Awake!, April 22, 1960
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Freedom of Worship in the Schoolroom
F=>Z\G>E 13
Body Build and Your Health
The Versatile Pineapple
MARCH 22, 1962
THE MISSION GE THIS JOURNAL
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CONTENTS
What Your Thanks Can Do
Is Religion Dying?
PRR—Transcontinental
What’s in a Name?
Freedom of Worship in the Schoolroom 13
Jehovah’s Witnesses—as Seen by Others 18
They Run on a Hundred Lega
Body Build and Your Health “Spin s ter ettes”
The Versatile Pineapple Preaching by TV in Brazil “Your Word Is Truth”
Satan's Visible Organization Watching the World
Volurn# XLIII London, England, March 22, 1962 Numbar t
WE HUMANS are capable of expressing thanks in many ways. We may show our gratitude by simply saying “Thank you” or by writing a note or a letter or by sending flowers or a “thank you” card. Any one of these is adequate, but the “thank you’s” that seem to be remembered the longest are those we feel and see rather than those we read and hear. For the expressions of appreciative eyes, the warmth of a person’s smile and the grip of a hand that says “Thank you” often speak out more eloquently than words. And the good that flows from such loving gratitude is capable of lifting the hearts and spirits of others.
Author A. J. Cronin tells of a doctor that he knew in South Wales who prescribed in certain cases of neurosis what he called his “thank-you cure.” When a patient came to him discouraged, pessimistic and full of his own woes, but without any symptoms of a serious ailment, he would give this advice: “For six weeks I want you to say thank you whenever anyone does you a favor. And, to show you mean it, emphasize the words with a smile.” “But no one ever does me a favor, Doctor,” the
patient would often complain. “Whereupon, borrowing from Scripture,” Cronin says, “the wise old doctor would reply: ‘Seek and you will find? Six weeks later, more often than not, the patient would return with quite a new outlook, freed of his sense of grievance against life, convinced that people had suddenly become more kind and friendly,” Perhaps a “thank-you cure” can make your life brighter.
It is known that failing to express appreciation can make people feel miserable. When a taxi driver returned a man’s wallet that he had found in his car, the owner took the wallet without a word. The taxi driver felt cut at heart. “If the guy had only said ‘Thanks,’ ” he said.
An employment officer asked a jobseeker why he quit his former job. His reply: “For fifteen years I had never heard one word of thanks.” The burden of ingratitude was heavier to bear than the work load. A smile of appreciation, a reflection of thanks in some way would have made the difference. A person who receives any good without giving thanks for it deprives the giver of his due, which is an expression of gratitude. He also sets a bad example. Not to express thanks is to return evil for good. Perhaps that is why an Ingrate is referred to as the lowest type of man.
On the other hand, the expressing of thanks can bring out the best in people and encourage them to greater activity and industriousness. For example, Arnold Bennett, American mathematician, reportedly had “a publisher who boasted about the extraordinary efficiency of his secretary. One day while visiting the publisher’s office Bennett said to her, ‘Your employer claims that you are extremely efficient. What is your secret?’ 'It’s not my secret,’ the secretary replied. ‘It’s his.’ Each time she performed a service, no matter how small, he never failed to acknowledge it. Because of that she took infinite pains with her work.” Maybe your honest and sincere appreciation can help others do more and help bring out the best in them.
Of all people Christians should bear in mind that their appreciative dealing with their fellowman in a loving way may not only inspire better work but also grateful thanks to God in the heart of the recipients of their kindness. The apostle Paul, for example, when waiting to the congregation at Corinth, said: “Thanks be to God for putting the same earnestness for you in the heart of Titus, because he has indeed responded to our encouragement.” Here we see fine works resulting in thanks. Our loving concern for people is a way that we humans can express thanks to God for his loving-kindness to us. Remember, thanks begets thanksgiving. —2 Cor. 8:16, 17; 1 John 4:20, 21
Admittedly, world conditions are bad, but there are always some things for which we can be thankful. It is harmful to be unthankful. Unthankfulness has led many to deny evident truths about God manifest in nature. This they have done to their everlasting injury. The apostle says: God’s “invisible qualities are clearly seen from the world’s creation onward, because they are perceived by the things made.” However, he argues that wicked men, “although they knew God, . . . did not glorify him as God nor did they thank him, but they became empty-headed in their reasonings.” (Rom. 1:18-21) Their ingratitude led them astray.
ARTICLES IN THE NEXT ISSUE
Spain Suppresses Religious Freedom. Luxuries—Are They Worth Their Price? Do You Leave Religion to Your Wife? Weekends—a Pleasure or a Plague? Showing Respect for the Procreative Gift.
For our thanks to mean anything to us or others it must be expressed in all sincerity and without hypocrisy. It should be accompanied by actions of appreciation. This world has its special days for giving thanks, but is it thankful? The ridh resources of the soil it has squandered in prodigal extravagance. With an umbrella, of smog it has hid the sky, and God’s blue rivers it has turned into filth-carrying sewers. It has tossed Jehovah’s righteous laws and principles in the streets where they are trampled underfoot. It scoffs at virtue and praises the fruits of vice. Yet it comes to God with prayers of thanksgiving. Will the great Jehovah hear and accept such? Listen to his reply: “The sacrifice of the wicked ones is something detestable to Jehovah, but the prayer of the upright ones is a pleasure to him.” (Prov. 15:8) No, such hypocritical thanks is not acceptable to Jehovah.
Be thankful by cultivating a spirit of thanksgiving that finds expression in both words and deeds, knowing that only such is pleasing to God and will upbuild your fellowman.
