Information Related to "World News and Prophecy - Nov 1999"
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World News and Prophecy
NOVEMBER 1999
by Paul Kieffer
From Father Knows Best to "No Father Is Best"
by Cecil E. Maranville 4
The Population Bomb Keeps Ticking Away
by Mario Seiglie
Global Power Shifts-Not All Change Is Good
by Rod Hall
Review of The Abolition of Britain
by John Ross Schroeder
by Peter Eddington, Darris McNeely, Cecil Maranville, John Ross Schroeder
This Is the Way...
"Neither Shall They Learn War Anymore"
by Robin Webber
BOX:
The United Church of God provides World News and Prophecy (WNP) as an educational service for interested persons. The purpose of WNP is to help readers discern the times and increase their awareness and understanding of current events in the light of Bible prophecy. Although the staff strives for truth and accuracy in its reporting, analysis, and Bible commentary, WNP is not a doctrinal publication. Articles do undergo both an editorial and a review process.
Ten Years After the Wall Came Tumbling Down
Chancellor Schröder provided the first reminder on a visit to Budapest. Chancellor Schröder personally thanked the Hungarian government for Hungary's courageous act of opening its western border with Austria in the summer of 1989. Hundreds of East Germany's citizens made use of the hole in the Iron Curtain to travel to Austria and from there to Germany. The opening of Hungary's border led to more East Germans traveling to Hungary and to Czechoslovakia, where dozens of people sought refuge in the German embassy in Prague. After successful negotiations with the Czech government, West German foreign minister Hans-Dietrich Genscher traveled to Prague to announce to the refugees in the embassy compound that they would be permitted to emigrate to West Germany. Before he could finish reading his statement, loud cheering from the assembled refugees drowned his words out.
These events in the summer of 1989 sealed East Germany's fate. In thanking the Hungarian government, Chancellor Schröder emphasized that German unification would not have been possible without the opening of Hungary's border to the West. Without a secure border to the West in other Eastern European countries, East Germany faced the choice of prohibiting its citizens from traveling anywhere at all or capitulating to the new reality created by Hungary's decision.
The other reminder was a much less joyous occasion. In September Raisa Gorbachev, the wife of former Soviet Premier Mikhail Gorbachev, died of leukemia after having been treated unsuccessfully at a clinic in Germany. Her funeral in Moscow was a reunion of three key players involved in the agreement to allow the unification of Germany: Hans-Dietrich Genscher (Germany's foreign minister at the time), Mikhail Gorbachev and Helmut Kohl. Concerned about the possibility of political instability in a post-Gorbachev Russia, Chancellor Kohl sought Mr. Gorbachev's approval for German unification during a visit to the Soviet Union in the summer of 1990. During a walk in the Caucasus Mountains, Mr. Gorbachev agreed to Mr. Kohl's request.
The final unification of the two German states was a foregone conclusion from the day that the Berlin Wall was opened on November 9, 1989. In the early evening East German television broadcast a live press conference at which a member of the ruling German Socialist Unity Party (SED) announced that effective immediately private visits to foreign countries would be permitted without any prerequisites. The announcement hit the wire services quickly and was given to members of West Germany's Bundestag, who were in evening session in Bonn at the time. Realizing the full impact of the announcement, the Bonn parliamentarians interrupted their session to gather around television sets. Shortly thereafter they spontaneously sang the German national anthem. Within a couple of hours the first East Germans had traveled through the Wall to visit West Berlin.
The opening of the Berlin Wall and the unification of Germany less than 11 months later electrified the German people. In the emotional high resulting from unification, the Bundestag voted to move the seat of government to Berlin. Chancellor Kohl promised economic prosperity for Germany's newest citizens and their homeland. His promise helped him to be reelected in 1990, although opposing politicians, including Oskar Lafontaine, emphasized the potential high cost of reunification and the creation of a viable economic infrastructure for Eastern Germany. Their cautions were ignored at the time.
Despite the massive spending in Eastern Germany, resulting in a clearly visible improvement in Eastern Germany's overall appearance, unemployment remains higher than in the western part of the country. A population drain has set in as young people move west to seek better opportunities for economic advancement. The promise of prosperity for the former citizens of East Germany has not been fulfilled, although many would agree that their economic situation has improved since 1989.
As a result, a sense of disillusionment has been evident in the eastern half of the country. Nostalgia for the old days is rekindled occasionally as products from the East Germany era are remarketed. It is an understandable reaction, because the former citizens have lost their country and many do not yet feel fully "at home" in their new environment. This may be a partial explanation for the higher occurrence of radical right-wing incidents in the eastern half of the country in recent years, although, as a whole, they do not convey an accurate picture of the overall contemporary German mindset. (In this year's state elections, right-wing parties have lost votes.)
Disillusionment has not only been evident in the eastern half of the country. Germans in the western half are tired of the higher tax burden they have had to shoulder to pay for unification. The cost of moving government ministries to Berlin, originally estimated to be 20 billion marks, has been questioned repeatedly.
