Tuapeka Times. AND GOLDFIELDB REPORTER & ADVERTISER WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 12, 1873. "MEASURES. NOT MEN."

Tuapeka Times, Volume VI, Issue 303, 12 November 1873, Page 2

Tuapeka Times. AND GOLDFIELDB REPORTER & ADVERTISER WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 12, 1873. " MEASURES. NOT MEN."

No secular teacher of an elementary Government School should be permitted, or asked, to read the Bible in his or her school. The Bible has been, for centuries a battle-ground of the various religious sects, and these sects have shed oceans of blood, apparently, on biblical subjects. At all eventsj the Bible has constituted the pretext for their bitter quarrels. They have not quarrelled about secular languages, about arithmetic or mathematics, but they have hotly contested almost every inch of the Holy Land. This, the theologians have done, not because the Bible, interpreted according to the Spirit (which givethlife,) contains bones of contention, but because human nature (especially if it is clothed with authority) delights in realising that veracious verse of Burns', which says . Iran's inhumanity to uian. Makes countless thousands mourn. This is not a case of religion or infidelity. On the contrary, we approve of a thorough system of religious investigation, and we believe that a dull level of uniformity ia not the best means for eliciting truth from a mass of human error. We do not at all disapprove of sectarianism, which is, in our opinion, frequently, the result of that sensitive conscientiousness which inclines an individual or a group of individuals to separate themselves from any branch of theology with which their conscience cannot concur. But we do believe that religion, being in its very essence sectarian, can be and should be taught appart from secular education. It should not be wedded to secular education. It is unfair to ask the secular teaoher to teach religion and to wed that instruction to mathematics and languages. If many of the warring sects spoke their inmost minds they would say, " It is a fact that I do not particularly want the laws of my own church to be unfolded to the schools, but I will ask for permission to have a Government subsidised school, for my church only, for the sole purpose of stemming the advancing tide of opposition creeds." This ia the kind of negative reasoning adopted by men like those who lately spoke so loudly, and so bigot* edly, at the late Ohttrh of England Diocesan Synoxl. The Victorian Government permitted clergy of every creed to give religious instruction to Government Schools, one hour before or one hour after the hours for secular instruction. What was the result '? Did they embrace the glorious opportunity ? Oh, no ! An official return proclaimed that, although Victoria boasts of one thousand elementary Government schools, tho clergy, including tho3e of every sect, paid only sixty visits for purposes religious ! And yet it was the clergy — especially the Church of England clergy — who clatnmoured loudest for the concession ! It is quite just that any respectable instructor, lay or clerical, should he permitted to teach the pupils of his own sect anil those only, one hour before or one hour after "secular" hours ; but, as it would be manifestly unjust for a Christian to force his creed down the mind of a Jewish ! child, or for a Jew to. force hid anti-chris tianity down tire mind of a Christian child, it is equally unjust for a member of any sect to attempt, either openly or sec- ! retly, to make the slightest attempt to create converts within the four walls of a school, the supporters of which are equal | contributors to th,a educational revenue. We will never applaud any effort which either the Provincial or the Colonial Government may make with the view of establishing numerous controversial schools throughout either the province or the colony. Religion, properly taught, we approve of highly, but we are yet to learn that, we can, financially, give to every sect a school ; but even if our funds permitted of that, we doubt that the cultivation by the s tate of infinitesimal creedism, would necessarily advance the interests of pure and undefiled religion. It is not - the duty of tb,e State to support differences of opinion on any subject, but such support would b.e especially unnecessary in reference to religious differencea. A Government may do too much, and too little, but yfe conceive that an unprejudiced judgement can easily decide as to the duties of the State. Main roads, trunk railways, postal services, the col lection and imposition of taxes, the conservation of vested and the encouragement of new interests, and the general protection of life and property from domestic invasion or foreign attack, these, broadly defined, are the duties of the State, because on these subjects we are unanimously agreed. Education, viewed by the State, is merely a question of police, not a question uf metaphysics -or of theology. Were a Government to provide for all the * c isms " they would be logically compelled to provide for ail the " ologies." If all the will amalgamate and become one cnurch, then, indeed, the Government would be justified iv subsidising the unified creed taught therein, which being one distinct harmonions creed, could be disused throughout the secular school hours as ' salt is diffused through meat. We all agree as to the secular preservation of 'life &nd as to the preservation of property-, and taxation for these purposes ; is Manifestly fair. But when it is borne in mind that all the " isms'" contribute to the general revenue and that it is from this revenue the educational -..subsidy .woold jag ,dr,awn,

it ia evident that it would be wrong to apply the cash of one Beet to ihe support of another. Majorities should have uo influence on religious faith. A mere group of men who conscientiously isolate themselves from communion- with a religious body, are entitled to respect equal to that extended to the largest congregation in Christendom. The pride of purse and architectual grandeur and rich collections have no essential connection with efforts of a spiritual nature. Therefore, no favouritism should be extended to any church on account of its, mere montetary or numerical,,influence. The request for Denominational Schools is evidently stimulated by the Scriptural query, "What will it profit a man if he gain the whole world and lose his own soul ?" And only one answer can be logically given to this question, but every sect has its own theory as to the best means for saving souls, aui although the Government are 1 bound in duty to construct main trunk roads, we have yet to learn, from either theology or political economy, that they are bound in the least .degrea \o establish an infinitesimal number of avenues of approach between this world and the next.