Awake!, August 22, 1968
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How Good Are the Ten Commandments?
PAGE 5
West German High Court Renders Key Decision
PAGE 9
Schizophrenia-a Mental Ailment That Is Not Hopeless
PAGE 12
Africa Struggles Anew for Independence
PAGE 17
AUGUST 22,1968
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 unhampered by traditional creeds. This magazine keeps itself free, that it may speak freely to you. But it does not abuse its freedom. It maintains integrity to truth.
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CONTENTS
Light Means Life—in
More Ways than One!
How Good Are the Ten Commandments?
West German High Court Renders
Key Decision
Not So Large, but Long
Schizophrenia—a Mental Allment
"Star Differs from Star"
Africa Struggles Anew for Independence 17
Tiny but Vital Muscle 19
Bethel's Busy Ministers Preach
Training for Violence 24
Why Ants Are Called "a People" 25
"Your Word Is Truth"
Is Belief in Fairies Justified? 27
Watching the World 29
Volume XLIX
Number 16
"LIGHT is sweeter, and it is pleasant for the eyes to behold the sun." How true! We can be thankful that a wise and loving Creator has provided us with light, and especially the precious and beautiful sunlight. He has also endowed us with sight,
which serves, more than any other of our senses, to enlighten and inform us regarding what is going on all about us as well as to take in knowledge from printed literature, television, and so forth.—Eccl. 11:7, ES.
What is light? That is a question that has puzzled men of learning for many centuries. Among those interesting themselves in the subject was Isaac Newton, who appears to have been the first to show by means of a prism that white light is made up of a spectrum of colors ranging from red to violet. On the basis of his experiments he concluded that light was composed of tiny particles that he named "corpuscles," and he said that these traveled in a straight line. About the same time another scientist claimed that light travels as do waves of water. At the beginning of the twentieth century the quantum theory was developed. This might be said to have harmonized the two theories.
Important as light is for feeding our minds, it is even more important to the feeding of our bodies. Plants depend upon a process known as "photosynthesis," which means, literally, "putting together by light." Green plants combine the energy they
AUGUST 22,1968
derive from light with water and carbon dioxide in order to make food. And at the same time that the plants take in carbon dioxide they give off oxygen. Thus in a twofold way light literally means life to man. It accounts for all the food that man eats, either in the form of plants or of animals that live on plants; food energy originally comes from light. In this process oxygen is produced, without which man could not live. No question about it, light had to come first, even as the Bible's account of creation shows. On the first creative day or epoch God said, "Let light come to be." —Gen. 1:3-5.
Just how valuable light is to life man is learning to appreciate more and more, even as can be seen from a report that appeared in Medical World News, May 26, 1967, entitled "Bath of Light Prevents Jaundice in Babies." It told how doctors had discovered that premature babies, who are especially susceptible to jaundice, did not develop it when bathed in light for the first six days, wearing only diapers and eyeshields.
The jaundice in these babies is caused by an excess of a reddish-yellow pigment known as "bilirubin" in the blood. Not a few premature babies, in the United States, develop this condition on the fourth to the sixth day of life and, of these, from 5 to 10 percent die. Some who survive develop a type of cerebral palsy or similar afflictions. The usual method of treating these babies has been to exchange their blood by means of a transfusion. But, according to doctors using the light treatment, "this carries a definite risk, because the death rate during transfusion is only slightly less than the risk of [too much bilirubin]."
This same condition is helped in still another way by light, in that charcoal is an indirect product of light. Thus in the same medical publication, February 17, 1967, a report told that charcoal each day keeps jaundice away. As a result of this treatment more than 90 percent of the children usually given blood transfusions were cured without such transfusions.
However, to appreciate fully just how true it is that light means life we must direct our attention and thoughts beyond the mundane, material things. How so? Because the same is true in a spiritual sense. Thus Jehovah God, the Creator of all things seen and unseen, is spoken of in his Word as "the Father of the celestial lights," and of him the psalmist David sang, "Jehovah is my light." At the same time we read that "with you [Jehovah, who is light] is the source of life; by light from you we can see light." Yes, it could be no other way, since he is the only one without beginning; all life proceeds from him, the Father of light.—Jas. 1:17; Ps. 27:1; 36:9.
God's Word, the Bible, is also spoken of as light and as life. "Your word is a lamp to my foot, and a light to my roadway." Jesus Christ said that his words, now found in the Bible, "are spirit and are life." God's Word is further described as "the word of life."—Ps. 119:105; John 6:63; Phil. 2:16.
Similarly, the Son of God, Jesus Christ, is described in terms of light and life. He said of himself: "I am the light of the world. He that follows me . . . will possess the light of life." Thus also the apostle John wrote of Jesus: "By means of him was life, and the life was the light of men." He was "the true light that gives light to every sort of man." By his faithful course he "has shed light upon life and incorruption through the good news."—John 8:12; 1:4-9; 2 Tim. 1:10.
All who become true followers of Jesus Christ will, like him, be bringing the hope of life to the people by means of the light of truth found in the Bible. Thus Jesus sald of them: "You are the light of the world," and commanded them, "Let your light shine before men." That the light these bring means life to those who accept it Jesus' further words show: "This means everlasting life, their taking in knowledge [enlightenment] of you, the only true God, and of the one whom you sent forth, Jesus Christ."—Matt. 5:14, 16; John 17:3.
So, would you enjoy good health? Then do not minimize the value of light, sunlight in particular. And would you enjoy everlasting life? Then recognize Jehovah God and Jesus Christ as your Lights and the ones to whom you must look for life. Listen to their servants as they hold fast the "word of life" as "illuminators in the world."—Phil. 2:15, 16.
TEN COMMANDMENTS?
Are they irrelevant? How should they be viewed by servants of God today?
