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RE Week: 'Atomic Age/ 'Kingdoms'
I: Church-state Wall
Attacked by Father
, A wall of separation between
• church and state was attacked by I
the Kev. Matthias Burger, in a talk I
Tuesday morning in the Student!
• Union.
Father Burger, representing the
Roman Catholic faith during Re
ligious Evaluation week, stated
that such a wall was fine when
- considering the two as separate in
* stitiitions. However, lie continued,
since both institutions dealth with
? collections of the same individuals,
it was impossible to draw this line
^ of distinction. Rather than solv
j _ ing the problem, this would only
make it worse, according to Father
f Burger.
• ' The problem of separation of
: church and state was called a po
litical question by Father Burger.
IL is one that will vary widely in
different states, different cultures,
and different crus, he said. “Since
(both come from God, each has sov
ereignty in its own sphere, and are
distinct and are self-contained in j
J matters with which they deal.”
, - In the United States, pointed out
Father Burger, the question seems
to present no great problems. In
this country the church is distinct
from the government, yet co-oper
ation characterizes their relation
ship. Catholics, for the most part,
said Father Burger, would have it
no other way.
Catholic Concept of Faith As Foundation
* Of Church Underlined by Father Burger
- in an impatient, materialistic
America, the Catholic concept of
faith as the "foundation stone" of
the church is of great significance,
li according' to the Kev. Matthias
. Burger.
America has "belittled the theo
retical in favor of the practical”
wttlv catastrophic effect," he said,
noting that today we face the bol
• shevik philosophy which itself has
"the dynamic force of faith.”
. Father Burger, final morning
- speaker in Monday's RE schedule
, . offered the faith concept as one of
j four features in Catholicism which
. he believed have “the most signifi
i cance in the tradition of the church
( and most applicable to our present
1 ’ day.”
Others included the Catholic
* - "sacramental view of the visible
! world," their works of charity and
their assessment of the value of
the Individual man.
Noting that to the church the
idea of objectivity "begins with an
■l attitude of humble obedience,”
_ Father Burger explained that "I do
not seek democracy between my
self and God."
“Objectivity is the truths that
Christ has revealed," the assistant
student councillor at Mt. Angel
Seminary said. In the question per
- iod which followed he explained the
idea further.
Obedience, as virtue, did not in
i elude gullibility, he stressed. He
also acknowledged there is a time,
. Mr. Wright Urges
■j Fraternity of Men
Approximately 100 persons Mon
w - day heard the Rev. Paul Wright,
f_ pastor of the First Presbyterian
church in Portland urge a “frater
* nity of all men" as a weapon
u. against communism.
In his address, "The Protestant
Church Looks at Communism”,
- Mr. Wright stated that “vve should
not saciifice ideals for short run
. objectives” in the fight against
commuhism.
The best way to "take the.wind
- out of communist sails” is the idea
_ of brotherhood he asserted. An ap
proach to the problem through re
ligion is necessary for, under God,
. all men arc brothers, he added.
even in his enure:), when a man
could conceivably revote against
its authority!
* * r
"Thc pfimajy authority which
every one man- must obey i.<* his
own conscience," he -Uyd, "Jf a
Catholic is cppvmced his Church is
wrong, he has the duty to leave it."
He said the church believes that
everything in the world "has a pur
pose and a meaning higher than
that which our eyes and mind and
natural science can tell us.” All
creation, therefore, can “lead us
to God and teach us something
of him.” That is the sacramental
view.
And as all creation forms a "unit
of which He is the head,” when a
Catholic "works for the benefit of
his fellow man. he works for the
benefit of Christ."
And chief among these charity
works, he said, is to “bring the
truth."
"Consequently education is the
greatest charity."
Grafman Talks
On Soviet; Jews
“Judaism and Political Order”
was the theme of Rabbi L. Elliott
Grafman's speech as he spoke to a
group of about 100 in the Dad’s
lounge Tuesday afternoon.
Grafman's speech centered
around the relation of Jews to the
United States and Soviet Russia
political orders. He explained how
the “founding fathers” looked to
the Old Testament for guidance
when framing the beginnings of
the democracy.
Rabbi Grafman explained later
that the Jews have been perse
cuted by the Russians. He pointed
out the latest persecution was the
arrest of the Russian doctors who
supposedly shortened the” life of
several Kremlin leaders.
“Anti-Semitism is not new in
Russia,” Rabbi Grafman said. The
first evidence of such an attitude
was in 1905 under the Czar. The
latest wave of persecution is quite
open, he said, even though anti
semitism, according to the .Rus
sian constitution is punishable by
death.
* * * * ♦ ♦
Caesar-Christ Conflict Represents
World Issue, Dr. Florovslcy Soys
Meserve States
Democracy Role
The religious background of de-;
mocracy summed up is to possess j
a tone of spirit to look out upon
the world and to see the problems,
evils and frustrations which men
face and be willing to tackle these
problems still believing that the
world is a “good creation”, the
Rev. Harry C. Meserve told an
audience of approximately 100 per
sons in the Dad's lounge Tuesday
afternoon.
“Democracy is not perfect to
day, but I believe we are moving
in the right direction,” Mr. Mes
erve said, speaking on “Religious
foundations of Democracy.” He
based this belief on the fact that j
there is a deep undertone of feel- :
ing in America that democracy is
not a finished product but remains
the ultimate goal to attain.
# Once we realize that the brother
hood of man is true, Meserve said,
and that discrimination and preju
dice results from a failure to ad
just to this realism, then mankind
can build upon available skills and
techniques to learn to live to
getlier.
