Awake!, June 22, 1974

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Awake! — June 22, 1974

Source: jw.org

Contents

Is There Really a Population Crisis?

The World Tries to Manage Her Population

The Real Solution for Earth’s Population

A Pure Word

The Craving for Excitement

Showing Unselfish Interest in Others

Major Surgery Without Blood

A Closer Look at the OAU

Where Did Cain Get His Wife?

Watching the World

Get the Sense of the Bible in Its Original Language

The “Divine Purpose” District Assembly of Jehovah’s Witnesses

Is There Really a Population Crisis?

“WE’RE at a point in history that’s never even been dreamed of before,’’ says noted authority William F. Draper concerning the oft-predicted population crisis. “It’s just going to engulf the world.”—Science, March 1, 1974.

What is behind such dire predictions of a world population calamity, which are now echoed by growing numbers of experts? Are they merely the clamorings of alarmists? Their gloomy forecasts have been widely questioned on the ground that they have ignored offsetting forces. Furthermore, it is argued, man’s ingenuity has always prevailed before, has it not?

But population authorities claim that this problem is different from anything mankind has faced before. It is deceptive, they say, because of the way population grows. Rather than a steady, even expansion, it feeds on itself, mushrooming dramatically until, suddenly, the limits of the environment are said to be reached.

How Population Grows

What happens can be illustrated by the anecdote about a man who agreed to work for one cent the first week if his employer would double his income every week thereafter: 2c, 4c, 8c, and so on. At the end of three months he would have only about $80. But, due to the “doubling” effect, from this deceptively slow start the man would have made over $45,000,000,000,000 by the end of a year, if the world’s money supply were not exhausted!

Population grows in a similar fashion, though many other factors enter as well. It took thousands of years for earth to gain its first billion humans, in about the middle of the last century. Yet it took less than a hundred years to double that population! Just thirty more years brought another billion into the world, and fifteen years will have produced the fourth billion, in 1975! The fifth billion? Experts estimate little more than a decade—barring a “miracle”—or a disaster.

Currently, the “doubling time” of earth’s population is under thirty-five years, but that time has been shrinking! The 1974 edition of The Encyclopædia Britannica points out that certain parts of the world are now experiencing a young population “endowed with both a high birthrate and a low deathrate. Such a condition if it lasted very long would result in earth’s population being multiplied 32,000 times in only 500 years.”—Vol. 14, p. 816.

Imagine! Over 200 persons have been added to the world since you started reading this article, about 150 a minute. A city of some 200,000 since this time yesterday, a metropolis of over six million every month, or a nation the size of West Germany every year could be populated! Just think what it takes to feed, shelter, clothe, educate and provide jobs for 78 million people in one year!

Can the World Absorb Them?

The world’s ability to meet these demands grows, but not as rapidly as the population. Shortages now jolting the world are said to prove that mankind is falling behind in the race. Snowballing demands on agriculture, education, housing and other needs have brought the world from abundance to scarcity in just a few short years. Unprecedented inflation even in the wealthy “developed nations” testifies to these shortages.

Further aggravating the situation is the fact that population is now growing more than twice as rapidly in the poor “less developed nations” as it does in the rich industrial ones. Since there are already nearly three times as many people in the poor countries, they must absorb most of the overall population increase. And the half of the world’s population under twenty years of age are living primarily in those countries. Think what a baby boom could lie ahead for them!

More and more persons must share virtually the same limited resources. Growing inequalities result. This process is called “polarization,” a widening gap between opposites. In simpler terms, “the rich get richer and the poor get poorer.” Consider:

● Last year’s total value of all goods and services, or gross national product, in the 128 poorer countries was far less than the increase alone in 21 wealthy nations.

● World grain production would have to grow eightfold if the rest of the world were to eat as well as North Americans.

● There are now 100 million more illiterate persons in the world than there were in 1950.

● Less than a third of earth’s people consume over nine tenths of the world’s energy, while more than two thirds must get along on the remaining 8 percent.

How successful are efforts to narrow the gap? A report to the 1974 meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science noted that usually, when underdeveloped countries try to increase the educational level of their citizens and redistribute the wealth through land reform, productivity drops and they fall farther behind the developed nations.

As a result, says president of the World Bank Robert S. McNamara, this planet is like a ship with a quarter of its people in “luxury first-class conditions” and the other three quarters in “steerage,” the lowest-class accommodations. He said that it cannot be a “happy ship” with such inequities. Instead, it has become a breeding ground for hunger, misery, economic chaos and political ferment. Will world leaders find a solution? Some authorities believe it is already too late.

Gloomy Predictions

Growing numbers of experts believe that the crisis is rapidly coming to a head. Some even adopt a fatalistic attitude, foreseeing only a “death-rate” solution to the birthrate problem. One forecast, based on the assessment of “most experts on energy, agriculture, population and the global economy,” is that “a billion people, or fully a quarter of the earth’s population, face bankruptcy, social breakdown and mass famine within the next twelve months.”—The Denver Post, March 3, 1974.

Whether such predictions prove true or not, growing unrest over food shortages and high prices in India and the still-raging famine in Africa provide a melancholy background for their assessment. An official in Bangladesh, whose seventy-five million population is three times as dense as India’s, says that “unless we can control population here quickly, we can’t control anything. It is interwoven with our very existence, our survival as a nation.”

Social conduct is reported to be badly deteriorating in south Asia and parts of Latin America. News reports tell of “unexpected hoarding among farmers,” as well as widespread black marketing. “There is unprecedented adulteration of foods by merchants” to make them stretch farther, “sometimes with [poisonous] adulterants.” Another report says: “Bands of youths, armed with guns left over from the 1971 war, are roaming the towns and countryside in Bangladesh, committing antisocial activities unprecedented for the sensitive Bengali people.” Similarly, “bands of roving children, called ‘abandonados,’ now roam the streets of some Latin American cities like . . . packs of abandoned dogs.”

Some authorities believe that the population problem will probably make a “test case” of south Asia. One says: “The quality of life in this region has already begun to decline, with the fabric of society unraveling. And no man has been wise enough to think of a solution.”

