Awake!, March 22, 1971

Download: PDF — Awake!, March 22, 1971

Awake! — March 22, 1971

Source: jw.org

Contents

Germany’s Churches in Trouble

The Runaways

The Music of Many Lands

Dilemma for Doctors

Meet Señor Sloth

Touring the Intestinal Chemical Plant

The “Generation Gap” and Bible Principles

New Life for Millions in Australia

Cats and Their Kittens

Segregated yet United

The Holy Spirit—A Person?

Watching the World

Can You Give Scriptural Reasons For What You Believe?

Observe The Memorial of Christ’s Death

Germany’s Churches in Trouble

By “Awake!” correspondent in Germany

EACH year now tens of thousands of persons are quitting both the Protestant and Roman Catholic churches in Germany. The Bishop of Berlin-Brandenburg, Kurt Scharf, observed: “The situation of the church in Germany and West Berlin has become more critical. The number of those leaving the church is greater than was expected.”

Comments on this trend were made at the 49th Meeting for German Pastors in Darmstadt in September 1970. For example, Frankfurt Professor Hans Rausenhenberger noted: “At the present time in this country there is no impelling desire to listen to a sermon.”

It is true. On Sunday mornings churches are practically empty, especially in the cities. Illustrating this fact, the German magazine Stern ran pictures of Sunday morning Evangelical and Roman Catholic church services in the city of Flensburg. Its report was entitled: “In the Flensburger Churches the Ministers Preach to Nearly Empty Pews.”

Rather than considering the trend temporary and reversible, the Duesseldorfer Handelsblatt observed in its January 20, 1970, issue: “Since the church itself has continually grown more worldly, it should not be surprised if, for many, its moral platform appears shaken. More will leave the church, and the number of those attending church will continue to decrease.”

The forecast of a professor of theology from Berlin, Guenther Harder, was even gloomier. He said: “An avalanche is coming that will take away our breath.”

One reason for the trouble in Germany’s churches is discontent with the money-collecting system. In Germany the government collects taxes for the churches, and these have increased greatly. The government now collects nearly 1,000 million dollars a year in tax money for the churches!

To keep the money flowing in, the churches are not particular as to who their members are. For example, a survey revealed that 32 percent of Germany’s church members do not believe in the God of the Bible, 51 percent do not believe that Adam and Eve were our ancestors, and 64 percent do not believe in the virgin birth of Jesus. Yet they are all accepted as good church members because they pay their taxes!

Even prostitutes and others who earn money in dubious ways are welcomed as church members. “Our church functions so well,” scoffed a young Catholic clergyman, “that we can get along without the founder, but not without the company capital.”

There is now growing opposition to the churches because of their concern for money and material things. The Frankfurter Rundschau noted that people object to the millions of tax dollars going “for pompous and showy buildings . . . churches which outwardly sparkle to the honor of God—and within God usually sits alone in the dark.”

In similar criticism, the Duesseldorfer Handelsblatt raised the question: “Is all that the church owns necessary in order for it to be mediator to the world beyond? Rather, it has the appearance with its administrative buildings and bureaucracy to be developing into a worldly, economically oriented concern with an ever-expanding financial basis.” Yet the churches cherish the income, and so continue to support the highly profitable church tax.

Even some clergymen admit that this is improper. Pastor Edgar Spir of Hamburg spoke about changing the church tax system, and said: “Perhaps we shrink back only because we love simple comfort under a cloak of religion more than existence as a witness for Jesus Christ. Let’s face the facts, our customary Christianity is Satan’s pet child.”

Many have come to agree with this appraisal, and so they are leaving the churches to escape supporting financially an organization with which they do not agree. But they must go to the State office and actually declare that they are quitting the church in order to avoid paying the church tax.

It is not simply the church tax that is causing discontent with the churches. It is also the lack of spirituality in the churches—an almost total failure to teach people about God and his Word. A skeptical, even hostile, attitude toward the Bible and God has come to infect the religious system in Germany.

For example, a well-known theologian, Dorothee Soelle of Cologne, claims that “to establish what God has done in the past is of no benefit,” and that “this theistical fetish that is called God” is dead. Can anyone blame sincere persons when they leave a church that allows such teachings to be propagated?

Youth in particular can see that the churches have little to offer. When some Evangelical youths were surveyed they were very pointed in their observations. Seventy percent of the 2,500 students in Essen who were questioned said that the Sunday sermon had very little influence on a person’s outlook on life. Nearly 25 percent said that it was of “no importance at all.” A seventeen-year-old said: “One feels like he is going to a funeral every Sunday.”

It is not that all who are leaving the churches are disinterested in God or the Bible. To the contrary, many of them are attending the more than 42,000 home Bible studies conducted weekly by Jehovah’s witnesses in West Germany. Last year 5,828 persons, some of whom recently left the churches, progressed in Bible knowledge and dedicated their lives to Jehovah God, symbolizing it by water baptism. Thus, in contrast to the declining membership and attendance in the churches, Jehovah’s witnesses in West Germany have increased to over 90,000 teachers of the Bible.

For years Jehovah’s witnesses have been saying that the churches of Christendom are failures in representing God and teaching people his Word the Bible. This fact is now becoming apparent to ever more persons, resulting in their mass abandonment of the churches.

The Runaways

WHY would an eighteen-year-old girl want to give up life in a thirty-room mansion for one among dirty, vermin-ridden slum tenements? Why would she want to flee from a life where she had everything in a material way to one where she had nothing, even having to panhandle for food? Many adults find it difficult to understand, but many young people do not.

This girl was only one of a great number of young people who have run away from wealthy or middle-class homes to live in squalor. Estimates for the United States put the figure at more than one million runaways, about 90 percent coming from such homes.

