Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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THE NEWBERRY SUN 1218 College Street NEWBERRY; SOUTH CAROLINA O. F. ARMFIELD Editor and Publisher Published Every Friday In The Year Entered as second-class matter December 6, 1937, at tht postoflfice at Newberry, South Carolina, under the Act of Congress of March 3, 1879. GOD and the Atomic Bomb REV. RUSSELL J. CLINCHY, D. D. Hartford, Conn. On Tuesday morning, August 7, 1945, the Boston Globe carried this headline across its first page, “A new world is born,” That headline, which no one ever expected to see in a newspaper, was caused by the report that 3 weeks before an atomic bomb had been dropped on the desert in New Mex- ieo. and 2 days before another atom ic bomb had been dropped on the Japanese city of Hiroshima, and these two bombs were the greatest explosion of power which had ever been let loose in the world. The new FRIDAY, Notice Garagemen For Welding and Shop Equipment See Us scon AUTO PARTS DISTRIBUTOR world, however, was not brought in to being by the power of the bomb but by the discovery which made the bomb possible, that of atomic energy. The dream of every modern physicist and chemist had been realized; the atom had been smashed; the princi pie of atomic energy had been re leased into reality; this discovery would transform not only our meth ods of power but all of man’s think ing concerning the nature of the universe, and his activity in the world. When cfhe had read the offi cial statement he knew the headline was true—a new world had been born. He did not say this because he knew the nature of this new world but, just as he had understood that he was in a new era of the transmision of sound when he first heard a radio and yet did not under stand the secret of radial waves, he now knew that, together with all mankind, he would hereafter liv with a different conception of the nature of the world than his father had ever comprehended. It was inevitable that one of the first reactions to this astounding news was how this revelation would affect our idea of God. The instinc tive reaction of many people was “How can we still believe in God this is the real nature of the uni verse?” During that memorable week it was exciting to see that the minds of many people were concern ed with two ideas of which we know the least in all the world, and of whose real nature we shall never know the whole truth—God and atomic energy. We shall never know fully who and what God is, and our minds will probably never discover the final nature of atomic energy even though we shall have increas ing knowledge of how to use it Granting all this, however, the real question that was in the mind and conscience of most people was that of the relation of God and atomic energy, and it still is the important question before us. Because the first use of atomic energy was made in the form of the atomic bomb we are confronted with two questions, or, rather, two phases of the whole problem. The first is whether we can still believe in the j Christian conception of God because of this new revelation of the nature of the universe; the other is wheth er there was, and is, a moral use of the atomic bomb in war. I It was so clear that a feeling of awe and fear swept over most peo ple when they heard the first report of the discovery of a new energy in the texture of the universe. There a fear that man had created a almost a sense of agony that the > there is no turning back, and there atomic bomb might have blasted our is no stopping place even though it Frankenstein monster that could not be held in leash and would go on to destroy humanity itself. There was also a sense of awe of standing be fore such majestic power, power which seemed to be beyond the cqm- prehension of the mind. This awe and fear were mixed together for many religious people in what was Shop & Save >Wv:*sw.v' STORE Fresh. and surprisingly complete stocks ol wanted Grocery items—meats and Sea Foods. ... Try Us Bring us your grocery list this weekend and see if you are not more than pleased. We have dressed fryers Fresh Green Vegetables Robert F. Hill, Mgr. conception of God, as well a s a city, out of existence. “How can we con tinue to believe in God and in life”, a friend wrote in tuose early mo ments, “when the world is made of such particles of destroying power and man now' knows how to use it to destroy himself if he chooses to do so?” Many who did not express it that way held something of the same sense of disaster in their minds, and the old question of the book of Job came back to plague our hearts, “O', that I knew where I might find Him.” There were those who felt they would have to look for God in the ruins of Hiroshima. Christiani ty therefore, must reveal anew to us the real meaning of God. Our knowledge of God is never the full and complete truth about Him, but