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MANY religious leaders now say that the Ten Commandments are out of date, irrelevant to modern society. Joseph F. Fletcher, professor of ethics at the Episcopal Theological School in Cambridge, Massachusetts, is one prominent theologian with this view.
According to The National Observer of April 24, 1967, Fletcher "has spelled out a controversial manifesto of individual freedom and responsibility, based on an ethic of brotherly love, which he says should free modern man from rigid, archaic rules and codes like the 'Ten Commandments.'"
Another person with such views is Kenneth C. Bailey. As professor at the Lutheran Concordia College in Minnesota he wrote an article entitled "The Decalogue as Morality and Ethics," which appeared in the prominent religious journal Theology Today, July 1963. In it he said:
"What I hope to show is that observance or non-observance of a set of rules, such as the Ten Commandments [or Decalogue], has nothing whatever to do with morality or conviction of sin...
*Morality, for the Christian, consists precisely in doing whatever he honestly believes is right. We cannot insist that his behavior must be thus and so, for we have no way of knowing what he himself honestly believes is right under these particular circumstances. . . This, and only this, is the essence of
morality: behavior consistent with what one honestly believes to be right!"
Many ministers are now teaching these views, even from their pulpits and through the public news media. For example, the cover of the Star Weekly, Toronto, Canada, of October 8, 1966, carried the picture of a robed minister declaring: "The Ten Commandments Are Dead." And the four-page feature article, written by United Church minister G. W. Goth, asserted:
"The 10 commandments are no more relevant for today's need than the particular forms of government and science that were acceptable in the time of Moses. . .
"We are failing to be the masters of the events of our time because in a world that has changed immeasurably in every other form we continue to cling stubbornly to the code of a primitive people in a simple society."
Also in England, George Wilkins, a Church of England minister, declared regarding the Ten Commandments: "They are very largely responsible for giving young people the idea that the church is a wet blanket. . . . My opinion is not unusual. In common with many other clergymen, I do not refer to the commandments in my Sunday services."
Well, then, are the Ten Commandments really outdated and irrelevant? Should the substance of them be discarded and ignored as a proper standard of conduct?
Of Divine Origin
The Ten Commandments, or Decalogue, were not conceived or authored by mere humans. Rather, they were written by Jehovah God himself, as the Bible explains: "He [Jehovah] declared unto you his covenant, which he commanded you to perform, even ten commandments; and he wrote them upon two tables of stone." (Deut. 4:13; Ex. 31:18, AV) These commandments were incorporated into the so-called Mosaic law, or the "law of Moses," which Jehovah gave through Moses to govern the nation of Israel. They became the ten principal laws of that Law covenant.—1 Kl. 2:3; Ex. 24:12-18.
The Ten Commandments, like all other works of God, are good. (Deut. 32:4) No set of moral laws ever produced by man can compare with them in excellence. The book Biblical Law by H. B. Clark says of them: "They have been called the greatest short moral code ever formulated and the idealized model of all law." The superiority of the Ten Commandments is commonly recognized by honest men and women.
Appropriately, the first three of them concern man's worship of the Creator, emphasizing his obligation to hold Jehovah God in highest esteem.
First, God commanded: "You must not have any other gods against my face."
Second: "You must not make for yourself a carved image or a form like anything that is in the heavens above or that is on the earth underneath or that is in the waters under the earth. You must not bow down to them nor be induced to serve them . . ."
And third: "You must not take up the name of Jehovah your God in a worthless way...”—Ex. 20:27.
How fine are these laws, which emphasize that nothing should become more important in one's life than worshiping his Creator!
work was to be done. It was to be a sabbath, or rest day, to be kept sacred. —Ex. 20:8-11.
The fourth commandment is unique. It set aside a day in the week on which no
Finally, the last six commandments concern man's dealings with his fellow creatures. They are:
Fifth: "Honor your father and your mother in order that your days may prove long upon the ground that Jehovah your God is giving you."
Sixth: "You must not murder."
Seventh: "You must not commit adultery."
Eighth: "You must not steal."
Ninth: "You must not testify falsely as a witness against your fellow man."
Tenth: "You must not desire your fellow man's house. You must not desire your fellow man's wife, nor his slave man nor his slave girl nor his bull nor his ass nor anything that belongs to your fellow man."—Ex. 20:12-17.
Certainly if everyone sincerely endeavored to live up to the spirit of these commandments this would be a much safer, happier world in which to live!
Clergy Undermine Commandments
Nevertheless, some religious leaders say these commandments are irrelevant, and they seek to undermine them in the eyes of the people. For example, in his article in Theology Today on the Ten Commandments, Kenneth C. Bailey wrote concerning the prohibition on adultery:
"Sexual chastity is a highly emotive subject, so it is easy to imagine that any suggestion that under certain circumstances adultery would be ethically right will be met with many a raised eyebrow. But suppose, to take a not-so-extreme example, that a man and a woman, each the husband or wife of another, were cast away upon an island, with little or no hope of rescue. It would be ridiculous to suppose that it would be ethically wrong for them to cohabitate, even without benefit of clergy! . . . the possibility of one single instance when insisting upon sexual chastity would be wrong is sufficient to demonstrate that the commandment is not universal."
Thus, theologian Bailey endeavors to show that under certain circumstances it is all right to break the commandments—in this instance to commit adultery. He explains: "The demands of modern society require decisions be made according to circumstances, and we cannot bind ourselves to an ancient code of laws."
Therefore, in connection with the next commandment, prohibiting stealing, Bailey writes: "If a situation were to arise in which the only alternatives were taking another's property without permission, stealing if you will, and starvation, the only proper ethical course is clear. . . . then stealing another's property is clearly right." And relative to the ninth commandment, which says, "You must not testify falsely," Bailey asserts: "There clearly are cases in which it is our obligation not to tell the truth."