This is certainly not because of lack of effort. Solutions have been and are being tried. What is happening to them?

[Graph on page 4]

(For fully formatted text, see publication)

POPULATION GROWTH SINCE 1600 C.E.

BILLIONS

1975 4

1960 3

1930 2

1850 1

1600 .5

[Picture on page 3]

7 Births Every Minute: Bangladesh’s Biggest Long-Range Problem

THE NEW YORK TIMES, February 1, 1974

Population Growth a Threat

THE DAILY OKLAHOMAN, November 6, 1973

DEPOPULATE OR PERISH

SUNDAY INDEPENDENT, October 21, 1973

Globe Is Overabundant in One Item: Population

LOS ANGELES TIMES, December 9, 1973

The Next Crises: Population and Resources

THE NEW YORK TIMES, December 22, 1973

The World Tries to Manage Her Population

WELL-MEANING men and organizations have long been engaged in programs to relieve the problems attributed to population growth. Many “solutions” have been tried—some agricultural, some economic and some political.

However, as with most “cures” that attack symptoms rather than the cause of a disease, the results have been disappointing. Most programs have either had little success, failed outright or aggravated things still further. A look at some of these “solutions” shows why.

Free Food

A growing population can survive without many things, but not without food. For years the productive North American Great Plains have been a “granary of last resort” for starving nations. When populations living at bare subsistence levels had local crop failures, they could always count on the grain-rich countries to pack off millions of tons of surplus to tide them over.

Now the surplus is nearly gone. World food reserves are reported to be at their lowest in many years. Whether there will be enough food to eat during the year to come depends on the weather during the current growing season. “The world has become dangerously dependent on current production and hence on weather conditions,” says director general of the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization A.H. Boerma.

Should bad weather strike, do you really think people will dip into their own reduced food supplies to aid starving peoples? Or, due to modern food production’s dependence on energy, will they sacrifice their energy supplies to aid these people? As the New York Times recently editorialized: “Affluent Americans could soon be faced with the choice of consuming energy on highways and in air-conditioned rooms, or permitting the production of food to feed whole populations in Africa and Asia.”—March 25, 1974.

Agricultural Self-Sufficiency

Programs to help the poor nations feed themselves have been launched with much fanfare. Dr. Norman Borlaug’s 1970 Nobel Peace Prize citation credited him with a “technological breakthrough that makes it possible to abolish hunger in the developing countries in the course of a few years.” Yet, even so, Dr. Borlaug said his Green Revolution was “not the solution.” It could only delay the food crisis while the nations continue working on population control. “If the world population continues to increase at the same rate, we will destroy the species,” he said.

Now the results are coming in. Among other things, this technology requires large amounts of increasingly costly energy, fertilizer and pesticides. As a result, rich farmers benefit far more than poor ones, who often cannot afford to use it at all. Wealthy households then buy up poor farmers’ lands, thus only adding to unemployment problems.

For these very reasons, a report on one nation’s intensive efforts to use Green Revolution technology says: “They are failing. Their optimistic plans and programs have created only increased human suffering and promise more of the same.”—Natural History, January 1974.

Economic Development

Other efforts attempt to slow the rate of population growth, rather than trying to feed any number that are born. Wealthy industrial nations generally have low growth rates, some even approaching the widely hailed goal of “zero population growth.” Their peoples seem naturally motivated to have fewer, better cared for children. On the other hand, in the less developed countries with largely rural populations, children themselves are considered a form of wealth. Parents desire them to help with farm work and as “social security” to care for them in old age.

As a result, families in these countries average nearly twice as many children as those in industrial nations. Also, “people have six or more children because they know that two or three will die,” says a Bangladesh official. And studies show that families who lose children often overcompensate by producing more living children than those whose children all survive.

Thus many conclude that the answer to overpopulation lies in economic development and industrialization, together with adequate measures to keep children alive so parents will not overcompensate. However, says The Encyclopædia Britannica, “overrapid growth of the population brings in its train an excessive need for [economic] investments . . . just to keep pace with the extra mouths to feed and bodies to clothe and shelter.” Thus, little or nothing is left to improve living standards.—Vol. 14, p. 823.

Recognizing this, most experts now agree that there are just not enough time, energy and other resources to develop the poor nations to the point that birthrates begin to drop naturally. Even if they could be developed, at least a generation passes before results begin to be felt. So the experts say that population growth must be reduced first, before economic development can be successful. That brings up—

Birth Control

Many believe that some form of birth control must be part of any successful population program. Accordingly, some nations are pouring funds into family-planning programs and reducing aid in other fields. What is the outlook for this “solution”? Disappointment.

“Radical” birth-control measures such as abortion and sterilization have morally destructive side effects. Japan legalized abortion in 1948. Professor T. S. Ueno of Tokyo’s Nihon University says, “We can now say the law is a bad one.” Free sex and lack of respect for the life of the unborn are among the moral problems he cited. “Abortion has become a substitute for contraception,” as indicated by the 1.5 million performed in 1972. He believes that where life is held in such low regard, the next step could be euthanasia, putting those over a certain age to death!

India, with perhaps the world’s oldest family-planning program, recently slashed her target figure for reduction in the 1980 birthrate by 40 percent! Many of the people and even their leaders are resisting government and international programs.

Selfish interests keep many from cooperating with family planning. They may want to keep their race, religion or language group numerically superior to gain or maintain political power, though they would be glad to see reduction in other’s populations. One major Latin-American nation recently restricted birth control there, hoping to double her population within the century. The desire for growing national power and fear of overpopulated neighbors were cited as reasons.

The Catholic Church has long used religious dogma to block any “artificial” form of birth control, so keeping her impoverished masses swelling in numbers. The Encyclopædia Britannica summarizes the overall outlook:

“It would be futile to deny that artificial population control is inhibited by powerful moral constraints and taboos. . . . even the most optimistic program of population control can only hope to achieve a slight reduction in the rate of increase by the end of the 20th century.”—Vol. 18, p. 54.

Does a “slight reduction” in twenty-five years sound like the “solution” to you?

