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THE REAL JESUS
(Continued from page 6)
He said to the Pharisees, " Is it law–
ful todo good on the sabbath days,
or to do evil? To save life, or to
kill?"
Again, that ringing voice of
authority and that leve! gaze of con–
viction combined with the Iogic of
those words were simply too much
for these hypocritical charlatans.
They simply had to shut their
mouths in the face of such piercing
logic. They couldn't answer either
way. If they said, "Yes, it is lawful
to do good," they would give full
approval to Jesus' actions of healing
on the Sabbath.
If
they said it was
lawful to do harm, then this would
be an obvious ftagrant violation of
the biblical principies for which
they claimed to stand.
The Bible says, "And he looked
around at them -with anger, grieved
at their hardness of heart, and said
to the man, Stretch out your hand.
He stretched it out, and his hand
was restored" (Mark 3:3-5).
Rellglous Blgotry
So the Pharisees saw one of the
most incredible miracles in all of
history! lt defied anything any
human eye had ever seen before!
They actually
saw
an emaciated,
withered, shrunken Iimb, grotesque
in its gnarled condition, gradually
extend · each individual finger and
assume full size with a normal,
healthy covering of skin, able to
grasp and reach and be utilized with
the full capability of the marvelous
human hand.
Instead of congratulating the
healed man, receiving him joyously,
clapping him on the back, and gath–
ering around to give a good honest
shake to that newly restored hand;
instead of turning to congratulate
Jesus and thank Him for having so
freed and healed a member of their
own congregation, "the Pharisees
went out, and immediately held
counsel with the Herodians against
him, how to destroy him."
Such is the shameful account of
religious bigotry. Unfortunately ,
such bigotry
is
alive and well in
many a human heart today! (An–
other excerpt from
The Real Jesus
will be coming next month.)
O
44
SUICIDE
(Continued from page
27)
(James Castelli, "l'm So Lonesome 1
Could Die,"
U.S.
Catholic,
January
1976,
p.
36).
So, to summarize: Suicide is pre–
ventable. There are many ways to
help people fill their unmet needs
for love and meaningful activity
long before hopelessness sets in.
One of the best of these is to main–
tain strong family ties. Our isolated
young people in their subcultures
and old people in their retirement
ghettos need to be reinstated into
the mainstream of family life. These
two groups, and everybody in be–
tween, need the !ove and support
that usually only a family can pro–
vide. And in lieu of an actual fam–
ily, people who know they need
others should seek out and develop
at least one special friend they can
confide in when the going is rough.
On top of this, if each of us stays
really aware of those around us–
alert for signs of emotional need,
and ready to listen patiently when
those needs are present- it will go a
long way toward fighting the indi–
vidual hopelessness that leads to
self-destruction.
Ifyou believesomeone you know is
suicida!, don't wait. Lend them a
sympathetic ear and Jet them talk out
their difficulties. Often just talking
about one's problems can help put
things in perspective. Solutions be–
come obvious without the need for a
lot of advice-giving or preachments.
If there is no way you can reach
such an individual, though, don't ig–
nore the problem. Contact your
local suicide prevention organiza–
tion, a doctor, a minister, or the po–
lice
immediately.
Suicide can be prevented- if
enough ofuscare.
O
RECOMMENDED READING
The Worldwide Church of God pro–
vides the following literatura free of
charge as a service in the public interest:
Ooes
God Exist?
Why Were You Born?
Coping With Lone/iness
Building a Happy Family
To obtain your copies. simply request
them by title. (See addresses on inside
cover.)
TAIWAN
(Continued from page
11)
Actually, within the framework of
Oriental ethics, a yielding to Pe–
king's demands for scuttling Tai–
wan- though it would serve Peking's
purposes- would also earn Peking's
contempt. Abandoning an ally, even
though it be Taiwan, would be a
demeaning loss of face for the
United States before the Chinese.
Thus America would end up in a far
worse state!
American officials have already
bowed and scraped a great deal in
their blossoming relations with Pe–
king. "During the last five years,"
observes George 8all, the former
U.S. Undersecretary of State, "in
addition to the [August 1977] Vanee
trip, there were nine visits by Henry
A. Kissinger to Peking, while two
American Presidents also made the
arduous pilgrimage to that far-off
capital. Meanwhile, not one Chinese
official of any standing has deigned
to visit us barbarians in Washing–
ton. Are we, orare we not, vassals of
the Middle Kingdom? We certainly
act as though we were."
Borrowed Time
Derecognition of Taiwan-a part of
the growing specter of U.S. retreat
from East Asia- could well prove to
be a gross miscalculation with far–
reaching irnplications for the U.S.
and the world at large.
But despite expected congres–
sional haggling, most observers see
recognition of Peking as inevitable.
For Taiwan, the handwriting is on
the wall.
"Insofar as the Republic of China
is concerned," pleaded Ambassador
Shen in a speech before Town Hall
of Los Angeles last June, "we are
not asking for any special favor or
privilege. All we want is to be
allowed to remain as a member of
the free world and to preserve our
way oflife as a free people."
Will Washington be able to find
sorne formula whereby relations
with Peking can be further devel–
oped without selling Taiwan down
the river? Taiwanese are not hope–
ful. And the one big question in
their minds is: "What have we done
to deserve this?" o
The
PLAIN TRUTH February 1978