Clearly, a real solution to the insurance crisis would have to address some of humanity’s profoundest problems​—the prevalence of human greed, the constant threat of calamities, and the need for a reliable system of justice, to name a few. Quite a task! Court systems, lawyers, and insurance are all vital needs in today’s world, but they are certainly not about to provide such a solution.

What, then, about mankind’s Creator? Will he always allow human greed to govern world affairs? Does he intend to let us live under the threat of calamity forever? Logic would suggest that the answer to both questions should be no. Better still, the Bible, a book with a perfect record of reliability, assures us that God will soon set up a world government based on justice. He will use it to rid the earth of both greed and calamity for all time!​—Isaiah 32:1; Proverbs 1:33; 1 Corinthians 6:10.

[Box on page 11]

Frivolous Lawsuits?

◼ Three lobstermen in the United States encounter a violent storm and are lost at sea. Their families sue the National Weather Service for its faulty forecast and are awarded $1.25 million.

◼ A woman strikes a runaway horse with her car, and the animal crashes through the roof, killing her. Her estate sues the auto manufacturer, whose protests that no car could withstand such an impact go unheard. The manufacturer must pay $1,500,000.

◼ A man attempts suicide by leaping in front of a subway train. He is struck and injured. He sues, claiming that the driver should have stopped sooner. The case is settled for $650,000.

◼ A sailor uses a 50-year-old winch with its safety guards missing and is injured. He sues the manufacturer, wins, and bankrupts the company.

◼ A man dives into the waves at the beach and seriously injures himself. He sues the local town and wins $6,000,000.

◼ A man is refused entry to a fashionable New York disco. He sues for mental distress and is awarded $50,000.

◼ An American construction worker fires a staple gun; a staple ricochets off the wall and injures him. He sues the manufacturer, a West German company that insists the man misused the tool. The man wins the suit and is awarded $1.7 million.

◼ A 19-year-old burglar tries to steal a floodlight from a high-school roof, falls through a skylight, and is severely injured. Sued, the school pays the youth $260,000, plus $1,500 a month.

[Box on page 13]

The Crisis Has Touched Lives

◼ A widely publicized march for peace came grinding to a halt, in part because required insurance could not be obtained.

◼ A single mother, struggling to support herself and her son, can’t even afford to buy the equipment she needs for her small cleaning business. Why? Her liability insurance has gone up more than 52 percent over the past two years.

◼ Obstetricians have been especially hard hit by malpractice suits and skyrocketing insurance rates. They have left the field in droves. For instance, 27 percent of obstetricians in California no longer deliver babies.

◼ In Sweden a supplier of ball bearings had to shut down. An expert blames the insurance crisis. Think of the jobs lost!

◼ In France a maker of kitchen appliances saw its insurance policy cancelled. The only new policy it could get was at 12 times the price!

◼ Faced with huge insurance hikes, some doctors have boycotted emergency rooms in protest, while others have simply quit. It’s like “practicing with a gun at your head,” said one of the latter.

[Picture on page 10]

How world economists see the influence of the U.S. economy

“Please don’t make waves!”

[Picture on page 12]

Lawyers claim that insurers are greedy

[Picture on page 13]

Insurers claim that lawyers and clients are greedy

Global Shift in Smoking

While a growing number of Europeans and Americans are snuffing out their last cigarette, an increasing group of Third World inhabitants are giving up their meager income to take their first puff. What accounts for this global shift in smoking?

Information campaigns in the Western world exposing the harmful effects of cigarette smoking have changed people’s attitude toward the use of tobacco. As a result, a recent study conducted by the American Cancer Society and other health organizations shows that over the past 20 years the number of smokers in the United States has continued to decline.

In contrast, smoking in Third World countries is spreading like wildfire. The reason? According to WHO (World Health Organization), the primary cause is the aggressive advertising campaigns conducted by “unscrupulous tobacco industries.” These agencies are putting up smoke screens to disguise the fact that, worldwide, one million persons a year die because of smoking-related diseases. The Dutch magazine Internationale Samenwerking (International Cooperation) reports that the tobacco industry has spent two and a half billion dollars on advertising in 1984 alone​—almost seven million dollars each day! Ads like “‘Varsity’: For That Fine Clear Head Feeling” or “‘Gold Leaf’: Very Important Cigarettes for Very Important People” convince people in developing countries that smoking is linked to progress, emancipation, and sportsmanship and “symbolizes prosperity.”

In addition, tar and nicotine content of cigarettes sold in the Third World are purposely at a higher level than those sold in Western lands, states the book Roken welbeschouwd (Smoking​—All Things Considered). Why? In this way, people get hooked faster so that when the tobacco companies gradually lower tar and nicotine levels, smokers are forced to buy more cigarettes to satisfy their craving for nicotine. The result? Surging cigarette sales. Yearly tobacco consumption in those countries is up 2.1 percent. Yet, the response of Third World governments remains ‘halfhearted.’ Why? For many governments, tobacco production provides a source of income.

Water Safety Is No Accident

CHEMISTS marvel at it. Life on earth depends on it. Our bodies are principally made up of it. What is it? Water, of course. But besides its beneficial properties, water is also alluring. It satisfies our senses and brings us pleasure. Millions worldwide regularly flock to it for fun and entertainment. However, as enjoyable as it is, it can also be dangerous.

