September 8

Page Two

Is the Earth Really Getting Warmer?

The 1980’s may be remembered as the decade when the earth began to “melt.”

◼ The first half of 1988 included the warmest five months in the history of weather records. And when all the reports were in, 1988 took the prize. It turned out to be the hottest year in nearly a century, according to the British Meteorological Office.

◼ Thus, 1988 replaced the previous record holder, which was 1987!

◼ Coincidence? Maybe. The years 1981 and 1983 tied for third place on the temperature record chart.

◼ The fifth and sixth warmest? The years 1980 and 1986.

What Is the Greenhouse Effect?

Do you discern a pattern in weather records for the earth? Dr. James E. Hansen, director of the Goddard Institute for Space Studies, a research center operated by the U.S. space agency, NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration) does. In June 1988, Dr. Hansen said that all this heat is no mere statistical fluke. After dramatic testimony before the U.S. Senate, he said: “It is time to stop waffling so much and say that the evidence is pretty strong that the greenhouse effect is here.”

THE greenhouse effect. Likely you have heard that phrase used a lot. No, it doesn’t refer to a garden greenhouse. It describes atmospheric heating that many scientists fear is already affecting the entire planet. But until Dr. Hansen’s testimony, experts were not willing to say so publicly. “It took a Government forum during a drought and a heat wave and one scientist with the guts to say, ‘Yes, it looks like it [the greenhouse effect] has begun and we’ve detected it,’” says atmospheric scientist Michael Oppenheimer of Dr. Hansen’s testimony. “He felt comfortable saying clearly and loudly what others were saying privately.”

The Global Greenhouse

Have you ever parked your car in the hot summer sun with all the windows closed? When you came back, you got a taste of the greenhouse effect. The windows of your car are transparent to the sun’s rays, which quickly warm the interior. But the hot air inside the car cannot escape, and neither can the heat itself. Why not? Because heat is given off in the form of infrared rays, which are invisible to the eye but can be felt on the skin, for example, when you stand near a fire. The same glass that lets visible light in prevents much of the invisible infrared radiation from getting back out. So the temperature inside your car goes up and up.

The earth’s atmosphere is similar to the glass in your car’s windows. It readily admits visible light but blocks a great deal of invisible radiation, including infrared and ultraviolet light, as well as X rays. In general, this blocking is a good thing. Ultraviolet light and X rays are quite dangerous and are believed to cause cancer. But why block infrared?

When the atmosphere absorbs infrared radiation, it acts like a blanket around our planet. Sometimes we forget that the earth is surrounded by cold, empty space. Even though the sun warms the earth, without our greenhouse “blanket,” that heat would rapidly escape, and the temperature at the surface would be 70 degrees Fahrenheit [40° C.] colder than it presently is. The oceans would freeze!

The problem with the greenhouse effect is that it may become too much of a good thing. A runaway greenhouse effect could mean mass starvation as grain belts turn to dust bowls. It could also mean superkiller hurricanes powered by extra warm oceans, rising oceans flooding coastal areas, rampant skin cancer brought on by an eroding ozone layer, and untold human misery.

Turning Up the Global Thermostat

You probably learned in school that the atmosphere is about 99 percent oxygen and nitrogen. Yet, these gases do not block infrared rays. A few of the gases contained in the remaining 1 percent, along with water vapor, paradoxically both save our globe from deep freeze and threaten to overheat it.

Most scientists agree that increasing the concentration of greenhouse gases in the air will raise global temperatures, although no one can be sure just how this will take place. You might compare these gases to a global thermostat. For over a hundred years, it appears that man has been steadily turning up the global thermostat. “Fossil fuel combustion (along with other industrial and agricultural activities) has caused the atmospheric concentration of carbon dioxide to increase approximately 25 percent since about 1860,” notes Irving M. Mintzer of the World Resources Institute. “The combined atmospheric build-up of carbon dioxide and the other greenhouse gases since 1860 are believed to have already committed Earth’s surface to warm approximately 0.5° to 1.5° C above the average global temperature of the pre-industrial period.”

It is true that one or two degrees doesn’t sound like much, but, in fact, it represents a great deal of heat. “For perspective,” adds Mintzer, “a change in average global temperature of only 1° C separates the current climate regime of North America and Europe from that of the Little Ice Age of the 13th to 17th Centuries.” Additionally, there is no reason to think that the extra heat will be evenly distributed. One extra degree over a year could come in the form of many extra degrees during the hottest summer months, with devastating effects.

The Toronto Conference

As the brutal summer of 1988 continued to bake North America, over 300 delegates from 48 countries attended the International Conference on the Changing Atmosphere, held in Toronto, Canada. In a report on the conference, the Manchester Guardian Weekly noted the following grim prediction of the consequences of global warming:

“The rise in global temperatures will not be even. The high latitudes will warm more quickly than the equator. This will mean a loss of soil moisture in the mid-latitudes of the northern hemisphere, where most of the world’s grain is grown.” In other words, a recipe for global famine.

Global Flooding Forecast

Another major concern is the effect of higher temperatures on the level of the oceans. Most people associate rising sea levels with melting glaciers and ice caps, but in fact the ocean can rise a great deal without any polar melting at all. How? Thermal expansion​—the same phenomenon that makes the mercury rise in your thermometer on a hot day. “If we went all out to slow the warming trend, we might stall sea level rise at three to six feet [1-2 m], but that’s the very best you could hope for,” according to Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory scientist Robert Buddemeier.

Sea-level rises of this magnitude have stirred concern worldwide. “A rise of less than two feet [0.6 m] in sea level might inundate 27 per cent of Bangladesh, displacing 25 million people,” reports the U.N. Chronicle. “Egypt could lose 20 per cent of its productive land, the United States, between 50 and 80 per cent of its coastal wetlands. A 6-foot [2 m] rise could wipe out the 1,190-island Maldivian archipelago.”

The above forecasts are on the conservative side. Consider some of the more extreme predictions now being made: “The year is 2035,” goes one of them. “Holland is under water. Bangladesh has ceased to exist. Torrential rains and rising seas there have killed several million people and forced the remaining population into makeshift refugee camps on higher ground in Pakistan and India. In central Europe and the American Midwest, decades of drought have turned once fertile agricultural lands into parched deserts.”​—Jeremy Rifkin, in the Manchester Guardian Weekly.

Is this really what the future holds for our planet?

[Box on page 5]

Not all scientists are sure that the rise in greenhouse gases has caused the global warming. Stephen H. Schneider, a climate modeler at the U.S. National Center for Atmospheric Research cautions: “You can’t say just because one decade warmed up that the cause is the greenhouse effect. But for two decades to have a warming trend, that would be pretty unusual. And if it continues to crack records on an annual basis, then I think most of the skeptics will drop out and agree that there it is.”​—Science News, Volume 135, April 8, 1989

[Box on page 6]

Why the Difficulty in Predicting the Greenhouse Effect

The earth’s overall climate is an enormously complicated system, and scientists freely admit that there are limits to what they can predict. Here are a few of the factors that could greatly influence current computer models of future climate.

MELTING SNOW AND ICE: Ice and snow reflect 40 to 60 percent of the sun’s incoming rays. This has the effect of cooling the planet. But as rising temperatures cause ice and snow to melt, the darker land or water underneath will absorb more heat. This could amplify the greenhouse effect, perhaps by 10 to 20 percent.

CLOUDS: A warmer earth should mean higher global humidity​—more clouds. “Cloud feedback is one of the largest sources of uncertainty in the theory of climate change,” admits climate modeling expert V. Ramanathan of the University of Chicago. It is thought, however, that more clouds would tend to cool things off by increasing the reflection of solar energy.

On the other hand, while clouds reflect away some solar energy, they also act as blankets to trap radiation coming up from the surface. So it is hard to predict which effect would predominate in a warmer, cloudier world.

