May 8

Page Two

Lottery Fever​—Who Wins? Who Loses? 3-9

Lottery fever affects millions of people worldwide. Their hopes and illusions hang on the regular drawing of numbers. What are the chances of winning? Who really do win? Who lose?

World Cup Soccer​—Sport or War? 10

Soccer is the world’s most popular sport. The World Cup competition in Italy highlighted again the effects of nationalism and a fanatical competitive spirit. What is the balanced attitude toward all sports?

The Guitar​—What Goes In Is What Comes Out 14

Used for centuries to make music and change human moods, the guitar is an instrument that requires loving attention in its manufacture. How is it made? What factors affect its quality?

[Picture Credit Line on page 2]

Photo Agenzia Giuliani

Lottery Fever​—The World’s Gamble

“ALL you need is a dollar and a dream.” The dream was to win the New York lottery jackpot of 45 million dollars. A dollar bought a shot at winning. The dreamers came by the millions. Standing in line to buy their tickets, they chatted about yachts and mink coats and mansions​—things they would buy if they won the prize money. At one point, throughout the state, they snapped up tickets at the rate of 28,000 per minute. In the final three days before the drawing, they bought 37.4 million tickets.

In Japan business is always brisk at the 10,000 authorized lottery booths where people flock to buy tickets for the Year-End Jumbo Takarakuji (Lottery). At one Tokyo booth where five first-prize tickets had reportedly been sold in previous years, about 300 people were already standing in line when the booth opened for business. One young woman, who believed that luck favors the early bird, had been waiting since 1:00 a.m. The coveted jackpot last year: a record 100 million yen ($714,285, U.S.).

In a West African capital, what the locals call the Lotto College area is always crowded with people who have come to buy tickets and to speculate on future numbers. Long lists of past winning numbers are sold to those who hope to find in them some clue to future combinations. For those with faith in mystic knowledge, lotto prophets are on hand to prophesy, for a fee, numbers to bet on.

Isolated occurrences? By no means. Lottery fever is pandemic. It inflames every continent. It burns in rich countries and poor. It excites young and old at every economic, social, and educational level of society.

Yes, lotteries are big business, and business is booming. In the United States alone, State lotteries took in $18.5 thousand million in 1989. Only 27 years ago, that figure was zero. But now lotteries are the second-largest form of gambling in the United States, and the industry is growing by 17.5 percent every year, as fast as the computer industry.

Worldwide lottery sales in 1988, according to the latest figures available from the magazine Gaming and Wagering Business, totaled $56.38 thousand million, an enormous figure. That amounts to more than ten dollars for every man, woman, and child on earth! And that’s in just one year!

While no one can deny that lotteries are prospering, many argue strongly against them. The next two articles examine the growing popularity of lotteries and the controversy behind them. As you consider the facts, you will be able to decide whether lotteries are for you. Is it smart to play? How easy is it to win? Can you lose more than money?

Lotteries​—Why So Popular?

WHY do people play the lottery? “It’s entertaining, it’s fun,” said a lottery-board spokeswoman. Maybe so, but the main appeal surely is the prize money. Just about everybody could use a little extra money. And lotteries promise a lot of money. In today’s uncertain world of escalating prices, stock-market crashes, and dead-end jobs, millions of people believe that winning the lottery is the only imaginable way for them to become fabulously rich.

Adding to the appeal, lotteries are uncomplicated and easy to play. There are many variations, such as Lotto, numbers, and games where you scratch the paper to reveal hidden numbers, but all of these share two features. The first is that players win when the numbers on their ticket match those drawn by the organizers. Second, unlike other forms of gambling, no special skill or knowledge is required to win. Winning or losing is a matter of sheer chance.

People also play lotteries because it’s easy to buy tickets. Most Americans can buy them at the local grocery store. Elsewhere, if a lottery booth is not nearby, players can place bets by mail, telephone, telex, or fax.

What’s New About Lotteries?

Are lotteries new? Not at all. At festivities in ancient Rome, emperors Nero and Augustus gave away slaves and property as prizes. One of the first recorded cash prizes was probably paid in 1530 by a lottery in Florence, Italy. In the centuries that followed, lotteries flourished in Europe. Lotteries thrived in early America too, bringing in money that helped finance Jamestown, the Continental Army, and the building of prestigious universities, such as Harvard, Dartmouth, Yale, and Columbia.

In the 19th century, however, the business ran into trouble. Opposers railed against mass gambling and charged that drawings were rigged. Lotteries were riddled with bribery, corruption, and criminal involvement. Private promoters raked in enormous profits. As a result, lotteries in the United States, France, and Britain were banned.

End of story? Obviously not. Lotteries had continued to thrive elsewhere​—Italy, for example, and Australia. Spain’s Carlos III created a lottery in 1763; its modern version was established by law in 1812. Country after country leaped aboard the lottery bandwagon. In 1933, France lifted its ban and established the Loterie nationale. Also in the 1930’s, Ireland set up its famous Irish Hospitals’ Sweepstake. Japan’s Takarakuji got started in 1945. Britain OK’d football pools and premium bond drawings, lotteries in fact if not in name. And in 1964 the United States got back into the business.

Then in the 1970’s, two developments transformed the lottery operation. The first was the introduction of computers linked to retail terminals. Now it was possible to organize high-volume, high-frequency games in which players could choose their own numbers. No longer was it necessary to wait weeks or months to see if they’d won; players could find out in days, hours, or even minutes.

The second development was the introduction of Lotto, a game where the odds against winning are high. In Lotto, when the jackpot isn’t won, it is carried over into succeeding games. Consequently, the prize money can build to millions of dollars. With Lotto, sales soared, and business became big, really big.

Appeal to Promoters

Why do governments promote gambling? Because it’s an easy way to bring in money without raising taxes. Whereas slot machines and roulette give back in prize money as much as 95 percent of what they take in, lotteries pay back less than 50 percent. For example, in the United States in 1988, about 48 cents of every lottery dollar was paid back in prizes and 15 cents went for promotion, sales, and administration. The remaining 37 cents was used to fund public improvements, education, health care, and aid to the elderly. Nationwide, that amounted to $7.2 thousand million.

But governments do not organize lotteries just to make money. If they do not get into the business, they may lose money. Their citizens might play elsewhere. So when one country or state starts a lottery, its neighbors come under pressure to do the same. This snowballing effect is evident in the United States. In 1964 there was one State lottery; in 1989 there were 30.

Dreams of Wealth

Of course, there are plenty of people who are trying to get a piece of the consumer dollar. So how do promoters convince the public to spend money on lotteries? Advertising! Call in the professionals of persuasion!

Do advertisements stress that a portion (albeit small) of the proceeds will help fund education or provide care for the elderly? Far from it! That’s rarely mentioned. Instead, ads stress how much fun it would be to win millions of dollars. Here are a few examples:

◻ “The Fabulous Lifestyle of the Rich & Famous Could be Yours Instantly . . . When You Play Canada’s Celebrated, Multi-Million Dollar LOTTO 6/49.”

◻ “THE FLORIDA LOTTERY . . . Get Rich in America’s Greatest Lottery.”

◻ “Money Made in Germany​—STRIKE IT RICH and become a Millionaire overnight.”

Hard sell? It certainly is! Efforts to tone down advertising usually end when tickets don’t sell. In fact, promoters turn to ever more intense games and marketing to entice new players and to keep the old ones interested. Promoters must constantly offer something that looks new. Oregon’s lottery director James Davey said: “We have gambling themes, we do Olympics. At Christmas we do Holiday Cash. With Lucky Stars we play on people’s astrological signs. We find that if you run two or three, four or five games at the same time, you’ll sell more tickets.”

But the biggest attraction by far is a gigantic jackpot. In Lotto, when the prize money soars, as it did when it reached $115 million in Pennsylvania in 1989, it becomes big news. People stampede to buy tickets in what one author called a “gambler’s feeding frenzy.” Amid the hysteria, even those who don’t normally play the lottery reach for their money.

[Box on page 6]

Gambling Fever and Religion

“The Catholic Church has taught me to gamble. Bingo and raffles are absolutely no different from lotteries. If the Catholic Church would take the lead and stop all gambling, I would reconsider the idea of refraining from playing the lottery. If I am greedy, it is because it’s almost a sacrament in the Church.”​—Reader to the U.S. Catholic magazine.

“After the Sunday Mass, the second best-attended function at Catholic churches are the weekly bingo games, according to a survey of Catholic parishes by Notre Dame University.” However, several priests claim that most of those who attend the bingo games do not go to church.​—The Sunday Star-Ledger, New Jersey, U.S.A.

