Awake!, August 22, 1967
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How long could we live without light? One scientist observed: "Without our regular daily ration of sunlight there could be no life on earth. Light is the source of power that drives all plant and animal bodies." Yet history has proved that we need another kind of "light" also. Knowledge and an understanding of spiritual values are essential for any civilization to survive. A famous lawyer of nineteen centuries ago said: "The nations also walk in the unprofitableness of their minds, while they are in darkness mentally, and alienated from the life that belongs to God, because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the insensibility of their hearts." We know too that "God is light and there is no darkness at all in union with him." We need this light. We need to know;
"Things in Which It Is Impossible for God to Lie"
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What Are Your Children Doing?
PAGE 3
In What Kind of Order Would You Like to Live? PAGE 5
Will the List of Extinct Wildlife Keep Growing?
How Does Water Work for You?
PAGE 21
AUGUST 22.1967
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. "Awakel" has no fetters. It recognizes facts, faces facts, is free to publish facts. It is not bound by political ties; it is unhampered by traditional creeds. This magazine keeps itself free, that it may speak freely to you. But it does not abuse its freedom. It maintains integrity to truth.
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In every issue "Awake!" presents vital topics on which you should be informed. It features penetrating articles on social conditions and offers sound counsel for meeting the problems of everyday life. Current news from every continent passes in quick review. Attention is focused on activities in the fields of government and commerce about which you should know. Straightforward discussions of religious issues alert you to matters of vital concern. Customs and people in many lands, the marvels of creation, practical sciences and points of human interest are all embraced in its coverage. "Awake!" provides wholesome, instructive reading for every member of the family.
"Awakel" pledges itself to righteous principles, to exposing hidden foes and subtle dangers, to championing freedom for all, to comforting mourners and strengthening those disheartened by the failures of a delinquent world, reflecting sure hope for the establishment of God's righteous new order in this generation.
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CONTENTS
What Are Your Children Doing? 3
In What Kind of Order Would You
Like to Live? 5
Assembly Time in Malawi 9
Traveling While at Home 12
"Proof That There Is Liberty" 13
Will Such Liberty Ever Come to Spain? 15
Patient Endurance Yields
Righteous Fruitage 16
Will the List of Extinct Wildlife
Keep Growing? 17
How Does Water Work for You? 21
The Antarctic Was Warm 25
Let's Have a Meza Together 26
Price Variance 26
"Your Word Is Truth"
"I Do Not Permit a Woman... to Exercise Authority over a Man"—Why? 27
Watching the World 29
Volume XLVIII
Brooklyn, N.Y., August 22, 1967
Number 16
WHEREVER you go in the larger cities and towns you are almost sure to encounter evidences of vandalism, damage and defacement of public and private property. Who are the major offenders? Youths and children. But whose children? If you are a parent, how sure are you that your children are not among the vandals? Right now, do you know what your children are doing?
Faced as we are with steadily worsening conditions in all lands, this is surely no time for parents to lose track of the whereabouts and the doings of their youngsters. Unsupervised juveniles are responsible for a great deal of lawlessness. Nor are their actions limited to vandalism. Tragic fires have been started by little children. And sadistic cruelties have been practiced by them. A considerable percentage of fatal accidents on the highways are traceable to teen-age folly.
Pointing up the vital responsibility of AUGUST 28, 1967
parents in this regard was the near-tragedy in a Toronto, Ontario, park where a five-year-old boy was kicked, beaten and his hair set on fire by an older boy and a girl who fled when park officials responded to the little fellow's screams. What about the parents of the five-year-old? Do they customarily allow him to roam around unattended? To what extent do you keep track of your young ones?
Even when such a case is reported in the news, how many parents questioned their own children as to their whereabouts at the time of this vicious attack? Is it possible that most fathers and mothers just concluded that their children would never be involved in anything like that? Even under ordinary conditions, how many parents care enough to require of their children an account of time spent beyond the supervision of the home? Accountability is something that has a healthy effect on adults as well as children.
Then there was the heart-rending case reported in the San Antonio (Texas) Express/News of February 4, 1967, of a fifteen-year-old girl who became pregnant, kept it secret, brought the child to birth unaided in the bathroom of her own home, and then left the infant to die of exposure in a vacant lot. How could it happen? Parents would have to be blind and deaf or just completely indifferent in order to be deceived in such a manner. What about your children? Are you closer to them than that?
Do you know what they are doing with their time?
Parents who live in a good neighborhood may treat the matter of child supervision lightly because they feel that children who are well fed and clothed and supplied with spending money have no reason for delinquent behavior. However,
a well-known sociologist is reported in the U.S. News & World Report, April 26, 1965, as saying: "Delinquency seems to be rising in the suburban areas, and the causes for it, we
in the ability of young people to stay out of trouble.
Many are the parents who are conscious of the need to protect their children from others, and this is commendable. But it is only part of their responsibility. As author Henry G. Felsen rightly says in his booklet Understanding Our Teen-Agers:
IN THE NEXT ISSUE
THE POPULATION CRISIS
Famine: "The Dreaded Tomorrow
Already Has Dawned."
The Future: Disaster or Prosperity?
think, are basically the same that you find in the slum areas." And what are those causes? Lack of parental supervision is the outstanding one.
It is often too late when some parents awaken to the full sense of their responsibility. Consider, for example, this headline that appeared in the New York Times of April 7, 1967: "Parents Win $130,000 in Car Crash Fatal to Son." The circumstances of this case are worthy of special notice. The dead youth had been a passenger in a car driven by his school chum, the car belonging to his chum's father. The driver of the other car having been absolved of responsibility, the bereaved parents sued the chum and his father.
In one family they were mourning a son, while the other family faced financial ruin. Did the parents act in the best interest of their family by letting their boy have the keys of the car? Did they really know their own boy, or just think they did? Did the parents know where the boys were going with the car? Did they bother to check on the associations of their children? Too often the decisions are left to the immature judgment of youth, and too much confidence is placed
"As parents, we have a dual responsibility with regard to our children. We are responsible for protecting them from harm, and we are also responsible for protecting the community from them."
