May 8

Page Two

Germany’s Rhine River, as seen at left, is still a tourist’s delight, but its beauty is deceptive. Polluted by more chemical and industrial plants along its banks than any other river in the world, it is dubbed Europe’s majestic sewer. It well symbolizes the deadly tracks of the invisible killer pollution, making appropriate poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s words:

Awake! correspondent in the Federal Republic of Germany tracks down the causes of pollution and provides insight as to what would be involved in solving the problem.

Pollution’s Deadly Harvest

WHEN musical humorist Tom Lehrer sang about pollution back in the 1960’s and advised visitors to the United States not to drink the water or breathe the air, it was meant to be funny.

Nowadays nobody is laughing. After all, pollution is not really a laughing matter. Our air is polluted by heating and industrial emissions, engine exhaust, and radioactive fallout; our water by chemical and oil spills; and our ground by acid rain and toxic-waste dumps. There was a time when names like Chernobyl, Love Canal, Amoco Cadiz, and Bhopal would have been met by no more than puzzled faces. Now they call forth worried looks. Civilization has gone astray, threatening millions of people with the dubious alternatives of lingering illness or sudden death.

Pollution is particularly terrifying because more often than not it is unseen. Air may appear fresh and pure and yet be radioactive; food and water may appear wholesome and yet be full of chemical poisons! Of a truth, pollution is often an invisible killer.

Pollution’s Visible Harvest

Although pollution may be invisible, its deadly harvest is not. You can see it wherever you look: people dying of cancer and respiratory ailments; defaced buildings and monuments; decimated animal and plant life; rivers depleted of fish; dead and dying forests.

Now another phenomenon has made its appearance, seemingly bearing pollution’s trademark. Scientists have discovered a hole in the ozone layer surrounding the earth. And it is getting bigger. Some feel that chlorofluorocarbon pollution is apparently a factor, resulting from extensive use of aerosol sprays. Will the damaging of this ozone layer, which helps filter out harmful solar radiation, cause an upsurge in skin cancer? Or perhaps cause something even worse?

Pollution has grown to such catastrophic proportions that something must be done​—and quickly—​if global tragedy is to be avoided. A greater awareness of the seriousness of the problem has led to the formation of ecology groups and even helped catapult new political parties into positions of power. In the Federal Republic of Germany, for example, the ecology-oriented and appropriately named Greens captured 8.3 percent of the popular vote in the January 1987 federal elections.

Do we dare hope that human concern can be successfully transferred into positive action capable of ridding our planet of pollution, the invisible killer? Can we protect ourselves personally from its deadly designs?

[Box on page 4]

Our Polluted Planet

Brazil: “People who live [in Cubatão] call it ‘The Valley of Death.’ . . . The trees and soil are lifeless and, in increasing numbers, children are born dead or dying. What is alive is pollution.”​—Latin America Daily Post.

China: “Most northeastern Chinese cities [suffer] from air pollution so pervasive that by late afternoon only hardened locals can walk the streets without burning lungs and watering eyes.”​—Time.

Denmark: “Only a series of cold, windy summers with frequent northwesterly storms can save the Danish coast from an ecological catastrophe. . . . [In one area, because of the] lack of oxygen, fish and sea life will be unable to survive.”​—Basler Zeitung.

Federal Republic of Germany: “A poisonous mixture spilled into the Rhine [from a chemical warehouse fire near Basel, Switzerland], destroying 15 years of Rhine rehabilitation [and tons of fish]. . . . The Sandoz accident has caused serious ecological damage to 280 kilometers [170 mi] of the Rhine.”​—Der Spiegel.

Soviet Union: “The reactor disaster in Chernobyl . . . was a turning point in the history of modern civilization. And it was a catastrophe that will substantially affect us for centuries. . . . That 570 million Europeans, in varying degrees, were, are, and will continue to be exposed to supplemental radioactivity for 300 years will have unforeseeable consequences.”​—Psychologie Heute.

United States: “Scientists . . . [have] voiced new concerns that acid rain, in addition to killing lakes, has stunted forest growth and possibly posed a health hazard to humans by contaminating drinking water.”​—Maclean’s.

Tracking Down the Causes of Pollution

OH, YES, some of us have our television sets, microwave ovens, and personal computers. But where are our fresh air, clean food, and pure water? Why does a technology capable of sending a man to the moon seem incapable of providing us with these, our most basic needs? Why, in fact, are the deadly tracks of pollution becoming more pronounced?

“Everything Is Growing”

Professor Kurt Hamerak, writing in a German scientific journal, claims that “all environmental problems are essentially caused by growth, above all by the unexpectedly rapid growth in population.” World population has more than doubled just since 1950. In addition, we are living in what a United Nations’ study calls a “world of exploding cities.” By the year 2000, an estimated three fourths of the people living in developed regions will be located in urban areas. When population density increases, so also do the possibilities of pollution.

As there is a growth in the number of people who are demanding goods that increasing knowledge and technology make possible, industrial production and trade also grow. This means new factories and chemical plants​—new sources of pollution. And these in turn need energy, so new power plants must be built. Worldwide, almost 400 of them are nuclear reactors.

Also growing is the amount of leisure time that people have. This gives them more time and opportunity to encroach upon the countryside, oftentimes polluting land, air, and water, as well as jeopardizing plant and animal life, in the process.

Instead of preventing pollution, modern civilization has actually helped create it by fostering a materialistic view that at best is a mixed blessing. Many responsible people are now warning that uncurbed growth is leading to ruin. G. R. Taylor in The Doomsday Book concludes: “Up to now it has seemed that the materialist view . . . must triumph. Suddenly it begins to appear that it cannot triumph.”

Yes, “everything is growing,” says Professor Hamerak, “including the problems.” But there are other more pivotal reasons why the fight against pollution is not going well.

Insufficient Knowledge

For example, “practically nothing” is known, says The Doomsday Book, “about the interactions taking place between several pollutants present at the same time.” Also uncertain is the amount of poisonous substances or of radioactivity a person can be subjected to before suffering adverse effects. Toxicologist L. Horst Grimme of the University of Bremen claims that “it is not possible to quantify the risk that arises from the production, usage, and distribution of pollutants.” He feels there is no way to determine definitely at what level a pollutant crosses the threshold between harmless and harmful. “In many instances,” he says, “experts are simply insufficiently knowledgeable to be able to determine acceptable limits.” Additionally, research is so recent that no one really knows what the long-term effects of even “acceptable limits” might be.

Also posing a question is how to dispose of toxic wastes. This is no small problem because the amount of hazardous waste generated in Western Europe alone runs into millions of tons a year. (See chart.) Six main disposal methods are used: (1) disposal at sea; (2) landfills; (3) long-term storage; (4) physical, chemical, or biological treatment; (5) incineration on land or at sea, and (6) reclamation and recycling. None of these methods is completely satisfactory or foolproof.

Human Frailties and Limitations

On a stormy March night in 1978, the supertanker Amoco Cadiz lost control of its rudder and ran aground off the Brittany coast of France. Over 200,000 tons of crude oil spilled into the sea, killing some 10,000 birds, disrupting the oyster industry, polluting over a hundred miles [160 km] of beach, and creating a gigantic oil slick. Human negligence was to blame.

A more terrifying example of human frailties took place in April 1986. A serious accident at the nuclear reactor plant in Chernobyl, U.S.S.R., killed some 30 persons, endangered untold thousands, and forced the evacuation of 135,000 Soviet citizens. The Wall Street Journal reports: “Many scientists say the long-term health effects of the radiation absorbed by Soviets and Europeans after the nuclear accident will remain unknown for years. . . . [They] expect increased cases of leukemia and lung, breast and thyroid cancers.” According to a Pravda report, the disaster was caused by “irresponsibility, gross neglect of duty, and lack of discipline.”

