Awake!, January 22, 1951
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IS THE NEW VATICAN DOGMA AN OLD PAGAN DOCTRINE?
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Communists Fight Jehovah’s Witnesses ■ r-Sc v.. h h.r ■ s 1. ■ ■ ;
"Little Red Riding Hood”
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The Communist Control Law
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Modem Faith Cures?
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CONTENTS
Communists Take Over the Nazi Fight
to Smash Jehovah’s Witnesses 3 Is the New Vatican Dogma an
Old Pagan Doctrine?
Doctrine Not Found in Bible
Catholic Authority for Dogma
Proof of Pagan Origin
“Little Red Riding Hood”
Charities Prey on Children
Finding Uses for Our Organs
The Communist Control Law
Objections to This Law
Boxing with a Kick’
The Indians of Venezuela
Hong Kong—Modern City of Refuge
Animals Here and There
"Your Word Is Truth”
Modem Faith Cures?
The Rise of Oleomargarine
Watching the World
AWAKE!
“Now ft is high time to awake.”—Romans /3:li 91
Volume XXXII Brooklyn, N.Y,, January^ 1951 Number 2
Communists Take Over the Nazi Fight to Smash Jehovah’s Witnesses
iiTS BOLSHEVISM better than other I systems? Does the SED believe that that which Hitler began must be finished by them? We are no more afraid of the SED than we were of the Nazis!” Thus spoke Erich Frost, who had spent twelve years in a Nazi concentration camp because he was one of Jehovah’s witnesses. He mate this ringing declaration as spokesman for the witnesses at a district assembly held in Berlin in 1949 for those witnesses living in the Soviet zone of Germany. Attendance exceeded 33,000.
The communist warfare against Jehovah’s witnesses in East Germany has grown hotter ever since, and on September 4, 1950, a United Press dispatch reported: “The East German Communist government banned Jehovah’s witnesses in the Soviet zone today.” The next day a Reuters dispatch said: “The East German security police have thrown 1,000 of Jehovah’s witnesses into prison in the twenty-four hours since the East German government banned the sect” Following is, a write-up appearing in the October 12,1950, Die Wochen Zeitung, Zurich, Switzerland, sent by their correspondent in Germany:
“Before the supreme court of the Soviet Zone Republic in Berlin, the rulers in East Germany staged a spectacular trial )f a special kind. It was directed against 'line leading members of the religious community of Jehovah’s witnesses that was recently banned by the Grotewohl government. For the first time in a political lawsuit in the Eastern zone the charges raised were, ‘Agitation against the Stockholm Peace Appeal’ and, in view of the forthcoming election on October 15, ‘Slandering the people’s election? In addition Jehovah’s witnesses were charged with continuous espionage, agitating to boycott, war propaganda and slander against the Soviet Union and People’s Democracies.
“It was little surprising that the sentences were extraordinarily severe with such serious charges raised east of the Iron Curtain, The vice president of the court, Dr. Hilde Benjamin (known in Berlin as ‘Red Hilde’), pronounced the sentences proposed by the general state attorney, Dr. Melsheimer. This meant penal servitude for life for two of the defendants and 8 to 15 years’ penal servitude for the others. In pronouncing the judgment Frau Benjamin labeled the religious group as a ‘religiously disguised espionage organization’. And then she stated further: ‘The judgment is to serve as an emphatic warning to the unteachable members of Jehovah’s witnesses who believe they can continue their work in the German Democratic Republic?
“Already before this sensational trial the East German Communists tried to break the backbone of these fanatical champions of the Christian’s faith. With the aid of the State Security Service the East Zone Gestapo dragged the leading ministers of this religious group out of their beds at night and shut them in concentration camps. At the beginning of September the East German headquarters of Jehovah’s witnesses (known too under the name of Bible Students) in Magdeburg with 60 ministers was dissolved. As stated in a confidential circular letter of the central committee of the SED (Social Unified Party), this organization has alarmingly risen in numbers which has become unpleasantly conspicuous in the ‘democratic organizations of the masses’. That the Communists picked so severely on the Bible Students had its good reasons: they belong to those that oven today in Soviet Germany speak out plainly what they think. There are about 50,000 Bible Students in Germany; about 30,000 of them live in the East zone.
“On the grounds of their faith Jehovah’s witnesses are forced to the position of enemies of the state in every dictatorship. They reject every earthly authority and do not believe in higher powers by the grace of God. Rather they set their hopes in a coming kingdom of God which is based on the Bible words: ‘All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth,’ Jehovah’s witnesses are of the opinion that Satan’s old world entered its final phase in the year 1914 and that Jehovah is now about to bring in the new world to which they aspire.
“As the Bible Students consistently refuse military service and the honoring of state symbols and leaders as idolatry, they already came into conflict with the regime in Hitler’s time. Over 10,000 of the members of this sect languished in prison during these years. At that time they were accused of pursuing Jewish-Communist aims under the cloak of religion. But Jehovah’s witnesses preferred to die rather than renounce their faith. Over 1,000 were executed, a further 1,000 died in the prisons and concentration camps into which they were thrown, sometimes only because they refused the Hitler salute.
