4--THE PROGRESS Friday, May 24, 1963
The Senator's Straw Men
ENATOR J. W. Fulbright, chairman
of the Foreign Relations Committee,
has recently challenged the advocates of
"total victory" against Communism. He
argued that the "total victories" actually
won in World Wars I and II raised
more problems than they solved and cer-
tainly did not create perfect worlds.
We are grateful to the Senator for
having spoken his mind on so sensitive
an issue, not because we agree with him,
but because he has had the courage and
ability to formulate in words a philoso-
phy which has subconsciously influenced
U.S. foreign policy for many years.
The growing belie[ among peace
loving peoples that armed force solves
nothing explains how Soviet Russia
has been able to conquer and enslave
half the world with scarcely a battle.
It likewise makes clear the reason why
the free world is confused, bewildered
and incapable of determining a strong
unified policy in the face of blatent
, Red aggression.
!i On the one hand Americans are told
:i they must contribute millions of hard
i:, earned dollars in support of national de-
!! lense; that they must sacrifice their sons
in Korea, Lees, Vietnam. Yet on the
other hand they are informed by leading
government officials that this is one war
they shouldn't want to win.
Furthermore, to make the situation
even more confusing, the public is now
told that the millions of American sol-
diers who gave their lives in two world
wars along with the folks back home who
• worked 'round the clock in defense plants
to back them up, raised more problems
than they solved.
When the G.I.s who fought in
: Korea asked what they were dying for,
nobody in Washington could give them
a satisfactory answer. Is it any wonder?
This growing don't-try-to-win attitude
also explains why the American public is
so divided today in its approach to Cuba,
Lees, Hungary, South America.
Perhaps the gross error in Senator
Fulbright's thinking and those who either
openly or secretly agree with him lies in
the fact that they are missing the point
when they talk about "total victory" and
"total defeat".
These terms are straw men. It's
easy to set them up and knock them
down again. But in reality the Ameri-
can people did not go to war against
the Nazis or the Japanese because
America was out to conquer the world.'
Nor did they seek "total victory" in
the sense of a worldwide totalitarian
regime. The "total victory" our people
sought was a total vindication of those
who endangered freedom and per-
sonal liberty. V/e fought for one rea-
son only: to make the world safe for
democracy; to be allowed to continue
a way of life we have known and
loved.
And once the threat to peace and
freedom had been overcome Americans
were the first to give maximum liberty
and independence to the very nations
they had conquered.
HE fact that Soviet Russia took ad-
vantage of our liberality and now
poses another threat to U.S. freedom does
not mean that the millions of lives sac-
rificed to insure our way of life were
lost in vain. Would Senator Fulbright
have had us lay down our arms in the
face of Hitler and his Nazi warlords?
Had we done so where would you and
your families be today?
It is true that war and physical
force do not produce a perfect world.
But to imply that the American people
expected a utopia to emerge after the last
gun had been fired is to build another
straw man. Americans did not fight and
die for a perfect world--they fought to
protect the rights and privileges given
them by their forefathers.
America was not then, is not now,
nor ever will be a perfect place to live.
But those who spilled their blood on the
red sands of Iwo Jima believed that
under totalitarian dictatorship America
would become a far worse place to live.
And there are millions behind the iron
and bamboo curtains who, looking with
envy upon the freedom we still enjoy,
would be only too happy to tell us the
value of our victory were they permitted
a single moment of freedom in which to
do so.
A Strange Solution
CCORDING to Senator Fulbright in
our struggle with Communism, the
West should follow the dual policy of
using its strength to convince the Krem,
lin that its dream of world domination is
• unattainable, while also assuring Mos-
cow's leaders "they can have a secure
and untroubled national existence under
institutions of their choice."
This all sounds very beautiful but
, cold. hard reality shows that such a
course of action has not produced the per-
fect world he talked about in the above
editorial. Far from it.
: It has been this naive approach
that has allowed Russia and Red China
to enslave the East and place mankind
on the brink of atomic annihilatiom
How, if we are to be consistent, can
" America use its strength effectively if
wt tell the Russians we will never run
the risk of war? Secondly, to assure the
Russians of a secure and untroubled
national existence is no assurance at
all.
Anyone who has followed Com-
munist philosophy and policy can see
dearly that security and lack of trouble,
big ideals for us, are the last things the
Soviets want. As a matter of fact, Com-
munism needs and thrives upon world
revolution. After all these years of mis-
takes,,leaders like Senator Fulbright still
haven t learned what Communism really
: Perhaps the Senator hopes that
Communism will change. Amen to that.
So do we all. But where is the evidence
of any major change in Soviet policy for
world domination? To base diplomacy on
: :wishful thinking is like being full of can-
:cer and pretending to be well. Positive
thinking doesn't remove carcenoma nor
i does it take away Communism.