In the United States, waterways are second only to highways for accidents. But being aware of the dangers and having a proper respect for water can limit the risks and keep it fun. What are some of the dangers, and how can we deal with them?

Boating Stress Factors

One of the most popular forms of enjoying the water is boating. During 1986, estimates reveal that nearly $14.5 billion were spent on the sport in the United States alone. However, grimmer statistics also disclose over 25,000 boat-related injuries. In addition, over a thousand people died. What can be done to keep boating safe?

While there are many causes for boating accidents, recent research conducted by the U.S. Coast Guard indicates that certain stress factors may be partly to blame. Their studies show that three to four hours of exposure to the elements of boating, such as noise, wind, vibration, sun, and glare, can cause a type of ‘boater’s hypnosis’ or fatigue. That’s why a day on the water can be exhausting even if little is done physically. Particularly noteworthy, however, is that a person’s reflexes can be slowed almost to the point that his reactions are like those of a person legally drunk, even though he may not be drinking. And if alcoholic beverages are consumed, the effect of such stress factors is intensified. Thus, it emphasizes the need to remain alert and to rest when necessary. And while the drinking of alcoholic beverages should always be in moderation, extra caution is needed while boating.

All too often, people’s leisurely attitude when on the water carries over to their operation of the vessel. Such a lackadaisical attitude helps to explain why collisions are the most frequently reported type of accident. Most collisions are attributed to carelessness and inattention. The following is a typical case. The pilot was accelerating out of a no-wake zone when his boat ran over another vessel, fatally injuring two of its occupants. The reason? The driver at fault had another person sitting on his lap, partly obstructing his view, and he was paying no attention to his surroundings.

Remember, just like car driving, being at the controls of a boat brings responsibility.

Falls Overboard and Capsizings

The two greatest dangers facing the boater are falling overboard and capsizing. Combined, they account for nearly 65 percent of the boating fatalities in the United States. Generally, the majority of these accidents involve small boats (under 16 feet [5 m]). But knowing why they occur can help you to prevent having it happen to you.

Most capsizings are due to overloading the boat with passengers or equipment. But even if a boat is not overloaded, a danger exists if the load is not evenly distributed. Even large ships have capsized because of shifting cargo or because passengers suddenly ran to one side. In small crafts, such as canoes, it is important to keep your center of gravity low. If you must move, it is best to keep in a low, crouching position and hold the sides rather than stand up.

In the event you do fall overboard or the boat capsizes, what should you do? (1) Make a conscious effort not to panic. (2) If you are not wearing a life jacket, try to grab one. (3) Since most boats have enough flotation built into them to keep them from sinking, it is best to remain with the boat; you’ll be easier to spot by rescuers. (4) If the water is cold, get as much of your body as possible out of the water and remain still so as to prevent hypothermia.

The body cools 25 times quicker in water than in air, and heat loss is about one-third greater if you tread water or swim than if you remain still. Many drownings occur when individuals try to swim to shore, as the shore is often farther away than it looks. And the colder the water, the quicker you tire.

If you find yourself in the water without a life jacket and no boat or other object to hold on to, clothing can be used for flotation. The U.S. Coast Guard publication Accidents advises: “While your shirt is on, button it at the collar and hold it tight at the neck. Bend your head forward, pull the front of the shirt up to your face, and blow air between the second and third buttons. Hold the collar tightly to trap the air. The air will stay inside the shirt and form a bubble at your back.” At least you have a temporary life jacket that can help you to float and not waste energy.

Interestingly, the Coast Guard says that fatalities would be cut by 75 percent if people would only wear a life jacket. However, most people view them as too confining, uncomfortable, or unglamorous to wear. Others refrain, thinking themselves to be good swimmers. (See box, “Good Swimmers Drown Too.”) Since most laws only require life jackets to be on board and not worn, it is a matter of preference. However, there is no doubt that you are safer wearing one.

Other Cautions

As enjoyable as the water’s surface can be, many are intrigued by the fascinating world that lies beneath it. Snorkeling is a relatively inexpensive and popular way of peering into this beautiful and mysterious region. But again, caution should be exercised.

Exhaustion is perhaps the most frequent problem a snorkeler encounters either from venturing too far or from struggling against a current. A little forethought and planning can serve to avoid this situation. An even greater danger, though not as frequent, comes from diving too deep and running out of oxygen before reaching the surface again. Loss of consciousness and drowning can result. A fast ascent that requires you to struggle depletes the oxygen carried in the blood more quickly than a slow ascent. Know your limits and never wait until you are nearly out of breath before beginning your ascent. Always allow a margin of safety.

Surfing with either a board or just the body is an exhilarating way of enjoying the power of the waves. A key to safety here is not to underestimate that power and to know what areas to avoid. An experienced surfer knows that the contour of the ocean’s floor affects the waves. For instance, where the slope of the beach is steep, the waves hit the bottom with considerable force and an unwary surfer could be severely injured. Such waves are often referred to as “dumpers.”

Rip currents and undertows pose another danger to the surfer. Being swept out to sea by one is a frightening experience. But realizing that the current loses its strength some yards from shore can keep one from panicking. Generally, one can make it safely back to shore by swimming diagonally, not head-on, against the current. However, it stresses the need of being a good swimmer. Going with someone familiar with the area or to a beach with a lifeguard who can inform you of any hazards can help to assure a safe, enjoyable time by all.

As with all forms of water activity, a proper attitude and respect for the water, your surroundings, and others can eliminate many dangerous situations.