THE OCEANS: Water is an excellent heat absorber, and it appears that the oceans can store enough heat to delay the full onset of the greenhouse effect by decades. Just how much delay is difficult for scientists to predict.

VOLCANOES: Volcano-induced clouds warm the stratosphere and cool the surface of the earth in a complex way. Overall, volcanoes would probably tend to reduce the greenhouse effect, but no one can predict when a big one will erupt.

SOLAR CYCLES: Contrary to what many people think, the sun’s output is not absolutely constant. Its brightness diminished about 0.1 percent between 1979 and 1984. This makes the increasing global temperature during that period seem all the more ominous.

[Box/​Diagram on page 7]

The Greenhouse Gases

WATER VAPOR: The amount of water vapor in the air depends mostly on the temperature. Warm air can store more moisture than cool air can. Water vapor absorbs heat very effectively, but it cannot give rise to the greenhouse effect by itself. Water vapor serves mostly to amplify the effects of the other gases.

CARBON DIOXIDE (CO₂): It is the most prevalent of the heat-trapping gases and is vital to all life on earth because plants need it to live. The amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is currently increasing by a half percent per year. That may not sound like much, but it means that about one ton of carbon for every man, woman, and child on the planet is put into the atmosphere each year from burning fossil fuels, such as coal and oil​—5,000,000,000 tons of carbon per year! About half of that carbon is eventually used by plants or is absorbed by the ocean, but the rest stays in the air.

METHANE (CH₄): This is the chief component of natural gas. Like carbon dioxide, it contains carbon. It is increasing twice as fast as carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, or about 1 percent per year. There is already twice as much methane in the air as there was in preindustrial times. Scientists are concerned that the increasing concentration of methane may make it more difficult for the atmosphere to decompose other greenhouse gases, such as the infamous CFCs (chlorofluorocarbons).

CFCs: These long-lasting chemicals help destroy ozone after they have risen to the stratosphere. But they are powerful greenhouse gases while in the lower atmosphere. In fact, molecule for molecule, they are about ten thousand times as effective as carbon dioxide when it comes to absorbing infrared rays!

NITROUS OXIDE (N₂O): When your dentist used this, he may have called it laughing gas, but its effect on the atmosphere is no laughing matter. It is a by-product of burning fossil fuels and is extremely stable. Once it gets into the atmosphere, it stays there on the average for 150 years. During that time, it absorbs heat while in the lower part of the atmosphere, called the troposphere, but it can also rise to the stratosphere, where it helps to destroy ozone. The concentration is currently growing at 0.25 percent per year.

OZONE (O₃): Last but not least is ozone. In the stratosphere, ozone is beneficial because it absorbs dangerous ultraviolet radiation that can cause skin cancer if it penetrates to earth’s surface. But in the lower atmosphere, ozone is a hazard. Ozone is a by-product of combustion, especially in automobiles and jet aircraft.

[Diagram]

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The Greenhouse Effect: The earth’s atmosphere, like the glass of a greenhouse, traps the sun’s heat. The sunlight warms the earth, but the heat that is created​—carried by infrared radiation—​cannot easily escape the atmosphere because the greenhouse gases block the radiation and send some of it back toward the earth, thus adding to the warmth of the earth’s surface

Escaping radiation

Trapped infrared radiation

Greenhouse gases

Earth

What Can Be Done?

Ideas for combating the greenhouse effect are proliferating as fast as global pollution. Some are promising. Others are not.

1 SOLAR ENERGY: The use of solar energy has faded from public view in recent years, largely because of falling oil prices. In the meantime, however, dramatic gains have been made in the efficiency of solar cells. As The New York Times reported recently, for the first time, “the conversion of solar energy to electrical power could become comparable in efficiency to conventional power generation.” If solar energy becomes truly competitive, this technology could help reduce greenhouse emissions as solar power plants replace conventional ones.

2 HYDROGEN FUEL: This is an idea that is at least technologically feasible​—the use of pure hydrogen, instead of petroleum products, as a fuel for airplanes and perhaps even automobiles. From a ‘greenhouse’ standpoint, the advantage of hydrogen fuel is that it is very clean burning. There is no carbon dioxide produced at all in hydrogen combustion, just steam. Hydrogen is an excellent source of energy. In fact, pound for pound it will keep an airplane flying for three times as long as jet fuel will. One problem is that it is also three times as expensive. A larger problem is that liquid hydrogen must be kept very cold and under pressure. Any leaks in the fuel system could lead to a disastrous explosion, as in the case of the American space shuttle Challenger.

3 SPACE SHIELDS: Huge “parasols” in outer space made of thin plastic that would cast giant shadows on the earth have been proposed. It would require satellites with an area equal to 2 percent of the earth’s surface to compensate for the anticipated doubling of carbon dioxide. This plan would not be popular with astronomers!

4 GLOBAL REFORESTATION: Did you know that highly efficient, nonpolluting, self-maintaining devices already exist for carbon dioxide removal from the atmosphere? They are plants. Green plants use carbon dioxide as food, keeping the carbon for their own use and returning the oxygen to the air as waste matter. All things being equal, an increase in carbon dioxide should stimulate plant growth worldwide, which would tend to use up the extra carbon dioxide and help control the greenhouse effect. But, sad to say, all things are not equal where plants are concerned. The plants that are able to remove the most carbon per acre are trees, and trees are being chopped down all over the world at an appalling rate.

In the face of this global trend, many scientists are urging massive reforestation to combat the greenhouse effect. They point out, for example, that ten million acres [4,000,000 ha] of trees could absorb all the carbon dioxide emitted by power plants in the next ten years. Programs to reach this goal at a cost of thousands of millions of dollars were discussed at Senate hearings in the United States a year ago.

Such a program might succeed in the United States, but what about the Tropics? Tree-planting incentives are not very appealing to starving, desperate people where trees are being destroyed to clear land for crops. However, the world’s tropical rain forests are part of the oxygen-producing lifeline for the entire planet, and they are being slashed, burned, and butchered. Will the lifeline be cut?

5 CFC DEATH RAYS: Giant lasers could be fired from earth into the atmosphere, tuned to energy frequencies that chlorofluorocarbon gases absorb. Hopefully this energy will blast apart the CFC molecules before they rise to the stratosphere and attack the ozone layer. Problems with this include the expense and energy requirements of the lasers and “whether you can get the laser’s energy absorbed by CFC’s and not other molecules, such as water vapor and carbon dioxide,” according to Princeton University physicist Thomas Stix.

6 SOLAR POWER SATELLITES: Giant arrays of solar cells in space could collect solar energy continuously without stopping for clouds or night. The energy would then be beamed down to earth as microwaves or laser beams. The idea is to use solar energy instead of burning more fossil fuels. The technical obstacles and scale of the project are daunting.

[Diagram/​Picture on page 8, 9]

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1 SOLAR ENERGY

2 HYDROGEN FUEL

3 SPACE SHIELDS

4 GLOBAL REFORESTATION

5 CFC DEATH RAYS

6 SOLAR POWER SATELLITES

A Global Solution

THE Toronto conference, mentioned earlier, ended with a fervent appeal for international cooperation on the problem of the greenhouse effect. “Standing before a 40-foot-wide [12 m] photorealist painting of a cloud-studded skyscape,” reports Discover magazine, “prime ministers Brian Mulroney of Canada and Gro Harlem Brundtland of Norway pledged that their countries will slow fossil fuel use.”

Mrs. Brundtland, the Norwegian prime minister, is chairwoman of the UN World Commission on Environment and Development. “The impact of world climate change may be greater than any challenge mankind has faced, with the exception of preventing nuclear war,” she observed. She called for an international treaty to protect the atmosphere from further degradation.

