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Combat Racism and Racial Dis–
crimination, declared for the years
1973 to 1983, called for "intensi–
fied nationaJ , regional and interna–
tionaJ action aimed at achieving to–
tal and uncondit ional elimination
of racial d iscrimination in all its
forms."
Besides internationaJ incent ives,
individuals, too, have struggled to
calm racial and national confli cts.
J-l istory will remember how the
late Egypt ian President Anwar ei–
Sadat offered his stunning peace
proposal to the s tate of Israel. Fly–
ing in the face of open hosti lities
from other Arab countries, Presi–
dent Sadat went further than al–
most any leader had in seeking out
peace for the Middle East.
Addressing the Is raelí Knesset in
late 1977, he said :
" 1
believe that
for peace a man may, even
should, do everything in his
power . Nothi ng in this
world cou ld rank hig her
than peace."
Ye t even Mr. Sa–
dat's effor ts eventu–
a ll y failed in
par
t.
Other sincere
men and women
are busily trying to
combat vir u –
lent ethnic
and racial prob–
lems . Sometimes
results a r e
ac bie ved –
u s ually in a
very limi ted
way and for a
limited time.
Sadly, the 1983
United Nat ions
wo rld con fere nce
had to declare that racism and
racial d iscrimination "continue un–
abated and have shown no sign of
d iminishing . . . . The continuance
of [racism] casts a dark shadow on
humanity as a whole."
What lmpedes Racial Harmony
A little more than a year ago, edi–
tor in chief Herbert W. Armstrong
spoke to a g roup of media repre–
sentatives in S ri La nka, wbere
Tamils and Sinhalese- two groups
living on the island nat ion- have
difficulties understand i ng each
other.
4
In that conference Mr. Arm–
strong warned: " The world has
tried everytbing that man can con–
ceive of for world peace. Humans
have worked for wor1d peace. They
have fought for peace. They have
striven for peace. And we sti ll do
not have peace, because
people do
not know the way to peace."
Oid you catch it? There is a
way
of life that leads to peace between
nations and between índíviduals.
What, then, is tbe way to peace?
What is the cause of stri fe and
racial and ethnic antagonisms? A
startling excerpt from the
U.N.
Chronic/e,
dated Oc–
tober 1983, reads: "At a seminar
... in Nairobi in May, 1980, the
view was expressed that the
funda–
mental cause of racism was hu–
man greed,
wíth its accompanying
desire for economic and political
advantage ..." (emphasís ours).
In plaín words, greed- a basic
motívation in
humans- causes
racial prejudice, resentment and
bitterness.
How true that is! But few are
wílling to swallow such a bitter pill.
Few look beyond religious and
política) differences or the color of
another's skin, ínto the heart.
How about you?
Or do we tend to think that the
whole world rotates around
our
needs, our interests and our sensual
desires? Do we not tend to frater–
nize mainly with those who make
us feel most comfortable?
Most people don't like to put
themselves on the spot and face
things that are difficult or embar–
rassing. We humans don' t like to
get our hands dirty with someone
else's problems.
That, frank ly, is human nature.
In humans there now exists a
tendency toward prej–
udice. The pull of
human nature, like
a magnet , is
there.
Mr. Sadat
realized it. H e
told the Knes–
set: "There re–
mains a wall. This
wall consti–
t utes a psychologi–
cal barrier be–
tween us, a barrier
o f s uspicion , a
barrier of rejec–
tion, a barrier of
fear, of deception,
a barrier of hallucina–
tion without any ac–
tion, deed or decision."
No matter how you
slice animosity and preju–
dice, you always come up with
human nature.
The Source of Human Nature
Heredity determines the color of
one's skin, but not one's mental
attitude.
You are not born wíth
what has come to be called " human
nature."
You see, it all began with the
fírst man. You know the story.
You can read it in Genesis 2 and 3.
Our fí rst parents chose not to be–
lieve what God had ínstructed
them. They rejected God' s rule and
government over them. They lis–
tened to Satan. Tbey took to tbem–
selves the knowledge of what ís
good and what is evil-deciding for
themselves right from wrong.
Then something happened to the
minds of our first parents- the
mental- now "carnal"-eyes of
bot h of them were suddenl y
(Continued on page 25)
The
PLAIN TRUTH