Similar accidents have occurred before. Der Spiegel says that “mankind has several times slithered past catastrophe by a hairbreadth.” This German magazine claims to have gained access to 48 out of over 250 reports of reactor disturbances filed with the International Atomic Energy Organization, mishaps in such separated places as Argentina, Bulgaria, and Pakistan. Many of these, including the partial meltdown in March 1979 at Three Mile Island in the United States, were traced to human error.

Not only are humans prone to error but they are also limited in their control over the elements. Since the usual wind pattern in central Europe is from west to east, the Federal Republic of Germany must put up with polluted air blown in from England, while the German Democratic Republic and Czechoslovakia bear the brunt of polluted air from the Federal Republic. But winds can be fickle. For example, during the Chernobyl disaster, they shifted, causing Poland, the Baltic countries, and Scandinavia​—not to speak of the Soviet Union itself—​to be more severely polluted with radioactive air than other parts of Europe.

More Serious Deficiencies

People often lack honesty and objectivity in appraising the facts about pollution. While environmental protectionists may exaggerate negative aspects in support of their argument, their opponents may play up the positive side. For example, one authority says about polluted rivers: “A goodly part of the Elbe, rated high at the turn of the century among European waterways in its profusion of fish, has long been dead biologically.” The same claim has been made about the Rhine, especially after the Sandoz tragedy. A spokesman for the chemical industry, on the other hand, claims that “even after the fire in Sandoz, the Rhine is still in better shape than it was ten years ago.”

Strictly speaking, this may be true because indications in 1983 were that governmental antipollution legislation was proving effective and that the Rhine was making a remarkable recovery. And of the Thames River in Britain, the magazine National Geographic reports: “In the past 30 years pollution has been reduced 90 percent.” This success has only been possible because of concerted effort. But according to journalist Thomas Netter, this is lacking in many countries because “ecological disaster is still seen widely as someone else’s problem.”

No doubt this is one reason why governments are having so much difficulty adopting international pollution controls. For years Canada and the United States failed to reach any agreement on fighting acid rain. Finally, modest progress was made in 1986. Until then, as a Canadian official said, “Acid rain was dead in the water, just like the fish.” And although 31 nations agreed in 1987 to halve the production of the aerosol sprays that appear to be destroying the earth’s ozone layer, this goal will not be reached until the turn of the century. To promote more international cooperation, the European Community designated 1987 as the “Year of the Environment.”

Little progress will be made, however, as long as greedy people deliberately pollute for the purpose of monetary gain, or selfish people for the sake of convenience. Success depends upon concern for the welfare of one another and a willingness to accept personal responsibility. “Pollution control starts at home​—of this I am convinced,” says Germany’s environmental minister Klaus Töpfer. So every citizen must do his part. The little man may self-righteously point a finger at the big man​—chemical plants and factories—​but is the little man any better if his own fingers are busy littering?

The Bible foretold that in “the last days” people would be “lovers of themselves, lovers of money, . . . not open to any agreement, . . . without love of goodness.” (2 Timothy 3:1-5) Since these are the very qualities that promote pollution, the situation may look bleak. Still, we have reason to believe that the hurdles standing in the way of a pollution-free world will be cleared​—and soon!

[Box on page 6]

Hurdles in Man’s Fight Against Pollution

◼ Uncontrolled growth

◼ Insufficient knowledge

◼ Human frailties

◼ Lack of control over the elements

◼ Selfish disregard for the welfare of others

[Chart/​Map on page 7]

(For fully formatted text, see publication)

Estimated Tons of Toxic Wastes Produced in One Recent Year

Finland 87,000

Norway 120,000

Sweden 550,000

Netherlands 280,000

Britain 1,500,000

F. R. of Germany 4,892,000

Switzerland 100,000

France 2,000,000

Pollution Stopped​—Dead in Its Tracks!

“THE conclusion cannot be avoided that the environment is much less safe than is commonly supposed.” If these words were true back in 1970 when best-selling author G. R. Taylor wrote them, how much more so today! The chances that humans can clear the hurdles that stand in the way of a permanent solution to pollution are diminishing. The obvious truth is that men need divine help.

When God created humans, he instructed them to care for the earth. (Genesis 1:28; 2:15) Instead, in ignorance and in arrogance, they have polluted it. But the Creator has promised “to bring to ruin those ruining the earth.” Once willful polluters of the earth have been brought to ruin by God’s Kingdom government, the causes of pollution can be eliminated.​—Revelation 11:18.

Suggesting how this will be accomplished, Isaiah 11:9 says: “They will not do any harm or cause any ruin in all my holy mountain; because the earth will certainly be filled with the knowledge of Jehovah.” No doubt the Creator will teach humans everything about the earth and its environment that they need to know in order to act as its loving caretakers who will avoid doing it any harm or causing any ruin.

God will restore humans to perfection, the state in which he created the first humans. Perfect minds, filled with accurate knowledge and controlled by perfect judgment, will not be prone to human error. Negligence and other frailties of the flesh as we now know them will be removed. Divine protection will rule out freak accidents. Even the elements will be kept in perfect control.​—Compare Mark 4:39.

“The knowledge of Jehovah” will also instill in humans a loving concern for others and a respect and appreciation for God’s creations that will restrain individuals from wanting to pollute. In fact, it is already producing this kind of people, people who have stripped off “the old personality with its practices” and who are striving to live by Christian principles. “You must love your neighbor as yourself,” for example. Or, “Let your manner of life be free of the love of money.” Another: “Let each one keep seeking, not his own advantage, but that of the other person.”​—Colossians 3:9, 10; Mark 12:31; Hebrews 13:5; 1 Corinthians 10:24.

The Relentless Killer Stopped at Last!

Till now no mention has been made of pollution’s chief promoter. He is an invisible killer, God’s great Adversary, the Devil. (John 8:44; Hebrews 2:14) Satan’s perverted mind is ingenious at thinking up ways to discredit God and to ruin God’s creation. A polluted and filthy earth brings no honor to the Creator, who designed it to be radiantly clean and beautiful; nor do humans created in God’s image who allow the Devil to mislead them into doing his bidding. (Ephesians 2:2) As long as Satan exists, the fight against pollution will continue to lose ground. But wait!

God’s promise is: “And I saw an angel coming down out of heaven . . . And he seized the dragon, the original serpent, who is the Devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years . . . that he might not mislead the nations anymore until the thousand years were ended.” (Revelation 20:1-3) That angel is the Lord Jesus Christ, who will bind Satan and thereby rid the universe of his influence for a thousand years, thus removing the chief barrier to a pollution-free world.

During Christ’s Thousand Year Reign, planet Earth will have sufficient time to recover from pollution’s inroads. God’s Kingdom can easily undo the damage already done. Meanwhile, in view of pollution’s deadly harvest, we may wisely protect ourselves from its inroads as best we can. Of course, ways of doing this are limited, and it is hardly practical to take Tom Lehrer’s tongue-in-cheek advice: ‘Don’t drink the water and don’t breathe the air.’ But other measures can be taken. (See box on page 9.)

While taking such measures, we should remember that the best protection against pollution’s inroads is to put our trust in God’s Kingdom. It alone will solve the problem permanently. Last year Jehovah’s Witnesses conducted over three million weekly Bible studies with people desirous of learning God’s requirements for living in his pollution-free new world. Would you like to take advantage of this service, which is offered without charge?

What a joy to know that our fight against pollution​—the relentless killer—​will soon be over! Likewise our struggle to cope with pollution’s deadly harvest. Pollution and its chief promoter, Satan the Devil, both of them killers, will have finally been stopped​—dead in their tracks!

