What Remedy for a World Torn with Violence?

The Battle Against Mind-twisting LSD

Earth’s Giant Seesaw—the Monsoon

When Speech Becomes Pleasurable

OCTOBER 22, 1966

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CONTENTS

Homesickness Can Be a Problem

What Remedy for a World Torn with Violence?

The Battle Against Mind-twisting LSD

Earth’s Giant Seesaw-—the Monsoon

When Speech Becomes Pleasurable

2

Reflections from the 1966 District

Assemblies

World Shocked at Greek “Justice’’ 25

“Your Word Is Truth”

Should You Commemorate the

■ “Day of the Dead”?

Watching the World

Homesickness Can Be a Problem

IT IS not uncommon for a person to become homesick when he is living a long way from his hometown or homeland. The first few weeks and even months are especially difficult because the new surroundings are unfamiliar, the customs may be different and the people are strangers. Usually the sickness wears off, but for some persons it does just the opposite. It grows more intense and becomes a serious health problem.

Acute homesickness can cause loss of appetite, with a consequent loss in weight that can develop into an emaciated condition. It can cause loss of sleep and various forms of physical disturbances. In extreme instances people have even died from the illnesses brought on by it.

Children who are unaccustomed to being away from home are particularly subject to the ailment. A stay of only a week or two in a summer camp can affect some to an extent where they will not eat. Older children who find it necessary to attend a school in another town or to go away so as to pursue a chosen career usually feel temporary pangs of homesickness, but a few will suffer intensely. The same experience might be had by a young married woman who is taken to another town or country to live. She can make herself sick longing for home. Even grandparents have become homesick for their children and grandchildren while on an extended vacation trip. Homesickness, also called nostalgia, is an emotional problem common to persons of all ages.

With children and young adults, close family ties can be a contributing factor, but that is no reason for discouraging such ties. They are a fine thing. The family that has them is to be commended. Separated family members can feel close to the others by regularly corresponding with them and occasionally speaking with them on the telephone. With speedy jet planes flying almost everywhere they need feel only hours away, which thought helps to alleviate homesickness.

Since homesickness is a state of mind, it is neccessary for the person suffering from it to adjust his thinking. If he is in another country, he only aggravates his problem by constantly making comparisons of local living conditions with those back home. Constantly complaining about them intensifies his dissatisfaction. It would be better for him to stop fretting and try to adjust to the local conditions as best he can. Since other people have succeeded in doing it, he can too if he makes a sincere effort.

A good frame of mind is created when a person thinks about the good features of the locality rather than those he finds unpleasant. If he is in a tropical land, he can rejoice over the beautiful flowers, enjoy the sight of gracefully swaying trees and delight in the multicolored birds. Something good can be found in every place on earth. Even deserts have good features that cause people reared there to long for them when they are away. By one’s making it a point to focus the mind on good things, the unpleasant things will not seem unbearable. It is well to remember that even in one’s hometown there are bad things that have to be overlooked. Striving to develop a good frame of mind can prevent homesickness from becoming a real problem.

A full schedule of activities helps to keep the mind occupied, which is important in fighting homesickness. It only grows worse when a person is idle and broods over his situation. Doing wholesome work that benefits the local people is especially helpful. This opens the way for one to make new acquaintances and to form new friendships. It reduces the feeling of loneliness. Although the people may be very different from those in his homeland, he can find good qualities in them if he will look for them. But if he sees and magnifies only the displeasing features of the people, his longing for his hometown will only become more intense.

Unselfishly trying to help the local people can prove to be a very satisfying work that gives a person a strong reason for enjoying his new location. A young Philippine girl found this to be true when she moved away from her hometown in the Philippine Islands, so that she could do something for the local people in another town. She wanted to help them learn the hope-building truths of God’s Word. As might be expected, she became homesick, and her parents made it worse by urging her to come home. She thought about her reason for moving to the town and the good she was doing for the people there. So she prayerfully determined to stay. By keeping busy in her ministerial activities, her homesickness ceased to be a problem. In a matter of six months seventeen persons were especially benefited by her good work and joined her in helping others to learn about God’s purposes. They were glad she had stayed. If a homesick person keeps busy in good work that benefits the local people, as she did, he will be aided in getting his mind off himself, and his longing for home will lessen,—Acts 20:35.

Sooner or later a young person has to learn to stand' on his own feet and to adjust to life around him. Giving in to homesickness will not help him do this but will hinder the maturing process. Parents can do much for their children who are away by writing to them regularly and giving them words of encouragement. Urging them to give up what they are doing and return home will not help them to mature, and it certainly will not help them to overcome homesickness.

Homesickness should be recognized as a normal experience for persons who are far from friends, relatives and familiar surroundings. Enduring it is a test of one’s maturity. It will pass away if a person keeps busy and develops a tolerant viewpoint toward his local surroundings and the local people. The apostle Paul, who was away from his homeland for long periods, revealed the proper frame of mind when he wrote: “I have learned how to be contented with the condition I am in. ... I can do anything through him who gives me strength.” (Phil. 4:11, 13, An American Translation) That includes conquering the problem of homesickness.

ROM around the world come reports of vio-

the times.” So often and so dreadful are these reports of violence that, for many, they are sickening to read, heartrending. Faced as we are with the reality of this violence, what can be done to protect oneself and one’s family? What hope is there for a permanent remedy for a world tom with violence?

Certainly if there were no hope for a permanent remedy, the situation would be bleak indeed, especially as one looks at the daily newspapers. For instance, police authorities in the United States are reported as being alarmed at the increase in the rate of violent crime. A chief assistant prosecuting attorney in Detroit- Michigan declared: “We are seeing more and more crimes of a violent nature. There is also a growing tendency among people to fight the police. This seems to be the mood of the times—the rebellion by youth.”—U.S । News & World Report, August 1, 1966.

In Britain there is concern about the increase of violent crimes, as more and more children less than fourteen years old have been found murdered, and the number of nonfatal assaults appears to be growing. Adults, too, have been the subject of violent attack, and recently three unarmed British policemen were gunned down and killed, touching off one of the most intensive manhunts in Britain’s history.

Many Ugly Aspects of the Violence

One of the many ugly aspects of the world’s violence is the beating and killing inflicted upon robbery victims who may not even resist. In Brooklyn, New York, a seventy-four-year-old businessman was shot last August in a holdup, the killer getting only $7 in cash. The businessman

was clutching his chest and crying, “Murderers, murderers,” when help arrived. In Rio de Janeiro. Brazil, police are disturbed by violent crime, climaxed, in one sector of Copacabana, by twenty armed robberies during a recent weekend this /ear. Some of the victims were stabbec jr slashed with straight razors. Because jne victim had only $2.50, the infuriatec holdup men threw him from a viaduct the fall breaking his back.

The increase in numbers of psychotic killers has been a matter of deep concern to law-enforcement authorities. How tragic when, as newspapers report, a person goes berserk, takes a gun and shoots whoever comes into his sight! Not long ago a young boy took a rifle to the top of a hill overlooking a California freeway and killed three passersby and wounded ten before he killed himself. In August, the crazed sniper who climbed to the observation platform of the University of Texas tower in Austin, with an arsenal of rifles, killed sixteen persons and wounded thirty. Only eighteen days before that mass slaying, a man systematically stabbed and strangled eight student nurses, one by one, in their Chicago residence. Little wonder that, even before these recent mass murders, Dr. C. A. Dwyer, psychiatrist for the Texas prison system, said: “Potential murderers are everywhere these days. ... It is a sign of the times.”—The Houston Chronicle, May 2, 1965.

Still another ugly face of the rampant violence is the rioting, some of it political, some racial, some for other reasons, in all parts of the world. In July this year India’s largest residential university at Benares closed indefinitely because of riotous violence by sections of students. Why, in the United States in just a twenty-day period this past July, there were four killed, forty-six injured, and buildings burned in a Cleveland, Ohio, riot. But that was only a fraction of the troubles during those twenty days. In New York city, one was killed and twenty-two injured in Brooklyn street clashes. In Philadelphia, scores were injured as police fought riotous demonstrators. In Chicago, two were killed, sixty injured and heavy looting took place in Negro areas. In South Bend, seven were wounded in rioting. In Jacksonville, three were hurt in outbursts. In Des Moines, Negroes fought the police in sporadic violence, and in Omaha, one was injured in Negro-area violence. It was indeed a summer of violence!

Incredibly enough, a great number of the murders arc committed by family members against one another! Often we read reports now of a crazed parent’s taking his own life, but, before doing so, he kills his entire family. In Ramsey, New Jersey, in August, a thirty-four-year-old airline pilot shot his wife and two-year-old daughter through the front of the head, killing them; then he killed himself. A few days later, on August 7, a young father in Waterbury, Connecticut, went berserk, slashing to death his four children and then taking his own life. During the rampage, the father wounded his twenty-two-year-old wife, for months pregnant, and set fire to their apartment. Similar cases are reported from many places.

Though news reports indicate that children are frequently the victims of these suicide-killings, children themselves are often responsible for the murder of their parents. In a reaction to anger and to violent temper, many have killed one or both of their parents. Truly the high rate of murder by family members against one another is a sign of the times, just as foretold in the Bible for the “last days,” when people would be “having no natural affection.”—2 Tim. 3:3.

Nor is the increase in the many aspects of violence limited to large cities. Small towns also report increases. In the small town of Chili, New York, two teen-age girls were found murdered in thick underbrush about a mile from the creek where they wont swimming. One girl was stabbed fourteen times; the younger one, thirteen times. Fear engulfed the town.

