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Dear Sir,
I suppose it was inevitable that some Hippie, however attenuated by age, would write and complain about “Unrest In The Young” (Vol. XXXI, no. 1, ).
In the clamor of youth, I don't believe Dr. Braceland hears the clear decibels coming from the responsible young. I abstract three of his statements chosen, I hope, not out of context:
We have all been there (young)…
Young people desperately want approval and they look to respected adults for guidance…
He (the youth) feels — that he must make the grade, get along with society…
These statements reflect, in my opinion, a lack of awareness of the depth and motive of youth's alienation. The fact is that young people interpret adult hypocrisy less as a moral corruption and spiritual bankruptcy than as a confirmation of the fraud inherent in the system, itself.
Their interest in religion the doctor sees is not in the corruptible Gods of the Christians and Jews who are traditionally swayed by religious monuments, stained-glass windows, and venal prayer. This first generation in history that feels anxiety without knowing fear, repudiates the entire survival-ethics of its ancestors whose first priority was a need to settle in a walled city and accept the best soldier as their spiritual leader.
The freedom and finance that the good doctor provided has created a new species that is sorely in want, not of its old standards, but like every new breed, a whole new set of instincts known socially as ethical rules and philosophic orientation.