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Campus "Unrest" demonstrations and consequences, 1970-1971

1971-11-12 American Report: Review of Religion and American Power Page 31

AMERICAN REPORT. 7

N.C.C Division Explores Goals For Education

NEW YORK - An international conference on nonformal education in the developing countries concluded here with a call for exploration of the goals of education, of ways to link formal with nonformal education, and for more explorations of the role of the churches in education. 
The three point proposal was made by the delegates of the Educational commission of the National Council of Churches' Division of Overseas Ministries, the agency that convened the conference. 
While no formal definition of nonformal education was sought, in the minds of delegates it included a variety of programs outside the formal classroom setting; public health literacy, vocational skill development, various kinds of leadership training and the like. Some participants pointed to the tendency of programs for economic development to move into political action as the poor and the oppressed become convinced that changes in their conditions require political change. Others warned against letting the direction of vocational training be determined by the desires of business corporations. 
Such considerations were behind the call for a study of the goals of nonformal education in the developing countries, and especially if such education should be limited to such things as vocational skills or have a broader goal of "liberation" 
As more and more government agencies take over formal education in various countries, the roles of churches that originally established schools becomes more limited. Participants felt, however, that many opportunities were being missed to link the existing institutions engaged in formal education with non formal programs in more effective ways, thereby extending the impact of the churches efforts. It was also suggested that n increase in the effectiveness of church efforts would require a "recycling" of missionaries many of whom were said to be naive about the political implications of their work. 
About 135 persons participated in the conference, including both Catholics and Protestants. These included mission board executives, missionaries on furlough education professors, graduate students from overseas, public health doctors, and officials of secular, non profit organizations. Representatives of the Agency for International Development, the World Bank, and UNESCO also attended 

Religious Leaders Challenge Air Force Academy 

[Cont from p. 1]
Superintendent and the three other officers at the Air Force Academy requesting the mandatory formation of the entire 4,000 member cadet wing, the four religious leaders said 'We feel the religious and moral issues raised by our continuing involvement in the air war in Indochina are at least as important as those issues which are presented at previous mandatory formations."
In addition to the request  for a mandatory formation of the entire cadet wing, CALC has also asked for an afternoon meeting where its representatives would have an opportunity to talk with  the permanent personnel, administrators, and faculty of the academy. 
The mandatory formation program would include three specific presentations with discussion to follow:
1. "The Ethical Questions Raised by Contemporary Warfare" by Harvey Cox;
2. "Refugee problems in Laos" by Fred Branfman who has just recently returned from Laos where he worked for 4 1/2 years, part of that time as a member of the International Voluntary Service;
3. "The Religious Community's Response to American Power" by David Hunter. 
At the time of the original request, Fernandez said "We believe that the Air Force Academy will accept our offer for this kind of theological, ethical, and historical input into the education of cadets at the academy. The question of conscience raised by the air war in Indochina are substantial and this is one of the reasons why we sent our memorandum of request not only to the Superintendent of the Air Force Academy and to the Commandment of Cadets but also to the Command Chaplain and the Director of Chaplain Cadet Activities." their training as future military leaders" 
"We wish to assure you," the reply continued, "that the academy curriculum already insures that the ethical and moral aspects are discussed in detail" 
The Rev. Duane Gall, Denver area staff for CALC responded to the denial by expressing hope that the mandatory formation would still be possible. He and Fernandez were both confident that the denial must have been based upon some misunderstanding of the nature of the request and that further conversations would lead to approval of the proposed program. 
Whatever the outcome of such negotiations, the religious leaders involved have insisted that they fully intend to present their views at the academy. 