“We keep our doors locked all the time,” said one mother of two girls. “We don’t know but what the maniac lives right around here.” Another frightened mother said: “Just on. the other side of those woods is a custard stand. My daughter used to walk through those woods often to get custard. Now we don’t let her do it. We tell her to wait awhile and we’ll drive her over. To tell you the truth, I’m scared to death to walk through those lovely woods myself now. And my neighbors feel just as I do.” And a policeman, discussing the fright in that town of some 15,000 persons, said: “I’ve never seen the people so nervous. Particularly those with teenage girls. They worry about any person they don’t know well.” As a result, any person who was a stranger in town became subject to suspicion, police were informed and the stranger had to answer questions.

As danger from violent assault increases, more and more persons, especially women, are afraid to go out after dark. And they have good reason. Rape alone increased 9 percent in the United States last year. And as Los Angeles County District Attorney Younger said recently: “The crime situation will get worse before it gets better.”

One suggested remedy for the increasing violence is to increase the number of policemen. But many realize that more policemen alone are not the solution. In fact, recently during a riot in the East New York section of Brooklyn, New York, when buildings were being burned, a woman said: “The police are out in front on the street and they [neighborhood troublemakers] break in the back and burn things.”

What You Can Do for Protection

What are some things one can do to minimize the odds against being a victim when violence erupts? One important thing is to avoid troublepots. when possible. When a rioFthreatens to break out or does break out, stay away! Many curiosity seekers have been injured in riots. If there is shooting going on, stay away. Why bring yourself into the area where a bullet can hit you? It may be a riot or it may be a berserk person, but stay away. During the ninety minutesof shooting by the sniper-killer in Austin, Texas, it' was reported: “Incredibly persons rushed out for a look. A boy and a girl did on Guadalupe Street . . . three blocks away. She was fatally shot. Her boy friend leaned over to help. He was shot dead.”—The National Observer, August 8, 1966,

Other useful measures to minimize the possibility of being a victim of criminal violence are: Do not go out late at night alone in dangerous places. Use well-lighted and well-traveled streets. Avoid suspicious persons lurking in doorways, and even cross streets to bypass dangerous-looking groups.

Try to avoid irritating people. Be kind and courteous. One car driver in New York city last year became incensed when another car forced him to brake his auto to a halt. “Roadhog,” shouted the angry driver, following this with an obscenity. The roadhog answered the abusive speech with one blast from a shotgun, hitting the cursing man on the left side of the face and killing him instantly. Sometimes even a stare can set off a violent-minded person. A sixteen-year-old girl in New York city was shot dead by a man when the girl stopped to stare at him. So try not to antagonize people by the way you look at or speak to them. Even with regard to drunkards, or drunken loafers and thrillseeking youths, it is wise to give a mild answer.—Prov. 15:2; 2 Tim. 2:24,

Also, when driving in dangerous areas, keep .the doors of your auto locked. Even in summer it is often wise to keep the windows rolled up most of the way so someone cannot reach inside and open the door. And, of course, avoid being around people known to have violent tempers or who engage in violence.—Prov. 22:24.

Family Training and Study of the Bible

Something else that one can do to protect his family is to strike at the cause of violence by proper training of one’s children. The mayor of Houston, Texas, speaking of the cause of violent crime, said that one big reason was “the decay in our family life.” Many officials speak of “a breakdown in family life.” Detroit’s police commissioner said: “The family unit is just disintegrating. There is no one to teach values and common decency. This isn’t a job to turn over to the school or the church. The family has to do it.”--U.S. News <£ World Report, August 1, 1966.

Recent studies have proved that the family must do the job of training children. Churches, Sunday schools and parochial schools have not taught youthful persons morality and the laws of God. In fact, it is evident to the police and other authorities that they have had little effect on the moral behavior of children. For instance, as reported in the New York Times of July 25, 1966: "Education in Roman Catholic schools has been ‘virtually wasted* on three-quarters of the students, so far as influencing their adult religious behavior is concerned, a study financed by the Carnegie Corporation and the Federal Office of Education has found." The directors of the study report that what counts most is religious instruction given at home.

So the best way to protect your family is to show your love for righteousness as a family. Give guidance and training and, above all, teaching in the laws of Almighty God to your children. Study the Bible at home with your family. Be sure your children know the laws of God regarding morality so that they are not hazy in their minds. Do not leave it up to schools or Sunday schools. Make sure you know that your children know what God requires. —Eph. 6:4; Deut. 6:6, 7.

The Permanent Remedy

But what hope is there for a permanent remedy for a world torn with violence? The hope for a permanent remedy lies with Almighty God, not with men. From God’s viewpoint an early remedy is assured! So it should bring great comfort to all lovers of righteousness to know that God's Word foretold, not only these critical, violent times (2 Tim. 3:1-5), but the elimination of violence as well! At this most troublesome time in world affairs the words of the Great Prophet, Jesus Christ, take on utmost significance; for he foretold a time of trouble and violence, with world wars, the "increasing of lawlessness” and other woes, and then he said: “But as these things start to occur, raise yourselves erect and lift your heads up, because your deliverance is getting near.” Yes, deliverance from violence is guaranteed for the near future.—Matt. 24:7-12; Luke 21:10, 11, 28.

But how? By the annihilation of all wickedness and violent-minded persons at God’s hands by means of his kingdom, the kingdom for which Jesus Christ taught Christians to pray. So look to God’s kingdom as the final remedy for the violent trend of events. God’s kingdom will wipe out not only violent men of crime but all power-hungry kingdoms of the earth, ending forever the wholesale violence of wars. (Dan. 2:44) Under God's kingdom violence will never again mar this globe. —Ps. 37:11; Isa. 26:9.

But until God's kingdom wipes out all men of violence and makes the earth a place of paradisaic delight, what will you do? Wait upon Jehovah. His promises never fail. These violent times are reminiscent of the time when God’s people of ancient Israel turned to violence. Then God’s prophet Micah, after surveying the violence, declared: “But as for me, it is for Jehovah that I shall keep on the lookout. I will show a waiting attitude for the God of my salvation.”—Mic. 7:2-7.

So by showing this “waiting attitude,” trusting in Jehovah God, doing his will, obeying his commandments, living righteous lives and waiting for God’s kingdom to wipe out violence, we can get through these difficult times of violence. There is hope indeed for a permanent remedy in our generation for a world torn with violence: Make the hope of God’s kingdom your own!

THE witness was Captain Alfred

Trembly, commander of the Los Angeles narcotics division. He was testifying before the United States Senate Subcommittee on Juvenile Delinquency. He was talking about youth and their never-ending quest “kicks.”

The California investigator charged that the news media are magnifying the attractiveness of hallucinatory drugs. “Articles picking up exorbitant claims by LSD researchers will encourage the youth of today with so-called instant ecstasy,’ ” he said. Captain Trembly mentioned case histories and said that delinquent behavior connected with LSD requires police attention daily.

What Is It?

Its medical description is lysergic acid diethylamide, but it is commonly known as LSD. It is derived from a fungus substance that grows on plants, especially rye. It is colorless, tasteless and odorless when dissolved in water. It is a stirnulant and not a depressant; thus psychiatrists use a tranquilizer such as thorazine as an antidote for LSD. It is perhaps the most widely discussed drug of this decade.

Three states—New York, California and' Michigan—have passed legislation aimed at controlling the sale, distribution and possession of hallucinogenic drugs, particularly LSD. Other states are expected to institute similar legislative measures. United States Federal laws that went into effect May 18 make the sale of LSD a felony punishable by up to two years’ imprisonment

Dr. H. Phillip Hampton, former president of the Florida Medical Association,

said the greatest danger of LSD is its simple manufacture. “The ingredients are simple,” he said. “I’ve read of cases where teen-agers were planning to produce the drug. It is a matter of serious concern to authorities, doctors and health officers.”

Dr. Hampton said one firm had withdrawn their application to do research with the drug. “They considered it too dangerous,” he explained. “Originally, the drug was seen as a possible aid in treatment of mental and emotional disorders. It was found accidentally by an experimenter. It was designed to be used in psychiatric pathology to determine if chemical imbalance causes certain mental disorders such as ■ schizophrenia, dementia praecox and paranoia.”

LSD was discovered by accident in 1938 by a Swiss scientist. Later, when he accidentally inhaled some of the drug’s fumes, he reported on its visual effects, saying he had “fantastic visions of extraordinary vividness accompanied by a kaleidoscopic display of intense coloration.”

Though doctors generally agree that LSD is not addictive in the manner of narcotic drugs, still some persons use it repeatedly, claiming they enjoy the sensations it produces. This craving for LSD is causing trouble for law-enforcement agencies.

What It Does to the User

According to one authority, LSD causes “instant insanity.” For up to eight hours after a dose, time and space are distorted; colors are said to explode brilliantly and moods range from ecstasy to deep depression and even panic. In some cases, LSD permanently alters the chemistry of the brain. Its effect is totally unpredictable, though it generally heightens perception and produces hallucinations. Webster’s New Collegiate Dictionary defines hallucination as, “perception of objects with no reality, or experience of sensations with no external cause, usually arising from disorder of the nervous system, as in delirium tremens."

Captain Trembly, in his testimony, said that a series of disturbing incidents have been reported among LSD users. He listed cases such as two men on a front lawn eating grass and the bark of trees, a nude man and woman lying in an apartment house hallway screaming, a sixteen-year-old girl who planned to put LSD in her mother’s coffee so they would “better understand each other,” a twenty-two-year-old man kneeling in shallow water shouting, “I love you. I love you,” and a twenty-year-old youth asking arresting officers, “Can’t you see the bullets, don’t you people see them shooting at us?”