In a survey commissioned in September by the magazine Stern, 20 percent of West Germans voiced their desire to see the Berlin Wall rebuilt. Even more surprising was the 14 percent result for the East Germans surveyed. It is this kind of attitude that has led many prominent Germans to call for an end to the "division of Germany in the mind."
Kurt Masur, who is originally from the former East Germany and is currently the conductor of the New York Philharmonic, said on the occasion of the 10th anniversary of the opening of the Berlin Wall: "We have to listen to each other more, we have to learn to respect each other." Masur, already a renowned conductor in 1989, is credited with having intervened with church and Communist Party officials in the fall of 1989 to prevent the use of force to quell peaceful demonstrations against East Germany's political leadership.
Another possibility for speeding the mental unification of Germany would be the need to respond to a crisis. The worst flooding in a century along the Oder River on the German-Polish border in 1997 caused an outpouring of sympathy and active support to help the people affected by the flooding. Hundreds of volunteers from all over Germany helped to build dikes, evacuate threatened towns and villages and provide food and shelter for displaced flooding victims.
Another possible scenario would be a response to an external threat or challenge. Americans might be reminded of the Spanish-American War in 1898, which provided an opportunity for a country once divided by its Civil War to face a common enemy.
Ten years after the opening of the Berlin Wall, Germany is united politically, but much work remains to be done to heal the internal breach caused by nearly 50 years of separation. v
From Father Knows Best to "No Father Is Best"
The American Psychologist, journal of the American Psychological Association (APA), ran as its lead in the June 1999 issue an article titled "Deconstructing the Essential Father" in which the authors argued that fathers are really nonessential.
Psychologist Wade Horn, in his Washington Times column of July 6, 1999, properly takes issue with the APA's shocking reasoning and bizarre conclusion. "The authors begin their first argument by stating that their 'research experience has led us to conceptualize fathering in the way that is very different from the neoconservative (Read: anyone who thinks fathers matter-Dr. Horn's comment) perspective.'
"While acknowledging that 'the presence of a father may have positive effects on the well-being of boys,' two paragraphs later the authors come to the stunning conclusion that 'Öthe empirical literature does not support the idea that fathers make a unique and essential contribution to child development.'"
The premise of the APA article appears to be that many of today's fathers do such a poor job at fathering that their children would be better off if they were absent from the children's lives!
"The authors warned, for example, of 'the potential costs of father presence,' and especially their propensity to fritter away family resources on 'gambling, purchasing alcohol, cigarettes, or other nonessential commodities' thereby 'actually increasing women's workload and stress level.'"
What is so wrong with the "normal home" of the Father Knows Best era? The parents of today's parents were born and raised in that environment. Why haven't the values of yesterday been passed along to the present generation of parents? Should "normal" be redefined to suit today's world? Or should today's world seek to redefine itself?
Joseph A. Califano says it's the latter. Califano, a former Secretary of Health, Education and Welfare, is now president of the National Center of Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University. His group, like the psychologists mentioned above, found that a teenager who has a poor relationship with his father in a two-parent household is at a higher risk for smoking, drinking and illegal drug use than one with a strong relationship with a single mother.
But his group's study went further and reached a different conclusion. It found that fathers are irreplaceable in helping children to become and stay drug-free.
"We want fathers to wake up tomorrow morning, whether their kid is three years old or is 17 years old," said Califano. "Parent power (fathers and mothers working together) is the most important weapon we have in dealing with substance abuse with our children. This problem is going to be solved across the kitchen table (meaning in a normal home situation in which the family eats together and talks together)" ("Relationship With Fathers Affects Teens Use of Drugs, Study Finds" by William P. Bulletin, Chicago Tribune, August 31, 1999).
"Every father should look in the mirror and say, 'How often do I eat meals with my children?'" Califano declared.
Gurian attributes this discouraging phenomenon to the breakdown of family, which he defines as a threefold system: the nuclear, expanded and communal family. He notes that our modern society causes us to end up "with kids being raised with one parent, no extended family, and going to a school with 2,500 kids. That means less chance for moral development" ("Mapping the Journey from Boy to Man," by Brad Knickerbocker, The Christian Science Monitor, October 13, 1999).
"Boys are really hungry for male attention. That's primal, and that's natural. I find it in every culture. As a boy hits puberty, he starts looking to men, and it's the culture's job to provide him with men. That means his dad, but it doesn't just mean his dad.
"A boy can become a male adult, physically and socially, but he isn't a man until he has become loving, wise, and responsible" (ibid.).
In response to the interviewer's question, "What is needed for boys to become good sons and eventually good men?" Gurian cited four things. We quote two for the purpose of this article.
"No. 1 is the bond or attachment between the primary caregiver and her son-I say ' her' because it's generally the mom. We would cut down on a lot of (school shootings) if in the first two years of life we had better attachment between our infant boys and their caregivers.
