The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1903-07-08
Religion I'm the schools.

To THE EDITOR OF The SUS-Sr: Inc voice
from Little Rhody which utters sad prog
nostications Of the condition Of the country
when children in public schools shall have
taught o them that they are more than ami
mails. more even than rational animals. yea.
even that they shall still live and have their
being when the animal that is in them shall
have returned to its original dust. need not
alarm the republic. The complete education
OF our schoolchildren, complete to the utter
most degree, will not remove the aut omobile
from among us, nor IL II likely in the least to
returd the tunnel under our island. nor even
The not IMPOSSIBLE project OF one under Ber-
ing Strait.
Let us see what some prominent writer's on
educat ionnl mat tiers have o say on the subject.
The President OF Columbia has no fenr. but
tells us that the. chDd's religious inheritance"
Is to be handed down to him. Our New York
Superint cndent Of Schools echoes the words OK
the head Of Columbia The United states
Commissioner Of Education. DR.. Harris. holds
the same views Washington. In his immortal
Farewell, exhorts his fellow-citizens to cherish
to the utmost the religious training OF their
children.
When our system OF little red schoolhouses
was in It's beginning, and for many a year
after no one dreamed, in this or any other
country. OF educating children In the incom-
plete manner which the past two generations
have seen Merely as matter OF education
and information, children should be informed.
In the manner agreeable to their religious
tastes, of their duties to God as we'll as 10
Caesar They We're so Informed, with the Bible
MS n textbook, but when large numbers OF
Catholics came to this country that method OF
Bible expounding WAS necessarily laid aside.
Then and not till then did that alleged Ameri-
can principle Of education. with an important
subject omitted, spring up Small wonder
that Che Rhode Islander estimates !G.3oa. 500
voters out side all churches! VII Thin n very
few years last year, ] think. the National
Educst ional AssOciati ion has brought up he
subject. under the gusc. i is true, Of desire
to teach English from that well undefiled, he
Bible, but undoubtedly with n clenr perception
of the @bsdty from any sane desienad 70
bring out the full powers OF u man and to de-
yeiop in him the aCullies of his entire being
wit bout that most potent OF developers. re-
The mischiefs attending the ignoring Of
religion in schools are attracting the attention
of serious minded educators a. over me coun,,
try They all deplore the situat on; they I'LL
hope for u remedy, some practical way out OF
the difficulty, that will satisfy Jew and .ientile
Catholic and Protestant aSnostic and even
freethinker At present, the only ones
whose ism" is being taught are the last. and
Il il being done effect unlly, as the boastful
ovcresimatc OF ln,oonnn voters shows. How
7 stutpd 10 YOU week ago. that this absurd
condition. this rendering to Cesar the things
| lint are CRsar's and Gods too. has about
Imporinnt as tunnels. automobiles, flying
machines and the rest are they are, after all.
not Everything They are C@sar's s, and even
own md Gods 100. Is beginning 10 find that
unwittingly he has bitten of 90 big piece.
and Ind better take only his own. What counts
with educators Is not what you get. be ii
autns tunnels or what not. but what YOU are
or become and one Of the strongest. II nor the
strongest, Of educational forces is religion:
md ns will not take some one else = doCt rne
nor cram mine down his throat 80 decline
10 be branded as "superst ious" in wishing o
soc children in our schools taught to respect
religion I like, somehow. the company OF
unite good enough for me on any pOint-and
his time OF yeur. with the firecruckers an
nouncng - us Tint We are in the land Of Z he
free, IL n good time TO announce that free
thinkers do moi all come to The same conclusion,
md one thnker's view is ns good ms anot hers.
NEW YORK. Julyi ROBERT p. GREEN.
To THE EDITOR OF The SUN-Sir. Mr. C..
G. Baylors religious statistics are misleading
A writer in THE SUN about a month ago called
attention to the fact that Of all who die an
nualy in the United States. only is per cent.
receive no religious burial. Accordingly. IL
would be snfe to class most of the 10, 500, 900.
whom he claims as agnostics, 30. as attached
to some o fthe Protestant denominations. They
may have answered to the census man that
they belonged to no church. but In the case OF
Prot est ants that does not mean that they do
not believe in a church. and in the Bible, and
In God. In any gathering q children, you
will scarcely find one out OF fifty who does not
claim some church or Sunday school or synH-
gogue. People generally observe the Cere-
monies Of religion Mt birth. marriage and
death, Mt least
A TO the reading Of the Bible In the schools.
children are not forced" to listen, for they all
love to listen. Ii Is not true that passages
from the New Testament are read generally
1t Is Just the other way. For once have heard
the New Testament read. ten times have I
heard the Old.
How can We keep out religion from tho
schools' Must we drop history. for fear lest
religion. the "insidious enemy" MIR. Baylor
talks about. might creep in? Must we drop
poetry-in fact all standard English literature,
prose and poetry. for it teens with religion
We must drop art. for without religious In
SEPARATION we have only rag-time and concert
hall music, and art without religious IDEAL
ism Is cold and barren Even when the chill
dren look at the sky nj night religious wonder
is aroused In them. Their never-ending
why's" are the outward manifestation Of an
inward craving for the first cause. What
shall we do about that when we become thor
oughly "secuarized?"
ONE VINO LOVES HIS COUNTRY.
NEW YORK. July L.