“Today these same apostles of the faith, as harmless as they are fanatical, are again the objects of bloody persecution. The men and women who are vegetating today in East German concentration camps are often the very same persons who were held in Hitler’s camps. While at that time they were persecuted for refusal of war service, today in the Pieck Republic they are branded as war agitators,
“And what did ‘Red Hilde’ say in the Berlin big trial? ‘The judgment is to serve as an emphatic warning to the unteachable members of Jehovah's witnesses who believe they can continue their work in the German Democratic Republic.* Now, the Bible Students not only believe in the continuance of their work, but they do continue it in spite of all persecution. How unshakable their faith is was recently proved by thousands of them who illegally left the Soviet occupied territory’ last week tO be present at an assembly of Jehovah’s Witnesses in the British sector of Berlin attended by 20,000 persons. Although the People’s Police had ordered them to report several times a day and otherwise taken all precautions to prevent their attending the assembly, they made their way to Berlin. And although hundreds of them were held up and arrested on the way there by the People’s Police, those who had penetrated through to the British sector, West Berlin, returned to the Soviet zone despite the threat of arrest. When their brethren in the faith in the West wanted to keep them back, they merely replied: ‘We shall continue to preach in handcuffs? ”
In the face of all these facts, the thought that now comes to us is this: Would the religious priests and preachers and troublemakers that stir up mob violence against Jehovah's witnesses in the United States and^other democratic lands by smearing them as communists stand against communism an.l speak boldly against it if they lived in East Germany? Would they risk life imprisonment to attend their church meetings? Would they be willing to lay down their life by exposing communism openly? Would they have the faith and
«*>■ ■
mass
ished, was
“THE immaculate mother of God, Mary ever Virgin, when the course of her life on earth was fin-
taken up body and soul into
heaven.” Thus spoke Pope Pius XII on November 1, 1950, as he proclaimed the assumption of Mary to be infallible Roman Catholic dogma.
It was a momentous occasion at the Vatican, for 70 per cent of the 53 living cardinals were present, plus 480 archbishops and bishops, plus the ambassadorial representatives of some 40 nations, plus many distinguished notables, among them that sly old Nazi fox, Franz von Papen, who was convicted as a major war criminal/ plus an estimated crowd of 500,000 people. “Scores of persons,’’reports the New York Daify NTws, “were hurt in the excited throng that jammed St. Peter’s courage to say to a Communist court that had just sentenced them to long years in a concentration camp, as did one of the nine witnesses in the above case in Berlin: “We will outlive you the same as we outlived the Nazis”?
Think deeply on these facts. And remember them the next time some malicious rabble-rouser hurls the name “Communist” at one of Jehovah’s witnesses.
Square and overflowed into the s^de streets. Riot squads of police had to be called to supplement the Vatican's gendarmerie.” According to the London Catholic Herald it was a sellout, with “more than 200,000 applications for tickets of admission to St. Peter's” for the solemn
that followed the proclamation. “A
ton of wax and a mile of wick” were turned into 1,000 candles for the occasion. The ceremony was televised and broadcast by radio, and millions of words in thousands of newspapers and magazines told about it. Hundreds of church bells rang throughout the world. And the Franco government ordered all fortresses and mark the occasion by firing three 21-gun salutes.
warships to not one but
pope’s pro-
Repercussions from the nouncement were heard around the world. In Italy the Waldensian and other Protestant churches raised their voices in objection. The archbishops of Canterbury and York declared that the Church of England “refuses to regard as requisite for a saving faith any doctrine or opinions which are not plainly contained in the Scriptures”. The Free Church Council, representing all Protestant churches other than the Church of England, also protested. The British scientist Dr. Julian Huxley described the dogma as “an act of intellectual immorality, which the world can ill tolerate”. “We as Lutherans,” reads a resolution adopted by the American Lutheran Conference, “must protest that there is no basis for the dogma in scripture or in the ecumenical creeds.” And in the famous Riverside church in New York city Dr. Robert J. McCracken stated: “There is not a shred of Biblical .evidence to support it. Its acceptance involves defiance of all the canons of historical scholarship.” The Protestant Association of South Africa went even further, and in a cable to the pope said that the new dogma was “a legend of pagan origin”.
These charges laid against the Roman Catholic Hierarchy by the great Protestant organizations are of such a serious nature it is well for everyone—whether Catholic, Protestant, non-Christian, or atheist—to examine them closely. Can it be that there “is no basis for the dogma in scripture”, that “there is not a shred of Biblical evidence” in support of it, that it is “an act of intellectual immorality”, that it is really “a legend of pagan origin”? These are the charges. What are the facts?
Doctrine Not Found in Bible
The great Master and Teacher, the expounder of divine wisdom and understanding, Christ Jesus, said to Jehovah God, “Thy word is truth.” (John 17:17, Douay) What God's Word the Bible says on the subject is therefore infallible because it is the truth and the truth cannot be successfully contradicted.
The apostle Paul's whole argument in the fifteenth chapter of First Corinthians is that no one, not even Mary or the man Jesus Christ himself, can take his physical human body with him to heaven. “But some man will say: How do the dead rise again ? or with what manner of body shall they come?” Only a "senseless man", Paul says, would ask a question like that\ For do you not know, he reasons, that if you sow in the ground bare kernels of wheat or com they first die before a new plant comes forth? And do you not know that the new plant is entirely different in appearance from the seed that was sown? “God giveth it a body as he will: and to every seed its proper body."—1 Corinthians 15:35-38, Douay.
So in the resurrection of those who will live in the heavenly kingdom, their' bodies are different. “It is sown in corruption, it shall rise in incorruption. [Hence it rises not in human flesh, for that substance is corruptible.] It is sown in dishonour, it shall rise in glory. It is sown in weakness, it shall rise in power. It is sown a natural body, it shall rise a spiritual body. If there be a natural body, there is also a spiritual body.”—1 Corinthians 15:39-44, Douay.
Next Paul reaches the climax of his argument. Since earthly creatures have earthly bodies and heavenly creatures have heavenly bodies it is absolutely impossible for the physical, fleshly, mortal human body to be taken into the spiritual heavenly realm. “Now this I say, brethren, that FLESH AND BLOOD CANNOT POSSESS THE kingdom of God: neither shall corruption possess incorruption." There must be a change. “For this corruptible must put on incorruption; and this mortal must put on immortality.” (1 Corinthians 15:45-53, Douay) Jesus* own testimony confirms this fact that human bodies of flesh and blood cannot enter heaven.—John 3:3-12.
