~Uir t. Vaun&tit Seventy-Third Year ErxmD AND MANAGED BY STUDENTS OF THE UNIVERSrTY OF MICHIGAN UNDER AUTHORITY OF BOARD IN CONTROL OF STUDENT PUBLICATIONS "Where Opinions Are Free STUDENT PUBLICATIONS BLDG., ANN ARBOR, MICH., PHONE NO 2-3241 Truth Will Prevail' Editorials printed in The Michigan Daily express the individual opinions of staff writers or the editors. This must be noted in all reprints. TUESDAY, AUGUST 6, 1963 NIGHT EDITOR: JEAN TENANDER LETTERS TO THE EDITOR: Draw Birth Control Distinctions Civil Rights Solutions Require Perseverance. T HE MOST immediate effect of the present civil rights surge is an epidemic on an in- tensified variety of psycosomatic inflamation of the epidermis, or in layman's terms: skin consciousness. Of course the disease has been with us for a long time, but recently the symp- tomshave stepped up their frequency of oc- currence. Every time a man looks in a mirror today his reflection generates powerful emo- tions. The black man feels, as he has for years, betrayed by his creator; he is dejected; he has no self-respect. But out of this dejection and shame have arisen amontg many Negroes, new feelings of angry pride and hate. The whites too are as conscious as always of the gleaming image of their creamy com- plexions. But lately there has been a twist: whites are being singled out by their pigment by blacks as objects of hate. This is the first exposure white people have had to the business end of a hate look, or to any form of racial discrimination for that matter. Proposed quota systems in education and employment clearly discriminate against whites. And, they don't like it. THE DISEASE color consciousness is two- faced. It forces injustices into public view where they may be corrected; but it also tends to draw lines o fdistinction which are neat, clear-cut, but very harmful. Steps like Rep. Adam Clayton Powell's recent ultimatum to white liberals to take a back seat to Negro leaders can only serve to hinder the Negro cause. When color lines are drawn and a war- like atmosphere is established whites and Ne- groes become more concerned with demands and less concerned with solutions. It is ir- rational, even foolish to make the color line a battle line. But that's the way it is. The situation is just too far gone to expect rationality. It is as fruitless to try to reason. with a Negro who can't get a decent job or a decent education as with a white mother who has been ordered to send her children, to a slum school to correct. imbalance. Negroes are fed up. They have a right to be. We have no moral grounds to ask an end to demonstrations. A colored man living today is not responsible for his subservient position. He is rightfully striking out against a white so- ciety, fighting for the freedom it has denied him. As a living huqian being he must do this, no 'matter who it hurts. He has n choice; he shouldn't be asked to make one. BUT MOST WHITES today do not deserve the abuse they are getting either. Prejudice was here long before Gov. Ross Barnett. The white population of this country that are alive today didn't put the Negro where he is. They are just people following their noses. The color- ed man's vengeful hate clearly does not stand up to reason. Both whites and Negroes have legitimate, rational grievances. All of us were born into this mess; and falling behind color lines and blaming each other is not a rational answer. But the intense, emotional nature of the prob- lem puts it beyond reason. Many people con- tend that because there is no longer room for reason this color war is the only way to pro- gress. And it must be admitted that in most cases the contention holds true. This summer's events will surely generate enough pressure to make some real gains for the Negro. But if thisJis the way it has to be, then every single drop of progress that can be squeezed out of societ will have a price. That price will be paid in a painful currency: friction and discomfort will be the small change, with the substantial sums made up of violence and suffering. It isj a frightening proposition. BUT THE black explosion cannot be judged or evaluated. It can be neither heralded as the long-awaited arm of social justice, nor condemned as the dreaded upheaval that will destroy every tenet of law, order, and demo- cracy. Simply, it is here; we must try to face it and live through it as best we can. Andit. will be a great deal easier to live through if we remember a few things. We must remember that we did not make this world, but were rather haphazardly dropped into it. We can- not be expected to re-make it in a month or a year or a generation. We must do everything we possibly, can, but we must keep in mind that neither President John F. Kennedy, nor Roy Wilkins, nor even James. Farmer is a personal representative of the Almighty, sent to earth to solve the entire problem in one fell swoop. Unless some of us keep our heads the color line will become more distinct each time a transaction is made, until we will have ar- rived at a stalemated society, composed of two very powerful separate-but-equal forces, con- then every demonstration, every bit of suf- stantly at odds. If we allow this to happen, fering will have been in vain. -ROBERT GRODY To the Editor: THE EDITORIAL entitled "Cath- olic Equivocation Leads to Birth Control Hypocrisy" in the August 2 issue of The Michigan Daily has stirred me to make some comments that, I feel, must be made by someone. I had a moment's hesitation