Awake!, October 8, 1969
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LAW AND ORDER
WHOSE LAW? WHOSE ORDER?
WHAT WILL SOLVE TODAY'S PROBLEMS?
OCTOBER 8,1969
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.
The viewpoint of "Awake!" is not narrow, but is international, "Awake!" has its own correspondents in scores of nations. Its articles are read in many lands, in many languages, by millions of persons.
In every issue "Awake!" presents vital topics on which you should be informed. It features penetrating articles on social conditions and offers sound counsel for meeting the problems of everyday life. Current news from every continent passes in quick review. Attention is focused on activities in the fields of government and commerce about which you should know. Straightforward discussions of religious issues alert you to matters of vital concern. Customs and people in many lands, the marvels of creation, practical sciences and points of human interest are all embraced in its coverage. "Awake!" provides wholesome, instructive reading for every member of the family.
"Awakel" pledges itself to righteous principles, to exposing hidden foes and subtle dangers, to championing freedom for all, to comforting mourners and strengthening those disheartened by the failures of a delinquent world, reflecting sure hope for the establishment of God's righteous new order in this generation.
Get acquainted with "Awake!" Keep awake by reading "Awake!"
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CONTENTS
The Cry for Law and Order 3
How Others Look at
Do They Have the Answers? 5
What Does the Breakdown Mean? 8
Near! 11
Crime, Violence and War Wiped Out
—Peace and Security World Wide 12
Injustice and Discrimination to End
Forever—Justice and Unity
for All Mankind 16
Poverty, Hunger and Bad Housing
Replaced—Decent Living
Law of Sin and Death Gives Way
—Rule of Health and Life Prevails 24
o You Really Want Law and Order? 28
Watching the World 30
London, England, October 8, 1869
DO YOU feel there is more danger to your safety now than twenty years ago? than even five years ago? Are you more uneasy about walking down a street after dark? Do you feel more concern for your children's safety? Are you more aware of the need for locks on the doors and windows of your home?
If you are like most people in the world, your answer to these questions will be Yes. Everywhere there is growing anxiety about personal safety because of the increase in crime and violence.
True, perhaps you personally have never been held up, mugged, sexually
True, perhaps you personally have never been held up, mugged, sexually attacked or had your home robbed. But more and more people are experiencing these things.
This is especially so in cities. Time magazine stated: "There is hardly a single big city in which the individual feels completely safe on the streets at night." One person who wrote to the New York Times, May 20, 1969, put it this way:
"Realizing that muggings are taking place by the hundreds and thousands every day in our city, moves me with deep sorrow toward the plight of myself and my fellow New Yorkers. . . .
"Anyone who has ever seen a cold sliver of steel blade inches from his face, as I
have twice, can never again look at a man he does not know with even the most basic human trust. Anywhere he goes at night and often in the day in this city, he must be on guard with the fear of a soldier lost behind enemy lines."
If we add to this the rioting and student unrest, we can see why, in a recent poll, 81 percent of those polled agreed with the statement:
of the Columbia said:
"Law and order has broken down." Even smaller towns and rural areas are now experiencing this breakdown. And it is becoming much the same in every country on earth. As the president iA Broadcasting System
"Discipline is breaking down. . . . This turmoil is tragic. But it is also, as James Reston wrote, the biggest story in the world today."
He noted that the entire matter came down to the "deceptively simple question of law and order."
LAW AND ORDER. That is the cry we hear so much about these days. But just what does it mean? To many, perhaps yourself, it means being able to walk the streets free from muggers, robbers and rapists. It means not having your home or business robbed.
But does it mean this to everybody?
How OTHERS Look at Law and Order
THERE are many today who feel that the present law and order are actually working against them. They want more than just safe streets and homes.
For instance, the Houston Chronicle reported: "Some young people are resenting the use of the term law and order." Many youths are bitter toward the world their elders have made for them. Just one of many reasons for their bitterness is noted by U.S. News & World Report:
"About half of those killed [in battle] were too young to vote in most States. More were killed at age 20 than at any other age. . . . The big majority of these youths were not professional military men, but youths who had been in uniform just a year or two."
Growing numbers of young men feel frustrated by laws that require them to kill and be killed, but that they did not make or approve. They claim these laws are unjust.
Members of minority groups also may
take a different view of the present law and order. The New York Times said of many American Negroes: "The new stress on U.S. law and order is considered by them to be at the Negro's expense." Their cry is for a law and order that will give them social justice and equal opportunity.
People in certain poverty areas of the earth feel that existing laws keep them crushed, restrict them to small tracts of land that are unproductive, maintain them in a state of economic slavery.
Others, though not undergoing poverty, also feel that certain laws are unjust. For example, they may pay a sizable income tax, but see some wealthy people pay little or none because their money is in tax-free investments. Or they may be fined for parking their automobile on the wrong side of a street. But that may have been the only space available, since there may not be enough parking space. Many such things combine to produce gigantic frustrations that put people in a rebellious mood.
Clearly, there is something wrong with the way things are going. There is growing discontentment with existing conditions everywhere. What is the answer? Do away with all law and order? Let everybody do as he pleases? This would result in anarchy, total chaos. This condition almost nobody wants. There has to be some sort of law; there has to be some kind of order.
But the big question is, Whose law and and whose order? Is there any system that will produce law and order along with true justice and equality for all? Well, what has been tried? Have the different systems originated by men worked? Do they have the answers? If not, who does? What is the answer?
DO THEY HAVE THE ANSWERS?
WHAT answers are being offered for today's growing lawlessness?
One of the solutions often proposed is this: USE MORE FORCE. The cries are: "More police!" "Tougher jail sentences!"
No one can rightly deny that a criminal should pay the penalty for his crime. The Bible states that God gave his nation of ancient Israel laws providing for punishment of wrongdoers, even including the death penalty. (Num. 35:31; Ex. 22:1-6) Nor can anyone deny that a weakening of law enforcement in our day could only result in far worse conditions.
