Editorial

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Editorial

Living Through a Revolution

One theme dominated all the sessions of the Tenth Annual Meeting of the Academy (April 22 to 24, in Pittsburgh), which was devoted to the problems of "Youth and Moral Values." It was: "We are living through a revolution." Every speaker w e heard made this point in one way or another, and the news emphasized it. Since the fact cannot be denied and subsequent events have underlined it, we may ask: " H o w does one live through a revolution? W h a t temper of mind and spirit is necessary? What qualities of thought and behavior enable us to go through an upheaval keeping our cool yet keeping our minds and hearts open?" The first essential is to know that a revolution is going on. This is not always easy to do. Even after all that has happened in our colleges and universities, there are those who can say, "The young people will get over it after they grow up." Even with all that is known about the dangers of the nuclear arms race and of chemical-biological warfare, there are many who consider these weapons no different from the muskets our forefathers defended themselves with. Even after all the recent discoveries about what we have been doing to the air we breathe, the water we drink, and the land from w h i c h our food comes, there are many who seem to think that our crimes of rape and murder against the earth are secondary to shortrange profit, pleasure, and mindless exploitation of the resources on which life depends. W e were reminded of the swiftness of this tragedy recently

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when we read that ecologically two beautiful bodies of water, San Francisco Bay and Lake Erie, are now classified as "dead." Even after all that has been said about the urgent need for racial equality in America, there are those who insist that we are moving too rapidly in the effort to solve our racial problem with justice for all. In what circumstances would the effort to realize justice for all be too rapid? Even after all that has been said about the need for peace and for some kind of viable world government in attaining that end, there are those who suppose we can continue to live by concepts of national sovereignty that were dangerous more than a century ago. The essence of the revolution of our time is that all these accepted concepts and practices are being questioned, not by a group of noisy radicals, but by the march of history itself. The next essential in living through a revolution is to decide what one's own attitude will be. Only three are possible: to pretend that it does not exist; to try to stop it; to move with it as constructively as possible. If the revolution of our time were merely politicalma question of who our leaders are to be and how they are to leadmit would be possible to take either the second or third position (the first one does not make sense); but the changes that have brought about the revolution cannot be reversed. Nuclear power is here to stay. The only question is whether it shall be used for life or death. The pollution of air, land, and water has reached a point where we must control it and begin rehabilitating the natural environment or the planet will not support the children growing up today. The breakdown of nationalism as a safe way of life has gone so far that the very governments that claim to protect us are the sources of greatest danger through their incessant rivalry. The colored peoples of the earth have moved so far toward independence and self-determination that they are unlikely to return willingly to their former second-class status. The only possibility is to move with the revolution as sanely and humanely as we can. This brings us to the third essential. Since the possibilities of violence are so dreadful, we should try to move nonviolently, with as little destruction as possible. This, we think, is where some current revolutionaries

Editorial

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make their mistake. They assume that everything is so bad that the only way to deal with it is to destroy it. W e suggest that, while much is bad, general destruction will not make it any better. Effecting change is more complicated than that. Also it happens, fortunately, that in the Western world we have institutions and laws that can be changed by rational and peaceful means. That is what democracy means: not a set of social, economic, and political dogmas, but a formula for change and growth. Morris Abram, President of Brandeis University, said in his address before the Annual Meeting that we must preserve this process for change, because if it is forgotten or destroyed, chaos and violence take over and all our values are lost. Essential changes must be effected by the democratic process, because the destructive possibilities of violence have reached a point where they threaten the lives and fortunes of all men. The fourth essential is, in the vernacular, "to keep your cool," which does not mean becoming indifferent or hard-hearted, but refusing to be frightened by threats or proclamations of doom, while quietly proceeding with action that you believe to be creative and useful. The great changes in human affairs do not come suddenly; they are more like the ebb and flow of the tides. Individual men and women slowly withdraw their consent from old evils while affirming their trust in new possibilities for good. At length the tide turns. The individual's contribution to these vast changes may be small, but at least he can use his skill, knowledge, and courage on the side of the constructive forces in his society. His work will have its own intrinsic value, and it will encourage others to do likewise. The fifth essential in living through a revolution is to travel light, materially, intellectually, and spiritually. The age that is dying in this revolution has seen enormous material advances. Great fortunes have been made. Great business enterprises have been established. The concept of bigness has been built into all our institutions: government, education, business, philanthropy, science, and even religion. The process has gone so far that we now ask whether bigness in itself is a value that we want to preserve. One such value is the importance of the individual, his awareness of who

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he is and what he can contribute to the life in which he is involved. This awareness awakens men's consciences and helps them to be responsible members of society." One of the causes of the revolution is that the impersonality of our big institutions has made many feel that it does not matter who they are or what they do. The abrasive language and behavior of militants today are a demand for attention: "Here we are. What about us?" The coming generation is not seeking material success so much as a sense of worth, a recognition of human value, and a style of life based on personal integrity and achievement. The young people we know are truly idealistic and determined that they must play a compassionate and honorable role in helping to solve the problems that have caused the revolution. To travel light intellectually and spiritually means to distinguish between the transient and the permanent meanings and values. W e have seen the dissolution of structures of belief that had lasted thousands of years. It is likely that this process will continue, as it should, for each age must create its beliefs in its own language. The few permanent values, it seems to us, can be concisely stated: a concern for individual freedom and the responsibilities that go with it, a sense of humanity that embraces all mankind, a reverence for life in all its forms, a readiness to see and follow the eternal in the midst of time. The religion of the future will probably be very different from that of today. The last essential is the attitude that Father Hans Kiing calls "believing hope." It is not the same thing as traditional faith, which often seems to refer to what men believe about past revelations and their present implications. Believing hope is both less and more than traditional faith: less in the sense that it no longer tries to defend the dogmas of the past, no matter how familiar and beloved they may be; more in that it affirms that no matter how chaotic and discouraging the present may be, enlightened and compassionate men can bring good out of it through their faith in themselves, in one another, and in life's divine meaning.

Harry C. Meserve

Living through a revolution.

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