before put- ting these remarks to paper due to the fact that I was not present at the Newman Club lecture about which Miss Hetmanski has com- mented. My pause was a brief one since my quarrel is really with Miss Hetmanski's manner of rea- soning as displayed in her edi- torial, not with her reporting of the lecture. Rather than launch into an essay of my own on this very complex question of birth control, I will confine myself to making some comments on some points in the editorial that need a mentai overhaul in my estimation. Miss Hetmanski reports that the the Church teaches that per- sons who use the rhythm method in order never to have children behaveillicitly while those who use rhythm without being op- posed to having more children are morally justified. This leads either to hypocrisy or nonsense, she says, since it comes down to this: "rhythm and total abstinence are the only Church-approved meth- ods of birth control. You may use rhythm if you want children; you man not use it if you don't want them." This diagnosis seems unwarranted, to my mind. obvi- ously, the use of rhythm is in- tended to regulate or limit or space the number of children in a family. Whenever it is used, it is to limit; therefore, it is mis- leading to say "You may use rythm if you want children." The second part of the statement- "you may not use it if you don't want them"-is equally mislead- ing. It simply states that rhythm may not be used to limit child- births. In fact, however, the Church merely says that it is illegitimate for a couple to totally exclude all children from their marriage by the use of rhythm for the length of their married life, THE CHURCH says nothing about having to have as many children as possible or so many children in so many . years. It merely says that rhythm should not be used as a marriage-long means to exclude all progeny. With respect to the use of con- traceptive pills, Miss Hetmanski says: "It is very difficult for a reasonable person to see the dif- ference between using the pills to regulate ovulation and then using the rhythm method; and using them to prevent ovulation alto- gether. Both are equally 'artifi- cial'." I think that this statement misses the vital point that the temporary use of oral contracep- tives to rectify what is considered a physical irregularity or patho- logical state is not the same as to use them for contrace.tive pur- poses alone. In the first case. a physical disoror is being cor- rected. in the second. people are simply preventing conception for its own sake. It is important. too, to under- score the difference between using a positive means, such as the pill, to prevent the natural outcome of a natural act and simply re- fraining from the use of the act at certain times The first case may be called birth "prevention"; the second may be called "ab.ten- tion," or non-use. The purpose of the two is the same but in the one case the natural outcome of a natural act is positively prevented while in the other, no act is per- formed. Although it takes control over the natural sexual appetite to practive rhythm. I disagree with the statement that to use a contraceptive and to refrain from intercourse are "equally artifi- cial." "The Catholic argument is based on emotion only," says Miss Het- manski. I must dissent here too. Neither side's position rests "on emotion only" in my opinion. There is a genuine problem at stake here, not just an pmotional overflow. If anything, however, I believe that whatever emotional content might enter into the dis- cussion is on the side of those who advocate artificial contracep- tion. In every case in which an increase in family size would be a hardship, the "heart," I think, goes most easily with those who counsel contraception. MISS HETMANSKI says that "If Church leaders believe that prevention of conception were sin- ful, consistency demands that they forbid all methods of contracep- tion. They should not recommend rhythm, or using pills to regulate ovulation, or even total absti- nence." Here again, I submit, Miss Hetmanski fails to distingish. It is one thing to engage in contra- ceptive intercourse -the Church opposes this. It is another thing to not use one's marriage rights at certain times-the Church says this is all right. There remains a basic difference between the posi- tive prevention of, and the non- performance of, a given function. "If it is a sin to prevent con- ception because one is killing a potential human being, then the Catholic Church should stick to its guns and demand that no contraceptive methods whatever be used." Is Miss Hetmanski per- haps thinking of abortion here, rather than contraception? There can be no killing of "a potential human being," only of an actual one. But apart from that, it is clear that in the sentence quoted, the word "contraceptive" is being used equivocally by Miss Hetman- ski: she uses it to designate not only contraceptive intercourse properly so called but also absten- tion from intercourse. I do not see why one must say, as she seems to, that merely not to do an. action is the same as doing it wrongly. Finally, I fail to see that the title of her article is justified by the facts. I do not see that it is equivocation to say that one must not perform a natural act in an unnatural way although one may refrain from the action altogether. I do not see that it is hypocrisy to 'have relations naturally when one has them while restraining oneself at other times in order to limit one's family size. Ir. practice, the whole problem of birth prevention ("control"), rhythm, etc. is an immensely diffi- cult one. Its implications extend broadly into questions of natural law. the nature of marriage, the place of sexuality in human life and many other areas. The prob- lem is not solved by the "pat" solutions of extremists on the one har~d who say that there is no problem simply because the use of sex is unrelated to morality (or perhaps that there is no morality but "situation ethics") nor by ex- tremists on the other hand who Poo-Poo the problem as one that is easy if one only has a bit of self-control. It is the kind of soul- 1' _ V {f 2) J e S I ''~::~-~. R r 1 S'!