Awake!, May 8, 1968
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Did a Flood Really Destroy a World of Mankind? PAGE 5
Your Humble Servant, Abaca
PAGE 9
I Was a Fortune-Teller
PAGE 12
Preparing for Violence
PAGE 16
MAY 8, 1968
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 unnampered 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
True Christians Are Different 3
Did a Flood Really Destroy a
World of Mankind? 5
Your Humble Servant, Abacá 9
Uruguay Changes Its Presidential System 11
I Was a Fortune-Teller 12
$1,500 Investment 15
Preparing for Violence 16
Hawaii's City of Refuge 21
Proclaimers of Peace to the Nations 25
"Your Word Is Truth"
What Is the Name of God? 27
Watching the World 29
TRUE CHRISTIANS ARE
IN THE first century of our Common Era, the people of the vast Roman Empire had a low regard for Christians because
they were different from the majority. Christians had a higher moral standard that kept them from the gluttony, drunkenness and immorality that were so commonplace then. They refused to burn incense to Caesar, which shocked many nationalistic Romans. They would not join with the Romans in celebrating popular religious holidays, and they refused to participate in the wars of the empire. Because of being so different from the world, the Romans stigmatized them as being haters of mankind and regarded the name "Christian" with aversion.
Arguing against the Roman attitude toward Christians, Tertullian, a writer who lived in the latter part of the second century of our Common Era, said:
"What are we to think of it, that most people so blindly knock their heads against the hatred of the Christian name; that when they bear favourable testimony to any one, they mingle with it abuse of the name he bears? 'A good man,' says one, 'is Gaius Seius; only that he is a
Christian.' So another, I am astonished that a wise man like Lucius should have suddenly become a Christian.' Nobody
thinks it needful to consider whether Gaius is not good and Lucius wise, on this very account that he is a Christian; or a Christian, for the reason that he is wise and good. . . . Some even barter away their comforts for that hatred, content to bear injury, if they are kept free at home from the object of their bitter enmity. The wife, now chaste, the husband, now no longer jealous, casts out of his house; the son, now obedient, the father, who used to be so patient, disinherits; the servant, now faithful, the master, once so mild, commands away from his presence; it is a high offence for anyone to be reformed by the detested name. Goodness is of less value than hatred of Christians."
That Christianity does bring a transformation to the people who embrace it, making them different from their former associates, is pointed out by Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ. He said: "For the time that has passed by is sufficient for you to have worked out the will of the nations when you proceeded in deeds of loose conduct, lusts, excesses with wine, revelries, drinking matches, and illegal idolatries.
Because you do not continue running with them in this course to the same low sink of debauchery, they are puzzled and go on speaking abusively of you."—1 Pet. 4:3, 4.
There were many, pagans with financial interests who came into conflict with the Christians because of their preaching of Scriptural truth, and these stirred up popular hatred of Christians. They included craftsmen who enjoyed economic prosperity from the trinkets and images that they sold to idolaters. People liberated from the chains of idolatry by the truths of Christianity ceased to buy their religious products, and so the craftsmen saw their prosperity threatened. This also was true of the large class of priests and pagan temple servants who received financial support from the idol-worshiping people. That support was threatened by the spread of Christianity. (Acts 19:24-27) So there were a number of reasons for the popular dislike of Christians in the Roman Empire.
In this twentieth century true Christians find that it is as difficult to live a Christian life as it was in the first century. Nationalistic people make the same demands of them that the Romans did of the early Christians, showing the same resentment for Christian determination to follow the instructions of their Leader, Jesus Christ, who said that his followers are "no part of the world." (John 15:19) Because they refuse to violate their integrity to Jehovah God by joining with the majority of the people in acts of State worship, they are regarded as enemies of the State. Because they refuse to observe popular religious holidays that are actually the same pagan celebrations the Romans had, but renamed to appear Christian, they are accused of being unchristian.
Because true Christians today have obeyed the command at 1 Peter 3:11, to "seek peace and pursue it," they have done what Isaiah 2:4 foretold, namely, beaten "their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning shears." This has made them different from the majority in all countries of the world, because they do not participate in riots, revolutions, wars and other acts of violence. Here, too, they are like the early Christians, regarding whom Justin Martyr, a Christian writer of the second century of our Common Era, wrote: "We who were filled with war, and mutual slaughter, and every wickedness, have each through the whole earth changed our warlike weapons,—our swords into ploughshares, and our spears into implements of tillage." In this violent world a peaceful position such as this makes true Christians objects of popular dislike. Consequently, the Russian newspaper Soviet Moldavia branded Jehovah's witnesses in 1963 as "haters of the human race," the same false accusation made by the Romans against peaceful Christians in the first century.
Notwithstanding such accusations because of their refusal to violate Christian principles and Biblical laws, Jehovah's Christian witnesses continue to comfort multitudes with Bible truths. Through their preaching of the good news of God's kingdom they bring to the distressed people hope of a new, righteous and peaceful system of things made by God. (Matt. 24:14; 2 Pet. 3:13) They are uplifting personal moral standards to the high level established by the Bible and are transforming minds to think of ways of doing good to others rather than evil. (Rom. 12:17-21) People are being benefited all over the world because Jehovah's Christian witnesses, like the early Christians, are different.
DID A FLOOD
REALLY
DESTROY
A WORLD OF
MANKIND ?
Is the Bible account of α
global flood true? Is there
reliable confirmation of it?
DID God once use an earth-wide flood to destroy all mankind except a single human family of eight persons? If you asked that question of many persons, they would say that the Bible's account of the flood is only a myth. Even many Catholic priests and Protestant clergymen would answer the same. But what are the facts?
