Evening star., 1953-03-05
Pulpit and Politics

Pulpit and Politics
All Of the letters March / seem to
miss the point Of the sermons by Drs.
Sayre and Davies. The letters imply
that the sermons mixed religion with
politics. Actually the politicians criti-
cized were trying to set themselves up
as authorities on education. a field
completely alien to politics, as politics
is to religion, if not more so.
T.W.L.
Mine was a fervent amen" approv-
ing The Stars editorial regarding pulpit
and politics. I. too, felt DR.. Francis B.
Sayre, jr., with the best of intentions,
was Delaying legislative witch hunters
with sanctimonious hyperbole. And in
any contest between the big lie of real
politik and pontifical hallucinationS, !
concede the pulpit's inevitable martyr
dom. But I felt The Stars March /
letter writer's were too eager to limit
pulpit forensics to prayers and blessings
for the victorious in November. It is
well and good to separate state and
church. But in rendering unto Caesar
the things which are Caesars, must the
church forfeit its birthright of duty to
keep the temple clean? Does the Master
provide guide to the pulpit's duty in
keeping the temple clean and undefiled?
The current witch hunt of Mccarthy,
Jenner and Velde surely challenges
Christian duty to survive malicious
hypocrisy. The words Of the Master
never were more pertinent: Thou hypo-
critic, first cast out the beam out of
thine own eye; and then thou shalt see
clearly to cast the mote out of thy
brothers eye. Mccarthy, Jenner and
Velde are using conSummate hypocrisy
as an instrument of ruthless power.
Velde'S false accusation of Mrs Agnes
Meyer should diSqualify him to purge
education of the illicit. JennerS ac-
ceptance of disability retirement bene-
fits for years though ineligible, diSproves
his SNUG claims of moral preScience.
And Mccarthy is the heaviest cross the
Christian ethic must endure! The Sen
ate has ruled itself a continuing body.
That should mean there Is no statute
Of limitations for Quasi-indictments of
authorized Senate investigating commit
tees. Senator McCarthys qualification
to judge others has been challenged by
the Senate itself. With 148 photostat
exhibits, the Senate raises grave doubts
whether the Administration is not pay
ing political blackmail by failing to
indict and prosecute Mccarthy for
violation Of Federal law. Surely the
pulpit is not to be condemned for
compelling hypocrites in high places,
first to cast the beam out of their
own eye.
Thomas E. MattingIy, MD.
One more vote of appreciation, if YOU
please, for your courageous and forth
right rebuke of DR.. Sayre'S unclergylike
conduct in presuming to pontificate on
the subject of the Federal loyalty pro-
gram.
A "meddlesome clergy" in whatever
church is always obnoxious, particularly
so on the American scene.
Here's to the American way, the best
way any nation ever found, the way of
separation between church and state.
Ministers Of the Gospel: To the pull
pits. Fred E. Rick.
Evidently The Star, and those readers
who tacitly or openly oppose the stand
taken by the three Washington clergy
men on congressional investigation in
education, are unaware of the grave
threat that both communism and its
unreasoned opponents pose to Ameri-
can freedom.
NO democracy, as We understand the
term in the United States, can long
exist when the Government, regardless
OF branch. steps in to probe the minds
OF men on religious or political ques-
tions. When this occurs, freedom is
gone, and what is left becomes sheer
orthodoxy. The life-blood of democracy
is its freedom to doubt as well as to
believe, and once the avenues of un-
inhibited inquiry are closed to the in
dividual, either through fear or in
t1midation, the virus of totalitarianiSm
has already set in. Who should know
better the meaning of this than the
three Protestant ministers who spoke?
It would be wise for those who criti-
cize these men as naive, to delve more
thoroughly into the meaning of history
over the past two thousand years and
to judge by more rational standards,
lest they unwittingly ascribe to meth
odS Of inquiry by the State into the
thoughts of men-a practice so i'm
portant to all totalitarian regimes. The
question is far broader than momen-
tary labels Of communism, "anti-com-
munism," "right-wing," or "left-wing."
These are all relative and merely be-
cloud the vital issue: freedom in a
Democratic society. L. B.