Awake!, April 22, 1982

Awake! — April 22, 1982

Source: jw.org

Contents

Page Two

The Plight of Young People Today

‘What Will I Do with My Life?’

They Found It—A Meaningful Life!

Appreciating Spiritual Needs

Losing a Chess Match

So Much “Happiness”—A Sign of What?

When This Issue Went to School

Men Who Were Called “Gods”

Gold Rush—1980’s Style

Motorcyclists—Knights or Blights of the Road?

Are You Immortal?

From Our Readers

Watching the World

What Do Your Clothes Say?

Make Happiness an Open Book

Page Two

Are you a young person faced with the problems of the 1980’s? More importantly, are you looking for answers to these major problems? If so, the material presented in this series of articles can benefit you greatly

The Plight of Young People Today 3

‘What Will I Do With My Life?’ 5

They Found It—A Meaningful Life! 9

Appreciating Spiritual Needs 12

The Plight of Young People Today

THE plight of young people? Isn’t it true that in most parts of the world young people have never had it better? Yes and No. Today’s young people may have more materially than previous generations, but they suffer unique pressures as well. Statistics on youthful crime, and suicide in developed countries, show that money is not buying happiness for today’s youth. Here are some examples—

Loss of Self-Esteem

Chicago researchers surveyed 1,331 teenagers in the 1960’s and a similar group in the late 1970’s and 1980. Their conclusion? “Over approximately an 18-year period the self-perceptions of American teen-agers apparently have become decidedly less positive.” The study describes today’s teenagers as being less secure than before, with lower ethical standards. About one fifth of them say that they are empty emotionally and confused most of the time, and that they would rather die than go on living.

Why the change? This letter from a 19-year-old illustrates one major reason: “I come from a broken home as many of the youths do in today’s society,” writes Robert. “The whole family was always fighting and bickering. Very little love, if any. Each individual going his own way. Very little parental guidance through the difficult stage of adolescence. It was very hard for me. With no discipline and no upbuilding remarks on my accomplishments. Instead criticism was given. It led me to feel unloved, rejected, very hurt and unhappy and not knowing why. I grew up as a vine on a picket fence. When I wandered off the fence, there was no one there to guide me back on the right course.” Robert’s story is all too common today.

Political disillusionment has also affected youths. “In my heart, I believe the world will not last another five or 10 years,” says a young street fighter from Amsterdam. “We have come to the stage where we refuse to take responsibility for a system we do not approve of.”

What is this creating in youth today? Basically, a sense of alienation—a feeling that nobody cares if they live or die. Add to this alienation a feeling that the world has no future, and the results can be frightening.

Suicide “Epidemic”

Perhaps the ultimate expression of alienation and loss of hope is suicide. Not surprisingly, the suicide rate among young people in many Western countries has been climbing steadily. “The number of children who threaten and attempt suicide has increased,” says Dr. Cynthia Pfeffer, a Cornell psychiatrist. “Studies in the nineteen-sixties indicated that no more than ten per cent of the children sent to outpatient clinics showed suicidal behavior. In a recent study I did, thirty-three per cent of the children had suicidal ideas.”

Suicide is a leading cause of death among American teenagers. In 1978, for example, 3,500 youths between 20 and 24 killed themselves, more than twice the number who did so 10 years earlier. Even these horrible numbers merely scratch the surface of youthful despair. “Suicide attempts outnumber actual suicides among young people by fifty to one,” reports Dr. Calvin Frederick of the National Institute of Mental Health.

Youthful Crime Wave

Not all alienated teenagers commit suicide. Some commit murder instead. “The most murderous group of Americans are in the 18-to-22 age group,” according to a recent report. “In 1979, says the FBI, they accounted for 25% of all murder arrests.” Similar accounts come from other lands—urban youth gangs in Brazil, classroom violence in Japan, juvenile delinquency in India.

The problem is not merely the number of crimes committed by youths today. The real problem is spiritual. As Scotland Yard chief Gilbert Kelland put it: “There is very little moral shame when they get caught . . . Morality has gone out of the window.”

Youngsters have always committed crimes. But usually they expressed remorse when caught. However, more and more of today’s troubled youth don’t seem to know that their crimes are wrong, nor do they care. How else do you explain why two Cleveland teenagers paid another youth $60 to murder their father “because he wouldn’t let us do anything we wanted to do, like smoke pot”? Leaving their father’s body on the floor of their home, they took his credit cards and paycheck and went on a 10-day spending spree.

No Sense of Values

The evidence that young people today are growing up with no real sense of values is not usually so dramatic. Most young people, after all, are not cold-blooded murderers. But even the ordinary youngsters in affluent suburban schools show disturbing changes from their counterparts of a generation ago. Writing of the new generation, a retired schoolteacher notes that in class discussions “quick, easy responses are given based on rationalizations and clichés that show little thought, little regard for human life . . . an unhealthy cynicism, distrust, intolerance of ideas, values and universals.”

How tragic to let a generation of young people grow up with few ideals, little sense of nobility, or even of right and wrong! And yet that is happening all over the world. “There is a sense among today’s undergraduates that they are passengers on a sinking ship, a Titanic if you will, called the United States or the world,” said a recent study by the Carnegie Council on Policy Studies in Higher Education. “Today’s fatalism fuels a spirit of justified hedonism [living for pleasure]. There is a growing belief among college students that, if they are doomed to ride on the Titanic, they ought at least to . . . go first class, for they assume there is nothing better.”

If you are a young person, do you feel that the older generation is too quick to point accusing fingers at you? After all, what reason do youth have to put faith in this system of things? Today’s youth have grown up in a generation of political scandal. Why should they seek to better a world that seems hopelessly corrupt? After a big dinner, youth in affluent countries can turn on the TV news and watch people starving in poor countries. They can listen to politicians who justify the expenditure of billions of dollars for weapons instead of food. Why should youth support a world order with such warped priorities? Why should they put faith in a world that seems more and more determined to blow itself up?

But suppose the world really could be changed? Suppose the threat of nuclear war could vanish, along with famine, sickness and political corruption. Wouldn’t life be far more meaningful in such a world? Impossible, you say? Certainly man’s record of self-government gives no reason to hope for such a world, but what if the change were made by another power? As a young person, would you be interested in that kind of world?

