Awake!, June 22, 1976

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Awake! — June 22, 1976

Source: jw.org

Contents

A Mixed-up World—Can You Change It?

Can the World Be Changed?

Why Can We Be Confident a Better World Is at Hand

Men of Medicine Learn from Creation

Poison Oak and Ivy—Very Touchy Subjects

World Council of Churches—A House Divided

“As a Thorny Weed”

The Mosquito—Insect Menace of the Night?

Why a Dove?

Spotting the Furious Typhoon

What Does It Mean to be “Born Again”?

Watching the World

It Shoots Straight to the Mark

Do Not Miss the Four-Day “Sacred Service” District Assembly of Jehovah’s Witnesses

A Mixed-up World—Can You Change It?

Millions believe the world situation to be extremely critical. Who can bring about change for the better? Can young people do it?

THERE is a lot wrong with the world. No one will argue about that. Many young people believe the situation is so critical that changes are necessary if the human family is to survive. In fact, some of them believe that it is already too late to avoid world disaster. They would compare the course the world is taking to that of a runaway train that is speeding downhill toward a yawning canyon the bridge over which has been washed out.

Most older persons, however, will probably not agree. They are inclined to feel that this mixed-up world will somehow recover and that everything will work out all right. “Look at the dark days of the Great Depression, or to those of the World War II period,” they may say. “Conditions often appeared hopeless, but they improved. The world survived, and it will again.”

“But the situation is not the same,” many youths will quickly reply. “It is altogether different now.” And, frankly, they have a point.

A very different society has been created. In his book Future Shock Alvin Toffler writes: “We are simultaneously experiencing a youth revolution, a sexual revolution, a racial revolution, a colonial revolution, an economic revolution, and the most rapid and deep-going technological revolution in history.”

If we face up to the present troubled world in which we live, we have to acknowledge that what happened to previous generations may not be applicable to present-day situations. We must try to grasp the effect that the shocking revolution in society has had upon youth.

Consider, for example, the effect of the technological revolution, which is fueled primarily by the hundreds of millions of gallons of petroleum daily taken from the earth. Youths often are appalled by the mismanagement of resources. At the reckless rate that these are being consumed, not only will they soon be depleted, but the air, water and land will be poisoned! Young people are inclined to exclaim: “How dare our parents’ generation exhaust earth’s resources and pollute the environment, ruining it for us and our prospective children!”

Can’t we sympathize with such a view? For how would you feel to enter a park to find its once-beautiful flowers and shrubs trampled, its stately trees burned and its grounds littered with garbage? Many youths feel that this is, in effect, what has been done to the earth by the older generation, and that even worse is threatened. And don’t they have good reason to worry?

Think about this. Never before has a generation of young people grown up with the knowledge that nuclear weapons could wipe out civilization several times over! Drawing a contrast to the previous generation, British commentator Jeff Nuttall points out that youngsters who reached puberty before the dawn of the atomic era “were incapable of conceiving of life without a future.” But those who have grown up since, he notes, “were incapable of conceiving of life with a future.” As Nuttall emphasizes: “They never knew a sense of future.” The threat of man himself blowing civilization to radioactive pieces is a real, believable prospect to them.

Really, what impression can we expect youths to have of men in power? A seventeen-year-old was simply telling it as many people see it when he wrote in the New York Times of November 22, 1975: “People equate a politician with a burglar, a mugger, and a con artist; many think that our leaders are constantly looking out for no one except themselves.”

When children enter their teens, they come to realize that it is business persons out for financial gain that have been responsible for exposing them to a poisonous mental diet of crime and violence. A leading United States magazine, in its September 1975 issue, reported: “Your child, if he’s typical, will watch 13,000 people die on television before he is 15 years old. If he were to see every show on network prime time this year, he would witness murders, beatings, rapes, muggings, and robberies at the rate of eight an hour, with three out of four programs featuring violence.”

Also, as youngsters grow older they begin to discern that it is greedy commercialists who endanger life on earth with pollutants, and it is power-hungry leaders who imperil civilization by building nuclear arsenals. Can we blame youths for growing to hate the system that has done so much to ruin their prospects for a happy, secure future? Nobel Prize-winning scientist Szent-Györgyi understood how youths feel, explaining:

“They find everything a lie. The great political parties are out for profit and power, the military for domination, fattening itself with their young bodies. . . . They see that religions are always on the side of power. And they see that while half of the children of the world go to sleep hungry, without the food they need to build sound minds and bodies, we spend hundreds of billions to raise our stack of nuclear bombs and missiles higher and higher. They see that most of their political leaders are really mindful only of their re-election, of keeping their power, feeding the people with arguments which should be rejected by the simplest logic.”

Yes, many youths see this as a corrupt, cruel world! And don’t we have to agree? But, some will tell you: ‘You can build a better world. You must clean out of your governments the corrupt, immoral elements. You can do it.’ But can youth change this mixed-up world, and create a new and better one? Is it a waste of time to try?

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Many young people believe the world to be on a fatal course

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Many youths believe that much of the earth has been ruined for them and their prospective children

Can the World Be Changed?

MANY persons have thought that a better world could be created. And in the past, youths have been eager to try to do it. During the 1960’s, for example, young people commonly made headline news with their efforts to reform the system. Thousands of them en masse protested against what they considered to be a racist, lawless, cruel society. But, more recently, practically all such efforts to change the system ceased.

A couple of years ago, when the corrupt practices of some of the most powerful men in the world were spotlighted, youths hardly raised a sound of indignation. This was a startling silence in view of youths’ efforts at reform just a few years before! Why?

In their book The Conspiracy of the Young, teachers Paul Lauter and Florence Howe comment on what brought about the changed attitude of youths in recent times: “There was a fundamental belief [years ago], call it middle-class optimism perhaps, that institutions could be reconstructed . . . But the [Vietnam] war changed all that.”

The strong efforts of youths in the 1960’s to reform the system brought them up against hard realities. They came to realize something they had not realized before, something that many older persons wish to close their eyes to. And that is: the world is basically, fundamentally, corrupt, and it has been all along. A youth activist of the 1960’s pointed to this realization, writing in the New York Times Magazine recently: “We had concluded, correctly, that we were living in a rotten, corrupt, morally bankrupt, brutally exploitative system, failing to apprehend only that this meant the world was clicking along as usual.”