Reader's Digest Versus W.C.C.. Round Two 
[Cont. from p.5]
The Digest is rarely critical of U.S. involvement in the Third world or of those governments that cause liberation fronts to come into existence. One could go, nation by nation in relation to the W.C.C. antiracism grants, and, with one possible exception, find no critical articles on the racial and colonialist policies that the grants were to combat. 
The one possible exception in recent months is an article by Carl Rowan on South Africa in the September, 1971 issue, Rowan agrees with most criticisms of South Africa but leaves the reader with the distinct impression that there are many whites in South Africa who hope for dramatic and positive social change through outside pressure. 
"What impressed us," says Rowan, "Was the anguish of the South African whites..." The feeling is that there are enough men and women of goodwill to bring about that change in South Africa. The hardening of apartheid, the growth of the right, and the despair of South African white liberals would make that debatable. 
As for the Viet Nam war, the Digest is clear as to who is the aggressor and it is not the U.S. However, the magazine has concentrated mainly on P.O.W's the drug problem, and the good deeds that U.S servicemen perform. 
According to the Wall Street Journal, the Digest is read in Brazil and South Africa more than any other magazine. A Reader's Digest advertisement in Advertising Age claimed "We're more read by executives in Latin American than any other single publication." One Digest critic called it the "literary arm of the counter-revolution" 
Its anticommunist stance has been hard and consistent over a long period of time. In his articles, Hall speaks strongly against supporting any group that touches communism, and call the W.C.C. involvement in Christian - Marxist dialogues a "ploy"
And we could go on. For example, the Reader's Digest Foundation has on its board major contributors to the journal, such as Lowell Thomas and James A. Michener. It is a totally privately owned corporation and has been a phenomenal commercial success. It is not only committed to the "American Dream" it embodies it. 
No one should have expected the Reader's Digest to print favorable articles on the World Council or any of its programs. What is surprising is that it should so clearly twist the truth. Clarence Hall would have us believe that answers to the questions he has raised over the W.C.C. "are of the deepest concern to Christianity's billion adherents the world over." The tragedy of the W.C.C. is that so few Christians are concerned over the needs addressed by the grants because if they were the W.C.C. would be putting a lot more than $500,000 into humanitarian antiracism grants. 

'It's A Terrible Thing That Is Happening To Us.'
[Continued from page 6]
when somebody like me reports about Lockheed. 
But some people, particularly in management positions do see what's going on but are frightened for their jobs. I'm convinced that if some kind of protection from economic loss, physical reprisals, job loss - were given to people who wanted to come forward - out of industry and Government- they would come, and you would see a lot of things cleaned up. 

From your knowledge, to what extent have Air Force personnel at the Marietta plant been aware of Lockheed's mismanagement and wasteful if not dangerously unsafe practices?
I say that the Air Force was in collusion with Lockheed. It couldn't have been any other way. Anybody who's there can see this. There are Air Force inspectors on hand at the plant. They have to verify that Lockheed is doing the work it says it's doing. They didn't have to pass it. So I'm asking where were these inspectors when all this was going on? Either they were blind or they let it go. A whole section of the plant is devoted to these Air Force civilian representatives and to the military personnel who are in charge of overseeing the production of the C-5A.
They had to know what was going on. Of course, a lot of them live in Marietta. Maybe that's one of the things wrong with military procurement having these Air Force people live and own homes in Marietta. They're part and parcel of the community. If Lockheed goes under, so do they,just as much as any employee. If Lockheed wasn't here, the Air Force would have to cut back of transfer people. 

From your experience with Lockheed's military projects, what do you think the American people are getting for their defense dollars?
Well, they're certainly getting a lot of mismanagement. I'm of the opinion that they are overbuilding the defense contact. They build more than they need, and they build them faster than they need them, adding tremendously to the cost of maintaining the defense. I don't think it would have made a difference is they wouldn't have made but 20 or 25 C-5A's by now, if they had been built within cost. I think it would have been better for the taxpayer and for the United States as a whole if they had built them slower and paced them out.

But if they did that, if they reduced the demand for these weapons, then some of the aerospace companies would go under?
Well, what if some of the aerospace companies do go under!? There are demands for other products than military products. We put too much emphasis on military goods. I believe what Proxmire does. He's not trying to eliminate the military. He's trying to eliminate waste military procurement. He wants to trim the fat, to get down to good lean,. hard working military defense, and I think everybody wants to be defended and to defend our country. But I believe defense has become a fat cat. There are tremendous profits to be made in military contracts. 
In other words, we shouldn't buy military hardware just for the sake of jobs, at the expense of all the taxpayers. That's the purpose the Nixon Administration gave for passing the loan guarantee for Lockheed. In fact, Lockheed will be laying off people anyway because as earlier phases of the airplane are completed, for example, the people responsible for making the doors or side panels will be laid off. This is happening now. But Lockheed gets the loan anyway. Why? It goes to illustrate the tremendous power that Lockheeed and other corporations have over the Government in my opinion. I'm beginning to think the country is run by huge conglomerates. 

Can you say some more about your conclusions from your experience about the power of corporation in America?
Well, I think it should bee apparent to every American, but it isn't. Very few Americans know that approximately 200 conglomerates control the destiny of our country. Morton Mintz and Jerry S. Cohen said it very well in America, Inc.. Mollenhof (author of Pentagon) brought to light the tremendous power of the Pentagon. When you put those two things together, you have an awesome power. You see a picture of the huge military industrial complex. The oil companies, too, have a tremendous power over elected officials in our country. It's a very awesome and terrible thing that is happening to us and I think we are going to have to do something about it. 
But as I say, the people, the average workers, don't know this. Somehow or other the message never gets across to them. They just go and vote Democratic or Republican or something like that. 
I think the only way to save our country is through the power of votes - not rebellion or anything. I think young people in particular, are concerned. I think we should go and start at the state or city level and throw out the old and bring in the new.

