Freedom of the press is guaranteed only to those who own one” - A.J. Liebling
My father Bob Wilson took this to heart, and bought one and started his own newspaper, the Prairie Post of Maroa, Illinois in 1958, and ran it until he died in 1972. It never had a circulation of more than 2500 or so, but every week, he would fire off editorials at everyone and everything from local events to the actions of the nations of the world.
He may have been a Quaker peace activist in a Republican district, but his love and support of the farming communities garnered him enough respect that he eventually ran for the U.S. House of Representatives in 1962, though he lost. (He might have tried again, had he not died of an accident while only 49.) Many of his views ring true today. And he might have been willing to change the ones that fell behind the times. Although raised in the casual racism of the 1920s and 1930s, at the age of 15 he took stock of what he was being taught and discarded much of it as being wrong, and lived his life with respect for all. [well, almost all. I have found that his views on homosexuality were those common to his time. Would he have been able to change again? Maybe...]
I decided to transcribe his old editorials (I may make a book for some of my relatives) and every once in a while I will repost one here, as a view of how the world has changed wildly, or remained stubbornly the same.
May 14, 1964
WHOSE PRAYERS?
If you were running for office, how would you like to be described as “anti-prayer” or “anti-God?”
This illustrates the sensitivity of candidates to criticism, and explains the recent progress of certain foolish and improper legislation calculated to make prayer an official part of our school system. One of the sound bases of our Constitution is the separation of church and state.
This is not a Christian nation. It is a nation of religious freedom for all, and we shall have scattered the wisdom of our Founding Fathers if ever we permit government or public schools to become specifically Christian institutions.
We are too used to saying “Christian” when we mean “Godly” or “religious”.
Shall a Jewish child be forced to sit through Christian prayers in the public school? Or shall we adopt Buddhist prayers and thereby offend Hindus and Mohammedans? Whose standards shall we choose as to the proper form and content of the prayers; an order of Catholic nuns, perhaps? Or would you prefer those “Christians” from the Tennessee mountains who fondle rattlesnakes as a devout exercise?
A lot of fine religious people have leaped into this thing without a second thought. If children are in some way “deprived” by prayerless classes, consider how many would be deeply wronged by being forced to undergo alien religious teachings.
Lest anyone suggest that prayers could be reduced to non-specifics and offend no-one, remember that in America the atheist also has rights as a citizen. If he wishes to instruct his child that all religion is a myth, it is not your privilege to tell him otherwise.
Although many sincere people have taken it up, the motive force behind the whole movement is the network of radical far-right bigots, who have no real use for religion but cannot pass up an opportunity to stir dissension.
Prayer has a real and proper place in the home and in the church. Let us teach it, develop it, and cherish it there.
May 21, 1964
FLUID INTAKE
Want to swing along through summer as if you didn't know it was here? The sudden, blistering heat claims a lot of victims; don't be one of them, and don't be one of those who drag through the day feeling half dead.
Your diet is the answer; eat lightly and drink a lot of fluids. Lunch on iced tea without sugar and one of those blessed inventions, a Chef's salad. You will not mind the heat.
Anyone who dines on mashed potatoes and gravy, white bread, and pie is going to spend the afternoon sweating in the shade.
Stay away from cake, cookies, pie and white bread. Avoid greasy fried foods.
Most important of all, drink fluids at every excuse. Soft drinks will not cool you, (unless they are sugar-free) because every bottle contains several spoons of sugar. Beer is even less helpful, as it has both sugar and alcohol which are converted to heat energy in the blood stream.
Drink cool water, and you have the best known safeguard against heat exhaustion.
We remember Boy Scout camping trips when the combination of constant activity in the hot sun, and heavy, badly-cooked campfire meals left most of the troop almost ill. Plentiful cool water was the only medicine needed.
This week we watched construction men working shirtless in the blazing sun. Most of us have done it day after day in 100 degree temperatures; but you will recall it takes a gallon of cool water in the morning, and another in the afternoon!
The human body is a water-based system. All its marvelous interchanges take place in solutions. When dehydration cuts the supply of fluids, nothing works right.
For a comfortable and healthy summer, heed nature's signals. That thumping head may indicate you need a tall glass of water, and that lethargic feeling just might go away if you eat cottage cheese instead of chocolate cake.