To prepare for the flood, God commanded faithful Noah to build an ark and to take his family and representatives of the animal kinds into it. The Bible then explains: God "wiped out every existing thing that was on the surface of the ground, from man to beast, to moving animal and to flying creature of the heavens," and they were wiped off the earth; and only Noah and those who were with him in the ark kept on surviving."—Gen. 7:23.
The Bible clearly speaks of an actual flood. It explains that the earth had become "filled with violence" and that "all flesh had ruined its way." It was for this reason that Almighty God determined to destroy the wicked world of mankind. He told Noah: "I am bringing them to ruin."—Gen. 6:11-13.
Confirmation by Reliable Sources
That this Flood account preserved in Genesis is not a myth is shown by the fact that Almighty God later refers to his promise concerning the Flood waters. Through his prophet Isaiah he assures his people, saying: "Just as I have sworn that the waters of Noah shall no more pass over the earth, so I have sworn that I will not become indignant toward you nor rebuke you." (Isa. 54:9; Gen. 8:21) This sworn statement would carry no weight if the Flood had not actually occurred.
Further confirmation of the Noachian flood is found in the Christian Greek Scriptures. The apostle Peter on several occasions spoke of the event, once explaining that God "kept Noah, a preacher of righteousness, safe with seven others when he brought a deluge upon a world of ungodly people." (2 Pet. 2:5; 3:5, 6; 1 Pet. 3:20) The apostle Paul also verified the Flood account, telling how Noah "constructed an ark for the saving of his household."—Heb. 11:7.
Definite confirmation also comes from Jesus Christ himself. Unlike certain critics today, Jesus accepted these events as historical, and the occurrence of the Flood as an actual fact. He spoke of "the days of Noah" and referred to the Flood as an example of what would happen at the time of his second presence and of "the conclusion of the system of things."
(Matt. 24: 3, 37-39; Luke 17:26, 27) What strong confirmation that a flood really did destroy a world of wicked mankind! Certainly Jesus Christ did not believe in and propagate a myth!
However, there is other confirmation of the Flood. Observes a leading French language Bible dictionary: "But there are other proofs of this fact, which providentially came to light when the Biblical narration was under the strongest attack. Many flood traditions exist outside of Genesis."
Epic of Gilgamesh
The best known and most remarkable of these traditions is the Epic of Gilgamesh, sald to be of ancient Babylonian origin. This written account, dated approximately 2000-1700 B.C.E., was uncovered, along with thousands of other clay tablets, at the site of ancient Nineveh. The discovery occurred in the mid-nineteenth century during excavations of the palace of King Assurbanipal, who reigned in the seventh century B.C.E. However, it was not until 1872 that the British Orientalist George Smith, who was engaged in studying and classifying these finds, identified the account of the Flood that bears such a striking similarity to the Bible one.
Both the Epic of Gilgamesh and the Bible state that the Flood was divinely planned. They both connect the Deluge with defection in the human race. Both accounts tell of the deliverance of the principal character and his family; both explain that the ark or boat was built at divine instruction to preserve life; both tell about the sending out of birds to ascertain the decrease of the waters; both
describe acts of worship after the deliverance, and there are other similarities.
However, there are also important and noteworthy differences. Unlike the Biblical account, the Epic of Gilgamesh mirrors the Babylonian belief in a pantheon of jealous, fighting, quarreling and self-accusing delties. These crouch in fear "like dogs" while the cataclysm is going on, and they disclaim responsibility for it once it is over. Also, after the Flood, when the survivors offer a sacrifice, the Epic of Gilgamesh says the gods "crowded like flies about the sacrificer," hungrily awaiting the sacrificial food.
The simple, straightforward Biblical history rises far above the Babylonian version. It is absurd to claim, as some do, that it was derived from the degraded Babylonian account. Rather, the Bible contains the eyewitness report, which apparently was compiled by Moses from two written documents called in the Bible "the history of Noah" and "the history of Noah's sons, Shem, Ham and Japheth." (Gen. 6:9; 10:1) These documents are believed to have been written by the Flood survivors, Noah and his sons, or at least to have been in their possession.
Thus, Unger's Bible Dictionary puts matters in proper perspective when it says of the Noachian flood: "The memory of this great event persisted in tradition. The Babylonians received it in a completely corrupted and distorted form. Genesis portrays it as it actually occurred."
Flood Traditions Widespread
If there really was a flood that destroyed a world of wicked mankind, it would be expected that stories of it would be preserved among the far-flung races of mankind, who all descended from the few survivors. And this is the case! Not only is there ancient written confirmation, such as in the Epic of Gilgamesh, but even down to recent times there are traditions among peoples world wide concerning a universal flood in the distant past.
The Biblical Archaeologist Reader (1961) edited by G. Ernest Wright and David Noel Freedman, notes on pages 32 and 33:
"Indeed, such a story is to be found in a hundred varying forms in countries as far separated as Greece, Mesopotamia, India, Malaya, Polynesia, and the Western Hemisphere—where it is diffused from Tierral, del Fuego (islands off the southern
tion, but the essence of this tradition remained everywhere the same."*
Though deformed through generations of telling, these traditions bear striking parallels with the Bible's written account on three basic points: (1) a universal destruction by water; (2) a place in which a few persons survived, and (3) the preservation of a small group of humans.
Also, these traditions often include, as reasons for the Flood, man's perversity and God's anger. And, too, the ancestor
tip of South America) to the Arctic Circle. . . Common to most of them is the recollection of a great flood which in the ancient past covered all, or a great part of, the earth, and in which all but a select few were drowned. These few, it may be added, usually escaped in a boat or by taking refuge on a high mountain or in a tree."
Also, in the latter half of the last century, the famous Scottish geologist, Hugh Miller, observed in his book The Testimony of the Rocks, page 284:
"There is, however, one special tradition which seems to be more deeply impressed and
who survived the Deluge often did so in a closed boat, accompanied by his family, and by animals. In Wales and England a tradition tells how an ancestor escaped in a vessel with a male and female of each animal, and populated Britain.
