Newspaper Page Text
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PAGE 6—August 23,1973
FROM USCC
School Decisions
Given Bad Grades
BY LOUIS PANARALE
WASHINGTON (NC) - The office of
the General Counsel of the U.S.
Catholic Conference believes that “the
many flaws” in U. S. Supreme Court
decisions on aid to nonpublic education
are bound to become more evident as
time passes.
The counsel made its judgment in a
12-page critique of the Supreme Court’s
June 25 school aid decisions. Those
decisions effectively put a freeze on all
new forms of substantial public
assistance to education in church-related
elementary and secondary schools.
“It is still much too early for a full
technical analysis of these decisions,”
the USCC counsel stated, but added
that the decisions “are by no means free
of ambiguities.”
“Considering the time and the space
that the court devoted to these
decisions, these ambiguities become
more difficult to understand and it will
take considerable reflection by the
counsel to produce a full analysis,” the
statement explained.
The statement added, however, that
certain critical points are sufficiently
clear right now for immediate
exposition.
“The latest school aid decision will
unquestionably rank with the abortion,
public school financing,
reapportionment, and obscenity cases as
the most important decisions, both
practically and theoretically, of this
term of the Supreme Court, ” the
statement declared.
The statement predicted that in the
next months the decisions will be
scrutinized closely in law reviews and
other professional legal journals.
“The office of the general counsel
will keep close track of these
publications because we are confident
that the many flaws in the Supreme
Court’s reasoning will be greatly
criticized even by scholars who are in
personal sympathy with the results
reached by the Court.”
In an accompanying statement,
Cardinal John Krol of Philadelphia,
president of the National Conference of
Catholic Bishops and the USCC, agreed
with the counsel’s analysis of the
Supreme Court’s decisions.
Cardinal Krol said the decisions relied
upon an inaccurate history of American
Church-State relationships and had
departed from the criteria governing
such relationships in previous court
rulings.
He agreed with the counsel’s analysis
that the Supreme Court had made a
“scarecrow” out of the so-cal^
political divisiveness argument. r xne
court had said that efforts to secure or
increase aid to nonpublic education
contained a potential of continuing
political divisiveness over aid to religion.
“As it stands,” said Cardinal Krol,
“this argument endangers the religious
liberty of everyone.” He said the
Supreme Court has carried the political
divisiveness argument so far as to deny
citizens First Amendment rights to
speech, press, assembly and petition.
“This argument of divisiveness is a
bizarre departure from the intention of
the founding fathers. It would exclude
all Church groups, not alone Catholic
ones, from a meaningful role in the
public life of our nation,” Cardinal Krol
stated.
“If religious division along political
lines is an evil to be avoided, then
campaigns by all religious groups-for or
against the prayer amendment, for
legislation relating to gambling, humane
slaughter, welfare rights, drug abuse,
pornography, must, if they succeed,
result in unconstitutional legislation,”
he said.
The counsel’s critique stated that the
Supreme Court’s June 25 decision “did
not come as a bolt out of the blue,” but
that from 1947 to 1971 the Court’s
reasoning in Church-state cases had been
shifting. The critique listed two basic
themes of the Supreme Court:
-The historical heritage of the First
Amendment’s separation of Church and
State.
-A set of tests to determine whether
legislation violated the First
Amendment Clause that prohibits the
establishment of a state religion.
“It would serve no useful pupose at
this time,” the counsel critique stated,
“to multiply examples of the Supreme
Court’s almost total disregard of the
actual history of the enactment of the
First Amendment. We should not,
however, let the Court’s claim of
historical justification for its decisions
go unchallenged.”
