Awake!, February 8, 1965
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Do Not Give Up in the Quest for Life Prisons—Are They Really Beneficial?
Unveiling the Unseen
Power of the Tongue
FEBRUARY 8, 1965
THE REASON FOR THIS MAGAZINE
News sources that are able to keep you awake to the vital issues of our times must be unfettered by censorship and selfish interests. "Awakel" has no fetters. It recognizes facts, faces facts, is free to publish facts. It is not bound by political ties; it is unhampered by traditional creeds. This magazine keeps itself free, that it may speak freely to you. But it does not abuse its freedom. It maintains integrity to truth.
The viewpoint of "Awake!" is not narrow, but is international. "Awake!" has its own correspondents in scares of nations. Its articles are read in many lands, in many languages, by millions of persons.
In every issue "Awakel" presents vital topics on which you should be informed. It features penetrating articles on social conditions and offers sound counsel for meeting the problems of everyday life. Current news from every continent passes in quick review. Attention is focused on activities in the fields of government and commerce about which you should know. Straightforward discussions of religious issues alert you to matters of vital concern. Customs and people in many lands, the marvels of creation, practical sciences and points of human interest are all embraced in its coverage. "Awakel" provides wholesome, instructive reading for every member of the family.
"Awakell" 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 God's righteous new order in this generation.
Get acquainted with "Awake!" Keep awake by reading "Awake!"
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CONTENTS
Avoid Misunderstandings 3
Do Not Give Up in the Quest for Life 5
Prisons—Are They Really Beneficial? 8
Sweet Plant with Many Uses 12
Unvelling the Unseen 13
Megiddo Tells Its Story 17
The Language That Makes a
Person Smile 20
Power of the Tongue 21
Proteins from the Sea 24
Admen View Themselves 26
"Your Word Is Truth"
Is the Pope God's Intermed... 27
Watching the World 29
Volume XLVI
IT WAS a scorching summer day, causing the men in the prison yard to seek refuge in the shade of a
AVOID
MISUNDERSTANDINGS
building. As they lounged in droopy-eyed discomfort another prisoner passed and, as he did, cursed the miserable heat. Two of the men a little distance away heard only the last part of what was said, and thought the obscene remarks were intended for them. Silently they crept up behind the prisoner, who shuffled on, unaware that he had offended anyone. Without saying a word, they smashed him to the ground with vicious blows, and might have fatally injured him had not another prisoner intervened.
example, in certain Spanish-speaking countries a lady may say to her friend, "jQué gorida está", that is, "How fat you are!"
Truly it can be said, misunderstanding is an incubator of strife. How much conflict and bitterness among individuals it has caused! So often, persons misinterpret the words or actions of others; and while they may not respond so violently as those two convicts, hard feelings and strained relations result. People grow cold toward their neighbors, avoid them, and sometimes are even moved by bitterness to gossip about them and misrepresent them.
The problem often is that people have different ways and customs. As a result, what is said or done is misunderstood. For
Now, a person unfamiliar with the local way of expression could misunderstand and take offense. Cool feelings could develop. However, when one understands that what is actually meant is, "How pretty, how healthy you are!" the effect is altogether different.
It is surprising that so much trouble results from misunderstandings as simple as this. A person says something without meaning any offense, but another mistakes the meaning and is aroused to anger, or is so hurt that he loses a night's sleep. How can such unfortunate misunderstandings be avoided?
Empathy, or fellow feeling, is needed. You must endeavor to cultivate an understanding of other humans and their ways of behavior. Rather than permitting yourself to think negatively, try to appreciate why the person said a thing. Could it be just his way, a characteristic of his nationality or background? Was he only teasing?
Even though what was said may have been in poor taste, it may only have been a slip of the tongue. Have you not also said things that conveyed an unintended meaning? You would feel bad if what you said was misunderstood and caused hard feelings, is that not true?
So be kind. Do not let what others say result in a misunderstanding. How much better it is to forgive and forget!
Sometimes persons fail to credit others with proper motives, and, as a result, misunderstandings occur. Take, for example, the occasion when Judah's king David sent messengers to the Ammonite king Hanun to comfort him when his father Nahash died. This considerate act should have strengthened the bonds of friendship between the two nations. But what happened? Hanun became suspicious. He was led to believe that David had sent the messengers for the purpose of spying out the land. Therefore, he humiliated the messengers by shaving their beards and cutting their garments. What a terrible misunderstanding! It led to a horrible war that resulted in the death of tens of thousands of men.—1 Chron. 19:1-19.
This should be an example to us to avoid being suspicious of the motives of others. How unloving and unkind such an attitude is! What awful misunderstandings it can lead to!
However, if there is genuine reason to believe that you have been unjustly criticized or wronged, then what? First, honestly consider the matter: Is there some truth in what was said? Is it possible that you have been guilty of some folly, some indiscretion? Remember, we all make mistakes. In fact, in the Bible the psalmist acknowledged that he was guilty of secret faults, concealed sins. Perhaps what someone is doing is simply bringing to your attention one of these concealed faults of which you are unaware. So be humble and accept the correction.—Ps. 19:12.
Of course, if after thorough self-examination you still believe that you have been seriously wronged or that the reputation of the Christian congregation is endangered, you may want to do something.
But keep in mind that there may be several apparently contradictory viewpoints that can all be true. So keep calm and open-minded. Consider the case of the Israelites in Palestine when they learned that their brothers who settled on the other side of the Jordan River had erected a huge altar. From their viewpoint the building of this altar was false worship; so they assembled to go up to fight against them.
Happily, however, before the armies met on the field of battle the leaders sat down and discussed the matter. They put into clear, simple words what they considered the problem to be. 'What is this act of unfaithfulness you have perpetrated in turning away from Jehovah and building for yourselves an altar?' the heads of the sons of Israel asked. 'Our altar is not for sacrifice', it was explained, 'buf is a witness between us and you and our generations after us that we will render the service of Jehovah before him. It is unthinkable on our part to rebel against Jehovah by building an altar for sacrificing other than the altar that is before the tabernacle!"—Josh. 22:10-34.