Only when their children are caught in some delinquent act do some parents realize that they have a child who is a bully, or a vandal or a speedster on the highway. In fact, their own children are measurably strangers to them, persons they see briefly at mealtimes or other special occasions. The rude awakening comes because they did not constantly inquire, "What are my children doing?"
How beneficial, then, for parents to examine their actual relationship with their children. Is fond indulgence substituted for firm leadership? Is permissiveness the rule, rather than accountability? Godly parents will heed the Bible's counsel at Proverbs 13:24: "The one holding back his rod is hating his son, but the one loving him is he that does look for him with discipline." The 'rod of discipline' may not always be the literal rod, but surely it should involve that proper degree of supervision that demonstrates genuine love for the child, that guards the child from bad associations and bad conduct. "What is my child doing?" is a matter of constant concern on the part of the loving parent.
would you like to live?
NDOUBTEDLY you have wished that conditions on the earth were better.
There are many changes that you no doubt would like to see in this order, that is, this framework of surroundings and conditions that has been built up on this earth and of which the world of mankind is an inseparable part. If you had the power, what would you do to make this a more desirable order in which to live? What improvements would you effect? In what kind of order would you like to live?
Today life is as often filled with pain,
hardship and troubles. Are there reliable
proposals for better conditions?
In the introduction of their book, A Sane and Happy Life: A Family Guide, Doctors Abraham and Rose Franzblau made the interesting observation: "If we were to take a poll of the world population and consult humanity on the kind of world we would all like to live in, it is very likely that we could all agree on certain minimum requirements."
These doctors listed a total of eight essential requirements for an order in which all normal humans would agree that they would like to live. Politicians, doctors and scientists of this system of things have been unsuccessful in achieving these essentials for the blessing of humankind. Interestingly, however, the basic wholesome desires of mankind are the very things that God purposes to provide under the rule of his kingdom. Consider, for example, the requirements listed by these doctors in comparison with the promises of God's Word the Bible.
"World Without War"
This was the first one they listed. Certainly we can all agree with that essential! O how the world of mankind longs to be free from bloodshed, brutality and violence! Yet today over 130 thousand million dollars a year are spent on stockpiling weapons of war. What horrible suffering and distress these are now bringing to millions of men, women and children in Vietnam and elsewhere! The threat of nuclear war causes others to live in dreadful fear, and not without reason.
Yet, the promise of man's Creator, Jehovah God, is that he will soon intervene, and "bring to ruin those ruining the earth." (Rev. 11:18) The assurance of His Word is: "Evildoers themselves will be cut off . . . But the meek ones themselves will possess the earth, and they will indeed find their exquisite delight in the abundance of peace."—Ps. 37:9-11.
God knows of man's desire for peace, and we can confidently look forward to his taking action by means of his kingdom to end all wars, as promised: "He is making wars to cease to the extremity of the earth. The bow he breaks apart and does cut the spear in pieces; the wagons he burns in the fire."
(Ps. 46:9) In that peaceful, warless order of God's making, the prophecy of Micah 4:3, 4 will also work out in a literal way: "They will not lift up sword, nation against nation, neither will they learn war any more. And they will actually sit, each one under his vine and under his fig tree, and there will be no one making them tremble."
Is that not the kind of order in which you would like to live? If it really is, then it is urgent that you learn more about the One who will bring it to pass, Jehovah God. Only the powerful Creator, and not mere humans, can usher in such blessings. But there are other essentials necessary in order to make life truly enjoyable.
A World with Plenty
"SECOND, IT WOULD BE A WORLD WITHOUT HUNGER, FROM WHICH FAMINE AND WANT WOULD BE BANISHED FOREVER."
Anyone familiar with the gnawing pangs of hunger will readily agree that this is a vital requirement for happiness. Lack of nutritious food is what makes life so miserable for hundreds of millions of persons today. The Director General of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization reported a few years back that "up to half of the world's population, 1,500 millions, suffer from hunger or malnutrition or both." Even richer countries are affected. The late President John F. Kennedy reportedly said: "The facts are that seventeen million Americans go to bed hungry every night."
Although fulfilling this essential presents an insurmountable problem for men today, Jehovah God will satisfy man's desire for good things to eat under his kingdom in the hands of Christ. His promise is: "The earth itself will certainly give its produce, . . . There will come to be plenty of grain on the earth." (Ps. 67:6; 72:16) No one will be lacking fine food. All will
enjoy a sumptuous feast of both spiritual and physical things, as the Bible prophecy assures: "Jehovah of armies will certainly make for all the peoples, in this mountain, a banquet of well-oiled dishes, a banquet of wine kept on the dregs, of well-oiled dishes filled with marrow."—Isa. 25:6.
Would you enjoy living when Jehovah God supplies plenty of food for all mankind? If so, it is now vital to appreciate your spiritual need, for, as Jesus Christ explained: "Man must live, not on bread alone, but on every utterance coming forth through Jehovah's mouth." (Matt. 4:4) These sayings of God constitute spiritual food. We must first take in this food if we are to enjoy the fulfillment of God's promises of physical plenty.
But besides peace and plenty, what other basic requirement could we all agree upon as an essential for the kind of order in which we would like to live? Note what is listed next.
A World Without Illness and Disease
"THIRD, IT WOULD BE A WORLD WITHOUT DISEASE, A WORLD IN WHICH ALL WOULD HAVE THE CHANCE TO GROW UP IN HEALTH AND LIVE OUT THEIR DAYS FREE OF PREVENTABLE AND CURABLE ILLNESSES."
