Despite our decades of squandering our oil resources, it took decisive action by our friendly neighborhood oil sheikhs to provide us with the prospect of winters without heat. There is one thing the Arabs can’t take away, however. Unfortunately, our government seemingly can.
At a recent meeting of the local P.T.A.—our first—we were informed of the school’s educational philosophy, which seeks the development of the “total” child, academic, psychological, and social. What is missing? Not just athletics. Morality may be left out, but curiously, mythology isn’t—at least not in this local school—for the walls were gaily decorated with witches on broomsticks, jack-o’lanterns, and the like. The school had a bit more trouble with Thanksgiving, the religious implications of which were not only noted by the Puritans but brazenly proclaimed by that famous zealot Franklin D. Roosevelt. (Local public radio has suggested a way out by broadcasting the revisionist historical view that the first Thanksgiving was primarily for food and games.
Hallowe’en strong, Thanksgiving fading, and what about Christmas? I am told that in another jurisdiction Christmas Vacation has been replaced with Winter Recess. Those who object to totally desymbolized school premises (no creches, camels, cribs, or Wise Men allowed where Federal Funds have entered in) may take some comfort in the fact that in at least one suburban public school I know they do have Hanukkah candelabras. Why are menorahs kosher (so to speak) where stars and shepherds are not? The principal of a school featuring the one and banning the other explained that Hannukah is not religious but historic. (Besides, banning Hanukkah might seem anti-Semitic, and while anti-Semitism may be in at the U. N., it’s still outre in the U.S.A.—and rightly so.) If Hanukkah ever was a religious festival (and to deny it seems a little odd to Eutychus, but he is not on the federal payroll), then denaturing it seems a high price to pay for the privilege of posting menorahs on first-grade bulletin boards.
The Arabs may take away the oil, but it takes the government to do away with Christmas. Perhaps we should paraphrase the late John Kennedy’s stirring words thus: “Ask not what your country can do for you … but what it can do to you.” Still, in a reasonable world, where witches are licit in the classroom, there must be a place for Wise Men. Winding up a sometimes obscure, occasionally mystifying, and frequently consistent term as Eutychus VI, I bid faithful readers farewell with this admonition: let the government take winter if it must, but draw the line at Christmas!
In light of the respect and authority the Bible gives older persons, I was dismayed at CHRISTIANITY TODAY’S editorial “Time to Step Down” (Oct. 24) aimed at forcing Justice William O. Douglas off the Supreme Court because he “is seventy-seven … [and] is obviously a sick man.” I suppose that CT, to be consistent, would have demanded Moses’ removal as a leader of the Israelites on grounds he was too old and had a severe speech problem. Older persons are one of the great unused resources of our society. I suggest that CT follow the biblical example in their regard.
WESLEY G. PIPPERT
Ann Arbor, Mich.
Justice Douglas is seventy-seven. He is also ill. But there is no evidence he is incompetent to serve on the nation’s highest bench. He has, as you said, an impressive record.… Unless Justice Douglas is proven to be incompetent or criminal, he must be allowed to serve out his term—unless he chooses otherwise—of life. Your suggested coercion on the part of the rest of the court, in party to the Congress, is nauseating. Such an action would set a dangerous example for the future. Dislike someone’s minority opinion on the court? Presto, zingo, the rest of the bully-boys on the court come in dark robes and with candles to inform the offending member that she or he is to step down.… Strictly from the Christian perspective, your article represented ageist tendencies. The law, remember, was given to Moses who “was a hundred and twenty years old when he died; his eye was not dim, nor his natural force abated.”
JAMES HUFFMAN
Chicago, Ill.
Continuing Coalition
In his discussion of the recent changes that have taken place in the Christian World Liberation Front here in Berkeley (“Whatever Happened to the Jesus Movement?,” Oct. 24), Ed Plowman has described those of us who have chosen not to go in the direction Jack Sparks is going as “dissidents.” It is true that we are “in disagreement” with certain things Jack and the apostolic band are teaching. However, the word “dissident” has very strong negative connotations in our society today, and we are very sorry that Mr. Plowman chose to use this word to describe us.
