You say that we are a sophisticated, civilized, and intellectually mature people, that certainly in the climb of human progress, we have risen above such primitive things as, for instance, superstition? Well, let us think again, dear friends. Whether we like it or not, the old superstitions persist, the old fetishes still cling to us, the old fantasies still control us.

A case in point: I remember a public hearing on open housing in our city, and I was discussing the matter with the owner of large real estate holdings here in our community. He put it this way: "I’m as much a Christian as the next guy, but HERE we’re talking business, we’re not talking Christian idealism." That, I submit to you, is evidence of the most primitive type of superstition. SUPERSTITION!

Another case in point: I…