[Box on page 9]

Personal Protection Against Pollution

◼ Watch your general health, getting sufficient exercise and rest on a regular basis

◼ Avoid smoking, abuse of alcohol and drugs, or other habits that weaken the body’s defensive mechanisms

◼ Avoid excessive exposure to the sun

◼ Use a water filter if the danger of contaminated water exists in your locality

◼ Avoid as far as reasonably possible foodstuffs that contain chemical additives

◼ Avoid unnecessary medication, since almost all medicaments have side effects

◼ Cooperate with legal regulations designed to curb pollution

[Picture on page 10]

There will be nothing deceptive about the pollution-free beauty of God’s new world

‘My Word My Bond’

IT HAS been 15 years since I last walked down this London street. Had you seen me then, sporting a black bowler hat and carrying a rolled umbrella, you would have taken me for a typical English businessman. Indeed, I was one of thousands who commuted into “the City,” the capital’s financial district.

Not far from here lives the ‘old lady of Threadneedle Street,’ the Bank of England. The Stock Exchange is her close neighbor. Round the corner stands Lloyd’s of London, the famed insurance exchange. But my work took me along St. Mary Axe to London’s third major exchange, the Baltic.

Up the Corporate Ladder

On leaving school in 1937, I started work as an office boy with a merchant company that had worldwide shipping interests. I took my job as junior clerk seriously and set my sights on promotion. I hoped one day to become the department manager.

I was still the youngest employee when the outbreak of World War II interrupted my career, and in 1941 I joined the Royal Air Force. On returning to civilian life some five years later, I resumed work with my company. But things were different. Some of the former personnel were no longer with us. The war had taken its toll.

I soon settled down to the routine, and rapid promotion to manager status brought me personally in touch with the firm’s clients. I negotiated such business as the charter of oil tankers and arranged for ships’ bunkering facilities. To further our trade, the company nominated me for election to the Baltic Exchange.

On the Baltic

The Baltic Mercantile and Shipping Exchange Limited proudly bears a coat of arms featuring the motto “Our Word Our Bond.” By the early 1970’s, some 700 companies subscribed to this rule. They authorized their 2,400 representatives to follow traditions that date from the coffee-shop meetings of early 17th-century ship captains and traders whose verbal contracts were always binding. The Exchange still requires strict business honesty of its members.

From 1954 on, I regularly came to the Baltic Exchange premises where I conducted business on the Exchange’s floor, fixing cargoes for the shipping companies’ merchant vessels. When, on behalf of my company, I gave my word to an agreement, it became an unbreakable obligation despite any subsequent changes in the circumstances surrounding the deal. I always applied the same principle in my private life.

A Testing Time

I accepted the existence of God, but that was about it. During World War II, my religious ideals had been shaken. Clergymen preached peace, yet blessed our participation in war. ‘How,’ I often asked myself, ‘could such people be trusted?’

In 1954, Jehovah’s Witnesses began to visit my wife, Viv, to talk to her about the Bible. I did not oppose her, but I did ask her what I thought were awkward questions. As my questioning became more and more aggressive and Viv was unable to answer, she suggested bringing one of the Witnesses to meet me. I agreed.

The lady to whom my wife introduced me was smartly dressed and gave me clear answers to my questions. I asked her about the immortality of the soul, which she succinctly answered by quoting Ezekiel 18:4, “The soul that sinneth, it shall die.” (King James Version) Then I put quite a few political questions to her. She replied that just as Jesus said his disciples would be no part of the world, so the Witnesses stick to a neutral stand on such issues. I was not too pleased about this. Curtly I retorted: “But if none of us had fought and Hitler had invaded, where would we be now?” To this she calmly replied that German Witnesses had also refused to fight. They had clung to their beliefs even in the face of execution!

I started to study the Bible with her, hoping to refute her beliefs. Little by little, my faith in the Bible grew. But was I being hoodwinked? Then I thought of the clergymen in my home area. I would put the same questions to them that I had asked the Witnesses.

I sought an invitation for my wife and me to visit the church for a discussion. That meeting was a disaster as far as bolstering my trust in the established church was concerned. Why, the clergyman rejected the Genesis account, something Jesus accepted! (Matthew 19:3-6) I came away from that and two similar meetings convinced that the Bible is God’s Word and that Jehovah’s Witnesses are indeed upholding it and living by it. My faith grew stronger.

My Word My Bond

As my Bible studies continued, I began to realize to what they would lead. I worried about my image not only in the City as an up-and-coming business executive but also locally where I was a prominent sportsman. I wondered what people would say when they discovered that I espoused the Witnesses’ beliefs.

As I had agreed to share in preaching the good news with our local Witnesses, I did not go back on my word. I hoped to show that by accompanying them just once, I was not scared. I suggested we visit people down a road where I knew no one. At the very first house, my companion and I found people who were eager to know the truth, and we started a Bible study right there and then.

The following week, I faced the challenge again. By the end of the morning, my mind was made up. I had the truth and I now felt the responsibility to help others learn it.

In my business dealings, I needed to think clearly to weigh any short-term advantages against the long-term effects. So I decided to serve Jehovah and devote as much of my time as possible to his work. I would hold my business to a minimum and so provide financially for my family. On January 8, 1956, I was baptized in public symbol of my dedication to do God’s will.

Work Priorities

Viv and I had been planning to move from our apartment into a large house and then expand our family. But now, with Kingdom interests first in life, we decided to stay as we were. After our daughter left school in 1969 and started full-time preaching, the way was clear for me to expand my ministry. I sought an interview with my firm’s managing director to tell him of my plans to reduce my secular work.

I went over in my mind what I would say. I would respectfully present three alternatives: Give me part-time work, fire me, or I resign. He listened to my suggestions, smiled broadly, and commented: “Wait until you hear my proposal. I think it will alter your ideas.” He proceeded to explain that the board of directors had unanimously agreed to appoint me as a director of the company with a quadrupling of my salary plus the guarantee of becoming chairman of the company within three years. Hoping to persuade me, he reasoned: “With your increased salary you can easily pay a few people to do the Witnesses’ work that you would have done.” Sad to say, he misunderstood my view of God’s work.

There was no question in my mind as to what to do. I had given my word to Jehovah to do his will, and that before everything else. The managing director finally agreed that I could work part-time, provided business did not suffer. I accepted a substantial cut in salary.

Jehovah did not let me down. Four months later I was given the company directorship, this time with an agreement to continue part-time work but with a return to my previous salary.

Helping Others to Trust God

Among my close associates in the shipping company I worked for, I found others who responded to the message of the Supreme One who can be trusted. Indeed, it has been my joy to help four of these and their families to progress to the dedication of their lives to do God’s will.

In the late ’60’s and early ’70’s, rapid changes in the business world came. My company amalgamated with others. Eventually it was absorbed by a multinational corporation, and because I would not resume full-time employment, I terminated my employment in 1972.

The change of circumstances freed me to pursue my ministerial career full-time. Then, with my financial resources dwindling, I was about to take up part-time lecturing on shipping when I was invited to become a traveling minister visiting Witness congregations. Since then my wife and I have been more than well cared for.

Today’s business world has changed. Standards and ethics have eroded. There is more cut and thrust. Enemies, rather than friends, seem to abound. I, however, have the pleasure of traveling as a district minister throughout a wide area of England. How good it is to work among people who place their complete confidence in God, who says, “I have said I would do it and I will”! (Isaiah 46:11, The Living Bible)​—As told by Ted Hunnings.

[Picture on page 13]

Serving as district overseer at an assembly of Jehovah’s Witnesses

Glaucoma​—Insidious Stealer of Sight!

SHE is a bright, active woman in her early 60’s. She has worked happily in her kitchen for more than 20 years and knows every inch of it well.

But this day, as she works at the counter, she turns and bumps her head on an open cabinet door. She mutters to herself about the dangers of absentmindedness. Minutes later she trips over a pair of shoes left near the back door.