Proper Attitude

Oftentimes the person responsible for a mishap will respond by saying: “It wasn’t on purpose​—it was an accident. I didn’t think anything would happen.” Indeed, ‘not thinking’ is often the cause. Accidents are never intentional, yet with a little forethought and respect for others around us, they can often be avoided.

Taking unnecessary risks for the sake of cheap thrills shows a disregard for life. One boating fatality came as a result of two groups carelessly water-ski racing. The lead skier fell and was run over by the other boat. Numerous other injuries have occurred in collisions at night when no lights were used or from disregarding navigational markers and running aground.

Such accounts are sad, yet sobering. Fortunately, we can do much to lessen the chances of having such things befall us. How? By showing proper respect for life and property, by good planning, by being cognizant of possible dangers, and by obeying the rules. Then we can confidently enjoy this marvelous creation​—water.​—Contributed.

[Box on page 18]

Good Swimmers Drown Too

Authorities have often been baffled by cases where a good swimmer falls overboard without any apparent injury and just disappears. However, according to information made available through the American Red Cross, physiological reactions to cold water may provide some of the answers. Caloric labyrinthitis may occur as a result of cold water suddenly entering the ear canals. This can cause vertigo wherein the victim may swim downward rather than upward, eventually running out of air. Another possibility is the hyperventilation reflex. Sudden exposure to cold water may cause uncontrollable rapid breathing. If triggered when the head is submerged, the person can drown. Pain may be another contributing factor. Sudden exposure to cold water may be so painful that the victim enters shock or has a heart attack. The lesson? Treat water with respect. Treat cold water with extra respect.

[Pictures on page 16, 17]

Water-patrol boat rescuing canoeist

[Credit Line]

Photo by Tim Smalley, Minnesota Dept. of Natural Resources

Life jackets save lives​—so why not wear them?

[Picture Credit Line on page 15]

Photo by Tim Smalley, Minnesota Dept. of Natural Resources

I Learned to Control My Temper

THE scene was a familiar one: a European pub like so many others in which I had played as a musician. As usual, my friends and I had indulged in heavy drinking. I don’t even remember why some of the customers attacked us.

I do remember a brawl breaking out. I was young and strong and hit one of the customers so hard that he fell over a table. Then I seized a chair and began to beat the others. A few minutes later, the room was empty​—except for a motionless body lying on the floor. Frightened and desperate, I ran home to say good-bye to my wife, convinced I would be arrested and convicted of murder!

This, unfortunately, was not the first time my temper had gotten the best of me. But to appreciate why this was so, you must understand a bit about my background. I was raised in a family of Gypsies​—not the traveling kind, for my family always lived in their own house. Father was often drunk and insanely jealous of my mother. Violent outbursts were common in our home.

The way of life I later pursued also exposed me to many bad influences. Father earned his living as a musician, and I followed him as soon as I turned eight years of age. I learned to play the accordion, and when I was 13, I would appear as a soloist or with other musicians. This meant playing in hotels, pubs, and at wedding receptions, often all night long. I soon learned to drink heavily and to smoke.

Marriage and Jealousy

None of this helped me develop a calm personality. Even marriage did not settle me down. At age 19 I wed a pretty Gypsy girl. We went according to Gypsy custom, having a ceremony performed by the chieftain of the clan, rather than by a clergyman. I can remember his taking my hand and my bride’s hand and binding them together with our palms upward. He then poured an alcoholic drink into each palm. I had to drink out of my bride’s palm and she out of mine. From then on we were considered by the Gypsy community as legally married, although we later got married in the town hall to have our marriage registered.

Shortly thereafter I found myself feeling the same violent jealousy my father had manifested. I began beating my young wife, sometimes as often as twice a week! No doubt this contributed to my drinking more heavily than ever. This, in turn, simply aggravated my temper. Once I was drinking at my father’s house along with a few other Gypsy companions. My elder brother began to slander my wife. As drunk as I was, I ran home, took my wife by the hand and dragged her out of bed in her nightgown all the way to my father’s home. I made her swear in front of the cross that what my elder brother had said was not true!

However, even though she swore to everything, I became more angry. I ran home, took an ax, and began to smash the windows of my house. Another brother of mine came in and tried to restrain me. I pushed him away so violently he fell down the stairs and broke his hand.

A Change

My violent temper ran unchecked for quite some time until the incident mentioned at the outset, when I thought I had killed a man. After saying farewell to my wife, I went to the local Roman Catholic church, where I knelt down in front of the main entrance and, in tears, prayed to God for his forgiveness. I promised that never again would I do anything like that! To my great relief, though, I learned that the man was not dead but merely stunned.

Somehow, I still felt very depressed and despondent. Three days later and still very troubled, I was traveling on a train to work. A young man started talking to me about God’s Kingdom, a government that will solve all the problems that afflict mankind​—a government that will rid the earth of sickness, death, and sorrow! The young man was one of Jehovah’s Witnesses. Since I believed in God, I politely listened. But what the young man was telling me just seemed unrealistic. “Who could do all of this?” I asked him. He replied, “Almighty God will.”

This answer fully satisfied me. He also handed me a booklet and promised to visit my house. Before he could, two other Witnesses visited me and brought me three older books, Creation, Reconciliation, and Riches, all published by the Watch Tower Society. When the young man I had met on the train finally visited, we began studying the book “Let God Be True.”a

I made rapid progress. Within six weeks I realized from my reading of these publications that my church had nothing to offer me. I went to the rectory and asked for my name to be deleted from their membership list.