Why, this shed an entirely different light on the matter! The heads of Israel were pleased. So instead of engaging in what would have been a bloody war, these brothers became more closely united in love for God.
How fine it will be if we follow this example in our dealings with one another! When difficulties arise, go to your neighbor in a spirit of love. Define the problem in clear, simple words. Consider his viewpoint. Yes, and most important, apply the famous 'golden rule' that Jesus Christ gave: "All things, therefore, that you want men to do to you, you also must likewise do to them." How vital a principle! To the extent that you exercise it when dealing with others, you will avoid misunderstandings.—Matt. 7:12.
DO NOT GIVE UP IN THE
THERE was the usual crowd at the airport, with people coming and going. A young wife with a small child in her arms was saying good-bye to her husband. Both of them were brushing tears from their eyes as he bade her farewell and walked toward the waiting plane. He was doing what is a common occurrence in the underdeveloped countries of the world. He was going to a more advanced country for specialized education so that he could enter one of the professions and thus make a better living for his wife and family. Both he and his wife were willingly making sacrifices in order to attain success in life.
Those who would please Jehovah God and successfully serve him must likewise make changes in their lives in order to attain to the goal of everlasting life in His righteous new system of things. Such a goal is realistic, for God has made the provision. He has made it possible for a small number of persons to rule as kings with his Son Jesus Christ in heaven, and an unlimited crowd of lovers of righteousness to enjoy everlasting life in an earthly paradise. The obtaining of life in God's new order, however, is not easy. For that reason Jesus Christ and his apostles repeatedly emphasized the need to make personal sacrifices.—Rev. 14:1, 3; 20:6; 21:4; Prov. 2:21; Isa. 11:6-9.
The apostle Paul, for example, wrote that he was "forgetting the things behind," and "pursuing down toward the goal for the prize of the upward call." That the pursuit of this prize of heavenly life was difficult Jesus indicated when he said: "Exert yourselves vigorously to get in
QUEST for LIFE
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Sacrifices are necessary.
Are you willing to make them?
through the narrow door [leading to life],
because many, I tell you, will seek to get
in but will not be able." To illustrate that
much must be sacrificed, Jesus told about
a man who found a treasure hidden in a
field and sold everything he had to buy
those who would gain eternal life on earth
must prize it above all that they possess.
—Phil. 3:13, 14; Luke 13:24; Matt. 13:
44-46.
Jesus set the perfect example in making the necessary sacrifices to carry out the will of God. He left his honored place in the heavenly realm to become a man on earth. Then, while on earth, he never sought to glorify himself or amass a personal fortune, but made known and sanctified his Father's name. By proving faithful until death he showed himself worthy to be granted immortal life and the position of king of God's heavenly kingdom. Similarly, in order for you to gain life in God's new system of things you also need to be willing to make sacrifices.
Beginning the Quest for Life
Happily, a large number of persons in all lands are now taking the necessary steps to obtain God's favor and life in his new order. How do we know? One evidence is the widespread distribution of Bible literature.
Why, the circulation of the two Bible-study magazines, The Watchtower and Awake!, has soared to over 17,000,000 copies every month in sixty-eight languages! In addition, millions of Bibles, tracts, books and booklets are distributed annually by Jehovah's witnesses. Many persons interested in the truth of God's Word regularly welcome Jehovah's witnesses into their homes for Bible discussions. Last year some 56,000,000 of such return visits were made, and over 741,000 regular home Bible studies were conducted.
Are you one of those righteously disposed persons who had visits from Jehovah's witnesses last year or in former years? Are you among the many hundreds of thousands of people with whom they have conducted home Bible studies? Perhaps you attended the memorial of Christ's death last year and began attending the regular congregation meetings. You were beginning to get a grasp of many of the truths in God's Word, and were making progress in the quest for life. But then something may have happened.
Wrong Standards Cause Stumbling
The bright light of God's Word may have brought into focus your shortcomings—exposing you as a sinner who needs to correct his ways and seek God's forgiveness. The Bible at Ephesians 5:13 says: "Now all the things that are being reproved are made manifest by the light, for everything that is being made manifest is light." This reproving light is so strong that it does not deal in general terms of reproof, but pinpoints just what are the individual wrong practices that must be abandoned in order to win God's approval and his blessing of everlasting life.
In many countries there are two practices, severely condemned by the Bible, that are particularly common. First is the
practice of a married man having other women in addition to his wife for sexual relationships. However, no matter what she is called—a kept mistress, a concubine or an "outside wife"—there is no place for such a woman in the life of a man who would serve God as one of his Christian witnesses. If a wife has a paramour, then the light of Bible truth just as strongly reproves her way of life.
The other practice that is common in many countries is for a man and a woman to consent to live together as husband and wife, but without having legal authorization or registration. Often, married persons will separate; and then, perhaps because of being unable to obtain a divorce and remarry legally, they will take up a consensual relationship with another person of the opposite sex. In many lands it is also the practice for single persons to enter into such consensual relationships. But this also is a wrong practice, and is condemned by God's Word the Bible. —Eph. 5:3-8.
The fruittage of these unscriptural unions is not good. Illegitimate children abound, which, in turn, results in juvenile delinquency, because the children do not receive proper training and care. The last year on record in a small Caribbean country shows that over 41 percent of the births for that year were illegitimate! Incidentally, that was the lowest rate on record there. This percentage is even exceeded by other Caribbean or Latin-American countries. Now an epidemic of induced abortions is occurring in many places to prevent unwanted children from being born to illicit unions.