Our get tough policy with the Com-
!
! munists hasn't worked simply because we
i haven't gotten tough. And as long as
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(The final article by Louis F. Budenz
we think like Senator Fulbright it never
will.
Nobody wants an atomic war. No-
body thinks that an all out battle to the
death with Russia will create a perfect
world. But there are many who are con-
vinced that failure to risk physical force
with force wherever principle and na-
tional security demand it will in the long
run do more to prevent total war than
the "go easy" policy we now pursue.
N THIS connection, Senator Dodd this
week delivered an address concerning
the state department's recent proposal to
recognize the Communist government in
Hungary. The hidden fallacy in such a
conciliatory move was brought out in this
paragraph.
"The proposed revision of policy
on Hungary seeks to relax tensions
with the Soviet Uo,ion and thus re-
duce the danger of war, But if we de-
stroy the hope and the will to resist
of the captive peoples we shall be re-
moving the single most important
deterrent to Soviet aggression. It is my
conviction that such a policy would
make the leaders of the Kremlin more
certain of themselves, more arrogant,
more demanding, more prepared to
risk aggression. It would, in short,
undermine our own security and make
the risk of war far greater than it is
today. In this sense, the proposed re-
vision of policy would accomplish pre-
cisely the opposite of what its pro-
ponents hope it will accomplish."
Until there is clear and uncontro-
vertible evidence that Soviet Russia dis-
avows Communism and the active pur-
suit of world conquest concessions made
in the fear of war and in the name of
peace will be useless. In the long run they
will do more to hasten the day when
America will be forced to face that same
awful decision she has had to face twice
before within the short span of this cen-
tury: total victory or total defeat.
will appear in The" Progress next week).
907 Terry Avenue, Seattle (4) Telephone MAin 2-8880
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Published every Friday by the Northwest Progress Co.
President, Most Reverend Thomas A. Connolly, D.D., J.C.D.
REV. flAMES H. GANDRAU--Editor
MARY BRESNABAN--Associata E, ditor
I
Man
?rom The Past Doubts
By Rev. John B. Sheerin, C.S.P.
THERE are novels about
ii
u men who have been
catapulted into the fu-
ture as in H. G. Well's
"'Time Machine."
I remember also some news
items about men who seem to
have stepped
right out of
the past, for
instance, those
Japanese sol-
diers who
W • r e discov-
ered on a tiny
Pacific island
two years af-
ter the Second
World War
ended and who
h a d not yet FR. SHEERIN
heard that the war was over.
Well, I recently saw and
heard a man who just stepped
out of the past. He was still
thinking the thoughts of 10
years ago.
It happened in this way.
Along with Rev. Edward Duff,
S.J., of Weston college, I was
an invited guest at the U.S.
Conference for the World Coun-
cil of Churches at Buck Hill
Falls, Pa.
On Apr. 26, Dr. Douglas
Horton, former head of Har-
yard Divinity s c h o o I and
Protestant observer at the
Second Vatican Council, gave
a thoughtful, inspirational
and quietly eloquent talk on
his experiences as an ob-
server at the Council.
In the question period that
followed, a spectator in the
back row of this audience of
200 stood up to challenge Dr.
Horton. If my memory serves
me rightly, the challenger said
ir effect:
"Dr. Herren, I disagree with
your views on the Vatican and
the Pope. I believe the Roman
Catholic Church is very much
aware of the fact that it has
been losing ground, especially
to the Communists, and so it
has been dusting off some of
its ancient features to make
them seem respectable and has
been trying to win over the
Protestants, through this Coun-
cil, in order to regain some of
'its lost power."
The chairman of the meeting,
Charles Parlin, immediately
went into a huddle with Dr.
Herren. Could it be that Carl
McIntyre, the anti-World Coun-
cil agitator, had sent an agent
to break up the meeting?
Parlin asked the man in the
back row to identify himself.
It developed that he was not a
member of the conference but
simply a clergyman from a
nearby Protestant church who
had dropped in, apparently as
an uninvited guest.
Dr. Horton t h e n addressed
him with what I thought was a
perfect answer:
"Sir, I believe that every
man has a right to his own
opinion but let me kay that
yours is quite out of line with
the opinion of the Protestant
observers who were present
in St. Peter's for the
Council."
It was an urbane and emi-
nently Christian reply of an
ecumenist of 1963 to a question
that Paul Blanshard had asked
in 1953. The difference is that
in 1963 the question seems un-
civil and prehistoric.
Ten years ago, the question
would not have been considered
unseasonable but today it is
an anachronism. This particu-
lar meeting, for instance, re-
flected a mood and atmosphere
of great sympathetic under-
standing of the ecumenical
goals of the Catholic Church,
especially as revealed in this
Council.
