Information Related to "World News and Trends - Jul/Aug 2005"
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The distributing fruits of premarital sex
Premarital sex is increasingly becoming a real problem in Britain. One very troubling manifestation is the fact that 4 in 10 babies are now born to unmarried parents. The Daily Mail's social affairs correspondent Steve Doughty wrote: "The number of children born to unmarried mothers has risen by a third in 10 years . . . More than 42 of every 100 babies were born outside of marriage last year . . . In the early 1970s, it was less than 10 per cent" (May 13).
Although not exclusively a teenage problem, the growth in abortions is another disturbing aspect of premarital sex. A recent feature article reported that "a dramatic rise in repeat abortions has reinforced fears that women are increasingly having terminations for lifestyle reasons. One in three abortions is now carried out on women who have had at least one before."
Abortion is increasingly called "the new birth control." This year the number will most probably reach a record high in England and Wales.
Sexually transmitted diseases are out of control among teenagers, with enormous increases reported in various types. Little that really works is being done to discourage these society-destroying trends. In fact, the reverse is true in some quarters.
According to Daily Mail media editor Matt Born: "Television viewers face a dramatic rise in sex, swearing and violence as restrictions on what can now be shown were swept away yesterday. The broadcasting regulator OFCOM signaled the dawn of a new permissive era by stating 'freedom of expression' was the principle at the heart of its new broadcasting code . . . Broadcasters will be able to show much more graphic sex and violence—as long as there's sufficient warning for viewers" (May 26).
The standards are gradually falling. So it is no surprise that a report from the Royal College of Nursing stated that "increasing numbers of teenagers are indulging in pre-marital sex." Free access to contraception (without the knowledge of parents) is a contributing factor. Also young people feel pressured into having sex by their peer groups and by the negative influences of the media as a whole.
The core of the difficulty is that true biblical standards are no longer being taught with conviction either in schools or at home. The resultant fruits are inevitable. Noted columnist Melanie Phillips remarked: "There is another type of family where all standards or restraint and civilised behaviour have broken down: a pattern of recklessness which is increasingly being repeated throughout Britain" (May 25).
If you would like to understand the background to some of these societal problems and how to better cope with them, please request our free booklets Making Life Work and The Ten Commandments. (Source: Daily Mail [London].)
The Bible under attack in Britain and Europe
The Bible has been under severe attack in secular Europe for a very long time. The latest public outbreak is reflected in headlines in British newspapers such as "Hospitals Ban the Bible," "Christian Hostel Faces Shutdown for Having Bibles and Saying Grace" and "Christian Symbols Disappear."
The first headline is a bit overstated as a final decision on banning Bibles from hospitals has not been reached as of this writing. But these news reports are nonetheless only the latest symptoms of a long-running, debilitating trend.
The hostility to God and the Bible in some quarters is becoming almost unbelievable. It has even been said that the attacks on religion by noted atheist and professor Richard Dawkins "are so bad-tempered they give atheism a bad name" (The Guardian).
According to a feature article in The Times, "God is being edited out of education lessons in schools for fear that His presence might bore children." The stories of biblical heroes are being told without any reference to God. For instance, the account of the patriarch Joseph in Genesis is related without any mention of the 50 references to God in the actual text. How pathetically lame!
This general trend of thought is also reflected in Scandinavia. For instance, "In the Gallup Millennium Survey of religious attitudes (conducted in 1999), 49 percent of Danes, 52 percent of Norwegians and 55 percent of Swedes said that 'God did not matter to them at all'" (Niall Ferguson, Colossus, 2004, pp. 236-237).
Would that every child in Europe could read the late Christian scholar G. Ernest Wright's opening words in The Book of the Acts of God:
"Christianity has always held that the Bible is a very special book, unlike any other book in the world. It is the most important of all books because in it, and in it alone, the true God has made Himself known to man with clarity. The world is full of sacred literature and it is full of gods. But in the vast confusion the one source that can be relied upon for truth is the Bible.
"There we are told about events which brought the church into being, and the purpose for its being. There we encounter the answer to the meaning of our lives and of the history in which we live. There the frightening gulf between our weak, ignorant and mortal lives and the infinity of power and space is really bridged. There we discover our duty defined and our God revealed" (1957, p. 13, emphasis added).
How well stated! But Mr. Wright wrote almost five decades ago and things have radically changed for the worst since then. No wonder our young people today have trouble coping with the anxieties of modern life. They are for the most part not being taught the true biblical fundamentals—in neither religious education classes nor in the home.
God has warned us through the Hebrew prophet Hosea, "My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge" (Hosea 4:6). Please request our free booklets Is the Bible True? and How to Understand the Bible to better see why the Bible is a sure foundation for everyday life. (Sources: Daily Mail, Daily Express, The Times, The Guardian [all London].)
The French disconnection
Recently the French voted down the new EU charter, already approved by nine EU members. Opposition to Muslim inclusion to the EU appears to be part of France's disconnect as well as its antipathy toward anything that smacks of the United States' political framework. Perhaps unwittingly, this catapults Germany to the head of the line of the EU, ending a long Franco-German coleadership of the EU.