The native Maori people of New Zealand have a Flood tradition remarkably similar to the Bible's account. The booklet The Family of the Maori \dagger (1966), after presenting evidence indicating that the Maori came from somewhere in Asia, notes:
more widely spread than any of the others. The destruction of well nigh the whole human race, in an early age of the world's history, by a great deluge, appears to have so impressed the minds of the few survivors, and seems to have been handed down to their children, in consequence, with such terror-struck impressiveness, that their remote descendants of the present day have not even yet forgotten it. It appears in almost every mythology, and lives in the most distant countries, and among the most barbarous tribes."
True, the Flood traditions of all these remote peoples are not everywhere iden
"Considering the Maori's theory of the origin of the Polynesian race, it is not surprising that they should have had the legend of a great flood in their religious mythology. It is so much like the story of Noah that it needs no elaboration here."
However, many modern critics deny that these widespread Flood traditions serve as confirmative evidence of the Bible account. They contend that these are simply tales of local floods. In this connection, however, observe the comments of Allan O. Kelly and Frank Dachile in
remote people are not everywhere identical in details. But this is only to be expected, as Professor Henri Luken observes:
"In fact, there is no people on earth who, if they have kept the least trace of the past, have not preserved the memory of the deluge. It is entirely natural that the primitive tradition was not transmitted whole; it took on various mythical forms and adopted shadings special to each na-
their book Target: Earth (1953):
"In the ordinary experience of man floods are not of such great or of such widespread occurrence that he would generate a story of overwhelming, all-exterminating flood. . . Why then should practically all races of men have this legend of a great deluge?
Why should people who lived far from the ocean in dry highland country such as central Mexico or central Asia have a legend of a flood? . . . If universal deluge had not been an actuality, then some races would have had their wicked ancestors being eliminated by awesome volcanic eruptions, great blizzards, drought, wild animals, giants or demons. Thus the universality of the deluge story is one of the best arguments for its truth."
Traditions Do Confirm Bible Account
It is unsatisfying to assert that these widespread traditions of a global deluge do not confirm the Bible account. If there were no traditions, you can be sure that critics would use the lack of such circumstantial evidence as a weighty objection to the truthfulness of the Bible account. As it is, the contention that these traditions all have their basis in local floods simply is not in keeping with the evidence. Observes The Biblical Archaeologist Reader on page 33:
"While some of the stories are no doubt exaggerations of local catastrophes . . . it is difficult to believe that so remarkable a coincidence of outline as exists between so many of these widely separated accounts can be accounted for in this way. It is difficult to escape the conclusion that many of them are recollections of a common event, or at least are diffused from a common tradition.
To argue that the amazing similarities in the widespread Flood traditions are simply coincidental reveals a stubborn refusal to accept the obvious conclusion. For, as François Lénormant, professor of archaeology associated with the French National Library, pointed out:
"It would be altogether contrary to probability and to the laws of sound criticism to admit that local phenomena exactly similar in character could have been reproduced in so many different points of the globe as one to explain these universal traditions, or that these traditions would always have assumed identical form, combined with circumstances which need not
have suggested themselves to the mind in such a connection."*
In view of the evidence, only extreme prejudice against the Bible could be responsible for a person's denying that the widespread Flood traditions are a powerful confirmative verification of the Bible's account of the Noachian flood.
A Warning Example
So we ought to take seriously the Biblical account of the Flood. It should serve as a warning to us. Jesus Christ said: "For just as the days of Noah were, so the presence of the Son of man will be." —Matt. 24:37.
What happened in Noah's days? The majority of mankind refused to heed God's warning given through Noah. Jesus said: "For as they were in those days before the flood, eating and drinking, men marrying and women being given in marriage, until the day that Noah entered into the ark; and they took no note until the flood came and swept them all away, so the presence of the Son of man will be."—Matt. 24:38, 39.
Jesus said the example of Noah's day should serve as a warning for us. We are now living in the time that he called "the presence of the Son of man." The inspired apostle Peter spoke of "the world of that time" that suffered destruction when it was deluged with water, and then said of this time: "But by the same word the heavens and the earth that are now are stored up for fire and are being reserved to the day of judgment and of destruction of the ungodly men."—2 Pet. 3:6, 7.
So, heed Christ's warning. Follow Noah's wise example of obeying God. By doing so you may survive the coming destruction of the present wicked system of things, and live on into God's promised righteous new system.—2 Pet. 3:13.
Your Humble Servant
IT IS the doormat upon which multitudes wipe the dust off their shoes. It is the brown envelope in which documents are sealed for mailing. It is the thick Manila paper that some children use to cover their schoolbooks. It is the string for a boy's kite, the tether for his father's water buffalo. It can be an exquisite handbag, a pretty pair of shoes or a woman's bedroom slippers. It may be the white hat a man will wear on a business trip to Manila. It is your humble servant, abacá.
Cultivating the "Abacá" Plant
Otik and his family of six live deep in abacá country, on the island of Mindanao. He came here as a young man from Cebu, along with Max and hundreds of other Visayans. They came in search of a better livelihood, and possibly adventure, for the Visayan tends to be a nomad. That was some years before World War II swept the Pacific—when Mindanao was still largely
By "Awakel" correspondent in the Philippines
Truly, abacá is a versatile servant, but its most important service to mankind is in the form of rope: rope for the rigging of sailboats, rope for the junks and sampans that crowd Hong Kong's waterfront, rope for the mooring of majestic ships of all nations. Yes, abacá fiber makes fine rope because it is strong and stands up well under long periods of outdoor use, having remarkable resistance to water, sun and wind.
