Awake!, August 22, 1956
Download: PDF — Awake!, August 22, 1956
AUGUST 22, 1956 semimonthly
THE MISSION OF THIS JOURNAL
News sources that are able to keep you awake to the vital issues of our times must be unfettered by censorship and selfish Interests. “Awake!” has no fetters. It recognizes facts, faces facts, is free to publish facts. It is not bound by political ambitions or obligations; it is unhampered by advertisers whose toes must not be trodden on; it is unprejudiced by traditional creeds. This Journal keeps itself free that it may speak freely to you. But it does not abuse its freedom. It maintains integrity to truth.
“Awake uses the regular news channels, but is not dependent on them. Its own correspondents are on all continents, in scores of nations. •From the four corners of the earth their uncensored, on-the-scenes reports come to you through these columns. This journal’s viewpoint is not narrow, but is international. It is read in many nations, in many languages, by persons of all ages. Through its pages many fields of knowledge pass in review—government, commerce, religion, history, geography, science, social conditions, natural wonders—why, its coverage is as broad as the earth and as high as the heavens.
"Awake I” pledges itself to righteous principles, to exposing hidden foes and subtle dangers, to championing freedom for all, to comforting mourners and strengthening those disheartened by the failures of a delinquent world, reflecting sure hope for the establishment of a righteous New World.
Get acquainted with “Awake!” Keep awake by reading “Awake!”
Published Semimonthly By WATCHTOWER BIBLE AND TRACT SOCIETY OF NEW YORK, INC.
117 Adams Street Brooklyn 1, N. Y., U. S. A.
N. H. Know, President Grant Suites, Secretary
Printing this issue: 1,850,000
tttw Imnp Is wkltb "*»•*•!'’ h psklliM: SenKiootiilf—Afrikim, Finnish, French, German, Holland!*!}, Kalina, Norwegian, Spaalab, Swedish. Wonthly—Danlrt, Greek, Japanese, Portuguese, Uknttaten.
Oflfai Yearly ffi/wcriptlcn rate
AlWrit*. D.$.+ 117 Adama St., Brooklyn 1, N.Y. $1 Aertrefla, 11 Beresford Rd., StratWld, N.&.W. 8/-Guido, 150 BridgBland Are., Park Raad P.O.,
Toronto 10, Ontario fl
Enllaid, Craton Terrace, London, ff, 2 7/-
N«w Zaalaod, G.P.O. Boi 30, Wellington, C. 1 ?/-gootli Africa, Private Big, Etendefontrin, Tri, 7/*
Five cents a copy
IMmittwMB should be sent to office in four emm-try In compliance with regulations to guarantee safe delivery of money. Remittance* are accepted at Brooklyn from countriw vhtre no office is located, by International money order only. Subscription rata in different countries ara bare stated in local currency. Notici of miratru (with renewal blank) is seat at least two tauee before subscription ei-pires. Change at ad treat when sent to our office may be expected efTeetin within one month, Send yDir old as well as new address.
Entered as matter at Brooklyn, NX Printed In U.S.A.
CONTENTS
Fear of Man a Snare
The Green River Ordinance and
Blank Engrossment
Jehovah’s Witnesses
Taking the Fire to the Fire Station
Our Senses—Five or Fifteen?
No Sabbath Day for Christians
Atoms for Peace-^or War
Youngest Pope
“Your WorcLIs Truth"
Prayers vs. Action
On the Side of the Serpent
Race Troubles Near Exploding Point
Jehovah’s Witnesses Preach in All
The Magdalena River of Colombia
the Earth—Portugal
Ecclesiastical Swindlers Prosper
Do You Know?
"Me Help Too!"
Watching the World
missionary arrived in Of MAN
the United States late ^^--- As Jesus showed: “Go in
last February after hav- through the narrow gate;
ihg spent four and a half years in Chinese prisons. Telling of his experience he said: “The mental pressure was terrific. They even took my Bible away. For 3} years we had to read and discuss Communist literature' and express Communist opinions. Anyone who did not was landed on with both feet.”—New York Daily News, February 26, 1956.
By such methods as these Communist rulers endeavor to ensure conformity within their borders. However, it would be a mistake to conclude that only in Communist lands is terriflic mental pressure brought to bear to ensure conformity. It might be said that in Western democracies public opinion similarly exerts great pressure to ensure conformity. Fear of what others think brainwashes many as thoroughly as do the more brutal methods of the Communists. Lacking the courage of their convictions, they are completely snared by the fear of man: "The fear of man bringeth a snare; but whoso putteth his trust in Jehovah shall be safe.”—Proverbs 29:25, Am. Stan. Ver.
Fear of man makes the fatal mistake of overlooking the fact that, while the majority rules in a democracy, in this wicked old world the majority is invariably wrong. because broad and spacious is the road leading off into destruction, and many are the ones going in through It; whereas narrow is the gate and cramped the road leading off into life, and few are the ones finding it."—Matthew 7:13, 14, New World Trans.
Perhaps the most Widespread form of this ensnaring fear of man is fear of the opinion of others. Thus when a number of children become unruly in a schoolroom, because of this fear of what others will think, few indeed will have the courage to refrain from joining in. This fear is, in fact, a powerful contributing factor to juvenile delinquency. The inexperienced are ashamed to admit that they do not use tobacco or narcotics, do not cheat or get drunk, or do not practice fornication. Youths often drive autos recklessly lest they be thought to be “chickenhearted.” Of course, such youths actually show themselves weaklings, for they lack the courage to do what they know is best. They have been ensnared by the fear of man.
Often husbands go along with the crowd, wasting time and money lest their business associates think them sentimental or “henpecked.” Likewise wives and mothers often neglect their husbands and children to
AUGUST ee, ISiH
keep pace with more sophisticated women, lest others think them to be too submissive and old-fashioned. Many employees will fail to give their best although they like their work and their employer, because of fear of what other employees or the labor union will think. Then again, many persons will not express their liberal views on public questions relating to civil rights or economic fairness lest others think them to be radical or accuse them of being Communists or “fellow travelers?’
