August 22

Page Two

Will All Races Ever Be United? 3-11

Why are racial discrimination and oppression so rampant? Do physical differences between races mean that they are fundamentally different? Can people of different races live together in peace?

Kidney Stones​—Treating an Ancient Malady 20

How common are they? Why do people get them? What dramatic new treatments have benefited sufferers? How can the affliction be prevented?

Nyalaland​—A Paradise Unspoiled by Man 23

This story about the wildlife in Nyalaland, a large trail area in South Africa’s Kruger National Park, will fascinate you.

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Leonardo On The Human Body/​Dover Publications, Inc.

What Is Race?

RACE! What does that word bring to mind? For some it means discrimination and oppression. For others, hatred, riots, and even murder.

From the race riots in the United States to apartheid in South Africa, from the wars among ethnic groups in Eastern Europe to the struggles in places like Sri Lanka and Pakistan​—race has become the focal point of untold human suffering and devastation.

But why is this the case? Even in lands where people seem to be tolerant of almost everything else, why is race such a sensitive issue? What makes race the fuse that ignites so much turmoil and injustice? Simply put, why can’t people of different races get along?

To answer these questions, we need to know more than what race is and in what ways races differ. We must also understand the role history plays in current race relations. First, though, let’s look at what science can tell us about the subject.

The Problem in Classifying Humans

People living in different parts of the world have varied physical characteristics. These include the color of skin, the shape of facial features, the texture of hair, and so on. Such physical differences distinguish one race from another.

Thus, people commonly speak of whites and blacks, calling attention to skin color. But people also speak of Hispanics, Asians, Scandinavians, Jews, and Russians. These latter identifications refer less to physical characteristics than to geographical, national, or cultural differences. So to most people, race is determined not only by physical features but also by customs, language, culture, religion, and nationality.

Interestingly, though, some writers on the subject hesitate to use the word “race” at all; they put the word in quotation marks each time it appears. Others avoid the word entirely and use instead such expressions as “ethnic taxons,” “groups,” “populations,” and “varieties.” Why? It is because the word “race,” as it is commonly understood, is so laden with overtones and implications that its use, without proper clarification, often obscures the point of discussion.

To biologists and anthropologists, a race is often defined simply as “a subdivision of a species which inherits physical characteristics distinguishing it from other populations of the species.” The question, however, is, Which characteristics can be used to describe different groups within the human species?

Factors such as skin color, hair color and texture, shape of the eyes and nose, brain size, and blood type have been suggested, but not one of these has proved to be entirely satisfactory as a classifier of the varieties of mankind. This is because there is no naturally occurring group of people in which all the members are uniformly alike in such features.

Consider skin color. Most people believe that mankind can be easily divided into five races by skin color: white, black, brown, yellow, and red. The white race is generally perceived as having white skin, light-colored hair, and blue eyes. Yet, in reality, there is great variety in hair color, eye color, and skin color among members of the so-called white race. The book The Human Species reports: “Not only are there no populations in Europe today of which most of the members are of one type; there never were such populations.”

Indeed, classifying the human species is difficult, as the book The Kinds of Mankind notes: “All we seem to be able to say is this: while not all human beings look like all the other human beings, and while we can clearly see a lot of the ways in which people look different, scientists still do not agree on exactly how many kinds of mankind there are. They have not even decided what criteria we can use to assign people to one race or another. Some workers would simply like to give up and say that the problem is too hard​—that there is no solution!”

All of this may seem puzzling. While scientists apparently have little difficulty in classifying animals and plants into genus, species, and subspecies, why do they have such a problem in dividing humankind into races?

“Man’s Most Dangerous Myth”

According to anthropologist Ashley Montagu, many people believe that “physical and mental traits are linked, that the physical differences are associated with rather pronounced differences in mental capacities, and that these differences are measurable by IQ tests and the cultural achievements of these populations.”

Thus, many believe that because races possess different physical characteristics, certain races are superior intellectually and others are inferior. However, Montagu calls such thinking “man’s most dangerous myth.” Other experts agree.

Morton Klass and Hal Hellman explain in The Kinds of Mankind: “Individuals do differ; in all populations there are geniuses and imbeciles. But, after all the research, responsible scholars have not seen evidence they can accept of genetic differences between populations in respect to intelligence or ability.”

Why, though, do so many continue to believe that superficial physical differences mean that the races are fundamentally different? How, really, did race become such an issue? We will consider these matters in the next article.

Why is Race Such an Issue?

EVER since the beginning of recorded history, the idea of “them” and “us” has dominated people’s thinking. Many have convinced themselves that they are the only normal people with the right ways of doing everything. This is what scientists call ethnocentrism, the idea that one’s own people and ways are the only ones that count.

The ancient Greeks, for example, did not think much of the “barbarians,” a term they applied to anyone not Greek. The word “barbarian” developed from the way that the foreign tongues sounded to Greek ears, like a lot of unintelligible “bar-bar.” The Egyptians before and the Romans after also felt superior to peoples other than themselves.

For centuries the Chinese called their country Zhong Guo, or the Middle Kingdom, because they were convinced that China was the center of the world if not of the universe. Later, when European missionaries with red hair, green eyes, and ruddy complexion came to China, the Chinese branded them “foreign devils.” Likewise, when Orientals first showed up in Europe and North America, their slanted eyes and what were considered strange customs made them easy targets for ridicule and suspicion.

Yet, there is a significant fact to consider, as the book The Kinds of Mankind says: “To believe in one’s [racial] superiority is one thing; to attempt to prove it, by using the findings of science, is something else.” Efforts to prove that one race is superior to another are relatively new. Anthropologist Ashley Montagu wrote that “the conception that there are natural or biological races of mankind which differ from one another mentally as well as physically is an idea which was not developed until the latter part of the eighteenth century.”

Why did the issue of racial superiority become so prominent during the 18th and 19th centuries?

Slave Trade and Race

A major reason is that the profitable slave trade had by then reached its apex, and hundreds of thousands of Africans were being taken by force and pressed into slavery in Europe and the Americas. Often families were broken up, with men, women, and children being sent to different parts of the world, never to see one another again. How could slave traders and slave owners, most of whom claimed to be Christian, defend such inhuman acts?

By propagating the view that black Africans were naturally inferior. “I am apt to suspect all negroes, and in general all other species of men to be naturally inferior to the white,” wrote 18th-century Scottish philosopher David Hume. In fact, Hume claimed that one could find “no ingenious manufactures amongst [Negroes], no arts, no sciences.”

However, such claims were wrong. The World Book Encyclopedia (1973) noted: “Highly developed Negro kingdoms existed in various parts of Africa hundreds of years ago. . . . Between 1200 and 1600, a Negro-Arabic university flourished at Timbuktu in West Africa and became famous throughout Spain, North Africa, and the Middle East.” Nevertheless, those involved in the slave trade were quick to adopt the view of philosophers such as Hume that blacks were a race inferior to whites, indeed, even subhuman.

Religion and Race

Slave traders got considerable support for their racist views from religious leaders. As early as the 1450’s, the edicts of Roman Catholic popes sanctioned the subjugation and enslavement of “pagans” and “infidels” so that their “souls” might be saved for “God’s Kingdom.” Having received the blessing of the church, early European explorers and slave traders felt no qualms about their brutal treatment of native peoples.

“In the 1760s, as for many decades to come, black slavery was sanctioned by Catholic, Anglican, Lutheran, Presbyterian, and Reformed churchmen and theologians,” says the book Slavery and Human Progress. “No modern church or sect had sought to discourage its members from owning or even trafficking in black slaves.”

Although some of the churches talked about universal Christian brotherhood, they also promoted teachings that intensified the racial controversy. For example, Encyclopaedia Judaica states that “it was only after lengthy struggles and theological discussions that the Spaniards recognized the native races they found in America as men endowed with souls.”

The implication was that so long as the “souls” of the people of such native races were “saved” by being converted to Christianity, it was unimportant how they were treated physically. And when it came to the situation of blacks, many religious leaders argued that they were cursed by God anyway. Scriptures were misapplied to try to prove this. Clergymen Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset, and David Brown, in their Bible commentary, assert: “Cursed be Canaan [Genesis 9:25]​—this doom has been fulfilled in the destruction of the Canaanites—​in the degradation of Egypt, and the slavery of the Africans, the descendants of Ham.”​—Commentary, Critical and Explanatory, on the Whole Bible.

