But what do you imagine you would find if, in a survey of persons aged eighteen to twenty-four, you asked questions such as: Do you agree or disagree with premarital sex? Is the person on whom you basically must rely, you yourself? Do you think that in thirty years the world will be a better place in which to live?

Just such a survey in various lands was undertaken by the Adolescence Policy Headquarters of the Office of the Prime Minister of Japan. The accompanying five graphs present some of the results. Why not look them over, comparing the results from the different lands, and checking one chart against another.

Some of the results of the survey are of particular interest in view of Bible prophecy. For many years Jehovah’s Witnesses have been calling attention to the fact that the fulfillment of Bible prophecy proves that we are living in the “last days” of this system of things. The Scriptures show that soon Jehovah God will replace the imperfect human system we suffer under with a new order directed by the Creator himself. One Bible passage that outlines some of the evidence of our living in the “last days” is 2 Timothy 3:1-5. But what does that Bible passage have to do with the accompanying charts?

Well, consider the results of this survey in the light of what the Bible foretold would prevail in the “last days.”

Chart 1, for example, may simply confirm your impression that “free sex” is well entrenched in the thinking of this generation. However, there is this conflicting point to consider: In discussing the results of the Japanese survey, Professor Sanshiro Shirakashi says that it was found that “in general, young people throughout the world believe in some type of religion.” (Journal of Church and State, Autumn 1976, p. 523) Interestingly, the largest percentage of those surveyed claimed to believe in the “Christian” religion of the churches of Christendom. Yet the Bible plainly condemns fornication and adultery. So we must conclude that these churches are not leading the young people to uphold Biblical morality.

This leads us back to the prophecy that we mentioned. It foretold that in the “last days” people would be “lovers of pleasures rather than lovers of God, having a form of godly devotion but proving false to its power.” Is that not what the survey confirms?

There can be little doubt that the current laxness about sex does not reflect any overwhelming concern about others.

[Chart on page 485]

(For fully formatted text, see publication)

Chart 1​—What about premarital sex relations?

No, should Yes, if Yes, even if

be avoided in love not in love

Brazil 39.7 48.3 11.9

France 10.4 65.4 21.5

Japan 26.6 68.3 4.0

Philippines 36.7 55.3 6.6

Sweden 4.1 56.5 37.7

Switzerland 8.3 68.3 22.9

United Kingdom 14.4 67.5 15.3

U.S.A. 23.2 57.0 18.6

West Germany 5.5 64.8 23.4

Yugoslavia 18.0 74.6 7.4