“United” Action?

Failure of all the foregoing “solutions” is bringing home to world leaders that population growth is a world problem. Civilization has become tightly interdependent, and nations can no longer act without regard for international repercussions. Growing numbers of leaders are urging a cooperative world approach to solving problems associated with population. Accordingly, the United Nations has declared 1974 to be “World Population Year” and plans a world conference on population control in August.

A “world population plan of action” is expected to arise from this meeting. Will it be binding? One observer notes that the plan “could more appropriately be called a suggestion,” which will outline steps that countries “might wish” to take in their own circumstances. “This all seems pretty weak medicine,” notes this writer, in view of the rapidly escalating situation.—Science, March 1, 1974, p. 833.

The alternative to vigorous worldwide action is seen by many to be a series of jolting hardships that may pave the way for dictatorial control of population and resources, as well as the loss of human freedoms. They foresee forced abortion, sterilization and even such things as genetic engineering and elimination of the weak. Would you want such a “solution” imposed on you? Is there a better one?

[Picture on page 8]

Efforts to manage the world’s population problems end in failure when “cures” attack symptoms rather than the cause

The Real Solution for Earth’s Population

DID you notice that the “solutions” offered by “experts” attack only symptoms of the problem while overlooking the real disease altogether? Is the underlying problem really overpopulation?

Or, is it not, rather, this world’s selfishly divided economic, political and religious system of things? That is what some are beginning to recognize. They see the need for other arrangements than the present ones for administering earth’s affairs. The book Environmental Ethics notes that the first step toward ensuring man’s survival on earth must be ‘some form of world government so that mankind can manage itself as a whole.’

But will men ever give up their selfish national rivalries for the common good? There is little reason to think so. For example, the United Nations recently approved a proposal for the major powers to cut their military budgets by 10 percent and then to use that amount for aid to the poor countries. But what did the major powers do? They simply ignored the proposal. Then, too, within the nations themselves selfishness rules. Inequalities exist. In the United States, for instance, one fifth of the population has 76 percent of the wealth, while the bottom fifth has just one percent! If nations cannot balance out such inequalities inside their own borders, what reason is there to believe they can do so on a world scale?

The real solution lies in a new kind of world government. But such a government cannot be administered by imperfect, selfish men. There is a crying need for a worldwide government under an unselfish, impartial ruler. Did you know that the Bible reveals that God has purposed such a world government for mankind? We read: “I kept on beholding in the visions of the night, and, see there! with the clouds of the heavens someone like a son of man happened to be coming; and to the Ancient of Days he gained access, and they brought him up close even before that One. And to him there were given rulership and dignity and kingdom, that the peoples, national groups and languages should all serve even him. His rulership is an indefinitely lasting rulership that will not pass away, and his kingdom one that will not be brought to ruin.”—Dan. 7:13, 14.

Before you dismiss such an idea as unrealistic or religious nonsense, think what a world government and ruler whose purpose is unity in heaven and earth means. Since Christ is perfect, bringing all things into harmony with him would mean earth-wide unity. That would signify an end to all the divisive forces that have made it impossible for millions of humans to have needed food, clothing and shelter.

There can be no question that our planet was designed to provide its human population with a happy, comfortable home. The intricate beauties and abundant variety in creation are obviously designed for the benefit of intelligent creatures who can appreciate them. Man himself gives evidence of being designed to enjoy earth’s natural state and live in harmony with its natural cycles. Who of the most hardened city dwellers does not feel the tug of the country and woodlands at times, be they only in the local park?

The Bible shows that the bad conditions now laid to overpopulation are a sign that very soon this selfish system of things will be replaced by a government of the world under its one Head, Jesus Christ. (Ps. 72:7, 8; Matt. 24:3, 7, 8, 14; Luke 21:11, 25-28; Rev. 6:1-8) The time is ripe for restoring the proper state of things under that government. Under that rule the Creator’s expression on how men are properly to fit into earth’s natural environment will finally be accomplished, as stated to mankind’s first human parents: “Be fruitful and become many and fill the earth and subdue it.” (Gen. 1:28) Has mankind ‘filled’ and ‘subdued’ the earth in the way purposed by that commission?

‘Filling the Earth’

Instead of subduing the earth purposefully, men have made unwise use of its resources. They have done a work of tearing down. Centralized big industry and its production methods have interfered with earth’s natural cycles and continue to do so. Besides industrial pollution, poor agricultural conservation has been and is now “ruining the earth,” endangering its capacity to support growing populations.—Rev. 11:18.

Instead of filling the earth, millions have piled themselves up in giant, dirty cities. Also, the unequal distribution of mankind among the nations points up its failure to “fill the earth.” For example, Canada has about six people, on the average, for every square mile of her vast territory, while Bangladesh has 1,300, over 200 times as many! Yet the Creator’s purpose for ‘filling the earth’ logically called for some measure of uniformity. His view on such matters is indicated by his command to those who took possession of the land of Judah in the fifteenth century B.C.E.: “And you must apportion the land to yourselves . . . To the populous one you should increase his inheritance, and to the sparse one you should reduce his inheritance.”—Num. 33:54; 26:53-56.

Obviously, some land areas, such as mountainous ones and those with extremes of weather, are not as capable of sustaining so large a population as others. However, it remains true that the divisive national barriers set up by men must answer most for men’s failure to “fill the earth” in fairness to the whole population. That is why the government that the “God of heaven will set up . . . will not be passed on to any other people. It will crush and put an end to all these” selfishly divided governments of the world. In ‘giving rulership and dignity and kingdom’ to his Son Jesus Christ, God purposed “that the peoples, national groups and languages should all serve even him” unitedly. When that purpose is realized, gone will be all divisive national barriers! God’s kingdom by Christ “will not be brought to ruin” by greedy, rapacious polluters of the earth.—Dan. 2:44; 7:13, 14.

Never again will the earth be blamed for failure to support its population. When men conduct their affairs in harmony with natural cycles and laws, the earth will be able to care for far more population than it does today. Now, little more than a tenth of the earth’s land area is cultivated for food. Another fifth is in meadows and pastures. “The remainder,” over two thirds of earth’s land surface, “is either in forests or is not being used for productive purposes,” says The Encyclopædia Britannica.