Fearful lest others think they are lacking in manliness some act as though they enjoyed hearing foul or profane language. But they overlook the fact that at times a calm and friendly explanation as to why 6uch language offends may do much good. When boasts are made regarding the violating of traffic laws, tax evasion or cheating of merchants, some feel they must register admiration instead of Christian disapproval in order to be thought a “good fellow?’ However, there is a limit to politeness. Disapproval can at times be expressed without even saying a word, merely by assuming a neutral, thoughtful and serious mien and by refusing to be impressed by such lawless exploits.
Perhaps nowhere is this ensnaring fear of man more apparent than in the field of religion.-Rather than concern themselves with what is truth and right and with the question, tfWhat does God think?” their first thought is, “What will others think?” Let all such remember Jesus’ warning: “For whoever becomes ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of man will also be ashamed of him when he arrives in the glory of his Father with the holy angels?’ —Mark 8:38, New World Trans.
If we would please God and gain life we must get rid of the ensnaring fear of man. The antidote for such fear is to be found in God’s Word, the Bible. As Jesus said, “The truth will set you free.” How so? In that the truth about Jehovah, about his attributes of love, justice, wisdom and power, about what he has done, is doing and will yet do, will awaken in us a wholesome fear, not a morbid one, of displeasing Him. That wholesome “fear of Jehovah is the beginning of wisdom?’ It makes us free from the fear of what others may think It is the beginning of wisdom because it puts us on the path of life.—Proverbs 9:10, Am. Stan. Ver.
BLANK ENGROSSMENT
In a canyon in California a motion-picture company was making a western movie. Cowboy actor Tommy McLeod suddenly spotted a mountain lion. With the lightning speed of a good Hollywood western star, the cowboy drew his six-shooter. He fired it also in true western fashion. But the lion just ioped off not too much alarmed. The sharpshooting movie cowboy was so engrossed that he forgot that his .45 was loaded with blanks.
tk* 7/t< to tki
If one encounters a fire and Is unable to put it out, there may be a possibility other than calling for the fire trucks. At least a man in Ripley, Tennessee, recently discovered this possibility. While driving a city garbage truck the man turned around to find his load on fire. So he drove tike mad to the volunteer fire department—then dumped the smoldering garbage in the fire station's driveway.
NO SABB
HAT an indolent people! What a slothful race! Wasting one day out of seven doing nothing at all! Yes, absolutely nothing! What fools!’ In this vein ancient Romans, such as Juvenal and Seneca, ridiculed the
raerr or
Jews for observing a complete rest or sabbath every seventh day as commanded by the law of Moses. Because of such mockery the Jews at one time even tried to do away with the sabbath.
In obeying God’s law to '‘sabbath” or rest on the seventh day the Jews were neither indolent nor foolish but were following the course of divine wisdom. It was “for the sake of man” that God had commanded: “You must not do any work” on the seventh day. And that fourth commandment of the Decalogue ordained rest not only for the Israelites and their servants, but also for the non-Israelite temporary residents and even for the beasts of burden!—Mark 2:27; Exodus 20:8-11, New World Trans.
For one thing, that law acted as a check on selfishness, it put a restraint on the exploitation of labor. Even farmers and others who were self-employed were not to be so anxious about laying up for a rainy day that they could not afford to rest one day in seven. That day of rest allowed the Israelites time for giving thought to Jehovah
DAY FOR CHRISTIANS
Why did God command the Israelites to rest on the seventh day? Are Christians required keep thefirst or the seventh day,or neither?
God, for did he not command that they were to speak of his commandments on ev-s*' ery possible occasion? (Deuteronomy 6:6, 7) A rest day also allowed them time to enjoy the company of their families and to observe the beauties of nature. With no lighting of fires on that day even housewives could rest. As Dr. G. R. Smith, in his The Physician Examines the Bible, so well expresses it: “One day of rest in seven is one of man's most precious health gifts. Both physical and mental health is preserved thereby.”
From Sabbath to Sunday
While God had made the sabbath for the benefit of man he also had it to serve as a sign distinguishing the Israelites from other peoples. Apparently in their zeal to make this distinction between the Jews and others as great as possible, the religious leaders, a few centuries before Christ, made man subservient to the sabbath, putting the cart before the horse, as it were. In their Talmudic commentary on the Torah or Law they had thirty-nine restrictions for the sabbath, among which were swimming, dancing and jumping. The picking of kernels by Jesus and his disciples was supposed to be a breaking of the third of these, which forbade any harvesting on the sabbath. And these thirty-nine restrictions were split into almost numberless lesser restrictions. Thus, one could not catch a flea on the sabbath, as that was hunting, which was forbidden. Walking on the grass was likewise forbidden, as bruising the grass was actually threshing it One had to be careful when feeding chickens not to leave a single grain on the ground, as it might sprout and one would be guilty of sowing seed on the sabbath day. And so on.
The Talmud would not permit giving relief to a sufferer on the sabbath unless death threatened. A bone could not be set on the sabbath, nor could a sprained ankle be poulticed or bandaged. Self-defense was also forbidden, but when 1,000 Jews were slain at the time of the Maccabees, their enemies taking advantage of this restriction, the high priest Matthias ruled that they could defend themselves on the sabbath. Proof of the extremes to which they went to exalt the sabbath is seen in their statement that “the sins of everyone who strictly observes every law of the Sabbath, though he be an idol worshiper, are forgiven.”
The claim is made that Sunday, named after the sun god, was chosen to replace the sabbath because Jesus rose on the first day of the week and was next seen on the eighth day, and because the holy spirit was poured out on the first day of the week, Pentecost. In support of this position 1 Corinthians 16:2 and Acts 20:7 are appealed to. However, the former text merely shows that Paul instructed Christians to lay aside in their own homes for their1 needy brothers at Jerusalem a certain amount each first day of the week. Nothing is said about meeting together on the first day of the week. As for the latter text it was but logical that Paul and his friends would meet together on that day, which happened to be the first day of the week, since he left the very next day.
What really seems to have been behind the change from the seventh to the first day was a desire to break with Judaism. Thus Justin Martyr, second-century “church father,” and the first to use the term “Sunday,” stated that "we do not sabbatize.” It was Constantine, the first to enact anti-Jewish legislation, who decreed in 321 that Sunday was to be a rest day for all except the farmers; and in issuing this decree he observed: “Let us have nothing in common with the most hostile rabble of the Jews.” In the eighth century all common labor was forbidden as well as all buying and selling and suits at court. However, both Catholic and Protestant theologians are agreed that there is no Scriptural authority for changing the rest day from the seventh to the first day.