O how humankind yearns for freedom from illness and disease! But has medical science been able to stem the tide of disease and make substantial steps toward bringing about conditions in which all would enjoy good health? The stark fact is that there are more sick and suffering humans on earth today than ever before in history. Many millions of persons die each year from heart disease and cancer, often experiencing an agonizing death. Crippling arthritis, multiple sclerosis and other debilitating diseases make life miserable for additional untold millions. Really, then, is not an order without illness and disease only a wishful dream?
Viewing the matter from a purely human standpoint, the answer must be Yes. However, Jehovah God knows man's desire for physical health, and he purposes to satisfy this desire for all those taking exquisite delight in him. When God's Son, Jesus Christ, was on earth he demonstrated what could be expected on a grand scale in the way of physical healing during his thousand-year reign. Jesus restored sight to the blind, opened the ears of the deaf, loosened the tongues of the dumb, enabled the lame to walk and even resurrected the dead to life.—Matt. 15:30, 31; Luke 7:21, 22.
Without doubt you would like to live in an order in which the world of mankind would enjoy such a restoration to physical health. Do not consider the prospect too good to be true, for it is the purpose of the same All-Powerful Creator who designed the earth and its many marvelous creations. He is able to accomplish what he promises.—Rev. 21:3-5; Isa. 46:11.
Satisfying Work and Justice for All
But even with the blessings of peace, plenty and health, life could prove to be boring and lacking satisfaction. Other requirements need to be met in order to have an ideal system of things. So consider the next essential.
"FOURTH, IT WOULD BE A WORLD WITH WORK FOR THOSE WHO WISH TO EARN A LIVELIHOOD TO PROVIDE FOR THEMSELVES AND THEIR FAMILIES."
Today much unhappiness and frustration exist because of unemployment. Humans require satisfying work to be truly happy. Jehovah God realizes this, and, therefore, he has always provided rewarding work for his people. The joy-yielding work of making disciples of people of all nations and of building up the Christian
organization will be extended soon to include a literal building program. The prophetic promise is: "They will certainly build houses and have occupancy; and they will certainly plant vineyards and eat their fruitage. . . . the work of their own hands my chosen ones will use to the full. They will not toil for nothing."—Isa. 65:21-23.
Yet there are still other vital essentials that need fulfilling in order for everyone to be truly happy. For even if all the above blessings were enjoyed, would it be an altogether desirable system in which to live if personal freedoms were squelched by a totalitarian ruler? Note, therefore, the next essential.
"FIFTH, IT WOULD BE A WORLD IN WHICH EVERY MAN WOULD ENJOY FREEDOM UNDER LAW, WITH JUSTICE FOR ALL."
No matter how earnestly they have tried, human rulers have failed to bring about freedom and justice for all. They have seldom shown equal consideration for all people. Injustice and oppression reign world wide. O how humankind longs for a righteous administration of affairs! But what man cannot supply, God will. His appointed Ruler is the resurrected Jesus Christ, and of him Jehovah says: "My chosen one, whom my soul has approved! . . Justice to the nations is what he will bring forth." (Isa. 42:1; Matt. 12:18) Yes, under his administration, "the creation itself also will be set free from enslavement to corruption and have the glorious freedom of the children of God." In these words we can confidently trust.—Rom. 8:21.
Opportunities and Leisure
Often today race, nationality or social position is a determining factor as to the rights and opportunities one enjoys. Prejudice and even persecution against unpopular groups are common. Although in many countries there are efforts to secure equal rights and opportunities for all and to break down prejudice, little real success has been achieved.
Understandably, then, the following is an essential for a desirable system of things:
"SIXTH, IT WOULD BE A WORLD IN WHICH EVERY HUMAN BEING WOULD HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY TO DEVELOP HIS CAPACITIES AND TALENTS TO THE FULL, AND BE REWARDED FOR HIS ENDEAVORS, WITHOUT PREJUDICE."
Such an arrangement there will be under the rule of God's chosen king, Jesus Christ. Christ will copy the example of his Father, who "treats none with partiality nor accepts a bribe." (Deut. 10:17; Rom. 2:11) Therefore, all will have opportunity to develop their talents to the full. God through Christ will answer the request made to Him concerning the king: "May he plead the cause of your people with righteousness and of your afflicted ones with judicial decision. Let him judge the afflicted ones of the people, let him save the sons of the poor one."—Ps. 72:2, 4.
Man was created to be happy and enjoy life. And while satisfying work is necessary, so also is rest from one's daily work. Certainly, then, we can all agree that the following is also an important essential.
"SEVENTH, IT WOULD BE A WORLD IN WHICH ALL MEN WOULD HAVE AMPLE LEISURE TO ENJOY THOSE THINGS THEY REGARD AS THE GOOD THINGS IN LIFE."
God created man and, therefore, appreciates his need for an opportunity to desist from his regular work. Jehovah took this need into consideration and provided his people the Israelites a sabbath day each week in which special attention was to be given to spiritual matters. So we can be assured that under the rule of His kingdom God will satisfy the human desire for periods of time in which to desist from one's work, relax and give special attention to spiritual matters.—Ex. 20:8-11.
An Order Founded on Love and Integrity
What other requirement, you might wonder, could there be for a desirable order? The eighth and last essential listed by the doctors involves qualities possessed by those who would inhabit that order. Consider how important these are.
"EIGHTH, IT WOULD BE A WORLD IN WHICH THE HIGHEST PREMIUM WOULD BE PLACED UPON THOSE QUALITIES WHICH DISTINGUISH MAN FROM THE LOWER ORDERS OF LIFE, SUCH AS INTELLIGENCE AND CREATIVITY, HONOR AND INTEGRITY, LOVE AND LOYALTY, SELF-RESPECT AND UNSELFISHNESS, AND CONCERN FOR HIS FELLOW MEN."
Love. Integrity. Unselfishness. Concern for one's fellowmen. Are not these the qualities that truly make life pleasurable? Would you not delight to live with a society of people who have genuine love and concern for one another? But how can such an order be established? Through the efforts of men? Have their attempts thus far given reasons for optimism? It is obvious that they have not. If we are going to enjoy these ideal conditions, it is clear that mankind needs an entire new system of things to administer his affairs.