Think of the potential for making much of this land productive! And mankind will work to this end under the guidance of Jesus Christ, the one whom God used as a “master worker” back at earth’s creation. As “master worker,” he was especially “glad at the productive land of [God’s] earth” and “was fond” of mankind. (Prov. 8:22-31; compare Colossians 1:16, 17.) We can be sure that mankind will feel this fondness in full measure when he lovingly regulates the ‘filling’ of our earth to its reasonable capacity.

Even now Christians who choose to have children are Scripturally bound to have families no larger than they can properly “provide for.” (1 Tim. 5:8, Catholic New American Bible) So at that time earth’s population will be allowed to grow only to the measure of both community and/or rural living that will not bring ruin to the environment or starvation to the offspring.

Then humans will see the land’s full ability to produce for its population. Reflect on what has been done in certain desolate areas by using modern methods of irrigation and cultivation. Then think of what the earth could produce when, with its Creator’s blessing, it flourishes, as illustrated by Isaiah’s words: “The wilderness and the waterless region will exult, and the desert plain will be joyful and blossom as the saffron. . . . For in the wilderness waters will have burst out, and torrents in the desert plain.”—Isa. 35:1-6.

Then, as during the peaceful reign of King Solomon, “there will come to be plenty of grain on the earth; on the top of the mountains there will be an overflow.” (Ps. 72:16; compare Isaiah 65:17, 20-24; 25:6.) This is the one real solution.

There are about two million Christians in all nations on earth today who are learning now to live in harmony with this soon-to-be-realized solution. A Columbia University professor of biological sciences, David W. Ehrenfeld, noted this in his recent book Conserving Life on Earth: “Among contemporary Judeo-Christian religious groups, few besides the Jehovah’s Witnesses would appear to have formulated a [belief that living nature is an irreducible whole] and balanced philosophy of man in relation to his environment (see Awake!, April 22, 1971).” They did not originate it. It is found in the Bible. They will be pleased to assist you to learn it as well.—Isa. 2:2-4.

A Pure Word

◆ Some readers of the Holy Scriptures have taken offense at what the Bible presents in regard to sexual matters. The Scriptures contain accounts involving the upright and noble place of sex in marriage. Also, there are some accounts dealing with misconduct, which accounts have long aided Bible readers to know what is improper in the sight of the Creator. Does the frankness of such information make the Bible immoral or obscene?

Writing on the modern “sexual revolution,” Professor David R. Mace points out: “The Biblical writers were not tongue-tied, as many Christians are today, in their treatment of this subject. They tell many stories about sexual behavior that would be considered quite unsuitable for public reading or public discussion, even in our enlightened age. Yet there is nothing about these stories that is offensive. They are straightforward, down-to-earth accounts. . . . Sex is treated as it should be, as part of human life. There is no embarrassed concealment. On the other hand, there is no leering suggestiveness either. The approach to sex is honest and healthy-minded. ‘Nowhere in the Bible,’ says Otto Piper, the Lutheran theologian, ‘is sex in danger of sinking to the level of the obscene.’”

Yes, the Scriptures are in some places quite frank, but never are they obscene or suggestive. As the psalmist wrote: “The law of Jehovah is perfect, bringing back the soul. . . . The commandment of Jehovah is clean, making the eyes shine. The fear of Jehovah is pure, standing forever.”—Ps. 19:7-9.

The Craving for Excitement

“IT’S exciting!” That is the message that sports reporters try to get across to their audiences. They are well aware of the appeal that exciting things have. And often there is indeed a pleasurable feeling about excitement, when your heart beats faster, when you breathe more quickly and when your nerves are set atingling. Without a question, certain things that are exciting can make your life more interesting.

There is, for example, the excitement known to inventors; history records the excitement that the inventions of the telegraph and telephone caused. An outstanding piece of art, be it an opera or a symphony, a painting or a piece of sculpture, can create excitement. And so can viewing such wonders of creation as the Grand Canyon, the Victoria Falls, the Swiss Alps.

Excitement has its place, and we should keep it in its place. It can easily get out of hand and cause us to lose proper perspective, with harm to ourselves. It can become an overpowering craving, and that for the wrong thing. There is nothing wrong with a noble craving, but more often than not it is an unhealthy, selfish desire. Thus the Bible forbids selfishly craving a neighbor’s possessions and it also speaks of the craving of the wicked.—Deut. 5:21; Ps. 140:8; Prov. 10:3.

The Excitement of Speed

Among the ways in which many modern youths seek to satisfy their craving for excitement is by driving their cars at reckless speeds. This pastime has become so popular that there is a magazine, Hot Rod, that is devoted to the sport. No question about it, there is a thrill in moving fast over the ground, but is it worth risking your life for the sake of enjoying that excitement? Young men pay the highest insurance rates. Why? Not necessarily because of their lack of skill, but because the craving for excitement makes so many of them take foolish chances. All too often this results in accidents and death.

This desire for speed and the excitement associated with danger also accounts for the great crowds that watch auto races. These, too, time and again, are marred by fatal accidents.

Other Sports Events

Auto racing is but one of many kinds of sports events to which people flock to satisfy their craving for excitement. Among others are boxing, wrestling and tennis matches, football, basketball and baseball games, not to say anything about the allure of bullfighting and of the Olympics. And many times greater is the number of those who watch such events on TV.

Concerning those reporting on such sports events, a West German sociologist, associated with a Swiss college, stated: “They turn their reporting into a manipulation of emotions, the kind of emotions that make fanatics out of players and spectators and turn stadiums into battlefields.” And, he warns, “the more the mass media succeed in emotionally arousing players and spectators, the greater the danger of negative, aggressive reactions on the part of both.”—Sports Illustrated, October 1, 1973.

