Awake!, May 22, 1965
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The Quest for a Stable World
Hypnosis—Is It Safe?
Why Is Religion on the Decline in Sweden?
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Are You Coming to Basel?
MAY 22,1965
THE REASON FOR THIS MAGAZINE
News sources that are able to keep you awake to the vital issues of our time must be unfettered by censorship and selfish interests. "Awakel" has no fetters. It knows 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.
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CONTENTS
Finding Time to Be Friendly 3
The Quest for a Stable World 5
Hypnosis—Is It Safe? 8
Why Is Religion on the Decline
in Sweden? 13
Snakes—More Fascinating than Fearful 17
Snail Power 20
Are You Coming to Basel? 21
The Cango Caves 26
"Your Word Is Truth"
Who Are the "Least" and the "Last"?
Watching the World
Finding Time to be
HOW often have you heard people say, "I'd love to talk with you, but I don't have the time right now. Maybe
some other time"? You might have said it yourself. Or a pressing engagement might have forced you to cut a conversation short with loads of apologies and with promises to call or to write—time permitting.
You obviously did not want to be rude or unfriendly by making such remarks, but you were sincerely in want of time. The truth is, time has become a precious factor today, so much so that it often robs us of the pleasant reputation of being friendly. The above expressions, for example, are frequently polite ways Western people have of saying they are terribly busy. Life's schedules have become so overloaded that there are but a few fleeting moments that can be devoted to sincere friendships anymore.
Friendly
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It was not always this way. Not too many years ago men and women would have felt very offended if someone were to dismiss them abruptly with some improvised, "Sorry, I'm-in-a-hurry" line. People just were not that much in a hurry. They were expected to be neighborly, friendly. When a neighbor called for a cup of sugar, work stopped and a friendly few minutes were exchanged in happy
conversation. In some places in rural America this sort of thing is still
being done. There are farmers who think nothing of spending time freely to chat with their neighbors. They do not consider those hours wasted either. This is what country people call being friendly. Of course, there are extenuating circumstances when things just have to be done. On the farm, cows have to be fed and milked at a certain hour; in the city, appointments have to be kept. But even in pressing moments it is a fine thing when people try to be friendly. We need to appreciate that the only way to have a friend is to be one.
City life, especially big-city life, presents a challenge to anyone who desires friendship. For not only do many find it difficult to be friendly, but friendship can be misunderstood and abused. Because of this, many city people seldom get to know their neighbors well enough to speak with them. "It is better that way," they say. Still much is lost by not being friendly. Trust and confidence are missing, because these are nurtured in friendship. So are love and security.
This is not to say that no one is friendly today, because many people are. But so often they do not have the time or, perhaps, they do not put forth the effort to demonstrate their friendliness as in the past.
For example, how many people on the nation's turnpikes are willing to stop their car and help you when in distress? No doubt there are those who cannot afford to stop because of demanding appointments. But it would be hard to believe that all passing vehicles were in the same circumstance. Friendship demands a little sacrificing; sometimes this includes time. But those who give of themselves and their time are by far the happier for it.
Friendship is a precious relationship. And it requires as much care in handling as any other fragile and precious thing. When was the last time someone shopped for you, or did your laundry when you were ill? When was the last time you offered to do something for someone on the basis of friendship? People used to do things for one another and enjoyed doing them, because it was the neighborly, friendly thing to do. Nowadays, fewer and fewer people are making friendly gestures. Their main excuse is they do not have the time. Perhaps the more basic reason is they do not make or take time for friendliness.
For example, you may have noticed that people in passing will ask, "How are you?" But seldom, if ever, will they stop to find the answer. They walk right on without even so much as breaking their stride. But happier are those who do stop and share the affections and the compassions of one another. This may take a few seconds, but it is well worth it. It makes for a more wholesome life.
allow for it. However, friendship within and outside the family is a matter of putting first things first. If we value the friendship of our children, we will simply make room for them.
Parents, too, often lament the fact that they do not have time to sit down and converse with their children in a friendly way. They admit that this should be done, but their closely scheduled life does not always
To be friendly, the bad habit of rushing through life must be broken. This will not be easy, but nothing worthwhile in life is easy. Yet with a little effort bad habits can be replaced with good ones. For example, a common expression today is, "Sorry, I have no time for religion." Or some people will openly confess that they are "too tired to pray, or read the Bible." These professedly religious people have allowed the "big rush" to creep right into their very way of worship. They find themselves too busy for God. Would not life be more meaningful if we slowed down to pray, to read, to thank the One by whom we "have life and move and exist"? (Acts 17:28) Become a doer of good, not simply a hearer or praiser of it.
The illustration of the Good Samaritan comes to mind. Those outwardly religious were not the ones identified in the parable as good neighbors. The one who showed real love for his fellowman was pointed to by the Master with approval. (Luke 10:29-37) John, an apostle of Jesus Christ, wrote: "By this we have come to know love, because that one [Jesus Christ] surrendered his soul for us; and we are under obligation to surrender our souls for our brothers. But whoever has this world's means for supporting life and beholds his brother having need and yet shuts the door of his tender compassiones upon him, in what way does the love of God remain in him? Little children, let us love, neither in word nor with the tongue, but in deed and truth." (1 John 3:16-18) Let us practice our friendship also in the same manner. For life is enriched by many friendships.
the Quest for a STABLE WORLD
FEARFUL concern
Why has it been unsuccessful?
lem of international peace
1 swept the world in October 1962, when the two nuclear giants stood eyeball to
How can it be realized?
eyeball, growing at each other over the issue of missiles in Cuba. When they stepped back from the brink of nuclear war, the world heaved a sigh of relief. Their confrontation underscored the dangerous instability existing today in international relations.