Young runaways give a number of reasons for having left home. The home situation seemed intolerable, with lack of understanding and communication between parents and their children. Some of the youths had bad grades at school and were under pressure from their parents to do well to uphold the reputation of the family in the neighborhood. Not feeling able to face up to school exams in the month of May or to return to school in September, they decided to run away. These seem to be the peak months in the United States for the number of runaway youths.

Another reason for running away is the hypocrisy of parents who talk about living by high ideals but who do not actually do so themselves. This becomes too much for many young people who say they believe in telling it as it is.

Still another reason is lack of parental love. One teen-age boy remarked that his father spent all his life “making sure we have the things that warm us outside, but he’s never had time to give us the things that warm us inside.” It is common for executive fathers to be so preoccupied with their businesses that they have little or no time for their children. Is that true in your home? Their wives may also be busy with personal interests, attending bridge parties and socials, engaging in civic activities, and so forth. The children seldom see their parents and are actually reared by the maid. When old enough they are likely to be sent off to a boarding school.

This happened to a fourteen-year-old girl. In time she ran away from the boarding school where her wealthy parents had put her. When she was picked up by the police and told that they had to notify her parents, she was distressed. She said, “Wait until you see them.” Finally the parents arrived at the police station wearing full-dress evening clothes. They manifested no affection for her but threatened to put her in a boarding school with higher walls if she tried to run away again. The girl looked at the policemen as if to say, “What did I tell you?”

One runaway boy said that he simply could not agree with his parents’ view of life. He said: “I know more of what is important or what is of value than my parents do. They are waving flags and talking about going off to war and killing other humans, but I know that is wrong. They can’t see that I am right on this issue. So I don’t have anything to do with them. I have gone looking for people who agree with me.”

Children who run away usually say that they do not hate their parents. They may say they are deeply sorry that they are hurting them, but they just do not want the kind of life that they have left behind. Does leaving home improve their lot in life?

Do Runaways Find Happiness?

Instead of finding a new, free society where everyone shows love, runaway youths more often than not find violence, thievery, deception, loneliness and disease. In areas such as the East Village of New York city there are people who prey upon them for selfish reasons. Some come from other parts of the city for this purpose. There are other youths who may pretend to be friends of the runaways and get them involved in the use of drugs if they are not already taking drugs. They are not real friends.

An eighteen-year-old boy who got “hooked” on drugs wrote: “I have used all types of drugs, from hash, pot, acid to hard stuff. It’s all a bad scene. . . . All you are doing is ruining your life and letting people make money through you. They are only using you. . . . These friends of yours will offer stuff free, then start making you pay for it. Then they sell you harder stuff at discount prices, then boost the prices up when they got you hooked. Remember, the same person or friend who has grass [marijuana] will also be able to push heroin to you, and for what? To make money for himself while he destroys you.”

In the slums of big cities runaway children do not find the love they may have imagined that they would find. instead they find a tough and sinister place. The eighteen-year-old girl mentioned earlier left a thirty-room mansion to live in the East Village of New York city. She was found one morning lying naked in a filthy, tenement cellar with her head smashed to a pulp.

A thirteen-year-old runaway girl was wandering on the streets of the East Village when she was approached by two young men. They took her to a room on the fifth floor of a dirty tenement building. Once in the room they stripped her and raped her. In a frantic effort to flee from her attackers she climbed out a bathroom window and fell to her death.

For a place to sleep a runaway girl usually must be willing to pay with sex. A boy may have to satisfy a homosexual. Many find no place to stay and have to sleep on the streets. The situation at home may have been bad, but would you say that what these young folks found when they ran away was better?

Regrets

A blond girl of seventeen who ran away from her home in the midwestern United States and came to New York’s East Village said: “If I knew then what I know now, I wouldn’t have run away from home. This is an ugly place.” A nineteen-year-old runaway girl said that the East Village “is a terrible place. You’re going to be raped or become a prostitute or get hung on drugs.”

Expressing regrets for having run away, a girl who finally did go home after two years found her mother in a mental institution. The girl said: “She had had a nervous breakdown about a year after I left, and she will never get out of the sick home she’s in. She doesn’t know me or any of the family anymore. Now I’ll never be able to tell her I love her and I’m sorry for what I did. My father has aged twenty years, and he stays drunk all the time. I have nothing now. . . . What a mess I’ve made out of my life, and I’m only twenty.”

Are you a runaway who is finding yourself with reasons for regrets, as most runaways do? Are there times when you wish you were back home? Your parents no doubt share that wish. Why not contact them by letter or phone, or through a relative? Also, there are counseling agencies in most areas where runaway youths can go. These agencies will no doubt be willing to help you. They believe that reconciliation is possible if young folks and their parents are willing to talk over their differences and both make efforts for improvement.

You may think that homelife was not so good, but, if you return, you do not have to go with the thought that it will be no different from what it was. There is something positive you can do: Try to improve the situation. As we will see, there is much that you can do. And it is well worth the effort.

Parents Need to Do Their Part

But what if you are a parent and it is your child who has run away from home? One of your first concerns should be: What can you do to improve the situation at home so that your child will want to return? If you really want your son or daughter back, consider that matter seriously and make the needed changes in your life. Then when you finally do get in contact with your child, you will have something to offer in the way of improvement.

Perhaps your children have not run away. Nevertheless, if you feel that some changes ought to be made in your homelife, now is the time to do it.

What are some of the things that can be done to improve the home situation? In many cases involving runaways, it has been found that the parents took no time for their children in a personal way; they did not listen to the children’s problems. Has that been true in your home?

Commenting on the matter of runaway children in Mexico, an assistant police chief observed: “Parents should watch and care for their children better, and they should not think that because they give them clothes, and food, and because they pay for their schooling they have fulfilled all their obligations.”

It would be worth your while to examine as to whether you have been so occupied with business activities or other personal interests that you have given very little time in a personal way to your children. If you find this to be true, would it not be sensible to reduce the activities that have crowded your life? Would it not be better to spend more time in getting to know your children and in guiding and counseling them?