Of the yearly demand for at least a million bales world wide, 720,000 are supplied by the Philippines. The tremendous job of supplying this demand rests on the shoulders of humble men like Otik and Max. Come, let me introduce you to them.
a wilderness. On his homestead Otik planted rice, corn, coconut and abacá—but mostly abacá.
Abacá is better known around the world by its export name, Manila hemp, though it is not really hemp and it is not grown in Manila. It is
a perennial whose stalks grow in clusters, and is a member of the banana family. Its fruit even resembles the banana, but do not try eating it or you are in for an unpleasant surprise. Its leaves are narrow, stiff and straight in contrast with the broader, gracefully drooping leaves of the banana.
Otik owes a debt of gratitude to Watanabe-san, one of the industrious Japanese who developed abaca culture from a local to an international industry. He taught Otik that the plant thrives best on volcanic soil where there is plenty of rainfall, and that it demands lots of shade furnished by the forest. This is why Mindanao proved to be the right place for its cultivation. The plant matures from the sucker stage in about three years, attaining a height of ten to fifteen feet. Only mature stalks produce the finest fiber.
The large leaves, oblong in shape, grow up closely around the trunk of the plant, the bottom parts of the leaves hugging the trunk tightly in layer after layer.
Otik recalls how Watanabe-san showed him how to grade the fibers correctly: the outer sheaths contain short, not-so-white, strong fiber; the middle ones have medium-white, reasonably sturdy fiber; the inner ones have the whitest fiber, but are not so strong. The pith of the plant goes to the compost heap.
Preparing Fiber for the Market
Since Otik has returned to his old occupation of building, most of the work on the abacá plantation is left to hired hands. His close friend, Max, is a real authority on the practical aspects of preparing abacá for market. His muscles have been hardened by forty years of chopping down mature plants, cutting away the leaves, peeling off the petioles or stems one by one, and feeding them to the stripping machine. This is a simple device—a serrated steel blade with a block of wood. One end of each petiole is fed into the machine and clamped down, but not too tightly. First, a mighty tug to yank the fiber free from that end of the petiole, and then the other end is fed into the jaws of the machine. Another tug and the beautiful white fiber springs free.
The fiber is then tied into hands—a hand being the quantity of fiber picked up by both hands—and dried in the sun. Max can now afford a generator and an improved stripping machine, but he still maintains that stripping abacá is work for strong men and is at the same time an art. One has to gauge the right amount of tug to obtain the maximum of fiber and avoid undue waste. Skilled hands obtain every fiber from the stalk. Then prompt and proper drying technique produces the whitest and strongest abacá.
Finally the job of Otik, Max and other abacid growers is finished when the fiber has been baled, weighed and delivered by
truck to the merchant. But what price they will get for all their hard work is beyond their control. Supply and demand around the world (for abacá is now also grown in Central America) is what will determine their returns. Sometimes they get very little. Added to their troubles is the fact that sisal, henequen and synthetic fibers are now competing on the world market.
Versatile Servant to Many
Despite all rivalry, however, abacá still has a promising future. As long as ships sail the oceans it would seem that abacá will be in demand, for no other product matches it in its role of rope that is highly brine-resistant and that maintains tensile strength even after long exposure to sun, wind and rain.
And a talk with Nena reveals other possibilities. She has a small abacá farm near the slopes of Mayon volcano in the Bicol Peninsula. She and her neighbors operate cottage industries that turn out handbags, hats, shoes, slippers and other items that are in great demand. They even pound abacá and weave it into cloth called sinamay, used for mosquito netting and in the garment trade. Even the abacá stumps and discarded stalks are not altogether waste, for Nena and her neighbors, with proper care, manage to harvest a generous supply of delicious mushrooms from these.
Plant disease and impoverished soil are two threatening enemies of this humble servant of man. The abacá needs rich soil and cool shady forest in order to continue producing healthily. The question is, Will men refrain from denuding the land of its sheltering trees, and give the land its needed rest from time to time? Only thus can abacá continue to hold its place as their humble servant.
URUGUAY CHANGES ITS PRESIDENTIAL SYSTEM
By "Awake1" correspondent
in Uruguay
FTER some seventy-eight hours of debate in parliament
in August 1966, constitutional reform was assured for this country in the heart of South America. Of special interest is one of the amendments whereby Uruguay reverts to rule by one president, after about sixteen years of rule by a college of nine presidents.
Among South American countries Uruguay has been outstanding for liberal attitude and stable government. Up to 1918 the Catholic Church was recognized as the official religion of the country, but in that year a new constitution put into effect complete separation of Church and State. In 1951 one-man rule was superseded by rule by a body of nine presidents, at that time known as the Consejo Nacional de Gobierno.
How did it work? Well, the people voted a party into office, and then the elected party appointed the nine-man presidency for a four-year term: six representatives of the winning party and three of the party with the second-largest number of votes. The council's chairman, chosen from among their own number, served for but one year, when another member would take his place.
Those favoring the nine-man presidency point to the fact that it produced maturer decisions and avoided emergence of strong-man rule with all the abuses usually associated with it. However, the 7-to-9 parliamentary vote of 1966 indicates that there has been considerable change of viewpoint. It appears that the impact of inflation together with other economicills has hastened the change. The New York Times of August 28, 1966, commented editorially: "It seems sure that Uruguay will change its co-legislature form of government to the presidential system of just one man ruling. Only under this form of government can national expenses be adjusted to national income."
Under the title "Constitutional Reform More a Necessity than a Desire," the newspaper La Plata, Montevideo, of August 23, 1966, had
this to say: "It is necessary to fortify the executive power, giving
the necessary powers to put in force means to assure harmony among the different organizations having to do with the country's economy." El Dario, of August 28, 1966, commented: "The co-legislature regime, leading the country to a financial, economic and social crisis without parallel in our history, is giving way to institutions that the Republic needs to organize and to face the future with hope. Without these adequate instruments Uruguay cannot pretend to raise itself into a developed nation."