IS RELIGION
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ONE would think that with an increase in religion there would also be an upsurge in morality and integrity, at least in Christendom, but not so. Everywhere leading churchmen speak of a moral decline. Dr. John nell, preaching Fifth Avenue terian Church
S. Bonin the Presby-in New
York city, declared that
America's moral standards are steadily “degenerating.” Another New York clergyman, the rector of Calvary Protestant Episcopal Church, Albert B. Buchanan, stated that “the church has failed both God and man," that "practitioners of psychiatry are doing more to save souls than are Christian churches.”
Other religious leaders speak of Christendom’s religions today as ineffective, dying or dead. A British bishop, Dr. Mortimer, blamed Christendom’s religions for the decline in chastity. Rabbi Arthur Lelyveld, a leader of the Jewish Reconstructionist movement, declared: “The great religions of the world are dying”; "religion is simply no longer an effective force in our society.” A report from England asserts: “The Church ... is finished —dead. The ordinary working man no longer believes in what is taught. . . . Religion is out-of-date.”
Do you feel that way about religion— your religion? What circumstances of recent date have provoked serious doubts about the usefulness and effectiveness of religion? Why do men say religion is dying or dead? How can one tell?
One big factor that distinguishes a living religion from one that is dying or dead is its reaction toward immorality and malpractice in general, and especially so among its members. We are told in the Bible that a living religion is one that inspires fear of
W God and turning away from bad, F a fervent zeal'for righteousness.
The inspired Scriptures state: “The fear of Jehovah means the hating II of bad.” “In the fear of Jehovah m one turns away from bad.” Of Jesus Christ it is written: “You loved righteousness, and you hated lawlessness. That is why God, your God, anointed you with the oil of exultation more than your partners.” This hatred for lawlessness and dynamism for righteousness and morality is one of the chief assets of religion and a vital reason for having it in a community. It provides a safeguard against corrupt government and immorality.—Prov. 8:13; 16:6; Heb. 1:9; Job28:28.
But where is there today such fear of God that there is a hatred of lawlessness and a turning away from bad? Where is Christendom’s burning zeal for righteousness? Is it not for the want of these forces that Christendom has gone morally bad?
No Shock or Surprise Left
Let’s face it. Few religious Britons are shocked any more at anything; neither are many Americana for that matter. Even-devout church members are no longer as alarmed at the misconduct of their clergy and leading citizens as they once were. Divorce has become fashionable. Homosexuality is a subject for theater comedy. In fact, the Church of England reportedly declared that homosexuality between consenting adults ought not to be a crime, that suicide and attempted suicide should not be indictable offenses.
When the British Broadcasting Company screened programs on sexual vice, no one was shocked. When teen-age sex orgies and teen-age pregnancies are said to be on an increase in America, there is little surprise. When newspaper headlines screamed: “Vicar Found Guilty of Immorality,” “Cleric Forgets His Shalt-Nots, Held as Thief,” “Baptist Convention Ends in Riot over a President,” “Sicilian Monks Face Murder-Ring Charges," “Bishop Finds Another Church for Guilty Vicar,” “Scuffle in the Nunnery,” and so on, where was that righteous, religious fervor that says, “Let’s clean the scoundrels out”? Where Was the spirit of Phinehas among the people—that spirit that turned the wrath of God away and brought peace to Israel? Unfortunately, there was none. Rather than rebuke the lawbreakers, there was too often a show of sympathy for them.—Num. 25:6-13.
For example, when four leading citizens of Pittsfield, Massachusetts, were imprisoned or heavily fined for breaking a federal law, the town’s preachers and citizens were conspicuously silent. Instead of rebuking the wrongdoers, they rationalized: ‘If these men have violated a law, there must be something wrong with the law.’’ In the end the men were popularly condemned, not for lawbreaking, but for the devious manner in which they did it.
When Earl Beatty, In his fifties, and with three divorces behind him, married an IB-year-old girl, the world merely com-mented on the age difference. When Glynn Wolfe was assigned to his new post as the minister of the Travelers’ Rest Baptist Church at Las Vegas, Nevada, he had been divorced twelve times and married thirteen times, with wives 8,10,11 and 12 still quartered at one of his Hollywood hotels. But who objected? When the duke of Bedford applied for divorce, he merely found that his popularity was enhanced thereby. When the countess of Shrewsbury arrived, smiling and radiant, at the divorce court, she was assured of one thing: whatever the verdict, society would not ostracize her. When Governor Rockefeller of New York announced that he and his wife agreed on a legal separation in anticipation of a divorce, there was not so much as a ripple of comment from the clergy. Representative William F. Miller, the Republican National Chairman and a Roman Catholic, however, did say that he did not believe the pending divorce would hurt the governor’s position as one of the party’s leaders, because the people are no longer religiously inclined to care seriously about the conduct of their leaders.
If the religious leaders and their flocks do not care about the conduct of their leaders, then their religion has become a mockery indeed. It has become a body without force or purpose-—a corpse. Is this true of Christendom’s religions? What do the facts show?—Isa. 29:13, 14; Matt. 7:17-20.
Disturbing Signs
The thing that is causing serious concern among sincere worshipers is not that some religious leaders have gone bad; rather it is the general indifference and the almost tolerant view on their part toward immorality and wrongdoing. For example, when Archdeacon Henry Graham, 51, a member of the Church Assembly (the governing body of the Church of England), a church commissioner, and a resident canon of Ripon Cathedral, had pleaded guilty to an indecency charge and sent his resignation to the bishop of Ripon, the bishop at first decided that Graham should keep all his church posts, including the chairmanship of a moral welfare council. The dean of Ripon, Llewellyn Hughes, said Graham made “an honest mistake for which he has been forgiven." “He is far too good a man for the Church to lose.” "We would not dream of driving him out.”
Would the apostle Paul have handled this case in the same way? Surely, the people need moral leadership. And Paul, recognizing this fact, told the Christians at Corinth to ‘remove the wicked man from among themselves? Wicked men, immoral men, were not to remain in the congregation to contaminate it. They were to be driven out as a warning example to others. Of course, the repentant ones did receive mercy and were forgiven, but they were not left in their responsible positions to be looked upon as moral examples to the flock. They had to prove themselves first to be men of high moral principles and integrity. Religion must demand a clean house if it is to stay alive. Does your religion take such disciplinary action against wrongdoers?—1 Cor. 5:13.