This is neither absentmindedness nor a sudden lack of coordination. It is an insidious thief​—glaucoma—​slowly stealing this woman’s sight! Left untreated, it will steal it all. But glaucoma can be stopped and even prevented. How?

Your Remarkable Eyes

To begin with, you need to understand something of the design of your eyes. Your eye is a ball of fibrous tissue filled with a clear fluid. The opaque white part of this ball is the sclera. Through the clear part, the cornea, you can see the delicate-looking tissue that gives your eyes their color​—the iris. Light enters your eye through the pupil, that dark opening in the center of the iris.

Just behind your pupil is a clear lens. Tiny muscles change its shape to focus what you see onto a screen of light-sensitive cells at the back of your eye​—the retina. To function, your eyes must be clear inside and inflated to hold their roundness.

Your eyes are not empty. The Creator has provided them with clear substances that are constantly self-replacing. Most of the eye​—the rear part behind the lens—​is filled with vitreous (glassy) humor, a clear, jellylike fluid. The front part of your eye, between the vitreous humor and the cornea, contains aqueous humor​—a watery fluid, as its name suggests. Your iris divides this watery part of your eye into two compartments: the front, or anterior, chamber and the rear, or posterior, chamber.

Behind the iris, the ciliary body is constantly producing this watery fluid. The fluid stays under a slight pressure, which varies somewhat with the normal changes in your body. The fluid flows gradually through your pupil into the anterior chamber, then to the edge of your iris. From there it flows through a meshwork of tissue into a drainage canal.

But what if some condition blocks the pupil, the meshwork, or the canal? When inflow exceeds outflow, pressure begins to build. The aqueous humor presses against the vitreous humor. The vitreous humor, in turn, presses with increasing force on the blood vessels and photoreceptor cells of the retina.

Nerve fibers from these cells come together at the back of the eye to form the cup-shaped optic nerve head, usually referred to as the optic disk. Since there are no vision cells within this disk, you have a tiny blind spot there. As pressure builds, blood flow is restricted. This smooth, pink optic disk becomes pale and irregular. Its cupped center deepens and grows wider. Deprived of blood, vision cells lose their sensitivity and die. The blind spot grows, and the visual field shrinks. For years this irreversible damage slowly progresses.

Widespread​—And Unnoticed

Chronic open-angle glaucoma, caused by deteriorating fluid drainage, accounts for 70 to 95 percent of all glaucomas. Victims can still see and read well because the cells at the centers of their eyes are the last to be attacked. There are usually no symptoms at all in the early stages.

As chronic glaucoma stealthily progresses, some persons may complain vaguely of tired or watery eyes or feel that they need new glasses. Later on, they may notice a halo around lights and feel pain around their eyes. But for many, there is no warning until the loss of peripheral vision causes an unexplained “clumsiness.” Finally, even central vision becomes noticeably poorer. By then, glaucoma has stolen most of the victim’s sight.

Acute, or closed-angle, glaucoma accounts for about 10 percent of the cases reported in the United States. This is primarily an ailment of the elderly because our lenses enlarge with age, especially when cataracts are present. In eyes that have a shallow anterior chamber and a narrow angle between the cornea and the iris, the enlarged lenses gradually move forward to block the aqueous flow through the pupil. Pressure builds behind the iris. It bulges forward, squeezing shut the drainage meshwork that lies at the point of the angle and the canal.

Closed-angle glaucoma is usually not chronic but acute. Instead of a slow buildup of pressure, there is a sudden onset of increasing pain, sometimes accompanied by blurred vision, nausea, and vomiting. This is a true medical emergency! If the pressure is not relieved within 48 to 72 hours, there may be permanent damage to the trabecular (drainage) meshwork, and that will lead to irreparable damage to the optic nerve.

In other kinds of glaucoma, the trabecular meshwork may be blocked by inflammation, disease, or loose pigment from the iris. Trauma, such as a blow to the eye, can trigger glaucoma. Some children are born with congenital glaucoma and must be treated in infancy. Because they cannot see or read as well as others, they may even erroneously be thought to have learning disabilities.

Most Important​—An Early Diagnosis

The good news about glaucoma is that most cases can be treated if they are diagnosed early. Regular eye examinations, especially for anyone over 40, are vital.

In one method for checking eye pressures, the doctor anesthetizes your eyes with drops, then gently presses an instrument called a tonometer against your cornea. The tonometer measures the pressure inside your eye by applying a gentle force to the cornea. This is the basic test for glaucoma. But it is not always enough to make sure that glaucoma is not present.

“I thought I had something in my eye,” said one middle-aged woman. “I was pulling out eyelashes because I thought they were irritating my eye. Then I began to feel tingling sensations in my scalp, and my eyes began to hurt.” She was examined by her family doctor, by an ophthalmologist who checked her eye pressure, and by a neurologist. They attributed the symptoms to a nervous condition.

She and her husband sought a second opinion from another ophthalmologist, who gave her a battery of tests. A provocative test​—drinking a quart [1 L] of water at one sitting—​forced her eye pressure high enough to reproduce her symptoms. She was diagnosed as having chronic closed-angle glaucoma. Her sight was saved.

Why did the first ophthalmologist fail to diagnose glaucoma? For one thing, eye pressure can vary throughout the day and the month. For another, some people can be suffering the effects of glaucoma even at normal pressures. Only a series of tests can definitely establish that glaucoma is not at work.

“There are three areas of major concern in diagnosing glaucoma,” says one eye surgeon. “They are eye pressure, the appearance of the optic nerve, and the visual field. If all three are abnormal, we then begin to ask, ‘What kind of glaucoma is it?’”

If glaucoma is diagnosed, the eye doctor may examine the rim of your iris and measure the depth of your anterior chambers. He will also ask questions about your general health, which greatly affects your eyes. High blood pressure is an example. “Anyone with a family history of glaucoma should have their eyes checked before treatment to lower their blood pressure,” says one doctor. The reason: High blood pressure raises eye pressures. The irritation of the eyes upsets the sufferer, and blood pressure and eye pressure race in a continuous cycle.

“One lady I know of was admitted to the hospital with a hypertensive [high blood pressure] crisis,” continues the doctor. “Her eyes were hurting, so an ophthalmologist was called. He treated her glaucoma quickly with laser surgery. Her eye pressure dropped immediately​—and so did her blood pressure.” If the doctors had reduced her blood pressure first, she might have gone blind. The high fluid pressure in her eyes might have prevented the blood supply from reaching her optic nerves.

Advances in Treatment

All treatment for glaucoma aims at reducing the pressure inside the eyeball to halt damage to the optic nerve. Great strides in such treatment have been made in recent years. For open-angle glaucoma, the treatment is often the daily use of eye drops. Oral drugs may also be prescribed to reduce the production of aqueous fluid or to increase its outflow. Surgery is sometimes called for. A type of laser treatment, an outpatient procedure, improves drainage dramatically, reducing pressure by up to 25 percent in most cases.

For closed-angle glaucoma, medication provides temporary relief. The pressure can usually be relieved permanently by iridotomies​—openings in the iris. Today, they can be made in just a few minutes. The eye surgeon anesthetizes each eye with drops, then makes small but visible perforations in the iris with a laser. Often the surgeon can observe the fluid rushing through the first opening he makes.

Special surgical techniques have been developed to treat rarer forms of glaucoma. In neovascular glaucoma, an excess of blood vessels blocks the drainage meshwork. The eye surgeon may use a laser to destroy part of the fluid-producing tissue or may implant tiny tubes that let fluid bypass the meshwork. He can also use ultrasound, cryosurgery (freezing), or laser methods to disturb the edge of the retina. Blood flow to that area will increase, so that the blocking blood vessels will shrink. Only a small percentage of glaucoma cases remain untreatable.