What would such a treaty involve? Dr. Michael McElroy of Harvard University, in a paper before the conference, put it this way: “Ultimately we should curtail drastically our use of fossil fuel. This will be no easy task. How can we persuade countries such as China with abundant sources of coal to limit development and use of their most available and inexpensive fuel? We need an international approach. . . . We need to develop incentives to persuade the Third World to follow a wiser course than we.”

But how is the Third World likely to respond to such persuasion? The affluent Western life-style desired by the populations of poor countries requires enormous energy resources. Automobiles, those glittering symbols of power and success, need gasoline unless they are to be used as mere lawn ornaments. Flashy, aggressively marketed products need plastic wrapping, which Dr. Lester Lave of Carnegie-Mellon University calls “congealed energy.” New highways and skyscrapers and showpiece international airports and shopping centers require huge amounts of energy to build and illuminate and maintain. Now the rich nations, in effect, propose saying to the poor ones: ‘We’ve already got our rich life-style. Suddenly we have become very concerned about the environment. We’re sorry, but you can’t have what we already have. You need to be “wiser” than we were. You can’t use all this cheap energy as we did. You’re going to have to use more expensive energy and grow more slowly, make your people wait longer to have the life-style we tell them they should emulate.’ How is that likely to go over in the Third World?

Recognizing this problem, Dr. McElroy continues: “This will require, inevitably, a transfer of resources from us [the developed countries] to them [the Third World]. . . . It would seem appropriate that it be funded by a tax on fossil fuels, the source of so many of our problems. It is unclear how such a tax should be administered. It would appear to require an international body with unprecedented power and autonomy. Inevitably this will require that nations delegate at least a portion of what they considered previously inalienable rights to independent deliberation and action.”

But how realistic is this hope? Are the rich nations likely to give sovereignty and taxation power voluntarily to some international body in order to transfer money to the poor nations and combat the greenhouse effect? The rich and powerful nations on our planet did not get to be rich and powerful through this kind of farsighted altruism. They are very jealous of their national sovereignty. Are they going to change now because some scientists are upset about the greenhouse effect?

Real World Sovereignty

To deal with a global menace such as a runaway greenhouse effect, what is needed is not resolutions, hopes, and platitudes but a real world government, capable of enforcing environmentally sound policies from the Arctic to the Antarctic. Man’s history up to now does not supply reason to hope that he will soon develop such a government. “We have, during our history, made all the mistakes you can imagine, and we have made every one of them over and over again, producing an infinite series of different variations and modifications of each major error, never really learning anything,” laments science writer Allan Wirtanen in New Scientist magazine.

Serious students of mankind’s history see one big lesson in all of this​—man’s inability to take care of the planet independently of his Creator. Does that sound too “religious” to you? Not “scientific” enough? A little “naive” perhaps?

Yet, which is more naive​—to hope that mankind will reverse its sad history, overcome national, political, religious, and cultural barriers and take farsighted action to avert disaster in the next century—​or to believe that God will intervene before it is too late? The Creator has promised in his Word to “bring to ruin those ruining the earth.” (Revelation 11:18) There is ample historical and scientific evidence that he intends to do just that. Why not take a few minutes to look up the promises made regarding our earth in the Bible at Psalm 37 and Isaiah chapters 11 and 65. Compare these with the current bleak greenhouse predictions. Which truly describe the future of the earth? Don’t you think you owe it to yourself and your children to find out?

The Bible’s Viewpoint

Homosexuality​—What Is the Clergy’s Obligation?

HOMOSEXUALS who sincerely want to serve God find themselves in a quandary. As one said: “If you are committed to the church and just happen to discover you are also gay, what real choices do you have?”

To learn what is required to be pleasing to God, many homosexuals have logically turned to their clergymen. Are these “men of the cloth” giving the right direction? What is their obligation to the homosexual community? What is their basic duty to all people?

Priests Are Obligated to Uphold God’s Standards

The Bible puts it simply when it says of ancient priests that they were “appointed in behalf of men over the things pertaining to God.” (Hebrews 5:1) When Abraham of old served his family in this way, he helped them to “keep Jehovah’s way.”​—Genesis 18:19.

Likewise, the priesthood in ancient Israel played a critical role in upholding God’s standards. The priests were duty bound to help the nation “continue as the people of Jehovah.” (2 Chronicles 23:16) Today, just as then, God’s representatives are obliged to help their flock to ‘continue as God’s people’ and to ‘keep God’s way.’

To do this, they must teach the flock God’s Word. (Malachi 2:7) Have the clergy proved to be ‘messengers of God,’ helping people to ‘keep God’s way’? Generally not. And this is especially evident with the issue of homosexuality.

Faulty Messengers, Dangerous Guidance

To be frank, the Bible condemns homosexuality. No amount of verbal hocus-pocus can make scriptures like Leviticus 18:22 and Romans 1:26, 27 disappear. (See box.) But siding with current trends against the Bible, a Jesuit priest said of homosexual relationships: “They are the only possible solution for a lot of people to lead a happy and meaningful life.” Following the same line of thinking, one Episcopal bishop called homosexuality “something over which [homosexuals] have no control.” But the Bible says of some former homosexuals in the first century: “That is what some of you were. But you have been washed clean.”​—1 Corinthians 6:9-11.

Some excuse their contradicting of Bible standards on the basis of love. One priest said: “Love, especially love of the outsider and the outcast, is the essential test of our spiritual life.” He then concluded, “Homosexuality would never have been an issue for Christ. The issue for him would have been: Do these people live out their lives, whatever they are, in a truly loving way?”

But the Bible does not confuse love with sentimentality. Godly love is balanced by justice and includes a hatred for badness. The Bible forcefully admonishes, “O you lovers of Jehovah, hate what is bad.” (Psalm 97:10) True love also includes discipline, for “whom Jehovah loves he disciplines.” (Hebrews 12:6) Therefore, ministers are obligated “both to exhort by the teaching that is healthful and to reprove those who contradict.” (Titus 1:9) And remember this: When the ancient priest would faithfully discharge his duties, “many were those whom he turned back from error.”​—Malachi 2:5, 6.

Undermining Bible Standards

But in general, today’s clergy are like permissive parents: afraid to spank their children because ‘that would not be loving.’ For decades the clergy have thus undermined Bible standards. The result? “Because sentence against a bad work has not been executed speedily, that is why the heart of the sons of men has become fully set in them to do bad.” (Ecclesiastes 8:11) For example, even though the official stand of the Catholic Church is against homosexual relations, one poll showed that 55 percent of all U.S. Catholics believed that someone who engages in homosexual relations can still be a good Catholic.

Something similar happened to the ancient Israelites when the priests did not uphold God’s standards. He said of them: “They have become far off from me . . . And they have not said, ‘Where is Jehovah?’” And why? Because “the priests themselves did not say, ‘Where is Jehovah?’ And the very ones handling the law did not know me.” (Jeremiah 2:5-8) The prophet Zephaniah said: “The unrighteous one was knowing no shame” because the “priests themselves profaned what was holy; they did violence to the law.”​—Zephaniah 3:1-5.

“Repudiate Ungodliness”

Homosexuals who want to serve God must do so on his terms​—terms that are clearly set out in the Bible. Today, just as in the first century, there are homosexuals who have been helped to ‘deaden their body members as respects fornication, uncleanness, and sexual appetite.’ (Colossians 3:5) Granted, this has not been easy for some, but they have learned to deaden their immoral desires just as many heterosexuals have had to deaden their wrong desires for the opposite sex. Both groups have also been helped by regularly associating with the true Christian congregation, which can support them in their goal to ‘repudiate ungodliness and worldly desires and to live with righteousness and godly devotion.’​—Titus 2:12.

Clergymen who dilute Bible standards and condone sin are doing homosexuals no favors. They may ‘tickle ears,’ but they are not living up to their obligation to “preach the word.” This is their duty to homosexuals​—and to all people.​—2 Timothy 4:1-5.