The prominent Episcopal theologian Joseph F. Fletcher expresses similar views. According to The National Observer, April 24, 1967, Fletcher teaches that "in some situations, unmarried sexual activity could be infinitely more moral than 'married love.' Lying could be more Christian than telling the truth. Stealing could be more acceptable than respecting private property."
This religious teaching of modern clergymen has undoubtedly contributed to the tremendous increase in lawlessness. When persons are told that they are free to decide when to obey laws, many are bound to do what is harmful. Selfish passions easily distort decisions. Humans need definite guidelines.
But someone might ask: "Are not Christians released from the Mosaic law? And so are they not free from the obligation to adhere to its many commands? Should they not, therefore, enjoy the freedom from law of which the clergymen speak?"
Decalogue's Principles Ever Valid
It is true that the Mosaic law was fulfilled and as a law code it was brought to an end by means of Jesus Christ. The Bible explains: "For Christ is the end of the Law." "Now we have been discharged from the Law." (Rom. 10:4; 7:6; Matt. 5:17) Concerning the action that Jehovah God himself took toward the Mosaic law, the Bible also says: "He kindly forgave us all our trespasses and blotted out the handwritten document against us, which consisted of decrees [including the Ten Commandments] and which was in opposition to us [because of condemning us as sinners]; and He has taken it out of the way by nailing it to the torture stake."—Col. 2:13, 14.
However, this does not mean that the Mosaic law was not good, or that the principles underlying the Ten Commandments are not still binding upon Christians today. The setting aside of the Law covenant does not mean that Christians are not bound by laws. True Christians have come under a "new covenant," with its better sacrifice of Jesus' perfect human life, and they are subject to the laws and commands connected with it. (Heb. 8:7-13; 10:1-4; Luke 22:20) Many of these laws have been adopted from those found in the Mosaic law.
This is not unexpected or unusual. A similar thing often happens when a new government takes over the rule of a country. The constitution under the old government might be canceled and replaced with a new constitution, but the new constitution may include many of the regulations in the old one. So, too, the Law covenant came to an end, but Jehovah God established a "new covenant," included in which are many commands and instructions that were embodied in the old Law covenant.
Note how this is the case. The Ten Commandments ordered that no other gods besides Jehovah are to be worshiped, no idolatrous images are to be made or bowed to, and Jehovah's name is not to be treated in a worthless way.
Are Christians required to obey what is expressed in these first three commandments? Most assuredly!
Jesus Christ himself emphasizes that "it is Jehovah your God alone that you must worship.' (Matt. 4:10; 1 Cor. 10:20-22) Also, Christians in the new covenant are warned: "Guard yourselves from idols." (1 John 5:21; 1 Cor. 10:14) And Jesus' followers were taught by him to pray that Jehovah's name be sanctified, or hallowed, which certainly requires that a Christian praying that prayer treat God's name respectfully and not in a worthless way. —Matt. 6:9.
How about the commandment to honor father and mother? It, too, is carried over into the Christian system of things, children being instructed: "Be obedient to your parents." (Eph. 6:1, 2) And not only are Christians not to murder, as the sixth commandment prohibits, but they are commanded to love their enemies. They are also counseled: "Everyone who hates his brother is a manslayer."—1 John 3:15; Matt. 5:44.
While clergymen may make allowance for adultery under certain circumstances, the Bible does not. Rather, for Christians this commandment is given emphasis. "God will judge fornicators and adulterers." (Heb. 13:4; 1 Thess. 4:3-7) Nor are exceptions made in the Bible for stealing or lying. Both of these practices are specifically prohibited for Christians living under the new covenant. (Eph. 4:25, 28; 1 Cor. 6:9-11; Rev. 21:8) The tenth commandment, against desiring what belongs to one's fellowman, is also carried over into the Christian system of things, Jesus making a special point of warning against such desires.—Luke 12:15; Col. 3:5.
"But what about the sabbath law?" someone may ask. "That fourth commandment has thus far been skipped. Are Christians under obligation to observe a day of rest?"
No, nowhere in the Bible are Christians commanded to keep a literal rest one day in seven. On the contrary, they are told: "Therefore let no man judge you in eating and drinking or in respect of a festival or of an observance of the new moon or of a sabbath." The bringing to an end of the Mosaic law, by "nailing it to the torture stake," relieved Christians from observing the many Jewish religious festivals, including the sabbath observance.
Col. 2:13-16; Lev. 23:1-44; 25:1-12.
Nevertheless, the principle underlying sabbath observance was carried over into the Christian system. For Christians that means they must observe a spiritual sabbath or rest. This is a rest that is continuous, not one day a week but all seven days. It is a rest that comes from faith and obedience; a rest from selfish works, including efforts to establish one's own righteousness. (Heb. 4:10) Even as the literal seventh-day sabbath served to guard the Israelites against being taken over by materialism, so the spiritual rest of Christians safeguards them against the same snare.
Truly, the Ten Commandments are very good, and certainly the principles of them are relevant and up-to-date for our day. So even though the Mosaic law, with its Ten Commandments, was brought to an end, the principles of that wonderful law code are still valid. Love for God will motivate Christians to obey all his commandments for them. (1 John 5:3) At the same time, they will turn away from clergymen who undermine God's Word and from the religious organizations they represent.
WEST GERMAN HIGH COURT RENDERS
IN THE Federal Republic of Germany, the Constitutional Court is regarded as the highest court of the land. The decisions of
other high courts can be appealed and brought to the Constitutional Court if one feels that his constitutional rights have been violated.
The Court serves much the same function as the Supreme Court of the United States. When it decides a case, it is not possible to appeal the case to another court. The same matter could come up again only if the Constitutional Court would accept it at a later time either to confirm or to reverse its own decision.
