North Carolina Newspapers

4 THE CAROLINIAN Raleigh, n. c„ Saturday, December u. im Editorial Viewpoint WORDS OF WORSHIP "And there were .in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. "And 10. the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid. "And the angel said unto them, Pear not: for. The Christmas Gift To Man It ia usually customary this yuletide season to sing carols, telling narratives of the birth of Jesus, recall the appearance of the angels to the shepherds, and the coming of the wise men to Jerusalem to look for the Christ child. While our hearts glow with the spirit of the season over the birth of the newborn King, we must not forget that the message and teachings of Jesus to mankind are more important thsn the celebration by traditional customs at dif ferent places in the world. Jesus preached one idea that revolutionized the world, but how did it come about? To keep men "from spreading too thin" their allegian ces to hundreds of fickle gods in the davs of the Israelites, Moses said there is one Ood. What an overwhelming idea and how magnifi cent its consequences. Moses persuaded the Children of Israel that God was all-powerful, their special Friend and Protector. This idea of one Ood fired them with faith in the convic tion and transformed them from slaves to con querors. The Prophet Amos added that God is a God of Justice. This God could not be bought, his ears were deaf to pleadings if the cause was un fair, and He would show no discrimination be tween the strong and weak, the rich and poor. He was a just God. Years passed and Hosea spoke. Because his wife deserted him, he had an unhappy life. Heartbroken and vengeful, he was determined to cast her off forever. Yet his love for her would not let him do it. He went to her. for gave her. and took herTnirk. Then in the hours of Ins lum !ii,t mid uuxjduiK, ,1 giiul llu/U'dit came to him! If he could love so unselfishly one who had broken faith with him, must not Ood be capable of greater forgiveness. Inspired with the thought, Hosea stood up before the nation and proolaimnd? it in burnning real—a Ood so strong that he could destroy, yet so tender that he would not! A good Ood! In studying the human development of man, his birth and death are laid down in the physi cal pattern of hia life. There ia the first breath at birth and also a last breath upon the expi ration of life. But what is the mystery, and which often tests our faith, is where do we <?o, and what happens to us upon our death? We apeak of the physical man. and also of the spiritual man. who has been made in the image of God with the mental capacities of memory, reasoning facility, comprehending, identifying, and symbolizing in the form of language. An advance and complex brnin and nervous system enables mankind to utilize his equipment to the fullest When we die. the old-time preachers and spirituals indicated that we would go to a heaven with golden streets and penrlv gates. The message was concrete and simple for the slaves. But since God is a spirit, how enn ve conceive of Him in the three earthlv dimen sions of space? Hence, Heaven and Hell must be considered in terms of spirituality. At one time.-it was taught that our souls, after death, went first to purgatorv, a place where the departed were cleansed of their sins and purified before entering heaven The great poet, Dante, wrote in his poem. "The Inferno,” that there was a special place for jvoplc who could not make up their minds He called them the Trimmers who were neither for God, nor the Devil, but only for themselves. In fact they never were alive! Because they wouldn't make decisions, they were scorned by henv-n and hell. They were placed in an Ante Hell. Long refusal to decide had left them incapable of decision. They remained forever chasing lit tle flags, wee - stung by hornets, and were heard hy their loud cries. Indecision always means torture and forment Second, we used to he taught by our parents that the Devil had horns and a tail and'shovel ed bad people into hell of fire and brimstone. This is hardly true, since again God and the Earth Quickly Ages 150 Million Years The plsnet earth may even hr older than I* generally believed —about ISO million year* older, according to Washington's Carnegie Ins titution scientist* who found new information which indicates the earth is 4 7 billion years old instead of 4.5 S billion, the former figure. This new finding shed* new light on the handi work of the Supreme Being, who is known as God. Budda. Islam, etc. The new findings suggest that the earth pot •long without man for more than 4 S billion years, and man is known to have made his ap pearance during the last one million years Long before him. the dinosaurs—giant rrptiVs —ruled the earth for 140 million years before becoming extinct 60 million years ago Dinosaurs lived during the Tetinrv Period, and some of them were 70 to 80 feet long and weighed from 20 to 40 tons: some bad taws with 500 teeth. None of the various types .