Fraternity-Testvériség, 1961 (39. évfolyam, 1-12. szám)
1961-02-01 / 2. szám
6 FRATERNITY of good and evil, and how this ultimate and absolute distinction applies to human life and human happiness. Without this form of knowledge, moral judgments cannot be made. They are thought of as outmoded, and the sad result is that the dry rot which is never absent from social structures and men’s souls is allowed to spread without arrest from sterilization or surgery. If one asks what stands out most strikingly in the total situation of our world, the answer is not the rise of Communism, or the magnitude of the struggle of opposed ideologies and social systems, or the extent of social revolution, or the incredible tempo of technological advance. The most arresting thing is the all too manifest moral lag, the blunting of ethical sensitivity and high civilized standards, the chronic inability of free men and educated minds to make judgments of good and evil, and to abide by this knowledge regardless of consequences. The most obvious example is the astonishing spectacle which so dominates the stage of contemporary history — the spectacle of the dramatic and furious clash of Communism with Democracy. The moral realities in this situation are self-evident; they are written, indeed emblazoned, so large and clear in experience and facts that he who runs may read. Yet it is on the moral issue of the world struggle that uncoerced men are halting and uncertain, without the power to sound the trumpet notes that could rally people everywhere to the standard of truth and right. The second thing that every young American must know is the ideology of Freedom. This is a compact way of referring to the central tradition of American and Western civilization. It conveys, in addition, something vital and paramount, that in this tradition there is meaning for our nature as human beings and for our lives in the 20th century. We hear much discussion these days of Americanism. We have Know Your America Weeks. We call for larger emphasis on American history, the American economic system, the Constitution and the way our government works. But it is hard to escape the impression that somehow this is not getting over to young Americans. They are willing to study; they want to be patriotic; but the things laid out in the books seem remote from life. Perhaps the key is in the idea of freedom. Once this was a word to conjure with. Men were ready to lay down their lives rather than be slaves. Furthermore, liberty was not thought of merely as absence of restraint but in positive terms. To be free was a right bestowed by the Creator, but this carried with it responsibilities, above all the responsibilitity to live in a truly human way and to will to be moulded in accordance with man’s true end, which is God. Today freedom is a coin whose accepted value has gravely depreciated. In our rich, sensate American society we take it very much for granted, and we accent its negative aspect, the right to do as one pleases and to accumulate as many individual privileges as possible. We face all too seldom the law that spiritual freedom is the foundation and preservation of all other freedoms.
