Information Related to "World News and Trends - Mar/Apr 2003"
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After Iraq, What Next? America Faces
a Dangerous World
 World News and Trends by John Ross Schroeder A Christian Europe? Former French president Valery Giscard d'Estaing is in the process of drafting a new constitution for the European Union (EU). Pope John Paul II and Vatican diplomats are pressuring EU officials to include Europe's Christian roots in the preamble. In previous years the pope has envisioned a European Christian superstate stretching from the Atlantic to the Urals. But few observers expect the current lobbying to succeed due primarily to everincreasing European secularism-and secondarily to multiculturalism that now includes other faiths such as Islam. Muslim Turkey is actively seeking EU membership. Given these stubborn obstacles, deciding on the exact wording of a constitutional religious reference will prove to be an arduous task indeed. German conservative member of the European Parliament (MEP) Joachim Würmeling submitted a provisional sentence which reads: "The union values shall include the values of those who believe in God as the source of truth, justice, good and beauty as well as those who do not share such a belief but respect these universal values arising from other sources." There is no way this compromise statement, not even mentioning the name Christian, will ever please the Roman Catholic Church. Nor, for that matter, will it engage the minds of unbelievers. Keith Wood, director of the National Secular Society, recently stated: "A very large proportion of the European population is non-religious.We view with concern the influence of religion in the internal workings of the EU." Europe's present direction is clearly secular. However, the Bible tells us of a rapid reversal in this ongoing trend when the time becomes right. The book of Revelation describes a future period when a dominant religion that calls itself Christian will hold sway over the governmental systems of Europe. At that time stunning miracles will transform gullible masses into willing worshipers of a charismatic leader who dares to stand in the place of God. Having had little or no background in solid biblical teachings, and unaware of these prophesied events, most people will easily fall prey to many insidious religious deceptions. You need to read and study the book of Revelation. It provides an overview of end-time prophecy. As a helpful guide, we also recommend that you request our free booklet The Book of Revelation Unveiled.(Sources: United Press International, The European Observer.) Extramarital affairs becoming more commonplace Sarah Womack, social-affairs correspondent of The Daily Telegraph, stated that "divorce rates (in England and Wales) rose last year for the first time in five years, leaving an additional 147,000 children (each) with a single parent." Divorcing adults often selfishly don't think of the effects their divorcing will have on their children. Let's face it.Although there can be many reasons for divorce, the main one is and has always been unfaithfulness to a marriage partner. Western attitudes toward adultery are not that encouraging. A major feature article in The Sunday Times revealed that "up to 55 percent of people have an affair at some time in their lives . . . One in 10 men admit to an affair in the past five years . . . For men in London the average number of sexual partners over a lifetime has jumped from 12.2 in 1990 to 15.5 in 2000." Statistics about women showed a similar increase.
Of course, affairs don't always result in divorce.The article stated that "new research suggests people are becoming more tolerant of straying spouses and brief affairs.What matters more, they say, is 'emotional infi- delity.'"Genuine repentance by the offender followed by true forgiveness on the part of the offended is commendable. But in the long run so-called tolerance (mutual or otherwise) of adulterous behavior can lead only to more misery and unhappiness. Perhaps the most disturbing statement in the article was this:"American studies have shown that religious people disapprove of affairs more strongly than others-but have just as many of them." Such blatant hypocrisy is shameful and embarrassing.The apostle Paul wrote:"Awake to righteousness, and do not sin; for some do not have the knowledge of God. I speak this to your shame" (1Corinthians 15:34). To better understand why God condemns any sexual relationships outside of marriage, please write for our free booklet The Ten Commandments. (Sources: The Sunday Times, The Daily Telegraph.) College faculties left-leaning American colleges and universities pride themselves on diversity and don't hesitate to tout it. So it's somewhat surprising that, when it comes to the political leaning of their instructors, those same institutions are anything but diverse. Findings from a recent national study of political party affiliations of faculty members at 21 top-name institutions were stunning in the lack of diversity and near-uniform liberal leaning among those who shape the thinking of America's young adults. What were some of the numbers? At Harvard, only 4 percent of the faculty were from conservative parties; at Cornell, 3 percent; Brown University, 5 percent; Penn State, 17 percent; Stanford University, 11 percent; the University of Colorado-Boulder, 4 percent; UCLA in Los Angeles, 6 percent; and at the University of California-Santa Barbara, 1 percent. In many university departments