This means that the West German government and courts are bound by the decisions of the Constitutional Court. A change can take place in constitutional matters only if that high court makes the change.
Key Decision
Recently, the Constitutional Court rendered a key decision that affects those who for reasons of religious conviction refuse military service.
On March 7, 1968, the Court declared by a 5 to 2 margin that it is unconstitutional to sentence a person to jail a second time after he has already served one term for refusing to accept military service or substitute duty.
In this important case the complainants were a number of Jehovah's witnesses. All
of them had already been sentenced to prison terms by lower courts and had served between two and eight months for their conscientious objection to service in Germany's armed forces.
The point involving constitutional law in West Germany arose after they had served their prison sentences. They were given a new summons from the Federal Minister of Labor, who is responsible for inducting persons into alternative civilian service. This summons again called upon these witnesses of Jehovah to enter civilian service as a substitute for induction into the armed forces. Maintaining the same stand on the matter as the first time, they refused and were sentenced to jail once more, some of them for terms of six months.
The complainants all considered their second prison term as being contrary to the constitution of the Federal Republic of Germany. On what basis? On the basis of Article 103, Paragraph 3, of the constitution. According to this statute, it is a violation of the rights of West German citizens to be sentenced twice for the same act.
While a person can be sentenced to a prison term each time he breaks the law anew, he cannot be sentenced twice for the same violation.
Thus, when Jehovah's witnesses refused military service or its alternative the first time, they were sentenced to jail and served their sentences. Yet, when released from jail, they were again brought before the courts, tried for refusing alternative service in lieu of military service, and once more sentenced to jail.
Decisions of Lower Courts Annulled
After hearing the case, the Constitutional Court handed down its decision on March 7. It declared null and void all the decisions of lower courts that had resulted in some of Jehovah's witnesses' being sent to prison a second time.
In its decision, the Court declared the following: "To exercise justice in the problem of refusal to perform alternative service out of conscientious reasons, it is therefore necessary to consider that their conscientious decision, as Jehovah's witnesses, was not continually renewed, but rather in every case had been made only once, and this decision was made at the same time as that to refuse military service for all time. This was already shown in the fact that they, being irreproachable citizens of the state until this time, were willing without hesitation to take on even a criminal imprisonment for their refusal."
The Court saw the injustice of treating "irreproachable citizens" in the same way that it would treat persons who repeatedly had committed crimes such as murder, assault or theft. Jehovah's witnesses are well known in Germany for their strict obedience to all the laws of the land that do not conflict with God's laws, which is why the Court recognized them as citizens who were without reproach.
Hence, the Court stated that when sanctions were applied to Jehovah's witnesses, these sanctions must show "that they are not referring to the conduct of
a common law-breaker, but rather that a decision of conscience is at hand, . . . Therefore one responsible to do alternative service who refused his service out of honest, conscientious grounds cannot be repeatedly abducted to alternative service, and, because of refusing to do this service, be punished. Such a kind of compulsory punishment would run contrary to the meaning of freedom of conscience."
Thus, Jehovah's witnesses in West Germany are now released from the burden of having to serve repeated prison terms for their conscientious objection to military service or voluntarily accepting an alternative.
Other Lands
The course that the Federal Republic of Germany has taken is similar to the course taken by many other countries in handling the cases of Jehovah's witnesses relative to military service.
For example, in the United States Jehovah's witnesses who are not in the full-time work of the ministry are called upon for induction. When they refuse they are often given prison terms, most of these ranging from two to five years, heavier sentences than have been given in West Germany. However, in the United States, as in West Germany now, they are not usually called upon for service again after having served one prison term.
In Sweden the matter is handled with even greater recognition for the freedom of conscience. As in Germany, Sweden earlier recognized the irreproachable conduct of Jehovah's witnesses as citizens, and saw the futility of jailing them as common criminals. Sweden's parliament then came to a new decision. A Swedish paper, Freden, of June 10, 1966, stated of it in an editorial: "Jehovah's witnesses will in the future, after an individual investigation, be relieved of compulsory service by the simple method of not being called up at all."
The editorial added: "Sweden's Riksdag is to be congratulated for this decision which solves a problem that has hitherto been looked upon as unsolvable. Sweden can in this respect serve as an example to other countries."
In Brazil a similar course is now being followed. There, the constitution had provided for the freedom of conscience and the free exercise of religion. However, its
tary service." Under Spanish law Jehovah's witnesses are repeatedly imprisoned on the same charge. When called upon for military service in Franco's armed forces, they refuse. Hence, they are sentenced to between six months and six years in prison. At the end of that sentence they must again present themselves for military service. When they maintain the same stand as originally and refuse induction, the courts impose even harsher prison sen-
application to Jehovah's witnesses was unclear. But on June 8, 1967, the application of these freedoms was clarified. In Decree No. 56 the minister of the army set out instructions to the Directory of Military service for granting claims for exemption from performing military service. It directed that Brazilian citizens may, after an investigation, be exempted from military service because of religious convictions.
On the other hand, there are countries that do not at all recognize the freedom of
ences upon them. This is in addition to the term already served. England's Guardian of July 4, 1967, noted: "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."
Thus, we can observe how the matter of conscientious objection to military service is handled by various countries. On the one hand there is the course taken by Sweden, which recognizes the freedom of religious conscience and deals with the
religion or conscience. Among such, of course, are the Communist countries. There, Jehovah's witnesses are denied classification either as ministers or conscientious objectors, but are given stiff jail sentences for not serving in Communist military forces. However, such treatment is not confined to Communist lands alone. The same, or worse, is meted out in countries such as Spain and Portugal.
Of Spain, the New York Post of July 6, 1967, reported; "At least 67 Jehovah's witnesses face the possibility of life terms
matter in a very humane and enlightened manner. At the other extreme there is Spain, which deals with conscientious individuals in a way that is reminiscent of the "dark ages" and the Inquisition.