This might appear to scuttle the EU's future plans as a single-minded, economic, political and military colossus. Not so. Giscard d'Estaing of France and Helmut Schmidt of Germany have already proposed a "two-tiered Europe" with a more united inner core of nations.
Remarkably, an inner-core tier could shed light on the seeming enigma of Revelation 17 and Daniel 2, the final dominant superpower in Bible prophecy consisting of 10 leaders who give their power to a single leader the Bible calls "the beast" (Revelation 17:12-13). What currently appears on the surface to be an EU accident might well precipitate an inner core of 10 national leaders who will surrender to and support a final supreme leader in Europe.
Ecumenism bridges a major gap: The Virgin Mary
Some Anglicans are now beginning to accept the Roman Catholic devotion to the Virgin Mary. Wrote Stephen Bates, the religious affairs correspondent of The Times: "After nearly 500 years of intense division, Anglicans and Roman Catholic theologians yesterday decided that one of the two faiths' most fundamental differences—the position of Mary, the mother of Christ—should no longer divide them."
A new document titled "Mary: Grace and Hope in Christ" was recently published in Seattle. It says: "We don't consider the practice of asking Mary and the saints to pray for us as communion dividing . . . We believe that there is no continuing theological reason for ecclesiastical division on these matters." The Anglican-Roman Catholic International Commission produced this document.
Historically, Protestants have normally had difficulty with the Catholic belief embodied in the idea of an Immaculate Conception, in essence meaning Mary was free from the stain of what theologians call original sin. Another stumbling block has been the Roman Catholic belief of her assumption into heaven, body and soul. Most Protestants have generally contended that there is no biblical basis for this religious belief.
Now at least one or two branches of Protestanism appear to be putting the goal of ecumenism before these and other differences—and perhaps gradually coming around to the Catholic way of thinking. To understand whether or not Mary is really in heaven, please request our free booklet Heaven and Hell: What Does the Bible Really Teach? (Source: The Guardian [London].)
How Hollywood's war movies have changed
Those of you who have been moviegoers for many years may have noticed a basic shift in the emphasis of war films in recent decades. Consider the 1992 movie A Few Good Men.
The villain was a high-ranking army officer (played by Jack Nicholson) stationed at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, so often in the news lately. The movie was basically about how army lawyers uncovered the big mistake that he had sought to cover up. His deeds were exposed in a military court and his closing remarks on the stand were not unlike the disgraced Captain Queeg's in the 1954 film The Caine Mutiny.
Other more recently released titles are The Jacket (2005), Courage Under Fire (1996) and Three Kings (1999). All portray the American military negatively. They feature such themes as U.S. troops committing atrocities during the first Gulf War, a friendly-fire tragedy, mistreatment of a female officer, the corruption of the American military establishment and the betrayal of allied nations.
Revolution (1985), about the American war for independence, apparently showed national hero George Washington in a negative light. Even Dances With Wolves (1990) compared the American military unfavorably with Sioux warriors. Notwithstanding Saving Private Ryan (1998), the general run of war films in recent decades has been mostly unpatriotic and derogatory toward the U.S. military.
Media author and commentator Michael Medved summed up this sad situation in a fairly recent speech. He said: "The truth of the matter is that war movies have changed in a fundamental way, and I would submit to you, a dangerous way for the health of our culture and for the strength of the [American] dream."
Mr. Medved further asked: "Why has Hollywood decided seemingly illogically to make movies in the United States that depict the American military as unrepresentative and twisted, America as a malignant force in the world and all wars as fruitless?"
Those who remember viewing war movies with patriotic themes during World War II can easily see the sharp contrast between the way the U.S. military was depicted then and now. Our popular culture is in serious need of redemption. (Source: Imprimis.)
Why bad news in The Good News?
Speaking of conditions 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. Yet we often report on the negative consequences of human behavior leading to the very conditions Jesus described.
Following Jesus' example, part of our purpose is to highlight the lessons mankind is writing in its self-centered way of living and to warn of where this way is leading. But more than that, our intention is to illustrate the need for an alternative way of life—the godly way of life Jesus revealed and personified. Beyond the bad news, we present this way of living that would eliminate all of man's problems. We also explain from Scripture that under the coming rule of Christ, God's way will become universal—and humanity will at last know true and lasting peace.
The world of today is indeed 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 wonderful world 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!
Overweight in the spotlight again
Dr. Julie Gerberding, director of the Centers for Disease Control, recently acknowledged potential flaws in a study that indicated people slightly overweight might be healthier than people who weren't. "It is not OK to be overweight. People need to be fit, they need to have a healthy diet, they need to exercise," she said. "I'm very sorry for the confusion that these scientific discussions have had" (Associated Press report, March 2).
For decades millions of Americans have steadily put on unhealthy weight. Back in 2002, The Guardian reported that 1 in 4 American adults are obese, doubling the rate from 1980.
More young people and working adults have turned to foodless nutrition to accommodate their living in the fast-food lane. To help make fast foods more enjoyable, fast-food chains have added fats, salts and sugars to make them tastier. Their windfall ultimately costs their customers millions in medical bills. The answer remains the same: Eat healthy food, exercise regularly and get enough rest. (Sources: Associated Press, The Guardian [London]).
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Keywords: premarital sex Bible and Europe Europe and the Bible ecumenicism Virgin Mary movies and military overweight
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