Man's mistake has been in failing to look to his Grand Creator for the creating of such a righteous new system. Yet, this very thing God has promised, in harmony with his purpose and for man's eternal blessing! (2 Pet. 3:13) So if we want life, yes, if we want to live in a righteous new order amid people who manifest love and integrity, then we must turn to Jehovah God, who is the only One who can bring it about. We must learn God's will, and do it. For it is a fact: This "world [of unbelieving mankind] is passing away and so is its desire, but he that does the will of God remains forever," to enjoy eternally the blessings to be showered upon them by their loving Creator.—1 John 2:17.
ASSEMBLY TIME in Malawi
By "Awake!" correspondent in Malawi
THERE is excitement in the air. Three more days and the muchtalked-about assembly is due to begin. Assembly delegates from various parts of Malawi are already arriving at the assembly site. While we are busily engaged in helping our fellow workers with the building of a mammoth grass roof to serve as a sunshade for the 6,000 delegates expected to attend the assembly, an elderly man with a most happy face walks up to me. "I also want to help in this work," he says. Nothing unusual about that, but, as I learned from him, this assembly delegate had spent the last month or so in walking some 500 miles to the assembly site. He had just arrived, and the first thing he did was to volunteer his services in the preassembly work!
Many others who, like this old man, could not afford to use public means of transport are now arriving. Some of them have cycled 400 to 500 miles in order to get here. Their spontaneous and heartfelt expressions of joy and happiness at what they see upon arrival at this neat-looking, newly built convention village seem, for the time, to transcend everything else. Yes, assembly time in Malawi is a happy time that Jehovah's witnesses here do not want to miss, even if it means walking or cycling for hundreds of miles.
Here in Malawi we build our own meeting place, so why not join me in seeing the preparations for an assembly?
Selecting Assembly Site
Selecting a suitable assembly site is not always easy. We may find a spacious, beautiful place and feel that everything is just right. We have enough ground, the place is near to the main road and not far from the railway station—things that are important to consider at this stage. Suddenly, however, something comes to mind. Water! The fact that there are only a few houses in the vicinity makes one wonder if it could be the water situation that is keeping people away from this beautiful area.
"Zikomo Bambo" ("Excuse me, Sir," in Cinyanja, the local tongue), I say to a man coming out from his thatched-roof hut, "where is the nearest water hole or stream with some good drinking water?"
"Pepani ("I am sorry"), but it is a long way from here. Can you see those blue gum (eucalyptus) trees over there in the distance?
Just behind them there is a lovely stream."
If that happens, we can no longer consider the place for an assembly site because there is no water available within a reasonable distance. But for the assembly now drawing near we have at last found a suitable site. Yet, if you could see it two months ahead, you would no doubt say: "But where is the assembly going to be?"
It is all "bush," long grass head high, big stones, rocks and trees. This is where we are going to have our assembly, and it is going to involve a lot of work.
Preassembly Work Begins
Early in the morning we are at the site ready to start work. More than fifty of us are here with the same thought in mind: Our assembly is only eight weeks off. Looking out over the bushy and stony area, we are comforted to know that there will be hundreds of our Christian brothers coming to give us their voluntary help each weekend.
Now to the work! Our first task is to build some sleeping houses. This very place will be our home for the next two months. So off we go to cut enough grass, bamboos and a few trees. That is all we need in the way of building materials. It is true that we use a few nails, but for the most part we use "luzi," a natural "homemade" string, as a substitute for nails. This "luzi" is taken from the inner bark of the "mombo" tree mostly and is very strong.
When the sun sets, our houses are not ready, but we have sufficient shelter for the night. Before we retire we enjoy some good food in an improvised dining room made earlier during the day. This dining room has a grass roof supported by some bamboos, a long table, also of bamboos, with the top made of grass tightly tied together. There are some bamboo seats on each side of the table. While enjoying our evening meal, we are entertained by a music festival provided by the birds in the trees, singing their evening songs and filling the air with their soft melodies, and the gentle breezes refresh one's tired body.
"The first thing we have to do is to cut 25,000 bundles of grass," the one in charge of the work tells us the following morning. "It will take us at least four weeks to do that. Some of you have been assigned to cut grass, others to tie it in bundles and others again to carry it out to the main road. From there it will be brought here by truck and stacked in various places, as a precaution against fire."
After having completed the grass cutting, which took us four weeks, we are taken to a place fifteen miles from the assembly site to start cutting bamboos. "We will need approximately 6,000 bamboos for the construction of assembly departments, the platform, a cycle park, a sunshade for the assembly arena, and seats for 6,000 people," we are told.
From early in the morning to sunset we cut bamboos. We are happy because already with our eyes of imagination we can see 6,000 seats in the assembly arena. Some of the women Witnesses are preparing a meal for us right there in the bamboo field. They had to carry water in big buckets on their heads for over a mile and at least two of them had babies on their backs. We certainly appreciate the meal they prepare, enjoying it under an open sky.
We cut and carry out about 1,000 bamboos a day, which means that in a week's time we have enough bamboos to meet our needs. Since some 600 trees are needed mainly for the construction of the sunshade, the meeting place and the sleeping houses, we also cut them and have them transported to the assembly site. Some smaller trees, about 600 of them, are also cut to be used with some 3,000 bamboos for building the seats.
Plan of the Assembly Area
By now we are tired. The cutting of all the grass, bamboos and trees is hard work, not entirely free from dangers, with a few poisonous snakes having to be eliminated to make the area safer.