Immense stockpiles of nuclear weapons with swift delivery systems threaten all peoples like a violent storm. They dread
through disarmament and arbitration. It and the second conference in 1907 failed to prevent unstable international relations from loding into World War I.
That first world war did not make the world safe for democracy, as some persons predicted. It did not stabilize international relations, but ushered in something new —total war. Commenting on its historic significance in human affairs, Hanson Baldwin, in his book World War I, observed: "Never before 1914 to 1918 had a war
the day when unstable international relations collapse into a shooting war. In view of the fact that just one 10-megaton bomb has five times the explosive power of all the bombs that were dropped on Germany during World War II, a nuclear war could be so destructive that both sides would be reduced to weak fragments of what they now are. Their industries would be gone, their cities in smoldering ruins and the bulk of their populations destroyed. Never before have such dire consequences
absorbed so much of the total resources of so many combatants and covered so large a part of the earth. Never had so many nations been involved. Never had the slaughter been so comprehensive and indiscriminate. And never had the participants staked so much for so little. . . In World War I, an earthquake shook the history of modern man."
The League of Nations that arose out of the ashes of that first total war, it was hoped by man, would be the means by which war could be prevented in the fu-
attended a possible miscalculation by a world power in its international decisions.
In the days before the advent of nuclear weapons fruitless efforts were made to overcome the explosively unstable relations existing then among the peoples of the world. The Hague International Peace Conference of 1899 was a futile effort to stabilize the world by solving the problem MAY 22, 1965
ture. Its purpose, among other things, was to "promote international co-operation and to secure international peace and security." Despite its noble objectives, it was unable to stabilize international relations and prevent them from erupting into World War II in 1939. Following that second total war, the quest for a stable world went on, and the hopes of mankind were placed in the United Nations, which appeared in 1945.
For twenty years now the machinery of the United Nations has been functioning, but world stability is far from being realized. Friction between the East and the West keeps international relations boiling like an unstable volcano, and the United Nations has been powerless to put a stop to it. Its efforts toward negotiating a disarmament have been as discouragingly negative as were those by the League of Nations and The Hague Conference. International rivalry, nationalistic and racial hatreds and the determination of some powers to disrupt the status quo established by the Western powers have proved to be too much for it.
Why Quest Unsuccessful
Extreme nationalism is one of the numerous reasons why the quest for a stable world has proved unsuccessful. It blocks the road to disarmament as well as the road toward peaceful cooperation among the nations of the world. It is the source of the heated differences that have transformed the United Nations from an international body, where it was hoped that nations would cooperate for the good of mankind, to one that is split by national rivalries. There is no indication that its 114 members are willing to sacrifice national interests for the good of mankind.
The common attitude "My country, right or wrong," or "My country is always right," elevates a nation to a supreme position of moral judgment. Even though it may consistently violate the rules governing individual morality, its actions will be rationalized as being justified, and this is against international stability. For individuals it is morally wrong to take over a neighbor's property when they have no legal right to it, but when a nation does
this, either by direct military action or by subversion, its people and its allies consider it to be morally in the right. For individuals, killing members in a neighbor's house is morally wrong, but nationalism finds moral justification for the nation that does it. Thus the failure of nations to live by the moral rules that govern individuals prevents mankind from living together harmoniously as nations.
Lack of moral integrity explains why nations do not feel that they can trust one another. Although they recognize the potential danger to mankind in massive stockpiles of nuclear weapons and large standing armies, they are afraid to disarm and make a peaceful world possible. A disarmament treaty signed by nations that put national interests above morals is of no more value than the many treaties that have been signed and broken in the past. So the quest for a stable world by such nations is certain to continue to be fruitless.
Basis for a Stable World
The moral laws that the great Ruler of the universe, Jehovah God, has set down provide a basis for stabilizing the world of mankind. Those laws can benefit people of all nations if they obey them.
The simple command, "You must not desire your fellow man's house," is a moral guide that could greatly improve relations among peoples of all nations. (Ex. 20:17) In many cases international conflicts are due to one nation's desiring valuable territory belonging to another nation. This was seen when Hitler's Germany began swallowing up the territory of one nation after another before the outbreak of World War II.
There can be no stable relations among mankind and no lasting peace as long as there are ambitions, power-hungry rulers who selfishly desire what belongs to a neighbor country.
When a nation violates this divine principle, it will, sooner or later, have to suffer the consequences. Jas. 4:2.
The fine moral law that God gave to govern man's relations with his fellowman
is summed up in the command: "You must love your neighbor as yourself." (Matt. 22:39) If people of all nations were to follow this command, there
out those with his spirit, so that a stable and peaceful world of mankind can become a reality. A new start with a clean slate is necessary. This Jehovah God has promised for us. (Rev. 19:19-20:3) Long ago he inspired prophets to write of the time when he will come against the unrighteous
ARTICLES IN THE NEXT ISSUE
Why Put Your Trust in the King Jesus Christ?
The Art of Typing.
The Flag, The Pledge, and God.
A Father Talks to His Sons.
would be no clashing of national blocs in a dangerous cold war. There would be no attempts to expand national boundaries into the territory of neighboring countries. There would be no economic blackmail of another country to gain its support against another bloc of countries. There would be no attempts to subvert the governments of other countries. Following the command to have neighbor love is vital for there to be a stable and peaceful world of mankind.
If love existed in international relations, international misrepresentation of facts would be replaced by the truth; suspicion and distrust would cease; and the nationalistic superrace complex would change to a realistic understanding of human equality. But nations that are, as the Bible says, under the control of "the god of this system of things," Satan the Devil, never will succeed in manifesting such love, because it is a fruitage of Jehovah God's spirit. (2 Cor. 4:4; Luke 4:5-7; 1 Cor. 2:12; Gal. 5:22) Yet this does not mean the quest for a stable world is entirely hopeless.