[Picture on page 4]

Suicide is a leading cause of death among American teenagers

‘What Will I Do with My Life?’

ASK a middle-aged person, “What do you want to do with your life?” and you will often get a puzzled look. Most adults have settled into a routine of living, perhaps without giving it much thought. They may never have decided what they wanted to do with their lives, and they are no longer interested in the question. Perhaps they are even a little frightened by it, fearing that to ask such questions seriously is to invite a ‘mid-life crisis.’

With young people it is different. The question “What do you want to do with your life?” is urgent to them, even if they are not sure of the answer. Not surprisingly, young people are often far more concerned than their elders with finding ‘the meaning of life.’ But where?

Does Education Have the Answers?

If you are a young person, you spend much of your time in school. It is natural for you to think that education will somehow show you the meaning of life, but such hopes are often disappointed. “When I started college,” said one honor student, “I thought I would add new talents, new capabilities, new accomplishments to my life. Instead, each course I’ve taken, each good book I’ve read, each idea I’ve seriously considered has taken something away from me. I feel like an onion that has had layer after layer peeled away until there is nothing, nothing there at all.”

What happened? Instead of finding life’s meaning, this student, tossed about by arguments and equally plausible counterarguments, lost his bearings. After losing faith in his original beliefs, he had nothing to replace them with and was on the verge of concluding that life is meaningless.

This calls to mind a very astute observation made about 3,000 years ago that “to the making of many books [or, “opinions”] there is no end, and much devotion to them is wearisome to the flesh.” (Ecclesiastes 12:12) Seeking life’s meaning among the ‘great books’ and ‘great ideas’ of men is frustrating because these books and ideas contradict one another endlessly, as students quickly find out.

Does Science Offer Hope?

“Science and technology, hailed just a few years back as the sure solutions for all our increasingly complex societal problems, are both in trouble these days,” admits Dr. Lewis Thomas, a widely read science essayist. Nobel-prize winner Max Delbrück is even more blunt. “It’s obvious that science is not going to solve our problems,” he says.

Today’s adults were raised on optimistic slogans like “Better living through chemistry.” Young people, on the other hand, have grown up with the darker side of science. “Everyone talks about new breakthroughs into the secrets of nature. But somehow I can’t swallow this,” wrote a college student to his professor recently. “Breakthroughs, breakthroughs—where do they lead us? Atomic bombs, pollution, terrifying drugs: Are these what the frontiers of science are all about?”

“Please don’t answer me with clichés about the gap between ethics and scientific knowledge,” continued the student. “I have heard it all a hundred times. People believe our science is good, but our ethics are bad. This is exactly what I can’t swallow. Am I crazy? Are morality and knowledge really such separate things?”

This young student was making an important point. Knowledge without morality, as when knowledge of nuclear physics is used to build atomic bombs, may offer brilliant inventions, but does it offer hope? Does it give mankind a reason for living? Or does it merely increase the likelihood that men will wind up by destroying themselves?

“I think the further course of history will not be decided by further discoveries in science,” says Dr. Delbrück, “but by . . . questions about human values.” In other words, it is more important to know the difference between right and wrong than to know how to build a better bomb.

But the world today seems far more interested in bombs than in right and wrong. Young people sense this, and it can drive them to give up trying to do what is right. “I am 15 years old,” wrote one boy. “I don’t smoke pot or pop pills, even though I’ve wanted to lots of times. I try not to steal or vandalize or hurt other people . . . what I mean is, all my life I’ve tried to do the right thing. Then a few months ago I realized that it doesn’t make any difference. Whatever kind of life I lead, it’s not going to change the way things are. Now I don’t care whether I live or die. Older people don’t seem to understand why we want to ‘ruin our lives.’ The fact is, it just doesn’t matter anymore.”

Can Religion Help?

It is often argued that science isn’t supposed to teach people right and wrong—that is a job for religion. But young people today do not seem very satisfied with religion’s performance. A British clergyman who surveyed 10,000 youths found that religious faith is declining rapidly among young people in that country. In the United States, a recent Gallup poll indicated that while most American teenagers believe in God, three fourths of them did not have a high degree of confidence in organized religion.

What was bothering these youths? “The failure of churches genuinely to serve those whom Christ loved . . . the shallow and superficial stance of so many church members; the inability of congregations to deal with the basics of faith and appeal to youth on a solid spiritual basis; the absence of the feeling of excitement or warmth within the church’s fellowship, and negative feelings about the clergy in charge,” report the pollsters. Significantly, they added that “four in 10 young adults state that honesty and the personal ethical standards of clergy are ‘only average,’ ‘low,’ or ‘very low.’”

Distrustful of science, education and religion, is it any wonder that many young people today are adrift? What do they have to look forward to? “When I asked my daughter for a contribution on the topic of teen-agers,” wrote a mother, “she cheerfully and instantly supplied the quotation ‘Teenagers are the corpses of tomorrow.’” A 19-year-old in Lausanne, Switzerland, put it this way: “Why should I work as hard as my father does? Why shouldn’t I have some fun if we all may be dead in a few years?”

Young people are often accused of being shallow and materialistic. But from their infancy television has been preaching to them the virtues of instant gratification. Indeed, it would be strange if today’s youth were not materialistic, considering their “education.” On the other hand, where are young people today going to get encouragement to be noble and self-sacrificing? Not from television. Not from the examples of the world’s political and business leaders. Not from the mainline religions. Then, from where?

Help from Man’s Creator

Some youths have concluded that it is foolish to want to believe in anything. As a student at Columbia University put it, “People are basically interested in themselves.” Yet, will this attitude really lead to happiness? If you are a young person, do you really think that a life of selfishness is going to make you happy? What about the selfish people you know? Are they truly happy? As the wise man put it, “a mere lover of silver will not be satisfied with silver, neither any lover of wealth with income.” (Ecclesiastes 5:10) Why not?