On November 27, 1966, Uruguayans had their say on the matter of the changeover. The main streets were plastered with signs put out by the different parties, walls displayed the names of the candidates, and sound cars roamed the streets blaring election slogans. The legislature allotted money to the parties for their campaigns according to the number of votes obtained in the previous election. When the election results were tabulated, there were more than enough votes to assure victory for constitutional reform.
The winning Colorado party took office on March 1, 1967. Since that date there have been several devaluations of the Uruguayan peso, with the result that prices are rising higher than ever and the country's economic recovery appears to be as far away as ever. Many Uruguayans are beginning to question whether the new system under one president and one vice-president will really make any appreciable difference. The national debt still is in the millions of pesos.
God-fearing Uruquayans, those who study the Word of God and learn to put trust in God's promises, are confident that the only "adequate instrument" to bring solutions to an economic, social and financial crisis that envelops all nations is God's kingdom by Christ. It alone can bring, not reform of imperfect human government, but a complete changeover to a righteous and beneficent administration.—2 Tim. 3:15; 2 Pet. 3:18.
I WAS born of Catholic parents in 1901 in Roure, a city in northern Italy. I was brought up chiefly by my grandmother, who was very religious and spent most of her time praying. Her frequent warnings that if I was not good I would "see the Devil" made a
on the dark background of the trees.
The following year we came to France, and I was put out to work as a maid. From then on, I prayed often and especially for the souls in purgatory. I was so convinced that they existed that I used to hear what I believed were them
deep impression on me.
I was nine years old when I had my first strange experience with cards. It was in the winter and snow was falling. I was playing cards with some friends of my age, when suddenly a call and the cry of a bird were heard outside. We distinctly heard the name
I WAS A FORTUN
knocking on the wall of my room in the mornings.
One day, a few years later, when I came home from work, I clearly saw the face of a former neighbor of ours, who had moved away some time before. It appeared on the dial of the big clock in the square that I crossed every day on
"Rose!" Puzzled, the men of the house went outside, but they discovered neither the person who uttered this strange call nor the bird. A few days later, to our great consternation, we learned that Aunt Rose had died.
My Aunt Rose and her sister used to come each year to spend the summer with us in the mountains. Like my grandmother, they would hold over my head the
my way home.
My mother welcomed me at the door with the words: "You'll never guess who has been to see me today!"
"I'm sure I can," I replied. "It was Mrs. X—(our former neighbor)." To mother's great surprise, I was right.
Fortune-telling by Cards
threat of the Evil One and tell me that I would "see the Devil." I heard this repeated so often that finally I did "see the Devil." Or at least in my childish imagination, impressed by the threats, I thought I saw him. I was eleven years old at the time, but it is still vivid in my mind. I was in a clearing in the wood and it seemed that I could see the Devil
When I was eighteen, I had to spend some months in a preventorium. I spent most of my time with the other patients telling fortunes by cards. Of course, we did this simply to amuse ourselves. But before long I became particularly gifted. In fact, my predictions astonished my companions.
I saw nothing in the cards themselves.
I just made predictions on the basis of what I felt moved to say.
I had no knowledge of any system or scientific method for telling fortunes by cards. However, my "gift" was definitely confirmed.
In 1940 a friend who knew of my success brought a certain midwife so that I could look at the cards for her. I did so, and speaking under the inspiration of the moment, I told her: "You are going to be robbed because of an imprudent act on your part."
I learned a few days later that a young man that this person received into her home had taken advantage of her hospitality in order to steal a very valuable ring from her. This incident impressed her. "You really must take up fortune-telling by cards," she said to me. And in spite of my hesitation, she bought me several packs of cards, and even brought me clients.
So that is how I came to start telling fortunes. More and more people began to consult me, and the money they left me encouraged me in this pursuit.
I remember especially an instance that happened during the second world war. A client in tears came to see me. I told her that her husband, whom the Gestapo (German secret police) had taken away, would come back on the fourteenth of the month. He came back that very day. This lady let me know right away, and her husband himself came and thanked me.
Another day I was visited by a man whom a friend had sent to me. As a rule I did not receive men, but he was so insistent that I finally agreed to "read the cards" for him. After a while I said to him: "What a terrible profession you are engaged in!"
"What do you mean?" he asked.
"You trade in human flesh," I replied.
It was only later that I learned that this man was the owner of a house for prostitutes in the neighborhood.
One day I prophesied to my hairdresser the death of her husband, telling her that in two weeks she would be a widow. Fifteen days later her husband died suddenly from a stroke.
I was never really happy, however, while practicing this magic art. In fact, my capacities worried me and puzzled me more and more.
A Change in My Life
Then, in 1948, one of Jehovah's witnesses called at my door. He left me a booklet. I still remember the title: "One World, One Government." I read and reread it and, I must say, it upset all my former conceptions.
When the Witness came back, I could not stop asking him questions! Finally, he left me the book "The Truth Shall Make You Free." The following week I bought a Bible and subscribed for the semimonthly Bible study magazine. Before long, with the aid of this same Witness, I was studying the Bible regularly. Often, the evening our study was held, there were about ten persons gathered in my home. They were friends and clients. I invited them to come and listen to prophecies of a very different nature from those that I used to tell them by "reading cards."
However, they had little interest in the Bible and its reliable prophetic sayings. Gradually all of them left me as my interest and knowledge of the wonderful Bible truths grew and my efforts to share these with them increased. Nevertheless, later, I did have the great joy of seeing three of my old friends accept these Bible truths.
Set Free by the Truth
Strangely, when I began studying the Bible, I experienced very painful effects. I was supersensitive and extremely nervous without apparent cause. I had nightmares and many sleepless nights, and often wondered what was wrong with me. Finally, I began to think that there was perhaps some connection between my nervous state and the card reading, and that this form of divination or any divination might be contrary to the will of God. So about three months after my first contact with the Bible I said to myself: "It must be the cards that are causing all the trouble."
