The Churches: That Awful Fatalism

The churches of the U.S., which have never summoned enough resolution, originality or unity to help the country significantly in dealing with racial discrimination, last week in Chicago held their first National Conference on Religion and Race—and proved themselves still unable to offer much wisdom.

The dominant mood of the four-day meeting, attended by 1,000 delegates and observers from 65 Protestant, Roman Catholic and Jewish groups, was what one participant called "that awful fatalism.'' The Rev. Will D. Campbell, former chaplain at Ole Miss and an executive of the National Council of Churches, said flatly that "it is too late...