Not to hijack the topic, but do you ever get the feeling that we are all just pieces on a giant gameboard of Risk?
Country Girl
6 pubs reveal one of the possible reasons for WTS association with UN
by Pole 30 Replies latest watchtower scandals
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Pole
OK. I know my English is far from perfect and my reasoning is highly incoherent, but let me ask you my main question again:
Do you think that the co-occurrence of articles praising the UN and articles about the persecution of JWs in some countries is just coincidence?
a) yes
b) no
c) I don't know / more evidence needed
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Elsewhere,
Nathan asked a similar (very relevant) question. An attempt was made to answer it earlier on this thread . See if it works for you.
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Nathan Natas
Watchtower & Awake! references for 1990
(Note that this is only the two magazines - no WTS books or booklets are included in this list so that it will not be overly long.)According to the official WTB&TS reference CD, the 1990 Watchtower used the phrase "United Nations" 11 times. The AWAKE! used it 30 times. I will offer the entire paragraph containing each instance of the phrase so that the reader can judge if the tone is positive, neutral, or negative.
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The WATCHTOWER, January 1, 1990 "Happy Are Those Who Have Endured" page 18
IN HIS book The Present Age, Robert Nisbet speaks of ?the Seventy-Five Year War that has gone on, rarely punctuated, since 1914.? Yes, ?wars and reports of wars,? including world wars?that is what Jesus Christ foretold for this time of the end. (Matthew 24:3-8) The League of Nations was brought forth in 1920 ?to prevent war forever.? How miserably it failed! The United Nations was organized in 1945 ?to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war.? But Max Harrelson?s book Fires All Around the Horizon relates: ?There has scarcely been a day since the end of World War II when there was not fighting somewhere.?
(...)
[Study Questions]
1. Since 1914, what situation on earth has fulfilled Matthew 24:3-8, and what claims for the League of Nations and the United Nations have failed?
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AWAKE! January 8, 1990 "Homeless Children--Who is to Blame?" page 3
HOMELESS children are looked upon as the outcasts of society and have been tagged ?nobody?s children? or ?throwaway kids.? Their number is staggering and frightful?perhaps 40 million. An exact figure, though, is hard to come by. Unfortunately, however, all experts agree that the problem is increasing worldwide, especially in Latin America. The sight of homeless children huddled in doorways or begging for money is so pitiful that society turns them into cold statistics on a casualty list, shrugs, and moves on. But society can no longer afford to do that. According to UNICEF (United Nations International Children?s Emergency Fund), 60 percent of the homeless between 8 and 17 years of age use hallucinatory substances, 40 percent use alcoholic beverages, 16 percent are drug addicts, and 92 percent use tobacco. And since they have no marketable skills, they often survive by begging, stealing, or prostitution. Growing up as ?nobody?s children,? they are in danger of becoming outlaws, and outlaws are a threat to the security of any community.
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AWAKE! January 8, 1990 "Homeless Children--Why So Hard to Help?" page 7
The UN Declaration of the Rights of the Child:
· The right to a name and nationality.
· The right to affection, love, and understanding and to material security.
· The right to adequate nutrition, housing, and medical services.
· The right to special care if handicapped, be it physically, mentally, or socially.
· The right to be among the first to receive protection and relief in all circumstances.
· The right to be protected against all forms of neglect, cruelty, and exploitation.
· The right to full opportunity for play and recreation and equal opportunity to free and compulsory education, to enable the child to develop his individual abilities and to become a useful member of society.
· The right to develop his full potential in conditions of freedom and dignity.
· The right to be brought up in a spirit of understanding, tolerance, friendship among peoples, peace, and universal brotherhood.
· The right to enjoy these rights regardless of race, color, sex, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, and property, birth, or other status.Summary based on Everyman?s United Nations
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AWAKE! January 22, 1990 "Watching the World" page 28
?UN TO PLAY A CENTRAL ROLE?
Diplomats attending the 44th United Nations General Assembly stated that the three most important world issues crying out for a solution are debts of developing countries, drug trafficking, and environmental protection. There was broad consensus that the UN must become involved in solving them. The president of the General Assembly said that all members had ?underlined the need for the United Nations to play a central role as mankind?s last hope for peace and justice."
(...)
GREED PUSHES MANKIND TO BRINK
At a recent conference in Vancouver, Canada, Digby McLaren, president of the Royal Society of Canada, stated: ?We see man as the destroyer and upsetter of our whole world.? Sponsored by UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization), the conference of international scientists and scholars concluded that the quest for material wealth has led mankind to the brink of destruction. Mr. McLaren added that scientific and technological advancement has triggered a preoccupation with material prosperity, to the neglect of cultural and spiritual values. The group called for mankind to set aside national, racial, and religious boundaries in order to cooperate in restoring the earth.
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The WATCHTOWER, March 15, 1990 "Sign of the Last Days" page 8
In the major fulfillment of the sign, the disgusting thing is the League of Nations and its successor, the United Nations. This world peace organization is viewed by Christendom as a substitute for God?s Kingdom. How disgusting! In time, therefore, the political powers associated with the UN will turn on Christendom (antitypical Jerusalem) and will desolate her.
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AWAKE! March 22, 1990 "Do the Forests Have a Future?" page 14
A 24-nation summit meeting at The Hague, Netherlands, last year proposed the creation of a new authority within the United Nations, to be called Globe. According to the London Financial Times, Globe would have ?an unprecedented range of powers to establish and enforce environmental standards.? Although nations would have to give up some of their cherished national sovereignty in order for Globe to have any real power, some say that it is inevitable that such an organization will emerge one day. Only a unified, global agency could address global problems.
