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FOUR.
THE BULLETIN OF THE CATHOLIC LAYMEN’S ASSOCIATION OF GEORGIA
SEPTEMBER 29, 1956.
Wmlktm
Nasser And Nasserism
THIS WORLD OF OURS
The Official Organ of the Catholic Laymen’s
Association of Georgia, Incorporated
JOHN MARK WALTER, Editor
416 Eighth Street, Augusta, Ga.
ASSOCIATION OFFICERS FOR 1955-1956
HOLST BEALL, Macon President
E. M. HEAGARTY, Waycross Honorary Vice-President
MRS. L. E. MOCK, Albany Vice-President
TOM GRIFFIN, Atlanta Vice-President
DAMON J. SWANN, Atlanta V. P., Publicity
GEORGE GINGELL, Columbus V. P., Activities
JOHN M. BRENNAN, Savannah Secretary
JOHN T. BUCKLEY, Augusta Treasurer
JOHN MARKWALTER, Augusta Executive Secretary
MISS. CECILE FERRY, Augusta Financial Secretary
ALVIN M. McAULIFFE, Augusta Auditor
Vol. Saturday, September 29, 1956 No. 9
Entered as second class matter at the Post Office, Monroe, Georgia,
and accepted for mailing at special rate of postage provided by para
graph (e) of section 34.40, Postal Laws and Regulations.
Member of N.C.W.C. News Service, the Catholic Press Association
of the United States, the Georgia Press Association, and the National
Editorial Association.
Published fortnightly by the Catholic Laymen’s Association of Geor
gia, Inc., with the Approbation of the Most Reverend Archbishop-
Bishop of Savannah-Atlanta, and of the Right Reverend Abbot
Ordinary of Belmont.
Sunday Shopping
Of late Sunday seems to be becoming Market day for
Americans. In our larger cities, food markets seem to be doing
booming businesses. Used car dealers make their biggest
sales, as many forget the third commandment “Remember
Thy keep holy the Sabbath Day.”
Just this week, Cardinal Spellman has found it neces
sary to write to the Faithful of the Archdiocese of New
York:
“By Faith and by practice all of us have been taught
from our youth that the Church considers the proper ob
servance of the Sabbath a most serious and personal obliga
tion, fulfilled on Sunday by assistance at Mass and bv re
fraining from servile work except in special circumstances.”
He stated that from our country’s beginning, Sunday has
been set apart for religious worship and rest but he added
that there has been a “growing and alarming disrespect for
the reverent observance of Sunday.
“Because of .thb evils of this insidious and fast-growing
practice, I pray you ... to refrain from any violation of the
observance of Sunday and thus, by your example, help others
who unwillingly or willingly may be breaking God’s Third
Commandment.”
There is little question that
President Nasser of Egypt do
minates the international scene
these days. The result is that any
thing about him and his ideas is
important — even vital — for all
who are seek
ing to under
stand the course
of events in the
Suez controver
sy.
One would
not think off
hand that an Is
raeli newspaper
would be the
best source these days for in
formation of an objective kind
regarding Egypt and Egyptian af
fairs. But of all the publications
of which I have any knowledge
in the Middle East, one of the
soundest and most enlightening is
The Jerusalem Post.
I have been reading this paper
daily since returning from Israel,
last year, and am impressed by
the scope of its news coverage.
Also, the fairness of many articles
dealing with some of the most,
emotion-charged subjects with
which any editorial staff has to
cope—not the least of these, Nas
ser’s Egypt—is noteworthy. The
Israelis have the considerable ad
vantage of being right in the
midst of the whole business, fas
cinated onlookers as Egypt car
ries on its tug of war with Britain
and France.
REVOLUTIONARY PROCESS
This influential Jerusalem paper
does not go in for hysteria, nor
does it consider that an immediate
declaration of war against the
Cairo government would solve
the issue at hand. Nasserism is a
phenomenon which must be eva
luated in terms of Egypt’s long
climb toward independence and;
a place of dignity in the world; it
is the culmination of a revolu
tionary process the dynamics of
which are in full evolution. Much
that has occurred and will
probably occur can be explained
in terms of the nature of all
revolution—namely, the necessity
to satisfy the demands of those
to whom the revolution itself
must cater.
In last week’s column I men
tioned Nasser’s own little volume,
which gives one some inkling of
what he is thinking even though
it was written three years ago and
is now somewhat dated. The Jeru
salem Post has published a series
of articles bj^ W. Z. Laquer (whom
I have previously quoted in this
column with reference to Marx
ism in the Middle East) on the
philosophy of Nasser. He calls at
tention to a vitally important
book by a close associate of the
Egyptian President, Anwar as
Sadat, called “History of the
Revolution.”
ACME OF CONFUSION
One of the emphases in this his
tory is the hostility of the revolu
tion to Marxism. Karl Marx does
not appear in anything like a
favorable light—indeed, he is de
nounced as responsible for bring
ing into modern life “hate, sabo
tage and boycott.” The theoretical
rejection of Marxism as a doctrine
seems perfectly plain in every
thing that has happened in Egypt
since the Nasser group came into
power.
On the other hand, one of the
most extraordinarjr things to find
in this publication is a warm ap
praisal of Mao Tse-tung and the
Chinese revolution, to the, extent
that Mao is actually quoted to
refute the claims and premises
of the Egyptian communist party.
This, it is ; suggested, is perhaps
the acme of confusion when the
head of the Chinese communist
party is hailed, Karl Marx cast
out as undesirable intellectually,
and the local communists in Egypt
confronted' by way of refutation
with the leading personality that
led China into the communist
wilderness.
