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Disease pandemics threaten mankind
The 1918-19 influenza pandemic took the lives of millions of men, women and children. Is a possible repetition in the offing today?
While the 1918-19 pandemic killed 50 to 100 million people around the world, Foreign Affairs relates: "Today, with a world population of 6.5 billion people, more than 3 times that of 1918, even a 'mild' pandemic could kill many millions of people."
Further: "Dr Julie Gerbreeding, Director of the U.S. Centers of Disease Control and Prevention, called the possibility of avian flu spreading from Southeast Asia (its likely place of origin) 'a very ominous situation for the globe'" (International Herald Tribune).
Since very early last year millions of birds in Southeast Asia have died. This particular bird flu mutates and jumps from species to species. It has already been found in certain mammals and possibly a few people. Although it has not yet mutated into a form that is easily transmissible to human beings, that possibility is very real and very worrisome.
Infectious diseases remain very high on the list of threats to human life on a large scale. Some 25 million human beings have already died from AIDS, and another estimated 39 million are infected with HIV. Malaria and tuberculosis are also major causes of death.
Among the four horsemen of the book of Revelation is the pale horse, symbolic of devastating disease epidemics to ravage the earth in the end time. The Bible strongly indicates that we have not yet seen the full impact of these deadly modern plagues—far from it. (Sources: The Times [London], International Herald Tribune, Foreign Affairs.)
Pedophilia mushrooms in Europe
Recent media reports revealed the existence of the biggest-ever pedophile network in France. This tragedy happened not in a city, but in a rural area. Sixty-five men and women were charged in the crimes.
London's Times stated the sickening news that "at least 45 children, including babies six months old, were assaulted by their parents, or prostituted for money, alcohol, cigarettes and even a car tyre." One man's daughter was raped on 45 occasions over a three-year period, both by himself and other men.
All European countries share this shameful problem and Britain has not escaped. The Daily Mail reported that "between 1980 and 2001, almost 70,000 sexual crimes involved gross indecency and unlawful sexual intercourse with a female child." The National Crime Intelligence Service said that "as many as 95 per cent of incidences of sexual abuse go unreported."
The growth of the Internet has multiplied networking opportunities for pedophiles. Among the 7,000 U.K citizens who had used their credit cards to gain electronic access to child pornography were police officers, top military personnel, judges, teachers and doctors.
The Bible aptly describes our Western societies today: "The whole head is sick, and the whole heart faint. From the sole of the foot even to the head, there is no soundness in it, but bruises and sores and bleeding wounds . . ." (Isaiah 1:5-6, New Revised Standard Bible). (Sources: Daily Mail, The Times [both London].)
The tragic decline of European Christianity
Peter Berger is director of the Institute of Culture, Religion and World Affairs at Boston University. He wrote in The National Interest that "both the Catholic and Protestant Churches are in deep trouble in Europe. Attendance at services has declined sharply for many years, there is a shortage of clergy because of lagging recruitment, finances are in bad shape and the churches have largely lost their importance in public life. Western and central Europe is the most secularized area in the world" (emphasis added throughout).
British author Niall Ferguson, a history professor at Harvard University, has joined the ranks of those who are very concerned about the state of Western Christianity. His telling article in The Sunday Telegraph is appropriately titled: "Heaven Knows How We'll Rekindle Our Religion, But I Believe We Must."
He states in the text: "According to the Gallup Millennium Survey of Religious Attitudes, barely 20 per cent of Western Europeans attend services at least once a week, compared with 47 per cent of North Americans, and 82 per cent of West Africans. Less than half of Western Europeans say God is a 'very important' part of their lives, as against 83 per cent of Americans and virtually all West Africans."
Ed Vitagliano, news editor of the AFA Journal, a monthly publication of the American Family Association, connects the decline of British Christianity with the accompanying collapse in morality.
He quoted a number of religious authorities, including Roman Catholic Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor who said: "It does seem in our countries in Britain today, especially in England and Wales, that Christianity, as a sort of backdrop to people's lives and moral decisions—and to the government, the social life of the country—has almost been vanquished."
In summary, Niall Ferguson offered his opinion that "if nothing else, a weekly dose of Christian doctrine will help to provide an ethical framework for your life, and I certainly don't know how else you are going to get one."
To understand the essential historical background of what has really happened to Christianity and why, please request or download our free booklet The Church Jesus Built. (Sources: The Sunday Telegraph [London], The National Interest, AFA Journal.)
Spacewalks will one day be common
Would you like to travel in space? Some clearly would, but it would be costly. A Russian company recently announced a plan for offering space tourists a trip around the moon for $100 million. The same company has already sent two businessmen into orbit for a week for $20 million.
Recently the world watched the spacewalk of an astronaut who removed protruding strips from the underbelly of the space shuttle Discovery.
"A spacewalking astronaut gently pulled two potentially dangerous strips of protruding fabric from Discovery's belly with his gloved hand Wednesday, successfully completing an unprecedented emergency repair job" (AOL News, Aug. 3). Exciting? Yes, though spacewalks are not something the general public can experience.
However, one day you will be able to travel freely in space—to the remotest edge of the universe in fact. Your Bible reveals that all human beings who choose to serve God and follow Him to the end of their physical lives will afterward be transformed into spirit beings (1 Corinthians 15:42-54). In that state they will be able to travel as God can to anywhere and everywhere in a mere instant. Yet ironically, the greatest excitement and satisfaction will be right here on earth (Revelation 21).
We may not get to travel in space today, but in the next life we will. In the world of tomorrow, space travel will be free with no danger to our personal safety. One day, everyone will enjoy space travel. If you'd like to learn more, request or download our free booklet What Is Your Destiny?