is only our concept of Him to the fullness of our immediate aware ness a nd knowledge. Each age has only this concept of God and it lives by the best concept it can possess. In the course of man’s history there have been three great changes in the concept of God. The earliest idea of deity was that there were many gods and even the early pages of the Bible place Ball on a par with Jeho vah. The first change came in the transition from many gods to one God. marked by the ancient words of the Hebrew ritual which still stand as one of the majestic utterances of the human spi it—“Hear, O Israel, thy God is one God.” This was a conception, however, of God who had formed and shaped a static and finished world, the kind of a world which was apparent to the eyes. Our earth was the center of the universe, the sun moved around this earth, and the creation took place and was finished at one time. Then came the second change. In the space of one lifetime, Copernicus and Galileo smashed that conception to pieces and there emerged an image of God who was the creator of a living universe, beyond the compre hension of the human mind in size, and still creative in its life. If we take that for granted today, and be lieve that it did not strike fear to the hearts of men, we need only re member that the church prevented Copernicus from publishing his truth while he lived, and it made Galileo publicly deny that he believed what he had found to be true. But the concept was changed, and now we live with more of the light of God upon our faces because of the search of Copernicus. The third change has now come at this moment in our lives and we have received the concept of the god of atomic energy who created a uni verse whose texture is that of end less energy and productive power. All of these changes struck fear into the hearts and minds of men because they seemed to push God, at each step, out of any relationship with human life. Men believed in personal and tribal gods because then each group had its close relationship with its own god, and so the idea of one universal God must have chang ed the personal contact with the god who cared for his own group into the strange relationship of a God who cared for all people and could hardly be expected to care for one. So it was with the change from the God who had made this earth the center of the universe, with the sun and moon and stars bowing down be fore it as the sheaves in Joseph’s dream bowed down before his sheath; the Church feared such a picture for how could the inhabitants of an earth, that was just like the head of a pin in a universe of light-years, be of any meaning to God, or that God be of any meaning to them? No wonder, then, that on August 7 the hearts of men and women were struck with fear as they learned that they were standing on particles of atomic power which could blow them, and their earth into oblivion by the design of maniacs. The long road from the simple, homely God who walked in the garden in the evening with His children to the almighty power of the god of the endless atomic universe had been trod, and we wondered if the haunting fear had become true and we were or phans in a godless world. This fear is as groundless as were the fears of those who felt that if God were the God of the Philistines He could not remember the Hebrews. It is our concept of God that changes, not God Himself. The God who watched Abraham move out of Ur in the Chaldees was the God who form ed the world of atomic energy no matter how dim the spiritual eyes of Abraham might have been. How much light the old myth of the Gar den of Eden now sheds upon all our search. The old myth tells us that God made man to enjoy the fruits of Eden without consciousness of the process. Yet He had also placed the power of choice in man—the choice of living in perpetual happiness in Eden without knowledge, or living in the search for knowledge which would be the pathway of tra’- 1 and of struggle. Man chose the way of the search, and from the beginning he has been upon that quest. Once man starts upon that quest may seem for a moment that we have reached the Promised Land. The road to triith leads ever on, and will lead -on to the end of huan existence. The mercy of it is that nothing on the road ever changes God; God is the same yesterday, today, and for ever; all that can change is our growing and fuller conception of His kingdom • His power, and His glory. Every adventure of the human mind and spirit which unfolds greater knowledge and comprehension of the universe before our eyes can only in crease the extent of His kingdom, the measures of His power, and the majesty of His glory. II All such discovery, however, pro vides the possibilities for the good or evil use of that truth. We under stand this so well when we consider the discoveries of fire, of electricity, and of flight. We think of those as part of the