[Box on page 13]

“You must not lie down with a male the same as you lie down with a woman. It is a detestable thing.”​—Leviticus 18:22

“That is why God gave them up to disgraceful sexual appetites, for both their females changed the natural use of themselves into one contrary to nature; and likewise even the males left the natural use of the female and became violently inflamed in their lust toward one another, males with males, working what is obscene and receiving in themselves the full recompense, which was due for their error.”​—Romans 1:26, 27

“Not for All the Tea in China!”

THE course of history was changed by it. The mightiest trading company of its time was founded on it. Dutch sailors traveled thousands of miles looking for it. After water, it is the world’s favorite drink. What is it? Tea!

Have you ever wondered how tea gained such popularity? Where did it come from? Like countless other innovations, it originated in China. Some 500 years before the Common Era, Confucius alluded to tea in one of his poems. History tells of a Chinese emperor who, 300 years later, replenished empty coffers with a tax on tea.

Although there is no shortage of legends to explain its origin, we probably will never know how tea was really discovered. One story connects it with Emperor Shen Nung, who drank only boiled water when traveling around the country. Once a branch of a burning brush was blown into the already bubbling water. Much to his surprise, the emperor noted a most pleasant taste and a beautiful aroma in the new beverage. His discovery was tea!

According to a second legend, one of the Buddha’s disciples, a certain Bodhidharma, believed that true sainthood could be attained only by constant meditation, day and night. During one of his long vigils, sleep finally conquered him. That he might not succumb a second time to so base a human weakness, he cut off his eyelids. These fell to the ground and miraculously started to sprout. The next day a green shrub appeared. He tried the leaves and found them deliciously refreshing. Of course, it was the tea plant.

Tea Conquers the Far East

It was not long until tea conquered Japan. It was taken there by Chinese Buddhist monks, who arrived sometime during the ninth century with the ‘teapot in their knapsack.’ Soon, tea was such a favorite among Japanese that 400 years later, a “highly formalized ritual” of preparing and serving tea, called chanoyu, became a national institution.

However, while the Japanese were elaborating a meticulous tea-drinking ceremony, tea in China was hardly palatable. Even though Chinese poets hailed tea as a “froth of fluid jade,” it was often more like a soup. Green tea leaves boiled in salt water and sometimes flavored with ginger and cinnamon or even onions, and other times brewed with milk and even rice, were the more common recipes of the time.

Yet, it was a Chinese who wrote the first book dedicated to tea making. Around 780 C.E., Lu Yu published Tscha-King (Book of Tea), which soon became the tea bible for Far Eastern tea lovers. Influenced by this man of letters, China began to refine its tea habits, preparing the beverage in a more subtle, and yet simple, way: Plain boiled water with at most a pinch of salt​—as the sole concession to the long-cherished ancient recipes—​was poured over dried tea leaves. Lu Yu observed that whether tea is good or not depends largely on its aroma. He recognized that its flavor and quality are determined not only by the tea plant itself but even more so, as in the case of wine, by such factors as soil and climate. That explains why he could say that there are “a thousand and ten thousand” teas.

Soon the Chinese started to blend teas, and hundreds of different sorts were marketed. Not surprisingly, the country that gave tea to the world also gave it its universal name: It is from a Chinese character in the Amoy Chinese dialect.

Europe Discovers Tea

It took a long time for Europeans to discover their taste for tea. Even though Marco Polo (1254-1324), a Venetian merchant and adventurer, widely toured China, he mentioned tea but once in his travel reports. He told of a Chinese finance minister who was dismissed because he had arbitrarily increased the tea tax. Some 200 years later, another Venetian, Giovanni Battista Ramusio, gave Europe its first detailed description of tea production and usage. Thus, at the beginning of the 17th century, the first samples of this exotic new beverage were sold in European pharmacies, fetching initially the price of gold. Little wonder the originally Australian expression “Not for all the tea in China!” means​—“Certainly not!”

In the meantime, the Dutch had started trading with the Far East, tea being one of their more exotic imports. An enterprising merchant, Johan Nieuhof, reports about his interminable negotiations with Chinese mandarins, which were usually crowned by a banquet at which a beverage was served. He disparagingly called this drink a “bean soup.” After describing how it is prepared and that it is “supped as hot as you can bear it,” he added that the “Chinese treasure this beverage as much as the alchemists their Lapidum Philosophorum . . . that is, the philosopher’s stone.” Yet, he also praised tea as an effective, though expensive, remedy for all sorts of ailments.

The Cup That Cheers the British

Even though the British are the most avid tea drinkers today, both the Dutch and the Portuguese helped to convert them to tea. It is believed that Jews, who had been invited back to England by Oliver Cromwell from their exile in Amsterdam, brought tea along with them. September 23, 1658, proved to be a memorable tea date. It was the first time that a tea advertisement appeared in an English newspaper. The Mercurius Politicus announced that a beverage that the Chinese call tchan but that other people call tea was to be sold in the Sultan’s Head, a London City coffeehouse. Three years later, the English king Charles II married a tea connoisseur, Portuguese princess Catherine of Braganza, who introduced teatime to the English court. That established a victory over alcoholic drinks, which were reportedly being sipped “in the morning, at noon, in the evening,” by both lords and ladies. Suddenly, tea had become the fashionable beverage.

Though produced thousands of miles away, tea was brought to London in ever greater quantities. In time the East India Company acquired exclusive tea trading rights in China, monopolizing trade with the Far East for some 200 years. Most of Europe began to drink tea, although France was not converted to the new beverage.

Tea, Taxes, and Wars

Tea was a windfall for hard-pressed governments. At first a tax was levied daily on the actual quantity of tea drunk in London coffeehouses. This laborious procedure was abolished in 1689, when a duty was charged on each pound of dry tea leaves. Taxes of up to 90 percent and the rising demand led to a burgeoning smuggling business along the English south coast, for tea was so much cheaper on the Continent. Even ersatz teas were produced. Used tea leaves were treated with molasses and clay​—supposedly to restore the original color of tea—​and then dried and sold again. One “adulterator” produced what was called “smouch,” a vile-smelling concoction of ash leaves dried and steeped in sheep’s dung, which was then mixed with real tea before sale!

Tea even changed the course of history. A threepence-per-pound tea tax triggered the American War of Independence. Angry Bostonians denounced this “trivial but tyrannic” tax. The irate colonists, some disguised as native Americans (Indians), stormed the decks of three East Indiamen moored in the harbor, split open the tea chests, and threw the entire cargo overboard. From this arose the expression “Boston Tea Party.” The rest is history.

Another war was fought over tea, the Opium War. China had been paid in silver for its tea exports, since there was no demand for European goods. Opium, however, was a much coveted​—though prohibited—​commodity. The East India Company was quick to meet that demand by trading opium for tea. The unscrupulous company farmed opium poppies in eastern India to supply the huge Chinese market. For some ten years this illegal trade continued, amply furnishing the countless opium dens, until it was finally curtailed by the Chinese government. After some skirmishes between the British and the Chinese over this issue, war broke out that ended in a humiliating defeat for the Chinese in 1842. Tea was exported again to England, and China was forced to accept opium imports.

Why Not Have a Cup of Tea?

Early in tea’s history, it was recognized that tea had a stimulating effect, largely due to its caffeine content. Tea was at first sold in pharmacies and was considered a cure-all for infirmities as varied as dropsy and scurvy. It was also taken as a useful remedy for lack of appetite as well as for overeating. Today, tea is known to contain several of the B-complex vitamins. However, it also increases caffeine intake. Furthermore, in calorie-conscious Western society, it is worth remembering that a cup of tea has just four calories if taken without milk and sugar.

Tea deteriorates easily. It cannot be stockpiled for longer than a few months. And above all, it has to be stored properly. Never keep it together with other herbs or, even worse, with spices. Tea easily absorbs the taste of anything stored alongside it, so much so that British tea-plantation managers of the past century had their tea pluckers take a shower every time they went to work!