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AWAKE! March 22, 1990 "Judged Out of Their Own Mouths" page 20
?The international framework of the United Nations should be made more effective. They have proven that they can be helpful in solving regional conflicts, in assisting the development efforts of many countries, in dealing with environmental problems. Therefore, there is a need for the governments of the world to increase their support of the United Nations and to translate this support into tangible form.? (83)
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The WATCHTOWER April 1, 1990 "Peace--What Are the Chances?" pages 5-6
After that war, the League of Nations was established as a forum in which the nations could talk out their differences instead of fighting over them. The League ceased to function when the second world war broke out, but after the war, its spirit was revived in the United Nations, which still exists.
However, all these efforts failed to bring real or lasting peace. While the Peace of God movement was existing in Europe, Europeans fought Muslims in bloodthirsty Crusades. And while politicians were trying to preserve peace in Europe by the balance of power, they were waging war and building empires in lands outside Europe. The League of Nations was unable to prevent the second world war, and the United Nations did not prevent vicious massacres in Kampuchea or conflicts in places such as Korea, Nigeria, Vietnam, and Zaire.
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AWAKE! April 8, 1990 "Watching the World" page 28
SAD STATE OF AFFAIRS
UNICEF (United Nations International Children?s Emergency Fund) predicts a bleak future for children. In its annual State of the World?s Children report, UNICEF sees a hundred million children dead from illness and malnutrition during this decade unless $2.5 thousand million is spent each year on low-cost cures that are now available. How large an outlay is this? It equals the amount spent yearly by U.S. companies on cigarette advertising, reports The Wall Street Journal.
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The WATCHTOWER April 15, 1990 "The Dream of World Peace?A Flawed Vision" page 3
OPTIMISM over the prospects for world peace is running high. In her column for The Toronto Star, Carol Goar wrote: ?Peace agreements are proliferating from Afghanistan to Angola. Regional conflicts that seemed intractable a few months ago are showing signs of abating. And the United Nations is undergoing a heartening rebirth.? This, says Goar, has triggered a ?global epidemic of hope.? An editorial in USA Today similarly proclaimed: ?Peace is breaking out all over the world.?
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AWAKE! May 22, 1990 "Watching the World" page 28
After difficult negotiations, all 159 member nations of the UN unanimously agreed to draft a treaty on stabilizing the earth?s climate. They are to meet in Brazil in 1992 to discuss ways to prevent warming of the atmosphere and reduce the impact of economic development on the environment. But there the agreement ends, and many delicate issues still need to be resolved. According to journalist Paul Lewis, the developing countries see the concern of the industrialized world over the environment as a chance to press for economic concessions. In return for their cooperation, they want access to new environmentally safe technologies, as well as debt relief and higher prices for their exports. The United Nations has warned that a thousand million people?almost a fifth of the world?s population?could become refugees in the upcoming century if the greenhouse effect makes sea levels rise dramatically.
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The WATCHTOWER July 1, 1990 "The Coming Finale of 'The Book of the Wars of Jehovah'" page 22
19 No, this official capital city of the Jewish member of the United Nations is not the Jerusalem mentioned in Zechariah?s prophecy. Rather, Zechariah is referring to the Jerusalem that we read about in the book of Hebrews. There, Paul addresses anointed Christians and says: ?You have approached a Mount Zion and a city of the living God, heavenly Jerusalem, and myriads of angels.? (Hebrews 12:22) This heavenly Jerusalem is none other than God?s Messianic Kingdom, represented on earth today by a small band of anointed Christians who cherish the hope of being fellow rulers with Jesus Christ in that Kingdom. These will be the object of the prophesied attack.
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The WATCHTOWER July 1, 1990 "Settling the Universal Issue for Good" page 26-27
12 Without exaggeration, it may now be said that war from far beyond the realm of man and involving the use of precisely aimed weapons outclassing his nuclear bombs looms before all earthly nations, whether inside or outside the United Nations organization. Listen: ?Let God arise, let his enemies be scattered, and let those who intensely hate him flee because of him. As smoke is driven away, may you drive them away; as wax melts because of the fire, let the wicked ones perish from before God.??Psalm 68:1, 2.
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The WATCHTOWER August 1, 1990 "Happy Are the Peaceable" page 22
IN 1901 the Nobel Prize for Peace, presented for the first time, was shared by Jean-Henri Dunant, founder of the Red Cross, and economist Frédéric Passy. Since then it has been awarded 69 times, 55 times to 71 different individuals, either singly or jointly, and 14 times to 16 groups or organizations. Some groups have won it more than once, such as the International Red Cross Committee (1917, 1944, and 1963) and the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (1954 and 1981). Evidently for lack of a worthy recipient, the Nobel prize committee declined to make an award 19 times.
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The WATCHTOWER August 15, 1990 "Should Fate Rule Your Life?" page 6
That being so, human acts should also do the opposite: minimize calamities. Is that the case? Indeed. Consider these facts: UNICEF (United Nations Children?s Fund) reports that for years hundreds of children in the interior of Bangladesh became blind. Was this caused by unchangeable fate? Not at all. After UNICEF workers convinced mothers there to feed their family not only rice but also fruits and vegetables, the eye disease began losing its grip. By now, this change of diet has saved hundreds of children in Bangladesh from blindness.
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AWAKE! August 22, 1990 "Can You Trust the News You Get?" page 6
Free interchange of news on a worldwide scale is also a problem and was the subject of a heated debate at UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization). Developing countries complained that they were only mentioned in the news when catastrophes or serious political problems occurred. After saying that certain Western press agencies carry much more news about countries in the Northern Hemisphere than about those in the Southern Hemisphere, an article in the French daily Le Monde added: ?This has given rise to a serious imbalance affecting public opinion in industrialized countries as much as in developing countries.?
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AWAKE! September 8, 1990 "Today's Youth--Meeting the Challenges of the 1990's" page 7
NOVEMBER 1985. Dignitaries from 103 lands gathered at the United Nations headquarters to map out ?a global strategy addressing the problems of the world?s young people.??UN Chronicle.
