Insight on the News
“Measles of the Human Race”
● In the recent flurry of published information celebrating Albert Einstein’s centennial, news columnist Joseph Kraft wrote concerning Einstein’s views on nationalism: “[Einstein] set an example in renouncing nationalism. ‘I never identified myself with any particular country,’ he once wrote. He called nationalism ‘an infantile disease . . . the measles of the human race.’”
Similarly, in a letter to the editor of Bombay’s “Indian Express” newspaper, an Indian man stated: “I do not believe in patriotism. It is an opium innovated by the politicians to serve their ugly ends. It is for their prosperity. It is for their betterment. It is for their aggrandizement. It is never for the country. It is never for the nation. It is never never for common men and women like you and I. . . . This sinister politician-invented wall shall divide man from man—and brother from brother; till one day it shall bring about man’s doom by man. Patriotism or nationalism, to my mind, is an idiotic exercise in artificial loyalty. . . . I take no hypocritical pride in being petty this or that. I belong to mankind.”
Hiding the Truth
● Why did the recently published “New International Version” (NIV) of the Bible fail to use the name of God where it appears about 7,000 times in ancient Bible manuscripts? In response to a person who inquired about this, Edwin H. Palmer, Th.D., Executive Secretary for the NIV’s committee wrote:
“Here is why we did not: You are right that Jehovah is a distinctive name for God and ideally we should have used it. But we put 2 1/4 million dollars into this translation and a sure way of throwing that down the drain is to translate, for example, Psalm 23 as, ‘Yahweh is my shepherd.’ Immediately, we would have translated for nothing. Nobody would have used it. Oh, maybe you and a handful [of] others. But a Christian has to be also wise and practical. We are the victims of 350 years of the King James tradition. It is far better to get two million to read it—that is how many have bought it to date—and to follow the King James, than to have two thousand buy it and have the correct translation of Yahweh. . . . It was a hard decision, and many of our translators agree with you.”
Palmer cites “King James tradition” as well as mercenary considerations to rationalize removing God’s name from His own book. However, it is of interest that even the “King James Version” itself puts such reasoning to rout when saying of God’s opposers: “Fill their faces with shame; that they may seek thy name, O LORD. Let them be confounded and troubled for ever; yea, let them be put to shame, and perish: That men may know that thou, whose name alone is JEHOVAH, art the most high over all the earth.”—Ps. 83:16-18.
Getting ‘Burned’ in Mozambique
● Since taking power a few years ago, the Frelimo rulers of Mozambique have steadily moved against religion. “A renewed anti-Christian drive is gaining momentum,” reports “To the Point International” news-magazine. The article expresses surprise at the “relentless onslaught on the Christian churches from which the [Frelimo] insurgents received widespread support” when taking over the country. “Led by the influential Roman Catholic bishop of Nampula, Dom Manuel Vieira Pinto, who declared himself openly on Frelimo’s side, many missionaries and priests gave assistance to the terrorists, aiding them at home and promoting their cause abroad.” In one instance, “Pope Paul VI welcomed to Rome a deputation of top leaders of the guerrilla movements, including Frelimo’s vice-president Marcelino dos Santos.” But “the Christian churches’ open sympathy for the so-called ‘liberation movements,’ has apparently paid no dividends,” observes “To the Point.” In fact, the clergymen mentioned above “all have now fled the country or been expelled by the new rulers whom they helped to achieve power.”
The Bible shows that similarly the world’s rulers will turn against all religions world wide that have prostituted themselves to curry political favor.—Rev. 17:1-3, 16.