Elderly Sex Offenders: Causes, Crimes and Punishments

Elderly Sex Offenders: Causes, Crimes and Punishments Introduction In the recent years, the number of reported crimes involving geriatric offenders has increased, especially in sex related offences. Although there is a recent spate of sex offences, there has been minimal discussion with regard to sex offenders who commit their crimes in their golden years. Furthermore, the media has been seen to portray the elderly as feeble and delicate targets for criminals, more than a perpetrator of crimes. This essay will firstly define the ground rules and establish a common understanding of the age range of the elderly. Part II of the essay will examine and discuss the types of offences committed by elderly sex offenders, follow by the reasons for committing the sexual crimes. Part III of the essay will delve at the current punishments and treatments for geriatric sex offenders based on classical and positivist approach. Finally, Part IV will offer some recommendations on the way forward of elderly sex offenders. Definition of an Elderly Person According to the World Health Organization (WHO), most of the countries worldwide have accepted the chronological age of 65 years as a definition of elderly person (WHO, 2010). This definition also coincides with the definition of elderly in United States. In Singapore, however, the elderly, or otherwise known as senior citizen, own their status once they have reached the age of 55. Although senior citizenship starts from the age of 55, it is worthy to note that Singaporeans retired at the age of 62 and statistics from the government actually delineate age 65 and above from the others when determining the age structure for the purpose of statistics (Statistic Singapore, 2010). Ironically, criminals whose age are 50 and above are not subjected to canning regardless of the offences committed, though the average life expectancy of Singaporeans is 81.4 (Male: 79 and female: 83.7). For the purpose of this essay, we will define age 65 and above to qualify as elderly. Offenses Perpetrated by Elderly Sex Offenders While the majority of the sex offenders are still committed by younger men, statistics show that nearly 4 percent (2858 persons)of the sexual crimes in United States in 2006 were age 60 and above (Sullivan, 2007). Whereas in Singapore, there were 50 over sexual crimes in 2009 and out of the 50 over cases, less than 5 cases are elderly offenders. Generally, sex offences committed by elderly are more passive sexual activities as compared to younger sex offenders. Research has shown that elderly sex offenders are more likely to commit non-violent sexual offences such as pedophilia, fondling or molest, statutory rape, exposing of the genitals and other acts of exhibitionism (Eysenck Gudjonsson, 2000). For example, a recent case of 90 year-old Australian arrested and charged for raping four young sisters (age 5 to 7) whom he allegedly lured to his home in Thailand with imported chocolates and English lessons (Suchaovanich, 2010). In Singapore, a 68 year-old magician was arrested and char ged for molesting a 12 year-old apprentice (SSN, 2009). Although there are many different scenarios of elderly sex offenders, these 2 incidents seem to suggest that elderly sex offenders frequently choose children as their victims and are more likely to do so than younger offenders. Potential reasons postulated that the elderly men have lost their charisma and are generally unattractive to females. Also, the fact that grandfather image tend to be more trust worthy than younger men and this increases the opportunity of committing sexual crimes. Besides, young victims are less able to defend themselves and easier to bribe and less likely to report such incidents (Hucker, 1984). Possible Reasons for Sexual Crimes Other possible reasons seem to indicate that elderly sex offenders may be suffering from a lost sense of masculinity. Furthermore, sexual crimes are committed by elderly offenders who are feeling less potent and less active in their golden age. It is postulated that by victimizing someone less powerful, the elderly is able to recover his lost self-esteem (Benett, 1987). Another postulation by Hucker and Ben-Aron (1987) seems to suggest that they are unable to physically live out their fantasies and hence, only capable of performing their desires in a limited sexual capacity. Additionally, it is also hypothesized that the elderly sex offenders are overwhelmed by typical problems such as social isolation and loneliness due to separation from grown up kids, death of spouse or even poverty. One of the prison psychologists, Susan King felt that elderly offenders are still sexually driven. However, due to their health condition and potency, they become frustrated and therefore acted on chi ldren simply because they are easy targets. Moreover, elderly sex offenders do not want to seek counseling or treatment (Rayburn, 2007). Punishment or Treatment of Elderly Sex Offenders According to the Penal Code (Chapter 224, Section 375 and 376), the penalty for sex offences is imprisonment of not less than 8 years and not more than 20 years, and shall also be punished with not less than 12 strokes of cane. Most of the countries have average sentence of 12 years for rapists but caning is not commonly used in some countries such as United States and some African nations. Usually, a criminal justice system is more inclined towards the classical approach as this theory is very policy oriented and concentrates on establishing and operating a criminal justice system that is rule-based, consistent and predictable (Joyce, 2006). Punishments meted out by such system are usually acted as a form of deterrence to members of public from committing crimes. Other than the classical approach, positivist theory is another approach to deal with crimes. Rather than focusing on the law and the offence committed, this approach looks into the contributing factors leading to the crime . It advocates treatment and rehabilitation over punishments. However, more often than not, when elderly sex offenders are convicted of their crimes, the question that will be normally raised, what to do with these criminals? Which approach to be used? While there is a strong disinclination of locking the feeble and frail elderly into the prison and spend his final years, nobody would allow a sex offender to be roaming in the streets and inflicts harm on the children. In United States, sex offenders are banished from the towns and they are restricted from living 750 meters within the streets and schools. They were forced to live under bridges and homeless (Kelley, 2010). In fact, many of these elderly sex offenders are first timer with no prior criminal record of any sexual or other offense (Hart, 2008). If Singapore were to impose such restrictions, we will see sex offenders congregating outside the city and this would have other repercussions and inadvertently create other social problems in the society. Another important aspect that influence and shape the publics perception is the power of media as it exerts an imperative influence on the popular perception of the nature and effect of crime. Just because sex, violence and controversy sells newspaper, it actually enables profit-run mass media companies to publish and sensationalize stories that the public would generally be interested in reading and watching so as to boost the sales and advertising revenue. However, the media is not providing an accurate portrayal of the news and allows deviance amplification and moral panic to set in. In essence, the members of public forms their opinions of the offences and crimes based on what they read and watch. Take it for instance, the media in Singapore has always portrayed the elderly as frail and frightened, being the victims of robbery rather than perpetrators of crimes. Recommendations Besides the usual classical system meted to punish elderly offenders, the system should advocates for a sympathetic treatment of elderly sex offenders because the elderly offenders tend to be non-aggressive in their acts, possess low recidivism rate and deprived of notable social, health and mental problems (Hucker, 1984). In fact, evidence from Steffensmeier (1995) seems to imply that elderly sex offenders receive more lenient sentences than the younger offenders. One possibility for reconciling the differences in sentencing might be due to the fact that elderly sex offenders are generally less aggressive towards their victims and are more likely to commit non-violent sexual offenses when compared to younger sex offenders. Some of the elderly sex offenders suffer from sicknesses such Parkinson disease, Alzheimers, dementia and other elderly illnesses. As such, by sending the elderly sex offenders to the prison may aggravate their health condition because the prisons are geared prima rily for young offenders and it has little emphasis placed on special problems of incarcerating the elderly offenders. Moreover, increased numbers of elderly offenders will equate to an increased in the medical cost and facilities required for the elderly. With the increase in elderly offenders, setting up an elderly prison might be worthwhile considering as the prison can be tailored to the elderly offenders special needs such as medical and psychological facilities and equipment available for the offenders. In the state of Nevada in United States, the governor implemented a special needs program for different groups of offenders such as the elderly offenders, pregnant offenders, sex offenders and etc (NDOC, 2007). The Ministry of Home Affairs could perhaps set aside certain percentage of the allocated funds to run such program when elderly offenders have increased substantially. For a stronger deterrence message to prevent elderly offenders from committing sexual crimes, the government should also review the Penal Code and relook into the caning requirements, if the countrys law and order is based on classical approach. As brought up earlier, caning for age 49 and below does not coincide with the life expectancy as well as the criteria age for elderly. The government should revise the mandatory caning requirement to age 64 and below for serious offences and caning can still be carried out for age 65 and above subjected to medical examination. In this way, the punishment meted can transmit a stronger deterrence signal to future elderly sex offenders. For a justice system to be more effective and encompassing, the government should consider a mixture of both the classical and positivist approaches. Conclusion While elderly sex offenders only account for a small percentage of sexual crimes committed, it is definitely alarming that an elderly who has lived within the norms of society for their entire life can commit such horrendous acts at such a late stage in their life and turn into a dirty old man. Nevertheless, elderly sex offenders are generally less violent and their intention is never to harm their victims, the crime is committed purely out of personal gratification. With the increase in elderly offenders, dedicated prisons are recommended for elderly offenders and they can make use of the medical facilities for their health and mental treatment.

