Plain Truth 1974 (Prelim No 10) Dec_w

7/28/2019 Plain Truth 1974 (Prelim No 10) Dec_w

1/36


2/36

Vol. XXXI X No. 10 Circulation : 2,565,827Decembe r 1974

ARTICLES

How your subscriptionhas been paidYour already-paid subscript ion is made possibl e by the contribut ions of those who. voluntarily, have become co-w orkers in support ofth is worldwide work. Ambassador College. asa s eparate corporation. is as sociated with theWorldwide Church of God, and a portion ofthe financial needs of t he wor k is supplied bytha t Church. The publishers hav e nothing tose ll a nd , alt hough contribution s a re gratefullywelcomed , no so lici tation is ever made to th epublic for financial support .

Are We Ignor ing the Gathering Storm?Spare the Rod and Spoil the Child?The Real Meaning of ChristmasAre Your Affairs in Order?Detente: Stepping-stone to Peace?Is Christianity Dead in Br itain?

FEATURESPersonal from the EditorWorldwatchRadio LogTV LogWhat Ou r Readers SayGarner Ted Armstrong Speaks Out!

2912162026

529313233

CI/II/mum of the Hoard and t.dnor-tn.Cn iefHerber t W. Armstrong

Vit-('('Iwirmall andAssociate Eduor-tn-Chie]Garner Ted Arms trong

,\1alla/:/1I1;: Editor: Arthur A. Ferdi!Senior Editors: David Jon l till. Herman L. Hoch.Charles F. Hunting. Robert L. Kuhn. RaymondF. \ h 'N


3/36

MAN TO RULE UNIVERSE?

I ' M WR ITI NG from 4 1.000 fee tabove the Pacitic Ocean , app roaching Tokyo. A t nigh t .from here. the who le vast universeabove seems to burst forth like as tupe ndo us sky rocke t explod i nginto all the myriad s of uncoun tab lesuns. wh ich we call stars. that seemto fill the vas tness of unendingspace.Many of these seemingly tinystars are suns much larger than oursun . And like the pla net s surrounding our sun. there must be uncoun-t a bl e mi l l io n s o f p la ne t ssurrounding these suns. How didthey come to be there? Did theyevolve? Were they created? Wasthere purpose?Wha t about the othe r pla nets in

our own so lar system? Do they susta in life? Are the re people or somekind of living beings on Mars? Or isthis earth the sole hody of matter inthe endless universe that is inhab ited"

Astronomers may hazard someguesses. T he ac tua l facts they do nothave. The unmanned spacecraft designed a t JPL (Jet Propulsion Lab ora tory ). wh ich sen t photograp hsbac k to ea rth from vanta ge pointsclose to some of these planets. doesno t give any ev idence whatsoever ofconditions that would sustain life.

Science customarily rejects revelation as a source of such knowledge. but. whi le science can tell uslillie or nothing abo ut the possibili tyo f life on any of these astral bodies.revelation does give us some insightinto their existence. their purpose .and their future. Most certainly thisis not generally rea lized or understood. Yet it ties in directly with theexistence and presence on earth ofman - _he mean ing and purpose ofhum an li fe - a nd ac tua lly invo lvestremendous significance to humanlife an d destin y.

King David of ancient Israel wasa thou ght ful man. fasci na ted by thestudy of the sta rs in the heav ens. Hewas o utstand ing as one o f thewriters used in the recording of revealed knowledge. Speaking as if tothe creator God . this king wrote:PLAIN TRUTH December 1974

Personal from

"Wh en I conside r thy hea vens. thework of thy fingers. the moon andthe s ta rs. which th ou has t ordained . . : . so vast in comparison toa human being. he asked. by com parison. "wha t is man. that thou artmindful of him?"Yes. why sho uld the grea t God .

who crea ted . as David de clared . theentire universe. be concerned withinsignificant man?

He continued. "For thou hastmade him a lill ie lower than theangels. an d hast crowned him withglory and hono r. Thou rnadest himto have dominion over the works ofthy hands: thou hast put a ll th ingsunder his feet . . ." David had ju stwritten that the whole vast starryheavens were the work of the Crea tor 's ha nds . But now. suddenly. hehastens in his next words to limithuman j urisdic tion : "All sheep andoxe n. yea . and the beasts of thefield : the fowl of the a ir. and the fishof the sea . . . 0 Lord our Lord. howexcellen t is thy nam e in a ll theea rth" (Psa lm 8:3-9) .This same passage is quoted by

the apostle Paul in the book of Hebrews. with much . muc h moreadded. Speak ing of a future "wor ldto co me. whereof we speak." he continues. "but one in a certain place[qu ot ed above] testified. say ing.what is ma n. tha t thou a rt m indfulof him? . . . Tho u madesl him a lillielowe r than [marginal translation isbett er : a lill ie while inferi or to] theangels: thou crownedst him withglory and honor. and d idst set him

over the works of thy hands: tho uhast put all things in subjection under his feel. For. in that he pu t all insubjec tion under him [manI. he[God] Icft no thing that is not pu tunder him" (Hebrews 2:5-8). Thesame "a ll things" appea rs also inchapter I :2-3. an d is there tran slat ed " the universe" in the Moffatttranslation . That is the obvious intended meaning.Spea king of Christ. the Moffall

translation has: ". . . a son whom he[God] has appoin ted heir of the universe, as it was by him [Ch rist] tha the [God] created the world . He. reflecting God 's brig ht glory andstamped with God 's own cha racte r.susta ins the universe with his wordof power . . ." (He brews I:2-3). Inboth places Moffal l uses the tran slation "universe" where the author ized ( Ki ng J am e s) ver s io ntran slat es " all things." Thus. in thesecond chapter. the meaning is thatGod has put the entire universe insubjection under man's feet.

That. of course. is a statement sooverpoweringly colossa l as to soundincredible. Yet it is the actual statement of wha t is rega rded by believers as the very word of God. Itsimp ly has no t been bel ieved . It isone of the statements of revelationthat has been overlooked. or misunderstood. or disbelieved. or elseflat ly rejected.But go further with this revea led

statement.The very next words in the second

(Continued on por,e 19)


4/36

ne Ham ) j r e a K ~ . .e n t e mo - at .

by Charles Huntingand David Ord

PLAIN TRUTH December 1974

T il E ECONOMIES of Europea nnations are in de ep trouble .The prob lem : rampant inflat ion.

Ge rma ny's lead ing news magazine. Der Spiegel. warned recen t ly ofth e possibly grave implication s thatco uld a rise from the co llapse o f th ecou ntry 's largest pri vate finan cialinstitution, the Herstau Bank , fol lowed by th e d own fal l of foursma ller banks, Spiegel edito rs remi nd ed their read ers that the si tu a ti o n wa s the wo rs t s ince th eunforgettable co llapse o f the "D an-a tba nk" 43 yea rs ago - the "s ta rt ofthe grea t crisis in G ermany. th e beg inning o f the way int o un em ploymen t and to Hit ler:"

Co ntinued Der Sp iegel: "" , bothla ymen and ex perts regard the Herstart cras h as a new start of a co llapse of the coun try's monetary andcredit eco nomy - s imilar to thegrea t bank crash of 1931. ""

Whi le many so ught immed iatelyto allay fears, th e fact is that the

Democracy is facing a severetest. Can it deal w ith Europe'scurrent crises? And if it shouldf a i l - what th en? Parallels be-tween today 's Europe and theyears leading up to 1939 couldbe cause for concern!

Are we ignoringTHIGATHIRINGSTORM?

lado.es- iose.or\clx" fl

, JULY 22, 1974


5/36

economies of the Europea n nationsa rc su lfc ring from a worsening inflation tha t po lit ical pa rties of a llpersuasions seem unabl e to contro l.

Oi l Money of Lit t le HelpT he situa tion is be ing madc even

more precar ious by the man ne r inwhich M iddle Eas l oil mon ey isbei ng invested in Europea n banks.To invest p rofitab ly. banks mu st pu ltheir mo ney out on long-term loa n.Bu t the o il-producing co un t rieshave burdened the bankswith un preceden ted sho rt-term investm ents. Insuc h a situation. a ll o f the risk fa llsupon th e shoulders of the banks an d for a very sma ll in terest margin .They recogn ize th at th ey ca nnot contin ue to crea te a precarious maturi tystructure inde finitely .David Rockefeller. p resident ofone of th e world 's largest ba nks.wa rned on a visit to Europe ea rlierthi s year. that the economic situat ion is "very a la rming: ' Rockefel ler exp la ined that the industrialnation s - p rincipa lly the UnitedStates. Western Eu rope and Japan- a re go ing to ha ve to find ways ofwork ing toge ther. Even the oi l-producing nat ions a nd the U.S.S.R. a rcgo ing to hav e to coo pera te. Theproblem. hc sa id. is of "globa l ma gn itude" a nd o f " grea t urgency."

Democrac ies InadequateQuest ioned privately. Me. Rock

efeller exp la ined tha t the truly dem ocrat ic fo rm o f governmen t isunab le to so lve such p ressi ng problem s becau se it ca n' t ta ke the stepsthat are necessa ry to de a l with suchan al arming situa tion.He po in ted to unemploy ment asa n example. Some un employment

would develop in a nat ur al way inan econ omy like Ge rmany's. a nd itwould do wonders in check ing inflati on . d eficit of payments a ndother related p roblem s.But in a tru ly dem ocratic nat ion .

wha t po litician ca n a ffo rd to openlypursu e a pol icy of enco u rag ingun employm ent? It would be political su icide.Wh en asked if he had a rea lly


workab le so lu tion to o lfer. he admitted th a t he had non e.Rut othe rs a re th inking of pos

sib le so lu tio ns - an d the demise ofdemocracy is in th e forefront!