THE 'NAGUIB MYTH'
Nasser is presented as highly
democratic, not dictatorial and
far, more dynamic than his pre
decessor Naguib. A great deal of
attention is apparently being paid
in Egypt to the refutation of what
is called the “Naguib myth” —••
that is, dissociate from the dynam
ic revolution now in full sway
any ocnnectioii that the former
chief might have had.
Since Naguib has been under
arrest for two years, one wonders
why this concern about his role
and the eagerness to refute it.
The reason may be that the pres
ent regime, which is far more
severe in many ways than the
former, is still uncertain of its
place and fears popular support
of Naguib.
FAR FROM CONSOLIDATED
Laqueur suggests that the mili
tary junta now in power fears
lack of support on the domestic
front, and the preference of the
Egyptian masses for Naguib’s re
lative liberalism.
The strong emphasis on foreign
affairs and the twin issue of Is
rael and foreign intervention over
Suez would seem to guarantee
Nasser a transient popularity at
least for some time. But the very
fact that so much noise is made
over international matters would
indicate that the Egyptian revo
lution is very, far from consolidat
ed.
Know The Enemy
THE BACKDROP
By JOHN C. O’BRIEN
Let us not be guilty of waiting until Sunday to do shop
ping and marketing that can readily be, done during the
week.
Control More Than The Switch
When an offensive television program enters your living
room you can remedy the situation by reaching for the
switch and giving it a sharp turn in the right, direction—off!
American television as a whole is good entertainment
for the family. It may never replace the movie but it most
certainly has more influence on our lives than movies. How
many of us watch movies three to four hours a day?
The average viewer is a much more important factor in
the television industry than he may realize. Yes, you and I
who view television for relaxation are the consumers who
buy the products of the sponsor, without which there would
be no television as we know it.
Therefore let us not hesitate to make our wishes known
to our local station; to the National Network; and most im
portant of all, the sponsor. When you are offended by a pro
gram do not fail to let your dissatisfaction be known.
St. Joseph's
On Wednesday of this week, the dreams for a church to
serve the people of the Fleming Heights area was realized.
On this day, Bishop Hyland blessed the new church of St.
Joseph, a mission of St. Patrick’s in Augusta.
Located on Lumpkin Road the new church exterior pre
sents the clean lines of concrete block construction interspers
ed at regular intervals with foundation to roof louvered
windows. Seating capacity of the new church is 320.
This building will truly be a lasting monument to all
whose sacrifice have made this new Mission possible.
In our zeal to check Commun
ist infiltration in the nation’s
schools, we have achieved a re
grettable result. We have suc
ceeded, so it . seems, in keeping
the rising generation in almost
complete ignor-
a n c e of the
basic facts
about Commun
ism.
A long- ac
cepted axiom of
warfare
is “know the
enemy.” But in
our, solicitude about shielding
our youth from exposure to the
teaching of Communism, we have
forgotten that truism. We seem
to have fallen victims to an hys
teria which has led us to mistake
an understanding of Communism
for espousal of its doctrines. We
have lost sight of the difference
between teaching the nature of
international Communism and in
doctrination.
At any rate, the deplorable fact
is that our schools and colleges,
for the most part, have shrunk
from teaching the facts of Com
munism for fear of being accused
by Congressional committees, or
by other foes of that philosophy,
of seeking to inculcate an admira
tion of Marxian principles among
their students.
ENCOURAGING
DEVELOPMENTS
That being the situation, it is
heartening to find that some of
our educators and religious lead
ers are beginning to be aware of
the danger of letting the nation’s
youth grow up in complete ig
norance of Communist aims and
methods. They are demanding
that something be done about it.
The need for removing the
taboo against teaching Commun
ism in the nation’s school was
thoroughly discussed in Wash
ington recently at a joint meeting
of the American Political Science
Association and the Foundation
for Religious Action. The latter
is a non-sectarian organization
headed by Dr. Charles Wesley
Lowry, a former Episcopalian
clergyman who foresook the pul
pit to devote his time to fighting
the Red menace.
An added impetus to the move
to open up the schools to the
teaching of Communism was a
word of encouragement from
President Eisenhower. In a tele
gram to the conference he said,
“The competition for men’s minds
begins when they are students
and this is when they must be
taught to • discriminate between
truth and falsehood.”
MATCHLESS OPPORTUNITY
“Specifically,” the President
added, “this is when they must be
taught to discriminate between
the American form of govern
ment and the Soviet form. When
they have all the facts, I am con
fident they will make the correct
choice as they have for the past
181 years.” The President pointed
out that as the new school year
opens, the nation’s teachers are
presented with a matchless op
portunity to teach truth freely.
The imperative need for in
struction in Communism while
the mind is in the formative stage
was stressed also by Dr. William
Yandell Elliott, dean of the Har
vard University Summer School
and chairman of the conference,
and by Dr. Lowry.
Dr. Elliot described classroom
teaching of the menace of Com
munism as one of the most im
portant steps needed in America
today. “The youth of America,” he
said, “is growing up ignorant of
the cold, basic, hard facts about
international communism — facts
that affect their own survival and
the survival of the free world.”
ALL-OUT COMPETITION
Dr. Lowry pointed out that
there is documentary proof in the
United States Office of Education
that thousands of schools through
out the nation do not make any
attempt to teach their students
anything about Communism.
“One of the greatest and most
urgent needs today in the United
States,” he said, “is the recogni
tion by the American people as a
whole, from high school level up
ward, that we are living in an era
of indefinite duration of all-out
competition between two world
systems for the minds and hearts
and loyalties of mankind,”
American prisoners taken by
the Communists in the Korean
cohflict, Dr. Lowry noted, were so
little instructed in the nature of
Communism that. many. Succumb
ed to brainwashing and actually,
for .the first time in American
history, collaborate • th the
enemy.
In the light o' : pments
(Continued© 5)