By the way, iced tea can be delicious too. During the St. Louis World’s Fair in 1904, an Englishman couldn’t sell his steaming hot tea to the already perspiring visitors. So he just poured it over ice, and America’s refreshing summer beverage was born.

The British take their tea with milk, Frisians in northern Germany enjoy it with white rock candy and a topping of cream, Moroccans flavor it with mint, while Tibetans add salt and yak butter to it. Yet, many tea lovers adhere to old Lu Yu’s suggestion and prepare tea with fresh boiling mountain water, wherever that is still available.

After reading so much about tea, do you feel thirsty? Why not have a nice cup of tea right now?

[Box on page 15]

“Thank God for tea! What would the world do without tea?​—how did it exist? I am glad I was not born before tea.”​—Sydney Smith (1771-1845), English writer

[Box/​Picture on page 18]

From the Plantation to the Teapot

There are hundreds of different tea plants today, all of them hybrids of three main varieties. Tea fields are usually found in mountainous areas where the rainwater can drain off. The largest tea-growing region today is Assam, in the northern Indian province of the same name. Yet, the “champagne” of teas is said to come from Darjeeling, in the foothills of the Himalaya Mountains. The rainy climate and acid soil work together to produce one of the finest teas, converting Darjeeling into the “promised land” of tea.

In Darjeeling the crop is seasonal, and tea pluckers are busy in March and April collecting the first flush, which will become a highly esteemed, subtly flavored tea. The second flush, plucked during the summer, is a full-bodied amber-colored tea, while the bread-and-butter teas are harvested later on in autumn. Elsewhere the plucking is done all year round at intervals of from just a few days to some weeks. The younger and softer the shoots, the better the tea will be. Plucking requires much skill and care. After all, some 30,000 shoots give but 13 pounds [6 kg] of Darjeeling tea, the day’s work of a skilled plucker. But what is harvested is not yet tea.

Now, a four-stage manufacturing process begins. First of all, the young green shoots need to wither so as to lose some 30 percent of their moisture and become soft and smooth like leather. Then they are ready to be rolled, the following stage. Through rolling, the cell walls of the leaves are broken open, releasing the natural juices that give tea its distinctive flavor. During the third stage, tea leaves change from yellowish green to their characteristic copper-brown color. This process is called fermentation. The broken leaves are spread on tables in a humid atmosphere and start to ferment. Now the leaves must be dried, or fired. This process turns the leaves black, and only when you pour hot water over them will they become copper brown in color again.

Finally, the dried leaves are sorted and packed into plywood chests lined with rice paper and aluminum foil, ready to be shipped to traders throughout the world. Then, after mixing and blending, the tea is ready to be brewed in your teapot.

[Picture on page 14]

Chinese weighing tea

[Pictures on page 16, 17]

Tea factory, Sikkim, India​—Right

Tea plucking in India​—Far right

Tea plantation in Sri Lanka​—Lower right

Tea-plant leaves and flowers​—Center

Japanese tea pluckers​—Lower left

Young People Ask . . .

How Can I Resist the Urge to Curse?

“IN A wildly frustrating situation,” says popular psychologist Joyce Brothers, “there’s something healthy about the defiant outpouring of gutter language.”

Today’s widespread use of profanity indicates that many agree with these sentiments. Nevertheless, the use of profanity, far from being healthy, is offensive, destructive, and degrading.a The Bible writer James stated: “A fountain does not cause the sweet and the bitter to bubble out of the same opening, does it?” How inconsistent, then, to “bless Jehovah, even the Father, and yet with [the same tongue to] curse [or call down evil upon] men who have come into existence ‘in the likeness of God.’” Concluded James: “It is not proper, my brothers, for these things to go on occurring this way.”​—James 3:9-11.

The problem is that the use of foul language often becomes a deeply ingrained habit. As a youth named Ron put it: “These curse words become so embedded in your mind [that when provoked] you feel like saying one.” How, then, can a person gain control of his speech, especially when under pressure?

Safeguarding Your Heart

First, work to cut off foul speech at its source. Jesus Christ said that “out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.” (Matthew 12:34) What comes out of your mouth thus reflects what you have been feeding your mind and heart.

For example, do the books and magazines that you read prominently feature filthy language? Then some changes in reading habits are essential. (Philippians 4:8) Do you have posters, buttons, or T-shirts that bear off-color or even obscene slogans? Such slogans may seem funny, but would not laughing at things that God condemns​—not to mention publicizing such things by wearing them—​undermine your efforts to remain clean in his eyes? The Bible condemns “obscene jesting” of any sort as “not becoming” for a Christian.​—Ephesians 5:4.

The Effects of Music

To what kind of music do you listen? “You can learn anything by listening to songs” was the frank observation of a youth named Jim. By this he referred to the many popular songs that have blatantly immoral or obscene lyrics. Writer Tipper Gore reports: ‘Many popular music idols of the young now sing about rape, masturbation, incest, violence, and intercourse.’

Youths often seem so caught up in the melody and beat of a song that they seem oblivious to the lyrics. Yet, have you ever had a hard time ridding your mind of a lyric that you heard only casually? Imagine how deeply embedded those words can become if you hear them over and over again! A steady diet of music with obscene or profane lyrics can only fill your mind with filthy thoughts​—which can easily spill over into your speech.

The lesson? Be selective in what you listen to! “Does not the ear itself test out words as the palate tastes food?” asked Job in the Bible. (Job 12:11) Just as your tongue develops a preference for certain types of food, your ear can be trained to be equally discriminating when it comes to what you listen to.

Another factor to consider is the kind of movies and TV shows that you watch. These have become increasingly bold in their use of obscene speech and explicit portrayals of immoral conduct. Videocassettes have given youths easy access to filthy films. According to Time magazine, “every day, all across the country [U.S.], children under the age of 17 walk into their neighborhood video stores and rent movies that they would not be able to see in a theater.”

The key lies in being selective. This may mean giving a wide berth to movies and shows that are quite popular among your peers. Jesus said: “If, now, that right eye of yours is making you stumble, tear it out and throw it away from you. For it is more beneficial to you for one of your members to be lost to you than for your whole body to be pitched into [destruction].”​—Matthew 5:29.

What do these striking words mean? That Christians must be willing to rid themselves of anything that could pose a spiritual stumbling block to them​—even things as precious as a “right eye.” Surely, ‘tearing out’ a bit of entertainment in order to safeguard clean speech would be but a small sacrifice, would it not?

Watch Your Associations!

In his book on profanity, writer Burges Johnson called profanity “contagious.” How close would you want to get to someone carrying a dangerous, highly contagious disease? Yet, how close have you got to schoolmates who freely use obscene speech?

Profanity is alarmingly common among youths (and adults). Some apparently feel that using it makes them more grown-up. And in some areas, teenage youths even make a contest out of obscenity. Spurred on by an audience of peers, they try to outdo one another in a vicious game of insult-hurling and name-calling. Parents, family​—even God himself—​are all fair game in this battle of filthy mouths.

Proverbs 13:20 says: “He that is having dealings with the stupid ones will fare badly.” In other words, hang around those who talk filth, and do not be surprised if filth starts coming out of your mouth! Monique, one of Jehovah’s Witnesses, has therefore made it known that she does not want to hear filthy talk. She will even go so far as to say, ‘Watch your mouth!’ if a peer says something objectionable. Taking such a stand is not easy. But as another youth named Steve observes: “If you don’t say something, they’ll think it’s all right to talk that way around you.”

