Awake!, February 8, 1967
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For Whom Do You Pray?
The Church in Commercial Business
Ten Thousand Miles on a Raft
How Dangerous Are Tumors?
FEBRUARY 8, 1967
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. "Awake!" 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.
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CONTENTS
Taking Refuge in a Lie 3
For Whom Do You Pray? 5
The Church in Commercial Business 9
Ten Thousand Miles on a Raft 13
How Dangerous Are Tumors? 16
The One-Package Home 21
Teen-Agers Reflect Moral Breakdown 23
Italy's Devastating Floods 24
A Book for Your Trip 20
"Your Word Is Truth"
Is Hell Hot? 27
Watching the World
TAKING REFUGE IN A LIE
THE need for a refuge in this time of mounting world troubles is something that is agreed upon by men of all kinds. Some think that money alone furnishes adequate protection, despite the fact that wealth attracts thieves and the further fact that material possessions can deteriorate in value so suddenly. Others believe that membership in some religious group will prove to be a safeguard, even though these organizations often seek safety, not in God or in Christ, but in political alliances and military might.
When clergymen support and advocate trusting in the United Nations organization, hailing it as mankind's "last hope for peace," are they proving that they are on the side of the truth, or are they taking refuge in something that will never be able to accomplish what is claimed for it? Are they taking refuge in a lie? It is a question worth investigating, for lives may well be in the balance.
balance, Judah reached a stage when it would decide in favor of the strongest power, Egypt or Assyria, whichever they thought was stronger. Jerusalem appealed first to Assyria and, finally, when that failed, Jerusalem took refuge in Egypt and concealed herself behind Egypt's armed might. When the feared enemies, the Babylonian besiegers, once withdrew because Pharaoh's army was approaching, the pro-Egyptian rulers felt sure that they had a safe refuge to which the enemy could never get. But what happened?
In these troubled times we can learn a lesson from what happened in the eighth century B.C.E. when the rulers and priests of Jerusalem claimed they had assured themselves of a refuge from disaster. Judah had turned from Jehovah God their Deliverer to political alliances. Thrown off
To those rulers and priests of Jerusalem, God's prophet declared: "Because you men have said: 'We have concluded a covenant with Death; . . . the overflowing flash flood, in case it should pass through, will not come to us, for we have made a lie our refuge and in falsehood we have concealed ourselves'; therefore this is what the Lord Jehovah has said: ' . . . the hail must sweep away. the refuge of a lie.'" —Isa. 28:15-17.
So those rulers of Jerusalem made a lie their refuge by trusting in a political alliance that could not and did not save them from their enemies. Their "refuge of a lie" was swept away when the Babylonian conquerors desolated Jerusalem in 607 B.C.E.
Is there not a similar situation today? Christendom professes to serve God and to teach his Word, the Bible. But now that we have reached the "last days" of this system of things and mankind stands face to face with God's war of Armageddon, where has Christendom turned for refuge? The facts show that Christendom proposed and took refuge in the League of Nations from 1919 to 1939. Clergymen called the League of Nations "the political expression of the kingdom of God on earth." But those same clergymen could have read in the Bible what the psalmist David wrote: "God is a refuge for us. Indeed . . . the sons of mankind are a lie." (Ps. 62: 8, 9) These inspired words stress the fact that, in the great matters of life, if we depend on men, pin our hope and trust on men rather than God, we will find mankind a "lie," a false refuge.
Even some influential men have realized that trusting in political institutions as a guarantee against war can be taking refuge in a lie. In fact, one who had been in the service of the League of Nations for eleven years reached the conclusion that "we were enacting a gigantic lie, and the real motives of the Governments . . . were quite different from their public explanations of their conduct at Geneva."—The Christian Paradox, Cyril Scott, p. 102.
If that is true concerning the League of Nations, what about the United Nations? If those taking part in the League of Nations were enacting "a gigantic lie," is it different today? Is the U.N. living up to what clergymen have hailed it as—"the last hope"? Does it really represent united nations, as its name declares? Since World War II it is evident there have been hot and cold wars across the world, and these between members of the U.N. In fact, the first secretary-general of the
U.N., Trygve Lie, said he had "the most impossible job in the world." (Newsweek, October 3, 1966) Recently U.N. Secretary-General U Thant declined to offer himself for a second term, stressing his frustrations and fears. Later he agreed to take office again. "Today it seems to me," he wrote, "that the pressure of events is remorselessly leading towards a major war, while efforts to reverse that trend are lagging disastrously behind." (New York Times, September 2, 1966) Is the U.N. living up to what the clergy expected it to be for mankind? Is the U.N. what you want for a refuge?
Where, then, can one find a refuge? In God, said the psalmist David. Further, the apostle Paul held out this hope based on the Word of God: "The Son of God, Christ Jesus, . . . did not become Yes and yet No, but Yes has become Yes in his case. For no matter how many the promises of God are, they have become Yes by means of him."—2 Cor. 1:19, 20.
It is Jesus Christ who makes God's promise of a righteous New Order free from war assured of fulfillment. There is no uncertainty about it; he is not "Yes and yet No." In fact, no matter how many the promises of God or how difficult they appear to be, they become Yes by means of Jesus Christ, God's King! Thus an apostle of Jesus Christ, at 1 Peter 2:6, quoted from Isaiah 28:16, right after the part about the rulers of Jerusalem who put their trust in a lie, and directed us to a genuine refuge: "Look! I am laying in Zion a stone [Christ Jesus], chosen, a foundation cornerstone, precious; and no one exercising faith in it will by any means come to disappointment."
