Plain Truth 1976 (Prelim No 05) Jun_w

7/28/2019 Plain Truth 1976 (Prelim No 05) Jun_w

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[ P [ i l l ~ [ ( ] TIrnrnTIrnQ magaz i ne o f unders tand in g

VoL XLI NO. 5 Circulation: 2.912.825June 1976

ARTI CLES

The PLAIN TRUTH - SUPPOR TEO BYYOU R CONTRIBUTIONSTne Plain Trutn has no SUbscflpt lon Of newsstandperce. It is supported thlOugh co ntnbutlOns from ovreaders and reese who have ChOSen voluntari ly. tobecome co- workers w,t h vs In th tS ....011dwlde wor kThe Plain Trutfl IS nonploll!. accepts no commerCIaadvert ls,ng . and has nothing to sell Contllbul lons aregra tefully welcomed and are taK-deduct'ble In the U,SThose who can are encouraged to add theIr hnancrasupport In the splnt 01helplllg to make The Plam Trufhavail able, wunout pri ce , to o thers , Con tribu tionSshould be sent to The Pla in Truth , PasadenaCA 91123 or to one 01 our emces neares t you (seeaddresses belOW)

Sadat Jolts the Kremlin!Co mmunists Who Thi nk forThemselvesCreation.Product of a Divine Ide aFive Ways to Enr ich Your Marr iageHow 10 Recogn ize a Real ChristianHuman Survival :Sowing the Seed s of Disaster?The Cosmic ConnectionIs Man Alone?

FEATURESPe rsonal from the EditorIn B riefWorldwatchGarner Ted Armstrong Speaks OutRadio /TV Log

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Ed itorln-e h le l: HERBERT W ARMSTRONGEdit or: GARNER TED ARMSTRONGManag ing Editor : Arthur A. FerdIgNews Editor: Gene H HogbergFeatures Ed itor : Oexter H Faulkn8j"Art Director : Allen MeragerAl loc late Editors: RObert Glnskey, Bnan KnowlesRObet KuhnPubli shing Coo rdin ator : RogerG LcoeossCopy Edllors: Jim E Lea Peter MooreSenior Edllors : Raymond F McNa", ROderek CMeredl"Senior Wri ters: JeI1 c a l ~ Donald D. SChroeder, Ke'tnSlumPContr ibutors: Ron aeeece . 0 Paut Graunke, Ron t-Iorswe. Adil MUhla


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Personal from...

ITALY'S CRISIS-SETTING THE STAGEFOR AN UPHEAVAL IN EUROPE

Hre in Rome the big news is theItalian political crisis. Combined with other events. thiscould lead to an explosive worldcrisis such as never shook this worldbefore.It's not my intention to report thenCVi S. but EXPLAIl" WHAT IT MEANS,WH ERE rr MAY LEAD. and how itmay shake up your lire! News rcporters and newscasters may reportthe news. But they cannot exp lainit! They do not knocv what is prop h-esied.Here. first, a re the br iefest highligh ts of the explosive situa tion atthe moment.In Rome violence is mount ing.Communists are now predicting awin in the forthcoming nationalelection. It's the struggle betweencommunism and capitalism.In big print on the cover of News-

week , on newsstands here rccentlv.was the qu estion : "ITALY ON THEBR INK "" with the picture and ins id e cover s lory o f Commu nistleader Enrico Ber linau er .Put this together "with the Communist uprisings in Spain . Portugal.and other European co untries andyou have a more EXPLOSIVE situation than is realized!Put all this togeth er with th emounting troubles within the Roman Cat holic Church - and put th istogether with BIBLICAL PROPHECY and the stag e is all set for the greatest crisis of tro ubles in the history ofthis world.W ith in the Rom a n Ca tho l icChurch, more and more priests andnuns are defying the church's tradi tional authority and are marrying.An ever-increasing number of layCatho lics in America and Europeare defying the church edict on marital sex relations.The Vatican must know that unless this drift away from church a uthori ty is bro ke n by sha rp a nddrastic action, di sint egrat ion threatens the largest church or religion inthe world. 0 "

Biblical prop hecy ind icates thestrong possibility right now of a sud den. sensat ional. wor ld-sha k in g,dr astic move by Pope Pau l or thepossib ility of his abdication and theemergence of a new pl1pe of ironwill who will propose what the nalions of Europe have all wanted, butThePLAIN TRUTH June 1976

have been unable to bring about a polit ically un ited Eu rope.Th e poli tical leaders of Eu rope

have been unable to br ing this political union about. But an offe r fromth e pope to use the power of hisoffice to jo in the nations together ina resurrection of the "Holy RomanEmpire" wou ld bring it about.If antireligion communism winspolitical dom inance of Europe asthe present trend indicates, thatwou ld ju s t about sound the de athknell of Roman Catholicism in Europe .This unprecedented situation nowcalls for sudden and drastic action.It would mean a common currenc\,for a union of len nations in Europe.It could mean one military force.which would be as strong as thearmed forces of the U.S.A. or theU.S.S.R. - ormavbe even stronger.T he loss of Euro pe's fai th inAmeri ca to protect her from the Soviet Union is another trend leadingd irectly to suc h an eventuality as Ihave described.Sooner or later such a Europeanunion will take place. I have pred ieted this for 43 yea rs 'It will astound and dumbfoundthe whole world when it happens.The time is now RIPE!

AU over the world. ter rorism andviole nce are mounting.Head lin es in a recent English-lan

guage Rome ne\vspape r: "TERROR ISM WAVE H IT S U. S.PROP ER TY IN G REECE. "" P.L.A. MOVES INTO BEIR UTBU FF ER ZO NE , DIVID ESFOES." "'INDIA, BANGLADESH,ACC USE EA CH OTHER O FBORD ER ATTACK S." "WESTBA NK TE NS IO N R ISE S INFOU RT H DAY OF A RA BR IOTS," etc. - all on the fron tpagc.As I have repeated ly said recently. the governments of nationsare being ove rthrown at the rate ofone a month around the world.Put all th is together with Secretarv of State Kissin ger's new "do rnin; theory" of Europe: He sees thepossibility of one European nationafter anot h er toppl ing and goingcommunist. If this bcgins to happen.we can expect an eventual aggressive reaction from the right. Thestage seems set for this tremendousevent.But wha t does all of th is mea n tous? It means IT MAY BE MUCH LATERTHAN WE THINK! It means our workmay be fi nished WHEN this happens! 0


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"The Soviet Union is trying to bringus to our knees. But I will get on myknees before no one but Allah."- Anwar Sadatto the Egyptian par liament ,March 14, 1976

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SADATJOLTSTHEKREMLIN!by Garner Ted ArmstrongEgyptian President Anwar Sdat boldly scrapped his ntion's friendship treaty wthe Soviet Union. But wi l lget the aid he needs fr om tUnited States? Here is a firhand report by the EditorThe Pla in Truth , based onexclus ive i nterview with tpresident of Egypt.In the wa ke o r tw o Sinaiengage me n t agreement s wlsrael, the feeling in Cairo is twa r with Israe l is no longe r ineta b le a nd tha t a lasting Midepeace ma y now be within gra sp .A meeting with Egyptian Prd e n t A nw a r Sada t leaves lidoubt tha t th is is his - a ndpeop le's - a rdent ho pe." I think this is the fi rst time in27 years since the beg inning ofArab-Israeli conflict thai there ipossibility o f real peace in th e a rethe 57-year-o ld president d ecladu ring OUf ho ur-long conversa ta t the Presidential Pa lace in Caon Ma rch 6.Peace is a n in tegr a l pa rt o f

d ar's master pla n for Egyp t'stio nal reconstruction . Dra inedyears o f cos tly wa r, the im povis hed na tion is seeking [ 0 rebu ildwa r-shat tered economy a nd prova be tte r li fc fo r its 37 mill ion P ORenewed fighting would only seto fu rth er d evast a te th e economyBut in th e unpred icta ble MidEast. no nation can alf or d to for

gu n s for butter. Egypt - de spitede sire for peace - rea lizes she cno t co nce ntra te on re buildingdevasta ted economy at the expe

The PLAIN TRUTH June 1


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THE FIRST LADYOF EGYPT

f maintain ing adequate militaryreparedness.Conseq uently. Sad at's recent surrise move against the Sov iets haslaced him in a preca rious pos ition.

ld Movet the concl usion of a lengthy adess before Egypt's People's Asmbly (parliament ) on March 14,a d a t dro pped a n une xp ect edbombshell, declarin g sternly: "T heoviet Union is trying to bring us tour knees. Out I will get on myknees before no one but Allah! "He then demanded that parli ament immediatel y nullify Egyp t's 5year-old treaty of friendship and cooperation with Moscow, which hedisdainingly termed "a scrap o fpaper." The request was immedia tely and ove rwhelmingly approvedby the assemb ly.Sadat cited Moscow's continuingfailure to provide promised militarysupport - new arms, aircraft. and

vital replacement parts - as the primary reason for his action. Previously a heavy supplier of arm s toEgypt, the Krem lin had prov idedher with virtua lly nothing since the1973 Mideast war, while continuingto heavi ly aid Egypt's radical Arabrivals, Syr ia and Libya .Further attesting to his resolve toseve r a ll military ties to the Krem

lin, Sada t also cance lled vital Sovietnaval rights in Egyptian ports.Kremli n MotivesSad at 's actio ns clea rly caught anembarrassed Kremlin off guard.Th e Sov ie t new s agen cy Tassweakly passed 01" the treaty's can cella tion as merely an affirmation o fa rela tionship which had become"para lyzed" by Sada t's continu ingunfriendliness. The Kremlin has asserted tha t Egypt's huge unpaidde bt for previously delivered goodswas the main reason for Moscow'sslowdown in arms deliveries.Sada ts private feelings, however,more accurately reflec t the true situation . He be lieves that Moscow'sde laying tactics were designed tocrea te unrest within Egypt whichthe Kremlin hoped would lead toSaoat's overthrow and the emerge nce of a more rad ica l, p ro Moscow leader. It is no secret that(Continued on page 4)The PLAIN TRUTH June 1976

Jihan Sadat, wile of the Egyptian president, is a leader inthe struggle for women's rightsin Egypt. Her efforts and example in this regard have donemuch to inspire the women ofEgypt to assume a more modernrole in the life of the country .The chief obstacle in her efforlto effect sweeping changes inEgypt's laws relating to Ihe family and women has been Ihe entrenched tradition of centur ies.Women have traditionally playeda secondary role, and wives ofofficia ls have generally beenshielded from public view.But from the outset, Mrs. Sadatand her husband have striven tochange all that. During the firstoffic ial presidential receptionsoon after Sadat took office in1970, guests were surprised tosee Mrs. Sadat walking into theroom in front of the president. Ifpast custom had been followed,she wouldn't have been there atall'

Mrs. Sadat first met her husband - then an officer in thearmy - soon after his releasefrom prison, where he had beensent as a result of his oppositionto the regime of King Farouk.She became his wife in 1951 at atime of great upheaval in Egyptas Sadat, Gamal Abdel Nasser,and others foughl to establish anindependent republic.Mrs. Sadats overriding concern is for the needs of herpeople. She is the founder of theTalla Society, designed to helppoor Egyptian Vllagers rise out01 their centuries-old backwardness and develop new skills andabilities . She is also the movingforce behind " EI Wafawal Amal"CFaith and Hope") , a programfor the rehabilitation of the handicapped and disabled.In addition, Mrs. Sadat is astrong supporter of birth controland is active in the familyplanning movement in Egypt.

