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PAGE 2 the twig raBRUARY 21, 1980 THE MEREmTH TWMG COLLEGE Editor Mary Katherine Pittman Assistant Editor Daria Stephenson Reporters Kathy O’Brien, Marlene Barnett, Beth Giles, Ann Earp, Kelly Stone, Jill Allen, Laura Moore Columnist Cindy Rinkcr, Regine Nickel, Ann Stringfield Sports Editor Darla Stephenson Photographers Paula Douglas, Lorri Whittemore, Peggy Williford Business Manager Leslie Landis Circulation Editor Suzanne Hill, Margie Snell Layout Editors Deborah Bartlett, Sonya Ammons, Susan Jones Cartoonist Ann Beamon Proofreading Ann Earp Faculty Advisors Dr. Tom Parramore, Mr. Bill Norton Is Christianity declining? FACT AND FICTION || \ Nuclear power guaranteed electricity ... a source of energy that could sustain the United States for many years to come. But at what cost to the people, the people’s children, the en vironment? Many questions are going through the minds of people all over the United States, and the world, as nuclear power becomes a more important and more publicized part of energy issues. Nuclear power plants are being built all over the country, and because of the Three Mile Island incident they are coming more and more into the public’s eye. How many Merdith students realize that a major nuclear plant is under con struction in southwest Wake County, only twenty miles from Raleigh? Being aware of that fact, could the student possibly understand the un complicated system by which the plant will operate? In the next eight issues of The TWIG, the major questions about nuclear power will be an swered in a way that the / student can understand. Economics, safety, radiation, and waste disposal are a few of the topics that will appear in the nuclear power series as well as an explanation of how the initial energy is produced. The TWIG welcomes questions, opinions, or an swers concerning nuclear power that can be printed at the end of each nuclearpower article. Next week; Nuclear power, where does it come from? by Regine Nickel A recent issue of the German news magazine Der Spiegel (The Mirror) published an interesting ar ticle dealing with what it called the “receding influence of the churches in the United States and West Germany.’’ Even though the article was written in the usual cliche- ridden manner which the weekly reserves for matters relating to church and political opponents, it nevertheless pointed out ah apparent trend in our societies, the decline of denominational Christianity. Thirteen years ago an opinion poll on the religious feelings of the citizens of the Federal Republic was held by Ifak, the German equivalent to the Gallup-Institute. The questions: Does God exist? Can one be Christian without belonging to a church? Is there life after death? Who was Jesus Christ? Last year the same poll was conducted, and the results of the two polls were compared. The results were indeed startling. In 1967 90 percent of the people questioned an swer^ positively when asked whether or not they believed in the existence of God. Last year only 79 percent af firmatively answered the question. The second question, that of church membership being essential to being a - Christian, was answered with ‘yes’ by 69 percent. Last year the number had increase to 77 percent.To the question of life after death 48 percent answered affirmatively in 1967. In 1979 the number had increased to 53 percent. To the question who Jesus Christ was 15 percent of the people questioned answered the following, “Jesus lived 2000 years ago, today we live in a diffet-ent world. Today Jesus ha^ no meaning at all for me.” In the past thirteen years the number of people who affirm this statement has increased by six percent. With all the caution due to statistics, the general trend is still visible. For American Christians there is a small consolation. Even though the trend, which was above shown as in vestigated in the Federal Republic, is still apparent in the United States, Christianity is still seen as a very positive force in this country. Ac cording to a 1977 Gallup poll 58 percent of the questioned Americans believed their church to be very important to them, while only four percent believed their church to be completely unimportant. The answers of West Germans asked the same question; only seventeen percent were af firmative, ten percent believed their church to be completely irrelevant. The resulting question? I dare not ask it! Stringspeak by Ann Stringfield He has been with us for every major crisis for the past 18 years. He cried with us when John Kennedy died; he rejoiced with us as we celebrated our 200th birthday. He has attained status as the man America trusts more than any other American, including the President. He is the voice of America; he is Walter Cronkite. This past week CBS announced that Dan Rather, former White House correspondent and, more recently, “60 Minutes’’ reporter, will succeed Cronkite in 1981. Cronkite has become an American institution. He not only reports the news - he lives it with us. Some of us are too young to remember the emotional newscast in which he almost tearfully told us of John Kennedy’s death. NCSU basketball fans may, however, remember that he called the hospital to inquire after David Thompson following his fall in the NCAA Eastern Regionals game versus Pittsburgh in 1974. Rather, however, cuts a more menacing figure. Best remembered for his lively confrontations with former President Nixon, he does seem to have mellowed some in recent years. One can hardly forget, though, the famous March 1974 press conference, incidently, Nixon’s final conference: Nixon: “Are you running for something?” Rather: “No sir, Mr. President, are you?” This little exchange is thought by many to be directly related to Rather’s departure from the White House beat after the fall of the Nixon mandate. It is uncertain whether Rather’s journalistic ‘ achievements or merely a penitence for his previous ousting as White House correspondent landed him the anchorman spot. Roger Mudd has long been speculated to assume Cronkite’s position, Mudd, a Carolina graduate, is similar to Cronkite in style, so it is for some a surprise to see Rather named as successor, although he is clearly the better newsman. It does seem only just, though, that Nixon is living in an East Side apartment where all the tenants despise him and Rather is soon to become anchorman of the “CBS Evening News.’’ Perhaps there is something to the deuteronomic theology of history after all. Doomed to repeat history THEREJS * fOUR iP DIFFERENCE! 42ND EDUCATIONAL CENTER TEST PREPARATION SPECIALISTS SINCE 1938 Visit Our Centers And See For Yourself Why We Make The Difference Call Days, Eves & Weekends For classes in your area, call; 919-489-8720 Suite 102 - Crost Bldg. 2634 Chapel Hill Blvd. Durham, N.C. 27707 Outside NY State ONLY CALL TOLL FREE BOO-223-1TW Editor’s Note: In lieu of the editorial that usually appears in this space, this letter submitted by a faculty member at University of Montana to the student newspaper, Kaimin , has been in serted. It represents a viewpoint on war and its consequences that few of us have considered in our discussions on draft, being that of previous experience. (Taken from February 1, 1980 issue of MONTANA KAIMIN) As I read the recent editorials and letters in the Kaimin I am sad, because I hear the same things which 1 said as a college student way back then. Everybody knew that World War I was caused by the selfish profits of the munitions manufacturers. If we had only provided the Kaiser with an example of peace and democracy, he would never have attacked Belgium. Also, we students in the 1920s and 30s sure didn’t want to be drafted. It is said that those who do not read their history are doomed to repeat it. I didn’t read mine then; and many students (who didn’t live through the 1940s) haven’t read theirs. Nobody wants war, especially with new and ultra- deadly weapons. I talked for peace then, wrote for peace and voted for peace. But 1 hadn’t learned the lesson that you don’t stop the school bully from terrorizing the little kids by telling him we are nice guys and would never fight. While I lived the good life as a college student and later as a young professor. Latvia, Lithuania, Esthonia, Bulgaria, Rurnania, Finland, Poland, Ethiopia, Burma, China, Austria, Czechoslovakia, Denmark, Norway; Belgium, Holland, Greece, Luxemburg, Yugoslavia, France, and England (free, independent countries when i was a sophomore) found to their sadness and the deaths of millions of their people that it doesn’t pay to' be weak. Some of those cou ntries don’t exist anymore—having been swallowed up by Soviet Russia, others still exist in name—but the university students in them better not write letters to newspapers criticizing the govern ment. Believing their ideologies and way of life were superior, Nazi Germany, fas cist Italy, totalitarian Japan, and commu nist Russia imposed their will on one neighbor after another through subver sion and military force—just like the Soviets are doing again now. I have sons who, I hope, will never have to go to, war, but if the times demanded would I do it all over again— relinjguish. the comfort of a “wealthy ” professorship and volunteer for ugly, army life? I guess I’d do just the sakjie. They probably wouldn’t take me again, but if real war came it would be a lot safer in the Army these days than at home. However, I wish things had been a bit different. We did have a president who said, "My friends, the easy times are over; no more business as usual. We can’t do just as would like.” But I and my classmates didn’t believe him. And neither did the totalitarian nations. We should have boycotted the 1936 Olym pics, geared up the “munitions makers,” started the draft in 1935, not 1939, and have said to the international, bullies wnen tney first entered Austria, Ethiopia, and Manchuria, “Stop now.” Instead we waited until they had secured enormous resources, strategical positions, and mobilized almost half of the world against us. As a result, thousands of my friends, classmates, and students are no longer alive. Yes, peace can come when all nations disarm—a//, not just America. I unders tand there are plans for a “no-draft” rally. When I see an equal one being held in Moscow’s Red Square, ,1 will enthusiastically support both. The issue really isn’t oil; it is merely survival. Oh well, this is 1980. It can’t happen again. History never repeats itself. If the Russiaiis seize the Persian Gulf we can always ride bicycles to class and, build 500 nuclear reactors to keep our fac tories going. What difference does it make if they send their radical professors to Siberia or kill off a few hundred thousand people in Cambodia. orAfghanistarffit’s none of our business. And why support a president who starts to talk like a Winston Churchill, when he always seemed to be a Neville Chamberlain. The Soviets, after all, area reasonable bunch. You only have to give them what they want, and we can have “peace.” If you don’t believe me ask the , Czechs, the Poles, the Latvians, the Lithuanians, etc., etc., etc., etc. John G. Watkins professor, psychology
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