Consolation, April 24, 1946

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Contents

Godless Parochial Instruction

“Queen of Angels, Pray for Us”

Something More tian Bluff

■Such Would Make Queer Americans

Get Your Soul Reinstated

Parochial Education Makes Poor Citizens 9

■ Postwar Conditions in Europe

England’s Regulations Continue

* Norway Still Remembers

Poor Little Finland

Denmark Ilas Plenty of Food

Terrible Conditions in Low Countries

Switzerland in the Wintertime

Relief for the Needy

“Thy Word Is Truth”

Oneness of Father and Son

A Colored Woman’s Witness, at Midnight

Witnessing in Huntington Park

Interesting Experience in New York

“My Vocation”

Ten Years in the American Melting-Pot

The Melting-Pot Still Melts

Papal Economics

What Are the Guilds?

Just One Happy Bastille by 1700

Japan’s “Divinity” Blows Up

Hirohito Sheds His Wings

Britons Well Treated in Guernsey

Published every other Wednesday by

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‘Glad with His People* in Newfoundland

♦ I have decided to take my stand on the right side, for Jesus Christ and for the extension of His kingdom. I was always a member of the United Church, and I always thought, like the rest of them, that was the way Jesus wanted us to go, but since the first of August I have been reading your books, and in these four months I have made up my mind to accept this way.

My people! I do not even know the man’s name that came to my door. At that time I had no use for anything. I was weary, worn and sad. I am the mother of five sons and live in an outpost where there is so much work to be done that I hardly know which duty to perform first.

Well, when the man came, I obtained 50c worth of those little books, such as Peace—CW It Last? and a lot of others. I have been reading these every Sunday, and looking up the scriptures to which they call attention, and have found that they are true.

And now I want more reading matter, and want you to let me know what steps I must take to put myself on your side. Meantime I am enclosing $1.00 for The Watchtower, and want you to let that man know that I have read the books and am now ready to live for God.

He will remember me as the one from whom he obtained the bottle of milk. Had I known that he was a disciple of Jesus Christ I would not have taken any money for the milk.

My people! I want your prayers. I am all alone, except that T have Christ on my side; but with that I know that nothing can harm me. T will be looking forward to hearing from you, and receiving The Watchtower, as T am definitely interested. May God bless you in your work, and may you receive many souls for your hire. [From an island in Placentia Bay, Newfoundland] .

CONSOLATION

“And in His name shall the nations hope.”—Matthew 12:21, A.jS?.V.

Volume XXVII Brooklyn, N.Y., Wednesday, April 24, 1946 Number 694

Godless Parochial Instruction

IF WHAT an institution teaches is in flat contradiction of the teachings of Jesus Christ, the Son of Almighty God, are its teachings godly or godless? The answer of every honest person must be that such instruction is godless. That charge is herewith made against the parochial press, schools and pulpits.

The pope has made the statement that the Catholic press is “his very own voice”. Its statements therefore should be considered as emanating from him. With that idea in view one should take notice of. The Register (Roman Catholic), which contains the information: “We cannot understand the trinity, because it is a supernatural, perfect mystery.” That means, if it means anything, that there is no sense to the idea. Moreover, neither the word nor the thought of “trinity” occurs in the Scriptures. Note, by contrast, the pointed statement of Jesus:

It is also written in your law, that the testimony of two men is true. I am one that bear witness of myself, and the Father that sent me beareth witness of me. [John 8; 17,18]

These words of Jesus state as plainly as words vould express it that the Father and the Son are two separate and distinct personalities, not three, not one.

In the same issue of the periodical is a prayer composed by the “Most Reverend Father” Duane G. Hunt, D.D., bishop of Salt Lake City, in which that much-betitled gentleman winds up with this:

Mary conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee; pray for our eoun-try, which has been placed under thy protection.

Mary was never placed in charge of the United States government, and if she had any connection with the Boman Catholic Hierarchy, which most certainly she has not, she would be bound to be opposed, as are they, to this government of the people. The Hierarchy is seeking the destruction of every republic beneath the sun.

“Come Now, and Let Us Reason Together"

Almighty God put brains in human creatures with the idea that they should use them. When He said, “Come now, and let 'us reason together,” He meant just what He said. (Isaiah 1:18) And when Peter said, “Be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of1 the hope that is in you” (1 Peter 3:15), he certainly did not seek to multiply such unreasonable nonsense as is contained in the Jersey Observer from the pen of “Reverend Father” Walter Reilly, C.S.R.R.:

Wo have, perhaps, seen that famous painting of Augustine standing on the shore of the sea. He is clothed in the full robes of his office as a bishop. [Peter never had any sueh robes; nor, for that matter, did Jesus himself.] Near him is a little child with a pail and a shovel. Augustine is asking the child what he is doing. The youngster replies that he is going to get the ocean into the pail. [No such child ever lived.] Augustine then tells the child that it would be impossible to put the mighty ocean'into a small container. The child tells him in return that it will be no harder for him to do it than it would be for Augustine to try to comprehend the doctrine of the trinity.

This whole story is a lie on the face of it. A child smart enough to help a • bishop frame such an argument in defense of an indefensible and incomprehensible doctrine would never be such a fool as to think he could put the entire ocean into a pail. The desire of the storyteller is to exalt the clergy as custodians of mysteries, and thus to encourage the common people to finance them and keep them in robes and other things that the clergy delight in. As to the argument that nobody can learn to know Almighty God, what are the bishops going to do with Jesus’ own promise, “This is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God”?—John 17: 3.

"Queen of Angels, Pray for Vs”

A circular letter from Francis X. Desmond, C. M., from the College and Seminary of Our Lady of Angels, Niagara University, Niagara Falls, N. Y., bearing at its top the caption given above, invites payment of $1 or more to help the poor souls that are waiting for the coin. Mr. Desmond tells about it:

Patiently they have waited, accepting our occasional ejaculation of prayer or Holy Mass during the year. But November comes! There is a great stirring in purgatory.

