Note on the transcript: In the original transcript, there are two episodes dated “May 27, 1956,” but none dated “May 20, 1956.” The one put into the binder first was this one, so I’ve labelled it “May 20, 1956.” In addition, there appears to be at least one page missing from the end of this episode.
The pharisee gave thanks that he was not like other men. Many of us are thankful, too, for men who are not like other men, but in a different way from that which the pharisees had in mind. For everyone today who prays to be different, there are perhaps thousands who pray that they may be indistinguishable from the crowd. Progress, however, depends upon those who are deviates from the monotonous mold of conformity. Dr. Frank C. Baxter of the University of California put it in common day parlance by saying that it is the eggheads who set the pace, referring, as he hastened to emphasize, that he was talking about the socially valuable intelligent people, not the superficial intellectuals. He goes on to point out something which many of us realized all too well that America is today afraid of eggheads. And because of that fear, we are bankrupt today in leadership. Churchill dared to be different, but he is through. And yet, many of us who try to teach are painfully aware that under the present methods of mass education, we cater to the mediocre, leaving the potentially valuable human stuff to go to waste. As Dr. Baxter points out, “It is a sign that the mediocre and the unpotential should set the pace for their betters. It is wrong that the superior student with rich capabilities should be denied the chance to unfold to the limits of his powers.” Many will argue on this point, but it makes sense to this reporter.
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From one R. Carter Pittman, president of the States Rights Council of Georgia, Inc., comes this week some words of wisdom – or something – regarding the doctrine of human equality. Speaking before the Tennessee State Rights Council monthly meeting, Pittman says, “The doctrine of human equality is found neither in the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, the Bill of Rights, nor the Bible.” “The doctrine,” he goes on, “is found in Das Kapital, which is the bible of communism.” Now we are getting somewhere, though just where I am not sure. Mr. Pittman is an attorney of Dalton, Georgia, and he goes to insist that “The Declaration of Independence does not say that all men are created equal. It says that they were created equal. There equality ended. Creation is over when life begins.” And there is more but in the same vein. Mr. Pittman should know his Declaration of Independence more thoroughly, for Mr. Jefferson did say that all men are created equal, so this was some 70 years before Das Kapital. Furthermore, I believe it was Paul who insisted that “God hath made of one blood all nations of men.” And this was at least a few years even before Mr. Marx and his Pittman-hated writings. It is one thing to be for segregation. It is quite another to twist and distort history to substantiate your prejudice.
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A wee bit of advice that seems dangerously near to being sensible comes from the Rev. Theodore Gill, managing editor of The Christian Century who warns wives of beginning ministers that they should take a more active part in parish life. He says, “You don’t have to be ghostly to be godly … beware lest your piety get too drab and narrow.” And that could well apply not only to ministers’ wives, but also doubtless to some ministers, and, without doubt, to many laymen.
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A short but informative article on a subject about which we Protestants, and, I suspect, many Catholics, are little informed appears in the current issue of Time magazine, a publication for which this reporter has no particular fondness. However, the article deals with the Catholic press in America. It points out that the total magazine and newspaper circulation of Catholic publications reaches some 24 million readers. It varies from dailies to quarterly publications, and in content from superficial items of current happenings to profound discussions of theological questions. As measured by secular standards, the Catholic press has come a long way from being the “dreary diocesan drivel” it was once called. Many of its publications, for example the liberal Commonweal, issued by laymen, and the layman-edited Monthly Jubilee have professional polish and a telling impression among the people [to whom] they circulate.
Again, as I suspect many of us Protestants have thought otherwise, the Catholic press does not present a monolithic view of the news. Actually the news in the papers has no “official” status, i.e., emanating from church authorities as a sort of “party line” for followers to adhere to. Only such things as papal decrees, etc. can be regarded as being the official voice of the church and binding upon members. Indeed, some Catholics have expressed a feeling that journalism in their press has gone too far in promoting something of an intramural controversy, confusing not only non-Catholics but many of the faithful also. At the farthest poles of journalism in the Catholic press are The Tablet, a very conservative, even at times reactionary paper published in Brooklyn, and, a short distance away geographically but poles apart journalistically, the radical Catholic Worker, published in Manhattan.
It might do us Protestants good to read as widely in the Catholic press as we can, for all too many of us know nothing about these powerful organs influencing public opinion in this country, and only a minority of their contents deal with religion as such, but most deal with daily issues that have religious implications.
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In 11 states and Alaska this summer, vacationing Americans will have the opportunity to worship in natural settings of creation. Once more the National Council of Churches will be in operation. The services will be conducted by 110 young ministerial and college students – both men and women – who represent 23 Protestant denominations and come from 25 seminaries and 50 colleges. The young religious workers will hold campfire powwows also and songfests on weekday evenings. But that is not all. The men students will earn their keep by driving trucks and doing general maintenance for park hotels and other concessions. The girls will be waitresses and aids. The programs director, the Rev. Warren Ost, terms it the ideal preparation for the ministry. He also says it provides tourists a rare and unforgettable experience of worship. The parks in the National Council worship program are situated – in addition to Alaska – in California, Oregon, Washington, Wyoming, Montana, South Dakota, Utah, Colorado, Texas, and Michigan.
