Unity of all Christians stressed by the Pope
VATICAN CITY—Pope Paul, for the third time during the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity (January 18-25), called upon Roman Catholics to pray for the unity of all Christians in "faith and charity," according to "the wish of Christ the Lord."
Addressing pilgrims and visitors in St. Peter's Square on January 22, the Pope began by reading the opening paragraph of Vatican IPs Decree on Ecumenism: "The restoration of unity among all Christians is one of the principal concerns of the Second Vatican Council. Christ the Lord founded one Church and one Church only. However, many Christian communions present themselves to men as the true inheritors of Jesus Christ; all indeed profess to be followers of the Lord but they differ in mind and go their separate ways, as if Christ Himself were divided.
"Certainly, such division openly contradicts the will of Christ, scandalizes the world, and damages that most holy cause, the preaching of the Gospel to every creature.
"In the light of this declaration," said the Pope, "the efforts of the faithful for unity are justified and become ever more urgent."
Survey of top teens: high regard for religion, becoming conservative
NORTHBROOK, Ill.—The nation's top teen-agers continue to have high regard for religion and traditional values and are turning more "hawkish" and "to the right," according to an annual survey of high school leaders.
The nationwide poll interviewed nearly 24,000 leading high school seniors and juniors who are among the 317,000 high achievers featured in the 1976-1977 edition of Who's Who Among American High School Students, published by Educational Communications, Incorporated, here.
"Tradition threads its way through the moral and religious lives of these students," the report said. Some 80 percent said they prefer a traditional marriage, 70 percent have never had sexual intercourse, 88 percent have not used drugs, 77 percent favor maintaining the defense budget at the present level or increasing it.
The top teens of the nation have consistently expressed their preference for traditional family life, and the majority have been active in organized religion. But there appears to be a growing trend toward conservative lifestyles and attitudes in other areas.
Idi Amin names Friday a national day of rest
KAMPALA, Uganda—Ugandan President Idi Amin, a Moslem, has decreed that Friday, the Moslem Sabbath, will henceforth be a national day of rest, along with the traditional Sunday holiday.
Although figures are imprecise, three quarters of . Uganda's 11.6 million people are estimated to be Christians, the majority of whom are about evenly divided between Anglicans and Roman Catholics.
There are thousands of Baptists, Seventh-day Adventists, Methodists, and other Protestant groups; however, less than 10 percent of the population are Moslems, and the rest follow traditional African religions.
Anti-evangelical mood brewing around the country
Evangelicals may be more recognized than before, but new attention appears to be creating an "anti-evangelical" mood in various aspects of society. The Saturday Review recently ran a highly critical piece on evangelicalism, written by a preacher's son. In the movie, Oh God, Jewish director Carl Reiner takes potshots at Billy Graham, Christians in general, and makes God out to be some aloof, deist-type power. Newspapers jump on every gaffe made by evangelicals in the public spotlight, and the press seems eager to expose the shallowness of evangelical commitment. Coupled with today's routine rejection of spiritual truth and "fallout" of celebrities who "turn to Jesus," developments form a picture where evangelicals aren't so welcoMed.
Whether or not the trend lasts, evangelicals need to be prepared for more criticism—constructive and nonconstructive—in the months ahead. —Evangelical Newsletter, October 21, 1977.
Vance Packard: today's threat is those trying to reshape man and his behavior
Back in the 1950's Vance Packard shocked the public with The Hidden Persuaders, proclaiming that Americans were being controlled and manipulated by marketing experts and the advertising industry. Now Packard has written again on his favorite theme in a new book, The People Shapers, which was excerpted in the August 20, 1977, Saturday Review.
This time the controllers aren't media types but a variety of geneticists, scientists, biocrats, technocrats, and behaviorists bent on changing the very nature of man.
Packard contends that the type of society envisioned in 1984 and Brave New World will arrive sooner than we think, a society built on the assumption that humans are creatures of almost limitless plasticity. In this view, "people are raw material that needs perfecting, modifying, or at least improving, either for their own good or to suit the wishes of others. Malleable people are more likely to be controllable people."
In the past, perfecters thought primarily in moral terms; today, the new thrust is to change people physically, emotionally, and mentally.
"If their view prevails, people will indeed become different. The revolutionary brain prober Jose Delgado suggests that the main question is no longer 'What is Man?' but rather 'What kind of man are we going to construct?'. . .
"The ascent of Man as described by Jacob Bronowski covered tens of thousands of years. The reshaping of Man now under way can occur within a few decades."