"ÖNo. 3 would be the dad. All sorts of studies show us what happens when a boy is not attached to his dad, how he's more likely to live in poverty, more likely to end up in jail, do drugs, and so on. So we just have to say, 'Look, if we want moral sons we've got to have fathers.' And by father I also mean the 'second father,' Öan uncle or a grandfather."
"It is said that the best thing a father can do for his daughter is to love her mother," noted Kathleen Parker in The Orlando Sentinel. "A girl lucky enough to observe her 'first man' (her father) demonstrating affection and respect for the woman with whom she most strongly identifies (her mother) grows up with confidence and high self-esteem. More likely than not, she'll set her standards high when seeking her own mate.
"Now, new research published in the August issue of the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology suggests that there's more fathers can do: Be there" ("A Father's Best Gift? His Presence," October 3, 1999).
The research found that girls who had fathers as active caregivers entered puberty later in life, and therefore were slower to develop sexual interests-and attendant problems. "Apparently, girls' biological clocks are tuned not only to their physical environment but to the emotional atmosphere as well" (ibid.).
It is good for children, sons and daughters alike, to have fathers!
That is not to ignore the reality of our present, sick and dysfunctional society. Fathers who are cruel, abusive, immature and selfish do serious harm to the development of their children. But the solution is not to excise the fathers from the lives of their children.
Fathers need to be godly men, aware of their profound responsibility to their children, and to conduct themselves accordingly.
"And you, fathers, do not provoke your children to wrath, but bring them up in the training and admonition of the Lord. Fathers, do not provoke your children, lest they become discouraged" (Ephesians 6:4; Colossians 3:21).
The fact that it was necessary to inspire this instruction tells us that adult males are not inherently "nurturing fathers," but rather that they need to choose to become such. And further, we-our whole society-need to train boys from the time they're young in the qualities of fatherhood. An invaluable part of that training, of course, is regular contact with nurturing adult males-above all others, their own fathers.
There is, however, a proven solution-one that is studiously avoided by many professionals because they are so used to distancing themselves from the words that God has spoken. That is, by the way, also the reason why today's parents have not absorbed the values more commonly embraced by the past generation. Somewhere along the way, people decided to go it without God-the God of the Bible.
A prophecy of a world so wretched that God warns He may be forced to eradicate it entirely enjoins us to "remember the law of Moses, My servant" (Malachi 4:4). A key component of that law, of course, is to "honor your father and your mother."
One cannot carve the position of father out of the home and think that he/she has "solved" the present crises assaulting our society. How naïve! How arrogant! How dangerous, considering the fact that the Creator finds it necessary to contemplate the destruction of a society that fails in its relationships between fathers and their children (Malachi 4:6).
Thankfully, the dark cloud of that prophecy has a silver lining, foretelling a spiritual work in the end time that will "turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers" (Malachi 4:6).
World News and Prophecy is pleased to have a part in it. v
The Population Bomb Keeps Ticking Away
Yet, looking at it from a historic and prophetic point of view, crossing the six billion mark is more a cause for concern and alarm than for celebration. With this dubious "record" in mind, it seems a good time to pause and consider the negative impact this current population explosion is having on planet earth.
According to population experts, it has taken almost 2,000 years for the world population to slowly rise from an estimated 250 million at the time of Christ to a billion and a half at the beginning of the 20th century. Then, in just this century, the population truly exploded as it quadrupled in size and reached the mark of six billion. Despite advances in birth control, the world population is still burgeoning as the 21st century arrives.
A glimpse at the trend shows why we should be concerned. According to the U.N. Population Division, it took 123 years to get from one billion to two billion people. Yet, it took only 33 years to reach the three billion mark and 14 years to arrive at the four billion level. Next, it took only 13 years to reach five billion and now just 11 years later it crossed the six billion mark. From now on, it is estimated that one billion people will be added approximately every 10 years. Provided this growth rate of some 80 million new people per year continues, our present population will again double within 50 years.
What do these facts signify? Is the earth equipped to sustain this constant over-population without bringing dire consequences? Population experts consider an ideal population to be around two billion people, since this balances development with a healthy environment. Yet we have already reached triple that amount of people and continue to multiply at breakneck speeds. Even with a further slowdown in the birthrate, there are already so many billions of people today that, in a manner similar to the action of compound interest, the sheer momentum is causing the population to skyrocket.
Perhaps in the United States, Europe and Japan, where funds are available to curb the most damaging effects of the rise in population, there is not as much concern. But then again, these nations comprise less than a sixth of the world's inhabitants. The rest of the world is in a far sorrier condition.
Peter Raven, director of the Missouri Botanical Gardens, is so concerned with the damage being done to the earth, that he compares this destruction to the five previous massive catastrophes that appear in the fossil record. Dr. Raven believes that if this latest one continues to develop, "the sixth mass extinction of living organisms will be brought about by people, by a mushrooming population that has doubled in 40 years, to six billion, and by human carelessness and commerce" (Time, April 26, 1999, p. 33).
In 1950, Europe had a population three times that of Africa, while today Africa, with almost a billion people, has three times as many people as Europe. "Such growth," says Joseph Chamie, the U.N.'s chief demographer, "is simply beyond the carrying capacity of an already beleaguered continent" (Newsweek, May 3, 1999, p. 2).