Saving...

AMERICAN REPORT. 7 N.C.C Division Explores Goals For Education NEW YORK - An international conference on nonformal education in the developing countries concluded here with a call for exploration of the goals of education, of ways to link formal with nonformal education, and for more explorations of the role of the churches in education. The three point proposal was made by the delegates of the Educational commission of the National Council of Churches' Division of Overseas Ministries, the agency that convened the conference. While no formal definition of nonformal education was sought, in the minds of delegates it included a variety of programs outside the formal classroom setting; public health literacy, vocational skill development, various kinds of leadership training and the like. Some participants pointed to the tendency of programs for economic development to move into political action as the poor and the oppressed become convinced that changes in their conditions require political change. Others warned against letting the direction of vocational training be determined by the desires of business corporations. Such considerations were behind the call for a study of the goals of nonformal education in the developing countries, and especially if such education should be limited to such things as vocational skills or have a broader goal of "liberation" As more and more government agencies take over formal education in various countries, the roles of churches that originally established schools becomes more limited. Participants felt, however, that many opportunities were being missed to link the existing institutions engaged in formal education with non formal programs in more effective ways, thereby extending the impact of the churches efforts. It was also suggested that n increase in the effectiveness of church efforts would require a "recycling" of missionaries many of whom were said to be naive about the political implications of their work. About 135 persons participated in the conference, including both Catholics and Protestants. These included mission board executives, missionaries on furlough education professors, graduate students from overseas, public health doctors, and officials of secular, non profit organizations. Representatives of the Agency for International Development, the World Bank, and UNESCO also attended Religious Leaders Challenge Air Force Academy [Cont from p. 1] Superintendent and the three other officers at the Air Force Academy requesting the mandatory formation of the entire 4,000 member cadet wing, the four religious leaders said 'We feel the religious and moral issues raised by our continuing involvement in the air war in Indochina are at least as important as those issues which are presented at previous mandatory formations." In addition to the request for a mandatory formation of the entire cadet wing, CALC has also asked for an afternoon meeting where its representatives would have an opportunity to talk with the permanent personnel, administrators, and faculty of the academy. The mandatory formation program would include three specific presentations with discussion to follow: 1. "The Ethical Questions Raised by Contemporary Warfare" by Harvey Cox; 2. "Refugee problems in Laos" by Fred Branfman who has just recently returned from Laos where he worked for 4 1/2 years, part of that time as a member of the International Voluntary Service; 3. "The Religious Community's Response to American Power" by David Hunter. At the time of the original request, Fernandez said "We believe that the Air Force Academy will accept our offer for this kind of theological, ethical, and historical input into the education of cadets at the academy. The question of conscience raised by the air war in Indochina are substantial and this is one of the reasons why we sent our memorandum of request not only to the Superintendent of the Air Force Academy and to the Commandment of Cadets but also to the Command Chaplain and the Director of Chaplain Cadet Activities." their training as future military leaders" "We wish to assure you," the reply continued, "that the academy curriculum already insures that the ethical and moral aspects are discussed in detail" The Rev. Duane Gall, Denver area staff for CALC responded to the denial by expressing hope that the mandatory formation would still be possible. He and Fernandez were both confident that the denial must have been based upon some misunderstanding of the nature of the request and that further conversations would lead to approval of the proposed program. Whatever the outcome of such negotiations, the religious leaders involved have insisted that they fully intend to present their views at the academy. Reader's Digest Versus W.C.C.. Round Two [Cont. from p.5] The Digest is rarely critical of U.S. involvement in the Third world or of those governments that cause liberation fronts to come into existence. One could go, nation by nation in relation to the W.C.C. antiracism grants, and, with one possible exception, find no critical articles on the racial and colonialist policies that the grants were to combat. The one possible exception in recent months is an article by Carl Rowan on South Africa in the September, 1971 issue, Rowan agrees with most criticisms of South Africa but leaves the reader with the distinct impression that there are many whites in South Africa who hope for dramatic and positive social change through outside pressure. "What impressed us," says Rowan, "Was the anguish of the South African whites..." The feeling is that there are enough men and women of goodwill to bring about that change in South Africa. The hardening of apartheid, the growth of the right, and the despair of South African white liberals would make that debatable. As for the Viet Nam war, the Digest is clear as to who is the aggressor and it is not the U.S. However, the magazine has concentrated mainly on P.O.W's the drug problem, and the good deeds that U.S servicemen perform. According to the Wall Street Journal, the Digest is read in Brazil and South Africa more than any other magazine. A Reader's