Information Related to "World News and Trends - March/April 2008"
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Europe's first president: Prophetic significance?
In January 2009 the United States will inaugurate its 44th president. The selection process has been underway for many months. But few realize that, across the Atlantic, it's quite possible that the European Union (EU) may see its first president also assume office in January of next year, beginning a 2½-year term.
Currently the two primary candidates are former British Prime Minister Tony Blair and Jean-Claude Juncker, current prime minister of Luxembourg. The EU process of selection runs roughly parallel with this year's U.S. presidential race, although the methods are vastly different. The much less democratic EU selection will be by a "council of chiefs of state and government created by the Lisbon Treaty" (International Herald Tribune, Jan. 22, 2008).
Europeans who oppose Tony Blair's candidacy point to Britain's ambivalence about its EU role in general. The U.K.'s choice to reject the euro as a national currency doesn't help his cause either. Britain's participation in the Iraq War is yet another important factor. However, in January Mr. Blair delivered a strong pro-Brussels speech in the French language at a Parisian conference in the presence of the new president of France, Nicolas Sarkozy.
Prime Minister Juncker's reputation is "that of a European federalist or super-state advocate" (ibid.). Many in Britain oppose his candidacy. Perhaps a compromise choice will eventually emerge.
The term of office and the powers of this new EU presidential office are definitely limited in scope for the present time. Still, many European observers consider it a groundbreaking move forward for Europe. This is just one more step in the steady EU progression towards greater political union with a European military force firmly in the EU vision. In retrospect, the progress made in the last 50 years has been nothing short of astonishing.
For greater insight and understanding of these important events, request or download our free booklets and Much end-time Bible prophecy focuses on events in Europe and the Middle East. These two major regions will increasingly intertwine as time moves on, as noted in another of our booklets, . (Sources: The Sunday Times [London], International Herald Tribune.)
Entertainment media anticipates the great turmoil of the last days
Authors like Nostradamus during the Middle Ages have predicted perilous times for the last days of this age of man. Later Mary Shelley, author of Frankenstein, wrote a book describing The Last Man on earth. It's long been a staple of science fiction, and modern movies like Cloverfield and television series and books such as The World Without Us also address this surprisingly popular theme.
Alan Weisman, author of the book The World Without Us, stated: "I show how beautiful things could get-and how quickly-if we [the human race] weren't around. How things revert to wilderness, almost like the Garden of Eden" (Time, Jan. 17, 2008).
These so-called apocalyptic visions are far from accurate in terms of God's plan and purpose for humanity. True, many tragic events will take place between now and the second coming of Jesus Christ. But the God who cannot lie has promised in His Holy Word to save humanity from itself and cut short the coming "days of vengeance" (Luke 21:22) to ensure human survival (Matthew 24:21-22). To learn more, request or download our free booklets and (Source: Time magazine.)
French public gets no say on Europe
Less than three years ago the French populace decisively rejected the new EU constitution. But when the same document recently reemerged with only cosmetic changes, masquerading as a mere treaty, France's parliamentarians voted for it. Without a referendum, the choice was taken away from the French citizenry.
The new president of France, Nicolas Sarkozy, was blunt in giving the reasons for not allowing a referendum. Another French "no," he warned, would be "catastrophic for Europe" and could risk France's "exclusion from European integration" (Financial Times, Feb. 4, 2008). This amounts to tacit admission that the process of integration is far from complete.
U.K. Prime Minister Gordon Brown has also refused to allow the British people a referendum on the treaty, which will cede important personal and national rights to the growing European superstate. Is the day of democracy gradually vanishing from the European scene? (Source: Financial Times.)
Trade war coming between Europe and the United States?
Threats of a trade war between America and the European Union have emerged from time to time over the last 50 years. But so far all potential outbreaks have receded.
The latest incident revolves around EU reaction to presidential candidate Hillary Clinton's stated intentions to review America's main economic treaties, even including NAFTA (the North American Free Trade Agreement) with Canada and Mexico. She has reportedly called for "measures to 'shelter' US companies from foreign investors" (The Daily Telegraph, Jan. 25, 2008).
Mrs. Clinton said: "We just can't keep doing what we did in the twentieth century. We have to drive a tougher bargain" (ibid.). EU Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson reacted sharply by retorting: "The things she's been saying reverberate around the world . . . People in the current administration tell me the US is turning into a protectionist country. It is a serious concern" (ibid.).
