Newspaper Page Text
PAGE 4—The Southern Cross, February 4, 1965
The Southern Cross
P. O t . Box 180, Savannah, Ga.
Most Rev. Thomas J. McDonough, D.D.J.C.D., President
Rev. Francis J. Donohue, Editor j 0 h n E. Markwaiter, Managing Editor
Phone 234-4574
Second Class Postage Paid at Waynesboro. Ga.
Send Change of Address to P. O. Box 180, Savannah, Ga.
Published weekly except the second and last weeks
in June, July and Augusta and the last week in Deeember.
Subscription price $5.00 per year.
What Everybody Wants?
Last week the students of Aquinas High
School accomplished something much more im
portant than simply the cancellation of the
planned showing of a morally offensive motion
picture.
They proved the speciousness of one of
Hollywood’s most frequently used excuses for
the increases in films classified by the Legion
of Decency as morally objectionable.
Ever since the American motion picture in
dustry began to violate and vitiate the stan
dards of responsible creativity it drew up for
itself some three decades ago, it has been cus
tomary for industry spokesmen to justify the
continually lowering moral tone of its products
by declaring, “People no longer consider thus-
and-so wrong. We’re in business to give movie
goers what they want to see. This is what
they want to see, so this is what we give
them.”
It is undoubtedly true that there is an
alarming erosion of the national consensus as
to what constitutes morality in personal, fami
ly and social conduct. But if Hollywood does
not share in the responsibility for growing
moral laxity in the nation, then neither does
the dope pusher share in responsibility for the
addiction of the user.
But it didn’t take the students of Aquinas
High School very long to prove to the satisfac
tion of an open-minded theatre manager that
there were at least 1,500 movie-goers in Au
gusta who don’t want the kind of poor taste
and low, so-called comedy of pictures like “Kiss
Me, Stupid”.
It is unfortunate, however, that an Au
gusta newspaper should tag the action of the
Aquinas students in expressing their own ob
jections to a morally offensive film and in en
couraging others to do so by way of a petition
as “pressure'’ tactics and “nothing more than
a form of censorship”.
Of course, the paper does go on to say that
“the answer should come from the box-office”
but leaves us wondering why it is all right for
a newspaper to say so, but wrong for high
school students to suggest it to others.
There are probably some, in Augusta
and elsewhere, who would profess to find
nothing objectionable in the film, from a moral
viewpoint. And there are still others, whose
patronage of the imported pornography exhi
bited at “Art” theatres all over the country
constitutes disquieting evidence that there are
many thousands of Americans whose moral
and religious sensibilities are beyond the pow
er of anything to shock or offend.
But the fact that there are great numbers
of people to whom the virtues of modesty,
purity and marital fidelity serve as little more
than the butt of dirty jokes does not justify
film-makers in casting all movie-goers in the
same weak and uninspiring mold, and in gear
ing more and more of their pictures to the
jaded appetites of some patrons and the flag
ging talents of producers no longer able to dis
tinguish between tired, dirty, oft-told tales and
fresh, genuine and original humor.
Perseverance Pays Off
Kudos, too, for a small group of Savannah
citizens whose continued interest and determin
ed efforts made possible the State’s first court
victory over obscene literature, under the 1964
anti-obscenity law.
Attempts have been made in the past to
drive morally objectionable literature from Sa
vannah’s news stands. And public outcry has,
from time to time, forced temporary clean-ups
of some book and magazine racks.
But the public outcry was never long-sus
tained and in a short time the smut merchants
were back in business at the same old stands.
And parents still cannot be certain that if they
send their children out for a bottle of milk at
some corner grocery stores they will not be
confronted with books and magazines which
they would never find in their homes.
People genuinely concerned with the prob
lem of indecent literature can be grateful that
the group represented by Mr. A. K. Gannam at
the proceedings against “Strip Artist” in Chat
ham County’s Superior Court last week have
never allowed themselves to be caught up in
the cycle which has, too often, seen public out
cry subside into public apathy.
Whether last week’s court decision will
have any far-reaching beneficial effects on the
war against obscenity and pornography is an
open question. Only one book was involved and
it found itself without a champion. But even
if the present Georgia law proves ineffectual,
at least a battle has been won and a group ol
ordinary people with extraordinary dedication
have proved that even though it may take a
long time to slay the dragon, it is not invin
cible.