All scientific knowledge also agrees that it is impossible for human creatures to leave earth’s atmosphere unless riding a space ship, and Mary had no such equipment. It is therefore "intellectual immorality” to teach such a thing. Dr. Anton J. Carlson, president of the National Society for Medical Research and professor emeritus of physiology at the University of Chicago, says that it is preposterous to think that Mary went alive up through the atmosphere, “If she did/' Dr. Carlson says, “she would surely have died of asphyxia the moment she got up 50,000 feet”
Catholic Authority for Dogma
When speaking about this new dogma, R. J. Heenan, superior of the Catholic Missionary Society, exalted the Catholic Church above the Bible as a teaching body by declaring: “Where would we have knowledge of the Bible if the Catholic Church had not chosen from among countless manuscripts and sacred writings those which were considered to be the authentic scriptures?” Well, if that be so, why did the Hierarchy fail to include even a single manuscript telling of Mary's assumption to heaven? Simple enough: there were none!
This fact, however, does not disturb the Roman Catholic Hierarchy. Rashly and in open defiance of God's commands (Deuteronomy 4:2; Proverbs 30:6; Revelation 22:18,19), they brush aside His sacred Word of truth and replace the Bible with the traditions and fables of men, and upon such they base their dogmas. Tradition, they say, teaches that Mary’s body, “in the presence of all the apostles, was placed by them in Gethsemane, but was immediately transported to heaven/’ and this event “probably took place in the year 48 or 49”. If such tradition were true is it not indeed strange that though “all the apostles” saw this miracle, yet not a whisper about it by any of them?
The fancied legend about the twelve apostles' witnessing the “miracle” was not manufactured until the fifth century. Not until 597 was the Feast of the Assumption, August 15, added to the calendar. Not until 1854 was the dogma proclaimed by papal bull that Mary herself was conceived and born sinless. And now, 1950, a similar bull assumes that her body, sandals and all, went to heaven.
Fallible or Infallible?
But how can the pope do such a thinfe? By his vaunted “infallibility”. Granted, there are no Scriptural, historical, archaeological, scientific or logical facts or evidence upon which to base the claim that Mary’s body went to heaven, nevertheless, what the Catholic Church decrees, that is law. Hie claim is made that the church cannot err, therefore whatever she declares to be the truth must not be questioned even though it cannot be supported by facts, history or Scripture, yea, even though contradicted by all facts, history and holy Scripture! But is it true the Catholic Church is infallible and cannot err? Was the church infallible in pahtlcal doctrine when she entered marriage relations with brutish Mussolini and the madman Hitler by signing concordats with them? Was the church infallible when she gave aid and comfort to “Franco the butcher” in his murder of 2,000,000 men, women and children? Was she infallible when she blessed the invasion of Albania by Roman Catholic troops, when she blessed traitor Petain, when she blessed the rape of Ethiopia, or when she entered diplomatic relations with the dictators of Japan shortly after the Pearl Harbor attack? No, the Catholic Church has erred often and made plenty of mistakes. Therefore, no credence can be placed in a dogma simply because it is sponsored by this so-called “infallible” church.
The honorable superior of the Catholic Missionary Society, the “Rev.” Dr. J. C. Heenan, in seeking to express the strongest proof of authenticity for the new dogma, declared that “there could scarcely be a more obvious mark of authority” than the fact that 400,000,000 Catholics will now give obedience to it. Out of fear of being persecuted as heretics they do so: “Beginning today [November 1] 400,000,-000 members of the Catholic religion must believe explicitly and without reservation —otherwise they will incur excommunication as heretics—the Catholic tradition of the Assumption now defined as a dogma or an article of faith,” (New York Times) But even if all such fear were removed it is still a stupid thing to say that because millions of people believe the dogma such constitutes an “obvious mark of authority”. Why, millions of people once believed the earth was flat, but that did not stamp the lie as infallible truth.
Proof of Pagan Origin
What about the charge that this assumption dogma is purely “a legend of pagan origin”? Is there any factual evidence to support such a bold assertion as this? Research shows that the ancient Greeks worshiped a “Holy Virgin” which they considered “immaculate” from its conception and birth. Pausanias, for example, in describing a certain pagan grove, says: “This grove contains a statue of Apollo Carneus, of Mercury carrying a ram, and of Proserpina, the daughter of Ceres, who is called ‘The holy virgin.’ ” The purity of this pagan goddess was especially due, so it was believed, to her “immaculate conception”, for Proclus tells us: * “She is called Core, through the purity of her essence, and her undefiled transcendency in her generations/’—See Taylor's Orphic Hymns, p. 198.
Alexander Hislop, in his monumental work The Two Babylons (pp. 125,126), gives additional evidence showing that the Babylonians as well as the Grecians believed in the assumption dogma. Rome’s Catholic Hierarchy merely carried it over from the ancient pagan systems of demonology. “It is impossible/’ says Hislop, Ofor the priests of Rome to find one shred of countenance for such a doctrine in Scripture. But, in the Babylonian system, the fable was ready made to their hand. There it was taught that Bacchus went down to hell, rescued his mother from the infernal powers, and carried her with him in triumph to heaven. (ApoUodorus, lib. iii. cap. 5, p. 226) This fable spread wherever the Babylonian system spread; and, accordingly, at this day, the Chinese celebrate, as they have done from time immemorial, a festival in honour of a Mother, who by her son was rescued from the power of death and the grave. The festival of the Assumption in the Romanish Church is held on the 15th of August. The Chinese festival, founded on a similar legend, and celebrated with lanterns and chandeliers [Catholics use candles instead of lanterns], as shown by Sir J. F. Davis in his able and graphic account of China (vol. i, pp. 354,355), is equally celebrated in the month of August.” In a footnote on page 125 Hislop gives additional evidence, proving that the assumption idea is entirely pagan in its conception.
So who and what are you going to believe? Are you going to believe the traditions of men, the “hand-me-down” legends of the pagans that are dressed up as modern dogma by all the ecclesiastical pomp and glory the twentieth-century papacy can muster, or are you going to believe the Almighty and Eternal God’s infallible Word of truth? Are you going to close your eyes to what the Bible says and blindly believe that Mary’s body went to heaven, or are you going to read and believe the Bible? Follow the counsel of the Bible, “Prove all things; hold fast that which is good.” Know the truth “and the truth shall make you free” from enslaving creeds and dogmas of men.—Isaiah 8:20; 1 Thessalonians 5:21; John 8:32, Douay.
