Earth

The End of Pollution in Sight?
THE prospect of a clean earth is truly delightful. But is it realistic? Well, some countries are trying hard to improve the situation with regard to pollution. A decrease in air pollution is now reported due to stringent measures to control the lead content of automobile exhausts. In some areas, industrial pollution appears to have decreased also. This, however, is not always due to strict controls. Rather, it is at times the result of the restructuring of industry brought about by the world’s economic plight.
Earth—Designed to Clean Itself?
In addition, there are natural cleaning mechanisms at work. For example, phytoplankton is one of the sea’s main antipollution agents, according to Dr. Aubert of the Medical Oceanography Center in Nice, France. These tiny organisms secrete natural antibiotics that destroy infection. Unfortunately, they are being overwhelmed. In Italy, Venice and the nearby Adriatic Sea are being swamped by algae. In the Adriatic the pollution produces "algae, a stinking and slimy jelly, yellow, brown and grey, that spread southward for hundreds of kilometres" in the summer. (The Globe and Mail, Toronto, Canada) One contributing factor is the drainage from the river Po, "with raw sewage from more than 15 million people, waste from many of Italy’s major industries . . . and the manure of more than five million pigs."
What of soil pollution? Research by a large chemical company in conjunction with the U.S. Department of Energy revealed the presence of many types of bacteria, fungi, and amoebas in the earth, some as far as 850 feet [260 m] below the surface. Dr. David Balkwell of Florida State University remarked: "These deep organisms may well be purifying the aquifer [natural groundwater]." Alternatively, Dr. Balkwell hopes that genetic engineers will be able to induce these subterranean organisms to "digest specific pollutants."
Realistically, though, we must conclude that the present situation does not bode well for a speedy end to the earth’s physical contamination. Yet, we can be sure that the end of pollution is in sight. Why?
Removing Moral Pollution
For the planet to be a truly clean home for mankind, its occupants must be a clean people, morally as well as physically. Humans must overcome their basic egocentrism and develop unselfish qualities, showing consideration for their fellow humans and their animal neighbors. Can this be done?
Over the decades, Jehovah’s Witnesses have found that it can. They have put to the test the personality-molding power of the Bible, and they have found that this book has the power to change people, with beneficial effects on the environment. For example, stadium officials enthuse about the orderliness and the cleanliness of the crowds attending the large conventions of Jehovah’s Witnesses. A frequent comment is that ‘the stadium was left cleaner than when it was entered by the Witnesses.’
A staff member of a sports complex in Lisbon, Portugal, explained to one of Jehovah’s Witnesses: "When people ask me what I think of you, I can’t tell a lie. I tell them that Jehovah’s Witnesses have very good manners, cleanliness and organization. . . . If you happen to soil one thing, you clean 99!"
The Witnesses’ insistence on physical cleanness is related to their high moral principles. What principles? Those outlined in the Bible, which is God’s written Word. Concerning backsliders, the Bible says that God’s ways are ‘higher than their ways, and his thoughts than their thoughts.’ (Isaiah 55:7-9) Yet, we can learn God’s ways because God himself makes his laws available to those who wish to live by them. This divine education is vital for our future.
Millions of Witnesses today try hard to live by these clean moral standards, and they benefit greatly. For many, though, this has meant great changes in their habits and life-styles.
Drugs, Beatings, and Victory
Take the case of Marie, one of a family of 13 from a crime-ridden area in a city in England.
"My family was well-known for being tough, and just like the rest of them, I was a known bully. At 15 years of age, I had a miscarriage. Two years later, my daughter was born, and I was left to care for her on my own. My boyfriend was held in a [correctional] school. He absconded, and I became pregnant again. I tried all kinds of ways to end this pregnancy and finally succeeded, but I nearly lost my life.
"My boyfriend began smoking marijuana and became very violent to me, even though I was pregnant again. I got involved too, both in smoking and in selling the weed. By now I lived in a house full of prostitutes. I used to mind their children for them.
"When I became interested in another boy, my first boyfriend put a stop to the relationship by stabbing him eight times. For that he was arrested again. After his release from prison we married and both of us hit the drug scene in a big way."
After coming in contact with Jehovah’s Witnesses and studying the Bible with them, this young person began to attend Christian meetings and gradually a change took place. Marie explains:
"I began to realize that smoking and drug-taking were wrong. After I told my husband that I was stopping all of this, he used to blow the smoke from his marijuana cigarette in my face, trying to entice me to resume drug-taking. I became pregnant yet again. Soon after, my husband began staying away from home all night.
"Eight months later he took all his things from the house and left me. I prayed to Jehovah to help me get over it, and he did. Then, after three months, my husband returned. I prayed for strength to do what was right. Once again I tried to make a success of my marriage, but within six months I was nursing 14 stitches around my eye, the result of my husband’s violence; drugs were still his first love. Our house became the main drug depot for the whole area. It was full of his ‘friends,’ most of whom were high on drugs.
"With Jehovah’s help, I summoned up courage and confronted the men. I politely asked them to go outside if they wanted to continue smoking their drugs. When my husband heard that, he lost his temper, called me into the kitchen, and started banging my head against the wall. I struggled to tell him that I was concerned for the children and wanted to give them the opportunity to grow up in a clean, wholesome atmosphere. My husband stormed back out to his friends. I waited, praying. He came into the kitchen again, and I thought he was going to kill me.
"From then on, though, things calmed down a lot. We later moved. When the drug addicts came to visit, they didn’t swear or talk about their immoral lives as before. It seemed they had respect for us."
Marie’s stand for clean morals and an unpolluted life touched her husband’s heart, and he too eventually studied the Bible with Jehovah’s Witnesses. Both Marie and her husband are now baptized Witnesses and are busy helping others clean up their lives with the help of Bible knowledge. Marie says:
"When I hear my husband say a prayer, or when I hear him express his love for Jehovah, how my heart beats! The change in his appearance amazes his former friends. Now our family is truly united. Never have I felt so happy, and I have never stopped thanking Jehovah for taking us out of this polluted system of things."
Such success in combating moral pollution reveals the power of God’s Word. Moreover, it points to the hope of an early end to all kinds of pollution. What does the Bible say about this?
A Clean Earth—A Certainty
A careful study of the Bible reveals that we are living in "the last days" of the present system of things. (2 Timothy 3:1-5) The state of the environment is just one piece of the evidence that proves this. What does this mean regarding our hope for a clean earth?
It means that God is soon going to intervene in human affairs. He will soon act in a powerful way to remove all moral and physical pollution from our planet. In the book of Revelation he promises to "bring to ruin those ruining the earth."—Revelation 11:18.
Really, only God has the power to bring about a clean, unpolluted earth. It is thrilling to know that he intends to do just that. When he acts, in the near future, it will be as he himself says: "Look! I am making all things new." (Revelation 21:5) Then, finally, our planet will be a suitable home for clean, upright people, who will enjoy its abundance forever.