How You Can Protect Your Sight

Preventive care is vital. Have your eyes examined every two years. If you are over 40 and have any risk factor in your background, including diabetes, cataracts, eye inflammation, extreme nearsightedness, coronary artery disease, or a family history of glaucoma, have an examination at least once a year.

Do not treat symptoms lightly. See an eye doctor immediately.

Seek a second opinion if you are in doubt. Ask friends about eye doctors they know and whether these doctors have a variety of up-to-date equipment. Were their examinations thorough?

Have you been diagnosed as having glaucoma? Follow your doctor’s recommendations closely. One medical journal states that lack of compliance by the patient is the number one cause of failure to control glaucoma.

Never miss an appointment. Most doctors schedule checkups for glaucoma patients every three to six months because their eyes can undergo major changes in that time. Also, most people develop a tolerance to their eye drops after a year or so and often need a new prescription.

Be faithful about taking your medication. Do not use it past the expiry date. Be sure to let other doctors treating you know about your medication, especially if you have heart problems. Carry a card that states you have glaucoma and that gives your eye doctor’s name, the name of your medication, and the dosage.

Remember: Glaucoma can almost always be defeated​—if we know what to do about it and are diligent about protecting ourselves.

[Diagram on page 15]

(For fully formatted text, see publication)

Vitreous humor

Aqueous humor

Pupil

Cornea

Iris

Lens

Ciliary body

Optic disk

Retina

Sclera

[Picture on page 17]

Optometrist testing for glaucoma

Young People Ask . . .

What’s So Horrible About Horror Movies?

DENOUNCED by critics, assailed by parents, and often censored by TV-network officials, horror movies still thrive. If the capacity to make money is the measure, horror movies are huge successes, some even setting attendance records at the box office. Enterprising filmmakers, eager to turn more profits, rush to make sequels. Coveting these profits, other moviemakers hastily spawn imitations.

And who is the targeted audience for these frightening films? Young people. It is not unusual to see teenagers braving long lines and inclement weather to catch the opening of the latest horror flick. What, though, is the lure of these films? Is there any reason for youths to be wary of them?

The New Horror Films

The films that frightened audiences a few decades ago have yielded place to a new genre. Today’s horror films do not achieve their chills and thrills through good storytelling, suspenseful plots, or stimulating the viewer’s imagination but depend largely on luridly detailed violence to obtain these effects. As the New York Post reported, “Traditional monsters have been replaced by bloodthirsty maniacs.”

For example, a reviewer of the fourth “Friday the 13th” film remarked: “The 91-minute film consists of little more than bloody mayhem and teenage nudity . . . including brief shots of decapitation and garroting.” The featured character is “a demented killer named Jason, wearing a hockey mask, chopping up and skewering an assortment of teenage boys and girls.”

Massive doses of blood and gore are thus the staple of the new horror movies. Little wonder, then, that they have been dubbed “knife-kill,” “splatter,” and “gore” films.

The Lure of Horror Films

Incredibly, though, it is this carnage and “bloody mayhem” that send many youths scurrying to the box office. When asked why she frequented horror movies, 16-year-old Melissa admitted quite candidly: “I like, like, guts. I don’t like going to a movie that’s all like Goldilocks. I like going to a movie like Nightmare on Elm Street.” She adds, “I like seeing people get ripped apart.”

Indeed, for many youths, the touchstone for judging a film is how “creatively” the murders are performed. One teen wrote: “I have actually heard audiences clap and whistle at grisly murders.” Adds 17-year-old Sandy: “If the scenes really scared me, it was a good movie. If it didn’t​—just routine killings—​it was so-so.”

Why Others Watch Them

Admittedly, not all horror-movie viewers are drawn by a craving for violence or a morbid curiosity. For some teenagers, horror films are simply a means of escape, a respite from a life knotted with anxieties. Observed psychologist Joyce Brothers: “When your own life gets very complex and scary . . . , it is easier to escape into a fearful story.”

Other youths are attracted by the prospect of suspense and excitement. States 14-year-old Bobby: “The suspense keeps you on the edge of your seat. You are on a roller-coaster ride of chills and thrills with few valleys or lulls in between.”

Some teenage boys feel that their masculinity is confirmed by the ability to view macabre scenes and graphically depicted bloodletting without flinching. Reggie, a frequent horror-movie attender, says: “If you can handle the blood and guts, you are a man. If you can’t, you are considered a sissy by your friends.”

Many youths, however, attend horror films for the “romantic” possibilities they present on dates. Twenty-year-old Quintella recalls: “When I went to horror movies and a scene got gruesome, I grabbed my date.” She adds, “I think he expected and wanted this reaction.” Teenage girls have even been known to feign squeamishness so as to snuggle up to their dates. Their male companions, hoping for this reaction, respond obligingly with protective cuddles.a

Thrills, excitement, escape, romance​—many youths feel that since horror movies provide all these seeming boons, there cannot be much harm in them. But is that really the case?

Horror Films​—What They Teach

True, some psychologists feel that horror movies are harmless, causing nothing more severe than an occasional sleepless night. Nevertheless, a number of respected authorities maintain that there are dangers.

Dr. Leonard Berkowitz, professor of psychology at the University of Wisconsin, asserts that horror-movie violence has a threefold effect on audiences. “First,” he states, “it makes audiences in general less horrified by, and more indifferent to, violence. Secondly, audiences may learn the lesson that violence is approved behavior. Third,” he goes on, “some can become stimulated by it.”

Really, does not the capacity to sympathize and empathize with the sufferings of others separate humans from brute beasts? The wanton violence of horror movies, though, can only erode that sympathy. We are reminded of how the apostle Paul condemned those who “because of the insensibility [literally, “dulling”] of their hearts” came to be “past all moral sense.” He encouraged Christians, however, to “become kind to one another, tenderly compassionate.” (Ephesians 4:18, 19, 32, Kingdom Interlinear) Can exposure to large doses of senseless bloodshed help one cultivate these qualities?

God’s View of Violence

If the potential desensitizing effects of these films were the only danger, that alone would be reason for grave concern. For Christians, however, the paramount concern is maintaining God’s friendship. This includes accepting his view of violence, which was made clear when he destroyed the ancient world of Noah’s day. The Bible states: “Violence had spread everywhere. God looked at the world and saw that it was evil, for the people were all living evil lives. God said to Noah, ‘I have decided to put an end to all mankind. I will destroy them completely, because the world is full of their violent deeds.’”​—Genesis 6:11-13, Today’s English Version.

The psalmist thus said of Jehovah: “Anyone loving violence His soul certainly hates.” (Psalm 11:5) Hence, early Christians refused to participate in the popular gladiatorial games, which pitted man against man or man against animal in a fight to the death. True, this was an accepted form of entertainment at that time. But a second-century Christian writer named Athenagoras said: “We, deeming that to see a man put to death is much the same as killing him, have abjured [solemnly renounced] such spectacles.”

Not to be overlooked are the spiritistic and demonistic overtones of many horror films. Would a Christian youth be ‘standing firm against the machinations of the Devil’ if he fed himself on a diet of films that featured spiritism?​—Ephesians 6:11; Revelation 21:8.

Because of their desire to maintain a friendship with God, some of the youths who were mentioned earlier​—Reggie, Quintella, Sandy, and Bobby—​have stopped viewing horror films. No, they have not become ascetics, denying themselves every form of pleasure. But through a study of the Bible, they have come to appreciate the need to avoid demoralizing entertainment. Recognizing the need for proper conduct between the sexes, they do not use such films as an excuse for improper displays of affection. (1 Thessalonians 4:3, 4) No longer accepting violence as entertainment, they strive to be selective in what they watch.

They have come to feel that horror movies have become just what the name implies​—horrible.

[Footnotes]

Beware of the ‘Copycat Effect’!

