Basic HTML Version
Nationalism:
WhyHPreventsWorld Peace
N
ationalism, despite claims
lo !he contrary, is not
dead.
One of the most recen!
and public episodes of
nationalism erupted last year
in the small state of
Sri
Lanka
(formerly Cey1on). Singalese
and Tamils, two dislinct
groups living on the island
nation, went al each other
head to head.
Subsequent riots and
general disarray resulted in a
terrible food shortage, and
the near destruction of the
national economy.
One mus! ask why? Why
was all that necessary?
But Sri Lanka is not the
only place. Armenian
nationalists regularly remind
the Turks of the genocide
perpetrated in World War
l.
Extremists among Protestants
and Catholics war daily in
Ulster.
And, of course, no one
needs lo be reminded of the
near-continuous bloodshed
that has needlessly cost so
many lives in Lebanon.
But nationalism hurts major
industriar nations also. The
Soviet Union has seen its
domestic program sputter and
cough as it has tried to
absorb the Ukrainian peoples,
not to merition the Asiatic
peoples that continue to
resist Russification and
absorption.
On the Westem front, the
Anglo culture in the United
States confronts an
ever-increasing
Spanish-speaking minority.
The French have the
Algerians. The West Germans
are trying to learn lo live with
the Turks.
Men have dreamed of
different major families and
races living together side by
side in peace. But always
comes the eventual historical
struggle for superiority by a
dominan! group and the
subjugation of the other.
Everyone agrees this is
senseless-but where is the
solution?
An Authoritative Answer
The truly authoritative and
sure answer comes from a
source you perhaps
wouldn 't expect: !he Holy
Bible.
The problems of
nationalism and tribalism are
spiritual in nature.
Few understand that God
created man complete with
safeguards from the abuses
of nationalism and tribalism.
"From one man [Adam[ he
[Godl made every nation of
men, that they should inhabit
the whole earth; and he
determined ... the exact
places where they should
live" (Acts
17:26,
New lntemational
Version).
But what did humanity do?
They rejected God and never
did learn lo keep to the lands
God
gave to each of the
various families of man.
As the ugly capstone to
this human age, one more
unification attempt will come.
The Bible reveals that this
final effort will center in
Europe, beginning with a
consortium of
10
nations,
later spreading through
economic ties over major
portions of the globe.
rn the second chapter of
Daniel, God reveals the result
of this final attempt to
overcome divisions between
nations. Will it be successful?
" ... the people wiU
be
a
mixture and will not remain
united, any more than iron
mixes with clay" (verse 43,
NIV).
11
won't be a pleasant time.
Man's final effort apart from
God's guidance will lead lo
terrible bloodshed, the
enslavement of many groups
of people and the unleashing
of nuclear devastation.
What will follow this
pathetic effort?
No
more will
human government
be
allowed to trample over
innocent people. lnstead, at
that time, " .. the God of
heaven will set up a kingdom
[governmentl that will never be
destroyed, nor will it
be
left to
another people. lt will crush all
!hose [human[ kingdoms and
bring them lo an end, but it
will itself endure forever"
(Dan.
2:44,
NIV).
Thank God this time is
soon coming! Men of different
ethnic origins will learn to
appreciate and cooperate
with each other.
We have a booklet that
explains this in detair. We
offer it lo you free. lt's called
The Wonderful World
Tomorrow-What 11
Wi/1
Be
Like.
Write for it today and
learn of !he future God offers
lo you !
- Michael
A
Snyder
few years ago when one of its ed i–
tors wrote that a "strong hand from
someplace" is necessary to rescue
humanity from its unsolvable trou–
bles.
all its present miseries and tbe
potential for nuclear destruction by
embraci ng God's revealed way of
life
now.
Obedience to God's way
of life would immediately net wide–
sweeping blessings.
The laws of God-expressed in
the summary
1O
points called the
T en Commandments-are
LI VI NG
1aws.
And t ha t 's
exactly
what will
happen! " Behold , ttie Lord God
will come with
strong hand,
and his
arm shall ru le for him .. ." (I sa.
40:10) .
J esus C hrist
will
return- when
man is poised to
annihilate
him–
self- and set up a world-ruling
government that will end war,
unh appiness and mi sery ( R ev.
19:11-21 ). C hrist will have to
force
humanity to live the way that
brings happiness.
No Need for Today's Suffering
Ironically, humanity could bypass
40
God asks today.
as
he has in t he
past , for a total change of mind-a
commitment to his way of life. In
th e Bible this c ha nge is called
repentance.
But wh y must therc be repen–
tance? And what must people
repent of? We must repent of
sin___:_
the breaking of God's law
( I
J obn
3:4) . " The earth is
defiled
by its
people; they have
disobeyed the
laws,
violated [Authorized Version:
"changed" ] the statutes and
broken
the everlasting covenant" ( l sa.
24:5, N IV).
T o the minority who change
their ways now and begin to ear–
nestl y obey God and bis laws , God
promises protection f rom the com–
ing nuclear holocaus t (Rev. 12:12-
14) . lf you' re interested in reaping
the physical and spiritua1 benefits
God promises cven in
this
life,
write for our free booklet
The Ten
Commandments.
In his fi rst, inspi red sermon, t he
apostle Peter gave sorne of t he most
relcvant and important advice for
us today: " 'Save yourselves,' he
cried , 'from this c rooked genera–
tion!' " (Ac ts 2:40, Moffatt trans. )
No advice is more timely!
o
The
PLAIN TRUTH