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EGYPTIAN PRESIDENTAnwar Sadat tells Garner Ted Armstrong: "The Sovi etsdidn 't provide us with the meteriet they had promised. . . . "

Moscow has looked with disfavor onSad at 's cooperation with SecretaryKissinger's step-by-step Mideastpeace dip lomacy .In any case. Moscow's actionshave resulted in a who lesale turn tothe West by Egypt. undoing President Nasser's eas tward leap in 1956fol lowinu the refusal bv the U.S. lOprovide : l fll1S to Egypt anti fin an cing tor the Aswan Darn.Stormy RelationsOnly days prior to his cancellationof the SOViCl trea l} . Presidentexpressed to me his government'slong di ssatisfac tion with Moscow'svacillation and briefly recounted thete nsion- rid den history of SovietEgyptian relations dur ing the past 5yea rs.

"The re have been grea t diffi culties." he explained. "[ FormerEgyp tian President] Na sser had visited the Soviet Union secretly inJanu a ry 1970 . . . and they hadpromised him certain arms. He returned home in vcry high spirits.a nd told me a ll the deta ils."" ' Vhen Nasser died [a few monthslater]," Sada t continued, " I askedthe Sov iets why they didn 't send[th e promised a rms]. They thoughtNasser hadn' t tol d me about it. Soduring my secret visit to the Soviet4

Un ion on March 1-2, 1971. I toldthem the full details. We had a veryhot discussion there. . . . But in spiteof that . the y still did n't send anything."President Sadat further relatedthat prior to Nasser's death in September 1970. Egypt on a number o f

occasions had asked the Soviets fora friendship treaty, bu t the Kremlin,fo r reasons of their ow n. had repeated ly refused . But then in May 1971.the Soviets suddenly became agreea ble. and Soviet Pres ident Ni kolaiPoQ5orny traveled 10Cairo 10 sign aIS-yea r treat y of friendship. But thetreaty. to Egypt's disappo intment .prod uced no appreciable increase inmilitary ass istance." I visited the Sov iet Union fourtimes as president - one secret visitand t hr ee dec la red visits," Sad attold me , " In those meetings we hadvery hot di scussions, W; diffe redbecause they did n't provide us withthe materiel tha t they had promisedto Nasser . . . and later to me: 'Sadat expla ined th at Moscow 'sfai lure to provide Egypt with ad vanced offensive arms finally resuItcd in his orde r for the exp ulsionin J uly 1972 of some 20.000 Sovietmilitary advisers from Egypt. Thi s.for the most pa rt. ended the Sovietmilitary presence in Egypt and fur-

the r cooled the already-icy SoviEgyptian relations.But the treaty still remainedeffect. an d furt her at tempts wmade by Egyp t 10 elicit Soviet a id

Now. Russia's con tinued failto respond to Egypt's needs ha snally resu lt ed in the complete terna tion of the 197 1 treaty ,Weapons From America?Sa da t' s bo ld move has finallyEgyp t ad rift from Moscow's oand has cleared the way fo rcreased cooperation with the W\V ith br idge s to Moscow nburned irrevocably, Sadat hastually created a new dependencethe we .The Egyp tian president not edhis March 14 add ress that , witone year to 18 months. much ofSoviet hardware present ly in Egwi ll have deteriorated into scrapla ck of rep lacement par ts aproper maintenance.Sadat therefore desperately nealterna te mili ta ry aid to repl aceSo viet equ ipment a nd keepforc es up to date.Sadai 's recen t visits to West Gmany. France. an d Ita ly - aim edpart. at finding new arms sourceproduce d some results. notablyFrance. But the only place heobtain the quant ity and quality\I;'caponry he needs is in the U.S.At th is writing. the Ford Admintrati on appears to have won sficient congressional supportproceed with its plan to sell Egsix ( -130 tran spon planes as a koff deal.No t surprisingly. the prospecU.S. arms sales to Egyp t has tgered a voc iferous outcry frIsraeli and American Jews. whothat the sa le of the C- IJOs woonly be the beginning of a longof a rms sales to Egypt by the UnSta tes.Many analysts, however, feel twhen the alterna tives are carefconsidered. U.S. military aidEgy pt migh t actually se rve the binterests o f all concerned -eluding Israel - in th e long run .How'!Just prior to my visit with Sain ea rly March , he had completetour of six wea lthy Persian Gulf

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IttS"iIJby Stanley R. Rader

Italy's Red TideROME , April 21, 1976: Accordingto popular legend, Rome celebratedits twenty-seven hundredth birthdaytoday. But it's not a very joyousoccasion .Throughout Italy the signs of national decay are everywhere - pol i t ic a l viole nce and terror ,nationwide strikes, tumbling stoc kprices, political kidnapping, violentstreet crime, and corruption of thehighest officials of the government.Overall hovers a generally inept andcorrupt bureaucracy, incapab le ofpull ing the nation together.Now for the first time in thirtyyears, Italy's tormidable CommunistParty may soon have an official rolein the Italian government - if elections take place this June as expected.The specter of Communists entering a government of Western Euro pe has haunt ed both f reeEuropeans and Americans sincethe end of World War II. Althoughostensibly the Communist Party ofItaly (PCI) has made every effort tocarve out an independent positionin foreign policy from that of theSoviet Union, Western leaders fearthat, should It ever gain firm political control, it would abandon itsmoderate and independent positionand fall under the dictates of theSoviet Union.Secretary of State Henry Kissinger has been totally opposed toany new Italia n go vernment inwhich the Communists would evenhave a part, such as the longsought PCI goal of a " historic compromise" between it and the Christian Democrats. Kissinger hasmadeominous and melancho ly statements about the effect of such adevelopment upon all of WesternEurope and the whole Western alliance .The PLAIN TRUTH- June 1976

Even though Italy's Communistleaders have proc laimed they wouldcontinue to support Italian participat ion in NATO, and although theydeny any interest in NATO " secrets," Western military expertsseem convi nced that an ItalianCommunist victory would spell theend of NATO, at least as it has beenstructured during the past threedecades.It is, of course, clear that something must be done in Italy to resto re a government that will beginto cope seriously with all of thegrave economic and political problems wh ich co nfro nt the Italianpeople.It is commonly believed by manyobservers of the Italian polit icalscene that a program of extremenational austerity must be undertaken immediately and that suchcan only be accomplished with thecooperation and participation of theCommunists, who have a goodtrack record in running their manymunicipal and reg ional governments. It is only through such anall-out national effort, crossing evenideological lines, they believe, canItaly's deteriorating economic slideinto oblivion be halted.Meanwhile, the Italian people inRome seem to be fiddling as Romeburns. Never have the boutiquesseemed so busy. Never have therestaurants been more crowded .With the nra falling in value daily,Romans seem eager to unload theirdepreciating currency for life's luxuries while they are affordable.Each day sees yet another scandalhit the headlines - producing onlymore popular contempt, scepticism,and disrespect toward the government.Throughout the nations of Western Europe, internal problems con-

tinue to mount. Britain, under newPrime Minister James Callaghan,has seen thepounc sterling plummet to its lowest level in history($1.80). Conditions in Portugal andSpa in are clear ly unsettl ed. InFrance , Pr esid ent Gi sca rdD'Estaing has seen his popularityfall to its lowest level since he tookoffice almost two years ago. (Onewill recall that he was victoriousover the opposition Socialist-Communist alliance by the slimmest otmargins.) Today the socialist partyof France is stronger than ever before.As if U.S. Secretary ot State Kissinge r didn 't have enough to worryabout in Europe, he has nOW embarked On a trip through black Atrica in an effort to shore upAmerican positions in that troubledcontinent.Next month, Plain Truth Editorin-Chief Herbert W. Armstrong andI Wll spend three or four weeks inAfrica, including the Republic ofSouth Africa. Last year Mr. Armstrong was aware of the importantchanges about to take place in thebalance of equilibri um of black Africa, and we spent considerabletime in Ethiopia and Kenya. Immediately thereafter we announcedplans to visit Nigeria, but they hadto be postponed because the Nigerian government Which, On the surface, had appeared to be verystable, suddenly was overthrown ina coup d'etat. Even Mr. Kissingerfinds himself unable to visit Nigeriaon this presenf swing through Africa because his security cannotbe insured.Mr. Armstrong 's message monthafter month in The Plain Truth formore than 40 years has clearly andVividly projected world events far inadvance of their occu rrence, ashave the writings of others in thispublication. We will always strive tobring you the real meaning of thenews. 0

AeTNOW. ..TO KEEP YOUR NEWPLAIN TRUTH COMINGSEE PAGES 22-23

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WGBLDWAfCRAn Overview of Major News Events and TrendsCOMMUNISTSNEAR POWERIN ITALY-AS EUROPE'SUNITY DRIVEFALTERSAmid unprecedented economic andsocial chaos. Italy is preparing foran early general elect ion th at couldmark a major turn ing point in modern European history.Thc collapse in lat e April of thewobb ly Christian Democrat ic gov-ern ment of Premier Aldo Moro Ital y' s 38 th government since theend of World War 11 - has forcedPresident Giovanni Leone to dissolve parliament and call a nationalelection to break the political im

passe .T he election is to be held Ju ne 20and 21 - a year ahead of schedule.T he upcoming ba lloting couldopen the door for Communist Partypa rticipation in the next Italian governmen t - a prospect which is send

ing shock waves th roughout theWeste rn a lliance.At th e sa me tim e a " Red Tide" issurg ing in Italy, the d ream of a" Uni ted Sta tes of Europe" has a lmo st faded from view, eclipsed bythe force s of economics and unq uenchable nat ionalism ."European unity is now a punctu red tir e. likely to stay nat a nd un repaired for a long time to come."Such is the observation of long-tim e

European affa irs expert Do n Cook .writing in the Los Ange!es Times."There is no usc denying it," addsTh ei Sommer, a lead ing West Ge rman newsman. "Europe is in badsh a pe . . . in severa l res pect s theNi ne [Common Marke t members]have reached the end of th e easy6

