Ours is a far less brutal world than that of the last century, for which blessing we are indebted to the determined dreamers of last century who were spokesmen for working people. Today nobody knows what working people think or feel, except that they made clear in the last election that they prefer to be ruled by an exploitive business community rather than by an Upper-Class Left which has, for a decade, made plain its contempt for them. Of course it is a rough form of self-expression to choose between two arrogant upper-class minorities, but this land of thing does not give us the benefit of workingclass morality. Today that is expressed nowhere, for working people have no party, no access to the press and certainly no dreamers. Thus in comparing the futpre-books of last century and those of this one we are really comparing die dreams of two different classes.

He was," Professor Donald Williams of Harvard once said, "the most gentle philosopher I ever met." Professor Williams had no great use for theism. We may be certain it was not the theories of Jacques Maritain, rather his person, that touched him. Maritain would have understood such praise. Theories are not the only carriers of truth. Persons carry truth too.

The omnia opera of St Thomas Aquinas Maritain almost uniquely understood convey a nonrationahstic view of human intelligence For Aquinas intelligence operates in many modes with unfitting suppleness adaptability and wordlessness Intelligence exceeds logic Intelligence exceeds words Yet intelligence does not despise its own weak instruments—its poor words, its structures of logic, its painstaking formulation of reasons.

Elders raised their eyebrows and young people cheered when Rabbi Earl Vinecour, twenty-eight years old, a former captain in the U.S. Army, advocated the introduction of rock music into the synagogue service. In Cape Town, in the year 1970, such an idea seemed novel and audacious. But emotions ran much higher, still when the local Reform temple's new assistant rabbi and educational director began to probe the morality of racism. His talk on "Judaism and Apartheid" before the Students' Jewish Association at Cape Town University—in which he referred to similarities between the Nazi Nuremberg laws and current South African racial legislation—aroused alarm and wrath among many members of his own congregation.

Since the emergence of negritude as a literary and philosophical creed, debates have been raging among African and black intellectuals both inside and outside the continent as to the real nature of the "true" art and culture of Africa. Some of these debates ignore history and the contact made between Africa and other parts of the world. The followers of the nationalist position hold that any Europeanism in Africa's culture is untenable and tantamount to betrayal and cultural heresy.

In order to be truly the body of Christ in the world, the Church seeks the right to give free, unrestricted expression to its basic functions such as worship, proclamation, fellowship, service and teaching. In an avowedly Christian country it legitimately proceeds on the assumption that this right is given. Apartheid legislation and custom, however, place serious restrictions on these basic functions, as well as on the overall administration of the Church.

Apart from specific restrictions contained in legislation, there is also the inhibiting factor of uncertainty engendered by the wideness and vagueness of many regulations and laws. A climate of opinion has developed, encouraged by the plethora of regulations and laws, which makes even legally permissible actions seem doubtful and possibly dangerous.

For over a decade the controversy surrounding American private investment in South Africa has failed to penetrate a basic national ambiguity. That ambiguity is viewed by one side of the controversy as plain hypocrisy in the face of racial wrong, and by the other as pragmatism before unclear moral alternatives.

Far from clarifying matters, the ongoing debate has resulted in a constant shift in emphasis and sometimes in position. Many who once called for a complete withdrawal of in vestment now advocate it if it can be shown to promote the welfare of South African blacks. At the same time, strong advocates of withdrawal have won new adherents from active political groups.

African theology has become a common commodity for discussion in the past five years or so. Increasingly, one get requests to write an article on African theology; and one meets people who jump up with the request, "Oh, tell me something about African theology," or the question, "What is African theology?" for which they expect a three-minute definitive answer. There are also people who do not feel comfortable when the term "African theology" is used. At the other end of the scale are people who get highly excited about the African theology, as though it promised to bring the Kingdom of Heaven finally to this earth.

There is clearly a wide spectrum of popular expectations about African theology. But a lot of them seem to be very shallow, and founded :on wrong or naive assumptions.

The thirty-eighth floor of the U.N. Secretariat building, though it perches high over the East River, is hardly a setting of which dreams are made. No fairy-tale castle tower this, but a practical beige and green cocoon in which some of the most important work in the world gets done. Teak and "Scandinavian modern" are much in evidence, a legacy from the Hammarskjöld years.

I was briefed by Press Secretary André Lewin before my interview with Kurt Waldheim and took that opportunity, to ask some questions about the Secretary-General. What are Mr. Waldheim's avocations, if any? He adores the opera, said Lewin, and would love to go when he is in New York, but he just hasn't any time. The Waldheims have a country retreat in Connecticut which they are able to visit from time to time on weekends.

In view of the succession of failures that have marked U.S. policy in Indochina a clear assessment of responsibility would seem to be in order. The Congress is, to be sure, talking about the need to reassert itself on questions of war and peace. But, strangely enough, there has been no inclination to isolate and condemn specific bureaucratic or political figures in connection with the Indochina debacle. The instrumentalities of our foreign policy were not always so sacrosanct.

As World War II ended, the Department of State came under heavy political attack for alleged errors and deviations. Shortly after resigning his position as Ambassador to China in November, 1945, Major General Patrick J. Hurley charged that "The weakness of the American foreign policy together with the Communist conspiracy within the State Department are responsible for the evils that are abroad in the world today."