DECEMBER 2019
s a m t s i Chr
THE
INVASION HOW TO BE GOOD . . . AND ANGRY
COLD CONCRETE homeless for a night
A CHRISTIAN PERSPECTIVE ON THE WORLD TODAY
IN THIS ISSUE
DECEMBER 2019
THE CHRISTMAS INVASION
Jesus’ arrival changed everything PAGE 32
12 CURRENT
WHAT IN THE WORLD BRAVE ENOUGH TO LISTEN Who’s going to stand up against domestic violence? 12 5 REASONS THE WORLD NEEDS TO WAKE UP ON RELIGIOUS PERSECUTION 16 YOUR SAY Religious freedom 24 COLD CONCRETE Homeless for a night 4 6
WELLBEING
18 HOW TO BE GOOD . . .
18 30 GO HEALTHY FOR GOOD Health news for every
body 60 RECIPE
Chocolate beetroot
squares
FAITH
38 EXPECTATIONS
The hope of Jesus’ return 44 THE SUICIDE PLANT The consequences of disobedience
SCIENCE & TECH
50 THE CUTTING EDGE What’s happening
AND ANGRY It’s not necessarily a negative emotion
FIND US ON SOCIAL MEDIA 2
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in research, engineering, science and technology? /SIGNSMAG
CULTURE
52 YOU ARE OWNED . . .
AND THAT’S NOT A BAD THING Woody, Buzz, Forky and the God who claims us as His own 58 SHARE THE CHRISTMAS STORY Time to start a new family tradition?
FUN
62 CROSSWORD & SUDOKU Have you been paying
attention?
FROM THE EDITOR “Peace on earth, goodwill to all.” What the angels sang that night in Bethlehem was more than a sweet, heavenly blessing—it was a shout of revolution. But the central paradox—the miracle—of Christmas is that the revolution did not arrive with street protests, political coups or the clatter of automatic weapons. No, the revolution could not be televised; the revolution was a helpless Baby. But like a small piece of code inserted into a computer network behind enemy lines, that one Child grew and His influence began to seep through the world, travelling through relational streams, saturating human hearts and then blossoming into action in unexpected places and in unexpected ways. There is much in this world that, like Jesus’ Christmas invasion, defies easy explanation; that operates counter-intuitively; that requires us to hold back our assumptions and prejudices. Sometimes evil lurks where we never expected it—the scourge of domestic violence in apparently happy families highlights this grim reality (page 6). But sometimes truth and beauty are found at the grotty margins of human experience—Jacob Ugljesa’s night on the streets is one example (page 24). Open your eyes. Open your heart. And don’t forget to expect the unexpected. Happy Christmas.
Kent KENT KINGSTON Editor
VOL 134 NO 12 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/New Zealand, $A26; 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®, Anglicised. Copyright © 1979, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc®. Used by permission of Hodder & Stoughton. All rights reserved worldwide. COVER PHOTO: PeopleImages
@Kent_SignsMag DECEMBER 2019 • SIGNS OF THE TIMES
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WHAT IN THE WORLD RAMPANT RACISM A study of 4600 state school students in NSW and Victoria has revealed one in three students report having experienced racial discrimination by schoolmates. The Australian National University and Western Sydney University survey showed 20 per cent of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children experienced racial discrimination from teachers and 44 per cent of Eastern Asian pupils reported racial insults.—The Guardian
CLOWNING AROUND NEW ZEALAND
An Auckland man hired a clown to accompany him to his redundancy meeting. After receiving an “ominous” email from his employer, he was advised by HR to bring a support person along. The man spent approximately $200 and said the clown displayed “professionalism at its finest”, making balloon animals and miming tears when the man was made redundant.—BBC 4
SIGNSOFTHETIMES.ORG.AU • DECEMBER 2019
DJ_MUN—PIXABAY, WIKIMEDIA COMMONS, JONATHAN BORBA—UNSPLASH, FRANK CONE—PEXELS, FREEPIK
AUSTRALIA
CHRISTMAS Aussies will collectively spend around
$25 billion on CHRISTMAS
FEMALE FRENZY EUROPE
—Finder.com.au
$50
0
00 $2
Women from the Polish town of Miejsce Odrzánski have been offered a reward to birth a son after a decade of female-only births. The mayor of the commune of Cisek, Rajmund Frischko, said the next boy born will receive a nice gift and an oak tree named after him. Debates as to the reason for the male-drought have gone between diet, Polish legend and mere coincidence. —The New York Times
A 2018 survey reported one third of New Zealanders doing Christmas shopping were INTENDING TO SPEND
between $200 and $500 on gifts.—NZ Herald
43% of Aussies PLAN TO DONATE for Christmas. —Finder.com.au
STRIKING SWEDEN EUROPE
Sweden has experienced six times the number of lightning strikes in 2019 as it did two years ago. More than 210,000 lightning strikes occurred this year, up from a mere 34,931 in 2017. Meteorologists are attributing the increase to warmer weather, with the worst strikes occurring in the northern part of the country.—The Local
$122 PER PERSON Aussies will spend around $122 per person ON FOOD.
