December 8

Page Two

Our earth is the home of the entire human family. All people live on it together and share the same basic needs and desires.

Yet, racial harmony has not been the rule on this globe. On the contrary, too often it is the differences among people that govern human relations. For centuries controversy has raged over matters of race. In this issue of Awake!, we focus on what is now known about race and why we can expect an end to all racial strife.

How Do You View People of Another Race?

“Skinheads of America, like the dynamic skinheads in Europe, are working-class Aryan youth. We oppose the capitalist and communist scum that are destroying our Aryan race. . . . The parasitic Jewish race is at the heart of our problem.”

SO STATES a leaflet from a Chicago-based gang of skinheads. These are young people who shave their heads, wear distinctive tough-guy garb embroidered with swastikas, extol violence, listen to ‘white power’ music, and despise Jews, blacks, and other minorities.

The leader of a gang called Romantic Violence told an assembly of white racist leaders that his group “stands for war,” and he added: “I am a violent person. I love the white race, and if you love something you’re the most vicious person on earth.”

As movements go, skinheads are few in number. Their views are extreme. Relatively few people today are so openly bigoted and aggressive in their outlook. And yet, many secretly harbor animosity toward people of another race and distrust them. Throughout the world, people are judged according to the slant of their eyes or the shade of their skin. Is there any basis for this? Are there inborn mental or temperamental differences between races? To answer these questions, we should first examine how various views on race have developed over the centuries.

What We Know About Race

WHEN Europeans set sail to explore the earth some 500 years ago, they wondered what sort of people they would meet. There were legends of giants who could wade into the ocean and crush a ship with one hand. There were tales of dog-headed men breathing flames. Would they meet the fabled “unsociables,” who fed on raw meat and whose large, protruding lip shaded them from the sun? Or would they see men with no mouths, who lived by smelling apples? And what about those with ears big enough to serve as wings or those said to lie on their backs under the shade of their single, large foot?

Men sailed the seas, scaled mountains, hacked their way through jungles, trudged through deserts, but nowhere did they find such strange creatures. Instead, explorers were surprised to discover people much like themselves. Christopher Columbus wrote: “In these islands [the West Indies] I have so far found no human monstrosities, as many expected, on the contrary, among all these peoples good looks are esteemed. . . . Thus I have neither found monsters nor any report of any, except . . . a people . . . who eat human flesh . . . They are no more malformed than the others.”

Classifying Mankind

Thus, with the exploration of the earth, human diversity was removed from the realm of fairy tale and myth. Peoples could be observed and studied. In time, scientists tried to classify them.

In 1735 Swedish botanist Carolus Linnaeus published his Systema Naturae. In it man was christened Homo sapiens, meaning “man the wise,” a term that one writer said was possibly the most oafishly arrogant definition ever given to any species! Linnaeus split mankind into five groups, which he described as follows:

AFRICAN: Black, phlegmatic, relaxed. Hair black, frizzy; skin silky; nose flat; lips tumid; crafty, indolent, negligent; anoints himself with grease; governed by caprice.

AMERICAN: Copper-colored, choleric, erect; hair black, straight, thick; nostrils wide; face harsh; beard scanty; obstinate, content free; paints himself with fine red lines; regulated by customs.

ASIATIC: Melancholy, rigid; hair black; eyes dark; severe, haughty, covetous; covered with loose garments; governed by opinions.

EUROPEAN: Fair, sanguine, brawny; hair yellow, brown, flowing; eyes blue; gentle, acute, inventive; covered with close vestments; governed by laws.

WILD MAN: Four-footed, mute, hairy.

Notice that while Linnaeus grouped mankind according to genetically acquired traits (skin color, hair texture, and so forth), he also made biased personality assessments. Linnaeus asserted that Europeans were “gentle, acute, inventive,” whereas he depicted Asiatics as “severe, haughty, covetous” and Africans as “crafty, indolent, negligent”!

But Linnaeus was wrong. Such personality traits have no place in modern race classifications, since scientific research has shown that within each human population, there is the same variety of temperaments as well as a similar range of intelligence. In other words, we find the same positive and negative qualities in every race of people.

Modern systems often classify humans in three groups based strictly on physical differences: (1) Caucasoids, with fair skin and straight or wavy hair; (2) Mongoloids, with yellowish skin and epicanthic folds around the eyes; and (3) Negroids, with dark skin and woolly hair. But not everybody fits neatly into one of these categories.

For example, the San and the Khoikhoi of southern Africa have coppery skin, woolly hair, and Mongoloid facial features. Some Indian peoples have dark skin but Caucasoid facial features. Aboriginal Australians have dark skin, but their woolly hair is often blond. Some Mongolians have Caucasoid eyes. There exists no clear dividing line.

These problems have caused many anthropologists to give up attempts to classify mankind, asserting that the term “race” has no scientific meaning or value.

UNESCO Declarations

Perhaps the most authoritative scientific declarations on race were made by a group of experts gathered together by UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization). Meetings were held in 1950, 1951, 1964, and 1967 at which an international panel of anthropologists, zoologists, doctors, anatomists, and others jointly produced four statements on race. The final statement emphasized the following three points:

A “All men living today belong to the same species and descend from the same stock.” This point is confirmed by an even more eminent authority. The Bible says: “[God] made out of one man [Adam] every nation of men, to dwell upon the entire surface of the earth.”​—Acts 17:26.

The UNESCO statement continues:

B “The division of the human species into ‘races’ is partly conventional and partly arbitrary and does not imply any hierarchy whatsoever. . . .

C “Current biological knowledge does not permit us to impute cultural achievements to differences in genetic potential. Differences in the achievements of different peoples should be attributed solely to their cultural history. The peoples of the world today appear to possess equal biological potentialities for attaining any level of civilization.”

The Scourge of Racism

So there is no basis for believing that any race is inherently superior to or has the right to dominate another. But people have not always acted in harmony with the facts. Consider, for example, the African slave trade.

When the European nations began to build colonial empires, it was economically profitable for them to exploit the indigenous peoples. But here was a paradox. Millions of Africans were being dragged from their homes, torn from their loved ones, chained, whipped, branded, sold like animals, and forced to work without pay until the day they died. How could this be morally justified by nations who claimed to be Christian and who were supposed to love their neighbor as themselves?​—Luke 10:27.

The solution they chose was to dehumanize their victims. This was the reasoning of one anthropologist in the 1840’s:

“If the Negro and Australian are not our fellow creatures and of one family with ourselves but beings of an inferior order, and if our duties toward them were not contemplated . . . in any of the positive commands on which the morality of the Christian world is founded, our relations with these tribes will appear to be not very different from those which might be imagined to subsist between us and a race of orangutans.”

Those seeking support for the idea that nonwhite people were subhuman seized on Darwin’s theory of evolution. Colonial peoples, they argued, were on a lower rung of the evolutionary ladder than were whites. Others claimed that nonwhites were the result of a different evolutionary process and were not fully human. Others quoted the Bible, twisting scriptures to support their racist views.

Of course, many people didn’t swallow this thinking. Slavery has been abolished in most nations of the world. But discrimination, prejudice, and racism have lived on and have spilled over to ethnic groups that were races only in people’s imagination. Said one professor of zoology: “Since it would appear that anybody is entitled to create races to suit his fancy, politicians, special pleaders, and plain adventurers have engaged in race classifications. They devised specious racial labels to confer an aura of ‘scientific’ respectability on their pet notions and prejudices.”

The racist policies of Nazi Germany stand as a prime example. Although Adolf Hitler extolled the Aryan race, biologically there is no such thing. There never was. There are blond, blue-eyed Jews in Sweden, black Jews in Ethiopia, and Mongoloid Jews in China. Nevertheless, the Jews, and others, were the victims of a racist policy. That policy led to concentration camps, gas chambers, and the murder of six million Jews, and many others, such as Slavic peoples from Poland and the Soviet Union.

[Blurb on page 5]

Scientific research has shown that within each human population, there is the same variety in intelligence

[Blurb on page 6]

‘Politicians, special pleaders, and plain adventurers have devised specious racial labels to confer an aura of “scientific” respectability on their pet notions and prejudices’

[Pictures on page 7]

As these notices show, Africans were advertised and sold as if they were cattle

Global Brotherhood Is Certain!

