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submit to execution or slavery at the
ha nds of the Roman soldiers. This
Masada complex is reinforced by
the far more real and immediate
~'Holocaust
complex"- memories of
Hit ler's pogroms-still vivid in the
minds of many older lsraelis.
" Regardless of wbat it is called,"
continues the
Saturday Review
ar–
ticle, " it is a very real and recogniz–
able facet of the Israelí national
psychology.
It
is the determination
not to be overrun, not to give in, to
choose suicide before destruction.
The a ttitude manifests itself in a va–
riety of ways. It partly expla ins th e
performance of Israelí soldiers -on
the ba ttlefield . It is not exaggerated
pa triotism or special courage tha t
makes them fight so well. It is the
gut feeling that Israel must win
every war or face national annihila–
tion ....
" Living in this kind of a tmo–
sphere, a nation fi nds certain
unthinkable options thinkable, in–
cluding the use of nuclear weap–
ons."
Keep Eyes on Jerusalem
Of a ll the world's intractable prob–
lems- and there are many, such as
the general East-West ideological
struggle, or the more regionally fo–
cused contests of, say, southern Af–
rica and Northem Ireland-none
conta in the potential explosiveness
of the ongoing Arab-Israeli crisis.
The roots of mistrust a re so deep
on both sides, the fea r of annihila–
tion (a t leas t on lsrael's side) so per–
vasive, the gaps of culture and
religion and perception of historical
role so wide, the likelihood of big–
power involvement in any figh.t so
real, tha t the Middle East must a l–
ways remain the world's number one
tinder box.
It
is of the Middle East in general,
and of Jerusalem in particular, that
the editors of
The Plain Truth
have
always said, "Watch."
O
NOTICE TO READERS
Due lo financia! and production con–
siderations. we will publish a com–
binad issue of
The Plain Truth
for
October !November (in addition to this
combinad August-September issue).
You 'll still get the same vitally impor–
tan!
Plain Truth
content to which you've
become accustomed. Be sure to read
each timely article!
The
PLAIN TRUTH August-September 1977
W~H..:.._:...Y---=-N....=......:::O=-=~__:_?
___
-----=-=-bY-
Jon
Hill
"Don't
Worry..J"
'Tm not concerned, " said President Carter when the SALT
talks lost their savor. Secretary of State Cyrus Vanee carried
our message to the Soviet Union (commonly called Russia),
and Leonid Brezhnev, the current Russian bear, growled his
nonacceptance, stood on his hind feet and shook his finger at
the West.
U.N. Ambassador Andrew Young, returning from Africa,
said we "shouldn't get paranoid about Communism" in Africa
and should avoid "knee-jerk reactions to it." Just a couple of
minor countries like Benin are really influenced by Moscow,
Young concluded. Not to worry about the Cubans in Angola ei–
ther, because there are only about 13,000 of them there and
most of them are running hospitals and keeping Angola's oil
flowing to the West.
"Don't worry about any domino effect in Southeast Asia,"
we were told just before South Vietnam / Cambodia / Laos fell to
the Communists.
" Don't worry," we were all told in the 1930s, "your social
security number will never be used for any purpose other than
social security.''
Don' t worry, your president is not " a crook," declared
Nixon shortly befare he resigned.
In reading and hearing the daily news, especially on sub–
jects of import (or advert isements for products
1
may buy),
1
learned a long time ago how to look closely at the other side of
the coin.
Try it yourself sometime.
Why not?
Per sonal
dren in the Lord (in the sense of
Ti tus 1:4).
(Continued Ji'om paf!.e 1)
backgrounds, training, and expeti–
ences are far apart, but Mr. Rader is
brilliantly familiar with government
and financia! affairs, and is of indis–
pensable help to me in meetings
with these chiefs of government and
leaders ofworld affa irs.
Many who know us both well
have said to me, "He !oves you as
his own father." My love and affec–
tion for him is like that for my own
son- a nd a ll members of God's
Church who are led by God's Spi rit
are, directly or indirectly, my chil-
Isn' t it wonderful? I have next un–
der me in God's Work my very own
son, whom
1
!ove probably above
everybody else on earth-partly, of
course, because of his top position
in the Work- and Mr. Rader as con–
stant traveling companion. These
are tremendous blessings from God.
Well, 1 was just musing on these
things, trying to get back to sleep,
and decided instead to quietly slip
out of bed without waking the
lovely new wife God so recently
gave me, come to my study in our
new home here, and share these
thoughts with our vast family of
readers. By now she will be up and
waiting for me to have moming cof–
fee with her on our veranda with a
beautiful vista.
o
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