—Finder.com.au
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BRAVE
ENOUGH TO
LISTEN Yes, it’s uncomfortable to think about domestic violence, let alone confront it. But the alternative is unthinkable.
RAPIDEYE—GETTY IMAGES
BY NIGEL BYNG
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here’s a saying that if it’s too good to be true then it usually is. But what if it’s too bad to be true? What if something is so shockingly horrendous that it makes you stop thinking about anything else for a while? Does that mean it’s a lie as well? The numbers associated with domestic violence are quite staggering and when my own sister revealed what she had been experiencing in her 20 years of marriage, it brought the reality of this menace right to my doorstep.
incorrigible behaviour
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or most public spaces. The global #MeToo movement has kept the public aware of what’s happening, and victims have a very public platform to cry out for help.
when your neighbour’s house is on fire . . .
The signs were promising that we were making progress as a society. But when I read recently that 85 per cent of Australian women have been sexually harassed, and 40 per cent of women continue to experience violence from their partner while temporarily separated, I realised that not nearly enough has changed. That every week a woman somewhere in Australia is murdered by her current or former partner, should be a reality check on our senses. All is not well in our communities. If there is now so much awareness, why are there still so many victims?
HIGHWAYSTARZ-PHOTOGRAPHY—GETTY IMAGES
My sister’s statement, that it’s the scars you can’t see which take the longest to heal, shattered my image of her happy marriage. I remember feeling angry and helpless at the same time as I listened to her story. My sister was being systematically dehumanised and terrorised by someone I trusted—living in daily fear of her life. It angered and confused me. Why hadn’t she said anything? Why hadn’t she left this man who I considered a big brother? Why didn’t she call the police? There was a time when sexual harassment was just simply accepted as “locker room talk” and boys being boys, but such behaviour nurtured a culture that desensitised men to the humiliation and fear that many women felt. Thankfully, as a society there has been a change in the dynamics, and misogynistic, loutish behaviour is for the most part no longer tolerated in the workplace
“
Every week, a woman somewhere in Australia is murdered by her current or former partner . . .
You see, it’s in the home where the problem mostly goes unchecked. Coupled with the fact that many of us do not wish to intervene in “other people’s business”, a climate is created where abusers feel empowered. The secretive nature of the crime means the police cannot act until a report is made. The menace isn’t always overt threats or acts of aggression as was the case with my sister. Not all victims of domestic violence have visible scars, but if there are, taking the approach that it’s none of your concern is not the best way to handle things. No-one would stand idly by and watch their neighbours’ house burn to the ground. Yet in cases of abuse many choose to turn away for fear of recrimination and in most cases just plain ignorance about what to do. But if the statistics represent even the slightest modicum of truth, then speaking up can be lifesaving. And if
we’re seeking to live out a Christian commitment, we need reminding that we are our “brother’s keeper”, even if that brother is the annoying, aggressive, unfriendly neighbour. In situations where one has a good relationship with the victim or even the perpetrator, thoughtful and measured intervention is the first course of action. It won’t be easy. My sister had colleagues, friends and even fellow church members verbally and physically threatened when they attempted to intervene. But intervene you must, as this will have an immediate effect on the situation, allowing the victim time to assess the situation and hopefully recognise there is help available. If there is evidence that a crime has been committed, notifying the police is very important. Their very involvement can reduce the probability of further incidents, allow for DECEMBER 2019 • SIGNS OF THE TIMES
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is for you to seek immediate help and make plans to leave. Then contact local police about getting a restraining order. Having said that, there are usually circumstances that influence such a decision. You may have kids; you may think you have nowhere to go; you may be worried about your abuser following you and inflicting further abuse, and of course, there
closer monitoring of the situation, ensure the safety of the victim, and of course impact the outcome of any potential criminal investigation.