Because just as people are created with material needs, such as the need for food, clothing and shelter, they also have spiritual needs. Money cannot fill those needs. The vague but persistent need felt by young people to understand ‘the meaning of life’ is a spiritual need. So is the need to give and receive unselfish love. These things cannot be bought, no matter what the TV commercials say.

However, the fact that man has spiritual needs does not mean that he is qualified to fill them. If you are a young person, you likely appreciate that, although you have a need for food, clothing and shelter, you are not as well equipped to fill that need as your parents are. Likewise, our heavenly Father is best equipped to fill our spiritual needs. Remember, he is the One who created us with those needs.

But how do you ‘get in touch’ with the Creator, so that your spiritual needs can be filled? In the last decade many young people, disillusioned with the mainline churches of Christendom, have joined other religious organizations. Some of these, like the Unification Church, claim to be Christian. Others, like the Divine Light Mission, do not. All of them claim that they can fill the spiritual needs of young people, but are they really helping their followers to draw near to our Creator? Many of them do not even teach the existence of a Creator, speaking only of a vague “first cause.” Even among those religions that claim to worship the Creator, how many tell their followers that he has both a name and a personality?

“For, look!” says the prophet Amos, “the Former of the mountains and the Creator of the wind, and the One telling to earthling man what his mental concern is, the One making dawn into obscurity, and the One treading on earth’s high places, Jehovah the God of armies is his name.”—Amos 4:13.

Yes, Jehovah is the name of our Creator, the One best qualified to fill our spiritual needs. Did you notice in the above Bible verse that Jehovah is interested in letting mankind know his will for us? He is willing to ‘make known to us his mental concern,’ or, as Today’s English Version puts it: “He makes his thoughts known to man.”

By getting to know Jehovah God and studying his thoughts, you can get excellent answers to the question, ‘What will I do with my life?’ Would you like to learn about some youths who have done just that?

[Blurb on page 6]

“Atomic bombs, pollution, terrifying drugs: Are these what the frontiers of science are all about?”

[Blurb on page 7]

The vague but persistent need felt by young people to understand ‘the meaning of life’ is a spiritual need

[Pictures on page 8]

“How do I get in touch with the Creator?”

They Found It—A Meaningful Life!

BIAGIO is an Italian, now in his 20’s. At 17 he began wandering around Europe. “I thumbed lifts from one place to another,” he says, “and had no other home than the sleeping bag on my back. Having my freedom was very important to me and I felt really free!” But not for long.

“When I returned home boredom would sweep over me. I wondered if it was possible to lead a fuller life. Outside the family circle I had no friends, no one was waiting to see me on my return and no one expected me to do anything. Quite often, as I sat watching people passing on the street, I wondered what others made of life. Sometimes I got drunk, usually when I was by myself and lonely.

“The sense of futility I experienced has driven some young people to drug dependence or even suicide. Once, in Amsterdam, when I was about to enter a place where drugs circulated freely, a young man threw himself off the balcony in a moment of depression, killing himself outright. He just missed me in his fall to the ground.

“I began to realize that the very evils we young people rejected in the ‘system’ were present among us too. We were not free from opportunism, strife, or egotism, and among ourselves we had merely created a system parallel to the old one. For example, young men professing high ideals encouraged their female companions to prostitute themselves to earn money.

“We condemned society, but we did not really want to do anything about it. Why not? We had no desire to work for a better future because we could not see any worthwhile future in the offing. I found myself growing more and more cynical. By the time I was 20 I felt old.

“One night at a friend’s place I came across a book about the Bible. It was called ‘The Truth That Leads to Eternal Life,’ published by the Watchtower Society. I read a few chapters . . .”

From that book Biagio learned that God had originally purposed for mankind to live together in peace and love. He found out that God cannot be held responsible for the worldwide greed and oppression that so upsets honest-hearted persons today.—Deuteronomy 32:4, 5.

But if God isn’t responsible for the present world conditions, who is? “The chapter entitled ‘Are There Wicked Spirits?’ convinced me that Satan, the spirit creature who long ago rebelled against God, is dominating this entire system of things,” Biagio recalls. In fact, the Bible refers to Satan as “the god of this system of things” or “the evil god of this world.” (2 Corinthians 4:4, New World Translation; Today’s English Version) No wonder the world reflects such a selfish, cruel spirit!

But there is good news too. “I discovered that the Bible spoke of things I had always yearned for,” says Biagio. “It promised a new system of things free from war, disease, old age and death.” Yes, like millions of others who have read The Truth That Leads to Eternal Life, Biagio was thrilled to learn that the Bible has much to say about the future of our earth. It is not merely a book about the ‘hereafter.’ Does not the Bible say that “the meek shall inherit the earth”? (Psalm 37:11, Authorized Version) If God is not interested in setting matters straight on earth, why would Jesus have told his disciples to pray: “Let your kingdom come. Let your will take place, as in heaven, also upon earth”?—Matthew 6:10.

Excited by what he had learned, Biagio contacted Jehovah’s Witnesses, and a regular Bible study was arranged with him. “Right from the start, the scripture in John 8:32 appealed to me,” he relates. “It says, ‘The truth will set you free.’ I began to understand what true liberty means.” Now Biagio could see why his “free” life-style had been so unsatisfying. “I had really been a slave all along,” he says, “although I had tried to escape.”

“I began to attend the meetings held by the Witnesses and they kindly welcomed me to their Bible studies. The young people I met at these meetings were different from those I had known. They were happy, kind and respectful. Everyone had his own personal dignity and tried hard to show love for others. These were things I had always wanted to see put into practice!”

Many youths, like Biagio, have a vision of a better world. Perhaps you do. If you could be convinced that such a world is not just a dream, but a certainty, how would you feel? Would you be moved to want to share that “good news” with others? Biagio was. “I stopped smoking, improved my grooming, and told my girl friend that we could not continue to live an immoral life and have God’s approval,” he recalls. “I realized the necessity of these changes myself, without being told what to do.” Biagio wanted to qualify for baptism as one of Jehovah’s Witnesses. Why? Because Jehovah’s Witnesses helped him to find hope for the future and meaning in life. Biagio wanted to join the Witnesses in sharing what he had found with others. Today he and his wife are special pioneers, full-time preachers of the “good news.”