Television can be an educational tool. It can show us what is happening at distances far beyond the range of normal vision and, at times, provide wholesome entertainment. Yet, according to Eric Moonman, author of The Violent Society, television also plays a role in the modern-day collapse of law and order. Writing in The Independent of London on TV’s connection with violence, Moonman says: “If there is one single influence above all others, research points to the copycat or halo effect.” What does he mean?

“The 1981 [inner-city] riots [in England] were televised as they happened,” he explains. “Their pattern was repeated day after day. I visited a number of the trouble centres where, during interviews with teenagers, the significance of the copycat crime became clear to me. TV made it look easy, they knew what kind of things to do.” Moonman noted that after the riots, “a clear reflection of scenes witnessed on television” could be seen in the outbursts of street violence that occurred in other parts of the country.​—Italics ours.

With the world’s international conflicts visible right in people’s living rooms, tension heightens as they observe these events taking place. True, “television cannot yet decide who wins a war,” explains Moonman, “but it can already decide who we think is winning.”

How can you protect your family from the possible bad effects of television? First, establish a clear family policy for your viewing. Then, set appropriate limits as to the content and quantity of what is watched. And when news scenes depicting violence appear, remember that the world’s lawlessness is not worthy of imitation. Heed the advice: “Be babes as to badness; yet become full-grown in powers of understanding.”​—1 Corinthians 14:20.

The Bible’s Viewpoint

Must You Obey the Ten Commandments?

IT WAS in the year 1513 B.C.E.a that God’s finger wrote on stone. Since then the Ten Commandments have been copied by men and spread around the world. Hundreds of millions of people have read them, and many know them by heart. There is probably no other set of laws that has received such widespread attention. The question is, on its 3,500th anniversary in 1988: Are the Ten Commandments still in force so that you must obey them?​—Exodus 20:1-17; 31:18.

For Whom Were They Intended?

God gave the Ten Commandments to the people that were known as Israelites. In his opening words, he made clear that it was to this one nation he spoke: “I am Jehovah your God, who have brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slaves.” This indicates that the Ten Commandments were designed to be part of a national law code.​—Exodus 20:2.

Passed On to the Christians?

However, were the Ten Commandments of such universal nature that they would always be in force and apply also to non-Israelites? No. Centuries later when the Christian congregation was formed, this Law code was not passed on to it. Why? Because the Bible says that “Christ is the end of the Law.” (Romans 10:4) What does that mean?

To illustrate, back in 1912 the outdoor high-jump world record was 6 feet 7 inches [2.01 m]. Seventy-five years later, in 1987, the record was 7 feet 11 1/2 inches [2.43 m]. There must, however, be an ultimate limit to how high a human can jump over a bar supported by two posts. The champion who reaches this limit will end all high-jump world records. He could also be said to be “the end” of them. Now, how might this apply to the Ten Commandments?

When God formed “the Law,” which embraced the Ten Commandments together with over 600 other laws and statutes, and gave it to the Israelites, he set the ultimate goal or standard of perfection. He put the bar at the highest level, so to speak. This divine Law was of such a high standard of morality that only a perfect human could reach it. Ecclesiastes 7:20 says: “There is no man righteous in the earth that keeps doing good and does not sin.”

So the bar​—God’s righteous standard—​was put too high for the imperfect Israelites, or Jews. Why? The Christian apostle Paul explains: “It [the Law] was added to make transgressions manifest, until the seed [Messiah, or Christ] should arrive to whom the promise had been made.” (Galatians 3:19) By the Law, God showed the Jews that they were all imperfect transgressors, unable to reach the goal of being declared righteous because of their own works.

There was only one who could pass over that bar: the coming promised Messiah, or Christ. Therefore, that high standard was put before the Jews as something to aim at while looking forward to the final Champion, the Messiah, to pass over it once and for all.

“Leading to Christ”

In line with this, Paul continues in the third chapter of Galatians, verse Ga 3:24: “Consequently the Law has become our tutor leading to Christ, that we might be declared righteous due to faith [in him].” A tutor in Bible times accompanied the child to its teacher and could also instruct and discipline the child.

The Ten Commandments, as well as the rest of the Law, would thus prepare the Jews for the Messiah and guide them to him. When Jesus came, lived among them, and died perfectly obedient to the Law, he became “the end of the Law.” Then God removed that bar, as it were, and offered the Jews something better. Now they could “as a free gift” finally be “declared righteous by his undeserved kindness through the release by the ransom paid by Christ Jesus.”​—Romans 3:24.

Paul also says, “You are not under law but under undeserved kindness” and, “If you are being led by spirit, you are not under law.”​—Romans 6:14; Galatians 5:18.

What You Should Obey

Now, since Christians are not “under law,” are they then freed from all moral restraints? Not at all. As Paul showed, Christians are being led by God’s holy spirit, and it does not lead anyone into sin. It urges them to stay away also from sins dealt with in the Ten Commandments. For example, if you read 1 Corinthians 6:9, 10, you will find several Christian laws that are similar to some of the Ten Commandments. They are the prohibitions against idolatry, adultery, stealing, and covetousness.

Christ also summed up the old Law code, which included the Ten Commandments, with these two dictums: “You must love Jehovah your God with your whole heart and with your whole soul and with your whole mind” and, “You must love your neighbor as yourself.” (Matthew 22:37-39) By striving to obey them, asking for forgiveness when falling short, and exercising faith in Christ’s ransom, you will get undeserved kindness from God and His approval for everlasting life.​—2 Thessalonians 2:16.

[Footnotes]

Cooking Vegetables​—Chinese Style!

HAVE you been to the food market lately? Then you may have noticed​—especially if you live in a large Western urban area—​that a change has taken place. Displayed right alongside the familiar cucumbers and carrots may be some not-so-familiar items: bok choy, snow peas, water chestnuts, bean sprouts, gingerroot.

These are Chinese vegetables. Though some cooks may pass these by, the more adventurous ones are purchasing woks (a metal pan for frying) and trying their hand at Chinese cooking. With a little bit of practice, you too can offer some truly exciting meals to your family​—and at an amazingly low cost! This is because Chinese cooking makes good use of vegetables. How is this so?

Some Secrets of Chinese Cooking

Westerners often boil their vegetables and discard the water. This, however, is a waste both of flavor and of water-soluble nutrients. The Chinese stir-fry their vegetables. Although the wok is the traditional cooking utensil, you may get satisfactory results with an ordinary frying pan. Stir-frying retains flavor and nutrients, while at the same time giving the barely cooked ingredients a tender, crisp texture that appeals to many. After the food is stir-fried on high heat, a little water or stock is added, the pan covered, and the ingredients simmered briefly. The liquid is then thickened with a mixture of cornstarch and cold water to form a glaze or a sauce. In this way the seasoning clings to each morsel of food as it is eaten.

Seasoning foods is another Chinese secret. Gingerroot, for example, not only adds a delightful flavor but is believed to have medicinal benefits. Its taste can be added in different ways, depending upon your preference. If you wish only a subtle trace of it, heat a few tablespoons of oil in a frying pan and add a slice of ginger. The hot oil causes the flavor of the ginger to be released. You can now remove the ginger and stir-fry your vegetables in the flavored oil.

If you want a stronger flavor, simply retain the ginger as you continue cooking. The ginger slices may even be left in the food when served, although they are not meant to be eaten. Yet a third method is to pare the skin off a piece of ginger that is approximately the size of a sugar cube. Mince the ginger finely, and blend it into the sauce.

Fresh cloves of garlic can also be added to food in these ways, but care must be taken to lower the heat, since garlic burns easily.