These trade tensions continue on several fronts. For instance, The Wall Street Journal (Jan. 15, 2008) stated that "the U.S. said it will retaliate with trade sanctions unless European countries reverse illegal bans on planting genetically modified crops, threatening escalation in the long-running trans-Atlantic dispute over engineered foods."
Bible prophecy indicates that these recurrent trans-Atlantic tensions could eventually develop into a full-scale trade war as events move us toward the end of this age. (Sources: The Daily Telegraph [London], The Wall Street Journal.)
Attacks on marriage continue unabated
The Daily Telegraph of London bluntly noted: "Government support for gay couples and single parents, the rise in cohabitation and an official failure to support traditional marriage are said to have resulted in previously unconventional lifestyles becoming widely accepted" (Jan. 23, 2008).
Britain 's National Centre for Social Research recently conducted its regular survey of British social attitudes. The results show that "marriage-once the bedrock institution of British society-is seen by two thirds of people as virtually indistinguishable from cohabitation" (ibid.). Yet the average cost of a traditional wedding in the United Kingdom amounts to well over £17,000 ($34,000). This is a curious anomaly.
The lead editorial in that same Daily Telegraph said that "champions of 'alternative' lifestyles will be cheered by the results" of the survey. But in reality the whole nation should be in mourning. These anti-biblical trends attacking the marriage institution are part of a Satanic conspiracy to bring Britain and other Western countries to their knees.
In God's eyes it does not matter how the majority of the population views human relationships. Our Creator clearly states in Malachi 2:16 that He hates divorce. He is also infuriated with middle-aged men who abandon their wives to marry younger women (verse 14).
The institution of marriage was established at creation and is sacred to God and Jesus Christ (see Mark 10:1-12). Any sexual relationship outside that basic biblical standard is a sin-a "transgression of [God's] law" (1 John 3:4, KJV).
To understand how you can improve your own marriage and family relationships by following the guidance outlined in the Bible, request or download your free copy of Marriage and Family: The Missing Dimension. (Source: The Daily Telegraph [London].)
Al-Qaeda spreading beyond Iraq
Al-Qaeda keeps on keeping on. It sells its brand of terrorism to the younger generation, which sees its involvement as leading to glory in the next world. The U.S. military surge in Iraq has greatly reduced the group's effectiveness, so it's apparently headed elsewhere to spread terrorism.
An Associated Press report, citing U.S. Director of National Intelligence Mike McConnell, noted that "Al-Qaida, increasingly tamped down in Iraq, is establishing cells in other countries as Osama bin Laden's organization uses Pakistan's tribal region to train for attacks in Afghanistan, the Middle East, Africa and the United States" (Feb. 5, 2008).
More than six years after the 9/11 attacks on New York and the Pentagon, "Al-Qaida remains the pre-eminent threat against the United States," said Admiral McConnell (ibid.).
Bible prophecy foretells that "at the time of the end," a "king of the South" (Daniel 11:40), apparently a leader from the Muslim world, will initiate a great conflict with the "king of the North," leader of a European-based superpower. Constant agitation and increasing terror threats from Islamic extremists could be the catalyst that sets such a chain of events in motion. In fact, some Islamic leaders speak openly of just such a scenario. Keep your eyes on the Middle East. (Source: Associated Press.)
Criminal activity runs in some families
Crime in America tends to run in families. Nearly half of inmates in state prisons have family members who either are or have been incarcerated.
Three brothers in Louisiana are all convicted murderers serving life sentences in the state prison system. Among the many prisoners awaiting capital punishment in California are six sets of brothers. Texas has already executed six sets of siblings, and two sets of cousins are on death row.
In addition to female partner Bonnie Parker, the 1930s notorious robber and murderer Clyde Barrow also had a brother who occasionally joined him in robbing banks. Brothers Jesse and Frank James made a career of crime in the late 1800s.
Clearly family members influence one another for better or for worse. According to USA Today, "The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services says an estimated 2 million children with one or both parents incarcerated face the greatest risk of perpetuating the cycle of crime across generations" (Jan. 29, 2008).
Breaking the cycle of family crime is a supremely difficult, but necessary, national challenge, and one that must start in the home. You can learn many foundational principles in our free booklets Making Life Work and Marriage and Family: The Missing Dimension. (Source: USAToday.)
Why bad news in The Good News?
Speaking of global 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 Jesus' imminent return. Yet we often report on the negative consequences of human behavior leading to the very conditions He said would precede His coming.
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 taught and exemplified. Beyond the bad news, we present this way of living that would eliminate 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!
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Keywords: E.U. president France and EU trade war marriage, attacks on Al-Qaeda crime families
Al Qaeda: