Information Related to "An Overview of Conditions Around the World - Sep/Oct 1999"
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The Growing Danger of China and Russia
American network television anchorman Dan Rather soberly reminded newspaper readers
recently that "the world remains a tough, dangerous neighborhood" and that big trouble
may be brewing for the West in China and Russia. He concluded his article in The
Houston Chronicle with a comment the two nations bear close watching, especially
in the near future.
This year the news out of Beijing has not been good for the West. For instance, President
Jiang Zenin asserts that socialism will defeat capitalism and China will continue
its path under Marxism. The Chinese government frequently makes threatening noises
against Taiwan, which the Western press used to refer to as Nationalist China. Beijing
thinks in terms of "one China" and has sold Western countries on this concept. Even
so, the West does not want Chinese unity with Taiwan if it involves military force
from the mainland.
The disturbing news that China has the technology to build a neutron bomb greatly
concerns Western nations. This type of nuclear weapon is designed to kill many people
with deadly radiation while leaving inanimate objects--buildings, bridges, roads,
etc.--intact. Beijing is supposedly making "final preparations to test-fire a new
mobile intercontinental ballistic missile that the CIA believes will incorporate
stolen U.S. missile and warhead secrets." And we thought the Cold War was over.
The Russian danger is similar. Consider a recent report from The Times (London):
"American officials believe that Russia may have stolen some of the nation's most
sensitive military secrets, including weapons guidance systems and naval intelligence
codes, in a concerted espionage offensive that investigators have called operation
Moonlight Maze."
Spying in cyberspace apparently is the means. American experts talk of a "digital
Pearl Harbor." Hackers have entered U.S. systems from an overseas site. A White House
official said, "It is impossible to overstate the seriousness of this problem. The
president is very concerned about it."
Another cause for Western concern is the political, social and economic sickness
plaguing the Russian state. Cabinet members are changed and exchanged like a pair
of gloves. Public health is in crisis, and the national economy is in tatters. The
West fears severe economic pressures will tempt some to sell nuclear technology to
unsavory nations and terrorist groups. Russia looks like fertile ground for more
intrigue or worse.
Mr. Rather pointed out that both China and Russia "may not be headed for a new alliance
against the West," but "vigilance in the West is needed more than ever, along with
a willingness to consider the unthinkable." (Sources: The Houston Chronicle; The
Washington Times; The Los Angeles Times; The Times (London), The Express
(London).)
Anglo-American Marriage Trends
According to the latest issue of British Population Trends, married couples
will constitute a minority of the population before 2010. In the other direction,
the rate of growth in cohabitation and illegitimate children is enormous.
Most Western governments have knowingly or unknowingly undermined the divine institution
of marriage. Over the last 50 years their laws and policies have weakened nuptial
bonds. While paying lip service to marriage, their philosophy has conceived the legal
loopholes that have made divorce far easier and tax policies that penalize married
couples.
Consider the words of Jack Straw, Britain's home secretary: "While marriages should
be supported and strengthened, there are other kinds of families, including single-parent
families, that do equally well for children." Do they? Juvenile-crime statistics
show otherwise.
Wrote journalist Cheryl Wetzstein of The Washington Times: "Marriage in America
has gone from better to worse, with fewer couples marrying and fewer still saying
their lives together are wedded bliss, according to a report released on July 1 . . .
As marriage has faltered, rates of divorce, cohabitation and bearing children out
of wedlock have soared to record levels." (Sources: Financial Times; Daily Mail
(London); Washington Times.)
It May not be Immortality, but it isn't Bad
If you want to live longer, go to church, synagogue or other religious services
regularly. That's the conclusion of a report in a recent issue of Demography
magazine.
People who attend such services once a week live an average of seven years longer
than those who never go, researchers found. For 20-year-olds, those who never go
to church services will die at an average age of 75, while those who attend regularly
will live to an average age of 82. Blacks who attend services weekly live an average
of 14 years longer than those who never go.
This research undergirds an increasing consensus that belief in the Scriptures and
church attendance can be key indicators of better physical and emotional health as
well as longer life.
Why the difference in longevity? Part can be explained by the fact that many churchgoers
avoid unhealthy behaviors such as drunkenness, smoking, taking illegal drugs and
engaging in sex with multiple partners.
