4 THE MICHIGAN DAILY MAGAZINE SUNDAY, MARCH 19, 1922
AN INTERNATIONAL CENTER cess. In the year of its operation
n A OF LEARNING AT BRUSSELS thirteen universities haveassisted by
An A gume t fo Relgionsending professors fromt the various
(Continued from Page 1) countries to give lectures, and by
(oniribute rn by Hope Stoddard) Pth. 1 wonder which man fears sociations, the work being done by iorking, as much as they were able,
Maybe 1 don't need religion, but it more-degeneration through the too- this organization is of inestimable in co-opecation with it. There have
bothers me to be trying to argue it feverish manipulation of his reason, value. Librarian Bishop says, "The been 57 courses given, each of about
or implicit, iunthinking faith in a scheme is thoroughly good and per- a month's duration, with an average
away all the time. If I could only get Power he fails to understand. tetly practical, but it needs more audience of 150 at each lecture. Most
it settled as a fact that there is no As for me, for my greater ease, for money to carry it out well than the of this audience is composed of stu-
God and then cease to think about it, my greater peace of mind, and for the institution has ever had." dents in the University of Brussels,
I'd do so at once. But puzzling ques- sense of security it gives me. I choose The documentary encyclopedia and of men working in laboratories
ions that keep my mind in an n- which is being compiled is to be the ea byvtinethe'drectiongofshe
setted stale are onstattly roming up. ------ - -- iiost remarkable and complete thing bpanish, and Esperanto have been the
Sinclair tewis's "Main Street," of its kind in the world. The work
thsk hosis-pys dntati 'st anywayTe rikariLs's 'Lif f Oar Wi," t'omprativety recent. The ecyclo- languages employed.
I sl yslfdfiitl, "Wa'sal s omaatveyreen.Th eccl-Frank Harriss "Life of Oscar Wilde, shcspcsaotayaTe;n 1 .Mnkns"nDfneo ei sarne nagetfln l h oko h nentoa
Bilisn't us e;u atuy sensib .le rn anti 11 L. Mieneken's "Ini Defense of petita is arranged in a great filing All the svork of the Inlernational
Bible isn't true; any sensible person \onen" tire teing Iraistatel ini system of current information. News- Center has, tip to the present time,
aven; Coperis nplaced t G i ermant paper and magazine clippings and been financed by the Belgian govern-
Heaven; Copernicus never found it pamphlets are classified by the deci- ment, which, however, has not pro-
when he systematized the, universe. mal cataloging system. There is a viter oeary eiough for the needs,
Hell, if it exists, is a delightful place, "miBataouala," the novel which won list of ten thousand subjects conspris- anti rcyeoneyoisenees
where kindred spirits mingle and are the 1921 Goncourt Prize in Paris, yg tore than a million pievo in all, fnr th p or mong of teeat
able to think independently at last. promises to be a remarkable work in arraged i more tan six hundredthe eat
God? Obviously lie does not exist. more than one way. It is written by drawers. Practically all have been stuk already started. A committee
There is no need for Him, at least, a negro and treats of the "unfettered pritted since 1910. Tis wirk aiso is of the League of Nations recently ap-
since we men have become so wise." life of the primitive Africans." Mr. kept up in certain fields by various pointed to investigate the matter re-
After putting forth these statements, Rene Maran, the author, spent six scientific organizations, and it is pos- Iported favorably on the proposition to
I come to the following conclusions: years in a native African village sible to obtain by means of the photo- subsidize the work. It is yet to he
I shtah no longer ieieve in Goil. Stth gathering the material for this in- stat very valuable technical inform- seen whether any action will be taken
belief is a weakness, and I do not wish usual book. During that time he ob- lion which it would be practically im- in regard to it.
to be weaik. Moreover, I can get along served the life of the natives. He hasa possible to obtain in any other way The contribution of America to the
quite as well without God. My friends recorded his observations, faithfully, without great expenditure of time and work is chiefly in giving valuable in-
-ill stant it a greater awe of me if 'arefully suppressing his own feel- money. formalios. is fact, thi best part of
. gs and reflections. The result "pre-
I am an out-and-out agnostie. I shall sets a pulsing mehodrama of a sup- The international utniversity, com- the bibliographical collection has been
he abylgiouir dis -pressed barbaric people." 'Batouala" tenced in 1920 by action of the tti- given by this country. But as yet
pered by religious traditions. is at present being translated into versity conference in September of America has given no money sehat-
But, in spite of all my efforts, these English. that year, has met with unusual suc- ever.
arguments lack finality. Maybe it is
because I lose my grit. At any rate a
change takes place in some such way
as this. I climb out on the roof some
night for quietness and meditation. I
look at the stars in the dim, grey sky.
and tie lights out the blacker earth.
'Itte moon, a golden are, slides behind
a cup of louds. A soft, cool wind
twb-w'. past me where I stand. Every-
ting about me seems in tune to a
sthotr of which I art tonly hear the
etho. I think--there is something in-
explicable behind the silence and vast-
ness of the universe.
on another day I take a ltong walk.
I smell the thawing ground, I slush
the mud, I let smooth pebbles trickle
through my fingers. I hear the dry
crackle of leaves. Aid finally, I even
laugh. It is a laugh, rippling in the
treble. and booming in the bass, a
laugh to chase away frightful illus-
ions and sickly shadow thoughts. It H A T S
is like a blast of cold wind or a sight
of Gibraltar. "Well, well," I say to
myself, "mere thought often leads one
astray. There is something, surely,
hehind all this pulsing life that quick- every M O D EL has a m essage!
ens and inspires one to further ef-
fort."
And then, there are toy friends! 1 .
had a talk with one of imy friends this
morning. In some miraculous way, For Sringtime near Dame Fashion has decreed colors of
wholly beyond my ken, we exchangedr p
ideas. Even philosophers cannot ex- brilliant hue. Even though stras may be black, a bit of horse-
plain how two individuals, wholly
separate from one another, can be- hair braid or lace adorns the hat and the flower ornaments are
come acquainted with one another's
thoughts. It seems not impossible certain to be of Spring coloring.
that there is a Something outside of
both individuals that aids in the inter-
communication. Special care has been taken to provide a showing of Spring
Thus do I find myself believing in aM liner that will prove attractive to Madamoiselle. The
Something that I conveniently call
God. Say I do stoop to believe To Hat Shope on the second floor is filed with models that will
have faith in a thing may be a weak-
ness. IBut I grow weary of conceited become you and be pleasing as to price.
ness as well as of blind belief. I am
weak. I confess it and do not care to
deceive myself any longer. The de-
cision to believe in God against pure
reason is less of a weight on my mind
than the lie of constantly asserting
that I am sufficient unto myself.
Reason, after all, is not the whole
of man's make-up. Some say that
man is running too much to reason
and the so-called higher intelleetual
faculties. Over-specialization in race
always means final extinction, and
man is said to be on that downward