FADING DREAM: Jean Monnet,ther " of the Common Market. Europe'sunity momentum has all but stopped.road to a mo re perfect union: 'Reason s for the gloomy assessments arc clear and unavoidable.One need look back no fur ther tha nth e most rec en t Common Mar ketSumm it Co nfe rence this past AprilI a nd 2, whi ch ended up as a totalfailure, Co nve ned or igina lly to tryto reach a formula on how the ninestates were to be represented in apopularly elected European Parliamen t. th e conference ended up dead locked on th is key issue.Ne i t h e r co u ld de ci si on s b ereached on other outstanding problems such as inflation, unemploy

ment. and - most critical of all how to de al with a mou nting fisca lcr isis brought on by the sinking British pound and Ital ian lira .The mood of the nine head s ofstate at the meeting was variouslydescribed as "gloomy." "bleak," and"morose." "The sense of frustrationwas intense." wrote the New YorkTim es' Flora Lewis. "not only because there are no prospects now forEuropean unity bu t a lso becau se

DREAM CDMING TRUE: EnricBerlinguer, head of Italy 's CommunisParty, which is nearing national powethey [the heads of sta te ] feel th awhile the m ight of the Soviet Uniois growing, the Uni ted Stat es is leaving a vacuum that Europe cannfill."Wr it in g in th e Ap ril 12 NeYorker, analyst Will iam Pfaff ma keit pla in tha t the step-by-step methoof uniting Europe via the process oeconomic integration has reacheddead end . Th e leap from customunion to political union is appaently unbridgeable. He writes: "E u

rope plainly has a ll the unitywants - or all the unity it can beaThe ca lls regularl y hea rd for neinitiatives. the plans and studimad e. th e timet ab les proposed servas un iver sally accepta ble substit utefor action tha t no one intendstake,

" Eu rope will not form a politicunion. because Europe cannot posib ly agree on wha t it wan ts to become. A united Europe has one. anonly one. obvious fo rm to tak e: thof a federation domino ted by WeG er man y an d Fra nce . , . . BuThe PLAIN TRUTH June 197


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Franco-German hegemony is notthe Europe that the Dutch. Danes.Belgians, and Italian s have in mind.to say nothing of the British andIri sh . . . : ."U nity by degree" has run fullstea m into age-old nat ionalism . Andnow, Communist parties in Italyand France threaten to gain power.upsetting what little unit y has beenpainfully achieved ove r the past twoand one hal f decades.It is now clear that unity in Europe will have to be hammered outon a differentanvil.In this respect. the statements ofPope Paul to a ga thering of European bishops last October 18 takeson added significance : "We thinkth at only the Christian civilization.from wh ich Europe was born, cansave this continent from the void itis experiencing . . . . And it is there

that our mission as bishops in Europe takes on a gripping perspective. No other human force inEuropecan render the service that isconfided to us. promoters of thefaith. to reawaken Europe's Christian soul , wh er e it s unit y isroot ed ." 0

PANAMA CANALCONTROVERSYHEATS UPIn recent presidenti al primarie sformer Ca lifornia governor RonaldReagan has repeatedly charged tha tthe administration plans to surrender the U.S.-buill and opera tedwaterway to the control of the regime of Panamanian strongmanGenera l Oma r To rrijos .Pres ident Ford . for his part. hascalled Mr. Reagan's statements irresponsible an d said that if negotiations with Panama were broken off,"a recurrence of the bloodshed tha ttook pla ce in 1964" could result.T he Fo rd Administ ration hasjudged that it would be in the interest of the United States to reach acompromise over the canal. and theterritory throu gh whic h it runs.whereby the Un ited Stat es wouldretain access and defense rights. butgive up political jurisdiction. Mr.Reagan has label ed any such com-The PLAIN TRUTH June 1976

promise as giving in to "pl a in blackmail."While much of the argumen t surrounding the canal generates passionate emotions on both sides,three major areas of controversyha ve emerged - sovereignty, defense. and U.S.-Latin relations. On the first issue - th at o fsovereignty - does the U.S. "own"th e Panama Canal and its accompanying zone in the same sense thatit own s Alaska?According to the terms of the1903 treaty be tween the U.S. andPanama, Panama gra nted to theUnited States "in perpetuity the use.occupation and control" of the zoneand authorized it to exerci se "all therights, power and authority withinthe zone . . . which the United Stateswould possess and exercise if it werethe sovereign of the territory . . . tothe entire exclusion of the exerciseby the Republic of Panama of anysuch sovereign rights. power or authority."In implementing the treaty. theUnited States proceeded to acquireoutright ownership of all land andother property in the Canal Zone bypurchase from the individual owners . Th e rights exerci sed by theUnited States in the Cana lZone arederived, therefore, from a grant bythe government of Panama and purchases from the individual propertyowners.The unu sual phrase " if it weresovereign" has caused untold confusion. But clearly the United Stateshas the right unilaterally und er thetreaty to retain full control of thezone as long as it wishes to do so!The Panamanians realize full wellthe meaning and intent of thetreaty. Tha t is why they want to tea rit up and write a new one. Unusualwording notwithstanding. there isno doubt who owns and who hasexclusive rights to the canal and itszonal buffer: the United States.Panama. it is recognized, has"titular" or "residual" sovereigntyonly. tha t is. should the UnitedStates choose to leave. the area reverts to the nati on which made theoriginal grant - Panama . WhenPanamanians claim - as they oftendo - that the zone is pa rt of "theirterritory" or is "their greatest natural resource." this rhetoric can be

unde rstood in only the most theore tical, not legal. terminology. On the issue of de fense: It isclaimed by some that the canal isindefensib le. William Miller , whowas Barry Goldwater's runningmate in 1964 and is now campaigning for President Ford, notes thatth e American Joint Chiefs of Staffestimate that it would take 30.000marines to protect the canal againstinsurgent a ttacks on the part of thePanamanians. He argues that, in thepost-Vietnam era, defending the canal against a guerrilla war wouldn'tbe worth the cost in American andPanamanian lives.American opponents of any nev.'treaty point out that there alreadyare 10.000 American troops in theZone, and an extra 20,000 or 30.000wou ld not be an unb earable price toprotect an American possession,particularly when one realizes thatPanama has no national army. onlya 6.000-man national gua rd .Panama's primary agitation forceis composed of several thousanduniversity students, whom Torrijosclaims to be hold ing in check - a tleast until after the elections.The big question on defense isthis: Is thc United States willing - itis certain ly ab le - to defend property that is clearly its own againstan y and all threats? U.S.-Latin Relations: Th e con"ventional wisdom in American diplom at ic c i rc les is that U. S.reli nqui shing of jurisdiction ove r theca na l is a " test of matu rity" and thatcontinued American possession ofthe canal represents a "colonialist"enclave deep in the heartof a sovereign nation.But there is another view. although it hasn't received much attention in the media. This viewtakes into account the Latin pre

occupation with the concept ofmachismo. or manliness. Specifically. it holds tha t if the UnitedStates were to demonstrate the national will and strength necessary tokee p the canal. it would earn for theU.S. at least a begrudging respectfrom Latin nations - perhaps notpublicly. but privately.Loss Would Be GreatThe can al is still very importan t toth e Un ite d St at es , bo t h co m-

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mercia lly and militari ly. T wo thirdsof all sh ips transiting the canal over 13.000 a yea r - sa il to or fromAmerican por ts.On the mili tary aspect. London'sEconomist be lieves th a t the U.S. canufford to surrender the cana l beca use it now has a tWOOCC3n navy.T he p roblem is. the size of th eAmerican navy is shrinking. Th eU.S. flee t ha s been a lmost ha lved inless than eigh t years - from 900ships in 1968 to around 450 today.The Soviet nav)'. on the other hand.has arown rapidly to between 1.000and '1.000 ships. dependin g on howone coun ts certain kinds of vessels.The great di spari ty be tween theU.S. and the U.S.S. R. in tota l sh ips

makes it eve n more importa nt thaLthe U.S. navy be able to shi ft whatre la t ively few ships it does have towherever they a rc needed. mak ingth e ca na l com paratively more! valua ble mil itarily than in recen t vears,At present. there a re mor e th aneno ugh vo tes in the U.S. Senate tohlo ck" th e rati fi cation o f a ny new

trea t)' with Panama. Yet the bu lk ofthose vo tes usua lly side with thefo rd ad min is tration on ot her mattc rs, a nd th erefore ma y he subject toadmin istration pressure . Furthermo re . it is rumored that on ly 20 ofth e 38 se na to rs who ar e on record asop posing th e new treat y a re rea lly"ha rd core .'It is ve ry possible tha t what ha sbee n ca lled "the most amb i tious enginee ring und ertaking in the historyof mankind: ' bui lt an d ma in taineda t a cost of 57 billion in U.S. taxmoney. one o f the g reatest symbo lso f American technical and economic power. will soon come underthe j urisdic tion of G en eral Om arTorr i jos Herrera and his I ~ millionci tizens. 0

AMERICA'S NEWAFRICAN POLICYIn an eleventh-hou r a ttemp t to revive the crumbling American imagein Af rica . U.S. Secretary of StateHenrv Ki ssinger emba rked on asudde n lat e -April tou r of a halfdo ze n blac k African nat ion s.A major obje ctive was to pu t onrecord the strongest American pol -8

icy statement eve r issued in suppo rtof b lack Africa n demands for majo rity ru le in white minoritycontrolled areas o f the sou thern pa rto f the con tinent.In a Lusaka. Zam bia. speech th a tamoun ted to a U.S. declar a tion ofpsychological. economic, a nd d iploma tic warfare aga ins t Rh odes ia.K issin ger de clared: "T he Salisbu rvregime.... mu st understand tha t it cannot ex pect United States support either in diplomacy or in materia lhelp at a ny stage in its conflict withAfrican sta tes or African liberationmovements: ' He emphasized furthe r. "On the contra ry. it IRhodesia )wi ll face our un re lent ing opposi tio nuntil a fina l settlement is achieved:'Kissinge r th rea ten ed Rhodesiawith congress ion a l repeal of th e 50 ca lle d Byr d- a me ndm e nt whicha llowed tli e U.S. to import Rhodesia n chrome in vio la t ion o f UnitedN ations sanctions. He a lso sai d thatU. S. citi zen s would be wa rnedag ainst traveling to Rhodesia or en couraged to leave if residing th erenow,In add ition 10 his warni ngs toRhodes ia . Ki ssi nger warned the

government of So uth Afri ca tha t ithad less time than it tho ught to puta n end to ap a rtheid . its pol icy ofse pa ra te raci a l developm ent. Heurged th e South African gO\"t: rnme nt to announce a long-avo idedtim etab le for sel f-determination inSouth West Africa .Fear of the Sov ietsBeh in d the sudden stro ng U.S. support fo r b lack maj ority rule inso ut hern Africa lies the remarkub lvsw ift victory of Soviet-backed forcesin Angola in mid-February.To Washington 's way o f think ing.it is necessa rv to get on the blacklib eration " b; nd w; gon" before it' stoo la te - before more of Africafall s in to Marxist hands. and billion s of dollars of U.S. investmentsar e lost a nd Am erican aCCi:SS to thecontine nt 's inva luab le stra tegic rawmaterials is cu t off.It is for thi s reason tha t. shortlyafter his strong stand onKiss inge r s to p ped in Z ai re . th eformer Belgian Congo. Zaire is animmense mine ral storehouse whosefu ll po tentia l ha s ba re ly b e entapped . It is obvious tha t Kissinger

is pressing Zaire to link up in a"specia l relationsh ip' with the U.S.sim ilar to the new tie s which Kissinger forged with Brazil. anotherminera l-rich power. on his recentsw ing th rough Lat in Ame rica .What Happens to " Majori ty Rule" ?Un fo rtunate ly. Kissinge r's new Africa n realpo litik is a big gamb le fromtwo perspec tives. No one can pred ict what will happen to Am ericancommercial assets in sub-SaharanAfrica, especially the Republic oSouth Africa. which at over 5 I ~ billion represents the sing le most impo rtant inves tmen t in an y coun tryon the continent.Secon d ly. support fo r majorityrule in no way prec lud es a bloodyfu tu re for both blacks an d whites in

so u the rn Africa . Th e new policypo rtends neither more freedom. democracy. no r civi l rights for nationcons idered by blacks as yet "unliberated " from th eir co lonial past.Th e truth is. of the 49 countries in