United Press International reported, May 21, 1966, the case of a twenty-five-year-old man. He was arrested after police found him nude in a tree. He told police he had taken some of the hallucinatory drug LSD. The news report said: “Charles Baker was found on the limb of the tree about ten feet above the ground after the occupant of the home where the tree was located called police and said a man was looking in the window of his house. Baker’s clothing was found'in a pile near the tree and he was booked on suspicion of being a prowler. Police said that when they asked him why he was in the tree, he replied: ‘I just wanted to climb that tree.’ ”

Sometimes there are violent reactions. In one case, an LSD user said he was responding to “voices” and, as a result, hurled himself in front of a subway train. Others have jumped out of windows or hurled themselves down stairs, thinking they could fly. Angry and violent reactions are said to result from the fact that the drug loosens the controls over impulsive behavior.

LSD does indeed cause one’s control mechanism to fall apart. Users of the drug often lose any control over impulsive behavior. The drug has a most profound effect on the mind. Dr. Sidney Malitz of the New York State Psychiatric Institute is convinced that a number of persons who have taken hallucinogens habitually have undergone distinct personality changes. “They become very self-centered, very grandiose and feel their own standards are the new standards of the world,” he stated.

The Battle for Controls

Dr. Timothy Leary, dismissed from Harvard University for his experiments with hallucination drugs, appeared before the Juvenile Delinquency subcommittee on May 13, 1966. Leary was free on bond while two convictions for possession of marijuana were appealed. He had been sentenced to thirty years in prison by a Texas judge on the marijuana charges. He admitted to the Senate hearing that the use of LSD had gotten out of hand, particularly among the nation’s college students.

The forty-six-year-old psychologist said it was his opinion that one out of every three college students is experimenting with LSD and that as many as 65 percent have used the drug on some campuses. “It will be larger next year,” Leary told the investigators. “The growth has been staggering.” However, other estimates of the use of LSD by students are lower. College students themselves usually estimate “probably a little less than 1 percent” of them use LSD. One college ran a survey and found that about 4 percent had used LSD.

Dr. Leary admitted that by taking LSD one definitely goes out of his mind. He said the drug has “an eerie power” to release from the brain ancient energies. He called them “sacred energies.” He said he had taken the drug 311 times and had observed 3,000 experiments since he began study of hallucinatory drugs while at Harvard.

Dr. Leary further admitted that youths were particularly vulnerable to LSD. He contended that, while the drug was terrifying to older persons because of its vision-producing results, it appeals to young persons. “To young people it means many possible things,” he said. “Beauty, opening the mind, sensual enhancement.” In some cases LSD has led to sexual promiscuity.

Dr. James L. Goddard, director of the Food and Drug Administration, said his agency plans to intensify its efforts to curb use of the drug. Goddard said the FDA, acting under drug-abuse laws recently passed by Congress, is conducting a training program for personnel that will seek to track down all illegal sources of the dangerous drug.

Appearing on the TV program Face the Nation, Goddard said LSD is different from any other drug. “It is not like most addictive narcotics,” he said. “One does not become addicted to LSD.” However, “it does produce hallucination,” Goddard continued. "There have been reports of suicides and insanity following use of the drug, which is extremely dangerous in the opinion of most qualified scientists. We know LSD is being manufactured in chemistry labs, made in small quantities.”

Medical Position

Most doctors are opposed to the use of LSD in any form. They agree that “controlled experiments” by recognized scientists and research analysts are acceptable but any other use of LSD should be banned.

Some medical authorities believe that there is a legitimate use for LSD, since there have been some indications of the successful use of the drug to treat alcoholism and certain mental disorders. One test showed that it may be more effective than any other analgesic in reducing pain of terminally ill cancer patients.

Some users of LSD contend that it is a “consciousness-expanding” drug; however, Dr. Frank Barron, research psychologist of the University of California, Berkeley, said at an international conference on LSD that thus far there was no evidence that LSD was “consciousness-expanding.” —New York Times, June 14, 1966.

Religion and LSD

A veteran narcotics agent from the Florida Board of Health, Raymond R. Bellinger, appeared before the Senate subcommittee seeking controls on LSD. He testified that a religion that used hallucinatory drugs as a sacrament developed in Florida in the cities of Tampa, Gainesville and Tallahassee. “These are young misfits,” he said, “beatniks and so forth. They take LSD and other drugs, too.”

Arthur Kleps, known as Chief Boo Hoo by followers and associates, is a religious leader of a cult that uses LSD and marijuana. He claims they are harmless and vital to his religion.

Bellinger said the group is called the Neo-American Church in upstate New York and have transferred to Florida, He said they charge $6.50 initiation fee, which covers the cost of peyote, another hallucinatory drug. He said that a raid in south Florida uncovered LSD, marijuana and paregoric—all used in religious rites. Some forty persons were involved, many of them students at the University of Miami.

Kleps told the Senate Juvenile Delinquency subcommittee that “Leary is generally accepted as the equivalent of Christ. I see no moral difference whatsoever between putting our religious leader in prison for 30 years and the incarceration of a rabbi in a concentration camp by the Gestapo of Nazi Germany.” He concluded by saying that the religion would have 1,000,000 members in ten years.

Kleps replied to questions on earlier testimony that use of LSD and similar drugs has caused suicides, psychotic behavior and tragedy by saying, “This is possible if the user lacks proper information. These cases probably were panic reactions.” Reminding one of Yoga devotees who seek illumination of superconsciousness, cultist Kleps said, “LSD puts you in the mind of God.” LSD has become extremely popular with persons interested in Oriental meditation practices, such as Yoga and Zen Buddhism.

Other users of LSD link the drug with religion, though apparently with the God-is-dead type of religion. One said LSD “is a religious experience without a God; a new God.”—New York Post, June 8, 1966.

Even among the more orthodox religions of Christendom, there are some who apparently see LSD as possibly having some value spiritually. Brooklyn cleric William Bell Glenesk, pastor of the Spencer Memorial Presbyterian Church in Brooklyn Heights, has said that LSD could provide a “valid spiritual breakthrough” that might take years to attain on the psychiatrist’s couch. This minister claims that LSD has been known to produce deep religious experiences among nonchurchgoers. “Christianity with a kick in it might be good for us,” said cleric Glenesk. "Religion can sometimes stand a shot in the arm.”—New York Times, July 4, 1966.

However, can a Christian really imagine Jesus Christ and his apostles taking drugs to get “kicks” or to gain deeper religious appreciation? To help people become more conscious of their spiritual needs, Jesus Christ used the words of God. Jesus’ life pattern was one of righteousness, uprightness and irreprehensible moral behavior. Christians imitate him. —1 Pet. 2:21; 1 Tim. 3:2-7.

True Christians want to cultivate the fruitage of God’s spirit in their lives. (Gal. 5:22, 23) But LSD causes one to lose selfcontrol, to give in to impulsive, even violent conduct that would bring reproach on Christianity. Christians want to cultivate love for God and neighbor, not become “very self-centered, very grandiose.” Christians want to be obedient to God’s standards, not set up one’s own standards as “the new standards of the world.” Christians want to be sound in mind, not out of their minds. Though members of religious cults may resort to LSD and similar drugs, those truly guided by the Word of God ‘maintain their conduct fine among the nations’ by producing the fruitage of God’s holy spirit.—1 Pet. 2:12.

EACH year great land areas of the earth wait for strange winds to bring rain that will mean life for another season. Between June and October moist sea winds surge over southeast Asia and China, drenching a parched earth with torrential downpours. This is a monsoon—a familiar word among peoples of the Far East, a word often taken to mean a violent storm, but, in fact, referring to a tumultuous season of recurring and regenerating rains.

India, North and South Vietnam, Burma, Arabia and other parts of the earth, including parts of Africa and South America, are dramatically dominated by the monsoons. They are very close to the hearts of the people they touch, permeating their lives and affecting about everything they do. Nowhere do the winds and rains have such tremendous effect on so many people. Nowhere else is the drama of the weather expressed in such human terms.

Monsoons and Their Cause

What are monsoons? They are winds that blow part of the year from one direction, alternating with a wind from the opposite direction. The term “monsoon” comes from the Arabic word for “season.” The name was first applied to winds near Arabia that blow six months from the southwest and six months from the northeast. The rainy winds over Vietnam, Burma and India start to flow from the oceans toward the warm, low-pressure inland areas about May. They deposit their heaviest load of rain during the months of June and July, and end about October, when the weather pattern is changed and the winds shift to the opposite direction.

Monsoons are caused by large differences in temperature between land and sea air. This difference occurs because land heats and cools faster than water. Cooler air always rushes in over warmer regions. This causes a wind. In summer the monsoons travel from the cooler sea to the warmer land. In winter the monsoons go from land to sea. Summer monsoons are usually accompanied by rains and are called wet monsoons. But the distribution of rain is not the same everywhere. Where the configuration of the land is in long, straight ranges and valleys, the rain clouds are given an odd distribution so that, as during the 1965 monsoon in Burma, one area is flooded, while another, no great distance away, is severely drought stricken.

Winter monsoons have their origin in the faraway Arctic Ocean. At their conception they are wet, but by the time they travel across Siberia, Mongolia, the Gobi desert and all of China, there is no dampness left in them. They generally blow across Burma, India and Vietnam bonedry from December to April, Therefore, winter monsoons are known as dry monsoons.

Earth’s giant wind seesaw is operated by sunpower. As the sun travels northward and begins to warm the huge land areas of Asia, the air above the earth becomes heated. Warm air rises. Cool, moist air from the oceans moves in to take the place of the hot air that has risen. As the heated air reaches a certain height, it spreads out, cools, and comes down again. Thus a circulation is established, a wind cycle that can become a threatening cyclone. Since in the summer the land is warmer than the ocean, the wind direction is inland. The moist winds from the oceans bring on the wet monsoons.

In the wintertime the land cools quickly, chilling the air above it. The land becomes cooler than the ocean, and, therefore, the change in wind direction. The warmer air above the sea rises. The cool, dry inland air sweeps out to sea to fill the gap. Meteorologists believe that all of this is helped along by the topography of the earth. So, then, like a giant seesaw tipping back and forth, the monsoon winds blow six months one way and six months in the opposite direction.

