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PAGE 2 GEORGIA BULLETIN THURSDAY, MARCH 7, 1963 RULING EXPECTED IN JUNE Religion’s Place In Public Schools Will Be Settled By Supreme Court WASHINGTON - NC— Does religion have a place in Amer ica's public schools? That question is now pend- ind before the U. S. Supreme Court in two cases whose out come is expected to at tract more attenion than any court ruling of recent years. Observers are already predic ting that the decision, whatev- C&S REALTY COMPANY "Specialists in Commercial and Industrial Real Estate" Suita 200 Henry Grady Bldg. Atlanta 3. Ga. Warehouses, Stores, Mfg. Plants, Acreage, Shopping Center Dev., industrial Dev., Subdivision Dev., Insurance S24-2052 MIKE k STEVE SERTICH er it may be, will make the biggest impact on the public im agination since the school de segregation rulings of 1954. THE NINE justices of the nation's highest tribunal spent four hours spread over two days (Fev. 27-28) hearing at torneys argue the merits of having public school students listen to readings from the Bible and recite the Lord’s Prayer. Having heard the oral ar guments, the justices will now thresh out the issues in the two cases in private. A deci- Thi* Ad Worth 50< ON ALL TYPES OF ELECTRICAL REPAIRS AT Horn* & Hobby Shop BELMONT HILLS SHOPPING CENTER PHONE: 435-5122 R. S. SEELEY, MGR. FRED A. YORK PEST CONTROL SERVICE Our Slogan — Nearly Right Won't Do Our Service — Always Guaranteed Our Products On Sale At Office CALL FOR FREE INSPECTION OR INFORMATION 7S6 Stale Si.. N. W Phone TR. 5-8371 Atlanta. Ga. TAX RETURNS TURNER AUDITING SERVICE 2355 MATHEWS ST, N.E. ATLANTA 19, GA. BROOKHAVEN CE 3-3584 By Appointment Only Night* and Weekends CLARK LAUNDRY-DRY CLEANING TWO COMPLETE PLANTS 1007 Peachtree St.. N. E. - TR. 6-7391 3189 Maple Drive. N. 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The court's ruling is anti cipated as a clarification of its decision last June 25, when it ruled against a prayer com posed by state officials and prescribed by the New York State Board of Regents for re citation in New York public schools. SPECIFICALLY at issue In the new cases are Bible read ing and recitation of the Lord's Prayer in Maryland public sch ools and Bible reading alone in Pennsylvania public schools. In both school systems, students whose parents object to the ex ercises can be excused. In the Maryland case, Mrs. Madalyn Murray of Baltimore, a self-professed atheist, is ask ing the Supreme Court to re verse a 4-3 ruling of the Mary land Court of Appeals, which last April 6 upheld the contest ed practices. Mrs. Murray’s teenage son, William J. Murray,111, is a stu dent in a Baltimore public high school. Mrs. Murray is raising him as an atheist. IN rHE Pennsylvania case, state school officials are seek ing reversal of a decision by a special three-judge Federal Court, which on February 1,1962 held Bible reading in public schools to be an unconstitu tional "promotion of religious ness." The case was initiated in 1958 by Edward L. Schempp of Ros- lyn, Pa., who filed suit against the Abington Township School Board. Schempp, a Unitarian, then had a son who was a sen ior in the township's high sch ool. Two more of his children now attend the school. In September, 1959, a Feder al district court declared the law under which religious pra ctices were conducted in Penn sylvania public schools to be unconstitutional. THIS RULING was appealed to the Supreme Court. In the mean time, however, the state legis lature amended the law to pro vide that children could be ex cused from the exercises on re quest of their parents. The high court then sent the case back to lower courts for review in light of this action by the legislature. Bur the lower courts still ruled against the contested practices. Counsel for the Abington sch ool board sought before the Su preme Court to establish that the practices in their schools differ substantially from those in the Maryland schools. IT WAS pointed out that the Pennsylvania statute requires only Bible reading, as distinct from both Bible reading and re citation of the Lord’s Prayer in Maryland. However, it is cus tomary in Abington schools to follow the Bible reading with recitation of the Lord's Prayer. Also, in the Abington Town ship high school, the Bible is read at the start of the school day over the public address sys tem by student members of a television-radio workshop, a voluntary student group. The students are encouraged to use the version of the Bible proper to their own religion. During the two days of ar gument before a crowded court room, certain major themes emerged in the two cases. Am ong them were these: The nature of the prac tices: Are they religious or not? IN BOTH cases, attorneys ar guing the'schools’ position sou ght to establish that the prac tices are not religious exer cises, properly so-called. Thus, Philadelphia attorney Philip H. Ward 111 asserted that the aim of Bible reading in Pennsylvania schools is to pro mote "morality" without prea ching a particular religious creed. Baltimore City Solici tor Francis B. Burch cited the "salutary" effects of the Mary land practices in creating a tone of sobriety in the class room at the start of the school day and said this Is their pur pose, not teaching religion. By contrast, attorney Henry W. Sawyer 111, representing the Schempps, maintained that "you cannot separate the moral lea ven from the religious leaven in the Bible." And the Murray's lawyer, Leonard J. Kerpelman, said the Maryland school prac tices constitute a “sectarian religious ceremony." The rights of the majority versus the rights of the minor ity. IN THIS connection, Justice Potter Stewart, who argued in favor of school prayer in dis senting from last June’s New York