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AWAKE! September 22, 1990 "Watching the World" page 28
UNIQUE NEW STATE
On Monday, April 23, 1990, Namibia was accepted into the United Nations as the 160th member state. The new state, which gained its independence from South Africa on March 21, 1990, is unique in a number of ways. For one, it is larger than Pakistan, yet has a population of less than two million. Only Greenland and Mongolia are larger than Namibia and have a lower population density. Namibia is also unique in the variety of languages spoken by its relatively small population, a number of them known for their unusual click sounds. ?There are too many indigenous African languages and dialects to enumerate,? says a Namibian tourist brochure. Yet, the official language is English.
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The WATCHTOWER November 15, 1990 "Can the Poor Afford to be Honest?" page 6
The State of the World?s Children Report 1989 by UNICEF (United Nations Children?s Fund) declares: ?After decades of steady economic advance, large areas of the world are sliding backwards into poverty.? In Africa and Latin America, average income fell by 10 to 25 percent in the 1980?s. And during the past few years, in 37 of the world?s poorest nations, spending on health has dropped by 50 percent.
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AWAKE! December 8, 1990 "What We Know About Race" page 6
UNESCO Declarations
Perhaps the most authoritative scientific declarations on race were made by a group of experts gathered together by UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization). Meetings were held in 1950, 1951, 1964, and 1967 at which an international panel of anthropologists, zoologists, doctors, anatomists, and others jointly produced four statements on race. The final statement emphasized the following three points:
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AWAKE! December 8, 1990 "Part 9: Human Rule Reaches Its Climax!" page 21
On September 1, 1939, World War II began, plunging the League into a pit of inactivity. Although not formally dissolved until April 18, 1946, it died, to all intents and purposes, as a ?teenager,? not even 20 years old. Before its official burial, it had already been replaced by another supranational organization, the United Nations, formed on October 24, 1945, with 51 member states. How would this new girding attempt fare?
A Second Try
Some people say that the League failed because it was defective in design. Another view places the main blame not on the League but on the individual governments that were reluctant to give it proper support. No doubt there is some truth in both views. At any rate, the founders of the United Nations tried to learn from the ineffectiveness of the League and to remedy some of the weaknesses the League had manifested.
Writer R. Baldwin calls the United Nations ?superior to the old League in its capacity to create a world order of peace, cooperation, law, and human rights.? Of a truth, some of its specialized agencies, among them WHO (World Health Organization), UNICEF (United Nations Children?s Fund), and FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization), have pursued commendable goals with a measure of success. Also seeming to indicate that Baldwin is correct is the fact that the United Nations has now been operating for 45 years, over twice as long as the League.
(...)
Of course, some argue that the threat of nuclear warfare did more to prevent the Cold War from heating up than did the United Nations. Rather than keeping the promise embodied in its name, the uniting of nations, the reality is that this organization has often done nothing more than serve as a middleman, trying to keep disunited nations from flying at one another?s throats. And even in this role of referee, it has not always been successful. As author Baldwin explains, like the old League, ?the United Nations is powerless to do more than an accused member state graciously permits.?
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Varindra Tarzie Vittachi, a former deputy director of UNICEF, wrote in 1988 that he refuses ?to join the general lynching party? of those who disavow the United Nations. Calling himself ?a loyal critic,? he admits, however, that a widespread attack is being made by people who say that ?the United Nations is a ?light that failed,? that it has not lived up to its own high ideals, that it has not been able to carry out its peacekeeping functions and that its development agencies, with a few noble exceptions, have not justified their existence.?
The chief weakness of the United Nations is revealed by author Ivor, when he writes: ?The UN, whatever else it can do, will not abolish sin. It can make international sinning rather more difficult, however, and it will make the sinner more accountable. But it has not yet succeeded in changing the hearts and minds either of the people who lead countries or of the people who make them up.??Italics ours.
Thus, the defect in the United Nations is the same as the defect in all forms of human rule. Not one of them is capable of instilling within people the unselfish love for right, the hatred for wrong, and the respect for authority that are prerequisites to success. Think of how many global problems could be alleviated if people were willing to be guided by righteous principles! For example, a news report about pollution in Australia says that the problem exists ?not through ignorance but through attitude.? Calling greed a fundamental cause, the article says that ?government policy has exacerbated the problem.?
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?Be Shattered to Pieces!?
Now, during the 20th century, the climax of human rule has been reached. Human governments have schemed to form the most brazen and defiant conspiracy against divine rule that has ever existed. (Compare Isaiah 8:11-13.) They have done so, not once, but twice, creating first the League of Nations and then the United Nations. Revelation 13:14, 15 calls the result ?the image of the wild beast.? That is fitting because it is an image of the entire human political system of things on earth. Like a wild beast, elements of this political system have preyed upon earth?s inhabitants and caused untold misery.
The League ended in disaster in 1939. The same fate awaits the United Nations in fulfillment of Bible prophecy: ?Gird yourselves, and be shattered to pieces! Gird yourselves, and be shattered to pieces! Plan out a scheme, and it will be broken up!??Isaiah 8:9, 10.
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[Box on page 23]
About the United Nations
· The UN currently has 160 members. The only countries of any size that do not yet belong are the two Koreas and Switzerland; a Swiss plebiscite held in March 1986 rejected membership by a 3 to 1 margin.
· Besides its main organization, it operates 55 additional special organizations, special agencies, human rights commissions, and peace-keeping operations.
· Every member nation is granted one vote in the General Assembly, yet the most populous nation, China, has about 22,000 inhabitants for every one inhabitant of the least populated member, St. Kitts and Nevis.
· During the celebration of the United Nations International Year of Peace in 1986, the world experienced 37 armed conflicts, more than at any time since the end of World War II.
· Of all UN member nations, 37 percent have fewer citizens than does the united international ?nation? of Jehovah?s Witnesses; 59 percent have fewer citizens than the number of persons who this year attended the Memorial celebration of Christ?s death.