THE missionary had not been in West Africa long when he attended a religious convention in a remote region. As he approached a local family, a two-year-old boy, for no apparent reason, began to cry.

The missionary tried to comfort the child, but the boy’s cries then turned into screams. “What’s wrong?” the missionary asked the mother. She replied with some embarrassment: “I think it’s you. He’s afraid of your color. He’s never seen a white man before.”

From infancy we may become aware of the physical differences between peoples. Prejudices are developed later. The views of children are molded as they observe the attitudes and behavior of older persons, such as their parents. In school they are influenced further by their teachers, friends, and classmates.

According to a long-term study in the United States, by the time children reach 12 years of age, they have already developed stereotyped viewpoints and attitudes about the ethnic, racial, and religious groups around them. By adulthood these views are deeply set.

Jehovah’s Witnesses Are Different

In a world where prejudice abounds, Jehovah’s Witnesses stand out as being very different. They are internationally known for their racial harmony. This is often noted by observers at their large annual conventions.

For example, the newspaper States-Item reported this about a large convention of Witnesses in the southern United States: “A sense of brotherhood filled the Louisiana Superdome as young and old, black and white Jehovah’s Witnesses settled down to begin a . . . learning and sharing experience. . . . Racial discrimination . . . is not a problem for the witnesses.”

At a convention of Witnesses, in South Africa, a Xhosa woman remarked: “It’s amazing that here in South Africa people of all races can be so united. It’s so different from what I am used to in the churches.”

When visitors from North and South America as well as Europe attended large conventions of Witnesses in the Far East and the South Pacific, “there was,” according to one report, “not even a trace of racism on their part, nor on the part of their hosts.”

Thus, what is so different about the millions of Jehovah’s Witnesses earth wide is their genuine unity and racial harmony. They are bound together by true Christian love. This is just as Jesus said it would be: “By this all will know that you are my disciples, if you have love among yourselves.”​—John 13:35.

So Jehovah’s Witnesses already have a true, permanent international brotherhood! They take to heart what Jesus said at Matthew 23:8: “All you are brothers.” And this at the very time that racial and ethnic divisions and hatreds are tearing at the fabric of nations.​—See also 1 Corinthians 1:10; 1 John 3:10-12; 4:20, 21; 5:2, 3.

How Unity Is Achieved

Fundamental to this unity is the Bible-based instruction Jehovah’s Witnesses receive at their Kingdom Halls and by their personal study of the Bible. They are like the Christians in Thessalonica, of whom the apostle Paul said: “When you received God’s word, which you heard from us, you accepted it, not as the word of men, but, just as it truthfully is, as the word of God, which is also at work in you believers.”​—1 Thessalonians 2:13.

Hence, the Witnesses believe what the Bible says, and they earnestly try to imitate God’s way of thinking. They take to heart what the Christian apostle Peter said under inspiration: “For a certainty I perceive that God is not partial, but in every nation the man that fears him and works righteousness is acceptable to him.”​—Acts 10:34, 35.

In harmony with this, Jesus instructed his followers to make disciples of people “of all the nations.” (Matthew 28:19) Consequently, Jehovah’s Witnesses actively seek out lovers of righteousness in all racial and ethnic groups, without exception. And when those of different backgrounds and races unite to worship, work, and socialize together, stereotyped thinking is overcome. They learn to value one another, to love one another.

True, a person who has long been racially prejudiced may not instantly change his views. But when he becomes a Witness, he begins to “put on the new personality” of a true Christian, and he works hard to overcome his previously held views. (Ephesians 4:22-24) He does not try to justify his prejudices by saying, ‘That’s the way I was brought up.’ No, he strives to remake his mind and to “have love for the whole association of brothers.”​—1 Peter 2:17.

Bible Prophecies Being Fulfilled

What is taking place among Jehovah’s Witnesses today is of great significance. Indeed, it was prophesied in the Bible.

Notice what Isaiah 2:2-4 foretold would take place “in the final part of the days,” in these “last days” of this evil system of things. (2 Timothy 3:1-5, 13) That prophecy of Isaiah noted that the true worship of Jehovah would be established in this generation, and ‘to it people from all the nations would stream. And many peoples would certainly go and say: “Come, you people, and let us go up to the mountain of the true worship of Jehovah. And he will instruct us about his ways, and we will walk in his paths.”’

Isaiah’s prophecy also noted the following unusual result, which has been seen on an international scale among Jehovah’s Witnesses throughout this entire century: “And they will have to beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning shears. Nation will not lift up sword against nation, neither will they learn war anymore.”

Also, the Bible book of Revelation, speaking of our time, foretold that a great crowd of people “out of all nations and tribes and peoples and tongues” would come together in true brotherhood to serve God unitedly.​—Revelation 7:9, 15.

This is not wishful thinking. The great crowd from all nations, from all racial and ethnic groups, is already being formed. A true and lasting global brotherhood is being built right now! It is the foundation for an entirely new global society of united, happy people that will take the place of this present corrupt society soon to be destroyed by God. This united society will, as Jesus said, “inherit the earth,” and they will live on it forever under the rulership of God’s Kingdom.​—Matthew 5:5; 6:9, 10; Psalm 37:10, 11, 28, 29, 37, 38.

Why not see this for yourself? You are welcome to visit any Kingdom Hall of Jehovah’s Witnesses and experience their racial harmony. Or the next time Witnesses call on you, invite them in and ask them to show you from the Bible what the basis is for their racial harmony. Have them show you their Biblical hope of a new world where true brotherhood will exist all over the earth.

Almighty God, Jehovah, gives his guarantee that his purpose to establish a brotherhood of all mankind will be fulfilled. He states: “So my word that goes forth from my mouth will prove to be. It will not return to me without results, but it will certainly do that in which I have delighted, and it will have certain success in that for which I have sent it.”​—Isaiah 55:11.

We invite you to examine the evidence from Bible prophecies and from the fulfillment of those prophecies. If you do that, you will see that racial harmony is not only possible but inevitable!

[Blurb on page 9]

What is taking place among Jehovah’s Witnesses today was prophesied in the Bible

[Picture on page 10]

Jehovah’s Witnesses are unique in having true racial harmony among themselves

The Bible’s Viewpoint

Hanukkah​—Is It a “Jewish Christmas”?

AS MILLIONS around the world prepare to celebrate Christmas, Jews usually prepare to celebrate a different holiday, the Festival of Hanukkah (Chanukah). What is Hanukkah? Non-Jews often think of it as a sort of “Jewish Christmas,” but that is far from accurate.

For example, Christmas supposedly commemorates the birth of Jesus Christ, but the celebration actually centers on such things as Santa Claus and decorated evergreen trees, things that have nothing to do with God, Jesus, or the Bible. Even the day, December 25, is the birthday not of Jesus but of the mythical sun-god Mithra! On the other hand, Hanukkah is the anniversary of a historical event that had major consequences for God’s ancient people.

In fact, it is noteworthy that Hanukkah is mentioned in the Christian Greek Scriptures. We read at John 10:22, 23: “At that time the festival of dedication [Hebrew, chanuk·kahʹ] took place in Jerusalem. It was wintertime, and Jesus was walking in the temple in the colonnade of Solomon.” Clearly, this festival was already being celebrated in Jesus’ day and apparently by Jesus himself.

What led to this celebration? To answer this question, we must consider some of the history.

Jehovah’s Temple Desecrated

As foretold centuries in advance by the prophet Daniel, at one point in their history, the Jews were dominated in succession by Greece and, after the breakup of that empire, by Egypt and Syria. (Daniel 11:2-16) While many of the non-Jewish rulers tolerated the Jews’ worship of Jehovah, one notable exception was Antiochus IV of Syria.

By 175 B.C.E., Antiochus ruled over a vast empire with peoples of diverse customs. Hoping to unify his people, he created one religion for all, with himself as “god manifest.” However, Jehovah exacts exclusive devotion, so the Jews refused to worship Antiochus. (Exodus 20:4-6) Antiochus therefore decided to eradicate this nonconformist religion of the Jews. Before long he forbade their animal sacrifices, the observance of the Sabbath, the practice of circumcision, and even the reading of the Hebrew Scriptures, all under pain of death. In fact, copies of the Hebrew Scriptures were sought out and burned!

