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The Church In the World
By E. G. Homrighausen

TO PRAY, OR NOT TO PRAY-IN PUBLIC SCHOOLS

"Almighty God, we acknowledge
our dependence upon thee, and
we beg thy blessing upon us, our
parents, our teachers, and our
country."

This 22-word "interfaith" prayer was formulated by the New York State Board of Regents and recommended to school boards in the state for daily voluntary use. Five parents of children in the New Hyde Park schools challenged the constitutionality of the use of this prayer and protested to the New York court. The court rejected the protest, whereupon the case was taken to the United States Supreme Court.

The United States Supreme Court reversed the decision of the lower court and, by a vote of six-to-one, declared the practice a violation of the Constitution. justice Potter was the lone dissenter; Justice Frankfurter was not involved because of illness; and justice White, newly-appointed, did not participate in the deliberation. Justice Douglas, who sided with the majority, wrote a supplementary opinion which raised questions about the constitutionality of many religious activities supported by the government, including reference to God on coins and even to government support of the chaplaincy.

The reactions to the decision ranged from strong criticism to hearty approval. Roman Catholics were generally critical and Jews were for the most part favorable. Protestants were divided; some favored the decision because it upheld the separation of Church and State, while others saw in the decision another step towards the secularization of education and the erosion of religion from public life.

The real issues involved are not settled. The Supreme Court

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has before it similar cases dealing with Bible reading and recitation of the Lord's Prayer in Maryland and Pennsylvania on which judgments will be made in October.

The Court is quite right in maintaining that a state government should not formulate a prayer and request school boards to incorporate it into the public school curriculum, however non-sectarian the prayer may be. Justice Black put it this way:

We think that the constitutional prohibition against laws respecting an establishment of religion must at least mean that in this country it is no part of the business of government to compose official prayers for any group of the American people to recite as part of a religious program carried on by the government.

The words "official" and "program" strike at the main contention of the Court in this case. A written prayer, officially formulated and provided as a program in the public schools is unconstitutional. Such prayer may be regarded as a "religious exercise."

The Churches should not react toward the Court's opinion as though all religious references are thereby eliminated from public opinion and public life. The Court did not go along with Justice Douglas' radical opinion. Justice Black made it plain that references to Deity in national documents, anthems, or celebrations are not involved in this decision. Further, this "neutral" prayer is not worth the battle on the major issue. It will take more than this case to remove religious references from education. And it would take more than this prayer to put vital religion into education!

However, there are several issues involved here which need clarification: 1. How far can any minority go to eliminate from public education that which it regards as prejudicial? 2. At what point does a "religious" fact, attitude, or element in public education constitute an "establishment" which is unconstitutional? 3. How can the public schools incorporate into the curriculum references to the Creator who, according to the basic law of the United States is regarded as the origin and inspiration of the inalienable rights of Americans (and all men) to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness? 4. How shall the Churches and synagogues hold the State to its vocation in the economy of God's sovereignty, to a "holy secularism," without allowing the State to become autonomous on the one hand, or subordinate to the Churches and the synagogues on the other?

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The Court's decision has not really settled any of these questions. The issues are perennial, and they require the utmost in thought and action so as to prevent the tyrannies of the past from re-emerging and to promote the purposes of God for all men through the Church and the State. While the State may not be anti-religious, neither may it be sectarian; the problem is to make the State a servant of God without establishing its own religion, or favoring one religion over against all others. Yet, religion should be taught in our public schools as a part of our heritage!

We suggest that the best way to make religion a part of public education is to incorporate the study of all religions into the curriculum as aspects of American culture to be taught objectively.

"THE WALL"

Germans on both sides of the 28-mile-long barrier of concrete, barb wire, and spikes that separates East and West Berlin call it- The Wall. It is no ordinary wall. History knows of the Chinese and Hadrian walls, walls around medieval cities, and walls around homes. But this Wall is different; it is a grim, gray, ghostly reality which has about it a forbidding finality which affects Europe and the world.

just beyond The Wall in East Berlin there is a corridor of wasteland. Trolley tracks are rusted, streets are empty, and the war ruins are in evidence. It is an arresting sight which tourists may see from raised platforms. As one penetrates further into East Berlin, life moves at a slower pace, people have a serious look, and the atmosphere takes on a sober temper.

