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PAGE 4—THE BULLETIN, August 22, 1959 JOSEPH BREIG TRUTH IS The deadliest danger in the kind of thinking displayed in the U. S. Supreme Court’s “Chatterley” decision is this —. that anarchy in the mind is ul timately fatal to the American way of life. It has beep fashionable of late to de- scribe that way of life as ‘‘democracy.” Up to a point, this is all right; but the U. S. is a constitutional re public. it has also been fashionable to talk as if the central genius of the American way is simply liberty. But the central genius is liberty dedicated to truth. The Founding Fathers were not men who threw up their hands with Pilate, asking cynic ally, “What is truth?” They were firmly convinced of cer tain truths, and courageous en ough to pledge their lives, for tunes and sacred honor to de fend them. There is not tilt faintest hint of blandly-smiling indifference to truth in the Declaration of Independence. Only men of deepest conviction could have written: “We hold these truths to be self-evident; that all men are created equal; that they are en dowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights . . . that to secure these rights, gov ernments are instituted among men . . .” The heart of the evil in the “Chatterley” decision is not the fact that it permits showings of ' a movie that advocates adultery (which is a crime) as proper be havior in certain circumstances. This movie will have its little" day, and die. The heart of the evil is not even the manacling of govern ment so that lawmakers — if the ruling stands unmodified — will be forever prevented from doing anything to curb the dis semination of any lie, and ev ery lie, no matter how poison ous. That, certainly, is a deadly thing. But deadlier still is the establishment of the principle that law and government have . no authority and no responsi bility in the-realm of ideas and their propagation. The truly terrible error here U. S. BASIS is the failure to perceive that order in the body politic cannot rest upon anarchy in the intel lect, and that as a man think- eth, so he wiil eventually be, and act. Anarchy in thought can lead nowhere but to anarchy in life. And at this point we reach the central destructiveness of bland over-tolerance of falsehood. THIS CENTRAL destructive ness lurks in a fact demonstrat ed by ail the experience of the human race — that the one thing mankind cannot at all en dure is anarchy. In every situ ation in man’s long history in which anarchy has begun to hold sway, humanity has turn ed swiftly and often violently to authority. Nor has mankind stood upon the order of its going. Even despotic authority has been found preferable to no order at all. Humanity can abide tyran ny more patiently than chaos. Chaos cannot be tolerated at all. What we all call democracy, or the American way of life, stands firmly upon certain huge agreements about truth and right. Destroy those agreements, and you destroy America, and invite dictatorship. You open the way to the man on the. white horse. AMERICAN FREEDOM is the orderly and authority- respecting liberty of a people who firmly hold certain basic, principles — including, if it comes to that, the principle that adultery is wrong, not only in itself but as a subversive at tack on the family as the foun dation without which no nation can long survive. It is all very well to say that we allow an occasional atheist, say, to rant on a soapbox; and to preen ourselves upon our tol erance for so doing. But it is a far cry from an atheist on a soapbox to the production of movies preaching subversive and criminal falsehoods to tens of millions of American young people. Freedom of speech and the press are precious goods; but newspapermen ' would be the first to assert that their free dom gives them no right to serve falsehood rather than truth. And to hold government helpless to do anything about massive falsehood is to imperil most gravely everything that makes America what America belovedly is. Theology For The Layman F. J. Sheed OUR LORD AS WE MEET HIM The feeling that we know the story already can be a real ob stacle to our hearing what the Gospels are actually saying. We flip through the first and second chapter of St. Luke with a vague memory of Christmas cribs, Christ mas carols, and Christmas cards. We move as: inat- tentive ly through the four accounts of the Passion and Death of Our Lord with the feeling that we have been through it all a thou sand times in the Sorrowful Mysteries of the Rosary. Above all we bring to the reading the popular picture of Our Lord as a nice kind man, easily pushed around, always turning the other cheek, hap