Its Life-and-Death Cycle

By late April six months of brutal sun have scorched the paddy fields of South Vietnam’s Mekong River delta to a frizzled gray brown. The mud has cracked and baked to the consistency of rough concrete, and the furnacelike heat has all but completely sapped the strength of men. The weariness of many who wait for the rains is written on the dry, wrinkled skin of sunburned faces. The heat is almost insufferable. Dusty dirt roads between villages are plodded on by slow-moving peasants and oxen. The rain is still more than a month away.

In India, three months before the monsoon rains arrive, the heat is intense, almost unbearable. The earth itself appears lifeless, dead, because of its barrenness. The fields are stone hard. A farmer stretches out on his charpoy or cot in the middle of a parched acre, hoping to catch the slightest cooling breeze. Grain will be planted on this very spot when the earth has been softened by monsoon rains. But now bare subsistence is difficult. Everywhere people wait for the rains to come. In some areas prayers are said to the Hindu rain-god Lord Varuna.

At last, the evening sky in the Punjab is a fiery orange, a sure sign that the rains are near. And, too, in Bombay a flame tree is flowering. Its red blossoms will be torn from the branches by the first downpour.

Look, clouds appear on the shimmering horizon! There is the sound of thunder and finally, yes, finally the rain! It falls gently at first, in short, sweet bursts. Sighs of relief are breathed from the relentless heat. When the first rain breaks, everybody and everything seem to enjoy that one glorious splashing downpour. West Bengal villagers huddle under overhanging eaves and let the rainwater pour off buildings down on them. Naked children and fully dressed adults, young men and women and old people stand in the open streets and fields with faces pointed upward, with the rain splashing in their faces, exulting in this most welcome drenching.

Suddenly everything changes. Whole villages and lands burst into life again. Then slowly the rains gather momentum until the land is fiercely drenched each day by torrents that last two or three hours at a time. There is an exciting beauty at the sight of water sluicing through a village street. The baked fields of Burma and India are softened. The paddy farmer loosens the soil with his tiny ox-drawn plow. The soupy mud soon becomes alive with rice plants. Fields that appeared hopelessly barren in India turn green and grow wildly under the rain. The West Bengal farmer’s paddy field flourishes nobly after weeks of regular rain.

Time for Rejoicing

The rich new season is one of beauty and life. There are festivals. Men, women and children dance in the open. The rain itself is sometimes described in Indian poetry as a dancer moving gracefully over the earth. Jhulan, the Festival of the Swings, is a jolly, romantic occasion, early in the monsoon season, when swings are put up and people of all ages take a ride in them. Country women during festivals dress up in their most gorgeous saris and enjoy a seasonal gathering away from their villages.

The peasant farmer rejoices, because to him the rains are an assurance that he and his family will have food for another year. The tall, green rice stalks thrust forth and there are the thrilling signs of grain and fruit. In Vietnam there are coconuts, tangerines, papayas, pineapples and mangoes galore and bananas that hang in huge clusters from trees. The fish loosed in the rice fields in May and June multiply in schools, and getting lunch is sometimes a simple matter of reaching down and flipping out a fish onto the dike.

The muddy waters of the Mekong delta are broken in crazy-quilt picturesque patterns of the lush green of the tree lines and the banana and coconut groves, the high ground of crisscrossing roads and canal banks, the narrow dikes separating villages. Sampans, which vary in size from small, canoelike craft to larger cargo sampans that house whole families, choke the waterways. The parched earth has come to life in all its splendor.

The Monsoon's Dreaded Side

But there is another side to the liferegenerating monsoon. It can be devastatingly destructive. As the rains continue to fall, the Mekong and its branches overwhelm their banks and swell into gentlefaced monsters, flowing silently into the China Sea, their smooth surfaces disguising the swift currents beneath. The Ganges, too, inoves relentlessly across the earth on its way to the sea. Beneath its shining but deceptive calm lies the horror of fields and homes overcome by flood. This is the horror that always rides with the monsoon clouds when they come to redeem the land. For the peasant, the monsoon is a beauty shot through with intimations of possible disaster. Even as he rejoices with swings hung high in the new-leafed trees, he must remember the terrors of flood and cyclone. The monsoon brings these too.

In many parts of Burma and other countries of Asia, hillsides are cleared for planting by simply putting a torch to them. When the fire has left nothing but ashes, the land is plowed and sowed with corn, rice or tapioca. When the soil is exhausted, a new garden is started in the same way, without a thought of soil erosion. The result is that millions of acres of hard and scarred hillsides slide away into the galleys, then into rivers during the monsoon rains, because there are no trees or shrubbery to hold the land together. Rivers flow brown with topsoil during monsoon rains.

The exact arrival time of the wet monsoon is not clearly defined and cannot be foretold, according to climatologists. Also, the intensity and duration may not be uniform from year to year. A heavy rainy season with floods may be followed by several seasons with little rainfall. For example, during the month of June, Saigon, South Vietnam, may get as much as twenty inches of rain or as little as four. During the month of July, Hanoi, in North Vietnam, may get as much as twenty-six inches of rain or as little as three. Temperatures, too, vary from burning highs to shivering lows. At one moment the sun may blaze with blinding intensity, then, suddenly, sullen clouds may appear like charging elephants, enormous and full of rain, blacking out the light at noonday and dropping temperatures to what natives might consider a “freezing” 75 degrees Fahrenheit. Danger is ever present.

Tragedy Strikes

When the monsoon rains began to pour down in southeast India in the first part of October 1964, the 15,000 inhabitants of the farming town of Macherla believed that the Hindu rain-god Lord Varuna had at last answered their prayers. Bumper rice harvests were predicted. The sacred river Krishna, a mile away, would carry off all the excess water. Meteorologists, however, warned that the rains were unusually heavy, but the people of Macherla believed that neither Lord Varuna nor Lord Krishna would fail them.

On the evening of the third day of rain, the people of Macherla shut themselves, their dogs and their cattle inside their homes to keep dry, and went to bed. As they slept, the torrential rains continued. The swollen waters of nearby rivers overflowed their banks and the walls of an irrigation reservoir crumbled. By midnight Macherla was under fifteen feet of water. So swiftly did the floodwaters hit that watchdogs of Macherla did not even let out a yelp. In the wild confusion the young and able-bodied people managed to scramble to safety on trees or rooftops. But the old, the weak and the sick stood little chance. The next day the town counted its dead. By the weekend, the official count had reached a hundred dead and it was expected to rise to more than a thousand. Their gods had failed them.

A Reuters’ report from Dacca, Pakistan, dated June 15, 1966, tells of more than 100 persons dead and 150 missing in floods covering 2,000 square miles in East Pakistan. Several villages were reportedly washed away and 10 percent of the cattle stock was lost in the stricken area. These are but few of countless tragedies caused by the monsoons.

The Cycle or the Seesaw

The rains may continue until November, then fine weather follows until the desperate heat returns. In a few short months the lowlands of the Irrawaddy, Salween and Sittang, the big rivers of Burma that were a steaming swamp during the wet monsoon, will all but dry up. Bullock-cart tracks will reappear. Once again the sandbanks that were immersed underwater will become huge visible islands, on which peasants will plant their crops. Streams will dry up. Land areas once swamped in humidity and wrapped in mold and mildew will become fire hazards, for most of the houses are built of inflammable split bamboo and thatch. People will once more look heavenward in hope for the monsoon.

The monsoon will come. It will bring joy and beauty to the earth; it will also bring tragedy. These lands so dependent on the monsoons must await the blessing of the kingdom of God before they experience seasons free of apprehension and terror. For Jehovah, the God spoken of in Scripture as speaking to the prophet Job “out of the windstorm,” has promised to make all things new and to wipe out every tear from man’s eyes. (Job 38:1; Rev. 21:4, 5) This He will do by means of his reigning King Jesus Christ, who, when on earth, caused the winds and the waters to obey him. (Luke 8:25) Then all the earth will become a flourishing paradise.—Luke 23: 43.

is mmsunct, much of the information and much of the pleasure of listening may be lost. How, then, can you go about checking and correcting any weakness in this regard?

Steps for Improvement

It is important to become conscious of the syllables that form the words in your language. Each syllable should be sounded when you speak, though not all with the same degree of emphasis. Those who drop syllables and indiscriminately run words together offer a real test to the patience of their audience. For the sake of fluency it is allowable to run certain words together, but this should be avoided when there is some danger of impairing the sense of your words. So, if you want to improve the clarity of your speech, why not slow down and do your best to express each syllable? At first this may sound precise, but as you practice syllablesounding you will gradually resume the smooth flow of speech, and your speech will be much more understandable to others.

It will help also to do some reading and speaking in front of a mirror, using normal conversational manners, and closely observing how you are employing the marvelous organs of speech. The tongue, you must remember, is not the only organ of speech, though it is one of the busiest. But there are, in addition, the jaw, the face muscles and the throat muscles. As you speak, do you seem to be doing so without facial movement? If so, then there is a strong probability that your speech is indistinct.

A rigid jaw and lips that scarcely move are characteristic of the indistinct speaker. The jaw needs to be

relaxed so that it can respond readily to direction by the flow of thought from the brain. The lips must also be relaxed, and cannot for long remain closed. They have to be ready to expand and contract rapidly so as to put the finishing touch to so many sounds that originate in the mouth and the throat. Open vowels and closed vowels have to be differentiated.

If a recording machine is available, you might arrange to record a conversation with a number of your acquaintances. This you can play back and analyze at leisure, so as to pinpoint any trouble you may have in clearly sounding certain words. It would also furnish a basis for contrast or comparison with the speech of others. Watch for instances of slurring, muffling or dipping of words, and seek to determine the cause. Usually the weakness is a mechanical one, one that can be remedied by proper placement of tongue or lips.

