Insight on the News
‘Threat to the State’
● Youth psychotherapist Christa Meves believes that “the ‘West’s crisis in child training’ is one of the basic causes of terrorism in Germany,” states the German newspaper “Schwäbische Zeitung.” She also feels that “we have only seen the beginning of the crisis,” says the paper, for in her estimation present mistakes will not become evident until the children grow up, or after the year 1990.
In the meantime, the problems will increase, becoming a “threat to public health and to the constitutional state,” contends Mrs. Meves. In fact, she emphasized that “this is just the tip of a dreadful iceberg.”
A feared “threat to public health and to the constitutional state” is of no little consequence. But parents need to do more than passively worry about what may happen when their children grow up. “Chastise your son while there exists hope,” says a divinely inspired proverb. (Prov. 19:18) Do this, imparting accurate Scriptural instruction to a son or daughter, and you have reason to believe that he or she “will bring you rest and give much pleasure to your soul.” Yes, “train up a boy according to the way for him,” we are told, and “even when he grows old he will not turn aside from it.”—Prov. 22:6; 29:17.
Crime and Government Corruption
● “Federal lawmen tell us that a disturbing number of Congressmen maintain backdoor contacts with underworld figures,” wrote U.S. columnist Jack Anderson in “Parade” magazine. He further stated: “Gangsters also need political protection simply to survive. ‘Organized crime can’t exist,’ one top lawman told us tersely, ‘without corruption at all levels of government.’ Another explained that the mob ‘thrives on its ability to neutralize effective government.’”
Despite any noble intentions on the part of a person entering political life, it is not unlikely that he will be confronted by some unwholesome pressures. In fact, many informed people believe that corruption of some sort is bound to occur in government. But is that necessarily true?
The Bible describes a corruption-free heavenly government that will have earthly administrators of the highest integrity. When that government alone holds sway, “a king will reign for righteousness itself; and as respects princes, they will rule as princes for justice itself.” (Isa. 32:1; Dan. 2:44) While awaiting that Messianic kingdom under Jesus Christ, true Christians render proper subjection to present-day governmental “superior authorities.”—Rom. 13:1-7.
When ‘They Learn War’
● A United Press International dispatch from Beirut says that “youths comprised the overwhelming majority of Palestinian and Lebanese rightist militias” participating in Lebanon’s civil war that ended in November 1976. The dispatch said that “thousands of adolescent murderers” dominated that 19-month conflict. Now, according to one psychiatrist, “deprived of the omnipotence of firearms, Lebanon’s child killers will turn either criminal or neurotic in peacetime Beirut.”—“Bulletin Today,” Manila, Philippines.
Many psychological problems now exist among young and old in Lebanon—so much so that, according to the press report, psychiatrists say that the country “is beginning to pay the mental price for the war, and the adolescents may pay a good part of the bill.” But, then, is that not to be expected when ‘they learn war’?
Soundness of mind and a happy outlook are being enjoyed by true Christians in Lebanon, however. This is because they recognize the authority of God’s heavenly government. Consequently, they pursue peace and enjoy the tranquillity it brings. In whatever nation they reside, Jehovah’s Witnesses have ‘beaten their swords into plowshares and they learn war no more.’—Isa. 2:4; 1 Pet. 3:10-12.