The Wall was built to keep East Germans, especially skilled workers and leaders, from escaping to the West, to create a fear for the future in West Berliners, to bring prosperity to East Germany and financial crisis to West Berlin, and to force the West to do something about the Berlin-and the German-situation. To date, The Wall has not succeeded. In fact, since The Wall was built a year ago, about 12,000 East German refugees have fled to the West. Many have come through, over, or under The Wall. They leapt, crawled, dug, or swam their way to freedom. They rammed The Wall with a truck, tossed an infant from a building to waiting West Berliners,

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squeezed into the luggage compartment of a Volkswagen, and floated a baby in a bathtub past The Wall. About fifty tried but failed. West Berlin is still sparkling with life and prosperity. East Germany is in real need of foodstuffs. The Berlin crisis is not solved. And Germany is still divided.

Berlin is a symbol. It was the capital of Germany and the center of Nazi power and tyranny. The whole German problem is focused in Berlin. Here the four great powers are in closest contact with each other. To feel the tension between the two worlds represented by East and West, one must visit Berlin. And he must see The Wall and pass through it to note the contrast between these worlds.

In the last sixteen years over three million refugees fled from East to West Germany. The Wall was meant to prevent East Berliners from escaping to West Berlin. It put 50,000 East Berliners out of their jobs in West Berlin; it makes an immediate reunion of Germany quite impossible; and it cruelly divided families and congregations.

But it takes more than a wall to divide people and prevent ideas from traveling. The Church has ways of communication which defy human barriers. Fraternal workers from abroad share the isolation of East Berlin Christians; they bring them books, coffee, chocolate; they represent the concern of Christians beyond The Wall. Some periodical literature comes through The Wall, which is most helpful to overworked pastors, many of whom are along in years and who serve more than one parish. Dr. Kurt Scharf says, "There is a Christian use of Berlin. The Church is able to turn this division into an opportunity for the Gospel. How can Christians in both East and West understand what God is teaching us and warning us in the Western world and in the Communist world."

Financial support from the West has diminished; but this situation too works for good, since it is moving Churches in East Berlin to self-support. The effort to divide Christians is bringing them closer together and closer to Jesus Christ through whom every wall of separation has been broken down.

The tourist may come away from The Wall and from a visit to East Berlin in a discouraged mood. If so, he has failed to encounter a genuineness of Christian faith and fellowship among East Germans who must-or choose to-stay in the East. This rugged Christianity is the result of daily decisions to be Christians in the face of pressures

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and issues that are confronted in school, family, business, and politics. For East Berliners the Christian faith is a daily life and not an aside to be patronized as a special interest on certain days and at certain times and seasons.

PRESBYTERIANS STIRRED BY CHURCH-STATE REPORT

The Special Committee on Church and State which reported to the 174th General Assembly was increased by two ruling elders and two pastors, and it was instructed to present a revised report to the next Assembly after receiving the reactions of synods, presbyteries, and sessions of the Church throughout the current year.

The printed report sums up a number of issues between Church and State which Presbyterians continue to confront. They include Sunday laws, Bible readings and religious observances in public schools, the use of public funds for parochial schools, the distribution of birth control literature, the evaluation of fitness of candidates for public office on the basis of religious affiliation, tax exemptions for Church businesses, censorship, marriage and divorce laws, and special privileges for the clergy. The Committee interpreted the issues and offered rather startling suggestions on several of them. One commissioner to General Assembly stated that "never before had the General Assembly listed so large a selection of the knottiest problems." Many in the Church felt that the time was ripe for a complete and thorough discussion of all these puzzling problems. Three appendices deal with (1) the historical development of Church-State separation, (2) the theological understanding of Church-State relations, and (3) the question of tactics in these relationships.

The Chairman, Dr. Elwyn Smith of Pittsburgh Theological Seminary, made it plain that the report could not be conclusive, since conditions were constantly changing, and the Christian ethic is not one of law.