One other angle to investigate is tension. It is well known that tensions in the face muscles or in those controlling the breath supply can have a most disturbing effect on the speech mechanism. Such tension interferes with the harmonious coordination that should exist between the mind, the vocal organs and the breath control, an operation that should be smooth and natural. So, as_t you have opportunity, check to see if you are subject to some distracting muscular tension, whether in the neck, the face, the arms or the hands. With practice you can learn to release such tensions.

The Speaking Attitude

Sometimes what a speaker says may be perfectly true and accurate, yet for some reason you are not moved to accept it wholeheartedly. Why? Because of the manner in which he said it, a manner that somehow betrayed a wrong attitude. How careful, then, we must be always to maintain a pleasant, helpful, upbuilding attitude, so that, when we speak, our words will be acceptable to those who hear!

A speaker with a tired voice and a monotone presentation is usually judged to be indifferent. To, all appearances he does not care whether he talks or not, and it seems he has nothing worth telling and is just going through the motions of speech. You gain very little from his conversation and carry away with you the impression of a sickly or weak personality. By all means guard against even the slightest indications of such an attitude.

Then there is the forceful, domineering attitude that sometimes shows up in speakers. You get the impression that they feel superior to their listeners. How strange that they do not stop to consider that their own attitude may be defeating their purpose! After all, it is a very common impulse to reject counsel, even when it is good, simply because of the spirit in which it is given. And is it not true that you shy away from another encounter with this type of individual? How important, then, to make sure that you do not give anyone this impression!

What about the pugnacious type of speaker? He takes issue with everything you happen to say and proceeds to make a case of it. Perhaps it is just the sound of his voice that is aggressive, but notice how it rouses the combative spirit in you. All you wanted was a quiet, friendly conversation. You would rather commune with your own thoughts than engage in the type of conversation that might best be described as a verbal scrap. Wisely, then, you should examine your own speaking attitude and be sure that it is not giving offense to others in this manner.

Ungracious attitudes in relation to speech often show up in younger, immature persons. Your efforts to start up a conversation may be rebuffed by a grunt Or by monosyllabic answers. The stolid masks of their faces suggest that they have closed their minds on the world and are engrossed with their own thoughts. Unfortunately, some young ones are simply imitating older people who seem to think it is a privilege of age to become taciturn and ignore conversation just as they wish. In extreme old age allowance can be made for the fact that the person may not have the full use of some of his faculties. Those at the earlier stages of life cannot afford to forget that they should be fine examples for younger people in pleasant conversation, as in all else.

Other Helpful Hints

How very important it is to be a sharer in conversation, not merely a listener, and yet, on the other hand, never monopolizing it! The pleasant speaker joins you in conversation. He does not talk at you or down to you. Nor does he merely talk for effect. No, but he draws you into friendly discussion with a view to exploring as many angles of a topic as possible. There is Valuable interchange of thoughts that each participant can add to his store for future consideration and meditation.

Volume, also, should have due attention. Perhaps you have dined out somewhere with the kind of person who could not or would not tone down his speech. His side of the conversation could be heard readily by other diners all around, much to your discomfort. How did you react? You probably did not encourage conversation, but concentrated on getting through with the meal and out of there as quickly as possible. The habit of loud talk may have come about by living outdoors, or in company of hard-of-hearing persons, or ariiid noisy conditions. It may be developed, on the other hand, from the mistaken idea that the loudest talker gets the best attention. However, the legitimate purpose of conversation is to achieve understanding and friendship, and not to gain attention or win an encounter.

What a blessing we can receive and impart through good, dear, pleasant speech! Warm and sympathetic attitudes are promoted. Our own personality is developed in a balanced manner, not ignoring the welfare of others, but always maintaining a friehdly community atmosphere. Through pleasant conversation the weak and the timid can be drawn out and aided to have confidence in themselves and in others. Aggressive and overbearing ones can learn to apply the brakes to inherent tendencies and show loving consideration for others. In the warmth of pleasant conversation tensions are relaxed, with the result that defects in speech are greatly reduced, together with other causes for misunderstanding.

Very much in point here is the excellent counsel offered by the apostle Paul to fellow Christians: “Let your utterance be always with graciousness, seasoned with salt, so as to know how you ought to give an answer to each one.” (Col. 4:6) Fittingly, too, the Hebrew psalmist David prayed: “Let the sayings of my mouth and the meditation of my heart become pleasurable before you, O Jehovah.” (Ps. 19:14) The gracious speaker is neither careless nor unkind in his conversation. He evokes fine reactions in his listeners. He is one whose speech is pleasurable.

Q. Are these all my brothers and sisters?” asked an ag

ing witness of Jehovah who was attending her first big assembly as one of Jehovah’s witnesses. For years she had belonged to the Episcopal Church, in which she was an active member, but nothing in all those years had excited her quite so much as did the sight of tens of thousands of persons dedicated to God—persons of every description, nationality and walk of life assembled visibly right before her very eyes. She was noticeably thrilled. “I wanted to meet them all,” she said delightedly.

No doubt her happy, appreciative mood reflected the very emotions of the many hundreds of thousands who attended the "God’s Sons of Liberty” District Assemblies of Jehovah’s Witnesses, which began on June 8-12 in Blackpool, England, convened repeatedly in Canada and concluded in London, England, and in the United States on August 24-28. There were like district assemblies held in Bermuda, Europe and Africa, which this report can but briefly mention for want of space. And there will be still other assemblies held this winter throughout Central and South America and some of the Caribbean islands.

“Music and singing are an important part of our life,” said music conductor Vernon Duncombe, in charge of music at the Toronto assembly in Canada. “We are a happy people and our music has a happy sound.” The orchestra of fifty pieces and a chorus of fifty voices developed their share in the program around a newly published book of songs written completely by and for Jehovah’s witnesses. The orchestra performed a beautiful song from the songbook that expressed the sentiment of the

conductor and every member of the orchestra. It started:

“God’s Word is a shining light, Guides our feet thru earth’s dark night. It's the torch of liberty;

Yes, its ‘truth will set us free.’”

As the music filled the rehearsal hall, it was obvious that the orchestra felt the mood of the music and so did the assembled throngs.

Accommodations

When thousands of people flood into a city to enjoy a five-day Christian assembly, as Jehovah’s witnesses did in many cities this past summer, finding places for them to stay becomes a monumental problem. Yet all of this was managed with the precision of a fine watch. The key to overcoming the rooming problem is the door-to-door search made by Jehovah’s witnesses. This practice has brought very interesting results. Householders often get acquainted- with people from different parts of the world that they might never meet ordinarily. Many fine friendships have been built up in this manner. Also, Jehovah’s witnesses have a reputation for fine Christian conduct. As a result, in Toronto some 3,000 free accommodations were offered. In Glasgow, Scotland, one in ten of the rooms was offered free. Many householders, going away for their vacation, gave the keys of their home to the Rooming Department for the Witnesses to use until their return. Others showed outstanding friendliness to those Witnesses staying with them, even calling for them in their cars after the evening sessions and driving them home. In Montreal, Canada, a householder volunteered to baby-sit and do the laundry.

Mayor Theodore R. McKeldin of Baltimore gave the convention servant the Key to the City of Baltimore and officially welcomed Jehovah’s witnesses to the city. A beautiful motor inn in the heart of Baltimore, closed because of bankruptcy, was not scheduled to open until October. The mayor of the city, however, sent a message to the owners stating he would consider it a personal favor if the corporation would help Jehovah’s witnesses with their rooming problem. This brought an immediate approval, and Jehovah’s witnesses took over a 201-room, three-million-dollar establishment for an entire week.

Mr. Alfred S. Thumel, manager of the St. Paul at Chase luxury apartments in Baltimore offered the convention at least 188 units in the 23-story building free of charge. Asked what moved him to make such a generous offer, Thumel replied that he was motivated by his past experiences with one of Jehovah’s witnesses. He was impressed by the young man’s high principles and exemplary conduct. On Monday, August 22, after the convention, Thumel phoned convention headquarters and asked how to get in touch with "pioneer” ministers. He explained that he was very much in need of painters, carpenters, plumbers, maids, a desk clerk and doorman now that the apartments are renting. He wanted to employ pioneer ministers to fill these jobs. Above all, Thumel said, “I have a lot of questions to ask about Jehovah’s witnesses and it’s going to take a long time. I want some people around who can answer my questions for me.”

In fiorner Brook, Newfoundland, rooms were at a premium during the convention, so a stranger was told by a hotel official to go to the Watch Tower Convention Rooming Committee if he desired a .room. That the stranger did. It so happened that there had been a cancellation. The stranger was given a pink card used by the conventioners, with which he could get his hotel accommodation.

In California about 25 Kingdom Halls in the San Francisco Bay area were used to put up hundreds of Witnesses. Some congregations even installed hot-water tanks and refrigerators for the comfort of those who would be staying in these Kingdom Halls.

Discourses and Demonstrations

Many persons find it hard to listen to a speech ten minutes in length. But of Jehovah’s witnesses one outsider made this comment: "These Witnesses, truly remarkable for their warm, affectionate dispositions, heard three half-hour speeches, ohe following another, without a break:. And they sat there as relaxed as a family group before a living-room TV set.”

A conventioner, describing a Bible drama he saw at Blackpool, England, said: “I shall never forget the gasp of amazement at the first assembly when ‘Jeremiah’ first walked on stage. I have never seen such rapt attention for a whole hour. The general feeling of the brothers was that the Bible had really come to life.” In Corner Brook, Newfoundland, a television cameraman, while taking a close-up picture of the audience, was heard to say: "I can’t take my eyes away from the absorbed concentration on the faces of these people. I never realized the Bible could be made so interesting.’*

The Witnesses went to considerable expense to make their own costumes for the Bible dramas. In a fine expression <1 love, Witnesses in San Francisco donated these costumes (total worth $900) so that they could be sent to Honduras, where this winter they, no doubt, will be used at a district assembly held there.

