Watching the World
“Wracked With Discord”
“Jesus prayed, the night before he was crucified, that his followers would ‘all be one . . . perfected in unity,’” states U.S.News & World Report. It adds: “Yet for most of its history, the Christian church has been wracked with discord.” As proof of this, the seventh assembly of the World Council of Churches held in Canberra, Australia, this past February ended with “few signs of progress toward the ‘unity of faith, life and witness’ it has sought for more than four decades.” “The ecumenical movement, in short, seems stalled,” concludes the magazine. “A true uniting of the churches is unlikely in the foreseeable future.” Not only were the delegates from the over 300 churches represented more divided by the end of the conference but many were also filled with disgust. There were even incidents of sexual harassment, “so many, in fact, that a special tent called Womanspace had been set aside as a sanctuary for women fleeing the attentions of the self-styled men of God,” notes The Sunday Times of England.
Pope’s Missionary Call
In a 153-page encyclical entitled “The Church’s Missionary Mandate,” Pope John Paul II recently issued a call for Catholics to spread their faith throughout the world. To nations that oppose missionary activity and forbid proselytizing, he urged, “Open the doors to Christ!” The encyclical is the first major statement on missionary work by the church since 1959. The pope pointed out that in the past 25 years, the number of potential converts doubled and continues to rise. He sharply criticized those who he felt went too far in sympathy for other religions without attempting to convert their members and lashed out at the belief that ‘one religion is as good as another.’ Among the difficulties that face the church’s missionary drive, the pope noted, are “past and present division among Christians, de-Christianization within Christian countries, . . . and the counter-witness of believers and Christian communities failing to follow the model of Christ in their lives.”
Was She a Saint?
That is the question facing the Roman Catholic Church regarding Queen Isabella I, a 15th-century ruler of Spain. According to French newspaper Le Monde, there is a move afoot within the church to beatify Isabella, which would be the first step toward “sainting” her. Isabella is famous for backing Christopher Columbus’ explorations, which led to the European discovery of America in 1492. While the Vatican studies a petition calling for Isabella’s beatification, leaflets are circulating that describe her as a role model for adolescents, mothers, and even heads of state. Jews and Muslims, however, are outraged. It was while Isabella reigned with her husband that the brutal Spanish Inquisition began; hundreds of thousands of Jews and Muslims were forced to convert or go into exile. Thousands were tortured and burned.
Tuberculosis Again on the Rise
Tuberculosis is on the increase worldwide, reports the French newspaper Le Monde; it now kills almost three million people each year. After decades of decline, which caused some medical authorities to predict that the disease would virtually disappear by the end of the century, 20 million people earth wide are now afflicted with active cases of the infectious disease, and 8 million new cases are reported each year. Although a third of the world’s population is believed to carry the bacteria that cause tuberculosis, most will never develop the disease unless the body’s immune system is damaged in some way. The present jump in the number of tuberculosis cases is said to be directly linked to the spread of the AIDS virus because people who have AIDS are very susceptible to tuberculosis and can spread it to others.
Bible Translations
With the addition of four new languages in 1990, complete Bibles are now available in 318 languages and dialects, reports Dr. John D. Erickson, the general secretary-elect of the United Bible Societies. The new languages are: Chimborazo Quichua, of Ecuador; Rongmei Naga, of India; and Ranau Dusun and Kayan, both of Malaysia. In whole or in part, the Bible is now published in 1,946 languages, an increase of 18 over the previous year.
Use or Lose
Almost half of the world’s 6,000 languages are “doomed to die out in the next 75 to 100 years,” says Science magazine. That is because there are no children who are now speaking those languages. Furthermore, another 45 percent are also threatened with extinction as the groups who speak them disappear or are absorbed into other groups. That leaves only 300 languages safe—5 percent of existing tongues. The Linguistic Society of America, which presented the statistics at their annual meeting early in the year, discussed ways of rescuing the threatened languages. One solution proposed was to “establish language centers where children are taught and encouraged to use the threatened tongues.”
Pollution Solution?
“Mexico city may well have the dirtiest air in the world,” states The Economist. “It is 7,500 feet (2,300 metres) above sea level, so a given volume of air contains only about one-third as much oxygen as it would at sea level.” Some 1,200 tons of pollutants are spewed into the air each day from industries, including an oil refinery, and from three million cars. It is the worst in winter when cold air traps the pollutants and keeps them from escaping over the surrounding mountains. As respiratory infections cause the largest number of deaths in Mexico City, 25 casietas de oxygiena, somewhat resembling telephone booths, were installed in the middle of Mexico City. For a little less than $2, asphyxiating residents can enter and breathe pure oxygen for a minute. Although a noble gesture, “one oxygen booth for every 800,000 people will not cure anybody,” notes The Economist.
Fish Lovers
“The Japanese love their sushi,” says Asiaweek. “They eat five times as much fish per person as Americans and nearly eight times as much as Indonesians.” To satisfy this love, Japan catches about 11.5 million tons of fish each year in deep-sea and coastal waters, takes another 250,000 tons from inland rivers and fish farms, and imports an additional 2 million tons. The Soviet Union is second with 11.2 million tons, followed by 9.4 million tons in China, which is the largest producer of freshwater fish, mostly raised in village ponds. The United States is the largest exporter of fish, as well as the largest importer after Japan. Regarding one popular type of fish, sardines, the magazine notes: “Many small species can be called sardines. The characteristic taste comes from herbs and oils.”
Whale Embrace
In South Africa for several months each year, residents along the coast of the Cape of Good Hope find delight in watching huge right whales (usually about 60 feet [18 m] long) drifting along and playing together in family groups close to the shore. Recently, many onlookers were touched by the affectionate interplay between a mother and her calf. The frisky six-ton youngster would repeatedly clamber onto its mother’s back, try to balance there, and topple off. Each time, the mother would then roll onto her back and clasp her baby to her belly with her flippers. It was “one of the best displays this century,” said a local resident.
Solving Conflicts With Jewish Law
On the outskirts of Jerusalem, a small building houses the Institute for Science and Halacha, “where 15 engineers and religious scholars labor to find ways to reconcile modern technology and Halacha, the 3,500-year-old body of Jewish religious law,” reports The Wall Street Journal. “Many of the puzzlers presented to it concern the Sabbath, when the Torah bars observant Jews from performing certain kinds of labor and expending energy.” The use of elevators posed a particular problem. While having the elevator automatically stop on every floor solved the problem of pushing a button, it was discovered that energy was created and channeled for use elsewhere when a full elevator was slowed on the way down. Now a specially designed system prevents that energy from being used on the Sabbath. Other solutions: a telephone that interrupts rather than creates a current when the buttons are pushed, an ink that disappears after three days so that hospitals could overcome the restriction against unnecessary writing (defined as a permanent mark), and a cardboard “house” for coffins so they can be transported on airplanes on which a member of the Kohanim (priests’ caste) is traveling, as they are forbidden from being together in the same room or enclosure.
Cutting Travel Risks
There are many things that passengers can do to reduce the odds of serious injury or death in air accidents, experts say. One is to stay awake and alert during takeoffs and landings and to pay strict attention to the safety briefings, as escape plans vary in planes. As soon as one boards the plane, it is also good to make a mental map of the cabin and memorize the number of rows to the nearest exits. Avoid wearing synthetic fibers, which can melt during a cabin fire. Wool is regarded as one of the less flammable materials. Wear shoes with low heels during the flight. If an emergency develops, curl your body into the tightest crash position. Stay low while evacuating, and try to keep calm.