The Irish standard. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn. ;) 1886-1920, 1890-07-19

APOLIS AND ST. PA
! haps. The evil, is abroad, sc0rninl
salvation through the teachings an
graces of Christ Jesus, sneering at th
Biblical page, warning upon the sacred
ness Of the Christian Sabbath and th'
music of its church bells, telling 9
|, heaven and of the hopes of immorta
souls. Let us be on our guard. In ou
j jealousies lest Protestants gain somi
advantages over Catholics. or Catholic!
over Protestants. we play into the hand:
Of unbelievers and secularists. W.
have given over to them the school, tht
nursery of thought. Are we not secur
ing to them the mastery Of the futurei
The state school ls nOn-religious. II
ignores religion. There IS and there
can be no positive religious teaching
where the principle of non sectarianlsm
rules. What follows? The school deals
with immature. childish minds, upon
which silent facts ana examples make
deepest impression. The school claims
nearly all the time remaining to pupils
outside of rest and recreation; to the
school they will perforce amid the
struggles CT later life look back for in
spiration. 1t treats Of land and sea.
but not Of heaven; it speaks of states
men and warriors, but is silent on God
and Christ; it tells how to attain
success in this world, but says
nothing as to the world beyond the
grave. The pupil sees and listens; the
conclusion is inevitable, that religion is
of minor importance. Religious indif-a
ference will be his creed: his manhood
will be, as his childhood in the school,
estranged from God and the positive
influences Of religion. The brief and
hurried lessons of the family freside
and the SUNDAY school will not avail
At best, the time is too short for that
most difficult OF lessons, religion. The
child is tired from the exacting drill Of
the school room, and will not relish an
extra task. Of the necessity Of which
the teaeher,ain whom he conides most
trustingly, has said nothing: The great
mass of children receive no freside
lessons, and attend no Sunday school,,
and the great mass of the children Of
America are growing UP without reli
gion. Away with theories and Dreams:
let us read the facts. LII tens of thou.
sands homes Of the land the father
hastens to his work in the early dawn
before his children have risen from
their slumbers, and in the evening an
exhausted sffame bids him seek at once
repose. with scarcely time to kiss his
little mes. The mother tolls from
morning to night that they may eat and
be clothed; it is mockery to ask her to
be their teacher. What may you expect
from the Sunday school? An hour in
the week to learn religion is as nothing,
and only small number will be present
during that hour. The churches. are
open and teachers are at hand, but the.
non religious school has claimed the at
tenti0n and the hard work of the child
during five days of the week aud he. is
unwilling to submit to che drudgery of
another hours work on Sunday. Ac-
cidentally. and unlntentionaliy, it may
be, but, in fact, most certainly, the
state school crowds out the work of the
church, and takes from it the oppor-
tunities to secure hearing. The state
need not teach religion; but for the
sake of its people, and for its own sake.
it should permit and facilitate the
action of the church. 1t hinders this
action. The children of the masses are
learning 30 religion. The religion of
thousands, who are supposed to be re
ligious, is the merest veneering of mind
and heart. Its doctrines are vaguest
and most chatic notions as to what God
is, and what our relations to him are.
Verv often, it is mere sentimentalitY,
and its precepts are the dec0rous rulings
of natural culture and natural policy.
This is not the religion that built up in
the past our Christian civilization, and
that will maintain it in the future.
This is not the religion that will sub
jugate passion, and repress vice. It is
not the religion that will guard the
family and save society
l THE DUTY OF THB STATE.
Let the state look to itself. The
mind which it polishes is two edged
swOrd-an instrument for good OF an
instrument for evil. 1t were fatal to
polish it without the assurance that In
all likelihood it shall be an instrument
for good. ! am not questioning how
far we may lay at the door Of the nom
religious school the breaking up Of
Christian creeds. the growth Of agnos-
ticism and unbelief, the weakening Of
public and private morals, and the al
most complete estrangement Of the
poor and the working classes from