“Saint Pancras Brought Good Luck to Madrid” was the headline in the Spanish weekly ABC, international edition. The article continued: “‘It was Saint Pancras’ exclaimed again and again the two employees of the lottery store . . . where they had sold the only series of 21515, the ‘gordo’ [big one] worth 250 million [pesetas, or today, $2,500,000, U.S.], which has been distributed in Madrid. [The employees] confessed that they had prayed to the saint, whose image presides over their establishment and on which they had placed a sprig of parsley, to have the good fortune to sell the Christmas ‘gordo.’”

“Trying to find ways to explain their good fortune, the older winners tended to believe that God and destiny had singled them out to win the money. . . . ‘We want to believe that good fortune and bad fortune are attributed to something, not an accident,’ said Dr. Jack A. Kapchan, a psychology professor at the University of Miami. ‘And what else is there to attribute it to but God?’”​—The New York Times.

What does the Bible say about good luck? To the unfaithful in Israel, Jehovah said: “But you men are those leaving Jehovah, those forgetting my holy mountain, those setting in order a table for the god of Good Luck and those filling up mixed wine for the god of Destiny.”​—Isaiah 65:11.

How many of the relatively few winners stop to think that their isolated good fortune is based on the bad fortune of millions of losers? Does gambling reflect ‘love of neighbor’ in any way? Is it reasonable or Biblical to think that the Sovereign Lord of the universe should involve himself in such selfish vices as gambling?​—Matthew 22:39.

Lottery​—Who Wins? Who Loses?

The basic argument in favor of government lotteries is that they bring in millions of dollars to government, money that would probably otherwise be had only by raising taxes. ‘And how easy it is!’ say supporters. It’s like a tax that no one is required to pay; it’s voluntary. In fact, people are eager to pay; they wait in line to pay!

But what are some of the charges against lotteries?

One is that lottery advertisements are often uninformative or just plain misleading. They promote the idea that you are going to win. Typical is a Canadian lottery advertisement that states: “We make it easy to . . . WIN!!”

But how easy is it to win? Alie plays a West German lottery. The advertisement gushes: “Your winning chances are incredible.” Yet, Alie laments: “I’ve played the lottery for ten years, and I have never won anything. And I don’t know anybody else who has won anything either.”

For every big winner, there are millions like Alie, losers who put out their money week after week, year after year, but who get nothing in return. In the United States, those who win $1 million are 0.000008 percent of the 97 million lottery gamblers there.

The odds against winning a top prize are not merely one in a million (roughly, the odds against a person’s being struck by lightning); they can be one in many millions. For example, when it became clear that the bigger the jackpot, the more tickets were sold, the odds against winning the New York Lotto game shot up from 1 in 6 million to 1 in 12.9 million!

Little wonder that people charge lotteries with hustling unwary purchasers oblivious to the enormous odds against them. Dr. Valerie Lorenz, director of the U.S. National Center for Pathological Gambling, states simply: “Lotteries? It’s the biggest sucker bet there is. The odds are so outrageously against you.”

And what if you do win a million dollars? You won’t get it all. After the tax man takes his cut, winners in the United States receive $35,000 each year for 20 years. That is $700,000, reduced further in value by inflation over the 20 years.

Effect on the Poor

Another criticism is that the big spenders are poor people, those least able to afford it. Lottery promoters argue that this is untrue, that surveys show that the lottery is more popular among middle-income people. Lotteries are voluntary, they say; no one is compelled to play. Nevertheless, advertisements deliberately inflame the desires of players, and many are poor people. Said a convenience-store cashier in Florida: “We have a fixed group of people that we see every week. Some buy 10 tickets every day. Some buy 100 every week. They don’t have money for food, but they play ‘Lotto.’”

In some less developed countries, the situation is often even worse. Recently the Indonesian government reexamined its Porkas football lottery when the media reported that entire villages had gone “Porkas crazy.” Asiaweek magazine reported: “[Indonesian] newspapers were full of horror accounts: men beating their wives or children; children stealing money from their parents; children spending hard-earned money allocated for school fees​—all for Porkas.”

With the proliferation of lotteries worldwide, more and more people are introduced to gambling. Some, not just the poor, become compulsive gamblers​—lottery addicts. Arnie Wexler heads the Council on Compulsive Gambling in New Jersey, U.S.A. He says: “The legislators think they’ve found a painless, easy way to raise money, when, in fact, they’re destroying a lot of families, and a lot of businesses, and a lot of human beings, and a lot of lives.”

A Question of Values

Another major concern is that government lotteries have changed people’s attitudes toward gambling. Today’s State-operated “Play 3” or “Lucky Numbers” lotteries offer thousand-to-one odds but return only about 50 percent in prize money. Before government got into the business, the game was “vicious,” an illegal racket, a vice. Now the same game is called entertainment, fun, an act of civic responsibility!

Of course, an important difference between the illegal numbers game and government lotteries is that instead of profits going into the pockets of criminals, they support government projects. Nevertheless, many observers worry about the impact of lotteries on the ethical values of the society they are supposed to benefit.

This is because lotteries feed the hope and inclination to become rich without effort. Paul Dworin, editor of Gaming and Wagering Business, said: “In the past, the state has said that if you work hard, you’ll do well. Now, it’s, ‘Buy a ticket and you’ll be a millionaire.’ That’s a strange message for a state to send.” And George Will wrote in Newsweek: “The more people believe in the importance of luck, chance, randomness, fate, the less they believe in the importance of stern virtues such as industriousness, thrift, deferral of gratification, diligence, studiousness.”

Another concept, central to human society, is this: Individuals should not try to profit from the misfortunes of others. The promoters of lotteries, however, encourage the view that it is right for an individual to draw profit and pleasure through the losses of others. Such thinking is selfish; it spurns the Bible’s admonition: “You must love your neighbor as yourself.”​—Matthew 22:39.

Despite the many voices of opposition, lotteries continue to grow dramatically throughout the earth. A visitor to West Africa observed hundreds of people massed around a State lottery building. “Why do all these people squander their money on the lottery,” he asked a resident, observing, “especially since they are poor people?”

“My friend, they play the lottery because it gives them hope,” replied the resident. “For many of them, it’s the only hope they have in life.”

But is winning the lottery really a hope? It’s much more an illusion, a mirage, an improbable dream. Certainly a conscientious Christian will not waste his time and resources in the vain pursuit of gambling wealth. How much better it is to follow the counsel of the apostle Paul, who wrote that wise people “rest their hope, not on uncertain riches, but on God, who furnishes us all things richly for our enjoyment.”​—1 Timothy 6:17.

[Blurb on page 8]

“The legislators think they’ve found a painless, easy way to raise money, when, in fact, they’re destroying a lot of families, and a lot of businesses, and a lot of human beings, and a lot of lives”

[Box on page 9]

Best Tips for Gamblers

“There is no colder smile than that of a bookmaker greeting a winning client. . . . It is a rare bookmaker who prevents a punter [gambler] from betting because his client is losing too much. . . . Remember, too, that successful punters are as rare as impoverished bookmakers.”​—Graham Rock, The Times, London.

“The guaranteed jackpot of $45 million in tonight’s Lotto drawing is the largest in New York State history. But the odds of winning it with a $1 bet are 12,913,582 to 1.”​—The New York Times.

“A fool and his money are soon parted.” Saying current since the 16th century.​—Familiar Quotations, by John Bartlett.

“Gambler, don’t rejoice; whoever wins today loses tomorrow.”​—A Spanish proverb.

World Cup Soccer​—Sport or War?

By Awake! correspondent in Italy

THE world’s attention focused on soccer. From June 8 to July 8, 1990, the eyes of hundreds of millions of people were glued to their television screens to follow the event of the year​—the World Cup soccer championships held in Italy. A total worldwide television audience of 30,000,000,000 people watched in the course of 52 games​—that’s six times the world’s population!

This television spectacle was made possible by an unprecedented high-technology organization​—a TV production center serving 147 networks representing 118 nations, with 180 television cameras, 38 production units, and 1,500 technicians. Also present at the games, held in 12 Italian soccer stadiums, were 2,515,000 spectators and 6,000 journalists from all over the world. The figures, however, do not tell the whole story. In order to describe this gigantic “escape from reality,” as some termed it, writers, sociologists, psychologists, artists, and even theologians commented on the event.

However, did World Cup soccer contribute to international harmony and sportsmanship? United by their passion for this sport, did the millions of people who watched the games via satellite manage to overcome their nationalistic antagonisms during those 30 days? Did soccer serve as a force for unity?