Unfortunately, the population explosion is not only a problem of quantity, but of quality of life-due to different living standards. While the birth rate in industrialized countries has plummeted, in less developed regions it remains quite high. Alarmingly, it is estimated that over 95 percent of the future population growth will take place in the world's 130 poorest countries. Already, one-fourth of the earth's inhabitants live with less than a dollar a day and yet this group is part of the population that is multiplying exponentially.
In the meantime, the voracious nature of an industrialized world on the one hand, and an impoverished one on the other, is rapidly depleting the earth's vital resources. Ola Ullsten, former Swedish prime minister and head of the World Commission on Forests and Sustainable Development, recently said that in the past 20 years alone, forests have disappeared in 25 countries, and another 18 have lost more than 95 percent of their tree cover. Just before World War II, there were an estimated 60 billion hectares of forest; now there are barely 3.6 billion globally. The causes? Logging, indiscriminate cutting for firewood and desertification (Newsweek, op. cit. p. 2).
As the population grows, it strains the human relations within cities and even between nations. More crime, violence and disease will invariably appear as people are increasingly forced to live in more cramped and unhealthy quarters. According to 1990 U.N. statistics, Tokyo was the most populous city in the world with 25 million, followed by New York City with 16 million. But in the next 15 years, the U.N. calculates the largest cities will be in the poorer nations. Those cities include Bombay with 28 million, Lagos with 24 million, Shanghai with 23 million, and Mexico City and Sao Paulo with 20 million each. Can impoverished nations continue to provide basic services and social peace as their resources dry up?
Unfortunately, one thing that is not diminishing is worldwide investment in military hardware. Explains Pranay Gupter, editor of The Earth Times, "The industrialized world's investment in sustainable economic and social advancement in underprivileged states was at an all-time low-barely $45 billion a year. In contrast, global expenditure on weapons touched almost $1 trillion" (Newsweek, op. cit. p. 2).
As the population soars, future leaders could be tempted to justify their invasion of neighboring countries with a similar rationale. This is presently happening on a smaller scale to a weakened Russia. "In the far east," writes Igor Malashenko for Newsweek, "massive numbers of illegal immigrants from China are pouring into depopulated regions of neighboring Russia. The future territorial integrity of Russia cannot be taken for granted" (Newsweek, October 4, 1999). This Russian weakness could be a source of future wars, as the struggle for space and resources becomes more critical.
"And I heard a voice from the four horns of the golden altar which is before God, saying to the sixth angel who had the trumpet, 'Release the four angels who are bound at the great river Euphrates. So the four angels, who had been prepared for the hour and day and month and year, were released to kill a third of mankind. Now the number of the army of the horsemen was two hundred million. I heard the number of them..." (Revelation 9:13-16).
In order for this prophecy to come to pass, there must exist billions of people, since just this part of Asia will enlist 200 million able-bodied soldiers. Until the latter part of the 20th century, Chinese and other Asian people could not muster even half that number, but now for the first time in history, they can easily provide this immense figure.
Also, as world population multiplied in the 20th century, so did the explosion of knowledge, made possible by improved communications, global travel and shared technology. More than ever before, this modern society fulfills the prophecy given to Daniel by God, "But you, Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book until the time of the end; many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall increase" (Daniel 12:4).
We now take for granted such things as international travel and the knowledge explosion, but these have only been around during the latter part of the 20th century.
In Noah's day, people were caught off guard by God's judgment, in spite of His warning through Noah's preaching. The Bible says the earth was full of violence and corruption in Noah's day, which was the reason God brought about the Flood. "Meanwhile, the crime rate was rising rapidly across the earth, and, as seen by God, the world was rotten to the core. As God observed how bad it was, and saw that all mankind was vicious and depraved, he said to Noah, 'I have decided to destroy all mankind; for the earth is filled with crime because of man'" (The Living Bible, paraphrase of Genesis 6:11-12).
Another condition mentioned about Noah's day was a notable rise in world population. "Now it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth..." (Genesis 6:1). The paraphrase in The Living Bible captures the sense of the verse: "Now a population explosion took place upon the earth..." (Genesis 6:1). The population explosion was clearly linked to the fact that the earth became literally "filled with violence" (Genesis 6:11).
Christ's prediction that end-time conditions will be similar to those of Noah's time certainly does fit the description of our days-although we don't know exactly how long God in His patience will permit time to go on before He intervenes decisively.
As the population of impoverished nations continues to explode, men could react in two ways. First, there will be those who want to control the earth's population by any means possible, including war and ethnic cleansing. Secondly, as the population of third world nations explodes, their leaders will be pressured to invade their neighbor's land in an attempt to feed their people. Both scenarios point toward the time of the opening of the seven seals of the book of Revelation. There will be war, famine, pestilence and millions will die.
