World News and Trends
An Overview of Conditions Around the World
by John Ross Schroeder and Jerold Aust
- Germany's new wave of anti-Americanism
- Significance of 31 new Roman Catholic cardinals
- Relentless push for a European superpower
- What brings Jacques Chirac back?
- Cursing more prevalent on American TV
- No substitute for proper parenting
Germany's new wave of anti-Americanism
Although German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder recently met with President George W. Bush and duly extended an olive branch, he first unleashed Germany's latent anti-Americanism when his position in government was seriously threatened before a national election. The disturbing factor is, however, not so much the politics of Herr Schroeder as it is much of the population's distorted view of America.
Normally conspiracy theories remain in the realm of fringe minorities. Nonetheless, the popular "Column One" feature in The Wall Street Journal Europe recently reported: "In Germany, however, the (conspiracy) theories have legs, and over the past few months, wave after wave of improbable and outrageous assertions have received serious hearings. A recent public-opinion poll by Forsa, one of Germany's major polling organisations, found that every fifth German believes that 'the U.S. government ordered the (9/11) attacks itself'" (Sept. 29, emphasis added throughout).
One wonders if the effects in Germany of seeing conspiracy-theme, fictional movies made in America somehow play a role in this badly misguided thinking.
Many in Germany apparently "further believe that the American government is in turn controlled by a Jewish world conspiracy and that Mossad (Israel's CIA) is behind the suicide bombers in Israel" (The Spectator, Sept. 13).
Bear in mind that these trends are not being reported by sleazy and sensational tabloids, but by veteran journalists on the scene in Berlin for highly respected newspapers and magazines. The Spectator in particular has made it clear that "a venomous stream of anti-American and anti-Semitic resentment has burst forth in Germany during the Iraqi crisis."
To its credit the German newsmagazine Der Spiegel has recently contributed 16 pages of a recent issue to debunking these preposterous conspiracy theories. Also, Germany and America recently pledged to cooperate in rebuilding Iraq. But as The Wall Street Journal Europe related in its feature column, "Lurking beneath the diplomatic bonhomie (or friendliness) is a suspicion that the U.S. is no longer the indispensable diplomatic partner it has been for the past half century."
Where will this disturbing trend ultimately lead? The Spectator article proposed an ominous conclusion: "The German opinion polls show rapidly increasing support for the idea of a European superpower to act as a check on American ambitions. 70 per cent of Germans now favour that idea, compared with only 48 per cent a year ago."
As late as March 30 of this year, Walter Russell Mead, a longtime American writer and commentator on international affairs, wrote: "U.S.-German relations remain today what they have been for 50 years—the cornerstone of the Western Alliance. Fix that relationship and the rest falls into place. Neglect it and the battle of Europe gets worse" (Los Angeles Times).
You need to understand the vital long-term, biblical significance of crucial events now occurring in Central Europe. Those who would like to know more should write for our free booklet The Book of Revelation Unveiled. (Sources: The Los Angeles Times, The Spectator, The Wall Street Journal Europe.)
Significance of 31 new Roman Catholic cardinals
Pope John Paul II is 83, now with seriously failing health. He has recently appointed 31 new cardinals, mostly with clearly declared conservative views—particularly on those principles that he holds dear. Only one cardinal resides in the United States.
Some observers think one of these newly appointed cardinals could be the first black pope. Apparently Cardinal Francis Arinze of Nigeria is being seriously considered for the top papal role. According to Times correspondent Richard Owen, reporting from Rome, some in the college of cardinals are leaning to an African in preference to a Latin American candidate.
Pope John Paul II has certainly been a very active Polish pope, putting his personal stamp on the Vatican. The world waits to see who his successor will be. And those with insight into biblical prophecy wonder if his coming reign will impact European and Middle Eastern events in a way that would propel us into the period heralding the second coming of Jesus Christ. The book of Revelation indicates that religion will play as important a role in fulfilling end-time Bible prophecies as world politics. (Sources: The Times (London), USA Today, Atlantic edition.)
