A SUGGESTED FORWARD MOVEMENT ON THE EDUCATION QUESTION

New Zealand Tablet, 8 November 1906, Page 24

A SUGGESTED FORWARD MOVEMENT ON THE EDUCATION QUESTION

To the -Editor. * Sir,— With reference to the' most important ques-' tion of the moral and religious education of the chilfren of this Colony, I sincerely trust something may -be done towards instilling Christian ideas into their" minds. I would go so far as - to- say that -I should prefer seeing, any . sort . of Christian teaching given to tacm—no matter how fragmentary— rather than ' seeing so many of them brought up in indifferentism and almost complete ignorance of Christianity. Anybody go-* mg about the country, as my duties for years have compelled me to do, and who keeps his eyes open cannot help noticing the ruinous moral results ol education without any religion. Not merely Catholics; but large numbers of" Protestants, speak about this evil. An appeal to the latter numerous class might lead to some change which would be^ an improvement upon the present bad state of things, and might at the same time bring about an alleviation of 'the hardships and injustice under which the Catholic bodyespecially the heads of families— now lie. Personally I can speak . feelingly as to these hardships for, Mr--jyditor, as you know, I am- one of these hetids of .families at present going through this grinding mill - ■ to*! Ml V Scott > in Ws letter published in your issue of ism ulfc., proposes, to my mintf, a sensible mode ofprocedure towards carrying out t'he'iaca expressed" above— an idea pretty generally held.. His suggestion is' an excellenit one, viz. :— that some, representatives of the Catholic body should approach the official heads .of the other denominations,' who are seeking some measure of religious education}' in order to- • set ud a* representative committee to thresh out the whole situation and arrive,' if possible, at a mutual understanding with a view to secure the much desired end The " rSf 88 Of *#? r ? ach^ g the ' Protestant denominations requires cjHSTUI handling, as,, unfortunately, many Protestants even still look upon the Catholic Church as children look upon- the bogey-man/ However, if the thing were done tactfully^ there- is no reason why good results" might not Hte -.expected. An sensible people might now be expected" to understand the old les lson:~ Quarrelling with your neighbor and abusing him • JJotl ot lhs wa ? *° ■ convince Mm" that you are in the right- and he is in the wrong ; it is more likely to convince hint that you ,h a ve not a Christian spirit Hold fast to what you are convinced is the truth error '^ harshly those whom _.you think m -We can easily, -inter, from the evil moral and religious effects produced in the United ' States of America by a godless system of education similar to ours what we may expect** in another generation or so iA New Zealand. In the States religion and morals have to IJer^t TS* * iUI ] + ar S e . cl^es; become tnKg\ divnip ri • w59w 59 lhe x ' e PO rts ' ln > c si «ele matter of aivprce, for instance, which conic. to us by cable from that country. iThose ' who have op.porturfities W know ? a hJ iat - s S arce^-a boy or" girl r leaves r the publfo schools in America- • with - minds and uncor M Statement abClMance o£ P r6 « f for tMs fea£

If Germany; Belgium,; -Great Britain, Canada, with _ tsaeu;- vast---.poi)uia~tioii&; have able to establish a , -public -sysiem 1 of education '-wherein Is given '-religious , teaching, satisfactory to all parents desiring it, surely a small country .like ours.-should.-be able to arrive at a like agreement. Undoubtedly, if the large num- '°. ers of. people- ih New Zealand who,- still desire that V fl chl } dren should- be brought 'up Christians" were induced to combine their political' power, the difficul- - ties in the way of religious education would soon be VeC - Sincerity and effort, would accomplish amongst, us what has been accomplished "-elsewhere. .Mr.- Scott s proposal suggests.,a first {.feasible step towards an end which all earnest Christians in the Col?,?J nf CS Vi c - V i Z -, i~ the ™ l W ous CKristikn upbring-ir?-T Sf ( J + lMr - cn ---p f tins- young and hopeful coun- • - J 'C*" November 5, 190 G. '