THE PEOPLE'S FORUM
Withdraw from Vietnam Dear Sirs: It seems at this moment as if our beloved country were bent upon suicide and upon tearing down in its self-destruction the whole fabric of that human...
...Secondly, I can agree with Mayer that God is not dead but, unlike him, I define God as the spirit of love which is in, and a part of, every man—and is obviously greater than man since man does not fully manifest this spirit...
...The "God language" is a problem insofar as it tends to confound and confuse rather than to clarify and enlighten...
...Christ did manifest this spirit to a remarkable degree...
...It is now available through the Newark Community Union Project, 444 Clinton Avenue, Newark, New Jersey 07108...
...I do not imagine that the President has stock in a munitions company, and plans personal gain from such an adventure...
...Here we are in the beginning of World War III because of the unsolved murder of President Kennedy and the "liberal" (compromise) magazines are looking the other way and saying nothing...
...GILL Kansas City, Missouri 'Troublemakers' Dear Sirs: Current interest in problems of the urban poor and in community organizing is high...
...They are forced to stand by helplessly, watching their hopes for the meeting of long-neglected public needs dissolve into unfulfilled promises, their nation's substance being wasted, and their sons and brothers being maimed or killed in a brutal war in the making of which they had no part...
...This film, Troublemakers, was selected for showing at film festivals in San Francisco, London, and East Germany, and at the Fourth New York Film Festival at Lincoln Center...
...Their camera became a familiar part of the scene, allowing them to take extraordinarily candid footage...
...The temple where God resides is man, and that is where man must return to—not to a granite or marble edifice, not to his gadgets and technology, but to man...
...Does this seem too wild an indictment...
...A laudable undertaking—and one which is carried off with much satirical wit and cleverness...
...a few times there were not enough for even that, and no meeting could be held...
...Starting now, I intend to be at every meeting...
...But if the choice is between withdrawal and the ruthless pursuit of total victory, then the time has come to face the issue...
...One reason for this loss has been the uninterested attitude of the average local member and the inability of many people to express themselves in an interesting fashion...
...Wechsler admits that organized labor still does some good things...
...God, the spirit of love, is ever-present and ever-on-call...
...I agree with the statement that the anthropomorphic God, created by man, is dead...
...JAMES Ff...
...For I am a union member and have felt that unions and their members were losing their fire and spark...
...The essentially decent and sensible American people do not share this madness, but feel powerless to arrest it...
...The qualifiers "Red" and "Communist" contribute little to clarity...
...HUBERT HERNDON Lakeview, Oregon Labor's Decline Dear Sirs: James A. Wechsler's "Labor in Retreat," in the January issue of The Progressive, struck a responsive chord in my mind...
...Nor will these consequences necessarily injure our national interest, if that interest is truly ap praised...
...Who really believes that Taiwan is China...
...To be sure, voices are being raised to demand an end to this all-devouring conflict, but increasingly these are the voices of men who know of no other way to end it than by doubling and redoubling the stakes in a gamble for total victory through total annihilation...
...Had the article been comprised of only this, the message would have remained relatively the same and would have had a much greater impact, being free from the burden of the author's more prosaic pronouncements...
...I am not certain that I understand Mayer when he, in speaking of the "'God language" problem raised by the atheist theologians, remarks that this is not really the problem, the problem being "to know the world's theological meaning when people sense not the presence, but the absence of God...
...In a broader sense, there is little evidence that our government has recognized the arrogance and the folly of seeking to impose a Pax Americana upon a world which does not want and will not accept it...
...JAMES P. WARBURG Deerfield Beach, Florida Labor Apathy Dear Sirs: The laments of intellectuals such as James Wechsler (in the January issue), Sidney Lens, and others, to the effect that the labor movement has lost its idealism, prompt me to ask: Why expect any successful institution, such as organized labor has become, to continue to be an idealistic movement...
...For several years I attended meetings at which there were barely enough members to make up a quorum...
...I'm not sure...
...I have considerable hope that, in spite of the weaknesses of middle or old age, it may continue to do a good many more...
...Mr...
...That aim has been so nearly reached that it is no wonder emphasis has shifted from making new gains to protecting those already made...
...Having obtained it, how to enjoy the new standard of living became the dominant interest, and idealism became secondary, or less...
...If we wish to continue to promote ideals, I am afraid we will have to have new movements, or resort to the less spectacular method of using our influence as individuals, or as small groups, to keep our larger organizations as progressive as we can...
...I accuse him of not having any basic interest in Vietnam, and of being truthful only when he says that he has no designs on the government of North Vietnam...
...This will not do...
...Withdraw from Vietnam Dear Sirs: It seems at this moment as if our beloved country were bent upon suicide and upon tearing down in its self-destruction the whole fabric of that human civilization to which it has contributed so much in the past...
...But, is man's salvation to be found in paying homage to the "hidden God," the Old Testament Jehovah, the One who can scare "the lights and livers out of us," as Mayer implies...
...JACOB BRINDLE Old Westbury, New York Man's Salvation Dear Sirs: In "Christ the Orphan" in the January issue, Milton Mayer calls to account the trinity of modern man, the society that he has created, and the theologians who have tried to make their preaching correspond to modern practice...
...But, I would go further and say that the "hidden God," the mysterious God, like the anthropomorphic God, is an artificial creation and should likewise be consigned to oblivion, or buried...