[Pictures on page 24]
It has been beyond the power of imperfect humans to provide perfect government
League of Nations
United Nations
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Pole
Nathan,
Great job!
My first impression is this: the closer we get to 1991 the more neutral to positive mentions of the UN and its activities can be foud. I'm pretty sure there would be 6 or more examples which could be presented as evidence of WTS informing about the workings of the UN.
Here are some:
AWAKE! January 8, 1990 "Homeless Children--Who is to Blame?" page 3
AWAKE! January 8, 1990 "Homeless Children--Why So Hard to Help?" page 7
AWAKE! January 22, 1990 "Watching the World" page 28
AWAKE! December 8, 1990 "Part 9: Human Rule Reaches Its Climax!" page 21
THe last one is particularly lenghty. It contains one statement which goes:
As author Baldwin explains, like the old League, ?the United Nations is powerless to do more than an accused member state graciously permits.?
but notice how it is swiftly followed by this:
Varindra Tarzie Vittachi, a former deputy director of UNICEF, wrote in 1988 that he refuses ?to join the general lynching party? of those who disavow the United Nations . Calling himself ?a loyal critic,? he admits, however, that a widespread attack is being made by people who say that ?the United Nations is a ?light that failed,? that it has not lived up to its own high ideals, that it has not been able to carry out its peacekeeping functions and that its development agencies, with a few noble exceptions, have not justified their existence.?
The chief weakness of the United Nations is revealed by author Ivor, when he writes: ?The UN, whatever else it can do, will not abolish sin. It can make international sinning rather more difficult, however, and it will make the sinner more accountable. But it has not yet succeeded in changing the hearts and minds either of the people who lead countries or of the people who make them up.??Italics ours.
I would say they could have presented this one.
Pole
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Farkel
reboot,
: In the letter I received from the Society they stated that..
"We had been using the library for many years prior to 1991, but in that year it became necessary to register as an NGO to have continued access'..."
That is a lie. Anyone can use the UN Library. Anyone. Besides that, if that was the only reason they joined, then why did they abruptly resign with days after the scandel of their joining hit the Internet. The scandel was first revealed and most publicized on this very board, by the way.
Farkel -
Nathan Natas
Watchtower & Awake! references for 1991
(Note that this is only the two magazines - no WTS books or booklets are included in this list so that it will not be overly long.)According to the official WTB&TS reference CD, the 1991 Watchtower used the phrase "United Nations" 16 times. The AWAKE! used it 53 times. I will offer the entire paragraph containing each instance of the phrase so that the reader can judge if the tone is positive, neutral, or negative.
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The WATCHTOWER January 1, 1991 "The Joyful Nation" page 3
What of the global picture? Mikhail Gorbachev, president of the U.S.S.R., stated last July 16: ?We are leaving one epoch in international relations, and entering another, a period, I think, of strong, prolonged peace.? However, Time magazine of the same date reported that the United States still targets Moscow with 120 nuclear warheads, any one of which would totally devastate that city. And no doubt the Soviets are at the ready to reply in kind. With several members of the United Nations now having the know-how to produce nuclear weapons, there is little joy in contemplating who may first become trigger-happy.
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The Modern-Day Joyful Nation
Ancient Israel foreshadowed a modern nation. Which one? Political Israel of the Middle East? News reports indicate that that struggling nation is anything but joyful. Has the so-called United Nations brought real joy to its member states? No, true joy is nowhere to be found among today?s politicking nations. Greed, corruption, and dishonesty abound, and in many lands the common people struggle unhappily merely to exist.?Proverbs 28:15; 29:2.
However, there is today one remarkable nation that is supremely joyful. It is not political, for its Head, Christ Jesus, said of its people: ?You are no part of the world.? (John 15:19) Whereas the United Nations is united in name only, the joyful nation draws peace-loving adherents ?out of all nations and tribes and peoples and tongues.? (Revelation 7:4, 9) It now numbers more than four million, so that its population is larger than some 60 of the 159 member nations of the UN. The native languages of these four million people number about 200; yet all of them are united in speaking one ?pure language.??Zephaniah 3:9.
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AWAKE! January 8, 1991 "Watching the World" page 28
Women Are Disadvantaged
?Poor rural women are the most deprived people in the world,? states the United Nations publication, UN Chronicle. ?They are sicker and more illiterate than men and lack the opportunities males have to better themselves.? Two major studies on world poverty in 1990 by two international development agencies, the United Nations Development Program and the World Bank, have reached that bleak conclusion. ?About half a million women, 99 per cent of them in the developing world, die in childbirth each year,? reports the UN Chronicle.
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AWAKE! January 22 1991 "Dwindling Forests, Rising temperatures" page 15
Recent reports by the United Nations reveal that both crises may be worse than previously thought. For instance, over 300 climate experts from around the world issued a warning in May 1990 that the average worldwide temperature will rise by 4 degrees Fahrenheit [2° C.] in the next 35 years and 11 degrees Fahrenheit [6° C.] by the end of the next century if man does not reverse the trend.
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AWAKE! February 8, 1991 "Watching the World" page 28
40,000 Children Every Day
According to the Paris daily International Herald Tribune, the director of UNICEF (United Nations Children?s Fund) noted: ?No famine, no drought, no natural disaster has ever killed 40,000 children in a single day, yet preventable disease and malnutrition are killing that many every day?unnecessarily.? Reporting on UNICEF?s World Summit for Children, the newspaper added that the problem stems partly from the prevailing attitude that in developing countries such childhood sickness and death are ?normal and unavoidable.? The purpose of the summit was to try to improve conditions for the 1,500 million children expected to be born over the next ten years. This is, according to the Tribune, ?the largest generation of children ever entrusted to mankind.?
