Insight on the News
Insects—Rare or Well Done?
● ‘His food was insect locusts and wild honey,’ says the Bible of John the Baptist. (Matt. 3:4) Does eating insect locusts as a regular diet sound farfetched to you? In reality, insects are used as food by many people on earth today, and some scientists are giving serious consideration to them as one means to cope with a world food crisis. Among these is University of Wisconsin Professor Gene De Foliart. The San Francisco “Examiner” quotes him as saying that some insects, such as termites, “have a higher protein content than beef or fish.” He acknowledges, however, that most Americans would take a lot of persuading before they would eat insects directly. The desert locust, doubtless similar to those John the Baptist ate, consists of 75-percent protein, according to an analysis made at Jerusalem. Those who have tried locusts compare their taste to that of shrimp or crab.
Confusion of Tongues
● Bible history points to Babel, on the Plains of Shinar in Mesopotamia, as the place where human language became divided by divine action. (Gen. 11:1-9) A New York “Times” review of the recent book “After Babel,” by University of Geneva Professor George Steiner, reveals something of the enormity of language difference today. It points out that there are more than 5,000 distinct tongues used by mankind earth wide. Notable is the fact that the languages of some of the “primitive” peoples of earth are actually very complex, in some aspects more complex than those of people considered better educated. Thus the book shows that “starving bands of Amazonian Indians” in describing their situation may use more verb tenses than the famous Greek scholar Plato had at his disposal.
The how and why of all these language differences remain a puzzle to the language scholars. The review of “After Babel” comments that, after pages and pages of questions on the underlying causes, the statement “‘no one knows’ is a typical interjection.” In reality, the Bible’s explanation remains the only credible historical account of how the confusion started.
Liberated Women?
● “The head of every man is the Christ; in turn the head of a woman is the man.” (1 Cor. 11:3) Since so many men today do not act in harmony with the headship of Christ Jesus, it is not hard to see why some women are inclined to reject male headship. But what is the result when they do?
Among other things noted since the growth of the women’s liberation movement is an increase in crime among women. An Associated Press report quotes Dr. Gerhard Mueller, head of the U.N. crime prevention unit, as saying that, in the so-called “advanced countries,” “female criminality in all categories is rising between three and five times as fast as male criminality.” In the United States robberies by females rose 300 percent in the past five years, as compared to a rise of only 20 percent in robberies by males. The increase in female homicides was two to three times greater than that among males.
Dr. Mueller pointed to the liberation movement as an evident factor in this growing involvement of women in crime. “As they are immersed into more progressive life styles,” he said, “they adopt the same antisocial responses as males.” Female criminality still ranks far lower than male criminality, but the women are beginning to catch up.
A series of articles by Los Angeles “Herald-Examiner” staff writer Linda Bernier points in the same direction. She quotes one jail inmate, a woman who had been arrested ten times, as saying: “I think the women’s movement has had an effect on women totally—not only out there in society, but in here, too. . . . since women are more aggressive and assertive in society, that’s what they are in prison.” Rising crime among women is only part of a larger picture that includes spiraling juvenile delinquency and soaring divorce rates. It all stems from rejection—by both men and women—of Bible standards that are the very foundation of true happiness.