With "the war of the great day of God the Almighty" impending,why trust in a refuge,such as the U.N.,that cannot prove trustworthy? Mankind's only hope for permanent peace is God's heavenly kingdom.
For Whom Do You Pray?
of all, those of his heavenly Father. He also prayed concerning fellow humans; and not merely for people in general, but for particular persons, and concerning their individual needs. For example, when Jesus fore-saw the trials of faith facing his apostle Peter, he prayed that God would help Peter. As he told Peter: "I have made supplication for you that your faith may not give out."—Luke 22:32.
This concern for others is highlighted in the longest prayer of Jesus that is recorded in the Bible. In it he prayed regarding his disciples: "I make request concerning them; I make request, not concerning the world, but concerning those you have given me . . . Holy Father, watch over them on account of your own name . . . I make request, not concerning these only, but also concerning those putting faith in me through their word; in order that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in union with me and I am in union with you, that they also may be in union with us." —John 17:1-26.
For others besides yourself? What are appropriate things to pray in behalf of others?
Jesus Christ set the perfect example in doing this. More than any other human who ever lived, he had the interests of others at heart. First
FATHER is happy to see his children show
unselfish concern for others. It makes his heart glad that they think of ones besides themselves; it is evidence that they are maturing, growing up. Similarly, our heavenly Father is pleased when we are interested in the welfare of others. Especially is he glad when our concern is sufficient to move us unselfishly to pray in behalf of others.
Do your prayers show as much concern with the interests of others? Do you have the welfare of others so much at heart that it is something you regularly speak to God about? Or do you pray only for yourself and for personal interests? You have perhaps
noticed that there is a tendency for humans to think first of themselves, even in their prayers to God.
Prayers for Yourself
This raises the questions: Is it selfish to pray in behalf of yourself? Will God listen to and answer such prayers? What determines whether he will or not?
In a model prayer that Jesus taught his disciples, he showed that personal requests for daily needs are quite proper. (Luke 11:1-4) However, many requests besides those for daily necessities are also shown in the Bible to be acceptable. Jesus himself requested: "Father, glorify me alongside yourself with the glory that I had alongside you before the world was." This personal petition was not presumptuous or selfish, for it was in harmony with the reward God had promised Jesus for accomplishing His work on earth.—John 17:5.
The same can be said of King Solomon's prayer for discernment and wisdom, so as to judge God's people properly.
Although a personal request, it was made with the interests of God and his people at heart. It was not made for a wrong purpose, nor was it out of harmony with God's will. This is a vital requirement for prayers to be acceptable.—1 Ki. 3:5-14; Jas. 4:3.
Often, however, it is difficult for humans to know what God's will is on matters. The apostle Paul, for example, prayed several times to be relieved of a "thorn in the flesh," believed by many to have been poor eyesight. Although Paul's personal request was made with a proper motive, to enable him to serve better as God's minister, God realized that greater good would be accomplished if this "thorn" was not removed. Because Paul was afflicted with this weakness, God's power would be made even more manifest to those to whom Paul ministered, and Paul himself would be taught by it to rely on God's strength and not his own.—2 Cor. 12: 7-10.
Clearly, then, it is not selfish to pray for oneself, for even Jesus Christ and the apostle Paul did. But in our requests we need to realize that the carrying out of God's will is of primary importance. It comes first. We also need to appreciate, as was impressed on Paul, that God knows what is best for his servants, even better than they themselves know. This will prevent us from being stumbled if our prayers seemingly go unanswered.
Evidence of Christian Maturity
However, if prayers are said only for oneself, it evidences a lack of maturity. A mature person thinks of the interests of others too. First of all, he comes to appreciate his Creator. Consider all the fine things God has provided to make life pleasant—delicious foods to delight the senses, air to breathe, glorious sunsets, snow-capped mountains, green valleys, rushing
rivers, colorful flowers. How manifold are the works of God! A mature, appreciative person thanks Him for such provisions.
Jesus Christ showed the place that God should have in our petitions when he provided his disciples the model prayer. In it God and his interests are featured. Placed first is the sanctifying of God's maligned name. The next request is for His kingdom, which will vindicate God as man's rightful ruler by destroying all wickedness and ushering in righteous conditions. After that is the request for God's will to be done on earth as it is in heaven. A mature Christian who truly loves his Creator regularly prays for these things. With all his heart he desires their early fulfillment.—Matt. 6:9, 10.
However, besides being concerned with God and his interests, one should also demonstrate similar loving concern for fellow humans. This can be done by regularly praying in their behalf, just as Jesus uttered prayers for Peter and for all his disciples. But are such prayers really effective? Does God answer them?
Value of Prayers Said for Others
It becomes apparent that they really are of value. Was not Peter benefited by Jesus' petitions to God in his behalf? Most assuredly! For Peter was recovered from his error and went on to become a real support to others. (Luke 22:32) And were not Jesus' prayers for God to watch over and care for his followers answered? Yes, indeed! For only with God's blessing could the early Christian congregation have grown and prospered in the face of such adversity.—John 17:9-11, 20-23.
The close bond that existed among early Christians and the effectiveness of their prayers is indicated by what occurred when Herod Agrippa arrested Peter for preaching. The Bible account says: "Consequently Peter was being kept in the prison; but prayer to God for him was being carried on intensely by the congregation."
God listened to these petitions. They carried weight with him. He was happy that his children manifested such unselfish concern for a companion. So what did He do? Why, God sent an angel and miraculously released Peter from prison!—Acts 12:3-17.
