Bridgewater State University - Alpha Yearbook (Bridgewater, MA)

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16 NORMAL OFFERING EDITORIALS THE CON TRAS T A I say '4contrast because I wish to denote a change, because I desire to make manifest the unlikeness of two- powerful agencies, both exercising a potent influence on the everyday relations of man to man, lastly, because I seek to apply the philosophy of one of these agencies as a partial cure for our modern ill-ease. These two controlling factors are Christianity and those forces not Christian. In the early days previous to the inception of Christian institutions, happiness, in the concrete, not in the abstract, was experienced by the minority. Those who played a subservient role, and they were forced to do so, were in misery, benevolence and sympathy, and the cooperation of the fortunate in an attempt to ameliorate the conditions of the oppressed, was a dream, a high ideal, but not to be worked out in practical life. Peoples were arrayed against peoples, cultures against cultures, a state of affairs that could be expressed in the following words: peace was the exception, war the rule. With the growth of Christianity the scene changed and a mighty and ever effective change that was, a change, not only ap- parently external, but a change in the human spirit, in the very philosophy that came from the human mind. Wars, dreadful and deplorable relations between peoples, altogether avoidable, were diminished in numbers and mitigated in atrocities. Slavery, that most unnatural and altogether unprogressive connection be- tween peoples of the same political structure, was relegated to the effete past. Woman, the kindest creature of a creative God, was elevated to a higher position than she had formerly enjoyed. The complete moral outlook of man had undergone a change. These were not all, but they were the most conspicuous of the conversions which followed. A complete victory had not been won, because the opposing forces were not ready to accept this constructive wisdom. Down through the centuries continued this battle between the two wills. We are the heirs of all that has gone before, and our descendants will be the heirs of all that goes on today. And whether we like it or no, that conflict is still on. In spite of Chris-

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NORMAL OFFERING 15 r I L , 1 I w Y T I NORMAL OFFERING BOARD EDITORIAL BOARD Editor-in-Chief MABEL G. BRYAN Assistant Editors JOSEPH DORAN PAUL CORCORAN Business Manager FRANCIS TANNER Assistant Managefrs EIJWIN KERR DORIS LEAVITT EMILY POLLARD CATHERINE GRIMSHAW EMMA LIVSY H I Ph.otogi'aplz, Editor BESSIE GRUBER Art Editofr DOROTHY M. O'MEARA Assistants SOPHRONIA ASHLEY BLANCHE VALOIS WINNIFRED FARRELL THEODORE SILVA Sport Editors ELEANOR STUDLEY JOHN BALFE Class Representatives EUNICE HARVEY HELENA REDDY EVA SUKOWSKY DOROTHY COTTLE MABEL PRATT GERTRUDE O'BRIEN HELEN SOUTHWICK THE FACULTY ADVISERS I MISS DAVIS MISS PREVOST, MISS POPE MISS NYE MR. KELLY

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NORMAL OFFERING 17 tian iniiuence, nations are disguising a secret militarism and emnity, and a certain spirit of animosity still prevails. In the realm of social relationships, the concentration of wealth in the hands of the few and their subsequent exploitation of the many, the corruption of the principle of authority and the evasion o-f all that is right, the hidden unwillingness of man to confide in his fellow man, are some of the manifestations of this conflict. This is not Christianity, that which changed civilizations. It is the direct oppo-site, that which destroys. Men know that in an attempt to continue down this path they are going further and further from a settlement. This conflict has not yet come to maturity, but if it should mature, this beautiful edifice of civilization may crash down. And ruin, in this case, when it comes, will be, not only a destructive, but a final thing. And now I seek a partial cure- to eliminate these evils. I say partial because a complete cure cannot come from finite man. And when I say cure I suppose a disease to exist and presuppose the means of eradicating it. That remedy is education. No greater task could be given to any man than one of guiding the formation of the mind and character of a child. His very activities in later life will be influenced by this guiding o-f ours. With this fact firmly in mind, let us unite in an attempt to develop in him those attributes of love, of sympathy, of respect for authority, of kindness toward all. Finally, and primarily, let us kindle in the human spirit a re- spect for, and a devotion to, the moral law, and thereby co-ntribute to human happiness, which is, after all, the end of man. PAUL J. CORCORAN. AN EXPRESSION OF GRA T I TUDE THE EDITORIAL BOARD wishes to express its gratitude and appreciation to the following members of the Faculty, for the aid and helpful criticisms they have been so ready to give :-Miss Davis, Miss Nye, Miss Prevost, Miss Po-pe, Mr. Kelly, Mr. Boyden. It has been doubly difficult to edit the Normal Offering of this year because of the changed conditions in the school, and it would have been an impossible task but for the highly commendable cooper- ation of the board. Particular credit is due to several members of the board, who assumed willingly the unfinished duties of some who found it necessary to take up their work unexpectedly in Outside Training.