Pastoral Bible Institute News

PBI Directors Elected

The members of the Pastoral Bible Institute have elected these seven individuals to serve as directors for the next twelve months:

Letters

I was one of Jehovah’s Witnesses for 20 years, and now that I’ve found the Bible Students I feel like I’ve really heard the “Good News”! Without the Internet I never would have known the Bible Students still existed. As a Witness, I never felt it was very good news to tell people that if they didn’t become one of Jehovah’s Witnesses, they would die at Armageddon with no possibility of a resurrection. Now that I’ve learned that the Bible actually teaches that Jesus died as a ransom for ALL, I want to yell it from the roof tops. I’m grateful that I’ve never stopped looking for the God of love, even when I thought I was “in the truth” as a Witness. Even the New World Translation says ALL! I feel so blessed that Jehovah led me to the Bible Students.

—E-mail communication from Michigan

World News

Religious

A study published by the British Economic and Social Research Council found that Britain’s big cities were “godless places.” While many in Europe still purport to believe in God, studies and polls overwhelmingly show that the proportion of western Europeans who practice their religious beliefs has been on the wane for many years. The survey interviewed more than 21,000 people aged 15 and over in 21 countries. In the UK, 72 percent of people believe in some kind of god. But only 24 percent of them attend a religious service once a week or more; this compares with 61 percent in Poland and 72 percent in Turkey.

—Financial Times, 12/28/2004

Thousands of sobbing relatives struggled to identify the blackened and bruised bodies of loved ones after a stampede during a religious procession to a hilltop temple killed at least 258 people and injured 200 in western India. The chain-reaction tragedy began when several Hindu pilgrims inside the temple fell on a slippery floor and were crushed to death by the crowd. Angered over the deaths, some pilgrims began setting the shops lining the path on fire, sparking a stampede that killed at least 258 people. Police chief Chandrakant Kumbhar said the tragedy began when the temple floor became slippery from a ceremony that involved breaking coconuts in front of a deity. Stampedes are not uncommon at major Hindu religious festivals, which can attract millions of worshipers. In the worst accident, about 800 pilgrims died during a Hindu festival in 1954 in the northern city of Allahabad.

—Associated Press, 1/26/2005

Social

The belief that rotund women are more desirable as wives helps explain why much of the Arab world is experiencing an explosion of obesity. About half of women in the Middle East are overweight or obese, according to the United Nations’ World Health Organization. The oil wealth in those areas has dramatically improved living standards, with the resulting urbanization introducing habits such as high consumption of sugar, fat and processed foods and more sedentary lifestyles. In Bahrain, 83% of women are obese or overweight, according to International Obesity Task Force, a London-based think tank. In the United Arab Emirates, the figure is 74%. By comparison about 62% of American women are overweight or obese.

—Wall Street Journal, 12/29/2004

McDonald’s now has 600 restaurants in Chinese cities, and Kentucky Fried Chicken has 1,200. Forty-one percent of Chinese people eat in a fast-food restaurant at least once a week, compared to 35 percent of Americans.

—The Washington Post, January 2005

Steve Fossett … became the first person to fly around the world alone without stopping or refueling, touching down in central Kansas after a 67-hour, 23,000 mile journey that appeared endangered at times by a troubled fuel system. Fossett chose Salina because he needed a long runway for the takeoff and landing. The runway in Salina extends about 12,000 feet.

—Orlando Sentinel, 3/4/2005

A large earthquake flattened dozens of villages in central Iran, killing at least 500 people. Rescue parties were delayed in reaching some areas because heavy rains caused mudslides that blocked or buried roads. The Iranian government, increasingly isolated from the West because of its alleged nuclear weapons program, did not request international aid.

—Associated Press, 2/24/2005

A Santiago, Chile judge approved Chile’s first legal divorce. Chile became the last country in the Americas to legalize divorce when it updated its marriage code of 1884 last year, over the objections of the Roman Catholic Church. The new law has been described as “revolutionary” for a society where a married woman can’t open a bank account without her husband’s signature, and “illegitimate” children are barred from most prominent Catholic schools. The Justice Ministry had been braced for tens of thousands of divorce petitions, but only 1,035 people have filed since the law took effect in November 2004.

—The Boston Globe, 1/23/2005

Americans are living longer than ever before—for an average of 77.6 years. Death rates from conditions such as heart disease and cancer appear to be declining, while those from others, such as Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s disease, have risen slightly. The report, released by the government’s National Center for Health Statistics, is based on more than 2.4 million death certificates issued in 2003, the latest year for which figures are available. The number represents about 93% of all certificates.