Sport or War?

Let us consider just one aspect typical of so many modern sporting events​—violence. This phenomenon occurs frequently at soccer matches​—on the field, in the stands, and outside the stadium. Psychologists, sociologists, and journalists agree that in a world so intensely violent, sport is no exception. Fundamental moral values are being relentlessly subverted. As an attempt to whitewash the violent realities of modern sport, the use of phrases such as “sport is an honest encounter,” “the spirit of friendship,” or “brotherhood” doesn’t work.

The World Cup championship was no exception. Some time before they began, alarming reports were heard. “Violent Soccer Fanaticism Scares and the Tourists Desert Italy,” read a headline in La Repubblica 18 days before the first match. The most feared were the notorious hooligans, a segment of English soccer fans known all over Europe for their vandalism before, during, and after every game.a

The June 1, 1990, edition of Turin’s daily La Stampa analyzed the causes of the violence in the stadiums and the boorish behavior of the hooligans, commenting: “In the soccer tribe, by now there are no half measures. Adversaries are no longer just adversaries but ‘enemies’; a clash is not the exception but the rule, and it must be hard, as hard as possible.” But why? “‘Because we hate one another,’ answered some soccer hooligans from Bologna.” Attempting to explain the logic behind such hatred, sociologist Antonio Roversi said: “The stadium kids suffer from the ‘bedouin syndrome.’ Those suffering from this syndrome consider their friend’s enemies to be their enemies, their enemy’s friends to be their enemies, and, vice versa, the friend of a friend is a friend and the enemy of an enemy is a friend.”

Hatred, violence, rivalry, vandalism, the “bedouin syndrome”​—the World Cup soccer championships had yet to kick off, and already the atmosphere was that of a declaration of war. In spite of this, Italy prepared for the event in a festive mood.

Papal Blessing

Even the pope, who is not one to miss out on a massive audience, visited the World Cup “temple,” the refurbished Olympic Stadium in Rome, and blessed it. He said: “Apart from being a festival of sport, the World Football Championships can become a festival of solidarity between the peoples.” He added that modern sport must avoid terrible dangers, such as the obsessive quest for material gain, excessive emphasis on the spectacular, doping, fraud, and violence. He hoped “that the efforts and sacrifices made will make ‘Italia ’90’ a moment of growth in brotherhood for your fellow citizens and for all people.” Jesuit Paride Di Luca, an ex-soccer player, echoed the pope’s feelings in his ‘Soccer Fan’s Prayer’ when he said: “Come, O my God, and see the World Cup.”

But was the World Cup really a great festival? Would the God of the universe be concerned? Let us take a look at sport as it really is, at the values it exalts.

Sports Hooligans

Because of the hooligans, cities such as Cagliari and Turin lived under a state of siege for all of the first phase of the championships. Here are some of the newspaper headlines: “Rimini Shaken by the Warfare”; “Cagliari, War Breaks Out”; “Violence at Turin: A German and a Briton Knifed”; “A Day of Rioting Between English, German, and Italian Fans”; “Save Us From the English Fans​—The Mayor of Turin Launches an Appeal”; “Nights of Clashes Between Extremists. The Mayor: The Ones From Turin Are the Real Hooligans.” Here is another chilling example: “‘How to Stab an Opposing Fan’​—Published in England, the Manual of the Perfect Hooligan.” These headlines are enough to give a picture of the situation. But such things are only a natural product of a society that feeds on violence.

The great sporting event did not end on a happy note. The derogatory whistling of the Italian fans at the Argentinean team and its champion, Maradona, for having eliminated the Italian team, overshadowed the joy of the final and ruined the closing match. That July evening, there was no “great sporting brotherhood” in the Olympic Stadium; the World Cup “temple” was profaned. Il Tempo of July 10, 1990, commented: “Out on the field, they offended the game​—in the stands, they sullied the sport.”

A sad conclusion to an event that some had hoped would make the world a “global village” without barriers for at least 30 days. But if soccer cannot establish peace and harmony on or off the field, is it realistic to think that it can influence world peace?

A Balanced View of Soccer

La Stampa exalted soccer, describing it as “a sacred residue of ancestral struggles, the football as the symbol of unpredictability, the essence of all sporting contests.” Considering this line of thought, how should a sincere Christian view soccer? Indeed, how should a Christian view all professional sports?

‘Those who do not love soccer are missing something in their lives,’ Bertrand Russell is alleged to have said. Of course, playing soccer or any other sport may be both enjoyable and healthy, especially when so many people live a sedentary life. But does this mean that there are no dangers involved?

The Bible states: “Let us not become egotistical, stirring up competition with one another, envying one another.” (Galatians 5:26) The World Cup championships amply demonstrated how violence and the win-at-all-costs attitude often go hand in hand. This is the negative side of professional sports. In order to avoid such “works of the flesh,” Christians, both participants and spectators, must keep their spirit in check, especially concerning the desire to be number one. (Galatians 5:19-21) Remember the poet’s expression: “For when the One Great Scorer comes to write against your name, he marks​—not that you won or lost—​but how you played the game.”

Another aspect that should not be overlooked is the time factor. Are you among the millions of assiduous television viewers who spend endless hours watching sports events? In contrast, how much of your time do you spend doing physical exercise? Balance​—this is the key word. It means finding time for physical exercise and recreation, without neglecting the more important spiritual activities. The apostle Paul gave young Timothy counsel that is even more valid today: “Bodily training is beneficial for a little; but godly devotion is beneficial for all things, as it holds promise of the life now and that which is to come.”​—1 Timothy 4:8.

[Footnotes]

[Picture Credit Line on page 10]

Photo Agenzia Giuliani

Tracking the Albatross

The wandering albatross, famed for its ship-following flight, has long fascinated seafarers. The bird’s three-yard [3 m] wingspan contributes to its graceful, seemingly effortless ability to glide. Large webbed toes support the bird when it is standing; when it is flying, they provide flight control, acting as a rudder, as they project beyond the bird’s short tail.

This bird, often weighing almost 20 pounds [9 kg], has an impressive take-off procedure. “The take-off of an Albatross is aerodynamically similar to that of a seaplane. Stretching out its neck and spreading its wings, it paddles at full speed into the wind with its webbed feet. Soon the bird’s breast is out of the water with only the feet beating the surface. The moment it is airborne the Albatross resumes its aerodynamic shape, neck retracted and undercarriage drawn up.”​—The New Larousse Encyclopedia of Animal Life.

This master of the turbulent atmosphere between latitudes of 40 and 60 degrees south nests on isolated islands. From there it forages great distances for food. But how far does it roam?

Scientists fitted tiny transmitters to six male wandering albatross that nested in the southwestern Indian Ocean. Using satellites to track them, the researchers were amazed to find that the albatross traveled between 2,250 and 9,375 miles [3,620 and 15,090 km] at speeds of nearly 50 miles per hour [80 km/​hr]. In just 33 days, these seabirds clocked 10,000 miles [16,000 km], about seven times farther than previously believed possible.

The outstanding flight ability of the albatross surely evokes praise for its Designer.​—Psalm 148:10, 13.

The Guitar​—What Goes In Is What Comes Out

ANDRÉS Segovia, Carlos Montoya, and Chet Atkins are names known to millions of people worldwide. What do they have in common? They have entertained audiences by playing a fragile, wooden, stringed instrument​—the guitar.

The sound of the guitar is heard around the earth, played by amateur and professional alike. One of those responsible for its increased respect is the late Spanish concert guitarist Andrés Segovia, who took the guitar out of obscurity and turned it into a classical concert instrument.

Why is the guitar so popular? Possibly because its sound, whether in the flamenco, classical, or modern style, evokes differing moods. Yet another factor is that it is so easy to carry.

Whatever may be the reasons for its popularity, the way a guitar is constructed makes a big difference in the sound. The best guitars are usually created with great love and care by a person commonly known as a luthier. Let us visit a luthier’s workshop in Tennessee, U.S.A., and watch the making of a guitar.

Where Quality Goes In

As we are welcomed into his workshop, our attention is drawn to the enormous quantity of wood. But this is not just any sort of wood. Each piece has been carefully selected and stored for future guitars. Spruce and cedar for the top; rosewood, mahogany, and maple for the back and sides; and mahogany and Spanish cedar for the neck. For flamenco guitars Spanish cypress and sycamore are usually used for back and sides. Picking up a piece, we notice that it has a date marked on it. Our luthier friend explains: “I prefer not to use any wood until it has dried naturally for about five years.” Why is that? “Because years of experience have proved that the age, the quality of the wood, and the luthier’s skill determine the final characteristics of the guitar.”