The Sabbath Day Only for Israelites
Since the sabbath came into existence for the benefit of man and the rest day was changed without Scriptural authority, does that mean that Christians are obligated to observe the sabbath day? Some so hold, quoting God’s words to the Israelites that this law was to be binding forever, However, the Hebrew word there rendered “forever” means merely to an indefinite time in the future. That this is so is apparent from the fact that God also stated that the Aaronic priesthood was to continue “forever,” and we know that it was put out of the way by the death of Jesus. Besides, in this connection God also said that this sabbath statute was to be a sign only “between me and the children of Israel,” a statement made more than once.—Exodus 31:17; Ezekiel 20:20.
Note also that in giving the Decalogue or Ten Commandments to the Israelites God said, “I am Jehovah your God, who have brought you out of the land of Egypt,” and “that is why Jehovah your God commanded you to carry on the sabbath day.” (Exodus 20:2; Deuteronomy 5:15, New World Trans.) Interesting is
Martin Luther’s comment on this: “The Ten Commandments do not apply to us Gentiles and Christians, If a preacher wishes to force you back to Moses, ask him if you wer$ brought by Moses out of Egypt.”
True, it might be argued that Christians have been delivered from a spiritual Egypt. Then let it also be noted that the Christians’sabbath must be a spiritual one, since they were released from a spiritual and not a physical bondage. And that is just what Paul shows at Hebrews 4:10,11, that Christians keep a spiritual sabbath of rest from selfish works and by faith and right works. The Jews carefully kept the sabbath, but did they have God’s approval? The fact is that the sabbath was one of a system of sabbaths, there being also a series of sabbath years.—Exodus 23:10, 11; Leviticus 25:1-12.
In endeavoring to make keeping the sabbath the law for Christians some hold that, because God rested on the seventh day and set it apart as sacred, all mankind have ever since been obligated to observe it. Say they: “Both the sabbath and the law existed from creation.” However, the evidence of geology indicates that those six days of creation must have been long periods of time, not just twenty-four hours, and so God’s rest day must also be far longer. And this is borne out by the many scriptures that speak of God as resting through the centuries.—See Psalm 95:8-11; Hebrews 3; 12 to 4:11.
The fact is that no sabbath observance was mentioned before the giving of manna in the wilderness. Adam was commanded to work, to subdue the earth'and dress the garden of Eden, but not a word do we read about his being forbidden to work on a sabbath day. Noah was told to build an ark and also was given explicit instructions regarding the sacredness of blood and human life, but not a word about keeping any sabbath. Abraham was commanded to offer certain sacrifices and io institute circumcision, but again, not a word about any sabbath. No doubt Noah and those before him did keep time by the week, for we read of his doing certain things on the seventh day or after seven days. But that does not prove that any rest day was observed. The first reference to a week in the Scriptures, however, is in connection with Jacob’s celebrating the marriage of Laban’s daughter Leah for a week.—Genesis 29:27, 28, New World Trans.; An Amer. Trans.
The Law Done Away With
Sabbath-day observers point to the fact that Jesus regularly visited the synagogue on the sabbath, overlooking that Jesus, because of being born under the Law, was obligated to keep the sabbath. Besides, both he and his apostles found it convenient to go to the synagogue on the sabbath, as the Jews congregated there on that day. Today, for the same reason, the Christian witnesses of Jehovah find it convenient to do most of their preaching on Sunday.
Regarding the law of Moses, Paul wrote that God "kindly forgave us all our trespasses and blotted out the handwritten document against us which consisted of decrees and which was in opposition to us, and he has taken it out of the way by nailing it to the torture stake. Therefore let no man judge you in eating and drinking or in respect of a feast day or of an observance of the new moon or of a sabbath, for those things are a shadow of the things to come, but the reality belongs to the Christ.”—Colossians 2:13,14,16,17, New World Trans.
Hard pressed to explain the foregoing annulling of sabbath observance, sabbathday observers claim that although in the fifty-nine other references to the sabbath in the “New Testament” the sabbath day is meant, in this instance alone, which an-mils the sabbath, the sabbath years are meant. But if the sabbath is still binding upon Christians is it not strange that from Romans through Revelation this is the only reference to the sabbath and that it is a negative one? Nor did Paul make an exception for the sabbath day when he scolded the Galatians: “How is it that you are turning back again to the weak and inadequate elementary things and want to be slaves to them over again? You are scrupulously observing days and months and seasons and years.” Nor can the sabbath be supported by the claim that the Mosaic law was in two parts, a ceremonial, which passed away, and a moral, which remained, for neither Jesus nor his apostles made any such distinction.—Galatians 4:9,10, New World Trans.
And finally, let it be noted that when the apostles and other older men met at Jerusalem no mention was made about the sabbath, but merely, “keep yourselves free from things sacrificed to idols and from blood and from things killed without draining their blood and from fornication.” —Acts 15:29, Neto World Trans.
The sabbath day that God commanded the Israelites to observe was pictorial of the 1,000-year Kingdom sabbath of which Jesus Christ is Lord. After six thousand years of toil and bondage to sin, sickness, death and Satan, mankind will enjoy a rest from all such. In this Kingdom sabbath, which Bible prophecy shows will begin shortly, Jesus will do on a world-wide scale what he did on a small scale when as a man he cured the Jews on the sabbath day. In that Kingdom sabbath he will bring physical and spiritual health and life both to those surviving till then and to the billions who have gone down into the grave but who are in the memory of God.
Truly, the Scriptural position regarding the sabbath day frees from bondage and is logical, beautiful and comforting.
YOUNGEST POPE
Under this title the Glasgow, Scotland, Herald of January 5, 1956, published a letter from one of its readers. It said: "Sir.—The exact age of Pope Benedict IX at election is open to considerable doubt. The learned English historian, Dr. Horace K. Mann, professor at Ushaw College, Durham, gives an impartial statement in his article in the Catholic Encyclopedia, Vol. II, p. 429, col. 2, with references:
(1) For the age of 12 years: Glaber, R., Historic., Vol. IV, 5, No. 17, etc.; (2) for the age of 20 years: Duchesne, L„ Le Liber Pontificalia (Paris, 1886-92). Glaber is a most unreliable source (see biography, Catholic Encyclopedia, VI, 574-75), The Liber Pontificates is a standard work. Dr. Mann takes the latter view. So John XII remains the youngest Pope, at 18 years, as your most accurate Christmas Quiz has it.”