Digest advertisement in Advertising Age claimed "We're more read by executives in Latin American than any other single publication." One Digest critic called it the "literary arm of the counter-revolution" Its anticommunist stance has been hard and consistent over a long period of time. In his articles, Hall speaks strongly against supporting any group that touches communism, and call the W.C.C. involvement in Christian - Marxist dialogues a "ploy" And we could go on. For example, the Reader's Digest Foundation has on its board major contributors to the journal, such as Lowell Thomas and James A. Michener. It is a totally privately owned corporation and has been a phenomenal commercial success. It is not only committed to the "American Dream" it embodies it. No one should have expected the Reader's Digest to print favorable articles on the World Council or any of its programs. What is surprising is that it should so clearly twist the truth. Clarence Hall would have us believe that answers to the questions he has raised over the W.C.C. "are of the deepest concern to Christianity's billion adherents the world over." The tragedy of the W.C.C. is that so few Christians are concerned over the needs addressed by the grants because if they were the W.C.C. would be putting a lot more than $500,000 into humanitarian antiracism grants. 'It's A Terrible Thing That Is Happening To Us.' [Continued from page 6] when somebody like me reports about Lockheed. But some people, particularly in management positions do see what's going on but are frightened for their jobs. I'm convinced that if some kind of protection from economic loss, physical reprisals, job loss - were given to people who wanted to come forward - out of industry and Government- they would come, and you would see a lot of things cleaned up. From your knowledge, to what extent have Air Force personnel at the Marietta plant been aware of Lockheed's mismanagement and wasteful if not dangerously unsafe practices? I say that the Air Force was in collusion with Lockheed. It couldn't have been any other way. Anybody who's there can see this. There are Air Force inspectors on hand at the plant. They have to verify that Lockheed is doing the work it says it's doing. They didn't have to pass it. So I'm asking where were these inspectors when all this was going on? Either they were blind or they let it go. A whole section of the plant is devoted to these Air Force civilian representatives and to the military personnel who are in charge of overseeing the production of the C-5A. They had to know what was going on. Of course, a lot of them live in Marietta. Maybe that's one of the things wrong with military procurement having these Air Force people live and own homes in Marietta. They're part and parcel of the community. If Lockheed goes under, so do they,just as much as any employee. If Lockheed wasn't here, the Air Force would have to cut back of transfer people. From your experience with Lockheed's military projects, what do you think the American people are getting for their defense dollars? Well, they're certainly getting a lot of mismanagement. I'm of the opinion that they are overbuilding the defense contact. They build more than they need, and they build them faster than they need them, adding tremendously to the cost of maintaining the defense. I don't think it would have made a difference is they wouldn't have made but 20 or 25 C-5A's by now, if they had been built within cost. I think it would have been better for the taxpayer and for the United States as a whole if they had built them slower and paced them out. But if they did that, if they reduced the demand for these weapons, then some of the aerospace companies would go under? Well, what if some of the aerospace companies do go under!? There are demands for other products than military products. We put too much emphasis on military goods. I believe what Proxmire does. He's not trying to eliminate the military. He's trying to eliminate waste military procurement. He wants to trim the fat, to get down to good lean,. hard working military defense, and I think everybody wants to be defended and to defend our country. But I believe defense has become a fat cat. There are tremendous profits to be made in military contracts. In other words, we shouldn't buy military hardware just for the sake of jobs, at the expense of all the taxpayers. That's the purpose the Nixon Administration gave for passing the loan guarantee for Lockheed. In fact, Lockheed will be laying off people anyway because as earlier phases of the airplane are completed, for example, the people responsible for making the doors or side panels will be laid off. This is happening now. But Lockheed gets the loan anyway. Why? It goes to illustrate the tremendous power that Lockheeed and other corporations have over the Government in my opinion. I'm beginning to think the country is run by huge conglomerates. Can you say some more about your conclusions from your experience about the power of corporation in America? Well, I think it should bee apparent to every American, but it isn't. Very few Americans know that approximately 200 conglomerates control the destiny of our country. Morton Mintz and Jerry S. Cohen said it very well in America, Inc.. Mollenhof (author of Pentagon) brought to light the tremendous power of the Pentagon. When you put those two things together, you have an awesome power. You see a picture of the huge military industrial complex. The oil companies, too, have a tremendous power over elected officials in our country. It's a very awesome and terrible thing that is happening to us and I think we are going to have to do something about it. But as I say, the people, the average workers, don't know this. Somehow or other the message never gets across to them. They just go and vote Democratic or Republican or something like that. I think the only way to save our country is through the power of votes - not rebellion or anything. I think young people in particular, are concerned. I think we should go and start at the state or city level and throw out the old and bring in the new.