Democracy Failed BeforeWhi le a lit t le unemp loyment

migh t be a good cu rb to infla tion . itwas un em ployment which ca usedwidesprea d rioting and th e th reat ofcommunism in G ermany in th ewake o f World War I. T he GermanWeimar Republ ic was toppled by itsinabi lity to de al with infla tion a nd asubsequen t massive un em ploymen t.In 1923. the Reichsba nk in Berli n

issued ban k not es faste r th an itsthir ty contrac t firm s could printthem . pressin g dozen s of pri vateprinters in to service to help p roduceth e money. No t one note was lowertha n 100 .000 ma rks. By November400.000 billion marks were in circu lat ion. Mon ey became worth less.Recalling the terribl e inflation o f

the Weima r G e rmany. Wi lly F rischa uer. writing in Brit ain 's DailyTe legraph. exp la ined ho wunemp loym en t rocketed: "W henmoney ra pidly los t its val ue in German y. 'ha rd graft" ceased to be asrew ard ing as soc ially less desirabl ewheeling. dea ling. a nd spec u latingwhich became a way of life bu t produ ced no tan gible assets. Priced outof raw ma teria ls. fac tor ies close dand offices shu t down which mad ethe clam ou r of workers fo r higherwa g e s i rre leva nt. Wh en th e ycoun ted the cos t. there were six million un employed : 'Fr ischauer likened the co llapse of

a n orderly way of li fe in G ermanyto th e present British econom icscene. German s lived for today as ifther e was no tomorrow - "swallowed up by th e permissive societyof th e 20s ' - totally un aware of th egrave nati on al crisis a nd what itwould even tua lly lea d to."Stumbling from one emergency

measu re to th e next. sho rt-lived[Germani governme nts los t sight ofth e future except where they sawa cha nce to p ledge it in exchange formom en tary relief: ' Fr isch au er re-

ca lled. "Politica l ex tremists harassedthe Weimar Gove rnm ent . . . whichwas power less to control events, 10flat ion had wat ered the seeds o f political d isin tegration ."

Dem ocracy in J eopardyT he Western world has come to

th ink of democracy as pa rt of itsherit age.But is democracy reall y so deeply

entrenched in th e West?Now . even in Britain. the la nd in

which the idea of a coup has alwaysseemed rid iculous. there is ta lk ofthe fa ilure of democracy to de a lwi th vital iss ues. Fo rme r Pr im cMin ister Sir Alec Douglas-Homewa rne d th at Britain may stand onthe verge of a narchy .In Italy. G iova nn i Agnelli. hea dof the Fiat motor company. sta ted

recently thai his coun try does nothave long to save itself from "t hebot tom less pit : ' He ex pressed hopetha t Italy wi ll no t reach the po in twhe re it wou ld have to choose between "s ta rva tion and a re linqu ishing of freedom : 'The k ind of "relinquish ing offreedom'l tha t m ight occur in Italy is

evident when we con sid er the revived interest in Mu sso lini in tha tnation toda . T his in terest is no tconfined so lely to the neo-Fuscists ,Under the righ t circumstances.

cou ld Ita ly aga in a ba ndo n democracy for a d ictatorship?Renewed in terest in Mu ssolini in

Ita ly is pa rall eled by growing pre occupa tion with the Hitler era inGe rma ny. Th is fas cina tion. centeredfirst a round books. records a ndfi lms. has now culminated in a 52week slick magaz ine se ries en titled"T he Th ird Reich: ' Wh ile it docsnot glamorize th e Nazi period . it has" po pula rized" this time in recen thistory as never before.T he Los A ngeles Times com

mented that there has been considerab le debate among soc io log istsa nd poli tical scientists concern ingthi s nostalgia for the dictators of th e1930's. Th e q uestion is whether itind ica tes a " late n t hank ering for thestrong ma n : ' or whether it is mere ly

3


6/36

health y re-exa mination of history.Whatever the case may be. such interest makes "us aware of how closewe may be to repeating the mistakesof the 1920's: ' said the Times."The intensifying interest in dic

tatorship thus appears to be linkedto the fact that not since the 1930'shas the political lead ership in theWest seemed so incapable of meeting the social and economic challenges a t hand: ' the article said.And it concluded that it "now seemspossib le th at any democracy inWestern Europe could quickly become a dic tatorship ."

Germans Express FearsWarn ings of th is kind. consid

ering the present economic situation. are cause for conce rn enough .But when Ge rmany's own leadersexpress a deep fea r for Europe's future. it's time we rouse ourselvesfrom complacency.Willy Brandt. recent chancellor ofWest Ge rmany. some months ago

openly expressed his fears that democracy is failing in Europe, andcould have only 30 years ofl ife left.Ludwig Erha rd . also a formerchancellor ofWest Ge rmany. spokeout in a series of articles which appeared in a mass-circulation German Sunda y newspaper.Erha rd warned of a dangerou slu rch towa rd d ict ator ship whi chcould occur in WeSI Ge rmany. Hesaid that Ge rmany is headed foreconomic troubles and he now felt itwas his duty to warn of where suchtrends could lead . Drawing startlingparallels betwee n 1924 and 1974.Erhard showed how it was economictroubles that prepared the soil forAdolph Hitler. He warned that disaster may lie ahea d un less Ge rmany is willing to ta ke dr asti cact ions to avert a full-blown economic crisis.

A Jittery PublicThe pub lic sees a worsening situarion all around. Prices ar e climb

ing , a nd so is unem p lo ym en t.Money is hard er to come by, andeve ryon e is having to strive harder4

and harder to mak e ends meet. Atthe same time they see governmentimpotence, and political and economic stalema te among the leadersand so-ca lled experts. Th e problemshave simply become too grea t forsingle governments to solve. Theyare supranational. needing internation al cooperation and sacrifice tobr ing abOUI solutions. Unfortu nately. there is no sign that this isbeing achieved. Na tiona l government legislation is not enough toprov ide solutions and restore pub licconfidence.The London Times sta ted: "Thereshould be no flinching from the extreme gravity of the inflationary disaste r now threatening the co untry .It is immea surably the mos t seriousproblem facing government andpeople since 1945. Th is is a lime atwhich one should and wou ld expectthe major political leaders to sta teand campaign for their remedies forthe disaster threatening the count ry.Yet there is a mysteriou s silence ."In Ge rmany before the war. Hit

ler came forward to provide the answe rs , to give so lu t io ns. Th eGerman people felt downt roddenand humhied after the first WorldWar. They had ju st expe rienced thepa in and suff ering and insecurity ofhyperinflation when hard-earnedsavi ngs we re obliterated overnight.They were ready to listen to a manwho promised economic stabilityand prosperity. and who promisedto return Germany to its "rightfulplace" among the nations. Th eywere not interested in delving intothe de tails of how he proposed 10achieve such popular aims.Are the nation s so diffe rent

today? Former Chancellor Erhard isco nc e rne d . Will y Br an dl ha ssounded a warning. Could it ha ppenin Ge rmany again? Could a dictatorarise in Europe? A disillusioned.frustrated and insecure people willbe ready to listen to a demagog uewho oversimplifies the problems.presen ts them in emotional terms.and promises qu ick, pain less solutions.People today are looking for an-

swers. They want to hea r of hopeand optimism and of a way out o fthe mess the world finds itself in.Th ere is now a leadership vac uumin Euro pe, and in the world . Andnatu re abhors a vac uum. People arelooking for a new messiah . Has theworld ever really learned tha t ahuman messiah is never the answer?As Newsweek magazine put it inan article on the leadership shortage : 'The danger in such per iods isthat peop le may sta rt looking for aman on a white horse who offerssimple answers to complex ques tions . A few observers have detectedenough signs . .. to predict that thedemocracies are now increasinglysusceptible i"a demagogue ready tolead them back down the road 10some form of Fascism."The Plain Truth magazine has forov er a quarter cen tury been warningits readers of a coming ten-nationunion in Europe Ihal will not provefriend ly to the United State s andBritish peoples. This has not yethappened. but it cnnsistently drawscloser. Escalating economic troubleslead ing to trad e war cou ld rapidlybring abo ut the fall of democracy inseve ral Europea n nations and giverise 10 a powerful military-orientedunion. The recent o il crisis proveshow qu ickly the world scene cancha nge.

Deluding ourselves that there isno threat will no t make the da ngergo away . The Old Te stamen tprophet Jeremiah wrote o f a time inwhich the re wou ld be unwillingnessto admi t reality in the face of disaster: "T hey have healed also thehurt of the daughter of my peopleslightly: ' it was predicted, "saying.Peace. peace: when there is nopeace" (Jeremiah 6: 14). Are we notalready in such an era?After the Mun ich Con ference in1938, Nevi lle Chamber lain de

cla red. "Peace in our time." Churchill sound ed the warning. yel theworld was taken by surprise whenWorld War II burst upon all civilization .Will we be taken by surpriseaga in? 0



7/36

World FoodConference-the Overlooked IssuesRome:Around the world . ove r 460 mil

lion peo ple - mor e than double thepopulat ion of the United States ~are right now threatened with starvation. It is fear ed that some 10million peop le will die this yea r a lone.It is also estimated that most of thevictims will be children under fiveyears of age.