Family Opposition

It began to dawn on me, though, that I would also have to make some changes in my personality. I knew an elderly lady at my place of work who was a Witness. “Do Witnesses take part in entertainments and weddings?” I asked her. “Yes, they do,” she replied. “But they behave in the Christian way.” I asked her what that meant.

“They don’t get drunk; neither do they shout or smoke.”

From this moment on, I never touched a cigarette again. And in the third month of my Bible study, I suddenly stopped playing with my musician friends. I realized that such bad company would impede my progress.

That meant finding a new way of making a living. So I worked as a bricklayer. My new trade, however, did not bring in the money that working as a musician had. So my wife, my father, my brothers​—simply everybody that knew me—​were against me and tried to force me to return to my former way of life. With Jehovah’s help, I stopped drinking alcohol excessively and started trying to control my temper.

You would think my wife would have been thrilled by my changes, but not so. Because I did not beat her or argue with her anymore, she felt I did not love her anymore! Such is the thinking of a Gypsy woman. Then Christmas approached and I did not make any preparations to celebrate it. I had learned from the Bible that this is not a celebration that God approves.b My wife, however, understood none of this. She became so angry that she left me, taking with her our four children. She stayed with her parents, who then sent me the following message: Abandon your new religion or you will never enter our home again and your wife will not return to you!

This was very strong pressure because I loved my wife and children very much. I refused to give in, and two weeks later my wife and children returned home​—without any stipulations. Shortly thereafter, just six months after meeting that young man, I was baptized as a witness of Jehovah.

Keeping My Temper Under Control

Though I was now a baptized Christian, controlling my temper still wasn’t easy. However, with Bible study and fervent prayer, Jehovah gave me the strength needed.

I also had to put up with my wife’s opposition. Often she would laugh at me when I would try to study the Bible. If I tried to share with her something I was reading, she would start singing in a loud voice to drown me out! In time, however, my changed personality had an effect upon her. Two years later, she too became a loyal worshiper of Jehovah.

It has been a long time since I almost killed a man in that pub. Since then I have had the privilege of serving as an elder in a congregation of Jehovah’s Witnesses and of watching all my children, except one, accept the truth. I work with a congregation of real Christians who do not fear me but who willingly work with me in our preaching activity.

Yes, I am overjoyed that Bible truths helped me overcome my violent temper.​—Since the writer of this article lives in a country where Christianity is banned by the government, he chooses to remain anonymous.

[Footnotes]

[Blurb on page 19]

At age 19 I wed a pretty Gypsy girl

[Blurb on page 20]

I began beating my young wife, sometimes as often as twice a week

[Blurb on page 21]

“They don’t get drunk; neither do they shout or smoke”

Young People Ask . . .

How Can I Get Over My Parents’ Divorce?

“I remember when my dad left us. We really didn’t know what was going on. Mom had to go to work and left us alone all the time. Sometimes we’d just sit by the window and worry whether she had left us too. . . . ”​—A girl from a divorced family.

DIVORCE seems like the end of the world, a catastrophe that can generate enough misery to last forever. Nevertheless, if your family is in the throes of divorce, take heart. You can recover.

This does not mean things will ever be the way they used to be. Divorce, sad to say, is usually quite final. However, the embarrassment, the feelings of rage and betrayal, the fear that your parents no longer love you​—these destructive emotions can be put to rest and your life put back on track. As the Bible says, there is “a time to heal.”​—Ecclesiastes 3:3.

The Healing Effects of Time

Healing, though, takes time. After all, a literal wound, such as a broken bone, can take weeks or even months to heal completely. Should you not expect the same when it comes to emotional wounds? Just how much time, though, will it take before you begin to feel reasonably normal again?

Researchers Wallerstein and Kelly, who studied children of divorced families, have found that within just a couple of years after a divorce “the widespread fears, the grief, the shocked disbelief . . . faded or disappeared altogether.” Some experts feel that the worst of a divorce is over within just three years. This may seem like an eternity, but a lot has to happen before your life can stabilize.

For one thing, your family’s household routine​—disrupted by the divorce—​must be reorganized. It may be months, for example, before meals and laundry are cared for as efficiently as they used to be, especially if your mother has taken on secular work to pay the bills. Time will also pass before your parents are back on their feet emotionally. Only then may they finally be able to give you needed support.

As your life regains some semblance of regularity, you begin to feel normal again. The passage of time is one of the best medicines for healing the wounds of a divorce. Still, there is more that you can do besides letting time pass.

Avoid Dwelling in the Past

A 12-year-old named Joseph says: “Before the divorce, it was a noisy house. We went to ballgames, built models together, watched TV. Now it’s quiet, boring, nothing to do, no ballgames to go to.” A surefire way to prolong the agony of a divorce is to dwell upon the past. Solomon warned: “Do not say: ‘Why has it happened that the former days proved to be better than these?’ for it is not due to wisdom that you have asked about this.” (Ecclesiastes 7:10) Dwelling on memories of how life used to be accomplishes little more than to get you more depressed.

Dwelling in the past can also blind you to the present. For example, what was your family situation like before the divorce? “There were always a lot of fights​—screaming and name-calling,” admits Annette. Could it be, then, that you now enjoy something that formerly was missing from your family​—peace and tranquillity?