What, then, is the conclusion to which many youths have come? It is that they cannot do anything to change the corruption that exists; it is rotten through and through, including its politics, commerce and religions. It can’t be made into a better world. As another young activist of the 1960’s wrote concerning his efforts to improve the world: “These experiences made me feel that the system could not be reformed. I gave up trying to change it—‘eat, drink and be merry’ became my philosophy.” And, judging from what we see, millions of other youths have adopted this same attitude.

“That’s the trouble with many youths today,” certain older persons may complain. “They are so negative and pessimistic.” But young people are likely to reply: “We’re not being negative; we’re just being realistic.” And, indeed, a growing number of persons who have considered the evidence would agree. For example, in the sum-up of the widely publicized Second Report to The Club of Rome, entitled “Mankind at the Turning Point,” the conclusion was reached: “We are on a fatal course. . . . The odds seem against man.”

Also, Professors Dennis C. Pirages and Paul R. Ehrlich foresee world disaster, explaining in the conclusion of their book Ark II: “What is happening and what has been happening in the United States and around the world are symptomatic of an impending massive collapse of the industrial order. We are all now caught in a gigantic tragedy of the commons; each person, each family, and each nation is struggling to stay ahead while the whole system is on the verge of collapse.”

Most older persons, however, while agreeing that the world is in a bad state, will argue that it’s the only world we have. Therefore, they say, instead of giving up and planning for its collapse, we should be doing all we can to save it, to reform it. But youths today commonly see such efforts at reformation as a waste of time, like trying to empty the ocean with a thimble.

Are young people with such views correct? Is the situation hopeless? Does it make sense to adopt the philosophy ‘eat, drink and be merry, for tomorrow we may die’?

Any Future at All?

It is because of the seemingly hopeless world conditions that many youths began living simply for sensual gratification. But soon many of them could see that this wasn’t bringing them real joy or happiness. To the contrary, it often led to heartache. One indication of this is the skyrocketing suicide rate among young people. In the United States, for example, it leaped a staggering 250 percent from 1955 to 1975 for persons aged fifteen to twenty-four.

“So what’s the answer, what are you driving at?” the young reader may ask. “Are you going to tell us that if we just be good and live by the ‘golden rule’ this will solve our problems and we will be happy? Are you trying to say that this will make the world better, and that all those dire calamities predicted will thereby be averted?”

No, we are not trying to say that at all. In fact, whether you live a so-called ‘good life’ will probably have little, if any, effect on the course of the world. Jesus Christ lived an exemplary life on earth, but that hasn’t reformed the world. Nor did Jesus’ early disciples succeed in reforming the world. But, then, they didn’t expect to, or even try to do so. Does that surprise you?

When we look at what Jesus and his disciples taught about this world, we aren’t surprised. Jesus realized that the world system is corrupt, and that it is irreformable. So he pointed to the only realistic solution, explaining that this system must be destroyed. He compared the destruction to that of Noah’s day, saying:

“For just as the days of Noah were, so the presence of the Son of man will be. For as they were in those days before the flood, eating and drinking, men marrying and women being given in marriage, until the day that Noah entered into the ark; and they took no note until the flood came and swept them all away, so the presence of the Son of man will be.”—Matt. 24:37-39.

Jesus’ disciples were keenly interested in his teachings on this matter. In fact, they had just asked him the question: “What will be the sign of your presence and of the conclusion of the system of things?” (Matt. 24:3) They accepted Jesus’ teaching as to the end of the system of things, and one of them later wrote: “The world is passing away and so is its desire, but he that does the will of God remains forever.”—1 John 2:17.

Perhaps you wonder, Could the end of the world, about which Christ and his disciples spoke, be near at hand? It is of interest to consult Jesus’ answer to his disciples when they asked for a “sign” of the conclusion of the system of things. His answer is recorded in the Bible, principally in Matthew chapter 24, Mark chapter 13 and Luke chapter 21.

Jesus there provided a “sign” made up of many features. All these various events, he said, would be occurring just prior to the world destruction. And the remarkable thing is that these very things that he foretold are now happening throughout the world! According to Jesus’ prophecy, this means that the destruction of the system is near at hand!

“If that is true,” you may say, “why not try to get everything out of life before it is soon cut off? What future is there?”

The point is, the end of this world system will open the way to the brightest future, beyond even our finest imaginations. This is because the end of this corrupt system of things will not mean the end of all life on earth. For recall that the Bible promise quoted above says: “He that does the will of God remains forever.” And the life that will then be enjoyed on earth will be of the highest quality. We can be assured of that because the Bible says of our Creator: “You are opening your hand and satisfying the desire of every living thing.”—Ps. 145:16.

“But that sounds like wishful thinking,” some may say. And yet it is more than that. There are compelling reasons for us to be optimistic about the prospects for a lasting, happy future in a better world. Consider why we say this.

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FEAR FOR THE FUTURE

Fearing an impending collapse, many persons are taking measures of preserve themselves. “Time” magazine of August 4, 1975, reported on one such plan: “Waiting for Armageddon is, in a curious way, one of the morbidly titillating preoccupations of our time. . . . A group of California land developers has founded something called the Scott Meadows Club—712 acres of fertile Sierra wilderness in Northern California’s Siskiyou County, all set aside as a secret retreat, once civilization as we know it has disintegrated.”

Why Can We Be Confident a Better World Is at Hand

ISN’T it true that you are inclined to put confidence in some things, but not in others? If, for example, you read in the newspaper that the sun will rise at a certain time, you probably believe it. Why? Because the movements of the earth and the sun are so regular and precise that such predictions can be accurately made.

But, on the other hand, what if a politician tells you that when he is elected, the rate of unemployment will fall, relations with other countries will improve and economic prosperity will be enjoyed? You have little confidence in what he says, isn’t that so? Why? Because, even if he is sincere, you realize that his power and ability to carry out his promises are limited.