The question, then, is: Can a strengthening of the present law-enforcement systems of human society effectively stem the rising tide of crime?
Can Local Law-Enforcement Agencies Solve the Problem?
Faced with growing crime, police forces in many places are being increased. But police prevention of crime depends to a large degree on cooperation from the public. Today in many areas cooperation with the police is at an all-time low. Besides this, the policemen themselves are subject to the tempting offers of men who would corrupt them.
To what extent can an increase of the police forces ensure safety today? You will be interested to read what the Times of June 3, 1969, had to say about New York city:
"It would cost $25 billion a year—a third the total annual budget of the [United States] Defense Department—to have one patrolman around the clock on each of the city's four-sided blocks.
"And even if this were possible, policemen say it would not stop crime since more than
half of it is committed in areas that they do not patrol—homes, restaurants, hallways, and elevators."
Recognizing how difficult the problem is, James Vorenberg, former director of the National Crime Commission in the United States, stated: "To a considerable degree law enforcement cannot deal with criminal behavior." Why not?
Because enforcing the law alone does not change the wrong desires or the hatreds within people. It does not mold basic attitudes. Where the basic thinking is wrong, law enforcement alone will not correct it.
Nor does law enforcement alone eliminate injustice, prejudice and poverty. It does not make greedy men generous, nor arrogant men humble. It does not do away with conditions that often breed frustration and crime.
What Can Governments Do?
Can national governments solve the problem, since they have much more power than city officials? What is their record?
Have they, for example, been able to maintain peace among themselves, settle their differences in an orderly way, based on just laws? You know the answer. Since 1914 national governments have been caught up in the most destructive wars in history. Well over 100 million persons have been killed or injured! Damage to homes and property has been enormous. Intense hatreds were fired. What influence has this had on attitudes within the nations? Has it inspired respect and loyalty toward existing law and order? Look magazine gives this answer: "In nations the world over, both the general public and their leaders always seem to be able to justify any violence perpetrated on their fellow man .
. . Certainly, the existence of sanctioned violence abrades [or erodes] the concept of law and order."
Of the United Nations, the May 1969 issue of World Union from the Netherlands said:
"The United Nations . . . has been unable to establish any sort of international order. Since its formation we have witnessed the most insane arms race in history and lived under constant threat of a third world war."
This arms race is costing thousands of millions of dollars every year.
Clearly, governments are not solving the problem. No matter how sincere individuals within them may be, they prove ineffective in producing true law and order.
What of the Economic Systems?
Would improved economic prosperity guarantee reduced lawlessness? By no means. Paradoxically, the richest nations in the world have the highest crime rate! And rising crime among children of wealthier people has bewildered officials.
criminal acts. If you have been shopping lately you well know about the constant rise in prices. Taxes, too, take an ever bigger bite out of income. This economic squeeze contributes to growing discontent. Some react to that squeeze in criminal ways, as is seen in the fantastic increase in shoplifting and in the number of people who cheat on income taxes.
"Increasing criminality in the midst of prosperity within the nation presents grave issues to the people of Canada. They are up against the realization that they must revise the usual hypothesis that poverty causes crime; they have to allow for the possibility that affluence, too, can be a breeder of criminal acts."
The Royal Bank of Canada Monthly Letter of March 1969 admitted:
The world's economic systems are not diminishing frustrations that may breed
Is it practical to look to the world's economic systems for help when they themselves are in an almost constant state of crisis? After one of many recent international crises, Newsweek said: "Once again, the world's delicate monetary structure teetered on the edge of chaos." Financial authority L. Albert Hahn said of the world's economic
system: "Undoubtedly, this system is going to collapse some day." Can that be the basis for a stable society?
What of the World's Religions?
Well, then, are the world's religious organizations at least leading the way to true law and order?
What do we find among the churches of Christendom? Today we read of more.
and more clergymen condoning or excusing violence, political meddling, premarital sex, even adultery and homosexuality. The churches themselves are often torn by disputes and rebellion.
Moreover, as Martin Marty, in The Search for
a Usable Future, said: "Poll-takers find negligible differences between Christians and non-Christians on any significant humane or ethical issue." Thus, Christendom's churches have proven no better than those they call "pagans."
Pointing up one of the causes of diminishing influence by Christendom's churches, U.S. News & World Report noted this observation:
"The prestige of Christianity In the world has been gravely impaired by the frequency with which the so-called Christian nations have used violence as a method of international change."
Too, where did the machines and materials come from that increasingly pollute the water and air, even the food we eat? Where, for that matter, did the devastating weapons come from that destroyed tens of millions in this generation? From science.
Science has made it possible to send men to the moon, but the cost is gigantic. At the same time
But not only members of Christendom's churches have fought one another on battlefields, in riots or revolts. Members of non-Christian religions have done the same, with Moslem fighting Moslem, Buddhist fighting Buddhist, and Hindu fighting Hindu.
Law and order must spring from the heart to be effec-
thousands of people starve to death every day, cities decay, crime skyrockets.
Would you say that science is solving the really important, most urgent problems of mankind? The truth is as Professor H. S. Commager of Amherst said in Saturday Review: "At the end of a generation of unparalleled advance in science
tive. The world's religions claim to be the instructors of the hearts of men. Thus the major responsibility for the collapse of law and order must be laid at the steps of those religious organizations. They have failed to lead the way to a genuinely moral, peaceful society among mankind.
Is Science the Answer?
Will science provide the basis for an orderly society?
and technology, mankind found hunger more widespread, violence more ruthless, and life more insecure than at any time in the century."
Also, the Melbourne, Australia, Herald reported the following in regard to the direction that scientific advances were taking mankind; "Vice-Admiral Hyman Rickover, whose development work made him known as the father of the U.S. nuclear submarine, warned man . . . that unbridled use of technology 'may become a Frankenstein destroying its creator.'"