The Berkeley Christian Coalition is continuing the ministry of the Christian World Liberation Front as a non-denominational evangelical Christian organization. Twenty-six out of the thirty-one former CWLF staff are now with the Coalition. All of the CWLF ministries have stayed in the Coalition intact—Right On newspaper, The Crucible study program, Dwight House (ministry to Berkeley’s transient youth), and the Spiritual Counterfeits Project. The exception is the street-theater ministry. Two of the seven members of street theater, including the director, have chosen to function under Jack Sparks’s church in Berkeley, while the other five members are continuing street theater in the Coalition. As a community of Christians in Berkeley, we are excited about the opportunities God has given us to serve him in this important American city.
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BILL SQUIRES
Director
Berkeley Christian Coalition
Berkeley, Calif.
As Plowman can attest, having been one of the San Francisco ministers to whom he made reference, Moishe Rosen was drawn to the Bay Area largely because of information that a significant proportion of converts from the counterculture were Jewish. He was welcomed by the Evangelical Concerns group and became an active participant in its ministries. No further documentation on Jews For Jesus is necessary. One would be going too far to claim that the Jesus movement was the sole cause of JFJ’s emergence. But it was certainly a major factor. Rosen should be credited with astute recognition of the right time and place for his movement’s beginning.
JOHN MACDONALD
Blossom Hill Baptist Church
San Jose, Calif.
• Space limits required us to select a few ministries that are representative of what is happening. Jews for Jesus and some other groups will be featured in a forthcoming follow-up account.—ED.
Only One Alternative?
In a recent editorial (“Capitalism: ‘Basically Unjust’?,” Oct. 24) you say that the “time has come for Christians who believe in capitalism … to make themselves heard.” But if capitalism is truly “in need of correction,” by what ideological standard (or is it a moral standard, which may be a different matter) do we decide which changes to implement? I agree that to call capitalism “basically unjust” is absurd, but to suppose that Christians do or should “believe in capitalism” is a little silly too. Moreover, to imply that the only alternative to capitalism is the sort of economic system to be found in the Soviet Union (and, somewhat differently, in China) is quite misleading. Whatever happened to democratic socialism—e.g. of the Swedish sort? The point is, it is not very helpful to say “I believe in capitalism” without also saying in just what ways one would like to see some of its admitted evils corrected. One error of fact which ought to be corrected: according to all of the available information—and the information is ample—Chinese socialism has in fact succeeded in “producing enough food to feed the people.” Perhaps not the same can be said of Russia.
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F. R. STRUCKMEYER
Department of Philosophy
West Chester State College
West Chester, Pa.
Capitalism is not merely an economic system which is inherently good save for a few flaws which can be worked out. The fact is that at the very base of this system are concepts which are antithetical to the Christian faith. Our whole consumer economy is built upon the endless accumulation of material wealth. Is avarice still considered a vice or has it been made an article of faith? The market economy elevates the principle of competition and aggressiveness so that man looks upon his fellow man as merely a means to a material end. Indeed the entirety of God’s creation is viewed as a commodity to be exploited toward the ultimate goal of greater profit.
Capitalism is not a Christian economic theory.… It is a humanistic philosophy based upon humanistic values. Any attempt at synthesizing Christianity with a pagan value system is tantamount to idolatry and leads to a diluted syncretism.
Socialism is not the alternative to capitalism. It is an alternative. The NCC is basically correct in its rejection of capitalism, but if this leads them to baptize Marxism, then they have only fallen into the same trap since this economic theory is also based on similar humanistic values. For instance, it has essentially no different view of God’s created resources from that of capitalism.…
It is rather ironic that the editorial about capitalism appeared on the same page as the one concerning values. You are most certainly correct that there is a difference between man-made values and biblical values. I suggest that you take your own advice and not be “pressured to accept—e.g. a … philosophy [economic or otherwise]—that has won high acclaim in some circles but weighs in poorly on the scale of biblical values.”
DAVID KOYZIS
St. Paul, Minn.
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