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The WATCHTOWER May 1, 1991 "Thrilling Visions That Strengthen Faith" page 22-23
John next beholds a wild beast to which a disgusting image is made. (13:1-18) This seven-headed, ten-horned political wild beast arises from ?the sea,? the turbulent masses of mankind from which human government springs. (Compare Daniel 7:2-8; 8:3-8, 20-25.) What is this symbolic creature?s source of authority? Why, none other than Satan, the dragon! And just imagine! To this political monstrosity a two-horned beast (the Anglo-American World Power) is seen to make an ?image,? now known as the United Nations. Many are coerced to worship the wild beast and accept its ?mark? by doing things its way and letting it rule their lives. But Jehovah?s Witnesses staunchly reject the demonic mark of the wild beast!
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AWAKE! May 8, 1991 "Watching the World" page 29
AIDS in Asia
Back in February 1990, there were some 2,000 reported AIDS victims in Asia. A recent United Nations report, however, states that WHO (World Health Organization) estimates that a total of 500,000 people in Asia are currently infected with the HIV virus. According to Asiaweek magazine, the ?U.N. has just reported that the number of AIDS cases in Asia will grow dramatically.? To deal with the problem, WHO recommends better education and information campaigns.
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Two Symbolic Women
Surely, John is thrilled to witness the end of Babylon the Great, the world empire of false religion, and to observe the joyous events that follow her destruction. (17:1?19:10) Drunk with the blood of holy ones, she is seen astride a scarlet-colored wild beast with seven heads and ten horns (the League of Nations and its successor, the United Nations). Ah, but what devastation she suffers as the horns turn against her!
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The WATCHTOWER June 1, 1991 "The Spiritual Drunkards?Who Are They?" page 10
?Woe to the eminent crown of the drunkards of Ephraim.??ISAIAH 28:1.
WE ARE living in stirring times. Many people have been excited by dramatic political changes around the world and in seeing more involvement by the United Nations. In December 1989 the Detroit Free Press said: ?As the planet enters the 1990s, peace has broken out.? A Soviet magazine announced: ?We are preparing to beat swords into ploughshares,? while the secretary-general of the United Nations declared: ?We are no longer in the cold war.? Yes, hopes have been high, and without a doubt, the world scene is changing. More recently, the Gulf war has illustrated how rapidly changes may take place. But will this present world ever realize a time of actual peace and security, with all its attendant benefits? The answer is no. In fact, a serious crisis is brewing that will rock the world to its foundations! It is a crisis in which religion is deeply involved.
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The WATCHTOWER June 1, 1991 "Their Refuge--A Lie!" page 10
10 However, she has not done so. Instead, in her quest for peace and security, she insinuates herself into the favor of the political leaders of the nations?this despite the Bible?s warning that friendship with the world is enmity with God. (James 4:4) Moreover, in 1919 she strongly advocated the League of Nations as man?s best hope for peace. Since 1945 she has put her hope in the United Nations. (Compare Revelation 17:3, 11.) How extensive is her involvement with this organization?
11 A recent book gives an idea when it states: ?No less than twenty-four Catholic organizations are represented at the UN. Several of the world?s religious leaders have visited the international organization. Most memorable were the visits of His Holiness Pope Paul VI during the General Assembly in 1965 and of Pope John Paul II in 1979. Many religions have special invocations, prayers, hymns and services for the United Nations. The most important examples are those of the Catholic, the Unitarian-Universalist, the Baptist and the Bahai faiths.?
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Christendom ?a Trampling Place?
19 To trust any man-made substitute for God?s Kingdom makes that substitute an image, an object of worship. (Revelation 13:14, 15) Thus, encouraging reliance on political institutions, such as the United Nations, for peace and security is an illusion, a lie. Concerning such objects of false hopes, Jeremiah says: ?His molten image is a falsehood, and there is no spirit in them. They are vanity, a work of mockery. In the time of their being given attention they will perish.? (Jeremiah 10:14, 15) Therefore, the war-horses of antitypical Egypt, that is, the military-political might of the nations today, will not protect the religious realm of Christendom in her day of crisis. The alliance of Christendom?s religions with this world will surely fail to protect them.
20 Christendom rested her hopes in the League of Nations, but it was overturned even without the coming of Armageddon. Now she has transferred her allegiance to the United Nations. But it will soon have to face ?the war of the great day of God the Almighty,? and it will not survive. (Revelation 16:14) Even a revived UN can never bring peace and security. God?s prophetic Word shows that the United Nations organization with its member nations ?will battle with the Lamb [Christ in Kingdom power], but, because he is Lord of lords and King of kings, the Lamb will conquer them.??Revelation 17:14.
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[study questions]
20, 21. (a) What happened to the League of Nations, and why will the United Nations fare no better? (b) How did Isaiah show that Christendom?s alliances with the world will not save her?(...)
[Box on page 17]
HIGH HOPES VOICED FOR THE UNITED NATIONS
?For the first time since World War II the international community is united. The leadership of the United Nations, once only a hoped-for ideal, is now confirming its founders? vision. . . . The world can therefore seize this opportunity to fulfill the long-held promise of a new world order.??President Bush of the United States in his State of the Union message to that nation, January 29, 1991
=========AWAKE! September 8, 1991 "Page Two" page 2
THE UNITED NATIONS?Its Quest for World Peace 3-10
Unusual events have recently taken place at the United Nations, changing the way that many view the organization. What has happened, and what could this mean for the future?
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AWAKE! September 8, 1991 "What Is Happening at the United Nations?" page 3-4
SOMETHING is happening at the United Nations. Startling developments are taking place that are going to affect your future. World leaders are very optimistic about them. Consider their words:
?Forty five years after its birth, after being long paralyzed, the [United Nations] is unfolding itself before our eyes, and is now emerging as a true judge, setting forth the law and endeavouring to enforce it.??President François Mitterrand of France to the 45th session of the UN General Assembly, September 24, 1990.
