SocietyWatch
More states consider legalizing assisted suicide
In recent years, a dramatically higher number of state legislatures in the United States have begun debating whether to legalize assisted suicide. Research done by Dr. Jacqueline Abernathy of Tarleton State University says that since 1994, legislators in 25 states have debated a total of 231 assisted suicide bills—almost one fifth of which have been introduced this year alone.
Less than 1 percent of all assisted suicide legislation has been passed into state law, but with the increase in lawmakers debating the issue, fueled in part by its growing popularity in mainstream entertainment, more states may join California, Colorado, Montana, Oregon, Vermont, Washington State and the District of Columbia, where it is already legal to help people kill themselves.
Antifa attacks ‘No to Marxism in America’
Several dozen Antifa agitators and anarchists attacked and injured six people in Berkeley, California, on August 27 on the campus of the University of California. Two of the victims required hospitalization, and one police officer was also injured.
The confrontation occurred after a group scheduled a “No to Marxism in America” rally, which was later canceled due to public safety concerns. A few dozen anti-Marxist protesters came anyway, as did an estimated 4,000 leftists and an estimated 100 Antifa members. Among other things, the leftist group chanted, “No Trump. No KKK. No fascist U.S.A.” and “No Trump. No wall. No U.S.A. at all.”
Antifa members hurled insults, taunts, water bottles and paint at the anti-Marxists and pepper-sprayed a man wearing a Patriot Prayer shirt. Several dozen Antifa agitators and anarchists clad in black and wearing masks attacked anti-Marxists. In one instance, a group of five people punched and kicked a man lying on the ground. Police arrested 13 people on charges including assault with a deadly weapon.
The attacks came two weeks after Antifa made headlines on August 12 for brawling with neo-Nazis in Charlottesville, Virginia. Yet no neo-Nazis were visible in the Berkeley crowd. Those who were attacked by Antifa were part of a rally organized by a group called Patriot Prayer, which says it supports free speech and the First Amendment of the United States Constitution.
St. Louis riots after officer acquittal
More than 120 people were arrested between September 15 and 17 during three nights of riots in St. Louis, Missouri. The destruction and violence came after former police officer Jason Stockley, who is white, was acquitted of murder in the 2011 shooting of Anthony Lamar Smith, who was black.
In response, protesters gathered outside the Carnahan Courthouse in St. Louis and marched through the downtown. Demonstrators later threw rocks at the home of the mayor, smashed windows in police vehicles, assaulted police officers with bricks and other projectiles, burned the American flag, and marched through a mall, chanting, “Black lives matter,” “No justice; no profits,” “Shut it down,” and “You can’t stop the revolution.” At night, demonstrations and riots continued, and several hundred demonstrators outside the city jail chanted “Free our people!” in support of those who had been arrested for rioting.
The violence echoed race riots that engulfed Ferguson, Missouri, in 2014; Baltimore, Maryland, in 2015; and Charlotte, North Carolina, in 2016, and are happening with increasing frequency. To learn what Bible prophecy says about it, read Gerald Flurry’s article “Where America’s Race Riots Are Leading.”
America’s largest festival of debauchery
Tens of thousands of people attended the Burning Man festival between August 27 and September 4. The bacchanalia was marked by depravity and debauchery, including wild raves fueled by hallucinogenic drugs. “Burners” wore outlandish and provocative costumes or went nude, many engaging in sexual promiscuity and perversion. The annual event began 31 years ago when a group of about a dozen friends burned an effigy on a San Francisco beach at the summer solstice. It now attracts 70,000 people, a picture of American moral corruption.
