Never For Set That These Editorials Are The Opinions Of One Man,
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And He May Be Wrong.
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Would Christ Recognize His Religion ?
Several events of the recent past nave
combined to cause us to wonder: Would
Christ Recognize His Religion if he re
turned to the earth today?
Perhaps the simple philosophies and
eternal truths of Jesus are not lost in
the maze of fonular theocracy that has
been built up over the past 1954 years,
and perhaps, we are not the proper
fridge to sit in criticism of Christianity
as it is taught, or even as it is practiced
today.
The recent world-wide meeting in Il
linois in which all of the Protestant
faiths were represented caused me to
wonder if Jesus would be admitted, on
if Jesus would care to be admitted to
such a ponderous display of paganism.
Firstly, how religious—in the profund
sense—can any gathering be when other
faiths within the church, or in other
churches are not a welcome party to the
search for world peace in both the mil
itary and philosophical senses?
Another straw in the religious winds
came when we read an irate letter to the
editor in a large daily paper which lit
erally screamed because the United Na
tions General Assembly was opened one
day with prayer by a Hindu.
How can we, of the so-called Christ
ian World, hope to find any kind of
peace—at any level—so long as we ar
‘, rogantly deny to other men of other
I faiths our profoundest respect?
This writer makes no elaborate pre
tense of “goodness” and makes no pious
recantations of “badness" which puts
him in about that category where the
average man is found. But try as we may
we cannot find the spark so vital tq
faith beneath the rich, sometimes awe-*
some veneers with which religion in our
time seems to toe covered.
(It may very well be the rankest here
sy to say that we believe that the only
man of the 20th Century of great sta
ture who has lived the Chitst-like life
was not a Christian in the formal ap
plication of that loosest of adjectives.
Ohandi was a Hindu by birth, but the
fine-lined trappings, and petty bigotries
of his own faith could not contain so
great a spirit as he possessed. And just
so, no other faith beyond TRUTH could
could capture his imagination and com
mand his : espect. He believed in the
teachings of Christ but abhorred the
religion that was named for Christ. In
short Ghandi respected all men and all
principles that were true to themselves,
and Ghandi, like a vast 'majority if the
world today, rejected that which was
empty of truth and fundamental decen
cy.
The so-called Chris’tian World Is In a
terrific tug-or-w&r between the Protes
tant and the Roman Catholic and both
these segments combine in a more ter
rible tug-of-war with all the non-Christ
ian people of the world.
Our study of And beliefs about Christ
cause us to wonder if Christ would re
cognize the religion founded in (his name?
...
The Pathway To Socialism
One extuemely difficult position the
merican System now finds itself in is
fat of actual “Free Enterprise”, to have
r not to have seems to be the question
This paper represents a kind of “Free
is not long fat this ws
it and fdong with it the
out the “Selling Out” signs, and as much
as wp hate to see it, ..i»e still wonder how
they managed to hold out for as long as
they did. ,
Several doors down the street is lo
cated the Ifinston Branch of Sears, the
world’s largest retall seDers of lost about
anything one could possibly want, except
■ '..... - ■ '^1 ol ■ l
We, again this year, are clad to see
that the Lord has called the usual convey
of tent preacher* to the Kinston vicinity
to save the sinners while they have a
little tobacco money In their pockets.
It Is so much easier to “sin” with a poc
ketfull of money and these fellows do
perform a great Christian service by tak
ing that money out of the hands of the
week and putting It into the pockets of
the strong.
The Raleigh News and Observer with
its usual keen interest in the downtrodd
en has smeared everybody In sight that
{had even the remotest possible connect
ion with the death of a beserk woman
prisoner some weeks back
Which causes us to ponder on a most
academic point: Who killed the most
peasants? Ivan, The Terrible, who had
nO Intent but to subjugate, them, or
Marx and Lenin who sought their free
dom? 1
Does such sympathetic nausea as this
exhibited by the Raleigh paper help or
hinder those who sincerely and Intelli
gently want to improve our social order?
Therein lies food fo:« much debate and
we merely state the question; you may
reach your own conclusion.
past.