Scientific technology has produced many machines and products that people enjoy. But along with this came big cities, and these have not worked; they have become focal points of trouble. Science has also produced rapid transportation. But now problems mount as air and land traffic snarls, and tens of thousands are killed in accidents each year.
So there you have man's unpleasant and unsatisfying record. After all these many centuries of opportunity, he has simply been unable to bring law and order with justice and equality. He does not have the answers.
Why not? Why do human schemes continue to fail? What does today's breakdown really mean?
WHAT DOES The Breakdown
TRUE, there were other periods in history when law and order broke down. The Roman Empire at its end saw this on a large scale. This is why some people regard today's crime and violence as 'normal,' merely 'history repeating itself.'
But the present breakdown means much more than that. It involves much more than just one country. Authorities now realize that never before have all elements of society in all countries on earth experienced such a severe breakdown at the same time.
However, some say that this can be explained by the population increase and by better reporting of crimes. Is this the case?
Just Population Increase and Better Reporting?
If the breakdown is just a matter of population increase, then we should find crime increasing at about the same rate as the population. Is it?
In France, Le Figaro states: "Juvenile delinquency quadrupled since 1955." But juvenile population did not. In Sweden, crime has increased twelve times as fast as population; in Germany, ten times; in the United States from 1960 to 1968, eleven times—and in the last year, 1968, crime rose seventeen times as fast as population!
MEAN?
Consider, too, that police officials say that much, if not most, crime goes unreported! In some places burglaries occur
about three times as often as they are reported, rapes even more often. In some cities only one-tenth of certain crimes are reported!
That population increase and better reporting do not explain matters can be noted in the following Associated Press report:
"FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover assailed today those who attempt to minimize the nation's crime problem by blaming it on the large increase in the youthful population and fuller tabulations by police. . . He said those who try to explain away the shocking truth behind crime statistics' are doomed to failure."
Just the 'Criminal Element'?
Nor should you think that it is just the 'criminal element' that is involved in this
140%
120%
100%
80%
CRIME
60%
40%
20%
POPULATION
From 1960 to 1968 the population of the United States rose 11%; but crime rose 122% in 1968.
breakdown.
The Sunday Bulletin of Philadelphia stated: "Most crime is committed by people who wear nice, clean shirts to work every day and who get together over lunch in company cafeterias or downtown restaurants to deciy the way law and order has broken down."
The same source showed that so-called 'decent' people-steal many times more merchandise and money from companies they work for than do holdup men. In the United States, they get over seventy times as much, 4,000,000,000 compared to53,000,000!
So it is not just hardened criminals who are involved. The attitude of stealing, cheating and turning to violence is saturating much of the human family.
One Clear Meaning
One meaning of this vast breakdown is clear. It was noted by editorial writer David Lawrence: "The more we search for an alibi, the more we discover that unhappiness on earth is man-made. Our key weakness is that we have not solved the problem of self-government." Humans have failed to govern themselves successfully!
True, man has great mental capacity. He invents amazing machines. He explores ocean depths. He rockets to the moon. But, by his own wisdom and judgment he still fails in controlling his relations with other humans.
No one can say that man has not tried, often sincerely. History shows that for thousands of years everything conceivable in the way of human rule has been experimented with. So it cannot be argued that more time is needed. And if any age should have expected success, it is this one. Instead, it has seen the most dangerous breakdown of all.
Where to Look
Does it make sense to keep looking to proved failures for solutions? No, we must look elsewhere.
But where? Why not look to man's Maker for answers to the problems of mankind? None of us today were living when man's problems first began. But the Creator was. He has seen all the developments that have led to the present crisis. Surely the Creator of man knows best why human society is breaking down. He knows what the remedy is.
We do not have to wonder about the answers either. God has made this vital information available to any sincere person who wants it. These satisfying, convincing and truthful answers are found in the communication that God inspired as a guide for the human family—the Bible: "All Scripture is inspired of God and beneficial for . . . setting things straight."—2 Tim. 3:16.
Why Man Fails
The Bible clearly shows that God did not create humans with either the right or the ability to govern themselves successfully apart from their Creator. Jeremiah 10:23 says: "To earthling man his way does not belong. It does not belong to man who is walking even to direct his step."
We might illustrate this by referring to our need for food. God created us with the absolute need to eat food to stay alive. It is not something we can do without. If we stop eating, our bodies break down.
In the same way, God created man with the absolute need for the right mental food. This mental food is information and guidance from God. It is not something humans can do without. (Matt. 4:4) If they throw off this guidance, their affairs break down just as surely as their bodies would if they stopped eating or had a deficlient diet, That is why Proverbs 3:5 counsels: "Trust in Jehovah with all your heart and do not lean upon your own understanding."
Here we see the basic problem: Mankind generally has disregarded God's superior wisdom and has leaned upon its own inferior thinking. It was so with our first parents, who rebelled against God's guidance. (Genesis chap. 3) Since then, for nearly 6,000 years, the vast majority of people and rulers have done the same. Since man was created a free moral agent, God has permitted him to make this choice. But man must take the consequences.
The results are before your eyes. It has
happened as the Bible says: "Man has dominated man to his injury." (Eccl. 8:9) Human rule, independent from God's guidance, has led to inevitable breakdown.
"Over the past few years, I have felt increasingly that something is terribly wrong—and this year ever so much more than last. . . . I think we've reached a point of great decision, not just for our nation, not only for all humanity, but for life upon the earth."
Professor Fred Hoyle of England warned that society has "already started to disintegrate."—The Melbourne Age, March 4, 1969.
While God permitted man's tragic experiment in self-rule, he put a definite time limit on it. He will not permit lawlessness to continue indefinitely.—Eph. 1:10; Rev. 11:18.