“Real freedom does not mean merely pleasing oneself,” he says. “I know that from experience. Other people need to know it too. The best way to show love for our neighbors is to spread this knowledge and help others to find a worthwhile way of life.”

Learning the truth about God’s kingdom gave Biagio hope for the future. The natural desire to share that hope with others gave him something truly worthwhile to do with his life.

Khem’s Search for the Purpose of Life

“Although young, I was a successful writer in my native Cambodia,” relates Khem. “I had prestige, success, a well-paying job—everything that young people wish. Nevertheless, I did not see any particular sense in life. In fact, I wrote a novel entitled ‘Life Has No Purpose.’

“You see, I was raised as a strict Buddhist, but lost faith in that religion. After abandoning Buddhism I turned to philosophy, but soon found that for every philosopher there was an ‘anti-philosopher.’ What was I to believe? Time and again I asked myself what was I living for?

“In the 1970’s Cambodia was plunged into civil war. I witnessed executions. I saw mass graves as well as rivers and lakes that were full of dead bodies and literally red with blood. Two thousand years of Cambodian tradition were swept away almost overnight. No Cambodian would have thought it possible!

“The authorities were searching for me. So, with others, I fled into the jungle, hoping to reach Thailand. On that trip I thought much about the existence of God. How wonderful and intricate the creation is! Somehow it was not satisfying to give credit for this to mere accident or blind natural forces. Why not give the honor to a wise Creator?

“I pondered that question for a long time. Then, for the first time in my life, I really prayed from the heart. For the first time I realized that there has to be a Creator. But what was his purpose for man? Why does he permit suffering and evil such as I had witnessed in my own country? Which religion worships the true God? I realized that if I made it through the jungle, my search for answers to these questions would have priority in my life. After 10 days, worn out and half starved, we arrived in Thailand.

“At the refugee camp in Thailand I obtained a Bible in my native language and learned that the God who revealed himself to the ancient Jews was also the God of the Christians. From the Bible I saw that he has a personal name, Jehovah. I wanted to get to know this God better.

“After five months in Thailand I emigrated to Austria. One day I found a handbill that invited me to a Kingdom Hall of Jehovah’s Witnesses. The name Jehovah meant something to me, but who were his witnesses? What could they bear witness to? Skeptical and curious I visited their Kingdom Hall.

“Since I was still learning German, I did not understand all of the talk I heard, but I did grasp that I was learning the good news of God’s kingdom. By means of Jehovah’s kingdom the earth was to be made a paradise, where people will no longer shed tears of grief and suffering and in which God will ‘make all things new.’ (Revelation 21:3-5) This was exactly what I expected from a mighty and righteous God! But why had not Jehovah created such a world long ago?

“The Witnesses began regular Bible discussions with me, answering my questions,” Khem says. During those discussions he learned that God created the world to be without pain, suffering and evil. These elements, which made Khem wonder about the meaning of life, had no place in God’s original purpose. It was not until mankind rejected Jehovah’s rulership that such troubles began. But the evidence is unmistakable that mankind’s sad history of rebellion and alienation from God will soon end!

“I rejoiced to find a religion that was proving its beliefs to me from the Bible, not asking blind belief,” Khem now says. “How much I would love to share the good news of God’s kingdom with my grief-stricken people in Cambodia! Since this is not presently possible, I am publishing the ‘good news’ to my fellowmen in Austria. What a privilege to be God’s co-worker and to have a share in this lifesaving work! Now I can say, full of joy, life does have a purpose!”

[Blurb on page 9]

“The sense of futility I experienced has driven some young people to drug dependence or even suicide”

[Blurb on page 10]

If God isn’t responsible for the present world conditions, who is?

[Blurb on page 11]

Khem learned that God will make this earth a paradise free from suffering

Appreciating Spiritual Needs

ALTHOUGH the Italian Biagio and the Cambodian Khem are different in many ways, they have something very important in common. They both realized that their lives were somehow empty, unfulfilled. Their material needs were satisfied, but their spiritual needs were not. They wanted answers to questions such as ‘Why is there evil in the world?’ and ‘What is the purpose of my life?’

Jesus began his most famous sermon by saying: “Happy are those conscious of their spiritual need, since the kingdom of the heavens belongs to them.” (Matthew 5:3) The experiences of Khem and Biagio illustrate this. When they heard the good news of God’s kingdom from Jehovah’s Witnesses, they responded joyfully, because, somewhere inside, they knew that it filled their spiritual need. Out of appreciation for this “good news” they now share it with others. After all, what could be more satisfying than helping other people to fill their spiritual need and gain the hope of everlasting life? It was appreciation for the “good news” that gave Biagio and Khem a purpose in life.

Sad to say, it is possible for young people born of Christian parents to know the “good news” and not appreciate it. “The day comes when a young person has to make ‘the truth’ his own,” said a teenage Witness. “He has to ask himself: Do I really believe it?” Some young people have permitted the world’s emphasis on the pursuit of riches and pleasures to blind them to their own spiritual needs. But will this lead to happiness? “The world is scary,” the young Witness continued. “Youths are upset. They don’t know what is going to happen to the world, and they don’t know what they want. But I know that Jehovah will allow things to go only so far. I have a security others do not have.” Isn’t that security and sense of purpose worth more than just ‘having a good time’? It certainly was to Biagio, and to others who have learned the truth about God’s kingdom.

There is another advantage in taking the truth seriously. “I have true friends,” says this young Witness. “People in school do not, and I feel sorry for them. Even at their parties they don’t really enjoy talking with one another unless they get ‘high’ or drunk.” Biagio experienced something similar before becoming one of Jehovah’s Witnesses. Speaking of himself and others like him he recalls: “I think we were happy only in the evenings when we could go to some kind of club or discotheque. Inside these places the music and lights created an unreal atmosphere that kept boredom and loneliness outside—but only for a while.”