Graham's case is not an isolated one by any means. Vicar John T. Pendleton, 49, who had most of a three-year probation term still to serve, resigned his living after being convicted of committing an immoral act with a 36-year-old man. Instead of being removed from office, the bishop of his diocese merely assigned him to another parish. The bishop kept the whole proceedings as secret as he could, but the truth leaked out. How contrary to Paul’s instruction was the bishop’s conduct! Paul ordered Timothy to “reprove before all onlookers persons who practice sin, that the rest also may have fear.” Does your religion do that? It will if it is Christian, and it must if it is to stay alive.—1 Tim. 5: 20-22.
Time magazine, May 12, 1961, told of the unfrocking of clergyman William B. Thomas, 62, who was removed from office on the charge of adultery, committed with a Sunday-school teacher named Elsie Brandy—and not once, but by Mrs. Brandy’s accounting, “at least 75 or 80 times.” Thomas’ only surprise was that he was not found out sooner. Considering the present liberal view toward immorality on the part of church leaders and churchgoers, it is a wonder that he was discovered at all.
Seriously concerned with the trend, the London Sunday Express, June 11, 1961, asks: “What explains the Church of England’s double attitude to sexual morality? Today the case is reported of an ex-vicar who has been placed in charge of another church while still on probation for a serious offence with another man. Earlier this year a priest convicted of offences against little children was simply moved to another parish. In another earlier case a homosexual offender against young boys was actually ordained after his offence. It may be that these men deserve mercy. Yet how odd that the Church should rarely extend similar mercy towards sinners who are not also perverts. How strange that priests who are divorced for desertion or a single act of adultery are now automatically expelled, while degraded acts of perversion are excused as mere ‘slips’ or ‘lapses? ”
Is this being said of your religion, of your church, of you? It is true that some individuals may, can and do go bad, but what is your religion doing to keep itself dean from corruption? Is it removing wrongdoers or excusing them?
Corruption Widespread
The Church of England is not the only religion beset with these moral problems. On August 5, 1960, in Edinburg, Texas, a young Roman Catholic priest was charged with attempted rape of a 20-year-old college girl as she knelt to pray in the Sacred Heart Church,
On December 3, 1960, the Des Moines Register reported that Roman Catholic priest Lawrence Dudink, 47, pleaded guilty in court to a charge of abducting a 17-year-old girl from St. Mary’s Hospital in Superior, Wisconsin. The police found the priest and the girl in a two-room motel cabin in Phoenix, Arizona.
The Ottawa Citizen, December 29, 1960, reported that “four monks of the Roman Catholic Capuchin order and four other persons have been charged with operating an extortion-murder ring with headquarters in a nearby monastery.” Surely, such is not the fruitage of God’s spirit, the evidence of Christianity in the lives of men. Is there any wonder that men question the vitality and influence of religion?
Riots and Fistfights
Perhaps even more scandalous are the rash of riots and fistfights among priests, nuns and Protestant clergy. On March 14, 1961, a Venezuelan newspaper reported that "two priests tangled in a fistfight in the middle of Mass” in the cathedral of Coro. Castulo M. Ferrer and Victor J. Pineda, both monsignors of the diocese, engaged in a free-for-all at the High Altar. They battled each other with fists and “holy candlesticks.” Only after the police intervened was calm established.
In early October, 1961, in San Dona di Piave, a town outside of Venice, Italy, twenty-three nuns also engaged in a freewheeling brawl in the Convent of the Holy Immaculate Heart of Mary. Here, too, the battle raged until policemen moved in to enforce the peace.
Perhaps even worse was the riot at the Baptist Convention held in Kansas City, Missouri, on September 6, 1961. The convention exploded into a free-swinging fistfight in a dispute over the election of a president. One delegate who either fell or was pushed off the speaker’s platform died of injuries the next day. Police wielding blackjacks had to quell the disturbance.
And on the very eve of Christendom’s latest celebration of the birth of the Prince of peace, and in Bethlehem, the place of that birth, violence erupted between the clergy of the Orthodox and Catholic churches. Sticks and bottles flew in a wild melee that had to be broken up by officers of the peace.
Of what is all this a sign? Is this Christianity or is this religion gone bad? Jesus said that by their fruits you would know them. So, then, judge for yourselves. Sincere people are shocked, and they have every reason to be. The moral conduct of their religious leaders has caused deep consternation in their minds. They~wonder, since this is what their religion leads to, if it would be well to look elsewhere.
The Bible, however, does teach that true religion is a dynamic force in the lives of men for good, that it brings forth fine fruit. So if your religion is marked with divisions, if it is beset with quarrels and fights, if wrongdoers are not rebuked and the wicked are not cast out, then you should look elsewhere, for such conditions are signs, not of a living, but of a dying religion. Look to Jehovah God and to his Word the Bible. Associate with his Christian witnesses and see for yourself that these are persons who really study and believe the Bible and who demonstrate the spirit of God in their lives.—Gal. 5:19-24; 2 Cor. 13:11; Jas. 3:14-18; 4:1; 1 Pet. 2:1; Ps. 97:10.
“Yes, lady, that is correct. And if you are 'not too con-
BY "AWAKE!” CORRESPONDENT IN PANAMa
cerned about physical comfort you may obtain a ticket for a dollar and twenty-five cents. The main difference is that the seats are harder.”
“And only an hour and a half to cross the continent?”
“Yes’m, and sometimes not that long.”
