Watching the World
Railroad Is Forced to Backtrack
When a major railroad in Brazil instituted a new program to train its watchmen in the use of firearms, two of its employees faced a problem of conscience. As Jehovah’s Witnesses living by the Bible precept to ‘learn war no more,’ they felt strongly that it would be wrong for them to accept training in the use of lethal weapons. (Isaiah 2:4) They were summarily fired for their “insubordination” in taking such a stand. The railroad even refused their request to keep their former positions and simply forgo the training program and promotion that went with it. However, the Constitution of Brazil states: “Freedom of conscience and worship are inviolable, free exercise of religion being guaranteed, in the form of law.” The Regional Labor Court found the railroad guilty of firing the men without “just cause” and forced the company to pay them their due compensation.
Chagas’ Disease and the Blood Trade
Chagas’ disease, which is caused by a parasite and leads to heart failure after years of dormancy, currently infects some 18 million Latin Americans. It is often transmitted through transfusions of blood that has not been effectively tested. The Bolivian Times recently explained: “One of the reasons why the blood is probably not being screened in all cases is because of its commercialisation that takes place on a worldwide basis. The screening and analysis of blood for any disease reduces the profit that is incurred.” On December 24, 1993, El Diario of La Paz stated: “Fifty percent of the blood transfusions carried out in the country are contaminated with the following diseases: Chagas’, malaria, hepatitis, syphilis, and AIDS, the Bolivian Red Cross warned.”
Baby Hazards
Recently, Japan has seen a marked increase in the number of babies at the “crawling stage” swallowing poisons, the Health and Welfare Ministry reports. About half of all poisonous substances ingested by babies in 1992 involved cigarettes. Some drank mixtures of cigarette butts and ash, which had been left in beverage cans or in ashtrays containing liquid. Other dangerous substances swallowed by babies include, in order of frequency, medicines, toys, coins, food products, and cosmetics. Several cases resulted in serious illness. The Ministry warns that an amazingly large percentage of these accidents occur between 5:00 p.m. and 9:00 p.m. when more family members are home and should be able to watch the children.
Baptism Controversy
Colorado Springs, U.S.A., which has become one of Christendom’s leading centers of evangelism, was recently embroiled in controversy over methods of converting children. According to The Denver Post, the Cornerstone Baptist Church uses a fleet of 16 buses to scour the area looking for children. Promises of candy, soda, and a carnival get the children eager to board the buses. Many parents let their children go but are unpleasantly surprised when the children come home with tales of getting baptized. Normally these “evangelists” have parents sign a consent form before baptizing the children, but that policy has been relaxed from time to time. According to the Post, the minister of the church says of the consent form: “It slows us down.”
Carrying Soccer to an Extreme
Some soccer fans in England have carried their devotion to an unusual extreme: They request that after they die, their ashes be scattered on the playing field of their favorite team. One popular team receives as many as 25 such requests each year. The practice has become so widespread that the English Football Association has had to issue a warning to soccer clubs on just how such human remains should be deposited. According to The Medical Post, their advice includes the following: “There is no need to sprinkle all the ashes. You can just scatter a sample. A large pile could kill the grass. . . . Brush the ashes about with a broom to ensure a light and even spread.”
Taoism on the Upswing
“The grandest in history.” That is how the magazine China Today described the September 1993 celebration of the Luotion Grand Prayer Ceremony, a Taoist religious observance. The ceremony was held at the White Cloud Temple in Beijing, and participants came from Taoist temples in Australia, Canada, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and the United States. “The principal aim” of the ceremony, according to the magazine, “was to request heaven that it grant happiness to people all over the world.” Eleven altars were set up, scriptures were chanted, and devotions were paid to hundreds of gods—including the “savior” god who is supposed to save people from the misery of their lot in life. An abbot of the Hong Kong temple told the assemblage that Taoism is above worldliness and so has nothing to do with politics. The chairman of a Taoist temple in Taiwan told journalists that Taoism advocates patriotism and fraternity.
Cost of Averting Disaster
How much would it cost to avert the disastrous change in global weather patterns that many scientists fear? Klaus-Peter Möller, leader of the Eduard Pestel Institute for System Research [German: Leiter des Eduard-Pestel-Instituts für Systemforschung] in Hannover, Germany, calculated that it could be done using current technology. According to German newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung, Möller’s plan would require a 75-percent reduction in consumption of such fossil fuels as coal, oil, and gas, replacing them with alternative fuels that do not emit carbon dioxide. What about the cost? According to Möller’s calculations, the tally would amount to $22.5 trillion, or about $4,000 for every man, woman, and child alive today. As the newspaper concludes, the job “would require mankind as a whole to accomplish a feat of incredible magnitude.”
Who Saw Him First?
Pope John Paul II recently spoke in support of a tradition that surmises that “after the resurrection, Jesus first appeared to the Madonna before anybody else, before the angel announced it to the women,” states Corriere della Sera. This view, completely unsupported by the Gospels, has aroused no little perplexity among some. Commenting on the pope’s opinions and the role of Mary in Catholic tradition, Italian Catholic writer Sergio Quinzio noted that “popular devotion” to Mary has always tended to lead Catholics “even beyond what the Holy Scriptures have handed down to us.” This most recent “peremptory formulation,” he added, “forces the texts beyond what they say.”
“Toad-Smoking” Succeeds “Toad-Licking”
Reportedly, it has long been known by some in the drug culture that certain toads ooze from their skin a hallucinogenic chemical called bufotenine. However, the chemical is also toxic—so much so that it sometimes kills dogs who catch and eat the toads. Therefore, reports The Wall Street Journal, some drug users have been scared away from “toad-licking” and have resorted instead to “toad-smoking.” They dry the venomous toad slime and smoke it, reasoning that the heat will rid the stuff of its toxins. Be that as it may, toad abuse is now illegal. Bufotenine is on the list of dangerous and illegal drugs in the United States. At least one dealer has been arrested. His toads, the Journal reports, were impounded.
Cancer Increases Among French Women
In France more women are smoking than ever before. Among adolescent smokers, girls now outnumber boys, and the number of women who are heavy smokers (more than 20 cigarettes a day) has more than doubled since 1977. Not surprisingly, the number of women developing smoking-related cancers is now also beginning to increase. The Paris newspaper Le Figaro reports that there are 20,000 new cases of lung cancer in France each year, and more than 800,000 earth wide. Deaths from bronchial cancer in women have tripled in the United States and Canada and have more than doubled in Britain, Japan, and Sweden. At a recent Paris meeting on respiratory cancers, doctors emphasized that by far “the most effective weapon against smoking-related cancers is to stop smoking.”
Church Decline in the Netherlands
If current trends continue, three fourths of the Dutch people will not belong to any church by the year 2020, according to Staatscourant, the official newspaper of the Dutch government. A recent study entitled “Secularization in the Netherlands 1966-1991” finds four main groups among the Dutch populace: 28 percent have had no religious upbringing; 33 percent have had such an upbringing but have since left the church; 28 percent had a religious upbringing but now attend church seldom or never; and only 11 percent attend church frequently. Staatscourant notes that the drift away from the churches has been most pronounced among Roman Catholics and comments: “The views of Roman Catholics seem to contrast with those of their spiritual leaders. One gets the impression that their authority is ignored by church members.”