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Film Classifications
A. — Section I — Morally Unobjectionable for, General Patronage
A — Section II — Morally Unobjectionable for Adults, Adolescents
A — Section III — Morally Unobjectionable for Adults
A — Section IV — Morally Unobjectionable for Adults, Reservations
B - Morally Objectionable in Part for All
C — Condemned
OOQOOOOOOOOOOOOOOG
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SIDDHARTHA (Columbia) is an
exquisitely visualized, reverential, but,
unfortunately, philosophically weak homage
by film maker Conrad Rooks to Herman
Hesse’s classic homage to India, the novel
SIDDHARTHA. Basically, the film (which
follows the book virtually word-by-word in
dialogue and scence-by-scene in movement
and location) is a search for identity,
undertaken by the title character, a Brahmin’s
son who seeks the message of truth in life.
The message for Hesse, his protagonist and,
we assume, Mr. Rooks, lies in there being no
message - only a recognition that man is one
in being with all of and in life. What sets the
film apart is its almost overpoweringly
beautiful photography, especially the
multitiude of symbolic images of reflecting
rivers and streams. Credit cameraman Sven
Wykvist with making his images transcend the
subject. Adults should be aware that part of
Siddhartha’s quest takes him into the velvety
arms of a beautiful courtesan, and though the
depictions here are shadowed and highly
stylized, they are somewhat graphic. (A-lll)
LADY ICE (National General) is your
garden variety diamond heist caper starring
your average beautiful/handsome actors
(Jennifer O’Neal/Donald Sutherland) and shot
in your ordinary glossy American big city
(Miami). There is more than enough confused
complexity to satisfy any buff, as insurance
investigator Sutherland alternately flirts with
diamond fence Ms. O’Neill and death (his
methods are dangerous). Aside from an
occasional sparkling line, though, there is very
little glitter to this pasty collection. Robert
Duvall lends a touch of class to proceedings as
a hard bitten U. S. Justice Department agent,
but his scenes get lost in the overall shuffle.
Tom Gries directed, mostly from a helicopter.
(All)
THE LEGEND OF BOGGY CREEK
(Howco Inti.) The Himalayas have their
Abominable Snowman, the Pacific Northwest
its Sasquatch, the little town of Fouke,
Arkansas (pop. 300) has its hairy monster
from Boggy Creek. Aside from a dubious
footprint or two as “concrete” evidence of its
existence, the legendary monster has only the
vivid imaginations of the townspeople and
gullible outsiders (i.e., movie audiences) to go
on. Despite the natural beauty of the bottom
country locations (photographed by Charles
Pierce, who also produced and directed), and
a pleasant folk-plunk soundtrack, LEGEND is
hard-pressed to convince anyone of the
monster’s reality, much less create the aura of
terrifying legend surrounding its periodic
forays against the otherwise peaceful village.
In the fictionalized speculations about the
monster’s attacks, an actor made up with a lot
of hair is photographed from the rear and
sides in shadowy conditions; he is as skillful at
evading pursuing dogs and townsmen as he is
the cameras. (A-l)
MAURIE (National General) is one of
those inspiring, heart-breaking true storeis
that come out of professional sports every
now and then to compensate for the contract
hassles, betting scandals, and general
all-around venery that characterize sports
these days. It all began in 1957, when Maurice
Stokes, a star forward for the Cincinnati
Royals pro basketball team, suffered a head
injury during a game. A few days later, Stokes
collapsed and remained in a deep coma for
several weeks. When he regained
consciousness, Stokes was totally paralyzed,
something his teammate and friend Jack
Twyman set out to correct. The result is a
saga of determination, heart, and love on the
part of the two men -- the one enduring
endless hours of pain during the physical
therapy that gradually brought back his
powers of speech and partial control of body
movement, the other either nearby with
reassurance and understanding or on the go
raising the money necessary - about
$100,000 each year - to keep up the
treatment. Another side of the story is the
deepening relationship the men had with the
respective women in their lives. Stokes’
financee stuck it out with him throughout;
and Twyman’s wife accepted with her
husband a selfless, very demanding role in
caring for their own family as well as the
stricken man Twyman had legally adopted.