You should notice several things about this proposition. First, Mary is not the queen of the angels; not a single statement in God’s Word supports such an idea. The angels are responsible to Almighty God. They are His servants, not Mary’s. Second, there is no such place as “purgatory”. Not a syllable in the Scriptures can be found even hinting. that there is such a place. Third, if there were such a place as “purgatory”, neither Mr. Desmond nor anybody in fiis crowd would put Himself out very much upless you came across with the dollar or more. It is like a restaurant, where one homes in free but doesn’t get out without laying the money on the counter; '

The confusion that exists on this subject of “purgatory” is noticeable in a card marked “Printed in Italy”, on which appears a prayer to Jesus, who, it is said, is “consumed with the burning love for the poor captive souls in purgatory” begging Him, who, according to His own statement has 'all power in heaven and in earth’ (Matthew 28; 18), not to be too severe on a certain young woman named Madalena Marini, who died August 9, 1941, but to “let some drops of thy precious blood fall upon the devouring flames”. Sorry, but the facts are that not only is there no such place as “purgatory”, never was, and never will be, but Jesus is not now bleeding and has not been bleeding for more than 1900 years; and none of His blood ever fell into devouring flames, not a drop of it, and never will.

Paganism should be discarded from education. Take, for instance, the wide interest in Mother’s Day. This subject is explained in the Marshfield, Wis., NewsHerald, so clearly that it seems as if anybody ought to be able to see that Nature-worship is demonistic or of devilreligion origin: •

This force was always recognized as feminine, ajid was called “Mother of the Universe”, “Great Mother of the Gods,” or “Mother-Goddess”. The form of worship has changed through the ages from offerings to Mother-Goddesses at temple altars in ancient times, to the festival of Hilaria on the 15th of March by the Romans, evolving, with “Christianity”, into that of the Madonna and the Mother Church.

Paganism recognizes a variety of gods, but the Scriptures are plain that there is but one only and almighty God. “For there is one God.” (1 Timothy 2: 5) “To ns there is but one God.” (1 Corinthians 8:6) So, not only is it paganism for any to teach that any priest can order the Almighty off His throne, to come down and be sacrificed in the mass, but

it was paganism also when the “Reverend- Father” Joseph F. Flannelly declared, in St. Patrick’s Cathedral, New York city, that it is “sound Catholic doctrine, sound Christian doctrine and sound American doctrine that there,are times when Almighty God is forced by human malice to think thoughts of revenge”. That Almighty God purposes to avenge the wrongs done to Jehovah’s witnesses is perfectly true, but He is not forced into it. Nobody can force the Almighty into anything. »

More Inconsistencies

This magazine is not certain that the “Reverend” Dr. Lewis Gaston Leary, of West Milford, N.J., is Catholic. He may be a Presbyterian, but, in any event, he is alleged to have made the statement that “when the flag code was adopted in 1923, the Christian flag wasn’t in common use”, and he then went on to explain that the Christian flag is a red cross set in a blue and white field. It thus appears that God had no flag until 1923. How He got along for 6,000 years without one is not explained.

Newsweek has explained that the government War Production Board fixed it up to make candlesticks, rosaries and crucifixes of plasties, wood and other nonessential materials, so that 500 tons of base metals theretofore used for such purposes might be available for military necessities. This same story says interestingly : ■

The WPB exempted religious clothing from its original restrictions on men’s wear, thus assuring churchmen shoulder capes, cloak collars, and sleeve cuffs on cassocks.

That is going to make a big difference up in heaven, maybe, those sleeve cuffs and shoulder capes and cloak collars. What is the use of having theni if they don’t make a hit where it counts? Now, suppose you were an angel and saw a religious man going around without/any cuffs on his cassock, what would' ^you think? You need not answer. Maybe you can’t imagine yourself witnessing such a horrible sight.

Hardly does one get over the shock that God had no flag until 1923, and this scandalous situation that only for quick action some of the religious might have been left without cuffs on their cassocks, until out comes the Denver, Colo,, edition of The Register with the solemn statement from the pen of Frank La Tourette:

Membership, therefore, in the Catholic Church is an essential condition of salvation.

For those who voluntarily refuse to profess its truths, to receive its sacraments, or be governed by its authority, salvation is impossible. ’

This thing seems to have gone, to Frank’s head, but the chances are that if you were to see Frank, he has his head tucked underneath his arm, where no ideas or other things can get to it.

Meanwhile Celsus Wheeler, O.F.M., director of the Franciscan Fraternity, St. Bonaventure, N.Y., is willing to accept $25 from you for perpetual enrollment in a purgatorial society he is oper-: ating, so if you have the twenty-five dollars, and will send it on to him, and don’t let on that you are not a Catholic you might get by the gate all right, though • probably the smell of burned feathers _ will stick to you for a long time. You can’t go into “purgatory” and come out on a $25 ticket without smelling.

Horses, donkeys mules and dogs are stiirbeing blessed by Catholic priests at the villages of Turtmann and Bellinzona, Switzerland. It doesn’t hurt the animals, and the money feels good in the priests’ pockets. '

Autohiobiles and bicycles are still blessed at Silver Spring, Maryland, and the help of St. Christopher was invoked. ■ There is no Scriptural account that any of God’s people seek protection by any such method. The apostle Paul, greatest traveler of all the apostles, was three times' shipwrecked, and once was, a day and' a night in the deep. ’ ‘

Francis Cardinal Spellman said in one of his sermons that “falsehood, whatever its sphere, has no more legitimate claim to he freely disseminated than have the germs of disease a right to formal cultivation in the blood stream of the individual”. That is all right, as far as it g