What, though, if a fellow Christian lapses in his or her speech? Out of fear of losing a friend, some might be inclined to pass off what was said as something small. However, real friends look out for one another, even if it means ‘wounding’ a friend’s feelings by telling the truth. (Proverbs 27:6) A kindly reminder​—not a lecture—​may be all that is necessary to correct matters. Of course, if a friend has a serious problem with his speech, it is probably best to help him or her obtain the assistance of a spiritually qualified adult.b​—Compare Galatians 6:1.

Keeping on Guard

The psalmist cited yet another principle that can help one control one’s speech when he asked the question: “How will a young man cleanse his path?” The answer? “By keeping on guard according to your word.” (Psalm 119:9) One way to do this is to get into the habit of using good, wholesome speech on a regular basis. Avoid resorting to profanity even when there is no one there to hear you. You will be far less prone to do so when the pressure is on.

Keeping on guard also means being “slow about speaking, slow about wrath.” (James 1:19) Before reacting emotionally and saying something you’ll regret, try to get the mastery over your feelings. (Compare Genesis 4:7.) Think about what you want to say. Will it cause further hurt and pain? Will it give others the wrong impression of you? Does it manifest your love for God and concern for others? (Matthew 22:37-39) If the temptation to utter vile words is still strong, pray to God for assistance, as did the psalmist who prayed: “Do set a guard, O Jehovah, for my mouth; do set a watch over the door of my lips.”​—Psalm 141:3.

At times you may still slip and say the wrong thing. (James 3:2) But keep putting forth effort to resist using foul language. Doing so will not make you the most popular youth in school. Admits a youth named Kinney: “Many times in school, I walk alone​—literally.” But his determination to watch his associations has proved to be a protection. Furthermore, as Kinney says, “People respect you. They think it’s courageous.” So does Jehovah God. (Proverbs 27:11) And he will take note of your efforts to resist the urge to curse.

[Footnotes]

[Picture on page 21]

Avoid association with people who curse

Religion’s Future in View of Its Past

Part 17​—1530 onward—​Protestantism​—A Reformation?

“To innovate is not to reform.”​—Edmund Burke, 18th-century member of Britain’s Parliament

PROTESTANT historians view the Protestant Reformation as having restored genuine Christianity. Catholic scholars, on the other hand, say it resulted in theological error. However, what does the rearview mirror of religious history reveal? Was the Protestant Reformation really a reformation, or was it simply an innovation, replacing one flawed form of worship with another?

God’s Word Given Special Status

Protestant reformers emphasized the importance of the Scriptures. They rejected traditions, although Martin Marty, senior editor of The Christian Century magazine, says that during the past century, “more and more Protestants have been willing to see a relationship between the Bible and tradition.” This was not true of their “ancestors in faith,” however. For them “the Bible held a special status, and tradition or papal authority could never match it.”

This attitude accelerated interest in the translation, distribution, and study of the Bible. During the mid-15th century​—over half a century before Reformation wheels were set rolling—​Luther’s fellow German Johannes Gutenberg provided forthcoming Protestantism with a useful tool. Having developed a method of printing from movable type, Gutenberg produced the first printed Bible. Luther saw in this invention great possibilities, and he called printing “God’s latest and best work to spread the true religion throughout the world.”

More people could now possess their own Bible, a development the Catholic Church did not endorse. In 1559 Pope Paul IV ruled that no Bible could be printed in the vernacular without church approval, and this the church refused to grant. In fact, in 1564 Pope Pius IV stated: “Experience has shown that if reading of the Bible in the vulgar tongue is permitted indiscriminately, . . . more harm than good arises therefrom.”

The Reformation produced a new kind of “Christianity.” It replaced the authority of the papacy with individual free choice. Catholic Mass was replaced by the Protestant liturgy, and awesome Catholic cathedrals by normally less pretentious Protestant churches.

Unexpected Benefits

History teaches us that movements originally religious in nature often take on social and political overtones. This proved to be true of the Protestant Reformation. Columbia University professor of history Eugene F. Rice, Jr., elaborates: “In the Middle Ages the Western church had been a European corporation. During the first half of the sixteenth century it broke apart into a large number of local territorial churches . . . [over which] secular rulers exercised a predominant control.” This resulted in “the culmination of the long medieval struggle between secular and clerical authority. . . . The balance of power swung decisively and finally from church to state and from priest to layman.”

For the individual this meant greater liberty, both religious and civil. Unlike Catholicism, Protestantism had no central agency to monitor doctrine or practice, thus allowing for a wide spectrum of religious opinion. This, in turn, gradually promoted a religious tolerance and liberal attitude that at the time of the Reformation was still inconceivable.

Greater freedom unleashed previously unused energies. It was the stimulus, some claim, that was needed to trigger the social, political, and technological developments responsible for thrusting us into our modern age. The Protestant work ethic was “translated into both government and daily life,” writes the late author Theodore White. He defined this as “the credo that man is responsible directly before God for his conscience and his acts, without the intervention or intercession of priests. . . . If a man worked hard, plowed deep, neither slacked nor slothed, and took care of his wife and children, then either fortune or God would reward his efforts.”

Should these apparently positive aspects of Protestantism blind us to its shortcomings? The Protestant Reformation was also “the occasion for enormous evils,” says the Encyclopædia of Religion and Ethics, adding: “The age of the Jesuits and the Inquisition was brought to an end . . . only to be followed by something lower still. If there was much honest ignorance in the Middle Ages, there is much organized falsehood now.”

“Organized Falsehood”​—In What Respect?

It was “organized falsehood” because Protestantism promised doctrinal reform but failed to deliver. Often, it was church policy, not the untruthfulness of doctrine, that raised the ire of reformers. For the most part, Protestantism retained Catholicism’s pagan-tainted religious ideas and practices. How? An outstanding example is the Trinity doctrine, which is the main basis for membership in the Protestant World Council of Churches. Adherence to this doctrine is very strong, although The Encyclopedia of Religion admits that ‘exegetes and theologians today agree that nowhere in the Bible is the doctrine explicitly taught.’

Did Protestantism reform a corrupt form of church government? No. Instead, it “carried over authority patterns from medieval Catholicism,” says Martin Marty, and “simply broke from Roman Catholic establishment to form Protestant versions.”

Protestantism also promised to restore “the oneness in the faith.” However, this Biblical promise went unfulfilled with the development of many divisive Protestant sects.​—Ephesians 4:13.

Organized Confusion​—Why?

Today, in 1989, Protestantism has crumbled into so many sects and denominations that it would be impossible to determine the total number. Before a person could finish counting, new groups would have been formed or others would have disappeared.

Nevertheless, the World Christian Encyclopedia does the “impossible” by dividing Christendom (as of 1980) into “20,780 distinct Christian denominations,” the vast majority of which are Protestant.a They include 7,889 classic Protestant groups, 10,065 mostly Protestant nonwhite indigenous religions, 225 Anglican denominations, and 1,345 marginal Protestant groups.

In explanation of how this confusing diversity, called both “a sign of health and of sickness,” came about, the book Protestant Christianity mentions that it “may be due to human creativity and human finitude; even more it may be due to prideful men who think too highly of their own outlook upon life.”

How true! Without giving sufficient consideration to divine truth, prideful men offer new alternatives for finding salvation, liberation, or fulfillment. Religious pluralism finds no support in the Bible.

In promoting religious pluralism, Protestantism seems to imply that God has no set guidelines according to which he is to be worshiped. Is such organized confusion consistent with a God of truth, who the Bible says “is a God, not of disorder, but of peace”? Is the often heard Protestant go-to-the-church-of-your-choice mentality any different from the independent thinking that led Adam and Eve into erroneous belief and subsequent trouble?​—1 Corinthians 14:33; see Genesis 2:9; 3:17-19.

Ignoring the Bible’s Special Status

Despite the special status assigned the Bible by early reformers, Protestant theologians later fathered higher criticism and “thus treated the biblical text,” says Marty, “as they would any other ancient literary text.” They granted “no special status to the inspiration of biblical authors.”