When showing us a plan of the assembly area, the Witness in charge gives us some interesting facts about the work to be done. The meeting hall is to be 36,000 square feet, 120 feet by 300 feet. There is to be a distance of 15 feet between each of the supporting poles holding up the gigantic 36,000-square-foot sunshade, which is to be 12 feet high near the platform and 7 feet at the back of this open-air "stadium," making it possible even for tall people to walk around freely without having to bend. Can you picture before your eyes such a mammoth grass roof? The platform, 30 feet by 20 feet, is to be built of very steady eucalyptus trees with neat-looking reed mats attached to a split-bamboo frame. It is to be 12 feet high and have a floor made of dirt and bricks with a cement top painted red. The entire back wall facing the audience will have a beautifully designed painting framed with dark-blue curtains. What an exciting sight for the assembly delegates, some having walked for days from faraway bush villages!
But that is not all. Equipment to furnish electric light is to be brought in, not only for lighting the platform, but for lighting the whole assembly area. What a surprise! Electric lights in the bush! The assembly area will look like a small lit-up town. Needless to say, we are really excited when we think of all these things as more interesting details about the assembly are made known. "We are going to
build bamboo seats with back supports for more than 6,000 people," we are told. "True, this is something new in our country, but with Jehovah's blessing we know we can do it. We will also build a cycle park for hundreds of cycles. This park will have a sunshade made of bamboos and grass. Any assembly delegate turning in his bicycle to this park is to receive a numbered ticket from an attendant in a small reed-mat office specially built for that purpose. When a cycle owner again wants his bicycle, all he has to do is to turn in his ticket to the attendant."
We are going to have two huge towers of bricks to mark the entrance to the assembly hall. A big banner with the assembly theme on it is to be stretched from the top of the two towers. All the various departments, thirteen of them, are to be built of bamboos and reed mats. Sleeping quarters covering an area of more than 70,000 square feet to provide accommodation, dormitory-style, for some 5,000 people are to be erected. Each house is to accommodate from 200 to 700 assembly delegates.
Cool drinks and other refreshments are to be served from three refreshment stands, and there are to be two cooking areas. Not many assembly delegates will come in private cars, but a well-designed car parking lot is to be cleared up, leveled and marked off with whitewashed stones, sectioning off a space for each car. What a strange thing to see on a maize field! Finally, the little pathlike road leading off from the main road to the assembly area has to be widened.
Organization of the Work
After having received all this information, with only three weeks to go, we realize that we have a lot to do, but we are determined to make the assembly a success; so early next morning we are out in well-organized groups.
Clearing the area of grass, bushes, trees and stones and then leveling it is the first task. As soon as one area is cleared, the group measuring and marking the sizes of the various buildings comes on the scene. Everything is clearly marked off with bamboo sticks, and immediately after the measuring is done a construction group with all the building materials now on hand begins working. A few are assigned to dig the holes in the ground for the poles and the bamboos; others are cutting the trees and the bamboos to the right size; some are splitting the bamboos; a few are handling the grass and some are busy using the hammer. For thirteen days about fifty Witnesses are busily engaged in making bamboo seats, producing each day seating for almost 500 people. The excitement grows daily as more and more neat-looking rows of seats are produced, until, finally, the entire area of 36,000 square feet is covered.
Only some hundred yards from the main entrance to the meeting hall, where two bricklayers are busy building two huge towers twelve feet high, with a three-foot diameter, another group of Witnesses is making some stands for the cycle park. Not far from the assembly center, many small groups are erecting the sleeping houses. Half the total number of sleeping houses are a bit bigger in size. The women will sleep in these. The children sleep with the mothers and so they need more space.
During the assembly the women get up early and go for water to a river about
a quarter of a mile away. Hundreds of them walk to the river with either a bucket or a big pot on their heads. They first go downstream to wash themselves, their children and maybe some clothes, and then they walk upstream where the water is clean to get their needed supply. Then, with the water container on their heads, they go back to prepare some food before the morning session starts at eight o'clock.
A hazard at assemblies like this is fire. With many cooking fires and with an abundance of dry grass around, fire is indeed a danger, particularly when strong winds blow. So, on top of a huge abandoned anthill, a fire tower has been built. Twenty-four hours a day, assembly delegates take turns on the tower, looking out for fire or thieves who might try to enter the assembly area.
As we are walking back to the assembly center with the program soon to begin, a friend runs up to me all excited about the things he has seen. With thousands of others he has just arrived to attend the assembly. "I cannot believe my eyes, what a difference in such a short time!" he exclaims.
Yes, he, like many others who saw the place before the work on it started, may have found it hard to believe his eyes, but it all came about by hard work of a group of dedicated people who had a burning desire to make assembly time in Malawi, not only a happy occasion, but one that would bring glory to Jehovah.
"Proof That There Is Liberty"
THE above headline appeared in a newspaper in São Paulo, Brazil, on June 14, 1966. The proof given that there is liberty was that a number of Jehovah's witnesses had claimed and been granted exemption from performing military service because of religious convictions.
The then minister of the army, and now president, Marshal Arthur da Costa e Silva, was talking with a group of university students concerning some individuals opposing military service for what were considered political reasons, but of Jehovah's witnesses he declared: "We have some exemptions from military service of the 'sons of Jehovah.' These men prefer to lose their political rights rather than abdicate their pacifist convictions, but they are really pacifists, because they suffer the sanctions, they lose their political rights, and I am tired from signing claims of the 'sons of Jehovah' that do not want to perform military service for they abhor war. So these men exercise a right that is always observed." (Díario Popular of June 14, 1966) (Italics ours) The right referred to is set forth in Article 150 of the Constitution of the Republic of Brazil, recognizing religious liberty.