An appreciation of ‘The Tell Tale Heart’ by Edgar Allan Poe and ‘The Confession’ by Charles Dickens Essay

This assignment asks for an appreciation of the stories by Edgar Allen Poe ‘The Tell Tale Heart’ and Charles Dickens ‘The Confession’. I will start by exploring Edgar Allen Poe’s story and style of writing, how it captivates the reader, building suspense and terror. I will then explore Charles Dickens ‘Confession’ And finally following my analysis of the two stories I will compare and contrast the different styles. Edgar Allen Poe’s story ‘The Tell Tale Heart’ describes how the perpetrator plans and executes a vicious attack on an old man. This story is told in an autobiographical format with the author describing his state of mind, questioning his own sanity. He calmly describes how there was no object or passion that caused him to commit the heinous act of murder as he describes his love for the old man. His only explanation is his victims ‘eye’ which he describes as vulture like and intimidating. He disassociates the ‘eye ‘ from the old man and it is the eye that drives him to commit the crime. He talks of his dissimulation in planning the old man’s death and how e treated him during the week prior to killing him, how he taunted him, stalked him, and preyed upon him at midnight (witching hour), this sinister act of voyeurism is unpleasant and adds to the tension of the story. It was only until the seventh night when he realised that to rid himself of the ‘Evil Eye’ he need to have the old man’s eye open to commit the act. On the eighth night he describes how he carefully taunts the old man describing his actions as clever and skilled, hysteria sets in and finds the events exhilarating, which is further compounded by his knowledge that the old man was fearful of intruders and robbers to realise the real danger is from within. He describes the fear and panic the old man is experiencing when he hears someone in his room, he goes on to empathise and understand how the old man is rationalising for the noise he heard. The author gives a description of a Grim Reaper, stalking in the shadows and enveloping the victim. He builds suspense and describes the web that he’s weaving to rid himself of the ‘vulture eye’. He describes seeing the ‘eye’ as freezing him and bringing his focus purely on the ‘eye’ completely detaching the old man from the ‘eye’. He recalls hearing the old man’s heart beating like a drum ‘It was a low, dull, quick sound- much such as a watch makes when enveloped in cotton’. His acuteness of hearing increases the loudness of the heart beat it’s then he describes nervousness mixed with excitement. It’s with this increasing loudness that he fears he will by heard by neighbours that he enters the room dragging the old man to the floor pulling the mattress on top of him, where as the heart beat becomes muffled and finally stops. He describes the man as being stone dead and not troubling him any longer. In the concluding paragraphs he talks of how he concealed the body, dismembering the body cutting off the old man’s head and limbs and depositing them under the floor boards, believing himself to be clever. However the actions at such early hours raised suspicions. This brought three policemen knocking at the door, alerted by a neighbour hearing a shriek, in the middle of the night. The murderer invited the policemen in to search the house and take a rest from their duties. He showed his boldness, by placing the chairs above where he concealed the body. It was then he describes hearing a ringing much the same as the beating of the heart. He describes it as catching his breath, in fear that the officers also heard the beating. His anxiety increased and his paranoia set in. With the policemen not making a move to go he feared that they had heard the beating, it was so loud to him he thought they were bound to hear it and that he confessed to committing the deed and exposed the body to the police. There the story ends and we can only guess at the murderer’s sentence. ‘The Confession’ This is an autobiographical story which takes places in a retrospective view of the author’s life. This is a story that tells a confession of a condemned man. He talks of his childhood where he is victim to his own low self esteem with a few friends and his relationship with his brother. He is extremely jealous of his sibling because he perceives him as better than him ‘He was open-hearted and generous, handsomer than I, more accomplished, and generally beloved’ his friends and acquaintances would say ‘†¦they were surprised to find two brothers so unlike in their manners and appearance’. Then it tells of how his brother has been struck with a terminal illness. He talks of his marriage to his brother’s sister-in-law and describes this additional tie as estranging them further. He disliked his sister-in-law for he felt she could see through him, and see his jealousy, and so he could not meet her eyes but felt hers constantly digging into him. Only relieved by a quarrel, and her subsequent death, she both frightened and haunted him. She died shortly after her birth of her son. And on his brother’s death bed the child was placed in his care and should the child die all property and possessions pass onto to his wife. With ‘†¦a few brotherly words with me, deploring our long separation; and being exhausted, fell into a slumber, from which he never awoke.’ The author talks of his own childless relationship and how his wife took the place of the child’s mother. It was the child’s infatuation with his wife that he found disturbing as within him he saw his natural mother’s intuition, her face and her spirit which caused him to mistrust the boy to the point of obsession. He increasingly become uneasy in the child’s presence, he showed him fear and hate. The boy kept his distance whenever possible. He could not recall when these feelings came upon him and initially he wished the child no ill. The thoughts crept upon him until they overtook his whole thought patterns. He describes uneasiness when in the child’s focus, he become fixated on how easy it would be to kill the child. He began stalking the child, watching him, undertaking his tasks. As in the Tell Tale Heart this unhealthy voyeurism is vividly described to great effect- ‘I never could bear that child should see me’ in the Confession and ‘†¦ a pale blue eye, with film over it. Whenever it fell upon me, my blood ran cold†¦Ã¢â‚¬â„¢ in a Tell Tale Heart. He goes on to describe how he grooms the child by modelling a model boat and waiting for him to go to the river to float it where he had planned to carry out the crime. He describes how he waited for three days until the child went to the river and when he was about to commit the crime the child saw his shadow in the water. It was as if the child’s mother’s eyes were starring back at him. In a moment lost in time the author appears to have mixed recollections of the event, one the child running for escape and the other when he is confronted with the child’s dead body lying at his feet stabbed by his sword. With his wife away from home he planned to bury the child in the garden and he became obsessed by the murder he committed. He talks of his feigned distress at being told the child was missing and how he had to break the news to his wife. He carried out the actions of a grieving parent raising no suspicions whilst all day long watching the new turf being laid hoping to add speed to the process. He talks of disturbed sleep, waking from nightmares and constantly needing re-assurance ‘†¦ and thus I spent the night in fits and starts, getting up and lying down full twenty times, and dreaming the same dream over and over again,’ he became paranoid and terrorised by his actions, fearful of discovery; he started to hear whispers on the wind- ‘†¦ a breath of air sighed across it, to me it whispered murder.’ This increased his fear. Then he goes on to describe how on the fourth day visitors from his earlier regiment called upon him. He invited them into the garden and set the chairs out on top of the child’s grave. They ask after his wife and the child, unsettling him a ‘theme’ in his life and his paranoia sets in. He is obviously terrified they would discover his secret. In attempt to hide his fear he asks the men if the child has been murdered. They attempted to re-assure him there was nothing to gain from killing an innocent child. Then as they were attempting to raise his spirits, two bloodhounds bounded into the garden and began pacing and sniffing the ground, until they came upon the murderer’s chair they began to howl. The visitors said that the dogs had made a discovery. It was then the murderer became hysterical that his two visitors after a battle restrained him, during which time the dogs tore at the earth and on seeing this, the murderer dropped to his knees and confessed the truth and begged for forgiveness. Then he retracts his confession for which he’s tried and found guilty. His only Solace is the fact that his wife has lost all her faculties and does not know his and hers own misery and his guilt. I wonder, however, if our ‘hero’ was truly repentant or just searching for sympathy since he has been found out – disguising what was really inside as he had done all his life. Perhaps we’ll never know the real badness. There are many similarities between both stories. ‘The Tell Tale Heart’ is autobiographical description/confession of the murder of a victim known by the perpetrator. It describes the careful process and preparation/planning of the murder and how the murderers own paranoia and psychosis results in the confession. They both describe the careful stalking of the victims. ‘The Confession’ by Charles Dickens is also an autobiographical description/confession of the murder in which the victim is known to the murderer and also he describes the preparation and once again has confessed as a result of paranoia. Both stories use the technique of repetition to create tension and suspense, and the use of short sharp sentences are also used to construct the state of panic of which both murderer’s encounter when they are discovered. The contrasts between the two stories are that ‘The Tell Tale Heart’ by Edgar Allan Poe talks of his love for the victim, but fear of the eye. There is no financial gain to the murder on the death of the victim. The author describes no regret or remorse for the act and prides himself on the cleverness of his actions, Edgar Allan Poe tells the story through a psychotic murderer, whereas in Charles Dickens ‘The Confession’, the author tells the story through more of a thinking and tactical murderer. The author dislikes the victim altogether with no love loss between them. There is a gain from the death of the victim. And during more rational times the murderer talks of much regret and remorse.

Pumpkin Picking Descriptive Essay Samples Guide

Pumpkin Picking Descriptive Essay Samples Guide The Fight Against Pumpkin Picking Descriptive Essay Samples A descriptive essay presents an individual, place, or thing, in a manner that readers feel like it's in front of their eyes, or they are tasting it, or they can hear this, or they can smell it. The aforementioned abstract has offered you two or three ideas. Another thing you may describe is a particular place or object that you've got strong feelings about. If you would like to dig deeper, you should try and create an extremely vivid picture in the reader's mind. Descriptive essay samples can help you with writing a description of sensory details which are an essential portion of descriptive writing. Writers use sensory information to spell out object. Quick Tips for Writing Your Descriptive Essay Writing a descriptive essay may be rich and fulfilling experience, but nevertheless, it may also feel somewhat complicated. Descriptive Narrative Essay Example may be used mainly to recreate an occasion. In addition, you are able to also take a look at our Argumentative Essay templates. Templates like Descriptive Essay about Office can be beneficial for someone who's planning to go to an office. Essay writing comes in various forms. Students are extremely often requested to compose a descriptive essay about mother. Choosing Pumpkin Picking Descriptive Essay Samples By this time, you probably get the concept that the style choice for your descriptive essay is really open. A description might be only a paragraph, or it might be longer, as needed to totally describe the thing. A descriptive essay is among the more important kinds of essays, requiring the student to offer a description of an object, person, place, device, or simply about any other kind of thing that may be described verbally. Luckily, typically a descriptive essay doesn't have any strict recommendations, so you probably won't will need to obey a specific formatting style. Where to Find Pumpkin Picking Descriptive Essay Samples A descriptive essay enables a reader to comprehend the essay's subject utilizing illustrative language. Still, keep in mind that it is also an academic paper, so it should serve a purpose. It may be considered one of the simplest although deeply involving essays. A descriptive essay is among the essay examples that will be easily done if you're conscious of the basics of its creation. Before writing, you've got to understand the subject of your essay! Make certain your essay follows a particular format, consisting of the correct partsA of essay. In case you were assigned with a descriptive essay, you are most likely puzzled where to begin. As you begin on your descriptive essay, it's important that you identify just what you wish to describe. Using Pumpkin Picking Descriptive Essay Samples As you begin writing more descriptive essays, make sure that you paint a photo of your character. Don't forget, if you're describing something, you ought to be appealing to the senses of the reader. Personality traits can be challenging to write for a character. You are unable to describe for the interest of describing. Descriptive writing is easy and difficult at the very same time, especially if you're a freshman. Sample essays of this type cannot offer you a complete breakdown of information and techniques which will be related to your tutor's requirements and the program. Samples supply you with a chance to secure closer to the style and structure that's usually appreciated by tutors. To create the reading of samples more effective, you must understand what things to remember! If you're given complete freedom in picking out descriptive essay topics, you're a lucky student as you can write on whatever you want. Usually students have an opportunity to select descriptive essay topics independently, which greatly simplifies the practice. Don't rush and you'll surely get the greatest possible grade! Next, employing an expert to compose an essay for you're able to help you better your academic outcome. The writer ought to be in a position to bring an emotional relationship between the reader and the subject. A descriptive essay is not just present in the area of education and research. It can be used in different activities and undertakings. Finally, there's a location in my imaginary place I visit just on special occasions. Descriptive Essay on Market can be employed by tourists or visitors that don't have any prior understanding of a marketplace. Normally, most readers receive the best representation of something through using their senses! The primary reason is the shortage of practical wisdom and the lack of much free time due to other home tasks in many of subjects.