—As a dictator would tell it
This article wat written by newspaper columnist H. I. Phillips and published in “Collier’s” mgga-zine, January 20, 1940, At that time its Irony was aimed at the brown and black dictatorships of nazism and fascism. Now, eleven years and a world war later, this clever parody la Just as pointed against the Red dictators of communism. It is here reprinted by the kind permission of Mr. Phillips and the publishers of “Collier's” magazine.
ONCE upon a time there was a poor, weak wolf. It was gentle and kindly and had a heart of gold. It loved everybody and felt very sad when it looked around and saw so much deceit, selfishness, strife, treachery and cunning on the loose. All it wanted was to be let alone.
Now in a cottage near the edge of the forest there lived a little girl who went by the name of Little Red Riding Hood. (It was obviously an alias.) She was a spy, a vile provocateur and an agent of capitalistic interests. Anybody could tell by one look at Little Red Riding Hood that she was full of intrigue. Her golden curls reeked, with base designs. Her pink skin showed tyranny in every pigment.
To the casual spectator, perhaps, Little Red Riding Hood might seem just a pretty, little ten-year-old child, but that was a superficial piece of character analysis. The
himself up, and then went for a little walk. When the wolf walked he liked to think
things over. He liked to dwell on the unhappiness in the world and to think up ways for ending it and making everybody happy and self-sustaining. This took a lot of concentrating and when he was concentrating the wolf sometimes got lost in thought and didn't know what he was doing. Suddenly, and before he knew what was what, he found himself not only in Grandma’s cottage but in her bedroom!
He had kicked down the door!
Grandma was pretty startled and demanded, “What is the meaning of this?” “I am repulsing an invasion,” the wolf explained, scorning all subterfuge.
Grandma was the aggressor. That was clear.
So the wolf ate her up.
It was a counterattack with pursuit.
Then the wolf heard footsteps in the hall. He was terribly frightened by this time. It had been such a harrowing morning.
Suddenly there came a faint knock on the door. The wolf realized at once that he was in for more persecution.
“Who’s there?” he asked.
kid was not to be trusted an inch. She was a rattlesnake, a viper and an imperialist. And on top of that she was not interested in peace or a better world order.
Little Red Riding Hood had a grandmother who lived about two miles away. Grandma was a louse too!
No wolves liked her. They never invited her anywhere.
It came to pass that one day the poor, weak, helpless wolf took an aspirin and some spring tonic, to brace
“Little Red Riding Hood/* came the reply in a child’s voice.
The wolf saw it all now. He was surrounded!
So he put on Grandma’s nightgown and nightcap and jumped into bed, to do some more thinking. He liked to think in bed. It was next best to thinking when out walking in the woods.
“Come up, my child!” the wolf cried to Little Red Riding Hood, his teeth chattering with fear and apprehension.
Little Red Riding Hood started upstairs and, oh, what an ordeal that was to the poor little wolf! It seemed that she would never make the top landing. “Clumph, clumph, clumph!” came her footsteps, stair by stair. “Clumph, clumph, clumph!”
The wolf was in terror, but he summoned all his courage and waited.
At last Little Red Riding Hood came striding into the bedroom. She was very overbearing, the big bully!
The wolf watched as she put down her huge basket of groceries. “Poisoned food,” he thought. The wolf was no fool. The wolf had been around.
“I have brought you some nice goodies, Grannie,” said Little Red Riding Hood with a smile that might have fooled the democratic states, but that made no impression on the wolf. He knew that kind of smile. He had seen it on all photographs of international bankers in the newsreels. He saw that he was now in greater danger than ever.
“I don’t feel like 'eating now,” said the wolf, “we’ll come to that later.” He was just stalling for time, of course, as his eyes ran over Little Red Riding Hood from her ankles to her head. “Come, sit over here on the bed!”
Little Red Riding Hood jumped at the invitation. The wolf was now in a panic. Never had he been in such danger.
“Why, Grandma, what big eyes you
have!” exclaimed Little Red Riding Hood, alter a moment,
“The better to see you with, my dear.”
“And, Grandma, what a big mouth you have!”
The wolf didn’t like that crack. “The better to kiss you with, my sweet,” he stalled.
“And, Grandma, what big teeth you have!” said little Red Riding Hood.
This was too much. She was getting too personal. In fact she was exhausting the patience of the wolf. And if there was anything the wolf couldn’t stand it was having his patience exhausted.
“Ah, let’s quit stalling!” the wolf cried, rebelling against deceit and trickery in any form. “I’m not your grandma. I’m a wolf. I’m a good wolf, a nice friendly wolf. I don’t want any trouble with anybody. And what happens? First your grandmother ambushes me . . . and now you try to cut off my retreat!”
“What became of Grandma?” asked Little Red Riding Hood, always looking for trouble.
“I question the propriety of your asking me that question,” said the wolf, who was a stickler for international law. “But if you insist, put it in writing and address it to me via the proper diplomatic channels.”
“I want to know what happened to Grannie,” repeated Little Red Riding Hood, pulling a knife on him.
Well, no self-respecting wolf could stand for a brazen attitude like that. And besides there was the matter of candor and honesty. “Oh, well, since you want to know. I ate her up,” the wolf announced. “I ate her in self defense.”
Little Red Riding Hood got off the bed and stood looking at the wolf now. The wolf watched her weep and wring her hands. She gave way to all these emotions of ferocity, barbarism and hatred.
“Ah,” said the wolf. “So now you are
going to attack me, too?’ Little Red Riding Hood now got onto tfie floor on her hands and knees and showed her teeth. She crouched .for a spring. She began growling.
There was not a minute to lose. The wolf was in deadly peril. He was encircled. This was a fight for his existence. Leaping from the bed, he struggled with Little Red Riding Hood, using nothing but his superior strength, his long claws, his enormous teeth and his jaws of steel, while the kid used brass knuckles, knockout drops, poison gasT a magnetic bomb, a sledge hammer and a hatchet.