Have you really been willing to listen to the problems of your children? Some parents try to avoid it, putting their children off by saying, “Some other time.” There is the case of a boy who wanted to have a talk with his father, but his father said, ‘I’ll talk with you after supper.’ After supper he postponed it to still another time, and so on. He did not actually want to listen to what was troubling his son. Did he, then, have reason to be surprised when his son ran away? Communicating with your children is essential.

If you are a father, to communicate with your son you do not have to pretend you are equals. You are not. You are father and son, an unequal relationship. It is a relationship in which the son expects you to exercise authority. One youth said: “I have all the friends I need. I don’t want another friend; I want a father.”

Your moral standards and principles are something to examine, too. Saying one thing but doing another is not going to draw your children to you. Hypocrisy repels sincere youngsters. Will you not gain greater respect from your children if you follow the course of good moral conduct that you expect of them? But even this is not enough. You need to teach your children what a good standard of morals is and why it is for their good to live by it. Too many parents fail to do this.

Have you considered teaching your children the moral standard of the Bible? Did you know that the steps that authorities are finding most effective in dealing with the problem of runaway children were long ago recommended in the Bible? For instance, it urges parents to communicate regularly with their children. (Deut. 6:6, 7; Prov. 6:20-22) It also emphasizes the father’s authority in his relationship with his children. (Eph. 6:4; Heb. 12:7) It supplies the moral guidance that both parents and young folks need. By applying its counsel and principles, many parents have been able to unite their family in a way that could never be achieved before. Why not prove this to be true in your life?

What Children Can Do

If you are a youth who is disillusioned with the way things are at home and you want a different way of life and have thought about running away, ask yourself: ‘What can I do to improve the situation at home?’ You can make some constructive contributions. For example, you can tell your parents what is in your heart. Perhaps you will find some response. At least it is worth trying. And when you do speak with them, bear in mind that there may be somewhat of a language gap. So try to use words and expressions that they are familiar with and understand, not ones that carry special meaning only to young people. Also, attempt to cooperate. If it seems that you are poles apart in your efforts and goals, you will have to compromise some if any progress is to be made.

It may seem easier to run away than to try to improve a difficult situation at home. But really, you cannot be running away from difficult situations all your life! There comes a time when every person must face up to conditions and work to improve them. For example, if you get married and have a family, then you will have responsibilities. If problems arise, are you going to quit and run away? That would be neither legal nor loving, would it? So sometime you must learn to cope with difficulties. Why not start now? It will prepare you for facing life as it really is.

Then, too, there is a matter of the law. According to law, your parents are responsible for you until you come of age or until such time as they agree that you can leave home. Just as they have a responsibility toward you, you have a reciprocal obligation to them—to show them respect. You owe it to them. This is the law, not only of man, but also of God.—Col. 3:20; Eph. 6:1-3.

Obedience to your parents is basically to your benefit. In many ways it has been to your benefit so far. Think of all that your parents have done for you since you were born. Think too of those who have run away from home and what they so often speak of—regrets. True, when you come of age, you may decide to leave home. But why not wait till you are of legal age? And then if you decide to leave home, do not sneak out the back door. Let your intentions be known. Cooperate with your parents, and they will likely cooperate with you.

One of the reasons why you have found life to be difficult is that the whole system of things is wicked. The Bible clearly shows that, and the facts of life agree with it. Another basic reason is that there has been general failure to learn and apply the principles of the Creator, as given in the Bible, to the problems of everyday life.

Whether you are living at home or are off on your own, you are faced with those same circumstances. You cannot run away from them. But you can come to grips with them by learning what the Bible teaches; and Jehovah’s witnesses will be glad to provide you with personal help free of charge. From the Bible you can learn the real reason for life, and what it is that brings genuine contentment. You can learn of the marvelous purpose that the Creator has for mankind and how it will be realized in this generation. Thousands who have faced the same kind of problems that you do have found the answers in this way. We urge you to do the same.

The Music of Many Lands

IT HAS often been said that music is an international language. Proof of this is the folk music of the world. Enjoyment of it is not confined to the land of its origin. People can and often do enjoy hearing the music of lands other than their own. Getting acquainted with the music of other lands can be a delightful experience.

If you were to travel to every section of our earth you would find that each nation or group of people has its own characteristic songs and dances. Each one has contributed its own “accent” to the “language” of music. And this “accent” is generally so distinctive that a person can identify the land in which a certain song or dance originated, in much the same way that he can tell a foreigner’s nationality by his accent.

Most folk music was not composed by professional composers. Some of it has existed for thousands of years. In early times tunes were made up by musically inclined persons and these were handed down from generation to generation. The words of songs dealt with love, peace, war, drinking, fictional characters and amusing incidents. And people danced to the tunes, each group developing its own style.

So when people got together on social occasions in village marketplaces, in homes or around campfires, they sang and danced to music that had been handed down from their forefathers. Of course, the topography and climate of their land as well as their history, language, customs and temperament helped to mold their songs and dances. And these are the things that give each group’s folk music that peculiar “accent” that identifies it as belonging to them.

The Music of Europe

Much of the greatest music of the Western world was produced in Europe. From the seventeenth century onward a number of outstanding musical composers wrote a great quantity of music both for instruments and the voice. Their orchestral music called for many stringed instruments, as well as the wind and percussion types. Their beautiful concertos featured a solo instrument with an orchestra for accompaniment. And there were moving works that called for a large chorus of voices along with an orchestra.

Europe is known for its operas. As the play is acted out on a stage, with sets and costumes, the presentation is made more moving because the words are usually sung rather than spoken. An orchestra accompanying the singers adds dramatic effect. Operettas, like operas, have plots, but they are lighter and the music is gay.

