Information Related to "An Overview of Conditions Around the World - Jul/Aug 2000"

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An Overview of Conditions Around the World

Disgusting developments in Britain

"Sex, Sex and More Sex (on TV), and Very Little Sense." "Film Censors to Let Teenagers See More Sex." "Why Nice Girls Like to Strip (for charity)." "Come On, Own Up, We All Like a Bit of Sex on the Telly." "TV Ads for Escort Girls." "Judge Clears Real-Life Sex Videos for Sale in Britain." "Porn Sellers Are Setting the Standards." "A Good Reason to Stop Being Hypocritical About Porn."

Moral values and standards aren't getting any better in Britain as judged by the above recent article titles from respected national newspapers. Perhaps most jarring is that the surprising advocacy for immoral behavior reflected in these headlines emanates from opinion shapers long thought to be proponents of traditional moral values.

An Independent on Sunday opinion piece is typical: "The net (Internet) is making adult entertainment one of the world's biggest businesses. Britain should get real." The astonishing feature then went on to say: "The international adult entertainment industry has never had it so good. Pornography is becoming part of popular culture, and it is still the only business that can consistently turn a profit on the net."

Blatant greed for money is viewed as the basis for so-called moral standards in Britain. This feature continued: "When it comes to the business of web-based adult entertainment, the British are frozen in a kind of moral dark age by a government that refuses to consider an overhaul of ambiguous and outdated obscenity laws ... Britain stands alone in Europe in outlawing (hard core) pornography ... The size and revenues of adult entertainment companies on the continent and in the U.S. are often understated."

We can be thankful a few voices in Britain still lament this abominable situation. We could not express it better than a recent Daily Mail editorial: "Welcome to a brave new Britain where the rights of a few pornographers are considered more important than the protection of childhood innocence. With the blessing of the High Court, videos showing explicit ... sex (previously prevented by law) are to be made readily available to the public ... The most profound human experiences of love and commitment are being systematically demeaned. And what is even more depressing is that nobody in politics, the law or the liberal establishment seems to have the wisdom, conviction or courage to call a halt" (Sources: The Independent on Sunday, The Daily Mail (all London).)

Marriage and divorce

The disgusting advocacy for bad behavior described above has spilled over into almost every aspect of morality in Britain. A recent feature article in a national paper was titled "Marriage Lesson One: Divorce," followed by the drophead: "Finally, reality is kicking in: most relationships do not last forever. We need to learn to deal with the real world."

Another feature explained "why we're on the run from commitment." Finally we read that "lesbian affairs are the cause of more marriage breakups (in Britain) ... Because men can't understand their needs, women feel they are much better off with a woman who can."

Much of the advice doled out to the British public is pure poison. No nation can permanently survive this kind of breakdown in attitudes and behavior. Rationalizing such moral and spiritual degradation by calling it "the real world" will inevitably lead to dire consequences for any society that condones and accepts such behavior.

We desperately need to learn the other side of the story-the right side. Please request your personal copies of the two free booklets The Ten Commandments and Making Life Work. They are available from any of our offices listed on page 2 or from our Web site at www.gnmagazine.org. (Sources: The Independent on Sunday, The Sunday Telegraph (all London).)

Disorder on the increase in England

The crime correspondent of The Daily Telegraph recently wrote: "Falling police numbers have created deep problems in the inner cities with violence and disorder amounting to 'anarchy' outside pubs and clubs at night in London, Leeds, Liverpool and Manchester." These are four of England's major population centers.

Some city forces are policing difficult areas with only half of the officers available five years ago. For this and other reasons (notably the general breakdown of society), mindless thuggery is on the increase in England.

Symbolic of the inclinations of British society were the thousands of dollars' worth of damage caused to a London bus by rioting students. The indignant head of the bus company reacted by personally driving the vehicle to the school and showing the headmaster the massive damage to its
interior. Then he promptly canceled all runs to the school.

Of particular concern were the London riots of May 1 when officers of the metropolitan police squared off against 4,000 anticapitalist protesters near the houses of Parliament. But, before these violent rioters were fully brought under control, they had managed to deface Winston Churchill's statue in Parliament Square as well as a war memorial in the area-both historic symbols of Britons' willingness to protect their national integrity.

Sir Winston was a national hero credited with being one of the most important World War II leaders who helped save the world from fascism. In many people's minds he was Britain's man of the century. Yet thugs desecrated his statue by daubing it with word murderer.

Daily Mail columnist Lynda Lee-Potter commented: "This vile anarchic army of would-be destroyers was recruited through the internet. The potential viciousness on the day appealed to every failure, every embittered useless troublemaker and yob in the land ... The genuine protesters were totally swamped by those who had destruction in their hearts."

A whole generation in Britain has not learned even the most basic of biblical teachings-the Ten Commandments. We are reaping the bitter fruits of our careless neglect. (Sources: The Daily Mail, The Economist, The Daily Telegraph (all London).)

The cure for violence

Violent assaults remain a troubling aspect of life on the other side of the Atlantic as well. A problem in Texas public schools is a case in point. Last year school officials recorded nearly 51,000 assaults against students by other students. Another 3,800 incidents of assault were reported against the teachers, and 500 guns were confiscated from pupils.

The State of Texas had already formed a 22-member school-violence task force after the school murders in Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado. At the center of the Texas committee's recommendations are character-education programs. It was wisely recognized at the onset that personal character is the key to the prevention of violent behavior.

However, character must first be taught in the nation's homes by responsible parents. Teachers cannot make up for parental neglect. By age 6 much of a child's character is already formed, and even teachers imbued with the wisdom of Solomon and the patience of Job are hard pressed to deal effectively with neglected children. (Source: The Corpus Christi Caller-Times.)

Humanity held hostage to missile threat

Magazine articles catch the eye, particularly one that begins: "A decade after the end of the Cold War there are still 550 ballistic missiles buried in America's landscape. And with them are the missileers, the young Air Force elite who are always ready to do the unthinkable." This was recently published in The Times Magazine in London (Saturday supplement), and of course the number does not take into account America's missile strike force carried by nuclear submarines.

The quote itself becomes even more important when considered with part of another article printed in The Los Angeles Times. "Those details, published by the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists, reveal that the United States has encouraged Russia to keep its entire strategic nuclear force of about 3,000 missiles on hair-trigger alert as a way to reduce Moscow's anxiety about a U.S. missile defense system. The U.S. system, however, would be designed to counter no more than a small fraction of Russia's arsenals."

Undoubtedly those who man the controls in both countries are well trained and balanced. Safety requirements are no doubt stringent. As Maj. Rick McAlister, a senior Air Force instructor, said: "Every time you go out on alert, this Wing, this country, this world is depending on you to do your job perfect-not close enough, but perfect."

This is a stark reminder of what we too often forget: We live in a world that at any given time is potentially only minutes away from nuclear warfare capable of devastating much of the globe. We are held hostage to our supersophisticated nuclear weaponry.

In spite of years of effort, utopia has not come-and a war-minded world populace cannot bring it about. That's why the world desperately needs the gospel of the Kingdom of God. God's good news heralds the personal intervention of Jesus Christ and the beginning of His reign, bringing the peaceful world tomorrow when all of mankind will lay down its weapons (Isaiah 2:4; Micah 4:3). No longer will we be under constant threat from our own technology. (Sources: The Times Magazine (London), The Los Angeles Times).

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, such as there has never been before since the beginning of the world, and will never be again" (Matthew 24:21, Revised 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 of Nazareth. 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: 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