Education

The word educate means “to lead out”. Jesus was an educator of the highest order, because He taught the people, to lead them out of ignorance. The Roman Catholic Hierarchy does everything possible to keep the common people in ignorance. The Register explains one way by which this is done. The entire hocus-pocus is carried on in a language that nobody understands, in many instances, not even the priests themselves, whereas Jesus taught the common people in their own tongue, and they “heard him gladly”. (Mark 12:37) The article said:

The tendency in the Latin rite is strongly against the use of the vernacular. Various attempts to introduce it have been dismissed. In the Byzantine rite, the tendency toward the vernacular has been more marked, but the use of the vulgar tongue seems to be only tolerated, not encouraged. The United States has two large dioceses of the Byzantine rite, both of which use Staroslav, a dead language but one closer to the vernacular of at least some of the people than Latin is to English or even to the modern Romance languages. The Armenian rite uses the ancient classical

Armenian, hot the modem tongub. The Pure Greek rite uses New Testament Greek,’not modern Greek. ■

The business of hiding the truth from the people receives its recompense. Sooner or later the people find out that they cannot trust their teachers, and so they desert them. Thus the Catholic Daily Tribune, Dubuque, Iowa, for 22 years the only Catholic daily in the United States, expired. According to the Catholic Directory it had a circulation of only ?,088 copies and sold for $4 a year. This was $3.99 more than it was worth. In a column bemoaning the demise of its sister paper, The Register explained that a year before the Tribune’s death-rattle it had been offered a controlling interest in the Tribune as a gift, and it then added the curious and self-evident falsehood, “The Catholic press of America is growing so big it must be Church-controlled.”

Something More than Bluff

Neither the Hierarchy nor its children have yet learned the great truth that while much can, be accomplished in this world, the Devil’s world, by pure bluff, yet the time, comes when the bluff is called. Such a thing took place at the village of Duquesne, Pa. The little town ■ has a Catholic school once called Holy Ghost College, which consists of a single and very old type of brick building (without elevators), which decided, perhaps to grab state funds, to call itself Duquesne University. To help put this across, the old trick was employed of enlisting some non-Romans on the faculty. Acting in too much of a hurry to Romanize everything, about two dozen of the faculty quit and the Middle States Association of Colleges and Secondary Schools (the accrediting body for colleges, universities and schools in the Middle Atlantic region) decided that the institution can no longer be accredited by them. Any accredited institution may now refuse to recognize any marks obtained by a student at Duquesne, and, in case of his transfer, may compel him to do his work all over.

The worship of ignorance and superstition yields some comical results. An Oklahoma subscriber writes, cheerfully:

A friend of mine worked as a domestic in a Catholic family. A bottle of “holy water” was kept in the pantry on a shelf. One night a fire broke out in the block and the lady rushed to the pantry, seized the bottle and sprinkled it all over the house. It did the work, but. the next morning showed she got hold of the bluing bottle instead. Think of all the money she saved! Bluing is only 10c a bottle.

Archbishop John G. Murray, of St. Paul, seems deathly afraid that some of the common people of his diocese may learn something. In a communication to the priests of his diocese he said:

Catholies may not accept membership in any organization before informing themselves through their pastors or confessors concerning the character of the organization, and both pastors and confessors are bound in conscience to investigate every organization before they give any answer to an inquiry from any person. Catholics may not attend graduation exercises or be present at baccalaureate addresses in non-Catholic churches but must absent themselves and receive their diplomas in private, if attendance is imposed on the entire class. Catholics must avoid public lectures and public forum discussions, unless they are advised by their pastors of the safety of participation, nor may they take part in Bible reading, Bible interpretation, religious functions, devotional exercises, initiation ceremonies, chapel services, religious purpose programs, moral problem discussions, under any auspices other than that of the Catholic Church.

Such Would Make Queer Americans

It goes without saying that Archbishop Murray is not trying to make good Americans: he is trying to make Catholics. And when he has made them they will not even know as much as Murray himself. Such are the kind of citizens that ring for the police when they see a neighbor who wears galluses instead of a belt, or vice versa, or who eats pie with a fork instead of a knife, or who wears a felt hat when he should wear a sombrero, or who uses the wrong kind of shaving cream, or takes the wrong newspaper, or goes to the wrong church, or votes for the wrong man. Whatever the priest thinks, they think; whatever he says to do, they do.

To start with this country was a Protestant country, not a Catholic one, and it is less than one-sixth Catholic even now; but to hear some of the Catholic spokesmen orate one would think it was at least 99.44-percent Catholic. For instance, how about, this from the lips of “Reverend Father” John B. Daley, spokesman for Bishop James E. Kearney of Rochester, N.Y., who, at a “blessing” of a Roman Catholic college in that city, said of American public schools:

We have been nursing at public ckpense too many cuckoos who would, if given the chance, turn us out of our nests. The truth is that religion (Roman Catholic, exclusively) must form the basis of any education, and that education with religion omitted Isn’t really education at all.

The public school system in general use throughout the United States is the best school system beneath the sun. The results that have been obtained prove it, despite its defects. In Missouri, it has been definitely decided, and properly so, that public tax money cannot he used to support so-called religious schools. The court held that any attempt to. teach children religion in the public school, to segregate children of different faiths, or to spend public money to aid schools operated by a religious sect, violated constitutional rights of full religious freedom. The case arose in Meta, predominantly Catholic community in Osage county, where ten years ago the St. Cecilia parochial school was placed in the state school system and Catholic nuns continued as teachers by the local school board.

The Hierarchy, which seeks so assiduously to break down the American school -system, by demanding that schools be closed for stated periods each week, so that .the children can be misinstructed ’• in both Americanism and in God’s Word, * ignores the fact that the children average to attend school only about 36 weeks in the year, and 30 hours in the week. Thus their total schooling is crowded into 1,080 hours in the year, while the time they arc not in school is eight times as long, or 8,640 hours per year. The demand that children stop studying that 1+1+1=3 to learn that 1+1+1—1 (as trinitarians teach) is stark nonsense.

