MAY 2019
Who is my
NEIGHBOUR?
The secret to defeating fear and prejudice HOPE AND THE END OF HISTORY
NO MEAT? NO PROBLEM!
A CHRISTIAN PERSPECTIVE ON THE WORLD TODAY
IN THIS ISSUE
MAY 2019
WHO IS MY NEIGHBOUR? PAGE 32 Fear and prejudice are defeated when strangers become friends
20 CURRENT
WHAT IN THE WORLD POPULATION PANIC Is Earth full? 38 STREET SIGNS Racism and prejudice—the public speaks out 4 6
WELLBEING
12 DOCTORS, NOT DR
GOOGLE A plea from a GP 18 GO HEALTHY FOR GOOD Health news snippets for every body 60 NO MEAT? NO PROBLEM! Plant-based eating—the healthy alternative
FIND US ON SOCIAL MEDIA 2
SIGNSOFTHETIMES.ORG.AU • MAY 2019
60
54
FAITH
26 AT HOME WITH FAMILY
They’re not perfect, but churches are places of community 40 HOPE AND THE END OF HISTORY Jesus’ second coming will change everything 46 DON’T HANG UP! How one believer deals with scam callers
CULTURE
20 THE NEW PHARISEES
Is the secular left the new religious right? 54 RHAPSODY? Freddie Mercury had it all . . . except happiness
SCIENCE & TECH
52 THE CUTTING EDGE What’s happening in
research, engineering and technology?
FUN
62 CROSSWORD & SUDOKU
/SIGNSOFTHETIMES
FROM THE EDITOR The March shooting deaths of 50 worshippers in two Christchurch mosques were a grim reminder of the darkness that lurks in human hearts. And the consequent outpouring of sympathy for the survivors showed us that people are also filled with compassion and goodness. But we have to face facts. Racism and prejudice are a reality in our communities. When we feel threatened we close ranks and look for support from those most like us—it’s a natural human impulse. But it’s an impulse that, left unchecked and unchallenged, can metastasise into social exclusion, abuse and, yes, violence. So what’s the solution? The right wing of politics wants to limit immigration so that we will be less confronted by the clash of values and cultures. It sounds logical, but this thinking has led to desperate asylum seekers being returned to poverty and oppression, and the indefinite detention of their children. Meanwhile the left wing of politics calls for compassion and acceptance, which is attractive, but too often translates into politically correct browbeating and the exclusion of those who hold more traditional worldviews (see page 20). But, arguments over government policy aside, what ordinary citizens like you and me are best placed to do is build bridges of friendship with our neighbours, particularly those from a different social, ethnic or religious background. That’s the challenge put to us by Jacob Ugljesa (page 32) and I reckon it’s a fantastic place to start.
Kent KENT KINGSTON Editor
VOL 134 NO 5 ISSN 1038-9733 EXECUTIVE PUBLISHER Brad Kemp EDITOR Kent Kingston ASSISTANT EDITOR Daniel Kuberek COPYEDITOR Tracey Bridcutt GRAPHIC DESIGN Nerise McQuillan Theodora Amuimuia PHONE +61 2 9847 2222 EMAIL info@signsofthetimes.org.au WEBSITE signsofthetimes.org.au ADDRESS Adventist Media PO Box 1115, Wahroonga New South Wales 2076 SUBSCRIPTIONS Kelli Geelan PHONE +61 3 5965 6300 Australia, $A26; New Zealand, $NZ26; South Pacific countries, $A41; Other countries $A51 Published since 1886, Signs of the Times is printed 11 times a year by the Seventh-day Adventist Church and is registered as a periodical. Seventh-day Adventist Church (SPD) Limited ABN 59 093 117 689 NOTE The inclusion of a person or their image within does not imply their endorsement of the Seventh-day Adventist Church or its beliefs. Unless otherwise stated, Bible verses are from the Holy Bible, New International Version®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by Biblica, Inc®. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House. All rights reserved worldwide. COVER PHOTO: SrdjanPav
@Kent_SignsMag MAY 2019 • SIGNS OF THE TIMES
3
CU
R RENT
WHAT IN THE WORLD SKILLS TO PAY THE BILLS AUSTRALIA
THE SHROOM LOOMS AUSTRALIA