Prayers vs. .Action
January 18 to 25 was a week set aside by Catholics and Protestants around the world as the "time for concentrated prayer for church unity.” But each conducted its services separately. Their prayers were for "reunion of the long-divided family of Christendom." Roman Catholics in Colombia, however, got off to an early start, which betrayed their lack of sincerity and exposed the hypocrisy of such idle prayers. Four days prior to reunion-prayer week, a mob set Are to a
Protestant church in Palmira, Colombia, destroying the $2,500 building. The United Press dispatch for January 14, 1956, reported that "this was the 46th
Protestant church to have been destroyed in Colombia since 1348." Are Catholics in Colombia really backing up their prayers with action?
Race Troubles
Near ~
THE section of territory in the United States above or north of the Mason-Dixon line is commonly referred to by Americans as “the North. ” Here in the North the white man is generally believed to be, and thinks himself to be, more liberal and more progressive in his attitude toward the Negro.
In theory, at least, the Negro in the North lives in a climate of freedom and equality. Northern state and city laws forbid discrimination because of race, color or creed. The Negro is granted equal rights, privileges and treatment with the white man. The same opportunity for employment and education and the right to ride any public transport without restriction are both his. He has equal right to any public park, beach, swimming pool, theater, restaurant or hotel. Legally, in the North the Negro stands on a par with the white man. Yet he is not satisfied with things as they are—not as they are on legal paper, but as they are in actual practice.
The Negro believes the white man’s sentiments of prointegration in the North are hypocritically transparent. Like his sentiments, the white man’s racial liberalism tends to be naively abstract too. The extent of his liberalism is well stated in the words of a white man who said: “Integration is like a superhighway. It’s a wonderful thing—as long as it doesn’t run through my back yard.”
Many white northerners sincerely believe they have no racial prejudice. They claim that some of their best friends are Negroes. But the moment a Negro is admitted into an all-white apartment house or neighborhood, .these same persons unhesitatingly resort to discrimination. They say the Negro should have “the right to live anywhere he can afford. But that does not mean he can exercise that right in the same apartment or city block where I live.” White property owners usually say: “We don’t want to keep Negroes out because they are black. We want to keep them out because they have low educational and moral standards and no respect for other people’s property. If you let one family in, and go off on vacation, you’ll find four families living in the one apartment when you get back.” The Negro counters by saying that if lower educational and moral standards exist among his race, the white man has only himself to blame; that whatever the cause or camouflage, race discrimination does persist on a large scale in the North, despite claims to the contrary.
Lopsided Equality
In New York city, for example, where race-relations experts say conditions for the Negroes are the best in many respects among the major cities of the United States, the Negro is refendti to as “the oppressed class of the city.” A recent survey of Negro-conditions in northern cities, made by the New York Times, says of New York city: “Negroes are barred from most private housing.... Many fields of employment are closed to Negroes. In many enterprises Negroes get the lower-pay, lower-grade jobs. Elementary and junior high school education for Negroes is inferior. In some instances the zoning of school districts prevents Negroes from attending higher-standard integrated schools or allwhite schools. The result is de facto school segregation.”
tn cities away from New York condi-tioitf are very much the same. Detroit, Michigan, the automobile capital of the world, boasts of its racial harmony. Yet racial friction between white man and Negro is still very much an issue in Detroit Negroes are demanding more and better jobs. A recent survey showed that only 6 percent of the teachers in Detroit's public schools were Negroes. Fifteen of that city’s large department stores refuse to hire Negro sales help. Employment offices admit that it is next to impossible to place Negroes .in skilled or white-collar positions with private firms. Even in factories job advancement can be difficult for the Negro.
Negroes with college degrees are reported running elevators, washing dishes or pushing brooms. They complain that they work fewer hours and are the first most likely to get laid off. Right now about 12 percent of the Negro working force in Detroit is unemployed, double the percentage to be found in the white community. In Chicago, Illinois, only 6 percent or less of the better jobs, ranging from foreman to professional posts, are held by Negroes. “There are some jobs for which we prefer to have Negroes,” said a white personnel officer, * but these are some of the heavier jobs, and jobs where there is some monotony.”
Negro physicians say they are being discriminated against in medical circles. Detroit's 170 Negro doctors say that no more than two dozen can get affiliations of any kind at hospitals for whites. No more than half of Detroit’s 47 hospitals will admit nonemergency Negro patients. Fewer than half a dozen private hospitals out of 75 in Chicago are open to Negro physicians. The large majority of Chicago's private hospitals do not want Negro patients.
The law provides equal rights and opportunities for all races. But what good are laws unless they are enforced? The Negro has equal right to all restaurants and hotels. But will he get a room or will he be served? One hotel manager in Cleveland, Ohio, said: “We do not, of course, refuse service. We politely tell them we’re out of rooms.” A head waiter in one of Detroit’s downtown restaurants was asked if they served Negroes. His answer: “Well, we've had one Negro come in here ten years ago. He was served and gotten out of here so fast that not one has come back since.” Negroes tend to shun places where they know they are not wanted.
Negroes in Chicago, Detroit, Boston and other northern cities can regularly attend "white” churches, but rarely without being embarrassed. Some Protestant churches in larger cities have moved to the suburbs to get beyond Negro reach. In Boston a Negro minister said he was asked by an influential friend of his, a white man, to persuade members of his race to leave white congregations and return to their own.
Housing Problems
The Negro finds his skin color most objectionable to the white man when searching for a place to live. Yet he must live some place. In many northern cities the Negro population is increasing at a rate far beyond that of white communities. In New York city today "one person out of every ten is Negro, in Chicago one out of seven, in Philadelphia one out of five.” Negroes are pouring into Detroit at about a rate of 500 a month and about 3,000 Negroes a month are arriving in Chicago. Negroes in Chicago have a population density rate of 39,000 to the square mile—four times the white rate.