How a Stable World Will Be Realized
Persistent refusal of the nations to be guided by divine moral laws means that the Universal Sovereign himself must step in to put the Devil out of action and root
governments of this system of things. Foretelling what he will do to them, he said: "Keep yourselves in expectation of me,' is the utterance of Jehovah, 'till
the day of my rising up to the booty, for my judicial decision is to gather nations, for me to collect together kingdoms, in order to pour out upon them my denunciation, all my burning anger.'"—Zeph. 3:8.
Replacing the rule of imperfect human governments over mankind will be the Kingdom of God, which, unlike those governments, will rule in justice and righteousness. God's own Son has been crowned as its King. "The princely rule will come to be upon his shoulder. And his name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace. To the abundance of the princely rule and to peace there will be no end, upon the throne of David and upon his kingdom in order to establish it firmly and to sustain it by means of justice and by means of righteousness, from now on and to time indefinite."—Isa. 9:6,7.
The quest for a stable world that has proved so fruitless thus far will end when the government established by man's Creator rules all mankind. With that time fast approaching, we can rejoice, saying with faithful servants of God in heaven: "We thank you, Jehovah God, the Almighty, the one who is and who was, because you have taken your great power and begun ruling as king."—Rev. 11:17.
Hypnosis
CHOKED with emotion, the husband burst into the psychiatrist's office. He was angry enough to kill the man. Why? Because his wife had confessed to her being head over heels in love with her psychiatrist—an unfortunate effect of his treating her with hypnosis. Had that psychiatrist not been prepared for just such a side effect of his use of hypnosis, he might well have received a severe drubbing, if not even lost his life.
This true-life incident calls attention to but one of the many problems that treatment with hypnosis brings with it and underscores the pertinency of a discussion of how safe it is to use hypnosis as a therapy. More than that, in view of the increased use of hypnosis by athletes, clergymen, educators, entertainers, lay therapists and the medical profession, including dentists, obstetricians and psychiatrists, this discussion is also a most timely one. In the United States alone, according to one medical journal, there are some 7,000 physicians and as many dentists currently using hypnosis in their practice. "A new high water mark has been reached in the profession's interest in hypnosis," we are told. But is this trend wise?
Elusive and Unpredictable
Just what is hypnosis? There are many theories, but in spite of them all it remains, in the words of one psychiatrist, an "important, elusive and tantalizing phenomenon." As Dr. Alfred Auerback, a specialist in psychiatry for some twenty years and an associate clinical professor of psychiatry in California, well observes: "At the present time it would seem that
we do not know more about hypnosis than was known two centuries ago when Mesmer first introduced the concept of suggestion as a therapeutic device. Despite studies by medical societies in France, Britain and the United States, we still know little about the indications and limitations for hypnosis in the field of medicine." Surely this uncertainty is sound reason for caution.
Among the tantalizing aspects of the subject is the problem of susceptibility to hypnosis. Concerning it a psychiatrist prominent in the field of hypnotherapy states: "A theory of hypnosis stands or falls by its answer to one crucial question: Why do some subjects quickly and easily experience many of the phenomena of hypnosis while others show very little if any hypnotic behavior after many attempts by numerous hypnotists?"* Not only that, but why can some persons be hypnotized at one time and not at another?
Along the same line, a psychiatrist wrote in Archives of General Psychiatry, January 1961: "We cannot yet isolate this from other psychological states and processes which color it and with which it may play an alternating and fluctuating role.
We have not settled on a definition of its essential nature. . . . If we cannot identify with precision the road to a place or the place after we get there, then we are in a bad way when we try to describe either the road or the place, . . . or how to use either in order to get to some other place. No wonder we flounder. . . . My conclusion with respect to all this is, that we have not done our basic research and that in this sense this symposium [on the nature of hypnosis, held in 1960] is being held twenty-five years too soon."
The unpredictable nature of hypnosis must also give one pause. Thus one obstetrician who recommends and uses hypnosis himself nevertheless acknowledges that "its effectiveness is unpredictable." It is this very unpredictability that has caused not a few psychiatrists to discontinue its use.
The Moral Risks Involved
According to psychiatrist Dr. George Merrill, "To many hypnotic subjects hypnosis has strong sexual connotations"; and after citing six authorities, including Freud, he goes on to say: "In spite of the references to the sexual aspects of hypnosis by various writers, the subject is largely ignored by other writers and teachers."
Hypnosis involves an interpersonal relationship; it is not at all like simply prescribing pills. If either the psychiatrist or his patient is not morally mature and sound, the treatment can arouse erotic impulses in either or both. That is why the 1955 committee appointed by the British Medical Association to investigate hypnosis stated that "harm can be done by the application of hypnotism in unsuitable subjects, particularly when it is used by persons indifferent to the wellbeing of the subject or ignorant of the morbid complications of the hypnotic state." More than that, it went on to say, "the Committee are of opinion that when used for therapeutic purposes its employment should be confined to qualified medical men, and that under no circumstances should female patients be hypnotized except in the presence of a relative or a person of their own sex."
Concerning this particular rsk a Roman Catholic authority warns about "the danger of releasing immoral instinctive urges in hypnosis," and counsels that "the most important point about the dangers of hypnosis is . . . that the patient or his guardian choose a skilled hypnotist known for his probity," that is, tried virtue or integrity. —Medical Hypnosis, Gormley (1961).
How real this danger of releasing immoral instinctive urges in hypnosis is, the psychiatrist who had the experience mentioned in the opening paragraph of this article stresses. According to him, erotic complications when treating with hypnosis "should be borne in mind as possibilities in every case. . . . These can result in a real threat to the hypnotist himself as well as to the success of his treatment unless he is emotionally prepared to deal with them."