Not relenting in his desire to wipe out the worship of Jehovah, Antiochus’ armies invaded Jerusalem and entered Jehovah’s temple, plundering the Most Holy. On Chislev 15, 168 B.C.E., Antiochus erected an altar to the Greek god Zeus on top of Jehovah’s altar in the temple courtyard. Ten days later, on Chislev 25, he delivered the final insult, using that altar to sacrifice pigs (unclean according to Jehovah’s Law). In effect, this dedicated Jehovah’s temple to Zeus.

The Maccabean Rebellion

How did the Jews react to all of this? According to the uninspired historical record now known as 1 Maccabees, many Jews cooperated with their invaders, abandoning Jehovah’s worship. Others maintained their integrity, only to be martyred for their beliefs.

That same year (168 B.C.E.) some Jews started to fight off the Syrians, hoping to secure the freedom to worship Jehovah. In 167 B.C.E., Judas Maccabeus (Judah Maccabee), a Levite priest, became leader of this resistance movement. Believing that victory would come only if they relied on Jehovah, Judas assembled his men to read the Hebrew Scriptures and to pray to Jehovah.

For three years Judas and his men battled the Syrians, despite a great disparity in numbers. Surprisingly, by 166 B.C.E., Judas had recaptured Jerusalem. Jehovah’s priests were then able to cleanse the temple and erect a new altar. Finally, on Chislev 25, 165 B.C.E., three years to the day after the temple was defiled, it was rededicated to Jehovah.

Celebrating the Rededication

Although Judas still needed to continue his fighting against the Syrians in Galilee, the joy over the temple’s rededication was so great that an annual eight-day celebration on its anniversary was instituted. This became known as the Festival of Dedication (Hanukkah).a

Even though this festival was not a part of the original covenant God made with Israel, Hanukkah became an accepted part of the Jews’ worship, much as the Festival of Purim had become in previous years. (Esther 9:26, 27) Like Purim, Hanukkah was celebrated with songs and prayers in the synagogues, unlike the three major festivals mandated by the covenant (Passover; Festival of Weeks, or Pentecost; and Festival of Booths) that required trips to the temple in Jerusalem.​—Deuteronomy 16:16.

Over the years the custom of celebrating Hanukkah with lights developed. Thus, historian Josephus reports that by the first century C.E., Hanukkah was also known as the Festival of Lights. However, the origin of this custom is unclear. One story alleges that it commemorates a miracle that occurred when the temple was rededicated. According to this story, when it came time to relight the lampstand in Jehovah’s temple, although there was only enough ceremonially clean oil for one day, it miraculously lasted for eight days.b

Is this story of miraculous oil accurate or just a groundless legend? For that matter, was God supporting Judas Maccabeus’ rebellion against Syria?

Was There Divine Support?

There is no direct statement in the inspired Hebrew Scriptures that Jehovah gave Judas the victory or directed the repair and rededication of the temple. Of course, these events occurred after the writing of the Hebrew Scriptures had drawn to a close, so no comment in the Hebrew Scriptures was possible.

What about the Christian Greek Scriptures? Neither Jesus nor his apostles commented on these events, so they also did not indicate whether God supported Judas or not.

Nevertheless, the Christian Greek Scriptures do record the fulfillment of Messianic Hebrew Scripture prophecies in the ministry of Jesus Christ. Some of these prophecies required that the temple be in operation at the time of the Messiah’s appearance. (Daniel 9:27; Haggai 2:9; compare Psalm 69:9 with John 2:16, 17.) Thus, unless the temple was cleansed and rededicated to Jehovah, these prophecies could not have been fulfilled. Clearly, God wanted the temple to be rededicated. But was Judas Maccabeus his chosen instrument for accomplishing this?

In the absence of an inspired record, we cannot say for certain. Of course, Jehovah had in years past used non-Jews, such as Cyrus the Persian, to carry out certain aspects of his will. (Isaiah 44:26–45:4) How much more so might God use someone from among his dedicated people, the Jews!

What About Christians?

But what of the festival itself? Since it commemorates an important event in the history of God’s people, should it be commemorated by Christians?

The apostle Paul explained at Colossians 2:14-17: “[God] blotted out the handwritten document against us . . . by nailing it to the torture stake. . . . Therefore let no man judge you in eating and drinking or in respect of a festival or of an observance of the new moon or of a sabbath; for those things are a shadow of the things to come, but the reality belongs to the Christ.” Just as a shadow cast by an approaching object can alert someone to its arrival, the Law covenant was able to alert people to the arrival of the Messiah, or Christ. However, once this handwritten document had served its purpose, it was blotted out by God.​—Galatians 3:23-25.

Thus, the Law covenant and all related festivals came to an end from God’s standpoint at Pentecost 33 C.E. Indeed, the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple by Roman armies in 70 C.E. soon underscored that fact. (Luke 19:41-44) So even though the rededication of the temple was an important event in the history of God’s ancient people, there is no reason for Christians to commemorate Hanukkah.

[Footnotes]

[Box on page 12]

In countries where Christmas became a popular family festival, Hanukkah, particularly among Reform Jews, assumed a similar form.​—Encyclopædia Judaica

[Picture Credit Line on page 11]

Israel Department of Antiquities and Museums; Israel Museum/​David Harris

Young People Ask . . .

Should I Get an Afterschool Job?

“Awake!”: What made you get an afterschool job?

Eric: I was living at home, and I wanted to help my parents out financially.

Olga: Independence. I wanted my own money.

Michelé: I was already getting an allowance, but I wanted work experience.

Duane: I didn’t work for money. I worked to help out my uncle who had a business doing painting, masonry, and so forth.

Anthony: I worked because I wanted to be able to buy clothes.

“Awake!”: Your mother wasn’t buying you clothes?

Anthony: Not the kind of clothes I wanted.

ARE you thinking of getting an afterschool job? Perhaps you would simply like to have a little more pocket money, and a job seems to be the quickest way to obtain it.

A job can have its advantages.a It may teach a youth responsibility. It may impart valuable experience and useful skills. Nevertheless, not all aspects of working are advantageous, and before taking on a job, you should carefully count the cost.​—Compare Luke 14:28; 1 Corinthians 10:23.

What Will I Do With the Money?

Many youths work so as to provide their parents needed financial help. High-school teacher David L. Manning notes, however, that “the primary motive for part-time work appears to be indulgent self-interest.” Indeed, much of what teenagers earn is devoted, not to savings or family expenses, but to luxury items, running the gamut from stereo systems and concert tickets to expensive sneakers. In the long run, the money earned is often money wasted.

“What did I do with my money?” responded young Michelé when an Awake! reporter asked a group of youths what they did with the money they earned on their jobs. “I don’t know,” she admitted. “I didn’t invest any. I guess I spent it on going out. Movies​—I’d go every weekend. And shoes. My thing is shoes. I’ve paid up to $250 a pair.” Young Olga answered similarly: “I guess I spent all my money. The more you make, the more you spend. But I don’t have the faintest idea where it went.”

“What profit does a man have in all his hard work at which he works hard under the sun?” asked Solomon. (Ecclesiastes 1:3) And without a clear-cut reason for working, without a definite plan as to how you will use​—or save—​the money you earn, your hard work could similarly prove fruitless, futile.b ‘But what’s the harm in just spending it on things I want?’ you might ask.

It is one thing to work for legitimate needs. But laboring long and hard for frivolous wants is a snare. It can create an unhealthy appetite for material things. (Compare 1 Timothy 6:8, 9.) It can nurture a self-centered, me-first spirit that runs counter to the Christian spirit of giving. (Acts 20:35) So before getting a job, would it not be best to establish whether there is a legitimate need for it?

School and Work

Another thing to consider is the effect working could have on your schooling. “No one can slave for two masters,” said Jesus. (Matthew 6:24) This principle applies to many students who find themselves caught in a conflict between school and job.

Studies indicate that working youngsters are far more likely to be absent from school than are nonworkers. And when they are there, they are often inattentive. “I was out of school by noon and did secretarial work from one to five,” explains young Olga. The effect? “I was tired. School and work tires you out.” Little wonder, then, that the grades of many students take a plunge after they begin working. Some even fail.