Dr. O. Frederick Nolde, for
instance, delivered an address
in which he spoke of coopera-
tion among people of different
faiths to help secure better re-
lations among nations.
He devoted the greater part
of his talk to the Pope's
encyclical Pacem in Terris
(Peace on Earth) which he
described as a significant call
for world peace, a document
of potential significance for
the future.
He made a comparative anal-
ysis of key sections of the en-
cyclical, pointing out especially
the parallels between t h e s e
sections and previous World
Council pronouncements a n d
showing that the common mo-
tivation underlying them both
was a Christian desire to re-
lease spiritual resources for
the prevention of war and the
promotion of peace.
The talk, in brief, breathed
the same ecumenism that per-
vaded the entire conference
and this ecumenical enthusi-
asm would surprise only a Rip
Van Winkle who had been
sound asleep spiritually.
i ,
'Unn00mmgeable
lomists'
By REY. G. JOSEPH GUSTAFSOH, S.S., Ph.D.
Professor of Philosophy, Sf. Thomas Seminary, Kenmore
E, ARE NOT talking here about
managed news," but about un-
manageable economists. News has been
managed probably since Hammurabi held his
first press conference. And a reporter who can't
manage managed news simply deserves the
press releases and official leaks which he passes
off as his own profound observations. Frequent-
ly enough they hit the paper labeled as emanat-
ing from "a source close to the president" or
a "highly placed Vatican official" or "one of
DeGaulle's closest confidantes." Bunk!
But an unmanageable and intolerable econ-
omist is merely a propagandist who fobs off
his private, even untenable, theories upon an
unsuspecting, because innocent, public. You
fool us peasants a few more times and you
will find that we simply" won't believe any-
thing you say.
This is the old case of the boy who cried
"Wolf, wolf!" once too often so nobody paid
any attention when he was finally telling the
truth in terror.
A little while ago, we were all scared blue
by the threat of a terrible recession. But Sam-
uelson and Galbraith and Secretary Dillon and
McBundy George (or is it George McBundy?)
and Jr. Schlessinger, you may be sure, had
seen through it and had it well in hand.
The anpwer was a tired old theme, without
even variations', of Keynes, without Keynesian
• cautions: Prime the pump, spend more billions
and lower taxes.
Apparently the more respectable business
elements in our economy, harassed though they
were by the Justice Department, could not ac-
cept this scare technique. Business picked up
and now we have at least a minor boom be-
fore us with more to come. Serious people are
now asking the government to restrict reck-
less credit.
Now we have to go out in the back'yard and
dig up those pieces of silver we had been hoard-
ing against the deluge. As you know it's illegal
to own gold in the United States and paper
money isn't worth the trouble of burying. But
who saved us from what?
God's World: We
Are Agents Of Love
By REV. LEO J. TRESE
he whole spiritual life, as we know, can be sum-
med up in the single phrase, "Love God!" It is
for this that God made usthat we might love Him.
There is no other reason for our existence. It is love
for God, too, which equips us for the ecstasy of face-
to-face union with God in
heaven.
Without love, a soul could be
in the midst of heaven and still
be in hell. Such a soul could be
surrounded by God, by angels
and saints, and be totally un-
aware of their presence. A soul :
without charity is a soul with-
out spiritual vision -- a s o u l
totally blind.
Infused Charity
It is fortunate that God, in
baptism, has infused the virtue
of charity into our souls, has i
given us a talent for loving Him. :/
It is not easy to love some-
one whom we never have seen. ::
I t is especially difficult
when our love for the un-
seen God conflicts with our
desire for some lesser but
visible goad. The truth is
that, without God's help, we
really could not love Him at
all.
On the face of it, it seems
a great mystery why our love
should mean so much to God.
In our honest moments we
have to admit that our love,
at best, is very imperfect.
There is a good bit of self-
interest intermixed even with
our most disinterested loves:
our love for spouse, for par-
ent, for child, for brother or
sister. It may illumine the
mystery a bit if we examine
what we might call the
"anatomy" of our love for
God.
One With Christ
In baptism, the greatest thing
which happened to us is that
we were made one with
Christ; incorporated with
Christ is the theological ex-
pression. We were united with
Christ in a way which our
human mind cannot quite fath-
om.
Christ shared with us His
Spirit, the Holy Spirit, the
Spirit of divine love. There
is no example adequate to
illustrate the nature of our
union with Jesus. The closest
that we can come by way of
parallel is to imagine the in-
timacy of union that would
exist between two humans
who shared one and the same
soul between them.
In a sense, each would be
the other. Similarly, after bap-
tism there is a sense in which
you are Christ and Christ is
you.
Our spiritual merger with
Jesus does not destroy our
personal freedom. With our
cooperation, however, it does
make it possible for Jesus to
act in and through us. This
He does, most especially, in
our act of love for God.
