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trates in the atmosphere is thought
to be a possible sink for sorne of the
chlorine, but it doesn 't appear to be
significan!.
a.
lt almost sounds like science fic–
tion . Are we really supposed to be–
lleve that every spray of our
deodorant can is contributing to a
potential atmospheric Armageddon?
A.
lt does seem a little bit like
science fict ion. Bu t we have to re–
member that there's a delay period
that's involved between the time
you release gases on the surface of
the ea rth and the time they have
their effect on the ozone !ayer.
There's a delay period of a decade
or more, so that the maximum effect
on the ozone !ayer of the gases re–
Leased in 1976 won' t be fe lt unti l the
la te 1980s. This delay period makes
it seem Like a science-fict ion type of
choice in that one has to stop doing
it now in order to prevent somet hing
happening in 10 or 15 yea rs.
a.
Would it be beHer to wait a few
years before we take action, as the
NAS report recommends?
A.
We already know that the fluoro–
ca rbons go to the stratosphere, and
we know that they decompose th ere.
We know their rates of reaction, so
we can calculate qui te accurately
the ra te of the removal of ozone. We
know that there is a predictable ef–
fect, with reasonable accuracy, of
human skin cancer. What we don ' t
know is whether there are other bio–
logical effects. But we 're not going
to have answers to these questions
in the next few years. We're going to
ha veto make a decision on banning
aerosols wit hou t knowing the mag–
nitude of the clirna tic effects be–
cause it wiLL take a t least 10 o r 20
year s of research for us to have an
accura te understanding of what the
effects wiLL be.
a.
Are you saying that we should
ban aerosols?
A.
lf
we go on at the present rate for
a no ther five or six years, thal will
double the concentration of fiuoro–
carbons in t he a tmosphere. At
present, we have ca lculated a 1%
reduction in the ozone !ayer.
If
we
stopped completely now and re–
leased no more fluorocarbons, we
would expect about a 2% decrease
of ozone in the Late 1980s. Ifwe wait
five or six years and then stop, the
leve! will be about a 2% reduction ,
The
PLAIN TRUTH December 1976
and it wi ll rise to a 3% deficit in the
early 1990s. Oregon has already
banned ftuorocarbons in aerosol
sprays effective March 1, 1977.
W e aiready know that we're going
to have to act. 1 think we should be
conservative about doing things to
the environmen t which ar e potenti–
ally catastrophic.
o
CCHIRJ§liMA§
(Continued from page 21}
This action placed the Christian
eh urch of la ter centuries in a di–
lemma, leaving it vulnerable to hea–
then elements entering the Christian
religion. As th e masses gained en–
trance in to the church, particularly
afte r Emperor Constan tine em–
braced Christianity, they were not
content to limit their religious fervor
to a belief in Christ alone. The new
conver ts were used to a nnual festive
occasions , which t he Chr is t ian
church lacked. The church leaders
co uld offer new members no mean–
ingfu l festivals in exchange for the
outrigh t heathen ones they were
used to observing.
Unwilling to return to the bibli–
cally sanctioned holy days, espe–
cia lly since the rift between the Jews
and Gentiles had widened appre–
cia bly by the fourth century, the
church a t Rome capitulated a nd
allowed the pagan festival on De–
cember 25 to be observed - with
one exception, however. Ch ri st was
to be worshiped on that day instead
of th e sun god. Thus a pagan fes ti–
val received a Christian dressing.
T he fact that the Christian world
commemorates the birth of Christ
on December 25 is not due to any
divine sanction nor by New Testa–
men t authority. The first Christmas
in Rome owes its origin to the pre–
vailing circumstances of the fourth
century, which forced both the Ro–
man emperor and bishop of Rome
to compromise with the heathen
populace. Rome , not the New Tes–
tament church, sanctioned a De–
cember 25 festiva l to " honor"
Christ.
If you would like more informa–
tion rega rd ing the seven annual fes–
t iva ls sancti oned by the Bible,
please write for our free booklet on
the subj ect.
O
INFIATION
(Continued from page 16)
vacation for? How much are the
educational benefits worth? Enough
to skimp on the food budget?
lt
doesn ' t matter
how
we answer
these questions as much as it mat–
ters that we indeed ask them and
that we are fully prepared to accept
the fact that we may have to give up
something to keep something.
ft
The Friendship
V
Principie
Privacy is not without its costs.
Modero ma n 's proclivity to separate
himself into isolated nuclear fam–
ilies means families often do not
enjoy sorne of the benefits a nd
"economies of sca le" which could
otherwise come their way if they got
together with others more often.
The "friendship principie" is best
illustrated in such things as pot- luck
din ners, car pools, and food co-ops,
all of which save money. T he prin–
cipie can even be carried to the
point of exchanging services: the
he lp of a fr iend who, say, fixes autos
for a living can be returned if you
do construction work a nd he ha p–
pens to be adding on a room to his
house. In each case, expensive la bor
costs are avoided.
The principie is one particula rJy
helpful for o lder people. Many se–
nior citizens choose to live alone
vol unta rily, which is, of course, their
prerogative, but it is a choice which
costs them money. At th e very least,
in some such cases, it would be wise
to give some thought to the possi–
bility of tak ing on a roommate, a
decision which might eventually
create an atmosphere of emotional
support as well as cu tting costs.
Perha ps the wo rst thing about in–
fl ation is that it is a respecter of
persons. Older people, those on
fixed incomes, and the unemployed
get hit the worst. Even the typ ica l
working householder has enough
problems keeping up on the tread–
mill, barely stay ing ahead of being
suc.ked down into th e chasmic maw
of penury. While the rea l "solution"
is governmental (and therefore im–
probable), individuals can stiU roll
with the punches, even improving
their lot - wh.ich is a good id ea ' ti!
Messiah come.
o
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