Young people, especially, tend to be pessimistic about efforts of men to correct problems. And the fact is, much of the earth becomes more and more polluted every day, its natural resources continue to be squandered, the wildlife is killed off, food shortages increase, the arms race goes on, and so forth. Yet, prospects for the future are not as bleak as some may believe.

Consider for a few moments an often overlooked side of the picture that shows why we can look forward with confidence to what lies ahead.

Reasons for Confidence

If we think about it, we can see in things around us good reasons for confidence as to the future. For instance: The uniform, regular movements of the earth and other bodies in space. Because of their unvarying, reliable orbits, not only can we count on the sun rising at a certain time tomorrow morning, but eclipses can even be predicted centuries in advance. Also, because of the earth’s consistent speed of travel, some 66,600 miles per hour, it keeps just the right distance from the sun—not too near and not too far away—for life to be pleasant and enjoyable on earth.

But there are scores of other factors that make a happy life here possible. The earth consistently makes a complete revolution on its axis every twenty-four hours. This ‘provides regular, predictable hours of light and darkness. But what if sometimes it rotated in ten hours, or thirty hours, or fifty, or whatever? The length of day and night would be unpredictable. There could be no planning; little real work could be accomplished. There would be confusion. And if, as in the case of the planet Mercury, the earth rotated once a year, one half of the earth would be a frozen sub-zero waste and the other half would be a deserted furnace.

Earth’s atmosphere, composed of a mixture of different gases, also provides reason for confidence. Like a mighty “ocean” it surrounds our planet. Just as fishes will perish out of water, so we would die if we could no longer breathe this proper mixture of atmospheric gases. But for thousands of years, everywhere around the earth, the atmosphere has remained stable, maintaining just the right mixture for supporting life. And all this time the atmosphere has shielded living things from certain harmful rays of the sun; it has kept the warmth of the earth from being lost in the coldness of outer space, and it has protected humans from meteors, which are usually burned up as they penetrate the upper atmosphere.

A writer in the New England Journal of Medicine commented: “The sky is a miraculous achievement. . . . I doubt whether any of us could think of a way to improve on it, beyond maybe shifting a local cloud from here to there on occasion. The word chance does not serve to account well for structures of such magnificence.”

The soil, too, is remarkably designed for our benefit, providing a basis for confidence. A thimbleful of it contains billions of living organisms. Many of these organisms decompose wastes and dead creatures, thus cleansing the earth. Some take nitrogen from the air and change it into nitrogen compounds. This is important, since plants need nitrogen and they cannot utilize it directly from the atmosphere. Doesn’t it appear obvious that an Intelligent Source is responsible for the many amazing processes and cycles that make life on earth not only possible, but potentially very enjoyable?

Just consider the function of plants and what this indicates about our future. Maybe you have read comments such as, ‘plants send down roots to get water and push up their stems for sunlight.’ But ask yourself: ‘Why? How?’ You know that plants have no brain and so are not capable of conscious thought. Yet could you ever have conceived the vast variety of delicious foods that plants produce for our pleasure?

How do plants manufacture this food that feeds all living things? It is known that carbon dioxide and water are acted on by the chlorophyll of plants. But what actually happens is still a mystery to humans. Science News Letter observed:

“It is here that the ‘deities’ perform their miracle. Sunlight provides energy for the great chemical change, and chlorophyll acts as the ‘switchboard’ that controls the reaction. Under the influence of these two, the carbon dioxide and water now combine to create the basis of all food, a simple sugar. All the numerous fats, proteins and carbohydrates used by plants and animals must be created later from this sugar.”

There are hundreds of factors that work together to make life on earth not only possible, but potentially very happy. Consider light. Not only is it vital to the production of all food, but it blesses us with gorgeous color and beauty. The color of things actually is in the light that shines upon them. Amazingly, light can be separated into tens of thousands of hues or colors! How pleasant, how miraculous is light!

Yet it is similar with so many things, such as the infinite variety of sounds, tastes and smells that contribute toward making our life pleasant and enjoyable. These things are staggeringly complex. Man did not create them. He doesn’t even fully understand them all. When we think about it, don’t the many processes and cycles make us realize that our planet Earth had a Designer? Yes, the many interdependent factors that work in harmony to sustain life on earth produce a marvelous system far, far more complicated than anything man has designed or built.

What does all the thought and work that we see in earth’s complicated functions tell us? It tells us that the Creator of it all is interested in making life pleasant and happy for all those who live here. It thus gives us reasons for confidence in the future. From what we have seen, surely the Creator wants life on earth to be pleasant and happy, and he clearly has the power to carry out his will.

What About Harm Already Done?

True, some people believe that humankind’s future on earth already has been seriously damaged. Huge sections of land have been misused, which has resulted in destroying or greatly inhibiting its food-producing capabilities. But is this damage permanent?

No, it need not be. Perhaps you are even acquainted with areas that have been terribly damaged by pollution, natural disasters or destructive farming practices. Yet the earth has amazing built-in restorative capacities, as noted in places where destructive fires and volcanic eruptions have devastated the land. In time these areas flourished once again with vegetation. And when man’s pollution has been controlled, rivers that once appeared hopelessly ruined have again supported fish and become a healthful place in which to swim.

Even land that was turned into barren wastes due to man’s misuse of it can be restored. A case in point is the Near and Middle East. Once areas there were very fertile, as testified to by ancient histories, but they were then ruined and lay desolate for centuries. In recent times, however, some of this land has been restored to productivity. Food expert Walter C. Lowdermilk, after an investigation for the U.N., concluded that “Israel is restoring to cultivation a land damaged by a millennium of abuse.”

So while you may be rightly concerned about man’s abuse of the earth, be assured that the harm is not permanent. Young people need not worry that their parents’ generation will pollute the environment to such an extent as to ruin it for future generations. Why can we be so sure?

