And it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them: and power was given him all over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations.
—Rev. 13:7
6985 U.N. Membership
By the year 1980, there were 153 members in the United Nations. Latest is “Saint Vincent and the Grenadines” (pop. 100,000). The total number of separately administered territories in the world is 223, of which 158 are independent countries.
6986 U.N. Organization
The U.N. has grown from an original membership of 51 nations in 1946 to 153 members in 1980. Some of its more recent arrivals are: Mozambique, Cape Verde, Sao Tome Principle, Comoro Islands, Seychelles, and the Socialist Republic of Vietnam.
The real muscle of the U.N., however, is in the Security Council, composed of 15 members—with 5 permanent members who have veto power (US, Britain, China, France, USSR).
Russia has cast over 110 vetos; the U.S. waited until 1970 to cast the first of about 16 vetos.
6987 Personal Stake
UN Secretary General Kurt Waldheim in a message on the 30th anniversary of the world body, said:
“Every man, woman has profound personal stake in the future of the UN.”
6988 A Prayer In The UN
Although any acknowledgment of God in the UN has been ruled out to please the atheistic Communists, a prayer once was actually sneaked into the ballot box. The newspapers carried the story of how this written prayer was found in the steel ballot box of the Security Council. It had been written by the metal worker who put the box together, and it read:
“May I, who have had the privilege of making this ballot box, cast the first vote? May God be with every member of the United Nations Organization, and through your efforts bring lasting peace to us all throughout the world.”
—(Signed) Paul Antonio, Tinsmith
6989 No Way, Lodge!
If I had my way—and I haven’t—I would have inscribed over the door of the United Nations building the prayer of St. Francis of Assisi, “O Lord, make me an instrument of Thy peace.”
—Henry Cabot Lodge, Jr.
6990 Verse On UN Wall
On one of the walls of the UN building appears a text lifted from Isaiah 2:4. We quote: “They shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.” Unfortunately, the first part of that verse has been deleted. The verse begins: “And He (the Messiah) shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people.”
This text was a gift of the Russian government to the UN.
6991 Barnard On U.N.
Heart transplant surgeon Christian Barnard said at a news conference in the United Nations: “The whole United Nations needs a new heart but, unfortunately, I can’t transplant that sort of heart.” “As a scientist,” he continued, “I regard the heart as only a pump, but even as a scientist, I am affected by the mystique of the heart. It is love, understanding, tolerance and forgiveness.” He concluded with the hope that such attitudes could be transplanted.
6992 Israel’s Reasoning
Ambassador Chaim Herzog, Israeli permanent representative to the United Nations says, “You don’t expect to suspend somebody from a club and at the same time expect him to abide by the rules of the club.” Adding that if Israel is suspended from the UN, he will recommend the suspension of his country’s relations with other UN agencies operating in the Middle East.
6993 Against Bloc Voting
Yosef Tekoah, one of Israel’s leading officials at the United Nations for almost 28 years, returned to Israel. In an interview he said:
“I would not like to conceal the fact for a veteran like myself it is not easy to witness the agony and decomposition of the United Nations. This has been one of the reasons why I felt that, having been associated with the United Nations in its days of greatness, I should not remain at the time of its deterioration.”
The former ambassador is critical of “automatic voting where states vote not on the merits of issues, but on the basis of affiliation to blocs … controlled by the Soviet-Arab axis.”
—Calgary Herald
See also: World Alignments ; World Government.