piest when patting small chil dren’s heads. So strong a grip has this imaginary portrait that it can prevent us meeting the strong and complex Christ who is actually there. We must read, then, with the determination to meet Our Lord, for ourselves, as He is. A reader coming wholly new to the story, not even thinking he had heard it before, would certainly be come aware, after a while, of what I may call a double stream both of word and action. At times Our Lord is speaking and acting simply as man — a great man, an extraordinary man, but not more than a man. But at other times He says things, and does things that go beyond the human: what He says and does is either a claim to be super human, or is utterly meaning less. Nor will the word “super human” long suffice. He says things that only God could say, does things that only God could do. I shall not attempt to illustrate this double stream in detail. To get real value from the experi ence, each one should live through It for " himself“m” the Gospels. Ip a way he will be (Continued on Page 5) Question Box By David Q. Liptak Q. Whal about the morality of going on a blind date arrang ed through a third party? One of the girls at the office where I work claims that it's always wrong to go out on a blind date, no matter what. Most of us don't agree with her. A. Whether or not the accept ance of a so-called blind date arranged through a third party is permissible, depends largely on two major factors: 1) the definition of a blind date, and 2) the over-all moral sense and judgment of the third party. IT WOULD BE WRONG, cer tainly, for a young woman to make a date to go out with a man whose character and back ground are: completely unknown to her. For under such cir cumstances she might find herself dating either a person of weak or poor moral qualities, or else who is already married — a divorcee, perhaps, still validly wedded in the eyes of God. This is not to say that it is always blame-worthy for a young woman to accept a date with a man she has never met or seen. On the contrary, if she has reasonable assurance of the free marital status as well as the good background and cha racter of her prospective blind date, it would ordinarily be per fectly all right in itself for her to accept. Such assurance can usually be had if the third party re sponsible for the blind date is a person of sound moral princi ples and proven prudence. But, on the other hand, one could not expect the selection of a blind date by a third party to be based on any higher standards than the third party himself or herself maintains in the matter of dating. So that if the third party is of dubious character one would generally be bound to decline. The acceptance of a blind date over the telephone or with out. an intermediary of any kind (Continued on Page 5) | Jottings ... ) (By BARBARA C. JENCK3) ‘ • WHAT ABOUT “THE BEAT NIKS?” Much publicity has cen tered upon them and curiosity has been aroused concerning these “hip, cool, frantic young Bohemians?” But are they saints or sinners? Lawrence Lipton’s new book calls them ‘.‘The Holy Barbarians.” Lipton says they are “holy in their search of self, barbarians in their total rejection of the so-called stand ards of success, morality and neurosis.” American poet-critic Allen Tate, dismisses them as “not worth discussing.” Best selling novelist Truman Capote in a recent PSJ interview spoke of them as lacking a sense of art and as exhibitionists. John P. Sisk, English pro fessor at Gonzaga University, put them in 1he distinguished company of Thoreau, Whitman, Twain as a tradition of “sub- . versive literature,” as he terms it. They have been called frauds, publicity seekers-, saints, artists, geniuses, anarchists. The fact remains that this group of noncomformists in search of “something” are very much in evinence on the American scene and challenging even the name of “square,” I’d like to discover just what it is. • THE “CREDO,” if you will, of “the beats” has been described , in part as: “The only way to come to terms with life on this , planet careening to its doom is ' to face reality as it is, as one meets it in all momepts of agony and joy. Everything else is hoax . or a deception. “The Square” has his suburbia with a picture window overlooking a grave- , yard or kids himself by chalking political slogans on subway sta tions. But the man who is ‘Beat’ knows that he is alone and that his, problem is to learn to live with that knowledge.” There is nothing sensational there. But Tom White who lived for a time among the “the beats” in San Francisco has a further definition. He says “b e a t” doesn’t mean dragged-out or tired, as we would imagine. It means that you are in tune aware, sensitive to what’s going on. In these terms, you see, it is good to be “beat.