Further Basis for Confidence

This is where the Bible comes in. It tells of the Creator’s purpose for the earth and all humankind. It does not direct our hopes toward the present failing system of things, but reveals God’s purpose to do away with the mixed-up and ineffective rule of this earth under the hundreds of present political governments. God caused the prophet Daniel to foretell His purpose to replace these governments with a single government of His own making, His kingdom by His Son Jesus Christ. Note this Bible promise:

“In the days of those kings [or rulerships] the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be brought to ruin. And the kingdom [of God] . . . will crush and put an end to all these kingdoms [political governments of men], and it itself will stand to times indefinite.”—Dan. 2:44.

When will this happen? As noted in the previous article, the Bible helps us to determine when by giving a “sign” made up of many features. Within a certain generation all the features of this “sign” would take place. When this occurred, the time for God to bring this corrupt system to an end would be at hand. Is the “sign” now being fulfilled?

You can determine that yourself. Read in the Bible Matthew chapter 24, Luke chapter 21 and also 2 Timothy 3:1-5. There you will note that such things as wars, food shortages, pestilences, great earthquakes, lawlessness, juvenile delinquency, along with anxiety and uncertainty, would mark the time of the end of this system. Aren’t these the very things that we see occurring with such frequency and intensity today? No generation before in human history has experienced all these things with such intensity as ours. This means that God’s new system has drawn near!

The Bible describes the grand changes that this will soon mean for humankind. God promises to stop for all time the political bickering and fighting. Those who live in God’s new system will all be peace-loving persons who have carried out the Bible prophecy at Isaiah 2:4: “They will have to beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning shears. Nation will not lift up sword against nation, neither will they learn war anymore.”

With the end of war, armaments races and greedy commercial systems, no more will there be polluting of the air, the water and the land. Yes, the Bible says that God is going to “bring to ruin those ruining the earth.” (Rev. 11:18) This means that, in time, the air everywhere will regain its freshness and fragrance, every river and stream will again sparkle with pure water, and the land will be restored to full productivity. “There will come to be plenty of grain on the earth.”—Ps. 72:16.

Also, the Bible shows that perfect health will be enjoyed by all obedient humankind. No longer will there be sickness and disease, or even deterioration of the body as one grows older. The Bible promise is that God “will wipe out every tear from their eyes, and death will be no more, neither will mourning nor outcry nor pain be anymore.” Rev. 21:4.

These are only a few of the Bible promises regarding God’s purpose to bless humankind with peace, health and happiness. Surely the One who conceived and put into operation the complex processes and cycles that sustain life on earth is able to fulfill his promises! And we have every reason to believe that he will do so.

Perhaps you haven’t looked into God’s Word to find out what his purpose for the earth and humankind is. We encourage you to do this. You will then see why we truly can be confident that a better world is at hand.

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The uniform movements of the planets give reason for confidence in the promises of their Creator

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FOOD PRODUCTION

CARBON DIOXIDE ENTERS LEAVES

SUNLIGHT ENTERS LEAVES

WATER ENTERS ROOTS

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(For fully formatted text, see publication)

OXYGEN

IN OUT

CARBON DIOXIDE

OUT IN

Earth has many marvelous processes and cycles, such as the oxygen-carbon dioxide cycle. Do they not make us realize that our planet Earth had a Designer?

Men of Medicine Learn from Creation

By “Awake!” correspondent in Sweden

HAVE you taken a stroll recently through the woods or an open field? If so, it probably did not occur to you that you were walking about in the oldest and largest “factory” for producing medicine. An investigation will reveal, however, that the natural creation is a most important source of chemical preparations used in treating our aches and pains.

Have you recently had a headache? Likely you reached for aspirin tablets. Aspirin has become a trade name for acetysalicylic acid, which is now mass-produced synthetically. Originally, however, aspirin was produced from a substance discovered in the bark of the willow tree. Willow bark contains salicin. After a process of refinement, salicin produces salicylic acid, which is the base for aspirin, probably the world’s best-known pain reliever.

Even the more sophisticated drugs of modern medicine frequently are not new. They can be traced back to Creation. On many occasions scientists have gotten ideas from folk medicine. After noting that use of certain plants benefited particular ailments, chemists have isolated the active ingredient for mass production. Let us consider some examples.

Plants as a Source of Raw Materials

Plants supply the raw material for many medications. A well-known heart medicine is an example. Some two centuries ago a doctor in England noticed that a certain home remedy helped persons suffering from dropsy, an illness in which fluid collects in various tissues or body cavities. This remedy included leaves of the foxglove plant, which bears the name Digitalis purpurea because of its fingerlike purple flower. From foxglove leaves comes the chemical “digitalis,” known throughout the world as essential in the treatment of many persons having heart disease. It would be most unwise, however, for anyone to treat himself with these leaves, for they are very poisonous and a correct dosage is of the utmost importance.

Another well-known medicinal plant is Atropa belladonna, also called “the deadly nightshade.” This is the source of atropine, the best-known member of a class of drugs that relax spasms in a number of organs.

Plants provide raw material for narcotics too. The best-known example is the opium poppy. From dried seed cases of these poppies comes a milky juice called opium (from the Greek word for poppy juice). As to the effects of the narcotic, a physician of the seventeenth century wrote: “Among the remedies which it has pleased Almighty God to give to man to relieve his sufferings, none is so universal and so efficacious as opium.” The pain-relieving qualities of opium are due to its containing the alkaloid “morphine,” named after Morpheus, Greek god of dreams. The well-known codeine (from Greek kōdeia, “poppyhead”) is a morphine-based pain reliever.

Nearly everyone has heard of penicillin. Perhaps this antibacterial substance has aided you to recuperate from a serious disease. Though penicillin is now manufactured by industry on an enormous scale, did you realize that this “wonder drug” had a humble beginning? It was first derived from mold of the genus Penicillium. One of its best strains came about in a culture from the stem of a moldy cantaloupe.

Have you ever heard of “sweet clover disease”? Some fifty years ago it was noticed that certain cattle, due to feeding on improperly cured sweet-clover hay, developed a malady characterized by severe bleeding. Later, scientists isolated the poison that had interfered with normal blood clotting in the cattle. They named the substance Dicoumarol and today it serves as an important anticoagulant.

