BJBLE-IN-SCHOOLS AND BISHOP JULIUS.

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 1886, 22 October 1913, Page 8

BJBLE-IN-SCHOOLS AND BISHOP JULIUS.

> Sir, —I think candid readers of j (Tkf. Dominion will agree with mo tfyat . tho review of tho position by His Lordi ship is straightforward, fairj and covers I the entiro case —brief, courteous, and ; eminently .clear. Twenty years ago, . when I arrived in Napier, I could liard- ' ly believe it, that the State schools ] omitted BiGlo lessons as a. needful part of a child's education. Having accepted . the duty of school-teaching at all, to f omit tho Bible seemed to mo outrageous, and- sucli omission has cost tho country enormous outlay to cope with tho evils that naturally followed tho omission.. As if children had 110 souls, 1 and 1 need' only education to m.'iko a 3 living or prepare them for somes special 3 calling! The teachers' calling is a highly t honourable one, and to be so regarded, > but as a profession they are not en- ■ titled to dictate to tho people what they 9 shall teach or not teach. They do not r occupy tho position of 1 "keepers" or "tcaohers of conscience." By no means 3 should a teacher be coerced on this t matter, but teachers could deal with 0 Bible lessons as they stood. Neither is f there occasion to dispute over versions, 1 for that was settled between Roman - Catholic and Protestant Churches about t 1846 in Ireland, whore surely Catholic t rights aro well looked after and were - so by nieii more eminent than any cftI gaged in tho present controversy in New Zealand. Thk Dominion has published ' evidenco of high-class teachers of long t standing that the Bible lessons aro ac- - cepted in Australia, and if our teachers y loved their pupils and desired their y lasting and higliest. welfare, as I think o they'do, they ought not to grudgo a t. brief attention to a subject that would [] really help to make their general teachr ing easier and more efficient. It is said morality is taught. I ask, Whero is the standard, the fountain, tho code on which morality is builtp Tho plea t _ is that it is the 'parents' v duty and that e of-the Churches. Admitting that, it is well known parents a™ negligent of '[ this, their undoubted duty; but the bulk r of tho parents are unfit for this duty. Then again it is put on to tho Cljutcli. That is not unreasonable either, but the work of clergy in many scattered districts makes that a very difficult r matter, and tho State will surely benefit r in tho long run by the fundamentals, at II least, of the Christian religion being s convened through tho schools by caree fully selected lessons, avoiding control" versial matter. It is a great pity the present effort by tho Churches was not 6 made at onco when tho present ovil '■ system was introduced, and tho crop of P ovil is tho result of tho negligence, j- Protestants and Roman Catholics should 11 and could agree to similar lessons as in '- Ireland, or something similar. I read o lately in your paper a. Roman. Catholio "- Bishop's letter in Ireland protesting e strongly against any change or substitution. of "secular" education such as r. may follow Homo Rule.—l am, etc., it UNION JACK. » '