At this same meeting, former Soviet Minister for Foreign Affairs Eduard Shevardnadze observed that ?one cannot help being satisfied at the unprecedented unity of the [UN] Security Council . . . The positions taken by members of [the United Nations] Organization give the Security Council the mandate to go as far as the interests of world peace will require.?
A few days later, President George Bush of the United States addressed the UN General Assembly. The changes he saw inspired him to say: ?Not since 1945 have we seen the real possibility of using the United Nations as it was designed?as a center for international collective security.? He said this because ?the United Nations reacted with such historic unity and resolve? to the Persian Gulf crisis. ?For the first time, the U.N. Security Council is beginning to work as it was designed to work.? He also said: ?The United Nations can help bring about a new day? if its members ?leave terrible weapons behind.? By doing this, they can complete the ?historic movement towards a new world order and a long era of peace.?
Mr. Guido de Marco, president of the General Assembly of the United Nations, shared this optimism. He proclaimed glowingly: ?The dawn of a new system based on friendship and cooperation between the major powers is on the horizon. . . . These developments have revitalized the United Nations Organisation.? He said that ?the role of the General Assembly as the focal point of international discussion and deliberation, has been reaffirmed in an impressive manner.? Because of this, he further stated: ?The world no longer lives in the shadow of a possible Armageddon sparked by ideological competition.?
What were ?these developments? that catapulted the United Nations into this long-hoped-for position of prestige and influence? What sparked such optimism that prompted world leaders to speak hopefully of ?a new world order and a long era of peace? free from the risk of a nuclear Armageddon?
What Brought the Change?
?The ending of the cold war [in Europe],? answered UN Secretary-General Javier Pérez de Cuéllar in his 1990 report on the work of the United Nations. For decades that tense situation ?bred chronic suspicion and fear and polarized the world.? He noted that the ?concept of security [that] has begun to emerge is precisely the one the United Nations has been expounding all through the years.?
Yes, it seemed that the nations were finally learning, the secretary-general said, that ?an obsession with military security results in a self-perpetuating arms race, . . . constrains political dialogue, . . . and aggravates the sense of insecurity in all nations.? And what did this new attitude produce?
A spirit of warm cooperation and mutual trust began pervading the summit meetings of the superpowers. As this spirit developed, they no longer felt the need for the same level of heavily armed military forces to serve as deterrents in strategic locations in Europe. The Berlin Wall came down. Germany was united. A number of Eastern European countries set up new governments, giving their citizens freedoms they had never enjoyed before. Closed borders were opened to tourism, cultural exchanges, commerce, and trade. And to top it all off, the Soviet Union and the United States began praising the United Nations and trumpeting the need to use it as a viable force in the world?s quest for peace and security.
Keeping a Realistic View
Were you surprised by these sudden changes? Did you begin to think that, at last, peace and security are on the horizon and that the United Nations is going to play a key role in achieving such aims? In view of what has happened, the optimism is understandable. However, wisdom and history dictate that we keep a realistic view of this possibility.
Note what Mr. Pérez de Cuéllar said in his report: ?Twice in this century, after two devastating wars, the possibilities of building a peaceful global order were not fully realized.? President Bush used almost the same words in his address to a joint session of the U.S. Congress on March 6, 1991. ?Twice before in this century, an entire world was convulsed by war. Twice this century, out of the horrors of war hope emerged for enduring peace. Twice before, those hopes proved to be a distant dream, beyond the grasp of man.?
U.S. Secretary of State James Baker was more specific when he was addressing the UN Security Council. In calling for a UN resolution on using force in the Persian Gulf, he reminded his colleagues that the 1936 Ethiopian ?appeal to the League of Nations fell ultimately upon deaf ears. The League?s efforts to redress aggression failed and international disorder and war ensued.? Mr. Baker then pleaded: ?We must not let the United Nations go the way of the League of Nations.?
What was the League of Nations? Why was it organized? Why did it fail? The answers to these questions will enable us to appreciate the changes happening at the United Nations.
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AWAKE! September 8, 1991 "The United Nations?A Better Way?" page 8-10
THE preamble to the United Nations Charter expresses these noble aims: ?We the peoples of the United Nations determined to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war, which twice in our lifetime has brought untold sorrow to mankind, . . . and [desiring] to unite our strength to maintain international peace and security, . . . have resolved to combine our efforts to accomplish these aims.?
Did the UN ?accomplish these aims?? Did it get the nations to unite their strength and maintain peace and security? No, not so far, although the UN has sincerely tried to be a significantly better way than the League of Nations. However, the generation that saw its establishment in 1945 has since been scourged by wars, revolutions, invasions, coups, and aggression in many parts of the earth. And this violence involved many of the nations that had resolved to ?maintain international peace and security.?
Not the Better Way Yet
Critics who decry the failure of the United Nations to prevent these woes, though, may be forgetting an important fact?the strength of an organization depends on the power its charter gives it and on the commitment of its constituents to carry out their obligations under said charter. First of all, the United Nations Charter does not set up the UN as a world government with supreme power over all its member nations.
Article 2(7) decrees: ?Nothing contained in the present Charter shall authorize the United Nations to intervene in matters which are essentially within the domestic jurisdiction of any state.? UNCIO (United Nations Conference on International Organization), which met in San Francisco from April 25 to June 26, 1945, to finalize the charter, deemed it necessary ?to make sure that the United Nations under prevalent world conditions should not go beyond acceptable limits or exceed due limitations.?
Did you notice that qualifying phrase, ?under prevalent world conditions?? If these were to change, UNCIO claimed that this ruling could be developed ?as the state of the world, the public opinion of the world, and the factual interdependence of the world makes it necessary and appropriate.?