Despite this bad fruitage, there is often an unfavorable reaction by the former seeker of truth when his wrong standards of conduct are reproved by the light of Bible truth. He enjoys his sinful ways and will seek to justify himself. This, in turn, results in discouragement and a slowing down or, in some cases, an outright abandonment of the quest for life.
"Everyone does it, so it must not be too bad," may be his excuse.
It is hard to change, for in some places a man that does not have at least one extramarital arrangement is considered "dead." His friends would speak abusively of him and ridicule if he would leave such a relationship. It is granted that this makes it difficult to conform to a godly standard of living, but would you say that it is as hard as it would be to tear out one of your eyes?
Abandon the Wrong Practice
Jesus Christ said: "If, now, that right eye of yours is making you stumble, tear it out and throw it away from you. For it is more beneficial to you for one of your members to be lost to you than for your whole body to be pitched into Gehenna." (Matt. 5:28, 29) And about what was he speaking? About the very matter of wrong conduct, illicit passion for a woman! Jesus realized that it would be difficult for some to give up immoral desires for a woman, as difficult, in fact, as tearing out an eye, but he emphasized by this illustration that it must be done to merit God's favor and life in his new system of things. Only the refining fire of God's Word can burn out the wrong thinking and actions of those pursuing an immoral course!—Mark 9:43-49; Jer. 23:29.
So rather than turning from the Bible at this time, one who is living in an immoral condition needs more than ever to make a concentrated study of God's Word in order to get God's viewpoint. Jehovah God is the Author of the marriage arrangement, and it is only by living in harmony with the requirements that he has set down to govern this sacred relationship that one can win His favor. Therefore,
abandon wrong standards and conform to God's standards! Is not everlasting life for yourself and your loved ones worth any changes that may be necessary?
Courageously Press On to Life
It is easy to say, "I love God," but is there any proof that you really do? Jehovah God proved his love for us by sending his dear Son, Jesus Christ, to earth as a sacrifice for our sins. Are you also willing to make sacrifices, even if it involves cutting off relations with a mistress or legally marrying a consensual mate? If you are not willing to do so, you really do not love God, for the scripture says: "This is what love means, that we go on walking according to his commandments."—2 John 6; 1 John 4:9, 10.
Do not become disheartened because it appears difficult to obey God's requirements for life. Take courage, for the Bible tells about many persons who have overcome such problems. King David is specifically mentioned as one who erred morally and yet, by repenting and correcting his ways, experienced God's forgiveness and proved a faithful servant of God. (2 Sam. 12:13, 14) And in the first century, some of those who became Christians had lived very immoral lives, yet, on learning about God's standards, they left behind their wrong ways of living and never gave up in their quest for life, proving faithful to the end.—1 Cor. 6:9-11.
Jehovah's witnesses today are also successfully pressing along the way to everlasting life. Many of them have had to correct immoral living practices and leave behind the wrong standards of this system of things. But they have courageously made the necessary changes in their lives in order to conform to God's righteous requirements. Since others have done it, you can too! Do not give up, but press on vigorously in your quest for life!
IF YOU are a prisoner, the metallic slamming of an electrically locked grille behind you as you enter the main building of a modern prison leaves a sinking feeling in your stomach. It dramatically etches on your mind the unpleasant fact
that you are shut off from the free world outside. You are locked in, and there is no way to get out. Forcefully isolated from your friends, your relatives, your home and
the places and things you enjoyed, you feel the frustration that animals manifest when put behind the bars of a zoo.
For months and perhaps years you will have to live here among steel bars, bare concrete floors and walls and men with a smoldering anger against the authorities that locked them up. The living conditions and the treatment given you will vary from abominable to humane, depending upon the country in which you are imprisoned and the type of prison system maintained there. Even within a country prisons vary greatly in their method of treatment of prisoners.
As the days drag slowly by, the monotonous life of the prison, the confinement, the constant surveillance of guards, the lack of privacy, the dreary diet and the complete dominance of prison authorities over your every decision and activity make you wonder if prisons are really beneficial. Do they deter crime? Do they reform lawbreakers? Are they effective forms of
punishment for criminals?
Long in Use
Prisons have a notorious history that stretches back for thousands of years. Lawbreakers as well as innocent people have suffered frightfully in them because of vile living conditions and, often,
brutal treatment by sadistic guards. Too often, prison guards and officials have regarded prisoners as animals rather than as humans, giving them unnecessarily
rough treatment; too often, prison officials are little better than the criminals they guard; too often, prisons have been used to persecute innocent people.
As long ago as the days of the Hebrew Joseph, who lived more than 1700 years before the Common Era, prison was a familiar institution. Joseph was unjustly put in prison in Egypt and kept there for more than two years because he was falsely accused by a prominent woman with whom he refused to have immoral relations. (Gen. 39:20-23; 41:1, 14) During the time when the Babylonians were a world power, they imprisoned the Judean king Jehoiachin for political reasons for almost thirty-seven years. (Jer. 52:31) A little more than 1900 years ago the apostle Paul was kept in a Roman prison for more than two years because of a false charge and the greed of a corrupt official who wanted a bribe. (Acts 24:26, 27) In the seventeenth century John Bunyan, who wrote Pilgrim's Progress, was kept behind bars for twelve years because he did not preach what pleased the Church of England.
Thus prisons in past centuries were frequently misused, even as they are today.
How Effective
As a deterrent to crime, prisons have been far from successful with certain types of people. Such persons make up the large
their encouragement of this view. Regarding this attitude, one convict wrote:
"I have known thousands of criminals, at large and confined. But I have yet to see one who had any intention of foregoing crime because he or some other had received a severe sentence. . . . If punishment is to be an effective deterrent, every criminal act must inevitably lead to punishment. In this event criminals, like people who sit on hot stoves, will be rare. . . . I know the
percentage of prisoners that have been in prison more than once. They leave a prison with the same mental attitude they had when they arrived. More often than not, such persons have had a long association with criminal groups and have no desire to change their way of life. No form of punishment deters them from crime. When pickpockets used to be publicly executed in England, other pickpockets would be busy stealing from the crowds watching the executions. The execution of one of their fellows did not deter them from com-
criminal; the tired old fourth offender has no more thought of being captured and punished than the juvenile delinquent."