“I had to go to summer school,” recalls Anthony, who flunked while working at a factory job after school. However, Anthony kept right on working throughout the summer. The result? “I also flunked summer school and had to repeat a grade.” True, some bright students are able to maintain good grades. Recalls Michelé: “I would just listen to my teacher, grasp what she said, and pass. I never had to study.” There is a world of difference, however, between just getting by in school and being absorbed in really learning.​—Compare 1 Timothy 4:15.

So if you are considering employment, ask yourself: ‘Will I be able to give reasonable attention to my homework? Will I be able to get adequate rest and sleep?’ (Ecclesiastes 4:6) Much will depend on the nature of the work and the schedule. But if a job hinders your schooling, is it really worth it?

Work and Your Family

Also of concern is the effect working may have on your relationship with family members. “Our own studies indicate . . . that adolescents who work do spend less time in family activities than their non-working peers,” say researchers Laurence Steinberg and Ellen Greenberger. For example, “many working youngsters report that they eat dinner with their family less frequently (thus losing one of the few times of the day during which parents and children can ‘catch up’ on each other’s activities).”

Mealtimes were an important feature of family life in Bible times and continue to be so among God’s people today. (Compare Proverbs 15:17.) Among Jehovah’s Witnesses, many families use the morning or evening meal as an occasion to discuss spiritual matters. Will an afterschool job prevent you from participating?

Working youngsters may also begin to feel quite independent of their parents. Some even reason that since they have their own money, they are less subject to their parents’ authority. A paycheck, however, does not free you from your Scriptural obligation to ‘listen to the discipline of a father’ or to obey the ‘law of your mother.’ (Proverbs 1:8) Your parents have every right, for example, to determine how much of your hard-earned cash should go to family expenses. After all, nearly all of their money does.

If you decide to work, why not show your maturity and your interest in the family welfare by asking your parents how much you can contribute to the family finances?

Your Job and Your Spirituality

The most important consideration of all is the effect working might have on your spirituality. Steinberg and Greenberger report that exposure to the workplace often results in forms of youthful ‘deviant behavior,’ such as stealing on the job or cheating in school. Some youths even bow to peer pressure and give unauthorized discounts to​—or even steal for—​friends. The pressures of work (and having ready cash) push many youths into alcohol and drug abuse.

True, having Christian principles, you would never even think of doing such things. However, having a job can expose a youth to “bad associations” to an intense degree. (1 Corinthians 15:33) Are you prepared to handle such pressure? While in school, have you ‘walked in wisdom toward those on the outside’ by avoiding unwholesome association? (Colossians 4:5) If you have shown some weakness in this regard, are you really ready to face the greater pressures of the workplace?

A strenuous work schedule may also make it difficult for you to follow the Christian routine of meetings, personal study of the Bible, and participation in the Christian ministry. “I have missed meetings because I was tired after a day of school and work,” says Michelé.

A decision to get an afterschool job is thus a serious one. Careful thought must be given to all the factors involved. Talk matters over with your parents or a mature Christian. If a job is deemed necessary, try hard to keep your balance. Work out a schedule that allows you to give adequate attention to your schooling and spiritual development. If that is not possible, consider other ways of earning cash. Perhaps there are major household projects your parents would be willing to pay you to do. Some youths start small businesses, such as cutting grass or baby-sitting, that allow them to earn cash at their own convenience.

But what of youths in poorer lands who have little choice but to work? A future article will discuss their situation.

[Footnotes]

[Blurb on page 16]

“The primary motive for part-time work appears to be indulgent self-interest”

[Picture on page 15]

Are you working to pay for legitimate expenses or to satisfy a love of material things?

I Was a Hostage

“Ask your God for everything to come out all right!” Those words were coming from a stranger who, just hours before, had held me​—a helpless woman—​tightly by the neck, threatening me with a hand grenade. Outside, police sharpshooters were aiming their guns at where I was being held. I was a hostage in a bank in Guatemala City!

The man exclaimed in a loud voice: “Don’t anybody move! This is a holdup! I want all the money!” He shouted to the police: “Don’t shoot. This is not a toy I have in my hand. If you shoot, I won’t be the only one dead. All of us will be blown to bits!”

I PRAYED to Jehovah God, asking him to help me, as I felt that I was losing my composure. I asked him to help me be calm and to endure the ordeal. I remembered that he is a strong tower that the righteous run to for protection.​—Proverbs 18:10.

Upon regaining my composure, I noticed that the bank employees, as well as the customers, had succeeded in getting out. Only the security guards, the holdup man, and I were left. Then the security guards were allowed to leave.

After some time, four unarmed men were allowed to enter, among them a psychologist (as I later learned) and a reporter. Both of them asked the man questions, such as why he was acting this way. He replied that he was doing it out of vengeance because some institutions had treated him badly.

Identifying Myself

At that point I was looking serene, so the psychologist began to interrogate me. He asked the names of my parents and my brothers and sisters. I identified myself as one of Jehovah’s Witnesses and as the oldest of five children in whom Christian parents had inculcated Bible principles.

As the night wore on, the four men went out one by one. I asked my captor to permit me to leave also. His reply was negative. He added: “Don’t worry. Everything will be all right. They’ll give me what I want, and then you can go home.” I answered: “They won’t give you anything. They’ll kill us. Please, let’s go out.” But he said: “I prefer to die, and if necessary we’ll both die.”

Remembering what he had said earlier, I tried to reason with him: “Was I present when they harmed you?” “No,” he said. “Then why do I have to pay for something that I didn’t do?” I asked. He answered: “It’s fate. If we have to die here, we’ll die.” But I responded: “It’s not fate. It’s you who have the idea in your head that you have to die. Jehovah is a God of love; he forgives us. He’s giving us the opportunity to save ourselves because his purpose hasn’t changed. He will again make this earth a paradise.”

At that moment someone entered the bank and urged the holdup man to give himself up, saying: “Let’s negotiate. Let Siomara leave. Take the money on the counter and from the safe, and let’s leave together so they won’t harm you.” But my captor responded negatively.

Not an Accomplice

Hours went by. Then, suddenly, I heard a man speaking through a megaphone, saying: “Give yourselves up! You can’t win. Come out with your hands up. Tell the holdup man to give himself up. You’re not a hostage. You’re an accomplice! Don’t pretend anymore!” Frightened, I cried out: “What gives you the right to accuse me?” The voice replied: “We’ve been observing you, how calm you are. Anyone else in your place wouldn’t be that way.”

Upon hearing this, I made mention of Jehovah’s name out loud and prayed. Then I said to the accuser who was on the megaphone: “You’ll carry this on your conscience the rest of your life, since you’re accusing me of something for which you have no proof.” Later I learned that a Guatemalan newspaper and a TV station had also reported that I was apparently an accomplice.

At this moment my captor interrupted: “Stop bothering her! She has nothing to do with me! I found her here, and she’s only following my orders.”

It came to my mind that Jehovah has not given us a spirit of cowardice but a spirit of power and soundness of mind. (2 Timothy 1:7) This filled me with courage, as did the knowledge that I was not alone. I felt relieved deep inside and thought: ‘If we live, we know that it is for Jehovah, and if we die, it is also for him.’​—Romans 14:8.

After midnight I again asked my captor if he had changed his mind. When he replied that he had not, I mentioned my family. I told him that I loved them, that I did not want to leave them even though I knew that if it was Jehovah’s will, I would see them again in the new world. At that, the holdup man told me to pray to God and ask Him for everything to come out all right.

From outside the bank, it seemed that some of the police were trying to tell me something. Later I found out that they were trying to get me to come close to the door so that they could help me get out. And I heard them say to the holdup man: “Take the money that’s there, and let her come out. We know that Siomara doesn’t have any part in this.”

I did not know that my parents were outside, along with some of my fellow Christian associates. They had helped make clear that I had no connection with the holdup man.

Then there came a new demand from my captor: “I want a radio-patrol car with only an unarmed driver to take me where I want, and when we’re in a safe place, I’ll let her go. If you try to shoot me, she and I will be blown to bits.” But I insisted: “Get that out of your head. You think only of dying. But our bodies belong to Jehovah.”

Finally Freed

About four o’clock in the morning, I began to feel ill. More than 16 hours had gone by since I had entered the bank. I had not slept, nor had I eaten anything, and the sound of the voice through the megaphone was making both of us nervous.