basic foundation of life in the modern world. We use fire to cook our food and warm our houses; electricity to light our streets and run our machines; flight t® open a new era of transportation. But each of these can bo, and has been, used to harm and destroy man, and ebch was used by the Fascist powers as the tools whereby they sought to conquer the world. We have now reached the secret of the essential texture of the universe, which is th energy to be found in the atom, and we row know how to con trol and use the inconceivably great power of that discovery. Whether we shall use that power for good or for ill does not have any relation to the nature of God There are peo ple who are saying that they cannot believe in a God who would create power which may be used to destroy humanity, but that is as idle as to say we canno'; believe in the God who created fire, because some men use it to burn down their neighbor’s home. Our fundamental question at this moment does not concern the nature of God because the atomic bomb is more powerful than a pop gun; our que^ion, as is always true regarding our use of the ways of God, is whether we have achieved a mature sense of the moral order great enough to let us use such pow er with responsibility. By this we are presented with our true question. Some people are asking, “Should we ever use the a- tomic bomb?” And others are say ing that we should never use it, be cause the use of so much power is immoral. The question which is real ly before us is quite different. It is, Should we ever use power to en force the moral sanctions of the community? The question, to be reasonable and constructive, just rest here, because on any 'other basis we lose contact with the foundation of the moral or der. If we say we cannot use the atomic bomb, because it is so power, ful we rlace the moral meaning of an act upon the materialistic con sideration of the amount of power, and say it (is better to shoot a rifle, even a million t’mes, than to drop a bomb. That is sheer materialism, not alone because we would measure an act merely by the weight of the power behind it, but also, because in the moral sense the basic considera tion is always the intent and the ‘ motiv ation, and not the weapon. Upon a moral consideration there is no difference between the slingsTiot by which David killed Goliath, a rif le, or a bomb—and certainly no basic difference between a thousand block busters and an atomic bomb. When, ever we allow ourselves to slip off into such observations we have be come willing to leave the moral and spiritual considerations and enter the material. Our real question is not a material one but a moral one. “Is it ever right to enforce moral sanctions.by force?” and, “Is there a moral dif ference between the use of force for violence and its use to maintain the moral sanctions?” The social life of our civilized communities has always answered these questions in the affirmative. Civilization is the process of finding an order of life in which there can be as great a meas ure of freedom as is compatible with the safety and well-being of the community. Those who break the rules of this community life are criminals, a nd the community may use power for the social and moral ends of community life which it prevents the criminal from! using for unsocial ends. That is why the common law not only provides the police with power, but also declares that a man who kills another in self defense, or to save an innocent life, is not a murderer, but that he who kills for wanton ends is a murderer. The social conscience of mankind, motivated by the Christian impera tive for 2,000 years, has based its order of life upon this moral, rather than material, consideration. Society does not state the absurd proposition that anyone who shoots a gun is a murderer, for that is sheer material ism. It states the profound and mor al proposition that the motivating forces of an act determine whether an act is criminal or not, whether it is bad or giod. It is upon such a basis of social and religious considerations that we must make our decisions regarding the use of atomic energy. We can not disassociate the bomb from that energy any more than we can dis associate electric current from con trolling the plane that dropped the bomb. The only difference between the effects of an atomic bomb and the bombs of 500 B-29s is in the time it takes to do the work. What we ask’ is whether America used the power responsibility and for the ends of social betterment. America gave a warning a s to its use; did not use it wantonly but with respon sibility; and used it to end a war and save hundreds of thousands of lives of ourselves and our adversaries. It did cost life, just as the invasion of Normandy cost life, but it is a prin- : ciple written into the spiritual life of the universe that by the stripes of one many are healed. There is a strange