Little Red Riding Hood fought savagely and barbarously, violating all the rules, ignoring all treaties and showing contempt for all ethics. It was a terrific struggle. But the wolf won by sheer courage. He tore Little Red Riding Hood to pieces to preserve his dignity and ate her up as a matter of principle.
‘Til teach ’em not to terrorize me,” said the wolf, resuming his walk through the woods, thinking and thinking.
He was getting his patience back now.
Charities Prey on Chi/dren
<L The following letter came ’from the parent of a school child tn the Tulsa, Oklahoma, Tribune and was printed by that paper on February 14, 1950: “Editor, The Tribune:
"Several days ago my child, a fourth-grad er, seemed depressed and listless at his evening meal. When it was time for bed, he broke into unaccountable sobbing. After nearly an hour of careful, sympathetic questioning, all we could get from him was, ‘I don’t know what’s the matter. I’m just afraid of terrible diseases and things like that, and I can’t get them out of my mind.' It took at least half an hour more of gentle talk—diverting his mind to other things— and head and back-rubbing, before his small body was relaxed enough so he could go to sleep.
“The next day his peculiar behavior was mentioned to a group of other parents. Several of them reported somewhat similar behavior by their own children in recent weeks. Something that had happened at school was the obvious cause. We checked with a teacher, and she clarified it in a hurry,
" ‘Those poor youngsters/ she said, ‘have been flooded and nearly drowned with vicious, whip-cracking, carefully contrived campaigns for money for “health campaigns”. Th%y have been told find told and told that polio is hovering over their shoulders, and "Bring money to fight it”; that heart disease kills children as well as adults, and "Bring money to fight it”; that tuberculosis is everywhere, and “Buy stamps to fight it”/
" 'Is it any wonder/ the teacher asked, 'that sensitive, growing children are being frightened to death?’
“Granted, the campaigns may be legitimate and laudable in their final aims. We won't argue about that. But this parent, for one, feels nothing but revulsion for any campaign which must prey on the minds of school children, must instill fear into their hearts, must warp their happiness so that a few extra dimes or dollars can be raised/’
Finding Uses for Our Organs
BECAUSE specific uses have never been given In detail lor every organ in the body, some have flirted with the folly that the Creator has given us some belongings so unessential that the sooner they are snipped out the better.
Evolutionists have seized on the foregoing circumstances to support their theory that man is a creature of evolution who is yet possessed with ever-receding remnants of organs now useless but once important to him while in a lower stage of development. Such organs under attack from evolution have included the tonsils and the vermiform appendix. Now, however, increased information continues to throw further light on hitherto dark subjects.
While no specific explanations of the detailed use of the tonsils have yet been offered, men of medicine are today more convinced than ever that they should not be taken out just for the sake of ‘getting it over with’, as was once the custom. Furthermore, the old general belief that the tonsils were simply “infection centers'* that were liable to promote such other ailments as chronic colds, rheumatic fever, kidney infections, etc., has been discarded. Dr. Max Michael of Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia, has presented evidence from many examinations in an article appearing in the American Journal of Medicine, in support of exercising great caution in the removal of tonsils.
Penicillin has proved a vital aid in reducing the number of necessary tonsillectomies. Following a children’s party a barrage of sore throats disclosed the tonsils of the victims swarming with streptococcus germs. However, penicillin treatments subdued the epidemic promptly.
The vermiform appendix has absorbed the brunt of the skeptics’ jibes with respect to “useless” organs. At last, however, the tide has been turned back against the scoffers. The June 5, 1950, issue of Time disclosed that Chicago University’s Dr, Leon O, Jacobson
has uncovered a veiy likely use for the appendix.
It is known that victims exposed to radiation (as, for example, following an atomic bomb explosion) often die from anemia, since the bone marrow’s blood-building facilities are damaged. Everyday X-ray treatments have to be administered with the greatest care due to this, and this has hampered cancer treatment by X-ray. Using a rabbit for experiment, Dr. Jacobson protected the animal's spleen and appendix with lead and then proceeded to administer what would have ordinarily been an overdose of X-rays, This time the undamaged spleen and appendix were able to produce enough blood to atone for the loss of other blood-producing sources and the rabbit survived. Though the rabbit trick, which would require a major operation, could not be tried on man, Dr, Jacobson believes the blood-building organs (Including the appendix) may contain a regulating hormone which he hopes to isolate so that it may be used to speed recovery of radiation patients and allow for heavier X-ray doses.
There is another progressive step in the medical profession worth mentioning. The June, 1950, bulletin of the Westchester County (New York) Medical Society has urged a revision of the medical doctor's vocabulary to strip it of unintelligible words of Latin and Greek derivation and enable the doctor to tell his patient what is wrong with him and what he intends to do about it. The journal hastened to point out that present burdensome words and phrases of the medical profession’s vocabulary were not intentionally used to pat outside listeners in the dark, but rather they are there due to the long history of the profession which has necessitated words of Latin and Greek origins coupled with additions from later sources as time went on. The fault is also due to the “growth of many new synthetic chemical substances and the resultant creation of synthetic nomenclature”, the journal said.
The Communist Control Law
Will it control communists?
Will it affect traditional American freedom?
HOW to approach the threat of communism has been a political hot potato in many lands. It was a main issue in a 1949 Australian election campaign, Panama outlawed the party April 29, 1950. The same year Canada’s House of Commons decided on May 2 that the situation was well in hand there without having to outlaw communism. England’s Conservatives pledged^ to “employ every legitimate means to combat the insidious advance of communism”, but opposed outlawing the party.
Anticommunist legislation was tossed around in the United States for many months, until, at last, several bills were thrown together into an all-inclusive communist control law, the Internal Security Act ot 1350 (also called the irMcCarran law” and “H.R. 9490”), which was rushed through the 81st Congress just before election time. It was an extremely controversial act. Those in favor said it is needed to ferret out and stop communists, while those opposed called it a “blunderbuss” that would damage all civil liberties, but not really cripple communists. Truman vetoed it via 5,500 words to Congress.