-f dinosaurs dared challenge the tvrannosaur. the largest of all. Why did these giant crent’-rs become extinct? Many reasons are given. Th«*v were not “thinking animals." but creatures who muddled through life with small brains. In this IHE NEGRO PRESS—believee that America can best had the srorlo " away from racial and national antagonisms when if accords so every mar regardle ** of race onka or creed his human aid legal rights Hating no man fearing no man—the Negro Press sfrives to help everv man on the firm be lief that all rren are 4- jri »• Inna as anyone is held back. Death And Hell behold, I bring you good tidings of great Joy. which shall be to all people. “For unto you is bom this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. "And this shall be a sign unto you: Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger." St. Luke 3:8-12. What was there for the Son of Man to add to the three great ideas concerning the Al mighty? Only one more thought, but it was ro much more splendid than all which had gone before that it has altered the course of history snd the destiny of mankind. Jesus invited frsil humanity to stand uright and look at Ood fsce to face. He called upon men to throw a way fear, disregard the limitations of their im morality, and claim the Lord of Creation as Father It is the basis of all revolt, all demo cracy. For if Ood is the Father of all men, then all are his children snd hence the commonest is eqqually as precious as the king. This ides of the Fatherhood of Ood and the brotherhood of man created in mankind an in dividual human worth, a human dignity, and personal integrity. It established the idea that God is no respector of persons, be they Cau casians, Aryians, Africans, Mexicans, or Ne groes. We arc thankful at this Christmastide that the Babe of Nazareth has established a phi losophy of Christian living which is denied by Southerners, Mississippians, Alabamans, and nordics. Jesus judges each man by his individ ual contributions to the world and hv the un selfish giving of himself for the uplift of the downtrodden and the man farthest down He wants each of us “to forget ourselves into e temity,” for even if we do not believe in physi cal or spiritual life after death—the contribu tions of our better selves will bring us immor tality and our names will live forever in God Almighty’s Book of Gold containing the names of Chri otiau Sarnia. In conclusion, wr are thankful for the life of Jesus Christ who set the example in order to encourage us to make our lives the best thHt we can. Let us sing with spirit, zest, and gusto. “Hark the Herald angels sing. Glory to the newborn King.” devil are spirits; they cannot he perceived in terms of the material things of this world. In Jean Paul Sartre's play. No Exit, three people find themselves on the other side of death. For a long time they were not certain whether they were in heaven or hell, because the experience itself was nothing like anv of the pictures of heaven and hell which they had seen in Sunday School. They were each usher ed courteously Into a comfortable, meagerlv furnished, windowless room equipped with ta bles, chairs, a divan, a rug. lamps, and all the physical things that one needed, but no boobs, no television, no radios, no diversion whatso ever. It was not long before they realized that this whs truly hell, because despite the absence of fire and brimstone, this was excruciating tor ture. They discovered that they would have »o spend eternity with themselves—with no rlare to look out. with no diversion, with nothing to think about but themselves and their past lives, and with no dependency upon a personal God to comfort them. In this very existential hell, the characters found that they were condemn ed to really know themselves and each other for the first time—unvarnished. In observing the utter hopelessness of man when he is truly reduces! to depending upon himself, one cried out in agony: "What is Hell?" It was answer ed by saying: "Hell is other people ” It appears that “Hell is also knowing one self,” that is. befrig fare to face with one's real self and being unable to deduce by any set of Christian principles the existence of a personal God to guide one through anv type of crisis, and to give one assurance of the experience of eternal existence with Him after Death. Hell has no width, height, or length, and it must be described in spiritual dimensions, of torment and mental agony. One does not have to wait to die to experience hell, because it is a mental concept invented by our minds through the media of language. connection. rcsearch\ has shown that smaller animals tend to have larger brain* for their body size than do larger animals. The dinosaur* were