Watching the World
Church Takes Political Role
◆ On May 7 and 8, general elections are to be held in Italy for a new Senate and Chamber of Deputies. The Roman Catholic hierarchy says that it will actively back the Christian Democratic party. The New York Times comments: “Thus, the pendulum appeared to be swinging back to deep church involvement in this nation’s affairs, as under Pope Pius XII.”
Upholding Adultery and Lying
◆ A Unitarian clergyman in Chicago, along with a doctor, concluded that “many marriages improve when one partner or both are engaged” in adultery. They reported that their finding “contradicts the widely-held view that the ideal marriage for everyone is sexual monogamy with complete honesty between partners.” Since the clergyman does not condemn lying, cheating and adultery, he clashes head on with God.
No Moral Guidance
◆ The Anglican Dean of Perth, Australia, said that ‘the Church has no right to urge morality on society.’ He stated: “Morality means what is acceptable to the community, and what is acceptable varies from generation to generation and from place to place.” As do so many clergymen, he totally ignored the morality acceptable to God.
Anglican Clergy Loss Critical
◆ The Church of England is losing clergymen so fast that the situation is described as critical. It is now losing about twice as many as it is recruiting. Last year only 392 men were ordained, the lowest total in 22 years and more than 100 fewer than five years ago.
Evolutionists Change Minds Again
◆ Several decades ago fossils of small creatures found in Africa were classified by evolutionists as the genus Australopithecus. Many evolutionists came to accept these as being in the line of man. As the book Early Man said: “He apparently is our ancestor.” Now, however, after years of digging in Africa, Richard Leakey states that Australopithecus “had nothing whatsoever to do with the development of the genus Homo.” Thus, the guessing game continues among those who refuse to accept the fact that God created humans separate and distinct from the animals.
Dabbling in Occult Harmful
◆ Forty to fifty percent of mental patients in California hospitals are there because of dabbling in the occult, claims psychologist Dr. Kurt Koch. San Diego’s Youth Action Center counselors also note the rise in mental anguish of those involved in spiritistic practices.
Homeless Children
◆ According to United Nations figures, for every 100 children born in Latin America, about 70 either die in infancy or live in bitter poverty. Thousands are abandoned each year. In the capital of one South American country, there are said to be 6,000 homeless children who live by crime, even murdering for money as they grow up. How obvious it is that mankind sorely needs God’s new order.
Birthrates Drop
◆ In 1971, 3,559,000 births were recorded in the United States, a decline of 4 percent from 1970 although the number of potential mothers increased. The nation’s overall birthrate per thousand people is now 17.3, the lowest on record. The sharpest decline in birthrates in recent years has been among lower-income women. They bore a million fewer children from 1966 to 1970 than they would have at earlier fertility rates.
School Problems
◆ Schools in many countries are turning into ‘blackboard jungles.’ Terry Casey, general secretary of Britain’s National Association of Schoolmasters, states: “There is no doubt that society and schools are becoming increasingly violent and that we are becoming virtually powerless to cope with it.” In the United States the Dallas Morning News reports: “Teachers said they saw the breakdown in authority in schools moving across the nation like a thunderstorm.” And Today’s Education says: “The increase in assaults on teachers in the past few years is a symptom of the times: an era of increasing violence in America.”
No Letup
◆ In spite of the evidence against drugs, their use increases on American college campuses. In the four years since 1967, the number who have tried LSD or other hallucinogens is reported to have risen from 1 percent to 18 percent. Ten times as many now try marijuana. Large increases were also noted in the use of amphetamines (stimulants) and barbiturates (depressants).
What About the Victims?
◆ Retiring Supreme Court Judge T. A. Dohm of Vancouver declared that society places too much stress on rehabilitating criminals and too little on protecting the public. “The pendulum has swung too far,” he said, blaming much of the problem on “do-gooders” who forget about victims of crime.
Support Death Penalty
◆ Almost two thirds of Canadians interviewed said they wanted the death penalty for murder restored when the present suspension ends later this year. The majority believe that the murder rate has increased since the suspension, and that the death penalty is a deterrent.
“Return of the Vigilantes”
◆ In recent times, ominous suggestions have been voiced that if the police could not cope with rising crime, especially that due to drug addiction, then the community would have to take matters in its own hands. Now the Seattle Post-Intelligencer reports: “The police in many big American cities are increasingly faced with a novel problem in law enforcement: the return of the vigilantes. The initial signs were bodies of ‘known’ dope-pushers that turned up, killed by a person or persons unknown.” Newsweek editorial writer Stewart Alsop also cited a Washington Post article which said: “The word is seeping through black ghettos that vigilante action—up to and including ‘elimination’—may be the only way to halt the growing use of heroin among black youths.”