St Michaels High School - Michaelinian Yearbook (Pittsburgh, PA)

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'L How Catholic Students Con Aid The Catholic Press The Catholic press is carrying on in a world at war- a war that is bottnd to mean either victory or defeat for the allied forces. Does this itnply that will be either victory or defeat for justice and morality? The enemy of innocence is lurking in what we see and read. Don't be one of those who soothe their con- sciences with I can read anything, because it implies I will read anything. Books are life-real life: and love is a part of life. Most students realize that love is built on sacrifice and trust, not emotions. Therefore, so-called love maga- zines , which slowly but surely introduce poison into the mind, by depicting love scenes mingled with the sugar of pleasing language and fascinating narrative. should not even attract ottr attention, must less tetnpt yott to read thetn. As Monsignor Sheen says: Radio serial stories and love magazines contain more triangles than a geometry book. The same tnay be said for comic books, which are not, as the title would sttggest, fttnny at all. Rather they are the utterly ridiculous adventttres of a man who came to earth from another planet, with powers and abilities far beyond those of mortal men . They show the clever dealings of tlte underworld, in which evett children partake. We who are so determined to keep ottr lives safe from bombing, in reality stand near a keg of dynamite with lighted matches in our hands, when we read such cheap matter. We American students pride ourselves on ottr culture and learning. Yet more than one hundred of the maga- zines printed here are banned in Canada attd Attstralia. In the United States, sixteen million copies of this erotic filth leave our presses every month, three-fourths of these launched since 1930: and approximately thirty- six million so-called, bttt completed miscalled, intelli- gent individuals read these publications. America is a free country, but liberty is not licenseg get that straight! You are not free to steal your neigh- bor's automobile. Rotten magazines are Public Enemy Number One . and should not be allowed to trample under foot the chastity of American youth! If students refuse to btty these publications-if they go even further and refuse to patronize the merchants who sell them-these dealers will soon realize that we are not being fooled into reading such spicy stories, and will cause them to be removed from their stands. And you wouldn't be missing a thing by having these foul magazines taken out of your life. Aunt Hetty had tlte right idea when she said, What does it profit you to know how a skunk smells?', You won't be considered a sissy or a holy crusader if you refuse to poison your mind or to insult your fire with sttch trash. The great essayist Bacon once said: Some books are to be tastedg others to be chewed, and some few to be swallowed and digested. Even the taste of such vulgarity is bitter. What will happen to tts if we try to digest it? Would you consider Comntandcr john Shea, a hero of Mlord War II, a sissy? His letter to his live-year-old son, jackie, was brought before the world when Com- mander Shea went down with the Wasp . Be a good Catholic, and you can't help being a good American. Did anyone ever call Elmer Layden, the coach of Notre Dame, a sissy? He states: You can't win any more in life than you can on the gridiron, ttnless your ideals are higher than those played up in cheap magae zines. A sound body is useless, unless it is backed by a sound mind. These great men remetnber the words of beloved Pope Pitts XI: Anything that you do for the Catholic press, I shall consider as having been done for me personally. A book written by a Catholic author and having a Catholic backgrotmd would never be accepted by the public reading audience. Because of this thought, it took Franz NVerfel, a jew, to make the Catholic' novel, The Song of Bernadette a best seller. In your reading, direct your attention to one book in particular, to the most sacretl of all books! It is the Heart of our Saviour, Jesus Christ. which was opened upon the Cross. Of this book, you can never read enough. There is an inscription upon It in letters of gold: Learn of Me, because I am meek and humble of Heart. Then you will be strengthened in your determination to help in this crusade against indecent literatttre. You will not he ready to give up or to sttr- render, but like one of our great naval heroes. you can and will answer: I have ll0t yet begun to light. lxIII.DRFD ltlmtcas, '43 THE DURATION 'Tomorrow you shall march away As all ottr soldiers of today. 'l'o fight for all we pray to keep Within our hearts so close and deep. It's hard to smile and bid adieu To those who are so dear to you. But give that cap a jaunty air. And grin to hide how mtlch you care. Your troop will make you carefree-proud To thrill with hope a foreign crowd: And yet if fear should frighten you A song will shake it-a laugh would do. And when this mortal storm has passed And you are homeward bound at last, What a consolation it will be ' To know you've gained our VICTORY.

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