On film, the story is slow but never tedious,
thoughtfully recounted without
sentimentality (but with plenty of honest
emotion). Bernie Casey himself a former
professional athlete, turns in a solid
performance in the difficult title role. As his
fiancee, Janet McLachlan captures a young
woman buffetted by conflicting emotional
tugs and the demands of her unusual
relationship. Twyman is played by newcomer
(to films, at least) Bo Svenson, who because
of his own acting style or the control of
director Daniel Mann, never quite comes off
as the unique figure Twyman is. Stokes died
quietly a year ago; Twyman retired from pro
basketball in 1967, offered “color
commentary” on ABC sportscasts for five
years, and is now a bussinessman in the
midwest. They were both talented athletes
but ordinary men, who in time of deep crisis
summoned inner strengths that made their
story truly extraordinary, transcending the
problem of an obviously limited budget. (A-l)
RECENT FILM CLASSIFICATIONS
Heavy Traffic (AIP) - C
The Htfng Kong Cat (Atlas International — C
BEFORE AND AFTER -- In New York state, Troy Rehabilitation and Campaign for Human Development of the U.S. Catholic Conference to
Improvement Program (TRIP) used funds partially supplied by the restore these home to usefulness. (NC Photo)
BOOK REVIEWS
BY EILEEN Z. SILBERMANN
ADD LIFE TO YOUR YEARS, by
Bernard Mandelbaum, Grosset and
Dunlap, 1973, 176 pp.
Bernard Mandelbaum enters the
seemingly endless stream of advice
writers who want to tell the modem
world that we are OK, we can cope with
our inner child of the past, we can stop
playing games, we were bom to win,
success will come through Transactional
analysis, Psycho-Cybernetics,
Track-Downs-and so on and on. Dr.
Mandelbaum is going to add life to our
years.
While it is doubtful that this book
will have the sales appeal of the
offerings of the other writers, it has an
appeal that they lack. The author is a
Rabbi, President-Emeritus of the Jewish
Theological Seminary of America, and
President of the America-Israel Cultural
Foundation in the United States and
Israel. He writes in the best traditions of
Judaism, attempting to concretize the
abstract in dealing with the basic
concepts of a philosophy, a theology of
life. Throughout the book are numerous
quotations that reflect the exceptionally
broad base of his reading and study. Of
particular interest and charm for the
non-Jewish reader, are his Hasidic
stories and anecdotes. For example:
Before Rabbi Zusya died, he told his
disciples who were gathered around
him: “I just had a vision. In the world
to come I will not be asked: ‘Why were
you not like Moses?’ I will be asked:
‘Why were you not Zusya, the best in
yourself’.” Quotations from the Talmud
and Allan Nevins are on the same page,
Martin Buber and Henry Thoreau on
another, Phyllis McGinley and Louis
Finkelstein on a third. A helpful
glossary of the definitions of Hasidism,
Midrash, Mishnah, Talmud and Torah
comes at the end of the book.
In the chapter on Ethics and
Character, Mandelbaum introduces the
section on the Ten Commandments, (a
misnomer, he says, the Hebrew phrase
means “Ten Words” or “Ten
Principles.”) with this story.
A Hasidic rabbi, traveling in a small
wagon, invited a disciple to sit beside
him during a long trip. “But, Rabbi,”
the disciple said, “it is so far to go, and
the wagon is much too small to add
another person.You will be crowded
and uncomfortable.” To this the Rabbi
responded, “Let us love each other
more, and then there will be room
enough for everyone.”
The Hasidic wisdom differes not at all
here from that wisdom we are proud to
call Christian.
BY EILEEN Z. SILBERMANN
“THE SEARCH FOR
SELF-RESPECT by Maxwell Maltz,
M.C., F.I.C.S., Grosset and Dunlap,
1973. 249 pp. (300)
In this book about hope Dr. Maltz
offers an unusual combination of story
telling, gimmicky outlines, and all the
provocations of his psycho-cybernetics
system in his latest attempt to hammer
home the real necessity of reinforcing
our positive qualities and forgiving
ourselves (and others) the negative ones.
