SALUTING THE FLAG.

Taranaki Daily News, 22 November 1921, Page 3

SALUTING THE FLAG.

NOT REAL PATRIOTISM: i VIEWS OF BISHOP AVERTED. “If we are going to teaxffi the children to salute the flag, God help the children and God help the State,” said Bishop Averill, speaking at Stratford on Saturday. The Bishop was referring to the need for teaching children the privilege of service for others. Whilst visiting France he had seen the military cemeteries, where hundreds of thousands of brave boys were laid, and when he thought of those rows and rows of white crosses he asked himself were we worthy of those boys who had died? Were we trying to do our bit to coni solidate the work they had commenced? 'We should think a good dear more of ! service than we had done in trie past. Ought not we to teach our children a good deal more of the necessity of service and sacrifice, even at the expense of a good deal of pleasure? One thing that impressed him was the great importance of church schools. Were we, who had got back our Empire and our freedom because our boys died for us, going to bring up our children to think of “number one” —merely to think of getting on in the world, and not to think of what they could give? It was /our bounden duty to try and instil into the minds of our boys and girls the tremendous privilege of service for others. He did not look' upon these church schools as a sort of class school, ■and as more respectable than others. He did not believe in that sort of thing. But he did think we wanted these schools badly, to lay in the lives of children the only real foundation which would bring them up with the only true ideal of life.

People were urging that the children should be taught “patriotism.” He agreed that it was a most important thing to teach them patriotism, but he certainly did not think that it was going to teach children redl patriotism by compelling them to salute the flag at school. It was very nice and very picturesque, but surely if they taught ■children religion and duty to God they were teaching them duty to the State, and they would not have to put into the school syllabus the saluting of the flag. He had seen much of State worship, and there was a great tendency in. •this country to State worship.