The platforms, for the most part, were brightly decorated with flowers. “Formerly we always grew our own plants,” said a Watchtower Society representative in San Francisco. “This year the Society arranged for the Branch Servant in Hong Kong to purchase artificial plants for all the assemblies in the United States and Canada.” In Corner Brook the platform was built like a wharf with fishnets hung out to dry, while in the 'background a beacon lighthouse guided ships from an open ocean into an artist’s portrayal of a Newfoundland cove. This mural portrayed their outport life. The beautiful setting was appreciated by visiting delegates from twenty American states and eight Canadian provinces.

People and the Police

Where the sun was hot, people wore makeshift newspaper hats or hid themselves under umbrellas. Beneath the stands, away from the seering sun, were solid lines of baby buggies, many of them occupied by sleeping youngsters. Some families brought as many as eleven children. Some assemblies provided facilities where mothers could nurse or change their babies. On the floor, in shady corners, sat family groups on newspapers, quietly listening to the program over loudspeaker systems. A 15-year-old Witness conducted the 125-piece orchestra at San Francisco, which was composed of brothers from thirtyeight states. He also arranged, composed and taped the background music for “Listen to Daniel’s Words for Our Day.” Some brothers from South America liked it so much that they asked to take it with them for use at their assemblies.

The Toronto police stated that they wished all conventions were like the meeting of Jehovah’s witnesses. “They are a self-disciplined lot and they’re doing an excellent job,” said Inspector Richard Lewis, whose men patrolled the convention grounds. Inspector Lewis stated that there were no cases of pickpockets or other petty thieves operating at the convention and no reports of any serious trouble. “Our men are just there to help the people from out of town find their way around,” he said. In the San Francisco Bay area police officers were heard to say: “I don't know what we’re doing here. They [meaning Jehovah’s witnesses] surely don’t need us.”

Newspapers, Radio, Television

Shortly after the Toronto assembly concluded, the Canadian Broadcasting Company (C.B.C.) ran a television program about Jehovah’s witnesses. The program lasted for a half hour with no commercials. It was seen at 10:30 p.m., E.D.T., in the Toronto area, a prime viewing time. Other C.B.C. stations carried the program direct at their local times, or used the tape of the program at 10:30 p.m., local time, as was the case in Vancouver¹, British Columbia, for example. All in all, there are fortyseven television stations in Canada affiliated with the C.B.C. and nearly all of them carried the program. The program gave a brief history of Jehovah’s witnesses, the extent of their preaching work, portions of the public talk at the assembly, pictures of the Canadian branch office and other facts about the worldwide organ iza-tion and work of Jehovah’s witnesses.

Excellent response has been noted in the field as a result of this film. One Witness had the experience of having a neighbor come over to her house right after the film was shown and say to her: “I certainly Understand you people a lot differently now. If anyone ever says anything against Jehovah’s witnesses from now on, they have had it from me!”

In St. Johns, the capital of Newfoundland, in the past it was impossible for Jehovah’s witnesses to get time on television. However, when the owner of a local television station saw what wide coverage Jehovah’s witnesses were getting in Toronto, he personally commented on them on his station. Later, when N. H. Knorr, the Watch Tower Society’s president, was in Newfoundland, he was granted a television interview. In Halifax, Nova Scotia, the local television station, too, realized that the assembly of Jehovah’s witnesses was news and arranged for an interview with Knorr, at which time pointed questions were asked, such as why Jehovah’s witnesses are not a member of the Protestant Association of Churches or a part of the ecumenical movement sweeping the Western world. The answers were also pointed. While in Winnipeg, for the assembly there, Brother Knorr was interviewed on a Canadian television network (C.T.V.) program called “Report.” There are eleven stations affiliated with this network, which is running in competition with the C.B.C. Brother Knorr’s interview lasted for a half hour and covered many doctrinal and controversial points.

In the United States there is a program on KGO-TV called “AM.,” during which people phone in. By computer they ■ are able to count the incoming calls even though all the calls cannot go over the air. The chairman of the assembly in San Francisco was on a live show for thirty-five minutes. Whereas the average of incoming calls is 3,500, for this program there were 4,100 calls, showing the great degree of interest in what was said.

By the last day of the assembly in San Francisco over 8,000 column inches of printed news reports had been brought in to the News Service Department, in contrast with the total of 7,000 column inches for the previous assembly there in 1961. Also, nine hours of radio and TV time had been used. In Mobile, Alabama, the entire public talk was televised in color!

In line with publicity a hundred thousand copies of an eight-page newspaper, which was published by one of Jehovah’s witnesses, was circulated throughout Toronto prior to and during the assembly. This paper gave such a fine witness that the Society had another 100,000 printed for Montreal, for distribution among the French (in their language) and English.

Welcome and Appreciation Notes

Jehovah’s witnesses were made welcome and cordially received in virtually all convention cities. The Attorney General of the state of Maryland, Thomas B. Finan, sent this message to the Baltimore assembly: “We welcome ‘God’s Sons of Liberty’ District Assembly [of] Jehovah’s Witnesses to the city of Baltimore and the state of Maryland—your efforts and work are vital to the welfare of America and the world. . . , Best wishes for a great convention.” The Mobile, Alabama, assembly received this message from Representative William H. McDermott: “The Alabama Legislature, and especially the Representatives thereto from Mobile County, cordially welcome you to Mobile on the occasion of your convention. In tribute to your convention and as a welcoming gesture, the House of Representatives adopted the enclosed resolution on Wednesday, August 24, 1966.” The resolution said in part-. “Be IT RESOLVED BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES of the Legislature of Alabama,

That we welcome these Jehovah’s Witnesses to the State of Alabama and its Port City of Mobile, we express our admiration for their resourcefulness and dedication to Christian principles, and wish them a happy, successful and inspirational time of fellowship and study; and Be It Further Resolved That a copy of this Resolution be sent to the Jehovah’s Witnesses at their convention.”

The officials of Montreal, Canada, were most cordial. They wanted to know why the Watch Tower Society did not have their big assembly in Montreal, instead of Toronto. What a contrast this attitude from years ago when it was almost impossible for Jehovah’s witnesses to appear on the streets of Montreal to do their ministry without being arrested!

Other officials in government and business extended a warm hand of welcome to Jehovah’s witnesses coming to their cities to assemble for worship. Their cooperation was generous and spirited and, of course, deeply appreciated by the conventioners.

Reflections

Words of appreciation come from every direction as conventioners reflect on the joys experienced ■ and on the meaning of the 1966 assemblies. Conventioners spoke of the program as “the best yet,” “spectacular,” “wonderful,” “what we needed,” “upbuilding.” “How grateful are we who attended the ‘God’s Sons of Liberty’ District Assemblies . . . !” writes a sister. “Please accept this brief note of sincere appreciation for the fine program and the new book Life Everlasting—in Freedom of the Sons of God” writes another. “The demonstrations of Bible characters enacted will long live in our minds, and the stirring counsel we received will really help us to serve Jehovah and teach his sheep more effectively. Thank you so much, too, for the new book. It will be a marvelous aid for those who have expressed a desire to be servants of Jehovah as well as for anyone interested in Bible principles. The chapters on blood and neutrality have excellent points that will be a great help in overcoming those objections in the field.” “I have been spending hours devouring the new book. What food for the inner heart and spirit!”

Pharmacist Samuel Portney writes: “Courtesy, integrity, cleanliness [describe] the entire group. I have never seen a more orderly group of people in my life of public service as a pharmacist. May I also note that during the entire convention no violence or the slightest incident warranted police action. The citizens of Baltimore and the country can learn from the actions of this group comprised of people from every state in the Union.”

The Baltimore Sun, August 24, 1966, under “Letters to the Editor,” published the following by Frederick Friese: “Whether we agree or disagree with the Jehovah’s Witnesses we have got to admit that some 50,000 people of both races manifested a magnificent spirit of cooperation and unanimity at the largest convention ever held in the history of Baltimore. This is amazing and significant because it is so different from what we read daily in the newspapers about hostile happenings between these races. White and colored members worked together diligently and voluntarily. Honesty and sincerity were evident everywhere with no solicitation for money.”

Perhaps the emotions of those who attended one of these many district conventions are best reflected in the expression of an older Witness, with many years of service, who remarked as the Blackpool assembly drew to its close: “We are full to overflowing, with new tunes, new truths, a new book and new zeal.”

In Denmark, according to reliable reports, numerous protests have already been directed to the Greek Embassy there, and a dem-onstration served to express the indignation ,of Dariish people at such a barbarous judicial decision

SOME 2,364 years ago pagan Athens sentenced the aged Socrates to death by poisoning, not for any crime on his part, but because of his conscientious beliefs and because he did not see eye to eye with the orthodox. Today Greek Orthodox Athens sentences people to death for the same reason.

The world was shocked by the announcement of the death sentence against young Christos Kazanis, one of Jehovah’s witnesses, this past August by a military tribunal in Athens. How could such a thing happen in a country supposedly aligned with the Western democracies against all suppression? As the news flashed around the earth there were spontaneous reactions by freedom lovers everywhere.

A New York group, Workshop for Non-Violence, conducted a picket-line demonstration outside the Consulate of Greece in New York city. Pamphlets were handed out declaring, among other things: “Punishing a man for following the dictates of his religion and his conscience is contrary to the principles of democracy; punishing him Sy taking his life or sentencing him twice is simply so brutal as to be inhumane.”