By contrast with the legislators and courts of Kentucky, Missouri and other states, and fighting against their own public schools, the weak-kneed legislators of the state of Washington decided that all private and parochial school pupils are to ride in the school buses, and the legislators of Oregon repudiated their former law that textbooks may he supplied only to public school pupils. These two decisions were published in a single issue of The Register (Catholic) and show how rapidly the American public school system is being undermined by the Roman Catholic Hierarchy, riding on the backs of spineless and conscienceless politicians.

Get Your Soul Reinstated

Have you heard about the new Montana business? The Glens Falls, Mont., Post Star tells of it in a column entitled “Parish visitors to help pastor reinstate souls: to call on members of St. Alphon-sus’ church to strengthen faith”. A flock of nuns are to call on all the members, bring back their faith, “adjust irregular marriages,” see about baptism, first communion, confirmation, instruction of public school children in religion,, correct indifference, wrong reading, etc. After the souls have been reinstated they will be expected to cough up more liberally

than they have Seen doing .recently; and that’s that.

A favorite plan of Catholics to try to put their ideas across is to write something pro-Catholic and at the same time deny that they are Catholics. This office has received countless such letters. In most instances they are anonymous and give no addresses, and constitute a dead give-away as to the religion and the “education” of the unfortunate penman. Take this for an illustration. In the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Albert II. Ryan advises his readers if they are disturbed or worried to go into any Roman Catholic church and sit down and pray, and concludes with the disinterested remark, “You will always find the doors of Catholic churches open. I am an agnostic.” That was so helpful of Ryan! Had his name been Sullivan, Kelly or Murphy, one might have questioned his agnosticism.

The newspapers today are mostly under Catholic control. Catholics are in key positions where they can kill any story they do not like, and where the results of their “education” are painfully manifest. As a whole, the New York Times is away ahead of most newspapers in its proofreading arrangements, but some of their proofreaders seem to have been educated parochially, and with the usual painful results. The pope wants everybody to think that he is apostolic; so in a cable to Washington, to his bishops, he extended his “apostolic” benediction. The proofreaders changed it to “Apostilic”. That was bad enough. Then Cardinal Dougherty dictated a reply to the pope and worked in the word twice in two sentences, and the proofreaders made it “Apostilic” twice more.

Not being able to teach the people anything about what the Bible really contains, more and more clergy are going in for magic, to get the money. Thus, at Prairie du Chien, Wis., the “Reverend Father” Paul Monarski rolls a piece of paper until it resembles an egg, and then

consolation breaks the egg. Jie pulls a rabbit out of a cylinder open at both ends, unites several pieces of clotheslines into one line, and pulls coins out of the air. That’s right, Paul. That scheme will enable you to keep away from the plowhandles for . yet a little time.

Occasionally there is a slip, and some truth gets through. Thus, in the appendix of the Douay Bible (the Catholic version) it is stated correctly that "our Lord was about thirty years of age when he began his public ministry”: that "Christ preached three years and a half”, until he was put to death, and that "His death took place . . . Nisan 14 [about March 31]”. Put these three statements together and you have the truth that Jesus was born about October 1, and not December 25, and that "Christ’s Mass” (Christmas) is of heathen or demonic origin, as has been many times shown in these columns.

Parochial Education Makes Poor Citizens

Mathias Stonitsch, Brooklyn, N. ¥., former church sexton, was sentenced to read the Bible for robbing the poor box of the Roman Catholic Church of St. Bernadette. Mathias probably never saw a Bible in his life, and if he knew anything about the history of his sect, .he would know very well that the popes have, in bygone years, denounced the Bible and declared that only the priests can understand it., But Jehovah’s witnesses have been so active in turning on the light that the “Church” has had to do something to satisfy the demands of the parishioners and Mathias will no doubt get one of the new Catholic Bibles, and may learn something. It is to be hoped that he will. • ■

An American boy, educated in an American public school, would know better than to apply a branding iron to a fellow citizen, but those parochially educated have done such things. The Kansas City Star has a three-column story by Paul Wellman, the headlines of which read: "Kansas Citian Gets Relic of Days When Enslaved People Were Branded. Iron in Collection of J. Milton Freeland Is of the Type Used by Spanish Conquerors in Mexico: Mark Was Burned in Skins of War Prisoners and Ranch Slaves Who Were Among the First Cowboys: Cruel Practice Persisted Until Comparatively Recent Times.” Two paragraphs are selected;

When Hernando Cortez made his conquest of Mexico, he was at first driven out of Tenoehtitlan and when he returned he put down the resistance of the brave Aztec Indians with ferocity. How many the Spaniards killed will never be known, but in the end even they wearied of this slaughter, and took many prisoners. Of these the “worthless” were later slaughtered, but the strong, healthy and tractable . . . were kept as slaves and distributed among the Spanish grandees to work the land they had appropriated. Cortez went one step farther than Hitler. He caused his slaves to be branded on the cheek with a G-for guerra (war).

The methods of human branding varied. The writer has seen, in Portuguese West Africa [all of which is exclusively parochial], a sort of human pillory used in branding convicts in that colony, so devised that the head was locked immovable until the mark could be placed on forehead or cheek. But Diego Rivera, the Mexican muralist, in his mural depicting the conquest of Mexico, illustrated the Spanish soldiers as binding the captives, and holding them, usually by the hair of the head, while the hot iron was pressed against their faces. Rivera, a great student of history and legend among his people, must have had some strong basis for this presentation.

Of course, anybody that would brand a fellow creature would cruelly murder him aft quickly as he would look at him.

Why the Parochial Godlessness

So the parochial schools are godless. They cannot understand the foolish doctrine of the “trinity”, but insist on teaching it. They have placed Mary in charge of the United States, but she isn’t in charge. The one that is in charge is the same one that took Jesus up into a mountain and promised Him all the governments of mankind if He would fall down and worship him.

