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World News and Trends
An Overview of Conditions Around the World
by John Ross Schroeder and Scott Ashley
Trouble in Anglicanism
Mainstream churchgoing has declined in England for two decades. Recent statistics belie the hope that the fall in Anglican attendance had finally bottomed out. Average annual figures for weekly worshipers are down by about 36,000. One possible reason could be member concern about the state of the clergy.
In a recent random poll of 200 members of the Anglican clergy, only about a third could name all of the Ten Commandments. Some could remember only two. A third do not consider sex outside marriage or homosexual practices to be a sin. About a third do not believe in the virgin birth. George Carey, the archbishop of Canterbury, has been calling for a return to moral basics—"setting forward the Ten Commandments as guidelines for families and individuals to live by." (Sources: The Times, The Sunday Telegraph, The Sunday Times.)
Seventh-day confusion
Strict Sunday observance is deteriorating in Britain. One writer referred to "the sleepy Sabbath" of old "with a trip to church, family lunch and snooze in front of the fire." But she pointed out that "a slow secularisation of Sunday has been at work all century." She titled her article, "And on the Seventh Day..."
European news media confuse Sunday with the biblical seventh day. However, the Sabbath in both Old and New Testaments has always been just that: the seventh day of the week—never the first day. Readers who would like to see proof from the Bible should request our free booklet Sunset to Sunset: God's Sabbath Rest. (Source: The Sunday Telegraph.)
Europeanizing nuclear weapons
Increasing evidence exists of a Franco-German push to Europeanize nuclear weapons. Times correspondent Roger Boyes reported the following from Germany: "Typical of the mood in Bonn is an article yesterday, by Professor Werner Kaltefleiter, an influential political scientist at Kiel University. He said Germans would surrender the Deutschmark more readily if other countries such as France and Britain `Europeanised' their nuclear weapons. A single currency alone is not enough to give (a) united Europe international importance. European nuclear weapons are necessary for this."
More recently The Observer's Arnold Kemp wrote: "France and Germany have given new impetus to their controversial drive towards a European defence policy and have agreed to begin a dialogue on adding a nuclear dimension to it."
The British are understandably skeptical about this emphasis the Franco-German role. Talk abounds of a secret paper signed by Messrs. Kohl and Chirac in Nuremberg on December 7, 1996, and apparently leaked to Le Monde in Paris.
"The French have been campaigning to give Europeans regional command within NATO while allowing the United States, which they regard as increasingly overweening and unpredictable, to retain strategic control." (Sources: The Times, The Observer.)
Hebron only a beginning
Some Arab states and the Palestinians regard the Hebron agreement as only a stepping-stone to more concessions on the part of Israel. The Times' Jessica Berry was on hand in Hebron to record the words of Yasser Arafat: "Hebron is a springboard to what comes after ... We will continue to Jerusalem ... (It) should be divided with East Jerusalem under Palestinian control. A city can be the capital of two states, like the example of Rome, the capital of Italy where there is a Vatican compound."
Christopher Walker reports from Jerusalem: "The Israeli Army has been conducting a detailed investigation into how northern parts of the country can be defended without continued possession of the Golan Heights," obtained from Syria in the 1967 war.
Some have taken this news to mean that the Golan plateau may soon become negotiable as a prelude to an Israeli-Syrian peace agreement. But will trading territory for peace really work in the long run? What about Chamberlain waving a "white paper" from Hitler in 1938 ? (Sources: The Daily Telegraph, The Times.)
U.S. concern over Mideast threats
The U.S. State Department has tried to draw the world's attention to developments in both Iran and Libya. It is clear that "Tehran's military chiefs are intensifying their drive to acquire nuclear technology." At the current rate estimates are that an atomic arsenal could be a reality within five years.
But nuclear weapons are only part of the problem. Iran is also building a biological arsenal. Said The Sunday Times: "Both the CIA and the Israelis believe that military scientists working for the Islamic regime in Tehran have developed a deadly (biological warfare) aerosol that can be carried by a terrorist." This is in addition to known stocks of anthrax and botulism northwest of Tehran.