At dawn a woman who turned out to be a doctor spoke to me. She said that each moment that passed would be worse for me. My captor told me: “Please hold on a little longer.” Then he agreed that someone could come in and take care of me. But the ones outside with that responsibility were afraid and would not agree to come in.

About a quarter to eight, I felt a chill throughout my body. Then I felt dizzy and fell to the floor, unconscious. When I came to, I was outside the bank! A police officer helped me get up, and with the help of two more, I ran to the patrol car and was taken to a hospital. Again I fainted while getting out of the car, and I did not regain consciousness until I received medical attention. Then I was told: “You are safe now. Everything came out all right. Rest.” My thoughts went to Jehovah God. I gave him thanks for helping me to endure this ordeal.

Later, my parents told me how I got out of the bank. The holdup man had taken me outside, trying to revive me. But for an instant, he let go of me and turned around to look toward the bank. It was at that moment that the police overpowered him, and I was rescued. The police did not know what impelled my captor to let go of me and look toward the bank when he knew that no one was there.

After four days in the hospital, I was released, and I returned home. I was deeply moved by the demonstration of love by my Christian brothers and sisters. About 60 of them met together in my home. What joy I felt knowing that my family and I were not alone! I could reflect on my goal in life, which is to serve God, and the trueness of the words: “I inquired of Jehovah, and he answered me, and out of all my frights he delivered me.” (Psalm 34:4)​—As told by Siomara Velásquez López.

[Picture on page 18]

Siomara Velásquez López

Human Rule Weighed in the Balances

Part 9​—Human Rule Reaches Its Climax!

Supranational political systems: empires, leagues, confederations, or federations formed between nation-states on either a temporary or a permanent basis in pursuit of common goals transcending national boundaries, authority, or interests.

OCTOBER 5, 539 B.C.E., found the city of Babylon in a festive mood. A thousand top governmental officials had accepted an evening invitation from King Belshazzar. Although menaced by the besieging forces of the Medes and the Persians, Belshazzar and his fellow politicians were not disturbed. After all, the city walls were impregnable. There was no immediate cause for fear.

Then, without warning, in the midst of the festivities, the fingers of a disembodied human hand began writing ominous words across the palace wall: MENE, MENE, TEKEL and PARSIN. The king’s knees began to tremble, and he grew pale.​—Daniel 5:5, 6, 25.

Daniel, an Israelite and a worshiper of the God for whom Belshazzar and his governmental colleagues were showing contempt, was called upon to explain. “This is the interpretation,” Daniel began, “MENE, God has numbered the days of your kingdom and has finished it. TEKEL, you have been weighed in the balances and have been found deficient. PERES, your kingdom has been divided and given to the Medes and the Persians.” The prophecy certainly bode no good. In fulfillment, “in that very night Belshazzar the Chaldean king was killed.”​—Daniel 5:26-28, 30.

Overnight, one form of human rule was replaced by another! In view of recent similar political upheavals in Eastern Europe, we may wonder if what happened to Belshazzar could have meaning for our day. Could this portend something for human rule in its entirety? We have every reason to give this serious thought, because “entire civilizations do perish,” says Columbia University professor Jacques Barzun, adding: “The tremendous endings of Greece or Rome are not a myth.”

Humans have devised every conceivable kind of government. After thousands of years of trial and error, what are the results? Has human rule been satisfactory? Can it provide solutions for mankind’s mounting problems?

Promises, Promises!

A partial answer is given by Bakul Rajni Patel, director of a top research center in Bombay, India. Accusing politicians of “absolute hypocrisy,” she says: “It is fashionable in India and other Third World nations for leaders to stand up on platforms and let forth rousing rhetoric about ‘development’ and ‘progress.’ What development and progress? Who are we fooling? You only have to look at the horrible statistics relating to the Third World: 40,000 children die every day from preventable illnesses.” She adds that at least 80 million children are malnourished or go to bed hungry every night.

‘But just a minute,’ you may protest. ‘At least give politicians credit for trying. Some type of government is necessary if the serious problems facing the world today are to be solved.’ True, but the question is: Should it be a man-made government or should it be one made by God?

Do not dismiss this question as being naive, thinking, as many people do, that God chooses to remain uninvolved. Pope John Paul II evidently also thinks that God has left it up to humans to rule themselves as best they can, since while visiting Kenya some ten years ago, he said: “An important challenge for the Christian is that of the political life.” He continued: “In the state citizens have a right and duty to share in the political life. . . . It would be a mistake to think that the individual Christian should not be involved in these areas of life.”

Humans, proceeding on this theory, and often with religious backing, have long searched for perfect government. Every new kind of government has been accompanied by grand promises. But even the best-sounding promises strike a discordant note when not kept. (See “The Promises Versus the Realities” on page 23.) Clearly, humans have not achieved ideal government.

Girding Together

Did nuclear scientist Harold Urey have the answer? He contended that “there is no constructive solution to the world’s problems except eventually a world government capable of establishing law over the entire surface of the earth.” But not everyone is so sure that this would work. In the past, effective cooperation among members of international bodies has been practically unattainable. Note an outstanding example.

After World War I, on January 16, 1920, a supranational organization, the League of Nations, was established with a membership of 42 countries. Rather than being structured as a world government, it was intended to be a world parliament, designed to promote world unity, chiefly by settling disputes between sovereign nation-states, thus preventing war. By 1934 membership had grown to 58 nations.

The League, however, was founded on shaky ground. “The First World War had ended on a note of high expectations, but disillusionment was not long in coming,” explains The Columbia History of the World. “The hopes centering on the League of Nations proved illusory.”

On September 1, 1939, World War II began, plunging the League into a pit of inactivity. Although not formally dissolved until April 18, 1946, it died, to all intents and purposes, as a “teenager,” not even 20 years old. Before its official burial, it had already been replaced by another supranational organization, the United Nations, formed on October 24, 1945, with 51 member states. How would this new girding attempt fare?

A Second Try

Some people say that the League failed because it was defective in design. Another view places the main blame not on the League but on the individual governments that were reluctant to give it proper support. No doubt there is some truth in both views. At any rate, the founders of the United Nations tried to learn from the ineffectiveness of the League and to remedy some of the weaknesses the League had manifested.

Writer R. Baldwin calls the United Nations “superior to the old League in its capacity to create a world order of peace, cooperation, law, and human rights.” Of a truth, some of its specialized agencies, among them WHO (World Health Organization), UNICEF (United Nations Children’s Fund), and FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization), have pursued commendable goals with a measure of success. Also seeming to indicate that Baldwin is correct is the fact that the United Nations has now been operating for 45 years, over twice as long as the League.

A major UN accomplishment was in the hastening of decolonization, at least making “it slightly more orderly than it would have been otherwise,” according to journalist Richard Ivor. He also claims that the organization “helped limit the cold war to the battleground of rhetoric.” And he praises the “pattern of global functional cooperation” that it helped produce.

Of course, some argue that the threat of nuclear warfare did more to prevent the Cold War from heating up than did the United Nations. Rather than keeping the promise embodied in its name, the uniting of nations, the reality is that this organization has often done nothing more than serve as a middleman, trying to keep disunited nations from flying at one another’s throats. And even in this role of referee, it has not always been successful. As author Baldwin explains, like the old League, “the United Nations is powerless to do more than an accused member state graciously permits.”

This less-than-wholehearted support on the part of UN members is at times reflected in their unwillingness to provide money to keep the organization operating. The United States, for example, withheld its dues from FAO because of a resolution considered critical of Israel and pro-Palestinian. Later, this major UN financial backer agreed to pay enough to retain its vote but still left more than two thirds of the debt unpaid.

Varindra Tarzie Vittachi, a former deputy director of UNICEF, wrote in 1988 that he refuses “to join the general lynching party” of those who disavow the United Nations. Calling himself “a loyal critic,” he admits, however, that a widespread attack is being made by people who say that “the United Nations is a ‘light that failed,’ that it has not lived up to its own high ideals, that it has not been able to carry out its peacekeeping functions and that its development agencies, with a few noble exceptions, have not justified their existence.”