Let’s watch over our luthier’s shoulder as he builds a classical guitar. Guitars generally fall into two categories: classical, or Spanish, and steel string. What are the differences? He answers: “The differences between the two are many, but the choice of string material is the easiest way to distinguish each type. As its name implies, the steel-string guitar has metal strings. It is made in many sizes and shapes. On the other hand, on the classical guitar nylon or animal intestines, catgut, is used for string material on three strings and metal-spun silk on the other three.”

Our luthier prefers to have each customer visit his shop so he can listen to him play. In this way he can tailor a guitar to its client. How? Our builder explains: “I watch how strongly they attack the strings, the type of sound they produce. I also want to know how they will use the guitar. Then I can adjust the building procedure slightly to match them personally. Do they play softly? Then I make certain parts of the guitar thinner or smaller so that it produces sound more easily. Are they aggressive? Then the guitar must be made slightly heavier.”

Construction​—Step-by-Step

The body top, or sound table: The actual construction begins by selecting the woods to be used. Our luthier picks carefully through a stack of spruce and occasionally holds a piece close to his ear and taps it with his finger. He’s listening for many things; is the sound clear, loud, musical, and of long duration, or does it respond with a dull thud? Almost all body tops and backs are made from two matching pieces of wood. They are sawed from one board and then opened up like a book. In this way both halves look alike and have the same musical potential.​—See photo below.

The rosette: The top is thinned to approximately 1/8 inch, [3 mm] and the beautiful sound-hole reinforcement, or rosette, is carefully fitted into a channel cut for it. The rosette is made from many pieces of wood of different colors and is one place where the luthier can express his artistic ability. It often requires one full day’s work to make and inlay a rosette. When the glue of the rosette has dried thoroughly, the top is thinned further, usually to about 1/10 inch. [2.5 mm] The top is now cut to the outline of the guitar, and all the reinforcing braces are glued to the underside of the top. These braces are important to the sound production and the physical strength of the guitar. Most luthiers agree that the top produces most of the sound and is the single most important part of the guitar.

Rosewood from Brazil is usually the first choice of the luthier for the back and sides because of its beautiful grain patterns, variety of colors, and sound-producing characteristics.

The Delicate Use of Wood

Body sides: The luthier next thins the rosewood sides of the guitar to about 3/32 inch. [2.4 mm] Now comes one of the most difficult steps, bending the sides to the shape of the guitar. The rosewood sides are usually soaked in water for 24 hours, then bent to shape by pressing them against a hot pipe. The water in the wood turns to steam, which softens the wood, allowing it to be gently coaxed into the desired shape. “Oh, yes,” our luthier says, “I broke a few while I was learning.” The luthier who makes only a few guitars prefers to bend the sides this way because it allows him to adjust the curve of the sides slightly on each guitar, and rarely are two of his guitars of exactly the same shape.

The neck: Now comes the rough shaping of the neck. The woods most often used are mahogany and Spanish cedar. These woods are chosen because of their strength, stability, and relatively light weight. Since this is a classical guitar, it will follow the Spanish school of building, which means that the sides will be glued into slots cut into the neck, and the neck will not be removable, as is the case with other guitars. It will receive its final shaping after the guitar is completely glued together.

The top is now glued to the sides, but since the sides are so thin, a strip of wood called a lining is bent to shape and glued to the sides. Willow is sometimes chosen because it is lightweight and bends easily when soaked in water.

The back: Next, our luthier begins work on the Brazilian rosewood back. Most luthiers prefer to use a back that closely matches the color and grain of the sides. Listen closely as our builder thins the back a little, holds it in his hands and tests its stiffness by bending it, taps it and listens to its ring, and then thins some more. When the wood is thin enough, the ring sounds as if a metal sheet had been struck. The three cross braces are next glued on. These are usually made from spruce or mahogany, which are chosen for their strength, light weight, and stability with changes of humidity. Their strength is vital, since the back is so thin. For the next step, the back is glued on exactly as the top was.

Now it is beginning to look like a guitar. The top and back were left a little oversize, so they are now cut down to final shape. To protect the edges of the guitar, thin strips of wood are glued around the edges of the top and back. Rosewood is usually chosen because of its beauty and strength.

Where the Music Starts

The fingerboard and the bridge: Only the ebony fingerboard and the rosewood bridge remain to be glued on. The fingerboard is thinned to 1/4 inch [6 mm] and sawed to its final outline. The metal frets, or ridges, are next driven into slots cut into the fingerboard at precisely spaced intervals. The intervals are determined by a mathematical formula, and their exact location is critical. If they are mislocated, the ear will immediately hear the mistake, and the guitar will be unacceptable. The fingerboard is glued to the roughly shaped neck, and work starts on the last vital piece, the bridge.

The bridge is a small piece of rosewood, glued to the sound table, to which the strings are tied. Its location is equally as important as the fret spacing and is determined by the same mathematical formula. No, our luthier doesn’t have to calculate this for each guitar. He simply makes each guitar the same size and uses the same spacing on each one. The way the bridge is glued is vital. Some guitarists have had the embarrassing experience of having a bridge come loose! And little wonder, when you remember that stretched guitar strings can exert a force of over a hundred pounds, [45 kg] to which is added the force produced by the vibration of the strings.

A Smooth Finish

But we’re getting a little ahead of ourselves. Remember that roughly shaped neck? Well, it has to be carved to its final shape. Our luthier explains: “I like to have the guitar’s new owner present at this stage so he can approve the neck shape, since a good guitarist can feel a difference of 1/32 inch [1 mm] in the thickness!”

Our guitar is almost complete now. There remains only the final cleanup, smoothing, and finishing with sandpaper. Once our luthier is satisfied with the smoothness and shape of his creation, he will apply a finish to protect the guitar.

Luthiers’ opinions vary as to the optimum finish for the guitar. However, most modern luthiers use a quick-drying lacquer, which is sprayed on. When lacquer is used, the guitar finish can be applied and the instrument can be played in about two weeks. Which finish techniques produce the best sounding guitar? Our friend answers: “There are differing viewpoints, but many of the great old guitars from Spain were finished with French polish. This finish, however, often requires reapplication in as few as five years.”

Music at Last!

Our excitement mounts as the moment of truth arrives! The strings are tied to the bridge at one end and to the tuning machines, or pegs, in the guitar head. Finally comes the testing of the sound. The strings stop stretching and stay in tune, holding the correct notes. At last, after a long and patient process, we have a guitar!

But it is not yet ready for professional use. The luthier explains: “Usually a new guitar does not reach its best until it has been played for about six months. Generally, you can tell a lot about the guitar’s potential soon after its completion. Are the bass notes full and booming? Do the higher notes tinkle like small glass bells? Does the guitar respond with a balanced sound regardless of where on the fingerboard it’s played? The quality of the sounds produced by the musician will depend to a large degree on the skill of the luthier in choosing the optimum materials and bringing them together in a design that maximizes their full potential.”

So the next time you listen entranced to some brilliant guitar player, remember that what goes into the guitar, the choice of materials and the luthier’s skill, determines to a great extent what comes out.​—Contributed.

[Pictures on page 15]

Left: The block of wood from which the two halves of the sound table are made

Right: Fitting the rosette and shaping the sides

[Pictures on page 16]

[Picture on page 17]

Fitting the frets in the neck

Young People Ask . . .

What’s the Harm in Flirting?

“SARAH! Sarah!” the boy whispers from a few rows back. “Come sit here by me!” Every five minutes he repeats his plea​—in vain. To Sarah, the boy’s attempts at classroom flirtation are little more than a daily irritation.

Young Jennifer is not yet old enough to attend secondary [high] school, but she relates: “Boys will say things with double meanings and will act in a way that’s not just friendly.” “The eyes!” adds Erika. “They look at you with these big phony smiles, and out of nowhere they get this really deep voice​—it makes me laugh. And they get really close to you.” Boys too are often exposed to flirtation. John, a teenager, relates: “The girls [in school] try to get near you and touch you, put their arms around you. They come up in the halls and try to hug you.”

Admittedly, many youths seem to enjoy the attention. “It’s fun,” declared a girl named Connie who encourages lustful stares by dressing provocatively. Many youths enjoy spreading the attention too. “I’m a girl who likes to flirt with all guys​—whether I like them or not,” wrote one girl to ’Teen magazine. “Flirting makes me feel more confident and charming.”

