Insight on the News

Witchcraft Baffles Doctors

● Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is an often-fatal disease in which the body’s immune defenses seem to attack its own organs. A recent article in the “Journal of the American Medical Association” clinically describes the unusual case of a 28-year-old Philippine-American woman with SLE.

When the woman did not respond to initial treatment, stronger drugs were recommended. But “the patient instead elected to return to the remote Philippine village of her birth,” reports the “Journal.” And “much to the surprise of distraught family members and skeptical physicians, the patient returned three weeks later”​—apparently cured. The woman claimed to have been cured by “the village witch doctor, who had removed the curse.”

In bafflement, the “Journal” article asked: “By what mechanism did the machinations of an Asian medicine man cure active lupus nephritis . . . and allow precipitous withdrawal from corticosteroid treatment without symptoms of adrenal insufficiency?” Is it possible that the answer does not lie within human scope? The Bible indicates that Satan the Devil has been known to use ‘powerful works and lying signs’ in misleading mankind.​—2 Cor. 11:14; compare 2 Thessalonians 2:9-12.

Trying to Find God in Church

● “Where do we go for help in our search for a closer, more aware relationship with our Maker?” wrote a Texas woman for the “In My Opinion” column of the “National Catholic Reporter.” “Logically,” she said, “we started with our parish priest. Would he teach a Bible class? No, he did not have time.” But “after some urging he said if we could get 50 people interested, he’d see about it. We did get 27,” she said, but since that still was not enough for priestly assistance, “[we] are still wondering about Jesus and the one lost sheep [Matt. 18:12-14].” The column continues:

“Our next problem centered on the literature he recommended. For all his good points, he is far above us intellectually; he could not seem to realize how basic our needs were. The majority of us are lacking in basic knowledge of the Bible. This, I’m sure, stems from our lack of encouragement from our church in reading the Bible. . . . what [reading matter] we were able to find for Catholics seemed to be written for highly educated priests, not your average lay person. . . . We dropped our diocesan paper several years ago because of lack of spiritual news.”

Through the prophet Isaiah, God warned of such an impoverished spiritual condition when religious leaders would fail to feed their flocks properly from the Word of God. But contrasting His “servants” with others, God said: “Behold, my servants shall eat, and you shall be hungry: behold, my servants shall drink, and you shall be thirsty.” Surely, persons with such ‘hunger’ and ‘thirst’ would do well to seek out those whom God calls “my servants” to find satisfaction.​—Isa. 65:13; Amos 8:11, Catholic “Douay Version.”

Clerics Cut Taxes

● “Christian Century” magazine reports that “Grace Lutheran Church and Akiba Temple [Jewish] in Culver City, California, are offering licenseless marriage ceremonies for couples who are unhappy with the way the tax system treats two-income families.” Married couples in America often have to pay somewhat higher taxes on joint income than do single persons filing separately. So the clergymen are helping couples to skirt the law. Says the Lutheran pastor: “We have simply removed any reference to civil authority” in the wedding ceremony. Instead of a validated state license, a certificate declaring the couple “united in marriage according to the ordinances of God” is issued.

Apparently, though, the “ordinances” of God are far from the minds of these yielding clergymen. When Christ commanded that his disciples “pay back, therefore, Caesar’s things to Caesar,” he did not add, ‘except when Caesar asks much.’ And, because of the prophet Daniel’s strict adherence to Persian law, his opposers could find no pretext against him at all except “in the law of his God.” Tax evasion certainly does not harmonize with ‘the law of God.’​—Matt. 22:17-21; Dan. 6:4, 5; Rom. 13:1-7.