These were the grim sta tistics thatgree ted 1.250 delegates from 430nations who ga the red November 516 in Rome for the United Nationssponsored World Food Conference.Opening the conference. U.N.Secretary Ge oe ral Kurt Waldheimstated: " I t is difficult to review theseq ueoce of events that led to thecurrent food crisis without feeling asense of dism ay at the lack of foresight and sense of common interestwhich has been shown by indi viduals. governments and by the international communities."Mr. Waldheirn's remarks have

borne oc t the staggering rea lity thaton its present course the nations ofthe wo rld must increase grain out-put by roughly the eq uiva lent of theCanad ian. Australian and Argentine wheat crops each year just tokeep up with dem and . Th at is mindboggling to comprehend .Ju st to attempt to aocomplish

such a hercu lean task is awesomeenough. Grea tly comp lica ting thesitua tio n is the fact that world agr icu lture is becoming increasingly depende n t upon few er and fewe rvarieties of the ba sic food cropswhich are now being mass producedeach yea r ju st to try and head offstarvationfor themillions mentionedabove. What no one has touched

upon a t thi s food conference isth e staggerio g po teotial for explosive outbreaks of plant diseasethat both genetic standardiza tionand grain monoculture are posingfor producers of these crops andsubsequently for the hun dreds ofmillions of lives dependent uponthese very same crops for food .In o the r wo rd s. mod ern-daybreeding for select - usually highyield - crops of sta ndard height.texture, and time of ripening hasmeant an increasing genetic unifor-mity within the plant species. Thuswhen disea se strikes. it can movethrough the entire crop. which maystretch across entire growing areas.with farme rs helpless tpdo anythingabout it.This was the case in the UnitedStates in 1970 when close to 50% of

the corn crop was wiped out byblight in some states. Such an eve nttoday with world grain reserves atan all time low would have calami-tous repercussions.Th e marg in of safety against dis

ease that was always provided by amultitude of genetic varieties withineach species is being systematica llydestroyed by man's narrowing oftheir genetic base. And every yea r.additiona l thousands of native. socalled primitive varieties are lost.perhaps forever.In the thousa nds upon thousa ndsof words which poured forth a t theWorld Food Conference. delegatesand observers alike se emed to ut-terly gloss over the inheren t weak ness of con temporary agriculturalmethods. Instead, speeches and discussion invariably revolved aroundchem ica l fe rtili zers . pe sticides .me ch an i zation . in cr ea sed te ch -nology. irrigation. weather control.newe r high-yield "miracle grains:'and vast ly expa nded food aid pro grams. Left unadd re sse d at theFood Conference were some very

basic questions we need to ask our-selves.First. is the system of food pro

duction on which man is staking hisfuture ca pable of the indefinite expansion . or is it already becomingself-limiting economically and ecologica lly even among the farmers inth e affluent Western world?Secondly. doe s it make sense tobase our food supply on expensiveprocessing and transportation oftroleum-based fertilizers when fertilizers are already prese nt in mostagricu ltural soils and in the atmosphere?Th ird . is it logical to intensify the

continuing oi l crisis by all nationscompetin g in a despera te bid to paythe going price for three tons of oilin order to produce every ton ofnitrogen fertilizer? It would notseem so in view of the fact that.acco rding to one em inent and well-known authority. the atmospherecon tain s 34.000 tons of nitrogenabove each acre of ground.Four th. if healthy plants need a

ba lance of 20 to 30 nutrients. can weimagine what we are doing to allsoil-dependent forms of life whenwe double an d tripl e production bythe addition of at most only three ofthese most needed nutrients?Fifth. a rc the mi llions who casti

gate the West for its luxury production of animal pro tein mindful ofthe fact that such protein is meantto come from anima ls eat ing pasture. not grain? Peopl e are apt alsoto forget that this grai n is now pro du ced by crop monoculture - thefastest method of soil destructionknown to man . If the world's farmers grew the right crops. upgrad edpasture lands. and avoi ded mostgra in feeding of anima ls. manwould have his animal pro tein. supply more gra ins for hungry mout hsand improve the soil - all at thesame time!

.rlll.alallRLmIATCH. , WORLDWATCH WORLDWATCH WORLDWATCH WORLDWATCH WORLDWATCH L D W A T C H WORLDWATCH WORLDWATCH WORLDWATCH WORLDWATCH WORLDWATCH


8/36

Sixth . everywhere man is struggling with explod ing city populati on s. a cyn ical dehumani zedindustrial work force and an economically underpr ivile ged fa rmcommunity. Desp ite the situation.most nati on s are unable. for onereason or another, to come to gripswith the painful problem of international la nd reform .One could hope that th e recentRome Conference might have laidthe foun dation to hal t man 's worldwide drift away from the landa nd to make prosperous fami lyfarms the basic unit of a stablehuman society around the wholeea rth.

However. these vital issues werenot hammered out a t the WorldFood Conference. and the greaterdanger resultin g from this historicmeeting is the fact that delegateshave left Rome convinced that moretechnology. mechanization and fertilizer is the only answer to theworld food crisis. Onl y time will tel l,- Ray Kosanke and ColinSutcliffe

Waldheim Urges Unityto SolveWorld's WoesWashington. D. C :

IN Al" add ress a t a recentNationa l Press Club luncheon inWashington. United Na tions' Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim decla r ed th at th e " rhe t o r i c o finterdependence" is rhetoric nolonger.The nation s of the wor ld . hestressed. face a series of global problems from which none is immune;the big que stion is whether suf

ficient progress can be made towardsolving them before they become"completely unmanageable."The secretary-genera l's frank appeal to the newsmen for "support.interest. and understanding- followedhis meeting with President Ford andSecretary of State Henry A. Kissinger . where they d iscussed Cyprus.the Middl e East. and world econonuc problems on the previous

day.6

In the introduction to his annualreport delivered a week earlier toth e United Nat ions. Waldh eimmade it d ear that global problemso f growing intensity - a foodshortage. skyrocketing populationgrowth. rivalry for resources. andcrushing oil prices - place urgentnew demands on the internationalforum. "No nation, however richand powerful. can remain immune,"he stressed, "or hope to confrontand resolve these problems successfully on its own."Waldheim observed that a t themoment there is a "profound concern" sha red by responsible peopleeverywhere, an almost universalsense of apprehension about wherethe tumultuous developm ents of ourtime may lead us.He said that we are daily reminded "how thin the margin is between order and chaos, betweensufficiency and desperate want . between peace and annihilation.""If we wish to overcome the vastanxieties and uncerta inties of ourtime," he asserted, mankind as awhole will have to make a "conscious and concerted effort tochange course."

Many great civilizations in history, Waldheim continued. have collap sed at the very height of theirachievement because they were unable to analyze their basic problems.to change direction. and to adjust tothe new situation which faced them."Today ," conclu ded the secretary general, "the civilization which isfacing such a challenge is not ju stone small par t of mankind - it ismankind as a whole."- Dexter Faulkner

Iran ExpandsInfluence in AsiaSydney:The 17-day visit to Australia andfour otherAsian nations in September by Shah Mohammed Riza Pahlavi of Iran focused attention onIran's spectacular emergence as oneof the world 's great financial powers.

Last yea r's four-fold increase inoil pr ices has significantly benefitedIran . the world's second-largest oilexporter. Figures recently releasedby the International Monet aryFund show that between June 1973and June 1974. Iran's internationalreserves rose by a staggering 350percent. from about $1.5 billion to$5.4 billion . Revenu e from th isyea r's oil export s ar e expected toadd another $14 billion to the nation's reserves.

With his growing wea lt h. th eShah is determined to convert hisst ill und er-developed nation of 30million into a major industrial andmilitary power as soon as possible.as Iran's oil reserves are expected tobe depleted within the next thirtyyears. The Shah has reportedly predicted that within a decade Iran willbecome the fourt h largest industrialnati on after the United States. theSovi et Union and Japan .Australia's importance to theSha h in this regard lies first in itscapacity to provide Iran with man ystrategic natural resources, ind uding iron ore. bauxite and uranium. In addition. Australia cansupply Iran with many foodstuffs.induding meat. sugar and wheat.Australia. with its considerable experience in irrigation agriculture,could also assist in deve loping amodern agricultural industry inIran .A major obj ec tive in the Shah'stour. which took him to Singapore.New Zea land . India and Indonesia.in addition to Australia. was to extend Iran's influence in Asia. TheShah inten sified calls for some kindof common market arrangementamong the countries bordering theIndi an Ocea n. from Africa in thewest to Indonesia in the east. TheShah sees Australia an d New Zealand as a pa rt of this vast market.The Shah also proposed the creation of a collective security systemamong the nations on the peripheryof the Indian Ocean. The aim ofsuch an arrangement would be topersuade the United Sla tes and the



9/36

Soviet Union to withdraw their naval forces from the region . which theShah envisions as a "zone of peace:'The va rious proposals put forth

during his ext ended tour throughSou thern Asia and the south Pac ifichave given the Shah th e image of aleader with vision. In the word s ofPrime Min ister Gough Whitlam at adinner with the Shah in Ca nberra .the Shah is "head of a great nation.a grea t man . the most active. themos t powerful. and the most involved of the world' s monarchs."- Dennis Luker and Don Abraham

New European-ArabDialogue Under WayDtisseldorf:In ea rly September. sec re ta rygeneral of the Arab League. Machmud Riad . visited Bonn. West G erma ny. where talks with ChancellorSchmidt and his cab inet laid thefoundation for a new EuropeanArab di alogue. An agreement wasreached to bring together the 20Arab League nations a nd the 9 European Community na tions for talksin Paris during the second half ofNovember.Riad 's visit and the upcomi ngParis conference highlight a normalizat ion of Arab-European relationswhich have sulfered throughout thelon g ser ies of Middle East crises.Two facto rs put this Arab dia

logue high on the list of Euro peanpriorities.First. the industrial nations of

Western Europe - much more dependen t on oil from the Middle Eastthan the United States - a re nervo us ly awai ti ng th e sc hedu ledOPEC oil price conference on December 12. which cou ld result in stillanother stiff oil price increase - unless something changes in the meantime.And second ly. Europe's own internal economic problems involvingdi scon te nte d farmer s. s t r ik ingunions . and rampant inflation certainly put her in the mood for discussing coo peration. Add to th isPLAIN TRUTH December 1974

Italy' s and France's plans to rationoil this winter as a result of the projected demand exceeding the avai lable supply, and Germany's fea rs ofa coal shortage due to the enormousen ergy needs forecast for this winter. and the motive for cooperationbecomes clear.Any favorab le oil price agreementcould eliminate some winter worries

and bring a much desired boost tothe econom ic health and stability ofEurope ove rall.During his visit, Riad also men

ti oned Eu ro pea n developm entprojects in Arab lands, stronglyhintin g at Arab financing. WesternEur op ean go vernments. bank s .businesses and industries are alsoeager to obtain as many of the oilproducers "pe trodo llars" as possible in the form of loa ns or capitalinvestments from the oil producers.Th e a lluring prospect of sharing

Ara b oil profits comes at a time of atroublesome economy and a worsening unemp loyment figure forGe rmany and the rest of WesternEuro pe. There is no doubt that Europe recognizes the inesca pa blebenefits of having good relationships with the Arabs.The Arab League is und oubtedlylooking on the many technological

advantages in Europe. includingEurope's first multipurpose tac ticalbomber. the MRCA swing wing.As European-Arab relations con

tinue to develop and tensions continue to grow in the Middle East.the ques tion many are asking iswhether Western Europe will beable to remain neutrally uninvo lvedsho uld another Mideast war erupt.