Our own act of love con-
sists simply in identifying our
will with God's. What God
wants is what we want. Our
love is expressed in our obedi-
ence to God's law, an obedience
which involves the sacrifice of
self.
Obedience Creates Channel
Our obedience, our act of
self-renunciation, c r e a t e s a
clear channel through which
Christ's own love can go,
through us to the Father.
Our personal love, at its
best, is ridiculously weak. But
our own love is transformed
by being made the vehicle of
Christ's love. It is not we who
love God. It is Christ Who,
through us, loves God.
The millions of baptized
souls, in the state of sanctify-
ing grace, are like so many
prisms. Through them, the
infinite love of Jesus is re-
fracted, to the Father in
limitless variety. The Holy
Spirit, the Spirit of Love,
flows from Son to Father in
a hundred million ways.
And, since divine love is an
interchange, the Father's love
returns to His Son with just as
many variations. I n loving
each of us, God can and does
love His Son.
We are, then, God's creat-
ed instruments of love. We
are God's agents in this
commerce of infinite love
which f o r e v • r occupies
FATHER TRESE
Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
It is plain that, the more
we purify ourselves of self,
the more effective an agent
each of us it.
The more we detach our-
selves, not only from mortal
sin but also from venial sin,
the more perfectly do we ful-
fill our vocation to love.
(Father Trese we lco m e s
letters from his readers. The
increasing volume of letters
prohibits personal answers but
problems and ideas contained
in such correspondence can
be the basis of future columns.
Address all letters to Father
Leo J. Trese, care of The
Progress.)
Mental Prayer
LL OF US who have
entered i n t o reas-
onably honest attempts
at cultivating a more real
and fruitful life of prayer
h a v e found ourselves ham-
pered and defeated by ancient
human foibles.
In theory, meditation pre-
cedes prayer and is for the
purpose of inducing and stimu-
lating prayer. It is a "warm
up" mentally and spiritually,
so that our hearts and minds
can soar toward God. Ordi-,
narily, we should not merely
ruminate and consider, but we
should undertake the task of
actually praying.
Unfortunately, t h e r e are
many of us, certainly far too
many, who employ our prayer
time in vague speculation or
idle reading. This type of con-
duct has been compared to
gathering things without using
them or cooking food without
eating it. Thus we become
spiritually undernourished be-
cause we neglect the food that
we have actually prepared for
ourselves.
Many people say prayers,
but do not really pray. This
expression has become a
commonplace. So, too, many
of us meditate in a vague,
remote and speculative sort
of way, We fail to apply per-
sonal resolutions to our-
selves. We fail to enter truly
into the great and mysterious
dialogue between God and
ourselves that is the very es-
sence of prayer.
In a positive and practical
sense, we might set aside a
period each day, not merely
for v a g u e and unprofitable
rumination, but for personal
examination and humble reso-
lution in the very presence of
God.
We should endeavor to be
conscious of the fact that this
human action that we are per-
forming is great anl beautiful
and full of power. The Salva-
tion of others may be achieved
by it. Our own salvation may
depend upon it.
--Walter J. Sullivan, C.S.P.
Calendar
SUNDAY, May 26, SUNDAY
AFTER ASCENSION, MASS:
Exaudi--Hear, O Lord (White).
G., Cr., Pref. of Ascension.
Mass for Parish.
MONDAY, MAY 27, ST.
BEDE THE VENERABLE,
Confessor, Doctor of the
Church, Mass: In medio--ln
the midst (White). GI., Pref.
of Ascension.
TUESDAY, MAY 28, ST. AU-
GUSTINE, Bishop and Confes-
sor, Mass: Sacordotes -- Thy
priests (White). GI., Pref. of
Ascension.
WEDNESDAY, MAY 29, ST.
MARY MAGDALENE DE PAZ-
ZI, Virgin, Mass: Dilexisti--
Thous hast loved. (White). GI.,
Pref. of Ascension.
THURSDAY, MAY 30, COM-
MEMORATION OF ST. FELIX
I, Pope and Martyr, Mass:
Mass as on feast of Asc.
(White). GI., 2nd Pr. of St.
Felix, Pref. of Asc. Or MASS:
Protexisti--Thou hast protected
(Red). Gl., Pref. of Ase.
FRIDAY, MAY 31, QUEEN-
SHIP OF THE BLESSED
VIRGIN MARY, MASS: Gaude-
amns, Let us all rejoice
(White). GI., 2nd Pr. of St.
Petronilla, Cr., Pref. of B.V.M.
Abstinence.
, SATURDAY, JUNE 1, VIGIL
of PENTECOST, MASS: Cure
sanctificatus--When I shall be
sanctified (Red). GI., Pref. and
Communicates of Pent Fast
and partial abstinence,