Fortified by this sudden conviction, I immediately took out my packs of cards from the little grip where I used to keep them, and threw them all into the fire. It is impossible for me to describe the effect that this resolute action had on me. I felt so relieved, as if caused of a great weight. I was so happy that I would have liked to dance around the kitchen.
That same evening, when the Witness came, I asked him point-blank: "Is it wrong to tell fortunes by cards?" He thought I meant: "Would it be wrong to have one's fortune told." and he replied quickly: "Whatever you do, never go to consult a fortune-teller." He showed me that it was Scripturally wrong to do so. —Deut. 18:10-12.
Of course, he did not suspect for a moment that I was a fortune-teller. So I confessed that I had practiced telling the future with cards.
"And now?" he asked.
"I have thrown them into the fire," I quickly replied.
"Was that your own idea?" he asked. He spoke with a significant look on his face that convinced me more than ever that I had done the right thing. I was certain that I had won a distinct victory
over the one with whom I had so often been threatened in my childhood days.
Although I had never been able to tell my own fortune with cards, a strange thing occurred at the beginning of that memorable year the Witness called at my home. I had accompanied one of my friends to the home of a fortune-teller who read the future in a cup into which she put a certain quantity of salt and then a few drops of water. She said to me: "Madan, your life is going to be completely changed by a young man who is slightly bald. He will be carrying a briefcase and wearing a trench coat and will speak in a rather authoritative manner."
Since then, when talking with the friend I was with (and who has also become one of Jehovah's witnesses), I have often recalled this visit to the fortune-teller. For, remarkably, her predictor was fulfilled, even down to the very details she gave!
Just three months after I began studying the Bible with the person the fortune-teller described, I started sharing in preaching God's Word publicly to others. And eight months later I symbolized my dedication to Jehovah by water baptism.
Loss of Income, but Greater Gain
Naturally, when I stopped fortune-telling, I lost a source of income, for some days I received from my clients as much as two thousand francs [$4.00] a day—quite a lot of money in those days. It reminded me of what the practicians of the magical arts did in the city of Ephesus when they learned the Word of Jehovah. At Acts 19:19 the Bible says: "Quite a number of those who practiced magical arts brought their books together and burned them up before everybody. And they calculated together the prices of them and found them worth fifty thousand pieces of silver."
I had followed, the pattern of the early Christians by burning my fortune-telling cards.
Since cards are simply inert objects that do not possess any knowledge, and since I had never studied anything about using cards to predict the future, I am convinced that an occult power was using me as its instrument. I believe that the morbid fear of the Evil One that I developed during my childhood, my superstitious belief in survival after death, and my sensitive and emotional nature had made me the unconscious agent of this power. My ESP or occult power to predict certain future things had come from wicked spirits or demons.
The Bible at Acts 16:16-19 tells about a similar case of a girl who was used by wicked spirit forces to foretell the future. The disciple Luke records: "It happened that as we were going to the place of prayer, a certain servant girl with a spirit, a demon of divination, met us. She used to furnish her masters with much gain by practicing the art of prediction. This girl kept following Paul and us and crying out with the words: 'These men are slaves of the Most High God, who are publishing to you the way of salvation.' This she kept doing for many days. Finally Paul got tired of it and turned and said to the spirit: 'I order you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her.' And it came out that very hour. Well, when her masters saw that their hope of gain had left, they laid hold of Paul and Silas and dragged them into the market place to the rulers."
Just as it happened for the masters of this girl, I also lost a source of income, but the truth has caused a fountain of joy to spring up within me. Ever since, by Jehovah's undeserved kindness, I have been drawing strength from that liferewening fountain.—Contributed.
$1,500 INVESTMENT
How much would you give so that your mother could have everlasting life? Would $1,500 be too much? Of course not!
One of Jehovah's witnesses in New Mexico writes:
"Ever since I learned the truth of God's Word I wanted to explain it fully to my mother, who lived in Korea. I made plans for her to come and live with me for six months. After she came, I made a special effort to talk to her every day about the Bible. Then, before I ever asked her, she told me that she wanted to go to the congregation meetings.
"She enjoyed it very much and wanted to go every time even though she didn't understand English. Why? She found that everyone was so happy and so joyful. In her words, 'It was different.'
"It was at this time that she gave up smoking after having smoked for about fifty years. But she quit without any trouble.
and while we were waiting for the airplane. I told her that my wish was for her to associate with Jehovah's witnesses at a Kingdom Hall in Korea. I told her that I wanted her to understand more about Jehovah's purposes for mankind. She said, "I will not promise, but, if it is your wish, I will try the best I can."
"As time went on I wondered what she was doing about the truth. Finally I received a letter. She told me that she had started attending meetings about fifty miles from her home. Not only was she going, but she was taking my brother's mother-in-law. Also, my brother told my mother that he would try to go. I was so happy that I cried and thanked Jehovah God that my wish was coming true.
"Now my mother, who is seventy-four years old, is learning how to live again. If we try, we have results. I spent about $1,500 for my mother to learn the truth. I feel that it was a small price to pay for her to gain the hope of everlasting life."
PREPARING for
VIOLENCE
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ALL across the United States during winter and spring, police departments have been preparing for another summer of violence. National Guard troops and regular army units also have received special training in riot control.
But the authorities are not the only ones preparing for violence. Reports from city after city tell of a huge increase in arms buying on the part of local citizens in anticipation of future riots. At times the acquiring of firearms has taken on near-panic proportions.
All of this is the aftermath of several summers of racial rioting in the country. The official record for last year alone gave little grounds for optimism, for in 1967 there were 164 riots in 128 cities. Eight of these were classified as "major."