Oratorios began in this part of the world. These compositions usually deal with Bible history. No stage props and costumes are used. Soloists sing the various parts, and a chorus and orchestra are employed. G. F. Handel wrote great Biblical oratorios dealing with Joseph and his brothers, Israel’s deliverance from Egypt, Joshua, Deborah, Jephthah, Samson, Saul, Solomon, Athaliah, Belshazzar and the fall of Babylon, Esther and the Messiah. In many of these thrilling masterpieces the divine name Jehovah appears.

At times these composers dug into the treasury of European folk music. They would either use a folk tune outright or would compose a melody having the distinctive characteristics of a nation’s folk music. At the beginning of their composition they often indicated that it was in the style of the music of a certain land.

As for the folk music of Europe, the most distinctive is that of Spain. The Moorish occupation of this land from the eighth to the fifteenth century C.E., as well as Gypsies, left their imprint on Spain’s music. Perhaps no other people have as many different kinds of dances as do the Spanish, yet that Spanish “accent” of vitality is evident in all of them. Adding to this “accent” are the instruments used by their folk musicians, namely, the guitar, the tambourine and the castanets with their clacking sound.

The Western music of Europe might be said to find a basic representative in the German. It stresses the bright-sounding major scale and is rich in harmony. Italian music is generally more melodious than is German, and is much lighter. The folk music of the French is also very melodious; however, the emphasis in their music is usually more on rhythm.

The Oriental flavor in European music is especially apparent in that of Russia. This could well be due to the Mongols who overran that country in the thirteenth century. Also, the deprivation of the people under the despotic czars no doubt helped to give Russian music its minor, sad strain. Further, the long, bleak winters there contributed to this melancholy “accent.”

Scandinavian music might be said to lie somewhere between that of the Germans and that of the Russians. Finnish music seems to have an Oriental tinge about it. However, many folk tunes of Denmark and Holland are quite similar to German folk music. Polish folk music shows both Russian and French influences.

Today it is usually the Europeans living in the country who do not merely listen but sing and dance their folk music. Those living in the cities are more inclined to go to concert halls and to listen to music on the radio.

That Latin-American “Accent”

Latin-American music is a combination of Spanish, African and, depending on the country, native Indian music. In this music the African influence is especially noticeable in the greater use of drums, the strong stress on rhythm and on variety in rhythm. Examples of these characteristics are found in such dances as the conga, the rumba, the samba and the beguine. In these dances, as well as others, the rhythm is sharply defined, being highlighted by drums and other percussive instruments. It is this quality that makes this music so catchy and moves one to want to dance to it.

Among Latin Americans there are many who like to have music all the time—and loud. So it is not unusual for them to have music on the radio all day long and frequently far into the night, with the volume turned up full blast. Cafés with jukeboxes and shops with radios add to the sound that can be heard by a good part of the neighborhood. At social affairs a band may be hired, or a phonograph turned up to full volume may provide the music. Of course, preferences vary. In some sections, people will pick up a guitar or accordion and provide their own music, singing or dancing together.

Africa’s Music

African music is used chiefly to accompany singing and dancing. There are several styles of singing prevalent in this continent. In some regions it is nasal; the singing is high-pitched with greatly embellished melodic lines, which music is usually without harmony. The accompanying rhythms are not very involved. Then there is in some parts of Africa the full-throated singing of simple melodies. With these there also goes harmony. Here the rhythms are very complex, in fact, often several rhythms being used at the same time. Rhythm is the most distinctive element of much of Africa’s folk music.

A Tanzania, Africa, newspaper carried a refutation of the charge that Tanzanians should have nothing to do with modern “soul” music ‘because it is Western and decadent.’ On the contrary, the writer argued: “Soul is a dance which originated in Africa. . . . The black people developed soul to what it is now from their Negro spirituals.” According to this writer, “no white artist can sing soul like a black man.”

The chief African musical instruments are drums. Often these are merely barrel-shaped instruments with skin over one end. Among other instruments popular among natives in Africa are the xylophone, musical bows, harps and such wind instruments as reed flutes and animal-horn trumpets.

The Subtle Music of the Orient

Among the Orientals, there are as many different kinds of music as there are nations. Above all else, the music from this part of the world is distinguished by its subtleness. It may sound quite strange to Western ears because it uses quarter tones and even smaller distinctions of pitch. As for its rhythms, some are far more involved than any rhythm found in Western music. By and large, Oriental music ignores chords and harmony. Concerts are given mostly by soloists with their accompanist, or by groups of three, rather than by groups of one hundred musicians, as comprise the Western symphony orchestra. Oriental music is most highly developed in India.

Folk music of the Orient is quite different from their cultural music. However, the cultural music is more representative and better known. Performing artists of classical Indian music have to be composers as well as players. Improvisation (but only according to certain rules) is the chief accomplishment of the performer.

Oriental music is believed to have a bearing on the destinies of people and is closely related to their religion, their philosophies and even to magic. The instruments used in the East include stringed instruments like the sitar, which are plucked with a piece of ivory or metal called a plectrum, and various reedlike flutes, as well as different kinds of drums.

America’s Musical Idiom

What is American folk music? It is an amalgam of many kinds of music, even as its population is an amalgam of peoples of different nationalities. There is no doubt about the basic European influence. The varied “accents” of Europe’s folk music appear in many American songs and dances. Even traces of orientalisms can be heard every now and then.

Prominent is the Negro influence, represented in the Negro spiritual, in “blues” and in jazz music with their sharply defined syncopation or stress of the after-beat, and a certain kind of harmony employing what is known as the flatted-seventh chords. American Negro music has its main inspiration from Africa, even as noted by the Tanzanian writer quoted earlier.

In large American cities music lovers go to concert halls to hear musical performances by symphony orchestras as do the Europeans. And they pack out these halls to hear and see folk musicians and performers from Russia, Africa, Mexico, India, the Philippines and other lands when such travel to America. In their leisure hours many listen to recordings of all kinds of music on stereophonic sound-reproducing systems or on FM radio broadcasts.

