Newspaper Page Text
PAGE 4—THE BULLETIN, April 15, 1961
Tyranny Of Labels
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Perhaps few Americans have given
much thought to the unfortunate
plight that a misnomer can inflict
upon a noble cause. In the current
contest over Federal Aid to Education
the accent has been put squarely on
the particular brand of American Edu
cation rather than on Education for
Americans. By reason of this specious
insistence upon the American Public
School Creation of a century ago,
every other form of standard educa
tion in America is subjected to highly
unfavorable and gravely odious com
parison.
The fallacy of the argument lies
in the premise of invoking the First
Amendment of the Constitution of
the United States to defend an estab-
listment that is barely 100 years old.
Long before the advent of Public
School Education there were schools
in Ameirca—and most of them were
religious schools. When contempo
raries in the field of education, re
ligion, politics or civic movements at
tack non-public schools as divisive,
they must perforce denounce the re
ligious schools and their products
which antedated the public school and
which fashioned the sinews of this de
mocracy.
There is a “tyranny of labels”
which makes government officials,
legislators, educators and the man on
the street forget that Schools are Not
Churches. The essence of a School is
that it teaches the approved subjects
that make up the standard curriculum
of a Town, City, State or Nation. This
is the only objective formula for the
definition of a school whether it be
Public, Private or Parochial. “The
Wall of Separation between Church
and State” erected on the foundation
of the Constitution or its First Amend
ment is a myth and non-existent. Our
American Schools merit equality of
attention.—(Catholic Star Herald).
PLIGHT OF PRIVATE COLLEGES
The Backdrop
The heads of many private
colleges are fearful that the
private college may be put out
of business by the competition
of the tax-supported state uni
versities.
While the enrollment in pri
vate colleges is declining, en
rollment in
state univer
sities is in-
c r easing
steadily. At
the same
time that the
private col
leges are re
porting hun
dreds of mil
lions of dollars worth of un
used facilities, the tax-support
ed institutions are asking state
legislatures for hundreds of
millions in appropriations to
expand facilities.
RISING COSTS
As recently as 1950 more
than 50 per cent of the na
tion’s college students attend
ed private institutions. Today
it is less than 40 per cent. If
the present trends continue ex
perts predict that by 1970 ap
proximately 80 per cent of the
college students will be en
rolled in tax-supported colleg
es.
In the competition for stu
dents, the private colleges find
that they cannot compete with
the tax-supported schools
which charge low tuition or no
tuition at all. Confronted with
rapidly rising costs, the private
institutions have been forced
to increase their fees. Within
a few years, experts have
warned, private college tui
tions may be twice what they
are today.
JOHN C. O'BRIEN
A doubling of tuition fees
would put education in a pri
vate college beyond the finan
cial reach of most students and
their parents. And the ultimate
result would be bankruptcy
for the majority of the pri
vate colleges.
The plight of the private col
lege was recently tersely sum
med up by Dr. Lawrence A.
Kimpton, former Chancellor of
the University of Chicago. “To
put it in the crassest terms pos
sible,” he said, “it is hard to
market a product at a fair
price when down the street
someone is giving it away.”
Unless a way is found to in
crease the income to the pri
vate institutions, predicts Dr.
Louis T. Benezet, president of
Colorado College, “we may ex
pect to see the monumental
construction of state university
metropolises on the one hand,
and on the other, disappear
ance of most of the private col
leges.”
In a sense, the by-passing of
the private college in favor of
the state university is placing
a new and heavy burden upon
the taxpayer. It takes a capital
outlay of $3,600 to provide
classroom facilities for a stu
dent. Hence, it is in the tax
payers’ interest that existing
private school facilities be
used to the fullest extent. For,
when students leave class
room facilities in private col
leges unused and clamor at the
doors of the state universities,
new taxes must be levied to
expand the capacity of the
tax-supported institutions to
accommodate the heavier stu
dent load.
FEDERAL GRANTS
Despite the popular belief
that all colleges are over
crowded, a majority of some
700 colleges with an average
enrollment of 225 students
have unused facilities. In Wis
consin alone, it is estimated
that the private colleges have
$17,000,000 worth of unused
space.