The teaching that the forefather of the black race was cursed is simply not taught in the Bible. The truth is, the black race descended from Cush, not Canaan. In the 18th century, John Woolman argued that using this Biblical curse to justify the enslaving of blacks, depriving them of their natural rights, “is a supposition too gross to be admitted into the mind of any person who sincerely desires to be governed by solid principles.”

Pseudoscience and Race

Pseudoscience also added its voice in an effort to support the theory that blacks are an inferior race. The book Essay on the Inequality of Races, by the 19th-century French writer Joseph de Gobineau, laid the groundwork for many such works to follow. In it, Gobineau divided mankind into three separate races in descending order of excellence: white, yellow, and black. He claimed that the unique qualities of each race were carried in the blood and that thus any mixing through intermarriage would result in degradation and loss of the superior qualities.

Gobineau argued that once there existed a pure race of white, tall, blond-haired, blue-eyed people whom he called Aryans. It was the Aryans, he argued, who introduced civilization and Sanskrit to India, and it was the Aryans who established the civilizations of ancient Greece and Rome. But through intermarriage with the inferior local people, these once-glorious civilizations were lost, along with the genius and fine qualities of the Aryan race. The nearest people to pure Aryan still remaining, asserted Gobineau, were to be found in northern Europe, namely, among the Nordic and, by extension, the Germanic peoples.

Gobineau’s basic ideas​—the three-race division, the blood lineage, the Aryan race—​had no scientific foundation whatsoever, and they are completely discredited by today’s scientific community. Nonetheless, they were quickly picked up by others. Among them was an Englishman, Houston Stewart Chamberlain, who was so enamored with Gobineau’s ideas that he took up residence in Germany and championed the cause that only through the Germans was there hope of preserving the purity of the Aryan race. Needless to say, Chamberlain’s writings became widely read in Germany, and the outcome was ugly.

Ugly Outcome of Racism

In his book Mein Kampf (My Struggle), Adolf Hitler asserted that the German race was the Aryan superrace that was destined to rule the world. Hitler felt that the Jews, who he said were responsible for sabotaging the German economy, were an obstacle to this glorious destiny. Thus followed the extermination of Jews and other minorities of Europe, which was indisputably one of the darkest chapters of human history. This was the disastrous outcome of racist ideas, including those of Gobineau and Chamberlain.

Such ugliness was not limited to Europe, however. Across the ocean in the so-called new world, the same sort of unfounded ideas brought untold suffering to generations of innocent people. Although African slaves were finally freed in the United States after the Civil War, laws were passed in many states prohibiting blacks from having many of the privileges that other citizens enjoyed. Why? White citizens thought that the black race did not have the intellectual capacity to participate in civic duties and government.

Just how deeply such racial feelings were entrenched is illustrated by a case involving an antimiscegenation law. This law prohibited marriages between blacks and whites. In convicting a couple who broke this law, a judge said: “Almighty God created the races white, black, yellow, Malay and red, and He placed them on separate continents, and but for the interference with His arrangement there would be no cause for such marriages.”

The judge said this, not in the 19th century and not in a backward area, but in 1958​—and not more than 60 miles [100 km] from the U.S. Capitol! Indeed, it was not until 1967 that the U.S. Supreme Court invalidated all laws against interracial marriages.

Such discriminatory laws​—as well as segregation in schools, churches, and other public institutions and discrimination in employment and housing—​led to the civil unrest, protests, and violence that have become the realities of life in the United States and many other places. Destruction of life and property aside, the anguish, hatred, and personal indignities and sufferings that have resulted can only be regarded as the shame and disgrace of a so-called civilized society.

Thus, racism has become one of the most divisive forces afflicting human society. Surely, it behooves all of us to search our own hearts, asking ourselves: Do I reject any teachings that proclaim one race to be superior to another? Have I sought to rid myself of any possible residual feelings of racial superiority?

It is also appropriate that we ask: What hope is there that racial bias and tension, so rampant today, can ever be eradicated? Can people of different nationalities, languages, and customs live together in peace?

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Blacks were viewed as subhuman by many whites

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Reproduced from DESPOTISM​—A Pictorial History of Tyranny

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Nazi extermination camps were a disastrous outcome of racist ideas

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U.S. National Archives photo

When All Races Live Together in Peace

GOD “made out of one man every nation of men, to dwell upon the entire surface of the earth.” (Acts 17:26) That is the Bible’s simple statement regarding the origin of the human family.

What it implies is that all mankind, no matter where they live or what physical characteristics they possess, came from one common stock. It also means that in spite of all observable differences, “every nation of men” has the same potential as far as abilities and intelligence are concerned. Yes, in God’s sight, humans of every race or nationality are equal.​—Acts 10:34, 35.

If the Bible view is correct, there is hope that all the prejudices and injustices based on racial differences can be eliminated. Furthermore, if the Bible is accurate regarding the origin of the human family, then logically that same book can also provide us with information revealing how the human race can live together in peace.

Well, what do the facts show? Is the Bible record regarding human origins corroborated by science?

Scientific Evidence

The publication The Races of Mankind, by anthropologists R. Benedict and G. Weltfish, observes: “The Bible story of Adam and Eve, father and mother of the whole human race, told centuries ago the same truth that science has shown today: that all the peoples of the earth are a single family and have a common origin.” These writers also point out that “the intricate make-up of the human body . . . couldn’t possibly have ‘just happened’ to be the same in all men if they did not have a common origin.”

The pamphlet Race and Biology, by L. C. Dunn, professor of zoology at Columbia University, says: “All men clearly belong to one species, being alike in all the fundamental physical characters. Members of all groups may intermarry and actually do.” Then it goes on to explain: “Yet every man is unique and differs in minor ways from every other man. This is in part due to the different environments in which people live and in part to differences in the genes which they have inherited.”

Scientific evidence is conclusive. Biologically speaking, there is no such thing as a superior or an inferior race, a pure or a contaminated race. Characteristics such as the color of one’s skin, hair, or eyes​—things that some may consider racially important—​are no indication of one’s intelligence or abilities. Rather, they are the results of genetic inheritance.

Indeed, racial differences are minimal, as Hampton L. Carson writes in Heredity and Human Life: “The paradox which faces us is that each group of humans appears to be externally different yet underneath these differences there is fundamental similarity.”

If all humans really form only one family, why, then, do terrible racial problems exist?

Why the Problem

The fundamental reason racism exists is the bad start that the first human parents gave their offspring. Adam and Eve willfully rebelled against God and thus became imperfect, defective. As a result, Adam’s imperfection​—this tendency toward badness—​was passed to his descendants. (Romans 5:12) So from birth on, all humans are prone to selfishness and pride, which has led to racial strife and turmoil.

There is another reason racism exists. When Adam and Eve broke away from God’s dominion, they came under the rule of a wicked spirit creature that the Bible calls Satan, or the Devil. Under the influence of this one, who is “misleading the entire inhabited earth,” deliberate efforts have often been made to deceive people on the matter of race. (Revelation 12:9; 2 Corinthians 4:4) Ethnocentrism​—the idea that one’s own group is superior—​has been fanned into a consuming flame, and wittingly or unwittingly, millions have been swept along, with disastrous consequences.

To put it frankly, selfish, imperfect humans under the control of Satan have spread all the false teachings about race that have been responsible for racial problems.

Therefore, for the human race to become united, all must believe that we are truly one human family and that God did make “out of one man every nation of men, to dwell upon the entire surface of the earth.” (Acts 17:26) Furthermore, for all races to live together in peace, Satan’s influence must be eliminated in human affairs. Will these things ever happen? Is there any basis for believing that they will?

Ending Racial Prejudice

Jesus Christ revealed how racial prejudice could be eliminated when he commanded his followers to “love one another” just as he loved them. (John 13:34, 35) This love was not to be just for members of a particular race or races. Not at all! “Have love for the whole association of brothers,” one of his disciples encouraged.​—1 Peter 2:17.

How is this Christian love shown? The Bible explains when it urges: “In showing honor to one another take the lead.” (Romans 12:10) Think what it means when this is done! Each one treats others, regardless of race or nationality, with real dignity and respect, not looking down on them, but actually ‘viewing them as superior.’ (Philippians 2:3) When such a spirit of genuine Christian love exists, the problem of racial prejudice is solved.

