From the Editors November 4, 1991 Issue

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The Editors

Pick nearly any country—Czechoslovakia, Chile, Kenya, Latvia, the Soviet Union—and there's definitely something new happening. Government is less and less of an elite process. People from every segment of society are taking a more active role. ...

It's becoming clearer, too, that spiritual discernment is needed more than ever during such stirring times. We need to know what is valuable and worth preserving, while being able to part with what holds back moral and spiritual advancement. U.S. Congressman Lamar Smith, in an interview in this issue, relates the most vital question of government not to power politics but to man's relation to God. "... right thinking and right acting," he says, "gives ... strength and power." He goes on to explain, "This power is derived not from ourselves, not from human will, not from human decisions, but from God Himself."

Is this some new blurring of the legitimate boundaries of church and state? Not at all. But it does indicate the fast-growing conviction of many people—including the writers in this issue—that the moral and spiritual values treasured in religion for centuries must now be understood as much more than "religious." Neither individual nor society can thrive without them, and they are changing the course of history.

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