Libya has also given sufficient grounds for anxious concern. According to another Sunday Times article, "Libya is stepping up construction work on the largest chemical weapons plant in the world in defiance of American threats to bomb the facility to prevents its completion." Washington is reported to be engaged in urgent dialogue with its allies about how to deal with the Libyan threat.
Events in the Middle East are not at all promising. Biblical prophecy indicates this critical part of the world will be the focal point of crucial happenings, particularly in the 11th chapter of Daniel. (Sources: The Sunday Telegraph, The Sunday Times.)
Germany faces jobs crisis
Unemployment in Germany has risen to the highest level since World War II, according to figures released by the government, triggering warnings of possible strikes and other social upheavals from opposition leaders and economists. According to some, the job crisis in Europe is the worst since the 1930s.
The German government's report offered scant optimism that the situation will improve soon. Germany's high labor costs and expensive social programs, some of the most costly in the world, have hindered the country's competitiveness against other nations in a global economy.
Much of the country's economic turmoil can be traced to the unification of East and West Germany. In the former West Germany, burdensome taxes have slowed investments, hindering the introduction of technological advances. In the east the $700 billion transferred from the west has helped rebuild a crumbling infrastructure but hasn't generated jobs. In some regions up to half of the workforce is idle.
Further souring the public mood are austerity measures intended to cut state deficits and satisfy requirements for a common European currency (the euro) by 1999. Germans increasingly dislike the notion of surrendering the Deutschmark to embrace an untested European currency. Recent surveys show that only 31 percent favor the new currency, and most fear an erosion of their living standard under the new economic system.
The head of the federal labor office, Bernhard Jagoda, sees no signs of imminent improvement ahead. He estimates that the number of unemployed workers at near 4.5 million and growing—some 11 percent of the work force. (Source: The Washington Post.)
Soviet fall hits population hard
The collapse of the U.S.S.R. has led to major social changes and a potentially major population decline, according to observers. Observing declining birth rates and rising death rates, some demographers estimate that the Russian population may shrink by 15 million over the next few decades.
Before, government policy—through cash allowances, larger apartments, supplemental food and other benefits—encouraged citizens to have more children. However, with the downfall of that system many of those incentives evaporated. As a result, the birth rate has plunged to nine births per 1,000 citizens, among the lowest in the world.
Meanwhile, deaths among working-age men from coronary and cardiovascular disease, along with deaths from unnatural causes, have doubled since 1990. As a result, the average lifespan of a male has dropped to 57.4 years, compared to 72 for women.
Health officials attribute these changes to factors stemming from the country's widespread economic, social and political upheaval, including a growing disparity in income, pervasive crime and corruption, crumbling social services, plunging living standards and apprehension about the future. Consequently, some demographers and health officials foresee a 21st century in which children and men in Russia are relatively scarce, and aging widows will make up much of the population. (Source: The Boston Globe.)
Thou shalt not steal (usually)
Church of England priest John Papworth raised a furor when he suggested that shoplifting is acceptable if the victim is a large supermarket or corporation. "Jesus said 'Love your neighbor'; he didn't say 'Love Marks and Spencers,'" he said, referring to the British retailer.
Mr. Papworth distinguished between robbing small merchants and individuals—which he thinks is wrong—and stealing from large retail corporations, whose "boardroom barons" plot "how to take the maximum amount of money out of people's pockets for the minimum in return." Such companies, he says, drive smaller stores out of business and harm communities.
Although Mr. Papworth denied he was encouraging shoplifting, he did say that, "if people wander in and wander out without paying for the stuff, I think it is a perfectly comprehensible action."
Other Church of England officials distanced themselves from the priest's remarks. "The commandment 'Thou shalt not steal' is an absolute one," said Pete Broadbent, who serves the church as deacon of Northolt in London.
Home Secretary Michael Howard characterized priest Papworth's comments as "disgraceful." He asked, "How can we inculcate in our children the difference between right and wrong, how can we hope to teach them moral principles when those in positions of authority in the church make remarks of this kind?" (Source: The Associated Press.)
(c) 1997 United Church of God, an International Association
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Keywords: Sunday Germany nuclear weapons Russia Iran eighth commandment
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