Magic mushrooms may hold therapeutic properties, according to investors funding a first trial in Australia. The research, which started in April, is investigating the effects of psilocybin— the active ingredient in magic mushrooms—on patients suffering terminal illnesses, anxiety and mental disorders. Psilocybin is currently illegal for recreational and medical use in Australia.—Sydney Morning Herald 4
SIGNSOFTHETIMES.ORG.AU • MAY 2019
ITU PICTURES—FLICKR, MARTIN VOREL—LIBRESHOT, WIKIMEDIA COMMONS, DEFENSE.GOV, FREEPIK
A South Australian local council is hosting “How to adult” classes, aimed at young millennials. The sessions will cover budgeting, taxes, as well as dealing with government agencies such as Centrelink and Medicare. Sociology experts say that a lack of adult skills amongst young Australians is not due to laziness, but rather a “lack of opportunities” to learn “old-fashioned skills”.—ABC
31.6% OF AUSTRALIANS say they FEEL NEGATIVE ABOUT MUSLIMS in their country. NOT A GOOD IKEA NEW ZEALAND
International furniture company Ikea has been busted selling large framed world maps with a blank space where New Zealand should be—despite recently announcing its expansion into the country. Ikea has since apologised for the country’s absence on its “Bjorksta” world map, but not before it gained widespread attention on Reddit. The whole fiasco has also been mocked on Last Week Tonight with John Oliver—Newsweek
22.4% additionally claim to feel
negative towards Middle-Eastern Australians.—SBS
48.6%
of Australians say people from minority groups (ethnic, racial, cultural and religious)
SHOULD ACT more like stereotypical
“EVERYDAY AUSTRALIANS”. —SBS
RACISM
13–15%
OF ASIANS experience
RACISM in New Zealand, followed by
8–10% OF MAORI AND PACIFIC SEX AND DRUGS IN MODERATION
ISLANDERS.—Ricci B Harris
USA
Workers from Cognisant, a Facebookcontracted moderating company, allegedly use sex, drugs and black humour to cope with their job. A report from current and former employees claimed that the task of reviewing offensive content, as well as being underpaid and overworked, were among the factors contributing to high stress.—Gizmodo
A study of Maori experiences with racism found the MEDIA was a large factor in PORTRAYING
STEREOTYPES that LEAD TO
RACISM.
—Whariki Research Group MAY 2019 • SIGNS OF THE TIMES
5
CU
R RENT
POPULATI PANIC
Is the fear matched by the facts? BY SHANNON ROBERTS
6
SIGNSOFTHETIMES.ORG.AU • MAY 2019
MAY 2019 • SIGNS OF THE TIMES
ORBON ALIJA—GETTY IMAGES
ON
M
any would have us believe that our planet is over-populated and we are putting an ever- increasing strain on its limited resources. But while we are right to be concerned about our environmental impact, we should be wary of giving credence to a belief in global overpopulation that has frequently been used to excuse inhumane political programs, some of which persist today. Since the time of Thomas Malthus in the early 1800s, people have worried that the population will eventually outgrow the food supply. In the 1960s, biologist Paul Ehrlich visited the crowded streets and slums of New Delhi, an experience that prompted his book, The Population Bomb, which predicted an imminent population crisis and fuelled panic around the globe. In 1983 the United Nations gave its first ever population awards to both the Chinese minister for population and the prime minister of India for their family planning and sterilisation programs. In his acceptance speech, China’s family planning chief said that “the establishment of the United Nations population award is a far-sighted move to inspire people to engage in population activities and to contribute to the solution of the population problem”. That year a record number of birth control surgeries were performed in China, including 16.4 million female sterilisations and 14.4 million abortions.
7
W
ELL B EING
DOCTORS,
Not
DR
Your family GP may not have every medical fact on the tip of their tongue, but chances are they’re a more reliable source of information than a web search.
