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Vol. 3. No. “September 22, 196
MISSISSIPPI REPT
SEPOEMBER 29, 196)
The growing division between black and white in the United States finally
became apparent and relevant to State students last spring when many became in-
volved in establishing a civil rights project-in Raleigh, North Carolinas
It is often said today that "it's obvious things aren't good here; but
theytre getting better. They are not, Since 1950, the financial gap between
black and white has doubled, Overt violence has become the focal point of
national attention, not because of the ayitation of white "liberals," not because
of generous news publicity ~ but because the magnitude and intensity of inter-
racial distrust and conflict has flamed ever higher.
Despite the widening gulf, many Americans maintain some hope, that so long
as there is interracial communication and interraction, some resolution may be _
possible. These people, working together, have thrown themselves into the battle
for human dignity, often at great personal sacrifice and risk. Nowhere has such
activity been so perfectly exemplified as in Mississippi during the past summer,
State students and faculty contributed considerable amounts of time, books, and
money to insure the project's success. One State student, Miss Lola Johnson,
was herself a participant in this organized onslaught on the bastions of human
degradation,
Miss Johnson, who also participated in the Voter Registration Project in
Raleigh, North Carolina, taught in a Freedom School in Batesville, Mississippi.
Now a teacher in the Albany area, she will report on her experiences in the
Project, her evaluation of the Project's accomplishments, and her outlook rem
garding the future of civil rights in Mississippi on Tuesday, September 29, at
7:00 pem. in Brubacher Hall,
All State students and faculty who are interested in how they themselves can
be a part of the civil rights revolution are urged to attend. Future courses of
action will be proposed and discussed after the formal meeting.
SESE SS SESS PRBS SSR RP BE ERE RE REE RS
"SKANDALON"
Skandalon, A Greek word, it has special meaning for the Christian, both in
his life_and_in his relationship with God...Christ was a skandalon to the world;
it was and is scandalous that God, in all his glory, purity, and goodness, should
so lower himself, so demean himself, to participate in the life - and death - of
common men such as ourselves; a skandalon because He came not as a King but as the
Secs a skandalon because He came not to bring men peace but division. (Luke
2s 1)
Skandalon was adopted as the title of this journal both with humility - and
with arrogance. Humility, because we recognize the skandalon of St, Peter to the
Christ; because as he, in his good will and human concern, was a stumbling block
to the destiny of Christ, so we recognize the dangers of our probing and piercing.
With arrogance, because we hope to fare a bit better than St. Peter.
Within Skandalon we hope you will find - and write - articles of concern.
Concern, not only to Christians, but to men of all faiths, religious persuasions,
and dissuasions = to men who care about the world about them, enough to involve
themselves in its problems. Enough to be disturbed by the fundameritd questions,
disturbed enough to want to participate in their resolution. Skandalon does not
seek to provide the answers. We hold only one truth to be invariable, the truth
of the Cross; and our understanding of that grows and changes as we grow. We
seek, rather, to probe, to pierce, to arouse, to irritate, to sadden, Our cone
cerns are of our world; of civil rights, science, theology, sex, war and peace,
the university, love and lust, of politics.
Skandalon welcomes you to the university; we pray your year will be pleasant
- and profitable.
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FAITH AND HUMAN MEANING
Every man is born with potentials which he develops through his life toward
the actualization wh: Paul Tillich calls "ultimate concern." When man is brought
into being, his environment, ,faculties, and basically, his entire potential are
the result of an inconceivable phenomenon, Man's life is spent striving toward
self-fulfillment or his ultimate concern. The motto of the State University is
expressive of this striving: "Let each become all he is capable of being.! When
man is seeking purpose in life, he is groping, searching for these capabilities
and potentials, so that he can seek and develop fullness of life. During his
maturity he should realize his freedoms and responsibilities as a thinking being
and consider the possibilities and opportunities that are opened before hin,
Sensing this freedom, he should seek meaning in life through creative living to
discover these potentials, Then, becoming aware of these potentials, men should
subjectively drive toward self-fulfillment. Through unconditional surrender and
confidence in this ultimate concern, he displays a genuine act of faith which
assumes that he comprehends the momentousness of such an act. He conceives of
what he strives for, but may or may not reach ite
An analogy can be drawn here to the concept of limit in mathematics. The
quantity two has meaning for us and seems real as a result of our imagination
and learn: riences. Let us take the sum of the geometric progression:
f(x) = ¥ of vas ‘1/8 + eeeeee They-will never be equal to the quantity two,
even if we added the terms indefinitely, However, in calculus we can say that
the sum of this continuous function f(x) will approach the number two if we take
the sum of an infinite number of terms, Mathematicians qualify this statement
by asserting that the difference between the limit taken and the number itself
can "be as small as we please." By analogy, I am saying that this difference in
mathematics can correspond to the concept of faith in man's life. Man can approach
this self-fulfillment of his potential that he conceives of, but can never actually
reach it, for his life would become meaningless, The faith, therefore, is the
difference between what he actually achieves and what he hoped to achieves
F Learning to Swim .