By calling into question the divine inspiration of the Bible, therefore, Protestant theologians undermined faith in what the Reformers considered to be the very foundation of Protestantism. This opened the way for skepticism, freethinking, and rationalism. Not without reason, many scholars view the Reformation as a major cause of modern secularism.

Caught Up in Politics

The above-mentioned fruitage is clear evidence that despite the possibly good intentions of individual reformers and their followers, Protestantism did not restore true Christianity. Instead of promoting peace through Christian neutrality, it became embroiled in nationalism.

This was apparent as soon as the division of Christendom into Catholic and Protestant nations became reality. Catholic and Protestant forces trailed blood across the face of continental Europe in a dozen or more wars. The New Encyclopædia Britannica calls them “Wars of Religion kindled by the German and Swiss Reformation of the 1520s.” The most noted of these was the Thirty Years’ War (1618-48), which involved both political and religious differences between German Protestants and Catholics.

Blood flowed in England too. Between 1642 and 1649, King Charles I waged war against Parliament. Since most of the King’s opponents belonged to the Puritan wing of the Church of England, the war is sometimes referred to as the Puritan Revolution. It ended with the King’s execution and the establishment of a short-lived Puritan commonwealth under Oliver Cromwell. Although this English Civil War was not foremost a religious struggle, historians agree that religion was a determining factor in selecting sides.

During this war, the religious group known as Friends, or Quakers, came into being. The group met with strong opposition from its Protestant “brothers.” Several hundred members died in prison, and thousands suffered indignities. But the movement spread, even to the British colonies in America, where in 1681 Charles II issued a charter to William Penn to found a Quaker colony, which later became the state of Pennsylvania.

The Quakers were not unique in seeking converts abroad, for other religions had done so before. Now, however, after the Protestant “Innovation,” Catholics, together with a large number of Protestant groups, began increasing their efforts to bring Christ’s message of truth and peace to “unbelievers.” But how ironic! As “believers,” Catholics and Protestants were unable to agree on a common definition of divine truth. And they surely failed to demonstrate brotherly peace and unity. In view of this situation, what could be expected “When ‘Christians’ and ‘Heathens’ Met”? Read installment 18 in our next issue.

[Footnotes]

[Box on page 26]

Early Children of the Reformation

ANGLICAN COMMUNION: 25 autonomous churches and 6 other bodies sharing doctrine, polity, and liturgy with the Church of England and recognizing the titular leadership of the Archbishop of Canterbury. The Encyclopedia of Religion says Anglicanism “has kept faith in the apostolic succession of bishops and has retained many pre-Reformation practices.” Central to its worship is The Book of Common Prayer, “the only vernacular liturgy of the Reformation period still in use.” Anglicans in the United States, who broke with the Church of England and formed the Protestant Episcopal Church in 1789, once again broke with tradition in February 1989 by installing the first female bishop in Anglican history.

BAPTIST CHURCHES: 369 denominations (1970) originating with the 16th-century Anabaptists, who stressed adult baptism by immersion. The Encyclopedia of Religion says Baptists have “found it difficult to maintain organizational or theological unity,” adding that “the Baptist family in the United States is large, . . . but, as in many another large family, some members do not speak to other members.”

LUTHERAN CHURCHES: 240 denominations (1970), boasting the largest total membership of any Protestant group. They are “still somewhat divided along ethnic lines (German, Swede, etc),” says The World Almanac and Book of Facts 1988, adding, however, that the “main divisions are between fundamentalists and liberals.” The division of Lutherans into nationalistic camps became quite apparent during World War II, when, as E. W. Gritsch of Lutheran Theological Seminary, U.S.A., says, “a small minority of Lutheran pastors and congregations [in Germany] resisted Hitler, but the great majority of Lutherans either remained silent or actively cooperated with the Nazi regime.”

METHODIST CHURCHES: 188 denominations (1970) arising from a movement within the Church of England that was founded in 1738 by John Wesley. After his death it broke off as a separate group; Wesley defined a Methodist as “one that lives according to the method laid down in the Bible.”

REFORMED AND PRESBYTERIAN CHURCHES: Reformed churches (354 denominations as of 1970) in doctrine are Calvinistic, rather than Lutheran, and view themselves as the “Catholic Church, reformed.” “Presbyterian” designates a church government by elders (presbyters); all Presbyterian churches are Reformed churches, but not all Reformed churches have a presbyterian form of government.

[Picture on page 23]

A beautifully designed page of the Gutenberg Bible in Latin

[Credit Line]

By permission of The British Library

[Pictures on page 24]

Gutenberg and his movable-type press

[Picture on page 25]

John Wesley, founder of the Methodist Church (1738)

Watching the World

AIDS UPDATE

New research indicates that “people may carry the AIDS virus for up to three years without its being detected by standard AIDS tests,” says The New York Times. Until recently, researchers believed that AIDS antibodies were produced by infected people within six months from the time of infection. However, a study conducted on homosexual men known to be infected with the AIDS virus showed that a quarter of the group “did not produce the antibodies that are detected by AIDS screening tests” for “long periods” of time. According to Dr. Harold Jaffe of the Federal Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta, this means that individuals may be “unwittingly transmitting the virus” to others and increasing the risk to the nation’s blood supply.

DRUGS AND DEATH

▪ It is estimated that about half a million Colombians are smoking basuco cigarettes, a low-grade by-product of cocaine processing that was fostered by Colombian drug cartels. Reportedly laced with kerosene, sulfuric acid, and other poisonous chemicals, the drug can cause irreversible brain damage. Children as young as eight can be seen on many street corners of Bogotá, openly selling and using the lethal cigarettes. According to The Detroit News, one expert claims that Colombians are literally “dying on the streets from smoking basuco.”

▪ One million firearms are in the hands of Colombia’s private citizens, reports the United Nations Human Rights Commission in Geneva. The city of Medellín alone has one violent death every three hours. This problem is compounded by a major internal war raging in Colombia among drug cartels. Drug barons have set up paramilitary groups to protect themselves and their families, which has led to an incalculable number of victims who have disappeared or have been murdered, observed the New Zealand Herald.

THE BURDEN OF DEBT

A revolt against price increases in Venezuela recently resulted in 256 deaths and in thousands being injured. The increases in prices were apparently related to the country’s efforts to pay some of its external debt. The burden of debt to international banks is increasing for many nations, and according to Brazil’s Veja magazine, in the last 20 years, not one of these countries has succeeded in stabilizing its economy. Brazil alone owes 112,000 million dollars. With the annual interest alone on this debt, 5,000,000 homes or 53,000 schools could be built to benefit millions. Many statesmen and bankers are admitting that Third World debt is unpayable. Said Michel Camdessus of the International Monetary Fund: “What happened in Venezuela last week was the explosion of just one of many time bombs that could be set off unless solutions for the external debt crisis are not soon found. The debtor countries are exhausted.”

AN UNDERWATER FUTURE?

Dire predictions about the global warming trend, known as the greenhouse effect, are particularly foreboding to residents of the Pacific island nation of Tuvalu. As it is, virtually none of Tuvalu rises more than six feet [2 m] above the sea. Yet, scientists predict relentlessly rising sea levels. New Scientist magazine of England quotes one expert as saying: “If internationally accepted assumptions are correct, most of Tuvalu will be inundated by the end of the 21st century.”

FLIGHT FEARS

Civil aviation had a dismal record in 1988. In Helsinki, at a meeting of airline pilots representing 72 countries, it was reported that there were 578 deaths due to sabotage, hijacking, and air or ground attacks with military weapons. When accidents are included, the total loss of passengers and crew members escalates to 1,662, reports the Swiss newspaper Basler Zeitung. Such statistics suggest that terrorism is a growing threat to civil aviation.