In his prophecy on the times we live in, Jesus warned of neglecting spiritual needs, saying: “Pay attention to yourselves that your hearts never become weighed down with overeating and heavy drinking and anxieties of life, and suddenly that day be instantly upon you as a snare. For it will come in upon all those dwelling upon the face of all the earth. Keep awake, then, all the time making supplication that you may succeed in escaping all these things that are destined to occur, and in standing before the Son of man.”—Luke 21:34-36.

Christians young and old need to take these words to heart. They should ask themselves, Am I really conscious of my spiritual need? Or have I let myself get distracted, ‘weighed down’ by either the pleasures or the problems of this system of things? Is God’s kingdom real to me? Am I truly a spiritual person? Or am I half-hearted, trying to ‘serve two masters’? It would be a terrible, needless tragedy for one to perish because he failed to appreciate his spiritual need!

Are you following Jesus’ counsel to keep spiritually awake, “all the time making supplication”? Jehovah no doubt heard Khem’s sincere prayer in the Cambodian jungle and arranged to fill his spiritual need. God will do the same for you, but you have to keep asking!

As the Bible points out, “the flesh is against the spirit in its desire, and the spirit against the flesh.” (Galatians 5:17) So the more you cater to fleshly desires, the more difficult it will be for you to appreciate your spiritual need. Is your entertainment—the magazines you read, the TV shows and movies you watch—making it difficult for you to appreciate your spiritual need? Why not make up your mind to set aside time every day to read at least a small portion of God’s Word and meditate on it? Why not replace some of your TV viewing with the reading of healthy Christian publications? The book that helped Biagio, The Truth That Leads to Eternal Life, would make a worthwhile study project.

Really, is there any excuse for a Christian who neglects spiritual things in these critical times? If a youth like Biagio, adrift in the world, could appreciate his spiritual need for purpose in life, what can be said of a young Christian who fails to appreciate that need? Is not his situation a little like that described by Jesus in Luke chapter 12? There Jesus spoke in a parable of his return in our days and said: “Then that slave that understood the will of his master but did not get ready or do in line with his will will be beaten with many strokes. . . . Indeed, everyone to whom much was given, much will be demanded of him.” (Luke 12:47, 48) If you have been given a knowledge of Bible prophecy and the significance of God’s kingdom, should you not take the above words to heart?

Jesus did not tell Christians to ‘lift their heads up’ because this decaying system of things would be saved. It is foolish to hope for that. Rather, he promised that his followers would be delivered. The Bible is clear in stating that the world as we know it is headed for destruction in a “great tribulation such as has not occurred since the world’s beginning until now, no, nor will occur again.”—Matthew 24:21.

How do you feel about the world today? Can you see how utterly unreformable and worthy of destruction it is? If so, why not put yourself in line for “deliverance”? You can be like the people shown in vision to the prophet Ezekiel who were marked for salvation in ancient Jerusalem, which foreshadowed modern Christendom. Those people had been “sighing and groaning over all the detestable things . . . being done” in that unfaithful city. (Ezekiel 9:4) Today, also, Jehovah is looking for such persons who are groaning because of the wickedness that they see in the “Christian” and non-Christian societies around them. These must come to realize that their spiritual need can only be completely satisfied in a world ruled by God, where ‘His will is done on earth, as in heaven.’ (Matthew 6:10) Would you like to live in such a world? Biagio and Khem hope to do so, and they live now in harmony with their hope. So can you!

[Picture on page 13]

The day comes when a young person has to make Bible truth his own. He has to ask himself: Do I really believe it?

Losing a Chess Match

The world championship chess matches were staged in Merano, Italy, a few months ago. Korchnoi, described as “a brooding, burly bear of a man who always seemed on the verge of growling,” challenged the titleholder, Karpov, and lost. Why? In the opinion of some of those watching the match, it was not altogether due to his lack of skill as a chess player. His ill temper and lack of self-control were major factors. According to Robert Byrne, special correspondent of the New York Times, Korchnoi attempted to overpower his opponent “by arm-waving rages, evil-eye stares, ego-warping tensions and spates of ungentlemanly insults.” On the other hand, the report says that Karpov “engaged in no bizarre antics, played with quiet determination and . . . stuck to pure chess in this match.” Korchnoi could have learned a thing or two from ancient King Solomon, who once wrote: “He that is slow to anger is abundant in discernment.” “He that is slow to anger is better than a mighty man, and he that is controlling his spirit than the one capturing a city.” “As a city broken through, without a wall, is the man that has no restraint for his spirit.” (Proverbs 14:29; 16:32; 25:28) One wonders if another contributing cause of Korchnoi’s defeat was the fact that he “installed an orange-robed yoga guru in the audience’s front row, apparently to hex the champion.” Such recourse to religious support certainly would be of no real assistance to Korchnoi’s cause.

Interestingly, God’s own view of yoga-style religionists is reflected in his command to his people Israel: “There should not be found in you anyone who . . . employs divination, a practicer of magic or anyone who looks for omens or a sorcerer, or one who binds others with a spell or anyone who consults a spirit medium or a professional foreteller of events.”—Deuteronomy 18:10, 11.

So Much “Happiness”—A Sign of What?

“TAKING all things together, how would you say things are these days—would you say you are very happy, pretty happy, or not too happy?” That was the question used by a survey conducted by the Institute for Social Research of Michigan University. How would you have answered?

Thirty percent of the people who responded said they were very happy. In a similar survey, held back in 1957, 35 percent said they were very happy.

Those conducting the survey believe that worsening conditions are responsible for that 5-percent decline in people’s feeling of well-being. But scoffers at such ideas quickly point out that the small decline really supports their argument that things are going on much as they always have been and that people are as happy as ever.

Some challenge the data. “How can you tell whether people are happy or unhappy?” they ask. The researchers point out that the survey really is not a measurement of a person’s level of happiness. Rather, it is a determination of a person’s own perception of happiness. Another explanation given is that people have simply refused to recognize or realize how bad things are—a sort of head-in-the-sand self-deception. “Human beings are inclined to make the best of a bad situation because there doesn’t seem to be much else to do,” explained sociology professor Andrew Greeley.

So the fact that people’s sense of well-being has not changed much in over 20 years does not argue that conditions actually have not changed. It merely shows that perhaps the majority of the people have either failed to recognize the meaning of what is happening, or they have deliberately chosen to ignore it.