Relentless push for a European superpower
Noted feature writer Ambrose Evans-Pritchard recently raised the alarm again about the new European draft constitution. He wrote: "Valery Giscard d'Estaing bills his 263-page draft constitution as a 'great leap forward' in European integration" (The Daily Telegraph, Sept. 10).
And if adopted, indeed it will be! The article continues: "It effectively doubles the power of the European Parliament, puts the European Commission in charge of vast fields of justice and home affairs, and turns the European Court into a fully fledged supreme court with powers to rule in most areas of national life. It creates a full time EU president ... It whittles down the national veto in roughly 40 new areas ... It creates an EU justice department, Eurojust, with powers to launch cross-border investigations into a wide range of crimes."
European Commission President Romano Prodi predicts that this new constitution "will catapult the EU into the global arena as a full superpower." Apparently under its terms, the European Union will have sole authority to negotiate most treaties. What is going to happen to national sovereignty in Europe?
David Hughes, political editor of The Daily Mail, recently reported that "the European Commission demanded even more powers—and one key member even spoke of the body becoming a 'veritable government for Europe'" (Sept. 18). According to Walter Russell Mead, "France hopes that the European Union will grow into a superpower that, under French leadership, will challenge the U.S. for world leadership" (Los Angeles Times, March 30).
As the Scriptures clearly indicate, lust for power is a universal weakness that has dogged mankind almost since our first parents left the Garden of Eden. It is one of the chief ingredients of the downside of our human nature. And when it is expressed through the medium of dictators of powerful nations, it often leads to disastrous results—sometimes with many millions of lives lost. Witness Hitler, Stalin and Tojo in the 20th century.
You cannot afford to be unaware of where these European trends and events are surely taking humankind. For further biblical information, please request our free booklet You Can Understand Bible Prophecy. (Sources: The Daily Telegraph, Daily Mail (both London), The Los Angeles Times.)
What brings Jacques Chirac back?
France—that is to say, French president Jacques Chirac—vehemently opposed U.S. President George W. Bush's decision to remove Saddam Hussein's regime in Iraq. Before the Iraqi war, France attempted to use its vote to block the U.S. coalition from fulfilling what the Security Council (including France) had already unanimously agreed to (Resolution 1441). President Bush chose to ignore the United Nations and did what he thought he had to do for American security. The American-led coalition quickly drove a dangerous madman from power.
Chirac attempted to garner favorable world public opinion by standing resolutely against the United States' bid to overcome the Iraqi threat. His miscalculation backfired. France became a negative byword on U.S. television, and American consumers avoided French products.
Now the French president is back, this time without a lot of flak. Late September headlines suggested that France could back a gradual power shift in Iraq, but on its terms. France said that it was willing to support a new UN resolution on Iraq if it calls for the actual transfer of sovereignty to the U.S.-appointed provisional government. Why is Jacques Chirac now more conciliatory?
France is one of the leaders of the European Union, a potential economic behemoth. As with any burgeoning confederation of nations, power shifts as time passes, and politicians want to be noticed and felt among equals.
Historically, France and Germany have been two of the most dominant powers on the European continent over the past few hundred years. Germany defeated France twice in the last century. Now they are brothers in an expanding European brotherhood.
Could France desire hegemony over the European Union? Could Jacques Chirac want the European nations to view him as the natural, gutsy leader of Europe? And could Mr. Chirac want the rest of the world to respect him for standing against America, then alternately appeasing the mightiest nation on earth? Psychologically, this good-cop, bad-cop technique could help position the French president as contender for leader of the free world.
Yet even Mr. Chirac probably has no idea where his efforts to position Europe as a world competitor to the United States could ultimately lead. The Bible clearly prophesies the rise of a new European-centered superpower supported by a great religious body (Revelation 13 and 17). One already exists; the other is in the process of forming. Out of that coalition will come a charismatic leader who will govern what will amount to a final revival of the Holy Roman Empire.