By its recent decision, the high court of the Federal Republic of Germany shows it has respect for the constitutional rights of the individual and for the freedoms of religion and conscience. West Germany thus joins the more liberal nations, which, to this point at least, have been careful to protect the freedoms that mankind cher
Witnesses face the possibility of the terms protect the Reactions that mankind en-
in Spanish prisons for refusing to do mil-
ishes so much.
Not So Large, but Long
How large is a stroke of lightning? Though there may be a "corona envelope" around the central section that measures ten to twenty inches in diameter, the central section itself is only about a half inch in diameter. What may help to make a "bolt" of lightning seem so large is that the average stroke of fork lightning is about three and three-quarters miles long.
zophrenia
A MENTAL AILMENT THAT IS NOT
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HOPELESS
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AMONG your acquaintances there may be someone who is afflicted with schizophrenia. This mental ailment is so common that one percent of the earth's population are afflicted with it. In the United States it is responsible for putting about 250,000 people in mental hospitals, which is around 50 percent of all people in such places. It is not confined to any particular society of people, culture, social group or race, but afflicts people of all types and ages.
There is no general agreement among doctors as to what constitutes schizophrenia or what causes it. The term is applied to a wide variety of mental disorders. Psychiatrists differ as to where the border line should be drawn. What one group might classify as schizophrenia is not necessarily what another group would classify as such.
Despite the fact that a very high percentage of mentally disturbed people are schizophrenic, very little is actually known about the illness. This, according to the book Schizophrenia—An Integrated Approach, which was edited by Dr. Alfred Auerback, "is a paradox of modern psychiatry." Nevertheless, the ailment is not
hopeless. There is treatment that brings positive results.
Symptoms
There are many symptoms that are regarded as indications of schizophrenia. Not all of them, however, may be experienced by one person, although the symptoms he does experience may change from month to month. With some people they develop slowly over a period of months or perhaps years, whereas with others they develop almost overnight.
A change in personality without any obvious explanation for it is perhaps the chief mark of this illness. It does not split a person's personality into two or more personalities, as some persons mistakenly think, but it alters his personality. An outgoing person, for example, may become shy, seclusive, lonely and irritable without apparent reason.
Schizophrenia also causes changes in a person's sense perception. Thus ordinary sounds may seem deafening to him, and ordinary conversation may sound as if people are shouting. Colors may become more brilliant to the eye; pictures may take on a three-dimensional quality whereas three-dimensional objects may appear flat; the faces of other people may appear in strange shapes such as a triangle or a square; and there may be difficulty in estimating distances and the sizes of things.
The sense of smell becomes distorted so that the person may become sensitive to odors that he never paid much attention to before.
Body odors, for example, may become especially noticeable and unpleasant to him, and so he may wash himself excessively.
Delusions and hallucinations are common with schizophrenics. They may have delusions of seeing lights or other things in the sky or may imagine that people are laughing at them behind their back or are plotting things against them. They may be certain that they are being watched and followed and may claim that plotters are afflicting them with electricity or burning rays that they feel on their skin. As might be expected, they tend to withdraw within themselves and may even hide themselves somewhere, becoming wholly occupied with their hallucinations and delusions. Some have the delusion of being Napoleon, George Washington or some other notable person of history. Others may believe that they are brittle and think that they will break if they smile or move, and so they stay for hours in one position.
The illness brings about a change in the sense of taste, causing food to have a bitter, metallic or tainted taste. As a result a schizophrenic may conclude that someone is trying to poison him and may take elaborate precautions in obtaining and preparing his food.
Recognition of friends and relatives may become difficult because of the alterations the illness causes in his senses of perception. He may become thoroughly convinced that someone as close as a marriage mate is a total stranger or that a total stranger is a dear friend. In one case a mother failed to recognize her baby and thought that a strange baby had been substituted for hers. In still another case a high-school youth had difficulty recognizing his friends and relatives and concluded that they were having their faces
made over. He did not realize that he could no longer trust his senses.
Popular Theory of Cause
Influenced by the thinking of the Austrian psychiatrist Sigmund Freud, most modern psychiatrists think that schizophrenia is a maladjustment to other people that was seeded in childhood. They look at it as a pattern of behavior that is sick rather than as a disease. So they view the person who develops schizophrenia as having an inadequate personality that finally succumbs to an environmental stress.
The parents of one who has schizophrenia are usually charged with much of the responsibility for his having it, marital strife being regarded as one of the causes. Mothers in particular are accused of a long list of evils that are thought to cause this mental sickness. These include: emotional deprivation, overt rejection, convert rejection, cold mechanical handling, overprotection, capricious punishments, severe discipline, and so forth. Such accusations, however, may unwise lead some parents to feel guilty for the sickness of their child, and others to be too permissive with their children in fear that the children may develop schizophrenia.
It seems strange that parents should be blamed for causing schizophrenia when there are a great many children who have received the same treatment from their parents as schizophrenic children are supposed to have received, and yet only one percent of the world's population have schizophrenia. In his book The Abnormal Personality, Professor Robert W. White observed: "In addition it must be kept in mind that not every child in a family is likely to be schizophrenic. There is no reason to doubt that each child will be treated a little differently, but if we want the psychogenic hypothesis to be completely adequate we must be prepared to show how the well children escaped the fate of the sick one."
There are psychiatrists who take issue with the theory that schizophrenia is caused by childhood environment. Doctors Abram Hoffer and Humphrey Osmond, in their book How to Live with Schizophrenia, said: "Myth No. 3 is that schizophrenia is due to bad mothering. It is remarkable how well established this is in spite
chiatrists who hold this view, the Nobel Prize-winning chemist Dr. Linus Pauling said, in April 1968, that therapy seeking to restore chemical balance is "the best method of treatment for many patients."
