San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1889-07-18
RELIGION THE SCHOOLS.

:
departure and gives original views OIL
the great educational questions O
this present. The issue of July 13tl
contains articles on religious instruc
ton in the public schools" from Car
dinal Gibbons; eX-President Hill, o
Harvard; DR.. Minot J. Savage, Unita
rian minister; and Prof. Harris, editor
of Journal of Speculative Philosophy
These articles form very valuable
addition to the literature of this i'm
portant subject and make this mum
Der of Public Opinion even more valu,
able than usual. AS bald epitome
of the views advanced these must suf.
| fee:
Cardinal Gibbons very decidedly
pronounces in favor of religious edu-
cation in the public schools, holding
that secular and religious education
can not be divorced from each other
without inflicting fatal wound upon
the soul. He does not consider that
the weekly catechetical instruction in
the Sunday schools is sufficient for
the wants of the children and favors
the combination of religious and secu-
lar education. How this is to be ac-
schools the Cardinal does not himself
undertake to say; acknowledging
that grave difficulties beset the prob
lem in the public schools, where not
only children belonging to the various
denominations ofChristians, but Jews
also, are taught. How to give relig-
ious instruction here, without in
fringing the rights or wounding the
consciences of some is the problem
which the Cardinal regards as so hard
to be solved that no solution is at
tempted.
EX-President Hill, of Harvard,
would Danish all technical religious iu-
struction from the public schools, pre-
missing that by religious instruction is
meant formal lectures, catechism
study or text book recitatiOns. AS to
religious instruction in the sense of
building up character this writer con-
siders it most essential, but it must
be given incidentally. President Hill
takes issue with the idea that relig- !
iOus teaching to the extent of reading
the Bible is interfering with the free
dom of conscience and atfirms that |
there is no sharp separation between |
religious morality and secular educa-
ton as is sometimes claimed. He |
does not consider a secular teacher |
justified in impressing upon a child !
religious sect, but it is their duty to !
al, DcI
purity and morality.
Prof. Harris believes that the COM
plete separation of church and state |
aimed at in this nation, precludes the |
giving of religious instruction in the
public schools, and holds that there |
are hours enough in the family and |
in the church for such religious in
struction, outside of the few hours
spent in the public school. He argues
against the attempt to teach religion
in the national schools from the |
ground of the utter unlikeneSs of the |
ideas aimed at in the school and in re-
ligiOn. The state is founded to incul- |
cate ideas of Justice; religion deals not !
with outward but with inward things |
and its very domain is antagOnistic to |
that embraced in the church. The |
state deals with crime, the church |
with sin. To attempt to teach religion |
in secular schools confOunds these two
ideas, confuses and leads to evil re-
suits. Either the state will come to
consider sin is crime or the church to
consider crime is sin. Morality is
cared for in the public school as it is,
and this according to Professor Har-
~ TO- hat ~ hn uir
tues of Faith, Hope and Charity are |
cannot according to his view be |
taught in any secular school, save at
the expense of other studies.
DR.. Minot Savage considers that
the whole difficulty lies in properly |
defining religious instruction."
Clearing his subject from cobwebs, |
DIR. Savage reaches the conclusion !
that sectarian teaching is meant or
the religious beliefs of some particU- |
lar part of the religious world. DR..
Savage divides the world into those |
who do not believe that the eternal |
welfare of the chiIdrens souls de-
ponds on the teaching and acceptance |
of some particular kind of religion,
and those who do so believe. He ar
CUES that it is as unfair to the one
class as to the other to attempt to en-
force any particular religious ideas.
That it will be hardship to all save
those whose particular ideas are
taught. He holds that the national
schools were organized to educate
only in those things which fit for citi-
zenshlp and so, being for the public
good, are supported bypublic taxation
of the people and cannot lawfully be
made 70 teach the macmillan views of q