The Gambling Fever

Gambling is a worldwide activity and goes back thousands of years. While many who gamble give various reasons for it, such as wanting to gain money, actually most gamblers seek what is referred to as “the strange tension” experienced in the game. Yes, “the craving for this strange thrill frequently overshadows the desire to win,” it is reported. In fact, according to the book Gambling (edited by R. D. Herman of Pomona, California College), the “more intelligent gamblers stress the irrational motive in gambling: the thrill component”; “thrill” being just another term for excitement.

Because of their craving for this thrill, gamblers will borrow money after they are broke so as to gamble still more. And it is also why they can hardly ever be content with having won a sum, but at once they turn around and lose it. What apparently drives them on is their craving for the gambling thrill.

And what bitter fruits are reaped! To pay for their gambling losses, men embezzle funds from banks or other firms that employ them. Public officials become obligated to underworld characters because of their gambling debts, which debts, at times, cost the lives of the gamblers as victims of murder or suicide. Even an apparently harmless game such as bingo represents an enormous loss in time and money by reason of the fact that so many housewives are addicted to it. Like those to whom the Bible refers, they neglect God Almighty to set a table for their god called “Good Luck.”—Isa. 65:11.

Resorting to Drugs

Others, including many youths, turn to drugs for excitement. Starting with marijuana, which gives them a pleasurable feeling, they go on to more powerful drugs in their craving for greater excitement. Many rock ’n’ roll artists resort to drugs to create excitement and to encourage the use of drugs in others—all of which results in harm to body, mind and morals.

And what a terrible price the drug addict pays for his craving for excitement! He becomes a slave to narcotics and often turns to muggings and robbery or, if a female, to shoplifting and prostitution. Such leading rock ’n’ roll artists as Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin and Brian Jones of the Rolling Stones paid with their lives for their drug addiction. The Bible speaks of some as being ‘slaves to sin,’ and when a person becomes “hooked” on hard drugs he certainly is such a pitiful slave.—Rom. 6:16.

The Excitement of Breaking God’s Laws

In ancient Rome the gory battles of the gladiators satisfied the craving of the populace for excitement. And today ever so many people want to see and hear things that are likewise shocking, horrible, blood-curdling. Movies and TV programs glorify violence and make heroes out of murderers and rapists, all to feed the craving of their audiences for excitement.

People also find excitement in doing that which violates their ethics or moral principles. Thus there are women who make a habit of shoplifting, not because of wanting or needing the articles they steal, but for the “kick,” the excitement, that goes with stealing and getting away with it. Yes, excitement goes with pursuing activities that are forbidden. The very fact that they are forbidden causes them to seem desirable to many.

Typical is the appeal that illicit sex has. It promises excitement because of what is involved and because of what it might lead to as well as because of the intense selfish pleasure expected. So single and married persons toy with immorality and go on to commit fornication or adultery. This craving for excitement causes others to engage in unnatural or perverted acts. Thus some Christian women complain because their husbands want them to become parties in sodomy and oral sex. Needless to say, perverted, unnatural practices are far from expressing love, affection and tenderness for each other. All such sensual behavior is repeatedly condemned in God’s Word.—Rom. 1:24-32; Jas. 4:1, 3.

Rock Music

Nor to be overlooked is the role that rock music plays in youths’ craving for excitement. As reported in the New York Sunday News, May 13, 1973, rock is an “unholy trinity of . . . violence, sex and noise.” Another writer puts it this way: “Three things distinguish rock—the relentless beat, the freedom of conception and the overpowering volume. . . . Together with the pulsing, driving beat, it creates passionate excitement, an almost sexual tension—one wants to move, to dance.” According to one rock fan, “the loudness makes you feel wild, it blows your mind.”

Regarding this feeding of the audience’s craving for excitement, one leading rock star said: “Time will come when somebody will have to be killed onstage to ‘get’ [satisfy] the audience. Kids are interested in the same things that have always excited them—sex and violence. That’s what they want, that’s what they’ll pay to see.” With such a musical diet, is it any wonder that crime is increasing even faster among youths than among adults?

Counteracting the Craving for Excitement

Truly the craving for excitement that goes to extremes on the one hand and, on the other hand, expresses itself in loose or lawless conduct is to be avoided. How can you counteract it? One way is by soberly reasoning on the subject. Good judgment recommends moderation, even as does the Bible.—1 Tim. 3:2, 11.

The upbuilding things of life can also provide excitement, but in a wholesome way. This has been the experience of the Christian witnesses of Jehovah. Thus, one of them recently wrote the Watch Tower Society: “I also want to thank you brothers for your labor in producing the most exciting publication I‘ve ever read . . . Naturally I‘m speaking of God’s Kingdom of a Thousand Years Has Approached.”

These Witnesses also find attending assemblies, and especially the larger ones, exciting. They likewise find it exciting when in their house-to-house preaching work they find people groping for God and hungering and thirsting for righteousness. And they also find excitement in learning new truths regarding God’s purposes.

Yes, things of the spirit, not only those appealing to the natural man, can bring the pleasure of excitement. And these things of the spirit promise not only temporary, but eternal blessings that are without regrets.—Prov. 10:22.

Showing Unselfish Interest in Others

By “Awake!” correspondent in Guatemala

WE STARTED out from mile-high Guatemala City. In a few hours we arrived at the shore of Lake Izabal. After loading our gear onto a waiting craft, we set out on an unusual and rewarding journey. Let me tell you about it.

Lake Izabal lies at the foot of Guatemala’s Sierra de Santa Cruz mountain range. It is a body of water comprising some two hundred square miles, about three times as big as the Sea of Galilee. It empties into the Rio Dulce (sweetwater river) and thenceforth into the Caribbean Sea.

Our intention was to make a complete circuit of the lake, talking to everyone we could contact. During our three-week-long trip we spoke with fishermen, merchants, plantation owners and humble land workers.

Why Did We Do This?

My family and I have noticed that many today show little interest in their fellowman. As Jehovah’s witnesses, we have tried to avoid that spirit by arranging our affairs to aid other people. We have found ample opportunity to do so in this Central American country of Guatemala, where we have been for the past five years. On a recent vacation to Lake Izabal we noted the friendliness of the natives that live along its shores. For the most part they have heard little of the Bible’s comforting promises. We keenly felt their need to know of the “good news” contained in the Scriptures. (Matt. 24:14) But, we thought, what good was knowing of their needs if we did nothing about it? We decided, therefore, to return to Lake Izabal, this time not for a vacation, but to help the people to understand the Word of God.