—Los Angeles Times, 3/1/2005

Japan continues to close schools at a record pace in what analysts describe as Japan’s greatest national problem—a combination baby bust and senior citizen boom. The national child shortage, even as the population ages, is raising fears about Japan’s long-term ability to maintain its status as the world’s second-largest economy after the United States. With more Japanese choosing to remain single and forgoing parenthood, the population of almost 128 million is expected to decrease next year, then plunge to about 101 million by 2050. As many as 117 hospitals nationwide now have no permanent obstetrician due to lack of demand and a shrinking pool of obstetricians and gynecologists, according to a survey conducted last year by a medical society based in Tokyo.

—Washington Post, 3/3/2005

During weekends, children consume 26 percent of their daily calories while munching in front of the television.

—The New Republic, January 2005

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is preparing for a worldwide outbreak of avian flu as early as 2006, CDC head Dr. Julie Gerberding said. The flu jumped from chickens to humans in Hong Kong in 1997, and since then dozens have been infected, and most have died. “A similar pattern probably occurred prior to 1918,” Gerberding said. “This is a very ominous situation for the globe.” The 1918 flu, which also began in Asian birds, killed some 30 million people worldwide. The U.S. government is working on a vaccine, but Gerberding said the flu could mutate into a form easily spread among humans before enough doses have been prepared.

—Associated Press, 2/24/2005

After the killings, the rapes, and the expulsion of nearly two million farmers from their land, the people of Darfur are now facing a new threat—the worst food shortage in decades. For two years, marauding militias composed mainly of Arab nomads and cattle herders have attacked Darfur’s African farmers in a battle over arable land. United Nations agencies estimate more than 70,000 people have already died. The current scarcity of food, and the harsh market forces it has unleashed, have become the new agents of the violence that has been labeled “genocide” by the U.S. “All the indicators are there for a famine,” says Marc Bellemans, the Sudan emergency coordinator the U.N.’s Food and Agriculture Organization.

—Wall Street Journal, 2/7/2005

Political

President Hosni Mubarak has ordered that Egypt’s constitution be changed to allow more than one candidate to run in presidential elections. But restrictions remain on who can be a candidate. In the four elections since he came to power in 1981, Mubarak has been the sole nominee approved by parliament and the sole candidate passed by lawmakers for a popular referendum. He has won every referendum with more than 90 percent of the vote.

—Associated Press, 2/27/2005

The Syrian-backed government of Lebanon collapsed Monday under a groundswell of street protests, candlelight vigils and international pressure to end Damascus’ domination of its neighbor. The resignation [of Prime Minister Omar Karami, an ally of Syria] was a triumph for the growing Lebanese opposition, which has been calling for Syria to withdraw its soldiers and disentangle its intelligence services from Lebanon’s institutions. Syria keeps 16,000 soldiers in Lebanon and uses thousands of intelligence agents to maintain control on Lebanese politcs.

—Los Angeles Times, 3/1/2005

U.S. governors are calling for tougher standards at high schools. According to a National Governors Association report, 4 in 10 public school graduates are unprepared for college or jobs beyond entry level. The governors propose higher achievement goals and stiff consequences for failure. “We must restore the value of a high school diploma,” said Gov. Mark Warner of Virginia.

—Associated Press, 2/28/2005

Russian president Vladimir Putin met with his cabinet to seek ways of easing the burden of social benefits changes that have provoked mass protests by pensioners. The reforms have provoked the most widespread popular criticism of the president since he took office five years ago. The changes replaced benefits with cash payments to about 34 million pensioners and war veterans. Many pensioners say compensation for the lost benefits is insufficient, or has not been paid at all.

—Financial Times, 1/18/2005

Financial

Corporate America’s pension headache is getting worse, despite the millions of dollars companies have spent to put it right, according to an analysis that calculates the likely drag on future earnings. Actuaries at independent consultant Towers Perrin estimate the average Fortune 100 company is now storing up more than $3 billion in deferred pension costs that have yet to show up in published profit and loss figures. In January, US Airways and United Airlines sought court permission to pass on responsibility for their liabilities to the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation, the US pension insurance body.

—Financial Times, 1/10/2005

Airplane passengers in Europe are now entitled to monetary compensation for canceled flights. Under E.U. rules that took effect in February, if a flight is canceled, passengers must be given a full refund, plus up to $800 in damages. If a delay lasts more than five hours, passengers may choose to cancel for a full refund, or receive food and accommodations. The rules apply to any flight from a European airport or to any airline based in Europe.

—The Week, 3/4/2005

[E-mail offers of millions of dollars for help moving money out of Africa is] one of the boldest and most pervasive scams on the planet—the so-called Nigerian Letter Fraud, also know as a “419 Fraud” (for the section of the Nigerian penal code that covers such scams). For the first time the Nigerian government has begun to go after 419 perpetrators —for good reason. “419 Fraud has ruined the reputation of Nigeria,” says Alhaji Nihu Ribadu, chairman of the country’s two-year-old Economic and Financial Crimes Commission. “No one wants to come here and do business. How can we survive?” To date the Nigerians have jailed more than 300 fraudsters perpetrating 419-type scams, including several politicians. More than $300 million in cash and property has been seized.