- John KarlsonEurope FacesPeriod of UncertainLeadershipBrussels:\Vith inflation continuing to

threaten European economies. withthe Israeli-Arab situation at consta nt high-boil. and with Arab fi-

nan cial po we r be comin g a noverwhelming reality. the need forconcerted cooperation among thenine nati on s of the European Community has never been greater.And the Common Ma rket had

be tter show some signs of directedmotion before the year is out. sincedivided. war-torn Ireland is scheduled to assume the EEC presidencyin January 1975. For the last sixmonth s of nex t yea r, faltering Italyreceives the preside ncy. to be followed by Luxembourg for the firstsix months of 1976.In othe r words. Eu rope must see

some dynam ic pace-setting lead ership now and in the remainin gweeks of 1974 be fore the institution sof the EEC are turn ed over to nations which are not, in fact. in aposition to lead Europe into thenext 18 months of an uncertain future.

- Ray Kosanke

South Africa FacesUncertain FutureJohannesburg:The sun is fast setting on nearly

500 years of Portuguese colonialismin Africa.The Mozamb iqu e L ib erat io n

Front. or Frelimo. has assumedpower in an interim government inMozambiqu e, which is slated forfull independence next Ju ne. A similar switch to black governmentseems inevitable in the Portugueseter ritory of Angola .How will th is independence affect

Southern Africa - the so-ca lled"white south" in parti cular? Fr elimoleaders have recently made publicpromises that they will cut economiclinks with whit e-ru led South Africaand Rhodesia the moment they takepower. It is believed. however. thatas far as South Afr ica is concerned.the economic effects of a Mozambiq ue boycott would be marginal.Should Frelimo cut the vital railroad link to landlocked Rhodesia,howeve r. the resultant economic iso-

7


10/36

lation would be somewhat more serIOUS.

Th e marginal effects on the SouthAfrican economy would be centeredin three main areas: First, South Africa. already suffering from severeharbor congestion, would find herse lf in an eve n worse situationshould the Mozambique port ofLourenco Marques be closed toSouth African traffic. Th e problemwould be temporary, however, as anew port on the Natal North Coa stwill. come into opera tion in 1976.Secon d , the withdrawal of nearly100,000 Mozambique workers fromthe South African gold mines - 20percent of South Africa's mine labor- would result in a temp orary dropin South African gold production .Finally, if Frelirno's th reats to blowup the Cabora Bassa hydroelectricdam ar e carried out, a sma ll per-

Language IssueStirs QuebecMontreal:Months afte r its passage, Que

bec's controversial language law isstill the obje ct of debate. French the mother tongue of 82 percent ofthe province's popula tion - is nowthe sole official language with preferred status over Eng lish in business. education and govern ment.The nation of Canada as a whole isofficially bilingual. although Quebecis the on ly significant French-speaking area.Although the use of English has

been guaranteed as a matter of persona l rights. many who speak it astheir first language feel that the newlegislation will th reaten the ir way oflife. But others feel that that "way oflife" had involved unfair dom ination of the prov ince's industrial andfinancial wealth, an d tha t a balanceneeded to be encouraged with thehelp of this law.Th e law. re ferred to both inFrench and English as Bill 22, spells

alit. in over 100 clauses. ways thatthe status of the French language is8

centage of South Africa's powerwould be temporarily lost.Local opinion has it, howev er,

that Frelimo could cut 011' economicrelations with the white south only ifMozambique is assured o f substantia l long-term foreign aid fromother countries. Without such alternate aid , FreJimo leaders could findthat cutting off economic relationswith the white south may do moreharm to Mozambique than it doesto South Africa and Rhodesia. Butwhether such practical considerations will force a more moderateMozambiqu e policy toward th ewhite south is uncertain. Historically, such pra ct ical considerationshave not always precluded the application of sanctions for ideologicalreasons, rega rdless of what is in thebest interests of a nation .

- Sydney Hullto be preserved in government. industry and edu cation .One of the most controversial

clauses gives the minister of education the authority to send childrento Fr ench, rath er th an Englishschools if their knowledge of English is judged insufficient for Englishschooling. This primarily affects thechildren o f immigrant families.Montreal. Canada 's largest city, isan international port by virtue ofthe St. Lawrence River; it is the nation 's favorite sett ling spot for immigra nts. Th ey prefe r to sett le therefor its European flavor, yet they desire to have their children att endEnglish schools to give them moremob ility and greater advantagesth roughout a ll of North America.Therefore, it comes as no surprisetha t these minority groups are displeased by the bill.Perhaps the most surprising opponents of Bill 22 are the followers

of the separatist Parti Quebecois(PQ). Th ey claim that the bill is toovague an d will be laxly administered , ye t there is also the rea lization that if this plan were to succeedin safeguarding French culture andin gi vi n g French-C a nadians agreater share in the economic life of

the province, they could be a partywithout a platform. Some within thePQ ask whether the bill is noth ingbut a plot from Ott awa to und ermin e th e French in d ependencemovement.

Th e bill has also raised criticismfrom Canada's other pr ovinces. Th epremier of New Brunswick hasa sked Pr ime Mini st er PierreTrudeau to refer the law to the Canadian Suprem e Court for a rulingon its constitutionality. AlthoughMr. Trudeau has stated his reservations about the bill, he is unlikely todo so, preferring that a private citizen instead initiate the courtcase.On one occas ion, I asked Mr.Trudeau what those reservationswere . He termed them "philosophical, not political." " I'm a libera l." hecontinued, "a nd I don 't like the ideaof forcing a person to choose onelangu age or another." He does notdeny that the situation in Qu ebecneeds balancing, but feels it shouldbe done by "persuasion, rather thanlegislation."Until the law is challenged inCanada's courts, the provincial gov

ernment of Premier Robert Bou -rassa will continu e plans for itsimplem ent ation amid continuingvoca l opposition on all sides. Meanwhile. moderate voices throughoutthe province hope that this law willbo th lessen the one-sided advantageof the English language and cultureat top levels of commerce and industry and a t the same time red ucethe calls for complete secession ofthe provi nce from Canada.Yet Quebec remains as another

example on a list containing situations as diverse as the FlemishWalloon controve rsy in Belgium,the Biafran secession attempt in Nigeria , an d the independence o fBangladesh . At a time when statesmen an d thinkers are calling for increased cooperation and concertedeffo rt between the nations as theon ly chance man has of solving thegrievous problems facing him, thetrend is towar d th e breakup of traditional nation-states into smaller.tribe-like subdivisions.

- Henry SturckePLAIN TRUTH December 1974


11/36

spa r e THe ro o &SPOIL THe CHILD?by Charles F. VinsonDiscipline - often misunderstood, often mis-used - remains the key to successful childrearing. Every parent should understand why.I T' S NOT easy to rear children today. especially withso much confusion among the expeets. One ex pertre commen d s a " pe rm is s ive"method. Ano ther would be horri fiedat the thought. insisting that astrict. "no-nonsense" policy isthe on ly road to responsib leadu lthood . These terms atbe st a rc vag ue. and

.., much is left for prioJ!c> va te interpretation

and debate..s But ha ppily.

mo re a nd mor e{,,;. yo ung parents arerealizing that rearf ing a ha ppy. obed i-::.. e n t , hone st ., frie ndly. b right..Q uninhibited. ta l! entcd. respectful" (a nd a ll t ho se r=-= ...-

t.

other qualities that parents envi sion) child does notde pend on a magic textbook formu la. The most important ingredient is the proper administrat ion of discipline.

Parents of all life-sty les are d iscovering that effectiveand con sistent discipli ne - not necessa rily the frequency or physical severity of tha t discipline - is the

secret to child rearing success.A Teaching Process

Dr. James Dobson. ass is tan t professo r ofpedia trics (child development) a t the University of Sou thern Californ ia School ofMed icine and au thor of the best sellerDare 10 Discipline. stresses that "ch ildrenthrive best in an atmosphe re of genuinelove. undergirded by reasonable. consistent discipline."

"Discipline," which comes from thesame root word as "disciple," actuallymeans "learning." Discipl ine is ateaching proces s. invo lving contro l ofcon sequences. There are times . forexample. when a parent can effectively discip line a child by givingpraise for doi ng a good job - lettin g

PERMISSIVENESS


12/36

the chi ld know th a t as a pa rent . youare really pleased with his accom-plishments.

Dr. Dobson condemns permissiveness as a disaster and advisespa rents to estab lish in advance absolute boundaries for their child'sconduct. They must not be wishywash y about wha t ch ild ren may ormay not do .This is more important than most

pa ren ts real ize. When a child awa reof his boundaries does somethingpunishab le - whether he has beenovertly selfish. deliberately offensiveto o the rs or openly rebellious tomom and dad - he will ac tua llyexpect his par ents to respond . And .indeed. parents should respond withpunishmen t tha t is "sufficient to thecrime: 'The Ideal

But wa lking the tightrope between yo ur own anger and administeri ng the right amount of di scip lineis a trick y business. Proper discip line. aft er a ll. is something youdo jor a child. not j ust 10 him. Re-member the quo te from Proverbs13:24: "H e who spares the rod hateshis son, but he who loves him isdili gent to d iscipline him" (RSV).

Discipline should be a positive act- not merely a negative one. Par-en ts who constantly badger or intimida te the ir ch ild ren usually areirritated about something else entire ly. and the child becomes themost convenient object on which tovent anger .

For most parents. criticizing orspanking becomes a form of persona l therapy and is of litt le help tothe child . What sho uld be a posi tive .loving relationship becomes hostile.The chil d may be obedient. bu t themotivat ion is through fea r of provoking his parents into another yelling. spa nking or face- sla ppingsession. No child can equa te thiskind of pun ishment wit h a cons tructive learning process. Chances areth e child will return th e same hostility when he is o lder.