The apostle Paul also deeply appreciated the value of prayers of others, and so repeatedly asked for them. In his first letter to the Thessalonians he requested: "Brothers, continue in prayer for us." (1 Thess. 5:25) In his second letter: "Brothers, carry on prayer for us." (2 Thess. 3:1) He wrote the Colossians: "Be persevering in prayer . . . at the same time praying also for us." (Col. 4:2, 3) To the Romans he said: "Exert yourselves with me in prayers to God for me." (Rom. 15:30) He requested the Hebrew Christians: "Carry on prayer for us." (Heb. 13:18) Acknowledging the value of their prayers, he told the Corinthians: "You also can help along by your supplication for us."—2 Cor. 1:11.
In his letter to Philemon of the congregation of Colossae, Paul expressed high hopes in connection with their prayers: "I am hoping that through the prayers of you people I shall be set at liberty for you." (Philem. 22) That he was soon after released indicates the effectiveness of the many prayers said in his behalf. It is certainly a truth: "A righteous man's supplication, when it is at work, has much force."—Jas. 5:16.
What to Pray in Behalf of Others
he pray for such things in behalf of others?
But in our prayers for others, what should we properly request? That they become wealthy materially? Or that they obtain worldly prominence? Were those the types of prayer that the apostle Paul requested be said in his behalf? And did
No, for the apostle Paul kept in mind what would be of benefit to himself and others spiritually, what would be of value in being a better servant of Jehovah God. These are the things that we, too, should request in behalf of others. Our love for them should cause us to think of their everlasting welfare, their obtaining the prize of eternal life in God's righteous new system of things.
Note how Paul prayed regarding such matters in connection with the Thessalonian Christians. You may recall that he had spent only a very short time preaching in Thessalonica, apparently only a few weeks, but, nevertheless, he established a Christian congregation there before mob action forced him to leave. (Acts 17:1-10) How Paul missed these new members of the Christian faith! How he longed to visit them! He wrote them: "Night and day we make more than extraordinary supplications to see your faces." (1 Thess. 2:18; 3:10) In a second letter, written soon after the first, he said: "We always pray for you, that our God may count you worthy of his calling."—2 Thess. 1:11.
Perhaps you, too, are helping others to learn about the Christian faith. If so, do you regularly pray that they may prove worthy of God's favor and his reward of eternal life? Paul's love for the Thessalonians moved him to pray regularly for this in their behalf. In fact, he so earnestly wanted to make a return visit on them that he prayed night and day to see their faces. Do you offer similar prayers in connection with persons upon whom you are making return visits to share spiritual things? Certainly this is a fitting matter for prayer.
Is it not true that you have loved ones for whom you care very deeply? Should they suffer some reversal or come into dire straits, it is only natural that you would pray to God in their behalf, requesting that he comfort and help them.
But what if they should be prospering and are in no particular danger or material need? Do you still pray for them? Paul prayed for such persons. Note what he requested concerning his beloved Corinthian brothers, who apparently were quite well off materially: "Now we pray to God that you may do nothing wrong . . . but that you may be doing what is fine."—2 Cor. 13:7.
What an appropriate thing for which to pray! That your dear ones "may do nothing wrong" but that they "may be doing what is fine." As parents, do you often render to God such prayers in behalf of your children? Would it not be fitting to do so? However, then it would only be proper that you work in harmony with your prayers by regularly inculcating within your children a love for God's righteous laws.
Prayers for Nonacquaintances
But should prayers for others be limited to loved ones or those with whom you are personally acquainted? Not if you have the true spirit of Christianity. Remember that Christ even prayed in behalf of those yet to put faith in him as a result of his disciples' preaching. (John 17:20) And when the apostle Paul learned about the faith and love of those in Colossae, persons whom he apparently had never visited, he was moved to write them a warm letter of encouragement. Observe what he said:
"That is also why we, from the day we heard of it [their 'love in a spiritual way'], have not ceased praying for you and asking that you may be filled with the accurate knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual discernment, in order to walk
worthily of Jehovah to the end of fully pleasing him as you go on bearing fruit in every good work."—Col. 1:9, 10.
How concerned Paul was for the Colossians, even though he apparently was not acquainted with them personally! Why, he never ceased praying for them; and note how specific and meaningful his prayers were. Yes, Paul desired that the Colossians gain God's favor and everlasting life. Do you render similar prayers to God in behalf of ones you may not even know personally?
Would you go even farther than that, and pray for persons who were trying to hurt or kill you? Jesus encouraged his followers to pray for even these, saying: "Continue to love your enemies and to pray for those persecuting you." (Matt. 5:44) Jesus did. Concerning those who nailed him to the torture stake he prayed: "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing." (Luke 23:34) The faithful disciple Stephen did also. When religious fanatics surrounded and started stoning him, Stephen cried out with a strong voice: "Jehovah, do not charge this sin against them." And after saying this he fell asleep in death.—Acts 7:58-60.
What a loving, abundant heart Stephen had! How happy he must be to associate in heaven with one of those who encouraged his stoning and for whom he prayed —Saul, who became the apostle Paul! God could see that Saul's heart was right, and so, in keeping with Stephen's prayer, called him to be his special representative. Acts 7:58; 8:1; 22:20.
Certainly it is of value to pray, not only for ourselves, but in behalf of others! Jehovah God is delighted to see in his servants unselfish concern for others, and he can indeed open the way to the answering of their prayers.