What Does It Mean To Be Vegetarian - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 1 Words: 420 Downloads: 1 Date added: 2019/06/24 Category Health Essay Level High school Tags: Vegetarian Essay Did you like this example? A vegetarian is someone who lives on a diet of grains, pulses, legumes, nuts, seeds, vegetables, fruits, fungi, algae, yeast, and/or some other non-animal-based foods with, or without, dairy products, honey and/or eggs. A vegetarian does not eat foods that consist of or have been produced with the aid of products consisting of or created from, any part of the body of a living or dead animal. Many people think that a life without meat would be boring, unhealthy, and damaging to your body. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "What Does It Mean To Be Vegetarian?" essay for you Create order While others claim they are saving the earth, saving animals, and maintaining a better lifestyle. Switching to vegetarianism has many benefits for the human body. People who make the decision to change their diets and embrace a vegan or vegetarian lifestyle can do so for a number of reasons. A vegetarian diet helps lower cholesterol, control diabetes, prevent cancer, and retain vitamins. There has always been a concern medically, among non-vegetarians about the supposed lack of protein that vegetarians ingest. For the most part, Americans eat more protein than their bodies need. Too much protein can lead to kidney disease, bone loss, and cancer. There are many different foods with high amounts of proteins including soy, eggs, dairy, quinoa, beans, and legumes. Another argument of a vegetarian lifestyle is maintaining a healthy weight. Foods high in carbohydrates are excellent in sustaining a healthy weight. They are a lower amount of calories in carbohydrates than in fats and they are stored differently in the body. However, eating a plant based diet has its drawbacks. Plant-based sources tend to be low in saturated fat, a component of the brain and a macronutrient vital for human health. Meats contribute greatly to our overall health and contains many nutrients that cannot be obtained in any amount from plants: Creatine creates energy reserves in muscle and brain tissue, complete protein source with a higher biological value, Vitamin D, contains Vitamin B1, B2, B6, and the minerals zinc, selenium, and iron. Vegetarians have a higher risk of developing vitamin B12 deficiency compared with people who consume animal-based products. Becoming a vegetarian does not guarantee good health or a healthy diet. Anyone is at risk of poor health if he or she consumes too many calories, unhealthy snacks, too many refined carbohydrates, whole milk dairy products and junk food, whether or not based on meat. In addition, there is not right or wrong answer for becoming a vegetarian, just maintain a healthy diet and keep up with your bodys nutritional intake.

The Impact Of Advertising On The Buying Behavior Of Youth

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Bag of Bones CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE Free Essays

The murk came back and transformed that Sunday night’s dusk into a thing of decadent beauty. The sun turned red as it slid down toward the hills and the haze picked up the glow, turning the western sky into a nosebleed. I sat out on the deck and watched it, trying to do a crossword puzzle and not getting very far. We will write a custom essay sample on Bag of Bones CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE or any similar topic only for you Order Now When the phone rang, I dropped Tough Stuff on top of my manuscript as I went to answer it. I was tired of looking at the title of my book every time I passed. ‘Hello?’ ‘What’s going on up there?’ John Storrow demanded. He didn’t even bother to say hi. He didn’t sound angry, though; he sounded totally pumped. ‘I’m missing the whole goddam soap opera!’ ‘I invited myself to lunch on Tuesday,’ I said. ‘Hope you don’t mind.’ ‘No, that’s good, the more the merrier.’ He sounded as if he absolutely meant it. ‘What a summer, huh? What a summer! Anything happen just lately? Earthquakes? Volcanoes? Mass suicides?’ ‘No mass suicides, but the old guy died,’ I said. ‘Shit, the whole world knows Max Devore kicked it,’ he said. ‘Surprise me, Mike! Stun me! Make me holler boy-howdy!’ ‘No, the other old guy. Royce Merrill.’ ‘I don’t know who you oh, wait. The one with the gold cane who looked like an exhibit from Jurassic Park?’ ‘That’s him.’ ‘Bummer. Otherwise . . . ?’ ‘Otherwise everything’s under control,’ I said, then thought of the popped-out eyes of the cat-clock and almost laughed. What stopped me was a kind of surety that Mr. Good Humor Man was just an act John had really called to ask what, if anything, was going on between me and Mattie. And what was I going to say? Nothing yet? One kiss, one instant blue-steel hard-on, the fundamental things apply as time goes by? But John had other things on his mind. ‘Listen, Michael, I called because I’ve got something to tell you. I think you’ll be both amused and amazed.’ ‘A state we all crave,’ I said. ‘Lay it on me.’ ‘Rogette Whitmore called, and . . . you didn’t happen to give her my parents’ number, did you? I’m back in New York now, but she called me in Philly.’ ‘I didn’t have your parents’ number. You didn’t leave it on either of your machines.’ ‘Oh, right.’ No apology; he seemed too excited to think of such mundanities. I began to feel excited myself, and I didn’t even know what the hell was going on. ‘I gave it to Mattie. Do you think the Whitmore woman called Mattie to get it? Would Mattie give it to her?’ ‘I’m not sure that if Mattie came upon Rogette flaming in a thoroughfare, she’d piss on her to put her out.’ ‘Vulgar, Michael, trs vulgarino.’ But he was laughing. ‘Maybe Whitmore got it the same way Devore got yours.’ ‘Probably so,’ I said. ‘I don’t know what’ll happen in the months ahead, but right now I’m sure she’s still got access to Max Devore’s personal control panel. And if anyone knows how to push the buttons on it, it’s probably her. Did she call from Palm Springs?’ ‘Uh-huh. She said she’d just finished a preliminary meeting with Devore’s attorneys concerning the old man’s will. According to her, Grampa left Mattie Devore eighty million dollars.’ I was struck silent. I wasn’t amused yet, but I was certainly amazed. ‘Gets ya, don’t it?’ John said gleefully. ‘You mean he left it to Kyra,’ I said at last. ‘Left it in trust to Kyra.’ ‘No, that’s just what he did not do. I asked Whitmore three times, but by the third I was starting to understand. There was method in his madness. Not much, but a little. You see, there’s a condition. If he left the money to the minor child instead of to the mother, the condition would have no weight. It’s funny when you consider that Mattie isn’t long past minor status herself.’ ‘Funny,’ I agreed, and thought of her dress sliding between my hands and her smooth bare waist. I also thought of Bill Dean saying that men who went with girls that age always looked the same, had their tongues run out even if their mouths were shut. ‘What string did he put on the money?’ ‘That Mattie remain on the TR for one year following Devore’s death until July 17, 1999. She can leave on day-trips, but she has to be tucked up in her TR-90 bed every night by nine o’clock, or else the legacy is forfeit. Did you ever hear such a bullshit thing in your life? Outside of some old George Sanders movie, that is?’ ‘No,’ I said, and recalled my visit to the Fryeburg Fair with Kyra. Even in death he’s seeking custody, I had thought, and of course this was the same thing. He wanted them here. Even in death he wanted them on the TR. ‘It won’t fly?’ I asked. ‘Of course it won’t fly. Fucking crackpot might as well have written he’d give her eighty million dollars if she used blue tampons for a year. But she’ll get the eighty mil, all right. My heart is set on it. I’ve already talked to three of our estate guys, and . . . you don’t think I should bring one of them up with me on Tuesday, do you? Will Stevenson’ll be the point man in the estate phase, if Mattie agrees.’ He was all but babbling. He hadn’t had a thing to drink, I’d’ve bet the farm on it, but he was sky-high on all the possibilities. We’d gotten to the happily-ever-after part of the fairy tale, as far as he was concerned; Cinderella comes home from the ball through a cash cloudburst. ‘ . . . course Will’s a little bit old,’ John was saying, ‘about three hundred or so, which means he’s not exactly a fun guy at a party, but . . . ‘ ‘Leave him home, why don’t you?’ I said. ‘There’ll be plenty of time to carve up Devore’s will later on. And in the immediate future, I don’t think Mattie’s going to have any problem observing the bullshit condition. She just got her job back, remember?’ ‘Yeah, the white buffalo drops dead and the whole herd scatters!’ John exulted. ‘Look at em go! And the new multimillionaire goes back to filing books and mailing out overdue notices! Okay, Tuesday we’ll just party.’ ‘Good.’ ‘Party ’til we puke.’ ‘Well . . . maybe us older folks will just party until we’re mildly nauseated, would that be all right?’ ‘Sure. I’ve already called Romeo Bissonette, and he’s going to bring George Kennedy, the private detective who got all that hilarious shit on Durgin. Bissonette says Kennedy’s a scream when he gets a drink or two in him. I thought I’d bring some steaks from Peter Luger’s, did I tell you that?’ ‘I don’t believe you did.’ ‘Best steaks in the world. Michael, do you realize what’s happened to that young woman? Eighty million dollars!’ ‘She’ll be able to replace Scoutie.’ ‘Huh?’ ‘Nothing. Will you come in tomorrow night or on Tuesday?’ ‘Tuesday morning around ten, into Castle County Airport. New England Air. Mike, are you all right? You sound odd.’ ‘I’m all right. I’m where I’m supposed to be. I think.’ ‘What’s that supposed to mean?’ I had wandered out onto the deck. In the distance thunder rumbled. It was hotter than hell, not a breath of breeze stirring. The sunset was fading to a baleful afterglow. The sky in the west looked like the white of a bloodshot eye. ‘I don’t know,’ I said, ‘but I have an idea the situation will clarify itself. I’ll meet you at the airport.’ ‘Okay,’ he said, and then, in a hushed, almost reverential voice: ‘Eighty million motherfucking American dollars.’ ‘It’s a whole lotta lettuce,’ I agreed, and wished him a good night. I drank black coffee and ate toast in the kitchen the next morning, watching the TV weatherman. Like so many of them these days, he had a slightly mad look, as if all those Doppler radar images had driven him to the brink of something. I think of it as the Millennial Video Game look. ‘We’ve got another thirty-six hours of this soup to work through and then there’s going to be a big change,’ he was saying, and pointed to some dark gray scum lurking in the Midwest. Tiny animated lightning-bolts danced in it like defective sparkplugs. Beyond the scum and the lightning-bolts, America looked clear all the way out to the desert country, and the posted temperatures were fifteen degrees cooler. ‘We’ll see temps in the mid-nineties today and can’t look for much relief tonight or tomorrow morning. But tomorrow afternoon these frontal storms will reach western Maine, and I think most of you are going to want to keep updated on weather conditions. Before we get back to cooler air and bright clear skies on Wednesday, we’re probably going to see violent thunderstorms, heavy rain, hail in some locations. Tornados are rare in Maine, but some towns in western and central Maine could see them tomorrow. Back to you, Earl.â€℠¢ Earl, the morning news guy, had the innocent beefy look of a recent retiree from the Chippendales and read off the Teleprompter like one. ‘Wow,’ he said. ‘That’s quite a forecast, Vince. Tornados a possibility.’ ‘Wow,’ I said. ‘Say wow again, Earl. Do it ’til I’m satisfied.’ ‘Holy cow,’ Earl said just to spite me, and the telephone rang. I went to answer it, giving the waggy clock a look as I went by. The night had been quiet no sobbing, no screaming, no nocturnal adventures but the clock was disquieting, just the same. It hung there On the wall eyeless and dead, like a message full of bad news. ‘Hello?’ ‘Mr. Noonan?’ I knew the voice, but for a moment couldn’t place it. It was because she had called me Mr. Noonan. To Brenda Meserve I’d been Mike for almost fifteen years. ‘Mrs M.? Brenda? What ‘ ‘I can’t work for you anymore,’ she said, all in a rush. ‘I’m sorry I can’t give you proper notice I never stopped work for anyone without giving notice, not even that old drunk Mr Croyden but I have to. Please understand.’ ‘Did Bill find out I called you? I swear to God, Brenda, I never said a word ‘ ‘No. I haven’t spoken to him, nor he to me. I just can’t come back to Sara Laughs. I had a bad dream last night. A terrible dream. I dreamed that . . . something’s mad at me. If I come back, I could have an accident. It would look like an accident, at least, but . . . it wouldn’t be.’ That’s silly, Mrs M., I wanted to say. You’re surely past the age where you believe in campfire stories about ghoulies and ghosties and long-leggedy beasties. But of course I could say no such thing. What was going on in my house was no campfire story. I knew it, and she knew I did. ‘Brenda, if I’ve caused you any trouble, I’m truly sorry.’ ‘Go away, Mr. Noonan . . . Mike. Go back to Derry and stay for awhile. It’s the best thing you could do.’ I heard the letters sliding on the fridge and turned. This time I actually saw the circle of fruits and vegetables form. It stayed open at the top long enough for four letters to slide inside. Then a little plastic lemon plugged the hole and completed the circle. yats, the letters said, then swapped themselves around, making stay Then both the circle and the letters broke up. ‘Mike, please.’ Mrs. M. was crying. ‘Royce’s funeral is tomorrow. Everyone in the TR who matters the old-timers will be there.’ Yes, of course they would. The old ones, the bags of bones who knew what they knew and kept it to themselves. Except some of them had talked to my wife. Royce himself had talked to her. Now he was dead. So was she. ‘It would be best if you were gone. You could take that young woman with you, maybe. Her and her little girl.’ But could I? I somehow didn’t think so. I thought the three of us were on the TR until this was over . . . and I was starting to have an idea of when that would be. A storm was coming. A summer storm. Maybe even a tornado. ‘Brenda, thanks for calling me. And I’m not letting you go. Let’s just call it a leave of absence, shall we?’ ‘Fine . . . whatever you want. Will you at least think about what I said?’ ‘Yes. In the meantime, I don’t think I’d tell anyone you called me, all right?’ ‘No!’ she said, sounding shocked. Then: ‘But they’ll know. Bill and Yvette . . . Dickie Brooks at the garage . . . old Anthony Weyland and Buddy Jellison and all the others . . . they’ll know. Goodbye, Mr. Noonan. I’m so sorry. For you and your wife. Your poor wife. I’m so sorry.’ Then she was gone. I held the phone in my hand for a long time. Then, like a man in a dream, I put it down, crossed the room, and took the eyeless clock off the wall. I threw it in the trash and went down to the lake for a swim, remembering that W. E Harvey story ‘August Heat,’ the one that ends with the line ‘The heat is enough to drive a man mad.’ I’m not a bad swimmer when people aren’t pelting me with rocks, but my first shore-to-float-to-shore lap was tentative and unrhythmic ugly because I kept expecting something to reach up from the bottom and grab me. The drowned boy, maybe. The second lap was better, and by the third I was relishing the increased kick of my heart and the silky coolness of the water rushing past me. Halfway through the fourth lap I pulled myself up the float’s ladder and collapsed on the boards, feeling better than I had since my encounter with Devore and Rogette Whitmore on Friday night. I was still in the zone, and on top of that I was experiencing a glorious endorphin rush. In that state, even the dismay I’d felt when Mrs M. told me she was resigning her position ebbed away. She would come back when this was over; of course she would. In the meantime, it was probably best she stay away. Something’s mad at me. I could have an accident. Yes indeed. She might cut herself. She might fall down a flight of cellar stairs. She might even have a stroke running across a hot parking lot. I sat up and looked at Sara on her hill, the deck jutting out over the drop, the railroad ties descending. I’d only been out of the water for a few minutes, but already the day’s sticky heat was folding over me, stealing my rush. The water was still as a mirror. I could see the house reflected in it, and in the reflection Sara’s windows became watchful eyes. I thought that the focus of all the phenomena the epicenter was very likely on The Street between the real Sara and its drowned image. This is where it happened, Devore had said. And the old-timers? Most of them probably knew what I knew: that Royce Merrill had been murdered. And wasn’t it possible wasn’t it likely that what had killed him might come among them as they sat in their pews or gathered afterward around his grave? That it might steal some of their force their guilt, their memories, their TR-ness to help it finish the job? I was very glad that John was going to be at the trailer tomorrow, and Romeo Bissonette, and George Kennedy, who was so amusing when he got a drink or two in him. Glad it was going to be more than just me with Mattie and Ki when the old folks got together to give Royce Merrill his sendoff. I no longer cared very much about what had happened to Sara and the Red-Tops, or even about what was haunting my house. What I wanted was to get through tomorrow, and for Mattie and Ki to get through tomorrow. We’d eat before the rain started and then let the predicted thunderstorms come. I thought that, if we could ride them out, our lives and futures might clarify with the weather. ‘Is that right?’ I asked. I expected no answer talking out loud was a habit I had picked up since returning here but somewhere in the woods east of the house, an owl hooted. Just once, as if to say it was right, get through tomorrow and things will clarify. The hoot almost brought something else to mind, some association that was ultimately too gauzy to grasp. I tried once or twice, but the only thing I could come up with was the title of a wonderful old novel I Heard the Owl Call My Name. I rolled forward off the float and into the water, grasping my knees against my chest like a kid doing a cannonball. I stayed under as long as I could, until the air in my lungs started to feel like some hot bottled liquid, and then I broke the surface. I trod water about thirty yards out until I had my breath back, then set my sights on the Green Lady and stroked for shore. I waded out, started up the railroad ties, then stopped and went back to The Street. I stood there for a moment, gathering my courage, then walked to where the birch curved her graceful belly out over the water. I grasped that white curve as I had on Friday evening and looked into the water. I was sure I’d see the child, his dead eyes looking up at me from his bloating brown face, and that my mouth and throat would once more fill with the taste of the lake: help I’m drown, lemme up, oh sweet Jesus lemme up. But there was nothing. No dead boy, no ribbon-wrapped Boston Post cane, no taste of the lake in my mouth. I turned and peered at the gray forehead of rock poking out of the mulch. I thought There, right there, but it was only a conscious and unspontaneous thought, the mind voicing a memory. The smell of decay and the certainty that something awful had happened right there was gone. When I got back up to the house and went for a soda, I discovered the front of the refrigerator was bare and clean. Every magnetic letter, every fruit and vegetable, was gone. I never found them. I might have, probably would have, if there had been more time, but on that Monday morning time was almost up. I dressed, then called Mattie. We talked about the upcoming party, about how excited Ki was, about how nervous Mattie was about going back to work on Friday she was afraid that the locals would be mean to her, but in an odd, womanly way she was even more afraid that they would be cold to her, snub her. We talked about the money, and I quickly ascertained that she didn’t believe in the reality of it. ‘Lance used to say his father was the kind of man who’d show a piece of meat to a starving dog and then eat it himself,’ she said. ‘But as long as I have my job back, I won’t starve and neither will Ki.’ ‘But if there really are big bucks . . . ?’ ‘Oh, gimme-gimme-gimme,’ she said, laughing. ‘What do you think I am, crazy?’ ‘Nah. By the way, what’s going on with Ki’s fridgeafator people? Are they writing any new stuff?’ ‘That is the weirdest thing,’ she said. ‘They’re gone.’ ‘The fridgeafator people?’ ‘I don’t know about them, but the magnetic letters you gave her sure are. When I asked Ki what she did with them, she started crying and said Allamagoosalum took them. She said he ate them in the middle of the night, while everyone was sleeping, for a snack.’ ‘Allama-who-salum?’ ‘Allamagoosalum,’ Mattie said, sounding wearily amused. ‘Another little legacy from her grandfather. It’s a corruption of the Micmac word for â€Å"boogeyman† or â€Å"demon† I looked it up at the library. Kyra had a good many nightmares about demons and wendigos and the allama-goosalum late last winter and this spring.’ ‘What a sweet old grandpa he was,’ I said sentimentally. ‘Right, a real pip. She was miserable over losing the letters; I barely got her calmed down before her ride to VBS came. Ki wants to know if you’ll come to Final Exercises on Friday afternoon, by the way. She and her friend Billy Turgeon are going to flannelboard the story of baby Moses.’ ‘I wouldn’t miss it,’ I said . . . but of course I did. We all did. ‘Any idea where her letters might have gone, Mike?’ ‘No.’ ‘Yours are still okay?’ ‘Mine are fine, but of course mine don’t spell anything,’ I said, looking at the empty door of my own fridgeafator. There was sweat on my forehead. I could feel it creeping down into my eyebrows like oil. ‘Did you . . . I don’t know . . . sense anything?’ ‘You mean did I maybe hear the evil alphabet-thief as he slid through the window?’ ‘You know what I mean.’ ‘I suppose so.’ A pause ‘I thought I heard something in the night, okay? About three this morning, actually. I got up and went into the hall. Nothing was there. But . . . you know how hot it’s been lately?’ ‘Yes.’ ‘Well, not in my trailer, not last night. It was cold as ice. I swear I could almost see my breath.’ I believed her. After all, I had seen mine. ‘Were the letters on the front of the fridge then?’ ‘I don’t know. I didn’t go up the hall far enough to see into the kitchen. I took one look around and then went back to bed. I almost ran back to bed. Sometimes bed feels safer, you know?’ She laughed nervously. ‘It’s a kid thing. Covers are boogeyman kryptonite. Only at first, when I got in . . . I don’t know . . . I thought someone was in there already. Like someone had been hiding on the floor underneath and then . . . when I went to check the hall . . . they got in. Not a nice someone, either.’ Give me my dust-catcher, I thought, and shuddered. ‘What?’ Mattie asked sharply. ‘What did you say?’ ‘I asked who did you think it was? What was the first name that came into your mind?’ ‘Devore,’ she said. ‘Him. But there was no one there.’ A pause. ‘I wish you’d been there.’ ‘I do, too.’ ‘I’m glad. Mike, do you have any ideas at all about this? Because it’s very freaky.’ ‘I think maybe . . . ‘ For a moment I was on the verge of telling her what had happened to my own letters. But if I started talking, where would it stop? And how much could she be expected to believe? ‘ . . . maybe Ki took the letters herself. Went walking in her sleep and chucked them under the trailer or something. Do you think that could be?’ ‘I think I like the idea of Kyra strolling around in her sleep even less than the idea of ghosts with cold breath taking the letters off the fridge,’ Mattie said. ‘Take her to bed with you tonight,’ I said, and felt her thought come back like an arrow: I’d rather take you. What she said, after a brief pause, was: ‘Will you come by today?’ ‘I don’t think so,’ I said. She was noshing on flavored yogurt as we talked, eating it in little nipping bites. ‘You’ll see me tomorrow, though. At the party.’ ‘I hope we get to eat before the thunderstorms. They’re supposed to be bad.’ ‘I’m sure we will.’ ‘And are you still thinking? I only ask because I dreamed of you when I finally fell asleep again. I dreamed of you kissing me.’ ‘I’m still thinking,’ I said. ‘Thinking hard.’ But in fact I don’t remember thinking about anything very hard that day. What I remember is drifting further and further into that zone I’ve explained so badly. Near dusk I went for a long walk in spite of the heat all the way out to where Lane Forty-two joins the highway. Coming back I stopped on the edge of Tidwell’s Meadow, watching the light fade out of the sky and listening to thunder rumble somewhere over New Hampshire. Once more there was that sense of how thin reality was, not just here but everywhere; how it was stretched like skin over the blood and tissue of a body we can never know clearly in this life. I looked at trees and saw arms; I looked at bushes and saw faces. Ghosts, Mattie had said. Ghosts with cold breath. Time was also thin, it seemed to me. Kyra and I had really been at the Fryeburg Fair some version of it, anyway; we had really visited the year 1900. And at the foot of the meadow the Red-Tops were almost there now, as they once had been, in their neat little cabins. I could almost hear the sound of their guitars, the murmur of their voices and laughter; I could almost see the gleam of their lanterns and smell their beef and pork frying. ‘Say baby, do you remember me?’ one of her songs went, ‘Well I ain’t your honey like I used to be.’ Something rattled in the underbrush to my left. I turned that way, expecting to see Sara step out of the woods wearing Mattie’s dress and Mattie’s white sneakers. In this gloom, they would seem almost to float by themselves, until she got close to me . . . There was no one there, of course, it had undoubtedly been nothing but Chuck the Woodchuck headed home after a hard day at the office, but I no longer wanted to be out here, watching as the light drained out of the day and the mist came up from the ground. I turned for home. Instead of going into the house when I got back, I made my way along the path to Jo’s studio, where I hadn’t been since the night I had taken my IBM back in a dream. My way was lit by intermittent flashes of heat lightning. The studio was hot but not stale. I could smell a peppery aroma that was actually pleasant, and wondered if it might be some of Jo’s herbs. There was an air conditioner out here, and it worked I turned it on and then just stood in front of it a little while. So much cold air on my overheated body was probably unhealthy, but it felt wonderful. I didn’t feel very wonderful otherwise, however. I looked around with a growing sense of something too heavy to be mere sadness; it felt like despair. I think it was caused by the contrast between how little of Jo was left in Sara Laughs and how much of her was still out here. I imagined our marriage as a kind of playhouse and isn’t that what marriage is, in large part? playing house? where only half the stuff was held down. Held down by little magnets or hidden cables. Something had come along and picked up our playhouse by one corner easiest thing in the world, and I supposed I should be grateful that the something hadn’t decided to draw back its foot and kick the poor thing all the way over. It just picked up that one corner, you see. My stuff stayed put, but all of Jo’s had slid . . . Out of the house and down here. ‘Jo?’ I asked, and sat down in her chair. There was no answer. No thumps on the wall. No crows or owls calling from the woods. I put my hand on her desk, where the typewriter had been, and slipped my hand across it, picking up a film of dust. ‘I miss you, honey,’ I said, and began to cry. When the tears were over again I wiped my face with the tail of my tee-shirt like a little kid, then just looked around. There was the picture of Sara Tidwell on her desk and a photo I didn’t remember on the wall this latter was old, sepia-tinted, and woodsy. Its focal point was a man-high birchwood cross in a little clearing on a slope above the lake. That clearing was gone from the geography now, most likely, long since filled in by trees. I looked at her jars of herbs and mushroom sections, her filing cabinets, her sections of afghan. The green rag rug on the floor. The pot of pencils on the desk, pencils she had touched and used. I held one of them poised over a blank sheet of paper for a moment or two, but nothing happened. I had a sense of life in this room, and a sense of being watched . . . but not a sense of being helped. ‘I know some of it but not enough,’ I said. ‘Of all the things I don’t know, maybe the one that matters most is who wrote â€Å"help her† on the fridge. Was it you, Jo?’ No answer. I sat awhile longer hoping against hope, I suppose then got up, turned off the air conditioning, turned off the lights, and went back to the house, walking in soft bright stutters of unfocused lightning. I sat on the deck for a little while, watching the night. At some point I realized I’d taken the length of blue silk ribbon out of my pocket and was winding it nervously back and forth between my fingers, making half-assed cat’s cradles. Had it really come from the year 1900? The idea seemed perfectly crazy and perfectly sane at the same time. The night hung hot and hushed. I imagined old folks all over the TR perhaps in Motton and Harlow, too laying out their funeral clothes for tomorrow. In the doublewide trailer on Wasp Hill Road, Ki was sitting on the floor, watching a videotape of The Jungle Book Baloo and Mowgli were singing ‘The Bare Necessities.’ Mattie was on the couch with her feet up, reading the new Mary Higgins Clark and singing along. Both were wearing shorty pajamas, Ki’s pink, Mattie’s white. After a little while I lost my sense of them; it faded the way radio signals sometimes do late at night. I went into the north bedroom, undressed, and crawled onto the top sheet of my unmade bed. I fell asleep almost at once. I woke in the middle of the night with someone running a hot finger up and down the middle of my back. I rolled over and when the lightning flashed, I saw there was a woman in bed with me. It was Sara Tidwell. She was grinning. There were no pupils in her eyes. ‘Oh sugar, I’m almost back,’ she whispered in the dark. I had a sense of her reaching out for me again, but when the next flash of lightning came, that side of the bed was empty. How to cite Bag of Bones CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE, Essay examples

Evolution

Evolution- Should You Believe in It? Essay -This essay is not mine-THE question Do you believe in evolution or in creation? is more than a matter of idle curiosity. The answer that one gives will be deeply reflected in his attitude toward his fellowman, his moral values and his outlook on the future. 2 Belief in evolution is not new; it did not originate with Charles Darwin. But, following publication, in 1859, of his book The Origin of Species, the supporters of the idea have greatly increased in number. In those lands where considerable emphasis is placed on science, the teaching of evolution holds a prominent place in school textbooks. It is introduced in the early grades, and repeated and enlarged upon year after year. 3 It is the desire to find more evidence for this teaching that has also been a prime moving force in the exorbitantly expensive space exploits of the nations. To NASAs planning chief, Wernher von Braun, the flight of Apollo 11 was nothing less than a step in human evolution comparable to the time when life on earth emerged from the sea and established itself on land. And Science magazine, in its special issue of January 30, 1970, revealed: The search for carbon-containing material on the lunar surface is not only a component part of the study of the origin and history of the moon, but an important step in our understanding of the early stages of chemical evolution leading to the origin of life. So it was with keen anticipation that rock samples were brought back to the earth and carefully analyzed for any traces of life, present or past, but the lack of publicity given to the results was a reflection of the disappointment felt by advocates of evolution. Still they push on farther, a nd at even greater expense. Why? In an article entitled Future in SpaceFrom Moon to Mars, U.S. News ; World Report announced: One of the main goals of such an expedition is to search for evidence of life on the planet.4 The basic idea of evolution is that all the plant, animal and human life on this earth had its origin in one-celled life forms that developed in the sea hundreds of millions of years ago. Though some profess to believe that a Creator began the process, this is not true of the majority. Evolutionists contend that the ancestors of man included both apelike beasts and fish. But that is not what everyone believes. Not all educators believe in evolution, nor do all scientists. There are many people who believe that God created the earth, and that he made the vegetation, the animals and man. (Jer. 27:4, 5) That is what Jesus Christ believed. (Mark 10:5, 6; Matt. 6:26-30) What do you personally believe?5 This question was recently asked of both students and teachers in a ni nth-grade class in a Catholic high school located in New York state. The entire class responded that they believed that man came by evolution. When asked if any of them believed that God made man, not one hand was raised. Further questioning revealed that they knew names and details connected with the teaching of evolution, but none of them knew even the name of the God who the Bible says made man. Did they really believe in evolution? Or was it