But distinct differences remain even allowing for people with similar behavior and
incomes are compared. Researchers credit the personal relationships and sense of
belonging people gain from attending religious services regularly. "People who attend
church have friends to count on, a sense of their importance in the scheme of things,"
explained University of Colorado sociology professor Rick Rogers, one of the study's
researchers.
Regular churchgoers "have meaning in their lives, a better sense of control, can
relate better to other people--which all have potential health benefits," added Bernard
Spilka, professor emeritus of psychology at the University of Denver.
The Bible itself says: "Honor your father and mother, which is the first commandment
with promise: that it may be well with you and you may live long on the earth" (Ephesians 6:2-3). Leviticus 26 and Deuteronomy 28 talk of the many blessings for living a life
of obedience to God. Many of King Solomon's proverbs tell of the health and contentment
that spring out of following God's way. Old and New Testaments alike speak of the
importance of regular worship with others (Leviticus 23:1-3; Hebrews 10:24-25).
If you would like more information about the biblical way of life, please request
our free booklets The Ten Commandments and The Church Jesus Built.
(Sources: The New King James Bible; Demography, The Rocky Mountain News, The Washington
Times.)
TV Negatively Portrays Fathers
Father Knows Best was a popular American television series several decades
ago. But on television Father doesn't know best anymore. Fathers are often depicted
as bumbling and incompetent, if depicted at all, according to a study from the National
Fatherhood Initiative, a nonprofit organization that monitors media depictions of
family situations.
The group examined 102 prime-time shows on five American networks and found that
15 feature as regular characters fathers of teen and preteen children. Of those 15,
only four shows received a positive rating from the group, and two of those four
shows were slated to be canceled.
Such biased depictions of fathers, and the absence of fathers from so many shows,
are cause for concern because "a substantial number of young men are now growing
up clueless about what their primary role in the future family will be: that of a
father," said Don Eberly, the organization's chairman. "At a time when children badly
need fathers, the networks portray them as missing, confused, aloof or completely
uninformed."
Film critic Michael Medved described the entertainment industry's battle for your
mind in his 1992 book Hollywood vs. America: Popular Culture and the War on Traditional
Values. "Hollywood no longer reflects--or even respects--the values of most American
families," he writes. "On many of the important issues in contemporary life, popular
entertainment seems to go out of its way to challenge conventional notions of decency."
He adds that the power of the entertainment industry "to influence our actions flows
from its ability to redefine what constitutes normal behavior in this society."
Entertainers have "assumed a dominant role in establishing social conventions. The
fantasy figures who entertain us on our TV and movie screens, or who croon to us
constantly from our radios and CD players, take the lead in determining what is considered
hip, and what will be viewed as hopelessly weird."
True at the time he wrote those words, they are even more true--and prophetic--seven
years later. Some 2,000 years ago another writer--and prophet--cautioned us to think
wholesome thoughts (Philippians 4:8). He warned we are engaged in a battle "not against
enemies of blood and flesh, but against . . . the cosmic powers of this
present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil" that try to influence our
thinking and ultimately control our behavior. (Sources: USA Today, Philippians 4:8; Ephesians 6:12, New Revised Standard Version.)
Why Bad News in The Good News?
Speaking of the state of the world just before His return, Jesus Christ said
our planet will experience "a time of great distress; there has never been such a
time from the beginning of the world until now, and will never be again" (Matthew 24:21, New English Bible).
The United Church of God, whose members and supporters provide the financial backing
for The Good News and other publications, proclaims the good news of the imminent
return of Jesus Christ. This section of the magazine reports on some of the consequences
of human behavior leading to the very conditions Jesus described: a dangerous world
of chaos, confusion and apprehension in which man faces the terrifying possibility
of extinction (verse 22).
The world is filled with bad news. Yet the future holds incredible promise: Jesus
Christ's return to establish the Kingdom of God (Daniel 7:13-14; Revelation 11:15),
ushering in a time of peace, prosperity and plenty during which all people will at
last learn to live God's way of life. This truly is good news on which you can stake
your future.
--John Ross Schroeder and Scott Ashley
© 1999-2022 United Church of God, an International Association
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