How, then, should a Christian youth view flirting? Is it just innocent fun, an inevitable phase on the road to love? Or are there some real dangers to avoid?

What Flirting Involves

In the English language, flirting is not the same as the legitimate attention a man might pay a woman (or vice versa) in the opening stages of courtship. Rather, it means “to behave amorously [romantically] without serious intent.” The French call a woman who behaves in this manner a coquette.

Exactly what constitutes flirtatious behavior, though, is not so easy to pinpoint. Flirting may involve a look, a touch, a tone of voice, a coy smile​—even the way one dresses, stands, or carries oneself. While flirting may be hard to define, however, it is usually quite easy to identify when a person is the object of it. In any event, if one is simply too young to pursue marriage, coquettish or flirtatious behavior is downright hazardous!

Dangerous “Fun”?

Not that it is wrong in itself to feel attracted to someone of the opposite sex. Indeed, during “the bloom of youth,” it is only natural for such feelings to be strong; it is the way the Creator made us. (1 Corinthians 7:36) Perhaps you wonder how attractive you are; flirting may seem like a harmless way to find out. ’Teen magazine even encouraged girls to flirt by declaring, “Flirting Can Be Fun!” The ensuing article gave detailed instructions in the art of flirting.

But the mere fact that flirting may be called fun does not make it beneficial or wholesome. Consider the attitude of the righteous man Job. He once said: “A covenant I have concluded with my eyes. So how could I show myself attentive to a virgin?” (Job 31:1, 9-11) In effect, Job made a contract with himself that he would control his eyes and never flirtatiously glance at an unmarried woman. Why? Because Job was a married man. Indulging in petty flirtations would have been inappropriate, a disloyalty to his wife. At the very least, it could have aroused wrong desires and expectations. Job therefore avoided flirting.

True, you are not married. But when you think of it, do you have a legitimate reason to show yourself attentive to a particular member of the opposite sex any more than did Job? After all, if you are not old enough to marry, what would be the point? What would you do if he or she responded? Are you really in a position to take a relationship to its logical goal​—marriage?a If not, flirting creates little more than frustration.

Ego Boosting

Oftentimes, though, romantic involvement is the last thing on the mind of a flirt. He or she may view grabbing the attention of the opposite sex as a sort of game or sport. A Christian girl named Maria, for example, was well aware of the Bible’s command not to get romantically yoked with an unbeliever. (2 Corinthians 6:14) But she mistakenly believed that there was no harm in flirting with the boys she went to school with. “Once I got their attention,” she quickly explains, “that was the end of it. You get to the point where they ask you out, and that’s where you stop.” But is that where they stop?

Writer Kathy McCoy observed in an article for Seventeen magazine: “Sexual game-players are often people with low self-esteem who try to get good feelings about themselves through the attention and admiration of others.” Getting a reaction to a seductive glance or touch may indeed boost your ego​—but only temporarily. Besides, the Bible writer Paul, when discussing true love, tender affection, and Christian unity, warned Christians to do ‘nothing out of egotism,’ or “personal vanity,” as one translation put it.​—Philippians 2:1-3; The New English Bible.

There are far more effective and lasting ways to build self-esteem than by trifling with others’ feelings. Why not try working on building up “the inner man,” or the person you are within?​—2 Corinthians 4:16, The Jerusalem Bible.

“Shooting Fiery Missiles”

An article in Seventeen magazine points to yet another danger, saying: “The difficult thing about flirting is that it means different things to different people, and sometimes meanings get misread​—and feelings get hurt.”

Yes, youths often naively underestimate the damage flirting can wreak on another’s feelings. It is as a wise proverb says: “Just like someone mad that is shooting fiery missiles, arrows and death, so is the man that has tricked his fellowman and has said: ‘Was I not having fun?’” (Proverbs 26:18, 19) The power to affect the emotions of others is potentially lethal. Like any power, it must be used cautiously, responsibly.

Flirtation is misleading, unloving, and often cruel. It can sour a potentially healthy, pleasant relationship. It can cheapen you in the eyes of others. Worse yet, it can lead to premature romantic involvement or even sexual immorality! The Bible warns: “Can a man rake together fire into his bosom and yet his very garments not be burned?”​—Proverbs 6:27.

‘I Want People to Like Me’

Of course, it’s only natural to want to be liked. And it may seem to you that flirts have all the fun, that those who know how to turn on the charm have the most friends. But does a flirt really make genuine, lasting friendships? Hardly. True, some may like a flirt as long as the attention is being directed to them. But when the attention is suddenly bestowed upon someone else, they usually feel quite disgusted with the flirt.

Not surprisingly, then, in one survey of teenage girls, 80 percent judged a “flirtatious nature” in a boy as not having “any merit at all.” As an ancient proverb says: “The cruel person is bringing ostracism upon his own organism.”​—Proverbs 11:17.

Wholesome Relationships

Granted, it’s not always easy hitting the right balance in dealing with the opposite sex. A teenage girl named Kelly says she has “a hard time finding the difference between being friendly and flirting.” She adds: “I’m very, very friendly.”

There is nothing wrong with being outgoing. And it is not necessary to hide inside a shell or to manifest a cold exterior. Being able to carry on upbuilding, intelligent conversations is a skill that can help you win friends. Besides, open conversation is less likely to be misinterpreted than are unexplained glances or shy smiles from across a room. But if you are friendly only with peers of the opposite sex and virtually ignore others, might not some draw a wrong conclusion about you?

The key is “keeping an eye, not in personal interest upon just your own matters, but also in personal interest upon those of the others”​—regardless of age or sex. (Philippians 2:4) Steer clear of speech, dress, grooming, or actions that could be viewed as provocative. (Compare 1 Timothy 2:9.) If you have a reputation for showing a genuine interest in people in general, rarely will friendliness be mistaken for a romantic come-on. By your speech and actions, you can send a clear message: ‘I am not in the flirting business!’

[Footnotes]

[Picture on page 20]

Show a genuine interest in all people​—regardless of their age or sex

1492​—Not Just Discovery

WHY is 1492 such an important date in human history? It is usually remembered as the year in which Christopher Columbus sailed from Spain to discover the New World in the west. However, in his book The Conquest of Paradise, Kirkpatrick Sale also recalls the date for other reasons. He writes:

“On August 2, 1492, the day before Colón [Columbus] sailed from Palos [Huelva, Spain], the final deadline arrived for the expulsion from Spain of its entire Jewish population. According to a royal decree . . . , all Jews, of whatever age or station or position, were to be summarily expelled. The best estimates are that some 120,000 to 150,000 people were forced to flee from homes and lands their families had occupied for generations, in some cases centuries, and to take with them only their immediate personal possessions​—not, however, their gold, silver, jewels, or currency, which were to be left behind for the [Catholic] crown and its agents.”

In Sale’s book, that same year goes down in history for another infamous event:

“On the night of August 10, 1492, with the power and money of Ferdinand of Aragon behind him, Rodrigo de Borja, a Spanish member of the noted Borgia family, bribed, threatened, argued, and blackmailed his way into becoming the supreme pontiff, Vicar of Christ and Pope of the Church of Rome, taking the papal name Alexander VI. A man of great wealth and unabashedly high living, he was, despite his holy vows, the father of an unknown number of children in both Castile and Rome, including Cesare and Lucrezia, . . . and even in his own time acknowledged as the ultimate symbol of a papacy then in the dregs of a century-long decadence. His papacy was marked . . . by the open auction of lucrative ecclesiastical offices to the richest and most corrupt of his holy curia, and by his own personal chicaneries in office, including bribery, sexual assignations, live-in mistresses, and oral readings of pornography from the papal library.”​—The Conquest of Paradise, pages 13, 16.

Catholic Pilgrimage​—Based on Fact or Myth?

By Awake! correspondent in Spain

EVERY summer Europe witnesses a massive pilgrimage. By bus, car, and plane, millions swarm southward in search of sea and sunshine. Their favorite mecca? The beaches of Spain. But unknown to most of the beach lovers, some of these tourists are traveling the very route their Catholic forefathers trod centuries ago.

Of course, the medieval pilgrims were a different breed. Their goal was a shrine, not sunshine; their promised reward, a divine pardon, not a suntan. Peasants, princes, soldiers, and scoundrels trudged by the thousands some 600 miles [1,000 km] across Spain’s northern hinterland, bound for Santiago de Compostela, a small, damp city on the remote northwestern tip of the Iberian Peninsula.