Although prison is not a deterrent for professional criminals, it is for persons who have a standard of morals that has given them a conscience that is sensitive to unlawful conduct. The threat of punishment, whether prison or something else, helps to deter them from wrongdoing. Even persons who do not have a very sensitive conscience, but who are not professional criminals, will be deterred from lawbreak-
mitting the very crime for which he was being executed. This also has proved true in Saudi Arabia, where a thief is punished by having a hand cut off. Despite the harshness of the punishment, thievery has not been stopped in that country.
When a criminal commits a few crimes without being caught, he gets the idea that, while others are caught, he will not be caught. This view is encouraged by the fact that by far the majority of criminals are not apprehended. Crime becomes an
ing for the same reason. For such persons the threat of prison is a deterrent, but so would almost any other form of disagreeable punishment be.
More Are Jailed than Necessary
For the majority of the people put behind bars other forms of punishment could be given that would be less expensive to society, less likely to harden the offenders in criminalistic attitudes, in a course of antagonism to the community and in a course of lawbreaking, and less likely to
enticing gamble for him. In the event that he is arrested and sent to prison, he will return to crime when he is finally released, with the same belief that he can commit crimes without being caught. The fact that certain rich, professional criminals, such as some members of the notorious Mafia, are able to engage in criminal activities for decades without going to prison is a fur-
impose upon them the artificial way of life and bad atmosphere of a prison that make later adjustment to the outside world extremely difficult. Imprisonment leaves a stigma on a person that other forms of punishment do not. A released prisoner is supposed to have paid his debt to society, but society continues to punish him indefinitely. His prison record stays with him wherever he goes, like an inerasable brand mark, making it difficult for him to get employment and causing average people to shun him with suspicion and fear.
Local police harass him by picking him up for questioning whenever a crime is committed. Thus society often drives an exconvict back into the underworld to the only people that will accept him.
It has been estimated that every year more than one million people in the United States spend some time behind bars. Most of them are persons being held for trial who are unable to provide bail and persons convicted of nonviolent crimes. A British barrister who is coauthor of two books on penal problems accurately observed: "A penitentiary's security regulations, for instance, are needed, if at all, only for a few recalcitrant men, and no practical (as opposed to punitive) purpose is served in locking the rest up, like animals in a zod."
The requirement to post a sum of money or a property bond, in order for an arrested person to have his freedom until the time for his trial, causes unnecessary imprisoning of a great number of poor people. There was the case of two teen-agers in New York City that were kept in jail for one year because they could not provide bail. One had no previous record of lawbreaking. When his trial finally came up, the charge against him was dismissed, and the other boy was found innocent. What could such imprisoning do for them but embitter them toward society and school them in crime by keeping them in the company of hardened lawbreakers. In another case, a man who was assaulted and robbed was held in jail for three months as a material witness because he could not furnish bail, but the criminal who attacked him was able to post bail and was not jailed.
A great many comparatively harmless minor offenders and innocent people are thrust into the degenerating atmosphere of prison when it would be better for society if they were paroled. There is the case of a thirteen-year-old girl that was held as a material witness in a jail with prostitutes and thieves for seven months. If it was really necessary to hold her, she could have been put in a home and given a bodyguard. That would have been better than a jail.
Instead of imprisoning a person that is unable to supply bail, he could be paroled or released on his own recognition if he meets certain qualifications. An experiment in the city of New York revealed that out of 200 persons released without bail only two failed to appear for trial. This is a lower casualty rate than for those that post bail.
In some instances a fine is imposed on the person found guilty of a minor offense, but, being unable to pay the fine, he is put in jail. The result is that society is punished. Since the fine is the punishment, why not parole the person with the requirement to pay the fine a little at a time? If he is put in jail, he is not able to pay, most likely will lose his job and society will not only have to pay for his keep but also provide for his family.
Since maximum-security prisons are not needed for most of the people put in prison, the more open type of institution such as farms, forestry camps, road camps and minimum-security institutions could be used if the offenders are not paroled or given some other form of punishment. A number of countries are using such institutions and find that attempted escapes are surprisingly low. Mexico even has one in which the prisoners spend their nights in the prison but their days engaging in personal business enterprises in a nearby town. This allows the prisoners to support their families and to have meals with them.
Punishment Necessary
What to do with people that make themselves enemies of society is a grave problem of growing magnitude in modern society. Some form of punishment is obviously necessary. As to what form that punishment should take, there is a great amount of disagreement. If society is to be protected, the recalcitrant criminal has to be separated from it in some manner. A sentence to a maximum-security prison is usually what he receives, but that is only temporary protection for society. Some criminologists have suggested an indefinite prison sentence for such persons, with release depending upon their change in attitude. But this could create problems and would be a means by which innocent persons could be permanently imprisoned by mistake, by prejudice or by the design of evil men in positions of authority.
When we consider what a problem modern society has in coping with criminals, it is enlightening to see how the ancient nation of Israel handled lawbreakers under the law God gave to that nation. Various forms of punishment were provided for in that law, but imprisonment was not one of them. It recognized that there are some persons who are incorrigibly wicked, whose hearts are set in doing what is bad. Pointing out how such persons are emboldened in a course of crime when they are not immediately punished for a violation of the law, God's Word says: "Because sentence against a bad work has not been executed speedily, that is why the heart of the sons of men has become fully set in them to do bad."—Eccl. 8:11.