This is just what the Bible foretold would take place as God's permission of human rule drew to its close. Second Timothy 3:1 said: "In the last days critical times hard to deal with will be here."
All the evidence in fulfillment of Bible prophecy shows that the "last days" began in the year 1914. Time magazine of August 30, 1968, observed: "To date, the 20th century's most fateful year was 1914." The beginning of World War I saw
What Today's Breakdown
Can Religion Appeal to Youths Today?
A Warning from Ancient Rome.
ARTICLES IN THE NEXT ISSUE
Fantastic Light with a Future.
The Little Dots That Move People.
Really Means
Even those who do not base their conclusions on the Bible see that a climax is coming. Harvard professor George Wald, Nobel Prize winner, sald in Canada's Victoria Daily Times of April 9, 1969:
The Bible shows that today's global breakdown in law and order is highly significant. What it really means is that this system of things alienated from God is nearing the end of the time limit that God allowed it! It has arrived at its climax.
this system enter its final period of human rule. The worst breakdown in history began. Since then it has picked up speed.
Read for yourself what the Bible says would take place to mark these "last days." Second Timothy chapter 3 gives many details. Matthew chapter 24 records many that Jesus gave. One of these was "the increasing of lawlessness," which we see everywhere.—Matt. 24:12.
But the fact that we live in the "last days" does not mean there is no hope. It does not mean that law and order with justice and righteousness will never be realized.
It means just the opposite! Today's global breakdown is positive evidence that the good conditions that honest persons long for are very near to being realized!
WOULD you like to live under a government that would free human society from crime, violence, war, injustice and poverty?
A government that can bring
such benefits will never come by digging deeper into the same old barrel of human failures. It can
be brought about only by One who has the proved ability to establish universal law and order. That One is Jehovah God, the Creator. His ability is demonstrated in the visible heavens, of which nuclear scientist Cecil B. Hamann said:
"Lifting our eyes to the heavens, we surely must exclaim with wonder at the orderly sweep of the stars. Night after night, season after season, year after year, century after century the worlds of outer space have followed their courses through the sky. They return so regularly in their orbits that eclipses may be predicted centuries in advance. . . If they were subject to no laws, would men put their faith in them to guide them across the seven seas or through the unmarked paths of the sky?"
The God who established such amazing law and order throughout the universe could surely establish it on one tiny planet, could he not? And God's clearly stated purpose for our day is to provide a government to do just that! The Bible foretold:
"In the days of those kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be brought to ruin. And the kingdom itself will not be passed on to any other people. It will crush and put an end to all these kingdoms, and it itself will stand to times indefinite."—Dan. 2:44.
Daniel's prophecy shows that all governments of men will be replaced by one government of God! It will not try to patch up men's falling systems, but will crush
them to clear the way for a much-needed change. (Mark 2:21, 22) And since it will rule from
heaven, humans will never be able to control it or to corrupt it.
Is there any possibility that God's kingdom will become oppressive? Well, are the physical laws that God has established to regulate the universe oppressive? No, instead they make for marvelous order and harmony. In the same way, God's laws for governing human relations will make for the very best order and will provide the greatest benefits. Only if a person ignores them will he come into difficulty, just as you would if you ignored the law of gravity and jumped off a high building.
We can be sure God's rule will not be oppressive or unjust, because his Word guarantees: "He purposes to judge the inhabited earth in righteousness." (Acts 17:31) Also, the Bible says: "God is not a man that he should tell lies." (Num. 23:19) So when God promises a new order where "people must dwell in a peaceful abiding place and in residences of full confidence and in undisturbed resting places," then we can believe it.—Isa. 32:18.
Such a government ruling over earth is just what mankind needs to bring relief from today's horrible conditions. But just how will it solve the problems of crime, violence and war? What evidence do we have right now that it will really work?
CRIME, VIOLENCE AND WAR WIPED OUT----
WHAT would it mean to you to be able to throw away locks and keys and never worry about thieves?
How would you feel to be able to walk anywhere at any time and know that anyone you meet is a friend?
Would you not feel deeply comforted to know that war was forever a thing of the unpleasant past?
Such genuine peace and security are not a dream. They are sure to come, but only under the rule of God's kingdom.
True, some may call it unrealistic to believe this. Yet they continue to put their trust in imperfect humans who have promised solutions that never come. Is that realistic? No, the realist is the one who faces the facts and puts his trust, not in failing humans, but in God, who "cannot lie."—Titus 1:2.
Getting Rid of the Bad
How will God realistically deal with today's rising lawlessness? Well, how does a farmer deal with weeds that have overgrown a plot of land he wants for a crop? He uproots the weeds, or plows them under, taking them out of the way—yes, by force! Proverbs 2:22 says: "As regards the wicked, they will be cut off from the very earth; and as for the treacherous, they will be torn away from it."
Why should we believe that force will work in this case when it has failed under man's rule? Because God has perfect control of his force. Genesis 18:25 says: "It is unthinkable of [God] . . . to put to death the righteous man with the wicked one." How unlike the nations of this world who destroy lives indiscriminately in their warfare!
Yet you should not think that the cutting down of wicked ones involves only a few people. Much of what is acceptable to the majority these days is detestable to God. For instance, many do not think that fornication, adultery and homosexuality are wrong. Many make a practice of lying, cheating and stealing, perhaps operating behind a front of legality. Some prefer to be drunkards; others promote violence and killing. Yet, God's Word warns that unless such persons turn from their course, they will be cut down with this wicked system.—Rev. 21:8.
That the wicked who are to be annihilated will be many is prefigured in Bible prophecy: "Those slain by Jehovah will certainly come to be . . . from one end of the earth clear to the other end of the earth." (Jer. 25:31-33) This will be right and just, for Jehovah is the judge and can read the hearts of men.
