I occasionaly get a magazine left on the porch of my house. This time it was an awake. IS THE WORLD OUT OF CONTROL?
It is not that it is earth shaking or surprising in the content - but there were some things that stood out to me. One is the font choice for the main article. It is in all caps but the first part of the title - it's line stroke is only as wide as an eyelash and the last two words more in bold. Something like this "IS THE WORLD OUT OF CONTROL OR NOT?"
Apparently the WT is attacking the thought that life has improved and that people are working to better things. Here is the last paragraph on the first page.
"In fact, millions of people believe in a bright future. They profess to have evidence showing that mankind and our planet will survive indefinitely and that our quality of life will improve. Is that evidence credible? Is the world out of control or not?"
Of course the doomsday clock is the illustration and at the bottom, the reason why the scientists call it that. The next page shows illos of tornados, factory pollution and a person in a hospital bed. Oh and half a mushroom atomic cloud.
Opening sentence on this page. "IF YOU (caps their's) are apprehensive or scared outright by the barrage of bad news, you are not alone. In 2014, Barack Obama, who was then president of the United States, suggested that because of all the bad things reported in the press, many conclude "that the world is spinning . . . . fast and nobody is able to control it."
Titles in red that go with the pictures mentioned before hand. OUR HEALTH UNDER SIEGE. HUMAN'S ATTACKS ON NATURE. NATURE'S ATTACKS ON HUMANS. WEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION.
Concluding sentence in article. "Surely you can think of other grave threats to our survival. Yet, you will not find statisfying answers about the future by analyzing all the bad things happening today." Of course it finishes with the question of where can you find the answers to these problems....
Again with the spidery lettering and bold "IS THE WORLD OUT OF CONTROL? What Does the Bible Say?" Now they have the second part in the more friendly Upper Lowercase.
Opening comment paragraph has an interesting shift from black text, to red. "THE dire state of the world today was foretold in the Bible many centuries ago. And what is more, the bible specifically predicted a bright future for mankind. (RED) What the Bible says should not be quickly dismissed in view of the fact that so much of what it foretells has actually been fulfilled in amazing detail.
There's a list of evidences from the bible next - punctuated by red text of more negative remarks about the world. Next page shows the doomsday clock past 12:00 but there is a man in a surprised position in paradise next to it. Of course it is because JW's are a global community that worship God and expect him to save them.
The next two pages are on how to make sure you teach your children humility. Which is fine except I'm sure the WT's aim is to make sure JW children aren't given positive unconditional love. It is true that if you only praise children and don't give guidelines on conduct, they will tend to expect everything is for them. But how many JW kids get pampered? It is not that the information is incorrect but I don't trust the motive behind it. Because of course, there is the common put down in JW land that you are a speck of dust that doesn't deserve anything so be humble.
Last article is about Alhazen. Man who was a scientist/inventor. Made the first recorded camera obscura. Wrote seven books about Optics that laid the ground work for lenses etc. Best sentences for the magazine is found at the end.
"He was one of the first investigators to test theories by experimentation, and he was not afraid to question accepted wisdom if the evidence did not back it up."
"A tenet of modern science can be summed up by the dictum: "Prove what you believe!" Some consider Alhazen to be "the father of the modern scientific method." On that basis, we have much to thank him for."