In Sweden, too, there was shock at the fact that Greek law in this twentieth century could still provide for such a sentence. The Swedish League for Peace and Arbitration sent a telegraphic protest to the Greek authorities, describing the death sentence against Kazanis as “an act of inhuman cruelty.” in a country whose Queen is a former Danish princess.

After a radical group in the Netherlands demonstrated before the Embassy of Greece in Amsterdam, shattering some of the windows with stones, the Athens daily Eleftheros Kosmos (Free World) deliberately tried to link Jehovah’s witnesses with the attack, going so far as to suggest that Amsterdam police shared this view. However, the Amsterdam police flatly denied the assertion, and the Eleftheros Kosmos is convicted of a blatant lie in its headline of August 17 that read: “Jehovah’s Witnesses Stone Our Consulate in Amsterdam.”

In Amsterdam efforts by the Greek authorities to deny the fact that conscientious objectors had been executed in Greece since World War II were countered by an array of facts presented by lawyer J. H. Van Wijk, writing in the Netherlands paper, Haarlems Dagblad (Haarlem Daily Sheet), of August 26, 1966. He named John Tsoukaris and George Orpha-nidis, both witnesses of Jehovah, as having been executed by a firing squad in the year 1949. He also listed eighty-five other Witnesses who had been given long prison terms, some even for life.

A Greek theologian, writing from West Germany to the Athens paper To Vima (The Pulpit), roundly criticized the action of the Greek military court, and pointed out that only democratic freedom of religion, of conscience and of speech could properly offset “the manipulation of the masses by a certain ideological or religious group” (the Greek' Orthodox hierarchy). He went on to say: “What is happening to us? How is the ‘otherwise thinking’ citizen protected in our ‘democratic’ and ‘liberal’ state? In the worst manner, I think. As, otherwise, it would not be possible to issue this barbarous sentence, which evidences a return to the dark medieval times, despising in the most scandalous manner basic rights of man.”

The same critic concluded that “we [Greeks] still constitute a ‘closed’, traditional, static, profoundly undemocratic society, with only a surface of democratism, which exterminates any person who dares to follow any other axiological scale than the one established.” Such a conclusion is surely justified when even Greece’s primate, Orthodox Archbishop Chrysosto-mos, views such savage sentences against the Witnesses with equanimity, and complains: “We have repeatedly appealed to the authorities to intervene and prosecute or arrest those of them who engage in proselytism. We are constantly making encyclicals and sermons to underline the danger to our church from these Jehovah’s. ”

But what most shocked the theologiancritic in West Germany? Listen! “Even our spiritual world and intellectuals [in Greece] have kept silence. Was it really so little abhorrent, so little deserving any comment or protest, this crime against a young man, whose only offence was that he profoundly'believed in an idea?”

Even Greek press representatives took note of the nature of the hearing by the Court of Review that ultimately commuted the Kazanis death sentence to one of 4½ years’ imprisonment. Reports the Athens daily morning paper, Acropolis, of August 31, 1966: “Everything .was done at cinematographic speed in yesterday’s trial of ‘Jehovah’s witness’ Christos Kazanis, aged 24, at the Athens Military Court of Review. In just 16 minutes and 27 seconds the whole trial was covered and the judgment rendered. During these 16 minutes the depositions of two prosecution witnesses were read, the accused made his defence, and the royal attorney and the defendant’s solicitor spoke.” . This “lightning trial,” as they called it, broke any previous speed record.

The prosecuting attorney demanded a 15-year prison term in the event the death sentence was commuted. Was it compassion that caused the Court to reduce the term to 4½ years? Greek newsmen revealed the real reason when they pointed out that after such a prison term Kazanis must again face the military court on the same charges. This would not be the case had his sentence been just six months longer.

Editorially, the Athens daily afternoon paper, Athinaiki, of September 1, 1966, said: “We had criticized the sentence issued on Jehovah’s witness right after its pronouncement, and we foretold the worldwide uproar which would be created to the detriment of our country. Regrettably, certain branches of our public life insist on proving daily that they have definitely divorced from the sound mind. The judgment passed by the Court of Review averted any worsening. But it has not removed the evil caused to the country.”

And what about the many other upright young Christians, like Kazanis, at least fifty of them, who are today lingering in Greek prisons for reasons of faith?’ Do you agree with such treatment of men simply because they conscientiously endeavor to do what they believe to be right in the eyes of God? If not, write a letter of protest to either King Constantine or to Premier Stefanos Stefanopoulos at Athens, Greece, as well as to the Greek ambassador or consul in your own country. Let them know that the world is shocked at Greek “justice.”

Should You Commemorate the "Day of the Dead"?

NOVEMBER 2 is a memorable date for most people in Mexico. They commemorate then the “day of the dead,” in keeping with tradition and custom peculiar to the Mexicans. Well in advance, the people make plans for cleaning up and decorating the graves of their loved ones who have departed in death. Many and varied are the offerings made for the dead on November 2. Besides Doral decorations, many present “pan m-uertos." This “bread for the dead” is placed near the grave with other portions of food and drink.

For days, bakeries are busy preparing pastries and other confections in the shape of skulls, skeletons and other forms in reminder of the dead. The shape of a skull is used particularly to show contempt for death. In private homes sweet cakes are prepared, as well as various foods preferred in life by the dead relatives or friends. Then the first of November arrives. It is especially for the youngsters. The belief is that children who have died are now saints; so this day is “All Saints’ Day.” In some places there are parades of children. Graves are visited and are decorated with flowers. At the cemeteries many children are seen with pails to carry water, for which the people pay them. The children request money for a “skull,” sweet cakes or confections.

An altar is installed in many homes on November 2 and there, before a photograph or picture of the beloved dead one, his favorite foods and drink are placed. It is believed that the dead are allowed to return on this day and have fellowship with the living, partaking of the banquet that has been prepared. On this day, “All Souls' Day,” homage is particularly rendered to the dead.

But are dead humans actually alive in some spirit world? Is it possible for them to be pleased or appeased by offerings of food and drink? Is there Biblical reason to accord special consideration to them? Such questions are answered for us truthfully in the Bible, 'so we should possess the attitude of the psalmist who said of God: “The substance of your word is truth.” —Ps. 119:160.

The apostle Paul, well known to most Mexicans and multitudes earth-wide, was moved by God’s spirit to write: “The first man Adam became a living soul.” The apostle did not say that Jehovah God implanted an immortal soul within Adam but that Adam himself became a soul. He also stated: "The first man is out of the earth and made of dust.” (1 Cor. 15:45-47) Surely we can agree with Paul, for his statements harmonize with Genesis, the first book of God’s Word, where we are told; “Jehovah God proceeded to form the man out of dust front the ground and to blow into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man came to be a living soul.” —Gen. 2:7.

After Adam sinned, Jehovah did not promise him continued life on earth or in some other world. He declared: “In the sweat of your face you will eat bread until you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken. For dust you are and to dust you will return.” (Gen. 3:19) Man would eat bread until he returned to the ground; he would not eat bread after he returned to the ground. And, upon dying, he would go back to the dust.

With Jehovah “is the source of life.” (Ps. 36:9) From him emanates the active life force that makes man live. When this is withdrawn, man dies. The psalmist said: “If you [Jehovah God] take away their spirit, they expire, and back to their dust they go.” (Ps. 104:29) A person dead in earth’s dust can neither be pleased nor appeased, for he cannot think. Psalm 146:4 truthfully says: “His spirit goes out, he goes back to his ground; in that day his thoughts do perish.” Obviously, then, a deetd person could not enjoy food and drink with the living.—Eccl. 9:5, 10; 12:7.

King David of Israel was surely aware of this. He knew that things done by survivors could not benefit the deceased and he acted in harmony with that knowledge. The son born as a result of David’s sin with Bath-sheba was dealt a blow by Jehovah. According to 2 Samuel 12:15-23, David then sought God and fasted in behalf of the boy. However, gradually the child died and David heard the sad news. “Then David got up from the earth and washed and rubbed himself with oil and changed his mantles and came to the house of Jehovah and prostrated himself; after which he came into his own house and asked, and they promptly set bread before him and he began to eat.” The Bible does not say that he endeavored to share this meal with his dead son. When David’s servants registered surprise at these actions, he told them: “While the child was yet alive I did fast and I kept weeping, because I said to myself, ‘Who is there knowing whether Jehovah may show me favor, and the child will certainly live?’ Now that he has died, why is it I am fasting? Am I able to bring him back again? I am going to him, but, as for him, he will not return to me.” David could then do nothing for the child; he could not bring him back.

But there is cause for hope and optimism. It is given in God’s Word of truth. The Bible assures us that, though the dead return to lifeless dust, billions of human dead will receive an earthly resurrection during the millennial reign of Christ, near at hand. (Rev. 20:11-14) In writing to Hebrew Christians, the apostle Paul listed the resurrection as one of the primary doctrines about the Christ. (Heb. 6:1, 2) And, in a defense before Governor Felix, Paul confidently declared: “I have hope toward God . . . that there is going to be a resurrection of both the righteous and the unrighteous.” (Acts 24:15) Centuries earlier, Isaiah was inspired to write: “Your dead ones will live. A corpse of mine—they will rise up. Awake and cry out joyfully, you residents in the dust! For your dew is as the dew of mallows, and the earth itself [as though giving birth] will let even those impotent in death drop in birth.”—Isa. 26:19.

Jesus Christ once gave this assurance: “This is the will of my Father, that everyone that beholds the Son and exercises faith in him should have everlasting life, and I will resurrect him at the last day.” (John 6:40) On another occasion, he said that all those in the memorial tombs will be resurrected. (John 5:28, 29) What a happy time that will be for persons of all nations who have God’s favor! They will have no inclination to commemorate any “day of the dead.” Instead, they will joyously welcome the resurrected dead.