Yes, it is certainly significant that the sixth billionth person was born at the close of this 20th century. But instead of thinking this a great feat, we should consider it to be an alarming sign that world population has gotten out of hand. This uncontrollable population explosion could help usher in the prophesied end-time scenario and with it, the true solutions to this troubled world that only a merciful God can bring. v
Global Power Shifts-Not All Change Is Good
As it has become easier and cheaper to move goods from one place to another, the lingering belief in national self-sufficiency has weakened. Almost every country now buys from abroad a larger proportion of what it consumes than it did 50 years ago and a far bigger share of the world's capital is owned by multinational companies, operating freely across national borders.
With this economic revolution comes a more united yet unstable world. William Greider in his book One World Ready or Not summarizes our rush to economic change. "Economic revolution, similar to the impulse of political revolution, liberates masses of people and at the same time projects new aspects of tyranny. Old worlds are destroyed and new ones emerge. The past is up-ended and new social values are created alongside the fabulous new wealth" (1997, p. 11).
While Greider urges individual nations to strive to regain some of their economic control, he also realizes this is unlikely. "Economic difficulties are immense, but the real question involved in stabilizing the globalized financial system is about political power. Who shall govern these important matters, governments or private markets? Finance capital wants government to get out of the way and let the markets rule, but global capital needs old-fashioned national governments much more than it acknowledges. If the nation-state loses its authority to govern, who will protect the sanctity of property rights or rescue capital owners in a market crisis? Without trustworthy national governments, who will issue money that people can trustÖ? Governments, in essence, must reclaim the governing obligations of the nation-state from private marketsÖ. But it is the major governments, of course, that are as yet unwilling to consider any measure to moderate the effects of financial liberalization" (ibid., pp. 256, 317, 319).
Today, smart bombs, intercontinental ballistic missiles, submarines and long-range bombers, can all deliver powerful conventional, nuclear, chemical or biological weapons across borders anywhere in the world. At the push of a button a region in a sovereign country can erupt in war. Nations are searching for more effective ways to maintain the peace, relying on the United Nations and other international groups and associations for support.
The third technology-based challenge to the power of the old nation-state is the information revolution. People in different countries now have the means to know far more about each other. They can see news instantaneously, share cultures and enjoy international entertainment via television. Radio signals from neighboring regions can inform as well as share culturally specific music, ideas and interests. They can argue about politics or share information about their neighbors on the Internet or on ever-cheaper telephones and cell phones. As knowledge is more easily transmitted across borders, the distinctiveness of nations grows less sharply defined.
Greider summarizes the emerging new world order. "But the essence of what is forming now is an economic system of interdependence designed to ignore the prerogatives of nations, even the most powerful ones" (ibid., p. 17). A comment in The Economist article titled "The Shape of the World," captures the effects these rivulets of technological change have had on the nation-state. "The wondrous machine of global revolution is oscillating out of control, widening the arcs of social and economic instabilities in its wakeÖ. The nation-state is not what it used to be, ignored by the global money markets, condescended to by great multinational corporations, at the mercy of intercontinental missiles, the poor thing can only look back with nostalgia to its days of glory" (January 5, 1996, p. 17).
Charles Krauthammer, in a speech at the Manhattan Institute, said many foreign policy experts in high administration advisory positions are strong advocates of three principles that underlie many of the actions we see being made in America and other leading nations.
He cites internationalism, legalism and humanitarianism as having an especially strong impact on American foreign policy efforts over the last two presidential terms. "Taken together, these three reflect a vision of the world that is coherent, consistent, and dangerously at odds with the realities of the international system. It is truly a world imagined" (The New Republic, March 15, 1999, p. 22).
Internationalism is the belief in the moral, legal and strategic primacy of international institutions over mere national interests. Krauthammer foresees a problem with enforcement as international institutions take primacy over national interests. "The international arena is a state of nature with no enforcer and no universally recognized norms. Anarchy is kept in check, today as always, not by some hollow bureaucracy on the East River, but by the will and power of the Great Powers, and today, in particular, of the one great superpower" (ibid., p. 22).
Legalism is the belief that the sinews of stability are laws, treaties and binding international contracts that can domesticate the international arena. Therefore the main work of foreign policy is to sign pieces of parchment. "At root, the idea is to transcend power politics with a regulated system of agreements that creates new norms, obligations, and constraints on the behavior of otherwise lawless nationsÖ. But this is hopelessly utopian. The basic difference between the international system and domestic society is that in domestic society there exists a monopoly of the means of coercion, an enforcer, a sovereign. There is generally also a preexisting community of norms" (ibid., p. 23).
James Hirsen, Ph.D., in his book The Coming Collision-Global Law vs. U.S. Liberties, indicates that the intricate web of international agreements currently being woven will change existing norms and affect our personal liberties. "Because international law activity takes place on the global stage, it seems very distant from matters that typically concern most people in their daily lives. International law generally manifests itself in the form of treaties. Most people think that treaties deal exclusively with relations among nations. Yet the treaties that are being crafted by internationalists deal specifically with some of the most intimate and private details of our existence, including family relationships, public education, and religious beliefs" (1999, p. 9).