They are godless because they insist on teaching a “purgatory” which is not even hinted at in God’s Word, and they * want money for getting people out of a place that doesn’t exist. They talk about great stirrings there and about Jesus’ blood falling on the flames. That is all one big falsehood. They talk about ‘God’s being forced’. And they must have cuffs on their cassocks; it will make so much difference. -

Jesus said that prayers must go to Almighty God, but the much advertised Spellman says that is a mistake, that they should go to Mary instead. Jesus taught the common people in their own vernacular, but Spellman and his gang want Latin or some other language, so that the people will not be able to catch on to the fact that there is no sense at all to any of their gibberish.

The parochial system does not work. It turns out far more criminals than any other system in existence. It is a breeding ground of intolerance, and the priests look upon it as such and use it as such, even to the branding of human creatures with hot irons. America does not want godless parochial schools, and Catholics have written to this magazine repeatedly to just that effect.

Postwar Conditions in Europe

TWO Americans, N. H. Knorr, president of the Watchtower Society, arid his secretary, M. G. Henschel, who spent the first half of this past winter traveling throughout the various war-torn countries of Europe in an effort to relieve the suffering, returned to this country with a very vivid impression of the European picture. Words, they said, can tell only in a feeble way the heart-rending conditions.

In an interview with these two travelers the following information was gleaned that will be of interest to all Consolation readers.'As Mr. Knorr and his secretary pointed out, Europe will probably never recover completely from the war that has wrecked it. “When you have a war, you have devastation of property, you have' a lowering of the moral standards of the people, you have sickness and disease, you have people starving, and, especially, you have people losing faith in Almighty God.”

England’s Regulations Continue

The first country in which these two Americans landed was England. It was the early part of November, and when driving through the countryside everything looked fine and peaceful. But things were normal only on the surface. These travelers learned that regulations were still very tight and the people really did not get the proper food. “In England even if you have a farm you can’t eat what you want to; the government looks after that little detail for you. For example, the Watchtower Society’s farm, about thirty miles from London, was completely controlled by the government. You couldn’t go up there and say, ‘I’d like to have some eggs today,’ or, T want some chickens today for the Bethel family in London.’ No, you cannot do that. People there get perhaps one egg every six weeks. Now, what would you do with one egg in six w’eeks if you were a cook?”

Norwag Still Remembers

In Norway the people are still in need of food and clothing. When the Nazis were there they would go about the farms and steal butter and other necessities from the farmers, like shoplifters. And when a German officer got on a

crowded tram and wanted a seat, he would tell a person to get up and give him one.

Norwegians are still very bitter over the mistreatment they received under the Nazi rule. They still talk about things like the curfew law, and one incident that happened was the following related to these two visitors: “An old lady who lived up above the shop that she conducted was just a minute late in closing up one night. She had to go out the front door of her shop and about two steps to the right and then upstairs. Well, this particular night when she was just a minute late she never took the second step, After the first step the Nazi on the corner shot her?’

Economically, Norway’s neighbor Sweden was by far the best country visited in Europe. The only thing lacking at present is coal and fuel oil. Everywhere you go in cities like Stockholm, you see great piles of wood, 15 or 20 feet high, for the purpose of heating apartment houses, stores and offices. Ordinarily Sweden needs 8,000,000 tons of coal annually. But since the war she had received only a fraction of this, something like 200,000 tons which has been imported from the United States.

Sweden made millions of dollars during the war and has plenty of food and clothing. But one thing that many Swedes acquired that was not good was an extreme love of pleasure. Generally speaking, they have small regard for the church and little faith in the Bible, especially in the cities.: And no wonder, when their clergy go about and preach evolution contrary to the Bible. When Jehovah’s witnesses go to the homes of the people with the message from the Bible the people often say, “Well, our clergymen and pastors say the Bible isn’t true.” Yet the light of God’s Word has not been blacked out in Sweden; it is exposing these lies of the Devil. As one clergyman wrote in the newspapers: “There are so many of them [Jehovah’s witnesses] on xthe street corners of

APRIL 24, 1944

Stockholm that there must be at least 100,000 of them here.”

Poor Little Pinland

Finland is another of the countries visited. The people there are badly off; their mental attitude is one of defeat. “Poor Finland,” is what one hears from all Finns. They think that the great powers like Russia, Great Britain and the United States are responsible for Finland’s condition because they have to pay over $60,000,000 reparations annually in the next five years. Food, paper and metals are used for export whenever possible, in order to raise money for payment of reparations. So, while Finland has plenty of food and good resources, the people get little meat, butter, milk, fish and cheese. Clothing is scarce, even if one has money to buy.

Concerning the paper situation, Mr. Knorr said, “The Finnish government knows that the Watchtower is operated by an American corporation; so they decided that if any printing is going-to be done in Finland the paper will have to be purchased with American dollars. So, while I was there, I made an arrangement with the government that the American corporation supported by Jehovah’s witnesses in the United States would buy with American dollars all the paper that we could use in Finland for the printing of the .truth.”

Denmark Bas Plenty of Food

It may seem strange, but a few hundred miles from countries where there is a shortage of food is the agricultural country of Denmark, where there is plenty of food. In fact, it is said they have more food than they know what to do with, but because of commercial interests and foreign exchange the Danish government is keeping it until they can get what they think is the right price. The pathetic thing about it is that while the warehouses are bulging with food the people of Denmark themselves cannot obtain all they want. Denmark is also short of clothing.

For a time it was .possible to ship packages of food to the starving people of the Netherlands, but because a few selfish people sent food parcels at exorbitant exchange rates for goods the Danish government put a stop to such shipments. That is the way things go; under i the Devil’s wicked rule of this old world * the good suffer with the bad.

“While we were in Denmark/’ Mr. Henschel said, “a good-size headline appeared in: all the newspapers saying that on December 22, 23 and 24 the people would be allowed to heat water so that ■they could take a bath. There is no fuel. They used to get it from Germany, but not any more. So the whole of Europe seems to be unbalanced.