Continental vastness coupled with high cost of travel, as those items ordinarily impress one, made such a possibility seem incredible to the newcomer. But wait! This is Panama. Here the expanse of the continent has dwindled to a mere few miles of terra firma holding apart the mighty Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. Here a coast-to-coast link in transportation, the Panama Railroad, combines the transcontinental and low-cost features of travel, much to the inquirer’s delight.
Ticket purchased, she shared a seat with a well-dressed, dignified gentleman whose white hair bespoke his years. An “old-timer” on the Isthmus he was, she learned, a retired employee of “construction days” of the Panama Canal, and one well qualified to divulge information about this road, the first transcontinental link in this hemisphere.
His obliging manner elicited her questions, the first one being: “Which is older, the Railroad or the Canal?” Her association of the latter with Panama had sufficed in her mind for any transisthmian transportation, except perhaps for a highway.
“The railroad was first by many years,” he said, and as he briefly reviewed the need for such she discerned that he was vividly reliving a time when undertakings were motivated by a refreshing degree of unselfishness, when accomplishments were evaluated in terms of usefulness, when mankind found pleasure and contentment in doing helpful things. To him this railway—the product of painstaking effort, the result of persistence in spite of obstacles, the reward of determined perseverance of individuals willing to strive for a beneficial goal—symbolized that time.
“On the heels of the successful innovation of the steam locomotive,” he continued, “enterprising men throughout the world, and especially England, France and the United States, recognized the commercial and practical value of a link across this narrow neck of territory. Such would eliminate thousands of hazardous and expensive miles of travel around Cape Hom, as well as the dangers and hardships of the overland routes by muleback and dugouts across the continent. Railroading was still a novice of about two decades in the eastern part of the United States, nevertheless developing rapidly and projecting itself into the then Middle West. But before it had come into existence west of the Mississippi River, before California had entered the
Union, before Panama existed as a sovereign nation, an American company was formed for the very purpose of constructing a railroad across the Isthmus of Panama.”
“The short distance to traverse and the lack of any appreciable elevation must have resulted in the quick, easy accomplishment of such a project,” the newcomer suggested.
“To the contrary,” he began to explain, “there were many real obstacles.
Obstacles to Overcome
“The terrain of this coveted piece of real estate proved to be the source of many a headache. Blanketed with dense, snarled, seemingly impenetrable jungle growth; bathed by the relentless heat of an almost-equatorial sun; drenched almost daily at least from May to December by torrential tropical downpours, the very earth challenged the will of the most resolute to tame it. Besides, the soft, clay silt, once cleared of its jungle growth, was forever either crawling right out from under its load, or, if soaked down, it sprawled out over finished portions of track, burying it under tons of soggy earth-pudding.
“These streams crisscrossing the continent, and so placid this lovely day, were potential giants in their unharnessed condition in years gone by. As one writer well put it, they were ‘lazy streams which could rise during a half-hour cloudburst from a trickling brook into rampaging sluices forty feet in depth.’
“The jungle too was alive with creeping, crawling things. Insects? Swarms of them! It was saturated with mosquitoes, yellowfever- and malaria-carrying ones; with fleas and ticks and red bugs; and with ants equal to the task of stripping giant trees of all foliage in a few hours’ time, and none too friendly to man. Tarantulas, spiders and scorpions were there. Snakes! Mighty, crushing boa constrictors; venomous bushmasters, corals, and fer-de-lances; and others of various sizes and kinds slithered through trees and swamp. Beady-eyed crocodiles lurked in murky waters and infested jungle streams. Slinking cats, ready to pounce; sharp-clawed sloths, slow, but adept at protecting themselves; wild animals of varying degrees of ferocity, lived in this, their veritable paradise. Yes, these were the possessors of the jungle, and averse they were to yielding their erstwhile undisputed habitat.
“Another thing, the then-existing centuries-old trails across the Isthmus were fraught with land and river pirates; robbers enriching themselves by intercepting the flow of gold from South and Central America en route to the mother country, Spain. These continued a threat through much of the railroad construction period.
“And suitable, usable materials for rails, ties and other necessary items were not available on the scene. Oh, there were trees, trees everywhere, but none satisfactory for crossties, as they rotted so quickly. The country, an extended arm of New Granada (now Colombia), was not an Industrial area that could provide rails, steel or engines. Everything then had to be shipped in—lumber, girders, cement, food, living quarters.
“Labor problems, too, so common today, were not unheard of in those days, although of a somewhat different nature. The big question then was, Where would the laborers come from, since there was insufficient manpower in the immediate environs to negotiate such an arduous task?”
“Why, this is fascinating. Please continue,” the newcomer petitioned.
Progress Made
Delighted to impart more of the past still so intriguing to him, the gentleman continued: “As early as 1835 the New Granada Legislature passed a law conveying important privileges to certain United States citizens in event of their building a railroad across the Isthmus. And a treaty made between the United States and New Granada in December, 1846, guaranteed the United States a right-of-way across the Isthmus for any mode of transportation. Two years later the discovery of gold in California resulted in a stampede westward, not only by those whose imaginations were already tickled by the love of adventure and the lure of a treasure hunt, but also by financiers anxious that the ‘pay dirt’ should put a nation experiencing economic stress on its feet (for the Mexican War was only recently won),
“To make the West more accessible, that same year the United States Congress authorized contracts for the establishment of two lines of mail steamers. One was to run from New York via New Orleans to Cha-gres (Panama, Atlantic side); the other, from the Pacific side of Panama to California and Oregon. The man who bought the Pacific line, and he was a shrewd businessman, incorporated it as a part of his preconceived plan to build a railroad across Panama, which, he anticipated, would be finished in eight years. In 1849 a company was incorporated under the laws of the State of New York, and the line of the road was located. May, 1850, was the real beginning, and on the Atlantic side the first ground was broken. Clearing of a right-of-way proceeded."