In his prophecy concerning our day, Jesus Christ said that this would be the case, stating: “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.” Many today also ‘take no note’ of what is happening around them. They have unwittingly fulfilled another facet of the “sign” given by Jesus concerning “the conclusion of the system of things.”—Matthew 24:3, 38, 39.

[Pictures on page 15]

They ate and drank and ignored the warning

When This Issue Went to School

The publishers of Awake! have received many letters expressing appreciation for this special issue of September 22, 1981. Many are reports on the distribution made to high schools and universities in the United States—a few of which are presented here.

High Schools

We visited all five principals and vice-principals in the Cape Coral area. All thanked us repeatedly for the information and accepted extra copies for their administrative staffs. Eleven of the students who are Jehovah’s Witnesses presented copies to all the teachers. Magazines placed, 123. At one high school eight Witnesses met the students as they left and placed one hundred magazines.

D. M., Florida

We were informed that we could not call on the principals of the Lancaster city schools without the permission of the superintendent of the schools. Soon after we submitted our request, the assistant superintendent called and said that at a meeting that morning it was decided that each principal and science teacher should have a copy. They said that students should be given the opportunity to decide for themselves whether to believe in evolution or creation. He requested 30 copies of the magazine for this purpose. Two weeks later we visited his home. All the teachers had received their copies, and he subscribed to Awake!

D. M., Ohio

Mr. D— referred your request to furnish enough copies of the Awake! special issue for September 22, 1981, for our district staff. We would provide each district teacher with a copy if you deliver 150 copies to our District Office on South Market Avenue in Mount Joy.

Supt. of Donegal School District,

Pennsylvania

Is it all right to duplicate information from the magazines and books? We visited the school superintendent with the special issue of Awake! He and the principal accepted eight copies and two Youth books. They are interested in copying specific articles and chapters for teaching.

J. G., Wisconsin

For this noncommercial use, permission was given to make copies.—ED.

The science supervisor of the Boise public schools examined the special issue on evolution. He said that they were always looking for material from the creation viewpoint, but that most of it was devoted to defeating evolution rather than providing scientific reasoning for belief in creation. He felt that this Awake! provided such reasoning. After the magazine was considered by a screening committee for the Boise school system, the science supervisor arranged for 40 copies to be distributed to all the science teachers.

S. F., Idaho

Those who made these calls stressed that we were no part of the “scientific creationism” movement, but were providing some fresh information as reference material. This approach was appreciated by the school officials.

E. R., Ohio

We had a one-and-a-half hour discussion with the science adviser of the Montgomery County School Board. He was familiar with our Evolution book and knows teachers who have used it in their classes. He was keenly interested in our position and asked if we believed that creation took place in six literal days—which did not seem scientific to him. We indicated that those days were more like epochs. He also appreciated what we had to say about everything reproducing ‘according to its kind.’ He feels strongly that there has to be a Creator. He was willing to discuss this Awake! with the rest of the school board, and took 35 copies and two more Evolution books.

G. M., Washington, D.C.

Universities, all in the Washington, D.C., Area

At American University we spoke with the head of the Marine Biology Department for two-and-a-half hours. He believes life on earth is not explainable without a First Cause, God. But he does think God started everything in the beginning—wound the clock, so to speak—and then used evolution. He was impressed when we showed him that the creative days were epochs, and that the order of appearance of life as given in Genesis agreed with the order science postulates. He was also intrigued to see that Genesis 1:1 shows that the physical universe existed before the creative days began. We have since called on him again.

In another part of the campus we had a discussion with the chairman of the Department of Religion and Philosophy. The conversation turned to religious organizations that capitulated to evolutionary thought, absorbing it in their theology. He took seven issues of Awake! for the professors in his department, and we are invited back next semester to participate in one of the courses on comparative religion.

Possibly our best results were at Georgetown University. The head of the Theology Department took the Awake! and referred us to another professor who taught “Religion and Science.” We have a commitment to speak for over an hour to one of his classes next semester.

At this same university we talked with the head of the Biology Department. His field is the study of cells. “What was the chance of the first cell developing by chance?” we asked. “Not very likely,” he said. “We don’t even understand all that goes on inside a living cell, it’s so complex.” We next asked: “What probability of the universe getting here by chance?” His answer: “Not much.”

This issue of Awake! has been a powerful instrument for reaching those in these institutions of higher education.

M. R., Washington, D.C.

Men Who Were Called “Gods”

By “Awake!” correspondent in Japan

THE rulers of most nations are subject to much publicity and their personalities are well known. But the situation is somewhat different with the emperor of Japan. Personal information about him is not widely distributed, and even his personal name is seldom used. To the ordinary person he is “Tenno” or “Ten no Heika,” which means “His Majesty” or “Emperor.” Most Japanese have to think a few seconds to recall what his name is.

But the emperor is very much respected, yes, even revered. This is shown by the fact that during the New Year holiday season, the palace grounds are open to the public on a set day and many thousands come to get a glimpse of the emperor and his family as they appear behind bulletproof glass on a balcony.

However, the 20th century has seen big changes in the people’s perception of the emperor. Many Japanese have even questioned the imperial lineage and the official date of the founding of the nation, February 11, 660 B.C.E. Why should this be, and what are the facts?

Increased Research

Facts are hard to come by. Dr. Michiko Y. Aoki explains why: “For ten years preceding 1945, no sensible studies about the beginning of the Japanese civilization could appear, because serious students of the subject were persecuted, directly and indirectly. However, at the end of World War II the ban on such studies was lifted, and since then no one has been subject to insular prejudices. Nevertheless, long-lived nationalistic sentiment among the Japanese is still so strong as to hinder the objective study of the birth of Japanese civilization.” This was written in 1974.

At present, there is much study going on as Japanese historians try to put together an accurate history of Japan. Archaeologists are busy digging into ruins of old villages and castles. Also, discreet digging into tombs is being allowed. But what about written records?