Terrible Conditions in Low Countries

The Netherlands was by far the worst hit of all the countries visited. The shortage of food, electricity and transportation facilities is very acute. The people liye on a basic diet of potatoes and . bread. The. Nazis robbed them of about everything they had, including most of the railroad stock and industrial machinery. Over 2,000,000 bicycles were stolen from .the people. During the war it was a very common occurrence for a man to be riding down the street on his bicycle and have a German SS trooper stop him with the order, “Come over here.” Asked where he was going, he would say, “I’m going to work.” “Well, you’ll be a little late today; we need this bicycle in Germany.” So the mafi walked and the bicycle went . to Germany. A fisherman might be coming in, when a Nazi patrol boat would come alongside to inspect his permit papers. Asked ■whether he had caught any fish he. would t say, “Yes, I got two barrels of. fish.” ' “Well, that is fine; we need those fish at camp, so we’ll take them.” WhaX did they care if this poor man went home from a day’s work without enough food to feed his own family? : .

. .Today things, are just the other way around. In. :Germany, especially, in. the French section, it is reported that if they see a Gbrman coming down the street with something they want, they say, “Come over here.” So it goes.

, Throughout all these countries there is much stealing. Especially is this noticeable in Catholic countries like Bel- , gium. Mr. Knorr said that “during the war it became quite popular for the people of Belgium to steal anything from the Germans, and they had to if they wanted to eat. Now the Germans are out and the Allies are in, and, as a banker told me, the people have not changed their bad habits; they are still stealing.”

The black market exists in all countries, but in France it is particularly bad. There you can buy a pair of socks for probably $7 or $8 if you have ration points; if you don’t have the points you may pay $15 or $20.

Switzerland in the Wintertime

In this country the Watchtower Society’s president and his secretary found conditions quite normal except for the lack of fuel. Rationing of clothing has been discontinued, but fuel is very scarce. Coal formerly came from Germany and France. Throughout Switzerland people work in cold offices and factories; they live in cold houses; they eat in the cold and sleep in the cold. The people wear all their heavy sweaters and coats in the offices and shops as if they were . outdoors. What little fuel there is must be conserved and used to cook with rather than used to heat houses to any extent. ■

Mr. Knorr said that before he left for Europe, he had sent word to the witnesses in Switzerland for them to do all possible to relieve the suffering of their coworkers in other parts of the Continent. So, by the time he got to Switzerland he found them very busy working on this job. “It was a real pleasure to be there in the Berne Office and see the witnesses sorting out these clothes just as }ye had been packing them in Brooklyn for some time.” In that small country the 1,600 publishers responded valiantly in sending things to the Berne Office for reshipment to Germany and elsewhere. It meant sacrifice, because they gave good clothes. Contributions of money were also made for the purchasing of food supplies from certain organizations in Switzerland, and this was sent to Germany, Austria, Italy, and other countries.

Relief for the Needy

During the war Jehovah’s witnesses in the neutral countries of Europe did everything they could to get the spiritual food to their faithful Christian companions in the other countries. Then, as soon as it was made possible to send ma

terial food and clothing into the war zones they arranged to do this also. Mr. Knorr pointed out that the Lord did not give Christians any guarantee as to how much food they would have or what kind they should eat. But God did guarantee that He would take care of those that sought first the kingdom of God and His righteousness. So, then, Jehovah’s witnesses in Europe have been content; they have not complained. For food they may have had only a little bread and potatoes; for shelter they may have had a partial roof over their heads; for clothing they may have had their wardrobe on their backs. They have not asked for more but they surely will appreciate very much what has been sent them.

Sorting out and repacking the tons of clothing. Over 300,000 overcoats, underwear, sweaters, shirts, dresses, pants, baby clothes and blankets were handled. Also some 7,000 pairs of shoes.

It is true that the United Nations are trying to bring aid to the suffering ones of Europe; but their ■ways of doing things are too slow. If relief 1 was to be gotten to * these people in time to be of use to them, then the Watchtower Society must act quickly and do everything it possibly could.

was put Upon the Dan- caae had to be weighed, labeled, and steel-strapped. To expedite isn government in an the a spray gun was substituted for the hand brush,

effort to ship food from

In the north, Jehovah’s witnesses in Sweden shipped two tons of clothing into Norway and three tons into Finland. Pressure there into other countries, and some was shipped into the Netherlands. Efforts are continuing in Denmark with the aim of getting food into Poland and Germany. From the little country of Switzerland over five and a half tons of clothing were shipped into Germany. More than $10,000 worth of food was also sent in. When more food is obtainable it will be purchased and shipped from there.

The Watchtower Society in the United States has made large shipments of clothing to Austria, Belgium, Greece, France, Poland, and the Netherlands. This was packed in, cases measuring 24 cubic feet and weighing from three to four hundred pounds each. Below is a

of the amount sent

to each

tabulation country:

Cases

Austria Belgium Greece

In addition

France

Poland Netherlands

Cases

to

this, 80 cases for

Czechoslovakia and 105 cases for Germany are packed and awaiting shipment. All together, 809 cases of clothing,, with

a gross weight of 287,181 pounds, or more than enough to fill 9.5 American freight cars, have been gathered together by Jehovah’s witnesses in the United States for the needy ones of Europe.

R. C, Hierarchy in Postwar Europe

These two travelers who had returned from Europe were asked what the position and standing of the Boman Catholic Hierarchy is over there, and whether she is held in great esteem. Generally speaking, the people are aware of the collaboration between the Hierarchy and the Nazis. Especially is this known in the Russian zones. The fact that the Vatican backed up the dictators is also realized in Catholic countries like Belgium.