According to God's law, a thief was punished, not by being put in prison, but by being required to make compensation to his victim. If he stole a sheep and slaughter
tered it, his punishment was to give his victim four sheep. If he stole money or goods given to a man as security, he was required to pay double. In the event a thief had nothing with which to make restitution, he was sold as a slave until his labor was equivalent to the amount that would have been required to make restitution. The modern practice of imprisoning a thief does not help the victim and does not reform the thief.—Ex. 22:1, 3, 4, 7.
Because God's law to the nation of Israel favored the victim, the victim was not left to suffer his loss. For some this could have been a great hardship, as when a thief stole from a poor widow or when a farmer's grainfield was set afire. Punishment by restitution was a sensible arrangement, benefiting the victim and punishing the lawbreaker.
The death penalty was required by God's law for a number of offenses. To some persons today, this may seem to be too severe, but they should bear in mind that God's law was designed to protect the community from the depredations of the wicked. By not tolerating criminal acts, it was protecting the righteous. The death penalty protected that society from further harassment by persons who were murderers, kidnappers, rapists and other gross violators of divine laws. Such persons were permanently removed from society, ceasing to be a threat to it.
The extermination of certain criminals for the good of society has been found necessary in some countries, such as Colombia, where murderous gangs preyed upon the common people for years, taking a great many lives. Some were caught and imprisoned, but after being released at the end of their prison sentences, they went back to their gangs and began murdering and robbing again. Not until the gang members were exterminated by the army did it become safe for the average citizen to travel where the gangs had roamed.
Thus, in some instances, the destruction of certain criminals becomes necessary for the good of society. Life is precious, and God's law of "soul for soul" or a life for a life impressed that fact upon the nation of Israel. (Ex. 21:23) Even if a murderer had a change of heart, he knew that he had to pay his debt for the crime he had committed. His victim's life was regarded as something of value.
Due to the punishments set down in God's laws, the nation of Israel, as long as it enforced those laws, did not have the criminal underworld, the widespread mugging of its citizens and the general moral breakdown we see in the world today. The nation got along well without the use of prisons.
Why the Modern Failure to Combat Crime
Prisons are obviously not the answer to the problem of combating crime. If anything, they contribute to the growing tide of lawbreakers. More prisons are not the answer to the problem, because the trouble lies in society itself. Unlike the nation of Israel, modern-day society has a culture that is basically bad. Why else does it produce so much bad fruit, as the daily newspapers so clearly show? Too often, good moral principles are totally lacking in its businesses and politics. As public officials themselves have repeatedly pointed out, many of the police, judges, civic officials, prison guards and other persons in authority are corrupt, not hesitating to ac
cept bribes that close their eyes to justice and unlawful activities. Too often, men with money and influence escape punishment although they commit crimes for which other persons are given long prison sentences.
It is the fundamental badness of modern society that causes its most advanced rehabilitation efforts to fail. On this point the book Man, Crime and Society, by Herbert Bloch, observed: "Some writers see this as an indication that the roots of criminal activity lie much deeper than any therapeutic potentiality of the most enlightened program. They take it as evidence of the fact that the genesis of criminal activity lies most basically within the culture itself and that alteration of the culture is the only potentially effective inhibitor of crime."
As long as society is morally bad, crime is certain to be a continual problem. It will continue to breed criminals and make it difficult to rehabilitate lawbreakers. Since there is no likelihood that the present society will soon change its culture, the hope of people who love righteousness and who yearn to live in a society that is free from the depredations of criminals is in the promises God has made. He has purposed to do to the wicked ones in our day what he did to the wicked ones that existed before the flood of Noah's day—destroy them and their society. Then in a righteous new order "the meek ones themselves will possess the earth, and they will indeed find their exquisite delight in the abundance of peace."—Ps. 37:11; 2 Pet. 3:5-7.
EVEN though a person may be watching carefully, certain events occur so quickly that the eye is incapable of registering them. For example, when a fly lights on the ceiling, can you observe how it makes its landing? Is it front feet first, or does it make initial contact with its rear feet? And when a bat flits by or a hummingbird zooms away from a flower, can you see the shape of its wings or how they are used? It is obvious that they move too quickly to tell.
On the other hand, when movement or action progresses very slowly, it likewise becomes obscure to human vision. In the spring plants push their heads through the ground, and continue their ascent. Yet no matter how patiently one watches, his eye cannot actually see the plants grow. It is much like watching the hour hand on a clock. You know it is moving, but you cannot see it move. If you should be distracted for a period of time and then look back, you can see that some movement has taken place. Yet if you watch it constantly, it appears to be motionless.
Now, however, it is possible to remove the veil that conceals the unseen. Extremely rapid movements, as well as those that
progress very slowly, can be reproduced in such a way that the eye can easily analyze them. How is this possible? By means of high-speed and time-lapse photography.
Birth of High-Speed Photography
It has been nearly a hundred years since an argument sparked experiments that marked the birth of high-speed photography. It was held by some that a galloping horse at times has all four feet off the ground at the same time, while others contended it did not. Dr. Jules Marey had investigated this question in France, and by means of a mechanical device was able to prove that at certain times a running horse had only one foot on the ground. However, the dispute continued until 1872, when Eadweard Muybridge began photographic experiments that settled the matter.
Muybridge contended that at times all of a horse's hoofs were off the ground at once, and to prove it he devised a technique for taking the first high-speed movies. He lined up a series of twenty-four cameras, spaced slightly apart, alongside a racetrack. From each camera shutter a string was stretched across the track, so that when the horse galloped along, it hit the strings and tripped the shutters. By means of this series of pictures the horse's stride could be analyzed in sequence. They revealed with certainty that at times the horse was completely off the ground.
High-Speed Cameras
Since that time high-speed photography has come a long way, unveiling to the human vision many formerly unseen things. Fast action can be slowed up, allowing time to analyze in more detail what has occurred. Many movie cameras can be speeded up to photograph action at a picture
frequency of sixty-four frames per second.