Thus, in one clean sweep, Jehovah will rid the entire earth of all crime and violence! Yet, how do we know that this lawlessness will not crop up all over again?
Righteous Ruler of God's Kingdom
To preserve righteousness, a righteous ruler is needed. He must be one who himself keeps God's standards of law and order.
Where can you find such an administrator for our planet earth? Who is there that unswervingly spoke the truth, stood up for what was right, pleaded the cause of the poor and oppressed, and had such love for others that he laid down his life for them?
The only one who has all the qualifications is Jesus Christ, the one who was
PEACE AND SECURITY WORLD WIDE
"tested in all respects . . . but without sin."—Heb. 4:15; John 3:16.
While on earth, Jesus proved faithful toward God's standards of truth and righteousness, even when subjected to an agonizing death. His reward was that God resurrected him to heavenly life with the right to be ruler of God's kingdom. (1 Pet. 3:18; Ps. 110:1) Then, with the establishment of that heavenly kingdom at this "time of the end," Christ began to rule. "The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he will rule as king forever and ever."—Rev. 11:15.
Since Christ himself sets the best example of one who keeps God's law and order, his subjects are encouraged to do the same. Too, honest-hearted persons will be drawn to lawful, loyal service of this righteous ruler because he deals with his subjects in such a considerate way. For he said: "Come to me, all you who are toiling and loaded down, and I will refresh you. Take my yoke upon you and become my disciples, for I am mild-tempered and lowly in heart, and you will find refreshment for your souls. For my yoke is kindly and my load is light." (Matt. 11:28-30) Yes, what a delight to obey that kind of ruler!
Associate Administrators
The Bible shows, too, that Christ Jesus, as ruler of God's heavenly government, has many capable administrators as heavenly associates. (Rev. 20:6) They are numbered at 144,000. (Rev. 14:1) That many will certainly be sufficient to see that God's standards of law and order are maintained earth wide in the new order.
These associate administrators have much the same qualities as Jesus. How do we know? Because they all will have served as his loyal followers on earth, proving their love for righteousness by maintaining loyalty to God's laws under persecution even to death. Hence, they too are rewarded by being resurrected to spirit life in order to rule with Jesus from the heavens. (Rev. 3:21) And what kind of attitude do they have as administrators? Jesus said to the first ones in line to be of these associates:
"You know that the rulers of the nations lord it over them [the people] and the great men wield authority over them. This is not the way among you; but whoever wants to become great among you must be your minister, and whoever wants to be first among you must be your slave." -Matt. 20:25-28.
Would you not want to be the subject of rulers who are honest, truthful and humble, who unselfishly serve the needs of mankind?
Christ and his corulers have proved themselves to be such. Under their rule, people will never again chafe in hopelessness and frustration due to feeling that their governments do not care about them or are not honestly working in their behalf.
Further Encouragement
There are other aspects of the rule of God's kingdom that will encourage law and order. For instance, today much hatred and division are incited by political and nationalistic propaganda. Much crime and immorality are incited by motion pictures, television shows and reading matter that stimulate the baser emotions of people.
But in God's new order every means of communication will be devoted to that which is true, wholesome and upbuilding, "because the earth will certainly be filled with the knowledge of Jehovah." (Isa. 11: 9) This will help produce an entirely new atmosphere, a new spirit throughout the world, one that encourages people to do what is right.
Also, a strong deterrent to wrongdoing will be the fact that no lawbreaker will ever 'get away with it.' Even electronic devices are unable to catch some lawbreakers today. But the Bible tells us: "Jehovah—in the heavens is his throne. His own eyes behold, his own beaming eyes examine the sons of men." (Ps. 11:4) So no crime will go undetected by God and his Kingdom representatives.
Any person who stubbornly refuses to change from a wrong course in God's new order will not be allowed to continue living, for that would jeopardize the peace and security of others. The rule will be: "As for the sinner, although a hundred years of age he will have evil called down upon
him." (Isa. 65:20) That will mean his destruction. What a comfort and protection that will be for those who want to do what is right!
Can we have absolute confidence that such heavenly administration of law and order will really work? Yes! And we do not need to wait until God's new order for proof. We can examine that proof today!
God's Standards at Work=Now!
Bible prophecies show that when the "last days" began in 1914, God's heavenly government in the hands of the enthroned Son of God began ruling. A government has subjects over which it rules. Who, then, are the subjects of God's Kingdom government? The ones who acknowledge: "Jehovah is our Judge, Jehovah is our Statute-giver, Jehovah is our King." (Isa. 33:22) They are those who worship Jehovah God and bear witness to others about him and his kingdom.—Isa. 43:10.
So God's heavenly government has subjects on earth today—faithful witnesses of Jehovah. Now more than a million of them in 200 different lands actively work in behalf of that kingdom.—Matt. 24:14.
What are they doing about law and order right now? First of all, they are getting the right foundation for it. Regularly, they take in knowledge of God's laws from his Word. (John 17:3) They do this in private study, at their family Bible studies, and at their more than 25,000 congregations throughout the world where all meetings are devoted to Bible education and practical application of Bible principles to daily living.
Law and Order Now!
What has this produced? For one thing, the fulfillment of the prophecy: "They will not lift up sword, nation against nation, neither will they learn war any more."
(Mic. 4:3) Yes, among Jehovah's witnesses the problem of war has been solved already!—1 John 3:10-12; 4:20, 21.
What is true about war is also true about crime and violence. These things are virtually nonexistent among Jehovah's witnesses. They have learned to respect their neighbor's life, property and rights.—Rom. 14:19; Gal. 5:19-23.
Others who examine the Bible-based society of Jehovah's witnesses recognize the high quality of their law and order.
When city officials in Pasadena, California, observed Jehovah's witnesses during one of their large conventions, they exclaimed: "Amazing!" "Never saw anything like it in my life!" A person at city hall there said: "It is amazing to have more than 100,000 visitors [Jehovah's witnesses] in a city for more than a week and not one incident from the group to be reported to the police."