In Belgium the Roman Hierarchy engineered a rather dirty deal for the Catholic king Leopold and gained for themselves much hatred from the people. It is no secret over there that the king, who was supposed to be a war prisoner, got tangled up with a commoner, and, almost before he knew it, found her to be expecting a child. So through his bishop, the pope, by a special arrangement; was able to move back the date of the king’s marriage to this commoner so that her child would be considered legitimate. In this way the pope was able to favor Leopold, who had not resisted selling Belgium out to the Vatican’s agent Hitler. But the people did not like that, and so, since the war, there has been great opposition to Leopold’s returning with his Vatican-'‘blessed” child.

However, the Hierarchy is worrying more about Russia and her influence in Europe. She is therefore ■ doing everything possible to upset Russia’s plan for dominating continental Europe. What the future years hold we do not know, but at present the Hierarchy is fighting tooth and claw to gain back all it lost in prestige due to backing up Fascism and Nazism, while at the same time it is endeavoring to retain all it gained by such collaboration. It is a desperate struggle.

Jehovah’s Faithful Witnesses in Europe

The president of the Watchtower Society, after traveling throughout Europe, was able to learn what the people over there think of Jehovah’s witnesses. Do they like the Lord’s witnesses or not? Generally speaking, they do not. The Communists who were in concentration camps with Jehovah’s witnesses have no respect for the Bible, and so they think the witnesses are fanatics. They respect them only for their courageousness. In the Russian zone, when the witnesses go to the authorities seeking to obtain paper on which to print the Kingdom message they are treated the same as the other Germans and Poles; that is, with absolute indifference.

The attitude of the French toward-the Kingdom message is similar to that of the Russians. When Jehovah’s witnesses go to the police and ask for permission to hold a Bible meeting they are told, “Well, you may; but, then, you may not, either. If you want to go ahead, try; and if you do not want to go ahead, all right.” They will not say yes and they will not say no. The Nazis now going around in sheep’s clothing, of course, hate Jehovah’s wit-nesses because they were the most resistant of all people under the totalitarian rule.

The Catholics, and even the so-called “Protestants”, are also bitter toward Jehovah’s faithful witnesses. This is because these witnesses have taken such a positive stand for God’s kingdom and are against totalitarian rule, and are exposing the collaboration of the religionists with the Nazis and Fascists. Tl/is enrages the Hierarchy, and in some instances they have talked against the witnesses on their radio, programs. In other places they have instigated mob action against Jehovah’s witnesses the same as they did in this country in 1940

and 1941. In some places in the Netherlands and Poland they have thrown bombs into the Kingdom Halls, broken up peaceful Bible meetings, and run the witnesses out of town.

But such mob violence, instead of -stopping the Kingdom proclamation, has the very opposite effect. People of goodwill readily distinguish between the agents of the Devil and the servants of God. They know that it was Christ, and not Judas, that suffered martyrdom at the instance of the religious gangsters. They see that Jehovah’s witnesses, and not the Catholic hoodlums and mobsters, are the real Christians. Therefore, they are listening and giving heed to what these witnesses from the Lord are saying.

The Underground’s Promises Have Failed

Some in this country have wondered whether Jehovah’s witnesses were mixed up with the underground resistance movements in Europe. No, they were not; as everyone in Europe can testify. They were neutral to all political parties of this old world of the Deyjl. It is very true that Jehovah’s witnesses bucked the Nazis on every hand; but it was not for political reasons. Rather, it was their unselfish love for Jehovah God’s holy kingdom that made His witnesses uncompromising with'the wicked Nazis that were in opposition to such righteousness.

On the other hand, the underground movements resisted for selfish reasons. Their actions w$re prompted by selfishness and greed? as evidenced by what has happened since the war. No sooner was the war over than up from the underground came the Communists, Socialists, Liberals and Conservatives, jail of various political parties, all antagonistic toward one another. Each said, “We were the underground; we were the ones that fought the Nazis." ■_

It is absolutely impossible for such a discordant combination of selfish political parties to establish peace and unity in Europe; and this was very evident to

Mr, Knorr and his companion on the trip. “Everywhere we went we saw the absence of love of one country for another. They, all want to have their own language, their own ideas, their own customs, their own king, and their own form of government. Do they like these big nations of Britain, America and Russia? Actually they do not. They are forced to co-operate with them for fear of losing their economic position and standing of 'favor, and from fear of the atomic bomb. But there is no real unity; nor is there real love and charity among these nations of the UN.”

Europe today is a place where the people are sighing and crying, where they have no more hope, because they put their trust in men and thought that the underground would form governments after the war that would bring them relief. Such promises failed to materialize, and the people, with shattered hopes, see only a black and forbidding future. In sorrow and bewilderment honest-hearted people are turning to the Lord’s witnesses for comfort.

Anyone who says that the war is over now and therefore everything is back to normal, and that there is nothing to worry about, is laboring under a great illusion.

Jehovah’s witnesses, though they have suffered a great deal physically, are not downcast and perplexed like Europe’s mourners, but are joyful of spirit and optimistic of the future. And why? They are not supporting some man-made airbubble that will shortly vanish. No, they are' advocating an eternal Theocratic Government, that is, God’s righteous rule of enduring peace and justice. Surely this is the only hope for the downtrodden of Europe.

Mr. Knorr concluded this interview on European conditions by saying, “I am very grateful to the Lord for the privilege of going over there, seeing what was required, and then trying to help them through the Lord’s organization.”

consolation

Oneness of Father and Son

THE Son did not fall out with the Father over the earthly work that the Father gave Him to do. A.D. 33 the time came for Jesus to finish His work, which the Father had put into His hands. He knew He would shortly be nailed to the tree. He knew He would stand before religious leaders as the enemy of Jehovah God His Father; that is to say, that men would regard Him as a sinner and that He would die as a sinner. This was a great trial of suffering to Jesus. Showing unbroken oneness with His heavenly Father, He prayed: “Father, the hour is come; glorify thy Son, that thy Son also may glorify thee,; I have glorified thee on the earth: I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do.”—John 1.7: 1, 4. . _

The Son had manifested His Father’s name unto faithful men. He was not seeking exaltation, but His great desire was to be restored to the sweet fellowship and communion which He had had with His Father in heaven. Therefore He prayed: “And now, 0 Father, glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which 1 had with thee before the world was.”-—John 17: 5.