Careful Preparations Necessary

Our intention was to talk to all the inhabitants living along the shores of the lake as well as to navigate various rivers to reach inland jungle settlements. We would need a watercraft with capacity to accommodate the three of us for two or three weeks. It would have to provide protection from the tropical sun and rains as well as have room to store conveniently our camping gear and many cartons of Bible literature. As the waters are often shallow, we would need a boat that would come right up to the shoreline, so that we might disembark and board easily.

With this in mind we decided to build a “catamaran,” or twin-pontoon vessel of lightweight plywood with a deck size of only five by twelve feet. We outfitted it with a small canvas canopy for shade, a small outboard motor, and a long pole and paddle, which we had to resort to frequently. Food and clothing were kept dry inside large metal containers or plastic bags, and each article was assigned a definite place.

Reaching Everyone Possible

We organized our schedule so that two of us would devote the day to visiting homes and villages, while the third member of the group stayed with the boat, keeping alert to come ashore to pick the others up when foot travel between houses or villages proved impossible.

At times as many as thirty persons would gather around our boat at the shoreline to listen to the Bible’s message. They showed considerable interest and accepted much literature. Sometimes interested persons ran up to us asking for Bibles, books, or magazines by name, having seen one in the home of a neighbor.

These humble folk were willing to trade foodstuffs and other commodities for Bible literature. We quickly learned the local values of such items as tortillas, eggs, elote (sweet corn), bananas, plantains, coconuts, cacao pods and dried or fresh fish.

One day, as our load of foodstuffs piled high, we were happy to see one of our group return with a large woven cane basket that he had gotten in trade for Bible literature. Although we saw little of the type of food that we customarily eat, there were abundant provisions available; it was a pleasant change for us.

When confronted with several days of rainy weather, we had to get used to wearing a long plastic raincoat or piece of plastic covering, as well as working out of a plastic-covered briefcase. In the evening we would dry off around a charcoal fire.

Heartwarming Experiences

Talking to these people in their simple surroundings, we could not help but feel reassured that we had done the right thing in coming here. One couple in a dug-out canoe (cayuco) greeted us enthusiastically. Their small craft contained baskets of fresh delicious bread, neatly covered with clean white cloths. They readily accepted Bible literature and expressed eagerness to have us return to study with them. As we munched on some of their delicious pan dulce (sweet bread), we assured them that we would come back soon.

One day we paused for a brief lunch, pulling the boat onto the beach near some coconut palms to take advantage of the shade. Here we noticed many persons passing by on the beach as they returned to their ranchitos (thatched-roof houses of cane). Could we pass up such a golden opportunity of speaking to them about the Word of God? Not if we were truly interested in their welfare.

In this way a man named Carlos Enrique accepted a Bible publication and expressed his desire to learn how to study it. Later that same afternoon he again located us, sitting down for an hour-long study. We admired his eagerness to learn.

That evening we pitched tent, built a fire, and sat down to prepare supper and to share joyful experiences with one another. Then we heard someone approaching our campsite. How surprised and delighted we were to see Carlos Enrique! He had searched for us, wanting to study another chapter in his newly acquired Bible study aid. By the time that we finished the second chapter, the charcoal had burned low. Then Carlos explained that he had to return to his village, which was a number of miles away along a dark jungle path. Such appreciation! Among others who visited us at an unusual hour was José Morales, who approached our tent at midnight, requesting a Bible and a publication to help him to understand it.

As our circuit of the lake neared completion, we reflected on the number of persons interested in the Bible that we had been able to contact on our three-week trip. We placed hundreds of Bible publications and made many new friends. How thankful we were to our Creator for the opportunity of sharing the truth of His Word with the friendly folks around Lake Izabal!

Major Surgery Without Blood

NOT long ago, blood transfusion was considered a routine part of major surgery. Nearly all doctors felt that they had to use it.

Today this is no longer the case. A growing number of doctors now recognize that they can operate successfully without administering blood. They have developed new techniques to do so. And these new methods are very much appreciated by the increasing number of patients who do not want blood transfusions.

Too, doctors have discovered that the new methods are superior to the older ones in certain important respects. Thus, as a general rule, they now often recommend these new procedures to their patients.

Why the Trend?

Why this trend toward bloodless surgery? Some reasons are noted in an Associated Press dispatch that states: “Two goals of bloodless surgery are to avoid potential hazards from transfusions, including transmitting the liver disease, hepatitis, and to reduce the need for blood donors.”

Blood-transfusion dangers are now widely acknowledged. As reported by Awake! in its May 22, 1974, issue, each year thousands of people are killed and tens of thousands of others are injured by blood transfusions. This is due to factors such as blood-carried contaminants and diseases (particularly hepatitis), technical errors (for instance, mismatched blood) and allergic reactions. Experts frankly admit that no known tests can totally eliminate these hazards. That is why Dr. Stanley Dudrick, chief surgeon in a Philadelphia hospital, says: “We don’t throw around a bottle of blood willy-nilly anymore.”

However, there is another reason why new techniques have been developed to eliminate transfusion of blood in surgery. As the Palo Alto Times of California notes: “The need to develop surgical techniques which did not require blood transfusions was stimulated in part by limitations on usual forms of surgery imposed by the faith of Jehovah’s Witnesses, whose religion opposes transfusion of donor blood.”

Jehovah’s witnesses will not take blood. They reject this form of medical treatment because God’s Word, the Holy Bible, requires Christians to “abstain . . . from blood.” (Acts 15:20) Hence, they look for doctors who will provide some alternative treatment when they are in need of surgery.

At first, nearly all doctors who were not Jehovah’s witnesses refused to perform the more difficult operations without blood. But gradually some came to appreciate the need to help Jehovah’s witnesses as best they could and accepted the challenge of finding ways of operating without using blood. As the new methods proved successful, more doctors began using them.