Regents' Prayer decision, insisted frequently in colloqu ies with the various attorneys that the First Amendment clause guaranteeing free exer cise of religion may sometimes conflict with the clause barring an establishment of religion. Justice Stewart strongly sug gested that this might be the situation in the present cases, and that while prayer and Bi ble reading In public schools might constitute an establish ment of religion, at the same time the majority's right to the free exercise of its religion would make the practices per missible. IN ONE exchange with Saw yer, Justice Stewart intimated that a court ruling against the Abington Township practices would be a "gross inter ference" with the right of the majority. To this Sawyer re plied that the majority has a right to practice its religion freely "but they haven't got a right to ask the state to help them." — The question of compul sion. In both Maryland and Penn sylvania, students whose par ents object to the contest prac tices may be excused from be ing present at them. Nothing this, Justice Stewart asked Kerpelman why his cli ents "don’t just walk away from this ceremony." The Baltimore attorney replied that this is an "illusory" right and said pres sures, ranging from loss of face to physical violence, had been exerted on young Murray for his refusal to conform. ATTORNEYS for the schools, however, pointed to an earlier Supreme Court ruling which held that there is no objection to having a flag salute ceremony In the public school classroom, provided those who wish to ab sent themselves on conscienti ous grounds were allowed to do so. The issue was further com plicated in the Pennsylvania case, where Schempp had not made use of his right to have his children excused from the Bible reading, on the grounds that he did not want them to "different" from his fellow stu dents. -- The question of standing. Closely related to the Issue of compulsion was the question of the standing of the Murrays and Schimpps to seek court relief. In the Pennsylvania case, the Schempp children had suf fered no penalties for non conformity precisely because their parents chose to keep them in the classroom. In the Maryland case, there was no evidence in the record before the court to show what penal ties young Murray had suffered. IN VIEW of this, Justice Ste wart suggested to Kerpelman that the court's logical course might be to remand the case for action by the lower courts to determine just what disabil ities the Murray boy had suf fered. —The broader implications of the cases. The attorneys for the schools in both cases laid emphasis on the far-reacing impact an ad verse ruling would have on man- y tradional practices which have long been accepted as a part of American public life. Deputy Baltimore City Soli citor George W. Baker, Jr., told the court an adverse ruling would open a "Pandora’s box" of troubles. He said that if the high court strikes down the Maryland school practices, it would soon find itself under pressure to "remove every vestige" of religious tradition from public life. A BOOK display featuring writings by Cardinal Newman Is set-up at the Catholic Student Center by Miss Mary Mann, Georgia Tech student from St. Petersburg, Fla. The display Is a part of the observance of Cardinal Newman week by local Catholic students. FATHER TAVARD Council Seeks Three Fold Aim MINNEAPOLIS (NC)— Re form in the life of Christians, in theology and of the Church herself, are goals of the Second Vatican Council, a council ex pert said here. Father Georges Tavard, A. A., a consultant to the council’s Secretariat for Christian Unity, said in a talk at the University of Minnesota Newman Center that part of the work for reform has already been accomplished in the pro ject on the liturgy. THE ASSUMPTION 1ST priest, author of several works on Christian unity', said it is difficult for Catholics to think of the Church in terms of re form because reform is associ ated with the Reformation, which in turn is associated with Luther and Calvin, "who are supposed to have been bad men." But the notion of reform "has a totally acceptable meaning within the context of Catholic doctrine," he stated. The Fathers of the Church, he add ed, had a theological idea of conversion, "a call to convert ourselves to God." Reform, in Catholic thought, also includes the notion of "penance for the sins of in dividuals and for shortcomings which impede the work of the Church and distort her image." reform in the life of Chris- ians would be aimed at their daily lives, Father Tavard said, but more particularly at their lives as Christians, in "mo ments that have a liturgical setting." jumcE demands Interracial Conferences Urges Anti-Bias Action "The liturgy is the center of reform," he said, "because it is the central source of in spiration." Father Tavard, who is chair man of the theology department of Mount Mercy College, Pitts burgh, said theological reform would mean "going back to the basic sources of theological thought." CHICAGO (NC) — The Na tional Catholic Conference for Interracial Justice has urged that Catholics take part in "di rect action movements" against racial discrimination. The conference's board of directors issued a statement declaring that "institutional cautiousness in race relations is not consistent with ... the demands of justice and love." IT specifically asked that Ca tholic institutions write nondis crimination clauses into their construction, supply and ser vice contracts, and called for support of desegration in seven Catholic dioceses that have seg regated school systems. The interracial justice con ference said that the recent Na tional Conference on Religion MODERN NEEDS and Race in Chicago, for which it acted as the secretariat, was "merely the