That the mind can be affected by an upset in the body's chemistry is evident from the disease known as pellagra. It is due to a deficiency in the body of a B vitamin called niacin. This vitamin is also called nicotinic acid. A person who gets pellagra
of the fact that no research has ever been done which proves it."
Heredity.
There is reason to conclude that a genetic defect is linked with schizophrenia. This was pointed out in a report made by Dr. David Rosenthal in 1964. In the first case ever recorded of schizophrenia in identical quadruplets, he found that they and their father had the same abnormal brain wave and that a pattern of mental illness was in the family. He concluded
may become mentally unbalanced.
Experiments have indicated that there are chemical substances in the body of a schizophrenic that are not present in normal people. On this point Dr. Nolan D. C. Lewis remarked: "It would seem to be established that there is something different circulating in the blood of schizophrenics than in that of other people."
Dr. Robert Heath has discovered a substance in the blood of schizophrenics that causes a disturbance in the behavior of animals when indicted into them. Human
that an "inherited factor needs to be present for schizophrenia to develop. However, without severe environmental stresses the illness may not appear in those who have a predisposition to it."
Further evidence supporting this conclusion is the finding of Dr. F. J. Kallman, which revealed that if one identical twin has schizophrenia, there is an 85 percent chance the other will too. He also found that when one parent in a family suffered from it, 16.4 percent of the offspring from those parents would also have
animals which injected into them. Human volunteers who received this substance were also affected mentally, developing schizophrenic symptoms. Doctor Heath calls the substance taraxein.
Independent research by Dr. Arnold Friedhoff revealed a distinctive chemical in the urine of schizophrenic patients that he called DMPE. It was in the urine of 15 out of 19 schizophrenics but not in 14 normal subjects. When injected into test animals it proved to have mind-altering properties. The substance seems to be
it. But if both had it, then 68.1 percent of their offspring would be schizophrenic.
Biochemical Theory
A theory that does not yet have widespread acceptance among psychiatrists but that appears to be a reasonable explanation for schizophrenia views the illness as being caused by a flaw in the chemical operations of the body. Joining the psy-
closely related in chemical structure with adrenaline, a hormone that is produced in the human body.
The research done by Doctors Hoffer and Osmond also focused attention on adrenaline. They concluded from their findings that it is definitely linked with the cause of schizophrenia. They have pointed out that this hormone is toxic and is quickly changed in the body to another toxic substance called adrenochrome.
This, in turn, is quickly changed in normal persons to a harmless substance called leuco-adrenochrome.
These doctors believe that the body of a schizophrenic has a flaw in the manner in which it handles these chemicals, with the result that adrenochrome is changed into a poisonous substance called adrenolutin. Their conclusion is that too much adrenochrome, adrenolutin, taraxein and other detrimental substances are produced in the body of a schizophrenic and carried to his brain by the blood. The result is that the message-carrying ability of the brain cells is affected adversely, causing the various symptoms of schizophrenia. Human volunteers who have taken adrenochrome and adrenolutin have experienced striking changes in personality and other schizophrenic symptoms.
Treatment
In about 50 percent of the persons who experience the symptoms of schizophrenia the body is able to make the necessary adjustments for a natural recovery. But other persons require treatment.
It was not so long ago that there was little hope for a schizophrenic who did not recover naturally. He was very likely to spend the rest of his life in a mental hospital. Psychotherapy based upon Freud's theories proved ineffectual. Commenting on this, Doctors Hoffer and Osmond stated: "Psychotherapy of a deep and interpretive kind has not been shown to bring about any improvement in this illness, and many in fact consider that it disrupts the patient and may impede recovery."
With the discovery of tranquilizing drugs it was possible to produce marked improvement in the behavior of schizophrenics. These drugs brought good results on the short term but not a cure.
They suppress the symptoms of schizophrenia, making it easier to break down the patient's withdrawal into himself and easier for him to live with normal people. But these drugs have bad side effects on the long term. Using a drug such as chlorpromazine, for example, over a long period of time can damage the eyes and skin. It might also be noted that, according to Doctor Hoffer, such drugs as amphetamine, preludin and some antidepressants are even dangerous for schizophrenics and should be avoided.
In times past insulin-coma therapy was used in treatment for schizophrenia, but since the introduction of tranquilizing drugs it has been abandoned almost everywhere. Insulin-coma therapy was a dangerous treatment in which a person was put into shock and deep coma by lowering his blood sugar with insulin. Doctors view tranquilizers as being much safer and more effective.
Today stubborn cases of schizophrenia that do not respond to drug treatment are given electroconvulsive therapy called ECT. Small quantities of electricity are passed across the patient's temples, causing him to fall into a deep sleep, and then he has a convulsive seizure. Doctors say that this therapy is safe and painless, and it is often helpful in producing a temporarily improved condition in a schizophrenic that may last for a few days or weeks, making possible the effective use of other forms of treatment.
Remarkable, long-lasting results have been obtained by doctors who have approached schizophrenia with the theory that it is due to a breakdown in a chemical operation in the body. Working with the objective of reducing the poisonous effects of this breakdown, they have been experiencing good success with niaein. Doctors Hoffer and Osmond, for example, claim a recovery rate of 75 percent of those they have treated, and there has been a low percentage of these that had to be readmitted to the hospital.
These doctors stated: "In 1962 we followed up the first sixteen patients treated with the vitamin in 1952, and compared them with a group of twenty-seven schizophrenic patients who were receiving the treatments popularly in use at that time, psychotherapy, barbiturates, tranquilizers and ECT. We found that the twenty-seven non-niacin patients did not fare very well. Seventeen of them, or almost sixty-three percent, had to return to hospital for further treatment for a total of sixty-three times. . . . By comparison, twelve of the sixteen vitamin-patients, or seventy-five percent, did not have to return to hospital for further treatment, and are well today."
