Insight on the News

A Child Is Buried in Greece

● A child born recently in the maternity clinic of Nikea, Greece, died shortly after birth. When the parents sought to bury it, the local registrar would not grant the burial permit. The reason? The parents were Jehovah’s witnesses, married as such in 1954. But, during the past regime of dictator Papadopoulos, the Ministry of the Interior decreed that all marriages performed by Jehovah’s witnesses were invalid​—an action having the support of the Greek Orthodox Church. So, the registrar said the parents must first register the dead child as born “illegitimate” to get a burial permit. The father refused, saying that his marriage was duly registered, that he had two other children whose births were duly registered and he could not conscientiously place a stain on the family name. For four days the clinic kept the dead child’s body in its refrigerator while public protest against the refusal of the permit mounted throughout Greece.

Among Athenian newspapers, “To Vima” called the situation “the middle ages in all their wretchedness.” “Athinaiki” said it was a “monstrosity, which could not be imagined even by the most criminal mind.” And “Kathimerini” said “the dark and inhuman [decree] of the dictatorial regime should be cancelled immediately, and let no such barbarities be allowed anymore.”

Finally, after four days, the public prosecutor ordered the burial permit to be granted, to the relief of the parents and many freedom-loving people of Greece.

Navigation Mystery

● How homing pigeons travel hundreds of miles over unfamiliar territory and arrive at their precise destination has puzzled men for a long time. Reckoning the directions of the compass by the sun would not be enough. The pigeons would first have to know just where they were in relation to home.

The December 1974 “Scientific American” magazine illustrates how complex the matter is. It shows that the pigeons must have some “accurate sense of time, an internal clock, and that clock must somehow be coupled with the position of the sun in the sky if an accurate determination of direction from the sun is to be possible.” But still the puzzle does not end. For pigeons can fly home when an overcast sky hides the sun. Scientists conclude that “they use the sun compass when it is available, but they can substitute information from other sources when it is not.” What other sources? Some tests indicate the birds’ sensitivity to the earth’s magnetic field and even to tiny changes in barometric pressure. But after years of research what is the full answer? The article says: “The full story of how the bird navigates still remains a mystery.”

More mysterious yet is how men could attribute such amazing navigational abilities to evolutionary chance. Certainly these testify to the existence of an all-wise Creator.

Wanted: Parental Firmness

● Parental permissiveness is widespread today. But some unusual information comes from recent research by Dr. John Coleman, senior lecturer in education psychology at the London Hospital Medical College, England. Tests and interviews with 800 young people between the ages of 11 and 17 revealed a basic desire for parental firmness and stability. Evidence showed that ‘behind the facades of rebellion, tearful rows and argument, most teen-agers have a secret hope that their parents will not give in.’​—London “Daily Mail.”

When sons or daughters pit their will against that of parents, Dr. Coleman urges parents to hold firm. He says, ‘They must do it wisely; I am not advocating the iron rod, but it is fatal to throw up your hands and say, I cannot deal with this child, let him do what he likes.’

Nineteen hundred years ago, the apostle Paul gave inspired counsel to Christian parents calling for loving patience combined with firmness. That formula, when based on Bible knowledge and genuine concern for the child’s future, still brings the best results obtainable today.​—Eph. 6:1-4; Col. 3:20, 21.