Today the leading American form of popular music is “rock ’n’ roll.” Recordings of it sell by the millions. In fact, the recording of serious music in the United States is facing a crisis, as it is being done at a financial loss, whereas rock ’n’ roll music is immensely popular.

Basically it might be said that rock ’n’ roll is strong on rhythm but weak on melodic appeal. This rhythm coupled with its lyrics is appealing to rebellious youths. Many of its songs encourage drug addiction. And it has been shown that this music also plays a prominent role in sexual immorality. Not only in America but in many lands youths have become infatuated with its insistent beat.

American music also includes the so-called “Western” or cowboy music, a distinctively American type of folk music. It developed along with the settlement of the western part of the United States. The subjects of its songs feature the cowboy’s way of life out west, as well as the history of this region. This music for both singing and dancing is immensely popular.

One’s own taste in music depends to a considerable extent on the surroundings in which one grew up and the type of music to which one has been exposed. But if one stops long enough to listen to some of the music of other people, one will find that it has fascinating characteristics. And he will note that it reflects interesting things about the way of life of the people themselves living in other parts of the world.

Dilemma for Doctors

HOSPITALS and doctors in Illinois were stunned by a high-court ruling handed down late in 1970. Their dismay was echoed by members of the medical profession throughout the United States.

What was the decision that provided such a jolt? The Supreme Court of Illinois ruled that hospitals may be liable for damages when a patient contracts hepatitis from a blood transfusion.

The ruling came as a shock to many doctors. But really, it should not have been so unexpected. Why not? Because for years a mountain of evidence has accumulated showing that blood transfusions can injure and even kill.

Doctors who have kept up with the latest developments in the field of medicine know this to be true. As Winfield Miller, associate editor of Medical Economics, said: “No biologic product has a greater potential for fatal mistakes in medical practice than blood. More than one doctor has learned to his sorrow that every bottle of blood in the blood banks is a potential bottle of nitroglycerin.”

Medical authorities admit that each year in the United States alone about 3,000 deaths occur from hepatitis contracted from blood transfusions. Also, an estimated 30,000 serious cases of hepatitis result, and several times that number not as serious. Additional deaths and illnesses result from other complications of blood transfusions.

Because of such deaths and illnesses, many lawsuits have been directed against doctors and hospitals in recent years. Dr. Lester Unger, a nationally known hematologist, said: “Lawsuits arising from blood transfusions are more prevalent now than any other time in my recollection.”

A most significant lawsuit was the one brought before the Supreme Court of Illinois. The case had to do with a Mrs. Frances Cunningham. She had entered MacNeal Memorial Hospital in Berwyn, Illinois, for treatment of anemia back in 1960. As part of her treatment she was given several pints of blood. But the blood was infected, and she came down with a severe case of serum hepatitis. She sued the hospital for $50,000 in damages.

A lower court threw out her suit. But Mrs. Cunningham appealed to a higher court. Her lawyers cited decisions in other cases where sellers were held responsible for the safety of their products. They argued that blood is a product and that hospitals should be held responsible when it is defective.

The Illinois Supreme Court agreed. It ruled that the seller of a product “should legally bear the consequences of injury caused thereby, rather than allowing such loss to fall upon the individual consumer who is entirely without fault.” The American Trial Lawyers Association also agreed with the court. They noted that churches, schools, Y.M.C.A.’s and orphanages are not given immunity, so hospitals should not be either.

Justice John Culbertson of the court turned down defense contentions that blood was a ‘service’ and not a ‘product’ and that hospitals should be immune from prosecution. He ruled that blood is a product like other articles “unchanged from their natural state, which are distributed for human consumption.” He noted that Illinois law holds the distributor of poisonous mushrooms liable for damages, although the mushrooms are “neither cooked, canned, packaged, nor otherwise treated.”

As a result of this decision, doctors feel that a flood of lawsuits may be coming their way. But they have no one but themselves to blame, For years they have been pushing blood transfusions, insisting that they are absolutely necessary, when the evidence has shown that they are not. Many substances other than blood have served very well.

The team of heart specialists from the Texas Heart Institute in Houston, which includes Dr. Denton Cooley, wrote in the Journal of the American Medical Association of August 10, 1970: “It is our policy to avoid the use of blood transfusion whenever possible in all operations . . . We have found that blood transfusion is not a necessary accompaniment to vascular surgery, but indeed has certain disadvantages such as the risk of hepatitis. . . . patients who refuse to accept blood can usually undergo major operations without prohibitive risk and enjoy favorable postoperative results.”

In view of such findings, doctors should remember that, while they may recommend the use of blood, the patient’s right to refuse it should be respected. And generally, the courts in the United States have agreed, ruling that a patient has the right to refuse any treatment he does not want.

Doctors indeed perform a very valuable service. Their hard work and help for sick persons are commendable. But when a doctor ignores his patient’s wishes, then he is no longer helping. Such a doctor would do well to ask himself what he is really concerned about—his patient, or his business and reputation?

A few doctors have even refused to give any treatment at all to patients who for conscientious reasons rejected potentially dangerous blood transfusions. Offered no help whatsoever, the patients in some cases had to waste precious time transferring to another hospital where doctors would treat them according to their wishes. Also, other doctors have tried to get, or have gotten, court orders forcing adults and babies to have blood transfusions to ‘save life.’ But then these same doctors have turned around and performed, or approved, abortions that kill life. Such actions are inconsistent, to say the least.

What is the trouble with that kind of doctor? Dr. Ervin Nichols of Palo Alto admitted: “It seems to me that some of our reaction has to do with our own egos in that . . . the patient does not respond to our bidding.” And Dr. John Morton of Los Angeles agreed: “Perhaps too often our egos make us think that if our recommendations are not acceptable that the patient should go elsewhere.”

But now, doctors who do not face up to the dangers of blood transfusion place themselves in a serious dilemma. They may be faced with an expensive lawsuit.