Throughout the report the position is taken that the Church must be understood in terms of its unique nature and function. It is to bear witness to Jesus Christ. Dr. Benjamin Reist, a member of the Committee, stated that "The Church has to find out what it must do to bear witness. There was a time when, in the providence of

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God, the Church dominated the State. . . . But times have changed. Let us now turn to the task of the proclamation of the Gospel in our time."

Among the debated issues was one which suggested that the State be "secular." Commissioners were puzzled and in some cases offended by the term, since it could mean "godless" or "worldly" or "irreligious."

Undoubtedly some clear thinking must be done by the Church in regard to the use of public schools for sectarian or denominational purposes. Likewise, some unity should be brought into the Church's mind on marriage and divorce. Further, if the State is to be the State, perhaps a more theological way of stating it (to avoid the term "secular") would be to say that the State should fulfill its vocation as State and not as a Church or even as an assistant of the Church. Dr. Smith said that the purpose of the report was to challenge the United Presbyterian Church to become serious about disentangling the Church from culture, about making clear what Jesus Christ demands of Christians, and about indicating what loyalty the Christian owes to the family, the State, and voluntary agencies.

It will be interesting to study the responses to this excellent report from synods, presbyteries, and sessions of the Church. Perhaps the greatest problem will be that of helping the layman to understand the theological bases of the Christian ethic that is propounded in this document. For instance, it is stated that the Christian ethic is (1) eschatological, (2) contextual, and (3) trinitarian. This is highly sophisticated theological terminology. And the layman, living in a world of concrete realities, longs for some definite lines of actions. But regardless of the difficulties this report presents in making its basic assumptions intelligible to laymen-and some pastors-it is a good beginning in a very necessary task.

THE ALTERNATIVE BEFORE THE ASIAN CHURCHES

While the Church is rooted in Jesus Christ, and is not the creation of man, it is nevertheless planted in the soil of humanity, and lives, works, and bears witness to its Lord in the world. This tension in the Church's nature and task is being felt in great intensity in all parts of the world. If the Church fails to keep its sense of divine

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origin and inspiration, it becomes absorbed into the life of the world, blurs its identity, and loses its power to witness to the Gospel. On the other hand, if the Church loses its sense of incarnational involvement in the world of humanity, it becomes isolated, withdrawn, and ineffective. It may thereby save its spirit but lose its human body.

This tension is a real concern of the Churches in Asia. For one thing, they are comparatively young minority groups within ancient cultures that are saturated with non-Christian influences. The temptation to compromise on Christian truth for the sake of gaining popularity and numerical growth has been resisted. Sometimes this resistance has isolated Christians from culture. East Asia in particular is filled with a plurality of religions all advocating many ways to God. All religions are regarded as the same in kind, and their relation to one another is that of partnership. Yet, the Churches have maintained the uniqueness of Jesus Christ and preserved their integrity. It has been rather difficult to pursue this course when the ethnic religions support the resurgence of new national independence.

Further, the Christian Churches of Asia have been termed "exotic" products or transplantations of Churches in the West. It has been difficult at times to make a distinction between the Gospel and the Western garb in which it of necessity came to Asia. Many Asians are still not able to make the distinction. And the leaders of the Churches have not been able in most instances to develop an indigenous theology, Church forms, and a Christian style of life that is at once true to the Gospel and identified with the human situation. It was not possible for missionaries and first Christians to think through this "double incarnation," that of the Word made flesh and the Word made indigenous. Related to all this is the association of Christianity with the Western colonial powers.

It must also be realized that most Christians in Asia came from the lower classes. Only as the members of the upper classes became Christians has the Christian faith been able to develop an intellectual and cultural richness. The Churches for the most part were supported by the sponsoring Churches of the West, and therefore were weakened by this dependence. Now, the whole situation has changed, for practically every country in Asia is caught up in the economic, political, social, cultural, and religious revolution.