Africa . mo st o f whom received indepe ndence a fter World War II. 15 areunde r di rect mi lita ry ru le. and 29ha ve o ne- par ty c iv ilia n go ver nments. On ly 5 nations - two oth em be ing Rh odesia a nd South Africa - ha ve multiparty polit ical systems. Thr ee out of four Africans liveunde r a uthoritarian regimes.In ot her wo rds. in most black African nat ions. th e h ighly espou sedidea l o f on e-m an -one-vote black

majority ru le th rough the e lectoraprocess quickly breaks down to acom plete of the democrat iprocess. It becom es, as economistco lumnist Milton Fri edman puts it"m ino rity rul e by a black elite thacon tro ls the one par t)' permitted toexist: 'Neve rthe less . in the ru sh to sa lvagt.: what ' s left o f a U.S. rol e inAfrica . to block further So viet advances. and to guarantee co ntinuedaccess to raw mater ials vita l tAmerican industry. th ese facts. iwou ld seem. must be set tota llaside for th e sa ke of po lit ica l andeconomic expedience.Undou btedlv this is th e rea sonwhy Secretary Kissinger chos e noto spea k o u t eq ua lly as st ronaga inst th e one-party black min oritre gimes in some of th e co untries h

0The PLAIN TRUTH June 197


11/48

BOOKS FORSALE in Bucharest: Marx. Engels. Lenin. and Ceausescu - the pantheon of Romanian communism.

YUGOSLAVIA&ROMANIACOMMUNISTSWHOTHINKFOR THEMSELVESby Gene H. Hog berg . photos by Dexter H. Fau lkner & the author

Two nations tucked into the southeast corner of Europe arevigorously pursuing the ir own individual paths to communism. The big

question is: How much longer will Moscow permit them to do so?9


12/48

LAND OF "CONSUMER COMMUNISM": Striking new buildings (left) characterize Novi Beograd, or New Belgrade. "Caremover " (righ t) clears the narrow streets of the older part of the Yugoslav capital of illeg ally parked cars . Surgin g automobile ownership presents a major problem.Last spring 11


13/48

TOUGH TALK TO THE SOVIETS Irom two powerful Eastern leaders: Roman ia 's Ceausescu, left , asserted at last telt'sEuropean Security Co nference tha t aUEuropean nations had the right to be " fully m asters of their own destinies and tobuild their own future as they wish, without an y o utside interference. " President Tito of Yugoslavia, ri ght, takin g a strollat th e Helsinki meeting, told delegates (b ut again with Russia clearly in mind) : " We demand un c onditional respect forthe sovereignty and territor ial integrity of ou r co untry. "Co l l ec t i v e PresidencyTo ca rryon the ship of sta te afterwa rds , T ito ' has crea ted an eightma n collective state presidency. Theeight are to rep resen t Yugoslavia'ssix republics and two a utonomousregions.Since no national - trul y Yugoslav as opposed to regional - figurehas eme rged to pick up T ito'sman t le. the collective concept is theway he has chosen to deal with thecent ri fugal force of regiona l nat iona lism, which always lies ju st be lowthe surface of Yugoslav politics,Fo ur years ago. for exa mple, Tilofelt compelled to crack down hardon sepa ra tism in his own nativeCroa tia which he felt, if left unchec ked , would have threatened th ewhole federa l system.A flare-up of separa tism wou ldplay stra igh t into the hands of thcgreatest fea red threat of a ll - di rectSoviet intervention to forceab ly return Yugos lavia to its former placein the Eastern bloc. By playing offon e nat ionality against ano ther andheat ing up a na tion al crisis. rival,clandestin e. pro -Moscow Communists wou ld be all too Wi lling to issuethe invita tion to the Red Army to" res tore order." And tha t would beThe PLAIN TRUTH Ju ne 1976

th e end of Yugoslavia' s twenty-eightyears of independence." A ll -Na ti o n Defense"Not th a t Yugosla vi a wo uld betha t ea sy a mark. Her army, relyingheavily on tactics successfully developed in the rugged moun ta in warfar e days of World War II. is toughan d well-equipped . To stay thatway. Belgrade is considering the resump tion of American arms purcha ses. A new jet fighter is beingbuil t in conju nction with neighboring Romania.And beginning last fall, a coursein "a ll-na tion defense" against future a ttack was begun in selecteduniversities to provide graduateswho will teach the subject in a llschools - from elementary to university level."Th e involvement of women andyoungste rs is in itself a calculateddeterrent to an invader who mightnot want to risk the internationa lopprobrium that the slaughter of innocent women and children wouldbr ing," a Western mil itary specialistsa id . "The a ll-na tion defe nse ideawou ld essen tially be a holding opera tion to a llow the military to organize full-sca le resista nce."

On e th ing is for certa in. If Yugoslavia were ever brou ght back intothe Moscow-dominated East Euro pean bloc, the rami fication s wou ldbe imm ediate and d isas trous for theWest. NATO simply could not survive with a Yugoslavia in the Warsaw Pact - one reason be ing thatth e Soviet navy would be ab le to useYugoslav ports on the Ad riatic justac ross from pol itica lly .unsta b leItaly.The re is an old saying that whensomething moves in the Balkans.Europe quivers. This is why thepost-T ito era looms so large for a llof Europe.Romania's " Ti to"No two neighboring cou ntries cou ldbe more dissimi lar in so many respects than Yugoslavia and Roman ia - the next step on our trip.Ye t the two share one very importan t common factor : a powerful political personality a t the helm.What T ito has been to Yugoslav iafor many years, Nicolae Ccausescusince 1965 has been to Romania.Critics in other East bloc countriesclaim that a "cult of personality"has been constructed around the 58year old leader. And not without

11


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WITH MODERN BELGRADE skyline in the background. ancient Kalemegdan Fort ress overlooks Sava River.so me j ustification. Cca usescu is noton ly Rom an ia 's party chief. but a lsopresid ent . commander-in-chief ofthe army, and direct or of Romania 'seconomic policy.If a "persona lity cul t" ca n bemea sure d in terms of the number ofpictures and posters of th e person inpublic, then Mr. Ccauscscu wouldrat e ve ry high . Cea usescu picturesin Rom ania a re what Lenin postersa rc in the Soviet Union .Tight ReinsM r. Ceausescu is a powerful fi gur e a t the head of a regim e th at.despite ma ny Western ties. brooks-no oppo sition an d maintains. insta rk contrast to Yugoslavia. verytigh t in terna l control.

On e sensed th e difference immediately upon landing at Bucharest 'sa irport on a night from Belgrade.

On th e apron sa t three newBoeing 707s - illust rating Westerneco no mic t ics. BUI viewing th emarching (a nd a t times double-timing) sold iers sporting submaehineguns bo th on the outside of the ai rpon as well as in the lobby. onequick ly grasped he had entered acou nt ry wit h ve ry rigid controls.Bucharest ai rport was also theonly port of entry where we haveeve r bee n sea rched on the war in!And for some curious reason, wewere load ed onto an a irport t ram12

upon leaving th e plane . eve n thoughwe wo uld only have had to wa lkabou t 100 feet to reach the terminaldoor. The tri p was so short that thetram dr ive r circled back aro und theplane to mak e the jo urney see mlo nger. The entire run was con duc ted under the wa tchful stare ofa rmed sentries.

The price of Romani a's progress.it was apparent. is curtailment offreedom - evcn for tou rists.But the men at th e a pex of Romanian pol itics have set their course.To their way of think ing. tight contro ls in all spheres of socie ty arenecessary to gua rantee Romania'ssovereignty.Res isting Russian PressureM r. Cca usescu do cs not enjoy th eprivi lege of his cou nt ry bein g completely independen t as is the casewi th Yu gos la via. Rom ania is amember , though a somewha t balkyone , of the Soviet-led \Varsaw Pact.as well as Comecon. the East-bloctrad e grouping .But M r. Ceausescu has stead fastlyre fused to a llow Warsaw Pact maneuvers on Romanian so il o r togra n t the Russians a milita ry supplycorrid or to Bulaa ria . No Soviettroops a re in Rom ania .

Ccauscscu has also refused to acce pt II decision to crea te an 10 -tegrated command str ucture in th e

Warsaw-Pact. or a centra l headq uar ter s sta ff such as NATO employs. As a result the Warsaw Parema in s a loo se ly co o rd in a t egrouping , almost entirely under Soviet control.In some respec ts then. Roman iato the Warsaw Pact what Franceto NATO - in the a lliance, budra gging its heel s on the commandstructure issue .As a further irri tation to MoscowCeausescu has cont inua lly ca lled foth e simultaneous a boli tion of botth e Wa rsaw Pa ct an d NAT O - aidea the R uss ia ns don 't accepMoscow stressing that NATO ha sbe d isso lved first.Economic SelfOeterminationIn th e broad fie ld of trade a nd ecnom ics. Rom an ia ha s been evemorc of a thorn in the Russian sideEver since he took ove r the re ignof po\,,cr. Mr. Cca usescu has vigoously pursued a Rom an ia-first poicy begun in the ea rly 1960s.

The Romanians have steadfas tdeterm ined to push their own ra pindu strializa tion p rogram . ra ththa n ju st be ing th e ga rden spo t angaso line pump for the East - thtwi n roles the Russia ns wantedgive them in Comecon.T he rea son for M r. Ceausescuintra nsigence is very clear : It is on

(Cont inued on page 1The PLA IN TRUTH June 19


15/48

-.