He contended that it would actually help the communists, sa\A It was too hroaft and dangerous, yet 286 representatives and
57 senators either disagreed with his reasons or feared the political repercussions of voting against anticommunist legislation, for they overwhelmingly overrode Truman’s veto, and the bill became law.
A Brief Look at This Law will show us what it is all about. It is made up of two parts, the Subversive Activities Control and the Emergency Detention Act. It totals 50 pages, more than 25,000 words, and contains many different legislative proposals with just one thing in common: they are all supposed to be anticommunist.
The law prohibits conspiracy to “contribute to the establishment within the \jnhed oi a Yotantafian dictatorship”. It forbids communists to hold any nonelective employment under the United States government, and forbids members of communist action organizations from engaging “in any employment in any defense facility”. It authorizes the publication of a list of “defense facilities” (war plants, laboratories, railroads, etc.) and orders each such facility to post a notice advising employees and applicants that it comes under this, section. at the. law.
It denies passports to communists and requires communist organizations to register with the attorney general and report the names of their officers, the money received and spent, and in some instances to give the name and address of each member. It requires members of such organizations to register individually, if the organization has failed to register.
It bars organizations registered as communist irom sending publications by mail unless the envelopes or wrappers are
marked, “Disseminated by----- a Com
munist organization/’ and any radio broadcasts they sponsor must be introduced by the announcement, “The following program is sponsored by ------ a
Communist organization.”
When an organization that the attorney general believes is communist fails to register, a five-member control board will decide whether the organization comes under the scope of the law. Its decision can be subject to appeal to the courts, which “shall have power to affirm or set aside the order of the Board”.
The law also provides that any alien who advocates the doctrines of world communism "or any other form of totalitarianism” will not be admitted to the United States, and such aliens now in the United States may be deported.
Additionally,, it prohibits picketing or parading in an attempt to influence the outcome of a court case.
The second part of the law, the Emergency Detention Act, provides that “in the event of . . . invasion . . . declaration of war . . . or insurrection within the United States” the president may proclaim an “internal security emergency” and then apprehend those “whom there is reasonable ground to believe . . . will engage in ... acts of espionage or sabotage”.
When a person is detained under the Emergency Detention Act he will be taken before a hearing officer, may have a preliminary examination, may appeal to the Detention Review Board, and provision is made for him to appeal to the courts. He may cross-examine the witnesses against him, but evidence will not be furnished that “would be dangerous to national safety to divulge”.
Objections to This Law
have been many, long and loud. Obviously the communists objected, but also many anticommunists, including responsible newspapers and magazines, the C.L O., the A. F. of L., high government officials, and others. The London News Chronicle (Oct. 14, 1950) said, “The American people . . . have dropped a legal blockbuster on their own front porch.” The Christian Century (Sept. 27) called it “fighting fire with gasoline”. The New York Times (Oct. 11) spoke of “the many silly features of Senator McCarran’s masterpiece”. The Southern Farmer (Oct. 1950) said, “This legislation is just what the Communists want. . . . When men are subject to arrest and' punishment for what they believe, then we have gone back to the days of King George II, back to the days of the Inquisition.”
New/York’s Senator Lehman, a Democrat, voted against the bill and explained: “My conscience will be easier, though I realize my political prospects will be more difficult, I shall cast my vote for the liberties of the people.”
According to President Truman, “The Department of Justice, the Department of Defense, the Central Intelligence Agency, and the Department of State have all advised . . . that the bill would seriously damage the security and intelligence operations for which they are responsible.”
The most vigorous condemnation came from Truman himself, who said, “The application of the registration requirements to so-called Communist-front organizations can be the greatest danger to freedom of speech, press and assembly since the Alien and Sedition Laws of 1798.” (From Truman’s veto message)
Truman’s principal objections to this bill were that it would (1) “aid potential enemies by requiring the publication of a complete list of vital defense plants” [he could not “imagine any document a hostile foreign government would desire more”], (2) “waste immense
amounts of time and energy attempting to carry out it3 unworkable registration provisions/’ (3) “deprive us of the great assistance of many aliens in intelligence matters,” (4) “antagonize friendly governments,” (5) “put the government ... in the thought control business/’ (6) “make it easier for subversive aliens to become naturalized ♦ . . citizens,” (7) “give government officials vast powers to harass all of our citizens in the exercise of their right of free speech.”
Consider his statements showing the law’s failures. He said that the communist registration provisions would be “ineffective”, would provide “no information about Communists that the F.B.I. and other security agencies do not already have", but would cost “a great deal of time, effort and money—all to no good purpose”. “The idea ... is about as practical as requiring thieves to register with the sheriff,” he said. Years would probably elapse before the final disposition of a case in court. Then the organization could frustrate the law by dissolving and establishing a new one with different name and officers. By the same method they could “easily and permanently” evade the requirement that they label publications sent through the mails. He said it would be years before this bill would prohibit employment of communists in defense plants—“if it ever would.”
Note these statements from the veto message: “The language of the bill is so broad and vague that it might well result in penalizing the legitimate activities of people who are not'Communists at all, but loyal citizens. . . . Instead of striking blows at communism, .[it] would strike blows at our own liberties . . ■ We will destroy all that we seek to preserve, if we sacrifice the liberties of our citizens in a misguided attempt to achieve national security.”
He cited the provision of the bill that identifies a communist-front organization by “'the extent to which the positions taken or advanced by it, . . do not deviate from those’ of the Communist movement”, and explained that under this provision an organization advocating low-cost housing might be classified as “Communist-front” because communist propaganda regularly exploits slum conditions. “It is not enough to say that this probably would not be done,” he said/but the fact that it couZd be done shows the opportunities the law allows “for official condemnation of organizations and individuals”. He complains that it moves toward suppressing opinion.
There are those who disagree with Truman’s objections. It has been said that his objections are “wittingly or unwittingly ... in line with the interests of the Communist Party”. Whether he had reasons other than those expressed in the veto message is not known, but he did not condemn this law because it is anticommunist, but because it would not actually cripple communist action, while sections of it could cripple American freedom.
