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A Committee of Congress & the press finds the existing morality in broadcasting disturbing. However, those primarily at fault, the broadcasters, have escaped attention. The intended benefits of the Communications Act were: (1) a rich diversity of programs, (2) provision for the needs of cultural & soc minorities, (3) broad interpretation by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) of what constitutes the public interest & (4) regulatory control of licensees in the performance of public service. The changes during the past quarter cent underscore the wisdom & foresight of those framing the original Act. A world undergoing rapid change esp in technological spheres demands the utmost in intelligence & refined sensibility to avoid destruction. In the race to establish a moral order the mass communications media are not a luxury but services that must be harnessed to democracy's needs. Broadcasters at first thought of the future as bringing widespread educ'al & cultural benefits but the proportion of programs devoted to human betterment has diminished relative to the increase in the number of radio & TV stations. The FCC has not been the consistent, careful, devoted guardian of the public interest that was originally envisioned. The following policies of change are recommended: (1) revised procedures respecting FCC appointments which ignore party labels & focus on proven integrity, intelligence & distinguished public service of the candidates, (2) recovery of the Blue Book & enforcement of its provisions as a condition of every license renewal, (3) appropriations by the Congress sufficient for staff to permit careful scrutiny & appraisal of services rendered before license renewal, (4) the holding of license renewal hearings should be held in the locality served by the licensee, (5) the creation of a nat advisory commission representing major cultural & other interests throughout the nation to advise the FCC on matters relating to broadcasting & the public interest, (6) a minimum of a half hr nightly devoted to serving the interests of lesser majorities & major minorities in the arts & discussion of public issues, be required of each licensee, (7) the (total - sum) divorce of advertising from determination of program content & the limiting of advertising time to 3 minutes per half hr to be filled only by an announcer, (8) congressional grants-in-aid for activation & sustenance of all the 258 frequencies reserved for non-profit educ'al TV, (9) consideration of ways & means to implement the recommendation of the Luce Commission on Freedom of the Press involving a continuing content analysis of the broadcasting media. G. M. Coughenour.

THE war in Europe and our own declared neutrality make the discussion of this subject particularly timely. Much is being said and written on the question as to what is the best procedure to maintain this neutrality: whether we should retain our embargo on arms or not, and whether if lifted or not, we should demand that cash payments be made by all belligerents who purchase goods from us, and that these goods be transported in vessels sailing under the flags of the nations that purchase them. A point which both parties in the controversy try to make is that if their solution is accepted we shall be less likely drawn into war ourselves. Into the merits of this debate we shall not enter. It is one of practical politics, concerned, not directly with the declaration of neutrality or with its justification, but with maintaining such relations with the belligerents as will best safeguard our national rights and most effectively prevent our being drawn out of our neutral status and into the war on one side or the other. The aim of the present paper is rather to examine the conception of neutrality itself, and under its moral, rather than under its immediately legal aspects. Legal justice is not always synonymous with moral justice, and over-insistence on our legal rights is liable to cause us to forget our moral duties of justice and of charity.

In any event, all abortion laws--especially the newer laws--are rather elastic. I presume that they will be applied rigidly or leniently depending upon the attitude of the physician. Given a liberal attitude, I suppose the deciding factor would be whether the woman concerned wishes to have the baby or prefers to terminate the pregnancy. I have a feeling that any woman in the United States today who takes the latter attitude will have an abortion, therapeutic or non-therapeutic, medical or lay. In the long run, legislation against abortions is like any legislation against sin; it is commendable but ineffectual.

Environmental protection is considered an important element in most religions. The article is devoted to the philosophical understanding of the problem of the influence of religion on the environment, human behavior and attitude to nature. Religion has always touched upon the problem of the relationship between man and the world around him. In the existing religious traditions, various ideals of the relationship between man and nature have been formed. As a result, the ideological functions of religion acquire special significance. In our time, religions can be a spiritual source for the development and formation of environmental ethics and natural aesthetics. Religious ethics awakens in people a consciousness that is different from material and technological thinking. Religion helps people understand that their control over the living and inanimate world is unlimited and that cruelty towards nature will turn to them. Religion teaches people that the purpose of life is not to maximize consumption. While technology gives man the physical strength to create or destroy the world, religion teaches virtue. Directly or indirectly, religion can be a powerful source of environmental protection. Therefore, we need to use the power of the influence of religion to protect nature. The nature of the influence of religion on the current state and development of society largely depends on the relationship between people of different faiths. The religious consciousness of people developed in the direction of knowledge of the world and its laws, methods of practical use. Some religious ideologies deify human nature and reflect people's responses to their environment. Religion, as a form of social consciousness, has always, in one way or another, taken care of man's relationship with the natural world, traditionally expressed a certain moral and ethical concern for the environment and determined the moral obligations of man in relation to the environment.