On the ot her hand . some paren ts.wanting the bes t for their child. are10

so over-protective and dominatingthat they stifle a ll ini tiat ive. Theyinsist on constantly directing andcontrolling th e child's every activity- literally ru nn ing his or her lifearound the d ock . re fusing to allowth e child en ough freedom to react asa normal human being.

Ideal parent al discipl ine springsneither from hostility nor the ne edto dominate. bu t from the fact tha tthe parent feels absolutely sure ofwha t constitutes correct behavior.And the pa rent. in a loving and positive way. is teaching the child tounderstand and conform to thesevalues.Corporal Pun ishment?

As everyone knows. there inevitably come times when eve n the bestchildren refuse to conform to mom'sand dad's rules. During these timesno other form of discipline is as immediately effective as spanking.Spanking is not to be confused

with the sick. psycho tic practice ofchild beating. The two have no thingwhatsoever in common. Neither isspanking (or, more formally. corporal pun ishment) a last resort to bea pp l ie d o n ly a f t e r yo u h a veshouted. screamed. cried. begged,nagged. depr ived or stood the childin the corner. Spanking should be apositive act. and the child must recognize his infraction and hope fullybe sorry he committed the offense.It should be a deterren t to defiance. rebellion. willfu lness a nd hatred . Spank ing painfully teachesthat such emotions . when expressed.automa tica lly lead to punishment.

In addition. spanking teaches forgiveness. And here is a most important point: Never refuse a punishedchild the love and reassurance hewants after spanking. Cuddle himand explain why he was pu nishedand how to avoi d it next time . Withou t that corresponding expression oflove. spanking is merely hitting - anegat ive influence. As younger children grov, in their love and respectfor you and realize the boundariesof conduct you have esta blished.

spanking should become an infrequent punishment.By the time a child becomes an

ad olescent. spanking shou ld no t benecessary at all. Most teen-agersde sperately want to be thought of asadults a nd de eply re sen t be in gtre at ed as small children . Spankingthem is viewed as the ultimate insult. Other form s of di scipline maybe more effective - loss of privileges. curfews, etc.Invaluable BenefitsOne of the most positive bene fits

of int elligent corpora l punishment isthat it helps bui ld a chi ld's selfesteem. Self-esteem is not synonymous with vanity. It means properself-confide nce and a lack of inferior ity feelings which cri pple adultchances for success and happiness.

An interesting study carr ied outby Dr. Stan ley Coopersmith. associ ate professor of psychology a t theUniversity of Ca liforn ia . bore thisout. T hat study incl uded 1.738 norma l. middle-cla ss boys and theirfamil ies . begin ni ng in th e pre-ado lescent period and fol lowingthem through young manhood. Afte r ident ifyin g those boys having thehighest levels of self-esteem. hecompa red their homes and childhood influences with those having alower sense of self-wort h.

He found that the most successfulboys. those with the highest levels ofself-estee m. were defi nitely moreloved an d ap preciated at home thanwere the low-esteem boys. The parental love was genuine. not merelyverbal. And their parents were generally more strict in their approachto discipline.

By con tra st. the parents of thelow-esteem group created insecurityand dependence by thei r permissiveness . T heir chi ldren felt ru les ofconduct were not enforced becauseno one really ca red about them.Furthermore. the 1110st successfuland inde pen dent young men werefound to have come from homes demanding the strictest accountabilityand responsibility - but decidedlynot in a repressi ve atmosp here.Their homes were characterized by



13/36

family participation and openness.Once the boundaries for behavior

were established. there was absolutefreedom for individual personalitiesto grow and develop . Success in lifefollowed much more regularly thanit did in homes where disci pline wascarried out in a hap hazard or nonexistent manner.

The End ProductDifferent personalities require

different approaches and differen tdegrees of control. Extremely sensitive children may need spankingonly rarely - a harsh look is oftensufficient punishment.

And conversely, some children

never seem to get the point. Butwhen chi ldren do turn out beautifully. it is not an accide nt. It isbecause those children were luckyenough to have parents who reallyloved them - parents who unders tood and adm inistered proper .immediate and con sistent discipl ine . 0

authoritarian control group was fara head . And to an outsider, the proceedings seeme d better organized.

But prob lems arose when theleader left the room. Th e boldest inthe group began horsing aroundfirst. then the less courageous ones.until fina lly only a couple of worriedlittl e boys were still half-hearted lysticking to business.

The children und er very tight discip line had no outlet for their spontaneo us ideas or individua l wishes.Resentment built up under the surface and brok e out when the leaderleft the boys by themselves.The laissez-faire group met with

disastrous results: Little or nothingwas accomplished . Once in a whileth e boy s would ti re of horsingaround and attempt 10 accomplishsome thing . but non e o f them wasstrong enough to lead . The rowd ierhoys always disrupted any progress.Surprisingly. this gro up did betterwhen the adult left the room. it was asthough the boys were emba rrassedwhen an adult who did not know howto act like one was present.The story was quite differ ent inthe democratic co ntrol group. The

hays took pride in the fac t that theproject was their very own - notsomething forced on them. Theyhad the freedom to be creative andto share ideas. They were interestedand busy. There was no evidence ofhos tility. \Vo rk went on almost aswel l when th e lea d e r left th eroom. 0

In the authoritarian group. theleader took complete charge fromthe begi nnin g. He announced thatthis was be a carpentry club . andthey were go ing to build birdhouses .He to ld them where to ge t the necessary materials and wha t the design was to be. as well as how to usethe tools. He was agreeable enoughin manner. but left no initiative tothe boys. He maintained abso luteorder and efficiency .

In the loissez -faire group. theleader was present with th e boys. heanswered questions. he gave individual help. hut o ffered no realleadership.The procedures in the democraticgroup were radica lly d ifferent. It

was to be the boys club, and theycould choose the activity. Typically.all types of projects were suggested,some quite impractical. But theleader didn't squelch anyone or tryto impose his ow n ideas . He didkeep the discussions orderly and reminded the group if they forgotthei r manners.

When the gro up fina lly d id definitely decide on a project. the leadershifted conversation toward que stions of design . how to gather materia ls . bor row to o ls . et c . Whe nbuilding time neared. there had tohe discussions of method s and division o f labor.

The results were predictabl e. Interms of efficien cy - num ber ofhour s and days necessary to build acertain num ber o f birdhouses - the

A I ' EXPERIMENT carried ou tby psychologists severaly ea rs ago was recently reported in Rais ing Childrenin l/ Difficult Time. by Dr. BenjaminA. Spack. no ted American pediatric ian.

The experiment was designed tocompare the e ffects of discipline inthree di fferent control groups: ( I)absolute autho ritarian (that is. ex terna l or arbitra ry) d iscip line: (2)laissez-faire (l illie or no discip line);and (3) democratic (meani ng interna l. or responsible) discipline .Activity clubs were se t up for sev

era l gro ups of boys of the middlechi ldhood yea rs. The boys were towork at hobb ies after school underthe lead ership of the psychologists.

MOTIVATING YOUR CHILDHERE'S

AN EXPERIMENTWITH

POSITIVE RESULTS

PLAIN TRUTH December 1974 t 1


14/36


15/36

Both merchants and advertising agenciesrecognized the commercial possibilitiesof folk festivals and began to exploit theseoccasions shortly after 1920. This wasimmediately successful and has continuedunabated to the present.

THE SEASON to be jolly is nearlyupon us again. With it willcome parties. gifts. famil yge t-togethers - and fam ily breakup s - all with the stern remindernot to forget the "real meaning ofChristmas,"Admonitions 10 promote peace.

love. joy. goodwill and hope stemfrom a sincere desire to circumventthe overwhelming commercialism ofthe season. But as usual. the admoniti on s will be almos t totally ignored. and understandably so. The"real mean ing" of the hol iday hasalways been annoy ing ly vague.To con fuse matters fur ther . the

alleged birthday of Christ ha s cometo be inescap a bly associated with ajolly Nordic saint secretly bea ringgifts in the night. With a Santa onevery stree t corner. most childrenforget that Christmas is somehowsupposed to be a billion-dollarb irthday party for Christ.A closer look a t the history of

Christmas should clear up the mystery . Ironically enough. it will showthat today's gcnerally irre verent eelcb ration of December 25 comes farcloser to the "rca I meaning" ofChris tmas than most Christiansdare to admit.How Modern Christmas BeganCommercial Ch ristmas is only

abo u t 50 ycars old. James H. Barnett o f the University of Connecticutexp l a i n s th e or igi n o f "GreenChristmas" in his book The Ameri-can Christmas: A Studv in NationalCulture."The stud ied exploitation of the

festival did not develop fully unt ilthe thi rd decade in the present century: ' he writes. "At the close of thewar in (918. the American economywas gea red to a high level of outputand a host of new products wereready 10 be so ld. However. consumer demands were shrinking. andthere was serious danger o f a stagnant market:'

Postwar retai lers and man ufacturers. it se ems. were faced wi th adilemma . The assemb ly lines wererolling. but consumer cash was no t.PLAIN TRUTH December 1974

T he nash depressio n of 1920 struck.making businessmen e ven moredesperate .

" {n thi s dilemm a: ' con tinuesBarnett . "business leaders soughtsome mean s o f increasing normal.peacetime buyin g. and turned topromotion and high-pressure salesmeth ods. Both merchants and advertising agencies recognized thecommercial possibilities of folk festival s. and began to exploit these occasions shortly a fte r 1920. Th is wasimmediately successful and has continued un abated to the present."

Now we find Christmas businessdomina ling the entire second half ofth e ca lend a r yea r. The bu siestmonth in railroad freigh t yards isAugust, primarily because manufacturers are shipping goods to ret ail

out lets in prepara tion for the Chri stmas gift traffic. Chr istmas sales begin around Labor Day (earl ySeptember). rather than ear ly December.Ret ailers look a t it thi s way : 'The

more shopping da ys be fore Christmas. the more potential sales. Thewhole approach to se ll ing is to getstuff out as early as possible . Youneed p lenty of time for reorders."It's now qu ite common to seeChris tmas advertisements in earlyOctober!