CHILD POVERTY

Australia has one of the highest levels of child poverty among western nations, says a report in the Sydney Sun-Herald. A research paper released by The Brotherhood of St. Laurence, a welfare group, suggests various causes, including the worsening problem of single parenthood. A spokesman for the welfare group referred to Australia’s child poverty as a “national disgrace in a country as affluent as Australia.”

SAVING THE FORESTS

The University of California in Berkeley reports that in their first month of using recycled paper for the printing of their newsletter, 20 tons of recycled paper was used. They claim that each ton saves 17 trees, making a total of 340 trees saved each month. Using recycled paper produced less pollution of air and water and saved about 60 cubic yards [50 cu m] of landfill space each month.

COPING WITH OLD AGE

Recent surveys taken in the Federal Republic of Germany demonstrate how important a positive attitude and outlook are to continued vitality as people grow older. One survey gauged the outlook of residents of a home for old people. Based on the answers to a questionnaire, scientists were able to predict with 92 percent accuracy who of the respondents would survive over a three-year period. A report in the German newspaper Rheinischer Merkur/​Christ und Welt concludes that those who see no future for themselves, or have little to do with caring for themselves and making their own decisions, may have a poorer chance of survival. However, the old are often underestimated. The paper observes that while the human brain may lose some of its speed and capacity with age, “this slowdown is offset” by other aspects of intelligence that are honed by practice and “function best later in life.”

TOO ATTRACTIVE

A female crane has apparently missed the point of her training. The crane had been hatched artificially at the Kushiro Japanese Crane Natural Park and spent so much time with humans that the park’s head keeper worried that this beautiful bird, now almost two years old, might not know the correct way to attract a mate. For cranes this involves a special “dance.” And the zealous park keeper taught the crane the steps. However, since cranes are strictly faithful to just one mate, the Kushiro crane launches into her courtship dance whenever she sees her trainer!

DIAGNOSTIC ERRORS

The frequency of diagnostic errors in the medical profession was discussed this year at the annual convention of internal medicine, held in Wiesbaden, Germany. One of the delegates remarked that part of the problem is the prevalent “blind and unjustified faith in the diagnostic infallibility of technical equipment.” However, it was stressed that physicians are not the only ones who make mistakes. The German newspaper Die Welt notes that many patients contribute “too little to the diagnostic process.” It lists as examples patients who do not even know the names of medicines they take regularly. Others, ashamed of their past, withhold or misrepresent details of their medical history.

HARMFUL VIDEOS

Although most films are rated by the Motion Picture Association of America, there is an increasing proliferation of unrated videos in the United States. Many video stores are not required by law to prevent minors from renting or buying a sex-filled or violent tape, notes the New York Daily News. According to one authority, many videos are not rated even though they contain sexual and violent scenes that would normally result in an X rating, for ratings apply only to movies destined for theaters. It has been found that when two versions of a new film are released, one rated and the other unrated, about 75 percent of sales come from the unrated version.

NOSES AGAINST CRIME

A new line of work may soon open up for keen-nosed dogs​—detecting stolen objects. The French newspaper Le Figaro explained: “The method is inspired by the way animals communicate chemically with one another by means of certain molecules called ‘pheromones.’” Dogs are especially sensitive to the scent of their particular species. They could rapidly identify stolen goods marked with animal scent undetectable to humans. Valuable paintings and other works of art could thus be marked without any damage. According to one researcher, “certain molecules remain detectable for a long time, depending on the degree of protection wanted.” The article noted that museums are particularly interested in this new protective measure.

From Our Readers

Losing Weight I am 37 years of age and an invalid. For several years now, I have been fighting overweight. The doctor prescribed fasting and protein diets, and at first I lost weight rapidly. But then I began to gain weight once more. That resulted in discouragement and, in the end, indifference. Armed with the explanation in the article (May 22, 1989) as to how the body reacts to diets, I now feel encouraged enough to renew the attack on the pounds.

G. E., Federal Republic of Germany

The information was superb, and I learned more in those few pages than I have learned from the countless “slimming” magazines that I have been buying and reading for over ten years. (What a fortune I could have saved myself!) I realize now what is the practical and correct way to shed surplus weight, leading to a happier and healthier person.

C. L., Great Britain

Courtship The discussion of dating and courtship in the April 22, 1989, Awake! was the best you have ever published. Members of our congregation of all ages are talking about it, expressing appreciation for the realistic direction given. It acknowledged that those who are courting need to spend time together, and it gave direction on what to say and do while courting. My wife died two years ago, and I know the article will be of help to me when I attempt courtship again. Thank you so much for this practical information.

M. T., United States

I have taught my children that it is wise always to have a chaperon. My upset comes with the fact that this was not mentioned in this recent article. I feel it will encourage unchaperoned dating.

S. W., United States

The moral dangers of courtship were discussed in the June 8 and June 22, 1982, issues. And the advisability of having a chaperon was considered in detail in the April 22, 1986, issue. The current article simply added to the previous counsel by focusing on the need for the man and the woman to get to know each other.​—ED.

Musician’s Life Story I enjoyed the article about Larry Graham to the point that I read it several times. I was just growing up during the ’60’s, and his former band was one of my favorite groups. I felt very encouraged that he has reached many in the music business with the Bible’s message. I am also pleased that he is now a full-time evangelizer.

M. P., United States

Religious History Series I wish to express my very deep respect for your study of world religions. It is common for religions to hold themselves in high esteem while disparaging others. I was very much impressed by the attitude adopted by your noble religion, which rises above that.

Y. T., Japan

Verbal Abuse I was abused from infancy until I left home. Though he never struck me, my father would smash dishes, destroy furniture​—he even put his fist through a wall once. He blamed his abuse on me. The message I received from your article (June 8, 1989) was that my father was correct, that the victim inspires the abuse.

A. N., United States

We are sorry if the article caused emotional pain to any victims of parental abuse. The article focused on how a youth can cope with, and perhaps avoid provoking, common parental outbursts. By no means did we intend to imply that a child is responsible for behavior such as that described above. Regarding these serious forms of parental abuse, the article said: “A youth is wise to seek outside help, perhaps approaching a Christian elder in his local congregation.”​—ED.

The Klipspringers​—A Devoted Couple

MEET the klipspringers from South Africa, members of Africa’s antelope family.

“One of the most endearing aspects of the klipspringer’s behaviour,” reports Peter Norton in African Wildlife magazine, “is the formation of a very strong and long lasting pair-bond that lasts over several years, probably until one of them dies. The pair stays close together nearly all the time​—my data shows that they spend 97 per cent of their time within 15 metres of one another and 77 per cent within five metres. When resting or alarmed, they are nearly always within touching distance.”

A klipspringer pair usually take turns, with one grazing while the other stands guard perched on a rock like a sentry. Then they swap positions. Observes Norton: “The male spends far more time on the look-out for predators than does the female, who needs to eat more to nourish the foetus, or provide milk for her lamb.”

Compared with other antelopes, the klipspringer’s hooves are unique and enable it to climb steep, smooth rock. From safe, rocky mountain slopes, it warns of predators with a trumpetlike whistle. The alarm call is often a duet, with the female’s whistle coming a fraction of a second after the male’s. They certainly look out for each other. A truly devoted couple.

Listening to the Great Teacher

Now on Four Cassettes in One Handy Album

Millions of families have enjoyed Listening to the Great Teacher, a book designed for reading with young ones. Its 46 Bible stories fascinate children, while also teaching them high moral principles. Now this valuable 192-page book has been recorded on four cassette tapes. Listen to the stories together as a family. Or children can play the tapes for themselves and their companions. The album with the four cassettes as well as the book Listening to the Great Teacher is only $10. The playing time is a little over five hours.

Please send, postpaid, the book as well as the colorful vinyl album with the four cassette tapes of Listening to the Great Teacher. I enclose $10 (U.S.). (Outside the U.S.A., write to local Watch Tower branch for price.)