unable to adapt to changing conditions, and their racial old aj»e indicated that they had come to “the end of the line " Their structures were overspccialized in bizarre forms which were not related to their environment. They were cold bloddcd and tired easily, and smaller animals preyed upon their eggs. They finally succumbed to the more progressive birds. When man learned how to talk, it can be said he was made in the image of God. Most people think that God looks like us physically, hut this is not stfftat is meant “by the image of God.” God is finite, all-knowing, eternal a spmt. full of justice and troth It is man’s mind that has developed into the image of God. and because of it we have crossed the boundaries of ignorance. Our scientific minds are exploring nuclr»r physics through a search for troth. It is a far cry from the Cere zoic period to 1954, but man has made the journey! Just For Fun BY MARCUS a BOILWARE FINIS. FINIS! Last Tuesday. Dee. 18, from 6:30 P.M. to. £3O P.M., I at tended the last meeting of my class in Psychology 515, taken at Florida State University, in Tallahassee. This also con cludes the 40 hours I needed to add to the credits I already have to qualify for the advanc ed certificate in speech path ology. issued by the American Speech and Hearing Associa tion with headquarters in Washington, D. C. This means that I am qualified to practice speech correction without sup ervision. Hence, if I wanted to do so. I could do private practice in re habilitating persons who stut ter. who have voice problems, mlaartlculatlons. hypemasallty, cleft-plate speech, cerebral palsied speech, delayed lang uage of children, and so on. (What a feeling of relief?) HE MUST ADVERTISE This story comes from VUla ca, Portugal. For the fourth time in three weeks a baby was born In the taxi driven by Ar- ONLY IN AMERICA BY HARKY GOLDEN MERRY CHRISTMAS Newpaper columnist love e lectlons and Christmas. They lore these two American phe nomena for selfish reasons. E lectlons and Christmas are something to write about. Each election and each Christmas is different. Christmas Is the most ap pealing of all holidays. It Is a holiday of magic. A fat man In a red suit with a white beard and bag of toys squeezes down the chimney and millions of young Americans believe this Implicitly. And perhaps these millions are right: Not too many adults or logicians are at pains to dis suade them from their treasur ed beliefs. Certainly not news paper columnist. the most popular editorial ever written In America concluded with the observation. "Yes. Vir ginia, there Is a Santa. Claus." The old editor wrote an edito rial In answer to a letter from a little girl. His response has ....— a - - —• shall cede the editorial is not living literature, but then the editor or columnist who is In terested In composing living literature Is in the wrong busi ness. A newspaperman Is interest ed in that which Is appropriate and "Yes, Virginia, there Is a Letter To The Editor GOVERNOR SANFORD . . . "THE NEW SOUTH” TO THE EDITOR: Oovernor Terry Sanford, the Governor of North Carolina, wrote an article In the Decem ber 15. 1964. edition of “Look” magazine, which Is entitled, "The New South.” It Is well that everyone read this article but, when he reads It. he should be aware that there Is far more Implied than that which meets the eye or Is spelled In words. Though, I may hastily request of you to give thanks to a man w ho has gone a long ways down the road with the Negro The Oovernor should be honored for the distance he has gone to help to correct Injustice in North Carolina which was a part of a philosophy bast'd on rac\ The Oovernor should be given cred it for a very real and energetic part In the creation of an Im age he called, "The New South " Surely, the Negro has advanced markedly under the Sanford Administration In many areas it took real courage to move Oovernor Sanford did However. I feel that out of the effort of the-Oovernor to be sincere and honest, in his writ ing. he still does not have a full grasp In understanding of the Negro problem I have been led to feel that many White men feel that In order to be heard by their fellowmen. It is necessary to condemn extrem ism with the Negro sharing an equal part in the condemnation. Wherever there Is wrong com mitted by the Negro, the Negro should be the first to condemn It and should take action to correct It. But. the term EX TREMISM has taken on con notations that are as dangerous as the mearfing of the word it self. The term is often used to undermine the Negro leader ship and to destroy its effect- Penes* Anyone who seeks to change the status quo will be classified as an extremist. A good point in illustration is the situation surrounding Phil adelphia. Mississippi today Ac cording to reports from news papers and newscasts, the state was planning to Indict the per