BUCHARESTVIGNETTESClockwise from above:an apprehensive young citizenof Bucharest clasps father's thumbswhile balancing on a bicycle;woman at an open-air village museumrepairs relocated Romanian farmhouse in traditional manner; in frontof the na tional theater, womengardeners tend to a flower patch .Women work side by side with menon many heavyprojects in Romania'sintensive industrialization program;balloon salesman makes changefor customers. Simple pleasuresmake do for a populationcontinuously asked to sacrificeindividual goa ls for nationaladvancement.


16/48

THE OIL FIELDS OF PLOESTI. abou t an hour 's train ride north 01 Bucharest . Petro leum and pe tro leum products akey elements in Romania's growth-oriented economy.

th rouah a high level o f self-suffi cie ncy. he m ;i n tains, that a smallsta te can uphold a position of someind epend e nce within an a lliancedo mina ted by a big power.He ma intain s. fu rthe rmo re, tha tthere mu st be tota l eq ua lity of na tio nal communis t part ies. never subservience.How to Stay in PowerIn many o the r respects. Romaniaand in particular r. Ceausescuha ve been ab le pretty mu ch to ha veth eir 0 \\'11 way. Soviet d isp leasu renotwith standing.In th e whole Eas t bloc . only Yugos lav ia has a g rea ter propor tio n ofits trade wi th the West. A major keyto that westward trade lurch was esta blishing diploma tic lies with WestG ermany. which was accom plishedin 1967. to th e chagri n of Moscowwhi ch un til tha t lime was the onlyEastern country which formally recog nized Bonn .The nex t yea r, Rom an ia refusedto jo in th e \\ 'a rsaw Pact invasion of

Czechos lova kia.In 1971. Ceau sescu mad e anotherdaring political foray - a visit tomainland China . the chief Sovietriva l for inte rnat ional comm uni stleadersh ip.Th e Romanian head of sta te has

so fa r played his ca rds masterfu lly.14

In power for eleven yea rs now , hehas learned . says one Western diplomat ic so urce. "n ot to spi t in the eyeof th e Kremlin a ny more tha n yo uha ve to." Ceausescu too has learnedfrom the Hunga ria n a nd Czech expe riences tha t there are lim its towha t one can do.T he major facto r in his favor is apoli tical one. Ceausescu has alwaysmade it clear to the Russians tha t.de spite pu rsuing his own di ploma ticand economic goals. the authority ofthe Communist Pa rty in Romaniawill never be diluted . Such was notthe case with Czechoslova kia in1968 when the Dubcek regime wasra pid ly liberalizing its pol itica l ma-ch inery.Ambitious PlanFew rea lize j ust how rapid ly theRomani an economy has grmvn inrecent ye a rs - and wh at its leadersare shoo ting fo r in the fu tu re. T hegoa l is nothing less than to jo in inthe ranks of the fully de velop ed na tion s by the early I990s.No t bad for a nati on that up tothe outbreak of Wo rld Wa r II wasone of the poorest countries in allEurope.Even i11 1950. Romania 's per ca pita income was on ly $80 - about thelevel of Ban gladesh today ' If it

we ren' t for her abundance of pc tro-

le u rn. it would n't even have beeth at high . By 1973, the figure haj umped tenfold to $800; by 1990is expected to rise to $3,500.As of late 1975. Roman ia's annua l g rowth ra te was a rem ar ka b14%. O ne thi rd o f her GN Pplowed back into indu strial invesme nt eve ry year. Chemica l and ptrochemical industr ies - Roman iaindu st r ia l base - a rc growing a t20% annua l clip. Ind ustry will cot inue to suck workers in from thfarms. which still employ 45% of thlabo r force.Ju st by watching the crowds swiing a t Bucha rest's No rth RailwaSta t ion. one rea lizes very quickfrom the ir a ppeara nce that a heapercentage o f the m were work ingth e fields no t very many mont

ago ,Consumers PayObviously, with such an a ll-ou t efort , somebody has to pay . In thcase, it is the Rom anian con sumer.Wholesa le purchasing of Westetechnology , plus heavy fore igdebts, mean s that the best of whRomania produces ha s to be so ld,tur n. to the West.Romania's collective fa rms (asma ll priv a te plots which . it is rmored. a lso will be pressed int o tse rvice of the sta te ) produce hig



17/48

AT A SERVICE STATlON IN BUCHAREST, a telephone company route man cranks up the starter on his Romanian-madejeep-like veh ic le. To the left is a " Dacia." a French Renault automobile made under license in Romania.

qua lity app les and toma toes. Butyo u'll never see them in the foodstores of Bucharest. They are allpacked fo r expo rt. leaving onlybr uised fruit behind .T he same with mea t. Insid e aBucharest store. we noticed abouttwo dozen varieties of un appealing.ext remely fat ty sausage. but no redmeat. Th at 's for export on ly. AIthough Roman ian fishermen ca tch40 varieties of Black Sea fish. mostof the output never sta ys home .

Can ne d goods included fruit sfrom Communist Chi na . These hadto be purchased to balance theChina acco un t. (Meanwhile. hundred s of tons of Roman ian peachesarc sold elsewhe re.) Locally produced canned items had qui te a fewla bels slapped on crooked ly. someeven up sid e down . Wines looked tobe o r a util itarian nature. T he be ststun' is again sold ab roa d .

Th e current five-year p lan do es n' thold out an y more promising prospects lor the man on the street ei ther. Litt le wonder one Roman ianbusi nes sma n rema rked (priva tely. o fcourse): "We're all gelling a littletired o f con t inuously being la id towork for the next generation:'"Sonnenfeldt Doctrine"For the pa st few mon th s. hoy/ever.Rom a nia' s leaders - and those inThe PLAI N TRUTH June 1976

Yu gosla via as well - have beenmu ch more concerned about thisge neration. And uppermost in th eirco ncern s a re hints of what th ey con sid er to be a significa n t policy reversa l by Washington toward the wholeof Eastern Euro pe.

Their fears surround the reve la tio n o f a secr e t b riefing held in London in Decembe r Am er icanambassadors by a top sta te department official, Helmut Sonnen feld t.Mr. Sonnenfeldt sa id that theUnited Sta tes should en cou rage an"organic" relat ionsh ip between Russia a nd the East Europeans.T he clear implication was thatcloser tic s be tween Moscow and he rclient sta tes would prevent a ny future uprisings in the bloc. whichco uld p roduce suc h consternat ionand irra tio na l beha vior in Moscowtha I a maj o r Ea st-We s t b lowu pleadi ng to Wo rld Wa r II I cou ld occu r.Il is cho ice of the wo rd " organic"wa s a n un fortuna te o ne . Sonnenfeldt has si nce admitted . Heme a n t to say. he said. someth inglike a "more tole ran t: ' "more complicated" relationship that woulda llow the Eastern Eu ropeans mor ela tit ude for their nationa l as piration s.Nevertheless. the ve ry idea tha tthe United Sta tes seems 10 be going

way beyo nd the "spirit of Helsinki"in recognizing . the Soviet Union's" na tura l ro le" in Eastern Europeha s ange red th e two most inde pend e n t ly mind ed East Eu ropea nsta tes. Yugoslavia a nd Roman ia.Th e Communist Pa rty newspaperBorba of Yugoslavia hin ted stronglyon Ap ril 14 tha t rela tions with theUnited States cou ld be endangeredif Washington did not respect Belgrade's "independent and non aligned policy."

The Roman ia n Communist Partynewspape r Scinteia added th e sameda y: " It can be assessed that theSonnenfeldt Doctrine. by its wholeessence. is a doctrine of denying th epeoples' right to independ ence. freedevelopm en t. a doctrine of dominatio n a nd op pression . . . a doct rine ofd ividing th e world int o zo nes of influe nce among the big powers."If the "Sonnenfeldt Doctrine" indeed represen ts new U.S. po licytoward Eastern Europe. it is certa inly not based upon strength. butupo n acquiescence to the SovietU nio n. \Va sh ington . which nowseems to find the cases of Yugoslavia a nd Roman ia " uncomforta b le" in its bigger detente dealingswith the will on ly doharm in th e long run i f it turn s itsback on these two peoples.

(To he continued)t5


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HAnything as well orderedand perfectly created as is our earthand universe must have a Maker,

a Master Designer.Anything so orderly, so perfect,

so precisely balanced, so majestic asthis creation can only be the product

of a Divine Idea . . . ."tnere must be a Maker; there can

be no other way. H

Dr. Wernher von Braun


24/48

WHAT OUR READERS SAY:

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Even though we have TV and rac ro. we stili don '1ge l as much asI...hat comes Into our home through your wonderful magazineMrs Rose K. Bender ,North Hollywood. CAI get more JOy, more pleasure. and more satrstactron out of readmg The Plain Truth and The Good News than the local newspapers .So nere IS my contribution for ThePlain Truth. I would be lost wttnou tr t . Than k you very much .

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NOW that you 've had a chance to look over the newPlain Truth rnaqazme . we hope you 'll agree i t'sbetter than ever. As you can see, we 've returned to thepopular, full-color, news-magazme format. Now 48pages, each issue is packed with harc-ruttinq, inc isiveart icles trom Plain Truth 's unique perspective,The Plam Truth is unlike any other publication in theworld , It keeps you ahead ot the l imes by analyzingwor ld events in the light of Bible prophecies, Majorevents now taking place in the world were being predicted 35 years ago in The Plain Truth , And the real ,big news is yet to occu r in the near future , In addition,The Plain Truth points the way to more successful living and offers practica l solut ions to the problems ofeveryday tile.Throughout the year, we'll be giv ing you a wide selection of slimulating , thought-provoking reading. Here 's asmall samplmg of articles already m the works: Why Parents Are Running Away from Home What Does the Bible SayAbout Astrology? Noah's Ark - FOUND? Euthanasia - Do We Have a Right to Die?We'll be happy to keep sendmg you the magazine, bu tyou must tet us know righ t away that you wan t to continue receiving it. Just return the attac hed envelopeWiththe app ropriate boxes checked .As you may know, The Plain Truth has always beensupported by the contr ibutions of concerned readers ,In the past , however, we have not informed our generalreadersh ip of our tmanc lai needs. But now, sprralinqpub l ishing cos ts make it increasingly ditl icu lt for us tomake this qua lity magaz ine available to all who wantand need It. SOwe must take you in to our confidenceand ask for your support.Can you contribute 55.00 or more to The PlainTrulh with your renewal?Your generosity will be great ly app reciated, Your co ntribution (tax-deductible in U.S.) wil l help make it possible for us to conti nue the magazme in its presentformat and wil l help make The Plain Truth 's benef itsavai lable to others less fortunate. Of course, those whocannot afford a donation at this time may still feel freeto request the magazine.But whatever you r decision , we must hear from you assoon as ~ e /J /ff 7A...""'" ~ t ? - ~ ~ Editor22

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FIVEWAYS TOENRICHYOURMARRIAGEby Ga ry AlexanderWhy unhappy marriages? Whydivorce, desertion, andmarital unhappiness after ayoung couple exchange vowsof " to love until dea th do uspart"? Here are five practicalsteps you can take to be oneof a shrinki ng min ority - thehappilymarried couple.