Above the rumble of the engine that made her trip possible, the newcomer thought she could hear the chop, chop of the machetes wielded by stalwart men as they unmasked the jungle, laying it low. She felt their uncomfortableness as they worked, oftentimes to their waist, or deeper, in slimy, brackish water untangling coastal mangrove swamps; she dreaded for them a possible encounter with open-jawed crocodiles or some deadly snake. She wondered how they were able to accomplish anything more than try to calm the agonizing gnawing of the red bugs and the fleas and the ticks that adhered to or tunneled into human flesh. She saw them, tired and weary, trudging back to inadequately equipped shelter for the night, lodging without loved ones to offer encouragement for the next day’s toil.
She imagined the “field day" for the insects hovering over that concentration of humanity. She felt the throbbing headaches, the pounding pulse, the rigorous chills, the burning fever, as many a laborer—pallid and sallow, sapped of vitality —sickened and died in the steaming tropics, victim of malaria, yellow fever, or even cholera.
Delightful it was to know that as that first year of construction closed the completion of the first eight miles of the road was in sight, and that one thousand workers were in the employ of the company.
Their joy she felt as, in 1851, a thousand passengers on their way to California were safely transported from the steamships at the mouth of the Chagres River to Gatun.
“Now, with assurance of safe passage part of the way for the ever-increasing numbers on their trek to the enriching West, golden years for the railroad began in 1852,” her informer continued, “and by July twenty-three miles of road were finished. The project that was not intended to be opened until the whole line was completed had now become an incomeproducing venture while still in the process of construction. In spite of accidents and tragedies, workers pushed on, and in July, 1854, a train ran within a mile of summit, leaving a total distance of twelve miles to complete.”
“What was happening on the Pacific side?” the listener was now inquiring.
“Well,” said the old gentleman, "sometime in 1852 men and material were shipped around the Horn to commence work from Panama on the Pacific side. Up the valley of the Rio Grande the working force forged toward summit to meet the force coming from the other side. And, January 27,1855, at midnight, in a pouring rain, rails were joined. The 47 g miles of railroad had been started more than four and a half years before, and it had cost nearly $140,000 per mile in finance and one thousand human lives, even though much of the natural contour of the country had been followed by the road.”
“But,” he added, “much of the finished -road was of a very temporary nature, and, in order to discourage traffic as part by part it was made more permanent, tariff was raised to as much as $25 for first-class passengers and ten cents a pound for personal luggage. Then the completion of the Union Pacific Railroad, which was commenced in 1869, dealt a hard blow to the Panama Railroad, for it took away from the road much of its business, and rapidly the Panama road deteriorated.”
Change of Ownership and Relocation
“In 1879 the French Canal Company purchased the railroad for $17,000,000, and in 1904 the United States took it over when it acquired the property and assets of the French company.”
“Does the present track follow the original right-of-way?” his inquirer asked.
“No, lady, when definite plans for a lock and lake canal were adopted and construction started on the waterway, several changes in the location of the railroad became necessary. The existing line had to be rebuilt to handle traffic made by the canal construction and at the same time replace the existing road with the relocated line, all the while carrying on operations without delay to canal construction. After the relocation was complete, there was a difference of only two hundred yards in the length of the line between the old and the new.”
At the end of the picturesque journey at the opposite side of the continent, the two passengers looked back down the two shimmering streaks of rail as the old-timer once more expressed himself before saying Good-by: “Men braved great difficulties, endured many hardships, persevered through real odds to produce, largely for commercial gain, something beneficial, yet so transitory as this railroad, little among railroads. Could it not be possible that if we today would be as determined to achieve goals of more lasting value that we too could experience maybe even greater joy and satisfaction than those who realized their dream come true in the uniting of the rails that had been inched from both oceans—the rails that formed the tracks for the PRR-transcontinental?”
WHATS IN A NAME?
“Anyone with doubts about 'what’s in a name?’ will have them ended it he tries to make shipments to Ciudad Trujillo, the name by which the capital of the Dominican Republic was known from 1936 until recently,” reports the New York Times. “Shippers failing to use the restored name of Santo Domingo in documents as well as on merchandise will find their shipments subject to penalty by the Dominican Republic, according to a special notice added to the world trade bulletin of the Commerce and Industry Association of New York. Santo Domingo is the city’s original name and dates from its founding in 1496.”
r3E present is a time of tension, especially a time of international tension. The nations of the world, irrespective of the political bloc to which they may belong, are concerned with the perpetuation of their ideologies, their way of life, yes, their very national existence. Because of this they strive to elicit the loyalties of their people in various ways, and in particular do they strive to instill national loyalty into the hearts and minds of youth. One of the ways certain well-meaning patriots are seeking to do this is by means of more rigid patriotic exercises.
For example, as reported in the Los Angeles Herald, November 11, 1961, on a recent trip to Russia Thomas P. Braden, president of the California State Board of Education, became convinced of the need of daily recitation of the pledge of allegiance to the American flag by the pupils in all the public schools in his state. Of the same mind was the Wisconsin State Legislature, for, according to the Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Sentinel, November 9, 1961, it passed a bill requiring all children in public schools to repeat this pledge daily; doing so over the veto of Governor Nelson, who warned that the bill would be declared unconstitutional. And in a recent issue of The Forty and Eight er, a United States servicemen’s publication, an editorial insisted that there simply is no such thing as waving the flag too much.
This trend in many parts of the world puts a challenge to the people: Are they able to pursue their goal without trampling underfoot the very freedoms that they seek to preserve? With the upsurge of patriotism, are they able to uphold the freedoms for which their flag stands by respecting the rights of those who, not for political reasons, but because of religious belief cannot conscientiously participate? These are questions that come to the fore particularly in schoolrooms where there are students who are Jehovah’s witnesses.