One proposal for helping the
private colleges out of their
financial difficulties is direct
Federal matching grants to
public and private institutions
for classroom buildings and
laboratories. But educators ob
ject that such grants would be
of little help to the majority
of the nation’s 1,300 private
institutions. Since additional
students would increase the
operating deficit, the private
schools are reluctant to draw
upon their meager resources to
match federal funds for ex
panding facilities.
A more effective form of fi
nancial aid would be a Federal
tax credit against tuitidn. A
tax credit would enable par
ents to pay higher tuition
without increasing the cost to
them. For example, a 40 per
cent tax credit against a tui
tion fee of $1,000 would give
a parent a $400 credit against
his income tax. Thus a private
school could increase its tuition
$400 and the parent still would
be paying only $1,000 out of
his own pocket.
Legislation providing for tax
credits aganist tuition is pend
ing in Congress, but, like other
proposals for Federal aid to
private schools, it is being
strongly, opposed by the sep
aration of church and state
lobby.
FAVORITE SINS
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Three men, so the story goes, with green pictures of Lincoln,
fell to discussing sins of the Washington and other illus-
flesh. “I must confess,” said trioiis' 5 - Ath&ricans. He doesn’t
one, “that I am not without count his money every night,
fault. In my
I was given
to the use of
profane lan
guage and
even now
there are
times . .
“My weak
ness,” said
the second,
“is alcoholic
younger years that’s, true. But one reason he
doesnlt is that his wealth is in
possessions. He is afflicted
with 8 ^vkrice, and church,
charity and family are left
wanting while he clutches his
goods.
LaStiTbut far from least, is
one beset; by lust. We won’t
give him a name, because his
name is Legion. It might be
unfaithfulness to his spouse, or
beverages. Of course, I don’t artificial birth control, or per-
often imbibe, but there are haps a solitary sin.
times when I’m tempted be
yond my strength.”
“Well, boys,” said the third,
There are other related
weaknesses that might be your
very own. Some persons are
“my besetting sin is gossip— such inveterate liars that they
arid to tell you the truth, I feel guilty when they tell the
can hardly wait to get out of truth. Others understand Holy
here.” Mass so little that they miss it
This just goes to prove two for the slightest reason. And
things. First, that everyone has there are the persons who love
some weakness, some “favor- refugees, Africans, suffering
ite” sin. Second, that having Hungarians, lepers — everyone
the weakness doesn’t keep us but the ones close to them,
from pouncing on the faults Our first point, that every-
of others. one has some weakness even
It’s strange that one man’s though he may be quite vir-
cocktail is another man’s hem
lock. It is like the matter of
A GREAT PROP JOB
It Seems to 1 Me
tuous in other ways, has been
discussed enough. The second
dieting. There are those who point, that we often like to
are so thin they can’t be seen sink our teeth into others’
if they turn sideways — yet faults, should be remembered,
they can eat seven meals a It was on the first Good Fri
day. And the portly persons day that our Saviour died for
gain weight just by looking at these weaknesses of ours. He
a banana split or taking a knew that we would have
whiff of French fried potatoes, these faults now.
Everyone should include the Christ knew that His sacri-
seven capital sins in his exami- fi ce would give us the courage
nation of conscience, because to recognize our besetting sin.
that list is sure to contain his He knew that the sight of the
besetting sin. It will be the Cross would convince us that
fault that requires a frontal at- He understands, that He can
tack, eternal vigilance and lots help us, that He loves us.
of prayer to keep down.
Egbert, for instance, is af
flicted with the queen of them
And He knew also that our
consciousness of our own
weakness would keep us from
Church and
WHAT STARTED THIS FEDERAL AID DEBATE?
Sum and Substance
REV. JOHN B. SHEERIN, C.S.P.
The old farmer was telling
a little boy about a hunter
who was chasing a rabbit. The
rabbit ran into a barn, scared
a cow that overturned an oil
lamp and set the barn on fire.
The flaming
barn ignited
a farmer’s
house near
by and total
ly destroyed
it. The boy’s
only com
ment was:
“Did the
hunter catch
the rabbit?”
In the current debate on
Federal aid to parochial
schools, we started out with a
certain question but lately all
kinds of other topics have
been creeping into the dis
cussion. Many of these topics
are of monumental importance
but they seem to me to be
rather remote from the issue
at hand.