Note further the damaging admissions appearing in a book on the use of hypnosis by clergymen: "Hypnosis does provide a measure of possession for the clergyman over his subject. . . . The experiments of Pierre Janet and others, however, indicate that there is always much less risk of eroticism [sexual passion] in the operator than in the subject." But what comfort is that for the subject? In view of the moral decline among people everywhere, the danger of immoral use of hypnotism is not something to be dismissed as of little consequence.
Other Dangers
Regarding a poll he took of 828 California psychiatrists, Dr. Auerback tells that of the 50 percent that replied, more than half had never used hypnosis, 33 percent had used it but no longer did and 13 percent still use it. Of the 192 that had used it, 120 reported 201 instances of bad results. In 119 cases hypnosis resulted in psychosis, or profound disorganization of the mind, in 23 cases extreme anxiety, in six cases attempted suicide and there were three cases of sexual seduction, and so forth. No wonder that Dr. Harold Rosen once stated that hypnosis can be dynamite!
Especially dangerous is the use of hypnosis to cure symptoms having a psychosomatic origin. A young woman was cured of her hysterical blindness only to try to stab her lover. A young man was cured of an extremely serious speech defect only to try to choke a harmless old man. A schoolteacher was cured of his backache only to commit suicide shortly thereafter. It is as though the patient needed a symptom to express his mental or emotional hurt.
In one extreme case a worker was relieved of trembling hands and arms only to suffer from a twisted neck affliction; cured of that, he then had gagging, choking and vomiting sensations; cured of these, he then suffered from a bursting headache; cured of it, he presented a dazed expression and, with his hands outstretched, advanced toward the hypnotherapist in order to choke him.
A woman finding herself overly fond of a certain child was treated with hypnosis, in which she was told that she would transfer this fondness to a doll. But instead, she now wanted to harm the child. Why? Because she had never liked dolls in her youth and so was unable to transfer her extreme affection for the child to a doll,
but, instead, her fondness turned to hate. This but illustrates what a complicated matter treating with hypnosis can be.
All such dangers reside in the use of hypnosis if used ethically. What about its dangers if used unethically, with sinister purpose? Although there are still some who would deny it, the fact remains that there is an imposing array of evidence of the sinister uses to which hypnosis can be put by unprincipled persons. Typical is the use of it by women spies to elicit information from officers of other nations.
Its Power to Distort the Truth
In hypnosis the operator comes between the subject and the evidence of his senses. It can make a veritable fool out of him. In fairly deep trance a subject does not see, hear, taste, smell and feel what the operator does not want him to, but, on the contrary, he hears, sees, tastes, smells and feels whatever the operator wants him to.
Thus if he is told that a pencil touching his arm is a red-hot poker, the subject will not only scream in pain but may actually develop a blister on the spot. Told that kerosene is sweet wine, he will smack his lips and enjoy drinking it as though it were sweet wine. Told to walk through an open door, although it is closed, he will try to plow right through the closed door. Told that there is a large dog by his side, although there is not, he will see the dog, talk to it and pet it. In other words, in hypnosis the operator becomes as a god to the subject as far as the evidences of his senses are concerned.
But far more serious is the havoc hypnosis plays with the subject's integrity, as in posthypnotic suggestions. In these a person under hypnosis might be told that on a certain day in the middle of summer he will wear an overcoat to work. When that certain day comes, he will take out his overcoat and wear it to work.
When asked why, he will invent a plausible reason, such as that the weatherman said it would be cold, that he wanted to sell it or to show it to someone. In other words, he rationalizes his peculiar behavior, and therefore it might be said that hypnosis can make a liar out of a person. And once given such posthypnotic suggestion, a subject almost invariably is unable to have any peace of mind until he has acted out the suggestion, no matter how senseless it might be!
Another Serious Objection
Another serious objection to the use of hypnosis is its association at times with psychic or spiritistic phenomena. John Elliotson, nineteenth-century British surgeon, started out using hypnosis (mesmerism) as an anesthetic and soon was dabbling in clairvoyance, mind reading, and so forth. Also combining hypnosis and psychic phenomena was his noted contemporary Esdaile, British surgeon in India. He not only performed thousands of operations, hundreds of major ones, with no other anesthetic than hypnosis, but could cast a spell on water so that whoever drank it became hypnotized.
That hypnosis may lead to spiritism is shown by S. Edmunds, member of the Council of the College for Psychic Science, London. He wrote: "It is worthy of note that many of the most famous spiritualistic mediums began their psychic careers as hypnotic subjects, and hypnosis has been used with marked success in the development of a number of others," including one who is "regarded by many as the world's finest present-day medium."
for him were psychic diagnosis, healing, clairvoyance, levitation and ability to operate as a spirit medium.
Then there was Edward Cayce, termed the "great psychic healer," who always diagnosed his patients while he was in a hypnotic trance. Among the claims made
Pertinent also is the testimony of the French psychologist, Richet, that "various persons incapable of transcendental manifestations when their senses are awake, become lucid when hypnotized." Because of hypnosis' aiding in clairvoyance some have even termed hypnosis "the gate which introduces us to an unknown world."
However, the Bible categorically condemns all such dabbling in spiritism: "There should not be found in you anyone who . . . employs divination, . . . or one who binds others with a spell or anyone who consults a spirit medium." —Deut. 18:10, 11.
