A Critical Budget from E. R. Hartley.

Maoriland Worker, Volume 2, Issue 39, 1 December 1911, Page 4

A Critical Budget from E. R. Hartley.

BISSLE-READING IN SCHOOLS.

The Presbyterian. Assembly have bean, meeting in Dunedin, and amongst other things, Bible-reading in schools wa.3 reported and talked about. I wonder what these parsons would think if we Socialists, who are now almost as .'strong as the church members in numbers,, demanded that. Socialism should be taught in the schools? It would be just as right—for Socialism deals with the question of how we shall live in. this world, and under conditions we understand, while the parsons deal mainly with a world of which they know absolutely nothing at all and conditions it is impossible to understand. When the people decided 30 years ago to keep the parsons out of the day schools, they decided wisely, and we must do our duty by barring their reentry. . The Rev. A. "Whyte gave a report of saa examination. A number of questions being asked on Scriptural knowledge., of. .'7OO answers, he says, 539 showed ignorance. Mr. Whyte gave some of the questions. "Mention any one incident in the life of St. Paul." Forty-one were *'• ignorant/, seven knew something. I wonder-none of them asked: "Parson-, parson, why persecnteth thou the children-?" What possible use in life a knowledge of these matters would be either in business or otherwise, xu.dc-.ss one is going to be a parson, it would puzzle, anyone to tell. No politician, no no bank clerk, no "butcher, ■baker or candlestick maker" would find a knowledge of St. Paul <f the slightestSjuse in his daily life and business, while if any working man ventured to mention such knowledge as a qualification for a job, he would be shown the door straight away. '•Forty-four did not know who Joseph's 'father was and fo-ur did. , -' What useful knowledge this would be, if those four were dock laborers! Bow much easier an enginedriver would do

his work if he wero quite- certain who was "Joseph's father." "Two had a hazy idea of Absalom, while 46 knew nothing of him. ,,. From what we remember of Absalom it would be no hurt to the world if all trace of him were lost forever. And it is a.real benefit that children's minds are no longer stuffed with, such rubbish. If the whole story o£ Absalom were transferred into <som<& moderni novel we should probably have the members of the Assembly, and their congregations demanding its suppression as an indecent book. Thore are many stories in the Bible and many names in the Bible which it is just as well that school children should know nothing about.. The time Messrs. Whyte and Co, would have us waste over these thing.? oan be better spent in teaching fche-m the real facts of life. The Rev. Whyte gave- a clue to his reason for wanting such, teaching. "If adults know as little as the children much, of our preaching is lost." This lets the cat out of the bag. Useless nonsense is to be taught to the children in order that a further waste of time may take place when they grow *sp, to provide parsons to talk about useless matters which no bearing upon and are no use in- our everyday life.