Difficulties of Enforcement
are many. It was no surprise when communist organizations flouted the requirement that they should register. The Communist party had announced in advance that it would not register, and communists expressed determination to fight for repeal of the law and to push a court test of its constitutionality. Communist-front organizations were not expected to be any more helpful, because registration would be open acknowledgment of communist sympathies. So, if the law is to be enforced, apparently it will be done the hard way.
But the greatest publicity was given, not to the communists, but to the strict application of Section 22, which says aliens shall not be admitted to the United States if they have ever been members of any “other totalitarian party”.
Opera singers, musicians, doctors, businessmen and plain citizens arriving in New York were hustled off to Ellis Island when they had to admit that they had been members of the Hitter Youth or joined Fascist labor organizations or other totalitarian parties. Hundreds were held. Finally in sheer self-defense, the Justice Department ordered all visas suspended. The London News Chronicle (October 13) commented, “The government fin Washington] has suddenly taken the extraordinary step of halting in their tracks thousands of people all over the world who are preparing to travel to the United States.”
Italy was outraged, Western Germany was hurt. The Italian ambassador said that application of the act to Italian ships violated the United States-Italian treaty of friendship and commerce. Officials estimated that the law would exclude 90 per cent of all Germans and more than half of all Italians.
Ironically, Senator McCarr an, who sponsored the new immigration rules, was a particular friend of Spain's dictator Franco, whose Falangists were excluded under the act’s language; which would also apply to Latin-American “Good Neighbors” who lived under strong-man machines in the past, or at present.
The law's supporters protested that the administration was overdoing its application to discredit the law, but the Justice Department insisted that its wording allowed no alternative.
Then on October 31 the alien ban was modified somewhat by Attorney General J. Howard McGrath, who announced that aliens who had been Nazis and Fascists in name only, or who joined to get education, food or employment, or before reaching 16, would be permitted temporary entry into the United States. But the section regarding aliens traveling to the United States is only one part of the law.
Main Purpose of the Legislation
to make the communists register and identify themselves is yet to be enforced. Obviously no action can be taken against them unless the government knows who they are anyway. The law may provide a means of jailing known communists for their refusal to register, and thereby get them out of circulation, but there is little reason to think that fear of $10,000 fine and five years in prison would drive out into the oper\ any unknown persons who would actually engage in espionage or sabotage, because the risks in their business are far greater than the penalty for flouting the internal Security Act.
The attorney general, who lias the responsibility of enforcing the law, publicly stated (September 20) that he believes “we appear to be going through a period of public hysteria”, that if potential saboteurs can be kept out of defense plants and individual troublemakers out of vital places, as during World War n, “we can afford to ignore the soapbox oratory,” for, he said, communism as a political doctrine has never been successful with an overwhelming majority of the American people, as evidenced in that the communists have won virtually no vital offices.
But whatever the merits or faults of this law, it again calls our attention to the utter hopelessness of man’s plight on earth today. How the meek of the earth will rejoice when the justly vengeful hand of Jehovah God soon wipes communism and all man’s failing schemes from the face of the earth! Then under the blessings of Jehovah’s kingdom all creation will sing praises to him and man will lift up his voice in thanksgiving that peace has at last come to the earth, peace never to be shattered by any kind of totalitarianism, and peace that will never end!—Isaiah 9:7.
OXING WITH
By "Awake!” correspondent In Siam
SITUATED on Bangkok’s spacious, tree-lined Radjadamnem Avenue, near the beautiful Throne Hall building of the Siamese Parliament, is the National Boxing Stadium for central Siam. As we view the place from without, how peaceful it looks in its setting of tall, green shade trees.
But not so within; for inside the ring of this bowl-shaped, open-air stadium are fought some of the most ferocious battles of modem boxing!
As we push our way through the crowd and find suitable seats we are impressed by the many different types and classes of people present in the stadium. Over there is a large group of off-duty policemen; farther down, a row of teen-age girls, attractive, and neatly dressed in their Western-style skirts and blouses; college boys desiring a bit of entertainment after their long hours of study; uniformed government and army officials; pedicab drivers; and the ever-present European and American tourists are anxiously waiting.
Promptly at 5:00 p.m. the music that will accompany the fighting begins. To those visiting from the Western world the music sounds Oriental and is strange to their ears. A long, cylindrical leather drum is beaten with the hands, accompanied by
udi-tement.
the tempo of the ence and fighters to
To our great surprise we observe that the fighters wear no shoes but will fight with bare feet, as is true of all Siamese boxers. This enables them to move about more quickly and aids them to use their feet to better advantage during the fighting; for in Siamese boxing the feet, elbows, knees, and other parts of the body, may be put to use against the opponent.
Now something that we have never seen before takes place. The two boxers kneel down on their knees and, placing their gloved hands to the canvas floor and their head on top of their gloves, they bow for a few moments in silent prayer. Their prayer they address to the spirits of the dead ancestors of their boxing trainer, to Buddha, and to the spirits of great boxers who lived long ago, asking them to give strength and ability for the fight to follow. Then, remaining on their knees, the fighters bow several times with face to the canvas.
Now each is rising slowly to his feet and is beginning a short, graceful dance.
Our Siamese friend, who has accompanied us for the afternoon, tells us that by this unique dance the boxer identifies his boxing trainer to his spectators, inasmuch as each teacher of boxing trains his boxers in a different style of dance. Many of the boxers dance first to the north, then to the east, then to the south and west. This they do in respect to the spirits of the dead that may be scattered throughout all the regions of the kingdom.
a Javanese flute. We later learn that the
No Blows Barred
music is used for the purpose of adding rhythm to the fighting and, by increasing
The next three minutes are spent on the edge of our seats as we excitedly view the
first round of Siamese boxing that we have ever seen. Feet flash out to strike the opponent on the side of the head or in the pit of the stomach! Elbows are jabbed out to land squarely in the face or in the tender regions of the back and neck! While the fighting goes on and the Oriental music continues to play and increase in tempo we watch with amazement at the ability of the fighters to dodge some of the vicious blows. We marvel also at their ability to endure the many painful blows that they are unable to avoid.