Humanitarianism is the belief that the primary world role of the leading nations of the world is, to quote Madeleine Albright upon her swearing-in as ambassador to the United Nations, "to terminate the abominable injustices and conditions that still plague civilization."
In private conduct, altruism is the ideal. However, for nations living among aggressive, powerful potential foes it can be disastrous, Krauthammer says. "Nations are not individuals. They live in a state of nature with no higher authority to protect them. If they do not protect themselves, they die. Ignoring one's interests, reacting in fits of altruism, is an invitation to a ruinous squandering of blood and treasureÖ. But what holds the international arena together-what keeps it from degenerating into total anarchy-is not a central authority, not the phony security of treaties, and not the best of goodwill among the nicer nations. What stability we do enjoy is owed to the overwhelming power and deterrent threat of a superpower like the United States that defines international stability as a national interest" (op. cit., The New Republic, p. 25).
God has from the very beginning opposed human efforts to unite into one global community based on mankind's flawed reasoning (Genesis 11:1-9).
One of the main reasons God set up nation-states by family lines is to avoid the massive fighting and destruction that would be the result of man left to his own devices. Globalism is having the same effect today as it did thousands of years ago. "Indeed the people are one and they all have one language, and this is what they begin to do; now nothing that they propose to do will be withheld from them" (Genesis 11:6). But God will intervene before humanity destroys itself. The kingdoms of this world will become the kingdoms of God, Christ and the saints, with true peace and prosperity (Revelation 11:15; 5:10). In the meantime we need to be doing the Work of God, watching and praying so these things will not come upon us as a thief in the night (Matthew 24:42-46). v
Review of
The Abolition of Britain
At the time of Sir Winston Churchill's death in January of 1965, "93% of British marriages, including Churchill's own, endured to the grave." Now the United Kingdom's divorce rate leads all of Europe, and the British easily outdistance their nearest European rivals in the number of illegitimate children. Very questionable distinctions.
At the time of writing this review, the press reported a 26-year-old who is now a grandmother. Her 12-year-old daughter recently gave birth. Apparently the grandmother's ex-boyfriend is the father.
The efficacy of the Anglican Church itself depends upon stable families and lasting marriages to pass on its faith and traditions. As one famous British novelist wrote during the mid-1930s (quoted by Hitchens): "Making marriage in any serious degree unstable, dissoluble, destroys the permanency of marriage, and the church falls. Witness the enormous decline in the Church of England (this was back in the '30s-a drop in the bucket when compared to present conditions). The reason being that the church is established upon the element of union in mankindÖ. The marriage-tie, the marriage-bond, take it which way you like, is the fundamental link in Christian society. Break it, and you will have to go back to the overwhelming dominance of the State."
The decline of the Anglican Church has been the subject of many a crisis-charged meeting within its own bureaucracy. No official attendance figures have been released within the last few years. It is greatly feared that the numbers may have dropped below one million for the first time in its long history. Observers say that some "creative accounting" appears to be necessary.
"Charles Darwin's theory of evolution has provided a popular scientific theory which allows millions to expel God from the world. A world without God meant no punishment for sin, and therefore no sin. This was an attractive idea to many, in an age where man appeared to be about to do everything and overcome anything.
"If the physical world had limitless possibilities, why should human behaviour be limited by dusty and unwelcome prescriptions from ancient times? While the church absorbed this blow, the bishops lost their grip on the schools, one of their few (remaining) strongholds, as the state began its long and successful takeover of education."
Anglican Church leaders at the very highest level continually question the most basic beliefs in the Bible. This increases skepticism in the public about what the Anglican Church does believe about the most basic of Bible teachings.
Peter Hitchens writes intelligently about many more subjects than coverage in this short review could allow: the further threat of devolution or transfer of governmental power from London to Scotland and Wales, the influence of American culture (good and bad), the decline in sexual morality, the dumbing-down influence of television, etc.
The author may not be right about everything, but his views are well worth considering given our own very firm concerns about sharply declining values and standards in the Western world (Ezekiel 9:4). v
In Brief...
The canal has been a vital sea link for the United States, saving military and commercial ships the long trek around Cape Horn. More than 15 percent of goods imported into and exported out of the U.S. pass through the canal.
A major concern over continued free access to the canal comes from the fact that Panama has granted a Chinese company, Hutchison Whampoa, Ltd., a 25-year concession to operate the Atlantic and Pacific entrances. Because Hutchison has ties to the Chinese Communist Party it is feared this important waterway could come under the control of China. American leaders fear that U.S. naval ships could be denied access to the canal at a time of international crisis (Forbes, October 4, 1999).
Most alarming is the recent emergence of Jorg Haider's Freedom Party as the second largest political force in the Austrian legislature. He is known for his pro-Nazi pronouncements and qualified praise of Hitler. More recently, Haider has been in London trying to silence alarm bells in the West in reaction to his controversial statements about the Third Reich. The response in Israel was immediate. Jerusalem threatened to sever diplomatic relations with Austria if Jorg Haider is permitted to join the coalition government.