When considering this matter it is well to bear in mind that a person may engage in patriotic ceremonies and still at heart be disloyal to his country, or he may be a law-abiding citizen and yet have religious scruples against participation. That religious views might enter into the picture should not be difficult to understand. At one time the Quakers in England were severely persecuted because they refused to salute public officials by taking off their hats in their presence. The Quakers regarded such an act as idolatry. As a result some were beaten and imprisoned and even put to death. Yet would anyone today who respects freedom of worship accuse them of having been disloyal to England? No!
Saluting the Flag
Justly, therefore, in ruling on the case styled West Virginia State Board of Education versus Barnette the Supreme Court of the United States ruled in 1943 that the Bill of Rights, which guards the individual's freedom to speak what is in his mind, also guards his right to refuse-to do and say what is not in his mind or heart. True, this Bill of Rights is an American document and so is not binding in other lands, but its essence and principles are stated in the United Nations Declaration of Human Rights and are therefore most widely recognized.
While the United States Supreme Court has thus upheld the stand taken by the children of Jehovah’s witnesses in refusing to salute the flag on religious grounds, some schoolteachers urge these children to take part in patriotic exercises by asking them to hold the flag while others salute it or to march in formation behind one holding the flag. But Witness children do not participate in these activities, just as they refrain from saluting the flag, for the principle Involved would still be violated. However, they may stand during flagsalute ceremonies, since simply rising to one’s feet is not generally what constitutes the act of saluting, which is what they consider to be idolatrous.
Some persons may well ask, What is the basis for these religious scruples? They are based on the principle expressed in the second of the Ten Commandments given by God to the nation of Israel. It reads: “You must not make for yourself a carved image or a form like anything that is in the heavens above or that is on the earth underneath or that is in the waters under the earth. You must not bow down to them nor be induced to serve them, because I Jehovah your God am a God exacting exclusive devotion.” Jehovah’s witnesses believe that the saluting of a flag comes under such prohibition, which, according to the testimony of history, is the same belief as that of the early Christians who lived under the Roman Empire.—Ex. 20; 4, 5; 1 John 5:21.
The fact that saluting a flag Is a religious act is recognized, not only by Jehovah’s witnesses, but by other authorities. For example, The Encyclopedia Americana states: “The flag, like the cross, is sacred. . . . The rules and regulations relative to human attitude toward national standards use strong, expressive words; such as . , . ‘Reverence to the Flag,’ ‘Devotion to the Flag.’ ”—1945 Ed., Vol. 11, p. 316.
A like view is expressed in comments in The Interpreter's Bible, where it says: “There is a cult of ‘patriotism’ which with many has taken the place of the one God of Jesus and of the Hebrew faith .. . What is happening in America and elsewhere is a process of syncretism, by which an everdiminishing element of Christianity and an ever-increasing element of nationalism are entering into the alloy known as modern religion. . . . The new religion has its rituals. The flag is supplanting the cross.” —Vol. 7, p. 847.
Similar sentiments are expressed in the book Families in the Church—A Protestant Survey, which is a report on a recent survey of Protestant churches in the United States. It says: “We have been developing in America precisely the sort of folkreligion that Amos, Hosea and Isaiah so bitterly condemned ... A recent song hit turned up about ‘the Bible on the table and the flag upon the wall.’ This seems to identify religion and patriotism so closely that ... we blithely assume that what we want for ourselves must be what God wants us to have.”—P. 171.
It is thus seen that Jehovah’s witnesses are not alone in noting that saluting the flag has religious significance.
National and School Anthems
A parallel situation involves certain types of music. For example, Jehovah’s witnesses do not join in singing songs that extol any nation, Institution or human creature, nor do they rise to their feet when such songs are played, because this would indicate their concurring in the sentiments expressed in such songs. But if they happen to be standing when playing of the song begins there is no objection to remaining on their feet, because no action is thus taken by them that constitutes participation in the ceremony.
Oftentimes these songs are used in school music classes for practice, and while Witness children generally have no objection to playing any music simply as a means to learn to play a musical instrument, they could not join in playing these songs at school assemblies or rallies or at community gatherings as part of the program. However, when it comes to singing the words, even in practice, they cannot participate in this because this would be giving expression to sentiments that are objectionable to them from a religious standpoint. During periods of music instruction they have been known to sing simply the notes, though, if the teacher wants them to do this in order to cultivate musical talents such as reading notes or cultivating the voice.
But why these objections? it may be asked. Because such patriotic songs express the same fundamental ideas that are embodied in the pledge of allegiance to the flag; and since Jehovah’s witnesses do not salute the flag of any nation, consistently they do not participate in ceremonies involving national anthems. They take to heart the words of the Lord Jesus when he said of his disciples: “They are no part of the world, just as I am no part of the world.” “My kingdom is no part of this world,” he added. As ambassadors for this heavenly kingdom, they observe strict neutrality as to the affairs of the worldly nations.—John 17:16; 18:36; 2 Cor. 5:20.
Since a national anthem Is actually a hymn or a prayer set to music, Jehovah's witnesses are governed in this matter by what God says in his Word the Bible is acceptable in prayer. Jesus himself, who taught his followers how to pray, said in prayer to God: “I make request, not concerning the world.” While it is true that there are many sincere persons in all nations, the Bible truth remains unchanged: “The whole world is lying in the power of the wicked one,” Therefore, the Christian apostle John pointedly stated: “The world is passing away and so is its desire.” For these reasons Jehovah’s witnesses do not join the nations in praying for the perpetuation of the present system of things. —John 17:9; 1 John 5:19; 2:17.
So, too, with school songs and other compositions that glorify or extol institutions or organizations or certain human creatures. These are not sung or recited by Jehovah’s witnesses—not out of disrespect on their part, but because they reserve all such veneration for Jehovah God.—Isa. 2:17.
Holidays, Prayer, Religious Discussions
It is also customary in most public schools in Christendom to celebrate such events as Christmas, Halloween, sometimes birthdays, and other events that have a religious background.