True, on the part of ones who have been taught racial prejudice, it takes unusual effort to rid themselves of such Satan-inspired ideas. But it can be accomplished! In the first century, all of those who were brought into the Christian congregation came to enjoy unparalleled oneness. The apostle Paul wrote of it: “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor freeman, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one person in union with Christ Jesus.” (Galatians 3:28) Indeed, true followers of Christ came to enjoy genuine brotherhood.

But some may object: ‘This will never happen today.’ Yet, it has already happened among Jehovah’s Witnesses​—an organization of more than four and a half million people! Admittedly, not all Witnesses have become perfectly free from prejudices learned from this ungodly system. One black American realistically noted about white fellow Witnesses: “I detect among certain ones of them leftover attitudes of racial superiority, and I have sometimes seen a certain uncomfortableness of some of them when in close association with persons of another race.”

Yet, this person acknowledged: “Jehovah’s Witnesses have, to a degree unmatched by any other people on earth, rid themselves of racial prejudice. They do strive to love one another regardless of race . . . On occasion my heart has been warmed to the point of uncontrollable tears to experience the genuine love of white Witnesses.”

Does the racial unity enjoyed by a few​—even if these number in the millions—​really make that much difference when millions of others are influenced by Satanic ideas of racial superiority? No, we agree that it doesn’t solve the problem of race. It is beyond human efforts to do so. Only our Creator, Jehovah God, can do that.

Happily, very soon now, Jehovah, by means of his Kingdom in the hands of his Son, Jesus Christ, will rid the earth of all injustice and all of those who selfishly promote discrimination and hatred, racial or otherwise. (Daniel 2:44; Matthew 6:9, 10) Then, with a perfect educational program under the administration of Christ, all races will truly become united. As that education progresses, they will live in perfect harmony without any trace of racial discrimination. God’s promise will finally be fulfilled: “The former things have passed away. . . . Look! I am making all things new.”​—Revelation 21:4, 5.

Are you a person who longs for the time when true brotherhood prevails, when all races live together in peace? If so, we welcome you to attend a Kingdom Hall near you, where Jehovah’s Witnesses meet regularly to study the Bible. See for yourself if they do not display genuine Christian love​—for people of all races.

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Soon all races everywhere will live together in peace

My Thirst for God Satisfied

I HAD spent ten years studying in South American seminaries, the last three years of which I specialized in theology and philosophy. But now a humble peasant was telling me that he could help me to understand the Bible. My disappointment with seminary instruction made me listen.

What had moved me to want to be a priest? Yet why did years in seminaries leave me with an unsatisfied thirst for God?

A Humble Background

My parents raised seven of us boys in Vallegrande in Bolivia. We lived in a fertile valley, raising cattle and growing such crops as maize, peanuts, and potatoes. Our village of Naranjal was isolated, so I had little opportunity for schooling. However, I did learn to read and write.

Each year a Roman Catholic priest would visit our village for the local religious festival. I used to admire the way he spoke about God. On one visit, he announced that a seminary had been opened in Bolivia to train young men to become priests. When I said that I wanted to learn about God, he began to take an interest in me. He said: “You can become like a ladder, helping people get to heaven.”

I longed to go to the seminary and acquire knowledge about God. I hoped that there some of the confusion I felt would be cleared up. For example, although my mother taught me that the mountains, flowers, and trees were gifts from God, she also said that God sends some people to hell to suffer terrible tortures. ‘How can God be that way?’ I wondered.

Seminary Training

The new seminary was in Tupiza, a town in a beautiful valley. I arrived in 1958. When I was younger, I enjoyed climbing a hill where I would meditate about our loving Creator. However, I was disappointed not to be learning much about God at the seminary. There they didn’t even have a complete Bible, only the “New Testament.” When I asked about getting one, the instructors told me to be patient.

After the first year, only three of us qualified to continue the course. All the rest were sent home. Since we were so few, we were sent to Buenos Aires, Argentina, to continue our studies. When I arrived at the San Miguel Seminary, I felt overawed. It seemed such a huge place. ‘Surely I will be able to draw close to God here,’ I thought. We studied Latin, Greek, English, and French, and we read about the lives of those the Catholic Church honored as “saints.” But these studies left me feeling empty. My questions remained unanswered.

“How is it that God is a Trinity?” I asked one of the instructors. He replied that even great theologians like the 13th-century Italian Thomas Aquinas had not been able to explain things like that. I still had never seen the complete Bible, so I asked one of the professors about the “Old Testament.”

“That is only for Protestants,” he said.

I wondered how this could be, since I knew that Jesus often quoted from it. I became frustrated and depressed.

In time, six of us were selected as novices, and we took vows of chastity, poverty, and obedience. After a year’s study as novices, we went to the seminary in Córdoba, Argentina. We could wear only religious garb, which consisted of a long black gown and a white collar, together with a rosary and a large crucifix. I was filled with anticipation; now for the first time, I would be taking a course in theology.

Further Disappointment

The theology course featured a study of higher criticism, which treats the Bible as a work of literature like any other book. I was disappointed that my many questions were still not being answered. I became a close friend of a bishop. “How is it that the Bible says Jesus was in hell?” I asked. (Acts 2:31) But he simply evaded my question.

There were also many moral questions that troubled me. I asked a theologian about masturbation and sex between single persons. Rather than referring to what God’s Word says regarding such matters, he was enthusiastic about the latest ideas of well-known theologians in Paris. He showed me one of their books. “They say that these things are not sinful,” he said. “You have nothing to worry about.” But the answer did not satisfy me.

One day I was browsing in the seminary library when I happened to open a book written in French. It quoted Psalm 42:2, which says: “My soul indeed thirsts for God.” I thought to myself, ‘Why, that is just the way I feel.’ Soon afterward, while visiting home, I went to the convent in the nearby town of Vallegrande. There in the bookshop I saw a copy of the complete Bible​—the Nácar-Colunga translation. It was the first time I had ever seen a complete Bible. I asked if I might purchase it, hardly believing that it would be possible. How happy I was to walk out of that shop with my own Bible under my arm!

I walked home singing and whistling. On arriving, I began to read Psalm 42, which begins: “As the hind that longs for the water streams, so my very soul longs for you, O God. My soul indeed thirsts for God, for the living God.” ‘Perhaps now,’ I thought, ‘my thirst for God will be satisfied.’ But I soon realized that I would need help to find Bible answers to my questions. My seminary studies failed to supply such help.

In 1966, I was told that a higher seminary specializing in theology and philosophy had been opened near Cochabamba in my native Bolivia and that I was to be transferred there. The seminary was staffed by young Spanish priests, modern theologians, and it had a beautiful library. ‘Perhaps now I will find the answers to my questions,’ I thought.

Often I would ask questions, such as: “How can it be that Mary is the mother of God?” Yet, instructors had little interest in such questions. Rather, they were more concerned with Communist philosophy. Once I met a cardinal, but he was more interested in telling me about his experiences in World War II than answering my questions.

After ten years of seminary training, I asked for a year’s leave of absence so that I could get out and meet people. I wanted to experience speaking to people about the gospel. Soon I realized I would never be satisfied with convents, so I decided to ask to be released from my vows. Later I married a former nun, Porfiria. We took up lodging in the city of Santa Cruz, Bolivia.

A Surprising Visitor

One day the following year, I was sitting on the patio where the landlady was baking bread in a wood-fired oven. A man arrived at the gate. I assumed that he had some business with her, so I called: “Come in!” He did, and he sat down beside me. Although he was dressed neatly, I could tell by his appearance that he was from a humble background. To my surprise he began talking to me about the Bible.

I learned later that the man’s name was Adrian Guerra and that he was one of Jehovah’s Witnesses. It didn’t take me long to realize that he didn’t know how to read well. I was on my guard with him, but I didn’t feel afraid. ‘After all,’ I thought, ‘I know Latin and Greek. I have studied theology and have spent years discussing philosophy with theologians and bishops.’ I didn’t feel proud or despise him, but I simply did not expect to learn anything from him.

He asked my opinion on the question, Why has there been such an increase in badness in the world? We talked about this, and then he asked me to show him my Bible. By this time I had bought the recently published Catholic Jerusalem Bible. He had me read Revelation 12:12, which says: “But for you, earth and sea, trouble is coming​—because the devil has gone down to you in a rage, knowing that his days are numbered.”

“Surely that refers to when sin began,” I countered. He had me read the context, verses 7-10, which says that war in heaven began when Christ became King, and as a result Satan and his angels were hurled down to the earth. “The terrible conditions we see now are the result of the Devil’s increased anger,” explained Adrian. “But we can be pleased that Christ is now King and that the Devil’s days are numbered.”

