IS IT INTOLERANCE?

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1837, 25 August 1913, Page 4

IS IT INTOLERANCE?

- Sir, —There is a howl of righteous indignation arising from the ranks of the Bible-in-Scbools party just now, because ; somebody or other charged them with religious intolerance. I notico thai the league organiser, in a recently-pub-lished sermon, says thero is no founda : tion for the charge. Hero are a couple of'extracts, from the literature, jvliich the league'is so zealously circulating:— "But tho Jew is a maai of nous and gumption, and if one did become a toaohor—a profession of hardly sufficient •worth—he would accommodate himself to circumstances, even asi lie docs in other affairs."

"If a man cannot compose himself into decent reverence before tho faith of,nine out of every ten of his' fellowcitizeiis, "cannot respect tho faith tho parents have been imprinting upon their little cMldreTi, ho is not lit to bo in tho service at all."

Is this intolerance? The Bible-in-Schools League says: No. So the Jewish teaoher must accommodate himself to circumstances ? Ho must accommodate his religion to the requirements of the- proposed syllabus. Ho is to coilduct the Biblo lesson® asked for ,by the league. Ho must see that the children read' and understand literally lessons teaching,'say, the Divinity of Christ.. He may find it difficult, but he should' not call it intolerance. Oh, dear, no! And tho agnostic? Ho must compose himself into decent reverence. True, he doesn't beliovo in the Biblo. Ho may consider tho Biblo absurd, though of course he has no right to such an opinion. Nevertheless he musit conduct tho Bible lessons reverently; ho must seo that tho childiren understand literally the Biblo stories which are, to him, silly superstitions. Sufficient 'for him that a majority of his fellow-citizens believe these stories. 0. yes, ho must bo reverent. Why isn t he grateful that he is allowed to breathe the samo air as good Christian Leaguers? Why should bo talk of intolerance? The Jew, tho agnostic,, tho Catholic I Any teacher can believe or disbelieve anything ho likes so long as ho keeps 'it dark. He can havo any religion or no religion, provided he actively assists in propagating tho religions beliefs of tho league by reverently teaching tho Biblo as approved and edited by these champions of liberty, who are filled with indignation at tho bare mention. of intolerance. "This is not intolerance," cries injured innocence. "This is only the .people demanding their rights at tho ballot-box. Intolerance 1 what next?"—l am, etc., F. W. MARTIN.