THE Church in COMMERCIAL BUSINESS
ligious organizations have become a big factor in helping them to care for their operating expenses and to build up financial reserves. However, these operations may raise serious questions in the mind of the churchgoer who hears repeated pleas from the pulpit for generous contributions and who receives numerous written requests for money through the mail. With good reason, it may be difficult for him to see why he should be a generous contributor to his church when it is amassing great wealth from business ventures.
Some of the financial achievements of the Vatican, for example, were publicized in 1965 by leading newspapers and news magazines. The British weekly magazine The Economist expressed belief that the Vatican is the world's largest shareholder in commercial
corporations, estimating that its portfolio amounts to about 5.6 billion. The New York Times of July 12, 1965, pointed out that in 1963 the Vatican received dividends from Italian companies that amounted to the lire equivalent of5,675,000. This, the paper observed, represented a portfolio of stocks in Italy alone of about $200 million.
Besides its own bank, of which it has 100 percent
ownership, news sources reported that the Vatican has financial interest in at least three Roman banks as well as a number of provincial banks and investment companies, interest in a spaghetti factory, an airline, a bus and streetcar company, companies that supply Italian cities with water and gas as well as telephone service, a movie concern, Italy's largest tourist agency, the country's biggest real estate company, besides such industries as steel, chemicals, cements, ceramics, construction, insurance, hotels and shipping. Outside Italy it is reported as having heavy investments in the industries of a number of countries, especially Great Britain, Switzerland and the United States. But the Roman Catholic Church is not the only religious organization that has substantial financial interest in commercial corporations.
The Church of England also has large holdings of securities. In 1963 the New York Times of November 3 reported that this church owned property, stocks and bonds that totaled more than $840 million. When there was a financial battle for control of the British Aluminum Company, it made a handsome profit by selling its holdings of 260,000 shares in the company.
A number of other religious organizations with large sums of money have likewise invested in the securities of commercial corporations, providing themselves with a regular income. Rather than letting their money remain idle, they are making it work for them. The income may help them to care for their operating expenses. This use of idle funds is a normal procedure for any organization, but when a church continues to pressure its members for money despite its large business income, it becomes evident that it functions, not primarily for the benefit of its members, but for its own enrichment.
Church-operated Businesses
In some instances church investment in a commercial corporation can become so extensive that the church gains controlling interest in the corporation, or it may even own a company outright. In either instance it becomes deeply involved in a business enterprise. For example, in 1954 the Seventh-day Adventist organization reported a net profit of $400,000 from its wholly church-owned, unfinished furniture business.
The Mormon Church owns a great number of commercial businesses. It is the owner of the shortwave radio station WRUL, located in New York city, which, it says, is the only commercial, independent station that broadcasts to the world. It also owns the radio and TV station KSL
in Salt Lake City as well as a 90-percent interest in the radio and TV station KIRO in Seattle. Besides these enterprises it owns the Beneficial Life Insurance Company, which has assets of more than $100 million, Salt Lake City's afternoon newspaper the Deseret News, most of the Utah-Idaho Sugar Company, a hotel, a motor lodge, an eight-story insurance company building in Salt Lake City, an eighteen-story office building in the same city, and a number of ranches. One ranch located in Florida consists of more than 300,000 acres. All these and other commercial businesses owned or partially owned by the Mormon Church provide it with a sizable income in addition to the tithes it regularly receives from its many members.
Some of the religious orders of the Roman Catholic Church also have chosen to operate commercial businesses. The Christian Brothers, for example, are deeply involved in the liquor business. This religious order owns the De La Salle Institute, which is a wine-making corporation. Christian Brothers wines and brandies are widely distributed and are well known to people in the liquor business. In fact, their brandy production is among the largest in the world.
Another Catholic order, the Benedictines, has an abbey in North Dakota that produces a brandy that sells by the brand name Assumption Abbey. This abbey also makes table and altar wines that are sold in the western part of the United States. In another abbey located in New York state, a group of Trappist monks are in the bread-making business. On a British island off the coast of Wales, members of the Cistercian order of Catholic monks are busily engaged in manufacturing perfume for the commercial market.
Investment of church money in cemeteries, hospitals and housing projects is still another source of financial income for church.
In some places the only hospital available to a community is one operated by a religious organization, so, understandably, communities are often glad to have these church investments. Nevertheless, definite problems are created when a church engages in competitive commercial business.
Competition and Tax Exemption
Small businessmen are not likely to be very happy when they must compete with a church-owned business. With its greater purchasing power, it can underprice them, and if it enjoys tax exemption on its business profits it has a great advantage over them. The president of a company in Ohio complained about a Roman Catholic university there that underbid him for a contract with the United States Air Force. The church-owned institution could do this because it did not pay taxes on its business profits, so the businessman claimed. Although the university's bid was $10,000 less than his, the government lost, he said, a larger amount in taxes that he would have had to pay if the contract had gone to him. Wherever a church succeeds in operating commercial businesses under the shelter of tax exemption, a strong feeling of anticlericalism is certain to develop among competing businessmen.
In 1956, when the United States Congress was being urged to change the tax law because certain Roman Catholic orders were operating businesses under the shelter of the tax exemption granted to religious organizations, one witness in the Congressional hearing stated: "We are certain that there are millions of dollars which are going to the benefit of religious organizations when they really belong in the coffers of the tax collector." One of those organizations was the Catholic order known as the Christian Brothers,
which had not been paying taxes on its liquor business. Finally, in 1961, it was ordered by the government to pay nearly $4,000,000 in taxes.
