WHY ARE THESE TIMES SO BAD?

WHEN you sit down to read a newspaper or watch the TV news or listen to a radio news broadcast, you expect  some bad news, do you not?  (because there is more of that than good) You are probably not surprised to learn that an ongoing war is still raging, that violent crime is still rampant, or that a famine is  still sapping the strength of a developing land.

If you live some distance from these happenings, you probably do not constantly feel over distressed by such reports.  After all, who can afford to feel for all those suffering masses?  Even so, it is very difficult to remain unmoved when we are brought  face-to-face with the way suffering affects individuals.  In other words, while it is one thing to read about a war and ponder statistics  on fatalities, it is quite another to read about little Adnan, a nine-year-old Bosnian boy whose mother was killed when a bomb destroyed their home. Adnan's father was fatally shot by a sniper just months later as they walked down a street together.  His sister bled to death before his eyes just a few weeks later, victim of an artillery shell in the school yard.  Doctors who treated Adnan for trauma found that the boy was numb, devoid of all feelings-even curiosity.  Fears and flashbacks blighted his waking hours; nightmares robbed his sleep of any restfulness. Adnan is no statistic.  He is a suffering child; we  cannot help but feel for him.

So it is also with other world maladies. It is one thing to read about famine; it is quite another to see a picture of a five-year-old girl with a bloated belly and matchstick limbs, a barely living victim of starvation. It is one thing to read of crime statistics; it is quite another to hear of an elderly widow being brutally beaten, robbed, and raped.  It is one thing to read of the decline of the family; it is quite another to learn that a mother deliberately starved and viciously abused her own child.

It is painful to read about such things.  But how much worse when one of these global plagues afflicts us directly!  When you personally suffer evil, the bigger picture presented by the world news can become overwhelming.  It is terrifying to face the fact that suffering from crime, war, famine and disease is increasing on a  scale unprecedented in human history.  The effects of dealing with the realities of this 20th century can be profound  indeed-bewilderment, fear, and depression are common.

People of many religions are seeking answers to such troubling questions as, Why are things so bad? Where is mankind heading? Sadly, religions today rarely offer satisfying answers.  Fundamentalist religions often try to force from the Bible what it simply does not contain-the very day and hour of this world's demise.  (See Matthew 24:36)  The publishers of this journal prefer to let the Bible explain itself.   You may be surprised to learn that the Bible's discussion of the last days is factual and reasonable.  And the Bible does more than explain whey things are so bad.  It also provides a hope for the future, one that is truly comforting. We invite you to consider the following articles to see how this is so.  (note: you need to know one thing, Jehovah's version of time is not the same as ours, so only He knows when that time will come, no one else!  This is something that  having a Bible study and wanting to know the true knowledge will tell you, not those false prophets out there. )



Next time:  ARE THESE REALLY THE LAST DAYS? 

The Watchtower, 1997