MET H ”MA/v, l846 MlOWENSE 0‘5 GRINNELL COLLEGE SCARLET & BLACK "The misuse of language is not only distasteful in liseli. it is even iniurious iu the soul." FNQOI EAYTON — Plato oi. LXXVIII Grinnell. Anderson Leads Christian Symposium Between Sunday and Tuesday of this week, Dr, Francis Ann dcrsen was the featured speaker in a symposium, the Future oi Christianity in the Poserhristian Era, Copies of Dr. Andersen’s speeches will be available soon from the Grinnell College Chris- tian Fellowship. Dr. Andersen, a native Aus. tralian, is Professor of Old Testa- merit Literature at the Church Divinity School of the Pacific in Berkeley and Visiting Professor of Ugaritic at the University of California. He holds seven degrees, including an MA in Physical Chemistry, an MA. in Russian language and literature and a PhD. in Oriental languages from John Hopkins University. His specialty for the last 15 years has been early Canaanite and ancient Hebrew. In an interview the 5&8 asked Dr. Andersen whether he thinks his broad education has given him any important insights in his field. “of course it's difficult enough to excel in one subject these days. let alone many. But I prefer to have had the broad experience than not. Most theolr ogians can‘t base an opinion of scientific work on knowledge. A scientist who loves his subject — and appreciates the structure of the world isn‘t necessarily godless as some theologians say." Dr. Andersen said that as far as he knows, no institute has yet been formed to join the sciena tist and the theologian for long. range work. Such an institute might be helpful to both. ”When a scientist raises questions about the origin of the universe, he is outside the range oi purely scien- tific speculation.” How would Dr. Andersen distinguish between theology and science? “That is a hard distinction to draw, but part of it is this: Although the methodology in science is agreed upon. theology is done in many different Ways by different theol- ogians. Some theologians begin with man and make their theol- ogy a sort of selfvunderstanding. Others study it as a classical discipline, a system of thought which can be learned and John Milton Arnold Stein, Professor of English at the University of Washington, will deliver a talk on John Milton entitled “Love in the Garden” next Thursday at 3:00 PM. at Grinnell House. Author of books on the poetry of John Donne, John Milton, and George Herbert, in addition to a book of his own poetry, Professor Stein is recognized as one of the leading scholars of the seven- teenth century metaphysical poets. All members of the college community are welcome to at- tend. studied. Others Say religion is a personal experience and can't be learned from a book. Still others begin theology with the assumption that God has revealed himself, For these, the task becomes to discover what God has revealed about himself in the Bible ” Dr. Andersen places himseli in the last group. “Scientists, on the other hand, may avoid the philosophical task of questioning what they are doing, their underlying suppOV sitions~theyknowtheirjob." _ What about American edu7 cation? Are the students that enroll in the Seminary ader quately preparedi Andersen said that although many are well trained, he Wishes that more were practiced in thinking critically and following an argu— ment. “Many seem to believe that anyone has the right to say anything he wishes without the responsibility of supporting his statements.” He suggested that undergraduate seminars might be a good way to solve the problem. ”The students we have now are far more candid and interesting than those we had lo years ago, There seems to be a revolution against the attitude that the prep fessor is there only to inculcate knowledge, and this is right. Part of the professor’s task is to in spire in the student a life-long interest. But at the same time the student should not believe the professor has nothing to teach.” Andersen observed that many students can talk openly and irankly about sex but are very coy about studying religion. Perhaps they don‘t discuss religr ion enough. “Is there a limit to how far a question can be pur- sued in the classroom? It would be tragic to think that anything that borders on theology is off limits. This raises an important question: Can neutrality be preserved in the university?” What are Mr. Andersen‘s views on the student power movement? It always seemed important to me for students to have a real role in the community they com- prise. When a group of students requested that student observers be allowed to attend faculty meetings, 1 ielt it was not enough. Students should he allowed to participate in running the school a they should help both in making decisions and in doing the work." Anderson pointed out that the Seminary’s students are all graduate students, many on their way to careers in universities. ”They are not fools, but they are inexperienced in running a uni- verslty. The only way to get experience is by helping to run the school,” Andersen said that any proposals which would give the taculty no voice are ob- jectionable. “There should be a sense of common enterprise.” Iowa, Saturday. January 3|, W70 No. 2 (35 On Black America The speakers who came to Grilmell under the sponsorship of the Concerned Black Students lectured last Saturday on the American black experience