When federal and state governments grant tax exemption to religious organizations, those organizations have the right to apply for whatever exemptions are due them under the law. But when an organization tries to claim exemption for income not exempted in the tax law, it is doing an injustice to the public. During the time the Christian Brothers were fighting the effort to tax their liquor business, the organization entitled "Protestants and Other Americans United for Separation of Church and State" said: "If the Government should permit such a commercial liquor business to come under the tax umbrella of a church a fraud would be perpetrated on all the taxpayers."
Dangerous Situation
When a religious organization becomes deeply involved in commercial businesses it is inclined to modify its religious teaching to fit its commercial interests. Even the most dedicated men can find the power of money difficult to combat when large sums are involved. This danger to a church and its leaders was pointed out in the book The Church as Employer, Money Raiser and Investor by F. Ernest Johnson. It states: "To put it more bluntly, we are concerned that the church's necessary economic behavior shall not impair its function as moral critic of society." The Bible truthfully states that the "love of money is a root of all sorts of injurious things." 1 Tim. 6:10.
Another danger from religious organizations' amassing great wealth as a result of commercial businesses, especially when their business profits are tax exempt, is the disruption of the economic stability of a country.
Large amounts of a nation's wealth can get into the hands of these organizations. On this point the magazine Liberty, in its issue of September-October 1965, argued: "Unless something is done to prevent the growth of tax-exempt business income, there is no reason why some church or combination of churches should not someday own most of the commercial wealth in the United States." This conclusion may seem farfetched, but it actually has happened in more than one country.
In the early nineteenth century Mexico was faced with a situation in which most of the country's wealth was in the hands of the Roman Catholic Church and its religious orders. They owned more than half of the land that was in use. The book A History of Mexico by Henry Parkes states: "The Church, moreover, was a money-lending institution, owning at least two thirds of the capital in circulation. It gave loans to hacendados, and acquired mortgages on their estates. From rents and interest, and from tithes, fees and the sale of papal bulls, it enjoyed an enormous revenue; and since it was exempt from taxation, its holdings steadily increased."
In 1856 the Mexican government drafted a law, the Ley Lerdo, that forbade the Roman Catholic Church from owning land and ordered its property to be sold. The reaction to this law is described by Parkes: "The bishops and the generals were willing to plunge all Mexico into civil war rather than accept the Ley Juarez and Ley Lerdo." The war lasted three years and resulted in the Laws of Reform of July 1859, which ordered all ecclesiastical property except church buildings confiscated without compensation. To this very day religious organizations are not permitted to own property in Mexico.
As in Mexico so throughout Latin America, the Roman Catholic Church controlled a large percentage of the wealth during the days of the Spanish colonies. The history book The Growth and Culture of Latin America by Donald Worcester points out how the religious orders dominated commercial business. "Thousands of acres of the best agricultural land had come under their ownership, and while much of it was put to useful exploitation, it was effectively removed from the competitive market and worked under conditions of special privilege that placed the private owner at an ever-increasing disadvantage. Enjoying the benefits of tax exemption, the religious became the chief growers, slaughterers, and distributors of meat in Chile, and their activity in this commercial field was great in many parts of the viceroyalty. There was scarcely any economically profitable field of activity in which the orders did not engage."
Such history can repeat itself where religious organizations are heavily involved in business enterprises and do not pay taxes on their business profits. That a civil war could result when a political state dared to touch the material possessions of a church well illustrates the grave danger to a nation as well as to a church when it becomes a moneymaking organization.
Long ago the Bible described the entire global empire of false religion as a woman bearing the symbolic name Babylon the Great. In vivid language it told of her close alliance with the commercial interests of the world and how the people of the earth would be made to suffer under her control. It also foretold her destruction as the judgment of God. Do you want to share her future? If not, now is the time to separate yourself from such commercial organizations that operate under a religious guise.—Revelation 17, 18.
By "Awakei" correspondent in Ecuador
AS THE two of us stood on the pier, the equatorial sun could not have been hotter. From the nearby international airport a huge jet took off, its engines thundering as it passed us overhead. Out in the river several modern freighters, great cargo doors gaping in their sides, were receiving ton after ton of the country's major export, bananas. In sharp contrast to those modern forms of transport was the object that claimed our attention. There below us, wallowing in the waters of Ecuador's Guayas River, was a Pacific raft, a rough construction of balsa logs and rope, on which four men were planning to make one of the strangest voyages of our time.
With me on the pier was the leader of the expedition. Vital Alzar, a thirty-twoyear-old professor of languages and a Spaniard, explained the raft and its purposes. "The voyage," explained Alzar, sitting down on a great balsa log, "will cover ten thousand statute miles in about seven months. That makes an average of forty to fifty miles per day. The wind will provide some of the push, of course, but principally the raft will be carried along by the ocean currents."
Then, bending down to trace a rough map in the sawdust on the pier, he showed where those currents would carry them. Riding the flow of the Guayas River to the ocean, the raft would there be caught in the Humboldt Current. At about five degrees south latitude, the course swings toward the west to about two hundred miles south of the Galapagos Islands. There the Southern Equatorial Current would take over and carry the raft straight west to Jarvis Island, then southwestward to Samoa and Sydney, Australia. Nearly halfway around the world on a raft!
The Raft
But that long, long voyage was still in the future as we sat on the Navy pier and looked down at the raft. Señor Alzar was patient in explaining the construction that was still under way. The departure date was two weeks off but the final details consume time; and as anxious as he was to oversee everything, he was just as interested in helping me know why he was making the voyage and how the raft was built.