SAINTS AND SINNERS
God’s World
Rev. Leo J. Trese
If we may believe what we read, the day
will come when the demographers and family
planners get the population problem under con
trol. Then the number of children bom in each
nation will be proportionate to the material
resources of that nation. No longer will there
be poverty and hunger because
there will be enough to go a-
round for everybody. No long
er will the rich have occasion
to feel guilty about their
wealth; the rebuke of the have-
nots will be silenced.
■(
Whether or not this utopian
objective will be achieved, we
do not know. It is interesting to speculate, how
ever, what would happen if governments, in
their control of births, could breed out sin as
well as poverty. If the scientists could con
sult their charts and decide that this particu
lar child should not be conceived because he
would be a sinner, what a beautiful world this
would be.
Such imaginings are pure whimsy, of
course. The behavior of free human wills is
much too unpredictable to admit of scientific
forecasting. Today’s saint may be tomorrow’s
sinner, and today’s sinner tomorrow’s saint.
From a God’s-eye view at any particular mo
ment, the human race must look like a mass
of winking Christmas lights, as grace leaves
one soul and enters another.
Fortunately, God can accomplish * miracles
of which science cannot even dream. Under
the influence of grace, a single act of the will
can change a sinner into a saint. It takes but
an instant to make an act of repentance. It
takes but a moment to turn away from God,
but only a moment also to turn back to Him.
God’s grace surrounds and presses upon
every sinner, no matter how vicious the sinner
may be. However, Gofl has made the effec
tiveness of His grace largely dependent upon
you and me. In union with Christ we must
take the sinner's burden upon ourselves. By
our prayers and penances vicariously offered
*
for him, we must merit for the sinner the
grace that he will not merit for himself. We
must crack his shell so that God’s grace can
find entrance.
There are times when action is called for,
too, as well as prayer and penance. It is
somewhat of an oversimplification, but we may
say that in general there are two classes of
sinners: those whose sinfulness stems from
circumstance, and those whose sinfulness is a
matter of pure self-love.
For example, it is hardly to be wondered
at if a slum child embarks upon a life of sin.
Raised in a shack or a tenement where a fami
ly of six or eight occupies one room; exposed
early to every species of vice; deprived of
adequate recreation, adequate medical atten
tion, adequate schooling — it is not surprising
if such a child grows up without ideals, angry
and bitter toward the more affluent society
which he sees around him.
For such sinners, action is called for as
well as prayer. It is remarkable how we can
drive through a slum and feel pity but not
guilt for the sorry lot of the dwellers there.
The slum is our responsibility, yours and mine.
As long as it stands, it cries out to the world,
“Christians do not really love one another.”
The thing lacking in many of us is a sense
of human solidarity, a sense of oneness with
our brethren.
Many of us, too, lack an appreciation of our
own power. You can prove your power by an
experiment. Pick out someone in your circle
of acquaintances who, by objective evidence, is
separated from God and therefore a sinner.
Begin today to pray for that person, frequently
and ardently. Offer small penances for him—
the pain of a headache, an hour without a
smoke, that second cocktail.
You may not see immediate results. It
may take years for your prayers and penances
to overpower him. But you will save that
person’s soul. Never doubt it. You will.
Mission for Journalists
WHA7TS THE PRESS EMI
It Seems to Me
We journalists do not do near
ly enough basic thinking about
journalism. Further, we do not
sufficiently explain to the public
the principles which, because of
the very nature and purposes of
journalism, must govern our
work if it is to
be well and
rightly done for
mankind’s bene
fit.
Such thoughts
come to me in
connection with
Fe b r u a r y as
Catholic Pre s s
Month.
It is a paradoxical fact that
we who are specialists in com-
munciations often fail to com
municate adequately to others
our reasons-for-being-and-doing
as journalists.
THE TRUE journalist — no
matter how gregarious and out
going—tends to be, in a special
sense, lonely.
His loneliness is due to the
fact that day in and day out, in
plain view of everybody, he
must make decisions that often
are very unpopular because peo
ple do not see why he decides
as he does; and he is unable to
explain.