The preparations for violence testify to the expectation that it could be a 'hot, ugly summer' in the United States. The likelihood of more rioting was also suggested by the special riot commission appointed by President Johnson. In its published report, the National Advisory Commission on Civil Disorders said: "We recognize, as we must, that the conditions underlying the disorders will not be obliterated before the end of this year or the end of the next, and that so long as these conditions exist a potential for disorder remains."
After reviewing the riot commission's report, U. S. News & World Report of March 11, 1968, commented:
"It is a grim picture that President Johnson's riot commission paints of the racial
situation in this country. Seen ahead are not only more—and possibly worse—riots. Americans are warned that continued "white nationalism" in the nation, with cities under "semimartial law". And it may already be too late to avoid another summer of violence."
Individuals Prepare
Many individuals who never before possessed firearms have been buying them. Some areas are rapidly being turned into armed camps.
In Detroit alone a 46-percent increase in the rate of pistol registration has been noted since last July's disastrous riot. The city's mayor, J. P. Cavanagh, pleaded for a "return to sanity" after noting the frenzied arms race of both whites and Negroes there.
Clinics have been established to teach local residents how to load, aim and fire weapons. In one clinic in a Detroit suburb hundreds of women have been trained to handle guns. One trainee stated that she wanted "to learn how to handle a gun without shooting myself or anybody else." Another said that she and her friends "definitely have a fear that a riot might come to their doors." This was the underlying fear of most attending these clinics.
Also, the skyrocketing crime rate gave an added motive to such training.
One newspaper noted: "In some homes in suburbs ringing Detroit, basement rifle ranges have been built for target practice. Some homes have stocked extra food in the event trouble isolates them for long."—The Miami Herald, March 17, 1968.
A man living in New York city purchased three gms. He commented that no matter which direction rioters would come from "they would get it" if they tried to break into his home. This person, regarded as an average citizen, reflected the concern of a large part of the public in the United States today.
When columnist Stewart Alsop interviewed a twenty-one-year-old Negro about the possibility of riots in Washington, D.C., the nation's capital, he asked the youth: "Do you think there's going to be a riot here next summer?" The youth replied: "I sure hope not. If there's trouble, I'm gonna get somewhere else, but fast. It's gonna be rough, real rough." Asked why, the youth replied: "If there's trouble, they're gonna move downtown. They're not gonna burn down their houses—they're gonna burn down your houses. And everybody in this city's got guns."
Asked how he knew that "everybody" had guns, he replied that he had gone to a party a few nights before and the host had asked the guests to "park the artillery" on the bed. The youth commented: "I counted thirty, forty guns on that bed, everything from little twenty-twos to forty-fives. One cat had three guns—two in shoulder holsters, and a little gun in his pocket."
After this interview, columnist Alsop concluded: "The more one examines at first hand the racial problem—infinitely
the most serious domestic problem that faces this country—the more intractable, the more stubbornly complex, the more dangerous and the more nearly insoluble it seems."—The Saturday Evening Post, February 24, 1968.
And the New York Times of February 22,1968,reported the following:
"About 600 Negroes, attending a memorial program for Malcolm X held at Intermediate School 201 in East Harlem, were urged yesterday to obtain weapons for 'self-defense' against whites and to practice using them so that when the 'hunting season' came they would be ready.
"The exhortation was given by Herman B. Ferguson, who was suspended last summer as an assistant principal at a Queens public school . . . Mr. Ferguson . . . is serving as a paid adviser to the local governing board of I. S. 201."
Authorities Prepare
Because of all this preparation on the part of local citizens, police departments throughout the country are preparing for trouble. They are girding themselves for violence that could be worse than before because of the number of weapons now in the hands of the people.
Police departments in many localities have been receiving special equipment. Weapons being stockpiled include, not only revolvers and high-powered rifles, but also machine guns, armored vehicles and even helicopters.
Some of the weapons developed to handle rioters awed even police veterans. In Los Angeles there was demonstrated a model of a 20-ton armored personnel carrier that would crush a barricade of cars. The tank-like vehicle can carry twenty men behind armor-plated sides. It is equipped with a machine gun, tear-gas launchers, a smoke-screen device and chemical fire extinguishers. It also has a siren that can be turned on so loud and shrill that it is capable of disabling rioters with its sound.
Said one deputy police chief after seeing the vehicle: "When I look at this thing, I think, my God, I hope we'll never have to use it."
One of the new weapons designed specifically for riot control is known as Riotrol. It is a nontoxic powder that can be spread on streets and then saturated with water. As it soaks up the water, the powder turns into a slick paste. This makes the pavement so slippery that just standing upright becomes difficult. It has been nicknamed "instant banana peel." A pound of the powder covers an area of about 500 square feet.
Another new weapon is called Chemical Mace. It is a potent type of tear gas that turns into a vapor after its cannister. Producing a man-sized cloud, it can temporarily blind a person with its irritant. It also deprives its victim of oxygen, leaving him blind and comparatively helpless. Hence, instead of drawing his gun or using his club, a policeman may draw his aerosol can of chemical spray to subdue a rioter. It has already been used successfully to stop minor disturbances. Impressed by its potential, more than 3,000 local, state and federal agencies are reported to have purchased the spray gun.