Divo rce lawyers. marri ag ecounselors. and sociolog istsusua lly list th ree to seven majo r problem areas in a ma rr iage.Here is a d iscussio n of the five mostprominent ones.By reversing the maj or. underlying problem in each area, you willbe attack ing the root cause of mostmarr iage problems.I. l earn to CommunicateMarriage counselors list communica-lion at th e very top of needed marriage skills, One div orce lawye rwen t so far as to say: "I t ha s beenmy expe rie nce that in at least 90percen t of a ll divorce cases. the rea so n for th e termination of the marriage. i f it had to be resolved in oneph rase. would be 'lack of communication.' ,.

Hugo A. Bo rdeau x. execut ive di rector of the Marriage CounselingSe rvice. Balt imore. Maryland, sa id:"All over America . husbands a ndwives ca nnot talk to each o ther.T h is. I a m conv inced . is our NumberOne marriage problem . . . . "BUl why this gUlf between a hu sband and wife who ta lked bef oreth ey were ma rried and , chan ces are,fo r mon ths aft er they marri ed'? Isth ere nothing left to talk ab out '?

No. that isn 't the prob lem.T he rea l d ifficulty is neglect. Th ehu sband no longer seems interes tedin th e wife and vice ver sa . The husband may be more engrossed in hisfavori te TV program. hobby or job.How ca n this be overcome? On ly inone way . Both husband and wifemu st learn how to show true loveand concern fo r each other.

Genu ine love is outgoing concern ,It is pointed away from self. It is ade sire to help. to serve. to give to theone who is th e obj ect of that love.An d no one eve r "j ust happened" togiv e his lire u\vay or sha re his tim e.labor. thoughts. cares. hopes. anddreams wit h another human bein g.It ta kes work.

For you , step number one couldwe ll be to turn off tha t television setea ch night (or limit viewing to a nhou r or so each evening). Ta ke limeto discuss the day 's ac tivitie s.....smalltal k" along with the importan t developme nts . Bring th e whole familyinto the d iscussion.Communication is not ju st qu iet

di scussion in stilted circumstances.It begins th e momen t you wake up ,and it lasts all thro ugh the day. Hu sba nd s, ca ll yo ur wife from the officeif possib le. Tak e her fo r a wa lk.Don ' t be afra id to pi tch in withhousehold chores when the needar ises. Sp end an eve ning read ing together. Comment to each o ther onwhat you' re learn ing . Say " I loveyo u." Each one of th ese is unsel fishcommunication at j ts best. In short.love on e another.ll. Build Compatibility a ndCompanionship"Bu t we 'r e not compa tible," answermi llion s of un happy couples . "Weju st do n't have any thing in comrnon."

Chances ar e, before they weremarried. most couples thought theyha d eve ry th ing in common. Neverwere two people so idea lly ma tched .most coup les thought. But why theidea n ow that they a r e i ncompatible'?" Incompati ble" is probably themo st frequent ly men tioned but leastunderstood of a ll te rms regard ingma rriage prob lems. Of course , notwo per so ns are per fectly cornpa t ibl e or wh olly incompa tible.On ly by living wit h a person do youlearn his or her habits and pec uliarities . Compa tibility is not a birthr ig h t. b u t a n ad j ustm ent. Th egreates t ad ju stm ent is to expandyour own way of life to include an o th er's way 01' life. Too ma ny menand women want the ot he r party todo a ll the adjusting.Compatibility is a process tha tgrows. The degree to which a coup leincrease their compa tib ili ty is thedegree to which the ir ma rriage willbecome rew arding.II' yo u rea lly fee l yo u have nothing in common, make a list of allenjoya ble th ings tha t yo u ha ve doneor haven 't don e but you wish youcould . List bet ween 10 and 25 items.Ask yo ur spo use to do the samething. sepa ra tely. Wh en yo u haveboth comp leted this. compa re lists.In most cas es th ere will be at lea stone common point of int erest between yo u - probably severa l. Usetha t ac tivity as a bui lding block fordoing things together.

The more a couple th ink and dotoge t he r, the mor e compa tible they25


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be come . S tru eal inz toaethcr a suinstmisfortune ; r'- to... re; ch co r'nmo nuoals is ba sic to rnarriaue so lidar itv .... A survey of 250 ha pp ily marrtedwiv e s disc lo se d that t h e ove rwh elm ing re p ly to the q uestio n"Wha t do you like most abo ut yo urhu sband?" was "co rnpanionability.'Yet. so o fte n couples la ck thi sso lid feel ing th at they ar e compan ion s together th roughou t li fe,Remember. no two peo ple haveexactly the same likes an d d islikes,Bu t tha t is no t necessarily a hand ica p 10 a hap py m arri a ge, Twopeop le of quite different natures a reso metimes strongly at t racted to eacho ther. Many a uthorities say th eseco mpleme n ta ry marria ges sometim es ha ve even more potentia l tha nth e carbon-copy pairings.T he so lution o nce aga in is o u tgoi ng in terest fo r o ne's pa rtner.

Ha ppiness in marriage on thi s pointis de te rmin ed by how much twopeop le a re willing to ove rlook diffe rences a nd strive to be of onemind on a ll matters." I f two pe ople sta rt ou t wi th tremen dou s d iffe rences and reso lvethem ove r a lifetime o f living togethcr. th ey have a strengt h insid eeach of them a nd between th emth a t nothing can tak e awav." wroteone mar r iage co unse lor. "

Th er e a rc two mo re k inds o f inco mpa t ibi l ity most of ten mentionedin th e d ivorce courts: sexua l incom pa tib ility and financial in cornp.uibility. Let 's now ta ke a c loselook a t how to overcome th em .III. Develop Sexual Compatib ilityTh e re is no end ttl th e pu blishing o fbooks ab out se x - from the excruciating ly factual ma nuals to thetorrid ly unfact ual be st-se ller novels,Marriauc ma nua ls, sex stud ies.a mi do-it-yourse lf d ivo rce guide shave. as usu al. topped the recen tbest-seller list. Uncoupling promisedus a civilized no-fault d ivorce. whileThe I II(i l1/(J{e Ellemy provided a so rtor G eneva Co nvention fo r those wh ode cided to light it out toge ther.Meanwhile. the ubiqu itous sex man ua ls - bo th popu lar and porn og rap hic - told yo u everything younever wanted to kn ow a bo ut sexa nd didn ' t th ink to as k,T he v a ll so ld well, du e to the dis

mal s ta te o r bed and board in Arn er-26

ica , bu t rnunv of th ese vol umesmerely a ggrava ted the mar ital woeswhich" were urg ing us to e.:scape.

Abou t half of the 45 million marrie d couples in th e U ,S.. it iscla im ed . a rc "sexua lly incompatibleto some deg ree : ' It is " the greatca use for divorce in th is coun try : 'according to th e now-fam ou s resea rch t; am of Mas te rs a nd Johnson , Others estimat e three fourths ofall married couples are sexuallytroubled , wit h o nly about 10 pe rcentof these due to phys ica l malfunctions,But a ren ' t all those " love gu ide s"

he lping th ese couples ou t o f theirianorance? Not necessarily so ,... Dr. Stephen Neiger. executive director of the Sex Information a ndEd ucati o n C o unc il o f C anada(S IECCAN) , sa id, "Mos t of thetroubled co up les \vho come to secme for counse ling have rea d threeo r four books on how to ma ke love .and ha ve be en so damaaed bv th eme th at th ey' re fo rced to see k professiona l help"! He found th at 9 out of10 books on lovemaking were "g a rbage ... mis lead in g in formatio nsold in the uuisc of au thoritati veknowledge ." ...

Dr. Pa ul Popcnoe. general di rector o f th e American Inst itu te forFam i ly Relat ion s in Los An geles,aarccs with thi s ana lvsis, He explains tha t much sex "maybe useless or harmful fo r one of fourreaso ns: ( 1) Some of it d ea ls sola rgdy wit h abno rmali ties a nd pe rversions that it confuses th e avcraueyo ung person . (2 ) Some o f it isva g ue.: an d general th at it is not applicable , (3) Some of it is wha tmi gh t be ca lle d mech anistic . . . a nd(4) some of it is wha t mi gh t beca lled pe rfectionist. It sets up sta nda rd which few will need to attain ,"T hi s by no mean s condemn s

propcr knowledge a bout sex. T heVicto rian Age shrouded our great gra ndpa rents in igno rance. And itwasn't bl iss! But on the o the r han d ,th e pendu lum ha s over-swung to thepo int whe re vol um inous ph ysicalsex knowledge is pub lished wit hout

a ll-importan t missi ng d imensia n.Couples go into mar ria ge bc liev

ing sex is the el ixir o f li fe . ba lm fo rall ills, founta in or vo ut h, the he-alland end-all of marriage. But it o ften

doesn't wo rk ou t as the manuals sa "it shou ld, \Vha t is wron s? It usua llv in volvcs the missing ingred ient tn sex

- an outgoing con cern fo r yo urmal e. Sex is m erely the heigh t ofph ysical commun ication and compa nion sh ip sha red in the supremeexpress ion o f th a t love,M ar ital sex matu res as th e couple

increase in true love fo r each o ther.In fact , a f ulfilling sex ua l re la tionsh ip is impossi ble apa rt from an out-going, physica l ex pression of lo ve no t a se lfish expression of lust .IV, Ach ieve Financial CompatibilityFinancial problem s in mar r iage a rereal ly only a n effect of hu sbandsa n d wi ve s not communicat in g(poin t one) . Finance s a re cited asmajo r ca use of divo rce . bu t they a reonly a n effect of the o ther problem slisted above , Many peop le live hap p ily on a sma ll sa la ry wh en theyco mmunicate an d make a coope rative effort . F inancial a rguments a reusually ba sed on home governmen t- "How much cred it?" and "W hoco ntrols th e mon cv?" O ften bot hpartners wa nt control. o r pe rha psne ithe r docs.