Dr. David G. Moses, Principal of Hislop College in Nagpur, India,

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says that two dangers face the Asian Churches: one is syncretism, and the other is isolation. These are the age-old temptations of every Church: worldliness or withdrawal. Dr. Moses thinks the second is the more imminent danger. Churches are afraid to participate fully in the life of their countries, for fear of endangering the purity of the faith. He writes, "But if the proclamation of the Gospel, in word and deed, and in every dimension of the life of the country, is an integral part of the faith, then the only way in which we can preserve the purity of the faith is to become completely involved in the whole of life."

Dr. Moses also feels that the Asian Churches have not yet really confronted the non-Christian religions with the thought-forms and concepts of the Hebraic-Greek world. "We have not yet penetrated into the basic structure of Indian and Chinese thought, to discover if there is perhaps a difference in the way of the working of the Eastern mind."

"The alternatives confronting the Asian Churches are (1) to go into a frightened ghetto existence, divorced from the main streams of national and regional life, hidden behind an illusory cover of a self-satisfied minority community, or (2) to become a Church that is courageous, which launches out into the deep, a costly involvement in the world in which God has placed us and which is his world."

No doubt the three "Situation Conferences" proposed by the East Asia Christian Conference to be held in Madras, Singapore, and Tokyo starting in 1963 will spell out the second alternative. They will raise and deal with all the basic questions so that the Asian Churches together may "get on with the job" of penetrating the Asian world with the Gospel.

GLOBAL TELEVISION: TO WHAT PURPOSE?

On July 11, 1962, something new took place in the field of communications: a live television program was transmitted across the Atlantic Ocean by way of a man-made satellite, Telstar. This relay station, high in the sky, has overcome the difficulties of transmitting radio waves, which travel in a straight line like light, over the vast curved stretches of the ocean. The event was hailed

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throughout the world as one of the latest triumphs of science. Here was a scientific achievement which was not associated with the tensions or the cold war. It was produced by private enterprise apart from any governmental program designed to build up war potential. As such, Telstar marked a new and refreshing milestone in applied science.

It is difficult for the average man to absorb and understand the meaning and the implications of modern science. And the end is not yet! Even as Telstar was being launched, announcement was made that it was already obsolete; it would be superseded by a more perfect satellite, Syncom.

It was to be expected that expansion would take place in the field of international communication. There are many technical details to be perfected. But the greater issues are still to be confronted. They have to do with the uses to which this new instrument will be put.

Governments are already beginning to raise questions as to the cost, control, and use of global television. A filibuster in the American Senate resulted from a heated debate as to whether this latest product of science would be exploited by a private monopoly or whether it should be taken under governmental control. But the people are also concerned. They have been raising many critical questions about the present use of television; they are going to ask even more serious questions about global radio and television. For the time being, it is a novelty which is eliciting much interest. However, in the long run this enlarged human eye and ear must be evaluated in terms of its value for the entire human enterprise.

It has been said that the atom has made the world a possible house of destruction from which none can escape. Can this invention make the world a house of life for the family of man? Or, will it only intensify the present tensions which when combined with the destructive use of the atom make man's life on earth more precarious? Already people are brought into close physical proximity. Can global radio and television bring them together in a common humanity based upon an understanding of each other gained through a visual meeting through Telstar?

Of course, there is no assurance that familiarity will breed good will; rather, it may generate more contempt or greater fear. Much will depend upon those charged with making up the programs to

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be broadcast and televised. It is to be hoped that we may be saved from the trivia of much current "entertainment," from raucous commercialism, from deliberately distorted and even naively untrue images of peoples and nations, and from the publicly-or privately-supported isms in this wonderful means by which the peoples of the world may meet face to face.

The Church has a great concern for Telstar and all that it promises for the future. As custodian of man's high origin, nature, and destiny on and beyond this earth the Church must prevent the irresponsible use of this new means of communication. And it must find ways to make its faith in the unity of mankind, the Lordship of Jesus Christ, and the summation of all things under Christ known to all men everywhere. A mere face-to-face acquaintance of peoples through television may be valuable to a point, but unless men sense their high vocation under God and in Christ the unity of mankind will lack the one thing needful.