Learning this from my Bible fascinated me. But I was also astonished that this humble man, with such a pleasant smile, could just sit there and calmly explain the Scriptures to me.

My Thirst for God Satisfied

Adrian left me some literature and promised to return. I was glad when he next visited, and I began to ask him questions that had perplexed me for so long, such as: “How can God be a Trinity?” and, “Why was Jesus in hell?” He used a guide to the Bible called The Truth That Leads to Eternal Life, and he had me read from my own Bible the texts cited there that answered my questions. I felt like a burro (donkey or dimwit). I learned that God’s name is Yahweh, or Jehovah, and that he is not a Trinity, that hell is the grave and Jesus was unconscious there for parts of three days.​—Psalm 16:10; Ecclesiastes 9:10; Isaiah 42:8.

I had often asked in the seminary about the afterlife and was told that heaven is like a great church where all will stand before God and pray. ‘How boring!’ I thought. But now, as the Bible’s promise of everlasting life in a paradise earth was explained to me, my faith in God’s love for mankind was rekindled.​—Psalm 37:9-11, 39; Revelation 21:3, 4.

After a few visits, Adrian arrived one day with a foreigner, whom he introduced as a congregation overseer. “You ask so many questions,” he said, “I decided this missionary will be able to help you much better.” But I liked Adrian, and the missionary’s presence made me nervous. So I continued studying the Bible with Adrian. I started to attend meetings at the Kingdom Hall and found that the Bible talks were very instructive.

Overcoming My Fear

In time Adrian began encouraging me to share with others what I had learned. At their meetings Jehovah’s Witnesses are encouraged to teach from house to house. In fact, I came to realize that the Bible theme Adrian first considered with me, about the cause of increasing badness, had been the recommended topic of conversation for Jehovah’s Witnesses in Bolivia that month in 1970. I could see that the training Adrian received equipped him to serve God better than my ten years of training had equipped me! Yet, the idea of visiting people at their homes frightened me. It was so different from preaching to people who come to church.

The next time Adrian came to study with me, I hid in the house and pretended not to be at home. He must have suspected as much because he patiently waited outside for a full half hour before leaving. But he didn’t give up on me; to my surprise he returned the following week. Gradually, my love for Jehovah grew stronger, and I overcame my fear. In 1973 my wife and I were baptized. Porfiria became a pioneer, serving full-time in the preaching work and conducting Bible studies. She continued up to and including the day of her death early in 1992.

Adrian became a fluent reader, and for many years now, I have served as an elder in the congregation. We both continue to preach the good news of God’s Kingdom from house to house. Recently I met a lady who said: “You should have stayed with the church. You could have done a lot of good from within.”

I asked if she would bring me her Bible. When she did, I showed her Jeremiah 2:13, which describes how Israel rejected God’s Word. It says: “They have left even me, the source of living water, in order to hew out for themselves cisterns, broken cisterns, that cannot contain the water.”

“Something similar has happened with the church,” I told her. “Trying to satisfy people’s thirst for God with un-Biblical Catholic teachings is like trying to supply water from a broken cistern.” Indeed, it was only when I started to study the Bible with Jehovah’s Witnesses that my thirst for God was satisfied.​—As told by Hugo Durán.

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Adrian and I present the Kingdom message together

Young People Ask . . .

AIDS​—Am I at Risk?

NEWSWEEK magazine said that the announcement ‘stunned the world.’ On November 7, 1991, popular U.S. athlete Earvin “Magic” Johnson informed the press that he had contracted the AIDS virus. In the wake of this startling admission, AIDS information hot lines were jammed with calls. Some hospitals were swamped with requests for AIDS tests. Some people even reduced their promiscuous behavior​—temporarily at least.

Perhaps the greatest impact of this announcement was upon young people. Says the director of health services at one university: “Students took the ‘it happened to him, it could happen to me’ message to heart​—briefly. . . . For most students, what happened to Magic Johnson doesn’t translate into changes in their behavior. They still think they can ‘get away with it.’”

The Bible prophesied that our times would be characterized by “pestilences,” that is, rapidly spreading infectious diseases. (Luke 21:11) AIDS can certainly be called a pestilence. It took eight years​—from 1981 to 1989—​for the first 100,000 cases of AIDS to be discovered in the United States. But it took only two years for the second 100,000 cases to be reported!

According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control, this distressing statistic “emphasizes the rapidly increasing magnitude of the [AIDS] epidemic in the United States.” AIDS is a global epidemic, however, cutting a swath of death and misery through Africa, Asia, Europe, and Latin America. Significantly, Dr. Marvin Belzer of Children’s Hospital in Los Angeles calls AIDS “the most frightening problem facing youth in the 1990s.”

The Insidious Infection

Just what is this bizarre disease, and why is it so deadly? Doctors believe that AIDS develops when a microscopic particle​—a virus called HIV (Human Immunodeficiency Virus)—​invades the bloodstream. Once there, the virus embarks on a seek-and-destroy mission against certain of the body’s white blood cells, the helper T cells. These cells play a major role in helping the body ward off disease. The AIDS virus, however, disables them, devastating the immune system.

Considerable time may pass before the infected one feels sick. Some may be symptom free for nearly a decade. But in time flulike symptoms develop​—loss of weight and appetite, fever, and diarrhea. As the immune system continues its catastrophic collapse, the victim becomes vulnerable to a host of infections​—pneumonia, meningitis, tuberculosis, or certain cancers—​called opportunistic because they make use of the opportunity created by a victim’s lowered resistance.

“I’m in constant pain all the time,” says one 20-year-old victim of AIDS. The disease has opened ulcers in his colon and rectum. Full-blown AIDS means more than discomfort and pain, however; for virtually all its victims, it spells death. Since 1981 the virus has spread to over a million people in the United States alone. Already over 160,000 have died. Experts predict that by the year 1995, the number of fatalities will double. There is presently no known cure for AIDS.

Youths at Risk

Thus far, only a tiny percentage of reported AIDS cases​—less than 1 percent in the United States—​involve teenagers. Therefore, you may not personally know any youths who have died of the malady. This does not mean youths are not at risk! About one fifth of all AIDS victims in the United States are in their 20’s. Since it takes several years for the symptoms to become apparent, most of these individuals were more than likely infected while in their teens. If current trends continue, thousands more youths will become AIDS patients.

According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control, the deadly virus lurks “in the blood, semen, and vaginal fluids of infected people.” HIV is therefore transmitted by “having sex​—vaginal, anal, or oral—​with an infected person.” The vast majority have contracted the ailment in this manner. AIDS can also be passed on by “using or being stuck with a needle or syringe that has been used by or for an infected person.” Furthermore, “some people have been infected by receiving blood transfusions” tainted with HIV.​—Voluntary HIV Counseling and Testing: Facts, Issues, and Answers.

Many young people consequently are at risk. Alarming numbers of youths (some say as many as 60 percent in the United States) have experimented with illegal drugs. Since some of these drugs are injected, the risk of infection via a contaminated needle is high. According to one U.S. survey, 82 percent of high school (secondary school) students have used alcoholic beverages, about 50 percent doing so currently. You don’t catch AIDS from drinking a can of beer, but afterward it might impair your judgment and make it more likely that you will engage in the riskiest behavior of all​—promiscuous sex, homosexual or heterosexual.

In 1970 less than 5 percent of 15-year-old girls had experienced sexual intercourse. By 1988 that number had swelled to over 25 percent. By age 20, as surveys also show, 75 percent of females and 86 percent of males in the United States are sexually active. Another frightening statistic: Nearly 1 out of 5 teenagers has experienced sex with more than four partners. Yes, more and more youths are engaging in premarital sex, and they are getting started younger than ever.

The picture is no less grim in other lands. In Latin-American countries, up to three quarters of teenage youths have engaged in premarital relations. In African lands many men have reportedly selected teenage girls as sexual partners in an attempt to protect themselves from the AIDS virus. The result? An explosion of AIDS cases among teenage African girls.

The spread of AIDS has done little to stem this tide of destructive behavior. Consider one Latin-American land. More than 60 percent of the “sexually active unmarried young people have a high risk of getting the AIDS virus.” However, less than 10 percent feel they are personally at risk. They tell themselves: ‘It won’t happen to me.’ But this land has “one of the highest rates of HIV infection in the Americas.”​—U.S. Centers for Disease Control.

It Can Happen!