The vitamin treatment for schizophrenia used by Doctors Hoffer and Osmond consists of massive doses of niacin and vitamin C, amounting to 3,000 milligrams of each every day. One thousand of each is given to a patient with every meal. This dosage might be increased substantially in difficult cases. These doctors say that pronounced improvement can be expected in a period of several weeks to three months. The treatment must be continued for one year and can then be stopped indefinitely,
the doctors say, if no symptoms return. If they do, several years of treatment will then be necessary. In especially stubborn cases additional treatment with electroconvulsive therapy and perhaps the drug penicillamine may be necessary. Dr. Limus Pauling also recommends vitamin treatment for mental sickness.
When niacin is used it tends to cause a flush to go over the body, but this is natural and said to be harmless. The massive doses of this vitamin and also of vitamin C are harmless, according to Doctors Hoffer and Osmond. As an additional benefit from the treatment, niacin lowers blood cholesterol and high blood pressure and slows hardening of the arteries.
If you have a relative or friend who has schizophrenia, do not conclude that his case is hopeless. As has just been pointed out, there are forms of treatment that can benefit him. It is necessary, however, to recognize that a schizophrenic is a sick person and should be treated as such. Be as considerate and forgiving of his peculiarities as possible. Help him to determine what is real and unreal, and, above all, make it clear that you love him. With proper treatment, a schizophrenic can, in time, lead a normal and productive life.
"Star Differs from Star"
In proving a point about spirit bodies as contrasted with fleshy bodies, the apostle Paul wrote: "The glory of the sun is one sort, and the glory of the moon is another, and the glory of the stars is another; in fact, star differs from star in glory." (1 Cor. 15:41) How true Paul's words are! Just the variety of sizes among the stars proves that. In 1966 it was said that the star with the greatest diameter, Epsilon Aurigea B, measured 2,500 million miles. That would allow our sun and planets out as far as Saturn to be accommodated within it. Yet the smallest then known star had a diameter only half that of our moon.
Do they also differ greatly as to brightness? Absolutely! Why, if all the stars in the universe were to be viewed from the same distance, B. Doradus would be 300,000 to 500,000 times brighter than our sun, which is also a star. In contrast, a tiny red star has been detected that would be one two-millionths of the brightness of the sun.
By "Awake!" correspondent in Liberia
AS RECENTLY as 1950, only four countries in all Africa were independent. But now, eighteen years later, thirty-nine African countries have their own governments. In the year 1960 alone, seventeen former colonies gained their political independence. However, the new African states have remained, for the most part, underdeveloped suppliers of raw materials to industrially rich Europe, an economic subjection as distasteful as had been the political.
Therefore, the struggle now in progress is for economic independence. With this objective in mind, nine West African countries met in conference at Monrovia, Liberia, toward the end of April.
In the keynote address on the opening day, Liberia's president W. V. S. Tubman made a solemn plea to his colleagues to put aside the obstacles and hindrances that, in the past, have obstructed the formation of a free trade area in the region. He urged that their nations be committed to the path of economic cooperation. He called for the kind of cooperation that "tends to build up economies by integrating regional economies through greater utilization of resources, the creation of larger markets and the exploitation of all the possible economic opportunities available."
The results of the three-day conference were encouraging to the participants. Representatives of the nine countries—Guinea, Liberia, Mall, Mauritania, Senegal, Upper Volta, Gambia, Ghana and Nigeria—signed a pact establishing a West African Regional Group. Support for the agreement was expected also from Sierra Leone, which
did not attend the conference due to a critical political situation. The new Regional Group was hailed as a first step in setting up a West African common market to benefit the more than 100 million people of the region, about a third of the population of all Africa.
Problems to Integrating Economies
Building up trade between African nations, however, will not be easy. There are many problems. Serving to emphasize this is the decision of the West African nations of Togo, Niger, Ivory Coast and Dahomey not even to attend the conference. This alarmed some observers. Commenting on the decision, one delegate said: "We are disappointed and sorry. We realize that there are differences among us."
This is indeed true. Political and economic systems in the region are quite diverse, ranging from liberalism to state socialism. Also, there are varying trade relationships with overseas powers, the terms of which could interfere with interregional trade.
Naturally, individual African countries are concerned with whether regional integrating of economies would affect economic advantages now enjoyed.
Another problem is that different monetary systems are used throughout the region. In places the basis for exchange is the sterling, in other places the franc, still other countries use dollars, and there are also independent currencies. In fact, now, with thirty-nine independent African nations, there are more than twenty individual national currencies in circulation!
But despite the many problems, the will prevailed at the conference to make integration a reality. Guinea's Sekou Toure noted that the six members of the European Common Market had differing political systems, currencies and economic legislation, but that this did not block successful trade relations between them. He said: "Diversity of systems does not imply a contradiction of interests, nor preclude community of ideas and action."
Potential for Greater Independence
The heavy dependence of African countries upon trade with industrialized nations is reflected in the fact that only 5 percent of the total African trade is among African countries. Must this situation continue to exist? Can intracontinental trade be increased?
Efforts in this direction are being made, and not only in West Africa. Other regions in Africa also are seeking to improve trade relations. For example, on December 1, 1967, an East African Community of Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania went into effect, thus strengthening the existing East African Common Market. Proposals call for the community to extend from Sudan to Zambia.
the Central African Republic, Cameroun, Congo (Brazzaville) and Gabon provided for the elimination of all trade barriers among the member states, the fair distribution of industrial projects and the coordination of development programs. A common customs tariff was also adopted, as well as harmonization of the financial systems and investment codes of the member states.