It is a book about hope because hope
is a super-positive virtue, a passion for
the possible, a dynamic, an active
commitment to life and growth. Maltz
accepts and loves life - and without
conditions. He shares his insights in how
human persons might grow, extract the
same dividends from their own
investment in living, realizing that
everyone fights the demon-enemies of
uncertainity, resentment and
emptyness.
The book is about how to deal with
these enemies in an effective way. It is
about positive thinking, positive
imagining, and then a carrying forward
of the whole process into goal directed
action. It is really an uncomplicated
« LIFE IN
BY THE DAMEANS
Lovin Naturally
Lovin’ naturally, lovin’ naturally
She likes to see a fresh flower on her kitchen table every morning
With the windows opened wide to let the world inside her sunny
home.
And everyday begins with a gentle smile from really caring.
She really loves to live life and I’m so thankful I can be her man.
Eucalyptus, Sassafras tea,
Morning kisses when she wakes me
Growing young alone together
Lovin’ naturally
Livin’ naturally
Sitting on the front porch she loves to listen to the sounds of the
evening.
We go walking sometime to a rocky mountain, to the source of a
stream
I found a tree that goes on giving
Taking only sunshine like my woman
Her love affair with life has opened up a world of hope for me.
By Brian Tabach — Byron Wells
c Senor Music — Bell Records
At last a song without gimmicks - no hidden or double meanings, no
overdone instrumentation, no big-name (yet) to guarantee sales, words you can
hear and understand right away. In a tune that sneaks into your memory with a
sound so simple and a message so profound, Sandalwood celebrates that simple
things that can turn a person on to life.
At first glance there doesn’t seem to be anything glamorous about the imagery
in the song - a fresh flower, a cup of scented tea, a stream and a tree. But to the
person who knows how to look, even these simple signs can add great meaning
to life.
In a culture geared to the artificial, from the flowers in your home to the
book, not that Dr. Maltz is not acutely
aware that all of this is not achieved
without a considerable struggle. It is an
encouraging book. It makes you feel
great! And Maltz does this with a gentle
charm that is almost old-worldly.
There isn’t all that much that is new
in this book if you have read his
“Psycho-Cybernetics” recently. The
slant is different of course, and the
stories, but his basic message is the
same: “There is no more accurate
measure of an individual’s value than in
his own degree of self-respect.”
The other side of that coin is
self-rejection, and there is not much joy
or happiness or hope for those
individuals who follow that route. In
Chapter 15 Maltz gives a 14-week
building up process that anyone should
be able to follow, granted a minimum of
determination and hope.
In a world reeking with absurdity,
blackness, anguish, neurosis, emptyness
and acidity - a cacophony of Nos, it is
a delight to read the attempt of a man
of wisdom and experience to interject a
Yes to life.
MONDAY, AUGUST 27 — 9:00 p.m.
(ABC) - THE BLISS OF MRS. BLOSSOM
(1968) - Shirley MacLaine plays a housewife
with a devoted husband (Richard
Attenborough) and with an equally devoted
lover (James Booth) secreted in the attic. This
may or may not be a romantic daydream of
all housewives, but it is a gimmick that has a
lot of comic possibilities. Though broadly
exaggerated in treatment, which keeps the
questionable shennanigans within the bounds
of adult good taste, the basic material may
not appeal to everyone. (A-lll)
TUESDAY, AUGUST 28 — 8:00 p.m.
(NBC) - THE STRANGER - TV film is a
science-fiction adventure in which a U.S.
astronaut (Glenn Corbett) finds to his
wonderment that he’s landed on what appears
to be Earth’s twin -- that is, the same
physically, but quite different politically. His
accustomed views on personal liberty and
democracy are met with a less than warm
welcome by the Earth-twin folks, who sic
their chief of security (Cameron Mitchell) on
the poor fellow.