Drugs from Animals

Animals are another source of modern medicines. Organ extracts, primarily from the glands of slaughtered animals, provide substances such as hormones and enzymes that act as ingredients in medicines. For instance, the thyroid hormone thyroxine, which is used in treating certain types of thyroid disease is derived from the thyroid gland of animals.

Do you know someone who suffers from diabetes? Perhaps you did not realize that insulin for treating this disease often comes from the pancreas of cattle. However, much insulin today is produced synthetically.

Imitating Creation

Of course, not all medicines contain purely natural substances. Where natural ingredients are scarce, scientists have found it practical to produce synthetics. They may start with a natural substance similar to what they want and then “rebuild” it into the desired ingredient.

Consider the steroid “cortisone,” which is commonly used in treating a great variety of ailments, including some forms of arthritis. Natural cortisone is found in the bile of cattle. But so little of it occurs naturally that a single day’s dosage could require the bile of forty cattle. However, a substance called diosgenin, with a molecular structure similar to cortisone, is found in certain yams that grow in Mexico. By use of an enzyme extracted from black-bread mold, chemists were able to change a diosgenin molecule into a cortisone molecule. There are now several plant by-products used for producing cortisone.

Vitamin C, essential for good health, available naturally, but in too small amounts for mass production. Having determined the molecular structure of ascorbic acid, which is pure vitamin C, scientists noticed that it resembled another molecule—glucose. Using acetic-acid bacteria, they were able to “rebuild” the glucose molecule into one of ascorbic acid, thus producing synthetic vitamin C.

Having achieved success at remolding already-existing molecules, chemists soon learned how to form totally new substances, ones not found in nature, but structurally similar to natural ones.

Indeed, many products used in the practice of medicine are simply modifications or synthetic duplications of natural substances. Even in this modern age, therefore, men of medicine continue to learn from Creation.

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Foxglove

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Belladonna

Poison Oak and Ivy—Very Touchy Subjects

POISON oak is not an oak, nor is poison ivy an ivy. The names come from the resemblance of their cluster of three leaves to some forms of oak leaf, and from the plant’s habit of climbing like an ivy. Several species come under these common names, and all are of the genus Rhus. The general practice is to call the bushy types poison oak and the climbing ones poison ivy.

The North American continent is the only continent that plays host to these plants, one variety or another being found in almost every kind of environment, from swamps to dry, hilly terrain. They can be beautiful. The young leaves are a deep-wine color, then they become a glistening green, and finally turn crimson in the fall. Admire them if you will, but keep your distance!

Their sap contains a chemical called urushiol, and a very minute quantity on your skin can give you a painful case of poison ivy dermatitis. The slightest brush against a leaf can cause an itching rash. Blisters develop from which a clear liquid oozes, and severe cases cause swelling and even fever. It takes several hours after contact for the symptoms to appear, and sometimes a few days. The toxin is not superficial, but penetrates the surface of the skin to infect the tissue underneath. That is why it takes time to develop.

It is so easy to contract a case of poison oak that for years it was thought that the plant gave off a miasma or vaporous exhalation that infected persons who never touched it. That is not true, but a person doesn’t have to touch the plant with his bare skin to be affected by it. If a person’s clothes brush against the plant, he can get it by touching his clothes months later. Petting a dog that has run through a patch of poison oak is sufficient to get a bad case of it. Smoke from the burning plant can carry the toxic urushiol.

To illustrate the persistence of this poison, a pair of white canvas gloves used to collect poison ivy lay in a closet for ten months, and was then washed in hot water and strong laundry soap for ten minutes. A volunteer then handled the gloves, and the next day he had poison ivy dermatitis! This shows why a usual precaution recommended—washing with yellow laundry soap after a trip in the woods—oftentimes does not work. It is still good advice. It may help, and it can’t hurt. Some authorities advocate it if it can be done within thirty minutes after contact, saying that there is a chance that it may inactivate the poison.

Once the rash has started, there are no really effective treatments. It usually has to run its course, taking from two to three weeks to do this. Calamine lotion will soothe the itching. Refraining from scratching will prevent aggravating it and perhaps spreading it. In severe cases a physician may be able to prescribe a treatment that will relieve the suffering. There are several cortisone-like medicines that are used. But once the poison is contracted, it is basically a waiting game for relief to come.

With poison oak the old saying is true: an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. Various creams and ointments are sold to keep the urushiol sap off the skin. They do little good. Some doctors give doses of urushiol, orally or by shots, to build up immunity, but this has not proved very effective. A better protection is clothing that prevents the plant’s contact with bare skin. The best preventive is recognizing the plant and keeping your distance. Don’t touch it, or anything it has touched.

World Council of Churches—A House Divided

FOR centuries the religions of Christendom have been divided. That is nothing new. But today Christendom’s fragmentation is at its peak. More religions claim to be Christian.

However, although they all claim to be Christian and to worship the same God, they have different doctrines, practices and political beliefs. Even within the same church there are often profound divisions, such as along lines of race and nationality, as well as those stemming from financial and social barriers.

These divisions have resulted in the greatest contradiction in wartime: members of the same religion, and others too, all claiming to follow the “Prince of Peace,” slaughter one another.

Attempts to Unite

Such obvious contradictions have turned many people away from the churches—and from God. So various attempts to heal the divisions have been made. One of these attempts at unification has been the formation of the World Council of Churches.

The Council was founded in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, in 1948, with its headquarters located in Geneva, Switzerland. It is presently made up of 286 of the larger church organizations, including Protestant, Anglican, Eastern Orthodox and Old Catholic. These represent an estimated 400 to 500 million persons.

At the end of 1975 the Council held its fifth general assembly. The location, for the first time, was Africa—Nairobi, Kenya. Member churches were represented by 747 voting delegates. Other religions, including the Jewish, Hindu, Buddhist, Moslem and Roman Catholic, sent observers. Pope Paul VI sent a message of greeting.

The theme of the assembly was “Jesus Christ Frees and Unites.” Dr. Philip Potter, the Council’s general secretary, spoke of the “search for the unity of the church.”

Deep Divisions

At the very outset, it became evident that there were deep divisions that it would be impossible to repair. One of these had to do with the changed makeup of the assembly.