Exempt Because of Religious Convictions
Before Marshal Costa e Silva assumed power on March 15, 1967, Marshal Castelo Branco governed Brazil, and his administration had already recognized the right of Jehovah's witnesses to exemption from performing military service because of religious convictions, and even before that this exemption was given, but the procedure was not well clarified. After
the revolution of March 1964, the revolutionary government decreed the cancellation of the political rights of a number of persons prominent in Brazilian politics to remove from power men that were considered corrupt or dangerous to national security, but this was not the case with Jehovah's witnesses, who are recognized as being peaceful, upright and in favor of order, being obedient to the laws and the constituted authorities. Some misinformed newsmen wrote sensational reports when they read the presidential decree canceling the political rights of Jehovah's witnesses who were granted exemption from performing military service. Nevertheless, in high military circles the position of Jehovah's witnesses was well understood and no animosity was shown toward them for requesting such exemption because of religious convictions. There were needed, however, better established instructions and procedures on the handling of the requests. The military authorities studied ways of doing this.
On his ascension to the presidency, Marshal Arthur da Costa e Silva well knew the position of Jehovah's witnesses, for he had served as minister of the army in the previous government. Now the authorities showed a desire to formulate a procedure for the processing and solution of the cases of Brazilian citizens seeking exemption from military service because of their religious convictions. Thus the constitutional right to religious liberty would be strengthened and clarified. So, in Decree No. 56, on June 8, 1967, the present minister of the army, General Aurélio de Lyra Tavares, set out instructions to the Directory of Military Service for granting claims for exemption from performing military service because of religious convictions.
In accord with this decree, the minister of the army, in harmony with the proposal of the Directory of Military Service and the opinion of the chief of staff of the army, decided to approve detailed and complete instructions for the processing and solution of these cases. These "Instructions" were published in the government newspaper, the Diário Oficial, on June 14, 1967, pages 6381 and 6382. Thus all military authorities throughout the country were advised of such instructions and will now be better able to attend to the claims of persons requesting such exemption. The Diário Oficial also published the terms of the request of the claimant and models of the declarations that should accompany it, making it a matter of regular routine.
To facilitate the handling of these requests by Jehovah's witnesses the Directory of Military Service sent an official communication to Sociedade Törre de Vigia de Biblias e Tratados, the legal agency of Jehovah's witnesses in Brazil, asking that all "Congregations of Jehovah's Witnesses" in the country be informed of this and that they read the "Instructions" published in the Diário Oficial, and this was immediately done.
Although simplifying the process by which a Brazilian citizen may be exempt from performing military service because of religious convictions, this would not be a right automatically granted without investigation. The "Instructions" of the minister of the army published in the Diário Official indicate the investigation to be made "in order to verify the truthfulness of the religious condition of (the petitioner), as claimed in the process in which he requested the right to exemption from performing military service because of religious convictions." The investigator
would interview the superintendent of the congregation of the petitioner and then make his recommendation as to whether the request should be granted or not. The head of the religious community would accept responsibility for the information given, seeing that it was truthful and exact.
Since this is a personal matter of conscience, the military authorities expect that the petitioner have true religious motives in order to enjoy such constitutional rights, and that he understand that the concession implies the loss of political rights if the exemption be granted. This would mean that he would be unable to vote, hold elective office, or act as a functionary of the government. Jehovah's witnesses recognize that each individual must make a personal decision in this and other matters of conscience, and the overseers of the congregations would limit themselves to transmitting the instructions published in the official government organ.
A People Who Are Respected
After being observed for many years, Jehovah's witnesses in Brazil have gained the respect of the people and of the governmental authorities by their good record of conduct and obedience to the laws. This was strikingly noticeable in January of this year when more than 46,000 gathered in an international assembly in São Paulo. For five days Pacaembú Municipal Stadium was transformed into a gigantic Kingdom Hall of Jehovah's Witnesses as Bible dramas and discourses showed the practical application of Christian principles in modern living.
A number of years ago there was a move to have the legal agency of Jehovah's witnesses dissolved, one of the charges being that they were against military service and civic worship of the flag. But after eight years of investigation, the counselor general of the republic gave a favorable opinion for Jehovah's witnesses, and this was supported by the president of the country.
The Brazilian authorities have consistently recognized the constitutional right to freedom of worship, and the text of the new Constitution, which became effective on March 15, 1967, confirms this freedom. In Article 150, paragraphs 5 and 6, it states: "The Constitution assures Brazilians and foreign residents in the country the inviolability of their rights concerning life, liberty, security and property, in the following terms: . . . §5 - There is complete freedom of conscience and the exercise of religious worship is assured to believers, as long as it is not contrary to public order and good customs. §6 - No one will be deprived of his rights because of religious beliefs, or philosophical or
political conviction, unless he requests exemption from legal obligations imposed on all, in which case the law will determine the loss of rights incompatible with the excuse of conscience."
Jehovah's witnesses have shown their appreciation of the recognition of these rights, and will continue to be obedient to the laws of the land, to pay their taxes honestly, and to respect that for which the flag of the nation stands by being orderly and progressive. Throughout the country they conduct free adult reading and writing classes, and this contributes to the progress of the people. Above all, they teach the high moral values found in God's Word, the Bible, building up in men, women and children appreciation of eternal spiritual values that contribute to the well-being of all peoples.—By "AWAKE!" CORRESPONDENT IN BRAZIL.
WILL SUCH LIBERTY EVER COME TO SPAIN?
FREEDOM-LOVING nations grant ministers of religion exemption from military service. However, in Spain such exemption has not been granted to non-Catholic ministers. The New York Post of July 6, 1967, reported: "At least 67 Jehovah's witnesses face the possibility of life terms in Spanish prisons for refusing to do military service."
Under Spanish law these ministers are being imprisoned repeatedly on the same charge. The Post noted: "The courts invariably sentence them to between six months and six years for the first offense, at the end of which they are obliged to present themselves again for military service. . . . when they again refuse to serve, military courts impose bigger sentences of up to seven years' imprisonment." And England's Guardian of July 1, 1967, reported: "Four of the men are now serving their third consecutive prison sentence. They have been in prison for periods totalling between eight and 14 years."
One minister, Alberto Contjígue Berenguer, has been sentenced three times to terms of 3 years, then 4 years, and then 6 years and one day, a total of 13 years and one day. In
May of this year he was indicted for the fourth time for the same offense and is a prisoner in the Spanish Sahara.