Expe rt s c ite finances as one of th emajor problem areas in man y marria ges. A Redbook su rvey found th at"n ear ly 60 pe rcent qu a rrel a bo utrnonev." The Donelsons. a husbandwife team of mar ital lawyers. wrote." . . . hu sband s an d wives fight overlOO much j ust as freq uently as th eydo over too little" (M urried Today.Single Tomorrow. pp . 10-11), inot he r words, they d isagree ove r howth e rnoncv is to be used .Lewi s "M . Terman . in his vo lumi nous resea rch of mari tal cond itions . listed "money mat ter s" in th elO p positio n of husband -wi fe complaints. Dr. Popenoc, di rec to r of theAmer ican Inst itu te for Farnilv Relatio ns for over 45 years. clar itfeu thi spoint in . a Plain Truth interview :"M ost o r th e so-ca lled cau ses o f di vorce a rc actually symptoms fatherth a n ca uses. Fi nancia l difficu ltiesa re very commo n, bu t people don 'tbreak up fro m these diffic ulties ifthey're happily married . Few peop lear e really happily married if theyqu arr el ov e r finances rather thansim ply working the problem out to gether."

ThePLAI N TRUTH June 1976


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Practical points in handling finan ces include first o f all communicat ion of needs, accompanied by awilling ness to sha re. O nce again thismean s ha vin g outgoing co nce rn forthe othe r mate.

One primary conside ra tio n invo lves the se tt ing up of a fam il ybudge t. This enco urages communication, con sidera tion or both par tne rs' n eed s , a nd ag re eme n t onprior ities.The ma in princip les of budgeting

include paying ne cessities first ,avo idi ng excessive credi t purc hases ,an d - a n important fac to r for marital happin ess - a llowing eac h pa rtner pocket money for which he orshe is no t accountable to the o ther.M any wome n comp la in th ey canneve r buy the least item fo r themselves or their children without anacco u n t ing to th e i r hu sband s .Meanw hile, hubby stops to buysna cks, dr inks, or tr inkets wheneverhe likes. O f cou rse, there are alsowives who want to spend free ly andat the sa me time expect their husbands to accoun t for every penny.

Wh o shou ld manage the fina nces? Th is is the crux of most finan cial a rguments. Th e husbandsho uld probab ly take the lea d in se tting up th e budget. Dep ending onthe ci rcums tances. a wife m ightkeep th e records and pay th e bills.Organ ization a nd individ ual dutieswill va ry with each l'amily. Ther e isno se t pa tte rn. But, whateve r isdon e, it shou ld be done together.Sha ring financial d uties promo tesfami ly ha rm ony. It builds stro ngerfamily ties in every way . It doesn'tm att e r whic h person st ubs thechecks o r pays the cle rk if they bothcommunicate an d coope rate .

Som e me n dress in the lat eststy les. while keep ing thei r wives insha bby out-o r-sty le clothing. T his isnot fina ncial res ponsibility or compat ibility. If the wife has expensivetas tes for fu rnishings, home, clo thing , and transportation , a nd th ehus band makes only hal f as mu chmoney as she wants. this is not finan c ial compatibil ity. Both need togive in. Bot h should lea rn to dowit hout luxur ies until th e husbandhas wo rked hard eno ugh and long.enough to earn them . And the hu sban d sho uld study and work hard inhis occ up a tion so he can advanceThe PLAIN TRUTH June 1976

fin anc ially . As children become lessdep endent upon Mom , pe rh aps shewill choose to work o r resume a ca ree r as well.

In o ur ra pidly changing economy,one more financial co nside ration isimpo rtan t. As Dr. Popenoe says,"Handl ing th e finances should bereviewed regularly, in the light ofchanging conditions and the changingneeds of hom e and family." Be aw areof financ ial news enough to knowwhe n to buy a home. a ca r, child re n'sclo thes , et c, Study th e cos t o f living(and th e cos t of borrow ing). andco unse l wid ely before making majo rpurchas es or budget ch anges.

F ina nces are a very importa ntsubjcct for eve ry household in th isa ftluen t socie ty. For more in formation. write for our free booklet,Managing Your Personal Finances.V. Al low For DifferencesMen a nd women are di fferent in litera lly eve ry ce ll of their bod ies (d ueto ma le and fema le chromosomes).diffe rent in heigh t, weight, figure,sk e leta l st ruct ure, me ta bolis m,strength, some internal orga ns. ab i lity to bear chi ldren ~ and temperamen t ! I t is not a m a tt e r o fsupe rior ity or inferiority in any ofthose fields, bu t a mat ter of dillerence. The wise marr ied co uple\carns how to a ppreciate and enjoythese differences.

A much-m isunders tood book byG eorge and Nena O 'Neill explainshow to make the most o ut of th esein he ren t diffe rences, wh ile bu ildinga firmer an d more devoted par tne rsh ip. T hey ca lled it Open Marriage.

Basically. open marriage grantseach pa rtne r a degree of independe nce wit hin the ma rriage unit.Each male gives his pa rtne r th efreedo m to pu rsue his or her ownpriva te interests - jobs, hobbies,fr iends. a nd even finan ces whennecessary - indepe nden t of theother's cont rol. A mat e is not trea tedas a "possession," wi th the accom pa ny ing mistrust, jealousy, inequ a lity. or ro le p layi ng. Instea d. eac hpart ne r grants mutua l trust, eq ua lity, persona l p rivacy, iden tity, a ndfu ll " personhood" to th e ot her.

T he au thors of Open Marriage donot advocate ext ramarital "l iving toge the r," d ivorce. or communal l'TIarriage . T hey believe in the meri ts o f

th e marriage, home. an d family, bu tmore as a un it fo r pe rsona l expression tha n as a reg imen ted rolep laying pri son .In such a marri age , the wife willgro w to respect her hu sband muchmore tha n in a "closed" or oppressive mar ri age, a nd gradually shema y volun tar ily subm it par t of herfreedom to him, joyfully, not ou t offea r o f him or his legalistic d ue.Even in a tro ubled marriage, thema tes may aga in learn respect a ndlove fo r eac h othe r because they a reonce aga in ex hibiting th e unique in div iduality tha t first at t racted one toth e othe r be fore they were engaged.

In effect. the co up le may ret urn toth e head y days of their courtshipa nd romance. rat her tha n the dulldays of sameness which can kill th egrea test of roma nces .A few yea rs ago a survey of 622urb an housewives revealed tha t theyco ns ide red their ro les to be mother,hom emak er , and wife - in that order. In fact. a third of the womennever even ment ioned thei r roles aswives , the on ly role of the th ree towhich they vowed " I do" years earlier. A properly "open" marriage ~where each ma te has opportunity torealize his fu ll poten t ia l ~ ca n helpreve rse tha t trend .Your Marriage Can Be HappyA st rong family uni t tr uly is thebui ld ing block of a gre,n nation. "Astrong monogamous fami ly and thehighes t cu lture" have h istor ically always go ne toge ther . accordi ng LaDr. Pop enoe. " . . . if one dete riora ted , so did the othe r!"

If every co uple pract iced thesefive poi nts, the ascending d ivorcera te wo uld immediat ely beg in to de cli ne , and perhaps almost vanish.It is grat ifying to know that th ousands of former ly unh ap py ma rriages h a ve be e n rev ived an denr iched whe n the poi nts d iscussedin this art icle ha ve been fa ithfu llya nd thoroughl y applied. 0

AffNOW'...TO KEEP YOUR NEWPLAIN TRUTH COMINGSEE PAGES 22-23

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IN SEARCH OFA REAL CHRISTIAN

Believe it or no t, one of the world's strangest, rarestcreatures is an individual called a Christian. Thischallenging ar ticle takes you on an imaginary search for a

person who matches the b iblical defin ition.b y Garner Ted ArmstrongMllio ns upon mill ion s ofpeopl e fee l th ey are C hristians. that is, they are be lievers in the Christian religion. as

op pose d to the beliefs of Islam .Budd ha . or Ju d a ism . Bo t o nc ebeyond the vague la bel of "C hristian : ' all sim ila rity stops. "C hristian s." it seems. come in everyco nce ivab le brand. stripe. and descrip tion - eve ry size. sha pe. a ndideal.

"Christianity: ' having undergon ean evolution in meaning from thefirs t cen tury to the maze of co nfusing. con fl icting bel iefs and r r a ctices cla iming the same title today, isan increasingly d ifficult word to defin e. Hu nd red s upo n hundred s oforganizations claim the title "C hristia n" : yet they may be so opposed toone anothe r - not only in theologya nd theory. bu t a lso in some cases inac t ive int ernecin e wa rfare - tha t

con st itute the bi tte rest o f ene mies.in search of Ch ristiansBut suppose yo u were to co nd uct a nexp erimen t. By using the Bible defi-nit ion of "Ch ristia n" - meaning thep la in . sim p le, irnpossible-to-be-misun de rstood scr iptures clear ly defi n-in g ju st what meant by the name- s up pose yo u emba rked on asea rch to lind such people?First , you would forea rm yo urselfby goi ng th rou gh yo ur Bible, ca refu lly no ting the ma ny scr iptures tluudefine the word "Christian" - especially combing the New Te stame n twhich contains the ve ry heart. roo t.and co re of the teach ings o f C hrist.You may even wan t to co nsu lt ad ictionary o r a popul a r en cycloped ia .

Fine! You a rc now rea dy to be-28

gin. Bu t how would yo u do it. a ndwhere would you look?Sho u ld such a sea rch beg in with

th e large. multim ill ion -m em ber orga nizations whose stee pled edifi cesdo t th e lan d? Or instead a mongtin y, strugg ling missionary groups?O r pe rhaps amo ng t he vario usn ewl y o rganized you t h g ro u psclaiming to be God 's ow n children?Wou ld yo ur sea rch a lso ta ke yo u

int o hea lth food stores or to comm unal se tt lemen ts tucked away in secluded hills? Wou ld it lea d yo u intobu sy offices on Wall S treet') Wou ldit br ing yo u face-to-face with milita ry barr icad es ma nned by so ld iersa rmed wi th submach ine guns? Ju stsuc h a scene was ca ptioned "Chris-tian gunmen" in a recen t newspaperp ic ture .God ' s DilemmaSho u ld yo u have co nducted yoursearch during th e dar kest days o fWorld Wa r I. yo u co uld ha ve seenthe following scena rio:Pictu re it in you r m ind 's eye. An

Am erica n so ld ier crouchi ng in anA lli ed t rench in Europe " s lowlyco mes in to full focus. She lls a rcshrieking overhead. a nd the nigh t ispu nct ua ted with th e shatter a ndspatter of mach ine-gun an d rillebu llet s. T his so ldier is scared halfout of his wits. Tea rs are strea kingth e mu d on his face, a nd a rosa ry isin his right hand . He is earn est lypraying to God lo r physica l sa lva tion , for p rotection from his enemy.a nd for victo ry in the wa r so he ca ngo back home to mom , girl friend .a nd job.