Source of Their Success
How are they able to accomplish what this world has not? Because the Bible is their 'constitution,' and they live by it. When it tells them to be peaceful and law-abiding wherever they live, rendering "Caesar's things to Caesar," they comply. But when it tells them to render "God's things to God," they make sure they do that too. And when there is a conflict between God and "Caesar," they "obey God as ruler rather than men."—Matt. 22:21; Acts 5:29.
God's laws work so well because they are based on love, which reaches the heart. Jesus said: "You must love Jehovah your God with your whole heart and with your whole soul and with your whole mind," and "you must love your neighbor
as yourself." (Matt. 22:37-39) This deeprooted, genuine love for God and neighbor cultivated by proper Bible education is the very strongest deterrent to war, crime and violence. It touches the heart and motivates people to want to do what is right.
Even under the severest persecution, Jehovah's witnesses stay loyal to God's laws. For example, when the Nazis under Hitler demanded that Jehovah's witnesses in Germany break God's laws, they refused. So they were sent to concentration camps. An inmate of those camps, N. Gun, later wrote in his book The Day of the Americans: "The members of Jehovah's Witnesses, it must be said, showed such courage, daring, virtue, and stoicism in adversity that they deserve a special salute. They were rocks in a sea of mud."
It is not government buildings or armies that show whether a government is really successful. It is what that government produces and how its subjects support it. Now, what government in our time produces such law and order among its subjects that policemen and armies are not needed? What government receives such wholehearted support that its subjects as a body willingly choose to suffer and die rather than disobey its laws? Only God's kingdom ruling over its subjects is accomplishing these things today.
Thus, when the Bible speaks of law and order in God's new system, it is not speaking about something that may not work. It is working—and right now! And its visible effects will be even more evident after the wicked are wiped out, eliminating their evil influence. Then, "the meek ones themselves will possess the earth, and they will indeed find their exquisite delight in the abundance of peace."—Ps. 37:11.
INJUSTICE AND DISCRIMINATION TO END FOREVER---
FOR law and order to be truly effective, it must be accompanied by justice and equality. Prejudice and hatred based on racial or national differences must be ended.
However, if we look to humans to bring this about on their own, the outlook would be very depressing. Mankind's history is filled with injustice and discrimination resulting from such national or social prejudices.
Entire nations and races have been oppressed, enslaved and even annihilated because of these prejudices. Today we see growing hostility between black and white, Jew and Arab, Chinese and Malay. We see suicidal tribal warfare in Africa and rising nationalism almost everywhere.
World's Political and Religious Ideologies Fail
The situation today is just as Ivo Duchacek observed in Conflict and Cooperation Among Nations when he said: "Nationalism divides humanity into mutually intolerant units. As a result people think as Americans, Russians, Chinese, Egyptians or Peruvians first and as human beings second—if at all."
Not even powerful political ideologies such as communism are able to overcome this national and racial hostility. For example, in March of 1969 one of many armed clashes between the two leading Communist nations resulted in the death of 31 Russians and many Chinese.
Nor are the religions of this world able to overcome national and racial prejudices. A Catholic man who had studied at the
Notre Dame and Cantoria seminaries in Paris noticed how his fellow Catholics killed one another during World War II because of national differences, and stated:
"I was scandalized by the sermons pronounced by my chaplain about the soldiers on the 'other side.' Time and again, at confession, I asked him why the pope did not forbid Catholics on both sides from massacring each other. I received no answer."
Even in the same nation, persons may attend the same church with others of the same race and nationality, yet look down on them because they are not as wealthy or socially prominent. One person from the United Church in Canada wrote:
"The church was run by ten-dollars-a-week Christians. If you gave less, the ushers did not show you to your pews but did show the big givers. Wealthy members were stiff-necked, not speaking to middle class families."
Probably you have noticed such things yourself, because these experiences are by no means uncommon. Everywhere divisions exist because of nationality, race or social standing. The mutual political or religious beliefs of people fail to overcome these divisions.
Basic Change Needed
Even if political governments were to pass laws outlawing hatred and prejudice, ordering people to love one another, would that help? No, because the basic thinking of people cannot be changed merely by passing a law. Love cannot be legislated into human hearts. As American educator Horace Mann said:
JUSTICE AND UNITY FOR ALL MANKIND
"Let but the public mind once become thoroughly corrupt, and all attempts to secure property, liberty, or life, by mere force of laws written on parchment, will be as vain as to put up printed notices in an orchard to keep off cankerworms."
What is needed is a basic change in thinking and heart attitude. But that can come about only by the right kind of education. Today, however, the educational systems of all nations are geared to their
nationalistic views. People are educated to compete with others in pride.
Such education can never eliminate national, racial or social prejudices. Its appeal to right thinking is superficial at best. Its effect on human hearts is just as superficial.
God's Kingdom Brings Right Education
Only under God's kingdom will a fundamental change come. How? By the right kind of education.
Remember, after the end of this wicked system of things, God's heavenly government will have total control of the earth. That means it will have total control of all education. There will not be hundreds of conflicting systems of education operating throughout the world in God's new order as is the case now. No, there will be only the one system that God provides through his Kingdom representatives on earth.
Teaching people the truth about proper human relationships will receive high priority in God's new order. Every person
will be taught Jehovah's righteous standards. That uniform education will bring to the attention of everyone that "God is not partial." (Acts 10:34) No person is favored by Him over another because of nationality, race or social background. Emphatically, the Bible declares: "Is there injustice with God? Never may that become so!" (Rom. 9:14) Each person can thus be assured of justice, of fair treatment.