It is not small. It is certainly not the sort of raft adventurous boys use to float down rivers on warm summer days. This one is forty-five feet long and capable of carrying nearly thirty tons of supplies. Eleven thick longitudinal trunks of balsa form the base, with nine transverse logs giving strength and a little more height above the sea.
I could just barely encircle the smallest of those logs with my arms. The A-shaped mast is made of a local wood called "mangle," hard as iron and waterproofed with a tannic solution.
"Not one nail or bolt or any metal object was used in building that raft," said Alzar. The giant balsa logs were lashed together with rope made from Ecuadorian plants, the total weight of the rope used being an unbelievable three and a half tons! With more than 18,000 feet of rope a lot of logs can be made secure.
"Whether or not we arrive at Sydney depends a lot on the eight 'guares' or drift boards," Alzar explained. "It isn't practical to put a rudder on a raft, and there has to be some way of controlling the general course. Here, I'll show you how it works." We climbed down the ladder onto the raft and he took me toward the bow and pointed down.
"See that slot between the balsa logs? Those long, narrow hardwood drift boards are inserted through slots just like that one at six different places on the raft. The drift boards serve two purposes, being at the same time keel and rudder, for by adjusting their depth in the water, with some being deeper than others, the general course of the raft can be controlled. No need always to have a man with his hand on the tiller. In this manner the raft may be angled across the current so as to make good a predetermined course, instead of riding helplessly out of control before the wind and current."
He recalled that the famous balsa-wood raft Kon-Tiki was wrecked on a Polynesian island in 1947 short of its goal for want of drift boards. Thor Heyerdahl, its builder, once said that if he had known about drift boards his raft would not have wrecked after only 4,600 miles of travel.
Equipment and Supplies
Aside from the tinned food and water being carried, the only reminders of the twentieth century aboard are the radios, the navigation equipment and the cameras.
"Of course, we have not begun to store away the provisions yet," he said, "but I would like to show you something back here." Alzar showed the way aft into the little hut they would be calling home. "This is one of the five-gallon cans we will be using to store our drinking water. Now, ordinarily, water stored in cans turns brackish after a few months, and is not pleasant to drink. But we have found a way to solve that problem. We are importing the water from Quebec, Canada, because the water that comes from one of the lakes up there has been made radioactive by nature, and has the property of staying fresh and drinkable for a period of many years."
For the better part of a year the four expeditionists will be living together in this small hut built on the raft. It seemed about eight feet wide and just high enough to stand up in; not very big or luxurious. Looking about, I noticed the studs and beams of the hut lashed together with a thick twine. The only thing between the men and the sea outside would be a thin wall of split bamboo; a thatched roof overhead would shield them from the sun and rain.
Objectives
Alzar went on to speak of their objectives. In cooperation with government institutions they would study salinity of the sea, bird migration, sea currents, and plankton, the microscopic animal and plant life that is used as food by fish. However, the main objective, and the one that had fired the imagination of the man with whom I was speaking, was something different.
With this unwieldy and ancient craft Alzar intends to add weight to the idea that the original inhabitants of the Polynesian Islands and also of Australia had crossed the South Pacific long ago. It is believed by many that man first migrated to North and South America from western Asia, making a sort of "horseshoe" trip by way of the Bering Strait. And, then, from what is now the South American country of Ecuador, crossed the Pacific Ocean on rafts, identical to the one upon which we were sitting. If they could do it in the tenth century of our Common Era, Alzar reasons, he could repeat it in the twentieth.
What made him so sure that such voyages were made a millennium ago? "Now you have touched on a little known bit of history," answered Alzar. "Everyone has heard of the voyages of Columbus and of the Spanish conquistadors that followed him. But few have heard of the daring sea voyages made by the original inhabitants of the territory we know as Ecuador. They could be called the 'Phoenicians of the Western Hemisphere' so widely did they travel in trading with others.
"The Naval museum here in Guayaquil has records that date back to 1541, showing that raft travel was well developed long before the coming of the conquistadors. In fact, one of the first contacts between the Spaniards and natives was a naval battle between a Spanish galleon and a raft. That was in 1526."
Checking later, I found that Señor Alzar was right. The Naval museum also gave information about the encounter of Joris van Spielbergen with a raft as he was sailing around the world in the years 1614- 1617. They found the raft thousands of miles from its point of departure, and it
had been at sea for two months. Voyages of six and seven months are recorded, as trade was carried on with Central America. Cocoa was carried north by raft and other products were carried back on the return trip.
Our conversation about events now centuries old was cut short. A shout from the pier called Alzar back to his work of supervision.
Departure
Two weeks later, on the 23d of October, the voyage began. At four-thirty in the afternoon an earthenware jar of chicha, an ancient native beverage, was broken against the raft and the lines to the pier were let loose. There was no wind that afternoon, so several oars were used to push away from the pier and into the current of the Guayas River. If all goes well, for the next seven or eight months it will not touch land again until, propelled by wind and current, it arrives at Sydney, Australia, in the middle of 1967.
As the raft drifted away the four crewmen waved a good-bye to the thousands of Ecuadorians that had come to see them off. Two ships jammed with spectators formed an escort for the first several miles, and the thousands on shore walked slowly along downriver, keeping pace with the raft, until little by little they tired out, leaving the raft to drift on alone.
Several days later, radio contact showed the raft to be solidly into the Humboldt Current, the first phase of its trip completed. But with 9,800 miles to go, anything might happen. At this moment of writing four men, with a parrot for company, are drifting at two miles an hour toward Australia, on Ecuador's Pacific Raft.