In previous assemblies delegates from West European and North American churches had dominated the proceedings. But in Nairobi the churches representing Asia, Africa, Latin America, the Pacific Islands and Soviet-dominated Eastern Europe had the greater voting strength.

Of the 747 delegates attending this religious conference, 439 were from “Third World” (developing) nations and Communist lands. Together, these constituted nearly 60 percent of the total delegates.

This changed makeup was apparent in many issues dividing the Council. Usually, the West European and North American churches supported Western political, social and economic policies. Churches from the Third World and Communist lands had opposing views.

An indication of the difference came when an African delegate hurled this charge at the Council: “I believe there is a conspiracy to tone down this whole assembly to please the North Americans and Europeans because that’s where the money is.” However, in view of the new majority, that did not happen.

Another example of East-West tension was observed by Newsweek. It noted that a Liberian churchman “proposed the most controversial demand of all—a five-year moratorium on sending white missionaries to Africa.” The hostility of some African churchmen toward their European and American counterparts was apparent.

Divided on ‘Liberation Struggle’

A bitterly divisive issue had to do with ‘liberation movements.’ The tone in this matter was established at the beginning of the assembly in the keynote address. This was delivered by Dr. Robert Brown, a professor of theology at the University of California.

Although he was from a Western nation, Brown pointed out that “the idea of Jesus Christ as a liberator of mankind offered little comfort to those whom history has seen as oppressors, such as the ‘Whites’ who as a race conquered, oppressed and exploited so many of the coloured races of the world.”

His comments angered Western churchmen. But as other speakers presented their views, it was obvious that the majority of the Council favored a continuation of ‘liberation from Western imperialism.’ That theme had been adopted at the Council’s last assembly at Uppsala, Sweden, in 1968.

Regarding this issue, an editorial in the Seattle Times stated: “In such a changing situation, the people from the undeveloped nations could be heard. They spoke bluntly to delegates from the developed nations. What they had to say may contain the seeds of new debate, confrontation and controversy.” The editorial noted “the deep feeling of the nondeveloped world about the fact that the developed world, the United States and others, raped them of their natural resources.”

So it came as no surprise when a special committee recommended that the Council should “step up aid to guerrilla groups around the world, and especially in southern Africa.” Such support already had been approved at Uppsala when the Council established the “Program to Combat Racism.” Under this program funds have been funneled to various guerrilla movements.

The magazine Christianity Today, in its January 2, 1976, issue, acknowledged that such funds had been appropriated. And it also reported that the assembly defeated “a motion to restrict grants from the Program to Combat Racism to non-violent groups.”

However, the same publication observed that “the Marxist government” in Mozambique was one “which the council helped bring to power.” Yet that new government, it said, “has taken a hard line toward the churches and especially toward foreign missionaries.” Because of this, some Western delegates saw the support of liberation movements as counterproductive.

The tragic results of divisiveness among the churches was brought to the attention of the Council by Presbyterian clergyman Gordon Gray from Ireland. He declared: “From Ireland we have proclaimed to the world a Jesus Christ who enslaves and divides. Both the Roman Catholic and Protestant churches have found themselves captives of political and social, cultural and religious divisions which we have helped to create and preserve. When the breakdown of our society called urgently for a prophetic word from the Lord we discovered we could not agree on what that word should be.”

More Division

Another area that exposed how badly the Council was divided had to do with religious freedom. Attempts were made by some Western delegates to pass a resolution condemning countries where religious freedom is denied.

However, the direction of this condemnation was more clearly seen when an Orthodox priest said: “People are being killed and murdered in so-called socialist countries.” It was evident that the main thrust of these attempts was aimed at the Soviet Union.

This attempted condemnation was bitterly opposed. The National Catholic Reporter spoke of “the agonizing between East and West when West wanted to specify violations of religious liberty in the Soviet Union.” Eventually, only a ‘watered-down’ version of the proposal was adopted.

But was the Council really interested in religious freedom? No, because it ignored one of the most flagrant and widely known examples of religious oppression in modern times. This is the mass torture, murder, rape and banishment of Jehovah’s Witnesses in Malawi.

The German newspaper Bild said: “This would be a good opportunity to protest against persecution of Christians in some black African countries. For example . . . in Malawi where Jehovah’s Witnesses have been beaten and their wives raped. What did the World Council of Churches do? It decided to boycott seven banks (among them was the Deutsche Bank), because they did business with South Africa. Politics with banknotes instead of help for brothers in distress—that too is a creed, but a bad one.”

In the Washington, D.C., Star, staff writer W. F. Willoughby asked regarding the persecution of Jehovah’s Witnesses: “Will the WCC rise to this poignant but opportune occasion? If not, any other pronouncement it makes against oppression—religious, racial or otherwise—will sound less than convincing.”

The Council did not ‘rise to the opportunity.’ It did nothing, showing that it was more interested in political matters than in religious freedom. Columnist Jeffrey Hart called this failure to condemn religious persecution a “shocking piece of hypocrisy.’’

No Unity

The fifth assembly of the World Council of Churches did prove something. It proved that Christendom’s house is more badly divided than ever.

The Council’s general secretary, Mr. Potter, said that “no striking new ideas or phrases emerged,” and that attempts at unity were still “in the wilderness.” Christianity Today added: “That assessment of the World Council of Churches’ position, given by its own general secretary, summed up the feeling of many delegates on the last day of the council’s Fifth Assembly.’’

So futile were attempts at unification that, as the assembly ended, one high-ranking Australian delegate said: “You could say it was over before it began.” And the Toronto Star commented: “Nairobi raised more questions by far than it answered.”

Newsweek observed: “It was clear that their internal disputes had weakened the Council’s image in the West and the Third World. And in the midst of its political clashes, the organization seemed to have completely lost sight of its basic religious goal: to bring together Christians from all over the world into a united front.”

Yet, the Bible, the basis for Christianity, says that true Christians “should all speak in agreement.” It says that “there should not be divisions among you,” but that Christians should “be fitly united in the same mind and in the same line of thought.”—1 Cor. 1:10.