The chief weakness of the United Nations is revealed by author Ivor, when he writes: “The UN, whatever else it can do, will not abolish sin. It can make international sinning rather more difficult, however, and it will make the sinner more accountable. But it has not yet succeeded in changing the hearts and minds either of the people who lead countries or of the people who make them up.”​—Italics ours.

Thus, the defect in the United Nations is the same as the defect in all forms of human rule. Not one of them is capable of instilling within people the unselfish love for right, the hatred for wrong, and the respect for authority that are prerequisites to success. Think of how many global problems could be alleviated if people were willing to be guided by righteous principles! For example, a news report about pollution in Australia says that the problem exists “not through ignorance but through attitude.” Calling greed a fundamental cause, the article says that “government policy has exacerbated the problem.”

Imperfect humans simply cannot form perfect governments. As writer Thomas Carlyle noted in 1843: “In the long-run every government is the exact symbol of its people, with their wisdom and unwisdom.” Who can argue against logic like that?

“Be Shattered to Pieces!”

Now, during the 20th century, the climax of human rule has been reached. Human governments have schemed to form the most brazen and defiant conspiracy against divine rule that has ever existed. (Compare Isaiah 8:11-13.) They have done so, not once, but twice, creating first the League of Nations and then the United Nations. Revelation 13:14, 15 calls the result “the image of the wild beast.” That is fitting because it is an image of the entire human political system of things on earth. Like a wild beast, elements of this political system have preyed upon earth’s inhabitants and caused untold misery.

The League ended in disaster in 1939. The same fate awaits the United Nations in fulfillment of Bible prophecy: “Gird yourselves, and be shattered to pieces! Gird yourselves, and be shattered to pieces! Plan out a scheme, and it will be broken up!”​—Isaiah 8:9, 10.

When will this final shattering of “the image of the wild beast,” along with the system of human rule it reflects, occur? When will Jehovah end the human rule that challenges his sovereignty? The Bible gives no set date, but Bible prophecy and world events say: ‘Very soon.’​—Luke 21:25-32.

The handwriting on the wall is there to be seen by all who care to look. As surely as Belshazzar’s kingdom was weighed in the balances and found deficient, just that surely has human rule in its entirety been judged and found wanting. It tolerates political corruption, provokes wars, promotes hypocrisy and selfishness of every kind, and neglects to provide its supporters with adequate housing, food, schooling, and medical care.

When human rule goes, it will go, as it were, in one night. Here today, gone tomorrow​—replaced by God’s Kingdom, perfect government at last!

[Box on page 23]

The Promises Versus the Realities

Anarchies promise unlimited, absolute freedom; the reality is that without government there is no framework of regulations or principles within which individuals can cooperate for mutual benefit; unlimited freedom results in chaos.

Monarchies promise stability and unity under the rule of a single regent; the reality is that human regents, of limited knowledge, hampered by human imperfections and frailties, perhaps even moved by wrong motives, are themselves mortal; any stability and unity are therefore short-lived.

Aristocracies promise to provide the best in rulers; the reality is that they rule because they have wealth, a certain blood descent, or power, not necessarily because they have wisdom, insight, or love and concern for others; the inadequate ruler of a monarchy is simply replaced by the multiple rulers of an elite aristocracy.

Democracies promise that all the people may decide for the benefit of all; the reality is that citizens lack both the knowledge and the pure motives necessary to make consistently right decisions for the common good; democracy was described by Plato as “a charming form of government, full of variety and disorder, and dispensing a sort of equality to equals and unequals alike.”

Autocracies promise to get things done and to do so without undue delay; the reality is, as journalist Otto Friedrich writes, that “even the best-intentioned men, once they enter the jungle of power politics, have to confront the necessity of directing actions that they would, in normal circumstances, be inclined to call immoral”; thus “good” autocrats turn into power-driven rulers willing to sacrifice the needs of their citizens on an altar of personal ambition or expediency.

Fascist governments promise to control the economy for the common good; the reality is that they do so none too successfully and at the cost of personal liberty; by glorifying war and nationalism, they create political monstrosities like Italy under Mussolini and Germany under Hitler.

Communist governments promise to create a Utopian, classless society with citizens enjoying complete equality before the law; the reality is that classes and inequalities still exist and that corrupt politicians fleece the common man; the result has been widespread rejection of the communist concept, with its strongholds threatened with breakup by nationalistic and separatist movements.

[Box on page 23]

About the United Nations

▪ The UN currently has 160 members. The only countries of any size that do not yet belong are the two Koreas and Switzerland; a Swiss plebiscite held in March 1986 rejected membership by a 3 to 1 margin.

▪ Besides its main organization, it operates 55 additional special organizations, special agencies, human rights commissions, and peace-keeping operations.

▪ Every member nation is granted one vote in the General Assembly, yet the most populous nation, China, has about 22,000 inhabitants for every one inhabitant of the least populated member, St. Kitts and Nevis.

▪ During the celebration of the United Nations International Year of Peace in 1986, the world experienced 37 armed conflicts, more than at any time since the end of World War II.

▪ Of all UN member nations, 37 percent have fewer citizens than does the united international “nation” of Jehovah’s Witnesses; 59 percent have fewer citizens than the number of persons who this year attended the Memorial celebration of Christ’s death.

[Pictures on page 24]

It has been beyond the power of imperfect humans to provide perfect government

League of Nations

United Nations

A Down-to-Earth Look at Footwear Fashions

HAVE you taken a look at the display window of a shoe store lately? Whether you like what you see or not, one thing is certain: Variety in shoe fashions, especially for women, seems endless.

Each year, some 200,000 new footwear designs are created in the United States alone, and the same number, if not more, are produced by European designers. But before ever reaching the market, about half of them are rejected, and of the remaining half, only about 25,000 become profitable. Still, that is a mind-boggling number. No wonder shopping for shoes is such an exhilarating experience for some but such an exhausting one for others.

Variations on Some Basic Themes

Whatever your feeling may be about the endless parade of footwear fashions, would you believe that all the thousands of shoe designs are really variations on just a few basic shoe types?

The accompanying illustrations will give you a good idea of what the seven basic shoe types are: oxford, boot, pump, clog, mule, sandal, and moccasin. Even though we are deluged with thousands of new designs each year​—and fashion-conscious individuals pride themselves on keeping up with the latest—​the truth of the matter is that not one new basic shoe type has been introduced in the last 350 years, since the oxford. The oldest basic types, such as the sandal and the moccasin, literally go back thousands of years.

Today, women’s shoes far exceed men’s in variety and quantity. Yet, all seven basic types were originally designed by and for men. Of course, appearance, workmanship, and material have changed considerably through the ages, but it is from these few basic styles that the thousands of variations in fashion themes have developed to suit every taste and life-style. But how did these seven basic styles come about?

Knowing the Basic Types

Oxford is the most recent among the seven types. The name, appropriately, originates in Oxford, England. It was there that this laced shoe first became popular with university students in the mid-1600’s. The boot, which preceded the oxford, started as a two-piece unit with shoe below and legging above. One theory was that because it looked somewhat like a bucket, the French called it butt, meaning “water bucket.” The word gradually became boute, and when the English adopted the style from the Normans in the 11th century, they called it boot.

The pump today is a stylish, plain-toe, low-cut shoe with thin sole and low heel. It came into use apparently in Elizabethan times. Some suggest that the pump was originally worn by carriage footmen, who had to pump the pedals on the carriage with their feet. It gradually developed into a shoe for women and became a popular fashion, worn on formal, stately, and full-dress occasions. Because of this, some authorities believe that the name came from the French word pompe, meaning “pomp, state, solemnity, magnificence, ostentation.”

Dating farther back, the clog takes its name from an old English word meaning a “block of wood.” This is because early clogs were carved from wood. They were worn by peasants and the working class because they were cheap to produce. Today, many people enjoy wearing clogs having leather uppers attached to a base of wood or other materials. Backless like the clog is the mule, except that it is much more refined and is usually worn indoors. Its design has been attributed to the mulu of the Sumerians, which was a type of slip-on scuff, or flat-soled slipper. The modern version is outfitted with heels and has become a fashionable shoe.

The oldest among the seven types are the sandal and the moccasin. Of the two, the sandal enjoyed a much wider use and was the common footwear in Bible times. It was simply a piece of wood or leather tied to the foot with straps. The moccasin, on the other hand, became well-known because of the North American Indians, who gave it the name, which simply means “foot covering.”