Look what is happening now! One of the fighters has the other's head locked underneath his arm and is raining powerful blows to the lower back and kidney regions with his fist and elbow. Now the referee has separated them and, just as a terrific “rabbit punch” is landed to the back of the neck, the bell sounds to end the first round.
The fighters already look tired and are breathing heavily as they go to their corners for a two-minute rest period. We wonder how they will be able to endure the four remaining rounds. Their attendants are now pouring cold water over both arms and legs and massaging them to increase the blood circulation. Now they are fanning the fighters with large towels. Why, look over in that comer at what they are doing to the boxer dressed in red! They are very carefully combing his hair to make him pretty for the next round, for the Siamese take great pride in their neat appearance.
The bell sounds now for the second round to begin. As the same fierce fighting continues throughout the second round the fighter in the blue trunks seems to be tiring quickly. Sensing this the other fighter is increasing his aggressiveness and all manner of blows are landed mercilessly upon the weakening man. The music increases to exciting tempo! The crowd is shouting for a knockout! The ‘staggering man is trying desperately to hang on until the bell that will 'soon end the second round. The winning fighter, spurred on by the fast beating of the drum and tempo of the music as well as the shouting of the crowd, rushes in to land a powerful knee to the solar plexus. This is followed by a smashing elbow to the chin and a terrific blow to the forehead. Unable to endure any more, the losing man slumps to the canvas, entirely .oblivious to all around him.
So now we have witnessed our first Siamese boxing fight. But wait, we do not go home yet. There are still four more boxing contests to be fought this afternoon. Glancing down at our English translation of this afternoon's program we interest ourselves in the description of some of the fighters. Two in particular catch our eye: “Leading 124-pound youngster of Loogsurindr Club who possesses terrible punch, hurtful elbow and dangerous kick . . . always sends opponents to bloodshed condition by elbow.” And “Known as ‘Dark Kangaroo’ for his figure and style . . . attacks opponents sensationally with terrible kick and dangerous knee; always upsets them by powerful kick and knee”.
As we sit waiting for the second fight to begin we notice that one of the boxers wears a narrow strip of cloth tied securely around the upper part of one arm. Upon asking we learn that in this cloth is placed a tiny image of Buddha, or a small fetish of bone or hair, while others contain a special sign painted on the cloth by a Buddhist priest. Whatever is used, it is first blessed by the Buddhist priest at the temple before being worn by the fighter, who believes it to be a magical charm to bring him good luck.
The next contest and the three that follow it prove to be even more exciting and ferocious than the first one, to the great delight of the thousands of spectators. How excited the people become as the climax of each fight is reached! As the last fight comes to a close we join the impatient crowd as it pushes its way out of the stadium and, reaching the cool air outside, we realize for the first time that darkness is beginning to fall. Certainly the last two hours have passed by quickly!
History of Siamese Boxing
Riding home in our car we settle back in our seat and listen as our Siamese friend talks. More than 1,000 years ago, he begins, when the migrants from southern China moved southward and settled in the region of land that later became known as Siam, or now officially as Thailand, the ancient Chinese brought with them their own special style of boxing. Thus was laid the basic foundation for the modern Siamese boxing style. Two great teachers of boxing during those early days of Siam are still remembered today and venerated in the history of the' little kingdom. Today they are known to the boxers by the names Dtah Pee and Dtah Prie. It is believed that the spirits of these two teachers, long dead, are still alive and give aid to the boxers who pray to them before they fight.
Later in the history of the country all soldiers were trained in the art of Siamese boxing as a valuable means of self-defense against the enemy. If, while in close combat, the soldier’s sword was knocked from his hand then the soldier made use of his boxing training and put to use all parts of his body to protect himself. Often the soldier saved his life by this means. The soldiers, when they went forth to meet the enemy, were led by the king seated atop his large royal elephant. For this reason the king himself was also expertly trained in the art of Siamese boxing and took a keen interest in the sport. At the frequent celebrations and fairs at the Buddhist temples boxing would always be included, and often the king would attend to watch the bout.
In those early days the boxers used no gloves but fought with bare fists or, with cloth wrapped around their-hands. No ring was used for the fight, only the bare ground. Neither was there any referee, nor a set of rules to govern the fighting; they fought until one or the other was defeated. No hold or blow, no matter how vicious, was barred; and kicking, biting, hair pulling, and many other means were used to win victory over the opponent. Often very serious injury resulted and sometimes even death. In spite of such dire results to the boxers the sport continued and flourished in all parts of the land.
Today even women occasionally give a demonstration of Siamese boxing at the Buddhist temple fairs. Only in comparatively recent years has the sport been pro-vided with its present set of rules, but even at the present time it stands alone as the most action-packed, ferocious boxing style in the world. Said Time magazine in its Pacific Overseas Edition of April 3, 1950, “Siamese pugilists put on a show to shame Western promoters forever.”
As our Siamese friend finishes his story of the history of Siamese boxing^ we reflect over the things we have seen and heard during the afternoon. We cannot help but think of the promise of Jehovah God that soon he will bring a new world to banish all fear and need for self-defense, for in that world of peace and righteousness men will no longer need to suffer to provide themselves with a livelihood or to provide entertainment for others. Righteous men from all nations will be permitted to live therein and will enjoy blessings of freedom, peace, and perfect life.—Isaiah 11:9.
' ‘■I’-' . ."M |(: _• ■. ' ••• ' ■■■ •
Mians of Venezuela;
By “Awak*!” correspondent in Venezuela
OF THE three and a half million people of Venezuela it is estimated that thirty-three thousand are Indians. They are silent figures, but nevertheless interesting and picturesque people who manage their way into almost every vista. No waterfront view is without them, The market places are crowded with them. You see them in every plaza, in every street. The word tjoajira names their country and their language. The meaning of it is "cousin” or "kinsman”.
…