The Witness children do not share in such religious holiday activities, because, among other things, these celebrations almost invariably embody practices that are of pagan origin. And in this connection Jehovah’s witnesses follow the counsel found in the Bible at 2 Corinthians 6:14-17: “What sharing do righteousness and lawlessness have? Or what fellowship does light have with darkness? . . . ‘Therefore get out from among them, and separate yourselves,’ says Jehovah, ‘and quit touching the unclean thing’; ‘and I will take you In.’ ”
However, Jehovah’s witnesses do endeavor to cooperate with the school’s program of education to the extent possible, even during holiday seasons. So when various assignments are made, such as those involving artwork, Witness children carry these out even when they may involve religious symbolism, accepting such assignments for their educational value. However, they do not join the class in commemorating such holidays or birthdays by singing songs that carry religious sentiments or by participating in class parties.
Another religious practice that is common in many schools is the ceremony of repeating the “Lord’s prayer.” But at the very time that Jesus gave this prayer to his followers as an example to follow, he said: “When praying, do not say the same things over and over again, just as the people of the nations do, for they imagine they will get a hearing for their use of many words. So, do not make yourselves like them." (Matt. 6:7, 8) Since the daily repetition of the words of the “Lord’s prayer” in school is therefore not in harmony with Jesus’ counsel, Jehovah’s witnesses do not join in this ritual. While they definitely accept the prayer and copy the example it sets, another reason why they do not participate in the ceremony is that they do not believe in interfaith and so cannot join in prayer under the direction of public education instructors or members of other churches.
Their not believing in interfaith, however, does not prevent them from listening to talks by representatives of other religious organizations when these are arranged for by the school, not to proselytize, but to inform the students of the nature of the organizations in their community. Similarly, when invited, Jehovah’s witnesses gladly report to school groups on their religious beliefs. If, as is done in some lands, teachers ask Jehovah’s witnesses to give their students regular instruction In the Bible, they are glad to do so, provided attendance at such sessions is not compulsory. In this they uphold for the others in the class the freedom of worship that they seek for themselves.—Matt 7.*12.
Doctrines, Theories and
Special Programs
At times class discussion of textbook material will touch on matters that are in fact expressions of religious viewpoints or theories of science that are not established as truth. For example, poetry often reflects belief in the immortality of the human soul, and the theory of evolution comes up for discussion in various school courses. When such matters are discussed, it is important that respect be shown for the religious views of the students. No attempt should be made to force Witness children to accept as truth any doctrine or theory that they believe to be in conflict with the Bible. So when questions are posed that involve conflict with their religious beliefs they should be permitted to answer thus: “According to God’s Word, the Bible, the answer is thus and so, but according to the textbook the answer is this.” By both teacher and Witness children meeting each other part way both can benefit.
Then, too, there are plays or musicals presented from time to time in school. Whether Witness children take part in these or not depends upon the nature of the play and what is involved, and for this reason it must be left to individual conscience. To the extent that religious or nationalistic factors become prominent, the Witness youth might have scruples against participating or attending.
Membership in School Organizations
There is also the matter of belonging to school organizations. Participation on the part of Witness children is again a matter for personal determination in harmony with one’s Christian conscience, even where membership is conferred automatically on the basis of scholastic achievement. In these cases the child, along with his parents, takes into consideration the purpose of the organization, the nature of the initiation ceremonies, the time that participation will require and related factors.
However, since Jehovah’s witnesses do not participate in political elections in any way and do not seek elective office—because they are neutral as to such worldly affairs—Witness youths do not participate in these things, seeking office or participating in an election, even on a small scale in the classrooms or in the larger school organizations.
The Teacher's Position
It is fully appreciated that each teacher would like to see uniformity in the classroom in regard to all these matters. Should many request exceptions, and that for trivial reasons, certainly the result could be disrupting and confusing. However, when freedom of worship is involved, then uniformity and convenience must yield. As United States Chief Justice Stone observed: “I cannot say that the inconvenience which may attend some sensible adjustment of school discipline in order that the religious convictions of these children may be spared presents a problem so momentous or pressing as to outweigh the freedom from compulsory violation of religious faith that has been thought worthy of Constitutional protection.”—Separation of Church and State, by Johnson and Yost.
Not to be overlooked is the fact that the presence of the issue presented by Jehovah’s witnesses as to nationalistic and religious activities in a schoolroom has definite advantages. For one thing, it serves the very practical purpose of teaching the real meaning of freedom.
This point was made in an editorial that appeared in the Victor Press, May 4, 1961, which discussed the hiring of one of Jehovah’s witnesses to work at a school in Victorville, California. It said: “We believe the presence of Mr. Odom [the Witness] on the school grounds gives the pupils’ teachers an excellent opportunity to present an object lesson in the true comprehension of our democracy. They can say to their children: ‘This man does not salute the flag because he is free. He does not have to if he does not want to.’ ”
Further, all good teachers are concerned with teaching their children loyalty and moral courage. For their pupils to see such striking examples of loyalty to one’s religious beliefs and of moral courage is bound to have a salutary effect upon them; especially in these days when there is so little loyalty to principle and one’s religious beliefs, so little moral courage, and everyone seems to be concerned with conforming and being thought well of by others. These living examples will impress upon their young minds that they also should have the same strength of conviction, the same loyalty and moral courage so as to be able to stand for right principles when put to the test. Surely children who give such expressions of faith and courage are far less likely to show disrespect for school authority than are others, and this is one of the most serious problems facing modem schoolteachers.
No doubt, some persons, concerned about the welfare of the children of Jehovah’s witnesses themselves, may ask: “Is this not imposing an undue hardship on the children, keeping them from participating in the activities of their classmates?” No, not at all. Rather than to be pitied, they are fortunate. Children brought up In the “discipline and authoritative advice of Jehovah” are thereby prepared to resist the pressures that cause so many to go along with the crowd in practices of lawless delinquency and immorality that can ruin their lives and bring so much grief to their parents. Even from early years their lives are filled with purpose because of their confidence in God and in the fulfillment of his purposes for the blessing of obedient mankind.—Eph. 6:4; Prov, 22:6; Ecd. 12:1.