petrators of the atracity on murder charges but because the Reverend Mr. Martin Luther King went in to talk with Mr. J Edgar Hoover, the state de cided to hold off How ridicu lous Is this’ However, it has its meaning It is aimed at destroy ing honorable lrod-rship and subp'anttng It with hand-pick ed lenders who will be subservi ent In pnnciole. obeisance tn conduct and the automaton in action. Tilts is not what the Oovenpr m-ant Wo have high er respect so- the Oovernor than to fee! that this is whit he meant, bu* these are the salient remiftcatione drawn from the article I do not know any Negro organization o,f hon or. and leader of tntecrttv and dignity or any organization which has sookrn out against Injustice tn behalf or the Ne gro. that has not been lab'r<l as extremist, communis' of some c.her epithet calculat-d to hin der, to slow- down cw to destroy. All of my life I hare hexed 'fie NAACP classified as an r\- tremlsf. Are throe leadens ex tremist- 01 does the truth rest In the fact they have disturbs! the status quo? Anyone who minds do Rosario Parreira. THIS IS NOT A JOKE In London, England, recently doctors reported that they found In a man’s throat the false teeth he missed four yean ago. Pensioner Pat Multoy. 74, of Glasgow, Scotland, said he nev er imagined a “slight pain” in his throat was caused by the bottom half of his lost dentures. (This msn must certainly have been naive.) IN THE DOG HOUSE There Is a man in Conners ville. Indiana, who is bound to be in the dog house. Perhaps he is too honest for hie own good. Tetrick was shopping recent ly when he spotted a wad of money on the floor. A woman customer stood nearby. Tetrick handed the money to the wom an. Just after the woman had left the grocery store with the money, the man’s wife told him, "I’ve Just lost 845." (Man, If ha knows what is good for him, hell keep his mouth shut) Santa Claus" Is nothing if not appropriate. The great power of Christ mas Is that It Is the season which calls forth the approp priate attitudes, values, and senUments of our ethical his tory. We are a society blessed with abundance and material weal th and during Christmastime we buy things. We buy things and go on a spending spree be cause that'ls an expression of our national character. We have parties and dispense gifts despite the warning from the somber that we. ought to be, more somber about Christmas. I have always wondered why thaegiving and receiving of pre sents and the Joy of a party substract theology from Christ mas but there folks who Inap propriately think It does. From Thanksgiving Day on. Americans make a collective admission that there Is a part of their national personality that is not strictly competitive. ciuded around Christmas and not many folks get fired, save the temporary postmen who leave their Jobs on Dec. 28. We all get a’ong with ourselves which is the form of all true religions and that Js the ap propriate way to live. It Is in deed. And so, Merry Christmas! stands for right and so pursues his course with dignity will be so classified. To illusrate a point, the Oov ernor gave the following: The experience of one of our cities provides ah excellent ex ample of what I mean. Last year, the city’s council voted to integrate the community poo!s. Tlve council was promptly oust by an anti-lntegrfited vote. Ra ther than continuing their pres sure for integration of the pools, the city’s Negroes push instead on less emotion-charg ed fronts. Soon the ney city council had Integrated all ac commodations and widely broadened Negro employment opportunities. In time, the council will again consider the question of the pools. This Is not only inaccurate but it Is a dangerous statement. The city In question wou’d have to be Statesville, since It Is the only city In the state that had a recall eleclon last year. The present city "council has not In tegrated one thing. Integration took place under the council that was ousted, and progress toward employment was well on the way before the present council came to power. We feel that • the Oovernor was poorly or wrongfully advised here but it is dangerous to the Negro, because It Is intended to set Statesville up as ideal without giving the commitment requir ed of the Statesville Negroes for the supposedly quid pro quo. Is the Oovernor advocating that the Negro should humiliate himself to the point repuested of him in Statesville? No, the Oovernor was not properly ad vised. We must be aware of clever minds who are out to have Ne groes in other cities to fall Into the same pitfall as we fell vic tims. In yielding to this type of inducement, the history of the Negro's fight for three hundred years becomes useless past time, and Negro leadership be comes the shamble of mockery. The Negro must always be will ing and ready to negotiate and constantly extend the spirt' of brotherhood but never