The AIDS epidemic underscores the truthfulness of the Bible’s warnings that “the aftereffect” of sexual immorality “is as bitter as wormwood.” (Proverbs 5:3-5; 7:21-23) Of course, the Bible refers primarily to spiritual and emotional damage. But it should not surprise us that sexual immorality also has a number of damaging physical aftereffects.

It is therefore critical that young people realistically face the danger of contracting AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases. The smug attitude that AIDS ‘can’t happen to me’ could prove deadly. “When you’re fifteen or sixteen or even seventeen, eighteen, nineteen, or twenty, you want to think you’re invulnerable,” said a young man named David. The facts prove otherwise, however. David contracted the AIDS virus at age 15.

To put it bluntly, then: If you are using illegal drugs or engaging in premarital sex, you are at risk! What, though, about claims that one can engage in “safe sex”? Are there realistic ways to protect oneself from this epidemic? Our next article in this series will discuss these questions.

[Box on page 18]

Other Sexually Transmitted Diseases

AIDS has captured the headlines. However, The Medical Post warns: ‘Canada is in the midst of an adolescent STD [sexually transmitted disease] epidemic.’ Canada is not alone. “Every year 2.5 million U.S. teenagers are infected with an STD,” says the U.S.-based Center for Population Options. “This number represents approximately one out of every six sexually active teens and one-fifth of the national STD cases.”

Syphilis, for example, once thought to be on the road to extinction, has made a comeback in recent years, claiming young victims in nearly record numbers. Gonorrhea and chlamydia (the most prevalent STDs in the United States) have likewise proved to be remarkably resistant to efforts at eradicating them. And adolescents have the highest rates of infection. The New York Times similarly reports “a sharp rise” in the number of teenagers afflicted with genital warts. Thousands of youths also have the herpes virus. According to Science News, “people with genital herpes have an increased chance of infection with [HIV], which causes AIDS.”

Says the Center for Population Options: “While adolescents experience higher rates of STDs than any other age group, they are least likely to obtain care. When left undiagnosed and untreated, STDs exact a high cost in pelvic inflammatory disease, infertility, ectopic pregnancy, and cervical cancer.”

[Pictures on page 16, 17]

Anyone shooting illegal drugs or engaging in promiscuous sex runs the serious risk of contracting AIDS

Australia’s Anglican Church​—A House Divided

By Awake! correspondent in Australia

THE debate as to whether women should be ordained as priests in the Anglican Church is hardly new. But the matter has recently become a big issue in Australia.

In January 1992 the bishop of Canberra and Goulburn announced plans to ordain a number of women deacons as priests of the Anglican Church. He would not wait for the next church synod. In fact, the synod had already decided against such ordinations three times.

As it eventually happened, ten women were ordained as Anglican priests early in March in Perth, Australia, despite opposition. Little wonder, then, that much attention was focused on the coming church synod. The July session yielded no final decision, so “an extraordinary session” was set for November 21, 1992.

Just over a week earlier, the General Synod of the Church of England voted in favor of women’s ordination. Many expected this decision to have a persuasive effect in Australia. When the Australian synod met, one newspaper commented: “Debate and argument raged in a sometimes tension-filled day.” Before revealing the result of the ballot, the synod’s president asked that the announcement be met with silence. When it was revealed that the ordination of women had been approved, some in the audience struggled to contain their emotions. Once the news spread outside, cheering arose, and streamers were fired into the air.

Such elation was far from unanimous. The Sydney Morning Herald quoted the archbishop of Sydney as saying: “We will not be able to live happily together . . . There will be two denominations in the same Anglican Church.” Another clergyman went so far as to say that the ordination of women as priests signaled that “the Anglican Church in Australia is beginning to disintegrate.”

The Bible gives ample basis for such concerns. Jesus Christ himself said: “Every kingdom divided against itself goes to ruin; and no town, no household, that is divided against itself can stand.”​—Matthew 12:25, The New English Bible.

This brings up a question that seems to have got lost in all the church bickering, What does the Bible say about the role of women in the congregation? While it does establish that Jehovah God values dedicated men and women equally, it nonetheless assigns men and women different roles in the congregation. (Galatians 3:28) It is put this way by 1 Corinthians 11:3: “While every man has Christ for his Head, woman’s head is man, as Christ’s Head is God.” (NEB) Thus, concerning formal instruction before the congregation, Paul was divinely inspired to write: “A woman must be a learner, listening quietly and with due submission. I do not permit a woman to be a teacher, nor must woman domineer over man.”​—1 Timothy 2:11, 12, NEB.

This should be no cause for frustration to Christian women, however, for they are free to teach in the public ministry as did such women as Lois, Eunice, Euodia, and Syntyche in early Christian times.​—Philippians 4:2, 3; 2 Timothy 1:5.

Kidney Stones​—Treating an Ancient Malady

LIKELY you have heard of someone who has suffered with kidney stones. In the United States, some 300,000 kidney stone sufferers are admitted to hospitals each year. The pain can be excruciating, comparable to childbirth.

Some think of kidney stones as a relatively recent health problem, possibly having something to do with modern diet or life-style. Actually, though, stones in the urinary tract have plagued mankind for centuries. They have even been found in Egyptian mummies thousands of years old.

The stones develop when minerals in the urine clump together and grow, instead of being diluted and passed out of the body. They assume various shapes and are composed of many substances. Clinical Symposia says: “In the United States, approximately 75% of all [kidney] stones are composed primarily of calcium oxalate, and an additional 5% are composed of pure calcium phosphate.”

Prevalence and Causes

According to one report, about 10 percent of men and 5 percent of women in North America will develop a kidney stone in their lifetime. And the recurrence rate is high. One in 5 persons who have a kidney stone will develop another stone within five years.

Why some people get kidney stones and others do not has perplexed doctors for many years. The formation of stones may occur for many reasons. These include disorders of the body’s metabolism, infection, inherited disorders, chronic dehydration, and diet.

About 80 percent of kidney stones are eliminated spontaneously during urination. In order to help pass them, patients are encouraged to drink large volumes of water. Although such stones are relatively small, often barely visible, the pain may be great. If blockage of the urinary tract occurs or a stone is too large to pass (they may become as big as a golf ball), medical treatment is needed to preserve the health of the patient.

New Treatments

Until about 1980, major surgery was required to remove kidney stones that would not pass by themselves. In order to reach the stone stuck in the kidney or in the urinary tract, a painful incision, some 12 inches long [30 cm], was made in the flank. The operation was usually followed by a two-week recovery period in a hospital and approximately two months of recuperation at home. But “with recent technological advances,” the medical textbook Conn’s Current Therapy (1989) notes, “the need for open surgical removal is rare.”

Now, difficult stones may be removed by a technique that uses only minimal surgery. Another technique more commonly used today, called extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy (ESWL), requires no surgery at all. Citing these new medical innovations, Conn’s Current Therapy says that major surgery “is probably responsible today for removal of only 1 per cent of all [kidney stones].”

A Minimal-Surgery Technique

A technique that employs only minimal surgery is sometimes called percutaneous ultrasonic lithotripsy. “Percutaneous” means “via the skin,” and “lithotripsy” literally means “crushing.” The only surgery required is a half-inch [1 cm] incision in the flank. Through this opening a cystoscopelike instrument called a nephroscope is inserted. The interior of the kidney and the offending stone may be seen through the scope.

If the stone is too large to extract through the nephroscope, an ultrasonic probe is passed through a channel in the scope and thus into the kidney. Then, to fragment the stone or stones, the hollow probe is connected to an ultrasound generator that causes the probe to vibrate at approximately 23,000 to 25,000 times a second. The ultrasonic waves make the probe act like a jackhammer, shattering all but the hardest stones it contacts.

Continuous suction through the probe literally vacuums the interior of the kidney, thus ridding it of small stone fragments. The fragmenting and suctioning process continues until careful inspection reveals that all stone debris has been removed through the probe.

At times, however, there are still stone fragments that refuse to budge. In that case, the doctor can insert through the nephroscope a thin tube that has a tiny forceps device attached to it. The doctor can then open the forceps, grab the stone, and pull it out.

As percutaneous surgery developed, many methods were tried. A few years ago, Urologic Clinics of North America said: “New methods of percutaneous stone removal seem to appear with each month’s new issues of the medical journals.” The probability of success of the procedure, the journal observed, “varies with the size and position of the stone.” But the most important factor, the journal explained, is “the skill and experience of the operator.”