THE discovery was quite by accident. While taking a shower the woman felt a small lump in her breast. It was soft and about the size of a small marble. She had not noticed it before, but now, there it was! As she examined the lump with her fingers it exhibited a certain mobility, as if to elude her grasp. There could be no doubt about it. The fluctuating mass was a tumor! Thousands of women make a
word "tumor" applies only to abnormal growths of new tissue that arise from preexisting body cells. These are often referred to as neoplasms (new growths).
In the normal function of the body new cells are constantly being produced in great numbers. However, because these cells merely replace those that have become worn out and cast aside, abnormal growths do not occur. Your skin, for
similar discovery every year.
Although it is a place of common occurrence, tumors are by no means limited to the female breast. They, at times, develop in the breasts of men too. In fact, abnormal growths can oc-
instance, is like a garment that after a while grows old and is replaced by a new one. True, when you look at your skin it does not appear as if anything is happening. Yet, beneath the surface, a busy layer of cells is at
cur in any tissue or organ of the body; many are visible, while others within the body often go undetected. Practically everyone
possesses some of the more common ones, such as moles and warts. Are tumors something to be concerned about? How dangerous are they? A little information concerning tumor growth will help to am-
work producing new cells.
In the process of normal growth one mother cell divides into two daughter cells, which are idienti-
cal to each other and their late mother. This process of cell proliferation is called mitosis. It is dramatically illustrated in the body's amazing ability of self-repair.
When a severe burn removes several
swer such questions.
How Tumors Develop
In its broad sense, the word "tumor" can apply to any swelling of the body. This could include callous formations resulting from manual labor, or swellings that occur in the ordinary process of inflammation. However, in the restricted sense to which it is generally limited, the
layers of skin or a knife wound gouges out a section of flesh, somehow an alarm is sounded. In the emergency, the marvelous process of cell-making is speeded up. Then, when the damage is repaired, stepped-up cell division suddenly ceases, and the body resumes its normal production of cells. One can only marvel at the miraculous mechanism that increases cell proliferation in an emergency, and then
throttles it again at the exact moment of normalcy!
In the formation of a tumor the orderly regulation of cell production becomes disrupted. Even though an alarm does not sound, or, perhaps, because there is a false alarm, the rate of cell-making speeds up. The cells begin to proliferate to fill a defect that does not exist. This excessive cell production creates a tumor—an abnormal growth that has no useful function.
Cause of Tumors
During the past several decades an intensive search has been under way to discover the cause of these growths. In fact, to no other field of medical research has more time and money ever been devoted. And, yet, perhaps in no other search has there been greater disappointment. The Home Encyclopedia of Modern Surgery by Dr. J. H. Rutledge observed: "The etiology [cause] of this abnormal, uncontrolled growth of cells is unknown. . . Various investigative approaches have included the study of many different chemical substances, hormones, germs, and mechanical agents. As yet, no solitary cause has been ascertained."
Evidence indicates that there are many factors involved in causing tumors, and apparently a different combination of factors is responsible for producing different tumors. Chronic or continued irritation is considered one leading factor. The theory is that, when repeated destruction of tissue too often sounds the repair alarm, the mechanism regulating cell proliferation becomes upset. As a result, the cells continue to multiply when they should stop, and thus a tumor forms.
Some would attribute the development of a tumor to a single blow or injury, but the Textbook of Pathology by William Boyd claims: "No tumor has ever been produced experimentally by a single trauma, even in animals with a high cancer incidence." As to why a single blow or injury is often thought to cause a tumor, the above authority observes: "This can be explained in two ways. (1) The trauma, by causing pain and bruising, draws attention to the presence of a tumor (in the breast, etc.) previously unnoticed. (2) Coincidence, seeing that both injury and tumors are so common."
Viruses are now considered by many authorities as the primary factor in causing tumors. As early as 1911 a medical researcher, Peyton Rous, succeeded in transmitting tumors from one chicken to another by means of a filterable virus. Since then many tumors in animals have been transmitted by viruses, yet, up till now, no human tumor has been demonstrated to be due to a virus. Nevertheless, the evidence points so strongly to their implication that some researchers feel the question is no longer whether viruses cause tumors in man, but what tumors are due to what viruses.
Another factor involved in causing some tumors is certain chemical agents. Early investigators had observed that workers in the tar industry were subject to a greater incidence of tumors than were other persons. So it was of interest when, in 1933, British scientists isolated a pure chemical from tar and demonstrated that it produced abnormal growths at the site of application in mice. Since then many other chemicals have been found to be a factor in inducing tumors.
Food processing and food additives can also apparently be factors. One leading medical researcher, Dr. Michael B. Shimkin, wrote in his book Science and Cancer: Tumor-causing "materials may also be the result of changes in food brought about by methods by which such food is prepared or preserved. An example of this occurred in the finding of many liver tu mors in rainbow trout that were raised on food pellets of fish meal and cottonseed meal as the main constituents.
It is generally agreed by many medical researchers that improper nutrition, in combination with other factors, can result in the growth of tumors. In this connection, there are reports of tumors occurring in animals maintained on diets deficient in specific vitamins. For instance, the popular Textbook of Pathology by Boyd relates that when rats were fed a diet of rice that included an azo dye known as butter yellow, tumors of the liver regularly developed. However, when yeast or members of the vitamin B complex were included in the same diet, no tumors occurred.