Spain's authorities have had several opportunities to correct this deplorable situation, but they have not done so to date. For instance, the Guardian noted: "Although Spain is officially a Catholic country, it has not so far implemented a declaration by the Second Vatican Council recommending 'that laws make humane provisions for the case of those who, for reasons of conscience, refuse to bear arms.'"
Another opportunity presented itself when Spain passed a new law on religious liberty. The original draft would have exempted non-Catholic ministers from military service. But what happened? The Guardian stated: "Right-wing deputies reversed the law in the Cortes, expressly altering it to ensure that non-Catholic ministers of religion, unlike Catholic priests in Spain, must be liable to military service."
Spain's course of action shocks decent people everywhere. They ask: Will true liberty ever come to Spain?
PATIENT ENDURANCE YIELDS RIGHTEOUS FRUITAGE
EHOVAH GOD has set the perfect example in exercising the qualities of patience and endurance. And as his doing so has resulted in some persons' repenting and taking up His service, so the exercise of these qualities by Christians often has been similarly blessed. The following is an experience illustrating this fact:
"It was in 1956 that my mother and I first began to associate with Jehovah's witnesses. I was nine years old and my brother was just two. At this time our circuit minister encouraged my mother to begin a regular family Bible study. At first my father made no objections, since he was working full time and was home only in the evenings.
'However, my mother soon began taking us to all the congregation meetings. This irritated my father, as he felt that this was 'too much religion.' About this time he began having problems, and thereafter could work only part time.
"In 1958 my mother and I both symbolized our dedication to Jehovah God by water baptism. I was eleven years old at the time. This really upset my father, because he realized how seriously we took our religion. And while he never caused us bodily harm, his constant belittling of Jehovah and his people often made it almost impossible to study the Bible at home. So we went 'underground,' and never missed our Bible studies.
"In 1960 both my mother and I took advantage of the provision to share in the full-time ministry for a limited period (vacation pioneering), and we found this to be a great source of encouragement. Also encouraging to us through these trying times, when father was giving us such a hard time, was the love and consideration shown by our Christian brothers in the congregation.
"In that year, 1960, we also derived upbuilding from attending the Peace-pursuing District Assembly. However, this irritated my father so much that he broke some of our furniture. He also threatened to burn down the new Kingdom Hall that the Witnesses had recently built. And causing him even greater distress, my little brother, who was then five years old, became a regular Kingdom proclaimer.
"During the last three years (1963 to 1966) my father's mental condition became increasingly worse. But because of his attitude, there was little that we could do to encourage him. We had about given up hope that he would ever change. In the meantime, I became a regular full-time pioneer minister, In August of 1965.
"By the fall of 1966 my father's condition worsened. My mother said: 'All we can do now is leave it in Jehovah's hands and wait on him.' And that we did.
"During the first week in November 1966 father began listening to our new Kingdom songs, and his attitude began changing. These songs softened him and he began to cry. Then he started reading the Watch Tower Bible publications for the first time in ten years. He got rid of his guns, and then things really began happening—for the good!
"That first week in November we will never forget. One evening father announced that he was going to become part of our family unit and share in all family activities. He even had prayer offered at the table, which is something he had never done before in his life. That same night he asked for a Bible study, and we arranged for one to be held with him. To top it off, he wanted to attend all the congregation meetings! In January he was present at the Theocratic Ministry School to hear his son, who is now twelve years old, give his first fifth student talk. It was indeed a very special occasion for us all!
"For the past two months father has been attending all the congregation meetings, commenting at our congregation book study, answering at the Watchtower study, and even sharing in the house-to-house field ministry! He recently attended his first circuit assembly and was thrilled by the program, and especially by the loving consideration shown him by our Christian brothers. As mother said: 'We are so happy we do not know what to say except, "Thank you, Jehovah, for helping us to patiently endure."'
"While ten years may be a long time, because of our present joy it seems almost as though the troubles that we experienced never really happened."
Will the List of
KEEP GROWING?
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By "Awake!" correspondent in Canada
IF YOU were asked to cite some specimen of extinct animal life, which creature would you name? You might think first of the huge dinosaurs or perhaps the hairy mammoth. But did you know that other famous names have been added to these?
Indeed, modern times have produced some unexpected vacancies in the list of animals and birds, and man has had much to do with these disappearances. In fact, it has been said that man is responsible for the disappearance, or near disappearance, of more than 450 animal species. Now, with such a lengthy list as that, which would you suspect to be the most famous extinct animal or bird?
Unhappy Fame
You would, perhaps, guess the dodo, for this curious creature has become the very symbol of extinction. Although Mr. Dodo always appeared in the most proper dress, attired in dark-gray plumage and whitish
breast, he was a most improbable bird. A member of the pigeon family, he was larger than a turkey. His combination of heavy body, large hooked beak and short curly tail waddled about on stubby legs. And for wings—mere rudiments! Mr. Dodo was earth-bound!
The dodo's rise to unwanted fame followed its discovery on
the island of Mauritius by the Dutch in 1598. Appearing doltish and clumsy in bearing, it fell victim to the sport and cooking pots of sailors who called at the island. When the island was colonized, introduced rats, dogs, cats and pigs escaped into the woods to destroy the eggs and the young of the dodo. Its forest home was stripped for ebony. By 1681 this defenseless bird had disappeared, becoming one of the most celebrated examples of extinct creatures.
Among the names of vanished animals few are more intriguing than the quagga of South Africa. This zebra-like creature was chestnut brown with black-and-cream stripes on its head, neck and shoulders only. Thickset and stocky, it resembled a colorful pony.