Even though sufficient power is generated to smash the stones, the procedure is relatively safe. “Hemorrhage has not been a significant problem,” says Clinical Symposia. One report does say, however, that there has been major bleeding in about 4 percent of patients.

Advantages of this procedure include minimal discomfort and a shortened recovery period. In most cases only five or six days are spent in the hospital, with some patients going home after just three days. This advantage is especially significant to wage earners, who may be ready to return to work as soon as they leave the hospital.

Treatment Without Surgery

A remarkable new treatment introduced in Munich, Germany, in 1980, is called extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy. It employs high-energy shock waves to fragment stones without making any incisions whatsoever.

The patient is lowered into a stainless-steel tank that is half filled with warm water. He is carefully positioned so that the kidney being treated is at the focal point of shock waves generated by an underwater spark discharge. The waves easily pass through the soft human tissue and reach the stone without losing any of their energy. They continue to bombard the stone until it disintegrates. Most patients then pass the stone debris with ease.

By 1990, ESWL was being used in about 80 percent of all stone removals. The Australian Family Physician reported last year that since the introduction of this technique, “over 3 million patients worldwide have been treated on more than 1100 machines, using a variety of shock-wave generators to disintegrate kidney stones.”

Although ESWL produces some trauma to the kidney area, the Australian Family Physician explains: “It rarely damages adjacent organs such as spleen, liver, pancreas and bowel. The short term trauma effect is easily tolerated with minimal harm to the patients and most patients complain only of mild [muscle and skeletal pain] in the abdominal wall and some slight [blood in the urine] for 24 to 48 hours after therapy.” Even children have been treated successfully. This Australian journal concluded: “After 10 years of evaluation ESWL seems to be an extremely safe treatment.”

Indeed, the treatment is so effective that last year’s Conn’s Current Therapy explained: “(ESWL) has allowed symptomatic stones to be removed so easily and with such minimal morbidity that patients and physicians have become less rigorous in the medical management of urinary stone disease.”

Yet, kidney stones are a painful malady that you surely do not want. What can you do to prevent them?

Prevention

Since kidney stones often recur, if you have had one, you will wisely heed the admonition to drink plenty of water. A urinary output of more than two quarts [2 L] per day is recommended, and that means drinking a lot of water!

In addition, it is wise to adjust your diet. Doctors suggest limiting your consumption of red meat, salt, and foods high in oxalate, which are believed to help form stones. These foods include nuts, chocolate, black pepper, and leafy green vegetables, such as spinach. Doctors also once recommended reducing calcium intake, but recent research indicates instead that an increase of dietary calcium tends to decrease the tendency to form stones.

Yet, in spite of your taking all precautions, if you should have another kidney stone, it may be somewhat comforting to know that there are improved methods for treating them.

[Picture on page 21]

Nonsurgical treatment of kidney stones using a machine called a lithotripter

[Credit Line]

S.I.U./​Science Source/​PR

[Picture Credit Line on page 20]

Leonardo On The Human Body/​Dover Publications, Inc.

Nyalaland​—A Paradise Unspoiled by Man

By Awake! correspondent in South Africa

WHAT a refreshing change for us eight city dwellers!

We are in Nyalaland​—a large trail area in the north of South Africa’s Kruger National Park. The name comes from the handsome antelope you see illustrated on this page. This is the male nyala.

It is night, and we are sitting around a log fire eating buffalo stew. In the surrounding bushveld are elephants, lions, leopards, buffalo, and other magnificent beasts. But we feel secure under the supervision of two rangers. In fact, we remind ourselves that it is much safer here than living in a crime-filled city or traveling on a busy highway.

“Did you hear that scops owl?” asks Kobus Wentzel, the ranger in charge. He skillfully repeats the call, prrrrup. “That,” he adds, “is a typical call heard in this area. On our walk tomorrow, I’m going to point out some birds, so take along a bird book.”

Nyalaland is also a botanist’s paradise. Few places on earth can match its variety of plant life. The reason for this, according to the Reader’s Digest Illustrated Guide to the Game Parks and Nature Reserves of Southern Africa, is that “nine of Africa’s major ecosystems” converge in the north of the Kruger Park. “Here,” the book continues, “wetland meets the arid bush, forest the open plain, rock the deep sand.” About 150 square miles [400 sq km] of this unique region has been set aside as the Nyalaland trail area. With the exception of the small camp staff, no other humans live here, and there are no tourist roads.

Kobus is trying to eat his supper while answering our many questions. He has a Master of Science degree from the University of Pretoria, where he studied wildlife management, zoology, and botany. We soon learn that his knowledge is not just theoretical.

“Have you had any dangerous encounters with wild animals?”

“I’ve been mock-charged a few times,” replies Kobus, “but never by an animal really intent on killing me.”

“When a lion charges, how do you know it is just a mock charge?”

“When it stops about four or five meters [4 or 5 yards] from you and breaks a determined run,” he answers.

Rangers like Kobus are trained to keep their nerve when an animal charges. He explains: “They are challenging you, and you test the animal. A typical situation could be a lioness with cubs or a male courting. By charging, the animal is telling you, ‘You’re trespassing​—you’re interfering with my privacy, and you had better go away.’ Meanwhile, I’ve cocked my rifle and am ready for him. I always draw an imaginary line. If he crosses that line, then I have to fire. But in my experience they always stop before that, and I’ve never had to kill any animal on trail.”

Obviously, Kobus is not a trophy hunter. We warm to his respect for wildlife. But it is getting late, and tomorrow we must be up early. After saying good-night, we retire to four little thatched A-frame bungalows built on stilts.

At 4:45 a.m., Wilson, the camp cook, wakes us up. After enjoying breakfast we drive to the point from which our walk will commence. We look gratefully at the overcast sky. On clear summer days, the temperature can reach over 100 degrees Fahrenheit [40° C.].

For some of us, this is a totally new experience. At first we feel a bit nervous about perhaps treading on a snake or being attacked by a wild animal. But soon such fears are replaced by a feeling of wonderment at the vast open spaces covered with green trees as far as the eye can see. The bushveld is alive with the song of birds and the noise of insects. Oh, what pleasure to breathe the fresh, unpolluted air!

Every now and then, Kobus and his assistant, Ellion Nkuna, stop to show us something interesting, such as a column of army ants or the tracks of an animal. We come to a tree with a termite mound around its trunk. “This,” explains Kobus, “is a nyala berry tree. You frequently see them growing on termite heaps. The termite action enriches the soil, and that benefits the tree.”

After an hour’s walk, we pass a tree knocked over by an elephant. “Although this is a tough tree,” explains Kobus, “it is no obstacle to an elephant. He just walks over it. They do this frequently. It may sound a bit negative, but there are also positive aspects. In a few months, this tree will probably be dead. As it decays, it provides food for small organisms and releases minerals into the soil.”

“I suppose,” adds one of our party, “if the elephant population is not controlled, an area like this would be turned into grassveld.”

“That’s right,” replies Kobus. “There would not be a tree left. In the Kruger Park, we try to maintain the elephant population at about 7,500, which, according to our present knowledge, is what the Kruger can carry.”

Then someone notices a clear animal track in the sand. Impulsively I exclaim: “It must be a leopard’s!”

“No,” says Kobus, “it’s a hyena’s. Notice that it is an asymmetrical, or elongated, spoor. Also, you can see nail marks because the hyena is a doglike animal. It cannot retract its nails. Now, if you compare this with the cat spoor, such as a leopard or a lion, it is quite easy to distinguish. The cat spoor is symmetrical, that is, round and without nail marks because cats retract their claws. Also, if you look at the back cushions, there are two lobes at the back in the case of a hyena, whereas catlike animals have larger back cushions with three lobes.”

By now we are starting to feel hungry. So we sit on a large termite mound and enjoy a light snack that we menfolk have been carrying in backpacks. Afterward we walk toward a hill that Kobus encourages us to climb. Halfway up we rest on some rocks and enjoy a splendid view of dense bush and trees stretching across a vast plain to a mountain range on the distant horizon. Kobus reminds us that what we are viewing is pristine, virtually untouched by 20th-century man. But on top of the hill, we are surprised to find what seems to be a well-trodden human path.

“This is an elephant path,” observes Kobus.

However, I wonder how he can be so sure that animals, not humans, made it. While these thoughts are crossing my mind, sharp-eyed Ellion finds evidence. He picks up a worn elephant tusk.

“This is possibly decades old,” says Kobus.

