Insight on the News
Interest in the Supernatural
“The occult, the supernatural and the paranormal are big business,” says an article in U.S.News & World Report, “with people from all walks of life paying top dollar to consult with readers, seers and other self-proclaimed visionaries.” Among those mentioned are astrologers, psychics, spiritualists and others of the some 600,000 occult practitioners in the United States who charge fees of up to $300 for their advice. Millions of dollars are also spent on magazines, books, tapes and movies that deal with subjects that range “from astrology to witchcraft.” An estimated 30 million readers regularly consult newspaper horoscopes, with wide interest shown in conventions, lectures and fairs that deal with psychic matters. Witchcraft schools are said to abound, and there is even a marketed computer that produces astrological charts in seconds.
Why such interest in the supernatural? Among the reasons given are: “Fear of death, personal experience with premonitions and widespread treatment of the topic in books and films.” Many people are also drawn in by the “entertainment value” of the occult or are “sincere people for whom the paranormal amounts to a religion or a body of knowledge that is or will prove to be scientifically valid.”
The Bible, however, takes a very definite stand against any involvement in occult practices. People so involved were strictly condemned and uprooted from the ancient nation of Israel, “for everybody doing these things is something detestable to Jehovah.” (Deuteronomy 18:10-12) Likewise, Christians are warned to keep free from spiritism.—Galatians 5:19-21; Revelation 21:8.
‘Butchery in God’s Name’
“Religious Wars—around the world, butchery in the name of God.” Under this heading, Associated Press writer Charles J. Hanley states: “Moslem vs. Christian, Catholic against Protestant, Hindu vs. Buddhist—the cross and crescent fly once again among the emblems of battle. Sectarian conflict bloodies Belfast’s alleyways, Beirut’s streets, Sri Lanka’s village lanes.” He cites Moorhead Kennedy, executive director of New York’s Council for International Understanding, as saying that “religion is an underlying—and underestimated—element behind much of the world’s violence.” Kennedy further stated: “We’ve never really gotten over the Crusades.” One reason for this religious butchery, observes Kennedy, is the belief of some in reincarnation. Others believe that martyrdom “guarantees entrance to heaven,” while still others exalt a spirit of militarism.
At present, many do ‘underestimate’ the extent to which such religions are responsible for bloodshed in the earth. But the Bible shows that soon the nations will have had their fill of it and will turn on the entire global empire of false religion to destroy it. Only those who, as worshipers of Jehovah, have heeded his counsel to “seek peace and pursue it” will be delivered during the great tribulation that will then engulf mankind.—1 Peter 3:11; Revelation 17:1, 2, 16; 18:24.
Fruits of Evangelism
“After four centuries of determined missionary work by Catholic priests and nuns, nearly 70,000 Mixe Indians dwelling in the rugged Sierra Madre of southern Mexico are Christians—but in name only,” reports Canada’s Globe and Mail. “Their spiritual life remains a heady mixture of animal sacrifices, magical charms, divine mushrooms, buoyant dances, solemn processions and the consumption of mezcal, a cactus-based liquor, all united by a mystical, intimate bond with nature,” continues the report.
In contrast, Jehovah’s Witnesses in this region, as in all parts of the world, are teaching the people the Bible, which “holy writings . . . are able to make you wise for salvation.” (2 Timothy 3:14-17) Thus many of the Mixe Indians are abandoning the above-named superstitious practices and are responding to the Bible’s good news.