In Brief...
World News Review
Contributors: Cecil Maranville and John Ross Schroeder
- California Burning
- Who Is God?
- The American Era of Suburban Megachurches
- China Now in Space: A Warning for the West?
California Burning
As we go to press, the firestorms that ravaged Southern California unchecked for several days are finally under control. A virtual army of firefighters 15,000 strong waged war on the monstrous fires. To give you an idea of how large a commitment of personnel and equipment that represents, that's 4,000 more people fighting the California fires than there are British troops on the ground in Iraq.
I am writing this in Phoenix, Arizona, where the skies are obscured with smoke and ash from the massive volume of debris roaring skyward carried by the normal winds and by the weather the storms themselves generate.
This is the worst disaster ever to hit the already-beleaguered state that has a $38 billion deficit. Nearly 3,500 homes were destroyed, many of them worth several hundred thousands of dollars to more than a million. The burden of so many large claims on the pool of insurance funds will send shock waves through that industry.
The rebuilding will challenge Governor-elect Arnold Schwarzenegger's management skills. Elected largely on his promise to attract business to the state to invigorate revenue growth, instead of by raising taxes, he often added a footnote: "Unless there is a major disaster like an earthquake." In spite of the proportions of this disaster, he continues to promise he will not raise taxes. We will see if he is able to keep his word.
Undoubtedly, some television network or a movie studio is archiving video clips and has people at the drawing boards to rush to make the California Firestorm of 2003 movie. There is a story to be told, for sure.
One element is the arsonist(s) who started several of the blazes. Journalists are already calling it a terrorist act, whether it turns out to be domestic or foreign. The Arizona Republic reported this summer that an al-Qaeda detainee told of a plot to ignite a series of brushfires in the western United States.
Conditions could not have suited their purpose better. The first fires were in the San Bernardino area to which San Diego firefighters committed crews. Then a hunter lost in the wilderness southeast of Julian, a tourist gold-mining town now famous for its apple orchards, lit a signal fire that quickly exploded into a fire of incredible ferocity. Covering 20 miles overnight, it swept down the slopes and into the small town of Santee on the outskirts of La Jolla. My son and daughter-in-law are on campus at the University of California at San Diego. The fire showered the campus with ash. They were told to pack their car and to be ready to leave on a moment's notice.
But, they couldn't get out of the San Diego area to go east or north, because Interstates 5, 8 and 15 were all closed by fires! The winds changed overnight, and my children—along with hundreds of thousands of people in the same area—didn't have to flee, but the lesson was sobering. Smoke closed down the airport. Some could escape by going north on the Coast Highway, but it would accommodate only a fraction of the Southland's population, and they would eventually encounter another fire zone.
Much of San Diego's firefighting force was north of the city, fighting those early blazes. They couldn't get back to protect their own city for a while!
One of the largest population areas in the United States was virtually sealed off and threatened with disaster in a matter of a few hours, literally overnight. Who could imagine such a thing being possible?
Many lessons will be learned, such as allowing the Forest Service to trim the forests, so overgrowth doesn't fuel such fires, as well as lessons in managing people and materiel in a crisis on this massive a scale. Our hearts and prayers go out to all who suffered loss.
But will Americans learn, I mean really learn so they never forget, how truly finite and vulnerable we are? That all we know as normal can be turned inside out in mere moments? That those pursuits and possessions that demand most of our time and attention can evaporate seemingly instantly?
Will the shock of this catastrophe turn the hearts of people to true values, and away from those material possessions that can burn up? As in all disasters—and I'm reminded of similar firestorms in Arizona last summer, which we reported on in World News and Prophecy—people are calling on God for help and mercy. How soon will they forget Him, put Him back in an "open only in case of an emergency" box?
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Who Is God?
According to a September 2003 Harris Interactive Nationwide Survey in America about how people view God, 48 percent thought of Him as a spirit that is able to take on human form, 27 percent a spirit power that doesn't take on human form, 10 percent didn't believe in God at all and 9 percent thought of Him as a human being with a body (USA Today, Oct. 24, 2003, Atlantic edition). Although Americans are 10 times as likely as Europeans to attend church on a regular basis, there is still no general consensus about His nature in the United States.
