To the Editors of the CRIMSON:

The recommendations of Provost Buck's committee on religion point up a serious lack in the curriculum of this university: the absence of a broad General Education course in the field of modern religion. The fact that religious systems exist in all cultures indicates that they serve an important function to mankind. The study of our own religion is certainly important enough to warrant a course in it; our religion deserves study both as a part of our cultural heritage (as does literature, for instance), and as an area of personal importance to every student.

In presenting a course on religion, the Administration should avoid sponsoring any one religious point of view or taking a generally anti-religious attitude. This is necessary in the interest of both preserving academic freedom and avoiding unfavorable publicity. The obvious answer here is to have different groups handle the various facets of our religion from their own points of view. About half of the course should be given by ministers, or men of religious convictions.

It would be a great mistake, however, to limit the course to this one-sided consideration of religion. Many departments of the college present material relevant to religion; at present this material is only vaguely alluded to in a number of courses, and it should be drawn together and presented complete in one course. For instance, a member of the Department of Philosophy, such as Professor Aiken, could consider the implications of modern liberal philosophy on religion. An anthropologist, such as Professor Kluckhohn, could develop the concepts of cultural relativity of morals and beliefs, and perhaps he might touch upon the effects of our missionaries on non-literate societies. The Department of Social Relations should certainly be represented, in considering, for instance, the irrational factors which influence the formation of any religious beliefs. The social sciences have evolved a great wealth of data pertaining to religion which must be incorporated into the beliefs and attitudes of every intelligent citizen.

In this way Harvard can avoid endorsing any one point of view, yet present a course which we feel would be interesting and useful to all thinking students. Richard Partridge '52   Thomas Bardos '52   Howard Satin '51