such as English,history, sociology, political science and economics, researchers found only one or no conservative-leaning faculty members compared to several dozen on the left. Many American parents, concerned about the education their sons and daughters will receive when they send them off to college, have to ask the question: Are these really institutions of higher learning, or of ideological programming? (Sources: American Enterprise magazine, Capitalism magazine, The Christian Science Monitor.) Removing the Ten Commandments The entrance to the Alabama Supreme Court is graced by the presence of a huge stone monument displaying the shortened but still correct version of the Ten Commandments. Recently a federal judge ordered the removal of this 5,280-pound monument which, ironically, had been installed by the chief justice of the Alabama Supreme Court. The federal judge who ordered its removal described the monument as "an obtrusive display intended to proselytise on behalf of that particular religion." The monument was paid for with private funds and also bears inscriptions with quotes from famous historical figures and documents such as the Declaration of Independence.The removal order is currently on hold while the decision is being appealed. Our multicultural age does not necessarily favor the faith of our fathers. Also the rival forces of Christianity and secularism continually clash in American life. Some judges still consider the Ten Commandments to be the moral foundation of American law, which indeed they are. While Christians are encouraged to write God's law in their hearts through the power of God's Spirit, a physical display also reminds us of the existence of this unique moral code of conduct given directly by our Creator. To better understand this crucial set of laws, request our free booklet The Ten Commandments. (Source: The Daily Telegraph (London).) Moral guidance from the United Nations? Some British politicians and Anglican Church bishops aggressively take the position that without an official UN seal of approval, any Anglo- American war with Iraq would be immoral. Other leading politicians from Germany and France (and even some in the United States) insist that the UN must first validate the legitimacy of any American conflict with Iraq. Veteran British journalist and war correspondent Ann Leslie minces no words with her frank rejoinder. "How can we take any moral guidance from a body as venal, corrupt and self-serving as the UN?" She points out that the United Nations is a political body composed of countries, "a goodly portion of which are run by murderous dictatorships." Libya is a case in point. That nation's undemocratic leaders routinely deal with political dissenters by beatings, hangings by the wrists, electric shocks, encounters with raging dogs, threatening and abusing family members of the accused and the like. Moreover in 1999 the UN's own "Special Rapporteur on Torture" issued a damning report on Libya's human rights record. And yet the UN unashamedly voted to award its presidency of the Human Rights Commission to Libya. Typically, one of Libyan dictator Gadhafi's diplomats responded, "By this appointment the UN has demonstrated to the world that our human rights record is exemplary." Perhaps we shouldn't expect more from a commission that includes in its members such noted serial human-rights abusers as China, Cuba, Sudan and Syria. And, lest we forget, the United States was voted off the commission in 2001, though it was later reinstated. To add to this absurdity, Iraq was chosen to chair the upcoming UN disarmament conference May 12-June 27. Yes, Iraq-the very nation that has invaded four of its neighbors in recent decades and repeatedly defied various UN resolutions calling on it to destroy its weapons of mass destruction as it agreed to do after its defeat in the 1991 Gulf War. The cochair of the conference? None other than Iran, which is aggressively pursuing its own weapons of mass destruction. In practice the United Nations views all member states as if they had equal moral standing. Interestingly, Libya was elected to this office by a commission vote of 33-3 with some abstentions. Noted American journalist and columnist Charles Krauthammer observed:"They (the UN) will now welcome a one-party police state-which specializes in abduction, assassination, torture and detention without trial-to the chair of the United Nations' highest body charged with defending human rights." In summing up the Iraqi situation, he concluded: "The United Nations is on the verge of demonstrating finally and fatally its moral bankruptcy and its strategic irrelevance." Ann Leslie adds: "It (the UN) is not a body from which we should take moral or even, indeed, legal guidance." (Sources: The Daily Mail (London), News and Opinion.com.) Religion more important to Americans The Pew Research Center in Paris recently reported that Americans say that their religion plays a more significant role in their lives than in any other wealthy country. This particular Pew survey, conducted in 44 nations, showed that 6 in 10 U.S. citizens described religion as being very important in their lives. By comparison, even in Roman Catholic Italy fewer than 3 in 10 considered religion as personally significant.This is typical of secular Europe. However important religious beliefs are to a country, to be truly effective they must be reflected in right ethical behavior.(Source: International Herald Tribune.)
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