Saudi oil and U.S. dependency
The recent death of King Fahd of Saudi Arabia created some concern from those nations that are dependent on Saudi oil. A top Saudi diplomat reassured all oil-dependent countries that the Saudis would pump oil "to the best of our capability, with a reasonable price" (CNN, Aug. 2).
"Saudi Arabia holds a quarter of the world's known oil supplies, and crude futures set a new record of $61.57 a barrel after news of Fahd's death. 'I would like to reassure you of our government's pledge to continue King Fahd's legacy of providing the world with a stable and secure source of energy,' Rihab Massoud, the Saudi charge d'affaires in Washington, told reporters" (ibid.).
On March 24, 30 prominent Americans wrote a letter to President George W. Bush about an impending oil crisis. Former National Security Adviser Robert McFarlane, former CIA Director James Woolsey, former Assistant Secretary of Defense Frank Gaffney and others, including 12 retired generals and admirals, five former secretaries of defense and several retired senators and representatives signed the letter.
Oil is critical for the future of the Western world. Yet the Middle East, rich with that lifeblood of the world's economy, is a boiling stew of conflict of almost every kind. Bible prophecy tells us that it will eventually boil over, igniting a horrendous end-time conflagration that will bring the human race to the verge of extinction.
The only thing that will spare us, in fact, is Jesus Christ's return to earth to save us from ourselves (Matthew 24:21-22). If you'd like to learn more, request or download our free booklet The Middle East in Bible Prophecy. (Source: CNN.)
UN treaty to make abortion a basic right?
Some countries are using a UN treaty to make abortion an international legal right, according to the Catholic World News Web site, cwnews.com.
Language making "sexual and reproductive health services"—UN jargon for abortion—a basic human right has received broad support from governments involved in drafting a UN treaty to protect and promote the rights of the disabled. Such language has never previously appeared in a binding treaty.
If approved, the treaty would require signatory nations to "provide persons with disabilities with the same range and standard of health and rehabilitation services as provided other citizens, including sexual and reproductive health services." By describing such services as rights guaranteed to all citizens, the treaty would essentially enshrine abortion rights as international law.
The current draft also includes language that has been interpreted as supporting euthanasia by banning life-saving measures for the ill and medical treatment for those attempting suicide.
The drive to include these provisions in the treaty is being led primarily by the European Union. Oddly, abortion in most circumstances is still illegal in several EU member nations, including Ireland, Poland, Portugal and Malta. (Source: Catholic World News.)
Tourism trumps terror
"Just hours after three massive bombs ripped through the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh on July 23, Jonathan Gatland, a British doctor on vacation with his three children stood defiant. He would not go home and he would return again. 'Fear is not going to stop me,' he said simply" (The Christian Science Monitor, Aug. 2).
As terrorism has accelerated in recent years, many thought the tourist trade would die. Instead, travelers have grown accustomed to a new era of random bombings. Why do we see this new attitude toward such attacks? "'Human beings are incredibly resilient creatures; we're very adaptable and we build tolerances,' says Dr. C. Scott Saunders, director of the UCLA Trauma Psychiatry Service" (ibid.).
Since 9/11 this earth has become an increasingly more dangerous environment (2 Timothy 3:1). Still, cowardly terrorists win when people cower in their homes.
Terrorism ultimately comes from "the god of this age" (2 Corinthians 4:4), Satan the devil. Jesus Christ said that he was a liar and murderer from the beginning of the world (John 8:44). We might add "terrorist" to those descriptors, as the evil that drives terrorists to slaughter innocent men, women and children is motivated by his murderous thinking.
However, it won't always be this way. God has sentenced him to incarceration for 1,000 years at Christ's return (Revelation 20:1-3). Then, divine truth will trump the chief of terrorism. If you'd like to learn more, request or download our free booklets Is There Really a Devil? and The Gospel of the Kingdom. (Source: The Christian Science Monitor.)
Italy: Latest sick man of Europe
According to journalist Peter Popham in the British Independent, "Although [Italian Prime Minister Silvio] Berlusconi may scoff, his country has become the sick man of Europe." Economic growth is in the doldrums at 0.6 percent and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development has sharply criticized Italy for its meager level of financial growth. The European Commission is likewise very unhappy with its ballooning budget deficit, which is considered in some quarters a long-term danger to the euro.
Said a London Times feature article: "The weak point in Europe's monetary union is Italy . . . Since joining, Italy has lost competitiveness against other euro members. The economic situation in Italy has the potential to develop into a full-blown crisis."
And yet biblical prophecy strongly indicates that Italy will have a major role in the fulfillment of key end-time prophecies. To understand further, request or download our free booklets Are We Living in the Time of the End? and The Book of Revelation Unveiled. (Sources: The Independent, The Sunday Times [both London].)
The high cost of peace in Northern Ireland
The recent announcement that the Irish Republican Army (IRA) is to decommission its arms in October was met with both relief and suspicion.
Nonetheless, there is an official consensus that this particular arms struggle is virtually over for the foreseeable future. In a feature article, The Daily Telegraph summed up the incredible cost since 1969: "3,637 killed, 45,000 wounded, 15,300 bombs, 36,000 shootings, 30,000 terrorism convictions, 300,000 troops deployed since 1969 and a financial bill of £100 billion+."
In light of this staggering toll, several questions may well be asked: When the present war on terror is finally finished, what will the statistics look like? How many lives, both civilian and military, will have been lost in this effort to overthrow Western civilization? How much money will have been spent? The IRA was mostly confined to one relatively small part of the British Isles. Today's terrorism is global. (Source: The Daily Telegraph [London].)
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Keywords: disease epidemics pedophilia Europe and religion spacewalks Saudi Arabia oil abortion Italy Northern Ireland
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