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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (Jan. 12, 1951)
Morals: Religion and Students (Continued from page two) we’re in today . . . And, too, I haven’t noticed any change in moral attitudes.” At Sarah Lawrence College, one of the history instructors observed “a notable re-awaken ing of religious interest. There is much greater awareness of re ligious affiliation than in past years. Students are finding out the origin of their ancestral be liefs in a desire to identify them selves, to attach themselves to something. It might be a vogue, but I think it’s much more. It’s an effore in a chaotic world at reaching some kind of security.” And Dean Esther Raushen bush of Sarah Lawrence con firmed this. “I find an intensi fied interest in religion, com pletely different from the devil may-care materialism that was so characteristic of the Twenties. I find a real concern for classify ing values, and one of the ways is religion. It is not an institu tionalized religion. It is a search for values, not dogma. I think it is also an indication that what sometimes looks like loose moral qbhavior is part of the serious quest for something to cling to.” There can be little question that over the course of the past four or five generations—rough ly 75 or 100 years—there has been an erosion of religious be liefs and practices in America. You have only to read Alexis de Tocqueville’s great study, “De mocracy in America,” written a little over a century ago, to find an account of how deep and crucial a role religion played in American life at that time; and compare it with recent question naire studies (there was one in •the Ladies’ Home Journal and one in Fortune in 1948) to get a sense of the distance we have traveled. • Many commentators have tak en a dark view of this trend and its effect on morals. As Profes sor Stace has put it, “The reli gious basis of ideals active Pro testants, the religiously inactive Jews and Protestants, and the non-churchgoing Catholics as the most active sexually. For the college age-groups of 16 to 20, the ranking was some what different. The orthodox Jews were still at the bottom, followed still by the devout Catholics and the religiously active Protestants. But the non churchgoing Catholics came next followed by the religiously in active Protestants, with the in active Jews as the most active sexually. ■^vVith some slight variations, the sequence was not much dif ferent on non-marital inter course and on petting-to-climax among students. On both it was the same sequence except that the non-churchgoing Catholics were in. the highest frequency group. If the figures are valid they confirm the traditional view that, religion acts to some degree as a control over moral behavior. But there is this qualification: it must be not just formal mem bership in a religious group, but some kind of religious commit ment, whether active church at tendance or devoutness of be lief. What must further be point ed out is that the degree to which religion acts as a control is not as great as some have claimed or hoped. To take, for example, the rather crucial question of pet ting-to-climax: the percentage of students who have engaged in it by the end of their college years is 39.6 per cent for the reli giously active Protestants, as afpllnsi 50 per Cent for llie non churchgoing Catholics. The en tire spread from one extreme to the other is a little more than ten per cent. This is the basis for Kinsey’s statement that “re ligious backgrounds seem to have had little to do with the individual's acceptance or re jection of such activity.” I turn to a study of a very different kind, “The Religious Beliefs of Youth,” by Murray G. Ross (Association Press) published last May. It is based on a questionnaire filled out by 1,935 young people who have taken part in YMCA activities, along with intensive interviews with 100 of them. This group with which Ross worked, both non-college and college, num bered almost 80 per cent church members. While he did not make a detailed statistical breakdown on sexual behavior, Ross says cauticftisly that his “general im pression, however, is that some of Dr. Kinsey's findings would not be inapplicable to this group.” What is important about the Ross study, however, is quite another aspect. It is the most careful large-scale study we have had that tries to get into the religious attitudes of Ameri can youth to see what they mean in terms of DEPTH of belief. As I have noted, about 80 per cent of the Ross sample were church-goers, either frequent or infrequent. More than that per centage prayed, either daily or frequently or occasionally. Yet what is striking is that for most of this group, religion was not an active part of their daily life or their thoughts. “Less than 20 per cent find in religion a basis or