So, when the matter is viewed from
many standpoints, it can be appreciated that sound reasons underlie the position taken by Jehovah’s witnesses on these mat* ters of religious freedom. Obviously their position is not one of disrespect for constituted authority but one that is motivated by respect for the highest authority, that of Almighty God, Jehovah. With a clear understanding of the issues Involved, it should be possible for schoolteachers and others in the community to work together to uphold freedom of worship in the schools, not only for Jehovah’s witnesses, but for persons of all faiths.
Jehovah's Witnesses
• In Switzerland a minister published the following article in his parish bulletin: “My dear Jehovah’s Witnesses, From different parts of my parish, my attention was drawn to the fact that you are going from door to door in my vicinity. You are trying by personal contact to interest my parishioners in certain things that we do not normally discuss at the kitchen table. To tell you the truth, I am very thankful, really very thankful, that you go so courageously from door to door in my parish. Although you are not invited in at every home, you may succeed in recalling to our parishioners’ minds that:
“Apart from bread and play; apart from joy and mourning; apart from success and failure; apart from a fight for life and apart from business, spare time and work, things like religion and faith in Jesus Christ still exist. The fact that you come to see us; is it not a powerful sermon in itself? You have probably noticed that our people are embarrassed by all the talking you are doing for Jesus Christ, or, they are bitter, curious or slightly Interested.
“Maybe our people thought: How can we, in these modern days, spend all our time for such a thing like faith? How can we, in these days when each minute is paid for, spend time for such antiquities and preach things long past? And finally, is It not sufficient that the pastor live for God? Or, perhaps we have answered, Thank you, we do not need any-
—as Seen by Others
thing; we belong to the National Church.’
“Can I ask you this: When you meet people that give you that answer of being of the National Church, continue to ask them questions. For example: What do you really believe? You see, this is what I am thankful for. You manage, just the same, here and there, to awake people with your magazine entitled ‘AWAKE’. ... I admire your courage, and I am rejoicing that you do not let yourselves be discouraged by such Indifference." • Commenting on the United Worshipers District Assembly of Jehovah’s witnesses at Hamburg, Germany, during 1961, The World (Die Welt) of July 22,1961, reported: ‘The devotion with which they bow their heads in prayer is genuine. When an attendant calls out, ‘Watch out, brothers!’ because a car has to be driven up through a pathway, and everyone stands still quietly and attentively at the edge of the path despite the pouring rain, one is filled with too much respect for such conduct, which many . , . term ‘deluded,’ than to begin sneering and critically analyzing. And this form of address, ‘Brother1 and ‘Sister,’ which the ‘Witnesses’ use in such a matter-of-fact way, really has meaning.” There are others who are organized to attain certain goals, the report continued, but "with by no means the same proper conduct in daily living and faithfulness in the responsibilities of life as have ‘Jehovah’s witnesses.’ "
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OU may have marveled (or shuddered) at the amazing jetlike creation called the __centipede. Contributing to what might be called its speed Is Its multiplicity of legs, which occasionally provoke children to ask; "But do they R-E-A-L-L-Y have a hundred legs, Mommy?” In tact, does any millipede really have a thousand legs?
A millipede never has as many as a thousand legs, but a centipede may have more than a hundred legs! It all depends on the type of centipede, since there are hundreds of kinds. The number of legs thus varies from fifteen pairs on some centipedes to 173 pairs on others. Millipedes out-leg centipedes by several hundred. If millipede greatness is measured by the number of legs, the millipede monarch dwells in the Panama valley, where one kind has 700 legs dangling purposefully from a body of 175 segments, strung one after the other, each with four legs. Centipedes differ from millipedes in having only one pair of legs to each segment.
The number of legs on millipedes in general is rather hard to come by, if predaeness is required. But millipedes often have about two legs for every one that centipedes can boast of.
In tropical countries millipedes come out in numbers after rain, when they may be seen crawling over the ground and climbing bushes. Fortunately, millipedes are mostly vegetarian and so do not have poison glands. A rather big millipede scurrying along on its double set of legs can be a rather awesome sight if one is not aware of its gentle nature.
Centipedes, on the other hand, are bugeating, and they are often found in damp places in houses, especially in cellars. One single speedy trip across the floor draws considerable attention and sometimes flurries of consternation on the part of bystanders. Because of its fondness for damp surroundings, a centipede is often trapped in the bathtub, where its appearance may drive a housewife to the verge of hysteria. But now comes the good news for those who abhor the sight of these many-legged creatures: These small centipedes, such as are found in the United States, are helpful to the householder because
t 1 ) ) 1 1 1 1 ) 1 )
) ) ) ) ) I ) 1 1 ) ) i 1 ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) t
they efficiently enrich their own dinners with such nutritional tidbits as cockroaches, mosquitoes and flies.
Efficient, indeed, is the centipede as a pest exterminator. Says The Smithsonian Series volume on insects (No. 5): “Unless you are fond of roaches , . . the house centipede should be protected and encouraged. The writer once placed one of these centipedes In a covered glass dish containing a female Croton biig and a capsule of her eggs which were hatching. No sooner were the young roaches running about than the centipede began a feast which ended only when the last of the brood had been devoured. The mother roach was not at the time molested, but next morning she lay dead on her back, her head severed and dragged some distance from the body, which was sucked dry of its juices— mute evidence of the tragedy that had befallen sometime in the night, probably when the pangs of returning hunger stirred the centipede to renewed activity. The house centipede does not confine itself to a diet of live roaches, for it will eat almost any kind of food, but it is never a pest of the household larder."
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