Evening star., 1962-06-30
LETTERS TO EDITOR

cans, says each time the bus
passes a church: 1T was
damaged inside during the
war and has not been re-
opened" It is somewhat of a
mystery how this alleged in
ternal damage could have
been done without creating
any external evidence of it!
However, when we drove
past the famous Kazan Ca
thedral. our Soviet girl guide
merely explained: ''It is mod
eled after st. Peters in
Rome" I asked her if we
could go in. She replied that
she was sorry, but that we
didn't have Cime. Then, in
aSmuch as I knew that this
former Cathedral is used by
the Communists as an anti
religious center, filled with
scurrilous exhibits and hate
ful deriSion of alp religions,
I asked her: What is really
IN the Cathedral now?" She
came back with glib, easy,
casual innocence: 1T is a
museum Of religious history"
Today I find myself won
dering how long it win be be-
fore Washington tourists are
told a comparable cover-up
lie when they pass our Su-
preme Court b.Iilding, for in
view Of their latest decision
barring prayer in public
schools 1t seems quite pos
sible that a vanguard Of the
Kazan Cathedral atheists is
already well-established in
this marble hall of American
justice.
Can it be that in saying:
Thank God for Justice Stew
art, / am now guilty Of such
a feloniouSly unconstitution-
al violation Of the First
Amendment, that, along
with the gangsters and great
malefactors, I may be forced
to take refuge in pleading the
Fifth?
How Khrushchev and Com
pany must be chortling in
their vodka!
Alan r. McCracken.
Basically, the objection to
a morning prayer in public
schools is that the children
Of different faiths may be
exposed to q belief that the
parents do not support. In
view of the evils that chill
dren are exposed to in this
day of blazing communica-
tons it would seem no mat
ter Of alarm that school chill
dren should begin their day
with a minute or two Of in
spiration. One would look
for a normal parent to be
grateful. To say nothing of
the courts, high and low,
that must handle the evil.
Griffith Harrington.
It seems to me that the
Regents Prayer is a simple
wording Of part of the Dec
laration Of Independence.
Almighty God, we ac-
knowledge our dependence
upon Thee, etc." expresses in
1862 what the Patriots of
1776 were thinking when
they wrote that part of the
Declaration of independence
which reads: I'VE hold these
truths to be self-evident,
that all men are created
equal; that they are endowed
by their Creator with certain
unalienable rights; t h a t
among these are life, lib
erty, and the pursuit of
happiness"
The same thought of "de-
pendence upon God" is ex-
pressed in the closing SEN
tence of the Declaration of
Independence: "And for the
support of this declaration,
with a firm reliance on the
protection of Divine Provi-
dence, we mutually pledge to
each other our lives, our for
tunes, and our sacred honor"
There may be arguments
pro and con in regard to the
First Amendment to the
Constitution, but the wording
of the Declaration of Inde-
pendence is beautiful, true
and clear and there can be
no doubt about the meaning.
Thomas ]. Dunn.
4 u 4
Among the parents who
brought the school prayer
case before the Supreme
Court were members of an
Ethical Culture Society.
We are disturbed by the
efforts of some to represent
this as an anti-religious deci-
sion. On the contrary, it is
sound judgment in favor Of
voluntary, personal religion,
free from state Intervention
and Interpretation.
Edward L. Ericsson,
Leader, Washington
Ethical Society.
4 + = y
It is often said in discus
sions of certain recent deci-
sions of the Supreme Court
that we have departed far
from the Founding Fathers
conception of the relation
ship between church and
state. Indeed we have, but
if we follow the course laid
out by Justice Black in the
recent decision in the school
prayer case, we may yet re-
turn to a relationship con-
forming to the Fathers orig
inal conception.
The First Amendment was
taken much more seriously in
the early days of our Republic
than it is today. In 1895, a
A.