Kojiki (Records of Ancient Times)

The truth is, there are no really old written records. The first written record of historical importance is called the Kojiki. This is believed to have been completed in the eighth century (712 C.E.). That leaves a gap of more than 1,300 years back to the claimed date of the founding of the Japanese imperial line. How was the record preserved—for all those centuries—before it was written down? It is said the kataribe (professional narrators or memorizers) were used to keep the records intact.

Regarding the Kojiki, one reference says it was “compiled from the memory of an elderly female chamberlain and consists primarily of brief mythology and genealogical lists.” Another written record is the Nihon Shoki, or Nihongi. It is a little more detailed than the Kojiki and was completed some eight years after it. The Nihon Shoki was written in Chinese, not Japanese.

A close examination of these two records shows that they were expressly designed to prove that the emperors descended from the sun-goddess Amaterasu-Omikami. Before 1939 the Nihon Shoki was the textbook used for the study of history in Japan.

How clear were these written records? One example may give some indication. The first emperor of Japan is posthumously called Emperor Jimmu. However, it is not at all certain what his personal name was. You can take your pick from the following: Hatsukunishirasu Sumeramikoto, Kami-yamato Ihare Biko Hohodemi, Kanyamato Iware Hiko no Mikoto, or Prince Ihare!

Doubts Expressed

Do Japanese scholars trust these records to give the precise date for the beginning of the imperial line? Not really. Notice this statement in the book Fifty Years of Light and Dark—The Hirohito Era. The present emperor was introduced in 1926, after the death of his father, Emperor Taisho, with these words: “Hirohito was now ‘God Emperor’ of the almost 2,600-year-old nation, being the 124th in line from the Heavenly-descended ancestor called Jimmu. Although scholars found the early part of the Imperial lineage as well as the exact date of the foundation of the nation extremely dubious, not a single one of the ‘beloved subjects’ was expected to question the ‘established’ godliness of the new Ruler of Japan.”

In 1966 the government officially declared February 11, the traditional date of the founding of the nation, to be a public holiday. This drew mixed reactions from the people, however. A more recent editorial protested: “The day was not established as a historically acceptable foundation day.”

This editorial went on to ask: “Is our apprehension groundless that the governmental support of the National Foundation Day means the restoration of the Kigensetsu or anniversary of the Emperor Jimmu’s accession, a legend which was once fully utilized for military leaders to carry out their aims in the prewar days and during wartime?”

As this editorial indicates, there has been some controversy since Foundation Day was declared a holiday. Persons for and against it have gathered at various places and expressed their views over portable loudspeakers. However, most people are indifferent to the significance of the day. They are just happy to have a day off from work.

Changing Attitudes

Things have certainly changed over the past 40 years! The 1941 issue of Japan Photo Almanac was a special issue commemorating the 2,600th year of the empire. The preface started with these words: “The one hundred million subjects of His Majesty the Emperor have just joined in celebrating the 2,600th year of the Empire’s founding; they have offered felicitations upon the unbroken reign of the Imperial Family, which is without parallel in the world’s history, and have pledged anew their intense loyalty to the Sovereign.”

In those days, no one would question the National Foundation Day, or anything else that pertained to the emperor. The emperor was regarded as a god, and unswerving allegiance was given to him. “To die for the sake of Tenno Heika (His Majesty, the Emperor)” was viewed as an honorable thing by the whole nation. How was such zeal engendered?

It was a natural result of the constitution that was promulgated back in 1889 with the approval of Emperor Meiji, grandfather of the present emperor. Emperor Meiji is viewed as the one who constructed modern Japan. With the help of trusted aides, he caused to be drawn up a constitution modeled on the Prussian form of government, which, among other things, made clear that the emperor was to be revered. His position was said to be ‘sacred and inviolable.’ His word was final, and all subjects were to obey him unquestioningly.

This was reinforced by making the Shinto religion the State religion, purified of all Buddhist elements. It was through this religion that the people were carefully instructed to give wholehearted allegiance to the emperor.

Only a Man

However, when the second world war ended in the defeat of Japan, all of this changed. Here was the first recorded defeat of Japan in all its long history. The Japanese people were perplexed, wondering why their emperor allowed such a thing to happen.

The conquering countries determined it would be better to have the emperor proclaim that he was not a god, and that such a teaching was erroneous, than to put him on trial as a war criminal.

Photos taken at the end of the war show persons prostrating themselves in front of the imperial palace, some weeping, as they express remorse for their failure to help win the war. However, equally expressive are the photos showing the people’s faces on January 1, 1946. On that day the emperor announced to his subjects that the belief that he was a descendant of the gods was a mistake. He was human and mortal like them.

This was a shock to the nation. Many became embittered. Some committed suicide. Still others, to this very day, refuse to believe the announcement and continue to look upon him as a god. But if you ask a person in his 30’s or younger, you will find that he has never regarded the emperor as anything more than a man.

Seeking for Truth

Yes, over a period claimed to be 2,600 years, emperors of Japan were called gods. But, in our 20th century, a man whom many once viewed as a god realistically admitted that he was not.

Despite the shock that many felt at the time, this has had beneficial effects in Japan. Now Japanese scholars, unfettered by an official myth, are able to research their history and try to discover what really happened during the long centuries of Japan’s existence as a nation.

Perhaps more important, recognizing that God is not a mere man has opened the way for many Japanese to search for the true God. In at least 93,000 Japanese homes, individuals and families are studying the Bible together to learn about Him. Happily, in many cases their research is proving successful. More than 66,000 Japanese have come to know Jehovah, the Creator and Sovereign, not only of Japan, but of the whole universe. Serving him brings them far more blessings than serving a human “god” could ever bring.

[Picture on page 19]

Bronze statue of Emperor Jimmu

Gold Rush—1980’s Style

By “Awake!” correspondent in Australia

GOLD fever has spread among many Australians, rich and poor alike. About a hundred years ago the first gold rush was on. Today, gold seekers, armed with electronic sensors, are back combing the earth, trying to strike it rich—and with some success!

