Religion: Canned Sermons Panned

Punchinello LaGuardia led with his chin again last week, this time got it punched by various assorted clergymen. As the country's Civilian Defense Director, New York City's Mayor asked all pastors, priests and rabbis to preach on religious freedom and democracy next Sunday, enclosed a pretty fair 1,500-word "outline" of the sort of sermon he hoped for. In a nation where Church and State are constitutionally separate, the mere suggestion made numerous ministers mad. Maddest was Editor Charles Clayton Morrison of the arch-isolationist Christian Century.

"This is an unspeakable insult to the clergy of the U.S.," thundered Dr. Morrison. "Who...

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