Covenanter Witness Vol. 86 - Rparchives.org

1970 — Many voices, many bannersReligion In ReviewWith the unrolling of God's prophetic scroll, the year1970 has run its course and passed into history. A net gainof 72.6 million people were added to the global communityon the watery planet this year — a greater increase thanduring any other year in history.More than half the people born since Adam werealive in 1970. Each purchased the opportunities of thisyear for his Creator or squandered them in selfish, futilecrusades.TrendsFor every religious movement to the right this yearone could be charted heading to the left in the direction ofsecularism. Worship was characterized increasingly bynoninstitutional or anti-institutional movements. Butdespite the restless urge for change the church by andlarge played it safe.This was the year in which more G.Is. lost their livesin Vietnam while ministers and physicians at homeroutinely approved the destruction of life by abortion.The government's Commission on Pornographyrecommended the repeal of all adult censorship.Homosexuals and lesbians enjoyed increasing recognitionby church and society. Citizens in several states foundthemselves without any laws whatever to ban X-ratedmovies. A staggering increase of drug abuse was recorded,forcing churches to search harder for a challengingalternative to the "religion of drugs" in reachingyoung advocates of the psychedelic culture.A black Episcopal clergyman called for thelegalization of marijuana. Members of the LutheranChurch in America adopted a liberalized sex ethic as abasic policy. So did the United Presbyterians.Satanism reared its ugly head higher in 1970 amid anexplosion of interest in "mystery trips" through fortunetelling, yoga, astrology, black masses, demonology, anddrugs. People searched desperately for all kinds of person-changingexperiences.A New York psychiatrist summed up: "Nobody feelssignificant or that it's worth it anymore." He said theindividual is losing his sense of value and significance and,to compensate for his ego depravation, may turn toviolence "by getting a gun and shooting somebody."The old Protestant-ethic industriousness, technology,economic planning and social structure was attacked in1970 as being inadequate to make U.S. citizens "whole."Norman Rohrer, DirectorEP News ServiceDespite the erosion of respect for authority and anincreasing denial of moral absolutes, a HarvardUniversity professor hailed the year as marking the dawnof a "social revolution" which has brought, he said, "anincrease in principled morality."Chaplains invaded industry in 1970 to help peoplewith spiritual problems right on the job; clergymen rodealong in police cars; Christian houses flourished amongthe young; "Moral Advance" was founded by ChristianFreedom Foundation; Intercristo harnessed the computerto match people with missionary opportunities; theSatellite Christian Institute opened, marking a whole newidea in Christian leadership training; Food for the Hungrywas launched against the outrageous spectre of starvationin the midst of plenty; and President Nixon declared thatthe United States is able to give the world "spiritualleadership and idealism" that some other nations cannot.The year closed with thousands of young people on theirknees in prayer at the 9th triennial Inter-Varsity ChristianFellowship missionary convention in Urbana, Illinois.Church and StateWhile citizens burned the flag, marched in protest, orregistered in other ways their grievances with the currentregime, Christianity still remained a strong influence onthe men who govern the United States.The Supreme Court refused to hear Atheist MadalynMurray O'Hair's bid to ban religious practice amongastronauts in space; the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appealsturned down a challenge to rule against the constitutionalityof the national motto, "In God We Trust";the Post Office Department announced new regulationscracking down on obscene materials; three U.S. Senatorsproposed legislation for an "unprecedented, massive,across-the-board federal attack on the problem ofalcoholism"; the U.S. Supreme Court, in a 7-1 decision,upheld the principle of tax exemption on property usedexclusively for religious purposes; and the governmentkept many religious periodicals in business by holding theline against a move for increased postal revenue.The President continued his church-in-the-homeworship habit and in late spring attended the Knoxville,Kentucky Billy Graham Crusade. He told 70,000 cheeringlisteners that today's troubled young people will becometomorrow's "great generation."6 COVENANTER WITNESS