The chartered purpose of the United Nations to maintain ?international peace and security? expresses a desirable goal for mankind. The world would indeed be far more secure if the nations obeyed Article 2(4) of the UN Charter: ?All Members shall refrain . . . from the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any state.? But self-interest of member nations has repeatedly hamstrung the efforts of the UN toward achieving its purpose. Rather than living up to their UN commitment to ?settle their international disputes by peaceful means,? nations or whole blocs of nations have often resorted to war, claiming that the ?matter was essentially within their domestic jurisdiction.??Article 2(3,7).
Not only have nations ignored UN peace procedures but they have flouted and openly defied its rulings for settling conflicts. And their statesmen have frequently mounted the UN rostrum and delivered long speeches trying to justify their acts of aggression. This skirting of rules that were enacted to maintain peace has all too often paralyzed the UN at critical times and has severely damaged its credibility. UN officials who sit through such sessions are often frustrated. In the end, such talk usually proves to be mere sophistry that attempts to minimize or justify the violence and bloodshed taking place. No wonder UN Secretary-General Javier Pérez de Cuéllar said that the UN ?was regarded in some circles as a tower of Babel and at best a venue for often fruitless diplomatic parleys.?
There is another reason why the UN has had difficulty proving itself to be that better way. When it began functioning on October 24, 1945, ?no coherent strategy of peace was put in place,? observed Pérez de Cuéllar. Without this, how could the United Nations become the viable force for securing world peace that it was intended to be?
What Kind of Peace Could It Achieve?
Pérez de Cuéllar answers: ?Peace will not bring the cessation of all conflict. It will only make conflicts manageable through means other than force or intimidation. . . . The United Nations seeks to train our vision towards that end.? So the only peace that the UN can achieve is control of violence.
Is this really peace with security? True, ?membership in the United Nations is open to all . . . peace-loving states.? (Article 4(1)) But will a nation that is peace-loving when it joins the UN stay that way? Governments change, and new rulers bring in new policies. What if a member turns radical, with extreme nationalistic aims and covetous territorial ambitions? And what if it begins arming itself with nuclear and chemical weapons? The United Nations would now have a ticking time bomb on its hands. Yet, as recent events in the Middle East show, such a turn of events may be the very thing to move the nations to empower the UN to remove this threat to their security.
Can the Nations Make It a Better Way?
As never before, the nations are becoming increasingly aware of what UNCIO called ?the factual interdependence of the world.? No state can live unto itself anymore. The nations are all members of one international community. All are contending with a series of common problems: the devastating effects of ecological pollution, poverty, debilitating diseases, illicit drug trade on every continent, terrorism, sophisticated nuclear weapons in the arsenals of a growing list of nations. These factors are forcing the nations either to seek peace and security through the auspices of the United Nations or to commit global suicide.
Former Soviet foreign minister Shevardnadze observed: ?The United Nations can function effectively if it has a mandate from its members, if states agree on a voluntary and temporary basis to delegate to it a portion of their sovereign rights and to entrust it with performing certain tasks in the interests of the majority.? He added: ?Only in this way can we make the period of peace lasting and irreversible.?
If this could be done, then the UN?s voice of jurisdiction could authoritatively denounce any nation threatening the peace of the world. With real power at its disposal, it could suppress such aggressors forcefully and swiftly. But will UN member nations ever give it this mandate, ?making available their armed forces, assistance and facilities? to secure peace? (Article 43(1)) They might?if a crisis threatened to undermine the very foundation upon which their respective national sovereignties rest. If the nations see that ?uniting their strength to maintain international peace and security? under UN auspices could remove such threats, this might increase their respect for it.
Perhaps you are wondering, ?Was the UN?s role in the Persian Gulf crisis a start in this direction?? It could be. Many nations were confronted with the possible calamitous collapse of their economies. And if their interwoven economies crashed, so would the entire world?s. So the nations rallied together under the United Nations. The Security Council passed a series of UN resolutions to end the crisis peacefully, and when this failed, it backed a UN resolution on the use of force in the Gulf.
U.S. Secretary of State James Baker, in calling for this resolution, said: ?History has now given us another chance. With the cold war behind us, we now have the chance to build a world which was envisioned by the founders of . . . the United Nations. We have the chance to make this Security Council and this United Nations true instruments for peace and for justice across the globe. . . . We must fulfill our common vision of a peaceful and just post-cold-war world.? And he observed concerning their debate about the use of force in the Gulf: ?[It] will, I think, rank as one of the most important in the history of the United Nations. It will surely do much to determine the future of this body.?
Jehovah?s Witnesses firmly believe that the United Nations is going to play a major role in world events in the very near future. No doubt these developments will be very exciting. And the results will have a far-reaching impact on your life. We urge you to ask Jehovah?s Witnesses in your neighborhood for more details on this matter. The Bible clearly paints a picture showing that the United Nations will very shortly be given power and authority. The UN will then do some very astonishing things that may well amaze you. And you will be thrilled to learn that there is yet a better way near at hand that will surely bring eternal peace and security!
[Picture on page 9]
Guido de Marco, president of the UN General Assembly (right), and Secretary-General Pérez de Cuéllar at the 45th session of the Assembly
[Credit Line]
UN photo 176104/Milton Grant
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AWAKE! October 8, 1991 "Watching the World" page 29
Women?s Woes Waning in Scandinavia
?Scandinavia is the best place on earth to live if you are a woman,? states the London weekly The European. The observation is prompted by a United Nations report on the quality of life for women in comparison with men in more than 160 lands. Ranking is based on such factors as women?s rights, freedom, sexual equality (fair and impartial treatment of people regardless of gender), job opportunities, wage rates, health care, material happiness, and social environment. Topping the list is Finland, followed by Sweden and Denmark. Within Europe, Portugal and Ireland are furthest away from sexual equality. At the very bottom of the UN list is Kenya, where a woman can expect to live only half as long as a man.