CORE QUESTION
In his proposal for aid to
education, President Kennedy
painted a grim picture of our
present educational crisis and
there was a note of urgency
in his plea to Congress to; do
something quickly to help de
velop our primary natural re
sources, the mind of American
youth. Our bishops suggested
that since Catholic youth is a
considerable part of our pri
mary natural resource, they
should be helped — especially
in view of the fact that the
same financial problems that
hound the public school sys
tem also menace the parochial
schools.
The core question then is:
how to help Catholic youth
within the legal bounds of the
First Amendment? If the crisis
is so grim, the nation must try
to aid all youths.
In the weeks that have in
tervened since the President
offered his bill, we have heard
rather little about the emer
gency in American education
but we have been subjected
to a barrage of radio, TV and
press lectures on tangential
topics. We have been informed
on the precise nature of Jef
ferson’s religion, on the pres
sure tactics of the Catholic
hierarchy, on governmental aid
to religious schools in Canada,
the Netherlands and other
countries.
All of this is very interesting
but the pressing problem is
how to help Catholic students
here and now within the lim
its of a ban on separation of
state that is far from absolute.
One writer went so far
afield as to challenge the Con
stitutionality of the Govern
ment’s paying the salaries of
chaplains in the armed serv
ices. He dilated in the most in
triguing (and irrelevant) fash
ion on the incompetence of
certain chaplains as spiritual
guides because they counseled
the soldiers against card play
ing, drinking, dancing and the
theater. How do such observa
tions help us to solve the pres
sing problem in American edu
cation?
RELIGIOUS EXCITEMENT
The alleged “divisiveness” of
parochial schools is a fertile
debate subject but we can
leave that for discussion at a
later time. Yet many of those
who appeared before the
House Education Subcommit
tee spoke at great length on
this point. They extolled pub
lic schools and censured reli
gious schools as forces that
tend to undermine American
democracy by “fragmenting”
our culture along religious
lines.
Reinhold Niebuhr went so
far in “School, Aid and the
Presidency” in The New Lead
er (March 20th) as to say: “A
religiously pluralistic and
semi-secular society cannot af
ford to imperil the unity of a
people through a pluralistic
system . . .”
I don’t think many of us
would want a single, compul
sory school system such as
Russia maintains but this is
not the time to debate that
topic. The urgent question is
how can we help all young
Americans to develop their
intellectual resources so that
they will be able to conserve
the free world in the cold war
against Soviet Russia.
I think the reason why the
debate is getting off the point
is that the debaters are getting
excited. And as we know from
history, religious excitement
blinds the human mind more
cruelly than any other emo
tion. In his press conference of
March 15th President Ken
nedy . asked all the participants
in the controversy to remain
calm and to preserve the har
mony that exists among the
various religious groups.
All of us, Catholic and Prot
estant, should remember that
the common good is more im-
In my 35 years as a news
paperman and a writer, I have
never seen a shrewder job of
propaganda than the one done
in the past 10 or 15 years by
Dr. Glenn Archer and Dr. Stan-
1 e y Lowell
and their
associates in
the organi
zation with
the intermi
nable name,
“P r otestants
and Other
A m e r i cans
United for
Separation of
State.
By tireless and clever pub
licity, POAU has actually suc
ceeded in persuading millions
of God-fearing and religious
Americans that the U. S. Con
stitution requires the govern
ment and the public schools
of this country to discriminate
against religion and to favor
the absence of religion — and
this at a time when the nation
is fighting the survival against
atheistic communism.
SO WELL HAS POAU done
its work that anybody who
tries to defend, the place of re
ligion in education is looked
upon with suspicion, as if he
were a radicial and a subver
sive character, whereas the
person who wants religion
outlawed from education is ac
cepted as a patroit wrapped in
the American flag, marching
shoulder to shoulder with the
Founding Fathers — the same
Founding Fathers who, in es
tablishing this nation, pledged
their lives their fortunes and
their sacred honor “with a
firm reliance on the protection
of Divine Providence.”
The case for religion in edu
cation today has a bad press;
.the case for exiling religion
from education has a good
press. The POAU’s arguments
are widely printed and quot
ed; the answers are frequently
ignored or inadequately re
ported.
IT HAS COME to the point
where those who say that the
younger generation should not
grow up religiously illiterate
are considered faintly disrep
utable, or at any rate not quite
respectable and not quite
American. Yet this younger
generation must carry on the
struggle to defend human
rights — God - given human
rights — against the devouring
godlessness of the' Kremlin.
