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PASTOR GE�ERAL'S REPORT, January 9, 1981
TWO '.'1ILLION :-1AR...I'( PASSED
The volume of mail for 1980 passed the two million mark. This was the
first time in four years that more than two million pieces of mail were
again received in the Mail Processing Center.
The main reason for the increase is the steady growth in The PLAIN TRUTH
mailing list.
During 1980 PLAIN TRUTH circulation grew 28% in the United
States. Along with this growth has been the steppe0 up usage of response
devices, such as literature request cards which are inserted in the maga
zines. Consequently, there has been a corresponding increase in renewals
and requests.
This upward growth in the mail count for 1980 is another encouraging
indicator that the Work is now on course.
Richard Rice, Mail Processing Center
ON THE WORLD SCENE
CRIME AND VIOLENCE WRACK AMERICA The bloodiest year in history has just
ended in Los Angeles, the last of a record 1,042 murders recorded at 11:15
p.m., December 31. A l:__2-year-old boy pumped seven rapid-fire bullets
into an elderly man who protested a noisy New Year's Eve party. Four
hours later, 198l's first victim lay dead, beaten by a mob in front of a
Chinatown restaurant, his wife witness to the brutality.
Los Angeles has now leapt past Chicago to become the second-ranking murder
capital in the U.S., behind New York City. At times, the county coroner's
office cannot keep ahead of the metropolitan area's six-per-day average.
Around the country, the story is much the same. Violence is so rampant
in Miami, Florida that the Police Department has publicly encouraged
citizens to buy their own guns to protect themselves. And everywhere,
there is an upsurge in unprovoked,random violence--such as murders in
volving strangers in parking lots over the flimsiest of excuses, or pot
shots at drivers on expressways. Says New York Police Commissioner
Robert McGuire:
"The random, senseless violence has shocked me more than
anything. It's like the torturing of butterflies and pussycats, only
it's human beings that are being tortured."
In September, a nationwide survey called the Figgie Report on Fear of
Crime concluded that "fear of crime is slowly paralyzing American society."
This subject of crime and violence is now such an overwhelming one that
only the barest details can possibly be given in the "On The World Scene"
column. We are planning a special News Report in the near future to
cover it in greater detail.
If any of you ministers come across good
feature articles (not just news items of individual crimes) on the topic
in your areas, please send them on to the News Bureau.
--Gene H. Hogberg, News Bureau