SECULAR EDUCATION

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXV, Issue 10713, 25 January 1913, Page 5

SECULAR EDUCATION

WHY IT WAS ADOPTED, AND WHY IT SHOULD BE MAINTAINED.

(By "Bushman.") "But human bodies fu 1 © such, fools; In spUv oi all, their colleges and schools, That when no mil ills perplex them, They make themselves enough to vex them." ! Although 1 over a century ha-i elapsed isinee Burns -wrote the above, his word* are as applicable to-day as they were then, as we live in an age of "leagues,"' "missions," and "agencies," mostly formed by popularityhunting fussy busy-bodies of both sexes, to discuss imaginary ills. Were there really any evil to redress there would be some excuse for their existence The latest in this line to make a noise is "The Bible-in-Schools League." Surely its members know that before any national system, of education was introduced the differ- . ent seeds were unable to agree to or propose any national form of instruction acceptable to the country. They had opportunity enough to do so, and often met*. hi solemn conclave for the purpose, bijffc instead' of doing a anything useful merely squabbled, .over doctrinal point s.' Had they believed "IgnoraJiee to be the parent of Devotion." they could have taken no more effectual means to enforce their belief, for generation after generation was allowed to grow up ignorant from this cause. The pulpit being unable to come to any decision in the .matter, the question was taken up by the general public, and after much discussion in the press and on the platform, 'secular" education was adopted a.s being fair to all, so that no one s "religious susceptibility should l>e .shocked," and for the same reason it ought to be still maintained. Certainly, ever since the Act passed there have been periodical wails about our "godless" system and fervent appeals for the introduction of the Bible into schools. These advocates seem to overlook the fact that excess of zeal in any direction generally has an opposite effect from that - intended. Take Tngersoll for example, the most distinguished infidel of the .nineteenth century. He was the ison of a Presbyterian minister, And of course subjected to "family worship." Besides he had to listen to Or ace before and after meals. Yet, this.., "religious., training" did not seem to impress liim seriously, rr tsuwe him to have reverence for so7caUed ; "sacred" , things. Yery early ipjife-hemado that mant fest, for-as a, young man he was employed, as a tashi teai'hei - & Baptist | fS'eighbourboocl and when so engaged', i there ha opened to be a "revival" or | an "awakening" among the parents | of the children, and although he wish- | ed to remain indifferent or neutral, j his patrons insisted.upon him. express- i ing his opinion of baptism, which he . did, by saying, "he believed it to he J alright with plenty of soap," For this ( irreverent reply he was hunted from the school without his salary, and had to frndi his way home on foot. Such, wa.s his first experience of "religious tol- , eration." He did not think the sub- j ject of infant or adult baptism was i worth wrangling over, as he knew j that mor;e of the baptised than u.n- 1 baptized found their way into gaol. | Be that as it may, "our" teachers ( are not at the mercy of any religions sect, nor do they want the Bible in schools. Nor, I believe, does the community at large. With Sunday schools and barrack-looking buildings in eveiy. township branded Y.M.C.A.. the clerical party ought to be satisfied. The geology of Moses, the Astronomy of Joshua, the story of Solomon with his wives and concubines and the exploits of King David may fitly be reserved for the pulpi.t, as they are. out of place in school. Wo iwint knowledge relating to this workl, .something that will be useful to us here, not of the supernatural or "world beyond," of which no one knows anything. When the present generation leave school and read Volney's "Ruins of Empires," they.will then find it. stated that "Christians are of a. persecuting spirit, when strong tolerant, when weak strong:. Rating each other in the name of a.God of peace, forming to themselves an exclusive paradise in a religion of-universal charity, each dooming tho rest in another world to endless torments, and' -realising here the imaginary hell of futurity." t January 22nd. /