World News and Trends: Pedophilia mushrooms in Europe
The increase of pedophiles is continuing to grow at an alarming rate all across Europe.
Recent media reports revealed the existence of the biggest-ever pedophile network in France. This tragedy happened not in a city, but in a rural area. Sixty-five men and women were charged in the crimes.
London's Times stated the sickening news that "at least 45 children, including babies six months old, were assaulted by their parents, or prostituted for money, alcohol, cigarettes and even a car tyre." One man's daughter was raped on 45 occasions over a three-year period, both by himself and other men.
All European countries share this shameful problem and Britain has not escaped. The Daily Mail reported that "between 1980 and 2001, almost 70,000 sexual crimes involved gross indecency and unlawful sexual intercourse with a female child." The National Crime Intelligence Service said that "as many as 95 per cent of incidences of sexual abuse go unreported."
The growth of the Internet has multiplied networking opportunities for pedophiles. Among the 7,000 U.K citizens who had used their credit cards to gain electronic access to child pornography were police officers, top military personnel, judges, teachers and doctors.
The Bible aptly describes our Western societies today: "The whole head is sick, and the whole heart faint. From the sole of the foot even to the head, there is no soundness in it, but bruises and sores and bleeding wounds . . ." (Isaiah 1:5-6, New Revised Standard Bible). (Sources: Daily Mail, The Times [both London].)
An Article from:
Good News Magazine: September - October 2005
Course Content
Jerold Aust
Jerold Aust has served in the ministry for 52 years, as a public speaker for 58 years, a published writer for 38 years, and is employed by UCG’s Media and Communications Services. He is a Senior Writer, interviewer, and editor for Beyond Today Magazine and has taught Speech Communication for UCG’s ministerial online program and the Book of Revelation for ABC.
Jerold holds a BA in theology from Ambassador College, Pasadena (1968), an MA in Communication from California State University, Fullerton (1995), a distance-learning Ph.D (2006), and a Famous Writers School diploma in non-fiction writing (1973). Additionally, he studied post-grad communication at University of Southern California (1995), radio, TV, voice-overs, and Public Relations at Fullerton College (1995-1996), and graduate communication at Wichita State University (1978). Jerold has taught communication at the University of South Alabama (7 years) and ABC (17 years). His published works include, Ronald Reagan’s Rhetoric: Metaphor as Persuasion and EZSpeakers: Public Speaking Made Easy in 7 Steps. Jerold's overarching goal is to share with humankind its incredible destiny!
John Ross Schroeder
John died on March 8, 2014, in Oxford, England, four days after suffering cardiac arrest while returning home from a press event in London. John was 77 and still going strong.
Some of John's work for The Good News appeared under his byline, but much didn't. He wrote more than a thousand articles over the years, but also wrote the Questions and Answers section of the magazine, compiled our Letters From Our Readers, and wrote many of the items in the Current Events and Trends section. He also contributed greatly to a number of our study guides and Bible Study Course lessons. His writing has touched the lives of literally millions of people over the years.
John traveled widely over the years as an accredited journalist, especially in Europe. His knowledge of European and Middle East history added a great deal to his articles on history and Bible prophecy.
In his later years he also pastored congregations in Northern Ireland and East Sussex, and that experience added another dimension to his writing. He and his wife Jan were an effective team in our British Isles office near their home.
John was a humble servant who dedicated his life to sharing the gospel—the good news—of Jesus Christ and the Kingdom of God to all the world, and his work was known to readers in nearly every country of the world.