...ELDON KELLEY Madison, Wisconsin Looking the Other Way Dear Sirs: I subscribe to The Progressive because I find it both good and interesting, but I cannot routinely support it like a chanty...
...He views China much as Forrestal viewed the U.S.S.R., in the late 1940's, with perhaps a bit less paranoia, as the greatest danger in American history, which must be destroyed before it becomes powerful enough to destroy the United States...
...DORIS W. KARLSSON Copenhagen, Denmark...
...Until now this deeply concerned citizen has not favored an outright withdrawal from a commitment unwisely entered into and stretched far beyond the intentions of those who originally made it...
...When idealism leads to appropriate action, it is usually because the achievement of the ideals is for the benefit of those acting...
...I think one could say the original aim of the labor movement was to achieve for working people a position of equality in our supposedly classless society...
...It would not do openly to attack China, however, and the United States is slowly escalating the war in Vietnam in the hope that this will lead, as in Korea, to an overt move by China, which could be answered by an all-out attack...
...Thus locals are, effectively, controlled by a minority of their members, not because any one wants it that way, but because the people will not or cannot exercise their franchise...
...It is admittedly not easy for a proud nation to admit a serious mistake in judgment...
...The faintest hint of Communist participation there led to all-out American intervention...
...I am all for promoting the greatest good for the greatest number, all over the world, but we ought to know better by now than to expect organizations that have reached their initial goals, to continue to be crusading movements...
...What is "the world's theological meaning...
...or, if he is not, he should be...
...If this spirit is absent, then it is because of man's choice to ignore or to forget to put this spirit into practice, not because it is not there or does not exist...
...In these circumstances, true patriotism must demand withdrawal from Vietnam, whatever the consequences...
...I hope that The Progressive will take a hint from Ramparts, so that it will again be exciting, educational, growing—and self-supporting...
...I accuse him of having the objective of escalating the Vietnam war to the point where China will become involved, and having as the real objective the destruction of the Communist government of China...
...BERNARD E. SCOVILLE El Centro, California Denmark to Istanbul Dear Sirs: Many professional and popular magazines and journals enter our home, and the two most welcome are The Progressive and The Nation...
...Your readers may wish to know that a feature length film about a vital community organizing project, the Newark Community Union Project, has been produced by Norman Fruchter and Bob Machover...
...They are afraid honestly to discuss the latest issues...
...And throughout history men and nations that have ruthlessly sought total victory by force of arms have ended by being themselves destroyed...
...I think they have a psychological block against so doing...
...Keep up the good work...
...The filmmakers spent more than a year in the Newark ghetto...
...I feel that if a magazine is interesting enough it will be able to support itself...
...First of all, Christ is not an orphan (maybe a bastard, but not an orphan) for I do not believe in his divine paternity...
...but throughout history great men and great nations have admitted error and become the greater for having done so...
...Martin Buber in his / and Thou has pointed the way, as has the life of Christ...
...I can agree with Mayer that the sanctuary has become a sanctimony for six per cent of the world's population who have fifty-one per cent of the world income, but what does he offer to do about it—return to the temple of the "hidden God...
...Man isn't that much of a crusading creature...
...At a time when war with China remains an avoidable possibility, can't we be rational and objective enough about China to call it by its name...
...The New York Times has rendered a great service by exposing upon unimpeachable evidence the cynical brutality and the futility of seeking to bomb North Vietnam into submission, but there is little evidence that its advice to halt this effort will be heeded...
...The film was produced on a grant from the National Council of Churches and is an excellent vehicle for spreading information and discussion about the community organizing movement...
...His motives are completely patriotic, I'm sure...
...I am sufficiently put off by your use of the stupid, hackneyed phrases, "Red China" and "Communist China," that if I see them again in your magazine, I shall cancel my subscription...
...For the past few years I have been among this mass...
...It seems as though civilized society should have enough experience by now to know that the natural development of any movement, if successful, is to become institutionalized and more or less conservative...
...For me, it is impossible for God to be dead and impossible to be an atheist...
...As for prestige, our withdrawal will not be seen as a confession of defeat, but rather as the recognition of a serious error in judgment—an error for which no one leader and no one political party can be held responsible...
...It has been described as "the best film of the new American Left, a hardhitting example of a new kind of political film, avoiding both liberal cliches and propaganda...
...RICHARD M. DUDLEY Cambridge, Massachusetts Johnson's True Objectives Dear Sir: I accuse, in all seriousness, President Johnson of complete misdirection in his public statements...
...The litany which closes the article is very clever and properly points up man's (especially American man's) pretensions and presumptions...
...I feel that The Progressive and many other magazines have only themselves to blame for poor circulation...
...I think not, for a variety of reasons...
...We send our copies of these to friends in a small international community outside of Istanbul...
...Thus the ideal of decent pay for honest labor was promoted mostly by organizations of laborers who wanted decent pay...
...for, if that is indeed to be our choice, it is a choice between sanity and madness...
...Perhaps that the world is God's creation, and that we are his people who have to live by his laws and covenants or suffer the consequences...
...I reply, look at the Dominican affair...
...They produced an exciting, honest, and accurate film...
...NANCY MANN Newark, New Jersey China's Name Dear Sirs: Isn't it about time to start calling China "China...
Vol. 31 • March 1967 • No. 3