‘I Can Get Them Back Together’

The book Stress, Coping, and Development in Children reported: “A surprisingly large number of older children also had trouble acknowledging the reality of the divorce, and their behavior reflected their difficulty.” Some nurture dreams of getting their parents back together again, perhaps clinging to such fantasies even after their parents have remarried!

However, denying the divorce changes nothing. And all the tears, pleadings, and schemings in the world probably won’t get your folks back together again. So why torment yourself by dwelling on impossible expectations? “Expectation postponed is making the heart sick,” says the Bible. (Proverbs 13:12) Not only that, it can interfere with your doing worthwhile things with your life. Solomon said that there is “a time to give up as lost.” (Ecclesiastes 3:6) So accept both the reality and the permanence of the divorce​—a big step toward your getting over it.

Coming to Terms With Your Parents

This may be one of the toughest tasks of your life. You may rightly be angry with them for disrupting your life. As one young man bitterly put it: “My parents were selfish. They didn’t really think about us and how what they did would affect us. They just went ahead and made their plans.” Said another youth: “Dad brought two lives into the world and doesn’t care about them as much as he does his new car.” This may all be true. But can you go through life carrying a load of anger and bitterness and not harm yourself? Says divorce researcher Judith Wallerstein: “Such anger not only alienated the child from the parent, but often led the child . . . into mischievous . . . behaviors aimed at harassing and punishing the parent they accused of causing the divorce.”

The Bible counsels: “Let all malicious bitterness and anger and wrath . . . be taken away from you . . . But become kind to one another, tenderly compassionate, freely forgiving one another.” (Ephesians 4:31, 32) How can you forgive someone who has hurt you so deeply? Try to view your parents objectively​—as fallible, imperfect humans, capable of all manner of shortcomings. Yes, even parents ‘sin and fall short of the glory of God.’ (Romans 3:23) Realizing this helps you come to terms with your parents. Though still hurt over his parents’ divorce, one young man says of them: “In spite of everything, I’ve always thought they were nice people. I just feel they were bad at picking marriage mates.”

Cool objectivity about your parents will also help you see their marital failure, not as a personal affront or as a rejection of you, but as a problem between themselves.

Talk Out Your Feelings

“I’ve never really discussed how I felt about my parents’ divorce,” one young man said when interviewed by Awake! Though initially impassive, the youth became increasingly emotional​—even tearful—​as he spoke about his parents’ divorce. Feelings that had long been buried were unearthed. Surprised at this, he confessed: “It really helped me to talk.”

You may likewise find it helpful to confide in someone, rather than isolating yourself. Let your parents know just how you feel, what your fears and anxieties are. (Compare Proverbs 23:26.) Research shows that children who successfully recover from divorce have “the capacity to reach out to the world around them, to step-parents, teachers, friends, parents of friends, and grandparents.” Mature Christians can also help. Keith, for example, got little or no support from his family, which was torn apart by divorce. Yet he says, “The Christian congregation became my family.”

Above all, find a hearing ear with your heavenly Father, the “Hearer of prayer.” (Psalm 65:2) “Before him pour out your heart.” (Psalm 62:8) A youth named Paul recalls what helped him get over his parents’ divorce: “I prayed all the time and always felt that Jehovah was a real person.”

Getting On With Your Life

Granted, after a divorce, things may never be the same. This does not mean, though, that your life cannot be a fruitful and happy one. The Bible advises, “Do not loiter at your business.” (Romans 12:11) Yes, rather than allowing yourself to become immobilized by grief, hurt, or anger, get on with your life! Get involved with your schoolwork. Pursue a hobby. Have “plenty to do in the work of the Lord.”​—1 Corinthians 15:58.

Getting over a divorce is not easy. It will take work, determination, and the passing of time. But eventually, the breakup of your parents’ marriage will no longer be the dominant thing in your life.

[Picture on page 23]

Dwelling on memories of how life used to be may only depress you

Faith Moved Him to Action!

HALFWAY between the Persian Gulf and the city of Baghdad there is an unsightly pile of mud bricks. It is but a lonely sentinel keeping watch over a vast stretch of sterile desert. Pummeled by dust storms and baked by a hostile sun, the brooding ruins sit in austere silence that is broken only by the occasional howl of a nocturnal creature. This is all that remains of the once mighty city of Ur.

But go back four millenniums. There, on what was then the eastern bank of the Euphrates River, Ur is a thriving city! Gleaming whitewashed houses and shops line its winding streets. Merchants and patrons haggle over prices in the bazaars. Workers labor day and night spinning milk-white thread from billowy bundles of wool. Slaves tramp down creaking ships’ ramps, bowing under the weight of imported treasures.

All this bustle takes place in the shadow of a towering ziggurat that dominates the city’s landscape. Worshipers come to this sanctuary to render homage to a deity they believe has brought prosperity to Ur​—the moon-god Nanna, or Sin.

To one man, though, the odor of sacrifices offered atop this massive pyramid is an unholy stench. His name is Abram (later Abraham). At one time, his father, Terah, may have shared in this idolatry. (Compare Joshua 24:2, 14, 15.) But now Abram has come to know the true God, Jehovah. How? Apparently through association with Shem, aged survivor of the Noachian Flood.