-” Tom says that “the beats” are definite rebels who are punching in the dark. They know what they do not want but are not sure of what they do want. He likens them to the lost generation of post World War I. In summation, he says,' “They are looking for life, but right now it seems too far away for their, binoculars to reach and there isn’t any focus adjustment on the lens.” Jack (“On the Road”:) Kerouac has been called “King of the Beats.” His novel’s Dean Moriar- ty is a “beat” stereotype per haps. He races across the coun try, trying desperately to be part of all things and to “dig” every thing and as he goes he shirks his social obligations. Dean thinks that if he dashes madly enough or travels fast enough and has enough violent experi ences, life will be laid bare to him. He is a seeker but he seeks in the wrong places in the wrong way. • PSYCHOLOGISTS, critics, writers, educators, priests, other beats, college students all have expressed opinions on “the beatniks.” To me, they are like little boys in cowboy suits. They affect the veneer of the artist without possessing any of his skills. Yet they demand our in terest and concern because they are seekers. They are on the road, as we all are, in search of something and spmeone. Father Boardman of Notre Dame had this to say on “the beats:” “we would do well to search our hearts as “the beats have done. But only when the beat genera tion becomes aware that the beating, real existent heart of man must have its emotions dis ciplined will it ever contribute something lasting to literature and society.” How on Do You Facts o Rate Faith '/W> 1-g By Brian Cronin 1. Only two sacred vessels are needed by the priest to cele brate Mass. One is the Chalice; what is the other? (a) The Paten? (b) The Pyx? (c) The Lunette? (d) The Monstrance? 2. The New Testament contains only one prophetical book which is: (a) The Acts of the Apostles? (b) The epistle of St. John? (c) The Apocalypse? (d) The epistle of St. Jude? 3. The Benedictines are sometimes referred to as the Black Monks. Who are the Black Friars? (a) The Jesuits? (b) The Augustinians? (c) The Carmelites? (d) The Dominicans? 4. The “Cure of Ars” is a name given to: (a) A French shrine? (b) A miraculous cure? (c) A famous French saint? 5. The benediction “Urbi et Orbi” is one given: (a) In the Mass? (b) In confession? (c) In a mission? (d) By the Pope? 6. The First Friday devotion honors: (a) The Sacred Heart? (b) The Passion? (c) The Immaculate Heart of Mary? (d) The Seven Sorrows? 7. The practice of saying the Rosary was first promoted in 13th century Europe by: (a) St. Francis of Assisi? (b) St. Ignatius of Loyola? (c) Pope John XXII? (d) St. Dominic? 8. Quadragesima is a word sometimes used for: (a) Lent? (b) Forty Hours Devotion? (c) St. Peter’s Square? (d) Ad vent? Give yourself 10 marks for each correct answer below. Rating: 80-Excellent; 70-Very Good; 60-Good; 50-Fair Answers: 1 (a); 2 (c); 3 (d); 4 (c); 5 (d); 6 (a); 7 (d); 8 (a) SHARING OUR TREASURE 'Get in Touch With Priest/ Advises Convert By REV. JOHN A. O'BRIEN, Ph. D. (University of Notre Dame) r r , What’s the most important single step in helping a person . into the fold after he has be come interested in the Faith? It’s getting him in touch with a priest. Until that is done, he flounders around in un certainty. Lacking sure guidance, he doesn’t know which way to turn. When he is brought to a priest, he receives expert guidance and care and with God’s grace will reach port safely. This is illus trated by the experience of Anne F. Ignalls of Unadilla, New York. “I was reared,” related Anne, “as a Protestant. My mother was a Baptist, my father was unaffiliated, and I went to the Methodist "'church chiefly be cause my chum, the daughter of a Methodist minister, invited me. After graduating from high school, I went to the New York State Institute of Applied Arts and Sciences in Binghampton, where I met Clinton J. Peake, a ‘chem’ major. “Clint was a devout Catholic and on our dates told me many things about his Faith and how much it meant to him. I visited his family in Long Eddy and his married sister Gladys Mirch in Hancock. I couldn’t help but notice the holy pictures and sense the deep religious atmo sphere in both homes. “I noticed too that on Sun day Gladys and the three chil dren — her husband is a non- Catholic — not only went to Mass in the morning but also to the Rosary Devotions in the evening. She gave me a medal of Our Lady to wear, evidently wanting to share the joy and comfort of her Faith with me. It was the first medal I ever had and