Gifts for Everyone?Since 1965 the American public

ha s spent over 10 billion dollars onChri stmas gifts each year. or aboutS l25 billion between the yea rs 19651974. In ju st 10 percent of the year'sshopping days - the pe riod fromThanksgiving to Christmas - mos tsho ps do more tha n 20 percent of

their business. and more gifts areexchanged on December 2S than ona ll the 01her 364 days combined!Ju st about cvery imaginable kind

o f objec t has been a Christmas gift.and ju st abou t everyone has recei ved his share of the bounty. Butironically, the churches - activelyexpounding the Christmas spirit suffer monetary reverses. In fact.seasonal Christmas spending consistently exceeds a ll religious contribut ions given to a ll churches for theentire year! And gi fts to religionsconsistently decline du ring December.Wouldn't it be incongruous if you

attended a birthday party whereeve ryone exchanged gifts with theguests. wh ile the host was ignored honored with no gift at a ll" Fig-

uratively speaking. that is what happens on Jesus Christ' s supposed"birthday. "Ye t thi s is only one of the Christ

mas "opposites" - those customsand practi ces which work in opposition to what a desperate humanitywishes Christmas would be. Compa re a few of the other Christmaspractices to the textbook thai mostChristians profess to read .

Christmas " Opposites" Isn' t it a little hypocritical toteach our children a fan tastic web offalsehoods about Santa Cla us. thereindeer. and even the time and circurnstances of Christ 's birth , whilewe a re supposedly honoring the onewho said. "Thou shalt not bear falsewitness"? (Ma tthew 19: 18.)

There are more murders andacciden ta l dea ths at Christmas timeth an a t any other timc of yca r: yet

13


16/36


17/36

Isn't it a little hypocritical to teach ourchildren a fantastic web of falsehoods aboutSanta Claus, the reindeer and even the timeand circumstances of Christ's birth, whilewe are supposedly honoring the one who said,"Thou shalt not bear false witness'?

Jesus sa id . "Thou shalt do no murder' (Mat t hew 19: 18). And isn' t it alitt le con tradictory that on the supposed birt hda y of the Prince ofPeace. parents buy their childrenplastic guns and other toys of violence? One fourth of all liquor sales

come du ring the Chr istmas season.supposedly hon or ing the one whosaid. "Take heed to yourselves. lestat any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting and drunkenness . . ." (Luke 21:34). Christ also spoke against set

ting one's heart on the "abundanceof th ings." Vet the purchase of many"th ings" is wha t Christmas is allabout. He also stated. " I t is moreblessed to give than to receive"(Act s 20: 35). But no o the r daystresses gelling. especia lly to children. as much as Christmas. Thequ est ion most asked at this time ofyear is. "What did you ge t?" - not"What did you give?" Finally. isn't it somewhatstra nge that professing Christianswould observe a day which neitherChrist nor his disciples ever mentioned - much less commanded orkept?

Can You Pu t Christ BackInto Christmas?

If Jesus Christ of Nazareth weretransplanted into a modern Christmas part y. he migh t enjoy the companionship. but he certa inly wouldnot recognize it as his birthday. because he was born in early autumn.and he didn 't observe birt hdays asa nything special anyway. Instead .he would recognize December 25 asthe Roman "Sa turna lia" of his dayor the Babylonian religious festivalhonoring the "birthday of the Sun."He might even advise those whoworry about " putting Christ backinto Christmas" to stop worrying.It's impossible. Christ never was inChristmas. And the pub lic todaytruly is keeping the "real" or origina l meaning of Christmas - a commercialization of an utterly pagan.openly hedonistic celebration thathas been given an aura of respectability via labels of peace. joy. lovePLAIN TRUTH December 1974

and goodwi ll to all. Most have supposed that th e Christmas celebration is roo ted in the se goo dintentions. and. of course based onthe birthday of Jesus. This idea isfa lse.There is no need in this article toprove the depths of Christmas' pagan roots. That information is readily ava ilable in your loca l library.Discover it for yourself.To summarize. "Christmas" began over 4.000 years ago in Babylon . then migrated to Egypt. G reeceand Rome. In Rome. it combinedwith Nordic and Druid ic customsand was finally "b lessed" as a Christian holid ay over 300 years afterJesus Christ died. In each of thesepagan societies. December 25 wascelebrated as the birthday of the

S lil1. on the occasion of the sun's"rebirth" at the winter solstice.An houror two of research woulddocument these assertions. Look in

t he major encyclopedi as und er"Christmas." "Saturnalia: ' "SunWor sh ip: ' "Yule" a nd relat edwords. Or peru se some completebooks about Christmas under the"394" Dewey Decimal heading inyour loca l library.You might even turn to a scriptUfe in the Bible (Jeremiah 10:1-4)where God condemned the keepin g

of pagan practices centuri es beforethe birth of Jesus: "Thus sa ith theLord. Learn 110 t the w oJ the hea -then. and be not dismayed at thesigns of heaven: for the heathen aredismayed at them," (The heathennations became frightened as thesun reached its winter solstice on oraround December 21 - when thesun is fa rthest from our orbiting

earth. They were afraid the sun. asthe symbol of heat and light. wasdying. So they lit fires. sacrificedanimals. shouted to their sun god ,and were in general "di smayed atthe heavens.")To continue. "For the customs ofthe people are vain: for one cuttetha tree out of the forest. the work ofthe hands of the workman, with theaxe. They deck it with silver andwith gold; they fasten it with nailsand hammers. that it move not:'

A Better Day ...Even though Christmas is paganin origin. some feel it is rather unfair to condemn the positive aspects

of Christmas unless there weresomething far better to take itsplace.

Happily. there is.About 3,500 yea rs ago, God revea led to his peop le Israel a patternof days set apart for a holy pur poseand for festive family celebration .Concern ing those days. God commanded. "Thou shalt rejo ice" (Deuteronomy 16: 14; 14:26). Th ese

special days were kept "wit h joy"(Ezra 6:22) . Th ey were joyous feastdays in which entire famili es couldpartake of fine food and dr ink. andenjoy real love. peace and goodwill.They were family festiva ls (Deuteronomy 14:26) of treme ndous meaning and purpose.If you would like to know more

about these "days: ' write for ourfree booklet. Pagan Holiday s - orGod's H Days - Which'

These are special days of rea lmeaning and pu rpose for humanit y- of which Christmas is a cheapcounterfeit. 0

15


18/36

F ROM EARLIEST time s. as farback as man 's recorded histo ry and beyond. humanbeings have been vitally concernedabout dea th and a possible hereafter.

Archaeolog ical discoveries revealthat Neandertha l man must havepondered the nether world and apossible life afte r death . He dugburial pits for his dead. He also provided his deceased with tools. weapons and food - und oubtedly anattempt to give the departed. or thedeparted's so ul. necessi ties for animagined afterlife.But Neanderthal 's burials weresimple compared to burials of laterancients. Burial extravaganzas unsurpassed in scope and magnitudeare recorded in the histories o f someo f the world ' s past great civilizations. Enormous treasures ofgold and jeweled objects. riches ofall kinds . some t imes serva n ts .horses. wagons and even ships. we reoften entomhed wit h kings andqu eens to help them conti nue a lavishly high standard of living in afancied afte rlife con tinued by theirsouls.

One royal tomb. excavated at thesite of the ancient Sumerian city ofUr. revealed the remains of fivemen. len well-dressed women. anentire chariot. the remains o f twoass es and the ir grooms. a number ofother bodi es. a la rge treasure. andsome weapons and tools. Afte r all ofthi s were found so ldiers. wholewagons. and more grooms and cour tladies - sixty-two bodies in all. Fina lly. further excavation uncoveredthe king in his buria l chamber.a long with three more servants.

In more recent times people havebeen ju st as concerned about deathas the anci ents but less co ncernedabo ut the hereafter.

The Foun tain of Yout hThroughout the ages men have

spent long hours seeking to discovera way to prolong human life andmaybe even to obtain ete rna l life.Th e keys to longevity have beenthou ght to be everything from16

witches' incantations. mystical herbsand sp ices to ce rtain food s and mi nerals. o r some kind of regimenteddiet. Ponce de Leon and others wereconvinced there was an actual fountain of you th somewhere.Ponce de Leon began his searchfor this legenda ry fountain after becoming intoxica ted on new worldIndian stories abo ut a wonderfulfounta in of youth tha t rejuvenatedthe old and strengt hened the weary.supposedly hidd en somewhere onthe island of Bimi in the Bahamas .He helped organize a pri vatelyspo ns o red expedi tion. and onMarch 3. 1512. set out with hisgroup to find that fountain .Soph isticated moderns. of course.don't believe in Ponce de Leon'sfounta in of youth. but in a sense.they are still se arc hing for it.They're trying to find it in a different way - throu gh science. technology and medicine.Aging movie stars go to plastic

surgeons. spending large slims ofmoney for face lifts. to erase the telling wrinkles of age.Those who dislike the knife turnto beauty technici ans who areskilled in the art o f skin stretchingor in the ability to create a newimage by the usc of makeup. Someingest or inject hormones. Oth ers tryspecial baths or special diet s.Scientists and medical research

ers. on the other hand . a rc trying todiscover the exact cau ses o f agingand thereby learn how to cure it.maybe even stop it.

Freeze Now , Live LaterA growing numbe r of people are

putting their hope in future medi cine . knowing full well that today'smedical scientists are still nowherencar eradicating disease or findingthe solution to aging. They're submill ing their bod ies to Cryo nic suspension. a sort of mummification byfreezing. Several Cryo nics societiesnow ex ist.A Cryonics socie ty member's

body. instead of going through thenormal burial or cremation procedu res. is prepared for sto rage by

AREYOURAFFAIRSIIROER?"To every thing there is a sea-son, and a time to every pur-pose under th e heaven: a timeto be born , and a time todie . . . . " - Solomon .

by Patrick A. Parnell



19/36

55Reality is undeniable. You aregoing to die, And when you die, you are

dead. All the billions of dollars inthe world won 't alter that fact.All of man 's technology and

research can't change it.gg

freezing. Blood is dra in ed an d replaced with a sor t of antifreeze solution . The body is placed into a ten foot-long capsule full of liq uid nitrogen, which is kept a t 32 1 deg reesbelow zero Fa hrenheit. And insteadof being bur ied six feet under in acemetery pia l, the thermos- bott lelike capsul e is stored in a vau ltwhich will be opened sometime inthe distan t fut ure when medicalscience, hopefully, wi ll have theability to thaw out the body , curethe ca use of death of the deceasedCryo nics socie ty member. and restore him or her to life.

