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Watching the World

Neglecting the “Great Commission”

For many years Christendom has referred to Jesus’ command to his followers to make disciples of people of all the nations as the “Great Commission.” However, according to a recent poll conducted by the Institute for Research in Social Science at the University of North Carolina, U.S.A., fewer and fewer “Christians” in the United States even view this commission as very important. Outside the Southern states, which are traditionally more religious, only 32 percent of those who consider themselves Christian felt that converting others to their faith was a “very important” responsibility of their church. In the South, that figure was only 52 percent.

Where There’s Smoke There’s Fire

Of the many well-​known hazards of smoking, there is one that all too often escapes notice: fire. According to the U.S. National Fire Protection Association, lighted tobacco products caused some 187,000 fires in the United States in 1991 alone, killing 951 persons (not including firefighters). Thus, 25 percent of all the deaths by fire in residences that year were traceable to smoking​—more fatalities than resulted from fires by any other cause. Smoking-​related fires also caused 3,381 injuries and $552 million in property damage during the same year. The most commonly ignited household materials were found to be upholstered furniture, mattresses, and bedding.

TV Violence Measured

A controversial new study claims that despite all the furor over violence on American TV​—and despite many promises by TV networks to curb it—​the violence on TV has actually increased in the past two years. The study was conducted by the Center for Media and Public Affairs and reached its conclusions by monitoring a single day’s programming on ten stations and comparing the content with the programming on the same date two years earlier. It found that acts of violence, defined as deliberate acts of physical force that result in physical harm or destruction of property, increased by 41 percent over the two-​year period. Acts of serious violence were defined as life-​threatening or likely to cause serious injury, and the number of these soared by 67 percent. “The average rate of violent incidents increased from 10 to almost 15 scenes per channel per hour,” reports TV Guide.

Global Malnutrition

Globally, there is both good news and bad news about malnutrition. According to Global Child Health News & Review, the percentage of all children under five years old who suffer from malnutrition fell from 42 percent in 1975 to 34 percent in 1990. However, the absolute number of malnourished children has grown. Some 193 million children under five in developing countries are moderately or severely underweight, and about a third of those are severely malnourished. The paper notes that when a child is mildly malnourished, the risk of death by disease is doubled. The risk is tripled for a moderately malnourished child. For a child who is severely malnourished, the risk of death by disease is 11 times higher. In industrialized lands, the paper reports, the most common form of malnutrition in children is obesity. In North America, for instance, children get as much as 50 percent of their energy supply from fats​—which is “double the recommended proportion.”

Black Sea or “Dead” Sea?

“The Black Sea has become the most polluted sea in the world and is undergoing an agonizing death.” So reports the Russian newspaper Rossiiskaya Gazeta, noting that during the past 30 years, the Black Sea “has become a sewer for half of Europe​—a place for the disposal of huge amounts of phosphorus compounds, mercury, DDT, oil, and other poisonous refuse from the 160 million people residing on its coasts.” The pollution has brought on some alarming symptoms. Of the 26 varieties of fish that fishermen formerly caught in the Black Sea in the 1960’s, only 5 remain. The sea’s dolphin (mammal) population, once a robust 1,000,000, has plummeted to 200,000. Many of the remaining dolphins are infected with swine fever because so many hog farms discharge sewage into the Danube Delta.

Marijuana and Memory Loss

“In a world first,” reports The Sydney Morning Herald of Australia, “Sydney researchers have demonstrated what many people have long suspected​—that memory loss and lack of concentration caused by smoking marijuana persists long after people stop using the drug.” The research, conducted at Macquarie University, confirmed that the damage marijuana causes is proportional to the amount smoked and the duration of the practice. The news gets worse: “These impairments may not be reversible.” The study showed that former users suffered the same “cognitive impairments” as those who still smoked marijuana. More than memory is affected, especially for those who have used the drug for five years or more. Such individuals were found to be slower in processing information and less able to focus their attention and avoid distractions. The report concludes that, according to the combined evidence, smoking marijuana actually changes the brain’s physiology.

Teenagers and Porn Videos

An alarming 77 percent of high-​school boys and 24 percent of high-​school girls in Japan have watched pornographic videos, according to a survey conducted by Japan’s Management and Coordination Agency. Even among junior-​high-​school boys as young as 13 or 14 years of age, 25 percent have seen such videos. And the effects? “The survey indicates,” reported the Mainichi Daily News, “that those students who have seen adult videos have a poorly developed sense of conscience over sex crimes and low appreciation of the feelings of victims of such crimes.” Were the parents aware of the situation? The same survey revealed that only 12 percent of the parents of the students surveyed knew or suspected that their children were viewing pornographic videos.

Miracle or Microbes?

“One of the most celebrated miracles of the Catholic church may have been more microbial than divine,” reported New Scientist magazine recently. The supposed “miracle of Bolsena” occurred back in 1263, when a Bohemian priest reached for the sacramental wafer in a celebration of Mass. As the story goes, he was wondering if the wafer would truly turn into the body of Christ as the Catholic Church teaches. Then, to his amazement, he saw that the wafer was oozing what appeared to be blood! However, scientists have long speculated that the phenomenon was caused by a bright-​red, dripping fungus that thrives on starchy foods in warm climates. Johanna Cullen of George Mason University in Virginia, U.S.A., recently duplicated the likely medieval conditions and grew a culture of the suspected bacteria on a sacramental wafer. It soon turned blood red.

AIDS From Blood?

What are the chances of getting AIDS from a blood transfusion or from blood products? According to the newspaper The Star of Johannesburg, 600,000 people worldwide​—or 15 percent of all of those infected—​have been infected with the AIDS virus from blood or blood products since AIDS was identified. At present, testing blood for HIV is time-​consuming and expensive. Some conclude that blood should be subjected to at least seven different tests. Often, developing countries do not have the finances or training to use these tests. Even in affluent countries, where the tests are employed, there are mistakes. Paul Strengers, medical head of the Dutch blood-​transfusion service, admits: “We cannot say any blood product is 100 percent safe concerning the HIV virus or hepatitis.”

An Infrequent Visitor

A comet that was observed in March 1993 by astronomers in Australia and France was officially recognized by the International Astronomical Union the following January and dubbed McNaught-​Russel. But Chinese astronomers may well have observed it first​—some 14 centuries ago! According to New Scientist magazine, an astronomer calculated that this comet takes an unusually long time to orbit the sun: 1,419 years. Interestingly, ancient records show that Chinese astronomers observed a wandering “star” that may well have been this same comet. They recorded their sighting on the third year of a period called Keen Tih, during the second moon, on a day called Woo Woo​—or April 4, 574 C.E. The comet is due to make its next visit to our neighborhood of the solar system about the year 3412.