And monopoly in one form breeds mon
opoly in another. In England, when the
monotopies got so big the people marched
to the polls and made state monopolies
of the lot. The nasty word for that is
“Socialism”
Socialism, is the result of monopoly,
not the cause. And because this paper
believes in the “Free Enterprize” system
and hates the idea of socialistic state
monopoly, oi' plutocratic private mon
opoly we regret this crossroads which we
now face. „
All of our anti-trust legislation was
aimed at this situation we find our
selves in today, and if this legislation
had been enforced we would nob now be
faced with such a sorry alternative.
But a great war—two of them in fact,
added to careful manipulations at the
“very highest levels” has now permitted
this war-cneated "Frankenstein” to be
come so huge, so powerful and so ruth
less that th& nation faces state socialism
or the equal evil of being prostrate be
fo e the private monopolies.
In the automobile industry one mer
ger after another has tried to fight the
battle against hugeness hut it has been
a losing battle. In the steel industry mer
ger is now the language of the day and
so it goes in one key industry ater an
othen
Th«n one cold day we’ll wind up with
one of each industry in this country
and then well have to live with the evils
of fascism or fight to attain the equally
despised ends of socialism.
—
JONES JOURNAL
JACK RIDER, Publisher
Published Every Thursday by The Lenoir
County News Company, Inc., 408 West
Vernon, Are., Kinston, N. C.; Phone MIS.
Entered as Second Class Matter May 5,
1949, at the Post Office at Trenton,
PelMltvta
I’ve been pussyfooting around, trying
to be sweet and nice about this business
of getting some sidewalks for the City
of Kinston, or 'for that vast majority of
the town which presently has none. I*ve
tried in every way that I know, except
the real nasty way. I’ve been before the
city council so many times that Mayor
Guy Elliott recognizes me he says, “Yes,
Jack, you want to make your monthly
complaint about sidewalks?”
I’ve been before assorted Parent
Teacher Associations--once even after
earlier In the evening attending a 40
and 0 meeting, and if you know any
thing at all you ought to know that a
fellow fresh from a 40 and 8 meeting has
no business at a PTA gathering. Bat I
had promised to go and 1 did.
The PTA mamas and papas, of which
I am one, voted very unanimously in
favor of what I was asking, whether to
get rid of me o* to get sidewalks, I’m
not quit sure. I’ve taken pictures, run
’em in this paper, I've talked about it on
the radio and griped about it to every
body who’d stand still and listen.
It* has almost become an obsession
with me, but I promise you this it Is a
“Magnificent Obsession”. .And merely
because so far d’ve gotten absolutely no
results is no reason that Im going to
quit hollering and begging; in fact, I’m
goipg to holler a little louder, and a
little more nastily beginning right now.
The very personal affairs in the past
year have made this tiling even more
pressing with me than ever- before, and
I’ve been hollering on the subject for
Lo, These Many Years. The first came
on West Washington Street ofte evening
last winter. Between Hines Avenue and
Terminal Street, in the dip back of
Mallard-Griffin’s place, I was meeting
another car which naturally had its
lights on. Happily, just as 1 got past the
blinding lights of this car I was meeting,
I saw—just in the nick of time—a young
woman pushing a baby carriage. .1 came
literally within inches of hitting them.
She had to push her baby carriage In
Ithe street, you see, there’s not a single
sidewalk connection any part of Pair
field, with its several thousand people
to the rest of Kinston.
To say that it scared me Is quit beside
(the point. I’ve chased too many am
bulances and seen too many pityfully
lorn bodies not to know what happens
when a car travelling even 26 to 85 miles
per hour hits a stationary body.
Then I moved to North Heritage
Street—much closer to the school—just
six blocks from Harvey School, but five
of the six blocks between my house and
the school have no sidewalks. A relig
iously Instructed my daughter, Libby,
to always walk up on the grass. i*ut then
Lo and Behold she came home one day
and told me that a lady had chased her
and several other kids Into the street. I
found out lateri it was Mrs. Tom Hewitt..
To say that I blew, my top Is putting 11/
rather lightly. But my wife, the cooler,
calmer part of this Rider Partnership,
prevailed on me to keep my big mouth
Shut, *and I have until now.
But I presume that M:b. Hewitt, or
ber gardener, will again this year be out
shooing these tiny tote into the narrow
streets with’ its heavy, fast traffic.
And although I’m a sweet-natured coun
try bby, who’d much prefen to get along
nicely with everybody, I’d rather have
Mrs. Hewitt stay mad with me from now