A NATIONAL QUESTION.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XLVII, Issue 2911, 18 July 1925, Page 4

A NATIONAL QUESTION.

(To The Editor)

Sir, —The time is drawing near when the Dominion will once more lie involved in the turmoil of a general election. The life-work of tho late Prime Minister will stand for all time as an example of how a Christian training moulds character and shapes destiny. We have it on the authority of the Minister of T*Mur # niirm, Hint Mr Massey earnest]y desired to see the Bible in our schools, and in what more fitting manner could we perpetuate his memory than by supporting at the polls only those candidates who pledge themselves as the mouthpieces of Christian people, to do their utmost to bring about this much-needed reform in our educational laws. Social evils will continue'to exercise their baneful and potent inlluence on the community tit large so long as we employ materialistic means to combat and eradicate them. We are prone to treat effects instead of causes, to lop oft’ the branches instead of striking at the roots, and, in consequence, the results of our efforts are negligible. These perplexing and ever-increasing problems confronting New Zealand at the present day are the inevitable harvest of the seeds of secularism sown in discord and inharmony for nearly half a century. In 1877 the Bible was banished by legislation from our State schools, and the pernicious secular system instituted. Predestined lo failure from its inception by reason of its materialistic nature, the national system of education is responsible in no small degree for the deplorable traits imiliifosl in the school children of the day, the innocent victims of a sinisIcr heritage from parents and grand parents educated in the worldly atmosphere engendered by the manmade law: “and llte teaching shall lie entirely of a secular character. -We cannot retrieve the past, it is irrevocable; but we should make it a stepping stone lo better tilings. Let us begin from the bottom and Imild wisely and well for the sake of future generations. There are those who would relegate to Church and Sunday school the inculcation of Christian principles, but brief reilection should convince a thinker that the benefits accruing from an hour's instruction on 1 lit* Sabbath, are totally inadequate as a remedial agency for the absence of Biblical teaching during llic twenty-five hours comprising the ordinary school week. The State schools of to-day are the training grounds for the citizens of to-morrow, and to ensure that our boys and girls will be efficiently equipped to enable them to eventually carry out the important functions pertaining to good citizenship, the voice of the people should In: raised in protest against the retention of an educational code that is sapping the moral life-blood of these young citizens in the making. education entirely divorced from religion is wrong in principle, and disastrous in its ultimate effects. Spiritual knowledge is infinitely more beneficial than mere material wisdom. The essence and soul of all tilings is spiritual: take away the spirit and there is no vitality, no life. Our existing educational policy aims primarily at the development of the mental and physical faculties lm| leaves the child groping in Lagan ignorance of the fundamental truths that are absolutely essentia! to ilie formation of character. In thousands of cases the primary school presents the only opportunity for hearing the Divine message ol the Scriptures, lint this is denied the child by a tyrannical law that ‘excludes the Word of God from State schools. So long as the Bible remains to school children a sealed Imok, and reference to its pages is forbidden the teacher, all efforts to instil patriotism, honour, and kindred virtues in the juvenile minds are rendered impotent and unavailing, modern methods of instruction notwithstanding. The temporary suspension by the educational authorities, of the secular code on Anzne Day and oilier occasions, when religious ceremonies arc held in the public schools, serves to emphasise the fact that when put to the crucial test, our “free compulsory and secular” system of education pales into insignificance beside I lie inspiring and impressive grandeur of Christ's teachings, for “The Truth is mighty and will prevail.” Tt is high time that, petty sectarian strife and narrow prejudice, that have been instrumental in keeping the Bible out of our schools, should he swept aside and an earnest and united effort made lo have the law nmended to allow Biblical instruction lo he given daily by teachers, in accordance with tt syllabus to Indrawn up by (lie Education Department and revised every two or three years, as is done in England. This method would preclude deimminarional leaching, and parental privileges would lie safe-guarded by a conscience clause exempting children from attendance when desired. Official reports from abroad indicate that there is little or no sectarian feeling or friction with religious sects in conneetjon with Bible-rend-ing in schools. When selling up schools in Uhodesia, (.'ceil Rhodes insisted that half an hour each day should lie devoted to religious teaching. Matthew Arnold, the most experienced school inspector England had had for many a day, said that morality could not lie laugh) except oil the basis of (be Script urea. Let - ters from Slate school I cachet's in Australia, in which country four Stales include Bible-rcnding in llte school curriculum, furnish convincing evidence of llte benefits accruing

to both teachers and scholars, and of the harmonious working of the system. A recent lctVrqmlum taken indicates that the advent of the Bible in tho public schools of New Zealand would be welcomed by hundreds of teachers as heralding the dawn of a new era. when Christianity would, bo the predominonl note of education. Then, and not till then, mav we pave the way by righteous methods to the attainment of those ideals which make for the highest and Rest in our home and national life. “Righteousness oxaltcth a nation." —I am etc. A STATE SCHOOL TEACHER.