The reason he cannot explain
is that people in general do not
understand the ruling principles
of good journalism.
THE JOURNALIST does un-
derstand (not perfectly, of
course, but well); in part be
cause he has studied the princi-
JOSEPH BREIG
pies in school, but in much larg
er part because he has learned
them by experience.
For the making of the com
plete and competent journalist,
both journalistic experience and
theory are necessary.
In Jie realm of theory, I offer
this fundamental statement:
“It is the nature of journalism
—the root purpose of the work—
to communicate to people as
much as possible of all that they
need, in the way of day-to-day
information, enlightenment and
inspiration, to help them to re
late realistically and rightly to
the world in which God has
placed them, and to develop
themselves to full human per
fection.’’
Turning to Catholic journal
ism, a special purpose is to help
people to develop as mature
Christians.
The journalist’s duty, there
fore, is to serve readers (or lis
teners and viewers). His first
loyalty and concern, under God,
must be for them. He has a
most serious obligation to do
everything he can to provide all
that they have a right to ex
pect from good journalism.
Therefore — and let me em-
phazie this—
If a publication is to serve its
readers as it should, it m, u s t
earn and keep their confidence.
To do this, it must be honest,
candid, accurate and complete
in its reports and statements.
The journalist must not dis
semble, nor cover up awkward
facts nor whitewash nor “slant
the news.”
If he does such things, he is
being dishonest with readers.
And this is bad morals as well
as bad journalism.
The Second Vatican Council’s
Constitution on the Church says
that the laity seek God by en
gaging in temporal affairs and
ordering them according to the
plan of God.
TO MY MIND, it is the duty
of the journalist—above all the
religious journalist—to help peo
ple do that.
The religious journalist must
never forget that this is what
he is, and that he has a special
journalistic work to do. His task
is;
To keep the light of the spir
itual and the moral steadily fo
cussed upon the temporal—upon
the “affairs of the world”—so
that they may indeed be order
ed according to God’s plan.
Like the Church, the religious
journal must ceaselessly bear
witness to the supreme impor
tance of the spiritual and the
moral in the life of man. This
is the work of the religious jour
nalist; and he should resist like
a saint the temptation to stray
into other things—secular things
—politics and the like.
Next week, I will talk about
how, in practice, the work of
the religious journalist should
be done.
HELP OUST REDS
Capital Report
by J. J. GILBERT J-
WASHINGTON — Communists
have been able to achieve “an
alarming degree of influence”
in student movements in Latin
America.
Senator Dodd said “the com
munist hold on the Latin Amer
ican student can only be term
inated by the Latin American
students themselves.” He adds
that, in a number of Latin A-
merican universities, the stu
dents have reacted against “the
crude manipulations of the com
munists,” and have been able
to oust the Reds from positions
of control in student organiza
tions, or else have set up rival
organizations.
The senator says “there is
reason to believe that American
students and American student
organizations might, in certain
situations, render effective aid.”
In this connection, he praised
the Institute for Free Labor
Development, “which is an off-
4
shoot of the AFL-CIO,’’ for hav
ing provided an example of
what can be done through its
training program for Latin A-
merican trade unionists.
“In a number of situations,
trade unionists who have com
pleted this training program
have returned to their countries
and played a leading role in
the liberating of important un
ions from long established com
munist control.”
The senator said that the Li
brary of Congress was asked to
make a study dealing with the
problem of “the communist in
filtration and manipulation of
student movements in Latin A-
merica” in general and with
specific attention to conditions
in Bolivia, Venezuela and Hon
duras, which he called “repre
sentative countries.”
He said the study shows that’
“the system of free university
education and restrictions on
the removal of academic fail
ures have permitted profession
al agitators in the guise of stu
dents to enter Latin American
universities and to remain there,
year after year, sometimes into
their late thirties and even for
ties.”
The senator asserted that as
long as the situation in many
Latin American countries “con
tinues restive and unstable,” stu
dents in the region will remain
a communist target. And, he
added, in order to comprehend
the struggle going on in Latin
America, it is imperative to un
derstand the role of the student
in communist strategy and the
circumstances which make the
Latin American student vulner
able to communist tactics.