The next time you see a pair of shoes, can you identify which one of the seven types it is? At first glance it may not seem so easy. This is because the basic types have been so freely adapted through the years to suit changing tastes and fashions. But a closer study will enable you to identify it properly. For example, jogging shoes may not look like any of the seven basic types, but they are nothing but oxfords made of different materials. A lady’s open-back shoe is really a mule with straps added, and a Loafer is basically a moccasin with a stronger sole.

How Footwear Fashions Were Launched

For hundreds of years, footwear fashions were strictly the domain of the rich and the aristocratic. To the common folk, shoes were just shoes​—covering and protection for the feet—​and function was the main concern; little attention was given to how they looked. The whole idea, and business, of fashionable shoes as we know it today is of very recent origin.

One factor that prevented the business of shoes from blossoming was that for centuries shoes were handcrafted. It took time to make them, and they were expensive. Most people could not afford to get a new pair of shoes whenever they had the urge. What changed all of that was the introduction of shoemaking machinery in the United States in the mid-1800’s. Overnight, a craft became an industry. Shoes became not only widely available but also easily affordable. However, it took two other events to send footwear fashions on their way: passage of the Volstead Act of 1919 (also known as Prohibition) and ratification in 1920 of the Constitutional amendment guaranteeing the right of women to vote.

These events precipitated profound changes in American society. Prohibition brought about new forms of entertainment, dancing, and music. Women, with their newly gained freedom, indulged in these so-called self-liberating activities and pursued everything that was new and different. Along with cosmetics, shorter skirts, and new hairdos came a fascination with shoe fashions. The defiant “Flapper Age” got its name from young women who deliberately left their shoes unbuckled. When they walked, their shoes would “flap” loudly, thus calling attention to the women and to their cause.

All of this created an enormous demand for elegant and affordable shoes. This, coupled with the new techniques and materials used in shoe manufacturing, catapulted footwear fashions to what they are today. Now, for the first time in history, fashionable footwear is no longer the prerogative of the rich and powerful but is within the reach of most everyone.

Surprisingly, in spite of all the clamor about fashion and design in footwear in past centuries, the seven basic types have remained essentially unchanged. Still, the endless variety and the thousands of designs and looks in shoes available today testify to the ingenuity of those in the business. This wide variety also shows that tastes and fashions are such volatile things that it is easy to fall victim to the whims of those who set the pace in such things.

[Box on page 26]

Old Shoe Stories

◻ To relieve headaches, ancient Egyptians would burn a sandal and breathe the smoke.

◻ To cure a stomach pain, some early American settlers would lie down and place a pair of heavy boots on the belly.

◻ At one time, an Arab man could divorce his wife by simply tossing her shoes out the door, much as if he were discarding a worn-out pair of slippers.

◻ The best-known shoe story is no doubt the Cinderella tale. There are hundreds of versions of this story told by peoples around the world, the oldest one in print being Chinese. It was recorded in the ninth century, some 800 years before the popular Western version.

[Pictures on page 26]

Sandal

Pump

Boot

Clog

Oxford

Mule

Moccasin

Watching the World

BREAKTHROUGH?

Instead of transfusing blood, doctors in Japan recently treated an anemic premature baby with erythropoietin, a hormonal substance that stimulates red blood cell formation. The baby weighed only 1 pound 12 ounces [800 g] at birth, and “its anemia progressed to a condition that would naturally require blood transfusions,” reported the newspaper Asahi Shimbun. However, because the baby’s parents are Jehovah’s Witnesses, they refused the use of blood for their baby. So the doctors administered erythropoietin from the 39th day after its birth. Within a week the red blood cells started to increase. Later the hemoglobin concentration also went up. “Although the reason for this case was religious,” said the doctor in charge, “the treatment is very likely to be used widely to avoid risks such as infections from blood transfusions.”

NOT A LEG TO STAND ON

Evolutionists assume that snakes evolved from lizards, but they are hard put to explain why lizards lost their legs. In 1973 an influential Harvard University study asserted that snakes evolved from lizards to conserve energy by slithering instead of walking. Recently, however, scientists at the University of California, Irvine, put that theory to the test. They outfitted some black racer snakes with tiny oxygen masks, put them on treadmills, and measured how much energy they actually do expend in slithering. The results: The snakes either used the same amount of energy as, or up to seven times more than, legged lizards walking the same distance.

HIGH-ALTITUDE POLLUTION

High-flying aircraft may be especially potent polluters, according to research carried out in West Germany. As reported in the Austrian magazine Profil, pollutants such as carbon monoxide, nitric oxide, and soot may remain active for years when released at altitudes of over 33,000 feet [10,000 m], whereas they would decompose in a few days on the ground. Civilian aircraft emit some 600,000 tons of nitric acid every year; military aircraft emit even more. At high altitudes, water from jet-engine combustion freezes instantly to form high-flying clouds of ice particles and nitric acid. These are widely suspected of helping to destroy the planet’s crucial ozone layer.

GOLDEN CALF FOUND

“A figurine backs the tale of Moses and the idolatrous Israelites,” said Time magazine. Until now, no religious figures of calves had been found in Canaanite ruins from before the Israelite Exodus. But in June 1990, in the ruins of the ancient port city of Ashkelon, Israel, a team of archaeologists unearthed a 5-inch-long [12.5 cm] calf made of bronze, copper, and possibly lead and silver. The bronze was apparently burnished to shine like gold. Lawrence Stager, the director of the team, feels that the calf dates back to 1550 B.C.E., before the Israelites conquered Canaan. Stager suggests that the calf may have been used in worship of the pagan god El or his son Baal and that it may have been a prototype for the golden calves mentioned in the Bible.

TEXTBOOK ERRORS

The science textbooks used in U.S. elementary schools are rife with embarrassing errors, complain growing numbers of scientists. According to Newsweek, one physicist said: “The books are filled with factual mistakes and totally misrepresent the whole nature of science.” Some examples: Gravity does not affect an astronaut in space. (Wrong. What holds an astronaut in orbit if there is no gravity out there?) A mosquito stings with its rear end. (Just as far-fetched, as anyone knows who has watched a mosquito when it stings.) It seems that few of the textbooks are scrutinized by experts before publication. Adds Newsweek: “The errors propagate like maggots, since virtually every ‘new’ textbook is closely modeled on profitable predecessors.”

DRUGS IN BRAZIL

“Research reveals that the use of drugs among Brazilian students increased 24% in the last two years,” reports Brazil’s Veja magazine. The grim figure comes from a study of 30,000 elementary- and secondary-school students. “When the information from the interviews was compiled, a gloomy perspective surfaced. . . . The increase in the use of drugs was significantly higher among adolescents between 13 and 15 years of age.” The study also shows that tranquilizers and inhaled drugs (such as shoemaker’s glue and perfume from squirters) are the most used. Although these drugs are less potent, they can lead to the use of more harmful ones. According to Professor Elisaldo Carlini: “The data is alarming because the most used drugs in the country are not illegal and can be bought in drugstores.”

A LOSS OF WARMTH?

Many Italians cast a doleful eye on the state of their nation last summer because of the sad plight of a six-year-old girl. Little Vanessa Moretti and her father were driving to the beach. As they were passing through a tunnel, he suddenly suffered a heart attack. Before he died, the stricken man told his daughter to find her way home. She struggled out of the tunnel, repeatedly blown over by gusts of wind from cars that zipped by without slowing. Scratched, bleeding, and sobbing, she walked along the highway for half an hour, ignored by hundreds of passing cars filled with merry vacationers. Finally one stopped. Newspaper editorials around the country asked searching questions, such as whether the country’s affluence has made it lose some of the warmth and compassion for which it has long been famous.

ADMITTING DEFEAT

The Common Cold Research Center of Salisbury, England, closed this summer, bringing an end to a futile 44-year quest to find a cure for the common cold. The task, it turned out, is not as simple as was once thought. Comments the center’s administrator: “We used to think there was only one cold virus. Now we know there are nearly 200, so there is no chance of finding a vaccine.” Over the years some 18,000 volunteers had come to the center to be subjected to a variety of viruses during ten-day quarantine programs. Even though volunteers had to keep at least 30 feet [10 m] away from anyone except for their roommate and the medical staff, some seemed to enjoy the program. One couple met during their stay and returned the following year for their honeymoon. One man returned 26 times. The administrator describes him, though, as “rather odd.”