Many of these doctors are well known in their local communities. In the United States the names of many of them are now included on a list kept at the headquarters of Jehovah’s witnesses in Brooklyn. Such a list does not imply an endorsement of the doctor but is kept for the convenience of persons who need an operation but do not know a surgeon who will perform it without blood.

Can the new methods be used in all kinds of operations? Yes. And such operations include the most delicate and complicated types on vital organs.

“Bloodless” Open-Heart Surgery

At one time doctors considered it unthinkable to perform open-heart surgery without having the option of using blood. It is of interest, therefore, to see how bloodless heart surgery developed over the years.

Among the pioneers in the field were teams of Houston, Texas, doctors. They appreciated that simply refusing to operate on Jehovah’s witnesses was unreasonable, as, in some cases, this refusal would amount to an automatic death sentence.

Thus, in 1962 these doctors began devising methods to take the cases of Jehovah’s witnesses that other doctors had refused. One of the early reports on such surgery was contained in The American Journal of Cardiology of June 1964. In an article entitled “Open Heart Surgery in Jehovah’s Witnesses,” Drs. Denton A. Cooley, E. Stanley Crawford, James F. Howell and Arthur C. Beall, Jr., explained some of their bloodless techniques.

To enable the surgical team to operate on it, the heart may actually be stopped for a period of time. The pumping action is taken over by a “heart-lung” machine, which maintains the flow of blood and its vital oxygen to all parts of the body. It had been the usual practice to use about three pints of blood to prime its pumps and fill its tubing and blood reservoir before the machine was connected to the patient. What did these doctors use instead? They reported:

“The technic developed in our clinic also permits the use of 5% dextrose [a simple sugar] in distilled water to prime the extracorporeal [outside the body] unit without addition of blood. The solution contains 25 mg. of heparin per 1,000 ml. of solution to prevent fibrin depositions in the oxygenator. Priming volume consists of 20 to 30 ml. dextrose solution per kilogram body weight [about two quarts for a 150 pound person].”

Also, since no blood could be used during the operation, the surgeons had to be more meticulous, giving more than the usual attention to “hemostasis.” This is the checking of the flow of blood from severed vessels. From this need there has developed a number of new techniques now widely used.

Where artificial grafts were needed to replace a worn-out artery, special pre-clotted materials were used to prevent blood leakage. And various salt and sugar solutions were fed into the patient’s veins during the surgery.

The continued experience with Jehovah’s witnesses confirmed the beliefs of these early pioneers in bloodless surgery. Then, after nearly a decade of bloodless open-heart operations, a report was issued by The American Journal of Cardiology of February 1972 on the work of these Houston doctors. It covered in particular the surgery performed at the Texas Heart Institute of St. Luke’s–Texas Children’s Hospitals in Houston. Written by doctors John R. Zaorski, Grady L. Hallman and Denton A. Cooley, the report said, in part:

“Since 1962 bloodless prime has been routinely utilized in more than 5,000 operations at this institution with excellent results; and several hundred of these operations were performed electively without blood transfusions in patients most of whom were not Jehovah’s Witnesses. . . .

“The Jehovah’s Witness patients in this series received the same treatment as all other patients except that all Witness patients received injectable iron before and after operation, and no blood was held in reserve for them at the blood bank. The only fluid they received was the priming solution and intravenously administered dextrose in dilute saline or Ringer’s lactate solution.”

The report showed that in the entire period covered, only one of Jehovah’s witnesses died where the cause was “attributed to anemia.” This death came three days after the operation.

The general conclusion of this report was as follows: “We believe that our experience demonstrates the feasibility of open heart surgery in Jehovah’s Witnesses and, moreover, indicates that blood transfusion can and should be used sparingly to reduce morbidity and mortality in all patients.”

Others Begin Using New Methods

As experience was gained and publicized, other surgeons began to use similar bloodless (transfusionless) methods in open-heart cases as a service to Jehovah’s witnesses. For instance, in 1970 Dr. Charles W. Pearce performed bloodless open-heart surgery on one of Jehovah’s witnesses in Methodist Hospital in New Orleans. Dr. Pearce, who served several years as an investigator for the American Heart Association, was assisted in the operation by Dr. White Gibson. Regarding this surgery, an interesting account on the front page of The Sentry News of Slidell, Louisiana, relates:

“Many resident doctors and visiting doctors could not understand how it could be performed and were allowed in the operating room to witness this unusual operation. So many, in fact, that the hospital ran out of surgical gowns.”

The fact that other doctors could not understand how it could be done demonstrates the urgent need for doctors to keep up-to-date with improved surgical techniques. Also, it shows the need of their not rejecting all techniques that depart from what are considered “usual and accepted” methods.

In the case of this patient, observed by so many other doctors, amazement was expressed at the speedy recovery. In fact, a nurse’s aid nicknamed him “Speedy.” Only ten days after the operation, he was discharged from the hospital. The news report stated of the bloodless surgery experiences of Dr. Pearce:

“The surgeon said he believes the method used has proven a boon not only to Jehovah’s Witnesses but to most patients undergoing open heart surgery.

“‘We recently used this technique in 100 consecutive open heart operations for congenital heart defects,’ he explained, ‘and there was only one mortality.’

“The famed surgeon said that this method without the use of blood virtually eliminates the possibility of infectious hepatitis. He said it also reduces the possibility of an allergic reaction . . . that it reduces the more serious reactions of shock . . .

“When blood is used, the functions of the heart, lungs and kidneys sometimes become impaired during the early period following open heart surgery, Dr. Pearce explained. ‘But with the technique used . . . the function of these organs is nearly always satisfactory,’ he added.”

More Widespread Now

Reports from all over the world show that in the past few years, bloodless surgery in the more difficult operations, such as open-heart cases, has become quite widespread and accepted in highly regarded medical institutions. For instance, a Johannesburg, South Africa, heart specialist performed one on a fourteen-year-old girl, one of Jehovah’s witnesses. The Sunday Times there reported that she made a “fantastic recovery,” spending only one day in the intensive-care ward.

