Holy Week and the week that followed brought pink cherry-blossom loveliness around Washington’s Tidal Basin, busloads and carloads of out-of-towners intent on seeing the nation’s capital, and a contingent of anti-war demonstrators. Among the latter were the stated clerk of the United Presbyterian Church, a Methodist bishop, a Roman Catholic college president, a vice-president of a Quaker college, and a Jewish rabbi. They stood in front of the White House fence daily the week before Easter.
I think the President has indicated clearly that we’re on our way out of Viet Nam. He has kept his word at every point, but he refuses to set a terminal date. Granted that perhaps we should never have gotten into Viet Nam in the first place (and Mr. Nixon didn’t get us in), it still is impossible simply to withdraw overnight. To do so would surely lead to worse results than seem possible in the program the President has embarked upon. All of us should pray that circumstances will not hinder the country from full disengagement and that good may eventually come from an involvement most Americans would like to see terminated.
As Mother’s Day approaches, we mention with satisfaction that CHRISTIANITY TODAY has published more essays by women in the past year than in any previous one. The author of the Mother’s Day-related essay in this issue is a woman and—may our men readers beware—a Father’s Day article that will appear in the June 18 issue was written by a woman, too. We hope our female readers will take courage and submit more articles for consideration.