Most of these Negroes come from southern rural areas north in pursuit of happiness. As one Negro said: "Where I was, I wasn’t getting nowhere. I hear about these big-paying jobs here, where you get eight, ten dollars a day, almost what I was getting in a week down there. So I figure I’ll come up the line and look around.” But each new family that comes north must also find a place to live. Since Negro neighborhoods are overcrowded, the migrating Negro is forced to search for a place to live in white neighborhoods, which presents a problem.
A young physicist and his attractive wife, a college graduate, spent five months before finding an apartment. And then they did not get what they wanted. There were many places that appealed to them, but they were not to be rented or sold to Negroes, A groceryman told them: AIf I rented to you I would lose my trade.” A real estate man said: “You would have saved your time and mine had you told me on the phone that you were Negroes.”
The Negro cannot build, buy or rent a home where he chooses, despite his educational, professional and financial qualifications. In Dearborn, Michigan’s fourth-larg-est city, 15,000 Negroes can work daily, but not one can live there. Mayor Orville Hubbard of Dearborn is quoted as saying: "I am for complete segregation, one million per cent, on all levels.” He is also reported to have said: "Not a single Negro” lives in Dearborn, because “every time we hear of a Negro moving in we respond quicker than you do to a fire.” Once a Negro family did move into Dearborn, but they found the gas turned off and the garbage was never collected. Finally, they were forced to move.
Residential suburbs, those with high-income white families, especially oppose Negro entry. Willoughby Abner, chairman of the Chicago branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, declared: "There are powerful forces in the city which are determined to keep these all-white communities all-white. While you don’t have local segregation, you do have a conspiracy by real estate groups, community organizations and financial institutions to maintain Chicago’s spotted segregation pattern."
To buy into white areas the Negro has to pay ridiculously high prices, and mortgage loans are hard for him to get. To meet stiff monthly payments many Negroes have been forced to convert their newly bought homes into apartment houses and use the rentals to meet the bills. In Chicago investigators have found 132 Negroes living in a single eight-apartment building. In Detroit a six-flat building was turned into 37 apartments. Negroes still occupy 75 percent of Detroit’s 34,000 substandard homes. In Harlem sometimes as many as five Negro families live in one-family apartments. This sort of crowding almost always creates a new slum area. The Negroes say that low wages and high-rentals force this pattern, that they have no alternative.
Two-Way Exodus
To escape the slums, with their high-crime and low-health rate, many Negro families have been moving out into white neighborhoods. But as soon as a Negro family moves in, white families move out. White home-owners become panic-stricken and put up their houses for sale without waiting to see what their Negro neighbors are like. As a result a general exodus is taking place to white neighborhoods and away from white neighborhoods to suburb sanctuaries.
Many whites believe that when Negroes begin to move into a neighborhood property values drop, school standards decline and crim* and delinquency increase. Racerelations experts say that most of the fears of white persons are baseless. They say property values drop momentarily because whole neighborhoods try to sell at once. If the property is well located its value will rise again to its original level and often above its value. As for crime and delinquency, experts say that these stem mainly from environmental conditions and not from race. Negroes are no more inclined to misbehave than whites in similar circumstances.
Riots and Mob Violence
White residents have been quite successful in being able to scare Negro househunters out of white neighborhoods by threats, boycotts and other means. Often they have resorted to violence. But a new generation of Negroes is growing up that does not scare so easily, nor are they easily intimidated or outmaneuvered. Therefore friction and tension between Negroes and whites is reaching an alarming stage.
In the last two years Detroit has had over thirty-two housing incidents. Five of these were serious, where groups of 100 or more white persons demonstrated in front of Negro homes, trampled lawns, defaced buildings, burned down garages and houses. In Chicago similar flare-ups of violence take place every few weeks.
Detroit’s top Negro paper stated: “Detroit seems to be rapidly returning to its old pattern of a few years ago when we lived from crisis to crisis. ... In the last two years there has been an unmistakable resurgence in organized resistance to Negroes based upon color prejudice. ... No effort is made to correct tragic mistakes in attitudes which can only lead to the destruction of our whole town.” Both clergymen and political leaders alike are warning Detroiters that they are sitting on a powder k^g of racial trouble.
What does the Negro want? the northern whites are asking. The Negro’s answer is plain and positive. He wants equal rights and opportunities in practice with the white man. He wants to be able to live wherever he can afford to live. He wants nothing less than full social, economic and political equality.
As a remedy, many Negroes are proposing Jesus’ words: “You must love your neighbor as yourself.” To the North that glibly offers racial advice to the South, the Negro quotes Jesus again: “Hypocrite! first extract the rafter from your own eye, and then you will see clearly how to extract the straw that is in your brother’s eye.” That is sound advice and perhaps a cure.—Matthew 22:39; Luke 6:42, New World Trans.
^Notable Casualty
One of New York's pet myths was recently shattered. Local folks had long been convinced that the top of the Empire State Building—world's tallest building—was swaying two to three feet at the height of more severe storms. Some guesses went as high as eight feet. Skeptical engineers checked the building sway with an ultra-precise gyroscope In a 50-mile-an-hour wind. The sway? It measured just one inch.
THE
MogMrn
OF COLOMBIA
By “AwakeI" correspondent in Colombia
O THE giant condor in his position high above the valley the scene appeared to be unchangeable. Sunlight reflected from the waters of a mighty river, flowing between towering mountain ranges. The two humans poling their balsa, or raft, along the shallower part of the river may have attracted his eye, but more than likely his attention was arrested by some animal’s dead body that would become his daily meal.
Suddenly, with the sun shining brightly, huge drops of water made a loud splash on the cliff around him and stirred up little spots of dust on the valley floor far below. Then swirling dark clouds obscured the sun and the downpour of a tropical rain
came. The many arroyos and dry washes became raging torrents. The natives on the river, who later became known as "Indians,” quickly guided their raft to some sheltered spot to keep from being caught in a swift current.
On this same day, in the year 1501, Rodrigo de Bastidas, exploring the coast of the Caribbean Sea along the northern tip of what is now South America, discovered this river. This being the day of Santa Maria Magdalena, he named the river for'the saint. To this day it is known as the Magdalena River.
