Pathetic Palliative

To the Editors of the CRIMSON:

The recent proposal that a University Chaplain be established comes as a shock to one who has always taken great pride in Harvard's role in leading the nation away from that sort of palliative. The deplorable signs visible on the MTA cars, "Take Your Problems to Church This Week--Millions Leave Them There," may be appropriate advice to give those unfortunates whose view of life is that of a dank period to be gotten over with as "sinlessly" as possible, rather than as a grand and inspiring challenge to the individual. We here at Harvard have learned to accept good and evil as inevitable and to regard with equal respect--if not affection--those who worship Reason, Christ, Jehovah, Socialism, or Mammon.

Our goals lie here on earth in our ideas, our works, our nation, and our spirited defense of these, rather than among a variety of tired mysticisms whose influence has retreated from astronomy, geology, anthropology, medicine, psychiatry, and morals as individual knowledge has advanced in these fields. The choice for us here at Harvard is not to pessimistically decide which shallow code we shall adopt, but rather to work and think as individuals within no supposedly supernaturally imposed limits.

The dangers of inflicting this choice on us are obvious. As Hoffer says, "When we see the bloodshed, terror and destruction born of such generous enthusiasms as the love of God, love of Christ, love of nation, compassion for the oppressed, and so on, we usually blame this shameful perversion on a cynical, power-hungry leadership. Actually, it is the unification set in motion by these enthusiasms . . . that transmutes noble impulses into a reality of hatred and violence . . ." If there is a God, and I believe there is. He certainly wants His creations to remain individuals rather than kow-tow en masse to any supposedly edifying influence.

The churches surround the Square, along with the movies and bars, for those who need to escape. Let us not have the pathetic sight of a great center of individual thought purveying "sacred" opium to the frightened. An Eliot House Student   Name Withheld by Request