Imbalance in the secretion of body hormones has also been incriminated as a causative factor. Some believe that impeded nerve flow is another important factor. And in a few kinds of tumors heredity seems to play a role. So, as can be seen, many factors are apparently involved in producing tumors, yet no definite cause has been established.
Benign and Malignant
The danger of a tumor generally hinges on whether it is malignant or not. Fortunately, most of them are not. Observed the medical encyclopedia The New People's Physician: "It is a popular fallacy to believe that every tumor is to be feared. The majority are of very little significance as regards danger to life and are correctly called simple, benign or innocent."
There are various characteristics of a benign tumor that minimize its danger. First, instead of spreading out and infiltrating the surrounding tissue, the benign tumor grows by expansion like a balloon, pushing aside the adjacent tissues without involving them intimately. Its growth, therefore, is generally quite slow. In fact,
it will often reach a certain size and cease to grow any larger.
Furthermore, the tumor is usually encapsulated by connective tissue, which forms around it as it expands. Thus, as cells of the tumor multiply, they invariably remain in contact with one another in one solid mass; they do not migrate. Also of importance is the mature nature of the cells that the tumor reproduces. They are generally of an orderly pattern and uniform size, and may imitate perfectly the cells of the structure from which the tumor arises.
Although benign tumors may cause disfigurement, they cause no pain and are usually of little danger to health. The major exceptions are when they grow enormously large or near a vital organ where their expansion may interfere with vital functions of the body. For example, a benign tumor on the brain can exert dangerous pressure, or one in the thyroid can expand and choke a person. If attended to in time, such growths can usually be successfully removed, after which the patient generally recovers without complications.
The malignant tumor, on the other hand, is always dangerous. It is an invasive, rapidly growing, irregularly formed, haphazardly arranged group of cells that may spread and establish new growths in distant parts of the body. These malignant growths are all included under the common heading of cancer, which name is derived from the Greek word for crab, karkinos. The name is fitting, for clawlike processes characterize both the tumor and the animal.
A malignant tumor does not remain confined to a limited area. It may for a while. But then, like a crab, it claws out into surrounding tissue. This is called "invasive cancer." The growth infiltrates and, in time, may replace completely the normal cells of the area.
But as long as the tumor cells remain in the general area where the disease started, it is said to be "localized." Unfortunately, however, malignant tumor cells seldom stay put.
After a while they break away, enter lymphatic channels or the bloodstream, and travel to nearby or distant places where they seed and develop new growths. This spreading is called metastasizing, and the new tumor is called a metastasis. Very little is known about the conditions that determine this spread; some tumor cells travel by one route, others by another, some spread almost from the start, and still others may remain localized for years before they spread.
Although the features that distinguish a benign tumor from a malignant one are easy to enumerate, in actual practice it is often much more difficult to determine the difference. Observed Dr. Michael B. Shimkin in his book Science and Cancer: "There is also a spectrum between the benign, or innocent, tumors, and cancers, including a zone of borderline lesions regarding which decision is particularly difficult. Later we shall have occasion to refer to 'incomplete,' and to 'dependent' tumors, cellular growths that are intermediate in their behavior between the innocently benign and the malevolently malignant cancers."
The question may also be raised as to whether a benign tumor ever becomes malignant, and whether a malignant one may become benign. The Encyclopaedia Britannica, in examining this question, said: "It is not easy to be certain concerning the acquisition of malignant transformation . . . Of the group of tumours in which malignancy is variable, some are benign from the start and remain so; others are apparently malignant from their moment of origin; and finally, a few appear to change from innocent to malignant type. . . . The
regression of a malignant tumour to benign type is, lamentably, unknown."
Diagnosis
The diagnosis of certain tumors is relatively easy. For example, warts (papilloma) and moles (nevus). Warts of the skin very seldom become malignant, although when they occur in the rectum they commonly do. Moles, too, generally are of little concern. Nevertheless, some moles do become malignant, and should therefore be watched for any increase in size, pigmentation and itching. The sites of danger are where they are subject to regular irritation. This can cause an inflammatory reaction which, at times, flares into malignancy.
With other body tumors, when first they come to our attention it is important not to jump to conclusions and imagine the worst, because by far the greater number are benign. Well-encapsulated benign tumors have a characteristic mobility when examined with the fingers. They can be bounced around; they are not anchored to the surrounding tissues. Malignant tumors, on the other hand, have a characteristic fixity to the underlying tissue. Generally they are not so mobile. Doctors are sometimes able to determine the nature of the tumor by a physical examination. However, it is difficult to be absolutely positive, and often the doctor is quite uncertain.
Various techniques are being employed to identify the nature of the tumor. An article in Medical World News stated that one X-ray method has proved to be 99-percent accurate in diagnosing 2,000 tumor cases. Another method uses a machine that measures the variations in skin temperature, and is reportedly having remarkable success in diagnosing breast tumors.
Still another technique frequently used is biopsy. Some of the tumor tissue is removed by special instruments so it can be analyzed. The drawback here is that, if the tumor tends toward malignancy, tampering with it could have the effect of starting the spread of the cancer cells.
A new device for aiding in detection of cancer was described at the current meeting of the International Cancer Congress in Tokyo. As stated in the New York
Times of October 26. 1966, it involves taking a small sample of blood from the patient and adding a radioactive form of the element rubidium. The difference in
Not all doctors, however, agree that such radical surgery is justified. One leading cancer surgeon, George Crile, and his colleagues, found in a study of many tumor cases that simple surgery, in which only the growth itself is removed, had a slight advantage over radical surgery, both
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