WOULD NEWSGRAMS
James O. Henry, M .A t/ Editor, Associate prof, of History, Biola Bible College
M ee tin g fo r Social W o r k e r s The fifth annual meeting on Chris tian social work in cooperation with the Evangelical Social Work Confer ence (ESWC) is to be held at Wheaton College, Wheaton, 111., March 26 and 27. The ESWC has been organized as an agency to en courage and to sponsor Christian social work programs throughout the country. The Wheaton meeting is de signed to foster interest among evan gelicals in the opportunities for Christian witness and service in the social work field. Sessions of interest to college students will be held, acquainting them with the training required and the job opportunities. Sessions are to be held also which will bring inspiration and informa tion to evangelical social workers on the non-professional level, as well as round-table periods for professional workers to discuss common problems. The meeting is open to all interested persons—pastors, Christian education teachers, mission workers, lay men 'and women, students and social workers. L o b b y ist C onvicted Arthur H. Samish, California’s long time lobbyist for the liquor interests, was convicted recently of income tax law violations. His failure to pay $71,878 in income taxes drew pun ishment of three years in prison and $40,000 fine. He will also be called upon to pay the back taxes plus pen alties totaling over $900,000. Perhaps it was worth it to him. It is gener ally understood that Samish drew large pay from several branches of the liquor trade— the distillers, brew ers and liquor dealers’ organizations of the state. G ,SOO -Tear-Old P yram id Found The foundations of a pyramid 6,500 years old slowly emerged recently from yellow sands covering the “ City of the Dead,” sixteen miles south of Cairo. (Discovery of the pyramid was reported by the National Geographic Society in October,’ 1952.) As work men dug deeper into the sand, a 40-year-old Egyptian archaeologist, 18
Zakaria Ghoneim, related how he found the Second Dynasty Pyramid —oldest dressed stone structure still in existence—after many years of patient excavation. The archaeologist believes that once he reaches the underground burial chambers, they will throw new and important light on the missing chap ters in the story of the Pharaohs. He estimated that the base of the pyra mid covers 15,600 square yards, com pared with the 23,100 square yards of the base of the great Pyramid of Giza, dating from 1,400 B.C. Crim e In c rea se In a letter to the editor of the Dallas News a writer recently said, “ All thoughtful, law-abiding citizens are appalled at the rapid increase in crime in our Christian nation. Every newspaper is filled with ac counts of murder, rape, kidnapping and many other crimes.” The writer suggests several reasons for this in crease, among them the literature to which Americans are being exposed. He said, 90 per cent of the magazine covers are adorned with pictures of almost nude women and . . . you go out on the streets and find women parading the streets with not enough clothes to flag a freight train.” The conclusion to the latter is the suggestion that “What our nation needs is a spiritual awakening.” He said, “We are told in the Divine Word to hold forth the words of life. I know men who hctve memorized the pedigree of every head of cattle they o(wn but have never memorized a verse of the Bible.” Threa t to Isra el The new King Saud of Saudi Arabia recently suggested that the Arab nations should sacrifice up to 10 million of their combined 50 mil lion population, if necessary, to wipe out Israel. The king said, “ Israel, to the Arab world, is like a cancer to the human body, and the only way of remedy is to uproot it just like a cancer.” He declared that the Arab nations never would hold direct talks with Israel because they did not
recognize the Israelis as a nation. In spite of the king’s threats God’s prom ises to Israel are eternal. Am erican Survival General George C. Kenney reduced the thought of survival to stark and simple terms. “Victory over defeat, life over death, in another world war will depend on having the best, the greatest air power in the world.” The high points covered in a recent speech by the general were shock ing. He said, “ Russia has 30,000 or more combat planés and her bomb ers can reach any point in the United States. Russia is building airplanes twice as fast as we are. Russia is stock-piling atomic bombs. She has not enough now to risk a war. When she does have enough, the one thing that will stop her from launching a war without warning will be the fear of an overwhelming, devastating re taliatory attack.” This was not an armchair amateur talking. What a grim picture for the future. Japanese R etu rn to Shinto Faith Shinto, the former national religion that Japan’s militarists exploited, is making a comeback. In October, 1953, for the first time since Shinto fell into disrepute after the Japanese defeat in World War II, the Emperor sent an emissary to the autumn festival at Tokyo’s Yasukuni Shrine, where Japan’s war dead are enshrined, and where every subject once had to pause and bow when passing. Prime Minister Shigeru Yoshida broke post-war precedent by wor shiping at Yasukuni with consider able fanfare during the spring festi val. The government is resuming the practice of contributions to the up keep of shrines. The desire for change and the re vulsion against the past, which char acterized the Japanese nation follow ing its defeat, are wearing out. Japanese are slipping back into old ways. It is no longer old-fashioned or anti-democratic to go to the shrine and pay respects to one’s ancestors or pray for the long life of the Emperor. THE KING'S BUSINESS
Made with FlippingBook - Online Brochure Maker