When these sixty-four pictures are projected on a screen at the normal rate of sixteen pictures per second, it will take four seconds to view the action that actually occurred in only one second. In such an instance, time is magnified at a ratio of 4:1. Slow-motion photography is a term that is now generally used to define those cases where time is magnified less than about 20:1.
It may seem remarkable to some persons that action can be slowed to the extent that what occurred in one second can be stretched out on the screen for twenty seconds. However, it is easy to understand that if a camera is speeded up to take 320 frames per second, and then these pictures are projected on the screen at the normal rate of sixteen frames per second, it will take twenty seconds to view the action that was registered by the camera in only one second. But actually, recording pictures at the rate of 320 frames per second is very slow compared to what is now being accomplished by high-speed cameras.
Unbelievable as it may seem, it is not uncommon for today's high-speed motion-picture cameras to take 25,000 frames per second. At that rate, time is magnified at a ratio of about 1,500:1. This means that if a bullet, speeding at 1,800 m.p.h., were photographed and then projected on the screen, its speed would be reduced to a little more than one mile per hour. Or if a picture were taken of you winking your eye, a movement taking about 1/40th of a second, it would be stretched out on the screen to approximately 39 seconds! Plenty of time to analyze it in slow motion.
To take pictures at such high speeds it is understandable that the conventional camera, which stops its film and opens its shutter to take each frame, would be too slow. So in the typical high-speed camera, the film is kept moving continuously. In
order to register the image on the moving film, a rotating glass prism is employed instead of a shutter. As this glass prism rotates, the image-forming light rays are deflected sufficiently to keep the image moving with the film. Even greater speeds are obtained by employing a system of mirrors that transport the image in synchronism with the moving film. Amazingly, some newly developed movie cameras are capable of recording, not just 25,000 frames per second, but several million frames per second!
What It Unveils
When high-speed movies are taken of fast-moving living creatures many interesting things are learned about them. Take, for instance, the speedy bat that flits about, darting this way and that. High-speed photography has revealed that this seemingly erratic flight is actually the bat's skillful pursuit of insects. Moving pictures have shown a bat catching two fruit flies within half a second. It is surprising how they catch their food.
Apparently it is not with their mouth, as one might suspect. Rather, brown bats have been found to catch prey in their silk-like tail membrane, as a catcher might catch a baseball in his mitt. It then reaches back and transfers the victim to its mouth. This action hitherto hidden to men has been unveiled by high-speed photography.
Many interesting things have also been learned concerning birds, not only the way in which they use their wings in flight, but also concerning the movements of their inner eyelid, or nictitating membrane, as it is called. When a bird has brought a worm back to the nest for its youngsters, this translucent membrane flicks across the eye to protect the cornea. When the bird's feet touch the nest, high-speed photographs show its inner eyelids starting to close, and by the time the babies are pecking at the worm in mamma's beak, her inner eyelids have completely closed to protect her eyes.
Men have learned much from watching flying creatures. Observation of the principles of flight and landing employed by them has aided in the designing of various features of modern aircraft. Recently, the difficult maneuver of landing on the ceiling, so easily performed by the fly, has been of interest to engineers. But how could it be studied in detail? Why, it is next to impossible to determine how the fly comes in for a landing, it happens so fast!
However, by using a movie camera operating at 9,500 frames per second, it was recently studied in detail. Analysis of the film, as reported in Science of August 24, 1962, showed that "in each case the fly ascended toward the ceiling in a nearvertical flight path. . . . A large supination twist of the wings at the beginning and at the end of the downstroke provided the required thrust for vertical climbing. When the fly approached within about a body's length of the ceiling, all its legs were extended outward—the forelegs reaching forward. Continued vertical motion head-on into the ceiling brought the two forefeet into contact with the landing surface . . . With its forefeet firmly bound to the landing surface, the fly swung its body forward sufficiently to bring its other legs into contact with the surface."
There is no end to the interesting and educational things that are unveiled by high-speed photography. How does a balloon burst, a glass break or a drop of milk splash? These things occur too rapidly for the eye to record, but the high-speed camera can slow down the action to just the rate at which it can be viewed with ease. This ability to unveil the unseen has resulted in solving many industrial problems.
Industrial Uses
High-speed photography has been utilized to such an extent in this field that in just five years the sales of cameras and supplies to industry and government have increased nearly 80 percent, from 360,000,000 to630,000,000. This amounts to nearly one half of the entire business of the $1,400,000,000 photographic industry. Yes, there are countless rapid movements that have been analyzed with the aid of high-speed photography.
Not long ago a rubber company had an apparently unexplainable blowout problem with a new tire. High-speed movies of the tire spinning at ninety miles an hour on a dynamometer quickly revealed structural fault in the sidewalls. In slow motion, the tires bobbled, grew square and were seen coming apart before the actual blowout occurred. After having the trouble unveiled by the camera, engineers were able to eliminate the flaws.
Another example is that of a large glass manufacturer that was developing an air bubble in every ceramic piece it poured in a special mold. Since the process needed to be carried on at high speed to assure the hardness of the ceramic, the machinery could not be slowed down to locate the trouble. However, by utilizing a high-speed camera it was discovered that the shears used to cut the continuous glass stream were bending the stream double to form an air pocket. Again, because of being able to see what was happening, engineers were able to correct the difficulty.
It is often surprising to see the amount of undesirable movement in the parts of high-speed mechanisms. These irregularities, such as vibration, torsion, chattering and whip, show up when the original motion is slowed down by the camera. They can then be analyzed and methods for solving the trouble worked out.
