That suddenly gives our young people the germ of culture. Yes, it will be said, this is all true, but young people, unlike adults, are so impressionable, so easily led and swayed and manipulated. No adult, of course, would ever shave his head, have himself castrated, and commit suicide in hope of catching a ride on a comet. No adult would open an envelope which promises that he or she may have already won enough money to repay Brazil s national debt. Adults aren t impressionable.
Students are the impressionable ones.
Students are indeed impressionable, but not nearly as easily brain-washable as we d like to believe, and adults are sometimes more circumspect with the stress on sometimes. Furthermore, please notice that so far I have not quoted the Torah, the Gospels, the Koran, the Bhagavad Gita, the I Ching, the Analects of Confucius, the Buddhist Sutras, or the Norse Sagas. I have not advocated the recitation of the Our Father, the Sh ma, a sura, or the assumption of a yoga position. There is no need for a recollected moment of prayer to be an occasion for denominational proselytizing, for recruitment, or for making any child feel uncomfortable to the slightest degree. The folks at Alcoholics Anonymous, the most successful life-changing program in history, demand recognition of and dependence upon the Higher Power, and yet never go beyond that because the Higher Power is potent enough that they don t need to.