Here at last was a way into the interior of this relatively unknown continent. And the Magdalena River became the highway of the Spanish conquerors or conquistadores. In the years that followed they brought a different type of culture and life (both human and vegetable) and a new religion to the native inhabitants. The first of such ones to navigate the river was probably Jeronimo de Melo, who, being sent by Garcia de Lerma, governor of Santa Marta, sailed into the mouth of the river and advanced as far as the present site of Malambo. This was
RIVER
in the year 1529.
Other pioneers quickly .followed. Some eight years later the celebrated expedition of Jimenez de Quesada entered the mouth of the river and navigated it as far as the site of La Tora, or, today, Barranca Ber-meja. Not being satisfied to continue by river his party left the valley here and went overland to the east and south, discovering the great plateau-valley that later became the location of the capital of Colombia, Bogota.
Pressing onward during that year and into the early part of 1538, Quesada re-entered the Magdalena river valley near the section of present-day Neiva, Colombia, far above and into the mountains from where he had left it. He called this section “The Valley of Sadnesses,” either because of the semidesert condition of the country or because or me hardships upon his party. Some historians think that the purpose of Quesada’s expedition was to discover the source of the river.
Investigating Its Source
The source, or sources, of this river have been found and provide interesting information. Running approximately north and south through Colombia are three mountain ranges or cordilleras. They are the northernmost ends of the famed Andes of South America. Close to the Ecuador-Colombia border they come together Into the one mother range. In this cold high spot 11,530 feet above sea level the Magdalena River is born, some 1,000 miles up from where it enters into the Caribbean Sea to the north. Here, in fact, are two birthplaces. In the “Paramo de las Papas,” a region of small lakes and lagoons, are two lagoons or lakes a bit larger than the others. From Laguna Magdalena the first stream flows. And at Santiago, or St. James, a similar lagoon about two miles to the east, the second begins. It passes under a natural bridge and then, so nearly hidden from view that some early explorers thought it was an underground stream, continues on to unite with the other some two miles below the lakes. Here, then, is born the Magdalena River.
When the source of this river was first found is not known. However, the team of Justo Ramon and Tomas Alfredo, who explored this area in 1946 and 1947 and furnished the above information, report that on an old trail between the two lagoons is a large rock with the monogram of the virgin Mary and a date that appears to be 1538.
Another thing that shows the nature of the terrain in this section is the fact that for many years the CaquetA River, which flows eastward from here and unites with the Amazon River some 1,000 miles or more down in Brazil, was thought to head in the same St James lagoon. This lagoon would thus have water flowing from it in two different directions'. However, while it is true that the headwaters of the Caqueta River are just a few kilometers south and east of these lagoons, yet they are separate and distinct, according to the above-mentioned explorers.
Along Its Course
The Magdalena being near the equator and yet originating high in the mountains, there is a variety of plant life along its course. As the river begins its downward plunge it passes between mountains that tower more than 15,000 feet into the sky, with the Sierra Nevada to the east reaching more than 18,000 feet.
As the river drops down into the inhabited regions, one "finds first the cultivated crops of wheat, barley, oats and other small grains, apples, potatoes and pasture lands in abundance. Passing below the 6,000-foot mark we find the money crop of the land, coffee, along with such things as com, sugar cane, papaya, oranges and bananas. And even lower toward the sea are tobacco, pineapples, lemons, coconuts, India rubber trees and rice. In fact, it simply depends upon your altitude as to what temperature may be found, and hence what will grow in the way of plant life. It may come as a surprise to some to know that many of these cultivated crops, such as wheat, barley, oats, grapes, beans, sugar cane, oranges, lemons and even coffee, were introduced by the Spanish conquerors.
The river, of course, serves as a commercial life line. Even the early Indians used it as their highway with balsas, or rafts, and canoes. The conquistadores used it for the same purpose. One early governor introduced the “champan” boat, which was simply a hollowed-out tree trunk, with a covering of a rustic sort to provide some measure of protection as a “cabin.*’ This was the best mode of transportation for years, both for passengers, including presidents and bishops, and for produce.
Nevertheless, progress will be felt In 1825 the first steamboat, the Santander, entered the mouth of this river, manned by a German, John Bernard Elbers, Its life was short, however, ending in the civil war of 1839. After the war the steamboat again made its appearance on the Magdalena, but in general kept to the lower part However, in 1875, after some four months of navigation, the steamboat Molke arrived at the city of Neiva on the upper Magdalena.
Since World War n traffic is coming in other ways. Highways are rapidly' being built The seaport of Buenaventura on the Pacific Coast is closer to the capital Bogota and to other cities than was the former long route by river steamer. Modern trucks cross the mountains every day, bringing imported goods and taking others away for export Railroads have been and are being built But latest and perhaps most felt is the rapid transportation provided by the great airliners. Thus the Magdalena seems slowly to be returning to its former, more uneventful existence.
The lone condor sits on his diff. The bright sun does not prevent giant raindrops from announcing a sudden tropical shower. The water rushes toward the river and all is as it was. Humans come and go with their differing ideas and their different cultures, yet the river continues its patient and unending progress toward the sea.
Ecclesiastical Swindlers Prosper
•Jf “The $100 Million Shakedown” was the title of a newspaper feature telling of the increase of ecclesiastical swindlers in New York city alone. According to the New York Daily News of January 4 and January 8, 1956, hundreds of small churches are being organized, not to teach the public, but to fleece the public. These churches expend their main efforts on collecting funds in the name of charity, often hiring professional collectors or swindlers who are marvelously adept at defrauding the public. Said the newspaper feature:
‘g “Every year, big-hearted, free-spending New Yorkers dig deep into pockets and purses and cheerfully pour more than $100,000,000 down a rathole in the name of sweet charity. Not one in a hundred would think of examining the shaker can thrust under his nose as he waits in line for theatre tickets, as he comes out of a subway, as he leaves a restaurant. Not one in a thousand would dream of asking for the credentials of the pleasantfaced woman in the religious habit. . . . Part of the fault lies with the public. They give to everything and everyone. If you took a can and marked it ‘all who contribute here are suckers’ you would still collect plenty.” 'jf Telling of the difficulty investigators have in curbing religious rackets, the feature continues: “Sam Friedman, a veteran of more than a quarter of a century as an investigator, sadly tells about the time he found a phony soliciting in an industrial plant. Sam waited for her to reach a heavily populated section of the building and ufent around warning employees not to give to the bogus charity. ‘They gave any way,’ he said sadly. ‘I told them she was strictly a pro, but they wouldn’t believe me because she was dressed in religious garb. She was wearing a Star of David on a band across her head. She had a crucifix on her chest. She had on everything but a sergeant’s chevrons. When we nabbed her, several people became quite indignant.’ ” ‘jj A major point of the Daily News feature: people do not seem to mind being swindled so long as it is done by someone with an ecclesiastical title or in religious garb. Could this be because churchgoers have been accustomed so long to giving so much for so little?