Time-Lapse Photography
On the other extreme, there are many actions that are concealed from sight because of occurring so slowly. These need to be speeded up to be seen. This is what time-lapse photography does. Instead of many pictures being taken every second, very few are taken—perhaps only one or two an hour. The effect that this has when the pictures are
cretion of hay fever sufferers proved very revealing. "In each specimen from a person subject to hay fever," reported time-lapse photographer John Ott, "the ragweed pollen gave off droplets of fluid, and in each specimen from a person not subject to hay fever the results were completely negative—no droplets were given off."
These films suggested to researchers that the body chemistry
when the pictures are projected on the screen is to speed up the action. What may have taken days, months or a year to
Does God Have a Name?
Trained for Violence.
The Birds Know It First.
Cheating the Insurance Company,
occur can be observed running its course in a minute or two.
How thrilling this can be when the wonders of God's creation are speeded up before one's eyes on the screen! Plants and flowers, which seem so changeless and still, are seen to be in continuous motion. The
the body chemistry itself of hay fever sufferers is such that ragweed pollen causes the formation of droplets of fluid,
which may be the source of irritation to nasal membranes. Thus they are aided in their quest for some means of relief.
Another interesting application of microscope observation and time-lapse photography occurred some years ago when a well-known manufacturer of machinery
stem actively twists and turns, and the flowers and leaves are observed to move gracefully, as if in perfect time to a Strauss waltz. In just a matter of thirty seconds, a pollinated pumpkin flower is seen developing into a full-size pumpkin, changing from green to bright orange.
Although time-lapse photography apparently does not have as many useful applications as does high-speed photography, it has long been recognized as a scientific tool, especially in biology and medicine. It would be a very tiresome thing to
for mass production of confections, such as ice cream held on wooden sticks, brought a lawsuit against another company. By the use of time-lapse photography it was shown that adhesion between the stick and the ice cream actually occurs as the temperature lowers and ice crystals penetrate into the pores of the wooden stick. Evidence was presented in court proving a difference between this adhesion and the mere friction when small sticks are simply inserted into chocolate
spend hours and days watching the growth of living cells under a microscope, but when time-lapse movies of them are taken and projected on the screen, the cells really begin to perform. This method of observation has led to some very interesting discoveries.
For instance, microscopic pictures of ragweed pollen immersed in the nasal se-
confections.
Certainly the uses of time-lapse and high-speed photography are many and varied. Not only have they assisted in designing and producing better quality materials for man's use, but they have also unveiled to the human vision many of the marvelous wonders of God's creation. Indeed, they are remarkable instruments!
Megiddo tells its story
WOULD you be interested in taking a trip to visit Megiddo in Palestine? If so, come with us to explore the ancient site, its excavated ruins and its surroundings. It is only a short ride from the coastal city of Haifa along the Valley of Jezreel. Megiddo being mentioned twelve times in the Bible in connection with outstanding events and as a fitting symbol of God's 'war to end all wars,' the battle of Armageddon or "Har-Magedon," which will cleanse the earth of its present troubled conditions, our trip should be most rewarding.
Are you ready? We will make an early start to avoid the heat of the day, for the top of the site is open to the blazing sun. We take the road heading inland along the Valley of Jezreel, keeping to the south of the meandering Kishon River. Although there is little water in the river during the summer, the valley is green and fertile, producing fruits and vegetables in abundance. It was this way in Bible days—hence Jacob's prophecy regarding Issachar's tribal inheritance there; "And he will see that the resting place is good and that the land is pleasant."—Gen. 49:15.
Quickly the valley narrows as we travel inland until we reach Harosheth, from where Sisera launched his attack against Barak and to which place he soon came running back defeated when unseasonal flooding of the flat plain bogged down all his chariots. (Judg. 4:12-16) Just here the
By "Awakel" correspondent in Israel
valley plain between the towering Carmel range and the Galilee hills is only a few hundred yards wide, but then suddenly we are through this gap and the valley opens out to a wide flat plain, the Plain of Esdraelon. Already we can see that this would be a natural location for opposing armies to face each other, for here various valleys and passes converge to form the plain. However, this fact will be even clearer when we reach Megiddo and see the strategic position it occupies.
To reach our destination we keep to the south side of the plain, on the road that skirts the wooded slopes of the Carmel foothills. Turning a corner, we note that one of these hills has an unnaturally level plateau-like top. It is not a natural hill. It is the tell or mound of Megiddo. Yes, this is the place about which we have heard so much.
Museum Visit Helpful
To understand what we will see on the mound it is worth while to spend a little time in the museum first. The scale model of the entire mound with its explanations and photographs of what has been discovered here help one to get the overall picture. Archaeologists who worked on the mound between 1925 and 1939 found that as many as twenty towns had been built one upon another as the place suffered destruction or experienced periods of abandonment.
In one place the digging team cut vertically through the full twenty layers to unearth the first little town of mud-brick houses almost on the level of the main valley floor, other early settlers dwelling in nearby caves. Tons and tons of building materials were moved in over the centuries to form a sizable steep-sided hill, over seventy feet high, with a dominating unbroken view of the whole valley plain.
Significant Features
Have you the general picture in mind now? Then we will climb the ancient approach road that dates from King David's time. To enter the city all had to pass through an outer gate and then the inner gateway with its three pairs of guard chambers. They are still there to this day, and we can tread the same path. The layout reminds one of the description at Ezekiel 40:6-10 of the gateway of the visionary symbolic temple.
At the fourth and fifth layers from the top the remains of fortified gates, palace buildings, large houses, strong city walls and extensive stables for about 450 horses are believed to belong to the time of Solomon. However, some suggest that the stables may date from Ahab's time and that Solomon's stables will yet be unearthed at a lower level. Incidentally, structures built on an identical plan have been unearthed at Hazor and Gezer, just as the Bible states. (1 Kl. 9:15-19; 10:26) With the stalls, mangers carved out of solid limestone blocks, hitching posts, watering troughs and the large exercise yard still clearly discernible, one can picture the busy scene when Megiddo was a thriving community on an important trade route.
ways still intact. A hole thirty-five feet across and some thirty to forty feet deep would contain a huge quantity of grain. It was a city prepared for war!