beginning of solid interreligious coopera tion and achievement to inte grate our society.” "We offer our wholehearted cooperation," the conference statement said, "to those re sponsible for following up and making concrete the stimula tion provided by the National Conference on Religion and Race, and we urge other Ca tholic institutions and organiza tions to participate in a growing interreligious movement to rid our society of racism." NOTING that "recent years have seen the emergence of so- called ‘direct action' techni ques as effective and prudent instruments of social change," the conference directors added: "Despite occasional misuse, or French Editors Ask Book Index Reform MONTREAL, Que. (NC)—The Second Vatican council has been asked by French editors of re ligious books to reform the In dex of Prohibited Books to meet present-day conditions, It was revealed here. The announcement was made during an exhibition of French- language religious books by Etienne Lethielleux, director of a publishing company in France and president of the group erf religious editors of the National Syndicate of French Editors. EDITORS faced with the pub lication and circulation of books of a strictly religious order often are handicapped in the exercise of their work and re sponsibility by a number of difficulties of the doctrinal or CONSTITUTIONAL moral order,” Lethielleux said. "In an effort to solve these difficulties in accord with the human requirements of our time, all the editors of religious books got together to present various suggestions in a me morandum to the authorities of the ecumenical council. The main suggestion has to do with reform of the index," he con tinued. The exhibition of French re ligious books was held at the St. Arsene Orphanage here un der auspices of Paul Emile Cardinal Leger, Archbishop of Montreal: Raymond Bousquet, French Ambassador to Canada; G. E. Lapalme, Quebec Minis ter of Cultural Affairs; and Mayor Jean Drapeau of Mon treal. 6 New Republic 9 Backs Private School Aid occasional open conflict, gene rally they have been productive of constructive change, the re duction of open racial discrimi nation, and an easing of racial prejudice." The statement also said that “the upheaval which takes place in the white conscience, when confronted by such action, ul timately seems to be construc tive and beneficial." "We urge the coupling of di rect action techniques and reli gious motivation," the state ment stressed. "And we urge Catholics to participate in the direct action movements." On nondiscrimination claus es and on discrimination in Catholic education, the interra cial justice conference had the following to say: "RELIGIOUS organizations and institutions have responsi bility to see that their spend ing is not done in such a way as to perpetuate racial dis crimination. Merely expous ing this position has little ef fect on discriminatory racial patterns. "The National Catholic Con ference for Interracial Justice urges Roman Catholic organi zations and institutions to write nondiscrimination clauses into their construction, supply and service contracts. "The National Catholic Con ference for Interracial Justice urges lay and clerical Catho lics to support desegregation in the parochial school systems of the seven Catholic dioceses which still have not desegre gated these systems." Chairman of the Conference's board of directors is Raymond M. Hillard. Matthew Ahmann is executive secretary of the con ference. HE SAID such an approach involves the following: "Recovering the Biblical substance of Catholic tradition —using Revelation in Biblical form as the essential source of Catholic thinking rather than the scholastics." A pastoral orientation which is “much more a preaching of the Word of God" than pure ly academic, technical theology which is "meaningful only to professional theologians." St. Pius High French Club Members of the French club will present a one act play, in French, during an a.m. activity period on Monday, March 18. The play will be "Rosalie" by Max Maurey. The cast con sists of three roles. Elizabeth Horsey will por tray Rosalie, the common, country maid of the Bols. Play ing Mme. Bol will be Ann Lar- don, and Jon Lorrain will enact the part of M. Bol. Samuel La- Duca will act as stage man ager and Herbert Broughton will be prop manager. Madam Suzanne Kohn, French teacher and moderator of the French club, directs the produc tion. FAIR OAKS CLEANERS & LAUNDRY 1506 ATLANTA ROAD SMYRNA, GEORGIA PHONE: 428-3768 COGGINS SHOE STORE SHOES FOR THE FAMILY 46 W. PARK SQ. MARIETTA, GEORGIA PHONE 428-6811 wktATU ATLANTA PLR \NNl M n CURRENT RATE 606 $ central AVf • MAPlvittf r,A ■Nsaaip WASHINGTON (NC) — The New Republic magazine said here it believes that state aid to church-related schools would be constitutional. The weekly magazine also said (March 2 issue) that "the case for public support of pri vate schools depends upon pub lic control over those activities it supports." THE MAGAZINE’S editorial said the state has an interest in ensuring that all school child ren have a mastery of certain subjects. "The state can and should pursue this interest by sub sidizing instruction in these subjects," it said. “So long as the student is mastering them it makes no difference to the state whether his instructors are Jesuits or agnostics, whether his class room is owned by the Luther ans or the local school board," the magazine said. THE national interest, it add ed, is in better education for all children. "Nobidy needs to send his child to a private school; but millions do. No use ful purpose is served if these children grow up knowing less history or 1ms chemistry than children who attend public school." "Ignorance, not the Catho lic hierarchy, is the enemy,” it stated.