"A Power Relationship"
As has been noted in the foregoing, there is much doubt as to just what takes place in hypnosis. However, there appears to be convincing evidence as to the nature of this phenomenon, namely, that it is a power relationship in which one dominates the will of another. As a result the hypnotist may become an object of hatred. Discussing this matter, long-time psychiatric specialist, Dr. E. S. Dean of San Francisco, California, among other things, stated: "That the hypnotist should ultimately become the object of his subject's hostility—covert or overt—seems understandable in view of the fact that people have a natural resentment to domination and power. The hypnotic relationship seems to me to be a power relationship. Compliance with suggestion seems a submission to the will of another. Much modern theorizing about hypnosis ignores this point of view. But I feel that it is valid, and that it helps account for the adverse reactions to hypnosis. I suggest that hypnotic treatment depends for its efficiency upon an induced neurosis," or neurotic state, "and that the hypnotic state is in itself a condition of stress."*
Illustrating the point he was making, Dr. Dean told of a young psychiatrist who used hypnosis to aid his wife to master a difficult piece of music and who, with the aid of hypnosis, did even better than was expected. But, he goes on to say, "his wife, after the experience, seemed somewhat less enthusiastic about this learning method. When he congratulated her on her accomplishment, she gave him a look of hatred and said, 'I did it just for you.'"
This understanding of the nature of hypnosis appears to be corroborated by the roles that prestige and confidence play in the therapeutic use of hypnosis. According to one veteran obstetrician who uses hypnosis, among the greatest assets are prestige, confidence and experience. However, that this is not altogether in the favor of the patient appears from his observation that under hypnosis "there seems to be an overdependency upon the obstetrician in [childbirth] labor."—Obstetrics and Gynecology, August 1960.
Since hypnosis is a power relationship, it represents a loss of freedom rather than a gaining of strength. As one authority puts it: "Notwithstanding the present-day renaissance of hypnotism as a therapeutic agent, many psychiatrists throughout the world regard it as an exceedingly dangerous two-edged sword. . . . Hypnosis is basically wrong, as a method of strengthening the intellect, educating the will, or unifying the personality, in that it leads its victims to depend more and more on the operator." It "necessitates the surrender of the mind and will in a peculiar way to the influence of another personality.
I regard these proceedings as in the highest degree subversive to individual strength and stamina of character . . . The removal of disease symptoms by hypnotism is usually transient—not in any sense curative."—The Practice of Psychiatry, William S. Sadler (1953).
Leading authorities condemn self-hypnosis even more strongly. Thus Dr. Harold Rosen, head of the American Medical Association's committee on hypnosis, states that self-hypnosis, when investigated, "frequently turns out to be a desire to . . . indulge in fantasied or actual acting out of a type [of conduct] not otherwise allowable to the individual," and of which he afterward has no recollection. "Unfortunately, there is little in the whole field of psychodynamics, with so great a potential for harm" as self-hypnosis.
In fact, it is not even safe to be in an audience where stunts are performed by hypnotists on the stage. According to Dr. S. J. Van Pelt, president of the British Society of Medical Hypnotists, "Even members of the audience watching exhibitions of stage hypnosis can be influenced," and that so unfavorably as to require psychiatric treatment.
From the ever-increasing use of hypnosis by the medical profession and others it appears to be producing some results desired by both hypnotists and their subjects. But how safe is it in view of its elusive and unpredictable nature and its power to distort the truth? Even if both the hypnotist and his subject are emotionally mature and morally strong, the treatment when used to get rid of a bad habit undermines the strength of the subject to meet future problems of life. And certainly its frequent associations with psychic phenomena or spiritistic power make it something that Christians in particular do well to avoid.
THE Swedish [State] Church not functioning." "Baptism on classical ground sharply declining. Seventeen thousand less than in 1935. Not a single baptismal act performed in 400 congregations in 1962." "The Pentecost revivalism gives evidence of stagnation." "The membership of the Methodist Church is on the decline, as is the case nowadays with all the free religious communities in Sweden." These are some
BY "AWAKE!" CORRESPONDENT IN SWEDEN
of the headings and bits of information that have appeared in the Swedish press lately. The tendency is obvious. The memberships of the religious denominations are decreasing. Religion in Sweden is definitely on the decline.
The religious leaders are truly alarmed because of the increase of godlessness in Sweden, where no efforts are being made by the government to dechristianize the people. Dean Gustaf Adolf Dannell of Växjö recently said in a speech that appeared in the Aftonbladet of June 25, 1964: "In Soviet Russia there are experts of godlessness who organize the dechristianizing. Such experts have visited our country. With envy they have returned home and declared that the dechristianizing here is ahead of any part of the Soviet Union. How will our godless country be able to withstand the advance of communism?"
Some denominations are seeing fewer and fewer young people in their congregations. On this Svenska Daybladet of June 11, 1964, observed: "Well over 10,000 of the about 30,000 members of the Baptist Church are over 65 years. Only 3 percent are under 18 years." With good reason Carl Wannberg, head of the Baptist district of Medelpad, remarked: "We look to the future with a certain amount of alarm, but what sustains us is the hope of a new revival." But the revival shows no evidence of coming.
The shrinking congregations that cannot cope with their economic problems and with members moving to places where their own denomination is not represented have become involved in what is called "associate membership." This means that a member of a certain denomination can, without forsaking this membership, join another denomination. It has even happened that one Baptist congregation has accepted unbaptized persons. Within the Methodist Church associate members can be elected to the congregation board of directors and make up one-third of its members.
Many persons are now of the opinion that the time has come for the denominations to merge, and they are striving toward that end. But the personal differences appear to be too great, especially among the leaders. For that reason other persons are concluding-with a sigh that there do not seem to be any interfaith winds blowing over the Free Church activities in Sweden at present.