Abram soon shows that his faith in Jehovah is not passive. By some means, God now ‘appears’ to Abram. (Acts 7:2-4) Jehovah commands: “Go your way out of your country and from your relatives and from the house of your father to the country that I shall show you; and I shall make a great nation out of you and I shall bless you and I will make your name great; and prove yourself a blessing. And I will bless those who bless you, and him that calls down evil upon you I shall curse, and all the families of the ground will certainly bless themselves by means of you.”​—Genesis 12:1-3.

Responding to the Call

Leave prosperous Ur of the Chaldeans? Why, some homes in Ur are lovely two-story brick buildings surrounding a central patio and contain up to 14 rooms! No wonder French historian Henri Gaubert thought of Abram only as a nomad and found it hard to believe that he could have deserted a “house at Ur with its rooms furnished with beds and cushions, his comfortable dwelling, cool in summer and warm in winter, his well-stocked cellar, his fountain of cool fresh water.” Abandon all of this to take up life as a nomad? Incredible!

And what about Abram’s family members​—some to be left behind? In the Middle East, such ties are so strong that banishment from one’s family is tantamount to a death sentence. How can Abram be expected to leave all of this behind for mere promises? Indeed, how will God make this man​—yet childless—​“a great nation”? Where is this promised land?

However, Abram is a man of faith and has an “assured expectation of things hoped for.” (Hebrews 11:1) He knows from past events​—such as the global Deluge—​that God’s word always comes true. Abram is not disturbed because he does not know exactly how, when, or where those divine promises will be fulfilled. To him, neither a lovely home, a secure livelihood, nor even family ties are as valuable as Jehovah’s friendship. For Abram, then, there can be only one decision: Obey God and leave Ur!

Does your faith likewise move you to action? Often we are encouraged to expand our participation in the preaching work. Some do so by becoming full-time Kingdom proclaimers. But do some Christians hold back because they secretly doubt God’s promise to provide for those who seek the Kingdom first? (Matthew 6:33) Abram’s faith moved him to action. He staked his future on God’s promises!

From Ur to Haran

Abram is not alone when he leaves. Like many of Jehovah’s Witnesses today, he doubtless shares God’s truths with his family members. So it is not surprising that Abram’s wife Sarai and an orphaned nephew named Lot are likewise moved to obey God’s call.a Why, even Abram’s father, Terah​—thought by some to have been an idol-maker—​also leaves!​—Genesis 11:31.

Finally, Abram’s family and flocks are outside Ur’s walls. The signal for departure is given, and the caravan settles into an orderly procession. Following a road along the east side of the Euphrates River, they travel under a raging sun, likely walking and riding to the sound of tinkling bells tied around their camels’ necks.

Northwestward they move, following the curve of the Euphrates. After many, many days they have covered 600 miles [960 km]. The weary travelers are thrilled to see the beehive-shaped huts surrounding the city of Haran. It is a major stopping point for caravans.​—Genesis 11:31.

Across the Euphrates

Abram settles down at Haran, evidently out of consideration for aged Terah. But with Jehovah’s blessing, Abram becomes quite wealthy. (Compare Ecclesiastes 5:19.) How often today God similarly provides for the material needs of those who ‘leave homes, brothers or sisters’ for the sake of the Kingdom!​—Mark 10:29, 30.

In Haran, Abram also ‘acquires souls’​—a body of servants. (Genesis 12:5) The Jerusalem Targum and the Chaldee Paraphrase say that he proselytized, or ‘subdued them unto the law.’ (Compare Genesis 18:19.) Yes, his faith moves him to preach to others, as Jehovah’s Witnesses do today.

“The days of Terah came to be two hundred and five years. Then Terah died in Haran.” (Genesis 11:32) Abram is grieved by his father’s passing. But when the mourning period is past, he again makes plans for departure. “Abram was seventy-five years old when he went out from Haran.”​—Genesis 12:4.

“So Abram took Sarai his wife and Lot the son of his brother and all the goods that they had accumulated and the souls whom they had acquired in Haran, and they got on their way out to go to the land of Canaan.” (Genesis 12:5) After traveling 55 miles [89 km] west from Haran, Abram likely stops at a spot on the Euphrates across from the ancient trade center of Carchemish. Here caravans commonly cross.

The date? Nisan 14, 1943 B.C.E. On that same date 430 years later, Abram’s descendants will be delivered from Egyptian bondage. (Exodus 12:40, 41) And on that very day nearly two millenniums thereafter, his Seed, Jesus Christ, will make a “covenant . . . for a kingdom,” under which “all the families of the ground” will bless themselves!​—Luke 22:1, 28, 29.

With an act of faith​—Abram’s crossing the Euphrates—​God’s promises to him begin to take effect. Abram can envision “the city having real foundations,” a righteous government over mankind. Yes, with but a few clues, Abram has begun to perceive the outlines of God’s purpose to redeem dying humankind. The flame of prophecy has lit a blaze of hope in his mind!​—Hebrews 11:10.

Jehovah’s Witnesses today have a greater basis for faith than did Abram. Mounting evidence proves that “the city,” or heavenly Kingdom, that Abram awaited is now a reality! But does faith in it move you to preach zealously, to follow God-given direction, to pursue spiritual goals rather than material comforts? Hopefully it does, for such was the nature of Abram’s faith. His faith moved him to action!