In God's new order all men will learn that they are indeed "brothers," since they have all originated from the first man and woman that God created: "He made out of one man [Adam] every nation of men." (Acts 17:26) Instead of pride of race, of nationality or of social standing, earth's inhabitants will learn to love and respect one another, treating one another with dignity. Jesus said: "I am giving you a new commandment, that you love one another; just as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all will know that you are my disciples, if you have love among yourselves."—John 13: 34, 35.
Remaking the Personality
But how can such a command to love one another succeed when we previously said that any law to this effect enacted by political leaders would fall?
It will succeed because the knowledge of God is powerful enough to reach the heart and transform a person's deepest attitudes. The Bible says of Jehovah that his "law is truth." (Ps. 119:142) It also says: "The word of God is alive and exerts power and is sharper than any two-edged sword." (Heb. 4:12) So God's truths can pierce to the very hearts of men, moving them to break the bonds of prejudice.
With every person on earth being fortified with the right mental food, there will be a wholesome remaking of personalities. The Bible shows that such a deep-rooted change is possible when it says: "Strip off the old personality with its practices, and clothe yourselves with the new personality, which through accurate knowledge is being made new according to the image of the One who created it, where there is neither Greek nor Jew, . . . foreigner, Scythian, slave, freeman, . . . clothe yourselves with love, for it is a perfect bond of union."—Col. 3:9-14.
So in God's new order, all will learn the right viewpoint—God's. Eventually, in the fullest sense will it be true that "the earth will certainly be filled with the knowledge of Jehovah as the waters are covering the very sea." (Isa. 11:9) Hence, the Bible principle is that, with God's judgments going forth, "righteousness is what the inhabitants of the productive land will certainly learn." (Isa. 26:9) Thus, of the entire human family it will be said: "All you are brothers."—Matt. 23:8.
Yet, if you view the human family today, you may rightly wonder if all this is possible. What proof is there that people of different races, nationalities and social backgrounds can become "brothers"?
Again, you can examine the evidence right now. If such harmony can be demonstrated under present conditions, then surely in God's new order there would be even greater harmony, since the pressures of this evil world will be gone.
Justice and Unity Right Now!
Bible prophecy says: "It must occur in the final part of the days that . . . many peoples will certainly go and say: 'Come, you people, and let us go up to the mountain of Jehovah, . . . and he will instruct us about his ways, and we will walk in his paths.' . . . And he will certainly . . . set matters straight respecting many peoples." —Isa. 2:2-4.
Notice that this prophecy speaks about the "final part" of the days. This calls to mind the period referred to as the "last days" at Second Timothy 3:1. So right now, today, you should expect to find people learning Jehovah's ways and becoming unified in a worldwide bond of love, regardless of race, nationality or social standing.
Where can you find such harmony anywhere on earth today? The world press acknowledges that this kind of harmony does exist. The St. Petersburg, Florida, Times reported after a recent convention:
"WITNESSES PRACTICE RACIAL HARMONY, 'Black and white together.' The Jehovah's Witnesses don't sing about it, they just practice it. Not only has the convention been a massive example of racial harmony with black and white worshiping together, but it has tucked some 700 Spanish-speaking Witnesses into its programs without a murmur."
After a similar convention of Jehovah's witnesses, an observer wrote to the Asheville, North Carolina, Citizen:
"Never was there a policeman in sight. There were no raucous noises, no disturbances and no altercations. . . .
"The order was perfect and there was no obscene shouting. Remember there were at times as many as seven thousand people around the headquarters—a good many of them colored.
"There was NO litter about. . . Undoubtedly they were motivated by the Spirit of Good Will towards humanity."
A former member of the United Church of Christ in the Philippines contrasted those in her church with Jehovah's witnesses, saying: "We were disposed to be cool toward those of different dialects; we were regionalistic. The Witnesses did not have this drawback."
A Negro mother in the United States relates her experience:
"Jehovah's witnesses came to our house at least two or three times before we ever decided to have a Bible study conducted in our home. Along with being prejudiced toward white people, I was very opposed to having the Witnesses come to my home. But I just decided to let my husband find it all out by himself.
"About a month later, the Witnesses invited us to their Kingdom Hall, Well, here is where I really thought that it would 'do my husband in.' However, even I was surprised to see the Witnesses when we got to the hall. They were altogether different than I thought they would be. Warm and friendly just aren't words enough to describe them.
... To them there was no difference in our colors. We were just the same as they were. That did it with me. I was so ashamed of myself.
"From all of our Bible studies we have learned how to conduct ourselves, how to love each other, and now we know that this is the right way to go. It has changed our relationship with each other, made us have a happier marriage, made us be better parents.
"It has given us something to hang onto and showed us what we have
to do in order to gain everlasting life. Before that, we could have gone to church for a hundred years, and we never would have learned what Jehovah God's purpose for us was."
No matter where you look—in Africa, Asia, Europe, the Americas, the islands of the seas, it is the same—Jehovah's witnesses have overcome the barriers of racial, national and social prejudice.
How has this been possible? Do these persons have greater intelligence than others? Do they go to the better schools of this world? No, it is because they are doing what Isaiah's prophecy foretold: listening to what Jehovah says in his Word, and then living it in their daily lives.—Prov. 2:1-9.
It is a fact that among the more than a million witnesses of Jehovah in 200 lands an unbreakable bond of love and unity exists. This is solid proof that injustice and discrimination will truly end forever in God's new order.
However, what about the huge economic problems of today? What about poverty, hunger and poor housing? How will these matters be dealt with in God's new order?
POVERTY, HUNGER AND BAD HOUSING REPLACED---
ARE you eating well these days? Do you live in a comfortable home? Do you have a steady income?
If you can answer "Yes" to any one of those questions, ther you are quite different from most people on earth.
Why? Because about 10,000 persons starve to death every day, two-thirds of the entire human family being underfed. And most people in the world live in poverty, in bad housing.