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The moderator of the Southern Presbyterian Church sprang a surprise at the annual assembly in Philadelphia, of the Northern Presbyterian Church. The Rev. J. McDowell Richards, president of Columbia College, in Decatur, Georgia, declared the Christian church has failed to prepare the public properly for racial integration. The Rev. Mr. Richards had accepted an invitation to bring good wishes of his own branch of the church to the Philadelphia meeting. In addition, the northern Presbyterians heard him declare that in many respects these are the most difficult times for Presbyterians since the Civil War. The Southern church leader also asserted “It is with deep humility that we face the situation and confess that as Christian leaders we have not done what we should in preparing our people for this hour.” It was the Southern Presbyterians who, last year, rejected a three-way merger with their Northern communion and the United Presbyterian Church. Points of theology as well as integration were the stumbling blocks. Meanwhile, the Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A., the Northern group, has been considering a union with the United Presbyterians. Debate is scheduled for early this coming week. One stumbling block toward this merger has been the claim that the smaller group – the United branch – would get too much prominence in the proposed new name: the United Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A. Shades of Socrates! Why not just call it “American Presbyterians”?
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Former President Harry Truman says he discussed U.S. and Vatican diplomatic relations with Pope Pius XII on the diplomatic basis, not the religious one. Truman said it is not a religious matter. The one-time chief executive now touring Italy also spoke to 300 U.S. Roman Catholic student priests at the Vatican’s North American College. He told them, “You have one of the greatest careers a man can have … teaching honor and honesty and the love of Christ.”
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The head of a Jewish men’s groups has urged diplomatic relations between Israel and the new Arab state of Morocco. President Philip Klutznick of B’nai B’rith believes it might be a first step toward Arab-Israel rapport in the Middle East.
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A new edition of the Bible has been published in Russia for the first time in 38 years. It contains the New and Old Testaments, with pictures of scenes illustrating the voyages of St. Paul to the Holy Land. There is no indication how many copies of the new Bible are being printed, where they are sold, or how much they cost.
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Moscow: The chief rabbi in Russia, Shloma Schlieffer, says the Soviet government has authorized establishment of a Jewish theological seminary for training of rabbis and cantors. He also announced that the government has authorized the opening of an official kosher butcher shop selling meat under rabbinical supervision. Rabbi Schlieffer said a kosher restaurant will be opened soon in Moscow – the first in the capital.
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New York: An American churchman who recently toured Russia says the Soviets never will abandon their goal of closing every church in Russia in spite of seeming recent relaxation on restrictions against the church. Dr. Walter Van Kirk, a Methodist minister says there has been a let up in open persecutions for religious belief. There has been no throwing of sticks and stones or desecration of altars. However, he added, the Russians believe that once the new … indoctrination possesses the minds of the present and future generations, the roots of religion will be destroyed.
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Madrid: The Catholic Church is reported increasingly concerned with social conditions in Spain. Informed sources say the church is campaigning for fair family wages and a more even distribution of wealth. The sources say the church is not going against the government, but is pressuring it to push social reforms faster.
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Vatican City: Pope Pius has received a report on persecution against the so-called “Church of Silence” in communist-ruled countries. Members of the Catholic Committee for the Church of Silence handed the pontiff a 374-page volume outlining the conditions of Catholics in Russia, Albania, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, China, Korea, Yugoslavia, Poland, Romania, Hungary, and Vietnam.
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Vienna: Communist Czechoslovakia says Catholic Archbishop Joseph Beran is neither in jail nor in custody, but has been barred from acting as archbishop of Prague and primate of Czechoslovakia. The Czech premier says Beran was expelled from his position in March of 1951. He added, “It is our right to protect the state against all infringements of law. However, this does not mean there is not religious freedom in our country.” The statement is the first official one on the archbishop since he was expelled.
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Philadelphia: David Proffitt of Maryville, Tennessee, has been elected moderator of the next General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in the U.S. He succeeds Dr. Paul S. Wright who told the delegates at the opening of the 168th General Assembly that the church is more effective than atomic weapons in bringing about international peace. With this statement no sensible person will disagree. It can only bring the opposite, and those from Mr. Dulles down who talk about the weapon as an instrument of peace are either kidding themselves or trying to kid the rest of us. Either is risky business.
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Rangoon, Burma: This week has marked the 2,500th anniversary of the birth of Gautama, founder of the great Buddhist religion. More than 1,000 Buddhist monks from all parts of the world gathered in Rangoon to take part in observances at a 17-hundred-year-old temple, claimed to be the oldest religious temple in the world. Non-Buddhists, particularly Hindu visitors, far outnumbered Buddhists at the ceremonies.