RELIGIOUS DIFFICULTY IN EDUCATION.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 58, 2 December 1907, Page 11

RELIGIOUS DIFFICULTY IN EDUCATION.

(Contributed.) 'As the subject was recently brought into prominence by the deputation to the Government in favour of Biblo reading in schools, some noiuc on the. matter by an observer of many yco-is' standing may not bo out of place in the columns of The Domikio.v. i Before the present system was established some of tho denominations had common schools: of their own. The English Church ha.l two in Wellington, and tho Provincial Governments had schools' in all such portions of tho co.untry .as wore then settled. These schools opened with prayers and Bible instruction was given in them, and ministers could take classes in fchem. I used to be in Woimea Port School, Nelson, in 1866 and 18H7 On the advent of tho present system thr- provincial schools disappeared, and most of the denominational ones, including the two in Wellington. Bishop Hadfieid was against this, but Archdeacon Stock was' for it, being ■ under the impression that Bible instruction would be carried on under the nctv system, as, indeed, most people took for granted. The author of the Bill war-, supposed to'ibe in favour of this, but tho difficulties of combining Bible instruction with compulsory education seemed to the majority 'insuperable, and thcßill was passed in its present, form. There was considerable disappointment at th-. omission of prayer and.Bible .instruction, but nothing was attempted for some time; then two parties arose in favour of amending the present system; those wanting a grant'in ai I from the Government to denominational schools; .the other; Bible teaching, or at any rate Bible reading, in the State schools bf'tlie country as part of the curriculum. The Remans went wholly for tho' former. The English Church, in its General Synods, - showed divided councils,-'which made it an ineffective force. The representatives of. the dioceses of Clnistchurch; Wellington and, I think,' Dunedin, were dnnopiinationalists, 'and those of Nelson and Waiapu in favour of Biblo instruction in the Government schools. At the Gen-eral-Synod of 1895, held ai Nelson, tho, former Went over te. tho'lattor, chiefly on-tho, ground •of expediency and of' united '.action/' In common with the Presbyterians, and with oonsider.able ( sufjport from the Westeyans, tho i English Church has made four attempts : to gat a Referendum Bill passed through tho Hi' Use and each, time has failed. There'was no difficulty in getting signatures .in favour of tho referendum, and the refusals .were few. In tho Middle and Lower Rangitikei,,for instance,'' the signatures were 2000, •'and; the refusals SO. The great bulk of the people asked signed willingly, and were anxious for the change' both in town- and country. But tlia success was superficial.. The . great bulk of the people were not prepared to vote for the candidate who would support'Biblo instruction'in -State schools irrespective of party.;'-In other words, the religious in this particular, is not so important to them as party considerations. But when a religious question doesn't hold tho first place,, it. may be said to hold the last .and to bo a negligible quantity. It would seom to mo that it would be wiser in the interest Arid dignity of religion for the clergy to leave tho matter entirely to thi laity for the future. ' If tho laity really want it, they, will combine and sacrifice, other questions for 1 it, and will then, of course., get it. If they really do'' not want it, the clergy are wholly powerless to achieve it themselves. , ; ; . ■ Few of the supporters of the present secular system, assert that the-Scriptures and religion are of no moment, and indeetl mischievous as some Socialists jdo; but they assert of the-clergy that'if they, did their duty the children would be sufficiently educated in religion: .And the' laity, who want religion taught in the Government schools have an altogether misplaced confidence in.the,.clergy in.- this 'matter—misplaced, .because thoy expect from -thorns theo-impossible. il.Ther.O i are the Sunday schools'!" One hour's teaching in a week, where the attendance .is voluntary, by amateurs—for a clergyman .and his assistants "are not;/trained -teachers—ih = the 'mostimportant of all subjects, if'.religion is of any importance at all! How would a child progress in arithmetic or any other department of secular knowledgo under such/limitations of teaching? As regards secular knowledge, tho whole thing would be looked unori as a faice. . If it is good enough ■ for religion, it must be. because religion is looked upon as an extra of little'importance. Then', .too, by far tho' gi eater number' of, clergymen, owing. to the .number of places they have to serve on a Sunday, are riever, or hardly ever, in th.iir Sunday schools, Then'there is the "day school after hours. . What child likes to be. deprived of a portion of. its' l .'play hours for the sake of an extra lesson .that has no marks attached to it, nor an.- 1 place in examination ? And as the lesson is volurtary, most of' the children, naturally, play -in. the . school ground while , the lesson is going on. Then there is the teaching at home! "Religion-is, too sacred,'" said one of-the ablest of former M.H.R,.'s in an electioneeiihg speech,-"to bo taught in schools.It should lie taught at home.on the mother's lap and tho fatherls knee." (Great cheering.) The npntker was probably • aware, .that • this w;w, not. his -own habit or that of most, of tho fatht'r.-: he was addressing. »The' pipe and the TifiwspHper is the. .end', of ,a man's hard day's labour-,- while the' mother is washing-up and putting the {thildrpn to bed../ The .fas; end.of th,i> ismnt; t-'nf. time for-either- teaching,or. being: taught things divino. : . And what is true otV the masses, is oqually true of the' more comfortable classes; few fathors systematically .train their children, ill religion... If thoy. can afford it, they send'their children to schools whero roligion is systematically taught, and is the essential element,of,the pUop. As a. matter of fact, up to fortv vears a>;o in-every. civilisation tho training in'religion'as woll as of the mind has been.left to the- schoolmaster, and tho religious'training has dominated the whole. It is as'difficult to imagine _T)r.. Arnr 1 -!. the typical .'teacher of youth, without ro!i' J ion as his .educational weapon as Achillas-on. tho Batilefield without his. spear.. As a matter of facti Tiiore than -half the children in , at. this present .time, aro.being tauybt in tional schools; that is,, systematieallv trained .in relifion; and of tte lesser half, taught in the Board schools a good nroportioif are taught the Bible systematically nud are examined in it. in accordance with tho Lecturer of Huxley- that tho Bible is "an" essential element.in.tho training of the young. . , It is quite clear, therefore, that somo measure of religion could! bo. taught in. our .public schools, if the laymen who want 'it ftaught would combine and push tho matter; .for tho mass of the people would like it, only thoy want others to fight their battle in this mat-' ter, as in matter secular. But it means pulling your coat off, effort, and. controversy. And as long as people can affori/tb give their own children _ a religious eduoation in the private schools of tho Dominion, they are chary of malting, an effort on behalf-of'those who can t.' And, again, there are those who think they can enjoy the blessinas of the Christian civilisation, while they 'allow tho religion_th.it Trudo it to die out of our iiational life. But as no civilisation ever existed but was mado and formed by religion, so no civilisation has long survived"the decay of the religiori that marie it.' An'd'it may be that while-we am boasting,of the greatness of.the Dominion, 'tvliieli : l:irr;c-Jy'' cornets of neaps of borrowed monoy, the ropayment of which we leave, like a irambler, to chance, m -the way of the continuance of good seasons and good prices, over which 'wo have nn command, a worrn is at tho root of our national life. And it may he. wo are in the position of trreat Imperial Rome, when she sang hor "Ci:rmen Saccnlaro," her glory of a thousand years, and struck the memorable medal with "Novum'iSneculum/-' her new "pooh of anof-'ier thousand years she was just entering upon, on nnp side; and "Aetsrnitati," to Tiomn tho Everlasting, on the other; and within 200 years perished irretrievably. '.- f " , • , —A.Y.T.