Honest doctors who really have their patients’ welfare at heart realize that they are not the patients’ masters, but are in fact employees. They understand that they are free to make recommendations, but that the patient is also free to accept or reject them. And when a recommendation is rejected, these doctors offer the best alternatives they know. They help the patient to the best of their ability. For the service of such considerate men, ailing persons can be grateful.

Meet Señor Sloth

By “Awake!” correspondent in Bolivia

SEÑOR Sloth is a Latin American, his name being Señor Perezoso in Spanish. A visitor to Santa Cruz, Bolivia, may meet him at the Plaza in the center of the city. He may be seen approaching, much like a slow swimmer on dry land. No need for alarm, though, for Señor Sloth is every bit a gentleman.

Slowness of movement is the sloth’s most outstanding characteristic. In fact, the English word sloth comes from the word slow. Indeed, to observe him is exactly like watching a movie scene in slow motion.

Señor Sloth is really out of his element on the ground. His home is in the branches of trees. And how marvelously he is equipped for life there!

Three strong toenails or claws extend from each of his four limbs, enabling him to hook into the wood of the tree. He hangs beneath the branch, back downward, clinging with his claws to the branch above. So he moves along upside down, slowly swinging Tarzanlike from branch to branch.

Señor Sloth spends almost his whole life upside down. He even sleeps in that position, hanging onto the branch above with his hooklike claws. Mating and giving birth also take place upside down. So securely does he hold that position that he may even hang there for some time after he dies!

Since he is so very slow, you may think that Señor Sloth is without protection. But he does have his claws, and he may use these when provoked. Hanging by one hind leg, he can turn his body almost 360 degrees. In this position he can strike out at enemies with both arms. But he is generally mild-tempered. One of his greatest protections against potential enemies is his general appearance.

First, he has a Mongoloid-type grin that is most appealing. As he climbs, he continually turns his head like a pivot on his revolving neck, smiling benignly over each shoulder at any onlooker below. This naïve ‘no-one-would-want-to-hurt-me’ look should at least have a somewhat disconcerting effect on any human enemy.

But his camouflaged appearance is also a great protection. He is covered with shaggy gray hair, which is much like bristle except that it is soft to the touch. The gray is varied by lighter patches and a black streak up the back, with small black stripes across the face near the eyes. These markings perfectly match gray tree trunks and branches. His slowness, of course, adds to the effect.

The result is that Señor Sloth becomes almost invisible. Remarking upon his ability seemingly to disappear in the branches of a tree, one observer related:

“I stood under a tree, absolutely bare of leaves. Looking upward, I spent several minutes trying to locate a sloth. About to turn away, suddenly I was able to catch sight of one. Then another, and another. Finally I counted five of them hanging directly over my head! It was a cold day and each one had rolled himself into a tight ball, and was hanging by one arm from a limb of the tree, sound asleep. I had taken them for knotty bumps, part of the tree itself.”

It is most interesting to see Mamma Sloth taking little baby for a ride through the high branches of a tree. It is a ‘piggyback’ ride the other way around, since Baby Sloth rides on Mamma’s tummy. He hangs on tightly, as Mamma’s strong arms pull them both from branch to branch. Baby is not afraid, but enjoys every moment. This can be seen from the way he ducks his head out from under Mamma’s strong arms to grin down at amused spectators below.

Many parents in Santa Cruz bring their small children to the Plaza to see Señor Sloth. Both young and old enjoy watching this truly fascinating creation of God.

Touring the Intestinal Chemical Plant

SETTLE back in your easy chair, and come with us on an imaginary tour of one of the most interesting chemical plants in the world. The tour is free and is highly educational. It will not take much of your time—only about ten to twenty minutes, depending on how fast you can take in the information.

Man has designed many kinds of automatic and semiautomatic chemical plants for processing and refining all kinds of raw materials. But none has ever matched this plant you are about to tour. The simplicity of its design, yet the complexity of the many reactions taking place simultaneously, coupled with its high efficiency, its self-maintenance, and its near-perfect automation are things over which biochemists never cease to marvel.

This unusual chemical plant is located in your own abdomen. It consists of a tube that is close to thirty feet long, and well has it been termed “the tube of life.”

Of course, because of its nature we cannot actually walk into this chemical plant to look around, but if you will look at the diagrams in front of you, we will take you on a visual tour.

As we begin our tour, please take note that the first part of this plant is known as the small intestine. It has a diameter of from one to one and a half inches, and a length of about twenty-three feet. This appears to be true in all adults regardless of their height or weight. Later on we are going to look at the second part of this chemical plant—the large intestine. It is well named because it has an average diameter twice that of the small intestine. This larger tube is between five and six feet long. And just think of this: the building that houses this entire chemical plant is less than a third of a cubic foot in size! Interestingly, too, the walls of this building are expandable to accommodate gas pressures that may enlarge sections of the plant’s tubes to twice their size—in diameter, not in length.

Its Components

Now let’s take a look at the ‘pipes’ of this chemical plant. They are not made of metal but of organic, flexible, expandable elements, of flesh and blood, consisting of four coats or layers. The outermost layer is a thin membrane, actually an extension of the peritoneum or inner lining of the abdomen. Next we come to the second coat; and notice how unusual it is. It consists of two layers of fibers, the outer running lengthwise and the inner layer being circular. The fibers running lengthwise exert one kind of pressure on the contents of the tube, while the circular fibers apply another kind of pressure. The two layers are programmed so that their activity is coordinated. There is no confusion or working at cross-purposes, and we are not required to direct the operations. Talk about automation! The Maker of this machine, the Creator, certainly had it first!

The third coat consists of areolar or loosely formed connective tissue that joins the muscle coat with the innermost coat. Most important of all is that innermost fourth coat that we will now examine. It is a mucous membrane that lines the inside of the tube. This lining is especially important in the small intestine. Why? Because here the inside layer is equipped to pour digestive juices into the tube on the one hand, and on the other hand is equipped with the ability to absorb digested food elements into the bloodstream where they feed all the cells of the body.