T
he patient looks at me, desperate—“But what do you think it is, Preeya?” Honestly, I have no idea—which is not what I say out loud to the patient, who is getting increasingly anxious about the abdominal pain she has had for three days. “I know it’s nothing nasty—your appetite is normal, you don’t have a fever, your tummy is soft
12
SIGNSOFTHETIMES.ORG.AU • MAY 2019
on examination and you’re still able to attend work and the gym despite the pain—so I think we should catch up in 72 hours and see how you’re going. If anything changes, come sooner.” She stares back at me. “OK, but what’s causing the pain?” The truth is that we don’t always have the answer. Despite how the community often perceives us (or
LAFLOR—GETTY IMAGES
BY DR PREEYA ALEXANDER
how we project ourselves), doctors are not magicians. When I tell my patients honestly, I don’t know or I can’t answer that I’m often faced with a shocked expression. “But you’re meant to know everything,” a patient once said to me. Medicine is grey, very very grey a lot of the time. Perhaps not all of my colleagues will openly share this—but we
don’t always have a single diagnosis for your tummy ache/headache/ fatigue; we don’t always know what’s going on in the human body. As a general practitioner in particular, we often rationalise your symptoms; we know common things occur commonly, we know there are certain life-threatening diagnoses like meningitis or an ectopic pregnancy MAY 2019 • SIGNS OF THE TIMES
13
FA IT H
AT HOME WITH FAMILY At its best, a church community provides the warmest embrace.
TT—GETTY IMAGES
BY BJORN KARLMAN
26
SIGNSOFTHETIMES.ORG.AU • MAY 2019
I
t was one of the loneliest times of my life. I was 16 and doing a gap year of voluntary work after finishing high school. I had been stationed in Slussfors, a tiny town in the north of Sweden, not far from the Arctic Circle. I arrived in this sleepy little community in the middle of winter when there were just a few hours of sunlight per day. It was bitterly cold and when I arrived I didn’t know a soul. I lived all alone in the basement of the church where I was serving
as an assistant to the local pastor. I remember being absolutely starved for social connection and before long I had run up a huge phone bill from calling old school friends around the world just to hear a familiar voice. My life felt as bleak as the snow-covered forests that surrounded me until one small gesture started to melt the ice. A family with four kids, three of who were close to my age, invited me home for lunch after church one Saturday. Their food was MAY 2019 • SIGNS OF THE TIMES
27
FA IT H
40
SIGNSOFTHETIMES.ORG.AU • MAY 2019
HOPE AND
THE END OF HISTORY Theories and speculation abound about Jesus’ return to this earth, but what does the Bible say?
A
s the world races through the twenty-first century, have you ever considered what our greatest need is? What do men and women living in the twenty-first century need most? If you were starving, it might be food. If you were homeless, it might be a place to live. If disease ravaged your body, it might be medicine. If you were lonely and discouraged, it might be love. But is there one thing more than any other that could take you through any difficulty you might face in life? Is there one thing that can make the human spirit soar? All over the world people are desperately looking for hope. Someone has well said, “What oxygen is to the lungs, hope is to the human
spirit.” We can live days without food, hours without water, a few minutes without air, but no time at all without hope. Hope buoys up our spirits. It lifts our vision from what is to what will be. It is a candle in the darkness. It is like water in the desert or food to a starving man. It provides encouragement for the future. The Bible is filled with the best hope of all—the hope of Jesus’ return to this planet. But what exactly does the Bible say about this great event? Just before He ascended to heaven, Jesus gave a promise to His disciples to fill their hearts with hope: “My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare MAY 2019 • SIGNS OF THE TIMES
ROSEBORLAND—GETTY
BY MARK FINLEY
41
positively different From family LIFE to physical HEALTH, sacred MUSIC to vibrant SPIRITUALITY, Faith FM programs will brighten your day and guide you on the way.
tune in
TODAY!
F041-R1
Find your nearest station or listen online at WWW.FAITHFM.COM.AU