Covenanter Witness Vol. 86 - Rparchives.org

Glimpses of the Religious WorldRev. L. E. Kilpatrick, D. D.1031 E. Glenrosa AvenuePhoenix, Arizona 85014RED CHINA'S INCOME SOURCESAll remittances sent by overseas Chinese to hungryrelatives in China, according to China Mail, an Englishlanguage newspaper in Hongkong, are to be divided 50-50with the government. The mainland recipient would gethis half only if "revolutionary committees" agreed. If theremittance is more than ($25 U.S.) the government's shareis to be 60 percent. The Peking government estimates thatthis measure will yield approximately $83,000,000 a year.Also, according to the Central News Agency inHongkong, "The Maoists have greatly expanded theplanting areas for opium in many provinces of China" andthis extends also to North Vietnam. Besides the effect thatthis product will have, especially on American youngpeople, it will produce more than $1,000,000,000 U.S. ayear for Red China. These items are taken from Flashlight,publication of Bob Hammond, independent (Voice ofChina and Asia) missionary in Hongkong."ADULT INCOMPETENCE""What the older generation cites as proof of itscompetence is actually proof, to young people, of itsincompetence," according to the thinking of JohnWharton, director of the Council for Democracy. The I-VYouth Today reports his conclusion as we see "entrenchededucational, economic, and political systems"which have produced "more warfare, bigger massacres,more powerful criminals, and more overall violence thanat any other time since the Age of Enlightenment began."Wharton remarks, "When one is part of a system that hasbrought a whole world to disaster, only a fool boasts thathe is an important part."FACT (also from I-V Youth Today)"The underground press, written 'by the alienatedfor the alienated,' has achieved a circulation approachingfive million. There are more than 450 undergroundpublications with an estimated readership of up to 30million."WORK FOR UNEMPLOYED MINISTERSAccording to EP "a newly opened employmentagency here (in Philadelphia) says it is doing a briskbusiness in getting clergymen into other fields of work.""Mainstream" is a division of Marcy and Associates,a nation-wide job counseling firm, that usually assistsexecutives who want a change of jobs. "But we found,"says Jess Taylor, manager of this new division, "we weregetting so many clergymen, we set up a special division forthem." He added, "Usually the story is that they'refrustrated, and that the religious institutions inhibit theirpersonal freedom." "Both Protestant and Catholicclergymen come for this service," Taylor observed, and"the Catholics tend to smoke a lot during the interview,and are very nervous."THE GROWING ABORTION QUESTIONAccording to EP, the Illinois House JudiciaryCommittee rejected a bill, 12-6, to permit abortions in thefirst three months of pregnancy. The controversy in thatlegislature was ignited by a three-judge Chicago federalcourt ruling, 2-1, that abortion in the first 90 days ofpregnancy could not be prohibited by an 1867 Illinois lawthat bars such operations except for health reasons.The Illinois Department of Public Aid announced itwould underwrite abortions for welfare recipients and theBlue Cross-Blue Shield insurance company said, pendinglegality, it would issue insurance policies to cover abortioncosts when requested.A Superior Court judge in Providence, Rhode Islandruled that the accidental killing of a fetus — the stage ofdevelopment is not mentioned in the report — does notconstitute a crime under the Rhode Island law, "because afetus does not fit the legal description of a "person'."At a Senate Public Health and Welfare Committeehearing in Phoenix, while a doctor from Tucson wastestifying, a jar of preserved fetuses was sent forward forthe Committee's inspection. The Committee rejected twobills for "abortion reform," the former by a voice vote, thelatter 5-3.We must remember that the Canaanites and manyother cultures have had their problems with unwantedbabies, the majority of them directly related to thebreaking of God's law. The "worship" of Molech wherechildren were offered in a fiery sacrifice was contemporaneouswith the worship of Baal and Ashtaroth inwhich immorality was not only sanctioned but promoted.The results of sin are not only sooner or later painful butalso embarrassing. The Canaanites called the humanexpedient "worship."Conceding that there are circumstances when apregnancy may rightfully be terminated by man, we mustalso recognize that man's deceitful heart is subject to thetemptation to hide his selfishness and self will and lustwith "humanitarian" expedients. Abortion is no sufficientanswer to a distracted mother-to-be.•••WILLIAM PENN"If we will not be governed by God, then we will beruled by tyrants."4 COVENANTER WITNESS