The Catholic bulletin. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1911-1995, 1913-07-12

III tnC mdJOIlIy VI It's pOpu1dG1Ou,
absolutely atheistic. What is the
cause? It can and it must be
placed to the account of the god
less schools in our midst.
America today as a nation is
without religion, since morality is
not necessarily religion. The rea-
son is that true morality must
have a religious sanction, whereas
the morality Of the average Ameri-
can today has but an individual
sanction.
That a reaction from this de-
plorable state of affairs is setting
in can be seen from the change
that has taken place in the minds
Of all thinkers throughout the
country. Even some of the de-
nominations, recognizing the rea-
sonableness Of the Catholic posi-
ton, are building their own
schools wherein religion can be
taught.
Often has it been said that the
child can acquire a sufficient
knowledge of religion in the
home or in the Sunday school. All
educators of sane views now recog-
nize the fallacy Of this statement.
The child cannot clothe his soul
in religious truth by means of the
Sunday school in the same way
that he puts on his Sunday suit,
once a week. Nor can he acquire
this truth in the home any more
than he can acquire the elements
Of learning in the home, and for
almost the same reason. Religion
must not be spasmodic, it should
not be taken like dose Of medi-
cine, only when one is ill. Relig-
ion must be part of the every
day life Of the child, if that child
is to become truly religious The
deplorable condition Of the schools
OF this country today has elected
the most scathing condemnation
from Protestants as well as from
Catholics. The recent strike of
the children in the schools of
Cleveland is startling disclosure
Of the effect of teaching without
intoxicating a religious reverence
for authority. Special officials,
punishment of the delinquents,
removal of instructors, and all
such methods are but temporary
and local. The evil itself remains
deeply rooted in the very marrow
of the whole school system. God
lessness is the answer to all the
abnormal happenings in the
schools of the day
The various vice commissions of
the past year or two, whatever
their good or bad effects on the
evils they aim at, have brought
out this terrible fact, that unmen-
tionable vices and practices exist
in an alarming measure in the
schools examined. The commits
sions attribute the cause, in I'LL
nois, Philadelphia, New York and
elsewhere, to the lack Of religious
training in the schools. All the
commissions and the present laws
of the land are absolutely power
less to remedy, much less to check,
this astounding state of affairs. If
the lack of religion has brought us
to this deplorable state, then in
the name Of God let the children
be taught religion and morality in
the institutions Of the State as
elsewhere. If only religion will
save the little ones, then were it
heinous crime on the part Of the
State and of society to deprive
those little ones Of that which is
essentially necessary. Secular
knowledge is not essential to
moral happiness: religion is es-
sential. Then why allow the soul
of the child to become atrophied
for want Of that which will cause
it to thrive and grow and attain
perfection.
Is it logical for Catholics to OPP
pose the teaching of religion in the
State schools? That they do is
illogical. The Catholics Of Eng
land are confronted with the same
problem as are we in America. In
a recent utterance Cardinal
Bourne declared: Il lament with
all my heart that any sort Of re-
ligious influence should be on the
wane. | lament that these forms
of religion to which our fellow
countrymen cling no longer exer-
else the same religious influence
over them. | have thought that
loss Of power is to be attributed
chiefly to the want Of defniteness
in the religious teaching given by
the bodies Of which [ have spoken.
Another and more potent reason
for this loss of influence is that
those Of which have spoken have
not considered it necessary to give
definite religious teaching to their
children in the schools. "
When Catholic children attend
the n1hlic schools we cannot allow