Item 2588

Letter from Ord Alexander, 2515 K Street N.W., Apt 702, Washington, D.C., May 30, 1957, with Heath’s reply of June 10, 1957

 

 

Dear Mr. Heath:

 

I have just returned from a short vacation in Maine and as a result just received your kind invitation for the fourth of June. Unfortunately, the National Coal Association has its annual convention the 4th, 5th and 6th, so it will be impossible for me to attend. I am honored to have been invited.

 It pleases me that you and Spencer enjoyed your visit to my cabin. I intend to make good the meal you missed and hope it will be soon.

 Your critique is interesting — it is a pleasure to read things with which, to a large extent, one agrees.

 I tire of reading vague criticisms blaming exact and systematic logic for the fix we are in today. Crabcannons have their place – in music. History seldom inverts its tune for it follows political moves, and politics and government seem to control everything but God.

 Science is continually being accused of producing and developing the ills of society and also is burdened with curing those ills. With this unjust dual burden, science is often decried as being “out of balance”.

 The concept of balance begets by definition the concept of imbalance. Science is knowledge derived from the study of the epitome of balance – nature. Loss of balance of a system usually requires application of an outside force, and if one examines the situation he may well justify an opinion that the force in question is that portion of politics that may be defined as selfishness.

 Science and the market as they expand parallel to each other form a balance that neither science nor the market can destroy; to do so has always required the selfish influence of politics.

 

 Politics and government with their often-undeserved powers have forced the world into a position of deficit financing of

society — financial depression is one thing — social, moral,

and intellectual another.

 Is it possible that man can destroy or “take away” at a faster rate than the Lord can give?

 Pardon my ramblings.

Sincerely,

/s/ Ord

Ord Alexander 0A:ny

 

_______________________________________________

Dear Ord:                                  June 10, 1957

 

Spencer and I have been re-reading your letter of May 30^th. We want to commend the very intelligent spirit of your casual remarks concerning the balances and imbalances in our social scheme. Your mind is clearly pointed in the right direction — making the right distinctions and discriminations. Your general thesis is worked out admirably by Dr. Ralph S. Lillie in the early chapters of his “GENERAL BIOLOGY AND PHILOSOPHY OF ORGANISM,” although he does not seem to carry his illustrations much beyond the purely biological field and into the social as you do.

 

 Thanks a heap for your letter.

 

Cordially

 

Spencer Heath

 

SH:m

Enc: “The Practice of Christian Freedom”