—Reader’s Digest, March 2005

Annual sales of lottery tickets: $44.9 billion.

—Health, March 2005

Israel

Jerusalem city engineers will take down the hill jutting out from the Western Wall, replacing it with a bridge. Archaeologists expect to find treasures, such as a tall gate from the Second Temple. The plans are a bonanza for students of Jerusalem history, as the removal of the hill will uncover an eight-meter-high gate leading into the Temple Mount. The gate dates from the period of the Second Temple. The entire area that is currently the Western Wall plaza was filled with low buildings when Israel liberated the area during the Six Day War of June 1967, and was later cleared away—except for the area on which lies the walkway-hill leading to the Mughrabim Gate.

—Arutz 7, 1/13/2005

ApNano Materials of Israel, inventor of NanoLub, has just been selected by the United States investing journal Red Herring as one of the top 100 innovators that will drive global markets in 2005. NanoLub is the world’s first synthetic lubricant to be based on spherical inorganic nanoparticles and eliminates the need for oil changes in cars. As with other lubricants, its job is to reduce wear and friction between moving objects (like engine parts), enabling longer operation and higher efficiency. NanoLub dramatically outperforms every known commercial solid lubricant marketed today. The search for a perfect lubricant—that is, one that never requires replacement—is an old one. In the last century, synthetic additives extended the effectiveness of age-old lubricants like oil. ApNano’s product is the result of the pioneering research performed … at the Weizmann Institute of Science.

—MFA, 12/27/2004

The World Council of Churches (WCC) has issued a directive to its members to give serious consideration to divesting from companies that deal with Israel. The directive explains that the initiative stems from Israeli occupation of Palestinian territory. The Central Committee of the WCC added that it believes its call for divestment is not anti-Semitic. The US Presbyterian movement decided last summer to consider divestment from companies linked to Israel as well.

—Arutz 7, 2/22/2005

The United States State Department’s first report on global anti-Semitism finds increased governmental action in Europe to combat bias against Jews, but an uneven track record among law-enforcement agencies responding to anti-Semitic incidents. The report also found that an increasing number of anti-Semitic incidents around the world, particularly in Europe, are coming from Muslim communities, rather than traditional skinhead nationalist groups.

—JTA, 1/5/2005

Book Review

A Durable Peace: Israel and Its Place Among the Nations, Benjamin Netanyahu. New York: Warner Books, 2000. 463 pp.

I became interested in Netanyahu when he was elected Israel’s prime minister. He lived and was educated within a fifteen-minute drive of the Philadelphia suburb where I reside. Local interest in his career was high and there was seldom a week that went by during his administration when there wasn’t a feature article in the local newspaper.

Netanyahu wants to educate non-Jews about the realities of Middle East politics. His contention is that the public relations of the Arab world have been very effective in distorting the history and the current reality of life in Israel and the Middle East. He traces the origins, history, and politics of Israel’s relation with both Arabs and the West. Bible Students should be especially interested in the discussion of many myths concerning Jews and Israel—the same myths that the Bible Students themselves have tried to dispel.

Netanyahu shows that the Arab concern in the Middle East is not about land—specifically carving out a homeland for the Palestinians within the current configuration of Israel. It is about extracting the Jewish people from Israel itself. The land myth is built on the perception that Israel and its people dominate the area. In fact Israel has a total population of fewer than six million people and occupies roughly eight thousand square miles in the Middle East. The Arab nations surrounding Israel (excluding the Palestinians) have a population of over 200 million (outnumbering Israelis 33 to 1); they occupy 2.1 million square miles (270 times more land than Israel). The Arabs don’t need Israel’s land!

Netanyahu also emphasizes the unresolved issue of the Palestinian commitment to the destruction of Israel. Despite the peace efforts of the Oslo Accords and Camp David, the PLO Charter, adopted in 1964 and revised in 1968, does not recognize the right of Israel to exist—a problem ignored by both the U.S. and England as they support a homeland for the Palestinians.

Interpreters of prophecy see worldwide armed conflict against Israel as the final phase of events ending this Gospel age and beginning God’s kingdom. Many believe Israel will be living in peace and harmony with its neighbors prior to that time. It is hard to read Netanyahu’s thesis and conclude that Israel would ever disband its military commitment for self defense. The cry of “Never Again!” (referring to the Nazi attempt to exterminate the Jews), is the rallying cry of every soldier and politician in Israel. Although it is not easy to see how this might be reversed or even moderated, few predicted the changes that would occur in Europe as a result of the fall of Communism in 1989. Perhaps events in Israel preceding the establishment of God’s kingdom will be similarly surprising.

—Len Griehs