simply that they knew something about evolution, whereas they had not been taught what the Bible says about creation?WHAT DO YOUR CHILDREN BELIEVE?6 It has come as quite a surprise to some parents when they learned the extent to which the teaching of evolution permeates the school courses. They may have taken for granted that, since they believed the Bible, their children would also accept what the Scriptures say about God and his creating of the earth and living things upon it. But when the school puts forth more effort to emphasize evoluti on than the parents do to give reasons for belief in creation, it is not difficult to see which viewpoint will more deeply influence the child. (Prov. 22:6; Deut. 6:4-9) If you are a parent, do you take time at the beginning of each school term to examine the textbooks that your children will be using so you know what they are going to be taught? Doing so would show your deep concern for their welfare. Then, if you do find that the textbooks advocate evolution, what can you do about it? You can, of course, tell your child what you believe, and you should. But, to be truly persuasive, you may find that you need to read and discuss together certain portions of the school textbook, making sure that your child understands why the various theories in support of evolution are in error and what the facts are that support belief in creation. 7 An examination of current school textbooks shows that, in the earlier grades in many localities, any direct mention of the term evolution is rare. But the books may comment on early life forms that they say developed in the sea billions of years ago and prehistoric dinosaurs that lived millions of years in the past. As the years pass, more details are given. In support of evolution, they point prominently to bones that have been unearthed and to fossils of living things in the rocks. These books also emphasize mutations, or changes in heredity, coupled with natural selection as the means by which new species came into existence. Your child may be given the impression that this has been well established by scientific research, and that, while he is free to believe in creation if that is what he chooses, all the facts support evolution. In order to reason clearly on the matter, your child needs your assistance. He is in the world, exposed to its viewpoints, so he needs to learn to ex amine facts, reason sensibly and draw sound conclusions.Prov. 5:1, 2. 8 As an example, you may find it helpful to approach the matter as follows: How many facts do the advocates of evolution actually have? What does the fossil record really show? Their own writings admit that in the lowest rocks in which there are fossils, they do not find primitive life forms, but complex organisms representing most of the basic divisions of plant and animal life. They say much about primitive forms from which these evolved, and such are vital to their theory, but none of them have ever been found. Also, textbook illustrations and museum displays line up skeletons in a way that they say demonstrates the evolution of the horse, man and other creatures. But notice that each skeleton is fully formed. They write at length about transitional forms, upon which their whole argument depends, but none are displayed with primitive forms of arms and legs on otherwise full-grown bodies. As for pictures that they draw, these are largely imagination; they have no photographs from w hich to work. English Monary EssayORIGIN OF LIFE16 As to living things, what has been your observation? Do not plants spring from seeds in which there is life? Do not insects, fish, land animals and humans come from living parents? Nothing living comes from a rock, unless seeds have lodged in its crevices or eggs have been laid there. So, then, the producing of something that has life requires a source that is alive. Biologists agree, but those who advocate evolution ask you to believe that, although they can point to no example of it today and there is no parallel for it, life sprang repeatedly from nonliving matter many millions of years ago. Since they cannot find proof of it here on the earth, they have had manned expeditions look for evidence of it on the moon, and they hope to check out their theory on Mars. The Bible, however, agrees with the observable fact that life derives only from a living source. Psalm 36:9 addresses to Jehovah, the living God, the words: With you is the source of l ife.17 The Bible also explains how the various kinds of living things came into existence. In its opening chapter it tells us that God made the vegetation, the sea creatures, the birds and the land animals. (Gen. 1:10, 11, 21, 24) The Bible does not say that single-celled life forms evolved into grass, trees, fish, birds and land animals. Nor does it allow for the idea that God created such primitive life forms and then used evolution as the means for producing the various kinds of plants and animals that exist today. It says that he produced each according to its kind, not from some other kind. When the time came for man to be produced, he was not developed from some apelike pre-Adamite, but, as the Bible says: Jehovah God proceeded to form the man out of dust from the ground and to blow into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man came to be a living soul. Then, when that first man, Adam, became father to a son, in harmony with the rule that each produces according to its kin d, his son was in his likeness, in his image.Gen. 2:7; 5:3. 18 Thus, what the Bible says is in full harmony with what you personally have seen. When you plant seeds, they produce according to their kinds. You plan your garden with confidence in the dependability of that law. When cats give birth, their offspring are cats. When humans become parents, their children are human. There is variation in color, size and shape, but always within the limitations of the family kind. Have you ever personally seen a case that was otherwise? No; and neither has anyone else. There are over three billion persons on earth today, as well as countless billions of plants and animals, all of which are living proof of the truthfulness of what the Bible says. WHY YOU BELIEVE19 It is interesting to note that Science Education for October 1967 says: The basic reason why the theory of evolution is rejected by so many, many who are familiar with modern biology, is because it conflicts with the account of creation in the Bible. If a person honestly believes that the Bible is the inspired Word of God, then, obviously, this should be the first and foremost reason why he believes in creation. He does not choose to believe in creation simply because he has become aware of flaws in the argument for evolution. Rather, he believes in creation because he believes in God and in His Word. Is that true of you?20 If so, you will not be unduly concerned when you read news reports about discoveries by evolutionists that are heralded as proof of evolution. Nor will admissions made by evolutionists concerning the weaknesses of their case come as a surprise to you. With good reason you are convinced that God knows far more about the origin of the universe and of living things than does any man who has only recently arrived on the scene.Rom. 11:33, 34. 21 No one who believes in what the Bible says about creation has any need to feel the least bit apologetic about his position. It is true that some may chide him, claiming that they believe only in what they see and that this is why they do not believe in God. However, if they profess to believe in evolution, then, as we have learned, there is actually much that they accept that neither they nor any other man has ever seen. Does it reflect sound thinking when a person believes in unseen events that run counter to all available evidence and that conflict with all human experience, as is the case with evolution? Or is it more reasonable, in view of the fact that all the universe and all living things bespeak intelligent design and a source of dynamic energy infinitely greater than man, to believe that there is an almighty Creator?Heb. 11:6; Rom. 1:20. 22 The answer is plain: Belief in creation fits the facts. The Bible is in full harmony with those facts. But it does not stop with details about the past. In its pages Jehovah God has provided us the guidance we need to cope successfully with the problems of the present. And it shows us what we must do in order to benefit from his loving provisions for the future. It is the course of wisdom, then, to get well acquainted with all that it contains.