[Footnotes]

[Map/​Pictures on page 26]

(For fully formatted text, see publication)

Abraham’s Journey

Ur

Haran

Carchemish

CANAAN

Mediterranean Sea

[Credit Line]

Based on a map copyrighted by Pictorial Archive (Near Eastern History) Est. and Survey of Israel

[Picture]

The Euphrates near Ur

[Picture]

Haran today

[Picture]

The Euphrates near Carchemish

From Our Readers

Mental Illness

Since 16 years of age (I am now 48), I have tried numerous doctors, not one of whom was able to do anything for me beyond the prescription of antidepressant drugs. My condition got steadily worse, and I experienced figments of the imagination, similar to those of Irene in “Hope for the Mentally Ill.” (September 8, 1986) I also made the mistake of basing my own self-esteem on what others thought of me. Only with the help of this article, and others on depression, was I really able to evaluate the ailment properly. (October 22, 1987, and November 8, 1987) I now feel much better. Simply to know that others suffer in the same way is an encouragement to carry on the struggle.

A. P., Austria

My Parents’ Divorce

I am a 16-year-old who doesn’t miss an article in the “Young People Ask . . ” series. After reading the article entitled “Will My Parents’ Divorce Ruin My Life?” (December 22, 1987), I felt relieved at receiving answers and pertinent counsel. I had often posed to myself the same question after my parents’ divorce. The series for young people is really helpful.

S. E. O., Italy

God’s Permission of Evil

“How Some Explain God’s Permission of Evil” (October 8, 1987) tells readers that Christian Scientists believe evil is unreal. This leaves the impression that they simply disregard evil. Right words. Wrong impression. What Christian Science actually teaches is that evil does not come from God​—the Giver of ultimate reality. Evil does not have God-given authority, permanence, or power. Christian Scientists feel that this evil is personified in Scripture as Satan or the Devil, but that it can be best combatted by understanding its very essence as a lying (John 8:44) or a deceiving of the world (Revelation 12:9) into accepting it as authentic. It is on the basis of God’s giving of infinite goodness that we feel the power of Christ exposes and vanquishes evil as illegitimate.

N. A. T., The First Church of Christ, Scientist, United States

Our article stated that Mary Baker Eddy tried to resolve the problem of evil by denying that evil exists in the first place, and we quoted “Science and Health With Key to the Scriptures” as follows: “God . . . never made man capable of sin . . . Hence, evil is but an illusion, and it has no real basis.” We would not want to convey a wrong impression, but we understand reader N. A. T. as expressing essentially the same thoughts but with different words.​—ED.

Happiness of Giving

Many thanks for your articles “The Happiness of Giving​—Do You Experience It?” (November 22, 1987) Since I enjoy giving gifts myself, I know how happy it makes you feel when the person you have given something to expresses his joy and gratefulness. Now I have learned to show greater appreciation, even for small things, realizing that they come from the heart.

T. W., Federal Republic of Germany

Watching the World

Spiritual Goals Declining

“A record proportion of more than three-quarters of college freshmen surveyed around the [United States] feel that being financially well off is an ‘essential’ or ‘very important’ goal,” states The New York Times. “At the same time, the lowest proportion of freshmen in 20 years, only 39 percent, put great emphasis on developing a meaningful philosophy of life.” A new high of 71 percent of the freshmen said that their reason for attending college was “to make more money.” The findings were compiled from questionnaires completed by over 200,000 freshmen at 390 institutions. Said survey director Dr. Alexander W. Astin: “We are seeing something very profound in the society.”

Leap Second

You may not have noticed it, but 1987 was longer than the usual 365-day year. While an ordinary year has 31,536,000 seconds, 1987 had 31,536,001. Why? “By international agreement, the world’s timekeepers, in order to keep their official atomic clocks in step with the earth’s irregular but gradually slowing rotation, have decreed that a ‘Leap Second’ be inserted between 1987 and 1988,” notes The New York Times. On the average, the earth’s rotation has been slowing at the rate of about one thousandth of a second a day, requiring the addition of an extra second every few years to bring the clocks back in line with it. “A second,” says Dr. Dennis McCarthy, an astronomer at the U.S. Naval Observatory, “is a relatively long amount of time. If you’re flying a plane by instruments and you’re off by one second, you’re going to miss the runway by nearly one-fifth of a mile [320 m].”

Animal Tom-Toms

It has long been known that mammals communicate with each other by their calls and also by their scent glands. However, the language of foot-stamping used by certain animals has only been understood recently. Pierre Bridelance, researcher for the Paris Natural History Museum, explained in the French newspaper Le Figaro that desert rodents stamp their feet rhythmically, with periodic interruptions, in order to indicate that a burrow is occupied. In desert regions where the rodents are scattered over very wide areas, such low-frequency acoustic communication is very efficient.

AIDS: Alarming Facts

A statewide test of all babies born in New York during a monthlong period has revealed an alarming fact: One out of every 61 infants born in New York City is carrying AIDS antibodies, indicating that their mothers were infected. It is estimated that some 40 percent of the babies who tested positive for the antibodies have become infected themselves, either at birth or in the womb, and may come down with the disease. Some develop the symptoms as late as nine years of age. “This is quite significant numerically,” said Dr. Lloyd F. Novick, an assistant to the state health commissioner. “You’re talking about a sizable number of children being born positive. It would certainly be one of the leading congenital health problems we have.”