What joy will then prevail! Doubtless there will be many opportunities to share delightsome food and drink in pleasant association with those who have been raised to life once more. Spiritual and material needs will then be assured, for the God of truth “Jehovah of armies will certainly make for all the peoples ... a banquet of well-oiled dishes, a banquet of wine kept on the dregs, of well-oiled dishes filled with marrow . . . He will actually swallow up death forever.”—Isa. 25:6-8.

Pattern of Lawlessness

<$> Retired Associate Justice Charles E. Whittaker of the United States Supreme Court spoke out against “planned lawlessness” and “criminal disobedience” sweeping America. His warning to America was published in the September 1966 issue of the FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin. In part, the former Justice said: “History shows that every society which became lawless soon succumbed, and that the first evidences of each society’s decay appeared in the toleration of disobedience of its laws and the judgments of its courts. These are ancient and universal lessons.” Then he described the rapid spread of lawlessness and the planned and organized mass disrespect for, and defiance of, the law and the courts now taking place. He spoke of the "pattern of organized mass lawlessness” and what it has done to America. He quoted Dr. James M. Nabrit of Howard University, the largest Negro university in America, as saying that some demonstrators for civil rights do not believe in civil rights for anyone. “They are children of lawlessness and disciples of destruction,” he said. All of this reminds us of what Jesus Christ foretold —that “increasing of lawlessness” would mark the conclusion of this present system of things.—Matt, 24:12.

Vorster as Prime Minister

<§> Prime Minister Hendrik F. Verwoerd, who championed the cause of apartheid—separation of the races—in South Africa, was assassinated on September 6. The assassin was identified as Demetrios Tsa-fendas, a parliamentary messenger of Portuguese-Greek descent. His motive for plunging a dagger through Ver-woerd's heart was not clear. The attack was not believed to be racially motivated. While much of the world mourned Ver woe rd's death, in Lagos, Nigeria, there was rejoicing. “He ruled by violence and died by violence,” said a Nigerian newspaper. Balthazar J. Vorster, Minister of Justice, Police and Prisons, was unanimously chosen to succeed Verwoerd as Prime Minister of South Africa, The 50-year-old Vorster declared: “I will walk further along the road set by Hendrik Ver-' woerd.”

Curbing Inflation

To build a future on money holdings alone is to build on sand, and inflation underscores this truth. Canadians facing the threat of inflation have been called on to tighten their belts and fight the encroachment of this plague.

What will be done to try to curb inflation? Taxes are to go up. Government spending is to be cut. Nationwide medicare planned for 1967 is to be postponed for at least another year. Provincial governments desiring a bigger slice of the tax revenue have been told to curb their_ appetites. These measures were announced by Finance Minister Mitchell Sharp in Parliament on September 8. Which taxes to increase and how much are unsettled points. Officials estimated that at»lea st $300,000,000 in added tax revenue will be sought.

“Fantastic” Sight

“This old world looks good from the deck of this carrier," said astronaut Richard F. Gordon of the U.S. Gemini II flight. “Hut I’ll tell you it really looks great from 750 miles.” Conrad referred to the space altitude record of 850 statute miles—750 nautical miles —that the Gemini II spacecraft achieved early September 14. Astronaut Charles Conrad said the top of the earth was beautiful, “just fantastic!” "Boy, it’s really round.” On September 15, Gordon and Conrad leaned back as their onboard computer and their own systems guided the spacecraft automatically through space and then down through the atmosphere to almost a perfect landing—a point^- within one and a half miles of target.

Learning at School

<& In the first part of September the doors opened to some 30,000 classrooms in America. Millions of children flocked in to learn subjects of which their grandparents had no idea. For example, today children are studying some form of “new math,” learning about set theory; different kinds of number systems (decimal, duodecimal, binary, etc.); natural, rational, irrational and real numbers; probability; functions. There are courses for elementary school that include vectors, interpolation, logic, use of the slide rule. In high school, children learn about the fundamental concepts of time, space, matter, light, motion, electricity and the atom. Students do experiments leading to an understanding of velocity, acceleration and relative motion. They compute the size of a molecule, and on to study wave theory, optics and the physics of the atom. In biology they study racial differences, sex, birth control. Some schools teach Chinese, Japanese and Russian. There is also occupational training that is tied closely to job demand. Some youngsters are attending computer science courses and are being trained in data processing. Times have changed, and so have school courses.

Poverty at Home

<$> .Some two and a half years ago Lyndon B. Johnson, president of the United States, declared: “This Administration today, here and now, declares unconditional war on poverty in America.” More recently, however, the war in Vietnam has preoccupied the attention of Washington. This war is costing the American taxpayers some $1,006,000,000 a month! But what about the "unconditional war” on poverty? How goes it? The Saturday Evening Post for September 24, 1966, makes this interesting comment editorially: “Thirty-six percent of all non-white families in America have an annual income of $3,000 or less. An official check of city food stores shows that prices are markedly higher in the poorest neighborhoods —eggs costing 10 to 20 cents per dozen more than the citywide average, butter 10 to 15 cents more per pound. Thus, $3,000 buys even less for a poor family than for a middleclass one. And there are 8 million such families, more than 30 million Americans in all—twice as many people as in South Vietnam.”

Lamb Thefts

Thieves in Britain are sending up the price of lamb, said a published report from London. Highly organized syndicates are at work at docks in London, Liverpool and Avon-mouth stealing Australian and New Zealand lamb. Yearly meat losses total nearly $1,550,000.

Mafia in Religion and Politics

It is hard to imagine anyone upright wanting to do business with the Mafia, but recent reports show that Western military forces in Italy, during the last war, did just that. Time, for August 5, stated that on July 15, 1943, the Americans persuaded the Mafia to support their forces in Italy. Time says: "The Allies were so grateful that they generally selected Mafia members to be mayors of occupied towns, even gifted [Calogero] Vizzini [the millionaire chief of Italy’s Mafia] with two large trucks. The Mafia used them to transport food in the biggest black-market operation in the South. Withal, the Allies breathed new life and spirit into the 900-year-old Mafia, the world’s oldest and most infamous gang of hoodlums.” “All the institutions of Sicilian society—church, aristocracy, political parties—either went along with the Mafia or actively participated in it,” says Time. United States officials have since acknowledged that such deals were made.

Dangerous Drivers

Last year more than 12,000 persons were killed in highway accidents in France. Government figures reveal that about 22 percent of all car accidents involved people between 15 and 24 years of age. There were 92,361 persons between 15 and 24 implicated in car accidents, compared with 42,023 in the 45 to 54 age-group. The French government has taken steps to curb youth at the wheel. Anyone under 20 driving a car cannot go faster than 60 miles an hour on any road. Any youth owning a sports car soon will need a special permit to drive it. Insurance rates in France for teen-age car drivers are already 75 percent higher than for most others.

Luring the 78-hour Labor Day holiday in the United States, a record 636 persons died in traffic accidents. It was the seventh consecutive holiday in which highway deaths set a new record.

Blood Money

<$> Some beatnik tourists In Greece were paying for their vacations with blood—literally —until the government stepped in to enforce a sevenyear-old law. The shortage of plasma created a vigorous black market in blood. The “beat generation” would line up outside the technically illegal donor stations, where a pint of blood could be sold for the equivalent of five to six dollars. Since the visitors could get along in their style on a dollar a day, a pint of blood kept them going for about a week. Illegal donors and blood bank operators face up to six months in jail for trafficking in blood. The state does not pay for blood donations. In exchange for blood, it hands out milk, soft drinks and cigarettes.

Doctors’ Fees Up

<$> Medicare went into effect in the United States on July 1. Since then physicians have raised their fees for patients 65 and over by as much as 300 percent. The widespread increases were made public on August 18 by leading physicians and health insurance officials in New York city. The city physicians contended that they had raised the fees of only those patients whom they had carried at lower fees than prevailed in the rest of their practice. A Medicare spokesman, however, said: "This is a situation in which the professional takes advantage of the plan." Five years ago, a typical bill for ten days in a semiprivate room in a New York city voluntary hospital was $560. In a year, the bill is expected to be almost $1,000.

Catholic Frustrations

Unlike before the Second Vatican Council, Roman Catholics today feel free to deny or ignore doctrines and yet count themselves good members of the church, said Time for September 16. Donald Thorman, publisher of the National Catholic Reporter, described this attitude of selective faith as an "age of unbelief that has finally begun to hit the church in America." Thorman foresees an era of what he calls "uncatholicism.” Many Roman Catholics say, "I am a Catholic, but I’m not taking the church seriously any more.’’ Philosopher Michael Novak believes that the Roman Catholic Church today faces ‘‘a cultural crisis of the first order of magnitude.” Catholic leaders are perplexed as how to handle this new, "nothing-sacred,” questioning attitude. It is said to be a dilemma that seriously concerns Pope Paul VI. Some Catholics are even asking whether the Roman Catholic Church needs a pope, or whether the institutional church itself is necessary.

Vietnam Elections

<§> The New York World Journal and Tribune in its first issue, September 12, had this to say of the elections held In South Vietnam on September 11: "If there has been another election quite like this one held here, history has failed to record it.” Sound trucks blasted pleas to vote. Village chieftains were warned that they would die if they did vote; threatened massive reprisals by the Vlet-cong never came off, however. There were, nevertheless, 90 Vietcong attacks on voters and polling places during a single night, and 42 more between dawn and noon on the 11th. Nineteen persons were reported killed and 120 wounded. Many voters, undoubtedly, did not understand what it meant to elect a constituent assembly to draft a new constitution. They simply did as they were told. Perhaps the chief purpose of the election was to get a significant turnout and apparently that was accomplished. The government of Premier Nguyen Cao Ky, in power in South Vietnam, was gratified with the results.

HOW SURE ARE YOU of Your Beliefs?

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