When the present rate of membership decline is projected to 1980, the picture becomes very gloomy for Swedish religious leaders. It has been estimated that the National Evangelical Missionary Society will drop from its present 40,000 members to 22,500. The Mission Covenant Church of Sweden, which now has 93,637 members, will drop to 52,250. The Baptist Church will sag from 30,000 to 15,800, and the Methodist Church will have only 3,650 members.
A Number of Reasons for Decline
Pinpointing one of the reasons for the religious decline in Sweden, David Hedegård, Th.D., said: "There is a lack of spiritual leadership in our time. In truth we need to pray that God might raise up shepherds and spiritual guides agreeable to his heart!" (For biblisk tro, No. 2, 1964) As regards the State Church, discussion constantly centers on the lack of clergymen, which shortage the church must try to combat by provisory arrangements. Students that choose the ecclesiastical career are fewer and fewer. Within the Free Churches the shortage of pastors is becoming more and more evident. Quite a number of pastors and religious leaders abandon their vocations and take up secular occupations. At the recent annual conference of the pastors' national alliance of the Mission Covenant Church of Sweden, this very problem was discussed. To the conference, Pastor Olofsgård of Vällingby remarked: "Why is the vocation as pastors being abandoned? Is the lack of success in the Free Church the answer? The work is looked upon as something burdensome and trying."
The kind of preaching being done in churches and chapels must also be held responsible for the decline of the religious denominations. Some years ago State Church Bishop John Cullberg pointed out
that the preaching of the clergy "is over their listeners' heads." Obviously, such preaching could never incite people to action, much less attract them to religion.
What, then, about spiritual food within the Free Churches? Lack of it is still another reason for the decline. According to a writer in one of the journals of the Mission Covenant Church, Svensk Veckotidning of May 19, 1961, young people are offered hot dogs instead of spiritual nourishment. "The youth is coming! That was the big slogan at the time of the reorganization of our work among the young people. . . Build new churches! . . Make the Church appealing to youth! . . Out with the pulpit from the youth centers and in with the ping-pong table instead. . . Buy up double the amount of hot dogs and Coca-Cola, and youth will come." Pointing out the result of this church reception for the young people, the same writer went on to say: "The youths go away from us with the taste of hot dogs in their mouths and a spot of Coca-Cola on their blouses, but with empty hearts." With churches attempting to attract young people by means of material pleasures, is it any wonder that young people are few in number in their congregations?
The fact that religious instruction is not so well cared for was evident from discussions at the ecumenical conference held at Sigtuna in October of 1962. Approximately thirty representatives of the State Church and the "free" religious denominations were invited to attend the conference. It was pointed out there that Bible knowledge is decreasing while general knowledge is on the increase. In an effort to combat this, it was decided to have the Pedagogical Institute of Religion prepare a popular Bible commentary because "the existing Bible commentaries in Swedish, German and English," it was said, "are chiefly designed for scientific use and are too extensive."
So reported Evensaku Dagbladet of October 16, 1962.
What a shocking discovery! Although the message of what is popularly regarded as Christianity had been preached in Sweden for more than 1,000 years, there did not exist the most elementary printed aids to propagate it. Has time stood still on this point as far as the religious denominations are concerned?
Faith cannot be built up when wholesome spiritual instruction is weak. Instead, it contributes to a lack of faith. A few years ago Dean Gustaf Adolf Danell of Växjö observed: "We have reached the point in the Church where Christianity may look just any old way. It is the plous relativism that is being honored, namely, the thesis that nothing is quite true." (Svenska Dagbladet, September 29, 1958) Also pointing out the spiritual weakness of the church, Curate Caspar Persson of Varberg made this remark: "The effort has been made to establish a Church for the people that will be roomier and better, and where each one has the right to believe in his own way. But this is a church of dilapidation that does not know what it can or will do, daring nothing nor knowing whom she is serving." (Svenska Dagbladet, March 11, 1963) Such lack of spiritual direction on the part of the church, which is supposed to be the shepherd of the people, contributes to the apathy of the people and to their declining interest in religion.
Faulty Pastoral Care
One thing that evidently underlies the decay of religious organizations in Sweden is the fact that no real contact is maintained by them with their people. The churches are generally empty during the services. According to some reports, Baptist members seem to become lost from their denomination when moving from one district to another. Now, what would Jesus have done under such circumstances? He showed what he would do by an illustration that he gave regarding lost sheep. In it he showed that a man will leave his flock and search for the lost sheep. Do the Swedish clergy do this? The evidence shows that they do not. Note what Vicar Anders Frostenson said, as reported in the Stockholms-Tiäningen of December 31, 1948:
"In the law of the Church it is stated that the vicar should 'visit his listeners, one house after the other.' This is taken from a paragraph from 1686, but is still today the existing law of the Church. Efforts have been made to assert that it should be considered out of date. For what reason? What is noteworthy is the fact that it is stated in an ordinance of law from a time, when all, to fulfill their obligations to the Church, were charged with the responsibility of attending the divine services, and when the clergyman, without even having to put himself to any trouble by going from house to house, could tell all his parishioners what he had on his mind. Long before the expression 'people's church' was coined, the idea of such a church was practiced in our country. Then no one could feel satisfied by merely talking about church bells that were calling one and all. The clergyman went to everybody. Nowadays he often wanders, not from one house to the other, but—instead, by following the doubtful tradition of a more modern age—from one club to another, from one committee meeting to another, everywhere where he has a chance to avoid meeting the individual man."
Jesus Christ did not act in such a way when he walked this earth. He mingled with the people in their towns and villages, preaching to them in groups as well as individually.
"He went journeying from city to city and from village to village, preaching and declaring the good news of the kingdom of God. And the twelve were with him." (Luke 8:1) But the Swedish clergy are too busy with politics and other worldly pursuits to follow Jesus' example of walking among the common people to teach them.