In Western Australia two aboriginal prospectors reportedly were finding $600 worth of gold a minute. Another young man, armed with a metal detector, found a 270-gm (9.5-oz.) nugget, worth about $6,000. Still another person unearthed two nuggets weighing around 285 gms (10 oz.). In southeast Australia a couple with a finely tuned metal detector extracted a ‘collector’s item,’ a nugget weighing 27.2 kg (60 lbs.), with a ‘price tag’ of $1 million. It lay just 15 cm (6 in.) below the surface of the ground.

Before you pack up and head for a goldfield, however, you may wish to know a little more about your elusive quarry. What is gold like? Where is it found? What about fool’s gold? And what will it do for you, or to you?

The Glitter of Gold

In the quest to unearth history, investigators have been awestruck with the legacy in gold left by rulers of the past. In 1873, while searching for the ancient Greek city of Troy, Heinrich Schliemann unearthed 8,700 golden objects, including a diadem made of 16,000 pieces of gold. When the tomb of the boy-king Tutankhamen was opened after more than 3,000 years, archaeologists found a world of gold, including a gold throne, gold shrines, a gold face mask and a coffin of solid gold.

In recent years gold doubloons worth millions of dollars have been salvaged from Spanish galleons sunk off the Florida coast of the U.S.A. From a watery grave off the coast of Bermuda came a crucifix made of gold adorned with seven emeralds. Its value hovers between $18,000 and $50,000.

Discoveries such as these emphasize one of gold’s most outstanding qualities: its nontarnishing durability. Though having lain for hundreds of years under water, the Spanish doubloons looked as fresh as the day they were made.

Gold is extremely heavy, with a dense atomic structure. It is also malleable. It can be beaten into gold leaf so thin as to let light shine through, reportedly as thin as four millionths of an inch. It is also ductile. Just one ounce of gold can be drawn out into a fine wire more than 60 km (37 mi.) long.

Many an enthusiastic prospector has unearthed nuggets of the right color and luster only to find it to be pyrite, or fool’s gold. Though similar in appearance to the treasured metal, it consists mainly of sulfur. A simple test can be made by scratching the nugget on the back of a white ceramic tile. Fool’s gold leaves a greenish-black streak; a golden-yellow streak reveals the glitter of real gold.

The Search for Gold

There is, quite probably, gold under your feet right now. It occurs in most soils and rocks around the world, and all seawater contains gold. However, the quantities are so minute that the cost of extracting it would be much greater than its value. Even in the modern gold mines of South Africa, five tons of ore have to be treated to yield just one ounce of gold.

In the decade of the 1850’s Australia produced 50 percent of the world’s gold. A fleeting moment of glory that was, though, for South Africa now heads the list of primary gold producers, followed by Russia, Canada and the U.S.A. Even so, many of these operations are not strictly ‘gold mines.’ Instead, the gold is retrieved as a by-product in the mining of zinc, copper and other minerals.

Nowadays, the search for gold by commercial enterprise involves the expertise of geologists and chemists in carefully planned maneuvers. When the location of gold has been determined, either near the surface or deeper underground—some mines in South Africa descend five km (three mi.)—three basic operations are undertaken. First, the ore is mined by conventional methods. Next, the gold is separated by chemical or mechanical processes, or both. Then gold is refined, or purified, and cast into bars.—See Awake! of April 8, 1978.

Gold Standards

The dawn of the 20th century found insufficient gold and silver for coinage. So governments, spurred on by the needs of a world at war (1914), began issuing paper money on a large scale. Soon gold coins ceased to be minted, and coinage made of cheaper metals took their place. Now, many countries produce aluminum coins.

Since gold ceased to back the paper money, other areas of a country’s wealth, such as oil or real estate, came to stand in its stead. International trade increased, but each nation had a different money value, making an equitable exchange difficult. Therefore, in 1944 the International Monetary Fund (IMF) was formed to establish and maintain a stable rate of exchange between countries. More than a hundred countries took part and agreed that their nation’s currency would relate to the United States dollar, which was ‘as good as gold.’ Foreigners holding U.S. dollars could redeem them for gold at $35 per fine troy ounce.

But in time, the U.S. came to owe more to foreign countries than it could pay for with gold. So in 1971 it ceased paying out gold to such overseas customers. When U.S. currency went off the gold standard, the price of gold soared astonishingly. From 1934 to 1971 gold was $35 an ounce; by early 1980 it had bounced up to $875 an ounce. Today, however, it hovers around $400 an ounce.

When Only Gold Will Do

Estimates are that about 60 percent of all gold sits protected by banks and governments. The remainder leads quite an active existence. Alloys of the precious metal are used in settings for jewelry to create breathtaking arrangements. Gold may be set into fine china, while gold leaf is used to enhance signs on office windows or lettering on book covers.

If you closely inspect any gold jewelry, you will notice three or four tiny marks stamped into it. Some of these marks are trade and handlers’ marks. A hallmark is also present. This signifies the amount of pure gold present in relation to a base metal, such as copper or silver. Gold alloy is measured in carats. Pure gold of 24 carats is rare in such ornaments, being too soft to work. A more common hallmark is 22, which is 22 parts gold to two parts base metal by weight.

When astronauts rocketed their way to the moon, intense heat and radiation from the sun had to be contended with. Since gold is able to reflect up to 98 percent of the sun’s rays, vital parts of the spacecraft were coated with gold. Likewise, during space walks the visors of helmets and the vital ‘umbilical cord’ are coated with a thin layer of gold. Modern jet aircraft also have gold-covered sections to safeguard vital parts, and people, from heat exposure.

Being an excellent conductor of electricity, gold is used increasingly in miniature electronic circuits, computers and in underwater communication systems.

Because gold is germ free and stable it is used in dentistry to repair and replace teeth. If you have a gold filling, it is part of an estimated 75 tons of gold used each year to fill the gaps in smiles. In medicine, gold has been administered internally to protect vital body parts during radiation treatment. Though still in an embryonic stage, gold has been used in arthritis treatment, cancer therapy and surgical repair work.

Recent discoveries of gold in the Australian states have contributed heavily to the spread of gold fever. In the state of Victoria alone, the number of those holding miners’ rights has jumped from 3,500 to 25,000 in a year. Are you thinking of joining the gold rush of the 1980’s?

…

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Awake!, April 22, 1982