\ .--a 7N 1 W ~INIx-jI I/ !'" 'LOOKOUT! HE'S &ETTIN& ALL PUFFEI> UP." testing problem that requires fre- quent examination before the bar of one's own conscience. -Rev. Ramon Betanzos St. Mary's Church Theology ... To the Editor: AM GLAD to see The Daily en- ter into a debate on theology (for that's what it is) with its editorial on "Catholic Equivoca- tion Leads to Birth Control Hypro- crisy." We live in an age which opened by eliminating religion: and politics from the topics for debate at the Oxford Union. Such an unholy conspiracy of silence! What other subjects merit debate? Art perhaps. Permit another outsider to join your editor in -the arena. I am not a Christian. Nevertheless, it seems to me that the Catholic dis- tinction between birth control and birth prevention is not only ten- able but sound. Man, begins the syllogism, is a spiritual being; this curious oxymoron, the rational animal, is endowed with freedom, therefore with choice, therefore with responsibility. If a man ad- vances what the Church considers legitimate reasons for controlling births, namely reasons of extreme financial or physical debilities, he may control births-by rational willed abstention. This does not mean that tampering witlh the, normal feminine cycle will be con- McGovern Kicks the Defense Cow AT LAST one of the nation's most sacred cows-the defense budget-has been kicked, but unfortunately, not hard enough. Sen. George McGovern (D-SC) questioned on the Senate floor the need for a $53.6 billion de- fense budget when the armed forces have the capacity for wiping out the Communist bloc many times over. "Present levels of military spending and military foreign aid are distorting our economy, wasting our human resources and restricting our leadership in the world," he warned. Di- verting some of the $53.6 billion to "construc- tive investments both at home and abroad" would produce a "stronger and more effective America" without hindering the national de- fense, the senator claimed. Several of the younger senators applauded McGovern's speech, the Washington Post re- ported, and have in the past asked defense secretary Robert McNamara some pointed questions about overkill, this capacity for mul- tiple world destruction, but the astute Penta- gon leader deflected these questions to his "wihz kids" and many hours of talk on the subject have not gotten the senators anywhere. UNFORTUNATELY, such questioning is of little influence in Congress. The mammouth defense budget is somewhat beyond the average Congressman's comprehension. Besides defense spending is popular and serves as a useful porkbarrel for the folks back home. Further, the military have key Congressmen on their side. McGovern and company have challenged the older, powerful senators to de- bate the spending issue on the floor, but the request has been ignored. Within the next week or so, the mammouth allocation should Editorial Staff RONALD WILTON........................Co-Editor PHILIP SUTIN........... ............ .Co-Editor DAVE GOOD*.. ...............Co-Sports Editor CHARLES TOWLE..................Co-Sports Editor RUTH HETMANSKI..................... Night Editor ANDREW ORLIN ......................Night Editor .EAN TENANDER . -. . Night Edtor pass with quibbling on minor, attackable items, such as defense department research policy. HOPEFULLY, McGovern and his followers will step, up attacks on the defense budget in years to come. Sen. Hubert Humphrey's (D- Minn) disarmament subcommittee has already laid much ground work in this area and the scope of its work should be broadened to in- clude a full-scale investigation of defense spending, military empire-building and over- kill. McGovern's speech only marks a minor ad- vance against creeping American militarism. Hopefully, it is a first step toward curbing this dangerous growth. -PHILIP SUTIN Co-editor Ho-me FORMER UNITED STATES Army Corporal Lowell Skinner has announced his intention of returning to the United States after electing to stay in Communist China -instead of being repatriated as a Korean war prisoner. He stayed with the Communists because he hoped he would find travel, education and better living conditions in their world. Instead tor in a paper factory behind him, an ulcer he has five years' experience as a lathe opera- condition from nervous exhaustion and poor nutrition, and a weight loss of 15 pounds. It seems logical to assume that Skinner returns sadder and more appreciative of the good o1' U. S. A., with all her admitted faults. THE ARMY is going to pay him $1,705 in back pay and the state department said he retains his citizenship. There are some who will say that "turncoats" like Skinner don't deserve to come back; that they are traitors and giving them their back pay and admitting them is too good for them; that they should stay where they are. Still others, suspicious, may say the Communists sent him as an agent. But Skinner and the other non-renatriates IZ r.. 