N '

I

Purely Commentary

Philip

James Madison and
• By
Separatists . . . Wrong
Way of Seeking Justice SIOMOVitZ

Jews, Christians Will
Hold Joint Parley on
Religion and Race

and oppressed if every nation and religion, promised a lustre
"" Supreme Court Decision and Religio'n in the Schools:
NEW YORK (JTA) — A
to our country, and an accession to the number of its citizens.
g.; Recalling President James Madison's Warning Against
national conference to bring to
What
a
melancholy
mark
is
the
bill;
of
sudden
degeneracy?
a. 'An Unhallowed Perversion of the Means of Salvation'
bear the moral force of the
Instead of holding forth an asylum to the persecuted, it is
Much heat has been generated over the decision of the U.S.
church and synagogue on the
itself a signal of persecution. It degrades from the equal rank
_ Supreme Court against the reciting of religious prayers in our of citizens, all those whose opinions in religion do not bend to
problem of racial segregation in
public schools, Members of Congress have rushed to introduce those of the legislative authority. Distant as it may be, in its
the United States was announced
bills which Would make this a Christian country and would negate
in a joint statement of organiza-
prese
r
nt
nt form, from the inquisition, it differs from it only in
the basic principles of the First Amendment to our Constitution. degree; the one is the first step, the other the last, in the career tions representing Catholic s,
Protestants and Jews. The confer-
I 1, Former Presidents Hoover and Eisenhower suddenly became
of intolerance. The magnanimous sufferer, under the cruel
' sanctimonious, while former President Truman realistically stated
ence will be held in Chicago Jan.
scourge in foreign regions, must view the bill as a beacon on
v,
14-17.
that it is the Supreme Court that rules over Constitutional our coast, warning him to seek some other haven, where liberty
questions.
Announcement of the confer-
and philanthropy in their due extent may offer a more certain
There is the inevitable amazement over the extreme excite
ence, which the sponsors said was
repose for his troubles."
3
ment that resulted from the decision, since the question is not
The separation idea is deeply rooted in American tradition the first such meeting across
a new one. On March 8. 1948, the Supreme Court had ruled, and Mr. Justice Douglas, in his -concurring opinion on Monday, major religious lines, was made
iS • 8 to 1—the dissenting vote then was by Justice Stanley F. Reed warned against a break with that tradition.
by the Department of Racial and
--that our public schools are not to be used by religious groups ;
";
It is doubtful whether such a break is possible. Our Consti- Cultural Relations of the National
.
.
in teaching their sectarian views. The decision then, as now, was
tution is firm on the question and the Supreme Court interprets Council of Churches, the Social
written by Mr. ,Justice Hugo L. Black.
c
it. Its latest interpretation adheres ,to the spirit of our land. Action Department of the Nation-
The issue has arisen periodically and has been the subject assuring security from religious intrusions into public domains. al Catholic Welfare Council, and
of discussion since President James Madison wrote his famous
the Social Action Commission of
*
*
Memorial and Remonstrance to the General Assembly of Virginia No
the Synagogue Council of Amer-
Escape
..
.
and
No
Flight
.
.
.
-
ica.
Against Religio , is Assessments, in 1785. This historic declaration
from
Reality
and
Responsibility
may have swung public opinion not only in Virginia but also as a
The latter organization repre-
There is no escape from reality and responsibility, and there sents the congregational and rab-
tradition throughout the nation against the fusing of religious
can therefore be no flight from it. Therefore. when one of our binic associations of the three
and state affairs. It established policy for our nation.
Madison's famous statement in opposition to pending legisla- citizens utilizes a trip to Israel to attend the marriage of his daugh- branches of American Judaism.
ter as an occasion for a "self-imposed exile," in protest against
tion in Virginia contained, in part, the following:
The sponsors said that 600
the failure of the Kennedy Administration to put an end to dis- clerical and lay religious leaders
"The bill violates that equality which ought to be the basis
crimination
in
Arab
countries
against
American
citizens,
he
acts
II
from
40 Protestant, Jewish and
of every law; and which is more indispensable, in proportion
unrealistically. I Catholic groups are expected to
as the validity or expediency of any law is more liable to be
This Commentator already analyzed the futile imposition of take part in the conference.