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AWAKE! October 22, 1991 "Watching the World" page 28
Too Little, Too Late
Africa is facing famine again?perhaps its greatest famine ever, according to the Paris newspaper Le Figaro. An estimated 20 million to 29 million people are threatened with starvation. The director of the United Nations Children?s Fund says that a hundred million dollars is needed to meet the demand for food. However, the appeal for aid has had little impact because it was sent out when much of the world?s attention was focused on the recent hostilities of the Persian Gulf war. As a result, too little aid is arriving too late. The French magazine Le Nouvel Observateur reports that the public in general has become so accustomed to seeing images of starving people that the tragedy of famine seems to have become almost commonplace.
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AWAKE! November 8, 1991 "World Population Growth?A Vital Issue" page 3
?BABY Five Billion.? That was what the government of China called Wang He, a baby girl born in a Beijing hospital at midnight, July 11, 1987. Whether that infant actually brought the total world population to 5,000,000,000 at the time, no one can tell. Nevertheless, she was born at the precise moment designated by the United Nations as when the world?s population would reach that figure. The Chinese government merely seized upon the event to dramatize the intense issue of population growth facing China and the world.
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AWAKE! November 22, 1991 "Watching the World" page 29
Worldwide Illiteracy Drops
?For the first time ever, the number of illiterate people in the world declined slightly in recent years,? states The New York Times. ?The report, issued by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, estimated the number of illiterate people in 1990 to be 948 million, a decrease from the 1985 estimate of 950 million.? About 26.6 percent of the world?s population are illiterate, and if current trends continue, that will decrease to 21.8 percent, or 935 million, by the year 2000. Coincidentally, last year was named International Literacy Year. Besides a greater willingness on the part of the poorer nations to improve literacy, there was also an increased awareness of functional illiteracy in the industrialized nations, now estimated at between 10 and 20 percent.
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The WATCHTOWER December 1, 1991 "Practicing Pure Religion for Survival" page 17
7 The second requisite for true religion mentioned by James was ?to keep oneself without spot from the world.? Jesus stated: ?My kingdom is no part of this world?; consistently, his true followers would be ?no part of the world.? (John 15:19; 18:36) Can this be said of the clergy and priests of any of this world?s religions? They endorse the United Nations. Many of their leaders accepted the pope?s invitation to meet in Assisi, Italy, in October 1986 to unite their prayers for the success of the UN-sponsored ?International Year of Peace.? However, their efforts were in vain, judging by the millions killed in the wars of that year and in the years since. The clergy often hobnob with the ruling political party, while treacherously making secret deals with the opposition so that whoever rules will view them as ?friends.??James 4:4.
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AWAKE! December 8, 1991 "Watching the World" page 28
Children of Misery
According to the Dutch magazine Internationale Samenwerking, a recent UNICEF (United Nations Children?s Fund) report paints a grim global picture of millions of homeless, hurt, and hungry children abandoned by family and society. Internationale Samenwerking notes that despite a 1989 UN treaty outlining the rights of children, some 30 million homeless children are now roaming the world?s streets. Some seven million children are born and raised in the world?s refugee camps. And in recent years, 200,000 children younger than 15 years of age have been recruited as soldiers and in some cases have even served as living minesweepers to clear safe passages for the troops. In addition, every day some 80 million children, age 10 to 14, are forced to labor at heavy, unhealthy, and poorly paid jobs.
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AWAKE! December 22, 1991 "The Dream of European Unity" page 24
This Bible prophecy is not describing a new world order of human design, even though these beautiful words have been inscribed on a wall of the United Nations plaza in New York City. Rather, this prophecy regarding peace and unity among many peoples is today being fulfilled among Jehovah?s Witnesses, who come from over 200 nations of the world. Among them can be seen unmistakable evidence that a new world society is actually being formed.
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AWAKE! December 22, 1991 "Watching the World" page 28
A Greater Role for the UN?
The Paris newspaper Le Figaro reports that the world?s seven most powerful industrial nations have made an official declaration calling for the United Nations to play a greater peace-keeping role in the international community. The declaration states in part: ?We are committing ourselves to making the United Nations more powerful and more effective with a view to protecting human rights, maintaining peace and security, and preventing aggression.? The declaration emphasizes the need for a change in the traditional concept of national sovereignty, and it supports UN intervention in countries where human rights violations threaten world peace.
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AWAKE! December 22, 1991 "Index to Volume 72 of AWAKE!" page 31
WORLD AFFAIRS AND CONDITIONS
?Down Came the Wall,? 1/8
Dream of European Unity, 12/22
Drinking and Driving, 2/8
Dwindling Forests, Rising Temperatures, 1/22
Gambling World, 2/8
Having It All Now, 1/22
Ironic Contrast (Population Shift), 4/8
Lottery Fever, 5/8
?Mole People? (Homeless), 3/22
Obscenity Set to Music, 3/8
Pearl Harbor and Hiroshima, 12/8
Population Explosion, 11/8
Television, 5/22
Tobacco Morality? 1/22
United Nations, 9/8
When Canaries Die (Pollution), 1/22
Why League Arose, 9/8
World Cup Soccer, 5/8 -
observador
Terry, thanks for the good laugh! Nathan, you're the man. :)
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Dino
Below is a link which shows that the "faithful and discreet slave" submitted the November 22nd 1998 Awake to the UN.
http://www.unhchr.ch/udhr/materials/articles.htm Check out the second entry.
The articles were approved beforehand to celebrate the UN's 50th birthday in accordance with at least 5 press kits that were issued to the NGO's (WT included). I no longer have the originating link.
Food at the proper time, really! More like hypocrisy at its highest level.
Dino
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cyber-sista
This is great info. The WT articles on the UN written during the 90s were cleverly written as to appear as just informative news articles so this change wouldn't be picked up by the average JW. It appears that the UN bashing became less in the 90s. I imagine this was a manipulative move in order for them to get closer to the UN. I can only guess this was some sort of a financial move for the WT. The plot thickens...
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Kenneson
The U.N. fiasco--how to spout praise on one side of the mouth and doom on the other.