Chinese cooking, though, is not strictly vegetarian. Meat and vegetable combinations are the most popular of Chinese dishes. Meat adds further flavor to the vegetables, while the vegetables serve to extend a small quantity of meat. Even if cutting costs is not a major consideration for you, eating more vegetables and less meat is a painless way of reducing the consumption of calories and cholesterol.

The possibilities for meat and vegetable combinations are enormous: beef and broccoli, steak and peppers, shrimp with snow peas, and chicken and mixed vegetables, to name just a few.

Cooking With Chicken

A number of delightful dishes involve boneless chicken, for example, Moo Goo Gai Pan. This is made using a whole, fresh, raw chicken or chicken parts such as breasts or thighs. First, remove the skin, and fry it slowly until the fat is extracted. The grease may be used in frying and is appreciated by the Chinese for its flavor, second only to peanut oil. With a sharp knife, separate the flesh from the bones of the chicken. The bones may be used in soup or to make stock in which to cook oriental-style vegetables. Next, the chicken meat can be cut into uniform, bite-sized pieces.

Marinate the chicken pieces in the soy sauce, wine, and sugar. Stir in the cornstarch, and allow the pieces to stand for half an hour. Heat the grease or oil in a wok or a frying pan, and stir-fry the meat, separating the pieces as they cook. Remove from the pan and set aside.

Add more oil to the pan, and heat it until quite hot. Add the ginger slices and fry them for 30 seconds. Add the vegetables all at once while the pan is still hot. Stir-fry vegetables briefly, which will cool the oil enough so that the minced garlic can be added without burning. Stir-fry for one minute. Add boiling stock, cover, and simmer for one more minute. Uncover the pan and add the next five ingredients. Slowly pour in the cornstarch mixture while stirring, and stop as soon as the desired thickness is achieved. Lastly, add the cooked chicken to the vegetables, stirring just enough to reheat. Serve with steamed rice.

Of course, there is no substitute for trying a recipe if you really want to get the feel of it. Before long, you may be confident enough to try some other exotic dishes.

So try your hand at cooking vegetables the Chinese way. It will give you still another way to express your love for your family. Their appreciative expressions may even move you to increase your cooking repertoire yet more!

[Box/​Picture on page 26]

Ingredients for Moo Goo Gai Pan (chicken slices with mushrooms):

For the marinade:

1 1/2 to 2 cups chicken meat

1 1/2 tablespoons soy sauce

1 1/2 tablespoons wine

1 rounded teaspoon sugar

2 tablespoons cornstarch

Also:

2 slices gingerroot (optional)

4 cups bok choya

1/2 cup sliced celery

1 cup sliced fresh mushrooms or 1/2 cup canned mushrooms

1/4 cup water chestnuts

1/4 cup bamboo shoots (optional)

1/4 pound snow peas

1 large clove garlic, minced

2 cups chicken stock

3/4 teaspoon salt

1 rounded teaspoon sugar

1 teaspoon soy sauce

1 teaspoon sesame oil

2 teaspoons wine or sherry

1/4 cup cornstarch blended into 1/4 cup cold water

[Footnotes]

Ancient Bible Manuscript Meets Space-Age Technology

COMPUTER enhancement, the technology used in producing clear pictures of the surface of the Moon or Mars, has been used to bring back to life the obscure writings on an ancient Bible manuscript.

The manuscript in question was discovered in 1892 at the St. Catherine monastery at the foot of Mount Sinai. It is a fourth- or fifth-century copy of a translation of the four Gospels into Syriac, a dialect of Aramaic, which was a language commonly spoken in Jesus’ day. Some scholars believe the translation was made possibly as early as the end of the first century.

For a long time, efforts to decipher it had been unsuccessful. The problem was that it is an erased manuscript, or a palimpsest. The parchment had been cleaned off by later scribes and a new document written on it. With the passage of time, however, the residual chemicals from the ink had left behind a faint trace of what was there originally.

Space-Age Rescue

This is where computer-enhancement technology came in. First, each page of the manuscript was photographed. Then the images were digitized. A computer analyzed a tiny bit of the image at a time and assigned to it a number corresponding to its density. A white spot​—zero density—​was assigned the number zero, for example, and progressively darker spots were assigned higher numbers. Once this was done, any portion of the image could be made to look darker or lighter simply by assigning a new number to it. Thus it was possible to fade out the writing on top and intensify the writing underneath. Through such a selective process, what had been hidden for centuries finally came to light.

What Is There to See?

What do the researchers hope to gain by this elaborate project? Of course, any manuscript of the Gospels this old is always of immense interest to Bible scholars. Perhaps it would shed some new light on the Bible text as we have it today.

One point of interest is the ending of Mark. Does it end with Mark 16:8, or are there additional verses as in a number of other ancient manuscripts? If Mark 16:8 appeared at the end of a page, then it would be conceivable that there were more verses on a missing page. The computer-enhanced page shows Mark 16:8 at the middle of the left-hand column. Then there is a row of little circles followed by a little space and below that the beginning of Luke. This shows clearly where the book ended. No page or verses were missing.

There were some differences in the text that might contribute to Scriptural study. But, by and large, there were no surprises. This, however, is not a loss. It merely demonstrates that the Bible text as we have it today is essentially the same as what the original writers put down. The space-age technology bridged the gap of some 19 centuries to show us that Jehovah God is not only the Great Inspirer of the Holy Scriptures but also its Preserver.

From Our Readers

Lying All That Bad?

I want to thank you for the article “Young People Ask . . . Is Lying All That Bad?” (October 8, 1987) I have especially had the problem of lying, and many times when I was young, I lied to my parents. The article pointed out Jehovah’s view on lying​—that he will “cut off all smooth lips,” since he hates lies and “no lie originates with the truth.” (Psalm 12:2-4; 1 John 2:21; Proverbs 6:16, 17) For these reasons, I have set my goal not to lie anymore and not to speak half-truths. Thank you very much.

R. M. R., Brazil

Amalgam-Filling Issue

I was attracted to the article on “Unhealthy Fillings?” (October 22, 1987) Having been a practicing dentist for 37 years and having placed tens of thousands of amalgam (silver) fillings, I have been very much aware of the dangers of the mercury both to the patient and to the dentist and his coworkers. A properly placed amalgam filling has as much mercury removed from it as possible . . . By combining the mercury with an alloy composed mostly of silver, with lesser amounts of copper, tin, and zinc, the toxicity is much reduced and has been considered almost negligible. Further, until now the alternative material available is either much more costly or not nearly as durable.

A. R., D.D.S., United States

First, let us say that a brief item in “Watching the World” is not intended as an article to cover all aspects of a subject but merely to present some published information that might alert a person in need to look into the matter further. In addition, “Awake!” does not advocate one form of treatment above another. In all fairness, it should be said that neither the American Medical Association, the Federal Drug Administration, nor the American Dental Association support the assertion that silver amalgam fillings present any danger of toxicity to the nonallergic person. Less than 1 percent of the population is said to be allergic to mercury in the small quantity involved. In publishing the item, we were not recommending that all readers, without looking into the matter further, rush out to get their amalgam fillings replaced. Rather, this was published so that the rare person (perhaps not even one person out of a hundred) with a health problem, the source of which could not be established by any other means available, might be alerted to look into the possibility of amalgam fillings being a source of toxicity to which that individual was allergic.​—ED.

Saving Time

I was enthusiastic about the article “Time​—Are You Its Master or Its Slave?” (December 8, 1987) I immediately put the suggestions about making a schedule into operation, and with success! Also, your suggestions on how to save time are very helpful. I have resolved to say no sometimes to invitations so as to have more time for my preaching activity. What really hit home was the thought: Do not waste time fretting about unpleasant duties. Now, instead of postponing them, I try to do them first. It’s proving to be great fun!