'it z r;+ 1~. ..v ' -.4,*-9 o':±eq, "" fj ; t.Utz ray-. doned. Some Catholic theologians believe that this cycle may be normalized: hence the use of pills. But no Catholic is free to approve the pills for prevention of birth. The use of pills and the practice of "rhythm" are related but dis- tinct questions. What Miss Het- manski calls a "reasonable" or "a "clear-thinking" person is a per- son who preserves rather than blurs distinctions. The Catholic believes that mar- riage is sacramental. But every Christian worthy of the name be- lieves that marriage turns a man and a woman into the one flesh. The bond-maker is Christ, and the bond is supernatural. Anything which compromises this union is unholy. The contraceptive is un- holy, chiefly because it is ration- alistic prevention, not rational con- trol. Man is not normally an animal of rationalism but of rea- son. Birth control, popularly so called, is a piece of cynical senti- mentality, an advertiser's euphem- ism. It is a lack of control, a re- fusal to control. Control is control if achieved through the use of reason and will, not through the use of a gimmick - a gimmick which prevents rather than con- trols birth. Miss Hetmanski uses the word "artificial." Here also we have a theological argument - or anti- theos. Man is an artificer. He is not natural as a tree or a dog is natural. The nature of man is to create. The human will. is not an osmotic but a making power. If a man makes a pill to increase fer- tility, or to normallizs ovulation, he is natural and creative in the literal sense of the words, for his making tends towards life. If he uses his invention to hinder con- ception, he wills (with equal liter- alness) nihilism, for his making now tends towards death. Is that distinction Jesuitical? (My vanity will not permit me to think that we can only credit the Jesuits with the power of distinction.) The consel of the Catholic Church is never whimsical. If a Catholic couple desires to prevent birth for selfish or imaginary rea- sons, the couple displays a lack of 'faith,i.s., a sin. A reasonable man neither pushes nor denies Providence: he will not spawn a dozen children on $60 a week if he can help it, nor will he doubt God's ability to clothe a reason- able number of lilies of the field. The distinction made by the Church is not "spurious," for it is nota distinction between wanting and not wanting children. People who cannot think or who distrust reason tend to find all distinctions sophistic. Emerson had no power of distinguishing, nor did Tolstoy, nor D. H. Lawrence. According to the de fide dogmas of anti-intellectualism, all is one, or, all is absurd; or, all is illusive, incomprehensible. The Catholics are decidedly less "mystical." They believe in Being, in reality, in rea- son-in distinctions. Many a non- Christian (and I hope even more non-Catholics) will join me in thanking Rome for its continuing Defense of Man. That defense that I am a Michigan leader in the Draft Goldwater movement. While I share some of Senator Goldwater's beliefs, I am not pres- ently committed to his candidacy. As a Michigan Republican, my first loyalty is to Governor Rom- ney. I think we should look to him for leadership in making our selec- tion for the presidential nomina- tion. There will be plenty of time for choosing up sides after he has declared himself. . -Ink White STRATFORD: Friendly (EDITOR'S NOTE: This Is the first in series of reviews of plays and concerts at the Stratford sum- mer festival, Stratford, Ont. T HE STRATFORD Festival, at Stratford, Ontario, has been moving steadily forward since the - first performance on July 13, 1953. This was "Richard III," with Alec Guinness imported to provide a focus of attraction. At that time, a large tent was used, replaced by the present theatre in 1956. At various times, non-Shake- spearian additions have been add- ed to the agenda: music perform- ances, opera, Gilbert & Sullivan, a collection of new motels, res- taurants, coffee houses, camping grounds, liquor smugglers, and who knows what else. A FEW pleasant surprises await the new arrival at Stratford. The city seems to be only incidentally interested in looting tourists. Near- by motels offer the last word in low-priced service. Bowls of fresh fruit, free breakfasts, advice, help in obtaining tickets, maps, hints of all sorts seem to envelop visi- tors. Prices in the region are quite moderate, and seem almost enjoyable since one can pay with the brightly - colored s Canadian currency. There's even a free out- door camping area. Even jaded world travelers are amazed by the theatre, with its curiously shaped exterior, platform stage, and fascinating customs. A ' troop of musicians: trumpets, trombones and drummers, wan- ders around playing fanfares shortly before the play is to be- gin. And a cannon is fired just before. The traditional playing of ".God Save the Queen" is modified to suit the play, so that an 18th Century French version is used before Cyrano, but with "Comedy of Errors" an off key arrangement and a lengthy pause to confuse the audience. During intermissions, a collec- tion of people sell orange crush and cigarettes, but not the sneaky types associated with the New York Theatre; instead Pan-Mell types dish out the mineral water. *' * * / I#1 mk.4 : -4rt: 47' v' i %'t ' i* a' ,r / .0 1 .+ me;mesmo ! .