“Well,” I confess, “that seems to be proof that it has been a long time since any human passed this spot, since man would not leave such a valuable item.” Ellion puts the tusk in his backpack to hand over to the Kruger Park authorities.

Time has flown by, and it is almost midday when we see the Land-Rover. We have taken a circular walk of about seven miles [11 km]. When we arrive back at camp, we find that Wilson has prepared lunch, which we gratefully devour. After a siesta we leave for a late-afternoon stroll along the Luvuvhu River.

Here the scenery is magnificent, with dense green undergrowth and large trees, such as the sycamore fig with its fascinating twisted shapes. After learning the names and characteristics of various trees, we pass a troop of baboons that watch us warily from behind some bushes. Then we sit down on a rock overlooking the river.

As we listen to the rushing water, Ellion draws our attention to four nyala cows approaching the river behind us. Fortunately, a breeze is blowing in our direction, so they do not pick up our scent. We watch these beautiful antelope as they stop every now and then to browse from a bush. After about ten minutes, one of them notices us and gives a warning bark. Immediately, all of them scamper off.

Meanwhile, some of the inquisitive baboons have moved closer, and we hear what seems to be the exaggerated scream of a youngster. Possibly its mother is giving it a spanking for getting too close. We imagine her saying: ‘Don’t you dare go near those humans again!’

It’s getting dark, so we must get back to camp. After we return, it starts to rain, so we have supper in a lovely thatched shelter with open sides. We listen to the soft pitter-patter of the rain punctuated by sounds of the bush. Wild animals are in the vicinity, and the conversation again turns to lions. We ask Kobus how many times he has come face-to-face with a lion while on trail.

“About 70 times,” he replies.

“When it happens, what is the usual reaction?”

“What usually happens,” answers Kobus, “is that it is a surprise for both parties. You walk into an area, such as we did today, expecting to see the usual game, when all of a sudden, a few meters in front of you, there is a pride of lions resting in the shade. They look at you, and you see their eyes get larger as if they can’t believe what they are seeing. My eyes,” laughs Kobus, “are probably getting larger too. Then I say to the trailists: ‘Come quick! have a look!’ The next moment, you hear two or three roars, and off they go. They are much more scared of us than we are of them.

“Other times, you run into females with cubs, and then it’s a different story. Instead of a roar, you get a long threatening growl, and you see her tail flicking from side to side. I have my rifle cocked and tell the trailists to stand quietly. Then we retreat in an orderly way, keeping our eyes fixed on the animal and not turning our backs.”

The following morning, we walk through the beautiful Mashikiripoort​—a narrow gorge with steep rock faces on each side. Eventually we reach a hill with a cave. Before climbing up, Ellion throws a rock, which makes a loud clatter. “I threw the stone,” he explained later, “in case there were lions or other dangerous animals. It gives them time to escape.”

“Otherwise,” adds Kobus, “you could corner a dangerous animal, and then you’ve got problems.” When we reach the cave, there, on one of the rock walls, is a Bushman painting. It is a giraffe that Kobus says could have been painted over two hundred years ago.

During the walk, we also see herds of giraffes, wildebeests, and zebras. In a motor vehicle, you can often get close to these creatures, but on foot, when the wind is blowing toward them, they invariably pick up your scent and run away before you get near. We listen to a distant herd of zebras galloping away, and I recall the truthful words in the Bible: “A fear of you and a terror of you will continue upon every living creature of the earth.”​—Genesis 9:2.

By this time we have come to respect Ellion’s ability to spot animals and to identify their spoor. He is of the Tsonga nation​—a people renowned for their tracking skills. We ask him about it.

“I started learning when I was a small boy herding cattle,” he explains.

Later, during our last afternoon walk, it is Ellion who alerts us to the sound of hippos. Soon we arrive at a spot overlooking the river. Sure enough, there in the water is a herd of hippos. Many consider the hippo to be the most dangerous animal in Africa. But we have learned to trust our cautious, well-trained rangers. Quietly, we sit on the bank and watch. Every now and then, a hippo’s head disappears under the water. Just when we think one is gone, it suddenly rises, snorting and spraying water from its large nostrils. Then, in unison, they give their unforgettable sonorous grunts and open their gigantic mouths.

After being entranced by these antics for about half an hour, we tear ourselves away because it is getting dark. That evening, as we sit around the camp fire, we review the enriching experiences of the past two days. We rejoice to know that the earth still has unspoiled, beautiful spots like this. As for the future, we take comfort in the Bible’s promise that, before it is too late, God will intervene and save the earth from ruin. Then, not only Nyalaland but the whole earth will benefit from God’s sure promise: “Look! I am making all things new.”​—Revelation 11:18; 21:3-5; Isaiah 35:5-7.

Watching the World

The Numbers Game

For decades, gay-rights groups in the United States have maintained that homosexuals compose 10 percent of the population. The high percentage has been a handy lever to exert political pressure. But the 10-percent figure, based on Alfred Kinsey’s studies of human sexuality in the 1940’s and 1950’s, has recently come under increasing scrutiny. Newsweek magazine reports: “Most recent studies place gays and lesbians at somewhere between 1 and 6 percent of the population.” Why was Kinsey’s figure so high? It seems that his surveys were directed largely toward such institutions as schools, prisons, and hospitals, which may not be representative of the population as a whole. Newsweek quotes University of Washington sociologist Pepper Schwartz as saying of the 10-percent figure, “It’s just not a real number.”

A Living Giant

What is the largest living thing on our planet? In 1992 some thought they had found a candidate for the title: a giant fungus that covers some 30 acres [12 ha] of a forest floor in Michigan, U.S.A. However, the journal Nature recently reported on what may be an even stronger contender: a stand of aspen trees in Utah. These trees are all clones, genetically identical. Each of the 47,000 trunks stems from a single root system. University of Colorado scientist Dr. Jeffry Mitton describes it as a single organism “that can literally climb over mountains and across meadows.” It is estimated to cover 106 acres [43 ha] and to weigh about 13 million pounds [6 million kg]. While individual trees in the stand live for an average of 65 years, the organism as a whole may be thousands of years old.

Never Too Old

‘You’re never too old to learn.’ As if to illustrate this old saying, Bernabé Evangelista, a sprightly 93-year-old, is looking forward to completing his university studies in two years’ time. He is studying art at the University of Valencia, Spain, and his devotion to his studies has already earned him a prize for outstanding academic achievement. “Studying is the most beautiful thing there is,” explains Bernabé, who arrives at the university at eight o’clock each morning and often does not finish his evening classes until nine o’clock at night. Bernabé believes that older folk have a golden opportunity to study. “It is the time of life when you have the time to do it,” he says. His wife adds that keeping active gives him a purpose in life.

Deicing and Pollution

The deicing of airplanes and runways, so crucial to safe flights, brings with it an undesirable side effect: pollution. Britain’s New Scientist magazine reports that over 13 million gallons [50 million liters] of deicing fluids are used at the world’s airports each year, and the runoff of the fluids often contaminates groundwater and waterways, causing toxic algae blooms and killing fish. Several European airports have devised ingenious ways to fight this pollution. At Stockholm’s airport, vehicles that act like vacuum cleaners retrieve excess deicing fluid from the planes. The Munich airport deploys a giant machine that passes over a plane like an automated car wash, spraying the fluid and collecting the excess, which is recycled. The Munich runways collect chemical runoff, passing it through buried gravel and sand barriers, where it is treated with bacteria that break it down and render it harmless.

Space Mirror

A notion that might sound more like science fiction than science became a reality last February when Russian cosmonauts deployed and unfurled a 65-foot [20 m] mirror from the orbiting Mir space station. Some scientists suggest that mirrors in space could be used to reflect sunlight to earth during the nighttime, thus saving electricity bills and even extending the growing period for crops. The mirror, made of a thin sheet of Mylar, reflected a beam of sunlight to the earth, where observers in Russia, France, and Canada reported seeing it. The Russian cosmonauts spotted and tracked the two-and-a-half-mile-wide [4 km] patch of light that the mirror cast on the darkened planet below them. An engineer on the project pronounced the experiment a success and suggested that the next step be a 650-foot [200 m] mirror with its own guidance system.