when they say something, we must do something
If you are a survivor of domestic violence, or you are currently living in an abusive relationship, my advice
HOMELESSNESS
Domestic violence is the leading reason for homelessness amongst women and their kids.—AIHW
INDIGENOUS
Family violence accounts for 32x more hospitalisations amongst Indigenous Australians.—Hall and Partners Open Mind
LAW ENFORCEMENT
Every two minutes, Australian police deal with a domestic violence incident.—ABC
DOMESTIC
LGBT+
FREEPIK, FLATICON
92% of women who identify as LGBT+ have been sexually harassed.—AHRC
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DISABILITY
9 in 10 disabled women have been sexually harassed.—AHRC SIGNSOFTHETIMES.ORG.AU • DECEMBER 2019
are the financial burdens that come with such a move. These are all valid concerns, but your first step begins with making the decision to seek help. (Contact details at end.) Domestic violence has no place in our society. When the numbers cry murder and the abused among us feel like there is no haven for them, we are failing miserably. The most
vulnerable are the ones we should be protecting. It takes courage to defy a lifetime of abuse, and for those who are too afraid to speak up for themselves, we should at least be brave enough to listen. When they say something, we must do something. Contact Lifeline to talk through your situation and find specialist services in your area. Call 13 11 14 (Australia) or 0800 543 354 (New Zealand).
CHILDREN
There are higher rates of social and emotional problems in children with a domestically abused parent.—Department of Social Services
EMOTIONAL
1 in 3 young people don’t consider controlling behaviour to be a form of violence.—Hall and Partners Open Mind
ONLINE
1 in 3 women have experienced online sexual harassment.—AHRC
VIOLENCE
MEN
1 in 6 men have been emotionally abused by their current or former partners.—AIHW
WORKPLACE
According to a survey by White Ribbon, 1 in 2 employees said sexist jokes in a workplace are acceptable.—White Ribbon Australia DECEMBER 2019 • SIGNS OF THE TIMES
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5 REASONS
THE WORLD NEEDS A WAKE-UP CALL ON
In various parts of the globe, believers face the daily threat of death. Here are some of the conflicts that don’t always make the news. BY MISHA KETCHELL 12
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ANANKKML—GETTY IMAGES
n o i t u c e s r e religious p
A
ll over the world, people—and whole communities—are suffering from persecution purely because of their religion or beliefs. This kind of violence—including attempts to annihilate whole religious groups—is on the rise. In the past five years alone, there have been two mass atrocities that meet the United Nations’ legal definition of genocide. So, let’s shine a light on just five of those dark corners where acts of violence based on religion or belief are a daily reality.
1) Daesh’s reign of terror
In 2014, Daesh (Islamic State, ISIS, ISIL) attacked religious Yazidi and Christian minority groups in Iraq in an attempt to destroy them and establish a purely Islamic state. Daesh’s campaign of terror involved murder, kidnapping, people trafficking, rape, sexual slavery and the destruction of cultural heritage.
2) the Rohingya crisis
In 2016, atrocities perpetrated by the Myanmar military against the Rohingya Muslims in Rakhine state reached the level of genocide, resulting in more than 700,000 people forcibly displaced to Bangladesh. An independent, international fact-finding mission reported that “the nature, scale and organisation of the operations” suggested a level of pre-planning and design on the part of the Tatmadaw (military) leadership”. The atrocities reinforced the
vision of the commander-in-chief, senior-general Min Aung Hlaing, who sought a solution to what he referred to as “The Bengali problem”. By that he meant the Rohingya Muslims who for decades have been referred to as illegal immigrants from Bangladesh.
3) Christians in Nigeria
In Nigeria’s Middle Belt, Christians farmers have been slaughtered by Fulani herdsmen, attacks that have claimed hundreds of lives. Meanwhile, in northern Nigeria, the extreme Islamist group Boko Haram continues to terrorise the region and kill anyone who does not agree with their perverted ideology.
4) oppression in China
An estimated one million Uighur Muslims have been detained in so-called “re-education camps”, which are designed to strip them of their religious and ethnic identity and replace it with absolute loyalty to the state. Also in China, members of Falun Gong (a spiritual meditation movement) are imprisoned and many of them subsequently disappear without a trace.
5) persecution in Pakistan
In Pakistan, religious minorities, including Christians and the Muslim minority Ahmadi group, are subjected to severe discrimination that often translates into acts of violence perpetrated with impunity. For example, a Christian couple, Shahzad DECEMBER 2019 • SIGNS OF THE TIMES
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