What venerable object could have persuaded those people to trek hundreds of miles across snowy peaks and scorching plains, to brave highwaymen and hunger, disease and even death? It was believed to be the shrine of “Saint” James, Santiago, the patron “saint” of Spain. His “sacred relics” exerted an extraordinary attraction on the faithful from all over medieval Europe. Today a cathedral stands on the site. How did it all begin?

A City Built on a Vision

It started with one of those “miraculous” visions that pop up frequently in the pages of Spanish history. One evening in 813 C.E., a hermit by the name of Pelagius saw a celestial phenomenon. He dutifully called his bishop, and eventually a marble tomb was discovered. The corpses it contained were supposedly identified as none other than those of the apostle James and two of his disciples. The local king, Alfonso the Chaste, visited the site, declared that the remains were genuine, and proclaimed James “Protector of Spain.”

Thus, the country’s patron “saint” was born. The timing of that discovery was fortunate for the embattled “Christian” enclaves in northern Spain, surrounded as they were by Muslims. It was just the relic they needed to try to offset the ‘arm of the Prophet Muḥammad,’ housed in Córdoba, southern Spain, which was reputed to make the Moors invincible. “Saint” James soon became the standard-bearer around whom the people could be rallied to fight against the Moors, who were occupying most of the peninsula.

In the 11th century, a cathedral was built over the burial place, and the city of Santiago de Compostela (literally, “Saint James of the star field”) arose on the very site where Pelagius saw his starry vision. In a short time, Santiago became one of Christendom’s foremost pilgrimage centers​—surpassed only by Jerusalem and Rome. But why did the bones of this supposed apostle acquire such significance?

The Making of the Myth

A curious blend of legend, myth, and religious lore assigns a special place to “Saint” James in Spanish history. According to some Catholic historians, this apostle was Spain’s first Christian missionary. It is said that he spent several years preaching in Galicia (northwestern Spain) shortly after Jesus’ death. But only nine converts resulted from that campaign. Apparently discouraged by so little success, he made his way eastward and was heartened by a spectacular appearance of Mary, the mother of Jesus (who, however, was still alive in Palestine). She appeared to him atop a marble pillar and in “mortal flesh” in the Roman town called Caesaraugusta (later known as Zaragoza), in the northeast of the peninsula. The legend says that when she departed, the pillar remained, and centuries later it became a pilgrimage shrine.a

Shortly afterward, James returned to Jerusalem, where he suffered a martyr’s death at the hand of King Herod. (Acts 12:1-3) According to legend, his disciples rescued the corpse, took it down to the coast, and from Jaffa embarked on a miraculous ship made of stone. After a week’s journey (that covered over 3,000 miles [5,000 km]!), they arrived in Galicia, where they buried their master in an unmarked tomb, the location of which was eventually lost.

Centuries passed, and it was this tomb that was supposedly rediscovered by the hermit. And the myth became reality for the “Christian” soldiers. Before long, “James” himself was seen fighting on behalf of the “Christians.” According to tradition, he appeared in the decisive battle of Clavijo and, mounted on a white charger, helped to vanquish the Moors. After that victory he became popularly known as Santiago Matamoros (Saint James, the Moor-slayer).​—Compare Matthew 26:52.

Other miraculous powers of a more benevolent nature were attributed to him. One legend tells about a young man who was riding on horseback along the shore to meet his bride to be. Suddenly, a huge wave engulfed him, and he was swept away. His betrothed appealed to “Saint” James, who obligingly caused the young man to come forth from the sea, his garments covered with white shells. Thus the cockleshell became the symbol of Spain’s patron “saint” and of the pilgrims who traveled to his shrine.

The Magic Behind the Myth

Throughout most of the Middle Ages, relics of famous “saints” were what moved men and monarchs. They were trusted to protect the pious from harm​—William the Conqueror had several relics strung around his neck at the Battle of Hastings, in which he defeated King Harold of England. Pilgrims were assured that contact with venerable “saintly” bones would guarantee divine favor.

Relics were worth more than gold, and no cathedral in Christendom was complete without them. A flourishing trade in relics developed, and there were some cases of blatant fraud. A 12th-century abbot protested that if two heads of John the Baptist were conserved in two different churches, either John was two-headed or one must be a fake.

Nevertheless, the relics were what the common people believed in and fought for. In the name of “Saint” James, the Spanish armies warred against the Moors and other European powers. They colonized the New World in his name, and cities named Santiago sprang up all over Latin America.

The Medieval Package Tour

One historian observes that during the Middle Ages, “pilgrimages to the sites of important relics . . . became the chief motive for travel.” Not surprisingly, the supposed shrine of such a miracle worker as “Saint” James attracted the faithful from far and wide. Thus, during Santiago’s medieval heyday, Spain experienced its first tourist boom.

“Kings and commoners, bishops and monks, saints and sinners, knights and squires”​—half a million of them every year—​flocked to Santiago from all over Europe, converting “The Way of St. James” into one of Europe’s busiest highways. This was an enormous number, considering that the total population of Europe in the 11th century was only about 30 million and that the journey through Spain took several months.

After crossing the Pyrenees from France, the pilgrims still had to walk another 600 miles [1,000 km] across the rugged mountains and dusty plains of northern Spain. Those who endured this marathon would muster what little energy remained to break into a final sprint. The first to see the cathedral spires of Santiago shouted, “Mi gozo!” (My joy!) and was elected “king” of the group he traveled with. Thus the surname of many families was coined. Not a few of those called King, König, Rey, Leroy, or Rex may well owe their name to some ancient forebear who still had the stamina to run and shout after several months on the road to Santiago.

Today some might admire the spirit of those hardy travelers who sacrificed so much of their time, health, and money on what for many became their last journey. Doubtless the majority were moved by sincere belief, belief in a relic they never saw​—the bones were encased in an ornate casket behind metal bars. In fact, for three hundred years, the bones were missing. They were hidden away when the shrine was threatened and were not restored until 1879.

Basis for True Faith

Jesus’ apostles traveled considerably, not to establish or visit shrines, but rather to preach the gospel. They devoted much time to the study of God’s Word, something that would really build up lasting faith. Such a faith, based on accurate knowledge, can protect us from falling prey to myths and traditions of men, which still mislead many.​—Matthew 15:9; 1 Timothy 2:3, 4.

However quaint religious traditions and legends may be, they are no substitute for true faith. Scripturally, there is no reason to believe that James ever visited Spain. (See box.) Even if he did and his bones were interred in Santiago, that would be no reason to venerate them. The Scriptures urge us to put our faith in the living, invisible God and in his Word, the Bible, and not in relics.​—2 Corinthians 5:7; 1 Thessalonians 1:9; compare Matthew 23:27, 28.

[Footnotes]

[Box on page 24, 25]

Was James Ever in Spain?

1. There is no Scriptural record of the apostle James ever having preached outside Palestine. It was Paul, whose missionary service started in 49 C.E., who came to be known as “an apostle to the nations,” not James.​—Romans 11:13; see also Acts 9:15; Galatians 2:7.

2. In the year 55 C.E., Paul, when writing to the Christians in Rome, expressed his “aim not to declare the good news where Christ had already been named.” However, he planned to go to Spain because there was no more “untouched territory” for him in Asia Minor and Greece. This implies that Spain had still not significantly received the Christian message at that date.​—Romans 15:20, 23, 24.

3. In his Historia de la Iglesia Católica (History of the Catholic Church), Jesuit professor Bernardino Llorca admits that for Catholic experts, regarding James’ being in Spain, “the fact that no certain news about it is found until six centuries after the events turns out to be a great difficulty against the authenticity of the fact.”​—Pages 122-3.

[Map on page 24]

(For fully formatted text, see publication)

SPAIN

Paris

Vézelay

Poitiers

Limoges

Arles

Toulouse

Pamplona

Burgos

Astorga

Santiago de Compostela

Atlantic Ocean

[Pictures on page 23]

Santiago de Compostela Cathedral and (inset) James on a white charger

[Credit Line]

Photo: Godo-Foto

The Bible’s Viewpoint

What’s Wrong With Polygamy?

Jane’s troubles began when her father found work in a city.a There, far from their home in rural Africa, he began to live with another woman. “Life was not easy for us,” explains Jane, “because my father did not support us financially; he was supporting his second wife and her children. In my final years of schooling, I often went to bed hungry. Our home was in a bad state of disrepair. On weekends I tried to help my mother by selling fruit, but we could not make ends meet. I used to cry night after night.”