Superficially, this sounds tremendously intri guing. But as experts a req uick 10 point OUI. a nd objec tiveCryon ic s soc ie ty membe rs a reforced to admi t. the statistical oddsagainst its working are phenomenal.Why won't it actually work? Be

cause the undeniable real ity is thata human body is programmed todie . Even i f disease could be virtually elimina ted, along with stressand poor di ets (major fa ctors thatcontribute 10 death), we would stilldie. From the very moment of birthman's days arc numbered .

Programmed to DieBasic life-support ing cells in the

human body divide just so manytimes. They reach a d ivisioninglimi t. a pproxima tely 50 times forcertai n main types of ce lls, afterwhich a ll do ub ling ceases. T his inborn aging factor puts a limi t onman's life span. Cell deterioration.tissue deterio rat ion. organ deteriorati on and body deterioration end ing in de ath is inevitable.

This programmed physical dete-rioration begins to increase drama tica lly in the average healthy humanar around age 40. Tas te abi lity, consta nt ly on the decline, now beg ins todramaticall y decrease. The ab ility tohear high-pitched tones diminishes.A noticeable d rop in visua l acuityoccurs . More importantly, the vita lorga ns such as the heart. lungs. kidneys and liver increasingly malfunction.

With aging, harden ing of the ar-PLAIN TRUTH December 1974

teries inc reases ma rkedly. Bloodpressure climbs. Bones gradualIylose more and more calc ium . Theybecome fragi le a nd subject to breakage . even with relati vely minor falls.OveralI body reflexes become

sluggish with age. The conductionspeed of nerve impulses slows. Braincell deterioration. constantly occurring throughout life. reaches a morecritica l point. Memory starts fading.

Increasing memory loss for recen tevents occurs. Th e ability to acq uirenew learning and cope with psychological stress declines.As physical and psycho logical deterioration mounts. the ability to

sha ke off and resist disea se weakens.At th is point the way o f a ll fleshdraws nigh - death rears its uglyhead.Cryonic suspension doesn' t a lterthis dea th cycle. T hose bodies whicha rc frozen are frozen a fter death.

Proper health care. including aproper diet and the elimination ofdi sease . may prolong life su bstantialIy. bu t it doesn't solve agingand eventua l death.

Plastic surgery. skin stretchingan d the heavy use of cosmetics a ndha ir dyes may give a more youth fulappearance for a time. but the innerprocess o f aging an d inevitabledeath continues nonstop .At th is poin t. one migh t be in

clined to forget trying 10 prolong lifeor live for ever in the flesh and beginto ponder what happens aft er deathand whether or not there is an after-

life. But con trary to wha t the an-cien ts thought and what manytoday will be shocked to find out .hope in havi ng a possible afterlifeth rou gh an immortal soul is j ust adream .

Afterlife?The religious source of be lief ofmill ions - the Bible - surely ought

to be the most authoritative and re-

liable so urce on such a subje ct as ana fte rlife.

And . indeed. the Bible does speakout on the subject. According toScripture, the dead don 't hea r an ything, see anything, th ink anythingor know anything . They have noknowledge that they eve r existed .T hey have no awareness of anykind, period.

The dead are dead. Man doe s nothave some kind ofan immortal soulthat lives on a fter t he body die s.

The Bible records the followingfact: " Fo r the living know that theyshall die : but the DEAD KNOW xorANY TI l iNG . neither have they anymore a reward: for the memory ofthem is forgotten. Also their love.and their hat red , a nd their envy, isnow peri shed . . ." (Ecclesiastes 9 :56).Again. in talking abOUI someone

wh o dies. th e Bible says : " Hisbreath goeth fort h. he returneth tohis ea rth : in that very day HISTHOUGH TS PERI SH" (Psa lm 146:4 ).Th e Bible absolutely confirms

beyond the shadow of a doubt that17


20/36

Editor' s note : Be sure to read the" Personal from the Editor " in thisissue. It explains what the scriptu res reveal about those resur-rected to eternal life as sons ofGod .

ca l plan is qu ite simple: All whohave ever lived . or ever will live. willbe given a chance to change from alife of disobeying God to one ofobeying him - thereby having theopportunity to live for etern ity.Some, however, will reject tha t opportunity. These ar e the ones whowill suffer an eternal de ath by beingburn ed up in a lake of fire (Revelation 20: 15).

God explains, however . that hehas no des ire to impo se such a fatc

on anyone. He is "notwilling that any shouldperish, bu t that a ll shouldcome to repentance" (1 1Pete r 3:9). But fo rt he se lfwilled and rebellious those who rej ect his way- God ha s no ot herchoice. The Bible teachestha t disobedience produces unhapp iness, andGod wi ll not a l lowpeople to exist in a mis-era ble state of mind fora ll e te r n ity . He will.the refore , mercifully andperma nently destroy thewicked .Humanity has always

been and will con tinue tobe vita lly concern ed withthe possib ility of an af-terlife. The question is,will it con tinue to rejector will it accep t the onlysource that provides ahope for th e dead? Certa inly the a ttempts ofman. through science orreligious myths. offer no

satisfactory alte rna tive .Obedience to a Crea tor God? A

resurrection from the dead? Theseque stions may seem farfetched tosome. but not to those who are seri-ously putting their a ffairs inorder. 0

Bible prophecy has a lot to say about theItimeswe live in. Butmostpeople don'tunder-stand prophecy - for two reasons. Either. theyhaven't read the Bible,or theydon't havethe keys "to understanding.prophecy. Our_ . ... booklet, How to Understand Prophecy , willunlock a whole new world of understandingforyou. To request yourfree copy, just writeto the Editor.

indeed dead . T he Scriptures do, o nthe o the r han d, state that dea th isnot the end . Everyone is go ing tolive agai n. Som e, as the Bible men tions elsewhere, will live again for-eve r and some for ju st a very shorttime. This conclusion is based onthe ve ry words of Jesus, who was,acco rding to Scripture, himself resur rected the thi rd day after beingcrucified .Contra ry to the elaborate schemes

and myths of men rega rding thepossibility of an afterlife, the bibl i-

dam na tion ["judgment," marginalreading]" (Jo hn 5:28-29).Jesus, the founder of the ear ly

ch urch - and the one whom Christianity acknowledges as the very sonof God - says all, meaning thateveryone who has ever lived, is going to be resurrected - the good orbad , atheist, heretic, heathen or believer. And so it's clear that theScriptures do not suppo rt the ideaof an immortal soul or afterl ife asimagined by man , and the de ad are

A Hope for the Dead?Jesus is quoted in talki ng of a

resurrection: "Marvel not at this:for the hour is coming , in the whichAL L that a re in the graves shall hearhis voice, and sha ll come forth ; theythat have done good, unto the resu rrection of life: and th ey that havedone evi l. unto the resurrection of

the dead are dead : "Whatsoever thyhand findet h to do , do it with thymight : for there is no work , nor device, nor knowledge . nor wisdom, inthe grave, whither thou goest" (Ecclesiastes 9: 10)." For tha t which befa lleth the sons

of men befa lleth beasts; even onething be fal leth them : as the onedieth, so d ieth the other; yea , theyhave all on e breath ; so tha t a manhath no preeminence above a beast:for all is vani ty. All go unto oneplace; a ll are of the du st,andall {urn to dust aga in ,.(Ecclesiastes 3: 19-20).As far as the immorta l

soul idea is concerned.it's a myth tha t origina ted in ancien t Egyptian and later Greekthought. and was chie flymade po pular throughthe philosophy of Plato.It didn't come from th eBible .Ju st as yo u can' t pin

your hopes of living forever on technology, neither can you put yourhope on having an im-morta l soul.Rea lity is undeniable.

You are going to d ie.And when you die, youare dead . All th e billionsof dolla rs in the worldwon' t alt er tha t fact. Allof man 's technology an dresearch can't change it.

But the same sourcethat shatters the immo r-tal soul myth actua llysays man ye t has hope in death .Tha t hope is spoken of th roughoutthe Bible as a resu rrection of th edead .

18 PLAIN TRUTH December 1974


21/36

tConnnurd [rom page I)chapter of the book of Hebrews a re:" But now we see not ye t all things[the whole uni verse ] pu t und er him[man)."

Tha t is for the future. In this context the writer is speaking of thingsin " the world to come" (verse 5).The "world to come" will not be putin subjection to the angels. Thcn heproceed s to reveal that the entireuniverse will. then. be put in subjection under man.

