Benevolence in Boston

...It was pointed out, for instance, that vocational discriminations on the basis of religious creed are common in Boston...

...The point was made, under a different heading, by an eminent and eloquent Boston priest, who argued that the basic divergences should be accepted as primal facts...

...President Lowell gave a remarkably fine address, in which a veteran student of public opinion offered a diagnosis of human nature...

...One felt, however, that such conferences as this are designed for statements regarding grievances rather than for the resolution of differences...

...Can we not trust its safety on the two great resting-places of God's wisdom...

...One exceedingly well qualified spokesman for the Catholic position-the Reverend Michael J. Ahern, S.J.-tried rather to rest the case for tolerance upon a reasoned defense of the pseudo-Pauline sentence, "unity in necessary things, liberty in matters that are dubious, and charity always...

...It will be difficult to effect and propagate this recognition...

...In the next place, we are convinced that the desire- manifested at the Boston conference and elsewhere- for reading lists is genuine...

...That depends largely, it seems to us, upon widespread recognition of the fact that religion is the cure rather than the cause of many prevalent hatreds...

...More than one shrewdly philosophic Bostonian commented upon this aspect of intolerance and upon the folly of attributing it to a religious motive...

...It was a genuinely civic endeavor, of which the proponents may be proud and for which they deserve gratitude...

...Why does not some gentleman of means, interested in this essential matter, provide a fund to subsidize research of this character...

...The modern approach to all such problems is genetic-that is, it pays as much attention to diagnosis as to treatment...

...This last truth was pretty well kept sight of in Boston...

...We are interested in them all, and we feel that when the Catholic position is upheld with the ability and courtesy which prevailed in Boston, it redounds greatly to the credit of the Church...

...But though there is some value in an enthusiastic zeal for benevolence, it does not seem to us (nor, probably, to the majority of those who attended the conference) intellectually hard enough to cut well against the world's grain...

...A very able Jewish rabbi seemed eager to hold that analysis of our beliefs must ultimately make "what is held in common" vastly more important than the dividing lines...

...Such practical helps are of immense value and will be increasingly sought after...

...We apply courtesy or liberality to a situation which needs investigation and probing before any kind of antiseptic will do much good...

...In both fields there was enough variety to show forth the depth and complexity of the problem...

...Certainly it will never be attained at conferences, which do not even lend themselves well to apologetic speaking...

...Religious misrepresentations, vocational unfairness and community cooperation were all frankly discussed...

...If animosities which bear upon religion can so frequently be attributed to social or racial factors, why should we not study these more carefully...

...Indeed it seemed as if (though Boston may be, from this point of view, a somewhat exceptional community) the legitimacy of differences in the world of religion was attributed to conscience rather than temper...

...Sometimes, of course, they are rooted in an irrationality suggestive of the old couplet which confesses to misliking Dr...

...There are a number of such books, and others will doubtless appear...

...Is hostility necessary to the life of an institution...

...We walk the bridge of life," he said...

...Church union depends upon agreement regarding vital religious teachings, and this cannot be reached through any form of adult education known to us...

...But though there was this tendency to make distinctions and to reserve the word "religious" for matters with which it can properly be associated, many vital differences of belief were openly presented and discussed...

...Rabbi Landman, editor of the American Hebrew, saw the causes of prevalent fears of "organized Judaism" in the circumstance that sudden and enforced migration to the United States compelled millions of Jews to huddle in large cities, where their lack of familiarity with the nation's speech and customs stamped them as aliens...

...and the results may, therefore, be considered typical of what the method affords...

...But the literature is at present either not well known or wanting...

...Or why cannot a chair devoted to the religious implications of sociology be established in universities under Catholic, Protestant and Jewish auspices...

...Just now our attitude toward bigotry may not unfairly be compared with the conviction that some old mother's remedy will cure all ills...

...It is likely enough that more cannot be hoped for from a meeting of this kind...

...To leave in the Divine hands all final judgment of how any man has walked the route of the soul's quest is certainly the first needful thing in every endeavor to promote friendly understanding between disparate religious groups in America...

...There are just one or two suggestions we wish to offer, in the belief that participation in this and similar conferences has taught us something...

...he asked, reflecting on the evidence which seemingly leads to an affirmative reply and on the hope that the future may nevertheless attain to a transcendent denial...

...The Cal-vert Round Table, which acted as host, planned very carefully for the event and brought together a large and really distinguished assemblage...

...Why should not some qualified person be given the task of acting as bibliographer, and supplied with sufficient funds to answer inquiries by mail or in person...

...But peace between the churches...

...second, peace between the churches is practicable and warmly desired by virtually all intelligent people...

...He concluded with a memorable phrase: "We do not want an international good-will which is based on indifference to the welfare of one's own country...

...Meanwhile we add our very deep appreciation of the work done by the Calvert Round Table of Boston...

...To some it will also be a reminder of Brooks's willingness to respect decisions which the consciences of others had reached...

...Quite naturally the emphasis was divided between the key-note addresses and public discussions...

...In almost every case, one could note an evident readiness to feel that the sources of prejudice were historically associated with racial, economic or social conflicts...

...It was admitted that, in New England, racial groups long ostracized from political influence had sometimes abused this when the tables had been turned...

...There are at least a dozen aspects of American life which ought to be studied from this viewpoint: fear of the Papacy, prohibition, the Church in politics, education...

...Some Catholic and Protestant speakers consciously introduced the apologetic note...

...And a new stage in that endeavor may be said to have been marked by the recent conference, at Harvard College, of Catholic, Protestant and Jewish citizens...

...Fell, though-"The reason why I cannot tell...

...There was, of course, some speaking in a more romantic key...

...The Calvert Round Table announced its intention of holding other meetings and of lending aid to other communities interested in the plan...

...Religion thus becomes, through its dual insistence upon the inviolability of fundamental truth and upon the primacy of charity, the mightiest astringent of hates which are often, erroneously, attributed to it...

...And the obvious corollary was that, in religion, mankind can welcome no tolerance which rests upon readiness to abrogate the rights of each one's own spiritual communion...

...As we sat and listened, two conclusions forced themselves upon us: first, church union (excepting where it means unification of allied Protestant groups) is at present an impossible dream...

...Then there are affiliated types of intellectual and social cooperation which serve the same purpose more indirectly...

...But the explanations offered were business or professional expediency rather than doctrine...

...One feels that the conference idea is one way out, and that it is bound to increase in popularity...

...Most of those who spoke about community cooperation likewise held that much more depends upon the qualities and prejudices of the individual than upon the qualities and prejudices of the group...

...Indeed, the conference discussions strongly tended toward acceptance of this view...

...BENEVOLENCE IN BOSTON THE statue of Phillips Brooks, which stands in the I very heart of Boston, must recall to many passers-by the sincerity with which New England has pursued its various spiritual quests...

...People need and want literature which is intelligently expository, which bears in mind the requirements of the group, and which is not primarily apologetic...

...and there was not a little good exposition of teaching on such subjects as miracles, education and social-mindedness...

...The Boston conference was certainly headed this way, and the spectacle was interesting and promising...