What would be the result if a group of people had to work hard day in and day out without food, care, supervision and guidance and without a proper example set for them by their leaders? It would be disastrous for them. A decrease in their numbers would not be surprising. Is this not the reason why religion in Sweden is declining? Are not the people there being starved spiritually by their religious leaders who fail to give them spiritual food, care, supervision and guidance and to set a Christian example for them? Is it any wonder that some persons will not have anything more to do with religion because of what they have seen?
A Religion That Is Not Declining
We are not to conclude from the evidence of religious decline in Sweden that God has not raised up shepherds and spiritual guides there that are agreeable to his heart. He has raised up a great number of people who are feeding those who are spiritually hungry with wholesome spiritual food. They are giving people the spiritual guidance that is so badly needed by them, and this is being done in the manner Jesus showed by going to the people, talking with them individually and in groups, teaching them the upbuilding truths of the Scriptures and showing them how they can be active participants in Christianity.
continue to grow in numbers. In 1964 Jehovah's witnesses in Sweden had a 3percent increase in numbers despite the general religious apathy of the people.
Home Bible studies are one of the effective teaching methods used by them. Nearly 6,000 of such studies were regularly conducted in Sweden in 1964 and worldwide there were well over 700,000 conducted each week with people interested in God's Word of truth. The value of such studies was recognized by university lecturer Berndt Gustafsson. As quoted by Svenska Dagbladet of June 11, 1964, he said, regarding the conventicle or Bible study in small groups: "The conventicle was a form of association in the nineteenth century, and I believe in its return." Jehovah's witnesses never discontinued it, to make a return of it necessary. Many Swedish people are responding to their invitation to attend these free Bible studies, and those that do are having their weakened faith strengthened.
Among these Witnesses for the true God there is no evidence of stagnation and no sign of decrease. Year after year they
True to a prophecy written long ago, there is a spiritual famine in Sweden as there is in other countries of the world where religious leaders have failed to follow the footsteps of Christ. This is the major reason for the decline of religion in Sweden. Despite the spiritual famine, Jehovah's faithful witnesses are spiritually well fed and are helping others to be spiritually nourished. What the prophet Isaiah long ago recorded well describes the situation: "Therefore this is what the Lord Jehovah has said: 'Look! My own servants will eat, but you yourselves will go hungry. Look! My own servants will drink, but you yourselves will go thirsty. Look! My own servants will rejoice, but you yourselves will suffer shame. Look! My own servants will cry out joyfully because of the good condition of the heart.'"—Isa. 65:13, 14.
By "Awakel" correspondent in Ghana
THE very word "snakes" makes many people recoll in horror. Yet, despite this usual reaction, people are interested in them. Anyone that has visited a zoo well knows that the snake house is among the zoo's most popular exhibits. I well remember my introduction to snakes.
One morning a friend placed a large bundle on the corner of my desk. I glanced at it and assumed that someone had made a gift of oranges wrapped in a kerchief. I was about to express appreciation for it when the "kerchief" slowly began to unwind. Transfixed by a pair of beady eyes peering from the middle of the bundle, I found myself face to face with a royal python. Its odd habit of rolling into a tight ball has earned for it in Sierra Leone the nickname "shame snake." It gave me little comfort to be told that a royal python makes an excellent pet and will not bite. I did not stay at my desk long enough for the snake to provide a show of affection. This encounter with a snake started me thinking. Why do most people have a fear of snakes? What are snakes really like? Are all of them deserving of such fear?
General
Characteristics
Like the entire reptile family, snakes have a number of characteristics that set them apart from other animals. For one thing, they are covered with a hard, dry skin, which can be almost satinsmooth or as rough to the
touch as coarse sandpaper. Usually the skin is divided into scales or shields in a regular pattern. Their skin patterns, number of scales and size are the means by which herpetologists (those who make a study of reptiles) identify them. Too often they defy classification by skin color alone.
Another interesting characteristic of many snakes is air sacs in their body. Some snakes spend a great amount of time in water, swimming under the surface. What enables them to stay under water for long periods of time are air sacs. They breathe air into lungs as we do, but they also are able to store air in these sacs for future use. It is not uncommon for fishermen in Ghana to catch live pythons in their underwater fish traps.
Still another characteristic is that they reproduce by means of eggs. Some lay eggs that hatch later, while others retain the eggs inside their bodies until they are ready to hatch. The young closely resemble their parents in everything but size and sometimes color. When they are hatched they are fully equipped to fend for themselves and usually are independent of their parents.
Poisonous or Nonpoisonous
Being unable to tell whether a snake is poisonous or not, many persons judge all snakes as being harmful and stay away from them. In some areas of the world that is probably a safe rule to follow. Of the nearly 3,000 kinds of snakes in existence, approximately 600 are poisonous, but only a small number of these are fatally poisonous to man. All snakes that have fangs in addition to teeth can be venomous, some much more so than others. Such snakes as those of the cobra-mamba family are extremely dangerous to man.
Unlike cobras and mambas, whose fangs are always in position for injecting poison, vipers have fangs that fold back along the roof of the mouth when the mouth is closed. When they are in the act of striking or biting, the fangs swing down into position. Usually their fangs are long and extremely sharp.
The fangs of the back-fanged snakes are small and located in back of the teeth of the upper jaw. Only when they are able to get a full bite can they insert their fangs and inflict a serious wound. Except for the boomslang snake of South Africa, these snakes are not regarded as being dangerous to man. Snakes without fangs are harmless to man from the standpoint of injecting poison into him, although some might be dangerous as constrictors. This group includes the huge pythons and boas as well as the bewildering variety of small snakes.