European Court Decides in Favor of Greek Witnesses

On May 25, 1993, Jehovah’s Witnesses obtained a major legal victory in a decision rendered by the European Court of Human Rights, which sits in Strasbourg, France. The case involved an 84-year-old Witness, Minos Kokkinakis, who had been convicted of illegal proselytism. On March 20, 1986, he was sentenced to four months in prison by the Lasithi criminal court in Crete. However, the ruling of the European Court reversed his conviction in a six-to-three decision. For decades the government of Greece, strongly influenced by the Greek Orthodox Church, has caused thousands of Jehovah’s Witnesses to be arrested on charges of illegal proselytism. In this case the European Court found that the Greek government had violated Mr. Kokkinakis’ rights under the European Convention. The more than 26,000 Witnesses in Greece are hopeful that this decision will end their persecution and allow them to carry out their lawful ministry in peace.

Leprosy in Italy

The ancient plague of leprosy, or Hansen’s disease, continues to claim victims in modern Europe. Italian Health Ministry figures indicate that in Italy alone, there are some 410 known victims of the disease, with four or five new cases appearing each year. At a health-care conference held in Lecco, Italy, it was revealed that in recent months 20 cases had been registered among immigrants from developing countries where Hansen’s disease is widespread. According to Antonio Sebastiani, director of the Institute for Infectious and Tropical Diseases at La Sapienza University, Rome, “there are still some areas in Sardinia, Tuscany, and Liguria where the disease survives.”

Mass for the Beasts

Animals seem to be receiving particular attention from the Italian clergy of late. The religious order of Franciscans recently accused the Jesuits of being “heretics” and “enemies of the creation” because of saying that animals were “not capable of loving.” Catholic prelate Mario Canciani puts the view of the church this way: “The [Catholic] Church is open to all living creatures.” So, according to the Italian newspaper La Repubblica, churchgoers in Rome have long been able to procure blessings for their “small domestic friends.” Announcing such an occasion, the newspaper explains that “together with those who can more properly be described as Christians, cats, dogs, parrots, rabbits, and all the fauna for which a blessing is desired may also attend.”

Sleep Debt

“People behind on sleep can walk, hear, and see like everyone else. However, research shows that the ability to reason, the power to make decisions and to remain alert are weakened,” says Veja magazine. The article quotes experts who warn of the dangers of missing out on necessary sleep. A survey by Dr. Denis Martinez, president of the Brazilian Society for Sleep, shows that “2 of every 10 job accidents are due to sleeping poorly at night.” Dr. Martinez warns that those who get little sleep, “for example, working at three jobs, . . . are simply selling their health to the job market.”

Pesticides Threaten Wine Country

In the Moselle region of central Germany, which produces world-famous wines, more and more vineyard workers are suffering from nervous disorders. Gardeners, farmers, and foresters manifest similar symptoms, according to Peter Binz, a neurologist from Trier. There is also a high incidence of bronchial cancer along the course of the Moselle Valley. For what reason? “In Binz’s opinion, the cause in most cases is the use of garden pesticides,” reports the German newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung. Investigations have revealed that “up to 90 percent of pesticides distributed by spray or by helicopter evaporate into the surrounding air within a few hours and are inhaled by people in the area.”

“Solo Living”

“Going it alone is becoming increasingly attractive to Canadians,” claims The Toronto Star. “For many there is now a clear attraction for solo living,” a 1992 report of Statistics Canada indicated. Between the years 1981 and 1991, the desire for solo living increased by 43 percent for single people, 16 percent for divorced people, and 18 percent for widows and widowers. During this same period, “common-law unions . . . grew by 111 per cent,” according to the Star. Single-parent families now account for 20 percent of Canadian families. Despite the appeal of solo living, the birthrate is at its highest level in 14 years.

From Our Readers

Western Poverty In your December 22, 1992, issue, an item in “Watching the World” (“Poor Children in America”) stated: “The United States, one of the richest countries in the world, is also home to some of the poorest children.” This is misleading. There are poor kids in many countries who would regard most of America’s poor children as rich. It is indeed a tragedy that many children in America are suffering. But with all the resources available, it’s because of shameful neglect by their parents.

W. H., United States

While many extreme cases of poverty can be seen in the United States, we did not mean to imply that the standard of living among those considered poor in that country is generally the same as that of impoverished ones in other lands. The fact that widespread poverty of any sort exists in such an affluent country is alarming. True, some children do suffer because of parental neglect. Many parents, however, possess neither the skills needed to improve their situation nor access to the resources enjoyed by others.​—ED.

Family Violence I want to thank you so much for the series “Will Domestic Violence Ever End?” (February 8, 1993) For the last 10 years of my 22-year marriage, I put up with domestic violence. Psychological abuse is the worst. Insidiously, yet systematically, your personality is deformed to such a degree that you cannot ask for help. I reached the point where I even considered suicide. I finally left my husband, and I am living on my own. But I have been strengthened and comforted by the articles in your magazine.

B. S., Germany

My mother is a victim of physical abuse by my father, and we three children are very distressed about it. Every time he beats my mother, it is as though he were beating us. Few truly understand what it means to live in a family dominated by violence and hatred, where there is no longer any understanding or love. We are encouraged by the knowledge that someone understands us.

T. G. D. A., Italy

It is very encouraging to see this issue being addressed openly. I endured 14 years with an abusive mate who claimed to be a Christian. I was often told that I needed to avoid angering him. That was asking for the impossible! Finally, I had to leave him. Thank you for the articles; they were encouraging and can help others who have never been hit, kicked, or spit upon to understand the emotional scars we bear.

L. T., United States

The articles go right to the heart of many women who have felt alone and isolated; feelings of fear and shame kept us silent. You have helped us to understand that contrary to what we have been brainwashed to believe, we did not bring this on ourselves.

B. A., United States

Weeks have passed since my copy of Awake! arrived in the mail. It took many prayers for me simply to get the magazine out of its wrapper and days before I could finally force myself to read it. Thank you so much for addressing this issue! I was a victim of domestic violence. Once my husband brutally beat me while I slept; it required plastic surgery to fix my cheekbones. I was able to get away from him with the help of the police and a kind Christian family who lived nearby. He was sentenced to several months in jail. I am now remarried to a fine Christian man.

P. H., United States

Yet Another Ecological Tragedy

IT HAS been said that lightning never strikes twice in the same place, but that does not apply to oil tankers. Twice in the last 20 years, the port of La Coruña in northwest Spain has been sullied by a massive oil spill.

In the early morning of December 3, 1992, the Greek tanker Aegean Sea foundered on the rocks jutting out from the headland on which La Coruña stands. Within hours the tanker broke in two, and seven of its nine tanks were ablaze. An enormous column of dense black smoke marked the site of what Spanish president Felipe González called “an ecological catastrophe.”

The Aegean Sea was carrying nearly 80,000 tons of North Sea crude oil, and the day after the accident, a 20-square-mile [50 sq km] oil slick began to invade the four nearby estuaries. Sixteen years ago the tanker Urquiola sank in the entrance to the same harbor, contaminating the coast with more than 100,000 tons of crude oil.

Apart from the extensive damage caused to marine life, thousands of fishermen, some of whom have only just received compensation for the previous disaster, have their livelihood threatened once again. Why are there so many tanker accidents? Although there were heavy seas on the night of this latest accident, human error is thought to be the principal cause of the disaster.

Ironically, the Aegean Sea ran aground just a hundred yards [90 m] from a lighthouse​—the oldest working lighthouse in the world—​the symbol of La Coruña. It was erected nearly two thousand years ago by the Romans, who knew the dangers of these coastal waters. The present lighthouse, which preserves the remains of the Roman artifact, still flashes its warning light. Sadly, on the night of December 3, 1992, that warning went unheeded.

[Picture Credit Line on page 31]

Foto Blanco

Comfort for the Depressed

Last year Jehovah’s Witnesses published a small six-page tract on the above subject. Very concisely, it provides the type of help that depressed ones need. The tract shows that the Bible is the best source of comfort. It cites dozens of pertinent Scripture texts on the subject of depression, including ones that can be used to assist depressed persons.

Last fall the branch office of Jehovah’s Witnesses in Rome, Italy, received a phone call during which the caller said: “I want to thank you for the tract on depression. I have just received it, and I felt compelled to call to thank you. I have never read anything so encouraging in any medical publication. I want to compliment you because you succeed in saying so much in so little space.

“When I read the tract, I was moved to tears. I want to encourage you to continue your work. It is important; you should do it all over Italy and all over the world.”

If you would like to have a copy of this tract, Comfort for the Depressed, or further information, please write to Watchtower, 25 Columbia Heights, Brooklyn, New York 11201, or to the appropriate address listed on page 5.