But the scriptural revelation istha t ma n will then be cha nged frommortal to immortal - from tlesh andblood material composition to spiritcomposition - then immorta l.Continue. now, in Hebrews 2.We see not yet the universe put

under man , "But we see Jesus. whowas made a little lower than thean gels for thc suff ering of death .crowned with glory and honor . . . .For it became him. for whom are allth ings tall the universe]. and bywhom are all things. in bringingmany sons unto glory [in a state ofimmortalit y ]. to make the cap tain oftheir salvation perfect through sufferings. For both he tha t sanctifietha nd they who are sanctified are a llof one : for which cause he is notashamed to call them brethren .....(ve rses 9-11).Those who are to gain salvation

eternal life in the Kingdom of God- are ca lled sons of God . even asChrist is called the Son of God . Heis said to be " the firstbo rn amongmany brethren" (Romans 8:29). Heis thu s portrayed as the captain oftheir salvation - the pioneer - whohas gone on ahead. by a resurrection from the dead. and now. as heirof the universe. he sustains the entireun iverse by the word ofhis power.Wha t a s t u p e ndo us. mind-expanding. seemingly incred ibleheritage for man! Yet the scripturesca ll those who hav e received thePLAIN TRUTH December 1974

Holy Sp irit of God heirs. and jo intheirs with Chri st (Romans 8: 16-17).Now. more specifically. wha t is

the connection with the quest ionsrega rding the planets of outer space.and whether they a re inhabited?This same 8th chapter of Romansth rows considerab le light on tha tmatter. These particular verses arenot made clear by the King Jamestranslation from the original G reek.Th e word "crea ture" shou ld havebeen translated "creation: ' The Revised Standard translation clears itup. as does the Moffatt .Continuing right on from theverse quoted . in the RSV. showing

man. through salvation, the heir ofGod.and ther efore of the un iverse :

"1 consider that the sufferings ofthis present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to berevea led to us [in us. AuthorizedVersion]. For the crea tion [universe]waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God : fo r thecrea tion was subjected to futility.not of its own will but by the will ofhim who subjected it in hope : because the creation itself will be setfree from its bond age to decay [asplanets now are - even as ourmoon] and ob tain the glorious liberty of the children of God . Weknow that the whole creation hasbeen groaning in travail toge theruntil now: and not only the creation. but we ourse lves . who havethe first fruit s of the Spirit. groaninwardly as we wait for adoption assons. the redemption of our bod ies."This last sentence. more correctlytran slated by Moffat t: " . . .but evenwe ourselves. who have the Spiri t as

a foretaste of the future. even wesigh dee ply to o urselves as we waitfor the redempt ion of the body tha tmean s our full sonship" (verse 23).It is not becom ing an adopted son but a fully-born son of God. Whynot rClJuest our free booklet JustWhat Do You Mean Born Again?What is here revea led. or strongly

imp lied. is tha t the plan ets of theentire universe are like our moon.unab le to sustain life . virtua llywaste and empty. subjected to futility as of now. in decay. but so sub-

jee red by God in hope. For . whenGod's purpose in having put humanity on this ea rth is completed.untold millions of humans shallhave become fully-born sons of theliving God - then composed ofspirit - then divine as God is divine- born into the very family of God.which. ru ling the universe. will bethe Kingdom of God.God. first of a ll. is Creator. Th osewho receive that sa lva tion will be

come creators. Planets will beturned into beautiful. productiveplanets. sustaining life. New life willbe created .Second to being Crea tor. God isruler. God sustains and preservcswha t he creates by his gove rnment.God is the author of beauty. ofligh t. of peace. of happ iness and joy.The government of God onceru led this ea rth . There was peace.

beau ty. happiness. But rebell iousange ls rejected that government.This truth leads into the very causeof a ll the evils in this world - andthe cause that wi ll produce . asGod's doin g - not man's - wor ldpeace and everything glorious andbeautiful.God sent a glorious message to

mankind some 1900 years ago byhis son Jesus Chr ist. Th at messagewas the only true gospel of Christ. Itincluded what I have writte n here and much more! It was rejected.and another and different fa lse"gospel" was put out to a dece ivedwor ld . The true gospel was not proclaim ed to the world after the firstcentury.The reade r might be enlightenedby a new booklet I am now writing.The Dilly True Gospel. and l low IIWas Suppressed. Aft er pub lication itwill be offered gra tis. of course. toour entire mailing list. Please withhold your requests until then.II will expl ain what science has

been unable to discover - wha t religion has overlooked - and whateduca tion has never taught - thereal cause of the wor ld's evils. theway to wor ld peace. the purpose ofhuman life on the earth. It is thetrue gospel this world has neverhea rd I Jr 18'1, centu ries. 0 19


22/36


23/36

Do we understand the majorconcerns of th e Soviet peopleand th eir leaders today? PlainTruth edi tors report s urpriseson a recent trip to the U.S.S.R.Here is the s econd and con-cluding part of their report.

Y URt WAS on ly 16 yea rs o ld.but inte lli g en t a nd e xtremely well-versed on international affairs - from the Sovietpoint or view, of course. Upon finishing his special education coursesin Moscow. he hoped someday toenter his nat ion's dip lomat icservice .We were introduced to eachother while attending a Rus

sian wed ding par ty in Leningrad. For over an hour Yu riand I held a friendly and attimes anima ted discu ss ion ofth e world polit ical scene. Th elonger we conversed, however.the more I wa s amazed to d iscove r how to tally dif fer entwe re our perspect ives and fundamental v iewpoints. We wereboth obviously the produ cts one is a lmos t tem pted to saythe victims - of our respectiveed ucational and communication sys tems .

Pat riots and Villa insLan guage itself was no real ba r

rier. for Yuri had learned Englishexce ptiona lly well in school. Butsomehow, the words and terminology we used conveyed a lmost entirely d ifferent meanin gs one to theother.

It was fairly ea sy for Yuri and meto agree on the "big" issues - theneed for worl d peace. the des ire forincreased understandin g and coopera tio n between the Un ited Sl atesa nd the Sovie t Union . But ou r common concept ions broke down ratherrapid ly once we began to discuss th e"d etai ls." For example. I askedYuri : "Wha t po liti ca l leader in theUnited Sta tes do yo u d ist rust th emost?"It was n't Richard M. N ixon , he


assu red me. The former presidenthad. a t that tim e. j ust complete d histhird summit conference with SovietCommun ist Par ty lead er Leo nid I.Brezhncv."We respect Nixon:' replied Yuri

with complete ass ura nce. " I thinkwe can trust him . But yo ur Senato rJ . . . a h. . . .'."J ackson?" I helped ou t.

"Y es. yes. Sena tor Hen ry Jackson: ' retorted Yuri, shaking hishead vigorously. "We don 't like hima t a ll. He wa nts to bring our twocountries back to the brink o f theCo ld Wa r."

"Well. th at's who I thought youwould name: ' I co unte red. " But. doyou realize that most knowledgeableAmerica ns would likely view yourD e fen s e M in is t e r . M ar sh a lG rechko, in the same ligh t?" (Marsha l And rei A. Grechko has recentlybee n wa rning that "imperialist" nations are fueling the arms race,"ma king materia l p reparat ions forwa r.")"Oh, no !" exclaimed Yu ri in

credulously. cup ping his cres tfa llenhead in his left hand , " no t Marsh a lGrechko. He's a patriot!"I was witnessing firstha nd the

ideological chasm that sti ll se paratesthe two superpowe rs, even in thisage of detente . The hero. pa triotand defend er of th e fai th on oneside is a utoma tica lly the villain orth reat to the peace a nd security ofth e o ther.

Al l t he News NotFit to Print

Despite hi s persona lly un perceived ideo logica l sc ree n. Yu ridi splayed a rathe r rem arkab le com prehension o f ev ents and trends inth e United Sta tes. I asked him howhe was able to keep so up -to -da tewith news from America.'" rea d the American press: ' he

responded qu ickly."Oh, which newspape r?" I asked."Yo ur newspaper from New York

City - the Daily Worker," he answered confiden tly. wit h a glint in

his eye th at seemed to indicatetha t he was sure he read thesa me daily news sou rce I did.T he Daily Worker, of course.

ca nnot be compared to theNew York Times or Daily Newsby any stretch of th e imagina tion . It is a sma ll. int ensely polem ical joorn al pub lished bythe Communist Party of theUnited Sta tes. Little knownand even less read within theUnited Sta tes. it is neverthelessfreely ava ila ble in most largeSoviet c ities. a long with otherexamples of th e "Socia list"press of cou ntries arou nd thewor ld . As a resul t . the DailyWorke r conveys to English-speaking

Soviets the imp ression that it speaksfor th e major ity of the American"wo rking class:' which it mos t emph atically does not.On ly in the large Intou rist -run

hot els in the bigge st Soviet citiesdoes one stand a remote chance offind ing a tr uly represent ative Am erican newspaper. There. the lady atthe hotel newsstan d j ust might havea recen t copy of th e InternationalHerald Tribune. an English language newspaper published in Paris.But you' ll have to ask for it! She willinvar iably have the "T rib" tuckedsafe ly out of view on some nethershelf - as if it were a form of po litica l pornogr aphy.

'" Hate M ao "Continuing our co nversa tion.

Yuri sincerely believed that de tent e21


24/36

" SOCIA LIS T REA LISM " style 01Soviet art depicting a victoriousLenin, grac es a Leningrad buildingduring annual May Day celeb rations .This powerful portrait with a mes -sage reflects officially approved ar-tistic concepts which emphasizeand glorify Soviet social, economicand political achievements. Ab -strac t art and sculpture is generallyfrowned upon by authorities.HIGH -W IR E ACT thri lls an audioence at the famous Moscow Circus.The Soviet government hea vily sub-sidizes the performing arts . Topperformers are we ll paid and enjoycertain privileges.

with the United States was here tostay . With three annual summitconferences already written into thehistory books. detente. to Yu ri's wayof thinki ng. was on the \vay to becoming "ir reversib le," a term Mr.Brezh ne v has em p loyed co nt i nuously. But nett lesome China was adiffere nt story altogether.

His expression cha nged with th every thought of th e men at the helmin Peking. "I hate Mao!" he ex claimed. He rep eat ed his d isgustwi th double em phasis. War betweenthe Sovi et Un io n an d the People'sRepub li c o f C h i n a m ig ht b eun avoidab le some da y. he be lieved.Yuri was not alon e in his prognosis.The chief Russian guide assigned toour Na tional Press Club tour groupbelieved that war between her country and the United States \vas "unthinkable: ' but that conflict withChina was probably inevitable.

In thi s light it is noteworthy tomen t ion th at sho rt ly before bi sforced exile. Soviet author Alexande r Solzhenitsyn d ispatched a dramat ic 15.000-word open letter to theleaders of his country. Among ot herthings he warned tb e Kremlin lead-ership again st the folly of enteringinto an "ideologica l wa r" withChina - in orde r to try to proveonce an d for a ll which sta te is thetrue standard-bearer of Marxist Leninism. Such a war, warned So lzhe-22

nitsyn, could cost the Soviet Union .60 million dead - th ree times thehorrend ou s to ll of the SecondWor ld Wa r! "After this war:' hesa id . "t he Russian peop le will virtually cease lO exist on this planet."

Nevertheless, based upon my adrniued ly limited "po ll tak ing." theSoviet people seem to be almost resigned to an inevitable showdownbetween the two Communist g iants-

Plain Truth 1974 (Prelim No 10) Dec_w

Documents