The Bible also says that those who profess to serve God but who hate their spiritual brothers are liars. And it identifies as children of the Devil those who slaughter their brothers.—1 John 4:20, 21; 3:10-12.

It is little wonder that columnist Jeffrey Hart said: “The fifth assembly of the World Council of Churches solemnly assembled in Nairobi, Kenya, presented a stomach-turning spectacle of moral and spiritual illness.”

Part of the World

The assembly also proved that the churches were far removed from true Christian teaching when they agreed to become even more heavily involved in the political affairs of this world. The Christian Century reported: “To be, or not to be, in the world—that is not the question. The question is whether to be involved up to the ankles or the ears. The Assembly opted for the maximum.”

Helping to assure that this would be the case was the fact that one of the newly elected presidents of the Council was the Russian Orthodox Metropolitan Nikodim, the archbishop of Leningrad. He supported the Council’s aid to liberation groups and said: “I feel that as one of the presidents, I now feel even more concern for this kind of work.”

Yet, Jesus said that his true followers would be “no part of the world.” (John 17:16) God’s Word also says: “Whoever, therefore, wants to be a friend of the world is constituting himself an enemy of God.”—Jas. 4:4.

The churches have indeed rejected God’s Word and purpose. They have turned their backs on the only hope for mankind, God’s heavenly kingdom, and the new order it will bring here on earth.

Where Headed?

The divided state of the World Council of Churches shows that there is no possibility that God is backing it. “God is a God, not of disorder, but of peace.”—1 Cor. 14:33.

Instead, the Babel-like confusion of doctrines and practices contrary to God’s will identifies it as part of the harlot called “Babylon the Great” in Revelation chapter 17. And its future is clear. That prophecy shows that it is headed for total annihilation at the hands of the very ones with whom they now play the harlot—the political forces of this world.—Rev. 17:16.

Jesus foretold: “Every city or house divided against itself will not stand.” Neither will the divided house of the World Council of Churches.—Matt. 12:25.

“As a Thorny Weed”

“As a thorny weed has come up into the hand of a drunkard,” says Proverbs 26:9, “so a proverb into the mouth of stupid people.” One who is intoxicated can injure himself or others as with a thorny weed. Similarly, the person lacking understanding can do damage by misusing a proverb, applying it in a way that does not fit.

The Mosquito—Insect Menace of the Night?

THE shades of night have fallen and darkness prevails. You have retired early, hoping to enjoy hours of peaceful slumber. But a familiar whine breaks the stillness of the warm, balmy evening. Your bedroom has been invaded! Tense, worried, fearing the worst, you wait. You feel nothing and think the danger is past. But too late you realize that you have become a victim. Incessant itching reveals that you have not escaped the sting of what you might be inclined to dub ‘the insect menace of the night’—the mosquito.

From now till the end of summer, you are determined that any opened windows will be screened. In fact, you may use oils and sprays on exposed parts of your body—all in an effort to discourage assault by the menacing mosquito. Of course, you are not the first to wage such warfare. It is said that the Egyptians were using smudge pots and mosquito nets for the same reason some thirty centuries ago.

Yet, your best defense may be a better knowledge of this foe. What are mosquitoes really like? Why do they “bite” people? Do these insects serve any useful purpose?

From Egg to Adult

Mosquitoes are insects of the order Diptera, meaning “two-winged.” There are over 2,500 species and they certainly are widespread. You can find them breeding in hot tropical pools or cold Arctic waters!

Mosquitoes go through four stages: (1) egg, (2) larva, (3) pupa, and (4) adult. Through the ovipositor in the abdomen, the female may lay some 100 to 300 eggs on a single occasion. Certain species form eggs into a raft of sorts, held together by a substance the female emits. The eggs may be laid in a marsh or even a little pool in a ditch or a hollow log. Hatching may occur in two or three days, except for species like the pond mosquito. Some of its eggs, deposited in a dried-up pond, do not hatch until they have been soaked three times. Otherwise, they might hatch during a brief wet period and the larvae would perish when the pond became dry again. Floodwater mosquitoes lay eggs in mud resulting from a flood, and these do not hatch until another flood has occurred, possibly after years have passed.

Frequently called the wriggler for its movements through the water, the larva of the mosquito is wormlike in appearance. Around its mouth are tiny hairs that sweep in food—minute plants, single-celled creatures called protozoans, and even other wrigglers. To breathe, some mosquito larvae push a sort of snorkel or air tube above the water. In one swampland species, however, the air tube is pointed and the larva jabs it into a cattail, sedge or other plant to obtain oxygen. Many mosquito larvae molt, or shed their skins, four times in some four to ten days.

After the final molt, the creature becomes a pupa. It breathes through tubes on its thorax that are sent above the water’s surface. In certain species, these tubes are used to obtain oxygen from underwater plants. Because of the way the pupae of most mosquito species roll about, they are called tumblers. They eat nothing and undergo quite a change in a few days.

Emerging from the pupal shell is the adult mosquito. It begins flying after its wings dry. Mr. Mosquito may live only ten to twenty days and his ‘lady friend’ a month or more. Of course, life-spans vary according to species. Some female mosquitoes may survive the winter in your garage or barn.

“Boy” Meets “Girl”

Mr. Mosquito pays no attention to his female counterpart during the first day or two of his adult life. It takes that long for the tiny hairs on his antennae to dry out, enabling him to hear. But then just let the ‘young lady’ fly by! The whine of her wings strikes his “feelers,” and impulses are sent to his brain. In mosquito jargon, the message must be “It’s a girl!” Quickly, Mr. Mosquito seizes the female and mates with her.

New Zealand’s Opifex mosquito can hardly wait to mate. Males continue flying over breeding waters just waiting for pupae to come to the surface! The eager males actually mate with the females before they manage to get out of the newly opened pupal shell.

A Physical Check-up

An adult mosquito’s body is made up of the head, thorax and abdomen. On the head are two compound eyes with thousands of lenses, each eye able to function independently. Between the eyes are two antennae, with which the insect hears and smells.

The menacing part of mosquito anatomy is a funnel-shaped mouth. Wide at the head, it narrows into a tubular proboscis. Incidentally, only Mrs. Mosquito can “bite” you. The “boys” of the “family” are not equipped to cause such torture. But, more about that later.

A short neck joins the head to the thorax. To it are attached the insect’s three pairs of legs, as well as two wings through which blood-carrying veins show clearly. Scales, sometimes quite colorful, cover the wing edges and the veins. The whine you hear when a mosquito nears is the sound of its wings in motion. Rodlike parts (halteres) behind the wings enable the insect to maintain balance. During flight, they vibrate at the same rate as the wings. Also, by developing harmonious vibrations in the air and its thorax, the mosquito is said to get “more flaps out of its wings than its nerves or muscles could sustain alone.”

In the mosquito’s long tubelike abdomen are situated the stomach and the intestines. The insect breathes through small holes called spiracles. There are eight pairs of these in the abdomen and two pairs in the thorax.

The mosquito’s body is covered by an elastic shell. And these troublesome insects come in an assortment of colors. Most of them are black, brown, tan or gray, but some are green or blue. Markings in white or light colors appear on the backs, wings or legs of a good many species, though it is unlikely that you will be admiring their decorations when under assault.

Are All Mosquitoes Disease Carriers?

That question may well be asked, since most people have heard that these insects transmit various diseases. When there was an outbreak of yellow fever in New Orleans, Louisiana, the “culprit” turned out to be a type of mosquito that seemingly preferred to lay its eggs in a flower vase. Why, these insects were breeding in the water of flower vases that had been placed on the graves of yellow-fever victims!

Back in 1878, it was found that the Culex quinquefasciatus mosquito transmitted filariasis, a malady causing glands and limbs to swell and sometimes resulting in elephantiasis. Within another nine years certain kinds of Anopheles mosquitoes were identified as carriers of malaria. By 1900 it was known that yellow fever was carried by the Aëdes aegypti.

Certain mosquitoes do carry over a dozen human maladies. Actually, however, very few species are disease carriers. So you do not necessarily have that to worry about when attacked by this insect. Nevertheless, you may be wondering why these creatures pick on you in the first place. In fact, it might be asked:

Why Are You So Attractive?

Researchers have concluded that bodily warmth and the moisture of human skin are factors that attract mosquitoes. They may also be drawn by lactic acid in an individual’s perspiration and breath, as well as by the carbon dioxide exhaled by animals and people. In fact, the amino acids and hormones in the human body’s fluids may draw mosquitoes. There is nothing you can do about any of these things, unless you stop breathing.

Women may draw a little comfort from the fact that Mrs. Mosquito usually finds men more attractive. For that matter, these insects customarily assault the most “attractive” individual in a group. So, you may escape while an associate is virtually being “devoured.” Of course, this attractiveness has nothing to do with beauty or good looks. But, then, how could anyone be disappointed about not appealing to menacing mosquitoes?

How Mrs. Mosquito “Bites”

Since you probably have been victimized by the mosquito, you deserve to know how it happened. Well, the source of irritation is not a mouth that opens and closes like your own. Rather, it is the female mosquito’s proboscis that causes the torment. Forming its center are six stylets, needlelike lancets set in six minute grooves. To be more specific, two stylets are mandibles, two are maxillae, one is the upper lip and the last a lancet with a channel for saliva. When not in use, these stylets are covered by the lower lip, which promptly moves out of the way when Mrs. Mosquito decides to ‘let you have it.’ She jabs you with her armed proboscis, and you may not even be aware of the wound unless she hits a sensitive spot, because the “lady” gives you a quick-acting anesthetic.

The puncture completed, Mrs. Mosquito’s saliva flows freely into the wound. Since this thins your blood and keeps it from coagulating, she has no trouble in sipping it through a groove in her upper lip, just as a person might sip soda through a straw. The drinking spree over, the “lady” removes her “needle” and flies away quite satisfied with perhaps three or four times her weight in your blood. Unwittingly, you have contributed to the increase of the mosquito population, for Mrs. Mosquito needed your blood to develop the eggs inside her body.

Since only female mosquitoes assault humans and animals, you may have a more friendly attitude toward the male. His fare is plant nectar. Actually, such juices are the chief food of the female mosquito too, but you may wonder about that after an encounter that leaves you with an itching welt.

Contending with the Foe

To ward off the insect menace of the night, people living in the tropics often sleep under mosquito netting. Also, various other steps are taken to avoid mosquito-transmitted diseases. One way in which yellow fever can be prevented is through the use of a vaccine. Malaria control ranges from insecticide use to swamp drainage and spraying chemicals or oil on breeding areas. A thin film of oil on the water prevents larvae from breathing because they are unable to get air at the surface.

Control of filariasis depends largely on the use of insect repellents and insecticides. Man has fought mosquitoes by draining marshlands or spraying insecticides over wide areas of field and forest. Individuals spray insecticides in their houses, hoping to put an end to mosquito forays.

How do repellents work? Well, the moist, warm, carbon-dioxide-laden stream of air around a person attracts mosquitoes. Sensory hairs on their antennae detect the stream and the insects eventually locate the source. But insect repellents generally foil Mrs. Mosquito because these apparently prevent the moisture sensors on her “feelers” from functioning normally. In a way, she gets the idea that she has missed her object and so flies elsewhere.

Experiments undertaken by Dr. W. A. Brown at the University of Western Ontario indicate that the kind of clothing you wear affects your “attractiveness” as far as mosquitoes are concerned. Allen Rankin writes: “In his experiments Dr. Brown found that one tenth as many mosquitoes landed on white clothing as on dark. In general, the lighter the color, the fewer mosquitoes attracted. Texture most avoided—luminescent satin.”—Marvels & Mysteries of Our Animal World.

Are They Any Good at All?

That is a good question, and likely many people would say, “No. Mosquitoes are no good!” But some researchers suggest that the male mosquito, whose fare is the juice of plants, plays a part in pollinating wild flowers of some types. Also, mosquitoes are said to be a significant food source for certain animals, birds, other insects and even fish.

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Awake!, June 22, 1976