Because actual Book & Key members remain so silent, maybe I should contribute my own memories of the first floor of their temple. We scaled the walls of the Book & Key building once or twice during the early 1960s, in spontaneous nocturnal ascents led by members of the Outing Club. Afterward, we took care to try to reseal their roof against rain.
During 1964, the first floor reminded me of a Masonic/ Eastern Star facility--although smaller and with less fancy furniture and interior decorating. The few costumes that then remained were also suggestive of rituals like Eastern Star public ceremonies.
W. "Tuck" Forsythe '65
Ellensburg, Wash.
Elizabeth Weber's ['98] article on Book & Key ("Our Back Pages," December 1999) came at a serendipitous time. I was a member of Book & Key in the Class of 1955 and was cleaning out some old notes when I read her history of the organization.
In our class, the usual seven were "tapped" in the dining hall. Apparently, six of them accepted, and as I recall it, these six felt that a larger membership was needed to be truly representative and to re-energize the organization. Subsequently, 16 more were asked to join, and I was in this group. Somehow, I got the job of researching Book & Key's history so that we could all understand better what its mission was and could be. I made a presentation that included suggestions for members from the Class of 1956--including Larry Shane, current chairman of the Board of Managers.
Ted Phillips, M.D. '55
Lopez Island, Wash.
I was delighted with Tom Krattenmaker's "Religion in the Age of Science" (December 1999). I agree that religion and science can coexist if not riled by dogmatists on either side.
The article reminded me of Jesse Herman Holmes, professor of religion and philosophy during my undergraduate days. He was probably Swarthmore's best-known and most controversial faculty member, and like Ian Barbour '44, he began his life as a scientist before centering on religion.
Holmes was the scourge of conservatives in the Delaware Valley, an agnostic Quaker, foe of religious and political dogma, and socialist candidate for governor of Pennsylvania.
He helped me return to my family's Quaker roots. I wanted to formally join the Society of Friends during my Swarthmore years but hesitated because several of my Quaker friends were most conservative theologically. But I was able to overcome my reticence after reading Holmes' "Letter to the Scientifically Minded," which was first published in 1928 by The Friends Intelligencer. I remember thinking that Jesse Holmes' religion was for me--that although I could not accept religious fundamentalism, I could easily accept Holmes invitation to become a Friend.
Today, I am happy to be part of the liberal current in Quakerism. I learned from Jesse while I was a student that science and religion can be compatible, and I join with Mr. Krattenmaker and other Swarthmoreans in that view.
T. Noel Stern '34
South Dartmouth, Mass.
Professor Holmes' essay is excerpted here. T. Noel Stern wrote more extensively about him in the June 1992 Friends Journal.
In 1930, when I was 6 years old, I was informed by one of my street acquaintances that I, a Jew, was guilty of killing Jesus Christ.
The Swarthmore College Bulletin ("Religion in the Age of Science," December 1999) now tells me of the renewed interest in religion by some current students. The article primarily deals with conflict between science and religion. But this strikes me as minor compared with other far more menacing aspects of faith.
Swarthmore students--protected by the greatest military machine ever known, comfortable in the bounty of the greatest economic boom ever, and residing in beautiful and remote surroundings--remind me of the last czarina of Russia, who also lived very well and who, in her religious belief, turned to the religion of the monk Rasputin for comfort and support.
But far worse things derive from religion than people such as Rasputin. Call it the devil theory of history: seeking the source of present discomfort in the identification of those in the service of Satan. This should not be dismissed too quickly; the Vatican recently reasserted the existence of Satan. The seeking of evildoers still goes on.
My early experiences with the religion of the street boys helped me understand how Pope Pius XII could maintain silence in the early 1940s, even though after 1943 there was no doubt about the ultimate defeat of Germany. He had seen the communist takeover of Russia; Hungary; and, for a short time, Bavaria, where (before Joe Stalin cleaned things up) the revolutionary leaders were, as often as not, Jews. Those schooled in the teachings of the New Testament knew that the Jews participating in the crucifixion of Jesus took the guilt on themselves and their descendants for all time. It had to be clear that the militant anticommunism of Adolf Hitler, a Roman Catholic who, to this day, has never been excommunicated from the church, was indeed useful in eliminating these atheistic communists in the overall struggle to eradicate the agents of Satan--among them, the Jews who, knowing of Jesus, consciously rejected him.
In case the preceding paragraph is disturbing, remember that events in Germany did happen, just as in Yugoslavia now. The problem in addressing the role of religion at Swarthmore or similar blessed places is that the lumpen are not being taken into account. And there are a lot of them around. Now, they are well fed and have jobs and television, and things are quiet. This was not so in Germany when I was being informed of my inherited guilt and when Hitler appeared and told the German people how the Jew-communists were the source of their problems.
When the riots occur, the gentle and rational people who are more interested in the transcendental aspects of religion retreat into contemplation. Although this letter has dealt with Christian-Jewish relations, other religions have their own ignorant believers whose conceptions of religious teaching does not quite match the faith of the gentle intelligent believers and who are willing and eager to take action against those whom they conceive of as evil enemies.
Arnold Krell '49
Cherry Hill, N.J.
I am writing to comment on the letter "Joys of Judaism" by Elliot Wachman '83 (De-cember 1999, responding to "In My Life," September 1999).
It is heartwarming to be reminded that some children can grow up with a set of all-encompassing concrete values, protected from the evils of contemporary mass culture.
But this shelter may not be absolute. For instance, there is the case of Baruch Goldstein, who in February 1994 machine-gunned a group of Muslims (including women and children) at prayer in Hebron. To the rest of the civilized world, this was a case of mass murder--and so it was for many of Mr. Wachman's co-religionists. But for a significant number who outwardly share the same beliefs and practices, it was nothing of the sort but rather the noble act of a martyr and saint. They still venerate Goldstein's memory at his tomb.
So Mr. Wachman has a choice. Either he must face the question: "Is there something lacking in my total system of belief, so that it does not protect people from the grievous error of confusing mass murder with martyrdom?" Alternatively, those who venerate the memory of Baruch Goldstein would be prudent indeed to protect their children from the corrupting influence of Swarthmore College and all it represents.
Jerry Ravetz '50
London, England
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