willing to surrender his honor and dig nity.' WILSON W LEE. Statesville, N C. In This ' Our Oar BY C A CHIC K. »K. THE LASTING SHARE Among the many Christmas greetings this writer received the wording on one he wishes to share with his many read ers: "We live suc'i protected, secluded and com.ortabie lives, surrounded by peace-loving folks, that It.is not difficult to fee: the spirit of Christmas and it is so easy to become Indif ferent to the cries of multitud es of people, our fe!!owmen in our country and around the world who know nothing from day to day but hunger and want, whose lives are controll ed by tensions and fears." Peace and goodwill among turn, are but hollow and meaningless words to them. It is our prayer that we who live in such luxury where only faint rumblings of war and na- HowLongSuch Defiance, Mr. President? B*l wr r* l lv| m ALTAR CALL BY EMORY a DAVIS, DJ). (For Negro Prom International) “ABSENTEE RELIGION” The deep hnsttMtv toward American wroi»*~v which Negroes Irate been made to leel .. . how to deal with the problems of ghetto areas . . . the over-arching problem of poverty as It affects mi nority groups and the need for an ever deepening and maturing Insight about the meaning of the racial struggle In this oountry, are matters of grave oonoem confronting this Nation’s top re ligious leaders. Plans for dealing with these major problems and concerns were verbalised recently when church leaders gathered In Des Moines, lowa for the General Board meeting of the National Coun cil of Churches. Evident In the discussions and postures taken by this body made up of represen tatives from 31 church denominations, is the fact that there Is an awakening on the part of leaden to the task and mission of the church. The pro nouncement of the NC Cs president. Bishop Reu ben H. Mueller of Indianapolis, Ind.. that “a living faith In God must manifest Itself In human In terrelationships” supports the belief on his part as well as that of other NCC leaden, that the social problems of the day ARE “religion's business.” Thrilling reports of the NOC's Commission on Religion and Race of work done in Mississippi. Rochester. N. Y.. Philadelphia, and Harlem, and in the 1964 political conventions, bore witness to the fact that most of the religious forces of this Naion are showing realistic concern for the plight of America's (Unenfranchised millions of the darker hue. There are opponents to this aggressive attack upon discrimination being given vigorous leader ship by the National Council. The bigots, segre gationists, do gooders and ultra-conservatives who say the preacher belongs behind the pulpit and not in demonstrations, and the church should deal only with spiritual matters, have tried to la- NEWS AND VIEWS BY i. K HARKEN HALIFAX REQUESTS Congrats to the Halifax Coun ty Voters' Movement which group asked the Halifax County Board of Commissioners, at the December meeting, to lift segre gation in ten important areas, including equal job opportuni ties in all public facilities, along w ith equal access to rest homes, jails, alterartion of the Jury-se lection system and freedom from Ku Klux Klan harassment. (Meanwhile. Sheriff Harry A. House branded as "gross exag geration" the reports made by the HCVM that Ku Klux Klan activity was rampant In the ounty. particularly in the En field area, where Mrs. Willa Co field Johnson has a civil action pending against the Halifax school officials because of her discharge from the Inborden school staff following her parti cipation in Civil Rights activities in 19631 The Halifax Commissioners listened at the reading of HCVM requests and promised only that they would be “recorded In the minutes" and the HCVM “noti fied" if an when any action was tvken upon them. Let us hope the Halifax citizens will keep.. working Let us hope that other Eastern Tarhelha communities will start moving, too. SAVE SMALL FARM: CHILDREN ROCKY MOUNT We hope tional and racial tensions reach our ears may be stabbed wide awake and Jarred out of our le tbaragy and ease until we can only ce efarate Christmas tn Joy and full satisfaction when we have done all within our power to hasten the coming of peace. Justice and goodwill for All men regard lose of race, creed, or na- Uonjuity: until we shall have shared In depth the agony and heartbreak of our brother* searching for fieedum and un derstanding. “God loved the world ao much that ba gave his only San that zveryana T « believes tn bel the NCC as a communist-harboring organi sation. A few southern white congregations have V. ItllitllC.l fll.U.c’u., atippui, llyjlu till) NlAi. But, such leaders as Eugene Carson Blake and Bishop James Pike, outspoken In their commit ment to the task at eradicating every vestige of discrimination in both the Church and national life, these accusations become more ammunition for the NCC’s assault on