Another prominent feature of the ancient city was its central silo, a huge circular pit to store enough grain to feed the population during a long siege. It is well preserved today, with its twin spiral stair
Even more outstanding as a construction feat was the ensuring of an uninterrupted water supply for the inhabitants by means of a 300-foot tunnel. A shaft was sunk 120 feet straight down, and then the workmen dug through to meet other workmen who started digging at an underground spring. If you do not mind climbing down the 150 steps, we can follow the whole system through and see where the two groups of tunnelers met in the center. Defensive walls, carefully guarded gates, reserve food supplies and an independent water supply all these mark this as a city that was prepared for and accustomed to war.
Megiddo's history dates from long before David and Solomon. We can see something of its early periods as we cross over to the east side of the mound to examine the lower levels of the excavation. For example, three Canaanite temples have been unearthed, each with its sacrificial altar. One is particularly large and the steps up to its "high place" are still in good condition. Facing due east, it commanded a view of the sunrise over Mount Tabor across the plain, so was probably associated with sun worship. Yes, it was a prominent town in Canaanite times, coming under Egyptian control at that time.
Battles at Megiddo
The first recorded battle at Megiddo was fought during the time of Pharaoh Thutmose III. An attempt by the combined Canaanite tribes to throw off the Egyptian yoke centered around Megiddo and resulted in a mighty battle, the armies of 330 chieftains being slaughtered and the leaders seeking refuge inside Megiddo's fortifications. According to the Annals of Karnak, Pharaoh captured 924 chariots, 2,000 horses and 24,000 cattle besides other booty when victory was his.
In Thutmose's words: "The capturing of Megiddo is the capturing of a thousand towns"—a hint of its strategic location, even in those days.
The famous Tell el-Amarna tablets list Megiddo as one of the cities calling for extra military protection from Egypt, but the Bible records that when Joshua captured the land "the king of Megiddo" was one of the thirty-one kings defeated. (Josh. 12:21) However, the conquest of the city was not completed then, for we read at Judges 1:27: "Manasseh did not take possession of . . . Megiddo . . . , but the Canaanites persisted in dwelling in this land." King David later wrested the city from the Philistines. It prospered until another battle at Megiddo led to its capture by the Egyptian Shishak in the days of Jeroboam I. Later King Jeroboam II of Israel restored it partially, but it was thereafter conquered by Assyrian Tiglath-Pileser III, who named the whole area of northern Galilee the "Province of Megiddo.' A further episode involving this wartown city is recounted in the Bible at 2 Chronicles 35:20-24. During a war between Babylon and Egypt, Pharaoh Nechoh moved his forces into the northern part of Palestine. Unwisely King Josiah of Judah interfered and barred the way—yes, at Megiddo. Josiah's death and his army's defeat were the tragic results.
Although Megiddo remained a desolate ruin from about 400 B.C.E., when the last small settlement there dispersed, it came back into the news during World War I. Did you know that there was another battle at Megiddo at that time? British troops successfully invaded northern Palestine through the Megiddo pass to defeat Turkish forces deployed there. Field Marshal Allenby, who commanded the action, was subsequently raised to the peerage as "Viscount Allenby of Megiddo" to commemorate one of his famous victories.
Why So Strategic?
Before we leave the site now, to clearly understand why such importance was attached to the capture of this ancient city, cross over to the northern observation point of the mound. As you stand with your back to the towering Carmel hills, let your eye take in the whole panorama. What a view! To the left the narrow end of the Valley of Jezreel, then across there the hills of Galilee, Nazareth on its lofty hilltop location, Mount Tabor, where Barak camped, the hill of Moreh, where Gideon routed Midian, then across the other end of the valley there is Mount Gilboa, where Saul and Jonathan fell in battle, then finally the hills of Samaria. On a clear day like this every movement across the whole plain can be seen. Here and there between the hills and ranges are gaps where ancient and modern roadways and trade routes converge on this saucerlike plain. What traffic has passed this way during the centuries, following the great highway known as the "Way of the Sea" or Via Maris that connected Egypt with Damascus and the lands of the Euphrates, or traveling along the valley itself from the Jordan River area to the Mediterranean seacoast! The two routes had their intersection right here in front of Megiddo. What battles have been fought to control this area! And Megiddo has seen it all!
This brings our guided tour to its conclusion. As we make our way back down to seek some shade and cool refreshments we can reflect on just how meaningful is the expression "Har-Magedon" or "Mountain of Megiddo" as used in the Bible at Revelation 16:16. Is it clearer now from our review of its history that it is so appropriate, not as the site, but as a symbol of the crucial war now near between God's heavenly forces and the political opposers of his kingdom and their supporters?
Every battle at Megiddo was decisive and affected a wide area and its inhabitants. How reassuring to know that Jehovah God's Megiddo-like settling of matters, followed by the abyssing of Satan and his
demons, will decisively usher in an "abundance of peace until the moon is no more," and that for all lovers of peace and righteousness to the ends of the earth!—Ps, 72: 7, 8.
It was fine having you with us. We hope you enjoyed the trip and learned something of interest.
The Language that Makes a Person Smile
By "Awakal" correspondent in the Netherlands Antilles
A B C stands for Aruba, Bonaira and Curacao, three of the six islands making up the Netherlands Antilles. Their common language is Papiamento, a language that is perhaps not only the least known tongue spoken in the Western Hemisphere but one of the pleasantest, one that makes a person smile.
This humorous language is derived from Spanish and Portuguese with a dash of Dutch, English, French, African and Carib elements. Despite this, Papamento is far simpler than any of its ancestors and can be mastered in a short while by most persons.
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