Also, in 1966, an economic union of the five Central African states of Chad,
So efforts are being made to increase intra-African trade. The potential for doing so is obvious, since it is reported that Africa imports over $3,000,000,000 annually in food and raw materials, even though a substantial portion of these commodities is available within the continent.
Transportation Facilities Needed
As a start toward greater intra-Africa trade, Prime Minister David Jawara of Gambia declared: "It is imperative to develop transport and communications within the group, to facilitate the movement of goods and people."
In the past, roads and railroads have been constructed primarily to get produce out of the region to industrialized nations. Therefore, there is no coastal highway that directly links the population centers of West Africa. Such highway connections could prove valuable. In addition, waterways, such as the Niger and Senegal Rivers, can be improved for trade. Also, additions to the existing rail links would increase the potential for transporting produce. For example, there is a railroad that connects inland Niger and Bamako, Mali, with the coastal city of Dakar, Senegal. A short extension could tie in Gambia.
As it is, surface transportation within West Africa is presently inadequate. If there is to be substantial growth in interregional trade, it must be improved.
Natural Resources Encouraging
West Africa is very rich in iron ore, manganese, bauxite, gold, diamonds and other minerals. Also, she is blessed by a variety of good soils. Considering such marvelous natural resources, poverty and backwardness are altogether out of place in the region.
Stepped-up production of Malian and Guinean rice and garden products coupled with modern processing of Liberian sugar, Senegalese peanuts, Ivorien coffee, and Ghanian cocoa could substantially replace overseas imports. Mali is estimated to have almost four million cattle and seven million sheep and goats, and possesses an important refrigeration plant. Development of this industry and better transportation links could supply protein-deficient areas with more and better meat at lower cost.
Since West Africa consists of numerous small countries with populations of 5 million or less (Nigeria and Ghana being exceptions), large-scale industries would not be profitable unless markets covered more than one country. An integrated regional economy could make this possible. To develop more local industries, there is a growing insistence that West African producers of primary products be allowed to process them partially before export.
An example of that principle at work is the recently dedicated $53 million iron washing and pelletizing plant located at Buchanan, Liberia, the first of its kind in Africa and the largest outside of North America. Washed-out fine particles of ore are agglomerated into pellets the size of
marbles high in purity and uniform in ore content for which there is great demand today.
With a superabundance of natural resources and hydroelectrical potential in the region, West Africa has already embarked on working out the details of a proposed iron and steel industry. The day may well come when the region will produce steel and steel products. Another fine potential lies in bauxite, from which aluminum can be produced if vast quantities of electricity are available. Ghana and Guinea have plenty of bauxite, and Ghana has the electrical power produced by the Volta River Dam.
Outside Assistance
Aid from the industrialized nations of the world will be needed by the West African Regional Group to meet the high cost of new transportation links and other development programs. It is reported that the United States, for one, favors West African development on a regional, multinational basis. If the Regional Group demonstrates the capacity for initiative and self-responsibility, rich donor countries will be attracted to lend positive aid, including technical assistance.
At the Monrovia conference African leaders appeared desirous of using their potentials to boost the economy of their region. At the same time they evidenced a realistic awareness of the difficulties involved. In a world filled with frustration and national self-interest, it will be interesting to see how far West Africa can go in its quest for greater economic independence.
Tiny but Vital Muscle
Though we often think of muscles as useful for heavy lifting and moving, the smallest muscle in the human body, the tiny stapedius in the middle ear, could hardly do that. It is less than one-twentieth of an inch long. Yet, because of its valuable contribution we can hear.
Bethel's Busy Ministers PREACH THE GOOD NEWS
THIS magazine that you are reading was printed by a group of dedicated ministers. Yes, ministers who devote their full time to seeing to it that you and millions of others are supplied with books, booklets and magazines in scores of languages to help explain the teachings of the Bible and the significance of our restless times. Motivated by a deep love for God and for you, their neighbor, these Christian servants of God have freely volunteered to undertake this time-consuming, mammoth project.
If you were to observe them on their way to their assigned duties, you would immediately notice the great variety of persons in this family of ministers known as the "Bethel family," living at the headquarters of the Watch Tower Society, in Brooklyn, New York. Among them are smiling Negroes, polite Orientals, enthusiastic Latins and others. Speaking with them, you would find that they hail from forty-nine States, including Alaska and Hawaii. Further, within their ranks are ones from Australia, Hong Kong, the Philippine Islands, Italy, Greece, Lebanon, Turkey, Mexico, El Salvador, Cuba, Honduras, Puerto Rico, Germany, Austria, Denmark, Switzerland, Ireland, Scotland, England and Canada.
They are from all walks of life and many different professions. Yes, this Bethel family contains carpenters, plumbers, mechanics, barbers, artists, beauticians, electricians, musicians, engineers, medical
workers and many, many others. Here they are, unitedly pooling all their natural abilities and talents to the gigantic job of helping to care for the needs of the world's spiritually hungry.
They individually spend forty-seven or more hours a week at their duties in the Bethel home or at the printing plant a few blocks away. However, their activity does not end when the quilting-time bell resounds throughout these buildings in the evening and at Saturday noon. No, these ministers scatter into every section of New York city by automobile, bus and subway to preach God's Word or to attend meetings in various homes and at the Kingdom Halls of Jehovah's witnesses. Like the majority of their fellow Witnesses throughout the earth, they devote time each week to preaching God's kingdom. Moreover, they endeavor to attend and share in all five meetings sponsored by the Christian congregation to which they are assigned. Of the 184 congregations in New York city, members of the Bethel family work with or hold responsible positions in 149. Yes, their days are packed with activity, beginning at 6:30 a.m. and ending when they turn off the lights in their rooms at 10:30 p.m. or, sometimes, later. No wonder some visitors to their home called them 'the busiest, fastest-walking people in the world.'
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