Possibly the most prominent of the many kinds of nonpoisonous snakes are those belonging to the python family. Among them are the longest snakes in the world. It appears from authentic records and conservative estimates that the anaconda of South America takes top honors. It can attain a length of thirty-seven feet. For the sake of comparison, that is nearly the height of a four-story building. Some
snake! An authentic record from the Ivory Coast in Africa tells of a thirty-two-foot, eight-inch African python that was caught in 1932. The reticulated python of Malaysia lays claim to being of similiar length.
Snake Food
The menu of snakes is just about as varied as they are. Anything from ant eggs and insects to grazing animals come within their diet. Some are not particularly fussy about what they eat and will become cannibalistic if opportunity affords. In fact, the king cobra makes a diet of other snakes.
Some snakes prefer the eggs of birds. This was dramatically shown to a group of Ghanaian boys who had captured some wild doves. They put the doves in a cage that was fastened to the side of their house. The following morning when they looked into the cage, they were startled to find a snake curled up on the floor. It had not touched the doves but was patiently waiting for the inevitable—fresh eggs. This was a snake with a discriminating taste, preferring eggs to doves, and it is well equipped to handle eggs.
Although an egg-eating snake has few teeth, it does have a small series of enamel-tipped bony projections that extend from its backbone just in front of its gullet. When an egg comes in contact with these projections, it is quickly broken, releasing its contents down the snake's throat. The crushed and empty eggshell is spat out.
Snakes are often credited with eating meals that are beyond their physical capabilities. While it is true that the loosely joined jaw of a snake makes it possible to swallow a meal several times the diameter of its head, there are limits to what a snake can pull into its gullet.
There are, in fact, many misunderstandings about snakes that can be attributed to ignorance about them. There are some persons, for example, who believe there is a snake that takes its tail into its mouth and rolls along like a wheel.
Others tell of snakes that fly, that sting with their tails or that can turn into several snakes when cut into pieces. These are stories that are unsupported by facts.
It is true that there is a species of snake that lives mainly in trees and that can glide from a tree to the ground by flattening its body, but this is not genuine flight. Some snakes have a pointed ter-
out having been bitten. The snakes merely hissed at them ominously. Despite their laziness, it is best to avoid them.
If you are ever in territory that is inhabited by cobras and mambas, be alert to stay far from them. They are among the most poisonous serpents in the world. From this family comes the famous "spitting cobra." Because of an unusual ability to spray a fine jet of venom into the eyes of an unsuspecting intruder, it is an
mination to their tails, but none are capable of stinging. Snakelike lizards that drop their tails when attacked might be the basis of the story about a snake turning into more snakes when cut into pieces. Some of these limbless lizards have tails that make up more than half their length, and the tail can break off and keep wriggling for a while by itself, distracting an attacker long enough for the owner of the tail to scamper off into a secure hiding place.
exceedingly dangerous snake. The venom must be washed out as quickly as possible. Venom sprayed on a man's freshly shaved face can cause sickness, and if it finds its way into cuts on the skin, he is in grave danger. This cobra is credited with a good aim at several feet and is a formidable enemy if cornered.
Most bites from snakes occur on the lower limbs, especially on the feet and ankles. It was found that 54 percent of 281 bites that were recorded on one occasion were on the legs and feet, 42 percent
Danger from Snakebite
Fear of being bitten is possibly the greatest fear people have of snakes. This fear compounds the danger from the bite itself. People who have been bitten by nonpoisonous snakes have been known to collapse just from fright. Keep in mind that the average person is in more danger from cars, bicycles and other commonly accepted vehicles than from being bitten by a dangerous snake. Nevertheless, it is good to be acquainted with the dangers of snakebite and with what can be done.
on the arms and 6 percent on other parts of the body. Commenting on these figures, J. R. Kinghorn in The Snaken of Australia said: "The majority of those [bites] inflicted on the arms was mainly the result of putting arms into hollow logs and rabbit burrows, and picking up wood without looking."
Since most snakebites are received on the feet and lower limbs, it is a good practice to wear shoes or boots and heavy long trousers when in forest areas that harbor dangerous snakes. If tree-loving
One of the biggest poisonous snakes in Africa is the gaboon viper. It is a powerful, heavy snake that can inflict a severe wound. One that is about five feet long can have fangs that are up to two inches long and a large amount of venom. Fortunately, this snake is rather placid and is inclined to be lazy. Native hunters have stepped on gaboon vipers accidentally with-
snakes, such as the mambas, are in the area, a hat will help to give protection. Certainly a person should constantly be alert for snakes when in areas where they are known to exist.
There is the case of a Ghanaian woman who put herself in danger by not looking for snakes before sitting down. She placed a low stool on the ground one day to sit on while shelling cocoa pods.
Leaving it there overnight, she returned to her work the next day and sat on the stool without first looking under it. She worked there all day, never dreaming that she was sitting within inches of a deadly carpet viper. Fortunately this viper is active mostly at night, preferring to sleep during the day. On removing the stool at the end of the day, she discovered the snake lying underneath it. Not everyone that sits that close to a poisonous snake can escape injury as she did. In areas where there are snakes, a person should always look first before he sits down or places his hand on something.
Since it is difficult for an uninformed person to determine from appearance alone which snakes are harmless and which are poisonous, it is best to assume that all are dangerous until one becomes better informed. Even when a snake is dead, it can still be dangerous if a bare finger is put into its mouth. A scratch from poison-conducting fangs can put poison into a person's body, for the poison remains potent long after the death of the snake.
Treatment of Snakebite
In the event of a snakebite, a person should be given treatment on the spot, followed by professional medical attention later. Fang punctures are usually good evidence that the snake is poisonous. A big mistake would be to run frantically away. That would cause the poison to circulate quickly through the body. Instead, a person should remain quiet and proceed to remove as much poison as possible from the wound.
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