and its implications. William E. Cross, Jr., in structor in Afro-American studies at Princeton, presented ahypothesis that a black person “experiences a series of well de- fined stages in becoming trans formed from a ‘Negro,’ with all the bad connotations of that term, to a “Black" or ”Afro-Amer ican," with all its good connoo tations.” Finley Campbell, assistant professor of English and chairman of the AfroVAmerican Studies Committee at Wabash College, portrayed the Black Panther Party, guided by a com- plex ideology and a humani- tarian outlook, as the key force inblackliberation. In his lecture, “Black Ex— perience Seen as Process,” Cross divided the process of the trans formation of the American black man from “Negro" to “Afro— American” into four stages: pre encounter, encounter, im- mersion-emersion, and inter nallzation and commitment. During the prerencounter stage, according to Cross, the lower or middle class black leads a contented life, but with the world view of the white racist society. Although he knows that society is wrong, he does not believe the system is at fault, and in his personal life he adopts the white cultural value system, with its emphasis on the advancement of the individual. as his own. _— At the seminary, the students participating are doing well. The gravest weakness, however, in the system is the “complete lack of Continuity." There is such a rapid turnover that by the time a student learns the ropes he quits. He indicated that although the participating students may learn a lot, the university hasflg gained much in the long run because of this. Nor‘do programs worked out with these students always satisfy the student body. This year, for instance, a new curriculum was instituted at the various Seminaries in the Bay area. “It was worked out in close consultation with students 7 in fact, one could almost say it was student written." The new curriculum was not accepted by the students as a whole any better than the old one had been. Dr. Andersen blamed two factors: First, many didn’t know that students had helped in designing the Curriculum. Second, this year‘s class has a diilerent outlook from the students who helped write the curriculum. “It's hard to respond to student needs when those needs change or are hard to discover.” The world view and personal outlook oi the black in the pre-en- counter stage is often disturbed by some event or experience that causes him to question his outs look and values, Cross explained. After this experience, or “ens counter," he will consider new, more radical, interpretations of the black experience. In this stage, he will also begin to feel guilt for the way he has been living. This guilt erupts and results in a new search Tor black idenr tity, in the third “immersion- emei-sion" stage. During this period, he will “immerse himself completely into the world of blackness“ and he will tear him- self completely from his previous white outlook. He will also develop a ieeling of black super- iority and will think of the white man, as biologically inferior. According to Cross, this very race conscious black will seek confrontations with whites, especially police, during this period. When his urge for con frontation is satisfied, he will enter me “emersion” period # a state of relaxation during which he will discard his formerly racist outlook as he begins to feel more and more in Control of his life. Finally, the experiences of the previous three stages will either frustrate or inspire the individ ual, and this will determine which direction he will follow in the fourth, “internalization and commitment" stage. Here, Cross said, the individual may feel disappointment and rejection or may continue in the “immer- sion" stage if he has been frusA trated, li he is encouraged, he may either “incorporate psychologically the idea that he can dig himself,“ and go no further, or he may commit him- self to action. Campbell, who spoke on the “Ideological Roots of the Black Panther Party,” discussed the many ideologies which the Black Panther Party draws on, with an emphasis on their humanistic facets. He said that the ideolog- ical motivation of the Panthers — “What’s to these guys other than that they can die“ — is complex, and normally not well understood. Because the Black Panther Party will be leading this fight against the white man’s exploita- tion of men and the environment, Campbell said he expected many others who are concerned with these things to join with the Party’s efforts in those fields. He emphasized, however, that the primary concern of Black Pan- thers is the “black national com- munity,” and no one can follow the party only part of the way. Campbell concluded by listing three ingredients to the party’s actions. First, the Panthers combine tribalism and politics in “Tribalitics,” a way to “col- lectivize the political iacets oi society without interfering with the individual in that society." Secondly, it combines “Euro- Christian radicalism” with the African Christian tradition into the concept of developing cone science and intuition collectively 7 according to Campbell, “everybody does the same thing, but in their own way." Finally, the Black Panther Party, looking at American populism with a MarxistLeninist interpretation, takes “newV populism" as a third ingredient to its ideology, according to Campbell.