compelling guide for their every day behavior. For the others . . . religion has almost ceased to pro vide a significant or lofty ideal which gives life purpose and dir rection.” In other words, if we use the test of a genuine religious com mitment, which is not a matter of lip-service of hand-me-down dogmas but of daily thought and behavior, the picture Ross gives is a startling one. “Only about 16 per cent of the total respondents possess that combination of firm belief, zest for life, and sense of security which have been here accepted as the characteristics of the religi ous person." I should add that the sample included all three <of the great religious faiths, and that about only one in 10 was a dis believer, or cynical about re ligion. And for our purpose, one of the striking facts is that Ross found the college graduates less relig ious than those of the lower edu cational levels. Thus if it is true that there is a return to religion on the camp us, as my opening quotes would indicate, it is a very new develop ment which had not yet had a chance to be reflected in the stud ies made, and which may in the future have some sort of effect on morals. (TOMORROW: Sex Education and Morals) Ad Staff 'Helpless;' Manager Asks Aid The Emerald advertising de partment will interview students interested in working in adver tising this afternoon between 1 and 4, according to Don Thompson, business manager. Interest is the only require ment, Thompson said, although some advertising experience would be helpful. Positions are open for a lay out manager and staff, day manager and staff, zone man ager and staff, and for general layout work. SU Committees Now Accepting Student Petitions Petitions for 69 openings on sev en Student Union standing com mittees are being accepted until 1 p.m. Tuesday in either the pro gram director’s office in the SU or by Bill Carey, chairman of the Interview and Referral committee. Recent authorization by the SU board of four new committees will require 25 members to bring them to full strength. At present the four committees—concert, dance, movie, and workshop—are func tioning with former members of the now defunct ballroom com mittee. In addition, three othex* commit tees—publicity, house, and cultur al—will take on 44 new members. The cultural committee tops the quota request with 28. Petitions may be obtained in the program director’s third floor office. Grade eligibility certificates are available in the Office of Stu dent Affairs. Cax-ey sad that students should include their addi-ess and phone number on their petitions so that the Interview and Referral com mittee can contact them for inter views, set for the night of Jan. 18. Board Petitions Deadline Today Petitions to fill the vacancy left by the resignation of Student Union Board member Carol Udy are due in the office of the pro gram director, third floor of the SU, by 5 this afternoon. Juniors in the School of Educa tion who can fulfill the scholastic requirements of the University are eligible for the position. Appointment of a new member will come through a majority vote of board members. It will be ef fective until the end of the school year. Petitioners will be interviewed by the board Tuesday night in the SU. Announcement of the appoint ment will probably be made that night. Meeting to Explaivm Rushing Procedure Sorority rushing procedure for winter term will be explain ed at 4 p.m. today in the Stu dent Union, Joan White, Panhel Ienie president, has announced^ The 66 women who have sign ed up for rushing are asked to attend this meeting, Miss White stated. Rushing begins Tuesday,, with bids to be given Jan. 29. Written invitations extended through Panhellenic will be used for rushing dates this term, she said. Senior Ball Petitions Due: Petitions for Senior Ball chair manships are due at 5 p.m. todays. They may be submitted to Steve Church at Theta Chi, or Flo Han sen at Alpha Omicron Pi. 11 a.m/Shadows of Significant Signs* KASH Broadcast 9:45 a.m.—Bible School 6:30—Fellowship “THE JEW, TODAY AND TOMORROW” Bdwy. at High Dr. Vance H. Webster, Pastor FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH HEAR DR. J. EDWIN ORR—JAN. 21-FEB. 2 Drill Night From a point high on the campus, a radar beam searches the sky. Lights burn in classrooms. Khaki replaces tweed and covert for the night as college men assigned to Reserve units study the machines and methods of defense. Preparedness is the order of the day. And the Bell System stands prepared. In five busy years, we have added more than 12,500,000 telephones. Many improve ments have been made in the quality and speed of service. Out force of highly skilled, experienced men and women has been greatly enlarged —and now numbers more than 600,000. A nation in a hurry goes by telephone. This country has the best telephone service in the world. BELL TELEPHONE SYSTEM