Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1959-07-19
SPIRES OF THE SPIRIT
On Using Your Head
BY DIR. FREDERICK BROWN HARRIS
Chaplain Of the United states Senate

OAbNA a ACAulJdllJ COlllCoolOIl
from the vantage peak Of
hindsight as one realizes that
at some crossroads he took
the wrong turn. In viewing
the ruined rainbows of the
might-have- beens, there is
no more cutting judgment
than the query Of some wiser
person, why didn't you use
your head?"
Now, II we use our heads,
we look at every situation
through the binoculars Of
truth-with a passion for all
the facts available. 1t is a
lamentable thing when any
body looks, not through the
glass Of reality. but through
the distorting lens Of misin-
formed prejudice. For in
stance, here is an editorial
in one of the most widely
read magazines in America.
In a list of alleged present.
day betrayals of democracy
an astounding charge is
made. 1t asserts that South
Korea is becoming a one
party state where President
Rhee has been sending his
opponents to the hospital
from the Assembly floor"
That statement is utterly
false and unfair as our own
highest diplomatic and mill
tary officials readily agree.
Syngman Rhee is one OF the
free worlds greatest demo-
Gratis, in the Woodrow Will
son tradition. Nothing IS
farther from his thought or
desire than a one-man state.
The fact behind this dis
tortion is that the opposition.
which in the Republic OF
Korea is given all their rights.
staged a riot in the Assembly
chamber and engaged in fist
fights resulting in broken
heads. The offenders were OF
course apprehended by the
police. exactly as any group
of legislators with such con-
duct under the white dome
in Washington would flnd
themselves in the hands OF
the law. What happened was
a proof, not a denial, OF
democracy. But because an
editorial writer used other
peoples garbled reports in
stead of his own head a great
personality Of the free world
is a victim of a false witness
in the eyes of millions.
One of Americas great
preachers, DR.. Lynn Harold
Hough, in a recent sermon
delivered in one of the his
toric pulpits of London. de-
clared, Men who are not all
the while conducting a critl-
cal examination to see that
prejudices are prevented from
taking the place of clear and
honest thinking are confront
ing the possibility of moral
as well as intellectual dis
aster." This is a warning
especially to those who I'M
dertake to appraise any
phase of the contemporary
world scene, and failing to
use their own heads, substi-
tute for the truth other peo-
pies unwarranted representa-
tons.
In the Wonderland, Alice is
confronted with a spurious
faith in which the mind is
ruled out. She is told by the
Queen that she is to give her
assent to a certain impossible
proposition. But" says the
maiden in the land of Won
der. II simply can't believe
that" Then" said her
Majesty, lust close your
eyes, take a long breath, and
try again" Closed mental
eyes in the realm of the spirit
have been the curse of much
so-called religion. The seek
ing of Gods invitation to His
human family cropping in the
dark of their own miscon-
ceptions is always come let
us reason together" The New
Testament admoniSheS that
we are to love the Lord our
God with all our mind. That
means that in all our climb
ing, the ladders of logic are
not to be discarded. Of
course. to claim complete
comprehension of God is to
deny Him. We cannot crowd
the infinite, God, into our
little skull. But that does not
mean that in reaching out
for Him we are ever called
upon to cruelty our intellect.
Now, there can be no ques-