I was beginning to see how it keeps God and His saints before our minds. ‘When Clint was drafted, I was lonesome and hungered for the comfort, strength and se curity which the Catholic re ligion gives its members. My schoolmate, Barbara Braymer, was going with Charles Borsav- age, a Catholic. Like myself, she wanted to know more about the Catholic Faith. Mrs. Borsavage kindly got in touch with Father Stephen Valenta, O.F.M. Conv., at St. Cyril’s and arranged for us to receive a course of instruc tions. “This was most important. No longer were we groping in the dark: now we were in the clear. In a kind and friendly manner Father Valenta answered our questions and laid before us the four mai’ks — one, holy, Cath olic and Apostolic — which dis tinguish Christ’s Church from all the creeds founded by men. The Apostles were all Catholics, every word of the New Testa ment was written by Catholics, and Christ authorized the Cath olic Church alone to teach in His name. “Like Barbara, I saw clearly that the Catholic Church is the true Church and determined to join it. I hadn’t told Clint that I was even taking instructions, as I didn’t want to arouse hopes which might not be fulfilled. Imagine his surprise when I told him I was being baptized and would receive my first Holy Communion on Easter Sunday. “Before I hated to go to church alone. Now it doesn’t matter because I go to worship God, to join with the priest and congregation in offering up the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass and to receive our dear Lord in Holy Communion. Before I didn’t really know how to pray. Now I love to pray. “Clint and I are married and we have two children, Cath erine and Joseph, who soon will be learning to pray. I pray that God will bless Mrs. Julia Bor savage' for getting me in touch with Father Valenta, for that clinched the deal.” Inclusion Of Birth Control Information In Aid Programs Seen Bonanza For Soviets By J. J. Gilbert WASHINGTON — A telling political argument against in clusion of birth control infor mation in the U. S. foreign aid programs is the propaganda bonanza it will hand Soviet Russia. This point has been raised here to encourage the govern ment to resist proposals for of ficial, tax-paid exportation of “family planning,” a policy to which many think the Drapper committee reviewing foreign aid has opened the door. The Presidential committee, headed by William H. Draper, Jr., onetime assistant secretary of the Army, is charged by many persons with presenting in its third interim reports a veiled recommendation that the U. S. supply birth control in formation to nations which re quest it. Soviet Russia, in its efforts to “aid” underdeveloped countries, does not press birth control on them as a remedy for their ills, such as too large a labor force or an alleged gap between suf ficient production of goods and population. The USSR offers education, loans, technical assistance and trade, and boasts that its eco nomic system is able to use hu man beings in constructive work and to meet all their needs. For example, the Russian del egate to a recent meeting of the United Nations Economic Com mission for Asia and the Far East, said: “The key to progress does not lie in a limitation of population through artificial re- ducton of the birth rate, but in the speedy defeat of the econo mic backwardness of these countries.” Because of this Russian ap proach, many think that if the U. S. should decide to put arti ficial birth control information in its aid program, the highly (Continued on Page 5) Modem Generation Likes Monuments THE This generation no longer waits, as did its predecessors, for the judgment of history upon the achievement of its public servants before it seeks to perpetuate their memory. Secretary of State John Fos ter Dulles has been dead only a few weeks; yet al ready a street has been named after him in West! Berlin and his admirers in ill this country are talking about erecting a suitable memorial in his honor. EARLY LEADERS RECOGNIZED LATE The late Senator Robert A. Taft, of Ohio, had been dead only a few months when a me morial foundation was estab lished which subsequently, with authorization of Congress, erected a granite-housed caril lon on the Capitol grounds, the only memorial to. a member of the Senate to occupy a site upon government property. Within a few months archi tects will be invited to submit designs in open competition for a memorial to the late President Franklin D. Roosevelt, who died in April, 1945. Seldom before in the history of our country has a memorial to a President been erected within the lifetime of his im mediate descendants. It was not until 1833 that a movement was