A. W., Federal Republic of Germany

Watching the World

Benefits Acknowledged

“Maybe Jehovah’s Witnesses are right in refusing the use of blood products, for it is true that an important number of pathogenic agents can be transmitted by transfused blood,” says French medical daily Le Quotidien du Médecin. The article went on to emphasize that transfused blood not only transmits certain viruses, such as the cytomegalovirus (causing a dangerous and potentially fatal viral disease) and those of the herpes group, but often “awakens a clinically silent virus present in the receiver’s body.”

Adding to the testimony was an interview conducted by the Brazilian magazine ISTOÉ with Professor Vicente Amato Neto, medical expert on infectious diseases: “I often say,” observed Amato, who is supervising director of São Paulo’s Clinical Hospital, “that the best prevention for AIDS is for one to become one of Jehovah’s Witnesses, for the members of that religion are neither homosexuals nor bisexuals, they are loyal to their marriage​—they associate it with reproduction—​don’t use drugs, and to complete the picture, they don’t accept blood transfusions.”

Dust-Storm Disaster

Dust storms have swept through Nouakchott, capital of Mauritania, West Africa, on more than 80 days a year for the past five years because of drought and desertification. The result? The country is “blowing away,” reports The Times of London. Each year desert winds carry a hundred million tons of topsoil from the country’s southern Sahel region out over the Atlantic Ocean. As the soil and vegetation disappears, Mauritania’s cattle farmers have fled to the cities. Conditions have now become so bad that one out of every three children suffers from malnutrition, and the average life expectancy is only 46 years. It is feared that the dust that remains in the atmosphere over the country is helping to prolong the drought.

“Doomsday Clock” Moves Back

The historic treaty that eliminates certain types of nuclear missiles, signed last December by U.S. President Ronald Reagan and Soviet General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev, has prompted scientists to move the hands of the “doomsday clock” back three minutes. The clock, printed in the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, symbolizes the imminence of nuclear war. The last time the clock moved back was in 1972. Since then, world tensions have steadily moved the clock forward from 12 minutes to 3 minutes before midnight. How long will the clock’s hands stay at six minutes to midnight?

All-Australian Bible

As part of Australia’s bicentennial year, the Bible Society in Australia has released an “All-Australian Bible.” Basically, it is the text of Today’s English Version (Good News Bible), but spelling, distances, weights, measures, and some of the expressions have been Australianized. “Field,” for instance, appears as “paddock,” and “cistern” as “tank.” Leviticus 19:9 reads: “When you harvest your paddock, do not cut the grain at the edge of the paddock . . . ” Illustrations in the Bible also have an Australian flavor, with Jesus’ death on the torture stake depicted in Aboriginal style. Further appealing to the Australian’s love of wide, open spaces is the cover layout of a gum tree with the sunset in the background, along with a Bicentennial Authority logo.

Concrete Protection of Rights

Japan will spend 30 billion yen to protect a couple of rocks. The two rocks are about a half mile [a kilometer] apart in the Philippine Sea and are part of a three-mile-long [5 km] atoll at low tide. At high tide, however, the island disappears, and only the “two rocks​—one 5 meters [16 ft] in diameter and the other, 2 meters [7 ft] in diameter—​show 30 to 50 centimeters [12-20 in.] above water,” reports the Tokyo newspaper Asahi Shimbun. Wave-absorbing blocks of steel and concrete will be built to surround the rocks. Why all the fuss and expense? Territorial rights are decided at high tide, and this most southerly territory of Japan is disappearing. With it will go the fishing and mining rights for 200 miles [320 km] around the island​—an area larger than Japan itself.

Microwave Aircraft

Pilotless aircraft powered by microwaves, and needing no heavy fuel tanks, are now a reality. Such an aircraft took its first 20-minute flight in Canada on September 17, 1987, and has flown several times since. How does it work? Electrical energy from generators on the ground is converted into microwaves and beamed up by a dish antenna. Receptors on the aircraft change the microwaves back to electricity that powers the engine. The ultimate goal is a plane that can stay aloft for months at a time at altitudes of up to 13 miles [21 km]. Possible applications are scientific research, surveillance, and transmission of cellular-phone calls. However, there are worries about the environmental problems that large microwave-transmitting installations can create.

Universal Concert Hall

A listening room where it is possible to compare how an orchestra would sound in each of the world’s greatest concert halls has been built in Tokyo. The sound is recreated by 24 speakers linked to a computer that has been fed data on the dimensions, building materials, and absorption rates of each hall. “By calculating the concert hall’s dimensions, and the level of echo from the walls and ceilings, the room can simulate the hall’s acoustics from 800 different directions,” says the Mainichi Daily News. Besides the well-known concert halls of Tokyo and Osaka, the system is programmed for the Musikvereinsaal of Vienna, the Stadtkasino in Basel, the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, and the Boston Symphony Hall. Even the acoustics of halls no longer in existence can be reproduced. This room was developed to preview the acoustics of concert halls before building them.

Music Addiction?

“You can get high on noise,” claims the deputy director of the Institute for Hearing Research in Nottingham, England. “Very loud sound produces a sense of euphoria that can be addictive.” Particularly vulnerable to this kind of addiction are people who use the new type of headphone that fits inside the ear, close to the auditory nerve, reports The Sunday Times of London. Research indicates that an ever-increasing tolerance can build up for any type of music, and irreparable harm can be done to the cells in the inner ear if the volume of sound is not properly regulated.

Gulf-War Casualties

The war between Iran and Iraq has now gone on longer than World War II, and the two warring Islamic neighbors are still firmly locked in this seven-year-old conflict. What gives this war its “staying power”? For one thing, notes Work in Progress, the newsletter from the United Nations University, numerous countries have been eager to supply the war’s hardware​—weapons. As a result, says the newsletter, ‘the Iraqis deploy Soviet MIG fighters armed with French Exocet missiles, while the Iranians counter with American F-5 jets and British Chieftain tanks.’ Demos, a publication from the Dutch Interuniversity Demographic Institute, estimates that there have been from 330,000 to 600,000 casualties so far​—an average of 125 to 225 persons killed each day.

“Medical Passport”

“A ‘medical passport’ will be issued to the Soviet Union’s 280 million citizens [in 1988] as part of a campaign to improve the troubled national health-care system,” reports Canada’s Toronto Star. The “pocket-sized ‘passport’” will provide the person’s medical history, giving “data ranging from the individual’s blood type and blood pressure to the type of medicines required for treatment of any chronic illness.” Soviet Deputy Health Minister Alexei Moskvichev announced it as the first step toward what he called “the world’s largest disease prevention and treatment program.” He said: “Information about one’s own health will make a person give thought to his mode of life.”

The Urus​—Island People of Lake Titicaca

Lake Titicaca, home of the Uru Indians, forms part of the border between Peru to the west and Bolivia to the east. As part of our visit to Peru, we just had to include this unique Indian tribe living on their floating islands high in the Andes.

When we reached Lake Titicaca early in the morning, we were overwhelmed by the immensity of the blue sky reflected in the silvery calm of the lake. We knew that at an altitude of some 12,500 feet [3,800 m], it is the highest lake in the world navigable to large vessels. But we were not prepared for its size​—about 120 miles [190 km] long and a maximum of 50 miles [80 km] wide.

We visited one of the Uru villages on a floating island of totora reeds. As the old reeds on the bottom rot, the Uru Indians cut new ones and make a new surface for their spongy island. We took a boat ride in a typical reed balsa and were surprised at how stable and buoyant these rafts were. Back on the island, we gave the children gifts of bread rolls, which they seemed to appreciate as different from their normal diet. In return we took photos of their peaceful, floating life-style.

A local legend says that after the universal Flood, the sun’s rays first rose over Lake Titicaca. How impressive to find the Flood story tucked away in the Andes, so far away from Mesopotamia and so near to the floating Urus! (Compare Genesis, chapters 6-8.)​—Contributed.

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