segregation. Working with local churches and local groups concerned with the social, economic and political Issues affecting Negro life in urban areas will be one of the major activities of the NCC In months to come. To be effective, this program will need the cooperation and support of the Negro church and its constltutents as well as the white church and their'* The preplexing question that comes to mind Is; What kind of cooperation and support will the Negro church give? Negro church leader* have been glaringly eon spiclous by their absence at such Important gath erings as this Des Moines meeting. Are they prac ticing an “absentee religion?” Behold, another Altar appears. The ALTAR OF COOPERATION AND SUPPORT for those agen cies that are working day and night to Involve more people In the cause of improving race re lations and eradicating racial discrimination. There are not enough Negro churches and Negro church members Involving themselves, Joining forces with those who are up and doing. There are many who should recall the admonition of the Bi blical prophet—“is It nothing to you. all you who pass by.” The average church-goer does not seem to pos sess “a broadened perspective and a sense of ma turity.” ao states the conclusion of the NCC’s Re ligion and Race Commission report. How well this apralsal fits Mr. and Mrs. Negro Churchmember- - an Absentee at the Altar of Cooperation and Sup port. everyone read News and Ob server form editor Bill Humph ries’ Dee. 18 story quoting R. M. Brooks as declaring for the val ue and necessity of BAVTNG the SMALL FARMS from being abandoned, liquidated, and be coming swallowed up by the monoply of big farming and expensive consolidations, busi ness and Industry. Brooks explains, for the ben efit of the young, that farming hke never been an easy task, but certainly a very enjoyable and rewarding one. This, the writer can attest, to even though my Dad and I lost our farm when I was nine years old and never, again, enjoyed the benefits thereof. Certainly, when small farm ers—even tenants and share croppers—ls they would but forego the tempatlon to “take up" ao much more than they need in food and foolishness during the spring and summer seasons, would reap much greater PROFITS from their labors and would not end the year Just “breaking even” and mourning because they have nothing to show for their year's work come Christmas. Then they move on to another land lord. blaming the previous one —many times without Justifi cation—for their lack o t money to buy clothes. We were talking yesterday with a farm housewife who had ten children and had lived in town and mostly on the farm. Him Miould not be last but should have eternal life." iPhillips). This la the true meaning of > Christmas which we share with you at this sea son of the year.” When this columnist was a lad. a popular slogan In hia community at this season of the year was: “Christmas comes only onoe per year. Eve rybody wants hie share." Os coume the word “share" bad reference to material thing* It. thus, had no reference to the real totrttual meaning Os Christmas. And. aa a matter of fact. It might well be queation- She had the good sense to have learned that the farm was the BEST place for poor people with rural backgrounds to work and rear their children and school them. First, all the fam ily could learn the value of working at honest pursuits, and working cooperatively with the assets of healthful living where they could raise plenty of a va riety of vegetables and meat products. This they could not do In town, where only the par ents and older children might get employment while the oth ers would be roaming the street, probably getting into mischief. Brooks hit the keynote when he warned Tobacco land, ÜBA to “ . . . Raise as much food at home as possible and diversify your farming so as to not be solely deendenpt on any crop ” Brooks said that formula help s? W for and maintain his 93-acre farm he started with shortly after beginning his farming operations on rented land In 1919 Humphries says Tarheel farmers, during recent years have toent as much for food supplies as their tobacco crops have brought in. thus pointing up the need for all-ALL fami- S ers - to raise foodstuffs, meat for home consump tion. Then, and ONLY THEN T** l . 11 really be a MERRY CHRISTMAS and MONEY IN JTTCBANK for MR. SMALL able as to whether or not the world—the Christian world has really learned the deep spiritual significance of Christ mas—the Birthday of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. This ariter wishes his many reader* a Merry Christinas and a Happy New Year. And. more over. he U making an urgent appeal to them to “want their share " at this season of the year —not of material things onjr but more important and last tng share—namely, the spirit of Him Who came that ail of us to*? have a more abundant life!