BAA, BAA, BLACK SHEEP

The well-known American tendency for joining seems to have spread even to those who are supposed to look askance at committing themselves, the rampant and juvenile variety of atheists. In The World's Work for June Homer Croy gives a survey of organizations which seem to be flourishing in certain schools and universities; united under the simple title of the Junior Athiest League, they include such formidable local societies as the Society of the Godless, God's Black Sheep, The Devil's Angles, and the Legion of the Damned; all sponsored by that non-athletic 4-A which seems to have collegiate ambitions, the American Association for the Advancement of Atheism.

The secretary of these new evangelists, in an interview with Mr. Croy, cited with triumph certain polls which have been taken at Dartmouth and Princeton, giving the views of such of the student body as answered the questionaires on the subjects of God and immortality. It is a matter for relief and gratification that such canvasses are not in favor in Cambridge; for whatever one's personal opinions--which at Harvard remain personal--it is not an occasion for pride to be quoted as an ally of those who sponsor the present campaign. The ghosts of Paine and Ingersoll and all other gods of the village atheist revolve rapidly in their graves.