What is truly astounding is
that a great many Protestants
and Jews, in all good faith but
not realizing the consequences
of what they aye doing, are
vigorously supporting the drive
to make education entirely ir
religious — the campaign for
religious illiteracy.- and spirit
ual and moral ignorance.
portant than the outcome of
this particular controversy.
The President’s purpose is to
increase the strength of the
country and it would be a pity
if we divided it by stirring up
religious bigotry^His remarks
should help to clear away the
smoke that has prevented
some of us .from seeing the
real issue in its -right perspec
tive.
JOSEPH BREIG
THIS IS SEEN, for example,
in the attitude which causes
many people, almost by reflex
action, to oppose the most
moderate measure which might
help any young American to
go to a school or college which
includes religion and theology
in its curriculum. These folks
seem compulsively driven to
back up every proposal which
makes the position of religious
schools, or of any religious in
fluence in public schools, more
difficult.
They cry “unconstitutional”
when it is suggested that
something might be done to
enable public schools to help
their pupils to become inform
ed about the religious beliefs
and traditions of their parents.
It is not that there are no
constitutional ways of doing
this; it is only that so many
people react emotionally
against the idea. They decline
to consider it; they push it
away, willynilly, from their
minds.
I DO NOT BELIEVE that
Protestants and Jews of this
sort do not care about religion,
or that they want their young
sters to grow up educated in
everything else, but unedu
cated in things spiritual and
moral. Yet, that is going to be
the result if the present doc
trinaire, splinter-picking, nig
gling interpretations of the
Constitution continue to hold
captive the minds of so many.
It is simply not true, as
some blandly assure us that
“the church and the home can
do the job” of religious educa
tion. Most parents are no bet
ter qualified to teach religion,
in any mature sense, than
they are qualified to teach his
tory or mathematics; and any
how they will not take the
time and trouble, even if they
are qualified. And Sunday
schools are not an adequate
substitute for daily, systematic
religious teaching.
It seems to me high time
that Jewish and Protestant
leaders should do some serious
thinking about the question
whether they have not been
led by POAU into working
against their own real inter
ests, and those of their chil
dren.
/<
BARBARA C. JENCKS
“A thought, a material improvement, a harmony, a par
ticular expression of love, the enchanting complexity of a smile
or a look, all the new beauties that appear for the first time in
me or around me. I cherish them like children and cannot be
lieve that they will die entirely in the flesh.”
—Father Pierre de Chardin, S. J.
© GOD SPEAKS to us in many ways of His love for us.
As we grow older, we stop looking for the miracle, the extra
ordinary and our hearts begin to fill up and warm at the little
trinkets He places within our days to cause joy. How often
have I remembered the sermon on New Year’s Day in which
the preacher bestowed the wish that between our rising and
our retiring we could find one instance of God’s special care
for us. That has not been hard. There have been sometimes
a dozen instances which my finite mind could mark. Yet with
in each day, no matter how busy, hard, dark there has also
come the bonus gift of song, word, deed which has made my
heart leap with delight. The world holds so much that is good
and often we wish that we could immortalize a moment of
quiet content or satisfaction or inspiration. If we are but
aware of these moments, our days will double with joy and
meaning.
all—pride. His blond hair looking through a magnifying
comes from a bottle, his manly g i ass at the failings of others,
tan comes from a bottle, and
even his gift of gab comes
from a bottle. Yet Egbert, who
is chaste and charitable and
calm, looks down on the less-
talented remainder of the hu
man race.
Envy is Gwendolyn’s poison.
Every time she hears praise of
someone else, her comment be
gins with “yes but.” She be
grudges the Joneses their big
ger house, their newer car and
their more gifted children. Not
that she doesn’t give to charity
and go to church. It’s just that
envy is her weakness. _ .
Greenwood considers him
self a gourmet, but in reality
he’s a gourmand. A glutton, in
other words. He’s kind to old
ladies, children and dogs—
when he’s not eating. He’s not
a bad fellow, but his expand
ing waistline is a constant re
minder that he must wage war
against the vice of gluttony.
Another kind of glutton is
Cringley. His vice is bottled in
fifths. He too is a clean-living
fellow. The trouble is that a
few drinks each day are sure
to make him giddy or grouchy.
His fight is not against princi
palities and powers, but
against the bourbonic plague.