Three weeks after Austrian voters had boosted the ultra right, neighboring Switzerland seems set to follow suit. Polls show that Christopher Blocher's extreme Swiss People's Party is likely to finish second in upcoming elections, which would place him in a position to play a significant role in a future coalition government. He is known for his highly controversial views about the Holocaust.
Perhaps much less serious is the case of Emin Xhinovci, a fierce fighter with the recently disbanded Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA). He recently opened a bar in Mitrovice, Northern Kosovo known as the Pizzeria Hitleri complete with a prominent swastika, which French NATO troops promptly removed. Coupled with his pro-Nazi pronouncements, Xhinovci has attracted attention by deliberately enhancing his physical likeness to Adolph Hitler. Reporters say general reaction by international authorities has been weak and muted (The Guardian, Sunday Times, Sunday Telegraph, Independent on Sunday, Daily Mail, all London).
"Jerusalem is for us occupied Palestinian land," said the king, but without specifying whether he was referring to the city as a whole or its Arab eastern sector. "It is regarded as the same as any other occupied Palestinian land and we are backing our Palestinian brothers to enable them to regain their complete rights concerning this issue," he said in an interview with the London-based Lebanese weekly Al-Hawadeth.
Jerusalem's status is one of the thorniest issues left in the peace process between Israelis and Palestinians (September 15, 1999: The News Channel).
Income on the farm is said to have plunged 75 percent in the last three years. Soon hundreds of rural communities could become ghost towns and the farms transformed into caravan (trailer) sites and theme parks.
Overproduction and the cessation of substantial European Union subsidies are the main culprits. Inevitably farms will be lost to families. As Nick Read, Head of Rural Stress Information, recently reported: "The situation is catastrophic and people who have been around for a long time say that the only comparison they can make is the thirties."
The possible long-term significance of these recent developments should not be lost on us. In a future national crisis, a country may need all of her agricultural lands, particularly if the nation is subjugated and starving (The Independent, The Independent on Sunday, Daily Mail, all London).
Yet the poll also found that the measures made the teenagers feel safer. Overall, 45 percent believed their school was safe or extremely safe and 42 percent characterized it as somewhat safe.
Israel has a water problem. No country can physically exist without sufficient supply of this most vital liquid, and Israel is no exception. Located on the fringe of a desert, Israel is almost wholly dependent on seasonal rainfall for her water supply. Rarely do Israelis experience rainfall outside of a five-month winter season from November through March.
Moreover, Israel has a growing population that maintains a modest level of Western standard of living, where water (for bathing regularly, drinking freely, etc.) is not considered a luxury. Nonetheless, it shouldn't be assumed that Israeli water consumption is extravagant; by Western standards, it is low. Recent figures show that Israeli average annual per capita municipal consumption is less than half of that of domestic consumption in Southern California, for example-a region with similar climatic conditions (Arutz-7 Net Editor, October 8, 1999).
Starmer's colleagues Scott Rogers and John Castello had earlier found ToMV in clouds and fog. The virus can survive in such environments because it belongs to a family with particularly tough protein coats. "Since it's widespread, moves in the atmosphere and is very stable, we deduced that we would find it in the Arctic ice," says Rogers. The team says that a brief rise in temperature could unleash the entombed viruses. "The ice is melting constantly around the poles," says Rogers. If released, they could cause outbreaks of disease (New Scientist, by Matt Walker, September 4, 1999).
"In terms of microbes, borders are irrelevant, but they're more irrelevant than ever," said Dr. Steve Ostroff, acting deputy director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. "Things and people move from one country to another with a speed and frequency never before seen, and that's a trend that is just going to continue" (Chicago Tribune, by Stevenson Swanson, October 7, 1999).
The stunning fact is that where Africa has the Organization of African Unity, Asia has no regional security framework. Asia fantasized that they would never need one, that perpetual economic growth would keep politico-military uncertainty at bay. Asia has hit reality at APEC. Asia is a normal part of the world. The only number Asia used to care about was the growth rate. Now APEC has to focus on another number: the casualty rate (Stratfor.com, September 13, 1999).
Contributors: Peter Eddington, Darris McNeely, Cecil Maranville, John Ross Schroeder
This Is the Way...
These young and precious lives came to light in the article "Saving Sierra Leone's Ex-Child Soldiers" in the Los Angeles Times October 18, 1999. Times staff writer Ann M. Simmons paints a sobering picture of how children were "used up" by adults in the midst of a civil war and how a devastated society is trying to rehabilitate these "veterans" of war-the best they know how.
David's reaction? "'It was fun to be in the bush,' recalled the scrawny, deceptively reserved teenager with deep-set eyes, now unhappy living with his adoptive parents. 'I liked being a sergeant.'"