(N.C.W.C. News Service)
A
CABBAGES AND KINGS
Rev. William V. Coleman
On Wisdom
There was a time in the Catholic Church
when things were pretty cut and dried. These
times have gone, fled out Pepe John’s famous
window. I, for one, do not completely regret
their going. Yet, with all this new-found un
certainty, I must confess that there is now
and then a nostalgic twing for the “good old
days.”
We seem to be in the posi
tion of the teen-ager who is
just beginning to experience
manhood. He likes the idea of
independence but is appalled
by the sense of personal re
sponsibility which independ
ence brings.
There is no area in the “reformed” Church
which requires so much personal responsibility
from us Catholics as that of ecumenism. We
know without hesitation that there is one true
Faith into which God wills us to lead our
neighbor. On the other hand, we recognize and
respect our neighbor and His conviction that
he is following the lights God has given him.
How far shall we go? Shall we encourage
him to think that we accept the modem dictum,
“One religion is much the same as another?”
Shall we, cn the other hand, refuse to hold out
the hand of love and fellowship which has been
so dramatically extended by the Council fa
thers? Where is the middle road which virtue
always follows? When does ecumenism become
weakness? When is strength of conviction
merely religious intolerance?
No one can expect to find the answer for
such a difficult question in a few paragraphs
of print. Still, I cannot help but be tempted
to write a general guideline which may help
some.
“It is better to err by being a bit too re
served than by creating religious indifference
in the minds of our friends.” If our contact
with all non-Catholics is friendly and unassum
ing, we have already done a great deal. If we
can go farther and point out common beliefs
and common practices, we have taken an even
better step. If finally we can communicate
the belief that we are personally convinced by
and dedicated to Our Savior and His Church
we have done all that God in His kindness does
in the pursuit of souls.
Is it necessary to seek religious fellowship?
Is it necessary to enter into common religious
programs? I think not. I feel that the time is
not yet opportune for us or for our neighbors.
They do not expect this of us. They, in their
heart of hearts, expect us to be a bit different.
When we are not, they lose some of the awe
and respect and love they have for God’s
Church.
Kindness—Yes. Sentimentality—Never. Wis
dom—Always.
QUESTIONS
Our F aith
Msgr. J. D. Conwaj
Q. In Genesis 3:14, we read that God
cursed the serpent which tempted EVe, to
“crawl on your belly ... all the days of your
life.” My question is how did the serpent
manage to ambulate prior to this experience?
It would 1 appear, due to the reptile’s physiology
that this would be the only possible means of
locomotion.
A. The serpent is a symbol and his con
demnation was symbolic. He is the spirit of
evil who crawls about the world doing battle
with the children of Eve, until the day when
he is defeated — his head crushed .
In Apocalypse 12, 9, we find the same evil
spirit referred to as “that great dragon, the
ancient serpent, he who is called the devil and
Satan.” Michael threw him out of heaven, and
he landed on earth. Maybe that was when he
tempted Eve. Anyway, he had to be a symbol
because real serpents don’t talk to people.
*
Q. Please help me with a question of eti
quette. Who gives the stipend at baptism, the
parents or the Godparents?
A. Frankly I don’t know. I have seen it
done both ways without rhyme. Reason indi
cates to me that it should be the parents.
Q. During religion class this morning we
had an argument. Would you please straighten
us out? In Genesis 3:15, the Lord God said to
the serpent: “I will put enmity between you
and the woman, between your seed and her
seed; He shall crush your head, and you shall
lie in wait for his heel.” Or should it be, “She
shall crush your head, and you shall lie in wait
for her heel?” The first is in the Confraternity
and the latter in the Vulgate.
A. The former reading is preferable, that
of the Confraternity Edition. However some
authorities use the neuter pronoun, it, referring
to seed; and others prefer the plural, they. And
some translate it quite differently: They (her
seed or posterity) shall attack your head, and
you shall strike at their heel.
Instead of straightening you out I have
probably mixed you up Sorry! It seems that
the meaning in Hebrew is not too clear.
Q. Why is it wrong for a Catholic to will
his eyes to an eye bank after his death?
A. It isn’t.
i