impeached. 'If all men are, by nature, equally free and inde-
an uncertain exile by Sol A. Dann in the issue of May 4. He I A joint letter of invitation to
pendent,' all men are to be considered as entering into society
then pointed out that a great injustice is being perpetrated by I the conference was signed by
on equal conditions, as relinquishing no more, and, therefore,
our Administration and our State Department, in condoning Arabi Irwin Miller, president of the
retaining no less, one than another, of their natural rights;
discriminations, in spite of Congressional condemnations of such • National Council of Churches;
above all, are they to be considered as retaining an 'equal
bias. but our position was and remains that injustice must be Archbishop William E. Cousins of
title to the free exercise of religion according to the dictates
fought on home ground.
Milwaukee. chairman of the Social
. of conscience.' Whilst we assert for ourselves a freedom to
Just as responsibility can not be ••aded, so also must reality l Action Department of the Nation-
embrace, to profess, and observe the religion which we believe
be recognized. If one resorts to self-imposed exile. why not many? al Catholic Welfare Conference;
to be of divine origin, we cannot deny an equal freedoni a to
And if the protest is being lodged against the Kennedy Admin. and Dr. Julius Mark. president of
those, whose minds have not yet yielded to the evidence which
istration, why were we silent during the administrations of Roos- the Synagogue Council of Amer-
has convinced us. If this freedom be abused, it is an offense
evelt and Truman and Eisenhower, when State Department ica.
against God, not against man. To God, therefore, and not to
policies were unmistakahaly anti-Zionist and during the years of
man, must an account of it be rendered.
Israel's Statehood often anti-Israel?
"As the bill violates equality, by subjecting some to
I JWV Urges Display
And if we run away from the duty of fighting against in-
peculiar burdens, so it violates the same principle, by granting
justice
towards
Israel,
when
do
we
draw
the
line?
Aren't
there,
.01
Flags on July 4
to others peculiar exemptions. Are the Quakers and Menonists
in a person's lifetime, scores of occasions when we can protest ; The Department of Michigan
the only sects who think a compulsive support of their religions
against
discrimination,
or
when
certain
conditions
are
interpreted
,
Jewish
War Veterans has issued
unnecessary and unwarrantable? ('an their piety alone be
as discriminatory because we differ with the Administration in a statement urging members of
entrusted with the care of publick worship? Ought their reli-
gions to be endowed, above all others, with extraordinary privi-
power? the Jewish community to dis-
There is no question about the justice of Sol Dann's com- play American flags in front of
leges, by which proselytes may be enticed from all others?
plaints, but there is also no doubt that his method of protesting their homes on the July Fourth
We think too favorably of the justice and good sense of these
is unwise and unrealistic. He was equally unwise in organizing Independence Day.
denominations, to believe, that they either covet pre-eminence
a movement of his own to conduct the battle against. the in- The message was issued as
over their fellow citizens, or that they will be seduced by them
justice perpretrated by the State Department and the Kennedy part of JWV's Americanism
from the common opposition to the measure.
Administration, since we already have responsible leadership. program.
"The bill implies, either that the civil magistrate is a
that presents Israel's case to the authorities, and since, also.
competent judge of religious truths, or that he may employ
The organization has avail-
strong commendations are constantly being uttered by members of able. at maximum cost, 3x5'
religion as an engine of civil policy. The first is an arrogant
both houses of Congress in the Senate and the House of Repre- American flags, poles and wall
pretension, falsified by the extraordinary opinion of rulers,
sentatives.
in all ages, and throughout the world; the second, an unhallowed
brackets. which can be obtained
Sol Dann will no doubt see the error of his ways. He'll no at the Jewish War Veterans
perversion of the means of salvation.
doubt be back to atone for his error but especially to collect the Memoral Home, 4095 W. Davi-
"The establishment proposed by the bill, is not requisite
congratulatory messages of his many friends on his daughter's i son. For information, call WE
for the support of the Christian religion. To say that it is, is a
marriage. 3-0846.
contradiction of the Christian religion itself; for every page of

