Report on Buchmanism

For the first time in history, last week, a certain measure of clinical objectivity was brought to bear on the work of famed Evangelist Frank ("Soul Surgeon") Buchman, founder of the movement variously known as "The Oxford Group," "A First Century Christian Fellowship" and "Moral Re-Armament (MRA)."* An investigate tabulated the results of a questionnaire he had sent 92 men & women who had come into contact with Buchmanism an average of 18 years ago--whose acquaintance with it is a little out of date but who have had the opportunity for a long-range view. The investigator: Walter H. Clark, a master at the Lenox School in Lenox, Mass., who is writing his Harvard Ph.D. thesis on Buchmanism. Findings:

P:Only 12% of those responding were still active in the movement.

P:The median family income of those questioned had been between $5-10,000, with 28% over $10,000. (Buchmanism aims at "the up-&-outs.")

P:When asked "Did the movement add anything to your intellectual equipment?" 45% said no and "only seven answered yes and at the same time supplied convincing illustration." One man declared that while he was a Buchmanite, "thinking seemed to me atheism." Said another: "I put my trust in guidance and failed my examinations."

P:Both those who had left Buchmanism and those who had stayed agreed that the chief benefit of their experience was an emotional release for the individual. Many, but not all, felt they had been on ah emotional spree which left them self-disgusted and often distrustful of all religion.

P:Opinion was divided as to the sexual effects of the experience. Of those answering, 59% said it had been beneficial.

* Evangelist Buchman 64, was last week in Saratoga Springs, N.Y., convalescing from a heart attack in November. His patriotic pageant You Can Defend America (TIME, May 25), his chief activity nowadays, has been temporarily suspended, but its north-of-the-border adaptation, Pull Together, Canada, is going great guns in Nova Scotia.

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