Hortense will tell you with
a gaping yawn that she’s too
tried. Too tired to get around
to washing dishes, too tired to
go to Stations of the Cross,
too tired to be interested in
community activities. It might
be that she has tired blood, but
more likely she has a tired
will. Sloth, in other words, has
her in its clutches.
In his unguarded moments,
Fignewton has a pleasing per
sonality. He could be called a
pillar of church and state. But
let a poor little woman driver
simply make a left turn from
the right lane, or let the kids
dare run across his lawn, and
the clean, fresh air is turned
blue by his angry cursing. His
is seldom a just anger or a
moderate impatience, but a
bad habit acquired by making
friends with the vice of anger.
Spottswood’s heart is set on
his new, shiny Fleetwood.
Chaste, temperate, industrious
Spotty finds it hard to part
By David Q. Liplak
Q. Why do Caiholic colum
nists always seem to take such
a severely critical view of
luminous statues and cruci
fixes, shrines and miniature
church windows that light up,
new kinds of rosaries, and the
like? Many persons find great
consolation in these articles, in
that they aid personal devo
tion. Why can't religious writ
ers confine themselves to com
menting on the really major
issues of Christianity?
A. Tawdry religious novel
ties like luminescent statues,
“prayer clickers” and “rose-
petal rosaries” must be fre
quently condemned for many
reasons.
ONE IS THAT such gadgets
tend to reduce areas of reli
gious belief to nothing but
sickening sentiment. Obvious
ly the Catholic faith is not —
and must not be in any case
— based principally on per
sonal feeling or emotion. Ca
tholicism is founded on the
authority of God himself; it
offers motives of credibility,
moreover, that proceed from
sound logic.
ANOTHER DANGER an
nexed to the use of novel reli
gious trinkets is superstition.
Many of these objects are so
blatently advertised as “mira
culous” that more gullible in
dividuals may be tempted to
attach to them almost magical
powers.
A THIRD reason why most
religious novelties should be
condemned without reserva
tion is that they provide the
basic material for one of the
most profitable rackets in the
world today. The net take of
just one mailing firm dealing
in these novelties was recently
estimated at one thousand
dollars a day.
©Iff HuUrtitt
© THE DAILY MASS in itself is the very best gift of
all times. Yet as we pass out of the darkness and hallowed
chapel, we can meet God and goodness and joy in many
other forms. We find it in good conversation with our fellow
men, friends and strangers alike. I found joy in reading an
article like the “Atlantic Monthly’s” December story of Kath
arine Porter and another story about Robert Frost. I’ve felt
this wonder and surprise that makes a kind of Christmas all
year round in hearing the music of Mozart on record and
seeing a movie about Lourdes which showed a candlelight
procession at the Grotto. On walks about the campus on rainy
days, I feel this quiet serenity which surely is a gift. It is in
lectures where perhaps just one sentence will reman im
pressed indelibly: “Teaching is the highest noblest action of
man.” It may be an essay turned in by a student, a poem of
Joyce Kilmer or Emily Dickensen. It may be discovering the
biography of a saint new to our knowledge like Phillip of Neri.
416 8TH ST., AUGUSTA, GA.
• ALL AROUND us if we would but stop and listen,
there are harbingers of joy. Each day is an adventure if we
are but delicately tuned as a transistor to the mood and sound
and theme. A poem, a record concert on the radio may hold
balm, a lecture, a sermon, a letter, a conversation, a solitary
walk, all these may open doors of the soul and give again
and again to man an immortal moment of sweetness and
peace. But ah, the Mass, there is no other way in which to
insure that the day be immortal to you.
Published fortnightly by the Catholic Laymen’s Association of
Georgia, Inc., with the Approbation, of the Most Reverend
Bishop of Savannah; and the MostlfeYerend Bishop of Atlanta.
Subscription price $3.00 per year.
Second class mail privileges authorized at Monroe, Ga. Send
notice of change of address to P. O. Box 320, Monroe, Ga.
REV. FRANCIS J. DONOHUE REV. R. DONALD KIERNAN
Editor Savannah Edition Editor Atlanta Edition
JOHN MARKWALTER
Managing Editor
Vol. 41 Saturday, April 15, 1961 No. 23
ASSOCIATION OFFICERS
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
ViiBS CECILE FERRY, Augusta Financial Secretary