About th ree hu nd red ..... urds to theeas t is the enem ies' trench . In th isone yo u sudde n ly see a you ng.blonde . good-looking kid with a

straight no se a nd sta rt ling b lue eye sHe' s spo rting one o r those funn yloo king helmet s with a little spike inthe to p of it. He . too , is crouche d inthe co rne r hal f-cra zed with fea rca refully cra d ling a rosary in hihands. And he hap pen s to be praying (lie same pm.rer to th e sa meGod .Goo 's got a prob lem he re . Howwould he dec ide \..hich one of thoseboy s wa s go ing to live? Which oneof them is a real Christian?In th e Middle AgesYo ur sea rch ta kes you back to theMiddle Ages. Surely you co uld finda true Ch ristia n then . JUSI look fothe sign o r the cross; o r maybe theflashing b lade of a b lood-soa kedsword ca tchi ng the glint of the dyi ngsun as it was dismembering th ebody of yet a not her " infid el." Lookin to the d ungeons of med ieva"C hristianity: ' whe re hap less victims we re put to death on th e rackor burned at the stake. Some professing "C hristians" o f tha t da y cou ldbe found rin g ing a tow n sq ua re of atiny vi llage hamlet. thei r eyes protru ding in sad istic delight at thdeath cries of an alleged "wi tch,' athe hooded executioner tossed hibla zing torch a t her feel.T rue be lievers? T rue Christ ian sWh e re to fin d them - how to sea rch- where to begin?

A Christi an Scene?An im a g in ary time-m achi ne Insta ntly ushers you back in to thtwentieth cenlury. II's the middle owin ter - 1976. You a re escorted byau tom ob ile into the best residentiaarea of a large America n city in thM iddle West. Th e sun is sinking lowin the sky. but it's still da ylig ht.



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You a re sim ply am azed a t mil ea ft er mil e o f beautiful s tree ts gracedwi th la rge . fine. cos tly hom es . Fi nally yOll come to a s tylish. mod e rnhouse wit h a big, beautiful bay window facing the stree t. Yo u ca n'thelp bu t pee r th rou gh it int o th ela rge family living room . Sev eralemp ty cock ta il glasses a rc over onth e co ffee ta ble. A p ian o is ove r inone co rner . Dad is playing a famil ia r tu ne. and Mom is lea ning ove rhi s sho ulde r. The next-door neighbo rs arc ga th e red around the pian o .and th e kids are playi ng a round abeauti ful g ree n tree ca re fu lly lacedwith hand -mad e po pcorn str ings.You see th e inviting glow o f tinytre e ligh ts wit h the ir man y-hued co lo rs. R ibbons an d wra pp ing pap era rc sca tte red her e and the re a bo ut aro om filled with a ll sorts of mod erngifts and toys. And ove r the door isth e ob l igatory mistl e toe .It' s a lovely, white C hristmas Eveco m plet e with two inch es of snowou tside on th e grass. B UI is it Christian? Is Ch rist mas Ch ristian?' DidC hr is t celebrate Christm as') Did theo rigina l a po stle s? If yo u' re in te res ted in th is subjec t. write for ourfre e book let a bout Christma s." See Your Easter Bonnet With AllYour Frills Upon It "Ir ving Berl in 's "Eas te r Pa rade" iso ne o f th e most beau t iful melod iesever written . Yo u can' t help but be gin to hum it. Bu t wha t a bou t a llth at is associa ted with this lo velytune? Wha t abou t len t. ashes. rabb its, co lor ed eggs , white shoes . a ndM aundy T hursd ay? Do a ll th eseth ings co nsti tu te the pro pe r para ph ernal ia fo r the obse rva nce of theresurrection of Jesus C hr ist? Is Easte r o bser vance th e m ark of a trueCh rist ia n'? Wh a t about sunris e ser-. ?vices .By now it 's ear ly 'spr ing. an d yo uar e s till d ilige n tly sea rching - ca refully co nside ring an d silting through

all o r the evid ence . You find yourse lf in a hu ge , ou tdoor bowl some where in So ut he rn Ca lifo rn ia. Yourbrigh t red eye s would tell anyo newh en yo u go t up . You pee r sleep ilya t the gray fai nt hin t of the fal sed awn in the Eas t. You ' re o n theou ter fr inges o f a vas t throng of perhap s e igh t th ou sand peop le . On th esta ge in th e fa r di stance is a manThe PLAIN TRUTH June 1976

\ .... ho is o bv ious ly re ligio us. He's a lld ec ked out in ga rm en ts speci a lly d esign ed fo r a rel igious ceremony.It's j ust begi nni ng to dawn, a nd.. everybody is in the ir fa vorite re li

gio us postu re . Many a rc kneel inga nd c las pi ng th eir hands in silentpra ye r. You are visib ly impressed .bu t you sti ll have to ask yoursel f: Isthis Christian? You remember read ing some thing about a simila r occa-sio n in the eighth cha pte r of Ezekie l.And you begin to wo nder,Still SearchingYou take time out for a pla ne n igh tba ck ea st. You wa tch the pa ssen gersfor lack o f anything bet ter to do . It' safte r tak eoff". and the " No Smoking"sign has gone o ut. Th e fe llow se a tednext to yo u qu ick ly whips out awe ll-marked Bible. adj usts his reading glasses, a nd begins to read st ud iously, a ll the while making o bviousred -and-blue marks with a flou rish .You ask you rse lf if he is the ra repe rson yo u a re looking for : or is hesim p ly a re ligious fan a tic?Som e "t rue be lievers" are iden t ified by sha ved hea ds and lon grobes. while othe rs a rc si ng led o utby hu ge beards, flat- brimmed ha ts.sq na rc-toed shoes, and a rejec tion oftwent ieth-cen tury li fe .Bu t are a ll these postures o f righteou sness the mark of a true Chris

tian ? Th ere must be some reliablese t of crede nt ials."Ye Shall Know Them byTheir Fruits "Jesu s ex p la ined to h is di sci p les howto recogn ize th e difference betweena fa lse proph et and a tr ue one andby extensio n how to recognize any one who rep resen ts God . He declared : "Ye shall kn ow them by their[ntits. Do men ga ther gra pes o fthorns. o r figs of thi stles? Eve n soeve ry go od tree bringe th forth goodfr uit; b ut a co rr upt tree bringe thfo rt h evi l fru it . . . . Wheref ore bytheir [ruirs ye shall kn ow them "(Mat t. 7 : /6- 17, 20) .Wh at kind o f frui ts a re \ve talk in g

abo u t? Paul exp la ins th at th eo f the holy sp irit a re "l ove . joy ,pe ace. lon gsulfering [pat ience] , ge ntlen ess, good ness . fa ith. meekness,tem perance [self-contr ol] . . . " (G a l.5:22-23). Th ese a re the fr uits a tru eCh ristia n sho uld possess.

J esu s sa id: " I am the vine. ve arcth e b ra nches . He that a b ideth 1 1 me.and I in him, the same bringeth forthm uch [ mit; for without me you cando not hing" (John 15:5). It is on lyth rou gh C h rist tha t a Christ ian canpr odu ce the sp ir it ua l fru i t th a tm a rks hi m as a true fo llowe r of his.Bu t there is much more to the story.Ch ristianity, a Way of LifeBe lieve it or not , Christianity IS af ull-lime joh. It 's a pro fession, notj ust a " bel ie f." It's what you do allth e tim e, not what yo u do now a ndthen. or whe n the mood strikes yo u,o r wh en the socia l pressu res bu ild toth e poin t o f un bearable de gree, thussend ing yo u off " to church" once ortwice a yea r, or to "co nfession" fo r afre sh sho t of righteo usness to repl a ce th e fad ed . dulled coa tingyou' re presen tly wea ring .Isn' t it strange tha t million s ofprofess ing "Christians" do not se em

to know that Chris tian ity is a way ofli fe ! It 's a way of thinking, ac ting,talking, working . playing, lovin g - awa y o f doing!The Sermon on the MountChrist's tea chings co ncerning love o fenem ies, turn ing the other chec k,a nd the p recep ts of th e "Go ldenRule" are so we ll known th at th eyseem a commonplace . a lmo st a casuall y repeat ed pa rt of mod ern-day"C h r is tianity ."Mill ion s o f profess ing Christianshe a r sermo ns pr ea ched fro m the fa

mo us " Bea titude s" fo und in thefifth cha p te r of Matthew. Th ey arein spired . enco uraged, an d perhaps alittle chagrine d now an d then asth ey listen to beau tifull y del ive red .ca re fully ph rased, sa nctimoniouslyp rono unced d isser ta tion s about th e" poo r in spirit," or "t he mercifu l" o rth e "pure in hear t."O f co urs e, a ll th ose co ncep ts.when righ t ly understood , are a ll ab so lu te ly requi red o f ev er y tr ue

Ch ristia n. Bu t Jesus Ch r ist k new inadv a nce th a t his teachings wo uld bewa te red down , spiritualize d away ,and trampled un der foot in a mazeof co n fus ion a nd conflictin g beliefs .He kn ew a nd fo rewa rned th at menwo uld pro fess h is name - wo u ldclaim to be "C h ristian" - bu t wou ldad aman tly ref use to obey what hesa id .

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"Wh v ca ll ve me . Lord . Lord . a nddo 110/ th e whi ch I sav?'ask ed J esu s (Luk ; 6:46) . Jesus k.{ewpeop le wou ld "be lieve on him.'adore his person. and ye t pena l orignore his message . "Ta ke heed th a tno man de ceive yo u. For mal lY Ino tj ust ;j few ] shall com e in my nam e.say ing, I am Christ: and sha ll d eceiv e (M"t l. 24:4. 5 ).

Co n t inua lly. God 's Word s howstha t there is a huze. un br idgeab legap between those... \1'110 profess the/lame "Christian" and those who ar ewill ing to fire a C hrist ia n li fe .Is Today 's Christianit y ReallyCh ri sti an ?Th e di scip les wer e first called" C h r is t ia n"" at Anti oc h (A ct sII :26 ).Th e word "Christian'" as a pp lied to these men a nd wom en .meant some thing dtffer-cnt than it mea ns to the millionstoday. If yo u could know how ut te rly. comp letely. and absolute lyd ifferen t they really we re. it wouldboggle yo u r mi nd !. They kep t cus toms a lmost universa lly abhorred by so -ca lled "Ch ristia ns" tod ay ! Thei r en tire life-s tylewa s di ff erent. They kept God 's tru esa bbath - th e seven th da y of th ewee k - proved both by many sc ri ptures in th e book of Ac ts a ndth rou ghout Paul's wr itin gs . and a ttested- to by pro fan e (Writefor our two free boo klets on theCh ristian sa bbat h.)T hey obse rv ed G od 's true holyd ays. th e annua l sabba ths, Theyded icated the ir lives to doing tbework of p reaching the gos pe l of th ekingdom of God as a witness to th e

y i ~ g civi lization o f th e ir time .Histo ry pr oves ther e was a totat

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Plain Truth 1976 (Prelim No 05) Jun_w