Across the Atlantic, the British are generally much less precise in the way they express their views. In Britain we hear and read of "devout skeptics" as people steadily turn away from organized religion by the thousands. Many of the intelligentsia talk of "a dimension of spirit that transcends the mundane" or "the sense of the numinous within the human spirit." God is often viewed as "the quest for goodness" or some such similar expression (The Times (London), Aug. 25, 2003). The personal God of the Bible seems far from their thinking.
But what does Scripture actually tell us about God? To find out, please be sure to request our free 72-page booklet simply titled Who Is God?
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The American Era of Suburban Megachurches
A curious trend in large church construction has been building up in America for the last several decades. First built in the 1950s, megachurches began to spread across California and the Bible Belt in the '80s. The trend has continued into the 21st century and has expanded into other areas of the United States.
The concept of super large churches can include large auditoriums or amphitheaters, giant office complexes distinguished by crosses, gyms and playing fields of various kinds. Commenting on these religious "Wal-Marts," Scott Humma of the Hartford Institute for Religion Research said, "They're playing on a whole different understanding of religion. It's not something that looks like your parents' faith. They're tapping into the bigger is better, mall-like mentality of America" (The Financial Times, Oct. 25, 2003).
A growing number of these megachurches are nondenominational in outlook and embrace a mixture of conservative and liberal religious values. While supporting the Ten Commandments and decrying abortion, they may simultaneously accept Darwinism and reject creation. This modern approach to church construction is apparently bringing in the large numbers, but is bigger always better in the biblical sense?
God once told ancient Israel that they were "the fewest of all people" (Deuteronomy 7:7, KJV) and Jesus Christ said, "Fear not little flock" (Luke 12:32, KJV). The biblical Church today constitutes only the firstfruits of salvation, being the Israel of God (Galatians 6:16).
Many modern churchgoers do not even understand that the Church is the spiritual Body of Christ and not a physical building. They would be astonished by what the Bible itself says about the Church. Most have either forgotten or never known about the Church in Scripture. For further understanding, please request our free booklet The Church Jesus Built.
( back to top )China Now in Space: A Warning for the West?
Some astute observers believe that China's recent space shot has far more symbolic significance than just the first Asian entry into outer space. If ultimately successful, it's another feather in the Chinese cap, like hosting the Olympics in 2008.
British historian Andrew Roberts says that this space venture is another strong indication of "the dawn of a Chinese century" (The Sunday Telegraph, Oct. 19, 2003). To this historian, "It is high time that we woke up to the threat that an awakened Chinese empire poses for our present (English-speaking) global hegemony."
Napoleon once referred to China as "a sleeping giant" and then predicted, "When she awakes she will shake the world."
Beijing's $100 billion trade surplus with the United States is not the only economic concern about China worrying the Western nations. In the last 10 years the Chinese economy has grown by an annual average of 10 percent (The Times, Oct. 20, 2003). Present growth patterns indicate that it is poised to overtake France in 2004 and Britain in 2005 (The Sunday Times, Oct. 12, 2003).
If by midcentury (as some are predicting) China should replace the United States as the leading global superpower, the world might be "looking forward" to a new dark age of oppression reminiscent of the Third Reich. The 2003 annual report of Amnesty International comments about China's performance: "Serious human rights violations continued and in some respects the situation deteriorated. Tens of thousands of people continue to be arbitrarily detained or imprisoned for peacefully exercising their rights to freedom of expression, association or belief. Torture and ill treatment remain widespread" (The Sunday Telegraph, Oct. 19, 2003). Of course, some China watchers pin their hopes on potential political and cultural reforms.
The U.S. government clearly regards China as both a potential economic and military threat to democratic institutions and our Western way of life. Even as the president was visiting several Asian countries, "Washington's top envoy in Taiwan issued a blunt warning to the island to strengthen its defences, saying failure to do so would soon tip the military balance in favour of rival mainland China" (The Financial Times, Oct. 18, 2003).
Therese Shaheen, chairwoman of the American Institute in Taiwan, specifically said: "We have a serious problem because (China) is building up rapidly missiles across the strait, and doing a lot of other things that don't show peaceful interest" (op. cit.).
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