Insight on the News
A Key to Happiness?
“Two years hardship, happiness forever.” This, according to the Japanese newspaper Yomiuri Shimbun, is the current catchphrase among Chinese students in Japan. With expectations of getting rich, these students borrow funds to come to Japan, where they believe it rains money from heaven. They hope that by working two years at part-time jobs while going to school, they may save two million yen (about $15,400, U.S.) and then return home to live happily ever after.
Such reliance on money as a key to happiness is prevalent worldwide. A recent survey among youths in 9 of 11 countries revealed that “‘money’ topped the list” of their worries and concerns, says the Asahi Evening News.
Will trusting in riches really unlock the door to happiness? Wise King Solomon warned that “a mere lover of silver will not be satisfied with silver.” (Ecclesiastes 5:10; 7:12) Putting money first does not result in true satisfaction, nor does it guarantee future security. For instance, the Bible says: “Neither their silver nor their gold will be able to deliver them in the day of Jehovah’s fury.” (Zephaniah 1:18) In contrast, however, the psalmist David wrote: “Happy is the able-bodied man that has put Jehovah as his trust.” Trusting in Jehovah, not in money, is the key to enjoying happiness forever.—Psalm 40:4; Isaiah 30:18.
Baptism Dilemma
Two problems with infant baptism have arisen in recent times within the Church of England. The first concerns “indiscriminate” baptism, which one cleric described as some sort of “spiritual inoculation.” The second is the refusal of an increasing number of clergy to baptize babies whose parents do not actively support the Church of England.
Many clergy realize that parents often have no desire to attend church and would not want their children to do so either. Why then baptize infants? “They want a christening for their babies,” comments The Times, “just as they want to give or receive birthday presents, decorate their homes at Christmas . . . It is part of their culture: it does not have to have a reason.”
One clergyman resigned because he reached the conclusion that infant baptisms should not be performed. He said: “The only person who can make that commitment to Christ is the person himself.” He could have added that Jesus Christ was 30 years old when he was baptized and that the Greek word for baptism, ba·ptiʹzo, means to dip or immerse. After being baptized in the Jordan River, Jesus came “up out of the water.” (Mark 1:10; Matthew 3:13, 16) Nowhere does the Bible refer to the sprinkling of water on infants. Since baptism is a symbol of one’s dedication to God as a footstep follower of Christ, it is not a decision an infant can make.
Contraceptives and Catholics
The Catholic Church’s opposition to contraception was confirmed by John Paul II at the Second International Congress on Moral Theology held in Rome last November. According to the Vatican City newspaper, L’Osservatore Romano, he said: “It is not a doctrine invented by man. It is written by the creative hand of God in the very nature of the human person. To doubt it is tantamount to refusing God the obedience of our intelligence,” and therefore, he adds, “cannot be questioned by the Catholic theologian.”
But the encyclical letter Humanae Vitae that was referred to by Pope John Paul and written some 20 years ago by Paul VI “was immediately questioned by a large number of theologians,” observed the Italian newspaper La Stampa, and ignored by “the majority of Catholics.”
Clearly, the church’s inflexibility on the question of birth control has disunited theologians and greatly disturbed sincere Catholics. The continuing dissension over the use of any sort of contraceptive even prompted John Paul to exhort theologians all to speak “the same language.” Yet, contrary to the pope’s claim that the church’s position on contraception was “written by the creative hand of God,” the Italian newspaper La Repubblica observes that “no verse from the Gospels or the Old Testament is cited to validate the doctrine.”
Nowhere does the Bible discuss the use of contraceptives or birth control in marriage, nor does it say that Christians are obliged to produce children. God’s Word leaves the question of family planning to the conscience of each Christian couple. By imposing its ruling about birth control, the Catholic Church has gone “beyond the things that are written.”—1 Corinthians 4:6.