JANE’S experience pinpoints the hardships that a polygamous marriage often imposes upon innocent parties. Venda-speaking people in southern Africa have a name, muhadzinga, that one wife may call another wife in a polygamous household. It comes from a word meaning “roast,” which perhaps well describes the trouble that polygamy often causes between wives.

‘But,’ you may ask, ‘is polygamy wrong? If so, why were some well-known Bible characters polygamous?’

Polygamy in the Bible

God allowed polygamy for a time, as it contributed to the fulfillment of his promise to Abraham: “I shall make a great nation out of you.” (Genesis 12:2; Exodus 1:7) At that time, Abraham’s wife, Sarah, was childless. Eventually, she pleaded with Abraham to produce offspring by her slave girl, Hagar. Interestingly, the Bible clearly describes the problems that this brought upon Abraham’s household.​—Genesis 16:5, 6; 21:8-10.

As for Jacob, Abraham’s grandson, he intended to marry only one woman, Rachel. (Genesis 44:27) It was Jacob’s father-in-law, Laban, who tricked him into marrying both of Laban’s daughters, Rachel and Leah. (Genesis 29:21-28) And it was upon the urging of these wives that Jacob produced offspring by having relations with their maidservants, Bilhah and Zilpah. Again, the Bible does not hide the many problems polygamy brought upon Jacob’s large household.​—Genesis 29:30, 31; 30:1-3, 15, 16, 20; 37:2-4; 44:20-29.

The Bible also records the story of Elkanah, who was the father of Samuel the prophet, and Elkanah’s two wives, Hannah and Peninnah. Hannah was treated so unkindly by Peninnah that she would often cry and lose her appetite. Peninnah, for her part, was apparently jealous because Elkanah showed more love for Hannah.​—1 Samuel 1:4-7.

Indeed, the custom of polygamy has caused hardship. While it was tolerated among God’s ancient people, the Bible clearly shows whether God originally intended that man should be polygamous.

God’s Original Standard

To understand God’s standard for marriage, we have to go back to the beginning of human history. God’s Word describes the attraction Adam felt on being introduced to his one newly created wife, Eve. “This is at last bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh,” he said. “That is why,” the Bible continues, “a man will leave his father and his mother and he must stick to his wife and they must become one flesh.”​—Genesis 2:21-24.

For Christian marriages, Jesus restored God’s original standard​—monogamy. (Matthew 19:4, 5) Furthermore, he showed that married people should now adhere to this divine criterion. As he explained: “They are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore, what God has yoked together let no man put apart.” (Matthew 19:6) Thus, a married Christian must protect the “one flesh” bond that exists between him and his legal mate.b Sexual intercourse with a polygamous third party would desecrate that divine arrangement. Such an act is forbidden in the Christian congregation.​—1 Corinthians 5:11; 6:9, 16, 18; Hebrews 13:4.

It comes as no surprise, then, that the Scriptures make favorable mention of married Christians that have only one wife. (1 Corinthians 9:5; 1 Timothy 3:2) The Bible explains: “Let each man have his own wife [not wives] and each woman have her own husband [not a man who already has a legal wife].”​—1 Corinthians 7:2; Proverbs 5:18.

On learning of the Bible’s prohibition of polygamy, some have taken courageous steps to bring their lives into harmony with God’s will. Consider John, who lives in a city in central Africa.c He used to have three wives. But after studying the Bible with Jehovah’s Witnesses, John came to a personal decision in consultation with his wives. After he made arrangements for the future care of his second and third wives and their children from the former polygamous marriage, they went back to their rural homes. By this means John qualified for the privilege of serving God in association with the local congregation. He also experienced other blessings.

“Every night,” he explains, “I used to come home to a house full of problems. For example, one wife would find fault with the children of another, and the kids would take sides among themselves. The first thing I had to do was to straighten out the mess. Now that I have learned to live with one wife, my home has become a place of rest and peace.”

Certainly, peace with God’s blessing is worth the effort.​—Romans 12:1, 2.

[Footnotes]

[Blurb on page 27]

“Sexual jealousy and bickering are common problems for the [polygamous] family; and a husband must be wise, strong, diplomatic, and shrewd to preserve harmony.”​—The New Encyclopædia Britannica

[Picture on page 26]

Terra-cotta ceramic of African family group; Igbo husband and wives

[Credit Line]

Courtesy of The British Museum

Watching the World

Convention in Mozambique

After being banned for many years, Jehovah’s Witnesses in Mozambique appreciate being allowed greater freedom of worship by the authorities. Recently, a four-day “Pure Language” District Convention was held at the Costa do Sol sports stadium in Maputo, the capital of Mozambique. Reporting on the convention, Tempo, a journal published in Maputo, notes that there were about six thousand present at the convention’s opening session. The discourses were delivered in the Portuguese and Tsonga languages. Tempo adds that the purpose of the convention was to “strengthen Christian unity in spite of language differences that have caused divisions among men.” The article explains that Jehovah’s Witnesses work toward this objective internationally, irrespective of “nationality, race, education, and social position.”

Famine, yet No Lack of Food

“The World Bank’s studies show that in recent years, famine increased, especially in Latin America,” said French economist Jacques Chonchol at a seminar held in São Paulo, Brazil. Although “Famine​—The Challenge of the ’90’s” was its theme, not much hope was voiced for the 1,116,000,000 persons throughout the world who are considered undernourished. “The problem, specialists guarantee, is not due to lack of food,” reports O Estado de S. Paulo. “The world produces enough to satisfy the needs of its 5.3 [thousand million] inhabitants. But people do not have the means to buy food.” Why? Allegedly, famine has increased because of cuts in social programs caused by international debt negotiations. Another reason, according to Chonchol, is: “Famine got worse with urbanization.”

Smoking Politicians

The government of Mexico recently adopted a measure to protect nonsmokers. According to Visión, a Latin-American magazine, smoking is now forbidden in libraries, health centers, movie theaters, vehicles used for public transportation, and government offices that offer services to the public. Restaurants and cafeterias are required to have nonsmoking areas. Those who violate the regulation may face a fine of up to $30. Visión notes, however, that “inside the Chamber of Deputies and the House of Representatives (the legislative bodies that approved the regulation), the measure does not apply because the Mexican politicians are not able to restrain themselves from smoking during working hours.”

Living Together?

According to Le Monde, a Paris daily, marriage is on the decline in France. The trend over the last 20 years shows that more and more couples are choosing to live together without the benefit of marriage. The National Institute of Demographic Studies in France reports that at least half of those who get married have already been living together, in some cases for several years. Many couples may think that living together before marriage increases the chances of success in marriage, but the facts show otherwise. Le Monde notes that “living together prior to marriage does not strengthen the soundness of the marriage union” and that such “unions appear less solid because they end more often in separation.” Statistics show that couples who live together before marriage end up getting divorced more than those who do not.

Passive Children

Over half of Japanese children between the ages of 10 and 15 have their own television sets and TV computer games, and a third of them own personal telephones, according to the Japanese government’s 1990 White Paper on Young People. Most youths spend their leisure time indoors, watching television, reading comics, or playing video games, rather than outdoors. The white paper links the children’s passive indoor activities to their limited ability to socialize with others, including their families, and to their lack of participation in community events. According to the study, about 90 percent of Japanese children said they could not express their deepest thoughts and feelings.

Nut Carving

A seed is now being used as raw material for the manufacture of buttons, jewelry, and figurines for commercial use. Some products are already being mass-produced to satisfy the demands of clothing companies. The seed in question is the tagua nut, a golf-ball-size nut that grows in Ecuador’s forests. National Geographic magazine notes that this “marks a comeback for tagua, used for buttons before plastic largely replaced it in the 1930s.” Researchers for Conservation International have found evidence that tagua carving was practiced in South America as far back as 250 years ago. According to National Geographic, the nuts “also offer a substitute for ivory, now banned from international trade.”

Bird Smuggling

The World Wildlife Fund reports that “at least 225,000 birds worth some $50 million at retail are either smuggled or imported with fraudulent documentation each year.” Parrots, for example, are caught by local people in the jungles of Africa, Indonesia, Mexico, and South America and sold for a few dollars. “By the time the birds reach U.S. or European consumers, some birds, such as the large imperial amazons of Dominica, in the Caribbean, fetch $100,000 apiece,” notes The Wall Street Journal. Many parrot species are said to be in immediate danger of eradication in the wild. It is thought that about 90 percent of the birds smuggled “die in transit because of improper feeding and inhumane conditions.”

