WORLD IWSGRMS
James O. Henry, M.A., Editor
Associate prof, of History, Biola Bible College
Catholic Publications Report Record Circulation The new Catholic Press Directory shows that the circulation of the 559 United States Catholic news papers and magazines has reached a new high of 23,368,348 copies. This is a 29% increase over the 16,500,000 total reported five years ago. Atheism Withers This is the title of a religious edi torial which appeared in the A u gusta Chronicle (Augusta, Ga.) re cently and the article is given in its entirety: “ The American Associa tion for the Advancement of Athe ism is about ready to admit that it cannot w in against man’s instinct to believe in God. “ ‘The rants of atheism are scat tered today,’ Charles Smith, long time president o f the association said in a recent interview. The organized movement to spread athe istic beliefs has dwindled to a mere skeleton and the self-styled atheists can find no fervor within them selves for spreading their atheistic ideas. “ Some of them have decided that maybe m odem religious practices are not as abhorrent to them as were the restrictions imposed by old-fashioned religion. Essentially, atheism scarcely has a chance to survive in a world that is filled with miraculous evidences of the power o f God. Even those who call them selves atheists in public seldom are able to deceive themselves inwardly as to the presence and power of God in the universe. “ W ith many, the assumption of atheistic attitudes is more or less of a pose. W ith a few it is a bitter protest against some of the frustra tions with which their lives have been beset. Fewer still seek to ra tionalize their avowed endorsement of atheism through intellectual ap proaches to the subject. “ But who has witnessed the silver light of dawn seeping through the darkness of night without feeling the presence of the Alm ighty? W ho can watch sunrise on the eastern horizon and remain unstirred by
the profound mystery o f that reg ularly recurring pageant of glory? Having stood in the green aisles of the forest surrounded by a temple like silence while even one slender, coiled-up fern frond unfurls itself slowly beneath a great tree, can one ever deny the existence of God and His power to give life and beauty to the world? “ Atheism cannot compete with man’s instinctive desire to believe in God nor hold back the human soul from reaching upward and out ward for spiritual contact with the A lmighty. “ Both the atheists and the agnos tics are moved, sooner or later, to recognition of their great need to worship God. W ithout an inner knowledge that God does exist, man kind could not find within itself the courage to keep on striving for a better life on earth. “ So we do not p ity the atheists because of the disintegration of their association but congratulate them on having found a new path to hope and spiritual tranquillity.” Soft in the Head N ew York’s famous Judge Sam uel Leibowitz has never been a man to m ince words when talking about those young thugs in his com munity who are frequently referred to as “ juvenile delinquents.” But recently he really sounded off. H e wants to know how “ soft in the head” we must become in deal ing with these people. “ I don’t be lieve in swinging clubs,” he told a panel o f grand jurors, “ but it would be the height of insanity to treat these young criminals with cream puffs.” A t the same time he lifted the lid on some startling and hither to undisclosed incidents. “ I have had them stand here in court and spit at me,” he said. In one case a “ young punk” hit the judge on the head with a chair and in another a defendant threw an inkwell at him. Apparently t h e s e c a s e s were hushed up but they do not seem to have been isolated cases. A t any rate, the judge in charge o f the
Children’s Court confirmed the in cidents and said they were com monplace. This same judge added, however, “ W e are dealing with children. They’re sick and dis turbed kids. W e accept it (the chair throwing incident) as something we have to put Up with.” Our par ents have become frightened of our children, our teachers likewise are frightened, now it seems that our courts have also become frightened. New Soviet History Outline Published The Soviet teachers’ newspaper published recently the principles o f a course on world history to be adopted in all high schools immedi ately. An article for the guidance of history teachers opened with a quotation from Nikita S. Khrush chev, Soviet Party leader, celebrat ing the triumph of 40 years o f Communist rule in Russia. The ar ticle said “ students’ understanding o f the party’s approach to world af fairs was the primary purpose o f the new course.” Th irty hours of history lectures have been prescribed for the high schools even before textbooks can be prepared. The new course w ill fill a gap left two years ago when history as taught in the Stalin era was abandoned. Since then Soviet history courses stopped their ac counts of world affairs in 1917 and continued on ly with Soviet internal affairs. The general principles of the course, in accordance with the cur rent party line, portrays the world as divided into two camps, with the capitalist system in “ general crisis,” and the Communists on the march. The course w ill emphasize the “ role of the USSR as the vanguard of democracy throughout the world,” and will acquaint students with pro grams of non-Soviet C omm u n i s t parties and w ill impress upon them that coexistence of the two camps is “ a possibility and a necessity.” A detailed outline o f the course has not been issued yet, but the guidance article listed these major themes: “ Demonstration o f the cri-
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