If, as ‘‘Christendom's” clergy claim, Jesus was then God himself, why should He be praying to Himself such a prayer? Either He did pray to himself or else He was praying to a separate and distinct person. If Jesus had been equal to His Father in power and eternity and of the same substance, He would there have been practicing a fraud, for no occasion existed under such circumstances to make such a prayer.

True, prior to that time Jesus said to His disciples: “I and my Father are one. Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me ? the words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself: but the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works. Believe me that I am in the Father, and the Father in me: or else believe me for the very works’ sake.” (John 10:30; 14:10,11) These texts have been seized upon by priest and preacher to prove that God and Jesus are “one in person”. But Jesus himself makes clear what is meant by the oneness of himself and the Father. In praying on the last night He was alive on earth, He said to His Father: “Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word; that they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me. And the glory which thou . gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one.”-—John 17:20-22.

There Jesus was praying for those who would believe on Him and who would be anointed with God’s spirit as members of “his body”, which is the church. God gave Him to be the head over the church, that He and the church might be one. This was what He taught the disciples, and this is what they afterward taught others. The apostle Paul wrote: “As the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body: so also is Christ.”—! Corinthians 12:12.

Paul gave an illustration of this oneness, using the husband and the wife for that purpose: “But I would have you know, ’that the head of every man is Christ;.and thehead of the woman is the man; and the head of Christ is God.” (1 Cor. 11:3) “For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church: and he is the saviour of the body.” (Ephesians 5:23) With such illumination of the matter by Paul we can see clearly what Jesus did mean.

As the man is the head of his wife, even so Christ is the head of the church. As the man and wife are regarded as one, even so Christ and His church are regarded as one. As Christ is over the church, even so God is over Christ; . therefore they are all one in organiza-t tion. The wife recognizes her husband as head, the church recognizes Jesus as the head, and Jesus recognizes God as the Head.

This is the thought Paul further expressed when he said: “Far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come: and hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church, which is his body.” (Eph. 1:21-23) Thus is proved the complete uniting of God, Jesus Christ, and the church. By one invisible power are they united and therefore are said to be one in spirit. There is complete harmony between God the Father and Christ Jesus the Son of God and the church, Christ’s body members.

When Jesus was in Gethsemane, knowing He was facing a disgraceful death, He offered prayers and supplications to God His Father. He was not praying to himself then in any trinitarian triangle. If the trinitarians were correct, then He was praying to himself and committing a fraud before His apostles. But they are wrong and the inspired Scriptures are right, that Jesus was praying to God in sincerity and in truth. (Psalm 118:8,9 says it is much better to trust the Lord God than the clergymen, for God tells the truth and His Word is true.) Paul testifies that Jesus prayed to His Father and that He was heard: “Who in the days of his flesh, when he had offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears unto him that was able to save him from death, and was heard in that he feared; though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered.’—Hebrews 5: 7, 8.

When the Jewish mob came to arrest Jesus, Peter attempted to defend his Master and sliced off the ear of the high priest’s servant, “Then said Jesus unto him, Put up again thy sword into his place: for all they that take the sword shall perish with the sword. Thinkest thou that I cannot now pray to my Father, and he shall presently give me more than twelve legions of angels?” (Matthew 26:52,53) If Jesus was then God himself incarnate; as priests and clergymen have told the people, and if Jesus was equal with God in power and eternity, why should He utter such words to Peter? Why would He say that He could pray to His Father for help? Why not exercise His equality of power himself? Jesus always told the truth, and if He had been God incarnate He would not have there stated that He could pray to His Father and get immediate aid. ‘

Search the Scriptures, letting them speak without contradiction, and you will find them to prove that the only begotten Son of God is the “beginning of the creation of God”; that it was God’s will that mankind be ransomed from death and the grave; that God’s love prompted Him to make this provision in man’s behalf; that divine justice could be met only by the sacrifice of a perfect human life; that if Adam’s offspring were to be released, another perfect man must provide the sacrifice; that on earth there was no perfect man; that God transferred His Son’s life from the .spirit realm to the human plane and made Him a man and nothing more than a man; that Jesus was born of a woman, but not begotten of a son of Adam and hence was begotten by God’s agency, the holy spirit; that He was therefore humanly perfect, ' holy, harmless and separate from-sinners; and that God made Him thus in order that He might become mankind’s Ransomer and Redeemer, to the end that all those believers in Him might have the gift of everlasting life from God the Father. On the fulfillment of this divine purpose Father and Son are one.

A Colored Woman’s Witness, at Midnight, in the Cold

I LEFT my favorite bar tonight at midnight, and, on the way home, not feeling sleepy, I decided to get something to read. A colored lady, standing on the corner of Fifth and Main streets, had some literature in her hand; so I asked if I might purchase a copy of something or other to read myself sleepy. She handed me a copy of Consolation, and when I asked the price she said, “Five cents.”

It is very cold out tonight, for Los Angeles; so I told the "lady to keep the change from a quarter, and she insisted on my taking several other pieces of literature free. It is now 3 a.m. I have read most of the booklets and magazines. I am very much interested in the same, and I want more. So I enclose a cheek for a dollar (I am sure I have that much balance) to enter my subscription for Consolation for one year. I like the sound of that Golden Age [first name of Consolation]; so, if you care to send me a sample copy, if it is as good as I think it is, I will send you another dollar for it for a year, next payday.

You must have a real message when that poor colored lady stands out on a cold night, pushed around by drunks, etc., to give out literature. I am white, but I will give her credit—Contributed.

Witnessing in Huntington Park

THE following is the account of an experience which, by the grace of God, I was recently privileged to enjoy while out witnessing to public officials in Huntington Park, Calif.

…