paradox and mystery about it all. We know that those who died in Normandy saved the free nations and brought peace. We know that all those who gave their lives, and those who fought for America in the Pacific saved their country and brought peace to the world. Strange ly enough, the Japanese who died at Hiroshima probably saved their country for they brought it to sur render, and that surrender brought peace to mankind. The ways of life are passing strange. We know now that there is a dif ference between those who use pow er to start a war and those who use power to end a war and bring order. We also know that the conscience of mankind has declared that the na ture of an act must be determined by the motivating forces of its pur pose. We understand that power is good or bad, not because of its weight, but because of the meaning and significance of the purposes for which it is used. Such is our faith, but now it is not a mere theory whispered in an ivory tower. It is written in letters of fire across the skies of our times. Upon the earth there are the piles of ruin and rub ble of those who defied the sanctions of the moral order and the cons cience of mankind and used power for violence, destruction, and self- will. Also upon the good earth are the countries of the free, inviolate, and valiant, those whose men and women maintained the covenant of the civilized world with spiritual in tegrity, and used the power God placed in the world for the purposes of the mind and spirit; created, nur tured, and sustained by the onward march of humanity in its search for the promised land. The deeds of our day have confirmed the faith of our fathers. Surrounding the glory of this day —this day of the dawn of the great est measure of truth and power ever possessed by the mind and hand of man; the day of the triumph of the spirit of man in using such truth and power to overcome evil and estab lish order and peace—surrounding this day stands God as the Eternal One, the Lord God Almighty, maker of heaven and of earth, and still we sing with joy “O Thou who changest not, abide with me.” REGISTRATION FOR GENERAL ELECTION The supervisor of registration has been ordered by the Council of the Town of Newberry to open the books of registration September 12, 1945, to remain open until ten days be fore the general election ®f mayor and aldermen in D'-cember. Required for registration, tax re ceipts showing payment of all tax es for 1942 and County and State HENRY J. TURNER Henry Joseph Turner, 75, died ear ly Thursday night at his home on Hunt Avenue. He had been in de clining health for several years. Mr. Turner was born and reared in Saluda county. He made his home in Edgefield for a number of years but had resided in Newberry for the past eighteen years. He was a member of Lewis Methodist church. Funeral services were held at 3 o’clock Saturday afternon at Lewis Methodist church with Rev. O. H. Hatchett and Rev. Williams conduct ing the services. Interment followed in Rosemont cemetery. He is survived by his wife, Mrs. Clara Johnson Turner and the fol lowing children, Claude Turner, Henry J. Turner, Jr.. Dan Turner, Dunaway Turner, J. T. Turner, Ed ward Turner, Mrs. Joe Snipes, Mrs. Simpson Morris, Mrs. Earl Wright, Mrs. Harvey Berry and Cpl. Ho ward Turner; 22 grandchildren and six great-grandchildren. registration certificate. D. L. NANCE, Supervisor of Registration. Mr. and Mrs. G. V. Clamp and son, James Clamp, spent the week end in Clearwater, Florida, with Mr. and Mrs. R. H. Tinsley and family. Help Wanted! Experienced and inexperienced Sewing machine operators. Apply at HALLMARK MFG. CORP. 319 Caldwell St. Newberry, S. C. tampax I Linsw rMjwjw ^ *0t> Iirmutf Jr?, for^.°Se {0m vs« Cope. A<iv«rtiwn Ench.fwj* toe. I 1 You wouldn’t pass by money you saw lying in the street. You’d pick it up. So don’t pass by SMITH’S without picking up your drug and toiletry needs. It’s like finding money to shop here because you get famous quality products at the lowest possible prices. Come in today and pick up these values—your savings are “found money”! ns; We have ON HAND a good grade of Grain Fertilizer and can give reasonably prompt delivery It pays to fertilize your grain The Southern Cotton Oil Company Delicious Sankens IceCream 25c pint ONE POUND Prince Albert FOR A COOL SMOKE 99c Bottle of 100 I Lge 50c size Bayer ASPIRIN PEPSODENT 59c Tooth Paste 39c 60c size For Lovely Hands ALKA SELTZER Troushay Lotion 49c 47c Bottle of 100 50c size St. Joseph Aspirin Mennen Shave Cream 35c 39c 50c size 60c size Yeagers Liniment Sal Hepatica 39c 49c MANY TESTIFY v. that crusts, scales, | inching and other dis-' comforts of Psoriasis Are Helped By PSORIASIS SUFFSR. fflS—try one bott), Siroil. If not completely Mtisfied with retults, your money will be w- b.’nded. ADD 20 per ct. FEDERAL EX. CISE TAX TO COSMETICS. SMITH'S u ) " ! \ Cut-Rate Drug Store; 1212 MAIN St.