Sgt. David, as he was popularly known, is among thousands of children who either volunteered or were forced to join the ranks of the rebel army during this West African nation's eight-year civil war. But this portrait stretches far beyond the framework of one person or country. The United Nations says about 300,000 children under age 18 are serving as regular soldiers, guerrilla fighters, scouts, laborers, human shields and sex slaves in conflicts raging in over 50 countries.
Young Abibu recounts, "Sometimes we would kill some soldiers or capture their weapons." Remember, he's only 10 years old! His diet consisted of dog meat soup, wild snails and snakes, which most likely contributed to his bout with intestinal worms. The same rebels who killed his parents turned him into their pawn to do their bidding.
"In terms of child-soldiering, Sierra Leone is among the worst," said Olara Otunnu, U.N. special representative for children and armed conflict, after a recent visit to the nation. While some children, like David, volunteered to join the insurrection, others were kidnapped by rebels and forced to fight, kill and commit atrocities.
Last January alone, about 3,000 youngsters between the ages of 5 and 18 were reported missing during a rebel offensive against Freetown, the capital. Human rights officials maintain the children were kidnapped. Imagine these modern day Pied Pipers leading children off, not with flutes full of promises, but with machine guns full of terror.
We in the West are reared with such literature as David Copperfield and Anthony Adverse. But such Dickensian classics illustrating the grime, grit and woe of children during Britain's industrial revolution of the mid-1800s take a back seat to this outright demolition of the human spirit. These children were not simply hauling coal, but hauling bodies! It's both a crime against humanity and a sin against God.
The words of Christ keep ringing in my ears. "Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to sin, it would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck, and he were drowned in the depth of the sea. Woe to the world because of offenses! For offenses must come, but woe to that man by whom the offense comes!" (Matthew 18:6-7).
Make no mistake and consider deeply. God does not take lightly the mistreatment of children.
Regarding the re-integration of children warriors, social worker Roisin De Burca soberly observed that "the child that left is not the child who's coming back. They have a lot of baggage. Just saying, 'welcome back' is not enough."
What is to be done? Reporter Simmons fills in the details.
Arthur Tucker, a local social worker who counsels David and scores of others, echoed Amaning's concerns. "There is going to be so much trouble in Sierra Leone if these boys are not taken care of.Ö We need to get them to do something immediately."
These officials may not know that they are implementing a powerful biblical principle. "Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good" (Romans 12:21). God does not operate in a "vacuum of inaction" and neither can nations or individuals. Remember the old childhood chant of "out goes the bad air, in goes the good." Choking on the foul air of civil war, Sierra Leone is striving to do just that.
The country's infrastructure is a shambles. Education is a privilege. Employment is a luxury, even for adults. Local observers believe that education is key to saving their "lost young souls."
Simmons mentions the thoughts and frustrations of Paul Kamara, editor of For Di People, a Freetown daily, who tells it like it is. "The youth have been marginalized by successive governments. Education has been a privilege, not a right, and this created a youth body who, because they were illiterate, have been used on both sides of the divide."
Under terms of the new peace agreement, the new government is obliged to provide at least nine years of free and compulsory education.
The great Russian author Tolstoy long ago made an astute observation. He said, "Drain the blood from men's veins and put water in instead, and there will be no more war." He recognized that the problem lies deep within the nature of man!
Your Bible recognizes this as well. James 4:1-2 pinpoints the source of the problem. "Where do wars and fights come from among you? Do they not come from your desires for pleasure that war in your members? You lust and do not have. You murder and covet and cannot obtain. You fight and war."
James was just amplifying what Christ had initially taught His disciples. The Jewish religious community of His day was also sincerely involved in traditional scrubbings and cleansings. The object lesson this time was over utensils such as pitchers and cups. A lot of energy and time and, yes, education was devoted to this tradition-laden practice.
Concluding His lesson in Mark 7:21-23, Christ boldly proclaimed, "For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lewdness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness. All these evil things come from within and defile a man." Surface cleaning is simply not enough.
Beyond this time of woe, the good news is found in Isaiah 2:3-4. A marvelous training facility will draw people from around the world. An academy for world peace! An institution for human survival! Not a West Point, or a Sandhurst, or a jungle barracks in some far-off country. People are going to be "trained in peace." I truly believe there is going to be a disproportionately large number of children among them.
Are you preparing and planning, now, like the citizens of Sierra Leone? Another Sgt. David Samai and another "Short but Old," and countless others like them, will say, "'Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob; He will teach us His ways, and we shall walk in His paths.'Ö Neither shall they learn war anymore."
Meanwhile, a young lad in Sierra Leone named David, who for such a long time was bored and could only think of returning to "the bush," is now considering vocational car repair training. And the young man nicknamed "Short but Old," whose mother named him Abibu, is considering becoming a mechanical engineer one day. For now, especially after a civil war, there are more than a few cars to repair and a nation to rebuild.
In their own way the people of Sierra Leone, including David and Abibu, say to us: "This is the way. We've got to start somewhere, somehow, and our time is now." To the reading audience, our time is also now. Maybe we just need to be reminded of it. By the way, "Do you know where your child is tonight?" v
© 1999 United Church of God, an International Association
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