A BLURRED UNIVERSE

Shock waves of bitterness and rage rippled through the community of astronomers who had high hopes for the recently launched $1,600,000,000 Hubble Space Telescope. With its huge, sensitive mirrors designed to capture the crystal-clear view available beyond earth’s distorting atmosphere, the telescope had promised to extend mankind’s view into the universe as dramatically as did the telescope used by Galileo. But as ground-based astronomers attempted to operate the telescope, they realized the grim truth: It cannot focus properly. Apparently a mirror was made with an aberration that was not detected because the mirrors were never fully tested.

CONTAMINATION-FREE BLOOD BANK?

A West German doctor faces a tough challenge in a central African country​—he was asked to set up an AIDS-free blood bank there. In the country’s capital, 6 percent of the donated blood is infected with the AIDS virus. Hence, the blood bank emphasizes screening the blood. Yet, lapses do occur. As the monthly magazine New African reports: “On one occasion a blood sample turned out to be AIDS-infested but unknown to the bank, the samples were given to two newly born babies.” While the bank claims its blood is AIDS-free, it does not even test for the malaria and syphilis that are known to contaminate more than 18 percent of the blood.

PRISON PROBLEMS PROLIFERATING

A recent report by the Australian Institute of Criminology warns that Australia’s prisons have become seriously overcrowded. It claims that prisons should have an 85-percent occupancy rate, whereas the rate in Australian prisons currently averages 103 percent, with some states much higher than others. Only on the island state of Tasmania does each prisoner have a single cell. Another concern is that 23 of the continent’s 88 prisons were built before the year 1900. In many of these prisons, the conditions are primitive and described by some as “inhumane.” There seems to be little hope of improvement, as statistics reveal disturbing trends. For instance, the number of women sent to prison between 1982 and 1986 increased by 65 percent!

From Our Readers

In-Laws The February 22, 1990, issue on in-laws was very much appreciated. Two weeks ago I went to visit my in-laws for an entire week. During my visit, I kept the article in my mind and applied it to every situation I was confronted with. I enjoyed myself, and when I left, we all hugged and kissed. I’m looking forward to more visits with them, but I shall keep this magazine very close to me in case I need to be encouraged by it.

A. G., United States

Makeup Your column “Young People Ask . . .” is upbuilding. But in your article on makeup (June 22, 1990), you used the Bible text at Ezekiel 23:40, which obviously refers to a prostitute’s use of eye shadow. Are you not wrongly justifying the use of cosmetics?

T. H. H., Netherlands

This text merely verifies the claim of archaeologists that makeup was used by Israelite women. True, this verse speaks of a prostitute who has ‘washed herself, painted her eyes, and decked herself with ornaments.’ Evidently, though, this simply reflects the fact that some Israelite women used cosmetics.​—ED.

Animal Research We welcome the fact that Jehovah’s Witnesses comment on the subject of animal research (Awake! July 8, 1990). We do feel it necessary to correct the statement: “The trend globally is for support of the more aggressive animal rights movements.” Militants are a minority and gain prominence only through press coverage.

We said that “some”​—not all—​animal rights activists “are willing to use violence.” The statement in question was made by a leading Canadian animal activist. We merely reported it.​—ED.

Crack Addiction I was a crack addict for five years. I tried numerous times to stop using this horrible drug. I had a $150- to $200-a-day habit! But thanks to Jehovah God, I am no longer a crack addict! By making a diligent study of His Word, engaging in constant prayer, and associating with true Christians, I made crack a thing of the past. The key to quitting crack: You must stop associating with the people who use this drug!​—See Awake!, July 22, 1990.

[Requested initials be withheld], United States

Easier Childbirth In reference to your item on childbirth in “Watching the World” (December 8, 1989), allow me to say that in rural and northern hill areas of Pakistan, the practice of childbirth in a squatting position has been used since times unknown. No doubt they don’t have sophisticated birth chairs, but they do use a chair made of brick and stone.

F. U. B., Pakistan

CAT Scans Thank you for the article “A Computer That Sees Through You.” (July 22, 1990) I was scheduled for a CAT scan some years ago, but it was explained to me in a way that frightened me, and I refused to take it. The article helped me to weigh the pros and cons, and now I’ve made an appointment with my doctor.

A. S., United States

Jaguars I very much enjoyed your article “The Elusive Jungle Cat.” (August 22, 1990) Never did I realize how incredible jaguars are. They are beautiful animals that certainly give glory to God.

L. F., United States

“A Sexual Crisis” Among the Clergy

“A SEXUAL crisis is tearing at the central nervous system of the Catholic Church,” stated Jason Berry, a Louisiana author who received a Catholic Press Association award for his coverage of pedophilia in the National Catholic Reporter. Regarding perverted sexual acts against children by the clergy, Berry went on to say in The Washington Post:

“Since 1985, scores of pedophilia cases involving priests or brothers have been recorded throughout America and Canada. As a result, U.S. dioceses have borne steep losses in law suits, and insurance coverage for such actions has evaporated. These changes have arrived amid a number of reports that as many as 10 to 20 percent of U.S. priests may be homosexually active.”

The Providence Sunday Journal of Rhode Island states: “Bishops in 29 states . . . have faced claims of damages by victims of sex abuse by Catholic clergy, and the Church has paid at least $60 million so far in judgments and settlements.” In Louisiana a priest admitted to molesting 35 boys and was sentenced to 20 years in prison, although, the Journal says, it was clear that he “had assaulted at least 75 children over 10 years.” And a Rhode Island priest pleaded guilty to 26 counts of sex abuse involving young boys.

An investigation of Covenant House, a shelter for runaway youths in New York City, revealed that the priest in charge had engaged in sexual misconduct with a number of young men and boys. And the Roman Catholic archbishop of Atlanta resigned after it was acknowledged that he had carried on a two-year sexual relationship with an unmarried mother.

A conference of U.S. Catholic bishops received a report on the “catastrophe” of priest pedophile litigation. The 100-page report, states the Journal, “detailed a strategy for limiting the Church’s liability from civil lawsuits to $1 billion [$1,000 million] based on the 30 suits then pending.” The lawsuits are being brought by the Catholic parents of the children involved. And psychiatrists who treat the young victims of these crimes report long-term, often permanent, damage.

God’s Word speaks of such “disgraceful sexual appetites” by which males are “inflamed in their lust toward one another, males with males, working what is obscene,” and adds that the “righteous decree of God” is that “those practicing such things are deserving of death.”​—Romans 1:26, 27, 32; see also 1 Corinthians 6:9, 10.

Undoubtedly, much of the problem arises because of the unscriptural practice of celibacy, forbidding priests to marry. Yet, the Bible, God’s Word, states clearly that those in the Christian ministry may marry. As the Catholic Douay Version of the Bible expresses it: “It behoveth therefore a bishop to be . . . the husband of one wife.” (1 Timothy 3:2) And it also states that “forbidding to marry” is an evidence that “some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to spirits of error, and doctrines of devils.”​—1 Timothy 4:1-3.

“It Does Not Beat Around the Bush”

Growing up in these troubled times is not easy. Youths face many new situations and must make weighty decisions. Should I drink? Accept drugs? What conduct is proper with one of the opposite sex? Youths need answers that work, that don’t beat around the bush. Upon reading the book Questions Young People Ask​—Answers That Work, a Greensboro, North Carolina, girl wrote:

“I have greatly enjoyed reading this book. The facts and counsel in it will help young ones set proper guidelines. This book is very comprehensive and has fine examples for each problem. Once you start reading it, you just can’t put it down, the chapters are so interesting. It does not beat around the bush, so to speak, but gives direct answers to the problem.

“All in all, this book is inevitably marvelous, truthful, fantastic, . . . words just cannot express how great this book is. I would highly recommend this book to all, particularly to youths.”

We feel that you or your children will benefit greatly from this attractively illustrated 320-page publication. Receive a copy by filling in and mailing the coupon.

I would like to receive the hardbound 320-page book Questions Young People Ask​—Answers That Work. (Outside the U.S.A., write to local Watch Tower branch for information. See page 4.)