started to raise up in the na tion’s capital a monument to George Washington, the Father of his country. BACKDROP By JOHN C. O’BRIEN Work on the obelisk, known to millions of tourists as the Washington Monument, was started by the Washington Na tional Monument Society, a pri vate organization. Still uncom pleted in 1876, the project was taken over by the Federal gov ernment under an act approv ed by General Grant and was brought to completion. Nearly half a century was to pass after the death of Presi dent Abraham Lincoln before Congress, in 1911, authorized the Memorial to the martyred President which now stands at the west end of the Mall which 'extends westward from the Capitol through the heart of the city. The President’s son, Rob ert Todd Lincoln, was ap proaching his 71st year when the final design for the me morial was approved. Recognition of Thomas Jeffer son as one of the nation’s im mortals come even later. It was not until 1934 that Congress au thorized the erection of the Thomas Jefferson Memorial which now stands on the south bank of the Potomac River, within view of the Pentagon. Although the country abounds in statues of Christo pher Columbus, the Discoverer of America, a national memorial in the nation’s capital was not authorized by Congress until March, 1907. OUTSTANDING DISTINCTION In a sense what was to serve as a memorial to President Roosevelt was erected during his lifetime. With funds raised by popular subscription a lib rary to house the President’s private papers and mementoes of his private and public life was erected in Hyde Park, N. Y., and the president was pres ent at the dedication. A similar! library to preserve the papers, of President Harry S. Truman was erected in Inde pendence,. Missouri, and admir ers of President Eisenhower raised a museum in Abilene, Kansas, to house mementoes of his military career. But these in no sense, are. national memori als, standing as they do on pri vate property. The projected national me morial to President Roosevelt will occupy a 27 acre tract of government parkland midway between the Lincoln and Jef ferson Memorials. In design it is expected to harmonize with the existing structures. Funds for construction of the Roosevelt memorial will be sought from private donors, al though Congress has admitted a responsibility to complete it with government funds if the private subscriptions prove in adequate.; 1 Sponsors of the act, appropri ating $150,0.00 , for the design competition, maintain that Roosevelt’s achievements right fully should be commemorated with an enduring national me morial. They are confident that he will rank as one of the na tion’s outstanding Presidents. But even if future historians diminish his stature, Roosevelt had one distinction that can- be claimed' |orj no other President and probably "will come to no future President. He was the only man elected to the Presi dency four times by the Ameri can people. PEARLS & BASIC BLACK A guy walked into a bar wear ing a black silk suit, black patent leather shoes, a black turtleneck sweater, pearl ear rings and a nine-strand pearl necklace. He had. himself a pink lady, drank it and departed. Afthtfier customer said to the bartender: “Did you get a load of him?” “What about him?” asked the bartender. “My gosh,” the man said, “a black suit, black patent leather shoes, a black turtleneck sweat er, pearl earrings and a nine- strand pearl necklace!” “So?” said the bartender. “And what else could you wear with basic black?” A priest, when he enters the clerical state, begins to wear basic black. Sister, too, wears black throughout her life—with out pearls earrings, pearl neck laces, makeup or other frills. This black garb, signifying' their renouncing of the things of the world, is their uniform. They have no worry about what to wear on a particular da}*-. When I’m ready to go out, I merely say to myself: “I think I’ll wear my black suit today.” No trouble. Although wearing black is a sign that those in religious life have given up basic rewards such as those of family life, the privileges of being a priest, Brother or Sister far outweigh the sacrifices. A priest, because he shares in the priesthood of Christ, has the breathtaking power of offering Mass and forgiving sins. Broth ers and Sisters have the consola tion of devoting all their ener gies to serving God directly in His work. I tell all this to my first-grade chum. But he hasn’t decided yet whether to be a jet pilot or a priest. I have him almost con vinced that his best bet is to be a chaplain in the Air Force. His constant question is this: “How do I know whether I should be a priest?” The little fellow has plenty of time to decide. But