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A well-established physiological dominance of the left hemisphere of the brain had been transferred through training to the contralateral side, rendering possible the execution of an exceptionally differentiated performance of great complexity that involved maximal demands upon mental acuity as well as visual and muscular skill.
ERNST JOKL, M.D.
University of Kentucky
Lexington
In Rebuttal
Sir:
Of all the letters written in response to TIME's Man of the Year selection, I was most impressed by the Rev. Henry P. Van Dusen's [Jan. 18]. His observation that the Vatican Council has shown "little prospect of changes on the more intractable issues that divide Roman Catholics and their Protestant 'separated brethren' " is soberly accurate. It would have been perfectly accurate had he said that there is no prospect of such changes.
The matters he referred to are fundamental to Catholicism, and cannot be changed. Equally accurate is the Rev. Van Dusen's estimate that the most that Protestant's can hope for from the council is an enlargement of "fellowship, conversation, and possibly limited cooperation between Catholics and non-Catholics, but no more than that."
It is hard for a Catholic to put his church's case frankly without appearing to be intransigent and arrogant. But if Protestants could borrow some of Mohammed's philosophical attitude, they would realize that this particular mountain is immovable. It has to be. Mohammed will have to go to the mountain.
Incidentally, I am a writer of Catholic magazine articles.
JOHN H. JEWELL
South Hadley Falls, Mass.
Sir:
Those words of Reader Michael McCracken [Jan. 11] about the "outdated and archaic beliefs and customs" of Christianity dare not go unchallenged.
Does he know of the appraisal of Einstein, who is reported to have said:
"Being a lover of freedom, when the revolution came to Germany, I looked to the universities to defend it, knowing that they had always boasted of their devotion to the cause of truth; but no, the universities were immediately silenced. Then I looked to the great editors of the newspapers, but they, like the universities, were silenced in a few short weeks. Then I looked to the individual writers, but they too were mute. Only the Church stood squarely across the path of Hitler's campaign for suppressing the truth. I never had any great interest in the Church before. But now I feel a great affection and admiration because the Church alone had the courage and persistence to stand for intellectual truth and moral freedom. I am forced to confess that what I once despised I now praise unreservedly."
(THE REV.) S. T. MOYER
Bethel Mennonite Church
Pekin, Ill.
Editor's Comment
Sir:
We should like to thank you for opening the columns of TIME for an extremely well-written presentation of the Danish press and for choosing the Berlingske Tidende as a focal point. We have evidence from many parts of Europe showing that the article [Jan. 4] has been widely read. It has given us confidence to tackle the next 214 years, even if it will necessarily mean a change of editors.
TERKEL M. TERKELSEN Editor in Chief
Berlingske Tidende
Copenhagen