AIDS in Asia

Back in February 1990, there were some 2,000 reported AIDS victims in Asia. A recent United Nations report, however, states that WHO (World Health Organization) estimates that a total of 500,000 people in Asia are currently infected with the HIV virus. According to Asiaweek magazine, the “U.N. has just reported that the number of AIDS cases in Asia will grow dramatically.” To deal with the problem, WHO recommends better education and information campaigns.

Rat-Catching Tribe

Farmers in Tamil Nadu, India, have tried using chemicals, pesticides, and baits to control a rodent problem. Having failed, the farmers hired the Irula tribesmen to do the job, reports India Today. During the first year, the Irulas caught about 140,000 rats in an area of 40,000 acres [16,000 ha]. The Irulas “don’t use pesticides but their methods are based on a knowledge of rodent behaviour.” They trap the rats in their burrows by blocking the exit holes. Because they are able to catch so many rats, the Irulas are now exploring the possibility of using rat flesh as chicken and fish feed and turning rat skin into usable leather. India Today says that “the experiment conclusively proved that the Irula approach is the surest” and is a cost-effective way to control rats.

Corals Dying From Heat

“The first proof of global warming may come from the bleaching of corals,” stated Ernest Williams of the University of Puerto Rico. The higher sea temperature causes the corals to eject the microscopic algae on which the corals feed. This leaves white blotches on the coral reefs, hence the term “bleaching.” “Without its algal partner, the coral becomes weak and stops reproducing.” Blotchy and sickly coral reefs have been sighted in many places, including the Bahamas, Bermuda, Florida, Hawaii, Jamaica, Okinawa, and Puerto Rico. The Toronto Star notes that the decade of the 1980’s was the warmest in the last hundred years and that “many climate experts predict that temperatures will continue to increase several degrees in the next century,” posing a continuing threat to coral reefs.

Exodus of Hispanic Catholics

Hispanic magazine reports that in the United States, nearly one million Hispanics have left the Catholic Church during the past 15 years. “Every year, that number is increased by between 60,000 and 100,000.” According to a recent study commissioned by an auxiliary bishop for the archdiocese of San Francisco, Hispanic ex-Catholics are seeking “a deeper involvement with their faith and scripture.” Commenting on the problem, however, one Catholic priest noted that “we have to look at the Catholic Church for what it is: a large institution with an established way of doing things. It’s very hard to move a large institution into a new way of doing things.” The article comments: “It is easy to slip through the cracks in a typical Catholic parish with 4,000 families.” On the other hand, “it’s just as easy to feel wanted and recognized in an intimate [non-Catholic] congregation of about 200.”

From Our Readers

Parents Separating Your article “Young People Ask . . . How Can I Survive My Parents’ Separation?” (October 22, 1990) seemed to be made for me, and it encouraged me. I am 16 years old, and my parents are separated. At times I feel sad and depressed, but Jehovah is my intimate Friend, and he has helped me very much. I understand that it is of no use to worry obsessively over my parents’ separation. I have found good friends within the Christian congregation. I also find meetings and other Christian activities to be edifying.

D. B. G., Brazil

Hubble Trouble Your comments in “Watching the World” (December 8, 1990) made it sound as if the Hubble telescope was a complete failure. However, they have overcome some of its initial problems, and it is able to see things with much greater clarity than earthbound telescopes.

D. N., United States

It was not our intention to call the Hubble telescope a “complete failure” but to call attention to the tremendous disappointment in the scientific community when the instrument’s primary mirror was found to have a significant flaw.​—ED.

Instant Gratification Thank you very much for your articles entitled “Having It All, Having It Now!” (January 22, 1991) They seemed to be an answer to my sincere prayers and gave me much food for thought. I particularly appreciated the thought-provoking questions you asked. They will prove invaluable if I am tempted to follow a course of instant gratification.

P. D., United States

Awake! Commended Literature that brings together subjects of extreme importance to our society (such as medicine, sociology, and ecology), that is put across in a nonpolitical way and with a slight religious touch, and that relies on the Book of books for its explanations​—such literature is very hard to find these days. I therefore request that it be officially recorded in the Minutes that Awake! receive a vote of praise, specifically for its November 8 and 22, 1990, issues about UFO’s and the immune system.

N. B., Municipal Council of Tietê São Paulo, Brazil

Immune System I thought I understood the words of Psalm 139:14: “I shall laud you [God] because in a fear-inspiring way I am wonderfully made.” But thanks to your clear, concise articles on the subject “Our Immune System​—A Miracle of Creation” (November 22, 1990), I now know the full force of that scripture! The world of cells inside us is awe-inspiring. Our Creator’s works are truly wonderful. Thank you for your tireless, continuous research on these types of subjects. The articles were truly faith strengthening.

D. J., United States

The articles were simply delightful and very educational. While reading them, I couldn’t help but marvel at Jehovah and how wonderfully he made us. It’s hard to believe that some people think all of this happened by chance.

Y. S., United States

I do not know how to thank you for those marvelous articles. I have never heard or read an explanation so simple, yet detailed. Since I am ill with one of the diseases you mentioned, I can better understand what my doctor told me and deal with my health problem.

M. R. O., Brazil

Then Why Do It?

“As a smoker myself, I cannot dispute the fact that it is sheer folly to indulge in the habit. Anyone with half a brain now knows that smoking threatens one’s health. It is a dirty, filthy habit that costs a bundle. . . . For smokers, life is a long succession of dirty ashtrays, nicotine stains, burn marks and large dry-cleaning bills​—the result of clothes that reek of smoke.”​—Diane Francis, Maclean’s magazine, Canada.

“Smokers can expect shorter life spans than nonsmokers: for example, the life of a 25-year-old who smokes 2 packs per day will be 8.3 years shorter than that of a nonsmoker. Smokers are 3 times more likely to die of cancer than nonsmokers.”​—The Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons Complete Home Medical Guide.

“Every year cigarettes kill more Americans than were killed in World War I, the Korean War, and Vietnam combined; nearly as many as died in battle in World War II. Each year cigarettes kill five times more Americans than do traffic accidents. Lung cancer alone kills as many as die on the road. The cigarette industry is peddling a deadly weapon.” (Senator Robert F. Kennedy, First World Conference on Smoking and Health, September 11, 1967)​—The Cigarette Underworld, edited by Alan Blum, M.D.

“Tobacco kills approximately two and a half million people each year throughout the world. It is the largest single, preventable cause of death in the world today. . . . Taken in whatever form, it is a dangerous, expensive and addictive habit.”​—Dr. Judith Mackay, executive director of the Hong Kong Council on Smoking and Health, quoted in World Health magazine.

“If the hand that once fed me is the tobacco industry, then that same hand has killed millions of people and will continue to kill millions more unless people wake up to the hazards of cigarettes. . . . I want to help people wake up to how poisonous cigarettes are.”​—Patrick Reynolds, grandson of the founder of R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company.

Then why do millions of men, women, and young people smoke tobacco? For some the answer may be peer pressure, the desire to appear sophisticated. But for many the answer is simply addiction that leads to compulsion. As one medical counseling authority states: “The real reason most people smoke is that they are addicted to a powerful drug found in tobacco​—nicotine.”

Then how can a smoker quit? By acquiring strong motivation, stronger than the craving of the body for nicotine. For a person endeavoring to meet Christian standards, it will mean developing a love for God and neighbor that overwhelms the selfish longing of the flesh.​—Matthew 22:37-40; 1 Corinthians 13:5, 7, 8.

As the previously quoted medical book states: “Smokers who want to quit should remember the addictive nature of the drug nicotine and be prepared to accept withdrawal symptoms as a natural consequence of stopping. Withdrawal, they should remember, is a temporary condition that, though unpleasant, is not harmful. Every tobacco user, no matter how addicted, can stop smoking.”​—The Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons Complete Home Medical Guide.

If you would like help in acquiring the kind of motivation needed to quit smoking, please feel free to contact Jehovah’s Witnesses at their local Kingdom Hall or through the publishers’ address in this magazine.

How a Marriage Was Saved

“The application of the counsel in the book Making Your Family Life Happy saved my marriage,” wrote an appreciative reader from South Africa. “Chapter 5, ‘A Wife Who is Dearly Loved,’ opened my eyes. I never imagined in my wildest dreams that I could unwittingly cause so many problems. Thank you very, very much. My marriage had been in the most stormy parts of the sea, and now, after months, it is back in the quiet harbour of happiness.”

If you desire help in making your marriage a happier one, you can benefit from this book. Receive a copy by filling in and mailing the coupon.

Please send me a copy of the hardcover 192-page book Making Your Family Life Happy. (Outside the U.S.A., write to local Watch Tower branch for information. See page 5.)