This bridge or gap referred to above explained in a similar analogy drawn
by Soren Kierkegaard, when he states that faith is "the confidence necessary for
learning to swim." The assurance that one is lighter than water and can float is
like the assurance of faith, ‘The person can wade out in the shallow waters and
has security so long as he can touch. Reason represents this wading in shallow
waters. Then the person may see an island in the distance, called the "ultimate
concern." If he has the courage, he takes the leap of faith, accepting the risks
involved,. and dives.forward into the water, Notice that the whole self is in-
volved in the act, the same as in the act of faith, Depending upon his swimming
ability, he may or may not reach this island. And, of course, it may be that he
will never get off the dry land; he may think he is swimming, but be only squirm-
ing about on dry land in his own ignorance. Each swimmer or individual becomes
aware of his existence and then the existence of other persons and substances in
his world at one time or another. These other substances and men I shall designate
as levels of nature. {
By drawing a parallel between these levels of nature and the dimensions as
thought of in geometry, the concept of faith as related to man's existence will
be made more lucid, The first demension in geometry shall represent the first
level of nature or all inanimate objects and substances such as stone and watere
The second level corresponds to all forms of life other than mm 's consciousness.
The third level is man's consciousness and his awareness of self and surroundings;
and the fourth dimension or level of nature is what man calls God or a deity. The
first dimension is a line, the second a plane or two lines perpendicular, the
third is a cube or three mutually perpendicular lines, the fourth is an incon-
ceivable figure of four mutually perpendicular lines, Just as the fourth dimension
of geometry is not perceivable to man, so the fourth level of nature is not per~
ceivable to man, Proof of this fourth level of nature cannot be made except by
drawing analogies from the second and first dimensions to the third and extending
them to the fourth dimension and perhaps even to dimensions beyond the fourth
dimension. Algebra is a common factor of all the dimensions; so existence is
common to all substances in nature and the capacity to affect and influence other
existences, dust as animals are dependent on water for existence, and man is
dependent on animals for food, so the Being beyond man may be dependent on man
for His existence, He may feed on our intellects in the same manner as mm ex=
ploits animals for the purpose of food.
Kinshi h Eternity
But where does the concept of faith enter into the discussion? This can
only refer to the confidence and concern man has that his sphere of existence
he is aware of is essentially good. Man is finite in his freedom to exist. and
participate in the vast process of nature, but he is capable of rising above the
limits of particular situations through his imagination and creativeness, "His
life is bounded in time and is moving toward death; yet he has a strange kinship
with eternity because he can rise above the present and see its relation to the
past and the future." (David Roberts, Existentialism and Religious Belief) This
state of being, which can rise above the finite to the infinite and realize its
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So Fee eh Ee EE Fae Recon va fatetlata’ 68 90 | State Street,
Tos ce or take part, please rrwivn 8a USice of thy Campus Minister.
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waa a mersy Gyyptete and Jot
etait Language Arts Program (see Page Two)
: -Actptten House to bo hed Friday nights, providing an epprtanity for end
Study Groups, to be held when and where interest indicates, on:
ees! ee of the Social Studies Dept.)
i Chr: Thought" (Mr. Snow)
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SUNYA ADDRESS eoeeeeeseveesessesesnerssesenceorace TELEPHONES s ceases veoeeeesesbsan
(Please return to Guy MeBride through Student Mail in Lower Draper)