it disavows a dependence on the power of this world; it is a
contradiction to fact. for it is known that this religion both
existed and flouriShed, not only without the support of human
laws, but in spite of every opposition from them; and not only
during the period of miraculous aid, but long after it had been
left to its own evidence and the ordinary care of Providence:
NEW YORK, (JTA) — The i uct of the campaign has been to for such crimes have been in-
nay, it is a contradiction in terms; for a religion, not invented
bombing of a synagogue in Ku- stir apprehension of a revival of flicted on Jews—nearly two-
by human policy, must have pre-existed and been supported,
taisi,
a town in the Soviet Re- anti-Semitism because a con- thirds of the total. Of the nine
before it was established by human policy; it is, moreover, to
public of Georgia. was reported siderable number of Jews have individuals whose executions
weaken in those, who profess this religion, a pious confidence
here as having taken place dur- been condemned in the cam- were announced in the Soviet
in its innate excellence, and the patronage of its Author; and
ing the first week in June. paign against currency and gold press, five are Jews.
to foster in those, who still reject it, a suspicion that its friends
The front of the synagogue speculation," the Moscow cable
Among the initiators of the
are too conscious of its fallacies, to trust it to its own merits.
was damaged. Local authorities said.
petition were Norman Thomas,
"Experience witnesses that ecclesiastical establishments,
*
removed two other bombs plant-
Nobel Prize winning scientist
instead of maintaining the purity and efficacy of religion, have
ed in the synagogue, the re-
NEW YORK, (JTA) — A
Dr. Linus C. Pauling and a num-
had a contrary operation. During almost fifteen centuries has
, port said.
group of 223 prominent ber of liberals and pacifists who
the legal establishment of Christianity been on trial. What
This is the second time with-
Americans sent a petition to
have not been unfriendly to
have been its fruits? More or 'less in all places, pride and indo-
in a month the destruction of the Soviet government urging the Soviet Union.
lence in the.,clergy; ignorance and servility in the laity; in
synagogues by terrorists was at- the abolition of the death
In his letter of transmittal,
both, superstition, bigotry and persecution. Inquire of the
tempted in Georgia. The first penalty for economic crimes. Thomas, former Socialist party
teachers of Christianity for the ages in which it appeared in
attempt was made at the Geor-
The petition was submitted
candidate for President, wrote
its greatest lustre; those of every sect point to the ages prior
gian town of Tskhakya, where a
to the Soviet Ambassador in
Ambassador Dobrynin that, "as
to its incorporation with civil policy. Propose a restoration of
synagogue was heavily damaged
Washington, Anatoly E. Dob- you can see, the individuals who
this primitive state, in which its teachers depended on the
by fire and where religious ob- rynin, for transmission to joined with me in initiating this
voluntary rewards of their flocks, many of them predict its jects, including 13 Torah scrolls,
Moscow.
petition, as well as those who
downfall. On which side ought their testimony to have the
prayer shawls and prayer books
The petition does not men- signed it, are all noted for
greatest weight, when for, or when against their interest?
were burned.
tion Jews but it is known that their dedication both to civil
"The establishment in question is not necessary for the
Traces of gasoline were re-
at least 26 of the 41 death sen- liberties in our own country
support of civil government. If it be urged as necessary for the
ported to have been found.
tences noted in the Soviet press and to a world of peace."
support of civil government, only as it is a means of supporting
An American tourist who
religion, and if it be not necessary for the latter purpose, it
happened to be on the scene
cannot be necessary for the former. If religion be not within
photographed the remnants
the cognizance of civil government, how can its legal establish-
of the burned Torahs and
ment be said to be necessary to civil government? What influ-
brought the pictures to this
ence, in fact, have ecclesiastical establishments had on civil
country.
society? In some instances, they have been seen to erect a
The New York Times, in a
NEW YORK, (JTA) — Seven-
A special grant was also made
spiritual tyranny on the ruins of the civil authority; in more
cable from Moscow said that teen fellowships were granted by to Johns Hopkins University to
instances, have they been seen upholding the thrones of
some Jews in the Soviet Union the National Foundation for support the classes being con-
political tyranny; in no instance have they been seen the
fear that "latent anti-Semitism Jewish Culture at a meeting of ducted in Hebrew Language and
guardians of the liberties of the people. Rulers who wished to
among the population may be its executive committee held this Literature at the Oriental Semin-
subvert the publick liberty, may have found on established
stirred up" by the attention week.
ary by Dr. Samuel Iwry.
clergy convenient auxiliaries. A just government instituted to
given in the Soviet press to
The fellows will be engaged in
It was also announced that a
secure and perpetuate it, needs them not. Such a government
Jews among the persons arrest- the pursuit of advanced degrees special grant was received from
will be best supported by. protecting every citizen in the enjoy- ed or executed for so-called in Judaic learning at the follow- the Morris L. Schaver Founda-
ment of his religion, with the same equal hand which protects
economic crimes.
ing universities: Brandeis Uni- tion of Detroit which will be used
his person and property; by neither invading the equal rights
"One of the objectives of the versity, University of Chicago, for the preparation of a bi-
of any sect, nor suffering any sect to invade those of another.
publicity, according to Soviet Columbus University New York ography of a renowned Jewish

Synagogue in Soviet Bombed: Moscow
Urged to Lift Death Sentence from 41

Schaver Foundation Provides Grant
for Biography of Jewish Scholar

"The proposed establishment is a departure from that
generous policy, which, offering an asylum to the persecuted

officials, is to deter would-be University and the University of scholar. The author and subject
offenders. However, a by-prod- Wisconsin.
will be announced at a later date.