OW do you answer your energetic little youngster when he pleads: “Me too! Me help too!” Especially on those extra-busy days when everything seems to go wrong? Why not let him help? Probably you will be pleasantly surprised at how much he can do, and allowing him to help gives him a feeling of being an important member of the family. Not only that, but he will be learning invaluable lessons of industry and cooperation. Hours of pleasant companionship will result, and you will be building a solid foundation for a good parent-child relationship.
“Mother, I haven’t got my baby’s raincoat q--u-ite done,” said my daughter pridefully, her eyes shining. She was only four years old, and the_ raincoat was a poor thing, but she was uncritical. I had taken up my sewing, and she had wanted to help. A rather large needle, with double thread well knotted, a generous piece of cloth from the scrap bag, and her own blunt-nosed scissors were all the equipment she needed. She brought her own little rocker, and put her low table near me. She spent
a long and happy time at this task. And she was not whining, restless or getting into mischief.
■jj Does your child have his own little shovel? He can help you shovel the winter snow. Does she have her own little broom? She will be thrilled to help you with the sweeping. With his own little hoe and rake he can 2 work beside you in the garden, building a strong body, a healthy appetite, and learning the care of growing things, rather than being a whining nuisance who steps on the rows or thoughtlessly pulls up the tender plants. fg A sturdy, non-tipping stool and a wet-proof apron are an aid to many delightful indoor activities. What youngster is not charmed with warm,, sudsy w,a>t£r? If Mother is washing dishes, the child can help with its own
..... small dish cloth. The silverware can be wiped, or the pans. And when taught that dishes and glasses must be handled carefully, so as not to break them, the child will be very proud and careful when these are entrusted her. The child can scrub the vegetables, can fetch and can carry. Your child can sit on the kitchen stool at the mixing center and do a great deal of stirring for that cake or batch of cookies. And afterward there is the bowl to be licked! What happiness a child can have with a pinch of pie or bread dough on the kneading board with a small rolling pin!' Picking up playthings and tidying up rooms teaches the child habits of neatness. At this age you might work at his side. Then putting things away, instead of being a hated chore, can become a game. It will not be long before your child will pleasantly surprise you by taking over the job of picking up after himself. Some tasks require that the parent tactfully superimpose his own skill over the awkwardness of the child in order that both will be satisfied with the results, for example, making beds and setting the table.
‘j; On walks the child may have the responsibility of looking carefully each way to decide if it is safe to cross. A trip to the store becomes high adventure if he has his own piece of money to spend as he wishes, being able to pick out what he wants and to pay the clerk himself. Or he may have the responsibility of choosing and purchasing one item on the grocery list, for example, the cereal.
■w When parents of small youngsters realize the importance of letting the child help too, they will think of many enjoyable and constructive ways in which to give the child this feeling that he is an important part of the , family.—Contributed. I
Another
urt rules the
Green River Itiwi do
not apply to house"
Green River, Wyoming. What does the Green River ordinance prohibit? It prohibits persons, especially salesmen and solicitors,
A COMMON law in the United States is the so-called Green River ordinance. This law originated in the famous ordinance of from calling at the doors or homes of people without being previously invited to call. Some law officers, apparently not familiar with what the higher courts have ruled regarding the Green River ordinance and Jehovah’s witnesses, have used this law to try to stop the door-to-door preaching of Jehovah’s witnesses. A knowledge of one of the most recent court decisions on this matter will be a source of enlightenment to many city law-enforcement officials; and it will-be of keen interest to ail lovers of freedom of worship.
“Court Favors Local Pastor. Judge Rules City Ordinance Not Violated”—this was the heading of an article in the December 31, 1955, issue of the Anchorage, Alaska, Daily Times. The article said: “District Judge J. L. McCarrey, Jr. yesterday ruled in favor of the Anchorage pastor of the Jehovah’s Witnesses congregation in the appealed case involving solicitation for the sale of religious literature. Judge McCarrey ruled the pastor, Ancel Berry, did not make a sale as defined by the city ordinance prohibiting soliciting, peddling and hawkprofit on Berry’s material was so slight, the court held, that it could not be construed to be a sale.”
How did this case begin? On November 30, 1953, Ancel Berry, a minister of Jehovah’s witnesses, called on an apartment house in Anchorage. Atone door he preached a brief five- or ten-minute oral sermon to Mrs. Faye Timmerman. He talked to her On Bible subjects. At the end of the discussion he told her he had literature that explained more about the-sub-ject. He told her that she could have the literature and if she cared to do so she could contribute a small amount toward the cost of printing and distributing the books.
Shortly thereafter the manager of the apartment house came up to Berry and told him that he did not want him calling from door to door. The manager said he was going to stop Berry and went away to call the police. Mrs. Timmerman signed a complaint, and the following day Berry was formerly arrested, charged with a violation of Anchorage’s Green River ordinance.
The Green River ordinance that Berry was charged with violating reads: "Soliciting in residential area. No solicitor, peddler, hawker, itinerant merchant, transient vendor of merchandise, or other person
shall go in and upon private residences in the dty for the purpose of soliciting orders for the sale of services, goods, wares and merchandise, and. or for the purpose of disposing of and, or peddling or hawking the same not having been requested or invited so to do by the owner or owners, occupant or occupants of said private residences.”
In the city magistrate’s court Ancel Berry pleaded not guilty. Berry showed that the city's Green River ordinance could not apply to him, a minister, and that he made no money from his missionary work of preaching. He showed, in fact, that he lost money and that any money he received as contributions in excess of what he paid for the books was eaten up by other transactions in which he gave books free. He explained that he put all the money that he received back into the preaching work.