for older folks, the answer is more urgent. They want to, knOw now. It’s especially a problem because they usually think a vocation should be more mysterious than it really is. Even though a true vocation to the priesthood or the religious life is a calling from God, very few get personal messages from the Lord Himself. I don’t know any priest, in fact, who received a tap on the shoulder or even a gentle whisper in his ear. To be specific about it, the real vocation is the call from the bishop. Or in the case of the Brother or Sister, it's the accept- V/Z Father W harlnn’a View th© I teed or v ance by the community. I know this puts us back where we started, because the young man or woman wants to know this: “How do I know whether I should start on the road to the religious life?” Marriage is a vocation, too. When a young man decides to enter that state, he doesn’t look for mysterious signs. He marries because he’s attracted to that life, and because he is (or should be) convinced that the married state is the best way for him to please God and save his soul. Detecting the signs of a call to religion is not so different. An attraction to the life, the desire to be a priest or Brother or Sister, is the first sign of a calling from God. This doesn’t settle the matter, of course; other qualifications must be pre sent. But a desire to give your life to God’s service is an im portant part of the thing called vocation. Sufficient health is another requirement. That doesn’t mean the ability to do a hundred push ups (thank heaven — I can do two, maybe). Rather, it means the candidate can pass the or dinary physical examination: two eyes, two ears, some teeth, one head, etc. A person enters the religious life to work for Christ, not to be a burden on the bishop or the community. Along with the other require ments, average or above-average intelligence is a good sign of a vocation. Again, don’t get pan icky. This doesn’t mean the abil ity to figure out the square root of 3,271 in your head (thank heaven —I can add up 38 and 43 in my head, maybe). But can didates for the priesthood, es pecially, must spend many years in study. Hard work will do wonders with ordinary ability. But he must have a mind capa ble of digesting all the essentials. Ordinary piety is a must. We don’t mean the “halo” type, haunting the Church at every opportunity. Piety means more the beginnings of solid convic tion and an appreciation of the Sacraments. I would also list a fifth re quirement: a sense of humor. Not necessarily such an offbeat sense of humor as mine. I mean an ability to laugh at yourself, a refusal to take yourself too seri ously, a capacity for appreciat ing how ridiculous things can be. Without this sense of humor, it is hard to keep things in their proper perspective. If you have lots of pep, if you like to sing and dance and have a good time, you would make a good candidate for the priest hood or religious life — if you’re willing to make the necessary sacrifices. The point is that we don’t enter religion because we’re disappointed in love, or because we hate people, or be cause we hate life. Too many hoys and girls worry needlessly, I think, about how they can be sure. They can’t. If they marry, they can’t be absolutely sure this is the right step. When someone starts off on ta'ItJUrafey, he can’t fore see all the obstacles. All he can do is pray for a safe trip, seek advice-about the route, check his equipment-,--and start off. The basic black of religion is really the sign of the consola tions and privileges of serving God. Sure, a real priest or Brother or Sister must also put on many difficulties, many sacrifices and crosses. But what else can one wear with the basic black of Christ’s service? Gil]? lullrltn 41B 8TH ST., AUGUSTA, GA. Published fortnightly by the Catholic Laymen’s Association of Georgia, Inc., with the Approbation of the Most Reverend Arch bishop-Bishop of Savannah, The Most Reverend Bishop of Atlanta and the Right Reverend Abbot Ordinary of Belmont. Subscription price $3.00 per year. Second class mail privileges authorized at Motirpe, Georgia. Send notice of change of address to P. O. Box 330, Monroe, Georgia. REV. FRANCIS J. DONOHUE REV. R. DONALD KIERNAN Editor Savannah Edition Editor Atlanta Edition JOHN MARKWALTER Managing Editor Vol. 40 Saturday, August 22, 1959 No. 6 ASSOCIATION OFFICERS FOR 1958-1959 GEORGE GINGELL, Columbus President MRS. DAN HARRIS, Macon Vice-President TOM GRIFFIN, Atlanta Vice-President NICK CAMERIO, Macon Secretary JOHN T. BUCKLEY, Augusta Treasurer ALVIN M. McAULIFFE, Augusta Auditor JOHN MARKWALTER, Augusta Executive Secretary MISS CECILE FERRY, Augusta ^-Financial Secretary