Watching the World
Religion? Not Important
Religion has far less importance in the lives of most Europeans than their families, careers, friends, and recreation. So says the Catholic Paris daily La Croix, reporting on the findings of a recent study that was conducted in over 20 European nations and that examined the values and beliefs of today’s Europeans. “Traditional religious beliefs, as well as the influence of the Church in day-to-day life, are incontestably on the decline,” the article said. According to the researchers, “the decline in the importance of religion may be explained by the apparent failure of the churches to help people to face their day-to-day problems.” La Croix reports that although the majority of individuals reject traditional church teachings, “with the exception of Sweden, over 50 percent of those questioned said they did believe in God.”
AIDS Repercussions
The director of the World Health Organization’s global program on AIDS, Dr. Michael Merson, fears that the AIDS pandemic may have serious social and economic repercussions, says the French magazine La Presse Médicale. Speaking at the World Bank’s special session on AIDS held in Bangkok, Thailand, Dr. Merson warned that “the death of at least a fifth of the young and middle-aged adults within a short period of time will bring about social upheavals, economic disruptions, and even political destabilization in many countries.” Already, many of the most productive members of Africa’s population have died from the disease, and entire families have died from it in many rural villages. More than six million Africans are expected to die from AIDS in the next decade. Conservative estimates are that some 9 to 11 million persons earth wide are infected with HIV, which causes AIDS—a number the experts say will triple within the next eight years.
Order in the Cosmos
Paul Davies, a professor of theoretical physics at the University of Newcastle upon Tyne, England, has, for a scientist, made some highly controversial statements in his new book The Mind of God. He concludes that man’s existence is not a mere quirk of fate but that “we are truly meant to be here.” He writes: “Through my scientific work, I have come to believe more and more strongly that the physical universe is put together with an ingenuity so astonishing that I cannot accept it merely as a brute fact. There must, it seems to me, be a deeper level of explanation. Whether one wishes to call that deeper level ‘God’ is a matter of taste and definition.”
Church Failure Admitted
Fifteen Roman Catholic bishops from the African nations of Burundi, Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zaire recently confessed that despite the presence of many baptized “Christians” in the region, “internal conflicts have led to massacres, destruction and forced removals of people.” Ethnic and tribal differences, they say, have created “a vicious circle of fear, mistrust and manipulation rooted in racist ideologies . . . incompatible with the Christian faith.” As reported in Ecumenical Press Service, the news service of the World Council of Churches, the bishops admitted that the root of the problem “is that the Christian faith has not sufficiently penetrated the mentality of the people.”
“Most Widely Used Drug”
“Caffeine is the most widely used drug in the world,” says a recent issue of The American Journal of Psychiatry. “Studies show that abstinence from caffeine induces a withdrawal syndrome of headache, fatigue, and drowsiness which begins within 12-24 hours and lasts about 1 week. The syndrome can be severe and appears to be one reason for continued use of coffee.” However, coffee is not the only source of caffeine. Tea, soft drinks (such as colas), and many over-the-counter drugs (weight-loss aids, diuretics, stimulants, pain relievers, cold and allergy remedies) also contain substantial amounts of caffeine. As a result, many people who feel they have eliminated caffeine from their diets may still experience withdrawal symptoms under certain circumstances, for example when they are hospitalized.
Watch Out for Lead
“Lead poisoning is the most common and societally devastating environmental disease of young children,” says Dr. Vernon N. Houk, director of the National Center for Environmental Health and Injury Control of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control. Under new standards, from three to four million children in the United States below six years of age have blood lead levels high enough to cause adverse health effects, such as learning disabilities and behavioral disorders. A major source of lead poisoning in children is from the chips and dust of the leaded paints used in older homes. While lead is especially devastating to developing children, it is also toxic to adults. Recently, wine lovers were advised not to drink from leaded crystal glasses, as the lead may leach into the wine. Warnings also went out regarding the lead-foil wrappers that cover the corks on wine bottles. Wine drinkers were told that after removing the wrapper, they should wipe off the lead residue on the rim of the bottle with a moistened towel—preferably with something acidic, such as lemon juice or vinegar—before removing the cork.
Jerusalem’s Underground Waterworks
“For more than 100 years, archaeologists and historians have puzzled over the haphazard routes, slopes and dimensions of two underground water supply systems discovered beneath the remains of ancient Jerusalem,” notes Science News magazine. “Although most researchers regard the subterranean waterworks as the products of early, error-prone engineers and construction workers, a new analysis indicates that residents of the holy city skillfully altered a natural network of underground channels and tunnels to ensure a dependable water supply.” According to the Bible, it was knowledge of the underground passages that enabled David to take the city successfully some 3,000 years ago. (2 Samuel 5:8) The new study shows that there were two underground openings that emerged outside the walls of the ancient city.
Trackers Becoming Scarce
“If we are not careful, . . . there may soon be no more traditional trackers in southern Africa,” writes Louis Liebenberg in African Wildlife. The author, an expert on the subject, fears that the art of tracking animals will die out. Some of the best trackers have already reached the age where their eyesight is failing. Trackers have only the status of unskilled laborers and they receive low wages, which are the main reasons cited why the profession is on the wane. Things are not likely to improve “as long as trackers are held in low esteem in the eyes of the younger generation, who aspire to attain something ‘better’ than their elders.” But experienced trackers are essential in curbing poaching and in management of game reserves, so “tracking should be recognised as a specialised profession,” says Liebenberg. “To be an expert tracker requires an above-average intelligence.”
Never Too Old
Japan’s latest two cover girls are Kin (meaning “Gold”) Narita and Gin (meaning “Silver”) Kanie. Their main attraction is that they are a hundred years old and are twins. They are healthy, alert, and amusingly outspoken. They were “discovered” by the mayor of Nagoya in September 1991 when he visited them on “Respect for the Aged Day.” Since then, the pair have been highly visible on television as well as in commercials and magazines. In February, Kin and Gin started out on a recording career by making a compact disc. That month they also visited the income tax office to file returns for the first time in their lives. Overnight success and wealth have left them unimpressed. They have no use for the money, they say, and are giving most of it away to welfare.
Girls Not Wanted
Women in India are using ultrasound technology to determine if their fetus is male or female. If female, the fetus is often aborted. This has resulted in dramatically altered sex ratios. In Haryana State, for instance, there are only 874 females for every 1,000 males. The “adverse sex ratio occurs not because fewer girls are born (or conceived) but because fewer are allowed to be born or to survive,” says a UN report. Females are considered to be liabilities. Dowries must be given at the time of marriage and gifts when a daughter has a child. The birth of a boy is celebrated, but not that of a girl. A man may abandon a wife who does not produce a male child, or he may even take a second wife. The problem also exists among Indians living in other countries. The Medical Post of Canada recently reported on a complaint that “doctors from British Columbia’s East Indian Sikh community are helping women have abortions if their fetus is found to be female so that they can try for a boy next time.” As the sex of the fetus can only be determined with accuracy after 16 weeks, males are often aborted. The mother is never told.