Its Chemical Activity

But before we continue farther on this tour, a few words about the stomach and its relationship to the small intestine. Many persons labor under a misapprehension as to the role the stomach plays in the digestion of food elements and the absorption of digested nutrients. The stomach only begins to digest proteins and does next to nothing about the carbohydrates (the starches and the sugars) or the fats. Absorption in the stomach appears to be limited to minimal amounts of sugar and alcohol. In fact, some persons have gotten along fairly well with most of their stomach removed. In such instances this marvelous chemical plant automatically accommodates itself to the new circumstances—the small intestine expands its forepart to pouchlike proportions and so manages to take the place, in effect, of the stomach.

What the stomach does is to prepare the food it receives so that it is suitable for further processing in the intestines. By both chemical and mechanical action it breaks down the food particles until they become something like a grayish medium-thick pea soup called “chyme.”

At regular intervals, and automatically, the stomach squeezes some of this chyme through its lower valve (it also has an upper valve). Now take a look at this lower valve of the stomach; it keeps the chyme in the intestines from backing up into the stomach. Because the quantity of digestive juices added to the food mass in this chemical plant is more or less equal to the nutrients absorbed into the bloodstream, the chyme maintains about the same consistency as it moves throughout the twenty-three feet of the small intestine.

In this chemical plant not only are digestive juices supplied through the innermost coating of the intestine, but digestive juices are also received from two other sources. The liver, by means of a tube, supplies bile for breaking down the fats. And the pancreas, by means of two tubes, supplies basically three kinds of enzymes.a These are for the digestion of proteins, carbohydrates and fats. Certain glands in this chemical plant serve to neutralize the acidity of the chyme received from the stomach. Yes, the job done by the stomach requires an acid medium, while that done in the small intestine requires one that is alkaline.

After the food has been digested it needs to be absorbed. In fact, digestion and absorption go on at the same time without interfering with each other. The absorption is by means of these tiny conical projections that you see in the innermost lining of this tube. They act like suction pumps. By means of them the digested protein and carbohydrate elements go directly into the blood. The digested fat particles, however, first enter the lymph, and from there go into the bloodstream.

By the time the chyme has been fully digested and about all its nutrients have been absorbed, the mass has reached the end of the forepart of this chemical plant, the end of the twenty-three feet. But our tour does not end here, for a valve then opens up, allowing this pea-souplike mass to pass into the first part of the large intestine, known as the cecum, which you can now observe. As the mass moves on through the large intestine, water and various mineral elements are absorbed. There is considerable bacterial activity here. For good health this ‘flora,’ as it is known, is absolutely essential.

The Mechanical Action

For the food mass to be digested and absorbed, and for it to travel from the beginning to the end through this chemical plant, something more than gravity is needed. It requires mechanical action. Here is where the two layers of muscle, previously described, come into play. They produce basically two kinds of action: mixing and propulsion. As soon as some chyme passes from the stomach to the small intestine, rhythmical contractions begin—automatically. At regular distances from one another circular bands of muscle fibers begin to contract and so divide the chyme into segments. Then these muscles relax and others, halfway between the ones that have just relaxed, contract. In this way half of each previous segment becomes part of a new segment, with the result that constantly new surfaces of the chyme are exposed to the chemical actions and absorptive surfaces of the intestines. These circular muscles keep contracting and relaxing under normal conditions from seven to ten times a minute for about a half an hour at a time, all automatically. Then what?

Then the other set of muscles automatically goes into action. By a slow peristalsis the chyme is moved forward, never backward. After the chyme has been moved forward a certain distance the peristalsis automatically stops and the “rhythmic segmentation,” as it is called by some, resumes. It takes from two to four hours for the chyme to travel the twenty-three-foot length of the first part of this chemical plant. Again, periodically, the valve that guards the entrance to the large intestine opens. Then by means of vigorous peristaltic action, all automatic, of course, the chyme, now with practically no nutrients in it, is pushed into the colon or large intestine.

Now let’s observe what goes on in the colon. From here on, as it is being relieved of excess moisture, further peristaltic action forces the mass through the colon. It first goes upward, then across and then downward in the abdomen until the time for the signal to be sounded that it should be expelled from the body. That signal is set off by the hypothalamus in the brain. It is an amazing system, isn’t it?

Having been on this tour today, you are now in a position to understand better how to care for your own intestinal chemical plant.

When Something Goes Wrong

If such things as ulcers, infections from viruses or parasitic amoebas, and the dreaded disease of cancer can be avoided, rarely does anything go wrong with this marvelous digestive plant during the greater part of one’s life. Provided, of course, that a person eats right, gets proper exercise and sufficient rest, and has control of his emotions.

One of the more common problems many people have is with gas or flatulence. It could be caused by some serious ailment or just due to simple nervousness. But it also could be due to improper eating habits or to indulging in certain foods that are likely to cause gas, such as those of the cabbage family and certain legumes.

Another problem that many persons have, especially those engaged in sedentary occupations, is constipation. Here again, the trouble may be due to poor eating habits, not having a balanced diet, or not drinking sufficient water for this chemical plant to function properly. Eating unrefined foods and plenty of fruits, especially prunes and figs, and leafy vegetables may prove helpful. Then again, for acute cases some may prefer to obtain remedies from the drugstore.

At times something goes wrong with this chemical plant and the result is just the opposite of constipation, namely, diarrhea. This may be due to food poisoning, virus infection or it may be due to injudicious eating habits. A simple time-proven remedy is black tea to which nothing has been added. Another remedy is apple pulp, raw or cooked, to which nothing has been added. Some have found unsweetened grape juice helpful. And there are other remedies.