Meserve maintained that the
original separation of church and
state in this country resolved from
th^ impossibility of choosing a
•st -Ste .rehgi°n from those repre
sented at the formative meetings ■
of our government. A state sup-!
ported church is the best way. for
any religion to ultimately lose its
freedom, he said.
Maser Covers
Refugee Plight
The tragedy of refugees is im
possible to exaggerate, Clifford
E. Maser told a religious evalua
tion audience Monday morning.
•Maser, who is dean of the |
school of business and technol
ogy at Oregon State, spoke on j
"Refugees and Displaced Persons I
as a World Problem." He worked
with refugees throughout Austria !
and Germany for 13 months as a I
representative of the American
Friends service committee.
"The escapees are the best
treated of all the refugees," Maser
said. The displaced persons, on1
the other hand, are now a very1
small segment of the refugees. j
and are also the worst treated, i
The rate of their coming de
pends on the kind of treatment
they are getting in the eastern
zone, the Dean said, and recent
biutal treatment has increased
their number to about 11 000 a1
day.
“The Germans are to be con
gratulated for having accomodat
ed these people so well,” Maser
said, but he emphasized their trag
ic condition.
Those who were sent to agricul
tural areas of Germany often live
in pig sties or hay lofts, he said.
Refugees living in cities are hous
ed in camps, air raid shelters, or
basements.
Refugees who live in basements
are lucky, he said, even if they
have no water or other facilities.
Those in air raid shelters have no
rooms, only a square number of
metres of their own; they have
very little furniture and abso
lutely no privacy.
The true world issue is between
Caesar and Christ”, not between
the East and West, or capitalism
and communism, or totalitarianism
and democracy.
Theme Tuesday was “The King
doms of This World.”
That s what the Very Rev.
Georges Florovsky, Greek Ortho
dox priest, emphasized Tuesday at
9 a.m. in the Student Union Dad’s
lounge.
“The field of the human soul” ia
the only place the present conflict
can be won, Dr. Florovsky said,
and religion alone can win it.
The Russian church has freedom
to conduct public worship, but no
evangelical freedom, he explained.
Only since the war has stringent
religious persecution been light
ened in Russia. He stressed that
Communist dogmsTbelieves that re
ligion is the “opiate of the masses”
and a “disguise of reaction”. Thus,
the Russian church will never be
j allowed to become strong, and i3
j in a precarious position.
► ♦
Knowledge of Eastern Church Said
Vital to Knowing Christian Ground
in oruer to understand the com
mon Christian ground, one must
understand the Eastern church,
the Very Rev. Georges Florovsky
told a crowd of about 100 people
Monday morning.
The day's theme was “Man in the
Atomic Age.”
Dr. Florovsky, a priest of the
Greek Orthodox church, born in
Odessa, Russia, spoke on the East
ern Tradition in Christianity.
"People say that the Orthodox
church is archaic,” he said, “but
that is a poor criticism. If we
reject everything that is archaic
then we must throw out the Holy
Bible, and the works of Plato and
Aristotle.
“No life, no historical existence
can exist without tradition. Tra
dition is the living stream with
which nations and cultures are
linked together.”
“Christianity came from the
East,’’ Dr. Florovsky told the
audience. “Christ was in Pales
tine, the first churches were m the
East, Paul crossed the Aegean
sea and landed in Greece.”
However, he continued, the
churches did not remain stagnant.
They grew, developed and chang
ed because the nations grew, yet
the church now is several churches
which can be traced back several
centuries.
In this way, he explained, the
church is both archaic and up-to
date.
"By the Eastern tradition,” Dr.
Florovsky said, “I do not mean
Oriental, -because-the distinct fea
ture is Hellinistic. Latin was first
used in the Roman Catholic ser
vices in the fourth century. Be
fore that time the services were
conducted in Greek.”
Gossard Soys Danger of Germany Is
In Authoritative Pattern, Not the People
The danger of Germany to the ,
world today is not in the people '
but in the authoritative pattern, j
Hal Gossard told his audience in i
the Dads lounge Tuesday morning.
Gossard, who has served for the
past four years as director of the
educational program in southern
Germany for the state department,
spoke on “A Spiritual Interpreta
tion of Germany.”
Germany today is a symbol of
the struggle of forces in Europe,
Gossard said. The educator traced
a history characterized by a
framework of authority.
Blaming this for the Germans’
lack of individual leadership and
imagination, Gossard added, “They
have had no democratic experience.
Military and industrial leaders
never allowed the people to de
velop a democratic system.”
The modern German is very con
scious of authority, which is evi
denced even in the home. They
have little conception of democ
racy, and changing this is the big
problem of rehabilitation, Gossard
pointed out. “Someone can come
along with a popular cause and,
seizing authoritative power, the
people accept the false leadership.”
When the United States set
about bringing economic order to
Germany after World War II, they
found the deluge of refugees and
a dearth of leadership among the
major problems.
The first post-war German may
ors and chiefs were hand-picked
according to their ability, said Gos
said. Then tire allies instituted a
“grass-roots" democracy among
the common people, by establishing
PTA’s and community forums.
Real Red Threat
Said to Be Fear
The real threat of communism
is the spreading of fear among a
free people, the Rev. H. C. Mes
erve, religious evaluation speaker,
told his audience Monday after
noon in the Dad's lounge.
America should offer to the peo
ple of the world something to be
lieve in, rather than maintain a
defensive attitude toward commu
nism, he emphasized.
Mr. Meserve is minister of the
First Unitarian church of San
Francisco and has recently written
a book, "Faith in the Making."
In his speech, ‘‘Liberalism versus
Communism," Mr. Meserve indi
cated the role of the liberal, today.
Keeping alive values in a world
that is beginning to leave them
behind and become a slow and
steady force to strengthen the
American heritage is the liberal’s
role, he said.