Anchorage City Attorney Ralph Moody agreed that “a man has a right to follow the dictates of his conscience and has the right to go out and distribute pamphlets.” “But I think,” said Moody, “he went too far in offering the books for a sum of money.”
City Magistrate George McLaughlin ruled that Berry had technically violated the city’s Green River ordinance. He fined Berry $10. Berry appealed the case to the United States District Court.
77re Defendant's Argument
In district court William H. Sanders of Anchorage and Hayden C. Covington, general counsel for Jehovah’s witnesses, represented the defendant. The attorneys pointed out to the court that the Green River ordinance, when properly construed, exempts from its provisions the door-to-door calling by a minister of religion preaching the good news of God’s kingdom. They showed that the Bible literature offered by Berry was In no way commercial, that his way of working was not commercial, that Berry’s purpose or objective was not commerce and that the activity of Jehovah's witnesses is neither “sales” nor business.
The attorneys explained to the court the purpose of Jehovah’s witnesses: to preach the good news of God’s kingdom and to distribute literature containing Bible information on the terms of the receiver. The work of Jehovah’s witnesses, it was shown, is undeniably noncommercial, because if it were commercial the literature would never be given away nor would the fixing of the price be permitted by the receiver.
They further explained to the court that not every activity that involves a ’monetary incident’ is merchandising. They said; “Dissemination of ideas is expensive if appreciative hearing is secured. No missionary effort, whether religious or political, or the activity of Jehovah’s witnesses, can be run without money. It is proper and necessary to receive contributions to help defray the cost of such dissemination, for if it were always required to be given away free of charge the freedoms would be very short-lived. To confuse the commercial business of selling fruit, vegetables, etc., with the kind of activity carried on by defendant disregards major emphasis which distinguishes charitable activity from Woolworth’s, the political party from 'Wall Street.’ ”
The court heard testimony that the contributions received by Jehovah’s witnesses are identical with free-will offerings received by clergymen when the contribution plate is passed. No reasonable person, the attorneys showed, would contend that the hearer “bought” or “purchased” a sermon, nor can it be said that anyone “bought” the printed sermons distributed by the defendant. They explained that Berry did not sell as that term is understood in commercial transactions, and that the fact that one might contribute and designate it as a “purchase” and state that he “bought” the literature, or thought he was buying it, or that it was “sold” to him, does not change the charitable nature of the preaching activity of Jehovah’s witnesses. It does not make it commercial, they added, any more than does the act of a person in a religious edifice putting fifty cents in a contribution plate make the sermon or the preaching in the edifice commercial.
The attorneys made it clear to the court that the only difference between the methods of the “recognized” clergy and the way Jehovah’s witnesses preach is that the clergy require people to come to their buildings and edifices to hear a sermon after making a contribution; whereas Jehovah’s witnesses carry messages, printed sermons and oral, to the people in their homes.
The attorneys for the defendant cited many higher court decisions in which the courts held that the activity of Jehovah’s witnesses is charitable and Christian; that the work is done as ministers of the gospel; that the work is preaching, and not “selling.” One of the decisions brought to the attention of the district court judge was the case of Murdock v. Pennsylvania (319 U.S. 105). In this decision the United States Supreme Court ruled: “The mere fact that the religious literature is ’sold’ by itinerant preachers rather than ’donated’ does not transform evangelism into a commercial enterprise. If it did, then the passing of a collection plate in church would make the church service a commercial project. ... It is a distortion of the facts of record to describe their activities as the occupation of selling books and pamphlets.”
The defense filed a motion for judgment of acquittal on two grounds: (1) That the Green River ordinance when properly construed excludes from its provisions the door-to-door preaching and incidental distribution of literature as a minister engaged in religious, charitable and noncommercial activity and (2) that the ordinance, if construed and applied “to the facts and circumstances in this case, abridges and denies the rights of the defendant to freedom of press and of worship of Almighty God, contrary to the First and Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution.”
The City’s Argument
The City of Anchorage rested its case primarily on a decision of the United States Supreme Court in 1952. This is the Breard v. City of Alexandria case. In this decision the Supreme Court ruled that the Green River ordinance did not abridge freedom of press when applied to commercial solicitation. The court said: “We think those communities that have found these methods of sale obnoxious may control them by ordinances.”
However, the attorneys for the defendant pointed out that the Supreme Court was not speaking of methods used by ministers of the gospel but rather of “methods of sale”; hence the Breard case does not apply to noncommercial activity. The attorneys presented to the court an issue of the University of Florida Law Review, Volume V, No. 3. In it an article entitled “Free Speech (1949-1952); Slogans v. States’ Rights,” discussed the Breard decision, saying: “Actually, the opfhion did not gainsay the right of persons to distribute religious tracts without prior permission from each householder, but it clearly upheld city ordinances that prohibit newspaper and magazine vendors from house-to-house soliciting.”
District Court Decision and Opinion
On December 30,1955, the district court rendered its decision. United States District Judge J. L. McCarrey, Jr., found that the transaction by Berry was “not a solicitation and a sale as contemplated by the ordinance.”
Said the judge: “I find that the solicitation and purported sale or transaction between the defendant and one Faye Timmerman on the 30th day of November 1953 was not a solicitation and a sale as contemplated by the ordinance. . . . therefore, the court finds in favor of the defendant and against the City of Anchorage.”
On May 11, 1956, the judge filed his written opinion. We close this article with excerpts from this excellent opinion (Civil No. A-9414) handed down by the District Court for the District of Alaska, third division:
“It is necessary to pronounce here that municipal ordinances, such as the one here in question, prohibiting the solicitation and distribution of pamphlets by canvassing from house to house, have been usually held unenforceable as applied to those who deliver literature and solicit contributions from door to door in the name of religion. ... It cannot be said with any clarity that the Appellant [Ancel Berry] came within the prohibitive language of the ordinance, since the testimony of the complaining witness, as well as that of the Appellant, does not support an offering of goods, wares, and merchandise for sale, in the true sense of those words.
“To come within the ordinance, the transaction would have to have had a commercial nature. It cannot be said this was a fact in this particular transaction for there was evidence that money was lost on books and pamphlets sold at the prices hereinbefore set forth, when one took into account the cost of gasoline, postage and mailing costs, which necessarily follow in the ordering and delivering of such merchandise. . . .
…