In Spokane, Washington, a team of surgeons now performs open-heart operations on Jehovah’s witnesses without using blood. The Seattle Times describes their method: “The physicians adopted a no-blood priming technique using a dextrose (sugar) and water solution alone or the sugar-and-water solution with Ringer’s lactate (a common therapeutic solution of sodium chloride, potassium chloride and calcium chloride).” They noted that there had been no negative results.

In San Francisco a fifty-four-year-old patient was badly in need of a heart operation. He was one of Jehovah’s witnesses. It was Dr. Elias Hanna and his team’s first experience with such bloodless surgery in an open-heart case. After the less than an hour-and-a-quarter-long operation, Dr. Hanna said of the patient: “He’s doing phenomenally well for all the work we did on him.”

In a letter that Dr. Jerome H. Kay of Los Angeles wrote to Awake! magazine in November 1973, he also noted that his team now performs bloodless open-heart surgery on the majority of all his patients. Dr. Kay added: “It has been a pleasure operating upon patients who are Jehovah’s Witnesses. We do not give these patients any blood or blood substitutes.”

It is obvious that if such complex operations as those involving the heart can be performed successfully without blood, others can too. This has proved to be the case. Now fortified by the experience and success of others, more doctors than ever are studying the new techniques and applying them.

Other Operations Without Blood

In Wellington, New Zealand, a fifteen-year-old girl had a brain tumor removed in a complex operation with no blood used. The operation was a complete success, and she was allowed to return home only one week later!

In Milwaukee, doctors operated on a sixteen-year-old who had torn a main artery in his chest. He had lost more than a quart of blood and would lose more during surgery. The Detroit Free Press reported that doctors “used salt water to replace his lost blood while they used a dacron tube to replace the torn part of his aorta.” When surgery was completed, the patient’s red-blood-cell count was only one third of normal. But doctors said that with iron supplements and a high protein diet the youth’s body would replace his lost blood in a few weeks.

The New York State Journal of Medicine contained an article entitled “Extensive Urologic Surgery Without Blood Transfusion.” It was written by Doctors Philip R. Roen and Francesca Velcek from the Department of Urology at St. Barnabas Hospital in New York. The doctors said:

“Our experiences with Jehovah’s Witnesses requiring operative procedures has demonstrated to us that blood transfusions are not necessarily essential even when hemoglobin levels are low—as low as 5 Gm. per 100 ml. in one of our cases!

“This indicates that this experience in avoiding blood transfusion may be applicable to an overwhelming percentage of cases even if the patient will permit such blood transfusion. The only requirement is a careful and more meticulous operative technic. We have adopted this approach in all our cases, and blood transfusion is a most unusual event in our hands. . . .

“Although special technics to reduce bleeding and operative risk have been employed by others, such as induced hypothermia, deliberately induced hypotension, use of colloid blood expanders, and so on, we have not resorted to such measures. The surgical attack has been that of a most meticulous operative technic with emphasis on sparing every milliliter of blood possible and replacement of blood loss with simple crystalloid solution, namely, lactated Ringer’s solution. The results have been most satisfactory.

“It is gratifying, moreover, not to have to be concerned about such complications of whole-blood transfusion as allergic or hemolytic reactions, renal shutdown, and hepatitis.”

What specific “formula” do these doctors use to replace the blood lost before or during surgery? They say:

“Our own method in caring for these patients has been that of employing only lactated Ringer’s solution for blood replacement. No specific formula is employed, but we generally use three times the volume of this fluid over the sustained blood loss. . . .

“Although isotonic dextrose solution and isotonic saline solution are widely used, a ‘balanced’ formulation is better—Ringer’s solution contains potassium and calcium in addition to sodium and chloride. It must be noted that the calcium and potassium are present only in ‘physiologic’ concentration and this preparation is not designed for replacing deficits of these ions.

“‘Improved’ Ringer’s solution contains sodium lactate. The customary Ringer’s solution has a slight acidifying effect; the lactated Ringer’s tends to overcome this acidifying influence and is therefore the preferred crystalloid solution for intravenous administration.”

Also, extensive abdominal operations, such as resections (removal) of the stomach and intestines in cases of malignant disease now have been done many times without the use of blood.

Probing Questions

In view of such successes, the following comment of Doctors Roen and Velcek is worthy of note. They said: “In most instances physicians and hospital authorities have refused operation on Jehovah’s Witnesses because of the problem of blood transfusions. We contend that it is wrong to deny operations to these people, no matter how extensive the contemplated surgery.”

These doctors cite case after case of Witnesses being refused surgery elsewhere, then coming to St. Barnabas Hospital and being operated on successfully without blood. The successes in bloodless surgery performed by other skilled surgeons all over the world confirm their conclusion.

Indeed, it must be said that today doctors who still refuse to operate on Jehovah’s witnesses unless blood is used betray themselves. While no doubt they are sincere, one now has to ask: Why do they refuse? Are they not familiar with what leading, highly respected surgeons are doing in other parts of the world, or in their own country, even in their own state or city? Is it possible that their past training and conditioning has made them close-minded, unwilling to progress with the latest developments in the field of medicine? May it be, in some cases, that they simply lack confidence in their skill? Or could religious prejudice even enter into the matter?

In the light of modern developments in medicine, there is no excuse for any doctor to try to force blood transfusions on people who do not want them.

Additional Procedures

Nor do the above examples exhaust the methods now used or under investigation in bloodless surgery. Another practice that has proved very useful has to do with building up the patient’s blood well before, when time permits, and also after surgery. Various nutrients are given to the patient, such as iron, vitamins and amino acids. In this way, although there may be blood loss during surgery, the remaining blood will be better able to carry the load. The nutrients will also help the body to replace lost blood. One doctor who uses this adjunct to the actual operation stated: “It is amazing how fast patients come around” in response to the buildup.

Another procedure has been worked on by Dr. James E. Eckenhoff, dean of Northwestern University Medical School. This involves hypotension, lowering of blood pressure to reduce blood loss. It is said to be useful in surgery of the head and neck and upper extremities, in neurosurgery and in plastic surgery.

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Awake!, June 22, 1974