If you watch world news and compare it to Bible prophecy, you'll be able to read the handwriting on the wall when the time comes for that political superman to emerge. While Jacques Chirac seems an unlikely choice, this coming leader may follow in his footsteps. To learn more, request our free booklet The Book of Revelation Unveiled. (Source: USA Today.)
Cursing more prevalent on American TV
In a study of U.S. television programming between 1998 and 2002, cursing had risen 95 percent during the television family hour (from 8 to 9 p.m. Eastern and Pacific Time) each evening. The very next hour, from 9 to 10 p.m., showed a 109 percent increase in cursing.
Television mirrors life, but it also helps to shape it. In this case, a coarse stratum of American life has broken out of barrooms and settled into our living rooms. Should television be used to spread cursing into our homes while indoctrinating our children?
Psychologist Timothy Jay has written a book on the subject of swearing in public, Cursing in America (2000). He claims that women and children are swearing more in public because the culture is changing and that it's more pervasive. Television actors, celebrities, sports figures and even cartoons show people cursing the air blue.
Modern societies and their cultures are indeed changing for the worse, and a good part of the blame can be laid at the doors of media. The more families watch evening television sitcoms—filled with sexual innuendos, four-letter words and religious expletives—the easier it becomes for everyone to curse more in public. The ever-ubiquitous television industry becomes our moral standard. Regrettably, the amoral standards of media typically set an entire nation's social norms.
Have you noticed how easy it is for people on television game shows to use the religious expletive "Oh my God!"?; If you watch TV game shows, notice how many times this phrase is used. Does this expletive have any real meaning?
The point is that human beings have strayed so far from God that just about any kind of epithet is acceptable. Your Bible says that we should not take God's name in vain and that He pronounces a sentence of guilt on anyone who does (Exodus 20:7). Yet people have long used God's name loosely and profanely.
This is symptomatic of a greater problem: People who call themselves Christians are unwittingly following a new kind of religious secularism. If the majority of society curses freely, does that make it all right? Not according to your Bible. God says He will not always ignore how people talk and think about Him with callous disregard: "Truly, these times of ignorance God overlooked, but now commands all men everywhere to repent" (Acts 17:30).
Anyone who curses to make a point is either willingly ignorant or too lazy to expand his or her vocabulary to more articulately address important issues. Cursing also suggests a willing slavishness to peer pressure. Don't fall into the social trap of making your point with cursing just because others do.
Don't be fooled into following the foul-mouthed foolish. Cursing the air blue comes from the wickedness of the human heart (Jeremiah 17:9). It is a sin that must be repented of and overcome (Romans 12:21). (Source: Associated Press.)
No substitute for proper parenting
"Children are starting school less well prepared than ever because parents are failing to raise their youngsters properly, according to the (British) government's Chief Inspector of Schools" (The Sunday Telegraph, Aug. 31). David Bell further charged that children entering school have been subjected to a "disrupted and disheveled" upbringing.
The result? Verbal and behavioral skills are at an all-time low, leaving teachers to act as substitute parents. National Curriculum test results show that "one in four primary pupils fails tests for reading and math" (The Independent, Aug. 20). David Hart, general secretary of the National Association for Head Teachers, stated that "too many are starting school without basic social skills and simply do not know how to communicate. This puts enormous pressure on the teachers" (The Sunday Telegraph article).
Even persuading children to sit still for just a little while is proving to be a very difficult challenge for many teachers.
Longtime British journalist Mary Kenny pointed out that the parents are not always entirely to blame for children who cannot talk properly, fasten buttons or even hold a knife and fork. She wrote: "The government is constantly skewing the tax and benefits system to pressure (both) parents into going to work and leaving their pre-school children with minders who may or may not do a good job. (It is not politically correct or fashionable to look after your own children, it seems)" (Daily Mail, Sept. 1). (Sources: The Sunday Telegraph, Daily Mail, The Independent (all London).)
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