8:30 p.m. (ABC) - CLASS OF ’63 - TV
feature brings the old college crowd back
together again for the first time, with some
predictable results. Jealousy is the name of
the game, as suspicious hubby Cliff Gorman
hatches a deadly welcome for his wife's old
flame. Joan Hackett and James Brolin help
out with the melodramatics.
WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 29 — 8:30 p.m.
(ABC) - A GREAT AMERICAN TRAGEDY
- ... is not necessarily THE Great American
Tragedy, but there is a chunk of solid drama
in this contemporary story about an
aerospace engineer who is laid off and fears
the loss of his self-respect, family’s love, and
other sundry and! traumatic items. George
Kennedy is the worried man, Vera Miles is his
wife, and Kevin McCarthy, William Windom,
and Sallie Shockley add their acting weight.
THURSDAY, AUGUST 30 — 9:00 p.m.
(CBS) - THE MOON IS BLUE (1953) - Otto
Preminger’s naughty film about a young
woman’s virtue being mildly buffeted by the
advances of two bachelors (William Holden
and David Niven) caused an uproar twenty
years ago with its daring dialogue and
situations. At best, the film viewed today is a
quaint reminder of how easily shocked we all
were back then; at worst, it is risque and
occasionally tasteless.
FRIDAY, AUGUST 31 —9:00 p.m. (NBC)
- THEY MIGHT BE GIANTS (1971) - is
based on a James Goldman play and appears
to be great fun, what with George C. Scott
playing a demented New York judge who
believes himself to be Sherlock Holmes, and
Joanne Woodward as the psychiatrist enlisted
to bring him back to his senses and whose
name just happens to be Watson. But
somewhere between the riotous opening
scenes and a closing shot in front of a Central
Park underpass, where Holmes and Watson
bravely face the dread Dr. Moriarty, there are
just two many slack spots and unconnected
parts. James Goldman’s and director Anthony
Harvey’s film supposedly asks us to decide
whether “insane” Scott is saner than those
“sane” people who wish to cure or commit
him, but all we really can ask is why they
made such a midget movie on THEY MIGHT
BE GIANTS. (A-lll)
bacon bits on your baked potato, people are beginning to appreciate more and
more the value of what’s natural. It’s the real thing you’re hoping to find, says
Coke, and what is more real, more natural than the world of nature?
The emphasis of ecology shows that man is concerned once again about the
creation God placed him over to care for. It’s good to hear people sing about
getting high on life and the simple things in nature instead of such artificial
methods as booze and drugs. John Denver’s music is heavy on natural high
imagery as when he sings “Sunshine almost always makes me high,” and “Rocky
Mountain High.”
It shouldn’t surprise us greatly that nature has this power to inspire. After all,
creation is the gift of a Father to his children - and his handiwork in some way
reflects his goodness. St. Paul says, “Since the creation of the world .. . God’s
eternal power and divinity have become visible, recognized through the things he
has made.” (Rom. 1:20)
Creation does show God’s power, but not always the power of thunder and
lightning. His power often comes across in gentleness, in the tree, the stream, the
breeze.
The simple things of creation surround all of us, but often we take for granted
the invitation they offer to appreciate life. It takes someone so in love and in
touch with life to remind us that by considering the seemingly small things in
life we can know that we are loved. Perhaps that is why Jesus had so much to
say about birds and lilies, seeds and weeds, pearls in fields, bread and wine, and
marriage feasts.
And you know how great you feel when you know people so in love with life.
They are a joy to be with because they have a way of renewing your own spirit.
That’s why the last line in the song is the most profound, “Her love affair with
life has opened up a world of hope for me.” She had the ability to touch his life
because of her own love for life. In some way livin’ naturally led to lovin’
naturally. j
Creation is God’s great gift to us. But people who can call forth life and love
from others somehow are the greatest gifts of all.
(Direct all correspondence to: The Dameans, St. Joseph’s Church, 216 Patton Avenue,
P.O. Box 5188, Shreveport, Louisiana 71105.)
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