Yet, what if just one of the world's most powerful nations were to use the money it now spends on war preparation to build houses costing $10,000 apiece? A total of eight million private homes could be built every year! And what if the money spent on war by all nations were used the same way? A lovely home could be built for each new family now being formed throughout the entire world!
However, this is not being done. And there is no indication whatsoever that it will be done by human governments.
Economic Systems Not
Satisfying Needs
The hard fact is that this world's economic systems are not satisfying mankind's basic needs. On the contrary, the world's poor and hungry are rapidly increasing.
A United Nations survey found that the unemployed in Latin America alone had risen from 18 million to 23 million from 1960 to 1968. Local governments there are not able to hold out any real hope of improvement. This has resulted in the building up of a cynical, angry mood among many, especially the young people.
In Africa, poverty, overcrowded slums and hunger are the order of the day.
Even the wealthy United States has millions of poor people. Also, its 'middle class' is being squeezed financially as constant inflation brings rising prices. All this brought forth the following comments recorded in U.S. News & World Report of July 7, 1969:
A machinist in Indiana: "They fix wages so you can just keep your head above water. When I made 16 a week, I saved. Now I make100 a month and can barely get by."
A dairyman in Illinois: "There's no retiring now. You almost have to work to the end of your life. A lot of people have saved for the rainy day and then don't have enough. Social Security doesn't cover it any more."
A painter in California; "The fact that all taxes go up with no end in sight is discouraging. People are more frustrated than I can remember in a long time."
These comments are not unusual. They are typical. Yet, these persons live in the richest nation on earth. Imagine how people feel in countries such as India, where in Calcutta alone there are 100,000 persons living on the streets because they have no home or income!
However, while today's economic systems are falling to meet mankind's needs, the economic system in God's new order will meet them. Indeed, it will supply an abundance, for God's Word promises: "You [God] are opening your hand and satisfying the desire of every living thing." —Ps. 145:16.
No Wasting of Resources
Today, much time, energy, money and material are spent producing things that do not help mankind one bit. Weapons of
DECENT LIVING CONDITIONS FOR ALL
war take a tremendous proportion of the resources of nations.
In God's new order, such waste will not be the case. Since there will never again be war or violence, no guns, bombs, missiles or other weapons will ever be manufactured. The many materials now wasted on these things will be turned toward peaceful pursuits. Isaiah 2:4 sets the rule: "They will have to beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning shears."
Under the central authority of God's heavenly kingdom, all of earth's rich resources will be used for man's good. Those "ruining the earth" will be gone.—Rev. 11:18.
Selfish Competition Replaced by Loving Cooperation
Nor will there be the waste that comes from economic competition. Today, individuals, businesses and nations try to outdo one another, even attempting to put others out of business. Much anxiety,
hatred and war have been caused by economic competition.
How distressing it is can be noted in an editorial entitled "The Competition of American Life," carried by the New York Times of June 25, 1969. Commenting on the difficulty President Nixon had in finding qualified men for high office, it stated:
"I had never realized,' one Cabinet member remarked the other day, 'what a toll the fierce competition of American business and professional life has taken on many of our most talented and successful men. Many of them have simply been worn out in the struggle. Many more have all kinds of family problems they cannot leave. In a great many cases, they have taken to drink to such an extent that the risk is too great.'...
"Meanwhile, the competition is beginning earlier and increasing all the time: to get into the best schools, to get into the best universities, and to meet the tests of a compulsive and driving society. . . . [Mr. Nixon's] search for successful men is turning up some tragic cases and forcing some somber conclusions."
Long ago, the Bible recorded the folly of such competition, stating: "For what does a man come to have for all his hard work and for the striving of his heart with which he is working hard under the sun? For all his days his occupation means pains and vexation, also during the night his heart just does not lie down." "All the proficiency in work . . . means the rivalry of one toward another; this also is vanity and a striving after the wind."—Eccl. 2: 22, 23; 4:4.
God's Kingdom rule will eliminate this competition. Since there will be only one government, there will logically be only one system of economics. Instead of competition between humans, there will be cooperation. Love for one's fellowman will mark all human relations. (John 13:35) Nor will some be rich, while others are poverty-stricken. And all will share in working for mankind's benefit, the rule being: "If anyone does not want to work, neither let him eat." (2 Thess. 3:10) This means no lazy persons will live off others. No, it will not be a 'welfare state.'
Pleasure in Work
Work in God's new order will be a real pleasure, as man will be able to see the direct results of his labor. But that is frequently not the case today. How many people actually enjoy their work now?
Thousands stand on mass-production assembly lines, inserting a nut, bolt or small part in machines all day long. They do it just to make money to pay their bills, not because they enjoy it. Others toil in the
hot sun as migrant farm workers on property and crops that will never be their own. Their personal satisfaction is often small. And how much pleasure can there really be in trying to sell products through misleading advertising, trying to push on people things they do not really need, or making products you know are designed to wear out soon so more can be sold?
God's new order will bring splendid changes in this regard. The carrying out of the "kingly law" of 'loving your neighbor as yourself' will eliminate the greed that converts men into mere cogs of a huge machine. (Jas. 2:8) It will also move men to do good work, motivate them to produce, not shoddy products, but excellent things for their fellowman, fine workmanship in which they will take genuine pleasure.—Eccl. 3:12, 13.
Housing Problems Solved
The promise made long ago to ancient Israel will be fulfilled toward all on earth under God's government. "They will certainly build houses and have occupancy; and they will certainly plant vineyards and eat their fruitage. . . . the work of their own hands my chosen ones will use to the full. They will not toil for nothing." —Isa. 65:21-23.
Jehovah did not purpose for man to live piled on top of one another in squalid city slums. That goes against the very nature of man. Look magazine of June 10, 1969, states: "Among all vertebrates from mice to hippos to men, the one universal condition that produces uncontrolled aggression is overcrowding. Among humans, hostility erupts when people start intruding on each other's 'personal space.'"
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