Since the appendix is part of this chemical plant, there is also the possibility of appendicitis, probably the most frequent serious disease of the intestinal tract. The more moderate and wholesome one’s living habits, the more regular and normal the bowel movements, the less likely it is that the appendix will give trouble.

Showing Appreciation

Biologists have spent much time studying this intestinal chemical plant, especially its forepart, and there are still many things that they do not understand. But from this brief tour we have learned some very interesting things. One thing is certain—the automation and programming of the various chemical and mechanical actions, working together in perfect coordination, could never have come about by blind chance. This is eloquent testimony that our intestinal chemical plant had a very wise Maker, none other than our Creator, the Almighty God Jehovah. Truly we today, with increased knowledge of our organs, have far more reason than did the ancient psalmist King David to say: “I shall laud you because in a fear-inspiring way I am wonderfully made. Your works are wonderful, as my soul is very well aware.”—Ps. 139:14; 100:3.

Show appreciation, then, for your intestinal chemical plant. For one thing, do not eat too much. It is better to get up from the table feeling that you could have eaten more than to feel stuffed. When you eat too much you put an extra load on your heart, your liver, your kidneys and other parts of your body as well as this intestinal chemical plant. Eating more than you need may also result in your being overweight, which has its own handicaps.

There is also the psychosomatic factor already alluded to. Do not be in a hurry when eating, and keep in a cheerful frame of mind. Why engage in family quarrels over the dinner table or recount all the trials and disappointments of the day?

Harmful emotions such as worry, anger and fear consume much energy and may cause havoc with the automated processes in your stomach and your intestines. As has well been said, “What’s ‘eating you’ can do more harm than what you are eating.” It is a true proverb that cheerfulness is like a good medicine but low spirits sap a man’s strength.—Prov. 17:22.

Our Creator, the Maker of the intestinal plant, did a fine job in producing this ‘tube of life’ in which amazing chemical and mechanical functions take place. Show appreciation for it and the rest of your body by wise living habits. Doing so, you will have a minimum of discomfort and trouble and will be the more likely to enjoy good health and years of life. As for us, it has been a pleasure to take you on this tour of the intestinal chemical plant.

[Footnotes]

Enzymes are tiny protein particles that serve as catalysts. That is, they cause changes to take place in the digested food mass without themselves entering the chemical reactions.

[Picture on page 16]

LARGE INTESTINE

SMALL INTESTINE

[Picture on page 16]

The four layers of the small intestine

[Picture on page 17]

Chyme from stomach enters small intestine through pyloric valve (enlarged above)

[Picture on page 18]

Absorption is by means of tiny projections

The “Generation Gap” and Bible Principles

WHY have the worlds of the adult and of the teen-ager become so alien one to the other? Is there a basic reason? A recent letter throws some light on this subject.

It appears that during a class discussion of social problems in a girls’ class of high school the matter of the “generation gap” was introduced. It soon became obvious that the discussion was very one-sided, so it was suggested that the girls invite their parents to the next session. The father of a Witness student tells about the experience:

“My wife and I were able to arrange our affairs to be at the school at 9 a.m. on the appointed day, and we found that we were the only parents present.

“The class was arranged in a semicircle, and we were asked to sit at two desks facing them. Two teachers were also present, standing at the back of the room. The discussion began by the girls’ raising their hands and asking questions when called upon by us. No record was kept of the discussion, but the girls were interested in our attitudes toward discipline, punishment, freedom, recreation, causes for the ‘generation gap,’ and so forth. Our answers were based on the Bible, to which we referred as the occasion required.

“We pointed out that everyone, young and old, is subject to discipline throughout life; that punishment can be mild or severe according to the type of the offense and nature of the persons involved; that the Bible gives counsel for all, and that when a family lives by Bible principles there is no ‘generation gap.’ The girls appeared to be deeply impressed, and at the end of the forty-minute period asked if we could stay for a second period, which we did.

“It was obvious to the girls that there was no communication gap in our home. After we left, some of the girls commented to our daughter that they wished they could trade parents with her. Many agreed that they would rather live in a home where there was discipline coupled with love than in a home where parents and children could not communicate. Thanks to our ministerial training we were able to answer their questions directly without hesitation, double-talk or a sidestepping of the issues.”

Yes, the Bible’s excellent principles furnish the bridge over which parents and children can communicate, while realizing that both adult and teen-ager are children of a Great Father who knows how to discipline in love.

New Life for Millions in Australia

By “Awake!” correspondent in Australia

AN INCREASINGLY large stream of new settlers is arriving in Australia each year. In the year ending June 1970, some 185,000 newcomers began life afresh here, the largest number ever. Since World War II more than 2.5 million people have moved to Australia from other countries.

In 1946 Australia had a population of less than 7.5 million. Today, twenty-five years later, its population is more than 12.5 million. That is nearly a 70-percent increase for the postwar period!

More than half of the newcomers are of British nationality. The rest come from more than thirty different countries, including Greece, Italy, Yugoslavia, Germany, the Netherlands, Turkey and Lebanon. An increasing number are also arriving from the United States. During the 1960’s some 20,000 Americans settled permanently in Australia, with the yearly total now being close to 5,000.

Why They Came

The move from the United States has paralleled the rise of violence and unrest in American life. Margaret Valance, a former Chicagoan who operates an advisory service in Sydney for Americans intending to migrate, said: “Almost all of the writers spoke of social unrest and violence among the reasons for wanting to move their families to another environment in Australia.”

It would be wrong, however, to expect Australia to be a perfect haven from crime and immorality. For the worldwide moral breakdown is also felt here. As in other lands, news reports tell about wife swapping, homosexuality and rapidly increasing crime rates. The Minister of Customs recently predicted that every Australian between twelve and fourteen would be offered marijuana before the age of twenty-one.

The chief motivation for coming to Australia seems to be economic. Newcomers often say that they came in search of better employment opportunities for themselves and their children.

…

Refine Search

Index Downloading...

Awake!, March 22, 1971