From the time of their arrival, European colonists killed the quaggas to provide meat for their native servants, leather for their shoes, and hides to make sacks for storing grain. In 1800 these splendid animals existed in droves of countless thousands. Less than a century later, by 1878, relentless hunting had completely annihilated them in the wild. A few had been
sent to Europe, one pair even learning to draw their delighted owner's two-wheeled carriage about London's Hyde Park on Sunday outings. But, on September 12, 1883, a lonely quagga in the Amsterdam Zoo relinquished the
melancholy distinction of being the only quagga in the world. Its beautiful race was thereby added to the list of extinct creatures.
The North American Scene
Each continent has suffered the loss, in whole or in part, of animals and birds once plentiful. However, "of all the continents, North America has witnessed the most drastic changes in abundance of wildlife and the greatest number of extinctions in historic times," according to the United States Fish and Wildlife Service. And once again, humans take the blame!
Massive Extermination
The classic example is that of the passenger pigeon. This bird once comprised an estimated 35 percent of the entire bird population of North America. Here, indeed, was a most unlikely candidate for extermination. It is difficult to imagine the spectacle it presented along migration routes of 150 years ago.
In the distance one could hear the roaring like a gale at sea. On the horizon appeared a dense cloud of dark furor, advancing at speeds approaching sixty miles per hour, until the air was filled with the din of millions of beating wings. The sun disappeared behind the wheeling, darting mass of feathers. For hours
the uproar continued! Alexander Wilson, a leading ornithologist of 1810, described one flock that stretched for 240 miles and was one mile wide. He estimated that it contained over two thousand million birds,
ten times the entire bird population of Great Britain!
When such flocks settled to roost or nest, hundreds of birds filled every tree until large branches gave way under the weight. Nuts, seeds and fruits were consumed in tens of thousands of tons daily. Many square miles of lush forest were devastated by a single nesting. While such invasions could hardly be allowed to continue unchecked without ruinous damage to valuable crops, man mishandled the situation so badly that the unthinkable resulted—the passenger pigeon disappeared!
The habit of congregating in dense flocks made the passenger pigeon vulnerable to mass slaughter. Hunters, amateur and professional, greedy for sport or profit, performed a full-scale massacre. Men and boys equipped with guns, nets, clubs, poles, axes and even small cannons, waded into the roosting grounds and reduced the pigeons by millions annually. Records from the 1870's tell of eleven million birds' being shipped to food markets from one
point near the Canadian- American border in one threeyear period alone, and more than fifteen million from another point in only two years. Hundreds of thousands of mangle pigeons were left to rot or to be consumed by scavengers. "Sportsmen" captured others
alive for later use, such as the 1881 Coney Island pigeon shoot that blew 20,000 birds out of the sky as they were released from their cages. Not even the multitudinous passenger pigeon could withstand such an onslaught.
One of the last nestings in considerable numbers was reported from the Canadian prairie province of Manitoba in 1887. Thereafter the flocks dwindled and disappeared until, finally, a solitary blue hen blinked with forlorn gaze from her perch in the Cincinnati Zoological Gardens.
Her name was Martha. A reward of $1,000 was offered to find her a mate. No one collected. On September 1, 1914, Martha died a spinster at the age of twenty-nine years. The passenger pigeon was added to the list of the extinct!
Persecuted Wildlife
The great auk, a penguin-like, flightless bird, once decorated the barren ocean rocks of northern Europe, Iceland, Greenland and Newfoundland. However,
it was long slaughtered indiscriminately for its flesh, feathers and oil. In early June, 1844, a pair waddled across a ledge into the path of three waiting hunters, and the last two great auks known to man joined their forebears in oblivion. Another addition to the extinction list.
The heath hen, a form of prairie chicken, was industriously pursued for early American cuisine. Once plentiful, it too was reduced to a point of no return. It was last seen on March 11, 1932. All of these extinct birds were once considered too plentiful ever to vanish. This misconception of inexhaustible wildlife also resulted in a change of scenery in the Canadian and American West.
GREAT AUK
Bison to Bones
It is early fall on the western Canadian plains. Below our vantage point an unbelievable panorama unfolds on the vast windswept prairie of southern Saskatchewan. As far as the eye discerns, the entire
plain is a sea of bison in the most breathtaking seasonal migration among land animals! Shading our eyes from the dazzling sun, we blink a moment; the vision vanishes, and in its place are fields of golden grain, where a million bison once roamed the grasslands. In retrospect, the AUGUST 22, 1967
moment of history required for man to deplete the "buffalo" appears just as fleeting.
An estimated sixty million bison once trampled the Great Plains from Canada to Texas. This humped, thick-shouldered beast provided the Plains Indians with virtually everything needed for their existence. Indian hunts took a heavy toll, but it was the coming of the railroad and professional hunters that really staggered the bison. An unprecedented slaughter ensued. One hunter recorded a kill of 4,280 bison in just twelve months. His name was William Cody, the famed Buffalo Bill.
Railroads, in Canada and the United States, transported hides and tongues, the latter considered a delicacy, to eastern markets, leaving millions of carcasses to decompose on the plains. When the herds were gone, bleached bones were shipped east to be ground for fertilizer. The
appalling sight of glistening bones scattered everywhere so impressed the settlers that these bleak remains were incorporated in the naming of settlements. Regina, provincial capital of Saskatchewan, had the inglorious title of "Pile-O-Bones" until the 1880's.
Public sympathy toward the bison finally spurred attempts to save it from being added to the growing list of extinct animals. Although now gone from the wild state, the animals are faring well in parks and zoos, where they continue to delight visitors. But as one returns the blank stare of this shaggy, sullen beast, one cannot help imagining a note of nostalgia for bygone days, the days before Mr. Bison almost became a stuffed curiosity in the museum of extinct animals and birds.
The Next to Go?
Among other creatures said to be perched precariously on the verge of annihilation are the grizzly bear, the American bald eagle and the marmot-like prairie dog. Even the pouch-billed pelican is reported to be losing ground, not slowly, but very quickly. The sentimental favorite in this struggle for survival is a majestic bird that could well be the next to vanish.
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