Special training has also been given to police forces so that they can better cope with riots, especially at their outset. The Chicago police department has acquired helicopters to transport police more quickly to the scene of a disturbance. It also has a highly mobile 600-man task force designed to instruct the city's police force in riot control. In Philadelphia, the police department maintains busloads of specially trained and equipped officers in strategic spots, poised to rush to any area where rioting breaks out.
tensive training in riot control. At the direction of President Johnson, the army's chief of staff ordered the 400,000 National Guardmen in the United States to complete a special course in techniques and tactics for controlling civil disturbances. Its objective was, not only to develop skill in putting down riots, but to develop methods of doing so that would minimize injury and destruction. Many authorities felt that the National Guard was inadequately trained for riot duty last summer. As Newsweek of March 11, 1968, reported:
National Guard troops also received in-
"In Newark, when a National Guardman fired a random shot and then a prankster set off a string of firecrackers, nervous guardmen and state troopers opened up on a housing project with massive fire. Two guardmen were killed. . . . As a matter of fact, Newark police director Dominick Spina told the [riot] commission, 'It was so bad that, in my opinion, guardmen were firing upon police and police were firing back at them.'
Also, the performance of guardmen in Detroit's riot was questioned by the riot commission, noting that the most efficient riot fighters were the regular army troops who were finally summoned. Thus, the directive was issued to improve the performance of the National Guard. Its purpose was summarized by the National Observer of September 11, 1967, which said: "President Johnson and military officials hope the new skills of the citizen-soldiers will minimize any future ravaging and its consequences."
Standing behind local police forces and National Guardsmen are the specially trained and equipped regular army troops who can be flown, on very short notice, to any trouble spot.
Fearful of Future
Thus, as summer approaches in the United States, law-enforcement officials everywhere wait uneasily, all too aware that a minor disturbance can easily flare up to gigantic proportions.
Those who impartially survey the situation note the ominous gloom that is present in most of the nation's major cities. And bringing fear into the hearts of many officials is the knowledge that the conditions that were present when previous riots occurred are still there. In many cases, these conditions have worsened. As Life magazine of March 8, 1968, observed: "No one has yet succeeded in reversing the drift toward decay of an entire ghetto."
The despair of many officials was echoed by United Press International writer Louis Cassels. As reported in the News of Framingham, Massachusetts, on August 9, 1967, he stated:
"The black uprising in America's cities is far more extensive and far more serious than most white people believe.
"It is NOT a passing phenomenon, stirred by 'outside agitators.'
"It is NOT a mere outburst of hooliganism by a 'small minority of lawless people.'
"It is NOT a new phase of the civil rights movement—although it may disrupt indefinitely that attempt to gain equality for Negroes by nonviolent means...
"After visiting riot areas in Detroit, Newark, Rochester, Toledo, Harlem and other cities and talking to hundreds of Negroes, public officials, social scientists and law enforcement officers, I am convinced that we were all hasty in the earlier 1960s in describing as a revolution the Negro's struggle for equal rights before the law. This is the revolution. That was just a preliminary."
What Will You Do?
No doubt you share the concern of others about the possibility of renewed violence. But what will you do to protect yourself?
After learning of the stockpiling of arms by many individuals it may be a normal reaction to conclude that the only thing to do is to join in acquiring weapons.
Yet, interestingly, many do not share this viewpoint. Particularly is this so of those who have respect for God and his laws. Christians who really believe the Bible view things differently because they realize that all the conditions now striking fear into men's hearts were foretold in God's Word. The Bible clearly shows that the present difficulties are sure evidence that we are living in the "last days" of this system of things. (2 Tim. 3:1-5) The Bible also shows that in these critical times people who turn to Jehovah God would not be doing what the crowds are doing. They would, instead, be listening to the counsel in God's Word. They would be applying that counsel in their lives, appreciating that their greatest security and happiness come in living by Bible principles.
Benefits of Applying Bible Principles
By applying Bible principles regarding conduct in difficult situations, the Christian knows that he will be working toward his best interests. He will also be pleasing God, which is even more important.
Notice how living by Bible principles can help a person in times of stress. For instance, the Bible principle at Proverbs 26:17 says: "As one grabbing hold of the ears of a dog is anyone passing by that is becoming furious at the quarrel that is not his." A person who applies this principle does not let himself become involved in rioting, nor does he take to the streets out of curiosity. Instead, he retires to a place of safety whenever possible and waits until the disturbance subsides.
But too often persons ignore this sound Bible counsel and pay a heavy price as a result. For instance, when riots flared in New York city's Spanish Harlem last summer a forty-four-year-old mother of four children went to the window and looked out to observe the riot on the streets below.
As she looked, a bullet tore into her head. She was killed instantly.
Also, it is commonly thought that arming oneself means greater protection. But Christians are counseled to "seek peace and pursue it." Thus, as Bible prophecy shows, in these "last days" they "beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning shears. . . . neither will they learn war any more." (1 Pet. 3:11; Isa. 2:2-4) By not arming himself in advance, the Christian will never be the one gun kills a member of his own household by accident. He will not be killed himself if another member of his family, in some disturbance, uses the weapon carelessly.
Consider the instance of a man in Indiana. While he was in his house a brick smashed through his window. He grabbed his shotgun, and when he saw a shadowy figure crouching in the bushes he fired one blast. He heard the cry, "Dad!" He had fatally shot his eighteen-year-old son by mistake! The son had gone out to empty the garbage and the vandal had vanished. Standing over his dying son, the father moaned: "Tve shot my son, My God! Ive shot my son."
In another instance, a four-year-old boy shot himself by accident while playing with a 22-caliber revolver belonging to his father. Then there was the youth who was showing his friends a pistol when it accidentally went off, sending a bullet through his head. He died immediately.
Also, when riots flare up, just how much protection would a revolver be against a mob that invades your home? How long could you last if you fired into an armed mob that surrounded you? True, some may say that "I'll get one of them before they get me," but that is not the Christian viewpoint. The Christian is not out for vengeance, but for the protection of himself and his loved ones within the bounds that God's laws and principles allow. Indeed, seeing a person without a weapon in his home, a mob may be less inclined to kill than they would if fired upon. In any event, the Christian does not take the law into his own hands. He allows law-enforcement officials to bear this responsibility. He does not want to incur bloodguilt before Jehovah God.
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