“AIDS does not limit itself to the destruction of its victims’ bodies. It often consumes their minds as well,” says U.S.News & World Report. “AIDS patients call it the most terrifying thing they can imagine,” seeing the virus attack the central nervous system and affect “the victim’s ability to think, feel, talk and move.” Postmortem brain studies of AIDS patients show that 50 percent had damage to the central nervous system directly attributable to the virus, and 25 percent more showed damage due to strokes, infections, or cancer. Dementia symptoms are not limited to adults. Children with AIDS have the problems as well.

Traffic Turmoil

“If a worker is tied up in traffic 20 minutes each working day​—10 minutes to and 10 minutes from work—​and stays on the job for 45 years,” says U.S.News & World Report, “he or she will spend nearly two working years tied up in traffic.” Traffic tie-ups already affect many millions of people worldwide, and the situation is getting worse. Commuting, smaller family units with more members working, households with two or more vehicles, resistance to car pooling, today’s life-styles, the desire for personal mobility, and lags in highway planning all add to the problem. Some motorists make use of the time by reading, listening to tapes, or even such things as shaving. Even so, the stress produced often leads to physical ailments such as ulcers, neck pains, and higher blood pressure. It is also causing more and more driver hostility​—and even violence—​toward other drivers.

Smoking and Accidents

A study comparing a thousand drivers involved in nonfatal accidents with a thousand drivers who had not had accidents concluded that “cigaret smokers have a 50 per cent increased risk over non-smokers of being involved in an accident.” The report in The Globe and Mail of Toronto notes that distractions from lighting up, coughing spells, dropped cigarettes, irritated eyes, and poor visibility because of smoke clinging to the windshield, as well as high levels of carbon monoxide in the blood, are possible causes for the increased accident rate. Not only can judgment and response time be impaired by smoking, says the article, but “smokers also are more inclined to take greater risks than non-smokers by not using seat belts, and by driving in the fast lane.”

Play Safe With Bark

Researchers in West Berlin suggest using bark trimmings instead of sand for children’s playgrounds. They claim that the trimmings, a by-product of woodworking, are more able to absorb the impact of a falling body than sand, which is simply displaced upon impact. Tests have revealed that “a 10-centimeter [4-in.] layer of bark absorbs impact more gently than the 20-centimeter [8-in.] layer of sand that is stipulated by law for children’s playgrounds,” reports the German newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung.

Bible in Verse

“When it comes to the publishing business, Bibles are a tough market to crack,” says The Wall Street Journal. “After all, with more than 100 million copies printed yearly, producing a version that stands out from the pack is a bit of a challenge.” To meet the challenge, George N. Kayatta decided to write the entire Bible in verse. It took him 11 years to finish it. Early in Genesis we find: “Serpent: I live here in Eden too./​Eve: You do?/​Serpent: Please relax. I am here to tell you facts.” Now Kayatta is facing an even greater challenge: finding a publisher who will print it.

Foolproof?

In an effort to outwit phone-booth thieves, Telecom, Australia’s government-owned telephone company, has fitted the susceptible booths with Kirk safes. Named after the worker who invented them, the safe has so far proved 100-percent effective. As mentioned in The Sydney Morning Herald, it has withstood “oxy torches, Ramset guns, angle-grinders, hydraulic jacks, pulley clamps, centre-punches and bricks.” Ironically, the new safes appear to have led to an increase in vandalism, as thieves frustrated by the tough safes vent their anger on the booths. Telecom reports that the current rate of smashed glass and ruined handsets and cords is at a new high of 3,000 cases per month.

Knuckle-Cracking

While the cracking of knuckles is common, understanding of what makes the noise is not. “When you pull on your fingers or knuckles, you create a suction in the joint​—just as pulling on a plunger creates suction in a clogged pipe,” explains Hippocrates magazine. “The suction causes dissolved gases in the joint’s cushioning fluid to bubble out of solution. The cracking is not the sound of bone or cartilage snapping, but the popping of these gaseous bubbles.” If knuckle-cracking is done too vigorously, the danger exists of dislocating the joint. Putting it back is best done by a doctor.

“It’s Just a Bird Trying to Make a Living”

IT’S a hard worker, defends its group, shares in the chores, sits on the eggs, cares for the nestlings, feeds the fledglings, and slaves away for months on end without a day off. In living up to its name as the acorn woodpecker, it pecks holes in trees and stuffs them with acorns to stock its winter larder. One large pine was estimated to have 50,000 acorns embedded in it.

All of that’s fine, but a problem arises when it switches to utility poles for its pantry. It peppers them with holes, the poles are weakened, some need replacing, and that costs $800 to $1,300 (U.S.) a pole. And that means this woodpecker clan is stepping on toes​—and pocketbooks!

A wildlife manager for the Arizona Game and Fish Department takes a sympathetic view, “It’s just a bird trying to make a living.” So far, even the utility company has been sympathetic but firm. The power must go through. Poles of metal, concrete, and fiberglass have been tried. Too expensive. Poles were covered with a fine wire mesh. Same verdict. A mesh of polyethylene deteriorated in the hot southwestern sun. Rubber snakes were attached to the poles but were soon ignored. Poles have been sprayed with a chemical especially formulated to repel woodpeckers. Results were good in Texas but inconclusive in Arizona.

At last report, the woodpecker wars were continuing, but the acorn woodpecker was still managing to make a living. And he’s such a strikingly handsome fellow!

[Picture Credit Line on page 31]

G. C. Kelley photo

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